of New York will not tolerate Coptic Christian Bettors who object to Nassau OTB closing on Roman Catholic Easter and Palm Sunday in preference to the same holidays observed upon different days by other churches. New York State believes in religious preference, NY Const. Art 1, Sec. 3, and if you don't like it, the hell with you.
Egypt's Christians celebrate Coptic Easter
Originally published: May 4, 2013 5:17 PM
Updated: May 4, 2013 8:00 PM
By The Associated Press
AYA BATRAWY (Associated Press)
Photo credit: AP | Pope Tawadros II, the 118th pope of the
Coptic Church of Egypt, leads the Easter Mass at St. Mark's Cathedral in
Cairo, Egypt, late Saturday May 4, 2013. Egypt's Coptic Christians, who
make up about 10 percent of the country's 85 million people, have long
complained of discrimination by the state. They are the largest
Christian community in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil)
CAIRO - (AP) -- Pope Tawadros II led
his first Easter Mass as head of the ancient Coptic Church in Egypt
praying for security and prosperity on Saturday at the same cathedral
that was the site of sectarian clashes weeks earlier.
The Orthodox Easter mass, meant to be a
religious celebration that marks the resurrection of Jesus after his
crucifixion, took place amid increased attacks on churches.
Egypt's Orthodox Coptic Christians,
who make up about 10 percent of the country's 90 million people, have
long complained of discrimination. Clashes between Muslims and
Christians have become more frequent after a breakdown in security
following the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader
Hosni Mubarak from power in a 2011 uprising.
It also comes as the country is
deeply polarized, with secularist liberals, Christians and some Muslims
deeply angry with the direction of the country and at odds with a
largely Islamist bloc that supports President Mohammed
Morsi.
The divisions played out in the church
when the pope read out a list of names of Cabinet officials who had
greeted the pope by phone. The crowd erupted in roaring applause at the
naming of Sheikh Ahmed al-Tayyeb of al-Azhar, the head of the Sunni
Muslim world's pre-eminent seat of learning, who is believed to be in a
power tussle with the president's
Muslim Brotherhood backers. The crowd also applauded when Sheik Mazhar Shahin was named. The cleric who preaches at a mosque overlooking
Tahrir Square,
the epicenter of anti-government protests, had been temporarily
suspended after a citizen complained that his sermons were critical of
Morsi.
The evening prayer service, which
lasted for several hours, was tightly guarded. High-level police
officials, the US Ambassador to Egypt Anne Patterson, as well as Muslim
figures opposed to Morsi attended the mass.
The president sent a representative --
the country's housing minister-- to attend the prayer and Morsi spoke
to the pope and the heads of other Christian churches in Egypt to greet
them on the occasion.
Despite the display of unity, some
religious figures have been accused of flaming sectarian tensions. Last
month, residents of the area of Khusoos, a town just north of
Cairo,
said a local cleric incited violence against Christians after a
Christian man killed his Muslim neighbor. They say the cleric called out
on loud speakers for all Muslims with weapons to head out into the
streets and protect their homes against Christian attacks. Four
Christians were killed in ensuing clashes. The incident is being
investigated by prosecutors.
The funeral for the four was an
intense emotional outcry of anger against Morsi. Worshipers and mourners
chanted against his rule and against his powerful Muslim Brotherhood
group.
Immediately after the funeral, an
angry mob threw firebombs and rocks at the cathedral. The violence left
two people dead. One was identified as a Christian. Policemen had fired
tear gas into the cathedral's grounds during the clashes, further
stoking anger.
In a rare rebuke after the incident,
the Egyptian pope last month criticized Morsi for not protecting the St.
Mark Church, which also serves as the papal seat. Morsi had said that
he considered the attack on the church on attack on him personally.
More recently, controversy brewed over
comments by a Brotherhood leader who said that greetings to Christians
should not compromise Islamic teachings.
But on Saturday, Saad el-Katatni, the head of the Brotherhood group's political party, wrote on
Facebook an Easter greeting and prayed for unity.
"Egypt will not rise unless with the
wings of all its Muslim and Christian children," he wrote. "Our Coptic
brothers are our partners in this country."
Muslims believe in Jesus as a prophet,
but do not believe as Christians do that he was the son of God. Muslim
men are also permitted to marry Christian women, as the Muslim Prophet
Muhammad had.
Head of the opposition Congress Party and former longtime
Arab League chief
Amr Moussa told The Associated Press from inside Cairo's main cathedral during mass that "Egypt is in a crisis."
"We will not get out of this crisis unless we are united," he said.
Roman Catholic Easter Sunday in preference to Greek Orthodox Easter
Sunday. Is it any wonder that NY is bankrupt and its OTBs going
bankrupt one after the other? See NY PML Sec 109 and NY Const. Art. 1,
Sec. 3 etc. You might think that one as yet unidicted NY official with
standing would avail themselves of a FREE formal or informal opinion
from NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
See below
Letter: Why close racetrack on Palm Sunday?
Published: April 1, 2013 5:44 PM
Photo credit: AP | In this photo provided by
New
York Racing Association, Stay Thirsty, left, with Ramon Dominguez
aboard, captures The G1 Cigar Mile horse race at Aqueduct in New York.
(Nov. 24, 2012)
To see what's wrong up in
Albany, one only
needs to look at the fact that the Aqueduct Racetrack was closed on
Palm Sunday. On an average Sunday, The Big A has a total handle of
between $6 million and $7 million, of which
New York
State takes a percentage.
Racing also injects money into the industry, paying jockeys,
trainers, grooms, etc. Hundreds of employees -- pari-mutuel clerks and
racing officials -- help put on the show, which the state gets a piece
of in income taxes.
All of this, worth thousands upon thousands of dollars, was lost
because on an antiquated law. Not being allowed to race on
Christmas or
Easter is OK, but Palm Sunday? The
New York
Racing Authority races on
Thanksgiving,
and that's a holiday that the vast majority of us celebrate.
Changing this law would be a slam-dunk revenue creator.
Gerard Bringmann, Patchogue
Editor's note: The writer is both a racing fan and a
practicing Catholic.
OPEN ON 1ST PALM SUNDAY, OTB RAKES
IN $2M. By Jerry Bossert / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS. Monday, April
14, 2003, 12:00 AM. Print · Print; Comment ...
Apr 16, 2003 – By Jerry Bossert
/ NEW YORK DAILY NEWS ... Aqueduct was also closed on Palm
Sunday, but OTB thrived on action from around the
country.
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)
913-4244
Long Island Business
News
2150
Smithtown Ave.
Ronkonkoma,
NY 11779-7348
Stop 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.
Teamsters Local 707 Kevin McCaffrey President and Barry Yomtov Business Agent concur that the holiday will be observed on one and only one day and that bettors are of no concern to them. Teamsters Local 707 represents the employees of Nassau OTB.
Preet
