Update: Internet Gambling Bugs Getting Fixed Fast

Kathleen Sebelious should hire The Borgata’s techies to fix HealthCare.gov.

Since talking with Raj early this afternoon, the $45 that went missing in cyberspace when I got booted from a blackjack game at BorgataCasino.com because the system thought I had left New Jersey is back in my account.  I played for another 20 minutes this afternoon and netted $5.00

Not a bad day.  I put up $20 and now I have an account with Borgata with $80 in it.  My only problem is that I have to drive to Atlantic City to get the money.

Hopefully the techies will come up with a way for me to have the money transferred back to me as easily as I deposited it by tomorrow.

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Online Gaming Still Has Bugs

By Art Gallagher

My first hand was blackjack and my $5 bet paid $7.50.  Not a bad start to my Internet Gambling experience.  Within a few minutes the $20 I deposited with BorgataCasino.com was up to $37.50.   I wanted to double my money and quit for the day.

Within about 10 minutes my balance was $5 dollars and I lowered my bet to $1.00.  I was down to $1.00 and could feel the urge to deposit more money, despite my promise to myself to quit playing when I either won or lost $20. Then my luck changed again.  I inched my balance back up to $15 when I increased my bet back to $5.  Within another 15 minutes I met my goal of doubling my $20.  With $40.01 in my account I stopped playing.

There was a small message on the screen. “Your $50 bonus is awaiting you.”  Cool!

I claimed my $50 gift.   You can’t withdraw the money, you have to wager it.  My balance was now $90.01.  I had to play the $50 by Wednesday or lose it.  So I put $50 on the virtual table and started making $5 bets.

After a few hands, the $50 was down to $45 and I got booted.  A message popped up on my screen that said I was outside the State of New Jersey, which I wasn’t, and that gaming regulations required my wagering be terminated.

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New Jersey Utility Customers Could Get Hit by Double Whammy

New Jersey Utility Customers Could Get Hit by Double Whammy (via NJSpotlight)

Talk about rate shock. The state’s gas and electric utilities aim to recover at least $1.27 billion in costs they incurred restoring power and service after extreme storms in the past few years, and the costs keep rising. Public Service Electric &…

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Places to donate food and to volunteer on Thanksgiving, or anytime

At the suggestion of our friend, Selika Josiah Gore,  and courtesy of HomelessShelterDirectory.org, the following is a list of places to donate food and to volunteer to help those less fortunate.

Please feel free to add other locations in the comments.

	Food Bank of Monmouth & Ocean Counties       Neptune, NJ 7753 View Details       Monmouth County
	The Food Bank Of Monmouth And Ocean Counties       Neptune, NJ 07753 View Details       Monmouth County
	New Jersey State Youth Orchestra       Red Bank, NJ 07701 View Details       Monmouth County
	Habcore, Inc.       Red Bank, NJ 07701 View Details       Monmouth County
	Freehold Area Open Door Food Pantry       Freehold, NJ 07728 View Details       Monmouth County      www.freeholdareaopendoor.org
	Family & Childrens Service Inc Of Monmouth County       Long Branch, NJ 07740 View Details       Monmouth County
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For the Jersey Democrats, happy days are here again

For the Jersey Democrats, happy days are here again (via NJ.com)

File photo Elvis had left the building. That was obvious at last week’s convention of the New Jersey League of Municipalities in Atlantic City. Traditionally, the winner of the governor’s race does a victory lap at the League luncheon. Last week…

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Israel slams ‘bad’ deal between Iran, world powers

Israel slams ‘bad’ deal between Iran, world powers (via AFP)

A nuclear deal struck between Iran and world powers in Geneva was “bad” as Tehran had obtained “what it wanted”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Sunday. “This is a bad agreement that gives Iran what it wanted: the partial lifting…

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Iran, world powers agree nuclear deal

Iran, world powers agree nuclear deal (via AFP)

World powers on Sunday reached an agreement with Iran over its nuclear programme, their chief negotiator Catherine Ashton and Iran’s foreign minister said. “We have reached agreement between E3+3 and Iran,” Ashton’s spokesman Michael Mann quoted her…

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New Jersey Gold Star Family Monument Planned In 2014 at the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Holmdel

By Bob English

Plans are well underway to build a monument that will be located on the property of the New Jersey Vietnam Veterans’ Memorial in Holmdel, which will honor the sacrifices of families who have lost a loved one in defense of the United States.  The project is being spearheaded by the New Jersey Run For The Fallen.  Hopes are to have the New Jersey Gold Star Family Monument in place and dedicated by the middle of 2014.

