Let your mouth speak archive

When Stefano Langone was kept around while favorite to win Pia Toscano was sent packing, American Idol fans were stunned.

Now, a revolution has begun – a bring back Pia revolution. Fans are now begging the show to bring Pia Toscano back and say farewell to Stefano Langone, an unusual request never granted by producers before.

TMZ has reported that a band of hundreds of organized fans have been screaming to FOX that Pia should have never been kicked off the show, and that this injustice needs to be undone! They further claim tht because Stefano has no chance of winning, he should be given the boot and that Pia, who was once a Bodog Sportsbook favorite to win the whole thing, should be given a second shot.

The fans have even appealed to Stefano himself, telling him to take one for the team, remove himself from American Idol, to make way for Pia to come back.

Also, as we previously reported, Pia is at least doing well in the love department, having scored a hot date with Dancing with the Stars pro dancer Mark Ballas.

What do you think? Are rules the rules? Should American Idol bend them since Pia was definitely the most talented of her and Stefano? It's not like things are that bad for Pia, who is currently has a record deal in the works with Interscope.

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WASHINGTON (WUSA) --- City Councilman Michael A. Brown thinks internet gambling can help city coffers and is looking forward to having DC become the first jurisdiction in the country to allow it and to regulate and tax it.

The 30-day period for congressional objections has passed and the city-council passed law awaits regulatory direction from DC's lottery commission, which will supervise the online gambling.

"The genesis of it was because of the shortfalls we have relative to lack of revenue for our city. Some of the programs are going to get cut. We've been trying to think out of the box in revenue enhancements and frankly, this was one of them," Brown told 9News Now.

"It will enable folks to be able to participate online and play poker. They can do fantasy sports. It's been going on in this city for the last couple of years, but now we can regulate it and we can get fees on it which means we can get revenue from it," Brown said.

Much online gambling is not legal. Brown says DC's plan has passed legal muster.

"There would be what's called hotspots. You have to have your own laptop and you will have a serial number that will identify you ,and you can be from anywhere in the country but you have to do it within the borders of the District of Columbia," Brown said.

He expects many of the initial hotspots would be in bars and hotels.

Brown expects the plan to be up and running later this year but says the big revenues won't begin pouring in until next year.

Actress and famous daughter to the late Aaron Spelling, Tori Spelling, is expecting her third child with her husband Dean McDermott. Spelling tweeted the great news. "I know there's been a lot of speculation, so I wanted everyone to hear from me… Its official…Dean & I are PREGNANT😡!"

This will be the third child for the couple and the fourth for McDermott, who has a 12-year-old son Jack from a previous marriage. Tori and Dean also have 4-year-old Liam and 2-year-old Stella.

Spelling and McDermott wed in 2006 after scandalously both leaving their respective spouses for one another. The two met when they co-starred in the TV movie Mind Over Murder. In fact, Dean's former wife, Mary Jo Eustace, wrote a book entitled, Tori Spelling Stole my Husband.

Amid rumors that Tori and Dean's marriage was in trouble, the couple renewed their vows in 2010.

After her famous father's death in 2006, Spelling was anticipated to inherit a big portion of her father's $500 million estate, she wound up only receiving $800,000 while her mother, Candy, who she was feuding with at the time, inherited the majority of the wealth. Tori and Candy have since buried the hatchet, for the sake of Tori's children.

You can currently see the pair plan weddings on their show Tori & Dean: sTORIbookWeddings.

Just as filming is wrapping up for the next installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, the crew took a break to go out and celebrate Kristen Stewart’s 21st birthday where she received a special surprise from Robert Pattison and the rest of the crew.

The crew of Breaking Dawn is currently filming in a town not far from the Canadian city of Vancouver called Squamish where according to the Vancouver Observer, the town is protecting their privacy and refuses to give out any information concerning their whereabouts and the exact location of the set. There has been some serious security put in place especially after somehow romantic scenes from the film were leaked and well you all know what happens when these guys go out in public.

