Up Slots at Downs

Predatory addiction machines in a high density urban population - what could possibly go wrong?  Anti-gambler Guy Clark points to Governor Richardson's latest movida sin verguenza on behalf of his buddy Paul Blanchard.  (Albuquerque Journal)  Dr. Clark doesn't think it's a good idea to plop lots-o-slots into a low income hood.  But he's not holding any cards.

How did we ever get to this point?  Why is horse racing - the sport of Kings - intimately connected and dependent on despicable slot machines?  It's like taking a GameBoy trail riding.  Hell, at this scale it's like strapping Xbox to the saddle.  Sick and sad.

Second point, unrelated;  the redevelopment potential of the State Fair land between San Pedro and Louisiana Boulevards in Albuquerque's northeast heights is consistently over-estimated.  Both proponents and opponents of moving the Expo out of town have the misguided notion that a fabulous scheme for reuse will materialize.*  Yet there is no historical precedent to give cause for optimism. On the contrary, experience indicates that sale or lease of this public land will be decades long and fraught with complexities, not to mention politics. 

*It will involve unicorn sales and rentals.  They don't shit and can use the race track as a landing strip.

Comments

[Axl]

Unicorns may not shit, but evolutionary psychologists have determined that they fart glitter, which some of us have learned is a real bitch to clean up.