The monument will serve as a place of reflection and remembrance for all but especially for those whose loved one made the ultimate sacrifice for their county.  Gold Star parents Ken and Helen Gurbisz of Eatontown are co-chairing the committee to develop a design, fund and build the monument.  Mr. Gurbisz noted that “We are getting very close to a final design which we hope to unveil at the Gold Star Mothers holiday luncheon on the 7th of December.” .

Ken and Helen be reached via e-mail at njgsfm@gmail.com   Donations to complete the project are needed and can be made by mailing a check to:

The New Jersey Gold Star Family Monument Foundation, Inc.

PO Box 104

Holmdel, NJ 07733

Click on this link to make a donation via PayPAL (PayPal account not required.)

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Kids ride free on Seastreak

Children aged 12 or under cruise to New York on Seastreak for free when accompanied by a full fare paying adult, under a promotion that lasts through Memorial Day by the sponsor of our weekly Things to do in Monmouth County feature.

Seastreak is encouraging families to explore New York during the winter months. During these trips, Seastreak’s ferry service from Highlands and Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey will be docking at Pier 11 and at East 35th Street in New York City, which will provide access to attractions such as Grand Central Station’s Train Show or Radio City Music Hall during the holidays.

The scenery on the cruise to New York from Sandy Hook Bay is itself a fabulous attraction.

Seastreak has 13 departure times from New Jersey to New York on weekdays and five departure times on weekends.  A complete schedule is available online at http://seastreak.com/nynjschedules.aspx.

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Typhoon Haiyan: Day 17

By Ernesto Cullari

Janine Cinseruli and Kimberly Perkins of Seagrass Restaurant, 68 Main Ave in Ocean Grove, are sponsoring a benefit dinner on behalf of Street Kids Philippine Missions on Wednesday December 4^th at 6pm. Tickets are $50 each, cocktail hour is from 6pm to 7pm. Act now, there are only 35 more dinner reservations left. Artist Roddy Wildeman has donated a magnificent piece for auction that was inspired and constructed from debris and found wood following Hurricane Sandy. To register for the dinner Online add Ernesto Cullari on Facebook.

We all remember what it was like to live through Hurricane Sandy and the days that followed without heat or electricity. The long lines for gas and food were humbling. My friends and I would boil water and pour it in with cold bath water whenever any of us needed to wash up. We wandered about in the dark with flashlights and battery operated radios. Hot coffee and cooked food was truly splendid. We helped each other by using Facebook to figure out which stations had gasoline or who needed clothing. We rescued each other.

A year later many of you are still recovering from construction or dealing with insurance companies that don’t want to honor their obligations to you. Now take everything you experienced, every hardship and every setback and put yourself in the position of someone living in the Third world, a place like the Philippines. The islands are so vast and numerous, it could take many years before their government reaches them with significant help. By then it will be too late.

I went 10 days without electricity following Hurricane Sandy. What takes 10 days here could realistically take 6 months where my mother is in the Philippines. My mother Lee who operates Street Kids Philippine Missions, an orphanage filled with 27 children and teens in Bohol, has estimated that it could take 6 months for electricity to be restored to their part of the island.

My mother reports that lines for clean drinking water, a badly needed necessity, are 3 hours long. “Everything is 3 times as expensive now because all the store operators must use gas or diesel generators to keep the refrigerators and lights on,” she said. They must wash their clothes by hand and hope that their clothing can manage to dry before becoming mildewy from the Philippine’s intensely humid climate.

In spite of their hardships and the devastation that surrounds them, my step dad Matt writes with joy and optimism:

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