Let your mouth speak archive

Russell Brand, the eccentric British comic actor and husband to American superstar Katy Perry, posted an articulate, well-written piece about addiction and his relationship with deceased jazz singer, Amy Winehouse.

In tragic news yesterday, it was reported that Winehouse, who famously battled drugs and alcohol for years, was found dead in her Camden home. An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow, but Scotland Yard will be "operating under the suspicion it was an overdose."

Brand, posted a really beautifully-written blog about Amy, as well as addiction recently, writing:

For Amy

When you love someone who suffers from the disease of addiction you await the phone call. There will be a phone call. The sincere hope is that the call will be from the addict themselves, telling you they've had enough, that they're ready to stop, ready to try something new. Of course though, you fear the other call, the sad nocturnal chime from a friend or relative telling you it's too late, she's gone.

Frustratingly it's not a call you can ever make it must be received. It is impossible to intervene.

I've known Amy Winehouse for years. When I first met her around Camden she was just some twit in a pink satin jacket shuffling round bars with mutual friends, most of whom were in cool Indie bands or peripheral Camden figures Withnail-ing their way through life on impotent charisma. Carl Barrat told me that "Winehouse" (which I usually called her and got a kick out of cos it's kind of funny to call a girl by her surname) was a jazz singer, which struck me as a bizarrely anomalous in that crowd. To me with my limited musical knowledge this information placed Amy beyond an invisible boundary of relevance; "Jazz singer? She must be some kind of eccentric" I thought. I chatted to her anyway though, she was after all, a girl, and she was sweet and peculiar but most of all vulnerable.

I was myself at that time barely out of rehab and was thirstily seeking less complicated women so I barely reflected on the now glaringly obvious fact that Winehouse and I shared an affliction, the disease of addiction. All addicts, regardless of the substance or their social status share a consistent and obvious symptom; they're not quite present when you talk to them. They communicate to you through a barely discernible but un-ignorable veil. Whether a homeless smack head troubling you for 50p for a cup of tea or a coked-up, pinstriped exec foaming off about his "speedboat" there is a toxic aura that prevents connection. They have about them the air of elsewhere, that they're looking through you to somewhere else they'd rather be. And of course they are. The priority of any addict is to anaesthetise the pain of living to ease the passage of the day with some purchased relief.

From time to time I'd bump into Amy she had good banter so we could chat a bit and have a laugh, she was "a character" but that world was riddled with half cut, doped up chancers, I was one of them, even in early recovery I was kept afloat only by clinging to the bodies of strangers so Winehouse, but for her gentle quirks didn't especially register.

Then she became massively famous and I was pleased to see her acknowledged but mostly baffled because I'd not experienced her work and this not being the 1950's I wondered how a "jazz singer" had achieved such cultural prominence. I wasn't curious enough to do anything so extreme as listen to her music or go to one of her gigs, I was becoming famous myself at the time and that was an all consuming experience. It was only by chance that I attended a Paul Weller gig at the Roundhouse that I ever saw her live.

I arrived late and as I made my way to the audience through the plastic smiles and plastic cups I heard the rolling, wondrous resonance of a female vocal. Entering the space I saw Amy on stage with Weller and his band; and then the awe. The awe that envelops when witnessing a genius. From her oddly dainty presence that voice, a voice that seemed not to come from her but from somewhere beyond even Billie and Ella, from the font of all greatness. A voice that was filled with such power and pain that it was at once entirely human yet laced with the divine. My ears, my mouth, my heart and mind all instantly opened. Winehouse. Winehouse? Winehouse! That twerp, all eyeliner and lager dithering up Chalk Farm Road under a back-combed barnet, the lips that I'd only seen clenching a fishwife fag and dribbling curses now a portal for this holy sound. So now I knew. She wasn't just some hapless wannabe, yet another pissed up nit who was never gonna make it, nor was she even a ten-a-penny-chanteuse enjoying her fifteen minutes. She was a f**king genius.

Shallow fool that I am I now regarded her in a different light, the light that blazed down from heaven when she sang. That lit her up now and a new phase in our friendship began. She came on a few of my TV and radio shows, I still saw her about but now attended to her with a little more interest. Publicly though, Amy increasingly became defined by her addiction. Our media though is more interested in tragedy than talent, so the ink began to defect from praising her gift to chronicling her downfall. The destructive personal relationships, the blood soaked ballet slippers, the aborted shows, that youtube madness with the baby mice. In the public perception this ephemeral tittle-tattle replaced her timeless talent. This and her manner in our occasional meetings brought home to me the severity of her condition. Addiction is a serious disease; it will end with jail, mental institutions or death. I was 27 years old when through the friendship and help of Chip Somers of the treatment centre, Focus12 I found recovery, through Focus I was introduced to support fellowships for alcoholics and drug addicts which are very easy to find and open to anybody with a desire to stop drinking and without which I would not be alive.

