Let your mouth speak archive

Some of Illinois’ major agricultural associations tried Tuesday to ramp up the pressure on Gov. Pat Quinn to sign a bill that would significantly expand gambling in Illinois, saying it would bolster state funding for programs that have been slashed in recent years.

Meanwhile, the bill’s Senate sponsor, Sen. Terry Link, D-Waukegan, said he will meet with Quinn soon to hear more about the governor’s concerns and possibly make changes to the bill. Quinn has said he considers the bill to be “top heavy.”

While it has passed both legislative chambers, Senate Bill 744 is still in the control of the Senate because Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, filed a motion to reconsider the vote.

“I hope there are no changes,” Link said on Tuesday. “We will be meeting with the governor. We’ll see if there’s things that we can work with him on. I’m not going to give up my cards until I see what his cards are.

“If he’s looking at something that he wants to do that’s feasible, then we’ll consider it.”



$25 million for agencies

The legislation would provide roughly $25 million to soil and water conservation districts, county fairs, cooperative extension, the state’s forestry fund, historic sites, the state’s parks and conservation fund and equine research. Such funding was a key part of getting downstate Democrats and Republicans to vote for the legislation.

Surrounding themselves with dozens of children who are in FFA programs at a news conference, the heads of county fairs, 4-H clubs and soil and water conservation districts urged the governor to consider the programs that could be funded by five new casinos and slot machines at racetracks and the Illinois State Fairgrounds.

One of the children collapsed under the hot lights in the Capitol’s Blue Room, where news conferences are staged for reporters. A medic was called, but organizers reported she was OK.

“It will allow us to have a dedicated funding for county fairs as well as the other groups,” said Marvin Perzee of Iroquois County, the legislative chair of the Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs.

The $5 million in county fair funding would reimburse county fairs for premiums they pay to livestock exhibitors, including 4-H members and FFA members. It would not be spent on items like entertainment or operating costs of the fairs, said Tom Moore, president of the IAAF.

State fairgrounds upkeep

Sangamon County Board member Chris Boyster said another key component of the measure is that it would provide funding for upkeep of the state fairgrounds.

“This is an economic no-brainer for us,” Boyster said.

The bill would also provide $10 million for soil and water conservation districts. The districts have received as much as $8.6 million from the state in the past, but the appropriation for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is down to $2.8 million, said Rob Nichols, executive director of the Illinois Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

“That’s not enough,” Nichols said.

“Today in Springfield and parts of western Illinois, we’ve had a great deal of rain. That rain, along with the others we’ve had this spring, causes soil erosion. The soil erosion affects water quality. That is water that we drink. Without the soil and water conservation districts to work with the rural landowners to install conservation practices, we lose water capacity, we lose water quality.”

Annie Thompson, a spokeswoman for Quinn, said that the governor continues to carefully review each aspect of the legislation.

After crashing her car into the brick wall of her kids' school Tori Spelling blamed the crash to being chased by paparazzi.

She tweeted: "Paparazzi chased me w/the kids 2school. I was trying to get away from him and had a pretty big accident … 10 school moms chased him away. Wht will it take? Someone dying for paparazzi to stop? Going to dr now to check on baby. I think its just shock."

After the crash, the photographer got out of his car and started snapping pictures of Tori. She then went to a doctor to check on her unborn baby.

LAPD spokeswoman Officer Rosario Herrera told E! News, "She hit a curb near the school and no one was hurt. There will be no further investigation."

TMZ has the photos of the crash aftermath. It doesn't look like a "huge" accident, but an accident nonetheless.

Spelling has been hounded by paparazzi her whole life, which has been documented on her show Tori and Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood. On Monday afternoon, a rep for the actress told Access Hollywood that Tori is just "shaken up but OK" and is seeing a doctor just to check on her unborn child. Her kids, Stella, 3, and Liam, 4 were also unharmed in the crash.

Amid speculation that their marriage is on the rocks, Spelling, 38, and husband Dean McDermott, 44, are readying for their third baby due in October.

