- No matter where in the world it takes place, rooting for a scam, scheme or plot by gamblers to get over on a casino is difficult to root against. Sure, suckers who throw down hundreds or thousands of dollars on blackjack, roulette or craps at Harrah’s or the Trump Taj Mahal do so of their own volition (or they feebly attempt to blame it on an addiction beyond their control), so they have no one to blame but themselves. Still, watching massive corporations build gaudy skyscrapers and monstrosities off the backs of average citizens is nauseating on some level. Thus, major props go out to three Italian poker players who teamed up with two employees of southern French casinos for a complicated scam involving the marking each of the cards in a pack with ink visible only when wearing infrared glasses, then planting the pack at a poker table in Cannes. The scam was unfortunately discovered and those involved were taken into custody Thursday, accused of netting thousands of euros in their high-tech plan. Once the marked cards were put into play, the gamblers then sat down at the table wearing infrared glasses so they could see the marks. "In a way, these players saw through the cards," a judicial source said. The plan might have worked if those involved had not, as cheaters and con artists so often do, gotten greedy. Police became suspicious when the gang pocketed around $60,400 at an upscale casino in Cannes in August and set up a sting to catch them the next time they visited. Had $60,400 been enough, the story would have ended there and the world at large may have never heard about it. Instead, the group returned to Les Princes des Cannes casino and won about $27,460. They were stopped by police and casino security in a hallway at they attempted to leave. The arrests of an employee from the casino also was arrested and a member of staff from a casino in Nice followed and it wasn’t long before police discovered the three Italian players were "linked to serious organized crime," according to a source. All in all, a disappointing story because a) the scammers were caught and b) they only took the casinos for about $80,000. Bet big fellas, or go home…………
- Stay classy, Philly fans. Not that the supposed “worst sports fans in America" aren’t prone to boo anything with (or without) a pulse, but booing future hall of famers and Santa Claus are one thing and booing a public service announcement about cancer awareness is something else entirely. The city of brotherly love was not very loving Wednesday night when the Flyers hosted the defending Western Conference champion Vancouver Canucks. Between the first and second periods, the Flyers ran several "Hockey Fights Cancer" videos on the scoreboard’s giant video screen. October is National Cancer Awareness Month, with professional and college sports teams staging all sorts of promotions and events to raise support and awareness for cancer research. It’s the rare cause that everyone can get behind regardless of their race, sex, age, religion or socioeconomic status because cancer affects everyone in some way. But Philly fans were not in a mood to hear those PSAs, not when one of them featured a cameo from Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby - a thoroughly despicable figure for fans of his Penguins’ in-state rivals - and Crosby had the gall to support cancer awareness. After Crosby and other players from around the league appeared in one of the videos, Flyers fans booed lustily. No one is suggesting that these fans are pro-cancer or don’t want to see a cure for this horrible disease discovered, but shoving the cause aside to boo a guy you can boo in person when he plays in your city later this season is nearly as bad. Philly fans have booed Mike Schmidt, they’ve booed Santa Claus and they even cheered as Dallas Cowboys hall-of-famer Michael Irvin lay motionless on the turf at Veterans Stadium with a possibly career-threatening spinal injury. Booing a cancer ad might be their most classless act to date and for Philly fan, that is no small feat……………
- If one tree can take on the establishment and win, how can anyone else not stand up and fight for what is right? The tree that stood its ground resides in Austin, Tex., where it has stood for more than 70 years just south of the intersection of West Fifth and Bowie streets. The tree is protected by a city ordinance classifying any tree more than 30 inches in diameter as a “heritage tree” and thus granted protected status. The Heritage Tree Ordinance means that any developer wishing to cut down a tree more than 30 inches in diameter, they must prove the planned project can't reasonably be built if the tree stays standing. The tree near the intersection of West Fifth and Bowie streets became the focal point for a developer looking to build a new office building. The developer petitioned the city’s planning commission for the right to remove the tree and lost a 5-4 vote Tuesday night at the commission’s weekly meeting. Dave Sullivan, the chairman of the commission, admitted that cutting this particular tree down was probably a good idea about nonetheless voted against it because the ordinance doesn't allow the commission to take into consideration the public benefit of the tree. “The number of trees that are of that same size, more than