Sun-Herald: Casino storm brewing

[HeeBGBz]

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/12762165.htm

snip

Hurricane Katrina is spawning a new storm, this one political, as Mississippi lawmakers in special session ponder whether to let destroyed casinos rebuild on dry land instead of the floating barges to which they were previously restricted.

"I'm here representing my lord and savior, Jesus Christ," the Rev. Kendall Boutwell of Brookhaven told the House Gaming Committee at the start of a lengthy hearing. Boutwell said gamblers are covetous, in violation of the 10th commandment, and are idolaters.

"What do you suggest we do about the thousands of people displaced, without jobs, from that industry?" Rep. Leonard Bentz, R- Biloxi, asked Boutwell.

B o u t w e l l responded that the Coast should create more wholesome tourist attractions, like Dollywood.

Sounds like he wants to turn the the MS coast into Branson South.

[Spinzonner]

1. Does the Rev's church do Bingo ?

[saigon68]

14. HE IS A UNION PAPERMILL WORKER

HERE IS HIS WEB-SITE

www.unionworkersagainstgaymarriage.com

HIS STORY HE IS A HOMOPHOBE TOO !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.unionworkersagainstgaymarriage.com/kendalstory.html


AFL-CIO Urged to Halt Support of 'Proud Union Queers'
By Randy Hall
CNSNews.com Staff Writer/Editor
June 13, 2005

(CNSNews.com) - Leaders of more than three dozen family-oriented organizations have sent a letter to AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, urging him and his federation to rescind its support of same-sex marriage and stop using members' dues to advance the agendas of homosexual and transgender activists, including one group that calls its members "proud union queers."

The letter, sent earlier this month, is a response to a resolution entitled "Support for the Full Inclusion and Equal Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People in the Workplace," which the AFL-CIO Executive Committee passed unanimously at its March 3 meeting in Las Vegas.


http://www.cnsnews.com/Nation/Archive/200506/NAT20050613a.html

[DarbyUSMC]

34. I can't speak for him (obviously). As a rule, Evangelical churches do not

have fund raisers such as raffles or, God forbid, Bingo. The ones I am familiar with in the South do not have bake sales, rummage sales or anything resembling the taking of money from "outsiders." The members tithe of their own free will and the buildings they meet in are modest and without adornments, generally speaking. The low key, mostly small churches all over the place are able to support the pastor and his family who usually live in a house rented or owned by the congregation. It goes with the job, in most instances. The houses generally are simple but ample for the size of the family. The churches we read about are not a good representation of the majority of what the churches are like in the South. I've lived in SC, NC, GA and FL and spent a month attending an Apostolic church in Denham Springs, LA where the folks meet three or four times a week. They were quiet, hard working people who live according to their beliefs, somewhat like the Amish, only with different beliefs about being plain and using electricity etc. To each their own. Proof of the pudding is in how the people of a congregation treat their neighbors and town folk who don't share their beliefs. From what I saw first hand, they do not hit people over the heads with their Bibles and they are very much for walking the walk. They'd be the first to help out if a fire burned out a family or in a disaster like Katrina and Rita. Like everything else in our country, what we see or read about is not to be confused with how things are in reality for the larger percentage of people. What is true about various religious zealots doesn't necessarily apply to the thousands of people who belong to little churches throughout the southern states and the rest of the country as well. Many Democrats in those congregations btw.

[saigon68]

39. I DOUBT this "reverend" has a church

[Seabiscuit]

49. Well, if they all voted for Bush, they're not so different after all, are

they?

[The Backlash Cometh]

2. Ha-ha! I've never seen such a cronyistic establishment, than Dollywood.

Let's hope that whatever they rebuild in Mississippi, it does a better job of spreading the wealth.

[msmcghee]

15. Cronyistic?

I thought that term only applied to hiring family and friends for government positions.

Is Dollyland government supported?

How do you mean this? Do you live in the area?

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Hey, I'm not the one who used Dollywood as an exemplary example.

Dolly Parton hires mostly her family members. That area is very depressed economically so the locals who can't get a job, who are not related to Parton bitch about it. The service jobs are not exactly merit-based.

