"Antidotes" for Compulsive Gamblers???? (It's a Joke & a bad one at that)

In 1983 there was a movie-"War Games," in which the main character was a under achieving high school student, but the young man was a genius with computers. While looking for a company that made new computer games, he stumbles into a top secret military computer system and begins playing a simulation of "global thermonuclear war," unfortunately the military believes that the United States is actually being attacked by the Russians. The person who developed this program was located and he convinced the military leaders that the images on their monitors were NOT actual missiles but computer generated phantoms, but they are not able to stop the simulation. The point of the "exercise" was to show that no one could survive an all-out nuclear attack. The scenario was played out on the computer monitors and after the entire known world was destroyed the computer concluded that the only way to win this "strange game," was not to play it.

Now I suppose you are wondering why I went through this elaborate explanation of an obscure movie, and what this has to do with the title of my posting. Well here's the story.

With the advent of slot-machine gambling coming to the Commonwealth, the new Gaming Control Board is establishing programs to deal with the problem of compulsive gambling. If the implications were not so serious, this would almost be laughable.

In 1999, Dr. James Dobson wrote an informational letter on the activities of the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, and some of the information contained in that document is worth discussing. For example:

1. More than $600 Billion dollars is legally wagered each year in the United States.

2. Nearly 1 in 5 homeless people admitted that gambling contributed to their poverty, and yet 37% said that they continue to gamble.

3. 75% of pathological gamblers admitted that they had committed at least one felony to support their habit.

4. Americans gamble more money each year than they spend on groceries.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. As far as Pennsylvania is concerned, the "State Lottery" was established in 1971 and 34 years later it has grown into a monstrosity that, in my judgment is totally out of control, and threatens to consume our State. The introduction of slot machines at the 4 horse racing tracks in the Commonwealth only exacerbates this problem.

So what's the connection to a 1983 movie and programs for compulsive gamblers? Well the answer is very simple. THE ONLY WINNING MOVE IS NOT TO PLAY!!! IT'S JUST THAT SIMPLE.