Another federal bill seeking to legalize online gambling is in the offing. Texas Republican Joe Barton will be sponsoring the bill. Barton has announced that he is in the process of finalizing the draft of the bill in consultation with the Poker Players Alliance. Unlike the bill introduced by Congressmen Barney Frank and John Campbell, Barton's bill will address only online poker. One of the reasons for this is that there is some movement in declaring poker as a game of skill and the bill could take advantage of this. Barton is the chairman emeritus of the United States Energy and Commerce Committee and he plans to introduce the bill under this committee so that he can have control over it.

Speaking to the Nevada newspaper Las Vegas Sun, both Republican Campbell and Democrat Frank have promised to support Barton's bill. Frank said that essentially he prefers any online gambling bill to take all online gambling verticals on board, which is the case with his bill. However he pointed out that there is "an extraordinary restriction on people's freedom right now" and therefore would take something over nothing. Campbell explained the quid pro quo relationship between the two bills. He will be co-sponsoring Barton's bill and he believed that Barton would co-sponsor his bill. They would all throw their weight behind which ever bill moves first.

Barton also spoke to the Las Vegas Sun. He said, "This is not a Republican leadership initiative, but they're aware of it. It's a sensitive issue, but an issue where there's a majority consensus in the House and Senate to make this change." Therefore the Republican leadership has given him the go ahead. The Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has not made his stand clear on the bill. Reid has the backing of American Gaming Association. Reid had authored his own poker only bill but had failed to push it through in the Lame Duck session late last year.

Meanwhile the activity on the online gambling legislation at the state level seems to be in cold storage. Reid's home state of Nevada has taken the stand that it will allow online gambling but only after federal legislation is passed that permits the specific type of online gambling for which the license was issued or alternatively only if the Department of Justice provides written notification to the Nevada Gaming Commission that the specific type of online gambling covered by the license is permissible under federal law. Neither is likely to happen in the foreseeable future. For various reasons, the online gambling initiatives in Iowa, Florida and New Jersey have become inactive.

It was my first time in Macau, and despite its reputation, I never gambled during my stay. The closest thing to the casino scene that I did was to have my picture taken in front of a slot machine.

Don’t get me wrong -- I don’t have anything against a clean, healthy game of chance. But I thought it would be really nice to explore the place apart from the usual gambling frenzy. After all, I had only about 12 hours to get to know the popular tourist destination.

While I might have missed the world’s largest casino and skipped one of the 3,000 slot machines of Venetian Macau, it was still an adventure not to be missed, an experience beyond the usual glitz and glamour, and an immersion in a culture I have learned to value.

Here’s how to enjoy Macau without playing the blackjack or the roulette.

1. Ride the gondola

The gondola might have originated in Venice, but you don’t have to wait for a trip to Europe to ride the traditional, flat-bottomed row boat. The Venetian Macau offers Italian gondolas with serenading gondoliers gliding through the San Loco, Marco Polo, or Grand Canals.

While the whole thing may seem like a romantic adventure, it can be a fun family activity or a friendly one. Just forget about the smooch under the bridge.

Tickets priced at 108 Macau Pataca (MOP) for adults (≈ 648 PhP) and MOP 80 for kids (≈ 480 PhP) are available at Boutique di Gondola (shop 2301) and Emporio di Gondola (shop 2660).

2. Go hotel hopping

Whether you’re coming from the Macau Ferry Station, the Venetian Hotel, the Galaxy or the MGM Grand, there’s sure to be free shuttles everywhere. While they might boast about their casinos, one thing’s for sure: the hotels’ architecture is a visual delight as well.

3. Eat at Lord Stow’s Bakery

A trip to Macau is not complete without a visit to the original Lord Stow’s Bakery. Whether or not their claim is true about producing the first egg custard in Asia, it’s definitely worth a taste. And then again, you could always grab one at the Mall of Asia.

4. Climb the Macau Tower

If you’re in Macau, don’t miss the chance to see one of the members of the World Federation of Great Towers. Not only does it provide an observation deck, it also offers those shaky knees an opportunity to conquer the fear of heights. I mean, not everyone can look down clear glass floors to enjoy dizzying sights below. For the more adventurous, there are also extreme sports like Bungee Jumping and Sky Walking.

