Daily Archives: February 7, 2017

Celebrating Black History: Detroit Techno icons – Mixmag

Posted: February 7, 2017 at 10:59 pm

Underground music was built on love, unity, respect, and inclusivity. Mixmag is celebrating Black History Month over the next four weeks in commemoration of electronic music's most cherished and revered artists who embraced these founding values.

This week, we're putting our hands up for Detroit, the birthplace of North American techno and the starting point for many of the undergrounds most legendary, forging talents.

There's no discussion of Detroit Techno without mention of The Belleville Three. The legendary trio made up of Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins and Derrick May are celebrated as the founders of the seminal genre. The trio met in high school, became close-knit friends and were all heavily influenced by the downtrodden socio-economic status of Detroit at the time. Motifs of violence, economic collapse and cultural despair led to industrial and desolate themes.

Through it all, the three embraced music and each became icons in their own right. Juan Atkins became known as The Initiator, Derrick May The Innovator and Kevin Saunderson The Elevator.

After forging an incredible underground culture within the city and helping grow what is now known as Movement Electronic Music Fesitval, Saunderson, Atkins and May branched off into their own projects with the labels KMS, Metroplex and Om and Transmat, respectively.

After an extended hiatus as The Belleville Three, the trio finally plan to return and share the stage at this years Coachella and Movement in Detroit.

Read more from the original source:

Celebrating Black History: Detroit Techno icons - Mixmag

Posted in Socio-economic Collapse | Comments Off on Celebrating Black History: Detroit Techno icons – Mixmag

Why ‘financial inclusion’ may be the wrong terminology – NewsDay

Posted: at 10:59 pm

You are here: Home Business Why financial inclusion may be the wrong terminology

Over the past few years, financial authorities and development organisations in Africa have become fond of financial inclusion as a process of involving many people in banking services.

CHARLES DHEWA

Banking was also alien to most local communities who relied on their own forms of recognising and storing value

Unfortunately, such a notion reduces everything to money when focus should be on understanding socio-economic dynamics.

Progress is less about money, but more about grasping socio-economic ecosystems. By elevating finance, the notion of financial inclusion assumes money is all that is needed for development or progress.

In African agriculture, financial institutions certainly need new selling points, if they are to forge relationships with new actors like small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs), farmers and traders.

At the moment, financial inclusion is presented as if it is a favour to these economic actors.

Banks continue to develop financial packages in offices, with the assumption that these actors are desperate for money.

Most traders and SMEs have been in business for more than 10 years without formal financial support.

They probably need support in exploring export markets and improving the quality of their products, not how to start and run a business.

They could be more interested in work space and serious recognition from policymakers, not just paper recognition.

Who should include who?

When financial institutions start working with SMEs and informal markets, that is not financial inclusion.

It should be a completely new socio-economic relationship, carefully defined and understood in terms of its requirements, partnership models and sustainability frameworks.

In Zimbabwe, cash that used to move from farmers and commercial markets to banks has migrated to SMEs and informal markets, where business has also found its way.

The key question is how can banks be included in this pool of money and business activities? How can the government also be included in this new phenomenon and practice?

It is not how SMEs and markets can be included in the little market seating in banks or stock markets.

SMEs and informal markets are also suspiciously wondering why they should include banks in their business, when they have been operating on their own for years.

There is still resentment against banks, who have traditionally been interested in payslips.

Many SMEs and informal traders have not forgotten how they were compelled to look for someone with a payslip to guarantee them for a loan, even if that person knew nothing about the business for which the loan was being sought.

Now that the payslip economy is no longer viable, why are banks finding people they had previously shunned attractive?

If the above questions are not adequately answered, traders and SMEs will continue keeping their knowledge to themselves.

You cannot forcibly extract that knowledge by excessive regulation or other negative means.

Value chains are now monopolised by smallholder farmers, SMEs and informal markets. They are the ones with practical models.

Logistical issues are also handled by individual transporters, based on trust and relationships.

Most small transporters have embedded themselves into this new ecosystem by providing packaging services in addition to transport services.

The level of integration and relationship building is such that traders would rather store commodities in houses close to the market, when there are ideal warehouse facilities near-by.

Learning from the past

Traditionally, African communities had their own diverse ways of valuing their socio-economic activities without over-rating the financial component ahead of other sources or expressions of value.

Banking was also alien to most local communities, who relied on their own forms of recognising and storing value, mostly livestock.

