The Writer's Life 10/29 - Gambles

George Will devoted his op-ed piece, syndicated in today’s NY Post, to the fantasy sports craze. He claims that government objects to sites such as FanDuel and DraftKings not because they are unregulated and propose a danger to the public but because they poach on lotteries and other government run games. The FBI estimates that last year $2.6 billion was wagered illegally on March Madness. Behind the curve as usual, politicians, who create nothing, will have no choice but to make sports betting legal in all states rather than just the current handful that allow it. It’s a goldmine and the idiots, many of whom support liberal policies such as abortion, medical marijuana and free needles for addicts, are for some reason resistant to it. Gambling will never do the social damage done by alcohol, a legal product.

I just read Jonathan Podhoretz’s recap of last night’s Republican debate. Hats off the Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, and Chris Christie, who took on the moderators for their biased questions. Donald Trump was unusually quiet. Although Jeb Bush is a good person, I’m glad to see his candidacy tanking further. On his radio talk show this morning on WOR-AM, Mark Simone proposed that one of the Democratic debates be handled by Fox News. Of course, the left would never go for it, as the candidates would have to field hardball rather than softball questions.

Kudos to Nigerian forces, who rescued 338 captives, almost all women and children, from the evil clutches of Boko Haram at forest encampments. They killed 30 of the slimes in the process.

My thanks to the kind folks who bought books and donated wares today. There were two highlights to the session. Dave, a cook at a Manhattan hotel, conveyed his worry that a corporation might acquire the company for which he works. He says the restaurant loses money, breaks even at best in good times. This was surprising. I'd always heard that restaurants lose money on food but more than make up for it on drinks. I was shocked to hear that dishwashers make $26 an hour plus benefits. That's only two buck less than Dave, who had to go to cooking school, earns. Later, a petite redhead scanned the books and said she would be back. When she returned she was obviously pissed. She'd gone to a newsstand for a paper and the guy at the window got all huffy, accusing her of reading without intention of buying, when she thumbed through one to see if it had a real estate section. She bought one at another stand and waved it at the first guy as she passed -- and he cursed her! Fortunately, she wasn't steamed enough to pass me without making a purchase.
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