5. Go shopping

What’s a vacation without a souvenir? Whether or not you have a great deal of shopping money, browsing the Grand Canal Shoppes is still worth your time. After all, how many malls offer the finest brands along cobblestone walkways with serenading performers at every turn?

6. Take public transportation

While there’s free shuttle bus from one hotel to the other, no trip is complete without the public transportation. Macau may be the center of grandeur and luxury, but like any city, it carries the usual problem of congested traffic and overcrowded streets. I found it interesting to look at the unique kind of interaction between locals in the efficient bus system. Tourists can also rent “vintage cars" or take a cab to get them to various destinations.

7. Visit the Vquarium

It’s right beside the casino and is supposed to give you endless luck, so the virtual aquarium in the City of Dreams is certainly a must-stop.

If you’re a music lover, you might want to wander around and drop by Hard Rock Hotel. It’s one of those glorious structures under the City of Dreams.

8. Go on a food trip

Dining at the hotels is quite expensive, so it pays to know that there are food courts where you can have more affordable meals. At The Venetian, visitors can choose from a wide range of cuisines, from Chinese to American food. I got my baby back ribs for MOP 35, which isn’t half bad.

9. Walk around

Walking around Macau was definitely not easy during my trip, with a typhoon sending torrents of rain our way. We didn’t have umbrellas, but it was a good thing that 7-eleven was just around the corner.

But was the trip worth it despite the crazy weather? Definitely. If we had stayed inside the hotel, I would have never seen the other side of Macau. It was a definitely a fusion of culture and history, the playful mix of Romanesque and Gothic architecture providing a feast for the senses. As I wandered deeper into the heart of Macau, I realized the unique assimilation of Western and Eastern Culture in the city. Learn a lesson and go beyond the bewitching façade of Macau.

10. See the historical sights

I had to look at the historical streets of Macau from inside the bus as Typhoon Chedeng was giving us a really hard time. But even with the limitations posed by the weather, I still managed to observe the unique intermingling of influences from the city’s Portuguese colonial past as interpreted in a Chinese setting.

There’s a lot to see, from the paved Senado Square to the General Post Office & St. Dominic’s Square, and on to the Ruins of St. Paul’s as well as the remnants of the 16th century complex “Mater Dei." At the end of the tour, I realized that indeed, UNESCO was right in inscribing Macau on the World Heritage List for its cultural uniqueness.

British singer Joss Stone may have been targeted in a murder-robbery scheme – and now two men are being questioned by police.

Although the official statements do not name Stone as the target, the details all focus on the proximity of the men to Stone's isolated country home in Cullompton, England. Police found swords, rope, aerial photos of Stone's home and a body bag when they apprehended the men at around 10 a.m. yesterday.

Stone's reps say the singer is aware of the situation but would not say if she was at home at the time the men were arrested near her property.

The suspects, aged 30 and 33, traveled from Manchester to Cullompton – about a 200 mile drive. However, when they got to Stone's home, they drove slowly around the streets near her house, making neighbors nervous enough to call the police.

Det Insp Steve Parker told The Sun: "The men had information and items that lead us to suspect that they may have intended to commit a criminal offence."

As far as whether or not Stone was at her home at the time of the scary incident, there was no sign of the singer yesterday.

Two years after scrapping the Anielski report, the province is commissioning another study into the socioeconomic impact of gambling in Nova Scotia.

But Communities, Culture and Heritage Minister Dave Wilson said it could take up to a year before knowing how long such a study will take.

Wilson said the government is committed to a “proper, well-founded” study into gambling and its effects.

The report will be handled by the Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, an arms-length body under the Department of Health.

Wilson said the initiative is in a time of transition, with staff moving from the Nova Scotia Gaming Awareness Foundation to the Health Research Foundation. As such, no timeline or further details on the content of the report are available.

