middleofnowhere said:

If you boil it down, it sounds like he will provide the service but wants to be paid. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays my wife goes to the food bank, loads up her truck and distributions food to a number of families.

She doesn't ask to be paid. At the food bank they are all volunteers. Most of the food comes from Publix, Costco, Walmart and a few others. No one is getting paid. They do it because they want to.

Many years ago I got involved in a homeless feeding program. After a while I came to discover the money we were donating, I was giving $400.00 a month, was mostly being pocketed by the Priest who was running it. Food he said was being bought was actually donated.
Here's the thing, was he feeding people, yes. But he was also inriching himself.

One on one charity is a good way to help people. You can't help everyone but can make a small difference in the lives of a few. As far as the tattoo thing. It seems like the cost of a 2 inch cover up tattoo is not really that expensive.

Where is the money going that would be donated? It seems to the tattoo artist for his services. That's not charity, it's a revenue stream.

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I do take a portion for my services but it is minimal, less than half of what the tattoos would normally cost. Costs of running a business in Chicago are very high at this time. Many long running businesses are shutting their doors around me. All of our overheads, from supplies to utilities are way up. I have a few clients that run charities, most take a salary from their donations. I do not.

Below is a traditional pool table horse hair brush. On top is one I found at Harbor Freight. The top one is very soft and brushes the dirt and chalk dust away without grinding it down in. This is my favorite when brushing but I also vacuum often but don't use too strong of a vacuum.

jeephawk said:

Do you have a venue/format/dates/local sponsors? If you want businesses you aren't already "networked" with contributing money you need to be making appointments and pitching your cause/event in person and helping them understand what they get out of it and hopefully setting up something other than a one off contribution. I'm guessing here and elsewhere are resources to draw upon for a successful charitable pool tournament but what is the notion driving the thought that is the best event to raise funds? Lots of knocking on doors, ideas for events needed, getting invites to present at local clubs and so forth, pounding the pavement if you need to raise a lot of money on a consistent basis.

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Thanks for the input, that organization is no longer around.

nataddrho said:

Surge inflation. A lot of people that have been around a while can’t get their head to make sense of 50’s style 1200 sqft ranches costing $500,000 on average, when they were only $50,000 when they purchased 30 years ago.

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You couldn't find a house in SoCal for $50K 30 years ago. I paid $257K for my 1,500 sq ft 1930 Spanish Colonial 25 years ago, which I thought was a lot. Current value is $1.1M and yes, it's hard to wrap my head around that.

Hungarian said:

That’s so stupid it’s funny!!

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Agreed

Have a Tyrant 2 with the Cuelee’s carbon sfaft!

Texas Carom Club said:

Have you broken cynergy ferrules? How durable do they need to be, how hard are you hitting balls ?

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A friend that does cue repair has replaced a bunch of Cynergy ferrules. Cuetec uses a super soft material, and it seems prone to damage.

As far as the SMO goes: I like the SMO quite a bit and even played a league match with one last night. That said, I tend to go back to a Revo.

Were I buying my first CF shaft, I'd be happy with a SMO.

cardit said:

Inquiring

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No. Use a vacuum cleaner followed by a damp cloth. Also use the damp cloth on the rails.

fastone371 said:

I hope that aint a dude, I would be embarrassed to have nails looking like a street ho. Just sayin.

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Might just be an Asian culture thing.
Long nails means you don't do hard work with your hands.

jokers_wild96 said:

It looks like its a knock off radial. But if the male jp fits in the shaft then the female jp should fit as well.

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The only problem with that is I lost the female portion and can't find it. So I have to buy a new set. I have it on order, from amazon, so I hope it's the right one.

ctyhntr said:

It's my understanding, after Albany Hyatt closed, prior to XinBiing entering the market Saluc was the sole manufacturer of phenolic resin billiard balls. This is why Brunswick shifted their Centennial contract to Saluc, maker of Aramith brand. I remember when Super Pro Aramith were only $130, while Brunswick Centennials were upwards of $300. When Duramith came out it was at the whopping $225. Now Dynasphere and Super Pro Aramith are $350.

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Surge inflation. A lot of people that have been around a while can’t get their head to make sense of 50’s style 1200 sqft ranches costing $500,000 on average, when they were only $50,000 when they purchased 30 years ago.

Take up bowling.

sjm said:

Not hinting that at all. Government is not the source of funding for the national pool federations.

Most of that money originates at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) level, which has a solidarity budget of billions. For example, the United States National Olympic committee gets $650,000,000 from the IOC per four-year Olympic cycle. The National Olympic Committees of lesser countries like Poland, of course, get less. It is easily forgotten that both the World Confederation of Billiard Sports (WCBS) and its member the World Pool Association (WPA) exist under the IOC umbrella.

Each National Olympic committee determines how the money received from the IOC is allocated across the various IOC-recognized sports. Sports already enjoying Olympic inclusion, invariably, get some of that money.

Other sports, and pool is one of them, have earned World Games inclusion but not Olympic inclusion. Some of the National Olympic committees of the world will fund sports in this category, as such sports may gain Olympic inclusion in the future. Poland is one such country. The United States is not.

So, no, government and political philosophy and ideology are not relevant here.

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Just to "yes and..."

The USOPC receives a significant portion of U.S. broadcast revenue from the multi-billion dollar deal with the IOC and NBCUniversal to air the Olympics in the U.S. It also gets some corporate sponsorships with Nike, Coca-Cola, Visa, and others for marketing rights. It raises money from individuals, including one-time and recurring donors, as well as major gifts from wealthy patrons and foundations. The USOPC licenses the Team USA brand and selling Olympic-branded merchandise. And the USOPC and its affiliated foundations host gala events, auctions, and donor summits to raise funds directly. And I'm sure specific sports national governing bodies are prominent enough to do their own fundraising if their sport is prestigious enough (gymnastics).

The obvious issue for billiards is that the BCA doesn't receive any of that financial support from the USOPC. Of course pool isn't in the Olympics, just the World Games. Which doesn't preclude it from getting some USOPC support like bowling does. I'm sure if pool got in the Olympics it would go a long way to get access to USOPC funding. Maybe even participation in the Pan American Games would help its case. But I've heard the primary sticking point is that the USOPC only wants to work with a single national governing body (NGB) for a sport and the main deal breaker is that the BCA is not a unified North American governing body for pocket billiards, snooker and carom (it's just pool). Kind of like how the IOC only wants to deal with the WCBS, not the WPA. USOPC wants to deal with something that doesn't exist, not the BCA.

Your point is valid that any debates between socialism and capitalism aren't relevant. But I thought I'd contribute what appears to be the primary deal breaker for supporting our athletes under that umbrella. It's very hard to see how American pool talent develops outside the model of pool hobbyists supported by family at a very young age become motivated to "go pro one day" and find success commercially through events and sponsors. It's hard to see how we develop a structure that systematically develops talent without a major breakthrough on the commercial side of pool.