The Friday Letter 031106

In the United States they decided that internet gambling was not a good thing and was far to easy. Obviously, there had been poor and rich people alike who had fallen victim of this habit. And so, the powers that be over the pond put in place a law to stop money being transfered from back accounts to the on-line gambling companies. This basically stopped all on-line gambling in the States. Now, I don't usually agree with what they do over there, but this time I thought that they might of actually got it right. You can't ban gambling, the prohebition era of the twenties and thirties proved that, but you can make it difficult. So, waht does the British Government decide to do? After seeing something good coming out of the States, they ignor it and decide that that if the on-line gambling companies can make money out of this then so can gevernment, and to hell with the addicts. How stupid can they be. The UK has rising debt, and to have gambling, no matter how regulated, will make matters worse. Its bad enough with the lottery. When the lottery first started, I saw children go without food so the parents could buy 'that' ticket which would get them out of trouble. But 'that' ticket never came. Not to them. Now, they know it's not going to work, so they look for the next easy way to 'get out of this hole'. On-line gambling is a way. It's not the rich who suffer, they made their wealth through being careful, wieghing up the risks, it will be the poor who will suffer. So instead of helping the people they represent they make it easier for the poor to stay poor and help the poor become poorer, and the rich become rich. When the poor become poorer their health suffers, their children suffers, more for the NHS and child support agencies to do. Why doesn't the UK government follow the US in this one (like they seem to do with others) and help the poor not become poorer.

Whats in a name?

A lot it seems. The owners of www.utube.com is filling a lawsuit against www.youtube.com. Utube.com website in August got 68 million hits, and shut down in early October just before Google anounced plans to buy YouTube.

Buying to 'save' the world.

A few days ago I heard about the idea of buying plots of rain forest to stop it being cut down. Nice thought if it could be policed. I think to protect 'my plot' I feel I'd have to go and live there or pay a fortune for someone to do it for me.
Now, an animal welfare group is enlisting the hep of eBay to protect endangered fin whales hunted by Icelandic ships. The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) will auction "rights" to a whale's life on the online site.
WSPA wants to raise $180,000 (£95,000), the value of meat from a fin whale; it then aims to pay this sum to hunters, and ask them to let one whale go.
Iceland's return to commercial whaling after a 20-year halt has brought diplomatic protest from many quarters.
On Wednesday, a group of 25 countries delivered a demarche, a formal letter of protest, to the Icelandic government through their ambassadors in Reykjavik. See Whales for saving by eBay auction