“When that transition is finished, and when we have the details on the study, we’ll release them to the people of Nova Scotia,” Wilson said Thursday, adding he hopes to have the pieces in place in a year.

The province scrapped the Anielski report in late 2009. According to Labour Minister Marilyn More, the government had concerns with some of the methodology used in consultant Mark Anielski’s draft report.

Complying with a recommendation from the province’s freedom of information officer, More released a heavily annotated version of the report, pointing out flaws. The report said gambling is linked to about six deaths a year in Nova Scotia.

Gov. Pat Quinn and other Illinois leaders are meeting in Chicago this afternoon to see if there's any way to salvage a state gambling-expansion measure that may be going bust.

The measure, which passed in the waning hours of the spring legislative session last month, would add five new casinos in Illinois, allow expansion at existing casinos, and allow the state's horseracing tracks to have slot machines. The idea would be to reinvigorate the state's horseracing industry and put gaming tax money toward the state's cash-strapped budget.

Quinn has said he's opposed to such a huge expansion of gambling, but likes the idea of a Chicago casino, which is one of the provisions. He has hinted he will use his amendatory veto powers to alter the bill. That could well kill it, since the changes would need approval by the Legislature, through which it barely squeaked the first time.

The meeting today is meant to hash out the differences between Quinn and the bill's sponsors, with an eye on a potential compromise.

(Yes, this is usually the kind of meeting that gets held before a bill is passed, but this is how Illinois is doing things these days. In another example, the Legislature will be back in Springfield mid-week to try to unjam stalled legislation to allow the state's massive infrastructure improvement program to go forward—after supposedly wrapping up their business for the summer two weeks ago.)

We have calls in to the offices of the key negotiators on the gambling issue, and will update here as needed after the meeting.

There comes a time in a parent’s life when putting their kids to bed can be absolutely exhausting and no matter what you may try they just can’t seem to settle in and go to sleep. Now for those parents who reach the breaking point, there’s a beautifully recorded version of the children’s book “Go the F*ck to Sleep” by Samuel L. Jackson that should do the trick.

The book is written by author Adam Mansbach and was written to help parents deal with the frustrations of putting their kids to bed. Whether it takes one hour or two, he wanted to voice their frustrations as well as his own with the book, “Go the F*ck to Sleep.” As catchy as the title may be, it’s actually as funny as it sounds plus the addition of Samuel L. Jackson’s voice which was used for the audible version, which later morphed into the video release that has hit the internet and gone viral.

Jackson’s voice was the perfect addition to the recording, with flashbacks of his Pulp Fiction days running through your head as he summons kids to go the F to sleep. If you catch the video recording, Jackson tells you of his own personal experiences as a daddy, when he himself was forced to use the F word when his kids just wouldn’t dose off.

The tender illustrations of kids sleeping plus Samuel L. Jackson’s voice is definitely a winning combination but we’ll leave it up to you to introduce that oh so important word into their vocabulary.

A House proposal to regulate and tax Internet gambling would require online gambling establishments to withhold taxes from net online winnings, and provide detailed information about gamblers to the government in an attempt to help ensure the collection of these taxes. It would also impose a two percent federal tax on Internet gambling providers, and give states the option of taxing these companies at a rate of six percent.

The Internet Gambling Regulation and Tax Enforcement Act, H.R. 2230, was introduced Thursday by Reps. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.), John Campbell (R-Calif.), and House Financial Services Committee ranking member Barney Frank (D-Mass.).

The bill would not legalize online gambling, and is meant to offer a tax structure for online gambling assuming that it becomes legal. Reps. Campbell and Frank are known to be working on a bill to legalize Internet gambling.

Gambling winnings are already required to be reported to the IRS under current law. Assuming online gambling is legalized, the bill would require companies to subject net online winnings to a withholding tax, now 28 percent, in line with current withholding taxes for other gambling winnings.

To help enforce this, companies would be required to provide the names, addresses and tax identification numbers of all players to the government. They would also have to provide information on gross winnings, gross wagers and gross losses on each person for every calendar year, and the amount of tax withheld on these winnings.

