Legalized Gambling Essays - Genovese Crime Family, Murder, Inc.

Legalized Gambling Essays - Genovese Crime Family, Murder, Inc. Legalized Gambling Through the years, gambling has become America's pastime. Over 60 million Americans make some sort of wager every day.1 When compared to other recreations(in billions of dollars) in 1990, gambling institutions made 2.2 more than magazine sales, 8.3 more than book sales, 20.9 more than theaters, and a whopping 21.8 more than movies.2 This number has increased to this high level because of the growth in the amount of legalized gambling establishments and the accessibility to these establishments, both of which increases the number of gamblers. The compulsive or pathological gambler affects society most. According to Stuart Winston, The compulsive gambler is the backbone of gambling. Without the compulsive gambler, there would be no Las Vegas, no Off Track Wagering. Two thirds of the race tracks in America would close. The attendance of sporting events would drop 50%, and T.V. wouldn't bother with sports beyond championship events.....The compulsive gambler bets a piece of his life everyday, and a piece of his family's. The other 45 million people who gamble are having fun.(Out of the 60 million who gamble every day)3 These gamblers often resort to crime to pay off their debts and anger. Even though legalized gambling has changed through time, and has been "accepted" in America today, it remains detrimental to society, and should not be legal anywhere. American gambling can be traced back to the early years of the nation. Different forms of gambling, such as lotteries, remained popular until 1890, when U.S. jurisdiction made lotteries and all other forms of gambling illegal by direct prohibition.4 Gambling had become more and more a "low life" thing to do. These low lifes, called "rowdies", would bet or take a bet on anything. Most tried to look different from everyone else by wearing thick imitation gold chains, a dyed black mustache, a velvet coat, and long hair. New York City alone had about 30,00 people earning a living from gambling in the 1890's. The casino's were plush and usually had a buffet with alcohol. The operation made a lot of money, most from cheating. Each casino would hire "agents" to come in and claim winning keno numbers, afterwards giving most of it back to the casino. Counterfeit money was also handed out to the few people who happened to win. Any protest from a loser and he would end up with a black eye. Oscar Handlin said, "An individual may sometimes take away substantial sums of money, but in the long run the banker must win."5 Essentially, gambling hurt society in the early years of America. For the next 25 years, gambling became unpopular again because of reports of cheating and changing American values. Anything thought of to be harmful to society became illegal. For example, alcohol became illegal by Prohibition. The reintroduction of gambling resulted in the return of corruption and fraud. By the mid 1920's, state after state abolished its anti-gambling laws. Gambling had become more and more accepted because of churches holding bingo sessions and legitimate racetracks being built. In 1931, gambling became totally legalized in Nevada to replace the money the state was getting from depleted ore rich mountains.6 Organized crime started to turn toward gambling as their main source of income after Prohibition ended in 1933. These criminals made most of their money bootlegging alcohol during Prohibition, so once alcohol prices went down, they needed another way to make a lot of money fast: gambling.7 Organized crime started getting more involved with gambling once Las Vegas started to boom. Bugsy Siegal, a half insane murderer who was sent to Nevada to enforce mob control of the race wire services, opened up the first hotel/casino in Las Vegas. His hotel, the Flamingo began a long period of gang involvement in Las Vegas. In 1947, the Desert Inn opened, run by a gang from Cleveland. A savage group of people, including the infamous Meyer Lansky and Lucky Luciano, established the Desert Inn in 1947. Lansky, the brains of this group, was a genius with numbers, while Luciano, the brute of the group, was a genius for finding Lansky. 1952 brought the opening of the Sahara by some run-out's from Oregon. The Sands, with Frank Sinatra as

