Former 888 CEO Summoned In French Gambling Investigation

France's recent moves to restrict or ban certain forms of Internet gambling received confirmation with the news that that country's authorities have summoned former 888 Holdings CEO John Anderson to an 'interview' connected to online gambling in France. 888 is the parent company of Pacific Poker, and while specifics regarding France's interest in Anderson have not been released, the request continues France's protectionist push, which mirrors closely similar efforts in the United States.

888 has been among the most aggressive marketers in France, including short-lived sponsorship of the of the Toulouse football (soccer) club, undertaken during

protect its state-run Pari-Mutuel-Urbain and Francaise de Jeux gambling operations, and 888 has been among the most vocal of the online gambling firms defending its status under the European Union's free-trade provisions.

888 and Anderson, who remains a non-executive director with the firm, have signaled their intent to comply with the French interview request. The company's statement offered this: "888 is in consultation with its legal advisers with regards to this inquiry and further announcements will be made in due course if appropriate." Reports indicate that France accounts for less than 5% of 888's current revenues.

The move follows two similar events of recent months, confirming that France's views on the topic of online gaming differ markedly from its neighbors. Those prior newsmaking events were the September, 2006 arrest of two Austrian Bwin executives, and the forced cancellation of the EPT Deauville poker event, scheduled for just last week.

888's stock dipped by several points following the news, triggering a sell-off among stocks in London's online gaming sector. Other firms were affected to a smaller degree, including PartyGaming, which at least temporarily stopped taking new French customers earlier this week, perhaps as part of an 'arm's length' approach to current French efforts. Party declined extended comment on the matter, noting only that "It's not our policy to discuss activities or policies in any individual country."

Pokernews.com

Blogger jailed for four years for insulting Islam

In a landmark case for freedom of expression in Egypt, a young blogger has been jailed for insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak, drawing angry condemnation at home and abroad.

Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman (22) a former law student at Cairo's al-Azhar University, was sentenced to four years in prison by a court in Alexandria on Thursday after being arrested last November over eight articles he posted on his blog.

Suleiman was expelled from al-Azhar for criticising the curriculum and attacking religious extremism. At the university's urging he was then charged with spreading information disruptive of public order, incitement to hate Muslims and insulting the president.

Hafiz Abu Saada, of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, said: "This is a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance that the punishment will very strong."

Suleiman was one of several bloggers arrested last year, most of whom have connections to Egypt's pro-democracy reform movement. Others were freed but he was put on trial -- a sign of the sensitivity of his writings on religion. He was first detained in 2005 after criticising Muslim rioters in a post about sectarian clashes in his neighbourhood headlined The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it.

He also described some of the companions of the prophet Muhammad as terrorists and likened Mubarak to the pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: "This sets a chilling precedent in a country where blogs have opened a window for free speech. The Egyptian government should abide by its commitments to uphold free expression and release Suleiman without delay." Amnesty International called it "yet another slap in the face of freedom for expression in Egypt".

Blogging is increasingly used across the Arab world to challenge governments and discuss taboos. In Egypt it has helped get around restrictions on traditional media. The pro-democracy Kifaya movement and the banned Muslim Brotherhood group have created many websites and encourage blogging.

Egypt is a traditional centre of cultural and intellectual life.

The case highlights the way secular regimes are showing increasing sensitivity about criticism of Islam for fear of helping the cause of opposition Islamist movements. Last year Egypt was included on the blacklist of countries considered enemies of the internet and freedom of expression drawn up by the press freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders.

Last month a court in Morocco banned weekly magazine, Nichane, for insulting Islam with an article entitled How Moroccans laugh about religion, sex and politics. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia and Bahrain block access to www.rezgar.com a secularist site known for advocating freedom of expression, minority and women's rights. Other Arab countries block access to sites relating to pornography and gambling. - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006

Source

Blogger jailed for four years for insulting Islam

In a landmark case for freedom of expression in Egypt, a young blogger has been jailed for insulting Islam and President Hosni Mubarak, drawing angry condemnation at home and abroad.

Abdel-Karim Nabil Suleiman (22) a former law student at Cairo's al-Azhar University, was sentenced to four years in prison by a court in Alexandria on Thursday after being arrested last November over eight articles he posted on his blog.

Suleiman was expelled from al-Azhar for criticising the curriculum and attacking religious extremism. At the university's urging he was then charged with spreading information disruptive of public order, incitement to hate Muslims and insulting the president.

Hafiz Abu Saada, of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights, said: "This is a strong message to all bloggers who are put under strong surveillance that the punishment will very strong."

