Re: Horror Story of Rev. Gregory J. Hogan, Sr.


"Irish Mike" <mjostar@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:CSrai.32538$Um6.11666@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| Boils down to taking responsibility for your own actions. Apparently that
| was a lesson the rev'un never taught his dumb ass son. All his whining is
| just another version of the same old "it ain't my fault", "I'm not
| responsible" and "it takes a village" bull ***. How about just admitting
| his kid is dumb as a box of rocks, has no self control and that he was too
| busy preachin' to other people to take the time to teach his own kid how
to
| be a responsible adult.
|
| Irish Mike
|

If the kid was smart he would have made them deposit the money in an
offshore account.


| "rgpars" <43079862@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
| news:1181368927$1006055@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| > sounds like he was surrounded by the biggest group of enabling fucktwits
| > on
| > earth, and that he was never taught how to handle a situation
responsibly.
| > I'm
| > sure he had no other choice but to rob a bank to cover his 5K poker
debt.
| > And
| > why the *** would they send him back for another year of school if he
was
| > having the problem. Rule #1 for controlling addiction. Don't go back to
| > the
| > place where the problem behavior most often occurs. I can't imagine any
| > sort of
| > addiction counselor wouldn't have told the family this.
| >
| > On Jun 8 2007 7:58 PM, A Man Beaten by Jacks wrote:
| >
| >> A Father s Journey
| >> My journey with my son through the
| >> nightmare of Internet Gambling
| >> Testimony given to
| >> The Financial Services Committee
| >> U.S. House of Representatives
| >> June 8, 2007
| >> By
| >> Rev. Gregory J. Hogan, Sr.
| >> Hudson, Ohio
| >> My Background:
| >> I am the Pastor of First Baptist Church, Barberton, Ohio. I have a BS
| >> degree
| >> in
| >> education from Tennessee Temple University in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I
| >> am
| >> married to Dr. Karen W. Hogan RN, ND, and we have 4 children. Our
second
| >> child,
| >> Gregory, Jr. is currently in prison for a robbery he committed to feed
| >> his
| >> online gambling addiction.
| >> Testimony:
| >> I am just a dad. I am the dad with you in the Memorial Day parade in
our
| >> hometown. I am the coach leading my son s U-8 soccer team, or walking
in
| >> my
| >> scout uniform with the Boy Scout troop, or riding in the truck with my
| >> church
| >> youth group. After the parade and the speeches, I come to the front of
| >> the
| >> crowd
| >> to have the honor of shaking the hand of my congressman. I am the dad
| >> that
| >> bows
| >> his head at the invocation, and prays to our God in heaven for you, my
| >> congressman, a blessing for your hard work, strength to your family as
| >> you
| >> serve
| >> here in Washington, and wisdom from on high to deal with hard choices
| >> that you
| >> must make. I am just a dad.
| >> I do not consider myself an expert on Internet Gambling. For in
reality,
| >> I am
| >> a
| >> dad. I am a dad that uses the Internet everyday for a variety of
reasons.
| >> I
| >> appreciate its power to find information that I need, help me
communicate
| >> with
| >> my colleagues, and keep me informed on what s happening in the world.
But
| >> as a
| >> dad, I realize that the Internet can also bring in the worst of what is
| >> out
| >> there into the laps of my children at the speed of light. But I am sure
| >> that
| >> each of you who are parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, also fear
the
| >> traps
| >> that are so cunningly laid for our children on the Internet.
| >> I am here today for this very reason--I am a dad; a dad that has had to
| >> witness
| >> the devastation that Internet Gambling has brought upon the life of my
| >> son and
| >> our family. Many times in my sermons, I have had to watch my children s
| >> faces
| >> as
| >> I told a story of something that happened in our home. I could not
resist
| >> because this story so aptly illustrated the point I was making. The
| >> words,
| >> let
| >> me tell you about my son would
| >> Page 1
| >> often bring a groan and rolling eyes from my family s pew. But please
| >> today,
| >> let
| >> me tell you about my son.
| >> I am extremely proud of my son, Gregory Jr. Greg has always been full
of
| >> life
| >> and zeal to share it with others. He loved to read even as a 4 year
old.
