Eye Opener: Archery Trick Shots, Korean Style

There is a reason why the Koreans have dominated competitive archery for such a long time; they are very good.

video credits:  ishubeeke

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Econ Sense: Casino Luck and Gambling Economics

Major gambling entities spend millions of dollars each year on the detection and prevention of high-frequency luck. While it is only natural that casinos and betting sites would want to eradicate cheating and fraud, some gamblers are being blacklisted or banned from casinos even though they have never been found to have cheated. People are apparently punished for being too lucky. This begs an intriguing question. Are the casinos money-hungry corporations who take advantage of the gambler’s misfortune while refusing to pay for their own misfortune?

Although I have no high regard for gambling firms, I would have to defend their calculated actions. The gambling business works much like the insurance business. Every time someone places a bet, he or she is actually contributing to a “fund”. The more people gamble the bigger the fund. If someone happens to win the bet, the casino will pay the winner with money from the fund. What is remained of the “fund” then becomes the casino’s profits. For the business to be profitable, the casino needs people to win less often than losing.

Since the odd of winning a bet is on average very low (5-10%), the gambling business is extremely lucrative. Casinos do not mind if you win money as long as the frequency of winning is low. If a gambler is consistently lucky, that would pretty much break the casino’s business model and severely cut into its profit. It is this reason which I believe gambling entities have every right to prevent such an anomaly as to remain financially viable. This is not unlike American insurance companies refusing to provide flooding/wind insurance to people living in the U.S. Gulf States where powerful storms are the norms.

If you have followed this blog for sometime, you would have come to realize how much I despise the gambling industry. I don’t mind gambling entities making money (lots of) even if it is on other people’s misfortunes. My grudge with them is with regards to what they have to do to grow their business. Since they need a constant inflow of new gamblers and people do not become gamblers without cause, gambling entities need to somehow motivate or create an environment for people to become gamblers.

In recent years, poker has become wildly popular in the United States. This is mostly due to high-stake poker tournaments becoming a fixture on American television. Additionally, poker websites are popping up everywhere offering big prizes for online tournaments. Call me naïve (sarcasm) but I don’t believe this is coincidental .The victims of the poker phenomenon appear to be young college students. These foolish youths are giving up dreams of becoming doctors and engineers in pursuit of career as professional poker players.

[Simon N.]

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In Focus: Japan’s Green Olympics

In its bid for the 2016 Summer Games, the land of the rising sun unveils an ambitious plan to actualize history’s first Green Olympics. Designed by the famed Tadao Ando, the proposed Olympics stadium is an attempt to recreate Nature’s harmony.

The architecture is intended to be one with nature, literally. The giant solar roof will allow the stadium to operate mostly on solar power. The stadium will be surrounded by thousands of trees and greenery making it truly one with nature. As the planned structure is adjacent to Tokyo Bay, stadium spectators will be able to enjoy melodic waves and pleasant sea breezes in addition to friendly competitions between the world’s greatest athletes.

Chicago is likely to win the right to host the 2016 Games, but Tokyo should be given an award for its creative vision. More images can be found at the official site of Tokyo 2016.

[Simon N.]

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An Orphan’s Tale

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Karrie’s parents abandoned her when she was just a newborn. She was found at the doorstep of a fire station, wrapped in white towel. Karrie was later transferred to the local orphanage.

Short in stature and blessed with a hearty smile, Karrie quickly became everyone’s darling. She won people over not only with her charm, but also by excelling in almost everything. But there was one thing she had yet to accomplish; she dreamed of having a family of her own completed with a mommy, a daddy, and maybe a sister or two. All she wanted was to be normal girl with loving parents and supportive siblings.

Despite her outstanding academic achievement and good behavior, she found no luck in getting adopted. Witnessing wave after wave of her closest friends leaving the orphanage (having been adopted by a good family), Karrie was disheartened. But she continued to persist; she kept telling herself that she must work even harder to earn that opportunity. She must do all she can.

In hope of gaining the attention of potential adoptive parents, Karrie tried her best to maximize her visibility every time someone visited the facility. She even enlisted the help of the nuns at the orphanage; they were more than happy to help arrange meetings between her and potential sponsors.

Despite doing everything she possibly could, her dream remained unrealized. More children were adopted; she was not among them. Karrie was extremely disappointed. She really wanted to cry, but couldn’t. Years of disappointment had robbed her of all her tears, joys, and emotions. All she wanted to know was why. Why & why? Little that she knew, people didn’t want perfection. They were looking for a normal girl whom they can love and care for.

A young girl was found dead on a quiet city street. She jumped to her demise from a nearby six-story window.

[Simon N.]

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Culture 101: Unusual Form of Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is the oldest form of public punishment. In ancient times, capital punishment was in the form of death by either guillotine, stoning, or hanging. In modern times, we find it more civilized to either inject murder offenders with fatal drug or send them to the electric chair. Some countries like China find it more feasible, economically, to hand the criminals over to the firing squad; the process is likely to be efficiently quick and painless.

There is one form of execution that is unknown to most people, but is very popular in some parts of the world. The procedure for this form of execution is as follows. The murder offender is brought to the mountaintop with his hands all tied up; he is then be pushed down the mountain. Typically, the “push” is done by an officer of the court. However, members of the murder victim’s family may ask for permission to carry out the execution themselves.

It is interesting to note that if the person happens to survive the fall, he or she will not be pursued for past crimes and can start a new life with a clean sheet. But the probability for survival is probably one out of…..a trillion?

[Simon N.]

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