Suleiman was one of several bloggers arrested last year, most of whom have connections to Egypt's pro-democracy reform movement. Others were freed but he was put on trial -- a sign of the sensitivity of his writings on religion. He was first detained in 2005 after criticising Muslim rioters in a post about sectarian clashes in his neighbourhood headlined The Naked Truth of Islam as I Saw it.

He also described some of the companions of the prophet Muhammad as terrorists and likened Mubarak to the pharaohs who ruled ancient Egypt.

Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, said: "This sets a chilling precedent in a country where blogs have opened a window for free speech. The Egyptian government should abide by its commitments to uphold free expression and release Suleiman without delay." Amnesty International called it "yet another slap in the face of freedom for expression in Egypt".

Blogging is increasingly used across the Arab world to challenge governments and discuss taboos. In Egypt it has helped get around restrictions on traditional media. The pro-democracy Kifaya movement and the banned Muslim Brotherhood group have created many websites and encourage blogging.

Egypt is a traditional centre of cultural and intellectual life.

The case highlights the way secular regimes are showing increasing sensitivity about criticism of Islam for fear of helping the cause of opposition Islamist movements. Last year Egypt was included on the blacklist of countries considered enemies of the internet and freedom of expression drawn up by the press freedom watchdog Reporters without Borders.

Last month a court in Morocco banned weekly magazine, Nichane, for insulting Islam with an article entitled How Moroccans laugh about religion, sex and politics. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Tunisia and Bahrain block access to www.rezgar.com a secularist site known for advocating freedom of expression, minority and women's rights. Other Arab countries block access to sites relating to pornography and gambling. - Guardian Unlimited © Guardian News and Media Limited 2006

Source

Hunting dog 'shoots' owner

A Bosnian man could lose his leg after his playful dog triggered his shotgun following a failed fox-hunting trip, a daily reported on Wednesday.

Milivoje Radoja of the northern Bosnian town of Laktasi suffered the serious leg wound when his five-month-old polish shepherd, Gara, pawed at the weapon while it was hanging off a tractor trailer, said the Nezavisne Novine newspaper.

"Gara found the swinging shotgun ... interesting and she jumped at it. Only God knows how she managed to shoot me in my left leg," Radoja said as quoted by the daily, which described him as an experienced hunter.

Since the accident last week, the 48-year-old has been hospitalised in nearby Banja Luka awaiting a second operation on the leg, which doctors are trying to save from amputation.

Source: AFP

Soldiers gone wild

Being in the army isn’t the pain and suffering it used to be.

An army base in Georgia spent $300,000 on a new nightclub so the soldiers don’t have to drink and drive to get down with the ladies.

FORT STEWART, Ga. (AP) - On weekends, Army Pfc. Keith Smith used to drive 45 miles to Savannah to find a nightclub with hip-hop music, single women and a bar open well past midnight.

The 24-year-old soldier would often have too much fun to make it back to the barracks. "There's been times I went to Savannah and had to sleep in the car because I didn't want to get a DUI," the New Yorker said.

But now he can do his drinking, dancing and lookin' for love just blocks from his Fort Stewart billet, without even leaving the Army post.

Deciding too many soldiers were dying behind the wheel after partying out of town, Fort Stewart commanders spent $300,000 turning a defunct sports bar on the Army post into Rocky's, a bar and nightclub that aims to mimic the after-hours party scene of Savannah's hippest spots.

Knowing booze and dance tunes wouldn't be enough, commanders also eased security restrictions at the post's front gate to encourage civilians - namely women, who get free admission between 10 p.m. and midnight Fridays and Saturdays - to party at Rocky's, which opened in November.

"We never want to glamorize alcohol, but we've got to be realistic about this," said Col. Todd Buchs, garrison commander. "If we know they're going to drink, let's provide a safe place for them to drink so we know they're going to be alive the next morning."

Traffic deaths among soldiers have alarmed the Army since soldiers began returning home from Iraq in the 2003-04 fiscal year, when the number of soldiers killed in car crashes jumped 28 percent over the previous year. A total of 434 Army soldiers have died in wrecks outside combat zones since October 2003.

Alcohol was a factor in the deaths of at least seven of the 13 Fort Stewart soldiers killed on the roads in fiscal year 2006, Buchs said.

Fort Stewart has gone more than 140 days without a traffic death. Buchs said Rocky's has helped extend that streak.

"It's an innovative step in recognizing where their risk is," said Lt. Col. Laura Loftus, chief of the Army's Driving Task Force at Fort Rucker, Ala., which monitors soldier traffic accidents.

From bowling alley beer taps to cocktails at the officers' club, the serving of alcohol on Army posts is nothing new. But with Rocky's, Fort Stewart is trying to stay on top of trends to draw in troops.

