The best thing about being genuinely stupid is you’ll never be embarrassed by your ignorance.
    This timeless truth was reaffirmed once again at during a panel discussion on the pros and cons of mega resort casinos at a Tower Club Forum in downtown Fort Lauderdale.
    Sponsored by the Sun-Sentinel, the debate boiled down to:
    Pro - Las Vegas- style mega resort casinos might attract more tourists.
    Con– Even two or three mega -casinos might damage Florida’s hotel and restaurant industry as well as the state’s current gambling facilities.
    As in the case of most public policy debates these days, the operative word “might” infected both sides of the mega-casino issue.
     Thus, after nearly an hour of general questions and even more general answers, the 140-plus members of the Tower Club audience remained just as ignorant and opinionated as they were before (which serves as powerful metaphor of the Sun-Sentinel as South Florida's self-proclaimed "most valued information provider.")
    So it goes.
    However, given how state-authorized gambling is nothing more than a slimy way for government  to score easy money off the denial and ignorance that drives the gambling industry…

Florida State-Sanctioned Gambling -2010                                                            
                                               Wagered      State Revenue
                                                  (Fees and Taxes)
Pari-mutuel
Greyhound                         $291,794,434                      $5,206,187                          1.8%
Jai Alai                                $43,164,790                        $458,466                            1.0%
Thoroughbred                   $566,897,630                       $7,513,694                         1.3%
Harness                              $55,082,215                        $937,271                            1.7%
Quarter Horse                    $1,598,326                          $48,690                              3.0%
TOTAL                     $958,537,395      $14,164,308       1.5%
Card Rooms
Greyhound                           $68,459,215                        $7,824,299                         11.4%
Jai Alai                                 $10,510,689                        $1,299,062                         12.4%
Thoroughbred                     $9,079,107                          $1,107,178                         12.2%
Harness                                $9,188,845                          $1,068,406                        11.6%
TOTAL                      $97,237,856        $11,228,945       11.5%
Slots
TOTAL                     $3,840,468,455   $138,125,105      3.6%

TOTAL BET             $4,896,243,706   $163,518,358      3.3%

FLORIDA
LOTTERY*           $3,899,000,000   $1,247,000,000  14.2%

TOTAL
WAGERED           $8.8 billion        $1.4 billion      16.0%
*Includes scratch-offs, etc.

Source: Florida Division of Pari-Mutuel Waging
              Florida Lottery