Now Amy Winehouse is dead, like many othe

State Senator Raymond Lesniak believes New Jersey should legally be able to allow online gambling inside its own borders.

According to the Courier Post, Lesniak plans to introduce legislation in November addressing the main concerns of Gov. Chris Christie, who vetoed the bill that would have made New Jersey the first state to legalize in-state Internet gambling in March. Lesniak said Christie was concerned about possible Internet gambling cafes turning up, and that some revenue would go to horse racing.

Reviewed Casinos reports that Lesniak sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, in response to a letter Holder received from Congressmen Harry Reid and Jon Kyl. The congressmen asked the Department of Justice to thwart attempts by several states to pass such Internet gambling legislation, claiming it violated federal law, including the Wire Act of 1961. New Jersey, Nevada, California, Florida, Iowa and Hawaii are considering the subject.

But Lesniak argues that ‘unlawful Internet gambling’ does not include bets where the wager is initiated and received exclusively within a single state.

When Christie vetoed the bill, philly.com reported the Casino Association of New Jersey called for the question to be but on the ballot in the next general election. Christie said he was open to the referendum idea.

The Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association, representing offshore Internet betting websites, said Internet gambling in New Jersey could create between $210 million and $250 million in new revenues for Atlantic City casinos in its first full year. They said it could also create 1,586 to 1,903 jobs and $47 million to $55 million in New Jersey tax revenue.

According to nj.gov, Internet gambling casinos are not regulated. If a person wins a bet from an Internet casino-style game, horse race or sporting event, we cannot be sure they will ever be paid.

Tobey Maguire has been ordered to appear in court to answer charges resulting from his participation in an illegal gambling ring.

The actor was named in a lawsuit last month for playing unlicensed poker with convicted fraudster Bradley Ruderman.

Maguire's lawyer later denied the accusations on his behalf, insisting that the Spider-Man star had no idea that the gaming was illegal.

While he has admitted to having earned $187,000 (£116,600) in winnings from the games, he has claimed that he should not have to return his winnings as he suffered a loss at Ruderman's hands.

Per documents filed in the US Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles on Monday and obtained by E Online, Maguire and prosecutors have been given until November 30 to prepare their cases.

They must then appear at a trial scheduled for the week of January 30, 2012.

Maguire will soon produce an adaptation of The Little Mermaid that centres on a princess's battle to save her kingdom and win the heart of her prince.

Amy Winehouse was laid to rest today at the Edgwarebury Cemetery in north London. In a private ceremony, friends and family of the singer gathered to pay their respects to the death of the 27-year-old Winehouse – a death that even her own mother had said was inevitable.

Producer Mark Ronson, who enjoyed huge success with Amy when her freshman album, "Back to Black" won five Grammy's, and Kelly Osbourne were among the guests. Meanwhile, photographers stood on ladders to get snap shots of the funeral.

During father Mitch Winehouse's eulogy, he said, "Goodnight my angel … Sleep tight. Mummy and Daddy love you ever so much."

The ceremony ended with a rendition of the Carole King song, "So Far Away." Amy's body will then be cremated at a local synagogue, Golders Green crematorium, later today.

Noticeably absent from the affair was Amy's ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, who is currently serving 32 months in prison for burglary and possession of an imitation firearm. He was denied release to attend the funeral and it is unclear whether he would be welcome anyway, as he was the one who reportedly introduced Amy to drugs and she spiralled out of control shortly thereafter.

So far, the cause of death is yet to be determined, but toxicology reports are pending. Amy had died alone in her bed on Saturday. TMZ reports that when paramedics arrived, there were "signs of life," but they were unable to save her.

On Monday, Winehouse's father, mother and brother visited the house where she died, thanking mourners who had left flowers and cards.

Mitch Winehouse had told fans and mourners, "Amy was about one thing and that was love. Her whole life was devoted to her family and her friends and to you guys as well."