| >> He
| >> would read my old history textbooks from my days as a teacher becoming
| >> fascinated with the Civil War. He loved being on his soccer team and in
| >> his
| >> music lessons. He began to study piano when he was only 5. He soon
became
| >> very
| >> proficient for his age, and even won two medals in the International
| >> Piano
| >> Competition. He was able to perform twice in the winners recital at
| >> Carnegie
| >> Hall in New York City.
| >> He also seriously studied cello. He wanted to attend arguably the most
| >> academically challenging school in Ohio. He achieved that goal, and
while
| >> there
| >> he lettered in two sports, achieved the highest recognition for
| >> volunteerism,
| >> he
| >> was active in Bible studies, the Gay Straight Alliance, mock trial, and
| >> was
| >> the
| >> first student in the school s 105 year history to solo on two different
| >> instruments. He was elected a Prefect over his house in the leadership
| >> system.
| >> Greg set his goal to be admitted to Lehigh University, a top-50 ranked
| >> university. He was accepted on early decision with a $23,000 a year
| >> grant. I
| >> was
| >> so proud and relieved, because I couldn t afford Lehigh on a minister s
| >> salary.
| >> I was so proud the day we dropped Greg off at school, we stood on the
| >> side of
| >> the hill looking over the campus, I prayed a prayer of blessing, and
| >> before I
| >> left, he said to me, Dad, I am going to run for president of my class.
| >> Two
| >> months later he added that to his long list of accomplishments. At the
| >> end of
| >> the year, he was re-elected president for the sophomore class.
| >> A few weeks after the beginning a school, a non-student walked into
Greg
| >> s
| >> room
| >> and said, Look how much money I made playing poker on the Internet.
He
| >> walked
| >> over to Greg s computer, and in few keystrokes, the program had
| >> downloaded,
| >> and
| >> the screen showed a balance in this guy s account of $120,000. That was
| >> more
| >> money than Greg could imagine. That evening, Greg opened his account
and
| >> played
| >> his first hands of Texas Hold em. He could not have driven down to
| >> Atlantic
| >> City
| >> and walked up to a card table, he could not even have gone to the
| >> convenience
| >> store and bought a lottery ticket because of his age, but on the
Internet
| >> he
| >> could gamble in his own dorm room.
| >> I soon became aware of Greg s gambling. We still had a joint checking
| >> account
| >> that he had opened when he worked at the pizza parlor during high
school.
| >> Just
| >> before Thanksgiving, I opened the checking account statement, and saw a
| >> couple
| >> of suspicious charges. They were $50 each made to Pokerstars. I did a
| >> google
| >> search of the name, and was immediately connected to an Internet poker
| >> site.
| >> When Greg came home for Thanksgiving break, he and I talked. I first
| >> approached
| >> it as a waste of money, I told him not to waste his money on something
| >> that
| >> was
| >> not beneficial,
| >> Page 2
| >> and he made the first in a series of promises to me, Dad, I ll not do
it
| >> again. This was the first in a multitude of broken promises and lies
| >> about
| >> his
| >> gambling.
| >> By Christmas vacation, he was placing up to $400 a day in his poker
| >> account.
| >> We
| >> discussed the fact that he would soon not have enough money for books
and
| >> his
| >> social needs at school the next semester. I ve stopped, was his only
| >> refrain.
| >> It was not my son that spent winter break with us his freshman year.
Greg
| >> had
| >> changed from a person that was very outgoing, very active, very
concerned
| >> about
| >> his personal hygiene, enjoyed being with his friends, and even enjoyed
| >> working,
| >> to a depressive blob that would watch Texas Hold em on TV all hours of
| >> the
| >> night, not change out of his pajamas or get a shower for three days.
| >> We were very concerned. We contacted the university and arranged for
Greg
| >> to
| >> have counseling. We sent him back for his second semester, with very
| >> little
| >> money left in his account, and a prayer that things would work out.
| >> Greg gambled very little his second semester, mainly because he had
such
| >> limited
| >> funds. We thought things were working well. He contacted the CEO of a
| >> large
| >> financial institution in the Cleveland area for a job. He was given a
| >> summer
| >> job, and told by another president of the corporation, that all of the
| >> future
| >> managers start out here. If Greg did well, he had a future with this
| >> corporation.