a 30-inch diameter, they are characterized as heritage trees. They are very rare downtown,” Sullivan stated, adding, “I would like to see the ordinance changed.” The ordinance applies to the tree in question even though it is located on private property, which ordinarily would mean the property owner has the right to do whatever he or she wants with it. On top of everything, the tree is surrounded by asphalt and isn't on some grassy knoll where it is regularly used for shade by anyone. Local attorney Brad Rockwell helped write the current ordinance and he disputed Sullivan’s idea, insisting there is nothing wrong with the way the ordinance is now. “We want development that figures out how to build high rises and how to accomplish development goals but also preserving nature,” Rockwell said. The big loser in the battle is the developer, as the commission’s decision is final and cannot be appealed to the city council. In other words, no high-rise office building any time soon…………
- Memo to bitter pop singer Chynna Phillips and any other D-lister who appears on any quasi-celebrity reality show as a singer, dancer or general freak show: You’re not there because of your talent or for the world to see your amazing skills on display. You are there to be laughed at, to be a source of amusement and a puppet for the amusement of the masses. Phillips must not have received this memo the first time because she sounds extremely bitter about being eliminated from ABC’s reality ballroom dancing show Dancing With the (D-List) Stars. After being voted out by the legions of losers with enough free time and a vacant enough social calendar to call in and vote for a reality ballroom dancing show, Phillips immediately began whining about the voting. "It really does come down to the votes," Phillips lamented. "And that's kind of sad because it's supposed to be a dance competition, but it's actually a popularity contest, which makes me kind of sad." It makes you sad? What should really make you sad is being irrelevant enough to appear on the show in the first place. So what, you were under the impression that this was a straight-up dancing contest in which those who danced best would win? No reality show, be it on featuring D-list quasi-celebrities or just aspiring karaoke hacks, is about actual talent. Those with game don’t win these competitions; those who are the most attractive or charismatic win. It’s one of the fundamental tenets of reality television, C. But to make yourself feel better, rage on. “You know, you have to have a little bit of faith that there are people out there who are truly voting for their favorite dance, not their favorite person, because it is a dance competition and people are working really hard. It would be very sad if that was undermined, and it looks to me like that keeps getting undermined," Phillips lamented. All right, you kook. For one final time: There is NOTHING TO UNDERMINE. It’s a reality ballroom dancing show with a dude who used to be a chick, a former actress on an MTV reality show and a bunch of other losers trying desperately to reviving their dying careers………..
- On the surface, they are two of the least-likely choices for reliable sources of solar power. The Antarctic and mountain highs of the Himalayas are best known as frigid, uninhabitable tundras where mankind isn't welcome. Yet Japanese scientists believe that these regions could provide the best supply of solar power anywhere in the world. In fact, Kotaro Kawajiri and his team went so far as to suggest that these places could become the “Saudi Arabias of solar.” Kawajiri and his researchers estimated global solar energy potential, based on existing available data, taking into account the effects of temperature on the output of solar cells. Other factor, such as transmission losses and snowfall, would also need to be accounted for before placing any solar panels near Mt. Everest or in the middle of Antarctica. Yet the study’s initial results suggest that it is not only the world’s hottest regions where solar power is plentiful. Cold regions at high elevations also receive a lot of sunlight, to the point that their potential for producing power from the sun is even higher than in some desert areas. As the technology for photovoltaic cells becomes more and more advanced and the cells become more capable of functioning in low temperatures, placing solar panels in remote, cold regions is increasingly feasible. How successful could such a project be? By Kawajiri’s estimates, a photovoltaic module in the Himalayas could produce an energy output 50 percent higher than output from the same module in Arizona. Placing solar panels in remote mountain regions would definitely be difficult, but these researchers suggest that doing so could create solar fields to generate electricity for the fast-expanding economy of China. The Andes Mountains in South America are another possible gold mine of solar energy and Antarctica could be as well, although there could be major problems with energy storage and transmission there. To read more about this riveting discovery, just pluck the latest edition of the American Chemical Society journal Environmental Science & Technology off the magazine pile on your coffee table………
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