Columns by Tony Lawrence

Compromise

11/4/07 -- This casino fight is a good example of conflicting social mores.

One the one hand we have those who don't like gambling because of their belief that any activity harmful to society should be banned, and on the other we have those who are willing to accept harm to some elements of society...

Talking Points' barn door sized holes

10/30/07 - Tony goes over the new anti-casino alliance's talking points and find some barn door sized holes. Cainofreemass is already exaggerating and distorting the facts.

The Dark Side

10/21/07 -- I've mentioned before that I was originally ambivalent about a casino in Middleboro. What I haven't talked about is how easily I could have gone the other way - how I could have been one of the Mighty Thirteen Hundred, a contributor to Gladys Kravitz's blog, perhaps even serving on the CFO Board of Directors. Put very simply, I don't like gambling. I do not believe that gambling is something that society should encourage. I easily could have joined the anti-casino crowd.

Middleboro and the regional task force

10/18/07 - The Town of Middleborough once again went to the Regional Task Force meeting in Lakeville and was refused a seat at the table. Nowremember, this "task force" wasn't assembled to wage war against Middleboro, wasn't assembled to investigate a gerrymandered creation that leaves Middleboro out of the "region" - it was formed to investigate and deal with the issues of a Casino in this area.

The mighty thirteen hundred

10/8/08 Tony's latest view on the 1,300 pro-casino voters.

Casino?

9/25/07 Tony offers a pessimistic view about the prospects for a casino in Middleboro.

Rights

8/27/07 - One of the laments of the anti-casino folks concerns "rights". It's a vague concept - they have yet to say which of their rights they think are being disrespected here, but let's pretend for a moment that their cry has merit. We'll call it the "I have a right to get what I want" amendment, and perhaps it will someday actually be added to our Constitution. CONTINUED

Why I Believe

8/18/07 -- I've heard some of my fellow Orange Shirts ask "What's WRONG with those people? Are they stupid?"

Sure, some are. So are some of us. There are just as many "stupid" reasons to want a casino resort as there are to oppose it. But there are also intelligent people who think this is a very bad idea. CONTINUED

The Prodigal Son

8/15/07 -- A bronze plaque was installed today on the granite facade of Middleboro Town Hall. It honors the achievements of Dr. Dennis Garcia, the man whose pioneering cellular research is credited with leading us to the discovery of cures for cancer, Parkinson's disease, and many other cellular problems that seemed so intractable earlier this century. CONTINUED

Moral Conviction

8/12/07 -- I suppose that some of the CasinoFacts folks really believe that a casino is harmful to this town. Perhaps they buy the crime argument, in spite of plain data that shows otherwise and investigation by our own Chief of Police. Or maybe they are convinced that the casino will destroy local business, ignoring the fact the the very road that leads to Foxwoods is littered with new restaurants and other businesses that have been built after the casino.. Maybe they believe all of it.

Crystal Ball

8/12/07 -- I think that full fledged Class III Casino Gambling is almost a sure bet in Massachusetts.

I don't know if the Wampanoags will get to build their casino, but if not, the threat that they could will almost certainly be used as justification to build commercial casinos.

The social costs of gambling

8/11/07 -- In his first column, Xenophoboro, Tony opened the discomforting subject of the "other ism", social classism. In this column he take an unflinching look at the social costs of gambling from the perspective of moral relativism. Read this likely to be controversial column here > > > .

Xenophoboboro

8/10/07 -- Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free..

Just don't bring them here.

Why? Because, according to our anti-casino friends who are still fighting the good fight, increased population causes increased crime, and that darn casino is going to increase our population tremendously. CONTINUED >>

* Tony is a regular contributor to OakPointCommunity.org .