Blogs can help you do things you probably shouldn’t
Gambling online in Washington state is a Class C felony good for up to five years in the clink, and federal statute makes it tough for any American to open cyber-casino accounts. But the United States of Poker blog shows players how to circumvent those laws – if they’re game.
Whenever an activity is prohibited in the real world, such virtual advisers pop up to celebrate and sometimes facilitate the outlawed behavior.
Even unregulated satellite radio stars can get suspended for making objectionable comments, as XM jocks Opie & Anthony recently discovered. But the blogosphere still operates like a Wild West saloon.
Call it Deadly Sins R Us.
You used to have to “know a guy” to get around pesky legal restrictions to a good time. But now you can become your own go-to guy after visiting blogworld’s seamier sections.
United States of Poker details how Americans can use foreign financial services such as ePassporte to set up online gambling accounts, for instance.
One goal of the site is to push lawmakers to ease online gambling restrictions. “Each player that continues playing just shows Congress that we will not stop fighting this law,” proprietor Dave Chance said in a statement.
How about quaffing absinthe and puffing a Cuban cigar while you wager? Bloggers will point the way to sampling these illegal-to-import products.
The Absinthe Buyers Guide exhorts readers to “Discover Absinthe,” even though the anise-flavored liquor is generally banned from the United States because it contains the possibly toxic chemical thujone.
The operators of In Absinthia recently discussed how easy it is to obtain shipments of absinthe from Europe. “We have been successful all five times we have ordered so far,” the post boasted before directing readers to a list of “reputable” vendors.
But as The Real Absinthe Blog noted, a New York distiller is introducing an authentic absinthe called Lucid that passed federal muster by effectively testing negative for thujone.
That might take away a bit of absinthe’s blog buzz. But stogies from the land of Castro are still very much forbidden from our shores.
Still, if you trek north or south of the border for some Cohibas, Partagas or Montecristos, you’ll want to read the Specifictime blog’s entry on “How to spot fake Cuban cigars”:
“Authentic Cuban cigars will contain a green and white warranty seal on the left front side of the box. The seal will contain an insignia that has a picture of a shield and a hat. On the upper right hand corner of the box, you should find a white sticker that is placed diagonally with the word ‘Habanos’ printed on it.”
Other blogs feature links to Canadian cigar shops that promise to ship Cubans direct to U.S. residences. Maybe customers can send them back if they don’t pass Specifictime’s authenticity tests.
Anyone who gets lonely after all that drinking, smoking and gambling might be tempted to visit EscortBlogs.net, “where providers say what’s on their minds.” But if you have to ask what service these escorts are providing, skip the visit.
Perusing a few posts by these chatty sex workers, I learned that many clients seek a GFE, or “girlfriend experience.” Curiously, none of them seem to offer a “wife experience.” (To be fair, I realize even fewer people would pay for a “husband experience.”)
Escort blogs also can illustrate the perils of hanging out in the Web’s back rooms: In less than five minutes of surfing, I suffered two efforts to force sites onto my Favorites list and a hijack attempt that launched Outlook even while my Internet security suite was neutralizing the threat.
Maybe it’s best to stick to the sunny side of the blog street.