Free Republic

Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell -- the architect of the 2004 law that brought slots casinos to the state -- now wants to legalize the use of video poker machines in taverns and clubs in a move to generate $500 million in tax revenue for his state.

Scientists Invent Robots That Lie, Real Bender Closer Than Ever Holy crap! The Age of The Machines is nigh: a bunch of scientists in Switzerland have created learning robots that can lie to each other. Okay, so they don't swill beer or put bends in girders—they just communicate to each other with benign flashing lights, thank goodness, instead of using lasers to destroy humans: The team at the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Federal Institute of Technology created the little experimental learning devices to work in groups and hunt for "food" targets nearby while avoiding "poison." Imagine their surprise...

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) -- Embattled state House Speaker Jim Black said Tuesday night he will not seek another term as speaker, ending an eight-year tenure as the top official in the state House. "I've been speaker for four terms," Black told The Associated Press. "This is, again, not about me. I don't have any need for me to be speaker forever." Black said he has no plans now to step aside from his Mecklenburg County legislative seat, and dismissed the suggestion he decided against seeking another term as speaker because he is worried about a possible federal indictment. For more...

Charleston police act on employees' tips; 5 arrested BY PHILLIP CASTON Of The Post and Courier Staff In a Friday night raid on a downtown grocery store where police suspected drug dealing and illegal gambling, Charleston narcotics officers seized cocaine, marijuana and video poker machines. Officers raided the Cannon Street Grocery at 571 King Street about 6:45 p.m. They were following tips from employees at the store, Lt. James Mackey of the Charleston Police Department said. Officers arrested five people, including several store employees, on charges ranging from trafficking cocaine to illegal gambling. "This was a pretty good operation for...

Anyone who saw a daily newspaper or caught a cable news program this past weekend knows that William J. Bennett--virtuecrat, drug warrior, scold--was exposed by Newsweek and the Washington Monthly last Friday as a high-stakes gambler. The news that Bennett blew a small fortune in Las Vegas--he is believed to have lost upwards of eight million dollars--was almost too good to be true. Michael Kinsley, writing for Slate, best captured the reaction of American sinners from Maine to California: "Maybe there is a God after all." Bennett defended himself against charges of hypocrisy by pointing out that he never...