LA Ink star Kat Von D announced last night via Twitter that she and her fiancée West Coast Choppers CEO Jesse James have called it quits which they attribute to the couple traveling long distances to keep the relationship going with Jesse living in Austin and Kat living in LA, the perfectly tatted couple simply decided to call it quits.

Last night Kat tweeted the following message confirming their breakup:

“I am no longer with Jesse, and out of respect for him, his family and myself, that’s all the info I’d like to share. Thanks for respecting that.”

You may remember that Jesse and Kat hooked up after his much publicized split from Hollywood sweetheart Sandra Bullock last year and have since been joined at the hip, professing their love for each other and even announcing their engagement in January. Although they seemed so in love there were also rumors floating around last month that the two were having some troubles and were taking a break, rumors which the couple quickly denied but it seems that there may have been some truth there after all.

Where did the love go guys? Apart from all the crazy press these two got for getting together after Jesse’s breakup, they actually seemed like the perfect match. So far, the breakup seems amicable with Jesse also having released a statement saying, “I am so sad because I really love her. The distance between us was just too much.”

Ok, so we get it, it was a distance thing and according to the LA Times, there’s no way Jesse could move to LA since he has three kids and he thought it was important to keep them close to his ex. It sounds like a tricky situation but if they were such close friends to begin with then it probably means that they still are.

New Jersey state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union) said he will introduce legislation to permit Atlantic City casinos to offer online poker in the Garden State. The measure will overcome the objections that caused Gov. Chris Christie to veto a similar bill passed last year, he said. | SEE STORY

According to Lesniak, Christie vetoed the 2010 poker bill in March, 2011 in order to prevent a possible flood of Internet cafés in the state and to ensure that no poker profits flowed to horse racing. The state senator said his proposed bill explicitly prohibits both.

Lesniak also said he has written a letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder asserting that state governments have the authority to permit online gambling within their own borders.

The opposite view was previously argued by U.S. Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Jon Kyl (R-AZ). The pair said state legalization of online gambling would violate the U.S. Wire Act of 1961.

A trade association for offshore casinos has estimated that the legalization of online poker operations by Atlantic City casinos could generate up to $250 million in new revenues (including up to $55 million in tax dollars) and create nearly 2,000 new jobs.

She’s former Playboy Playmate and actress Shannon Tweed and he’s the KISS bassist and vocalist who claims to have bedded close to 5,000 women, Gene Simmons, and together with their kids they are the stars of the A&E reality television series Family Jewels, who after 28 years of shacking up together just may be getting engaged after Gene makes plans to pop the question.

Will Gene give up his philandering ways to finally make a solid commitment to Shannon? It can pretty much be assumed that after 28years together, she’s pretty much accepted every aspect of who her rocker beau is but after a recent outburst during an interview with Joy Behar, it seemed like their bond may not be as strong as expected. When Behar joked with Simmons about the condition of his back after sleeping with 5,000 women, he kept the joke rolling which upset Tweed who later walked off the set saying, “It’s over. It’s so rude of you to joke about it.”

In Season 6 of Family Jewels, viewers get to see what exactly has been happening with these two as Tweed deals with Simmon’s monster-sized ego and the couple's problems. Apart from the all their troubles, Simmons admits to wanting to “work things out” which leads to tonight’s episode, Belize it Or Not, when Gene takes Tweed to Belize to finally pop the question.

Apparently, Simmons gets down on one knee admitting, “You’re the only one I love…and you’re the only one I will ever love.” So if Tweed does accept, this means that 61-year-old Simmons will finally have to resort to behaving. Can he really pull that off after all this time?

Over the last few months, the online casino industry has taken quite a few hits as numerous critics continue to point out minor, isolation occurrences that paint the online gambling industry in a bad light, including the recent Full Tilt incident. They utilize these examples as further points in regards to the blocking, and even banning of the online casino industry. However, the internet gambling industry have been working feverishly to provide naysayers with the correct picture of the industry – that it works hard to provide safe, flawless, as well as socially responsible environment for gambling. The industry shows that this outnumbers the minor snafus a number of startup gambling companies have cased. The fact is that all the major online gambling companies continue to actively seek governmental support and approval prior to entering into the market. These companies abide by all local laws and European standards that were created by standards bodies.

In fact, a majority of the online casinos are doing everything they can to prove they are following the law. They make their companies malleable and willing and able to adjust to all rules and regulations set up, as well as meet the continuing and growing needs of all online players within their market. The truth is that a number of these online gambling companies will jump through any regulation and licensing hoops to follow the jurisdictions set up by that market. While these businesses are operating in a number of closed markets, they do it only because of an increasing regulatory void. Many online casinos are quick to mention that if governments were to set up a legal operation framework, they would be quick to abide by it.

