Comment history

WoodesRodgers says...

This is a bold strong-arm tactic...our PM is a true gangster! He is basically saying, if we vote No he will tax the hell out of us! The leaders in the PLP need to call an emergency meeting and elect a new leader. PGC your are truely a disgrace to the nation and that's coming from someone who once voted for you...disgrace I say. But you keep talking...you are revealing your true self to the Bahamian people-damn sell out!!!

On Christie: 'No' vote will lead to more taxes

Posted 23 January 2013, 1:10 p.m. Suggest removal

WoodesRodgers says...

Mr. Bastian needs to read the legislation on gaming...his establishments receive money here in the Bahamas and pay out his customers here in the Bahamas...it is illegal. That's what we are really voting for in this "opinion poll"...To legalize online gambling! You don't need 3000 employees for that, you don't even need 1 employee! Wake up Bahamians and vote NO!!!

WoodesRodgers says...

Firstly, numbers can be stopped if the Gov't really wanted to. The backbone of all number houses is the internet. Just as countries can block Facebook and Twitter, we can block the website of all current and any new number houses. It's a very easy thing to do. If number houses should revert back to the old way of selling numbers via paper receipts, then they should be very easy to catch and prosecute.

Secondly, number houses have evolved into casinos. People go in there and put money on their accounts and gamble on the computers. You can gamble on just about every game imaginable...checkers, bingo, poker, blackjack, slots, sports, etc... It's all right there to play for money on the internet so the question about legalizing casinos seems crazy to me because when we legalize numbers, by extension, we will be legalizing casino gambling as well. Don't you see parked cars in front of number houses all day...people are not there for hours buying Cash 3 or Play 4...they are gambling on the computer!!!

In my opinion, if we are going to legalize numbers then we should also legalize casino gambling. We already have a reliable system in place for casinos so it will be nothing new for us to do except change the law and maybe tax the casinos a little more. The casinos will be more profitable which will allow them to hire more people, who in turn contribute to the growth of the economy. It will be much easier than implementing a totally new system that has to be created and enforced. Besides, the odds of winning are better in a casino than they are on a computer...do some research into online casino.

Lastly, it is with regret that we have come to this point in our country. This could have all been prevented if we nipped this, in the proverbial bud, when it first started but like so many other things we have let it grown out of control. Gambling is a very serious addiction that I have personally seen ruin many families right here in the Bahamas. In my experience as a former numbers salesperson, women especially are susceptible to this unnecessary evil. Unfortunately we cannot go back in time, so to me the sensible thing to do is to have a Gov't ran numbers/lottery system like in Florida. We could hire an experienced company a management fee that will be based on percentage of the profits. I hope we all enact a law that the profits from gambling/numbers can only be used in the education system. Casino gambling should be legal for all above the age of 21 and we should tax casinos on a percentage of revenue as well. If we as a country decide to legalize gambling/numbers then it should for the benefit of all, not just the owners of a few number houses!!!

On The destructive face of casino gambling

Posted 10 September 2012, 3:53 p.m. Suggest removal