The bill also requires companies to tell the government how much has been deposited and withdrawn during the calendar year.

Aside from ensuring tax collection from gamblers, the bill would also require online gambling establishments to obtain a license, and would tax these companies an amount equal to two percent of the deposits they receive each month. The bill stresses that this tax cannot be deducted from the amounts that players deposit in their account, and must be paid for by the company.

It would also give states the option of taxing these companies at a rate of six percent.

McDermott's bill would send a quarter of the federal taxes collected to programs that care for foster or disadvantaged children, and most of the rest would go to the general treasury.

Several Internet gambling sites were seized by the Justice Department earlier this year, after they were discovered to be taking deposits from U.S. citizens illegally. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) is also considering legislation that would legalize and regulate online gambling. Barton's bill is expected to focus on online poker.

LA Ink’s Kat Von D and Jesse James just got engaged in January after his dramatic split from Sandra Bullock last year, but is the happy couple putting an end to their relationship already? According to reports they are taking a break but it looks like it was all just tabloid fever and it seems that they are actually going strong and making plans for their upcoming summer wedding.

According to Pop Eater, West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James has denied claims of the couple’s separation and is happy to report that they are going strong. The reports came from Life and Style Magazine, who posted a story claiming that there’s just “too much drama” for Jesse who apparently had confirmed the split.

The couple was quick to put an end to the rumors by releasing a statement admitting to People Magazine, “That is absolutely not true. We’re still going strong. Things are completely good with us.”

The tatted chopper guru also managed to hit the twitterverse by coming down on the tabloid that published the story with the following pointed comment, “I like that all the piece of shit tabloids are now following me on Twitter. I’m pretty sure it’s just so I can tell them to Lick My Balls.”

That tweet was followed by a few others that definitely confirmed his love for Kat along with a few other anti-tabloid messages involving other body parts. So life is good again and things seem to be back on track for the happy couple who is planning their wedding sometime this summer.

Five people from Western Pennsylvania recently charged with stealing money from employers to feed gambling addictions:

John J. Tain, 40, of Cecil pleaded guilty in October 2010 to embezzling $913,000 from UBICS Inc., an international information technology firm where he worked as controller. Before a judge sentenced him to 33 months in prison, Tain said he suffered from gambling addiction. Court records do not say where he gambled.

Lori J. Smith, 49, of North Huntingdon admitted stealing more than $127,000 from the Murrysville MSA Branch Employee Federal Credit Union to feed her gambling addiction. The credit union fired her. She pleaded guilty in January to theft and is serving five years of probation, court records show.

Diane L. Stanesic, 57, of West Mifflin pleaded guilty to theft in April 2010 after admitting she submitted almost $36,000 in fake cancer treatment insurance claims. Stanesic, a former nurse, used the money from the false claims to support her addiction to video poker. A judge sentenced her to five years of probation.

Cheri A. Logue, 42 of Claysville received a 22-month federal prison sentence for embezzling $90,000 in government money provided to the Southwestern Pennsylvania Legal Services Corp. She used an ATM card registered to the corporation to withdraw more than $12,000 at or near casinos on 56 occasions, investigators said. A judge noted that Logue said she played slots machines to deal with stress at work.

Nancy J. Brown, 62, is awaiting trial on charges of stealing nearly $389,000 from payroll accounts in Springfield Township, where she worked as township secretary. Her lawyer said she lost most of the money at Presque Isle Downs & Casino near Erie and other casinos.

It’s only been a few days since geriatric playboy Hugh Hefner split from his bride-to-be Crystal Harris but from the looks of it he’s on the road to recovery with the recent addition of twins Karissa and Kristina to the Playboy Mansion.

Just days ago, Playboy model Crystal Harris put an end to their relationship by claiming that she wasn’t really ready to deal with the fact that she wouldn’t be the only woman in Hef’s life and told the Daily Mail, “I didn’t feel comfortable in my heart knowing that and getting married to him, because a marriage is between two people.”