Commanders at Fort Stewart, home of the 19,000-soldier 3rd Infantry Division, noticed troops had little nightlife nearby. Fort Stewart had one sports bar that shut down after the war began, and its bingo nights and Western-theme dance club, decorated with John Wayne posters, did not exactly appeal to troops raised on video games and hip-hop.

Neighboring Hinesville has a few bars and clubs, but they closed at midnight on weekends. The real party was in Savannah, often described as a mini-New Orleans for the promenade of bars and clubs open until 3 a.m. on its cobblestone riverfront.
At Rocky's lights above the dance floor flash to the beat of a sound system loud enough to vibrate the candlelit tabletops. The main bar area has 18 flat-screen TVs and 10 video-game kiosks that are networked so troops can play head-to-head in shootouts. There is also a mini-theater where troops can watch DVDs on a 120-inch screen with surround-sound speakers.

"I was thinking, it's a bar on post, it's got to be run-down or something. But when I got here, I was surprised," said Pvt. Rodney Webster, 21, of Dodge City, Kan., who is a repeat customer.

One of the greatest challenges Fort Stewart faced with Rocky's: Only 9 percent of soldiers here are women.

"You've got to have the ladies," said Staff Sgt. Tim Brinson, 28, of Thomasville, Ga., an Army truck driver who moonlights as the club's DJ. "If the ladies don't come, there's no reason for the guys to come."

Post commanders realized this and decided to give Rocky's civilian customers, male or female, easier access through the gates. Instead of having to park their cars at the gate to register for a pass, civilians can request a special pass to Rocky's from a gate guard, show a driver's license and drive on through.

Fort Stewart has issued at least 1,000 Rocky's passes since the club opened.
"We had to weigh the force-protection risk vs. the risk to our soldiers of drinking and driving," Buchs said. "Is it a risk we're willing to accept? Yes."

On a recent Friday night, women accounted for about 40 percent of the nightclub's customers.

Jessica Kunkle, 19, of neighboring Ludowici checked out Rocky's with her friend Veni Thelin, the wife of a Fort Stewart soldier. (Rocky's allows patrons 18 and up, but only those 21 and older get a wristband allowing them to buy alcohol.)

"I'm looking to meet people and have a good time," Kunkle said. "I don't think it feels like you're on an Army post."

Source

Beware of Cupid at work

It's way too late for me, but what applied to me in those days, still applies today.

Don't shit where you eat!

New York - Cupid in the cubicle can be a problem for employers who are unprepared to deal with the fallout from workplace romances.

With Valentine's Day here, experts warn that many employers are caught by surprise by the ripple effects of intra-office relationships, which can demoralize staff and spread envy and resentment.

The problems range from the serious, such as a messy Break-up between a boss and a subordinate, to the less obvious, such an exchange of risqué e-mails or a kiss in the hallway that can distract colleagues and hurt productivity.

"People are a little sloppier around Valentine's Day," said Debra Mandel, a psychologist and author on the subject of office relations.

"They might let the relationship out of the box more."

A soured relationship puts the company at risk

Employers are not just at risk when a staff member becomes romantic with a supervisor, which can lead to claims of sexual harassment.
A soured relationship between peers also puts the company at risk if it leaves one of the workers feeling harassed at work.

Companies may be at risk even if the office relationship ends well, said Shanti Atkins, president of Elt, which offers online ethics and legal compliance training.
She cites the example of Gavin Newsom, San Francisco's single mayor who recently admitted having an affair with a married staff member, and the impact it could have on staff in city government.

40% of US workers have dated an office colleague

She said it could create the impression "one has to sleep with the boss to get ahead," and an employee could sue, claiming it created a hostile working environment.

A recent poll by Spherion Corp, a workplace recruiter, shows that nearly 40% of US workers have dated an office colleague.

The same survey also showed that 84% of US workers said their employer did not have a policy covering office romance or they were not sure if such a policy existed.
In part, that reflects the difficulty employers face in balancing the need to maintain a comfortable work atmosphere with employees' right to privacy.
Experts say many employers decide it is easier to do nothing.

Business etiquette

"As long as people are professional in the office, it's no one's business what people do outside the office," says Barbara Pachter, who writes about business etiquette.

Enforcing a policy that forbids office dating could drive some staff to quit. Also, like decrees that ban internet surfing at work, rules against dating co-workers risk being considered frivolous by staff and could undermine a company's authority.
"People don't follow the dress code so how will you get them to follow a romance code?" Pachter said.