On a lighter note, Kirsten or “KStew”, had an opportunity to party down on Saturday at a local bar together with the cast and crew of Breaking Dawn where they celebrated her 21st birthday and according to Sugarscape, Robert Pattinson sang his own unique rendition of “Happy Birthday” to her and later got the whole crew to join in.

After the festivities, the stars hung out outside of the bar to take turns riding Taylor Lautner’s motor bike which was rumored to be a gift from Rob to Kirsten but it turns out it was Taylor’s. The crew has now wrapped up filming of Breaking Dawn which could add up to a little down time for the cast before jumping on to their next project. You can catch Rob Pattison gearing up to promote his upcoming flick, Water for Elephants also starring Reese Witherspoon.

Nothing like a nice warm welcome to a new industry like the one the IRS is ready to give legalized online poker in the US. Standing ready with their arms and hands open the IRS has everything in order to collect their taxes on any poker winnings. USA players who are hoping the Federal Government will soon pass a bill that would regulate and license online gambling in the States need to be prepared for the IRS to come knocking on their door looking for their percentage of your winnings. There is not much you can count on as a guarantee in this life but the IRS is one of them! When you see the Internal Revenue Service in the United States preparing for new tax laws and investigative ways to ensure they find all tax evaders you can be assured that something new is brewing, so the outlook for legalized online gaming maybe closer than we think in the US.

The newest bill brought to Congress is bill H.R. 1174 “the Internet Gambling Regulation Consumer Protection & Enforcement Act is ready to hit the House of Representatives and Senate soon, but nothing has been passed yet so US players need to get their tax ducks in a row before the IRS confiscates those ducks and leaves you in jail for tax evasion. This is all purely speculation right now because online gambling laws have not been passed yet, so the IRS is sitting on their hands, just waiting and drooling. For anyone filing taxes this year and may have left out some poker winnings in past years, you have a chance right now to claim those winnings with the Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Initiative which ends on August 31st, 2011. If Congress happens to pass an online gambling bill and you have won some winnings in the past years but have not claimed them or paid taxes on it, you should be very careful because once the IRS has the go ahead for taxing online gaming winnings, they may check past years and come knocking on your door unexpectedly.

The way this new law will work is the IRS will be given a new method where they can obtain every name and account of any US resident the has deposited at banks in foreign branches by using the John Does Summons against the US branch. This will give the IRS access to members who may have failed to comply with IRS laws in the past. The IRS can go back as far as six years by seeking out names, registered player data including deposits, checks, wires, withdrawals and pretty much anything they wish for. This is serious business and all online gamblers need to pay attention and plan accordingly.

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Welcome and yes you will find some good reads ,strategy etc.stay active and enjoy the games.hope to see ya the tables sometime.

The regulatory worries that have dogged shares in online gambling companies over the past year deepened last week, after Germany's state governments - the Lander - revealed proposals to introduce a 16.7 per cent turnover tax on online sports betting, and limit the provision of online casino and poker to those operators holding a land-based licence.

The onerous terms of the proposed regulation look like a clear sop to state-owned casinos following the success of pro-monopoly parties in recent state elections - if the earlier example of France is any guide, it certainly won't be a tax-raising measure, as many operators will simply cease operating on the basis that they won't be able to make a reasonable return. Besides which, the Lander plan to issue only seven regional licences and halt the use of in-play betting, an increasingly important revenue stream for many online gaming operators.

The development came as particularly bad news for the newly formed Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment, which currently generates between 27 and 30 per cent of its earnings in Germany and saw its shares lose a third of their value on the news.

That weakness assumes a worst-case scenario of the total loss of German earnings. Analysts believe there is a strong, but not guaranteed, possibility that the Lander are likely to soften their stance before the regulation passes into law when the current Interstate gambling treaty expires at the end of this year. This proved to be the case in Spain and Greece, where initial proposals for a turnover tax were eventually watered down to a commercially viable gross profit tax. "The legislation does not appear to adhere to EU open markets law," said analyst James Hollins at broker Evolution, but he is not entirely optimistic that legal challenges could change the new law before its introduction.