That being said, the wedding which was actually planned for today went completely to waste, leaving Hef heartbroken for at least a day or a few hours anyway. It seems that Hef isn’t really one to dwell on such things and as a protective measure he made sure to invite two of his best girls to move back into the mansion – the Shannon twins.

Twins Karissa and Kristina lived in the mansion with Hugh a year and a half ago but were forced to leave due to having boyfriends, which is a rule that the girls of the mansion must abide by. As of this morning TMZ, reported that the girls are back and are ready to shack up with Hugh once again.

So while Hugh will be busy entertaining his new guests with a special screening of Runaway Bride and according to People Magazine, today Crystal spent the day partying it up in Las Vegas’ Wet Republic.

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A new project in Miami may help bring gambling to the residents of South Florida, and the mayor of the city has already given the idea his blessing. The chairman of the Singapore gambling group, Genting, LT Kim, is the man behind the $3 billion project on the waterfront property, and he is keen to introduce Vegas style gambling to the city through this new project.

This type of gambling is already available at Native American Reservations in the area, and gamblers can still find limited entertainment through the state lottery and at dog tracks. However, there are many who believe that it’s not enough and that Miami would benefit through the introduction of Vegas style gambling in the city itself – not only because of the entertainment factor but because of the fact that it will bring much needed jobs.

The mayor of Miami, Tomas Regalado denied that he was approached by Genting to help them lobby the state legislature to change gambling laws. He said: “They didn’t ask but I offered my support.”

Lobbying for legalized gambling will begin in the next legislative session.

The new project on the waterfront property will go ahead, even if gambling is not okayed at state level in the end. “We are going to do this project whether gaming is legalized or not,” said Michael Speller, the president of Resorts World, Genting’s subsidiary. “If legislation goes forward, this project will happen a lot quicker.”

The project includes multiple attractions for the city’s residents, including new museums, the American Airlines Area and the Arsht Center. Architectonia, a Miami based architectural firm, will develop the project.

U.S. Digital Gaming, a venture backed by prominent casino executives, on Monday is expected to name Jon Richmond, a former entertainment industry executive, as its new CEO—placing a bet that online gambling will become legal in the U.S. U.S. Digital Gaming was founded in 2009 by former casino executive Richard Bronson, who once ran development operations for casino impresario Steve Wynn's former company, Mirage Resorts, and remains close to Mr. Wynn.

The company, which currently has no revenue stream, is trying to position itself as a provider of all the services other companies would need to run online gambling sites, including software and guidance on laws and licensing rules. It also expects to run Web sites for clients and handle marketing and advertising operations for them.

"We want to be in position to be able to move forward quickly," said Mr. Bronson, who said he expects online gambling legalization will spread from statehouse to statehouse, starting with online poker games. "There's no doubt in my mind that this is upon us."

The company has raised around $3 million from outside investors, including prominent real estate developers, Herb Simon, a mall developer who owns the Indiana Pacers basketball team, Vornado Realty Trust Chairman Steven Roth, and Robert Taubman and William Taubman, who lead real estate giant Taubman.

The outside investment is on top of around $3 million from Mr. Bronson and Richard Baskin, his partner in the venture who previously had served as chief executive, Mr. Bronson said.

Mr. Richmond, 53 years old, is a former president of Fox Interactive and spent 10 years at Walt Disney Co. (Fox Interactive is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal.) More recently Mr. Richmond was a managing director at the investment firm Houlihan Lokey.

Established gambling companies also are preparing for an expected future of legal online gambling, including casino giants such as Caesars Entertainment as well as lottery software providers and slot machine manufacturers.

Any move toward legalization will be marked by controversy and face opposition by the U.S. Department of Justice, which takes the position that all forms of gambling online—including poker—are illegal under a mix of federal and state laws. The federal government recently cracked down on several foreign firms operating online gambling sites in the U.S., shutting down the sites and indicting executives at three of the operators. The companies contend their sites weren't illegal.

Several state legislatures, including Florida, Iowa, California, Nevada and New Jersey, have debated bills that would legalize online poker only for residents of their states, known as "intrastate gambling." None of the state bills authorizing online poker operations have made it into law, though Washington, D.C., earlier this year became the first jurisdiction to allow an online poker operation, which would be run by the city's lottery system.