Instead, experts suggest companies educate staff about what is considered appropriate behaviour at the office and incorporate it into training.
Sexual harassment claims

"You want to set basic guidelines, such as keeping the interaction out of the office," said Ayana Brooks, an associate at Meyer Suozzi English and Klein, a law firm that specialises in sexual harassment claims.

Proper training can alert supervisors to issues that are born out of office romances but extend to more serious problems. The recent case of astronaut Lisa Nowak, accused of being obsessed with another astronaut to such an extent that she stalked and attacked a perceived romantic rival, might have been prevented if colleagues had been trained to tell supervisors about unusual behaviour, Atkins said.

"My prediction on that case is that as news trickles out there will be reports of people knowing about a lot of cumulative behaviour over time," she said.

"There is a lack of reporting from employees on these issue. That's the high price of silence. The only way to get these addressed is to get at them early."

source: Reuters

Why People Love Dogs

IT'S MORE COMPLICATED THAN YOU THINK

I loved this article...

My friend and fellow dog lover Edie, an occupational therapist in Massachusetts, has been looking for a mate for nearly 10 years. She finally thought she'd found one in Jeff, a nice guy, generous and funny, who teaches high school. They dated for several months, and just as there was talk about a future, it occurred to Edie that Jeff hadn't really bonded with her yellow Lab, Sophie. In fact, as she thought more about it, she wasn't sure Jeff was a dog guy at all.

She confronted him about this at dinner one night, and he confessed, in some anguish, that he didn't love Sophie, didn't love dogs in general, never had.
They broke up the next week. More accurately, she dumped him. "What can I say?" Edie told me, somewhat defensively. "Sophie has been there for me, day in and day out, for years. I can't say the same of men. She's my girl, my baby. Sooner or later, it would have ended."

Having just spent two months on a book tour talking to dog lovers across the country, I can testify that this story isn't unusual. The lesson Edie gleaned, she says, was that she should have asked about Sophie first, not last.
In America, we love our dogs. A lot. So much that we rarely wonder why anymore.
This, perhaps, is why God created academics.

John Archer, a psychologist at the University of Central Lancashire, has been puzzling for some time over why people love their pets. In evolutionary terms, love for dogs and other pets "poses a problem," he writes. Being attached to animals is not, strictly speaking, necessary for human health and welfare. True, studies show that people with pets live a bit longer and have better blood pressure than benighted nonowners, but in the literal sense, we don't really need all those dogs and cats to survive.

Archer's alternative Darwinian theory: Pets manipulate the same instincts and responses that have evolved to facilitate human relationships, "primarily (but not exclusively) those between parent and child."

No wonder Edie ditched Jeff. She was about to marry the evil stepfather, somebody who wasn't crazy about her true child.

Or, to look at it from the opposite direction, Archer suggests, "consider the possibility that pets are, in evolutionary terms, manipulating human responses, that they are the equivalent of social parasites." Social parasites inject themselves into the social systems of other species and thrive there. Dogs are masters at that. They show a range of emotions—love, anxiety, curiosity—and thus trick us into thinking they possess the full range of human feelings.

They dance with joy when we come home, put their heads on our knees and stare longingly into our eyes. Ah, we think, at last, the love and loyalty we so richly deserve and so rarely receive. Over thousands of years of living with humans, dogs have become wily and transfixing sidekicks with the particularly appealing characteristic of being unable to speak. We are therefore free to fill in the blanks with what we need to hear. (What the dog may really be telling us, much of the time, is, "Feed me.")

As Archer dryly puts it, "Continuing features of the interaction with the pet prove satisfying for the owner."

It's a good deal for the pets, too, since we respond by spending lavishly on organic treats and high-quality health care.

Psychologist Brian Hare of Harvard has also studied the human-animal bond and reports that dogs are astonishingly skilled at reading humans' patterns of social behavior, especially behaviors related to food and care. They figure out our moods and what makes us happy, what moves us. Then they act accordingly, and we tell ourselves that they're crazy about us.

"It appears that dogs have evolved specialized skills for reading human social and communicative behavior," Hare concludes, which is why dogs live so much better than moles.

These are interesting theories. Raccoons and squirrels don't show recognizable human emotions, nor do they trigger our nurturing ("She's my baby") impulses. So, they don't (usually) move into our houses, get their photos taken with Santa, or even get names. Thousands of rescue workers aren't standing by to move them lovingly from one home to another.

If the dog's love is just an evolutionary trick, does that diminish it? I don't think so. Dogs have figured out how to insinuate themselves into human society in ways that benefit us both. We get affection and attention. They get the same, plus food, shelter, and protection. To grasp this exchange doesn't trivialize our love, it explains it.