Current anti-online gambling sentiments claim that online gambling websites are unscrupulous. However, this is not true. The most reputable, professional online gambling companies will do whatever it takes to accommodate all local laws despite some of the crazy demands certain countries, like Sweden, France, and the United States, for example, make.

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On April 18, 1906, a high-magnitude trembling of the inner earth triggered the great San Francisco earthquake and fires. It was a huge natural disaster that ultimately changed the way America structured buildings, created emergency plans for cities and developed transportation. Since then, geologists and planners have been planning for the next "big one," a similar large-scale earthquake in the Golden State, which could be felt along fault lines throughout the state.

There is another "big one" that is starting to rumble in California these days – an amplified and accelerated attempt to legalize Internet gambling. This fault line runs throughout the state's existing gambling industry, which is among the most diverse in the nation today. American Indian casinos, local card rooms, horse racing and the lottery are all big business in the state, and critical providers of jobs and state revenue. These entities are keenly watching – and in some cases, trying to influence – the emergence of an online element to gambling in California.

At the same time, these industries are reflective of the uniqueness of California's political landscape – they are entrenched "incumbents" with cadres of lobbyists and advertising agencies and political action committees that all work the system. Or in the case of the horse racing industry, they can't get along and develop a unified voice to take to Sacramento, which just muddies the waters even more.

The stakes are high for online gambling in California. With a population of nearly 40 million and among the highest household incomes in North America, gambling experts predict that the online market is bigger than that of England, France and Spain combined, where the online business has been flourishing for years.

Our analysts at U.S. Digital Gaming have concluded that the California gambling market could generate tax revenue to the state of more than $5 billion over a 10-year period. Worse, we have concluded that in any given year, California is losing more than $600 million in state tax revenue to illegal online gambling – largely through unlawful offshore operators. This is not an insignificant amount of annual revenue – it could fund UCLA each year, the state's largest public institution of higher education.

Then, there is the state's desperate need for revenue. Gov. Jerry Brown's recently adopted budget tackled a budget deficit of more than $26 billion, a jaw-dropping amount. To put that in perspective, the state of Indiana's two-year operating budget was about $28 billion.

California is desperate for new revenue and the state is motivated to avoid new cuts or more traditional tax increases. In the last couple of years, a host of legislators have floated online gambling bills, held high-profile hearings and have made the talk-show circuits. Many would align the interests of California's bricks-and-mortar industries with an online presence, crafting a nearly seamless operating and marketing system for the Golden State gambling operators of various types. But no single piece of legislation has crystallized among the fragmented stakeholders or generated strong support from the governor or legislative leaders.

If any state should be motivated by the potential in Washington, D.C., to create a national online gambling system that is regulated and taxed at the federal level, it is California. The lost revenue to the feds would be enormous. But so, too, would the prospective impact on its local gambling industries, their investments and their jobs. The federal efforts are being pushed by some of the Nevada partisans, who want a system that insulates the large casino resort operators along the Las Vegas Strip. No federal bill will equitably protect local American Indian operations or card rooms. And with no horse racing political stalwarts in Nevada to help nudge Sen. Harry Reid and his congressional allies, that industry doesn't have a voice in the federal process, let alone a seat at the table.

With the debt-ceiling debate consuming all of Washington today, the federal Internet gambling efforts have been sidelined for a few weeks. With Sacramento in recess until mid-August, you won't hear much on legislation to legalize online gambling from there, either. But when the dust settles later this summer, both the feds and the state politicos will turn their attention to the potential epicenter of our new online industry – California. Who will be able to manage "the big one" – the feds who want to make a revenue grab, or the Californians and their divergent interests?

Either way, the magnitude will be enormous.

Everyone has regrets and as for actress Denise Richards, it’s having had a series of breast augmentation/corrective surgeries over the years as she explains in a recent issue of US Weekly. She claims that it all started with one botched boob job that snowballed into the whole, “I can’t see my toes anymore” issue.

According to Richards, she had her first boob job when she was 19 years old and it seems that the doctor that performed the surgery gave her bigger implants than she had asked for which later led to a series of corrective surgeries that never seemed to correct the issue.