Modern-day financial mechanisms were introduced as part of the colonial experience. After independence, there were very few financial institutions offering financial services.

As part of modernising African communities through agriculture, initial financial models were in the form of loans extended in kind (fertiliser, seeds, farming implements, heifers and others).

In Zimbabwe, for instance, the evolution of most farmer organisations was tied to this process, which could only succeed through mobilising farmers to access and demand commercial inputs.

There were different types of collateral mainly tied to the farming business. Contractual arrangements, where formal markets were used to guarantee supply and stimulate demand for agricultural commodities, became fundamental.

Upon harvest, input providers were paid first, while farmers kept surplus commodities for households and communities.

There was limited cash in circulation, with commodities supporting each other maize working together with groundnuts; maize with livestock, etc.

The role of marketing boards was well-defined, for instance, ensuring payment through stop order mechanisms.

Slowly, the banking sector started coming into play a facilitation role. Saving became automatic when farmers realised that after selling their commodities, there was no immediate use of excess cash.

A few banks, such as the Post Office Savings Bank, started cultivating niches around farming areas, where farmers started saving money.

More importantly, saving was very attractive because it had high returns in the form of interest.

A farmer could earn up to 30% from their annual savings in a bank. To a large extent, saving became an important form of asset creation for farmers.

What then happened?

The collapse of formal markets, contracts and farmers unions led to the demise of financial models that had been built pre- and post-independence.

Without a reliable market for agricultural commodities and lack of farmer organisation, there was depletion of savings for the few banks.

Everything moved back to subsistence production and some bit of semi-commercial agriculture.

Before this withdrawal phase, every commodity had a reliable market.

Groundnuts, sunflower and small grains were part of important cash crops that enabled farmers to send their children to school.

With the depletion of savings from agriculture, the financial sector decided to support a few cash crops around which formal contractual arrangements could be designed and sustained.

Examples of such crops were cotton, tobacco and sugar cane, with the rest no longer considered viable cash crops.

Unfortunately, that movement spawned a serious monoculture in crops that were not consumed locally.

Pressure began to mount on the few cash crops to meet food requirements, as well as other important needs like school fees, inputs and tax.

After meeting all these demands, farmers producing the few cash crops were left with little savings that could be banked.

In addition, inflation and an increase in the cost of inputs also ate into the little savings.

Birth of a new paradigm

The paradigm shift explained above pushed out smallholder farmers from the original pool of clients that had existed for banks. The collapse of formal markets meant farmers had to look for options.

For years, banks had also excluded informal markets from their clientele base, preferring to deal with contract companies.

While the new paradigm has fuelled the growth of the informal agriculture market and SMEs, the financial sector has not moved with this shift.

They have not been able to adjust their models to suit the prevailing environment characterised by informal markets, traders and new farmers.

For instance, all banks are failing to develop suitable financing models for livestock farmers.

As a result, farmers end up selling livestock to buy inputs, when a bank should simply extend loans to farmers using livestock or agricultural activities as collateral.

When a farmer uses livestock to finance agricultural activities, the first thing they do after selling commodities is to replace the cattle they sold for inputs.

The farmer does not see any need to save money in a bank, when the bank did not see it fit to provide agricultural finance using livestock as collateral.

Moreover, the returns from livestock within six months to two years are much more than could be achieved from the bank.

Not to mention other benefits from livestock like milk, manure and draught power, which cannot be earned by saving money in a bank.

Surfacing dormant models

Before talking about financial inclusion, let us understand business models that are driving SMEs and informal markets.

Banks should seek to be included in these models not the other way round.

It is important to consult deeply why informal markets and SMEs are not participating in the formal money economy, making it difficult to record and make sense of what is happening.

Financial institutions should be fully aware of the performance of particular agricultural commodities.

Unfortunately, no financial institution is following trends in agricultural markets in order to minimise failed models.

Banks should be part of understanding trends in agricultural markets just as they are interested in the stock exchange.

In most cases, the market is blamed when it was not consulted during production.

It does not help to continue developing financial models from production, while ignoring the market.

Production is not the final destination for loans. When you have converted money into an agricultural commodity, it is important to track it all the way to the market. This will avoid cases where banks blame farmers, as if farmers are the commodity or the market, when the problem is business modelling.

Informal markets and SMEs are neutral in sharing information and knowledge. Documenting such knowledge will create a competitive edge for the financial sector.

