Wishing it was winter already

Well, I haven't posted a lick about weather in a century... I thought maybe somebody out there cares to know, right??

The hot weather continues across the state of Texas this week. High pressure remains the mainstay across the midwest, however.. there is a little bit of good news. With winds shifting towards the east and northeast, we will see slightly cooler and drier air filter into much of Texas soon. This will make the weather a little more pleasant this week. You may not have to use quite as much deodorant! The next actual cold front that will make a difference isn't expected by models for another several days. Hopefully, by next weekend we will be looking at high temps in the 70's with dewpoints in the 50's. We'll just have to wait and see. Don't except really any chance of rain for at least the next 3-4 days as upper level ridging cuts off any chance of this moisture getting pushed up off the ground.

Congress confused over gambling issues

Money is indeed the root of all evil.

This week, a bill was passed through congress that will forbid all U.S. banks and credit card companies et al. to accept transactions to and from offshore gaming sites. The bill will be signed into action as soon as Bush gets around to it.

I have used gambling as a frequent getaway from the realities of life. Risks are made, and these risks get the blood pumping. It's an excellent way to stress oneself out or to lose one's mind, although I find risk taking a necessary adventure in this day-in-age. As you could imagine, this bill will have a mildly significant influence on my budgeting.

The fact of the matter is that the bill doesn't exactly irritate me so much as the reasoning behind the new law. You see, it's not the gambling that U.S. Congress cares to outlaw. It's the fact that U.S. dollars are streaming into the economies of other countries...instead of into the American economy.

To note, the offshore industry currently resides at a plateau of $80B in transactions, approx half of which comes and goes from Americans. The bill makes it more difficult for these citizens to transfer cashflow efficiently and, in turn, reduce the amount of dollars invested. It's not exactly kosher to most intelligent individuals to mail $1,000 cash to some island centered in the Netherland Antilles...

As a result, Congress has decided that Americans are not smart enough to invest their earnings in a responsible manner, and have correspondingly stomped out the profitability of other countries and the innocent founders of such establishments.

America, once again, sets a DOUBLE STANDARD!

We are saying that it's ok to buy a lotto ticket, go to Vegas, Atlantic City and a number of American Indian reservations, among other venues, to gamble, but that it is illegal to take part in this same hobby with legit online businesses. Why? Either Congress is brilliant or greedy. Brilliant if their motive is to fuel the spending into our economy by preventing approx $40B from going into foreign goods. Greedy if they simply want to keep every dollar possible in the country from the profits that spill in from the gaming industry.

I have a hard time believing that it is genius considering that our congress has done little to convince me that they are capable of anything that has no benefit to themselves. Therefore, I conclude that congress is greedy... and does not trust the American public. They have also made it clear that gambling is illegal unless it lines their pockets with more dinero. They also fail to see that smart bettors are actually bringing in large profits for themselves and others which makes up for a large percentage of expendable income that appears lost at first glance. Winnings probably make up for 70% of the $40B invested.

All in all, this law is a waste of time. The industry will be hurt, but will find new ways to make transactions possible and will be booming again soon. It's disheartening to me that our congress is more concerned about off the table issues instead of worrying about the bills out there that really matter.