But, yes, if you're into that tight family, southern atmosphere. It's the place to go. Absolutely loved the American craft area. And still pissed off that someone stole my stain-glassed stepping stone.

[msmcghee]

19. I never heard of Dollyland before.

Although my impression of Dolly is that she's a good person.

I guess I can't fault someone for hiring family for their own business. I grew up in the south many years ago. (1950's)

I think the "tight family, southern atmosphere" is the result of hard times back through the generations. When things are tough and most people (and nature and the economy) are out to get you if they can - it's good to be able to trust in the structure of your extended family.

Even here in Washington state there are areas where southerners have settled (like Darrington) where those same values are carried on to this day.

Sorry about your stained glass stepping stone. Was it stolen from your yard? And what does that have to do with Dollyland?

PS - I'm not disagreeing with you. Just confused. ;-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. It's called Dollywood. Not Dollyland.

I see no problem with a family-based business that uses nepotism to select employees, as long as public money isn't being used to finance it. And that is what I assume they're talking about when they're talking about reconstruction in Mississippi.

I assume Dolly Parton is a nice person, I don't really know so personally.

And I purchased the stained glass stepping stone in the craft area in Dollywood. I guess a lot of things disappeared in my yard over the years. Maybe over a ten year period, someone stole the $50.00 camouflage netting my son used as a fort; then a few years later, someone got into our unlocked car and took DVDs & cellphone. And just recently I noticed that the stepping stone was gone.

I consider myself very fortunate, by the way. The items are peanuts. I just missed the stepping stone because it was a very nice vacation.

[demo dutch]

46. You're not missing anything!

[pitohui]

22. dolly is proud to support her family

yrs ago i read an interview, may have even been in ms, where dolly parton discussed the value of women creating businesses that could grow & support their families not just w. handouts but w. good jobs...just as men have always done for their families

i got no beef w. dolly, she's one of the good guys

however good ppl in mississippi need real work & they can't compete w. gatlinburg, branson, & orlando, those niches are full, what attracted peeps to the casinos from bay st. louis to biloxi was true vegas resort style gambling w. shows, the free booze, the fine restaurants and spas, the golf courses...an adult playground

the good lord jesus couldn't be arsed to get off his ass & provide a decent living for so many ppl in mississippi, generations of hopelessness were turned around not by any church and not by any damn bingo game but by the opportunity provided by casino gambling, yes it comes at a cost, but ppl going generation after generation w.out jobs or opportunity is also a cost & a high one

i don't think we need a damn casino or video poker palace on every corner of main street usa but to deny the good that this industry brought to the gulf coast is just pure-dee crazee

i hope the mississippi legislators get off their butts & save this industry which has done so much for the state since 92

[The Backlash Cometh]

40. I think you're all missing the point.

I got no beef with Dolly, either. It's a private business and she can do with it what she likes. But to use it as an example of what they want in Mississippi when it involves public money...well, they better find a better way than nepotism to hire people.

[pitohui]

42. ok i'll accept that answer

to be honest i wasn't sure what you were getting at w. the dollywood comparison but i agree that all casinos (whether publically owned or privately held) need to be subject to careful regulation when it comes to hiring and firing

the mississippi gaming commission is a good one, it does not just sit on its hands & whitewash bullshit as has been known to happen in nevada, they really do an impressive job

[Bridget Burke]

33. Graham Norton went to Dollywood for a Christmas special

The park does belong to Dolly, so she is free to hire whomever she wishes.

[Sydnie]

3. "I'm here representing my lord and savior, Jesus Christ,"

I'd ask to see his power of attorney. If he doesn't have one, dismiss it as hearsay.

Is it really going to make a differenece to this guy if they are on dry land or if they are on the water? They were there before and they gave the state a great deal of revenue.

They just don't get it. If they eliminate all "sin", they are out of the soul saving business. :shrug:

[pitohui]

23. i like the way you think

I'd ask to see his power of attorney. If he doesn't have one, dismiss it as hearsay.