Plans by the state of Schleswig-Holstein - the only one of Germany's 16 states not supporting the proposal - to instead proceed with a far more sensible 20 per cent gross profit tax offer another chink of light. Along with Bwin.Party, casino operator GVC Holdings - which operators online casinos in the country - is applying for a licence in the state, which it says "could unilaterally enact their own regime which would have legal force throughout Germany for the online industry"

The situation of legalized and regulated online gambling in the United States is poised on a knife edge. It is difficult to make predictions. However, the reputed independent business and credit ratings organization, Fitch Ratings, has put its money on the line and released a new report that states that the legalization of online gambling in the United States is "increasingly likely".

There are several factors that have been considered by Fitch Ratings in making this prediction. Many states have been considering intrastate online gaming proposals and some of them have taken active steps. New federal proposals are being discussed and a bill has been tabled in the House. Companies involved in land casino and online gambling have started forming partnerships to be prepared for online gambling. Above all, the state and federal budgets remain strained and it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore potential tax revenues from online gambling.

Michael Paladino, the gambling industry analyst for Fitch, pointed out that there are several issues that will have to be ironed out before legalization of online gambling can become a reality. Of these two are most vexing. The first issue is whether legalized online gambling will cover only poker or it will include services like online casino wagering and sports betting. The second big issue is whether the legislation should be intrastate or should be federal. A sub question in the case of intrastate proposals is whether online gambling should be offered only through state owned lotteries as in some Canadian provinces or should it be in a competitive but regulated environment.

An interesting feature in the Fitch report is that it discusses those sectors of the gambling industry that are likely to be hit by legalized and regulated online gambling. Racetrack slot parlors and state lotteries are high on this list. The Boston Herald, which carried a detailed article on the Fitch report, spoke to Massachusetts State Treasurer Steve Grossman, who also chairs the Massachusetts Lottery Commission.
Grossman said that his lottery is the most successful in the United States. It generates $4.5 billion in revenue a year and sends about $900 million a year to cities and towns as local aid. He added that online gambling is a major competitive threat to the lottery. If online gambling is to be legalized Grossman said that Massachusetts would like to put together a Massachusetts-based or a regional online gaming product that would protect the lottery revenues.

The Fitch report estimates that US online gambling revenues, currently going to offshore companies, are in the region of $5 billion a year. These would increase sharply if online gambling is legalized in America. Still it would be far short of the revenues from all forms of land based gambling.

So far the Wes Craven film has a mediocre 42% on rottentomatoes, with Top Critic Nick Pinkerton from the Village Voice calling it, "The unengaged and overlong fourth Scream plops its self-awareness on a new generation, who must endure a late-'90s flashback that's aged as well as the Nu-metal songbook."

However, Keith Uchlich from Time Out New York begs to differ, arguing that the slasher flick is "…a professionally polished package — cinematographer Peter Deming frames the carnage beautifully in widescreen — but don't go in expecting scares so much as laughs."

Also Scream 4 star Emma Roberts recently revealed that when she auditioned for her role for director Wes Craven, it was over a Skype session.

Roberts said, "I get to his house and they told me it (audition) would be on Skype, which was so strange because his assistant was there, his casting director was there and he's there on a laptop. I just went for it and I actually found out later that day that I got the movie and I was off to shoot two weeks later. It was the fastest job I've ever gotten."

In the movie, Neve Campbell returns as Sidney who reunites with her cousin, played by Roberts, who has now become one of many new potential targets of the famously masked serial killer – who is back to antagonize Sidney all over again. Of course, real life separated couple Courteney Cox and David Arquette reprise their roles as Gale and the dim-witted Dewey.

