jimwnola

I will explain why I am against it. I live in Mandeville. I used to live in New Orleans, and I still have a condo in New Orleans. When I lived full-time in New Orleans, I supported Harrahs, the riverboat casinos, and the lottery. I am not against gambling but I don't particularly enjoy it, or hanging out with gamblers (very boring to watch people stare at slot machines for hours). I thought gambling would be good for New Orleans, and New Orleans needs it to keep up with other tourist destinations for adults. St. Tammany is doing fine without gambling, much better than Orleans. It is a prosperous Parish, and the people here are pretty happy with how things are. We don't desperately need the alleged extra revenue, and Slidell is never going to be a big tourist destination. If you want to gamble all night, you can just go to New Orleans or Mississippi. If you want to live in a nice house at reasonable price, with good schools, and little to no crime, you live in St. Tammany. I don't want or need St. Tammany to be more like New Orleans (quite the contrary). There are already new restaurants and places to go out opening here all the time, without the need for a casino. In fact, I like to go to The Blind Tiger in Slidell, as it is now, which is right where the casino would go. The casino might ruin the vibe there. The Mayors of Slidell and Mandeville are against it. The Slidell police are against it. The St. Tammany Parish Sherriff is against it. I also can't stand that Drew Brees is pushing for this when he doesn't live here, and never has lived here. He doesn't get to vote. He can push for another casino in his own neighborhood. Otherwise, he should stay out of it, imo. I won't lose sleep over it if it passes, but it is not the direction I would prefer for the Parish. I think St. Tammany has done quite well by not being just like the other Parishes around here, and people are already moving here in droves.

I fear dark times, but I don't fear Covid. My fear only stems from the ongoing idiotic response to Covid, mainly by the Democrats and their media lapdogs. I say "mainly" because part of the problem has also been a lack of backbone of Republicans to oppose lockdowns, mask mandates, etc. Virtually no one is standing up for civil liberties or basic freedoms. Although things will only get worse with Biden, a huge, huge problem is Latoya Cantrell and all of her supporters, regardless of the outcome of the national election. Even though only about 350,000 live in the City and can vote for Mayor, her incompetence is destroying the lives of hundreds of thousands of Louisianans outside of her jurisdiction. For example, the Superdome, the Saints, the Convention Center, the cruise industry, the port, the airport, the Smoothie King Center, etc., have all largely been funded and supported by the whole state, yet, we have somehow created a system where one very stupid person can shut down the entire economy of New Orleans. Even though many of us fortunately no longer live in Orleans Parish, we cannot ignore what is going on there--as if it does not affect us all. The state is trying to encourage visitors to return to the City, but Latoya's message is we will fine you $500 if we see you not wearing a mask, even outside. Even worse, the complicit local media has reporters on Bourbon Street harassing tourists for not wearing masks, and taunting the Mayor to take action against the violators. I still have property in the French Quarter which will be of no value to me if I can't go outside without having a piece of cloth smothering my face all day, when the science is there is virtually no risk of outside spreading of the virus in open air, especially with any distancing. Although Bel Edwards is a little bit annoying, if you read his restrictions closely, they aren't that, that bad. Basically, no mask wearing is required by the State if you are outside unless you plan to be less than 6 feet away from someone. Edwards also really doesn't seem that interested in strongly enforcing the law with fines or other means. On the other hand, Cantrell is practically insane, and much of the media and her supporters have all drunk her Kool-Aid. The press fails to report the death rate is now lower than ever with a recovery rate in excess of 99%, and just throws out the numbers of the positive tests--mostly of people who aren't even sick or have little to no symptoms. This is the stupidest period of life I have witnessed in my 59 years of existence. I wish the Republicans would use their legislative control to pass some law that would stop Cantrell from continuing to destroy our civil liberties. She is essentially waiting for a cure. We cannot live like this for another year. At the very least, there must be some form of economic blackmail that could be used by the State to reign Cantrell in. Enough of this nonsense. Old people, sick people, need to protect themselves, but there is no good reason why life cannot go on as normal for everybody else.