This is unlike bringing banks together to share knowledge when they are cut-throat competitors. When banks meet, 90% of best practices wont be shared. Where a model failed, banks would rather hide those experiences, so that a competing bank can also lose money.

Charles@knowledgetransafrica.com/charles@emkambo.co.zw/info@knowledgetransafrica.com

Website: http://www.emkambo.co.zw/www.knowledgetransafrica.com

eMkambo Call Centre: 0771 859000-5/ 0716 331140-5 / 0739 866 343-6

Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter to receive updates.

See original here:

Why 'financial inclusion' may be the wrong terminology - NewsDay

Posted in Socio-economic Collapse | Comments Off on Why ‘financial inclusion’ may be the wrong terminology – NewsDay

Magufuli adds weight to war on drugs – The Herald

Posted: at 10:57 pm

John Magufuli

DAR ES SALAAM. President John Magufuli yesterday added weight on the crackdown on narcotics, directing the national security and defence forces to apprehend all suspects irrespective of their status.Nobody should be spared in this war against illicit drugs; no matter how famous or what status that person has in the society, Dr Magufuli ordered. He stressed further, Be it a politician, minister, a police officer, a son or daughter of a big wig, the law should follow its course.

Even if it is my wife dealing in drugs she should face the music.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces commended Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ernest Mangu for his bold move to suspend police officers who were recently accused by Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner (RC) Paul Makonda of cooperating with drugs dealers.

I know there was a lot of pressure on you from some people who made phone calls, but you stood firm, otherwise you wouldnt be here today as the IGP. The drugs have effects on the young workforce but are still being sold like groundnuts.

I usually get very upset when law enforcement agencies are accused for wrongdoing but I am happy that you took actions. The war on drugs is tough but we must fight it, Dr Magufuli told the IGP.

He directed security and defence forces to act tough on the whole chain involved in the illicit drugs, starting with the underdogs and eventually drug barons.

Those using and peddling the narcotics will have to mention the whole supply chain, he stated.

Dr Magufuli also tasked the Acting Chief Justice, Prof Ibrahim Juma, to expedite the trials of drug-related cases currently pending at courts.

There is a suspected drug kingpin currently being detained in Lindi but I wonder why he is not produced in courts for prosecution, wondered the president. Although Dr Magufuli did not mention the suspect he was apparently referring to Ali Khatib Haji, alias Shkuba (46), a suspected drug baron who was arrested in 2014 and is currently remanded in the Lindi prison.

President Magufuli disclosed as well that he had agreed to hand over the MV Dar es Salaam ship, initially meant to carry passengers between Dar es Salaam and Bagamoyo, to the TPDF to enable the army to intercept drugs and smuggled goods in the Indian Ocean.

As per request by the former Chief of Defence Force General Davis Mwamunyange, I decided to hand over the ship to the army to intensify patrols against drug traffickers and smugglers in the Indian Ocean, President Magufuli noted.

The President was speaking at the swearing-in of the newly appointed Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) General Venance Mabeyo and Chief of Staff Lieutenant General James Mwakibolwa at State House in Dar es Salaam.

Dr Magufuli also swore in the Commissioner General of the Prisons Department, Dr Ally Malewa, Secretary of the Public Service Commission, Mr Nyakimura Muhoji and two ambassadors, Paul Mella and Samuel Shelukindo.

Last Friday, IGP Mangu suspended 12 police officers, pending investigations, over their alleged links to drugs dealers in Dar es Salaam. The suspension came only few days after the Dar es Salaam RC had issued a list of suspects of drug dealers and facilitators, including the law enforcers and local celebrities in the music and movie industries. - Tanzania Daily News.

Read more:

Magufuli adds weight to war on drugs - The Herald

Posted in War On Drugs | Comments Off on Magufuli adds weight to war on drugs – The Herald

War on drugs not war vs poor: Cayetano | ABS-CBN News – ABS-CBN News

Posted: at 10:57 pm

Peter Cruz, 24, lies dead on the pavement after being gunned down while he was biking by unknown assailants on Guyabano street in Manggahan, Pasig City on Tuesday. Unexplained killings continue even as President Duterte ordered the halt in police operations against drug suspects on Monday. Fernando G. Sepe Jr., ABS-CBN News

Senator Alan Peter Cayetano has denied that the Duterte's administration war on drugs is a war against poor people in the Philippines, as claimed by Amnesty International.