She blames the boob irregularities to implant-happy doctors who she ran to in order to correct previously botched surgeries but in the end they always upped her cup size. She claims that’s exactly what happened just before filming Wild Things back in 1998 when she met with a surgeon to reduce the size of her implants but instead received an upgrade of sorts, yet again. She didn’t press charges because as an upcoming star at the time because the last thing she needed was a lawsuit on her hands. “It wasn’t right what the doctors did but it is what it is,” she told US Weekly.

Three kids later, the 40-year-old actress is finally happy with her breast size but claims it took a long time to finally get it right. These days, Denise Richards boobs aren't the main concern in her life as the actress has much more to worry about with the addition of her newly adopted newborn daughter Eloise Joni as well as managing her new career as an author with the release of her memoir highlighting her marriage to Charlie Sheen, “The Real Girl Next Door.”

SINGAPORE - The presence of the Integrated Resorts (IRs) here has not caused a spike in the number of gambling addicts, said Casino Regulatory Authority (CRA) chairman Richard Magnus yesterday, citing a study done by the Institute of Mental Health.

Speaking at a question and answer session at the 23rd Singapore Law Review Annual Lecture, Mr Magnus said that the study concluded that gambling addiction numbers before and after the establishment of the IRs remained the same.

What the IRs did, though, was provide "just another avenue for gambling", said Mr Magnus.

He added: "The thinking is that some of these gamblers moved away from the traditional gambling areas and move into casinos."

Responding to a question on the social impact of casinos, CRA chief executive Lau Peet Meng, who was also at the event, revealed that the authorities are studying overseas models where it is compulsory for gamblers to declare how much they want to lose before they step into the casino.

Currently, patrons to the IRs here can voluntarily cap their gambling outlay.

On the call for greater transparency with regard to the number of Singaporeans entering the casinos, Mr Lau agreed that this could be looked into.

"It is ... probably one of the aspects of the (Casino Control) Act (that) we need to look at more carefully, which is the legality of the information and how the information shared can be used," he said.

But Mr Magnus reiterated: "I can perhaps give you the assurance that the local urban legend that quite a number of our locals or PRs frequent the casinos ... is just a legend."

Mr Magnus noted that several challenges lie ahead in the regulation of the IRs.

Apart from the "creative ways of money laundering", the casino industry might also change in the years ahead from one that is incentivised to self-regulate - due to the high profits - to one where the industry turns stale.

Earlier in his speech, Mr Magnus also said that, while the authorities hope that the IRs are "mature participants who see the value of self-regulation ... we cannot discount the possibility of market failure".

He added that there will be occasions where the casino operators and regulator will not view self-disclosure as a win-win situation and that will be when CRA needs to intervene.

When Amy Winehouse was found dead in her Camden home, it was assumed by press and fans alike that Winehouse had died of an overdose. However, now there seems to be evidence that Winehouse may have died by trying to clean up her act.

Police had reported that there were no signs of drug usage beside the bed she died in, while Amy's father, Mitch Winehouse, said he didn't think drugs were involved in her death, though toxicology reports are pending.

Now, we're hearing that Amy's parents reportedly believe that their daughter died from alcohol withdrawal.

A source close to the family says that Amy's parents as well as doctors warned the singer to wean herself off alcohol slowly, but Amy said she couldn't drink without binging, so she quit cold turkey.

The source told The Sun, "Abstinence gave her body such a fright, they thought it was eventually the cause of her death."

"He [Mitch] said doctors had told Amy to gradually reduce her intake of alcohol and to avoid binging at all costs. Amy told him she couldn't do that. It was all or nothing and she gave up completely. Mitch said the shock of giving up, after everything she had been through over a bad few years, was just too much for her to take."

In his heart-wrenching eulogy for his daughter, Mitch noted that Amy had almost conquered her demons. The eulogy is below:

"Amy was the greatest daughter, family member and friend you could ever have.

I will talk a lot about her fantastic recovery. Recently Amy found love with Reg. He helped her with her problems and Amy was looking forward to their future together.

She was the happiest she has been for years. We all remember that great night at the 100 Club on Oxford Street, her voice was good, her wit and timing were perfect.

She told me that she had 'thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed herself'.

The last time she called me she had found a box of old family photos and called me to go over to look. We spoke three times a day at least, she was very excited.

Three years ago, Amy conquered her drug dependency, the doctors said it was impossible but she really did it. She was trying hard to deal with her drinking and had just completed three weeks of abstinence.