| >> He opened his own checking account to receive the direct deposit of his
| >> paycheck. Shortly after he arrived home, he was updating his face page
on
| >> the
| >> Internet, and a banner ad promised him money if he would sign up for a
| >> poker
| >> account today. That ad appeared on a site used by hundreds of thousands
| >> of
| >> high
| >> school and college students.
| >> With his first paycheck, he began to gamble in earnest. By July 4th
| >> weekend,
| >> the
| >> overdraft notices were coming every day. We stopped believing in his
| >> desire to
| >> stop, and realized that he was involved in something that was beyond
his
| >> control. I removed all the computers from my house, we found a
certified
| >> gambling therapist for Greg, and we began to attend Gamblers Anonymous.
I
| >> paid
| >> off his overdraft charges, because if his account were to be closed, he
| >> would
| >> lose his job and his future.
| >> Gambling is about short cuts. It is about short cutting your dreams and
| >> accomplishments in life. Greg has told me he dreamed of buying himself
a
| >> Jeep
| >> Wrangler, of buying me a new car, and of paying for his college so he
| >> would
| >> not
| >> be a burden to his mother and me. Since then, I have heard the story of
| >> many
| >> other teens that say their descent on the path of Internet Gambling
began
| >> by
| >> thinking it was a shortcut to their dreams.
| >> Nobility is often a characteristic of a gambler s dreams. It allows him
| >> to do
| >> something that would hurt us in the long run, to give us something good
| >> in the
| >> future. There are no
| >> Page 3
| >> shortcuts to our dreams and those things that are worth having, come
from
| >> hard
| >> work and doing good to others.
| >> We sent Greg back to Lehigh for his sophomore year. He moved into his
| >> fraternity
| >> house, and promised us he would go to Gambler s Anonymous in Bethlehem.
| >> He did
| >> see his counselor on campus, but never attended a GA meeting. Soon the
| >> charges
| >> began to hit his account again. I immediately called Lehigh and was
told
| >> that
| >> nothing could be done to limit my son s access to online gambling.
| >> I went to Lehigh for Greg s installation as class president, and
attended
| >> the
| >> Trustees dinner with him that evening. He went around collecting
business
| >> cards
| >> from men and women that were telling him to call them for internships
and
| >> summer
| >> jobs after his junior year. While I was there, I installed Gamblock ®
on
| >> Greg s
| >> computer, we closed his bank account back home. His account at college
| >> would
| >> not
| >> allow international payments from their debit card, so once again I
| >> thought I
| >> had stopped Greg from gambling. He found an intermediary site that
would
| >> take
| >> money from his account and send it oversees. He began to gamble from a
| >> computer
| >> in the school library for up to 12 hours a day. He was not gambling
| >> alone.
| >> Statistics provided by National Council on Problem Gambling reveal that
4
| >> percent of the adult population living within 50 miles of a casino will
| >> become
| >> addictive gamblers. Among the college population, 7 percent that gamble
| >> on
| >> line
| >> will become addicted.
| >> Between his binge gambling, binge drinking to forget the losses of
| >> gambling,
| >> his
| >> active social life as the president of his class, and a demanding
| >> academic
| >> load,
| >> Greg went into full tilt. He had taken money from his parents, his
| >> siblings,
| >> he
| >> had taken his savings bonds from the family safe, and borrowed money
from
| >> friends, all with the idea that he would make it big, pay everyone
back,
| >> and
| >> treat those that he loved to some nice gifts. The only thing we wanted
| >> was the
| >> old Greg that we all loved and enjoyed being around.
| >> When he returned to school after thanksgiving, he was out of money and
| >> out of
| >> luck. Because of the overdraft charges, he was shut out of the poker
| >> sites.
| >> His
| >> fraternity brothers started asking for their money back to buy
Christmas
| >> gifts
| >> for their families. The black hole of his addiction kept dragging him
| >> deeper
| >> and
| >> deeper. He just had to make one more bet.
| >> So with the bravado of a bluffing gambler dressed as a typical college
| >> sophomore, Greg walked into a bank, passed a note, and walked out with
| >> over
| >> $2,000 in his backpack. He returned to his dorm, threw the back pack on
| >> the
| >> bed
| >> and went out for pizza with his friends. When he returned to campus,
the
| >> police
| >> were waiting for him as he came to orchestra practice that night.