In a speech before the Filipino community in New York City on Monday (Philippine time), Cayetano said the Duterte administration's policy against drugs and criminality actually aims to alleviate poverty since "no family with a drug addict as a brother, son, or father can get out of poverty."

"The poor have become common victims of the drug pushers. When they become hooked on drugs, they engage in other crimes to sustain their vices. If the government will not intensify its drug operations, the poor will continue to be exploited by the drug pushers. The poor cannot defend themselves, they need us most," he said.

Cayetano also called on international organizations to help the Duterte administration in its war against drugs instead of "wasting their energy criticizing its strong policies."

""Instead of criticizing us and trying to stop international funding, why don't you give us bullet-proof vests for our police? And why don't you give us cameras like they use in the SEAL teams, so you could see the drug bust and you could see why they fire at these people?"

In its report "If you are poor you are killed: Extrajudicial Executions in the Philippines", Amnesty International detailed how the Philippine police have systematically targeted mostly poor and defenseless people across the country while "planting evidence, recruiting paid killers, stealing from the people they kill and fabricating official incident reports."

In a number of cases witnesses to killings or victims' relatives told Amnesty that the person shot dead was unarmed and had not resisted arrest. Police also planted drugs and weapons that they later "seized" as evidence, Amnesty said.

Amnesty also warned that the lists of drug suspects that police were using to target people were deeply flawed.

This was partly because many people were placed on the lists simply after being reported by fellow community members, without any further investigation, according to Amnesty.

After a series of scandals emerged over the past month in which police were caught committing murder, kidnapping, extortion and robbery, President Duterte week ordered them to stop all activities related to the drug war.

He described the police force as "corrupt to the core" and vowed to cleanse it.

But he also vowed the drug war would continue until the last day of his term, in 2022.

He said police would return to the drug war after he reorganized the force and, in the meantime, the military would become more involved. With Agence France Presse

Read the original:

War on drugs not war vs poor: Cayetano | ABS-CBN News - ABS-CBN News

Posted in War On Drugs | Comments Off on War on drugs not war vs poor: Cayetano | ABS-CBN News – ABS-CBN News

President Duterte Threatens to Extend Drug War and Kill Korean … – Newsweek

Posted: at 10:56 pm

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened Korean gangs involved in the countrys illegal drugs trade with death. Duterte, who promised to continue his war on drugs until the last day of his presidency in 2022, told local media that Korean criminals wouldnt be treated differently just because they are not Filipino.

Dutertes aggressive crackdown on drugs he initiated in the summer of 2016 has so far resulted in more than 7,000 deaths across the country according to Philippine National Police records.

In January, Duterte apologized to South Korea for the death of Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo, 53, in October, which rights groups believe was linked to the anti-drugs policy. It was reported by the ABS-CBN news channel that the the Philippine National Police Anti-Illegal Drugs Group ( AIDG) had no evidence Ick-joo was involved in the illegal drugs trade.

Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week

Ick-joo was abducted from his home in Manila in October 2016, and taken to police headquarters where he was strangled. The police officers responsiblewho are now in custodythen tried to extort money from Mr Jee Ick-joos family by pretending he was still alive, according to the New York Times.

After the murder, Duterte called for a crackdown on rogue police elements, promising to bring those responsible to justice and disbanding the AIDG. Police chief Roland Dela Rosa expressed remorse over the death, but emphasized the case of Mr Ick-joo was isolated. However, in a press conference last Friday, Dela Rosa said the Korean mafia were to blame.

As a result of Dela Rosas claim, President Duterte has threatened to apply the crackdown seen in his drugs war to Korean gangs, who supposedly operate out of the southern city of Cebu. The president claims the mafia are known for operating human and drug trafficking rings, prostitution and kidnapping. The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) confirmed they are aware of elements of mafia existence in Cebu on Monday morning, but authorities are still searching for evidence that such a crime syndicate which could have carried out the kidnapping of Ick-joo exists. Senator Ping Lacson told the Inquirer, a Filipino newspaper, that the Korean mafia angle might be farfetched.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II of the Philippines told local reporters that he was working with South Korea to determine the nature of the alleged mafia: Our office is coordinating and contacting the Korean embassy if they have a police attach or anyone to that effect that could help us [find out] about this Korean mafia, if ever it exists.

In the meantime, Duterte wants the Koreans to remain friends. South Koreans are the largest group of tourists to the Philippines annually. The Korea Times reported that the president said: "They're always welcome here. Korea is our friend. It has helped us in so many ways. To law-abiding Koreans, you will be protected, treated equally as Filipinos."

