concurred in by the Greek Dean Skelos and Jew from the lower East Side Sheldon Silver.
God is Great but New York State (NY Const. Art. 1,Sec. 3) has no status to declare its religious preference over all others even though the US is a Christian Nation.
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES IN $2M - NY Daily News
www.nydailynews.com/.../open-1st-palm-sunday-otb...Apr 14, 2003 - New York City Off-Track Betting made history yesterday, taking bets on Palm Sunday. Since 1973, when Sunday racing was made legal in New ...
New York Daily NewsOff Track Betting to push for Palm Sunday opening - The Saratogian
www.saratogian.com/.../off-track-betting-to-push-for-palm-s...Oct 9, 2013 - SARATOGA SPRINGS -- Off Track Betting officials say the plan to push for legislation that would allow them to stay open on Palm Sunday.
The SaratogianOTB OPEN ON PALM SUNDAY | New York Post
nypost.com/2003/04/13/otb-open-on-palm-sunday/Apr 13, 2003 - For the first time in history, New York City Off-Track Betting announced yesterday it plans to open today, Palm Sunday, to accept wagers, ...
New York PostNew York OTB faces fine after opening Palm Sunday | Daily Racing ...
www.drf.com/.../new-york-otb-faces-fine-after-openi...Apr 13, 2003 - Com › New York OTB faces fine after opening Palm Sunday ... NEW YORK - The New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation defied an order ...
Daily Racing FormOTB seeks to allow Palm Sunday betting - The Daily Gazette
dailygazette.com/news/2009/.../0207_otbpalmsunday/Feb 7, 2009 - Off-Track Betting sites in New York state are looking to add another day to their calendar — Palm Sunday... You must be logged in to read this ...
The Daily GazetteOTB seeks to allow Palm Sunday betting - The Daily Gazette
www.dailygazette.com/news/.../0207_otbpalmsunday/?...Feb 7, 2009 - CAPITAL REGION — Off-Track Betting sites in New York state are looking to add another day to their calendar — Palm Sunday. Current state ...
The Daily GazetteESPN.com - Horse Racing - OTB won't open Easter
espn.go.com/horse/news/2003/0418/1540970.htmlApr 18, 2003 - NEW YORK -- New York City Off-Track Betting Corporation has decided to keep its betting parlors closed this Easter Sunday, seven days after ...
ESPNMeasure would keep Off-Track Betting open Palm Sunday - Topix
www.topix.com/forum/life/TQ9JEG7J2IUQCI90UFeb 18, 2009 - 105 applies to Regional Off Track Betting Corporations opening on 4/5/09, Palm Sunday, and taking bets on races being run at racetracks ...
TopixUpdated June 17, 2009 12:01 a.m. ETTo His Excellency, Ayatollah Said Ali Khamenei:A year before the Iranian Revolution, a member of my family had the privilege of praying beside you. Later, during the revolution, this anecdote became a source of great pride within our family. This relative of mine had prayed with you and yet he, like myself, was forced to go into hiding soon after the revolution.Excellency, we had not committed any crime. We merely disagreed with the repressive measures instituted by Imam Khomeini. But disagreement had become a punishable offence.I was not even 18 years old when I was forced to flee my own country. Against all the hopes of those of us who participated in the Islamic revolution, the revolution enacted a system of political violence. A regime which claimed to liberate us from tyranny carried out mass murder and created an unprecedented flood of refugees. In the 1980s, thousands of Iranians who fought with you against the Shah were executed, convicted by revolutionary tribunals, without legal representation, with no official charge. Among those killed were two members of my own family. One is buried in a mass grave. In 1988, in the space of a few weeks, thousands of political prisoners were given summary hearings, slain and thrown into anonymous graves on the orders of Imam Khomeini.The prisoners were asked three questions: Are you a Muslim? Did you pray this morning? And have you told us everything about your friends and thus demonstrated your submission to sharia rule? Thousands of them gave the wrong answers and now lie buried together in a huge mass grave at Khavaran, in the desert outside Teheran.Recently, your president ordered this mass grave to be destroyed. Why did he do that? I suspect it was from fear. Because every day weeping mothers lay flowers on that inglorious pile of earth. Imam Khomeini promised the people Islamic justice -- those mass graves testify to what that means. They are the hallmark of the theocratic regime which you have led for the past 20 years.In 1979, millions of Iranians, young people mainly, took to the streets to demonstrate for three fundamental rights. First and foremost the basic freedoms of Azadi-e Baian, Azadi-e Qalam, Azadi-e Andish-e: freedom of speech, the freedom to write and freedom of thought. Secondly, the right of independence. And thirdly, they demanded the (Islamic) republic. Inadvertently, we helped put a monstrous constitution in place. In the end, Imam Khomeini's doctrine of vilayat-i faqih, rule by a single ayatollah, created an unparalleled crisis for Iran and Islam itself.Excellency, every response you gave toward non-violent protest has been one of more oppression and more violence. The appointment of the supreme religious political leader under the vilayat-i faqih system has led to insoluble conflict. The periodical presidential elections have had no influence at all on the organization of the judicial system, on foreign policy or the government's security policy, and have thus undermined every form of public credibility and legitimacy. Former president Mohamad Khatami was eventually forced to concede that despite the high expectations of his supporters he had been unable to implement any serious