Lottery with a bullet

It may have finally come to pass where it is time to monetize the mass shootings in America. It's time to hold a lottery. A pool for when and where the next mass shooting will be.

This is a pool where one can parlay their predictions into millions of potential dollars. The money raised can go to the NRA or to other gun loving lobbying groups

Some suggested categories for people to gamble on may include:

The date
The state
The sex of the shooter (a gimme!)
The race (can be tricky)
Age of the shooter
Did the shooter have a prior conviction of domestic violence
The population of the place where the shooting occurred.
The time of day
How many were killed
The ages of those killed. (youngest, oldest)
Were any of the victims pregnant?
Did any good guys with guns try and stop the shooter
Did the shooter die before being captured?
Did the shooter take his own life?
Was the shooter captured alive?
Was the shooter offered Burger King or other fast food by the police force?
How many wounded?
How many permanently disfigured
How many victims had GoFundMe accounts opened to pay for their medical bills?
How many victims had GoFundMe accounts to pay for their funerals?
How many members of congress posted a tweet that said, "Thoughts and prayers are with the victims."
How many hours it took the president to do the same
Did the president do the same?
How many cable news presenters said it was "Too Soon" to talk about gun control
How many cable news presenters tried to politicize the shooting less than three hours after it happened

As you can see, the possibilities are endless. Why not add your own?

Come on America, put your bullets where your wallet is. Make this happen. Make it great!

Red to Black and Back Again

In the cold of January motivation is tough for me. The smartasses out there will question when in the year motivation is easy but I'll let that slide.

Writing has been hard since IWPS. The muse has been returning. There are fragments around but it's been difficult to finish anything, and when I seek feedback and get none it gets a bit frustrating. So I'll continue on my own path.

There's a local issue happening I'm going to spout off on. Issue Three essentially gives one company the rights to operate a casino in four Ohio cities and specifically determines where to place them.

I'm not a gambler. Or, shall I say, I'm a horrible gambler. I've been in a handful of casinos in Niagara Falls and Fort Erie, Ontario and Wheeling, West Virginia and was not compelled to return after giving them twenty bucks.

Do I think there should be a casino in Columbus. If it's done right, yes. Issue Three was a terrible amendment to Ohio's constitution. Would you like it if a majority of voters in the state were allowed to decide that only one company was allowed to operate a grocery store in your city, complete with location? Did not think so.

That's my beef with Issue Three. But it passed and a vocal contingent is now trying to amend the amendment. Other locations in the city are being suggested, including one down about two miles down the block from where I live, at the site of the vacant Cooper Stadium - and another about three miles west of me, at the site of the closed Delphi Plant or the dead on the concrete Westland Mall.

Now west side folks are up in arms about crime increasing if a casino comes into play out here.

Crime increasing. In west Columbus?!?

I'd rather have a card dealer at the casino live next door instead of a drug dealer.

Would I want a casino in those locations? Sure, why not. The sites are dead. There are worse things to do with the sites, such as allowing them to sit vacant.