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To all those honest poker enthusiasts out there this is a warning regarding SAMMY ANY TWO GEORGE the full tilt poker player, real name SAMER JAMIL GEORGE. This man is well known to the police for many types of fraud and has already been taken to the high court in London for fraud and is bankrupt The Insolvency Service Website . This man claims to be a multi millionaire businessman (AL-SAMAWA GROUP PLC) but in fact was playing with other people’s money (including half a million pounds from Jermaine Jenas of Tottenham Hotspur) to which they thought was invested elsewhere. This is nothing more than a warning from a group of investors who are currently liaising with various police forces across Europe and are seeking a criminal conviction and prison. Do not be duped by this man SAMMY GEORGE’S lies and charm as you, like us... will end up with nothing. GOD BLESS TO YOU ALL.

Last week, as if by default, Washington DC became the first jurisdiction in the United States to legalize online gambling. In January Washington Mayor Vincent C. Gray had signed the law approving the 2011 budget, which provided for generating revenues through online gambling. The period for Congress to object to the plan expired last week. Now, Buddy Roogow, executive director of the D.C. Lottery, has outlined the plans for implementing online gambling. The online gambling would be under D.C. Lottery, which has signed a 50-50 revenue-sharing agreement with Intralot USA for developing and managing the online gambling web site.

To start with a free to play online gambling web site is scheduled to go live by about July 1. By September 1 residents of Washington DC would be able to play for real money at a number of "hot spots". There could be up to 30 such hot spots in the jurisdiction. The city Convention Center is an ideal location for one of the hot spots. Other likely hot spots according to Roogow are hotels, bars and clubs. Players would need to bring their own computers to place bets at the hot spots. The online gambling product verticals will include casino games, poker games and betting on fantasy sports.

There is one major hurdle to be overcome before online gambling can reach players' homes. The administrators have to be sure that the available technology will restrict the online gambling to the geographic limits of Washington DC. This is expected to be in place by the end of 2011. Then adults in Washington DC would be able to enter in their payment details on their home laptops or computers in order to wager on their favorite online casino game, be it roulette or blackjack or slot machines.

In an interview to the Washington Post, Mayor Gray said that many Washington DC residents are currently engaged in online gambling, with the proceeds going to off-shore companies. The objective of this exercise is to offer regulated online gambling and ensure that the District receives its fair share of the financial benefits produced by online gaming. He said that the estimates showed a revenue generation of $13.1 million between the 2012 and 2014 fiscal years.

There is a cautionary note to this otherwise celebratory event. Frederick Hill, spokesman for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, said, "If the committee has a concern that a practice is either illegal or not in the interests of the federal taxpayers who support the District of Columbia, the committee could certainly raise a concern." He added, however, that no such issues were on the table for the present.

Germany has sixteen states that recently announced it will comply with European Commission requirements to allow other operators penetrate the current system of gambling monopolies.
Unfortunately the changes created a number of obstacles for foreign operators who felt that only one state, Schleswig-Holstein really embraced the spirit of free enterprise within the E.U.’s online gambling industry.

The operators jointly asked a spokesperson to explain their position, "European gaming companies request regulations that are competitive and comply with EU law, and welcome the law drafted by Schleswig-Holstein’s government coalition," continuing, "The operators are awaiting only the implementation of the favoured state's new online gambling regulations.”
The Schleswig-Holstein’s bill was further praised as being progressive, realistic and appropriate to the market conditions. Operators in Europe are recognized as legitimate and socially responsible which are paramount key stones in effective consumer protection that ensures the ethics and integrity of sports and restriction of use by minors.
Online gambling operators have all chimed in on the German situation and the bad decision that the Minister Presidents have made for the continuation of the Gaming Treaty, which the operators have called untenable. The spokesperson said, "the model cannot be executed; it contains nothing except a de facto continuation of the sports betting monopoly. Massive advertising restrictions, a far-reaching ban on live betting, restrictive taxation, limits, as well as a ban on poker and casino games have little to do with societal reality and make it impossible for private companies to operate their businesses.”