Continue reading here:

President Duterte Threatens to Extend Drug War and Kill Korean ... - Newsweek

Posted in War On Drugs | Comments Off on President Duterte Threatens to Extend Drug War and Kill Korean … – Newsweek

The Newest Challenge in Gambling: Finding Growth – Motley Fool

Posted: at 10:56 pm

One consistent theme for gaming stocks over the past two decades is that growth hasn't been hard to come by. Ever since Steve Wynn opened the Mirage in Las Vegas in 1989, it seemed like the industry was on a tear to build bigger and better casinos around the world. First Las Vegas and Atlantic City were built out, then Macau and Singapore came online, and now there's an East Coast gaming boom.

But growth for casino operators is becoming harder to come by, and that may signal a major shift for the gaming industry. Maybe it's even time for gaming companies to look past growth to returning cash to shareholders?

Macau's skyline at night. Image source: Getty Images.

For most of the 1990s and 2000s, the world's two most important gaming markets were Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Gaming companies rapidly built new casinos, which drew more customers, which led to more casinos being built, and an upward cycle emerged. But in the last decade, the pattern has been a little different.

Gaming revenue in Las Vegas and Atlantic City. Data Source: Las Vegas Gaming Commission and New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement. Chart by the author.

As the chart above shows, gaming revenue in Las Vegas has stagnated over the past decade, and Atlantic City's numbers have fallen off a cliff. It's no wonder that no major resort has been built in Las Vegas in six years (the Cosmopolitan, which went bankrupt during construction but opened in December 2010, was the last) and Atlantic City can't even keep new casinos operating. Growth has dried up in both markets.

For many years, gaming companies focused their growth dollars on Macau, where Las Vegas Sands (NYSE:LVS), Wynn Resorts (NASDAQ:WYNN), and MGM Resorts (NYSE:MGM) have all opened properties. But Macau has suffered its own hardships over the last three years.

Data source: Macau Gaming Inspection and Coordination Bureau. Chart by the author.

So, three of the biggest markets in gaming are all experiencing challenges, if not downright collapses. What can the gaming companies do to grow?

When there aren't any big growth markets, gaming companies have gone looking for opportunity in other locales. MGM Resorts recently completed National Harbor near Washington, D.C., and has a resort under construction in Springfield, Massachusetts. Wynn is building a property in Everett, Massachusetts, just outside of downtown Boston; Las Vegas Sands opened Sands Bethlehem in northeastern Pennsylvania.

The problem with all of these resorts is that they're entering, and further diluting, the barely profitable East Coast gaming market. They're also searching for growth in areas where gambling and high-end resorts aren't really a staple, which could be a big risk, long term. The decline of regional gaming was a big reason Caesars Entertainment's largest subsidiary was forced into bankruptcy, and why Foxwoods, Trump, Revel, and Stations Casinos have either had financial trouble or gone into bankruptcy. Yet it's these same regional markets where it has proved difficult to make money that major casinos are building in.

Gone are the days where casino companies could just expand up and down the Las Vegas Strip. That was the tactic that made MGM, Mirage, Mandalay Group, and Caesars Entertainment what they were before they consolidated. So if growth opportunities aren't attractive anymore, it may be time to try another strategy.

Rather than bringing new casinos to markets that aren't all that attractive to begin with, gaming companies could transform themselves into cash flow machines for investors. Las Vegas Sands has started paying a dividend and currently yields 5.6%, while Wynn Resorts pays a more modest 2.1% yield. With growth options limited, paying dividends may be the best use of cash in today's casino business. That's a change from what investors have expected in the past, but today's gaming giants may become tomorrow's dividend aristocrats, given the limited opportunities they have for growth.

Travis Hoium owns shares of Wynn Resorts. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Continue reading here:

The Newest Challenge in Gambling: Finding Growth - Motley Fool

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on The Newest Challenge in Gambling: Finding Growth – Motley Fool

FIFA gaming YouTuber faces huge fine after pleading guilty to gambling charges – Digital Trends

Posted: at 10:56 pm

Why it matters to you

This court ruling is the first time we've seen a big-name YouTuber get properly punished for scamming viewers.

After pleading guilty to gambling charges concerning his ownership of the FIFA video game-focused gambling site FUT Galaxy, YouTube personality Craig Douglas, known online as Nepenthez, has been court-ordered to pay more than 90,000 pounds in fines.

