What would you do if you discovered that a certain thing (or more, for that matter) that you have believed sincerely, even passionately, all your life was a lie?

I want:

• To tell my father I love him.
• To travel to Europe and South Africa.
• To get accepted into that programme.
• To feel his fingers running through my locks.
• To watch 300 for the umpteenth time, and it has absolutely nothing to do with seeing Gerard Butler’s ripped body and six-pack.
• To colour my locks flaming red with honey-blonde at the tips, although my loctitian would rather have her nails ripped out than allow that.
• To make someone who has lost his/her smile laugh.
• To ask her why she threw away our friendship.
• To tell that lying biological mishap where to jump off.
• My boss to stop smoking.

Compassion is the basis of all morality.” Arthur Schopenhaeur

Predictably, the Church has raised another outcry against casino gambling, claiming that its practice generally spawns such social ills as crime, prostitution, and moral depravity, among other negatives, which would destroy the already tattered moral fabric of the nation.

Now, according to yesterday’s Sunday Gleaner, “a compulsive gambling counsellor from the United States is raising the red flag about the possible harmful impact of the introduction of casino gambling to Jamaica.”

And my personal favourite: “Casino gambling is going to be another Cash Plus.” (Jamaica Gleaner dated April 30, 2008, letter to the Editor)

Nothing like an issue involving money to cause all the preachers and wanna-be prophets to come crawling out of the woodworks.

Frankly, I’m bone-weary of the rants and raves over this beaten-to-death topic, when far more grave social issues - which have co-existed alongside other established gambling activities, such as Lotto, Cash Pot, bets on horse racing, etc. - need to be addressed, and if possible, resolved. The street boys at almost every traffic light. The homeless huddling under cardboard sheets on street corners and in front of businesses. The escalating violence in our schools; the corresponding abuse of our educators. Incest. Environmental issues. Need I continue?

Since the Church is so concerned about the moral decay of the nation, perhaps they could offer an explanation for said decay when churches abound and mushroom ever so often on every street corner. With such abundant signs of religiosity, shouldn’t there also be a corresponding increase in morality? Yes? No? Maybe so?

(I would mention the evils spawned by organised religion throughout the span of history, but that may be fodder for another post.)

Yet, the moral fabric of our nation continues to rip, ever so slowly. In spite of…anything.

Does the answer lie in the Church?

Are casinos really the problem, or even part of it?

Was Schopenhaeur hitting closer to home?

Now…let’s see…which one should go? Casinos or churches, casinos or churches, casinos or churches…

I don’t know about you, but whoever did this is damn good!

We’re now at the 122^nd day in 2008. So, for a bit of fun and education mixed together, I thought I’d share some facts on events that occurred on May 1 in history. How many, if any, of the following did you already know?

2008 - The London Agreement on translation of European patents, concluded in 2000, enters into force in 13 of the 34 Contracting States to the European Patent Convention.

2006 - The Puerto Rican government closes the Department of Education and 42 other government agencies due to significant shortages in cash flow.

2003 - 2003 invasion of Iraq: In what becomes known as the “Mission Accomplished” speech, U.S. President George W. Bush declares that “major combat operations in Iraq have ended” on board the USS Abraham Lincoln off the coast of California.

1997 - Tony Blair elected Prime Minister of U.K.

1992 - On the third day of the 1992 Los Angeles riots, African-American activist and criminal, Rodney King, appears in public before television news cameras to appeal for calm and plead for peace, asking, “People, I just want to say, you know, can we all get along?”

1989 - Disney-MGM Studios opens at Walt Disney World near Orlando, Florida, United States.

1985 - U.S. president Reagan ends embargo against Nicaragua.

1984 - Great Britain performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site.

1979 - Elton John becomes 1st pop star to perform in Israel.

1978 - Japan’s Naomi Uemura, travelling by dog sled, becomes the first person to reach the North Pole alone.

- The first unsolicited bulk commercial e-mail (which would later become known as “spam”) is sent by a DEC marketing representative to every ARPANET address on the west coast of the United States.

- 1st black mayor of New Orleans (Ernest Morial) inaugurated.

1977 - Chantal Langlace runs female world record marathon (2:35:15.4).

1971 - Amtrak (the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) is formed to take over U.S. passenger rail service.

- Rolling Stones release “Brown Sugar”.

1970 - Protests erupt in Seattle, Washington, following the announcement by U.S. President Richard Nixon that U.S. Forces in Vietnam would pursue enemy troops into Cambodia, a neutral country.

1967 - Elvis Presley and Pricilla Beaulieu wed.

1966 - Last British concert by Beatles (Empire Pool in Wembley).

1965 - U.S.S.R. launches Luna 5; later impacts on Moon.

1964 - 1st BASIC program runs on a computer (Dartmouth).

1963 - 1st American, James Whittaker, conquers Mount Everest.

1961 - The Prime Minister of Cuba, Fidel Castro, proclaims Cuba a socialist nation and abolishes elections.

- 1st U.S. airplane hijacked to Cuba.

- Pulitzer prize awarded to Harper Lee for To Kill a Mockingbird.

1959 - West Germany introduces 5-day work week.

1957 - Larry King’s 1st radio broadcast.

1956 - The polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk is made available to the public.

1951 - 600,000 march for peace and freedom in Germany.

- Minnie Minoso becomes the 1st black to play for the White Sox.

1950 - Gwendolyn Brooks is 1st Black to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry.

1948 - The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (North Korea) is established, with Kim Il-sung as president.

1945 - World War II: A German newsreader officially announces that Adolf Hitler has “fallen at his command post in the Reich Chancellery fighting to the last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany”.

1941 - General Mills introduces Cheerios.

1940 - The 1940 Summer Olympics are cancelled due to war.

1939 - Batman comics hit the streets.

1936 - Emperor Haile Selassie leaves Ethiopia as Italian invades.

1931 - The Empire State Building is dedicated in New York City.

1930 - The dwarf planet Pluto is officially named.

1927 - The first cooked meals on a scheduled flight are introduced on an Imperial Airways flight from London to Paris.

1886 - The start of the general strike which eventually wins the eight-hour workday in the United States. These events are today commemorated as May Day or Labour Day in most industrialized countries.

1884 - Moses Walker became 1st black player in major league.

- Proclamation of the demand for eight-hour workday in the United States.

1873 - 1st U.S. postal card issued.

1867 - Reconstruction of South begins, black voter registration.

1846 - Ida Pfeiffer begins trip around world.

1844 - Samuel Morse sends 1st telegraphic message.

1840 - 1st adhesive postage stamps (”Penny Blacks” from England) issued.

1834 - The British colonies abolish slavery.

1751 - 1st American cricket match is played.

1707 - England, Wales and Scotland form U.K. of Great Britain.

1006 - Supernova observed by Chinese and Egyptians in constellation Lupus.

Sources:

Brainy History

May 1 Events