Neale Deeley, from William Hill offered this opinion, “Regulations must be judged on what is actually achieved, not what is hoped for. The main aim must be to ensure that those German citizens who choose to bet online do so with operators who are licensed by the state. Any impediment to this, whether through product restrictions or unworkable tax regimes, will merely perpetuate the existence of unlicensed operators, thereby undermining consumer protection, and industry transparency and accountability. The proposed Schleswig-Holstein bill fully facilitates and promotes those objectives, and in addition will generate tax revenues and create employment opportunities across a wide range of business sectors.”

It's no wonder Catherine Zeta-Jones is unraveling. Her husband Michael Douglas has endured a six-month battle IV throat cancer, her step son is in jail and her husband is being sued by his ex wife.

Now it's Catherine's turn to get some help. Zeta-Jones has checked into a clinic for her bipolar II disorder, also known as manic depressive illness, which is brought on by prolonged stressed. Bipolar II is characterized by severe mood swings, but has longer low periods.

"After dealing with the stress of the past year, Catherine made the decision to check into a mental health facility for a brief stay to treat her bipolar II disorder," Zeta-Jones publicist said in a statement.

"It can start at any time in a person's life and it's a lifelong illness," Dr. Igor Galynker, director of the Family Center for Bipolar Disorder at Beth Israel Medical Center told ABC News.

"It is not curable, but it is treatable with medications and psychotherapy." said Galynker. "People with bipolar illness can have productive lives like anybody else, once they're in treatment and compliant with treatment."

Zeta-Jones herself told The Sunday Times, "I'm lucky. … But that's not to say I don't get down on myself. I try and stay positive, being negative isn't good for my personality. I don't just bring myself down, I bring everyone around me down. It's like a dark cloud, 'Uh oh, here we go', and I have to snap out of it."

A friend of the actress said that she went into the clinic to get some help because she was hoping to get back to work.

"She went in for a few days because she's about to start working, and to make sure she's in top form," says the friend, "which she is."

Actor Mickey Rourke from, The Wrestler, has had some time to reflect on his career and some of the choices and comments he’s made in the past including calling his co-star Megan Fox “the most talented” actress.

In a recent interview conducted by NY Mag, it seems that he may have been caught during a down moment because the actor seemed to have downplayed many of the movies he’s made within the last year including “13” and “Passion Play” in which he co-starred with actress Megan Fox, and claimed at the time to be a very talented actress.

During the interview, when asked about the lovely comment he once made about Fox, he quickly clarified and said she is one of the best actresses that he’s worked with [smirk], which could mean oh so many things but somehow we know exactly what he’s talking about.

As Rourke was asked about other films he’s made, he said they were all terrible and admitted that he made “13” for the money. So I’m thinking Rourke isn’t exactly the best guy to promote his own films so let’s just hope they leave him out of the promotional tours.

Rourke is actually doing very well for himself and has a few releases lined up including The Expendables 2 and the upcoming release Immortals starring Man of Steel star Henry Cavill.

As for the comment about Megan Fox, he was just kind of telling it like it is.

One of three companies feeling the pressure of a U.S. crackdown on Internet gambling is licensed by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission.

Absolute Poker also has computer servers at Mohawk Internet Technologies, a business located on the Kahnawake Mohawk reserve that hosts some of the world’s most popular online gambling sites.

Would-be gamblers going to the absolutepoker.com site Friday were greeted with a warning:

“This domain name has been seized by the F.B.I. pursuant to an Arrest Warrant in Rem obtained by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York ...” it began.

Representatives of the Kahnawake Gaming Commission and the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake did not respond to requests for an interview Friday.

While Kahnawake has steadfastly maintained its right to regulate, license and host online gambling operations, those activities have been described as illegal by provincial authorities.