Douglas was first charged with illegally encouraging gambling on the site back in September, a violation of the United Kingdoms Gambling Act and the first video game-related case concerning the law. He had uploaded videos to his YouTube channel showing him using FUT Galaxy to win FIFA Ultimate coins without disclosing that the site was, in fact, his own, and, according to district judge Jack McCarva, he and business partner Dylan Rigby did nothing to discourage children from using it Douglas even said that the site didnt require users to be 18 because this is a virtual currency.

More: Valve starts cracking down on Team Fortress 2 gambling websites

In my opinion, both of you were aware of the use of the site by children and the attractiveness of it to children. At the very least, you both turned a blind eye to it, McCarva said.

Three years ago, Douglas sang a much different tune, saying that minors shouldnt be gambling but that doing so is only on their parents and not the responsibility of outside influencers.

This isnt the first time such a controversy has erupted in the YouTube gaming space. Last summer, popular streamers Tom Syndicate Cassell and Trevor TMartn Martin were caught doing almost the exact same thing via their Counter-Strike: GO gambling website, CSGO Lotto.

Both intentionally misled users into believing that they had simply stumbled upon the site and made several videos showing them winning pots of cash. Cassell has remained almost entirely silent on the subject, while Martin made an apology video, since taken down from his own channel, that attempted to minimize his wrongdoing. Neither Cassell nor Martin has been charged with a crime, but Martin is in the middle of a Florida lawsuit regarding CSGO Lotto. You can find a detailed rundown of their situation as well as Douglas case over at YouTube channel HonorTheCall.

Originally posted here:

FIFA gaming YouTuber faces huge fine after pleading guilty to gambling charges - Digital Trends

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on FIFA gaming YouTuber faces huge fine after pleading guilty to gambling charges – Digital Trends

How to Handle Gambling Wins and Losses This Tax Season – TheStreet.com

Posted: at 10:56 pm

Did you win any money from your Super Bowl pool?

Congratulations!

Now make sure you report iton your2017 tax return.

Yep. Gambling winnings of any kind are taxable income, and Uncle Sam wants his cut.

So if you had winnings from the Super Bowl, a fantasy league or even the local lotto, make sure you tally them all up with the money made in Vegas last year.

All gambling winnings are reported as "Other Income" on line 21 of your Form 1040.

Your losses, on the other hand, are limited.

You only can deduct your losses to the extent of your winnings, says Nathan Rigney of The Tax Institute at H&R Block.

So if you won $1,000 last year but lost $1,500, you can only report $1,000 in losses.

The other $500 is, well, lost.

And you can't carry those losses back or forward, like you can in other situations, notes Cari Weston, director of tax practice and ethics for the AICPA.

It gets worse. Your losses are reported on line 28 of your Schedule A - Itemized Deductions.

So if you are a high earner, your itemized deductions may be reduced because of the overall adjusted gross income limitation. Then you won't be able to deduct the full amount of your gambling losses.

The good news is that losses from one kind of gambling are deductible against gains from another kind.

So let's say in 2016 you played the lotteryevery week at $10 a pop and didn't win a thing. But you did hit it big at your Church bingo night and won $3,000. Since you had winnings, you at least can take a deduction for the $520 you dropped (wasted) on the lotto.

Read the rest here:

How to Handle Gambling Wins and Losses This Tax Season - TheStreet.com

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on How to Handle Gambling Wins and Losses This Tax Season – TheStreet.com

GAO report recommends military members be screened for … – wtkr.com

Posted: at 10:56 pm

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A new report from theUnited States Government Accountability Office is recommending that the military screenits members for gambling disorder addiction.

The government watchdog agency released its report on January 31st, noting Department of Defense and Coast Guard"non-medical personnel do not have clear guidance addressing gambling disorder."

According to data from the Department of Defense, "less than 0.03 percent of the average number of service members in each yearwere diagnosed with gambling disorder or were seen for problem gambling in fiscal years 2011 through 2015 in the Military Health System."

While the GAO report acknowledges that figure is low, it stated "without explicitly including gambling disorder in DoD and CG guidance on substance use, DoD and the CG may not being able to identify and provide appropriate treatment and counseling to DoD and CG service members afflicted by gambling disorder and mitigate or prevent individual readiness issues."

The GAO report makes eight recommendations, including that the Department of Defense incorporate gambling disorder questions in a systematic screening process.

