The European Union is demanding that Finland, Hungary and Denmark lift laws against sports gambling in their country.What is the European Union? It's a bunch of European countries who feel like their power in the world is slipping, what with all the colonies growing up on their own now and all, so they've consolidated into one union that makes Europe as a whole feel like it matters at all in a world now dominated by the United States, China and crazy people with oil.
There's 27 nations in the European Union. Those countries include France, Great Britain and Germany, but they also include such mainstays and world power players as Latvia, Estonia and Cyprus.
This was their reasoning behind putting the screws to Finland, Hungary and Denmark:
"The countries could not claim they were trying to protect consumers from gambling if, at the same time, they incite and encourage people to use state lotteries and other gambling operators that pay the proceeds to the government."
So, great. The United States is now officially dumber than Latvia, Estonia and Cyprus.
For anyone who doesn't know, our illustrious U.S. Congress last year passed the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act, which set in place a set of laws intended to curb online sports gambling in this country (as well as poker playing). Essentially, in an effort to increase "family values" and further protect us from ourselves, it's no longer o.k. for consenting adults to place wagers on sporting events, but it's still perfectly o.k. in participate in government-sponsored gambling such as the lottery.
The only politician who has had any balls at all is Barney Frank, who is trying to put together a bill that will appeal the decision. So if Latvia, Estonia, Cyprus and the gay, Jewish congressmen get it, why doesn't everybody else?
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