reforms. You, as leader of Iran, blocked every presidential measure that you did not like. As a result, millions of Iranians were disappointed in President Khatami -- although it was actually you who was to blame.The revolution that had begun in hopes for freedom ended in the rule of President Ahmadinejad, with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. President Ahmadinejad boasted that he would wipe Israel from the map. Many like me feel a deep shame at this uncivilized and un-Persian anti-Semitism.Iran's semi-official anti-Semitism and tyrannical rule toward its own people reveal the moral failure of the regime that you lead. Millions of people in Tehran and other Iranian cities have condemned this moral bankruptcy by demonstrating and by voting for Mir Hossein Mousavi. Your regime is finished. Surely you realize that too, Excellency? And if you have not realized it yet, then surely you, just like the Shah some 30 years ago, must have heard the hundreds of thousands in Tehran shouting "Allahu Akbar, down with the dictatorship!"Excellency, the demonstrations show that the people of Iran, the children of the revolution, will accept your rule no more. Your regime is no longer able to exercise sovereignty over the Iranian people without the recourse to violence, extreme violence. I urge you to recognize that Iran is now undeniably at a crossroad: Either the will of the people is accepted and a peaceful transition to democracy is achieved or you plan to respond to these protests by launching a bloodbath. Ask yourself: Can a regime, hated and rejected by a huge majority of the population, transform itself into a democratic administration that recognizes the rule of law? Has it ever in history been possible for a political transition to take place peacefully and without the shedding of blood?The surprising answer is yes, it has been done. The Apartheid regime was also despised by the majority. And that regime was an extremely violent regime. Even so, South Africa chose for a peaceful transition under the brilliant leadership of Nelson Mandela. They negotiated to guarantee the interests (including security and property rights) of the ruling minority. At the same time, they discussed and developed a transitional constitution. Naturally, people will ask what will happen to those who perpetrated the crimes against humanity in the name of the Islamic state. Here the precedent set by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa provides a possible solution. The will of the people need not end in bloodshed. What happened in South Africa, a country torn apart by hatred and violence, can happen in Iran too.Excellency, everything depends in the end on the will of the political leader. On you. The mass demonstrations in the cities of Iran show that the desire of the Iranian people is for political transition.An Iran dominated by violent internal conflict is a threat to regional peace and security and a threat to the people of Iran themselves. It is up to the United Nations to persuade you, if you fail to realize yourself, that a peaceful transition is possible. In the end it is Iranians, including Iranians living abroad, who must make this change happen.Excellency Khamenei, you and I know that no tyranny has ever succeeded in creating a political system that lasts. Your advisors have been misinforming you these past years. They have made you deaf and blind to what is really happening. The truth is that the ruling elite is despised by the people. Your puppet Ahmadinejad, who likes to appeal to Iranians in populist terms, is reviled. If you continue to use violence against your people then you have obviously learned nothing from the tragic fate of the last shah of Persia.The mothers of the members of my family who were executed will never forgive you. But they will let you withdraw peacefully, for the sake of freedom and the peace of their grandchildren. Time is pressing for the Iranian people, and for the international community. I wish you wisdom and peace.Mr. Ellian, who was born in Tehran, teaches philosophy of law at Leiden University, Netherlands.Updated June 17, 2009 12:01 a.m. ETTo His Excellency, Ayatollah Said Ali Khamenei:A year before the Iranian Revolution, a member of my family had the privilege of praying beside you. Later, during the revolution, this anecdote became a source of great pride within our family. This relative of mine had prayed with you and yet he, like myself, was forced to go into hiding soon after the revolution.Excellency, we had not committed any crime. We merely disagreed with the repressive measures instituted by Imam Khomeini. But disagreement had become a punishable offence.I was not even 18 years old when I was forced to flee my own country. Against all the hopes of those of us who participated in the Islamic revolution, the revolution enacted a system of political violence. A regime which claimed to liberate us from tyranny carried out mass murder and created an unprecedented flood of refugees. In the 1980s, thousands of Iranians who fought with you against the Shah were executed, convicted by revolutionary tribunals, without legal representation, with no official charge. Among those killed were two members of my own family. One is buried in a mass grave. In 1988, in the space of a few weeks, thousands of political prisoners were given summary hearings, slain and thrown into anonymous graves on the orders of Imam Khomeini.The prisoners were asked three questions: Are you a Muslim? Did you pray this morning? And have you told us everything about your friends and thus demonstrated your submission to sharia rule? Thousands of them gave the wrong answers and now lie buried together in a huge mass grave at Khavaran, in