Long Odds
On Friday, the President of the United States signed into law the Security and Accountability For Every Port Act of 2006. Five years after 9/11, the US government has finally adopted measures to improve the security of this country’s ports. Usually I would join the 98 Senators that voted for this act and support a measure that seeks to protect this country without violating my civil liberties.
Unfortunately, the prudes in Congress attached a provision to the act that is meant to put an end to internet gambling in the United States. This provision basically prohibits credit card companies from facilitating transactions with internet gambling sites, which are generally based outside of the United States.
I’m not a very big gambler. Whenever I go to Las Vegas I usually make a couple of sports bets and I like to make friendly wagers with my friends once in a while, but that’s about it. If I were to gamble on-line, it probably wouldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 times. And most of those times it would have been to try to jinx a team I dislike, say the San Antonio Spurs or New York Yankees, or whoever the Lakers are facing.
When it comes to sports, I’m a bit superstitious. I like to bet on outcomes that I don’t want to see happen, like the Spurs winning another NBA championship. I figure my bet is like a religious offering to the sports gods. Besides, worst case scenario, if the team I dislike wins or the team I like loses, at least I get a few bucks to help console me. But now, thanks to the SAFE Port Act, unless I go to Vegas or find a bookie in Los Angeles and risk getting my thumbs broken, I can no longer do that.
But that’s not the worse part about this new law. The worse part is the hypocrisy. The internet gambling provision of the act specifically excludes wagering on horseracing. I guess the horseracing industry had better lobbyists and offered better perks. That’s the only explanation I can come up with since I can’t fathom the difference between betting on a football game over the internet and betting on a horserace. I won’t even start on the fact that most states in this country sponsor some type of lottery.
Fortunately, according to an article on MarketWatch, some people are already coming up with ways to get around the new regulations. One simple answer is to open up a bank account or obtain a credit card outside of the United States since those institutions might not fall under the U.S. government’s jurisdiction. Another possible solution is payment through gold or silver or some other commodity.
While I applaud these possible solutions, I don’t plan to resort to these measures. Instead I’ll just have to find another offering that I can make to the sports gods. Or maybe I’ll just sue the U.S. government on the grounds that the new law is infringing on the free exercise of my religion. Although the odds of such a suit winning probably aren’t that good. Too bad I can’t use the internet to put any money on it.
Unfortunately, the prudes in Congress attached a provision to the act that is meant to put an end to internet gambling in the United States. This provision basically prohibits credit card companies from facilitating transactions with internet gambling sites, which are generally based outside of the United States.
I’m not a very big gambler. Whenever I go to Las Vegas I usually make a couple of sports bets and I like to make friendly wagers with my friends once in a while, but that’s about it. If I were to gamble on-line, it probably wouldn’t have been more than 5 or 6 times. And most of those times it would have been to try to jinx a team I dislike, say the San Antonio Spurs or New York Yankees, or whoever the Lakers are facing.
When it comes to sports, I’m a bit superstitious. I like to bet on outcomes that I don’t want to see happen, like the Spurs winning another NBA championship. I figure my bet is like a religious offering to the sports gods. Besides, worst case scenario, if the team I dislike wins or the team I like loses, at least I get a few bucks to help console me. But now, thanks to the SAFE Port Act, unless I go to Vegas or find a bookie in Los Angeles and risk getting my thumbs broken, I can no longer do that.
But that’s not the worse part about this new law. The worse part is the hypocrisy. The internet gambling provision of the act specifically excludes wagering on horseracing. I guess the horseracing industry had better lobbyists and offered better perks. That’s the only explanation I can come up with since I can’t fathom the difference between betting on a football game over the internet and betting on a horserace. I won’t even start on the fact that most states in this country sponsor some type of lottery.
Fortunately, according to an article on MarketWatch, some people are already coming up with ways to get around the new regulations. One simple answer is to open up a bank account or obtain a credit card outside of the United States since those institutions might not fall under the U.S. government’s jurisdiction. Another possible solution is payment through gold or silver or some other commodity.
While I applaud these possible solutions, I don’t plan to resort to these measures. Instead I’ll just have to find another offering that I can make to the sports gods. Or maybe I’ll just sue the U.S. government on the grounds that the new law is infringing on the free exercise of my religion. Although the odds of such a suit winning probably aren’t that good. Too bad I can’t use the internet to put any money on it.
posted by The Pocho at 11:58 AM
2 Comments:
This is going to backfire big time, because gambling on the internet was a major way in which people were distracted from the brutal, hypocritical, corrupt mess in Washington. Let me get this straight, the Republicans WANT the people to start paying attention shortly before midterm elections? Rove must be losing his touch . . .
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