Australian Club and Gaming Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Australian Club and Gaming Management - Essay Example Throughout the country, governments not only operate lotteries, but they also maintain and sponsor many other forms of gambling. The lottery industry alone accounted for total spending at the consumer level of approximately $80 billion in 1993 (CALDWELL, G. T. 1994). Basically, Gambling as a form of recreation in Australia has become a national and very divisive issue. As state governments rely more on gambling for revenue-up to 15 percent of the state revenue in Victoria-unease in the community has grown over compulsive gambling and its social effects. In South Australia, the No Pokies Party elected Nick Xenophon to the upper house on an anti- gambling ticket in the last state election; in Victoria, the Baptist minister and social activist Tim Costello (the polar opposite brother of the Federal Coalition Government Treasurer and Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party, Peter) has conducted a long campaign against Premier Kennett's gambling fixations (Kennett lost government in 1999). Costello sees gambling as the very antithesis of the "spirit of Victoria," as it is touted, and believes the avalanche of gambling with the Internet, TABs (totalisator agency board betting shops) and pokies is tearing at the social fabric of the nation. As the Canadian social critic and theorist John Ralston Saul frequently points out, gambling is the last refuge of governments that have lost social consensus and the capacity to raise revenue for the common good. It is the sign of a nation in decay. (Interview of Costello April 23, 2000; John Ralston Saul, 1997) Main Body Since the early 1990s, there has been a marked increase in state sponsorship of all types of gambling. Some of these gambling activities include casino gambling, video poker, offtrack betting, keno, video lottery, and riverboat gambling. The rationale behind the introduction of all these new types of gambling ventures is the same as the one that was used to legitimize the lottery: The ever-increasing need for more state revenue more than supersedes any reservations about the appropriateness of sponsoring additional forms of gambling. Obviously, the gamble here is that the public not only will tolerate but will participate in these additional forms of gambling. The Australian nation spends $100 billion per year on gambling; it sucks off enormous sums from all areas of the economy and reduces funding which could be employed in the capital-starved public sector. In 1999, according to the December report of the Productivity Commission to the Howard government, gamblers lose more than $12 billion-or $886 per adult-a year and even the Coalition parties now want to call a halt to the spread of gambling further in Australian society. In 1998, 80 percent of Australians engaged in some form of gambling. In casinos on the Yarra (Melbourne), the Torrens (Adelaide), and the Derwent (Hobart), as well as in thousands of clubs and pubs and in the ubiquitous TABs, Australians are fixated on recreational gambling as part of their national birthright. These venues are touted as fun for all; in Victoria, where the state reaps a massive $600 million per

Module 6 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Module 6 - Essay Example It is believed that there are certain places considered as sacred spaces where the kami communicate with people. These places are usually located near waterfalls, trees and mountains, rivers, and other unusual natural formations. In these places, shrines are built to house the kami where the sacred space separates them from the ordinary world. Sacred spaces also exist in the homes where the kamidana or home shrine is designated. The shrine and the home shrine are therefore treated with the utmost respect, and this is evident in the architecture of the edifice. A large gate called tori, with a distinctive design fronts kami shrines, exhibiting two upright bars and two crossbars that indicate the separation of the sacred from the common space. Aside from this several real and symbolic barriers mark the sacred space, such as statutes of protection, ropes and fences. The shrines have distinctive parts such as the public hall of worship (haiden), the hall of offerings (heiden), and the innermost portion which comprises the worship hall reserved for the high priest (honden). It is in the honden where the symbol of the enshrined kami is situated. http://it.spcollege.edu/flashapplications/accessibleYouTubePlayer/index.htm?swfWidth=480&swfHeight=358&videoWidth=480&videoHeight=270&srtFile=http://it.spcollege.edu/srt/HUM2270_KevinMorgan/Hum2270_Mod6_EarlJapArtCult_TradJapArch.srt&youtubeURL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVnQvhS4vRs The video chosen for review describes how Japanese dwellings are constructed. It is interesting to note that the traditional Japanese home is constructed of wood and light materials and seldom have solid walls. There are also no permanent partitions, only temporary dividers, typically free-standing folding screens made of paper that are set up when the need to segregate spaces arises. Occasionally, there are also sliding doors which are installed along wooden