the desert outside Teheran.Recently, your president ordered this mass grave to be destroyed. Why did he do that? I suspect it was from fear. Because every day weeping mothers lay flowers on that inglorious pile of earth. Imam Khomeini promised the people Islamic justice -- those mass graves testify to what that means. They are the hallmark of the theocratic regime which you have led for the past 20 years.In 1979, millions of Iranians, young people mainly, took to the streets to demonstrate for three fundamental rights. First and foremost the basic freedoms of Azadi-e Baian, Azadi-e Qalam, Azadi-e Andish-e: freedom of speech, the freedom to write and freedom of thought. Secondly, the right of independence. And thirdly, they demanded the (Islamic) republic. Inadvertently, we helped put a monstrous constitution in place. In the end, Imam Khomeini's doctrine of vilayat-i faqih, rule by a single ayatollah, created an unparalleled crisis for Iran and Islam itself.Excellency, every response you gave toward non-violent protest has been one of more oppression and more violence. The appointment of the supreme religious political leader under the vilayat-i faqih system has led to insoluble conflict. The periodical presidential elections have had no influence at all on the organization of the judicial system, on foreign policy or the government's security policy, and have thus undermined every form of public credibility and legitimacy. Former president Mohamad Khatami was eventually forced to concede that despite the high expectations of his supporters he had been unable to implement any serious reforms. You, as leader of Iran, blocked every presidential measure that you did not like. As a result, millions of Iranians were disappointed in President Khatami -- although it was actually you who was to blame.The revolution that had begun in hopes for freedom ended in the rule of President Ahmadinejad, with anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial. President Ahmadinejad boasted that he would wipe Israel from the map. Many like me feel a deep shame at this uncivilized and un-Persian anti-Semitism.Iran's semi-official anti-Semitism and tyrannical rule toward its own people reveal the moral failure of the regime that you lead. Millions of people in Tehran and other Iranian cities have condemned this moral bankruptcy by demonstrating and by voting for Mir Hossein Mousavi. Your regime is finished. Surely you realize that too, Excellency? And if you have not realized it yet, then surely you, just like the Shah some 30 years ago, must have heard the hundreds of thousands in Tehran shouting "Allahu Akbar, down with the dictatorship!"Excellency, the demonstrations show that the people of Iran, the children of the revolution, will accept your rule no more. Your regime is no longer able to exercise sovereignty over the Iranian people without the recourse to violence, extreme violence. I urge you to recognize that Iran is now undeniably at a crossroad: Either the will of the people is accepted and a peaceful transition to democracy is achieved or you plan to respond to these protests by launching a bloodbath. Ask yourself: Can a regime, hated and rejected by a huge majority of the population, transform itself into a democratic administration that recognizes the rule of law? Has it ever in history been possible for a political transition to take place peacefully and without the shedding of blood?The surprising answer is yes, it has been done. The Apartheid regime was also despised by the majority. And that regime was an extremely violent regime. Even so, South Africa chose for a peaceful transition under the brilliant leadership of Nelson Mandela. They negotiated to guarantee the interests (including security and property rights) of the ruling minority. At the same time, they discussed and developed a transitional constitution. Naturally, people will ask what will happen to those who perpetrated the crimes against humanity in the name of the Islamic state. Here the precedent set by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa provides a possible solution. The will of the people need not end in bloodshed. What happened in South Africa, a country torn apart by hatred and violence, can happen in Iran too.Excellency, everything depends in the end on the will of the political leader. On you. The mass demonstrations in the cities of Iran show that the desire of the Iranian people is for political transition.An Iran dominated by violent internal conflict is a threat to regional peace and security and a threat to the people of Iran themselves. It is up to the United Nations to persuade you, if you fail to realize yourself, that a peaceful transition is possible. In the end it is Iranians, including Iranians living abroad, who must make this change happen.Excellency Khamenei, you and I know that no tyranny has ever succeeded in creating a political system that lasts. Your advisors have been misinforming you these past years. They have made you deaf and blind to what is really happening. The truth is that the ruling elite is despised by the people. Your puppet Ahmadinejad, who likes to appeal to Iranians in populist terms, is reviled. If you continue to use violence against your people then you have obviously learned nothing from the tragic fate of the last shah of Persia.The mothers of the members of my family who were executed will never forgive you. But they will let you withdraw peacefully, for the sake of freedom and the peace of their grandchildren. Time is pressing for the Iranian people, and for the international community. I wish you wisdom and peace.Mr. Ellian, who was born in Tehran, teaches philosophy of law at Leiden University, Netherlands.