[underpants]

4. Barbour mentioned this in the first post storm interview I saw

They were on top of this quick

ON EDIT it was the first question Lauer asked him "You are losing about 1/2 a million dollars a aday..." Barbour was ready to go with his speel about having permanent fixed casinos

[opihimoimoi]

5. I wonder...Hmmmmmmm, who will prevail? Dogma or Profits?

[Redstone]

6. Branson South, or Las Vegas Southeast. Neither one sounds too

appealing to me.

I will grant that the situation down ther might be different, and it's certainly not my business to tell people who live down there what they should do, but having the huge casinos in Connecticut has had a big negative effect on the state.

Redstone

[Coventina]

10. Agreed. I really think there has to be better ways to grow an economy

than those two options.

Yeesh.

[pitohui]

27. as "vegas southeast" they were truly beautiful

i don't give much of a crap how something sounds, did you ever visit these casinos

they did a splendid job far beyond what anyone first dreamed when they opened in the early 90s

before they opened, no one was more skeptical or a bigger opponent of legalized gambling than i but they truly turned the coast around & they provided a great gaming experience while they were at it

you are not just talking about gambling, you are talking about auditoriums giving musicians & even comedians and other entertainers venues they never had in the south, you are talking abt nice restaurants instead of just another fried catfish & peanut butter pie place, you are talking great spas & salons, golf courses, convention ballrooms, opportunity for blackjack & poker tournaments, you name it, they probably offered it

now vegas has many more truly five-star restaurants but on the other hand in biloxi you have to put a lot less money in action to get taken around to the limo to the prize fight and to the restaurant, it gave the middle class guy a chance to be a high roller for a better price, the coast really represented the best quality gaming value around if you want my humble view

they did a great job & they deserve to be allowed to continue doing their great job

lots of great memories there, lots of loyal customers who keep coming back for a reason, there are some great ppl working in this industry in mississippi

[Redstone]

36. Well, that's why I said I wasn't trying to tell you guys down there

what to do...it sure sounds like the casinos you had worked out better for you than the ones up here have for us.

Were your casinos Indian-owned? That's a BIG part of the problem up here, is that the casinos can basically tell the state to go fuck itself when the state wants them to conform to almost any laws.

Redstone

[pitohui]

37. the casinos on the coast are not native owned

there is a native casino in philadelphia, mississippi owned & operated by the choctaw and it is an extremely nice facility also

because it is native-owned, it is already land-based

[alarimer]

45. I have been there

I was in Pascagoula last year for several days, stuck on a NOAA ship after Ivan. We were waiting for replacement crew for some of the people who had to go home to deal with the storm. While there I went to one of the casinos in Biloxi. I think it was the Beau Rivage. It didn't even seem like a floating casino; I couldn't tell. But I think casinos are tacky anyway. Vegas is not my idea of a good time. I wish they would leave the beach barren of development, to have a buffer zone in case of another storm. I am only guessing here, but I don't think casinos bring in as much money to the area as a lot of people think. The workers probably don't get paid very much.

[Coyote_Bandit]

7. An accusation of covetousness

My, my. And coming from a professional pastor whose livlihood is dependent on the voluntary financial contributions of others. Pot calling the kettle black I'd say.....

[HeeBGBz]

8. I bet there will be an upsurge in offshore oil rig proponents now too

Before the storm, there was a strong leaning to keep the rigs away from the barrier islands. I went to the 12 Mile South Coalition rally a week or two prior to the storm. Most in attendance opposed the idea of oil rigs anywhere close to the coast.

Bet they are pushing for it now. I hope they don't succeed.

[gulfcoastliberal]

20. I remember seeing those signs, also signs against DuPonts DeLisle plant

I just wonder if the new fereal energy laws supersecede states rights on that issue of drilling. I heard a bit on NPR a few weeks back about how in CT some energy compnay has been fighting to install a natural gas pipeline through oysterbeds to go to Long Island. The state EPA agency has stopped them 4 times; they refuse to move it to a less damaging site for whatever reason and now with the new federal energy law they get to go around the state and take it to federal court. Sucks.