| >> Greg pled guilty to a first degree felony and is now serving a sentence
| >> of 22
| >> months to 10 years in the Pennsylvania corrections system. After his
| >> arrest we
| >> did send him to an
| >> Page 4
| >> inpatient treatment center and had him go through some serious
counseling
| >> to
| >> deal with his addiction.
| >> Because of Internet Gambling, Greg s dreams of becoming a judge or
| >> working on
| >> Wall Street have been destroyed. Because Greg fell victim to Internet
| >> Gambling s
| >> illusions of quick riches and a shortcut to his dreams, his dreams are
in
| >> ashes
| >> today. Each day my wife, myself, and our three other children have to
| >> experience
| >> what it is to be a victim of Internet Gambling. Each of us has
| >> experienced
| >> sleep
| >> disturbances, panic in social settings, depression, and sought out
| >> counseling
| >> and medical help.
| >> If it was not for internet gambling, next May I would be proudly
waiting
| >> to
| >> see
| >> President of the Senior Class Greg Hogan graduating from Lehigh
| >> University. He
| >> would be preparing for graduate school or his first job in the
financial
| >> industry. Instead, I will be waiting for him outside of the prison
gate,
| >> and
| >> he
| >> will be preparing to live life handicapped by a felony on his record.
| >> As a private citizen, I oppose any effort to legalize or even give
| >> credibility
| >> to Internet Gambling. Here are some facts:
| >>
| >> Suicide rates are 200 times higher than the national average for
| >> compulsive
| >> gamblers and 150 times higher for their spouses. (February 7-13, 2002
| >> issue of
| >> Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper.)
| >>
| >> Problem gamblers between the ages of 18 and 25 lose an average of
$30,000
| >> each
| >> year and rack up $20,000 to $25,000 in credit card debt, according to
the
| >> California Council on Problem Gambling. In a health advisory issued by
| >> the
| >> American Psychiatric Association early this year (2001), 10 percent to
15
| >> percent of young people reported having experienced one or more
| >> significant
| >> problems relating to gambling.
| >>
| >> Bill Lockyer (former California state attorney general and now state
| >> treasurer)
| >> says there are 600,000 kids with gambling problems.
| >> St. Paul challenges us in his epistle to the Romans, And why not say,
| >> Let us
| >> do evil that good may come ? Every argument for the legalization or
| >> expansion
| >> of gambling from a governmental official, to me, has a common thread,
We
| >> can
| >> do
| >> so much good with the money we get from gambling. Has our government
| >> which
| >> was
| >> created to protect the common good become just as addicted to gambling
as
| >> my
| >> son
| >> was when he walked into that bank?
| >> I am asking this committee to refuse to pass this bill. Congress has
| >> historically expressed its opposition to Internet Gambling. A majority
in
| >> both
| >> parties passed the Ports Bill last September with the Internet
| >> enforcement
| >> provisions in it. It was a great day when I heard that bill had passed.
| >> It was
| >> an answer to my prayers that other families would not have to suffer as
| >> my
| >> family has. Please refuse this bill, because if we open the door to any
| >> type
| >> of
| >> Internet Gambling, we are allowing our college and high school students
| >> to
| >> play
| >> Page 5
| >> Russian Roulette. We know that 7 percent of them will lose. That is
not
| >> very
| >> good odds. How much is it worth to throw away so many thousands of our
| >> children?
| >> I am just a dad. I am proud of my 4 children. I am proud of my son,
Greg.
| >> When
| >> I
| >> stand outside of that prison and see him walk through those gates, I
will
| >> be
| >> so
| >> happy, so proud. I will also think of the other dads that I have met on
| >> our
| >> odyssey through the nightmare of online gambling. Some dads do not know
| >> where
| >> their children are today, and other dads have had to bury them because
| >> Internet
| >> Gambling left them only with the choice of suicide.
| >> Thank you, Mr. Chairman and Congressman Bachus, for the opportunity to
| >> testify
| >> today.
| >> Page 6
| >
| >
| >
| > _______________________________________________________________
| > Posted using RecPoker.com v2.2 - http://www.recpoker.com
|
|


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