Crist: New York restrictions defy belief | Daily Racing Form
Nov 25, 2011 - It's only 126 days until Palm Sunday and seven more until Easter, more than enough time for New York to repeal its ... By Steven Crist · Print.Steven Crist: Kay should focus on mending fences between NYRA ...
Jun 21, 2013 - I agree with most of what Steve Crist wrote but he is remiss to mention two ... Your Palm Sunday pet peeve will have to wait another year.Crist: Time to scrap the New York ban on Palm Sunday and Easter ...
www.paulickreport.com/.../crist-time-to-scrap-the-new-york-ban-on-pal...Nov 26, 2011 - Steven Crist argues that New York's ban on horseracing on Palm Sunday and Easter is not only antiquated but unreasonable and should be ...steven crist | Paulick Report – Thoroughbred Horse Racing News ...
www.paulickreport.com/tag/steven-crist/page/2/Mar 30, 2012 - The Daily Racing Form's Steven Crist adds his voice to the varied ... Crist: Time to scrap the New York ban on Palm Sunday and Easter racing.Crist sounds off on NY's Palm Sunday/Easter ... - Pace Advantage
www.paceadvantage.com › ... › General Racing DiscussionDec 6, 2011 - 14 posts - 8 authorsAssemblyman Tedisco, Steven Crist of the Daily Racing Form wrote a provocative article in regards to the prohibition of horse races or wagers ...Steve Crist: The NYRA Saga… [Archive] - HTR Software and Horse ...
homebased2.com › ... › HTR Handicapping Software › General DiscussionApr 9, 2007 - 3 posts - 2 authorsBy STEVEN CRIST ... of so much that is dysfunctional about racing in the state: Aqueduct will be closed April 1 because it is Palm Sunday.
HI-Thanks for the help. The item’s below. I’d be happy to mail you a copy, if you give me a mailing address.Claude Solnik(631) 913-4244Long Island Business News2150 Smithtown Ave.Ronkonkoma, NY 11779-7348Home > LI Confidential > Stop scratching on holidaysStop scratching on holidays
Published: June 1, 2012
Off Track Betting in New York State has been racing into a crisis called shrinking revenue. Some people have spitballed a solution: Don’t close on holidays.
New York State Racing Law bars racing on Christmas, Easter and Palm Sunday, and the state has ruled OTBs can’t handle action on those days, even though they could easily broadcast races from out of state.
“You should be able to bet whenever you want,” said Jackson Leeds, a Nassau OTB employee who makes an occasional bet. He added some irrefutable logic: “How is the business going to make money if you’re not open to take people’s bets?”
Elias Tsekerides, president of the Federation of Hellenic Societies of Greater New York, said OTB is open on Greek Orthodox Easter and Palm Sunday.
“I don’t want discrimination,” Tsekerides said. “They close for the Catholics, but open for the Greek Orthodox? It’s either open for all or not open.”
OTB officials have said they lose millions by closing on Palm Sunday alone, with tracks such as Gulfstream, Santa Anita, Turf Paradise and Hawthorne running.
One option: OTBs could just stay open and face the consequences. New York City OTB did just that back in 2003. The handle was about $1.5 million – and OTB was fined $5,000.
Easy money.
Hovdey: On Palm Sunday, Rousing Sermon a good hunch play ...
Mar 30, 2012 - There is no horse racing allowed in New York this Sunday, which is Palm Sunday in the Christian world, because of laws dating back to 1695.
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