Category: default || By jt3y

State Sen. Sean Logan, a man whom I generally respect and admire, is waxing grandiose about the prospect of slot machine parlors in Western Pennsylvania, as Pat Cloonan reports in The Daily News:

"When we hear estimates of the slots parlor in the city of Pittsburgh, we hear about $125 million to build it," state Sen. Sean Logan, D-Monroeville, said. "That's a lot of construction jobs, that's a lot of material, and that is even before you throw in if Mario Lemieux gets awarded the slots parlor."

But while Logan has expressed support in the past for 1935 Inc.'s plan for a racetrack that could include electronic gaming or slots, he doubts the Biros family's South Versailles Twp. effort will bear fruit.

"I appreciate their desire to get a license and to compete for a slots parlor," he said. "The language (in the bill recently signed by Gov. Ed Rendell) prohibits that, though."

Let me just add, "phooey."

Anyone expecting a giant windfall from slot machine parlors had better not hold their breath. I'm hopeful that the taxes generated will help offset school property taxes, but I question whether the revenues will be enough to make any appreciable dent. As amply demonstrated over and over again, gambling doesn't produce any real revenue because it doesn't create anything of value. It just moves money around: People who use their discretionary income to play slot machines won't spend that money at the golf course or the movie theater, so the sales taxes that might have been generated by those purchases will instead become slot machine taxes.

Only industries that actually create a physical product --- manufacturing, extraction and agriculture come to mind --- add real money to the economy. What's the physical product created by gambling? OTB slips?

As for construction jobs, by their very nature, they're fleeting. People working on construction of slot parlors will have work for 18 or 24 months, and then they'll be off to the next job, which may or may not be in Western Pennsylvania. In fact, the construction workers and contracting firms may or may not be from Western Pennsylvania, and the state might not see any of that $125 million. The best we can count on is a slight increase in motel and hotel taxes, and perhaps some occupational privilege or wage tax benefits.

Finally, as for the prospect of slot machines saving the Penguins: What exactly are we saving? A hockey team that may or may not collapse with the rest of the National Hockey League during the strike or lockout that appears to be imminent? Besides, why should I care about saving a hockey team whose tickets I can't afford?

Eh. If those are the best arguments for legalizing slot machines, Sen. Logan, they're not very persuasive.

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Pittsburgh City Paper weighs in on what columnist John McIntire calls "Shoveitgate," while Managing Editor Chris Potter says the national press corps got "Kerry-ed away" by the story.

I'm not going to comment on these pieces. Just pardon me while I wipe some of the foam off of my mouth; that happens when you're biting your tongue and laughing at the same time.

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By the way: In my never humble opinion, it was an anonymous editorialist at a small newspaper in Henderson, N.C., who best summed up the real moral of Teresa Kerry's "shove it" remark:

Heinz Kerry denied using both the term "activity" and the word "un-American." She was half right. It was only when a persistent McNickle informed her she definitely had said "un-American," that Mrs. Kerry --- also realizing McNickle was the editorial page editor at one of the region's more conservative papers --- flew off the handle.

Thus the style or lack thereof with which Mrs. Kerry delivered her message became the focal point, rather than her message's substance.

In a campaign where the Democrats have staked out the position that --- among other things --- George W. Bush is a liar, they'd be well-advised to do their level best at being truthful. And denying your own words scarcely an instant after you've uttered them, and had them recorded for posterity on videotape, falls short of the bar.

Granted, Heinz Kerry's dishonest response hardly measures up to the accusations opponents have leveled against Bush regarding Iraq. But the truth is the truth, and both sides ought to be sticking to it.

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You may have heard that workers at a Wal-Mart in Quebec have earned the right to unionize. What you may not know is that workers at the Wal-Mart up in New Castle, Lawrence County, have been trying to organize for several years, despite what the NLRB called a pattern of harassing employees, spying on them and transferring them to other departments.

Read the complaint and you'll see how Wal-Mart keeps its prices are so low: Employees allege that departments are understaffed, that equipment is broken or absent, and that they're forced to work after-hours or on their lunch hours without compensation. More details from the United Food and Commercial Workers' union.

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Things to do in August:

St. Mark's Parish festival starts tonight on the grounds of the former St. Eugene's Church, 3210 Liberty Way, Liberty Borough, and runs through Saturday. In addition to games of chance and ethnic food, a flea market and car show will be held. Call (412) 678-6275.

St. Martin De Porres Parish festival runs Aug. 13 to 15 at the corner of Eighth & Market Streets in Our Fair City. There will be a Polka Mass at the St. Peter worship site on Market Street at 5 p.m. Aug. 14 featuring the Larry Placek Combo. Call (412) 672-9763 or visit www.stmartindeporres.com.

American Cancer Society, Greater Pittsburgh Unit, will hold a 24-hour "Relay for Life" beginning at 9 a.m. Aug. 14 at McKeesport High School on Eden Park Boulevard. Call (888) 227-5445 or email dzukas@cancer.org for more information (be sure to specify you're looking for info about the "Mon-Yough Relay For Life").

Last, but certainly not least, the 44th annual International Village ethnic food and music festival will be held Aug. 17 to 19 at Renziehausen Park in Our Fair City. For more information, call (412) 675-5020, extension 60.