The Best Sex and the City Quotes

The Best Sex and the City Quotes The beloved HBO series Sex and the City (which ran from 1998 to 2004) changed societys view single women everywhere were perceived and showed there was no shame and a lot of empowerment in not having a man. It also delivered a boatload of great one-liners and sassy quotes from each of the shows star characters: Carrie, Miranda, Samantha, and Charlotte. Check out some of the funniest lines uttered by each of the ladies throughout the shows run. The Funniest, Cleverest, and Sassiest Sex and the City Quotes Charlotte: I am so confused. Is he gay or is he straight?Carrie: Well, its not that simple anymore. The real question is, is he a straight gay man or is he a gay straight man?Carrie voiceover: The gay straight man was a new strain of heterosexual male spawned in Manhattan as the result of overexposure to fashion, exotic cuisine, musical theatre and antique furniture.Vaughn: Hey, GQ called.Carrie: Really? They want you to write something?Vaughn: No, they want me to wear something. Its great to be a writer these days. Theres so little writing involved.Carrie: Just dont be photographed in anything sleeveless. No one who went sleeveless ever won a Pulitzer.Carrie: There is no way that the love that I had with Big is the same thing that he has with Natasha.Miranda: Natasha? When did you stop calling her the idiot stick figure with no soul? Samantha: From my experience, honey, if he seems too good to be true he probably is.Miranda, to Carrie, whos listening to an answering machine message from Big: We could analyze this for years and never know, I mean, they still dont know who killed Kennedy.Carrie: Charlotte was thrilled. Anthony was like the pushy Italian mother she never had. Carrie is having trouble driving a stick-shift car.Miranda: Why didnt you just get an automatic?Carrie: I love this car! It goes with my outfit.Carrie: So are you saying theres no way youd go out with a guy who lived with his family?Samantha: Well... maybe Prince William.Carrie: You just caught us a little off guard with the lesbian thing.Samantha: Thats just a label, like Gucci or Versace.Carrie: Or Birkenstock.Samantha on the Hermes Birkin bag: Oh honey, its not so much the style, its what carrying it means!Carrie: It means youre out four thousand bucks.Charlotte: I cant believe you took Ecstasy from a stranger!Samantha: Its not a stranger, it was a friend of my friend Bobbys friend Bobby.Miranda: Oh, well then we know its safe. Will we be going to a rave later?Carrie: Ive spent $40,000 on shoes and I have no place to live? I will literally be the old woman who lived in her shoes!Carrie: So youre a pessimist, right?Miranda: Have we met? Stanford: Before I tell you, you have to promise not to judge.Carrie: Do I judge?Stanford: We all judge. Thats our hobby. Some people do arts and crafts; we judge.Samantha: All of Manhattan is here.Stanford: Whos watching the island?Carrie: I tried the trapeze yesterday for that piece that Im writing.Charlotte: I could never! I have the most terrible fear of heights.Carrie: Well, I do not. Youve seen my shoes.Carrie, after being told to take off her shoes: But... this is an outfit!Charlotte: Did I ever tell you I was a cheerleader?Miranda: No, because you knew I would mock you endlessly.Charlotte: Big is in town?Carrie: Yeah, hes here for a little heart thing.Miranda: What, is he on the list to get one?Big: So I guess this is what wed be like in our 70s. No sex and board games.Carrie: Aww, youre already thinking about your next birthday?Samantha asks Carrie if the guy she just met (still within earshot) is straight or gaySamantha: Martini straight up or with a twist?Samantha: Besides , theres no such thing as bad publicity. Carrie: Yeah, you would say that youre a publicist.Miranda: gets hit in the head with Nerf ball I just realized... maybe its maturity or the wisdom that comes with age, but the witch in Hansel and Gretel shes very misunderstood. I mean, the woman builds her dream house and these brats come along and start eating it.Miranda: I spoke to a woman with a masters in finance all she wanted to talk about was her Diaper Genie.Carrie brought Miranda along for a double non-dateMiranda: looks at watch I have to go feed my cat.Carrie: voiceover Miranda had invoked our code phrase, honed over years of bad parties, awful dates and phone calls that wouldnt end. Unfortunately, I wasnt ready to accept defeat. out loud I thought you already fed your cat.Miranda: I have to feed it again.Manhattan Guy: Cat people all freaks.Carrie: When did being alone become the modern-day equivalent of being a leper? Will Manhattan restaurants soon be divided up into sections smoking / non-smoking, single / non-sin gle? Charlotte: How can you forget a guy youve slept with?Carrie: Toto, I dont think were in single-digits anymore. ​Trey: Youre learning Chinese?Charlotte: Well, just in case, I want to be able to speak to the baby.