[pitohui]

28. well they are going to have to allow business of some kind

if the sweet baby jesus presumes to take food out of the mouth of the good ppl of biloxi & tell them they can't have their wicked casinos any more, what choice would they have but to drill?

shrimp is not going to come back for a yr or two, at which point a lot of their old customers are going to getting their supply from china or other foreign sources

ppl in mississippi gotta eat too, as a shaman once told me, a man can starve just as well in pretty country as he can in the city

[DinahMoeHum]

9. Fellow Dems, let's not get involved in this train wreck. . .

Let the Mississippi 'Pukes shoot each other over this. Stand back.

:evilgrin:

[HeeBGBz]

11. It doesn't just effect the Pukes.

eom

[TlalocW]

12. I'm all for more places...

Based on careers of large-breasted women like Dollywood, and I applaud Rev. Kendall Boutwell for having the courage to suggest it. I look forward to riding the D-Cup ride at Elvira-Land.

TlalocW

[Weembo]

13. We have a kook mega-church in Houston

2nd Baptist -- that claims Rita turned from Houston (where everyone is good) and aimed at the Lake Charles casinos. Using that logic, God does not exist in East Texas -- Sorry, Rep. Poe.

[Carni]

16. Oh would they just...STFU!

Talk about stupidity.

[truthisfreedom]

18. one would think that with a casino mounted on a barge, it could be tugged

away upriver before any storm hit.

[MarsThe Cat]

25. How about putting them on submarines?

no reason to close up the craps table for a hurricane- just blow some air out of the ballast tanks and keep on gambling 200 ft. down.

[pitohui]

29. one would think one had never seen these casinos, am i correct

these are monumental barges, the size of huge buildings

you cannot shut them down & tug them away every time there is a storm in the gulf

[HeeBGBz]

44. They are way creepy when they float away

This one moved about a quarter mile, if I was to estimate.



This was my favorite casino, btw.

[MarsThe Cat]

24. gamblers are covetous???

hey reverend-

this is a capitalist society, and EVERYTHING about capitalism is covetousness...and you want to talk about idolaters- what about all those sunday(i.e. the sabbath) afternoon football fans?

asshat.

[Xithras]

26. Oooh! Republican Bible Thumpers vs. Republican Corporatists!

:popcorn:

[Sgent]

31. The majority of the MS legislature

is Democratic.

[Tight_rope]

50. Hey...pass some of that popcorn!

:popcorn: :rofl: :beer:

[Sgent]

30. The idea

of being built on a "barge" is laughable. The Coast casinos (and the ones in Tunica for that matter) are not barges in any regular sense of the word.

They have levees built around them to provide for protection from waves and storm, they are permanetly moored into place, and they have 5+ stories of gambling space built on top of them. If I didn't tell you it was floating, you would never know it.

The way the law was written in MS, the number of casino licenses were unlimited given proper financials and character checks. On top of that, 75% of all development costs had to be on land -- not on water. This gave rise to the entertainment venues, golf, and host of other features.

Until Katrina, MS had more gambling space than any place but Nevada. In fact, the total gambling space in the south and Tunica was more than in Las Vegas.

Tunica County was the POOREST IN THE NATION before casinos came to the area -- and provided comparatively excellent jobs for locals and non-locals alike.

[pitohui]

32. excellent summary, sgent

you can look up old articles in the nation from decades gone by where tunica county was described as "little ethiopia"

it's amazing what this industry has done for mississippi

[Peace Patriot]

35. The CASINOS are idolatrous??!! What about the stock market, and the

currency traders, and, the real estate speculators, and the war profiteers, and indeed, all of capitalism?

And, indeed, everything that George Bush and his Oil Cartel stand for?

Talk about violating the 10th commandment!

[derby378]

38. Hey, Reverend, Pope Benedict XVI wants a word with you...

He says your trying to muscle in on his turf. Please stop. Pax Romanum.

[MisterP]

41. Dollywood? Mrs. "I have small feet because things don't grow well in the

shade?"

[pitohui]

43. that would be the one

:-)

[onager]

48. Then there was her other famous quote...

"If I ever had a cherry, it got shoved so far back I could use it for a tail-light."

(Uttered in an interview with Rolling Stone)

:rofl:

[demo dutch]

47. Such nonsense! Whether on a barge or not a Casino is a Casino

Might as well build it on (safer) dry land if you going have them!