I'm enveloped by dog love, myself. Izzy, a border collie who spent the first four years of his life running along a small square of fencing on a nearby farm, is lying under my desk at the moment, his head resting on my boot.

Rose, my working dog, is curled into a tight ball in the crate to my left. Emma, the newcomer who spent six years inside the same fence as Izzy, prefers the newly re-upholstered antique chair. Plagued with health problems, she likes to be near the wood stove in the winter.

When I stir to make tea, answer the door, or stretch my legs, all three dogs move with me. I see them peering out from behind the kitchen table or pantry door, awaiting instructions, as border collies do. If I return to the computer, they resume their previous positions, with stealth and agility. If I analyzed it coldly, I would admit that they're probably alert to see if an outdoor romp is in the offing, or some sheepherding, or some beef jerky. But I'd rather think they can't bear to let me out of their sight.

Source:Slate

Beer with your face on it!

Looking for more stuff to personalize?

Then take a swig of this.


Danish brewery, Tuborg, has joined the personalisation-trend and launched a service called "Your Tuborg" (Din Tuborg), which invites people to customise the beer label when ordering a minimum of 30 bottles of Tuborg.

The beer and your own 'mate-impressing' label is delivered directly to your door within 4 weeks of placing an order.

Cherryflava

How not to become a millionaire...

NEW YORK - Idaho resident Kathy Evans brought humiliation to her friends and family Tuesday when she set a new standard for stupidity with her appearance on the popular TV show, "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire."

It seems that Evans, a 32-year-old wife and mother of two, got stuck on the first question, and proceeded to make what fans of the show are dubbing "the absolute worst use of lifelines ever."

After being introduced to the show's host Meredith Vieira, Evans assured her that she was ready to play, whereupon she was posed with an extremely easy $100 question. The question was:

"Which of the following is the largest?"
A) A Peanut
B) An Elephant
C) The Moon
D) Hey, who you calling large?

Immediately Mrs. Evans was struck with an all consuming panic as she realized that this was a question to which she did not readily know the answer.

"Hmm, oh boy, that's a toughie," said Evans, as Vieira did her level best to hide her disbelief and disgust. "I mean, I'm sure I've heard of some of these things before, but I have no idea how large they would be."

Evans made the decision to use the first of her three lifelines, the 50/50. Answers A and D were removed, leaving her to decide which was bigger, an elephant or the moon. However, faced with an incredibly easy question, Evans still remained unsure.

"Oh! It removed the two I was leaning towards!" exclaimed Evans. "Darn. I think I better phone a friend."

Using the second of her two lifelines on the first question, Mrs. Evans asked to be connected with her friend Betsy, who is an office assistant.

"Hi Betsy! How are you? This is Kathy! I'm on TV!" said Evans, wasting the first seven seconds of her call. "Ok, I got an important question. Which of the following is the largest? B, an elephant, or C, the moon. 15 seconds hun."

Betsy quickly replied that the answer was C, the moon. Evans proceeded to argue with her friend for the remaining ten seconds.

"Come on Betsy, are you sure?" said Evans. "How sure are you? Puh, that can't be it."

To everyone's astonishment, the moronic Evans declined to take her friend's advice and pick 'The Moon.'

"I just don't know if I can trust Betsy. She's not all that bright. So I think I'd like to ask the audience," said Evans.

Asked to vote on the correct answer, the audience returned 98% in favor of answer C, 'The Moon.' Having used up all her lifelines, Evans then made the dumbest choice of her life.

"Wow, seems like everybody is against what I'm thinking," said the too-stupid-to-live Evans. "But you know, sometimes you just got to go with your gut. So, let's see. For which is larger, an elephant or the moon, I'm going to have to go with B, an elephant. Final answer."

Evans sat before the dumbfounded audience, the only one waiting with bated breath, and was told that she was wrong, and that the answer was in fact, C, 'The Moon.'

New blog keeps players updated on gambling regulations

Clarion ATE, producers of the popular European Gambling Briefing (EGB) conference, has launched a pioneering online blog, Gambling Law Debate, offering players and industry professionals a one-stop-shop to access up-to-date information on current regulatory issues relating to the gambling industry.

The new blog provides an online network for legal professionals, lobbyists, media companies, and regulators to deliberate over all the key developments in online gambling legislation.

The blogsite is intended to significantly enhance the reach and weight of the discussions that take place at the 3rd annual EGB conference, a senior-level two day briefing that addresses a wide range of issues relating to gambling regulation across Europe and beyond.

Clarion ATE will use the site to ask for opinions, articles and comments to help form the basis of debates that will take place in Brussels on 8th & 9th May. Lawyers, lobbyists and regulators have already been invited to contribute.

www.gamblinglawdebate.com