Mr. Bronson said he hopes for a mix of state laws to spread across the country. The company has hired lobbyists in several states to push that view, he said. His bet is that state-by-state legalization would create a mix of companies—including commercial casinos, state lotteries, and Indian tribes—that will need help in seeking online gambling licensing and marketing deals in the various jurisdictions.

U.S. Digital Gaming has around 15 full-time employees, including such specialists as a lottery attorney and marketing experts. It has licensed software for online poker and acquired technology that can verify online a person's location as well as their age, Mr. Bronson said.

Another possibility—pushed hard by casino giant Caesars Entertainment and others—is that the federal government will legalize online poker nationwide and open the market up to much larger websites that operate nationally rather than within a single state. Such efforts have so far failed in Congress.

Caesars, which owns the popular World Series of Poker brand, has spent the past few years invested in an online unit of the company in preparation for an eventual legal change.

"This is a matter of being in position when legalization occurs," Mr. Bronson said. "If they never legalize poker online then we've made a bad bet."

It must be hard to remember lyrics when you're three sheets to the wind. Thus, embattled singer Amy Winehouse was as booed at a Serbian concert last night, in what the local paper called, "the worst [concert] in the history of Belgrade."

TMZ has a video that shows Winehouse trying to hash out her song "Just Friends" that she keeps forgetting the lyrics to, at one point, pulling a backup singer over to the mic while she performed drunken dance moves.

This was Winehouse's first concert in an attempted comeback after her latest stint in rehab, with her first stop on her European trek being Belgrade, Serbia last night. People close to the singer say Winehouse had vowed to steer clear of booze, but left fans annoyed when she stumbled around the stage, hugged band members and slurred her speech at Belgrade's fortress.

Winehouse's lack of sobriety was not lost on the audience, who paid an average of $57 per ticket. At first, they supported and cheered as Amy tried to sing, but grew weary when she repeatedly left the stage and at one point, kicked off her shoe. Thus, they began booing her.

With TMZ noting that the average monthly salary is about $428, realizing they paid for tickets to watch a drunk try to belch songs was probably a crappy epiphany for the good people of Serbia.

Winehouse has notoriously struggled with drug and alcohol addiction for much of her adult life, continually checking in and out of rehab. She has not made a recording since her Grammy winning album "Back to Black" in 2006.

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History is repeating itself in the United States. Congressmen John Campbell and Barney Frank introduced their online gambling regulation bill in March 2011. This week Congressman Jim McDermott introduced HR 2230......

Read more: US Introduces Gambling Tax Bill

Thanks for this news manne! 😁 I hope you guys will have freedom in playing casino!!

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using the same software, reinstalled?

Despite the fact that in mid April 2011, four of the largest US offshore licensed, online poker sites; including Poker Stars and Full Tilt were closed-down for business by the DoJ, it is believed to be only a matter of time until internet gambling is made legal in the US. Nevada recently signed a bill into law, and while the ideal would be to have federal legalization, this is not necessarily the only ideal legal situation for US internet gambling.

Barney Frank is still leading the charge in US Congress and he is not on his own. Campbell and quite a few other congressmen have seen to it that the move to tax and regulate online gambling activities is fast becoming necessary.

While there is still some debate regarding whether or not online gambling will cannibalize land gambling – most experts believe that this is just not going to happen. Some people will still continue to frequent traditional casinos, while others just choose to stay home and gamble in their pajamas if they so choose. Surely people have every right to decide how they get their service delivery? They certainly get to choose if they order take out food or get out of the house and make the effort to eat a pizza at a restaurant table.

The internet has had a profound affect on just about every area of our lives. It has affected the entire retailing industry – newspapers, music, movies and so much more; so everyone will be watching to see what happens with the gambling industry too. Regional or local casinos may stand to lose the most, while casinos in Las Vegas might not be affected at all. But then again, it is hard to tell when no-body really knows and it is pretty pointless drawing false assumptions at this point in time.