In its response, the Department of Defense concurred with recommendations about updating guidance, but did not agree with incorporating questions into ascreening process.

"There is no evidence to suggest that gambling disorder is a high prevalence disorder in the DoD, and it is impractical to screen for every low prevalence disorder," the Department of Defense wrote in comments to the GAO recommendations.

It goeson to saythat there are multiple mental health disorders with similar or higher prevalence such as Bipolar Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which are not routinely screened.

Keith Whyte is the Executive Director of the National Council on Problem Gambling, a non-profit that is neutral on legalized gambling.

"We are neither for nor against, we just want to help people who may have a problem," Whyte told News 3's Todd Corillo Tuesday.

Whyte says the NCPG has been advocating for better screening in the military for the past decade.

"The military surveys of behavioral health used to include gambling addiction questions and those questions were returning rates of up to 5% of active duty troops who were meeting criteria for a gambling problem," he stated.

According to the NCPG, the rate of military members impacted is low now because it is based only on those who seek treatment and not on a general screening.

The NCPG argues that because the military generates revenue from Department of Defense run slot machines overseas, they have a greater obligation to screen service members.

"If you are providing, promoting and profiting from slot machines at overseas bases, youve got a higher ethical and economical obligation to take care of the health of your service members," Whyte argues.

Data in the Government Accountability Office report shows that the Department of Defense generated $538.9 million in revenue from DoD run slot machines on military installations overseas in fiscal years 2011 through 2015.

You can read the entire report from the GAO here:

DOD and the Coast Guard Need to Screen for Gambling Disorder Addiction and Update Guidance

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

38.907192 -77.036871

See original here:

GAO report recommends military members be screened for ... - wtkr.com

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on GAO report recommends military members be screened for … – wtkr.com

Gambling inquiry: Pokies no different than going to the movies, hospitality group says – ABC Online

Posted: at 10:56 pm

Updated February 08, 2017 14:31:18

People playing poker machines don't expect to win and consider it no different to going to a movie, a hospitality group representative has told Tasmania's gambling inquiry.

A joint select committee, holding public hearings on the Government's gaming policy, was considering the future of Tasmania's poker machine industry along with the economic and social impact.

On the table is a proposal to end Federal Group's monopoly licence to operate electronic gaming machines across the state, the inclusion of a community interest test for new machines, and lowering the cap on how many machines can operate.

The Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group told the inquiry that people who play pokies "don't expect to win".

Greens MP Andrea Dawkins quizzed the group's David Curry on whether gamblers thought they'd win when using the machines.

"Do you think they understand that generally they're not going to win? she asked.

Mr Curry said people did not expect to make a win.

"I don't think people generally expect to win when they play but what they are doing is buying a form of entertainment," he said.

"They are enjoying that form of entertainment, it's no different to me going to the movies - whether it's a good movie or a bad movie - and buying an ice cream."

Tasmanian author and historian James Boyce urged the committee not to ignore the state's two casinos in the debate on whether pokies should exist in pubs and clubs.

Mr Boyce has written a book on the pokies, which is due to be released soon.

"I would plead with you to look at the issue of the casino," Dr Boyce told the committee.

Mr Boyce said as soon as the casino was licensed to operate high intensity poker machines in 1994 it turned into a "giant pokies barn".

"They need to be treated as poker machine venues."

He said the regulation of poker machines was failing vulnerable people, and there was a "tale of two Tasmanias".

"We have this vibrant growth with many things happening in Tasmania, and many people benefiting," he said. "But we have this large group being left behind."

Meanwhile, Dixon Hotel Group director Peter Dixon told the committee pubs in regional areas would struggle to stay viable without the revenue from poker machines.

"We speak from the heart on this, I've had 40 years in this industry and have invested in country areas and I can tell you the vast majority of our places would be broke without the pokies," Mr Dixon said.

"You get into the areas where we deal like Scottsdale, New Norfolk, Longford, Exeter, George Town - most of those venues haven't seen a tourist."

Mr Dixon's group operates 35 pubs, 30 of which are in regional Tasmania.

"The bottom line is they are doing in tough, pokies aren't a big part of the business but that helps us buy."

Topics: gambling

First posted February 08, 2017 14:04:33

Read more:

Gambling inquiry: Pokies no different than going to the movies, hospitality group says - ABC Online

Posted in Gambling | Comments Off on Gambling inquiry: Pokies no different than going to the movies, hospitality group says – ABC Online