Loto-Québec and B.C. Lottery Corp. recently began offering online gambling, including poker, in a bid to compete with Kahnawake’s clients, provide better consumer protection and direct gamblers’ dollars to their coffers.

U.S. authorities charged 11 people, including founders of Internet gambling companies PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker in a case that seeks at least $3 billion U.S. in forfeitures and penalties.

At least three Canadians are among the men not yet arrested and being sought by U.S. officials who are working with Interpol and other law enforcement agencies to track them down.

PokerStars’s Isai Scheinberg, who has Canadian and Israeli citizenship, and an Isle of Mann address, is the lead defendant.

Also being sought are Ryan Lang, 36, a Canadian citizen with a residence in Canada, and Nelson Burtnick, 40, a Canadian with a residence in Ireland.

The citizenship of another accused, Paul Tate, is not known.

The indictment includes charges of bank fraud, money laundering and illegal gambling. It is the latest in a series of criminal cases against Internet gambling companies brought by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan.

PokerStars, based on the Isle of Mann, Ireland’s Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker of Costa Rica are the leading online poker sites doing business with U.S. customers, according to the indictment.

Online gambling sites are often licensed in several jurisdictions and have their computer servers in more than one location.

The charges name two principals from each company and others who allegedly worked with them to illegally process payments.

“These defendants concocted an elaborate criminal fraud scheme, alternately tricking some U.S. banks and effectively bribing others to assure the continued flow of billions in illegal gambling profits,” Bharara said Friday in a statement. “To circumvent the gambling laws, the defendants also engaged in massive money laundering and bank fraud.”

Prosecutors allege that after the U.S. enacted a law in 2006 barring banks from processing payments to offshore gambling websites, PokerStars, Full Tilt and Absolute Poker worked around the ban to continue operating in the U.S.

Bloomberg News contributed to this report

William Hill is set to complete a takeover of a US rival.
American Wagering has confirmed it has accepted an acquisition proposal from UK bookmakers William Hill.

The leading US sports betting service is to be taken over by the company, should a contract be agreed and signed.

Ralph Topping, chief executive officer at William Hill, described American Wagering as an "outstanding" company in its field and a specialist in sports gambling.

"We look forward to working with our new colleagues at American Wagering to grow a leadership position in the Nevada gaming industry and beyond," he stated.

He described the state – which is home to the gambling capital of Las Vegas – as the destination that sets the "gold standard" in betting.

The Nevada Gaming Board will have to award William Hill a license if it is to be successful with the takeover.

In other Las Vegas gambling news, casino fans have only one month left to visit the Sahara complex before it closes down on May 16th.

After Pia Toscano was shockingly booted from American Idol, this week, shock number two: Paul McDonald, another Idol favorite, was given the old heave-ho.

The breathy, warbley-voiced Paul, who likes to wear a jacket with garish flowers on it and obviously has an affinity for Crest White Strips, is no more, folks.

McDonald, a 26-year-old Alabama native was joined in the bottom two by Haley Reinhart and Stefano Langone, but surprisingly after a staggering 53 million votes were cast, it was Paul's turn to walk.

As Ryan Seacrest played the montage of Paul's brief stint as a a reality television star, Paul reminded the audience “not to be sad about this” and told press “It’s been fun."

"You've had such an amazing impact on the show," Seacrest told McDonald.

At the request of a visibly upset Jennifer Lopez, McDonald sang Rod Stewart's "Maggie May" as his final song, which was better than the song he sang this week during movie week – an awkward rendition of “Old Time Rock And Roll”

Luckily for Pia Toscano, she was able to secure a record deal with Interscope Records, but so far, no word on what will be Paul's musical future.

Meanwhile, the show had an all-star line-up with Kelly Clarkson and Rihnna performing.

Think you know who will take this season's Idol crown? Want to bet on entertainment? The Bodog Sportsbook has all your American Idol odds, where we're thinking Casey Abrams really has a shot at winning this thing.