She said, 'Dad I've had enough of drinking, I can't stand the look on your and the family's faces anymore'.

She was not depressed. She saw Janis and Reg on Friday and was in good spirits.

That night, she was in her room, playing drums and singing. As it was late, her security guard said to keep it quiet and she did. He heard her walking around for a while and when he went to check on her in the morning he thought she was asleep. He went back a few hours later, that was when he realised she was not breathing and called for help.

But knowing she wasn't depressed, knowing she passed away, knowing she passed away happy, it makes us all feel better.

I was in New York with my cousin Michael when I heard and straight away I said I wanted an Amy Winehouse Foundation, something to help the things she loved – children, horses, but also to help those struggling with substance abuse.

In this country, if you cannot afford a private rehabilitation clinic, there is a two-year waiting list for help. With the help of Keith Vaz MP, we are trying to change that."

Before deploying for Iraq, State Sen. Michael Rush filed legislation that would allow the Massachusetts State Lottery Commission to create a online gambling pilot program that proponents say could net $1 billion a year for the Commonwealth.

“Massachusetts has always been at the forefront of innovation in state lottery gaming and I believe that to continue to do so means adding robust online lottery gaming to the current offerings,” said John Regan, Chief of Staff to Rush. “This is more than just allowing the purchase of lottery tickets online – this is a new, interactive way of playing the lottery through new online games of chance.”

The state lottery would be provided with new revenue streams that would boost local aid, said Regan.

Regan said the online program would be more secure than offshore online gaming operators that currently dominate online sales.

On Tuesday a hearing in front of the Joint Committee on Consumer Protection and Professional Licensure was held on the legislation, although no testimony was heard from either side, according to the State House News Service.

State Treasurer Steve Grossman has said that he believes the proposal would violate a federal law, while others involved in the lottery industry feel otherwise.

Rush's office says the right of state lotteries to conduct internet lottery gaming was granted in 2006 by the Unlawful Internet Gaming Enforcement Act, but Grossman says any payment or collection of funds for online gaming through U.S. banks by credit card actually violates the Act.

Rush's proposal would be similar to online lottery gaming programs like Canada, that use prepaid player accounts (not using credit cards). This is believed to allow for better monitoring, expanded age verification and prevention of problem gaming, said Regan.

Other politicians like Congressman Barney Frank have come out in support of selling online gaming tickets.

If the pilot program were to be created, after one year of activity state lottery officials would report back to the Legislature on its success, and it would be evaluated at that time.

A bill to allow California businesses to operate online poker gambling has made for strange bedfellows and split traditional alliances as some Indian tribes have allied in support of the bill with card-room owners, often their political foes, against other tribes.

A million Californians per week already play online poker on sites that are operated overseas or may be run illegally, says state Sen. Lou Correa, D-Santa Ana. The sites operate despite a 2006 federal law that bars gambling businesses from taking and paying out money online, unless the bets are made and paid within a state that has laws regulating it. No state currently does.

A pending, bipartisan House bill would end that federal ban and set up an interstate licensing program giving states authority to run online sites; U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has pledged cooperation.

And Reid's home state of Nevada, where gaming is king, is straining at the bit to see the ban overturned: Gov. Brian Sandoval signed a law in June requiring his state to adopt its own online poker regulations by January.

California could be left behind if it doesn't do the same, Correa said, as Nevada and other states stand to cut into approximately $7.5 billion in annual revenues now earned by California's brick-and-mortar card rooms and tribal casinos. He said his SB 40 instead could bring California 1,300 new jobs and -- with a 10 percent take from all online poker fees -- $1.4 billion in revenue for state coffers in the next decade.

As introduced in December, the bill would have allowed only a handful of licensed online poker sites; Correa amended it in early July so every California tribe and card room eventually could operate one.

"Eventually" is the rub. Correa's amendments sweetened the pot for the state by requiring that licensees each ante up $50 million in upfront fees before their sites open, no later than July 1, 2011; if there aren't least five such licensees, however many there are would make additional payments so the state pockets $250 million this fiscal year.

But if that happens, no more licenses would be issued until 2016, in order to give those initial few operators time to recoup their investment. As in a poker tournament, operators would either have a big buy-in up front or wait years to get a piece of the action.

Correa's bill is backed by the California Online Poker Association, a coalition of 29 tribes and 30 card rooms, including Lucky Chances in Colma; Livermore Casino; the Comstock Card Room in Tracy; the Ocean View Card Room in Santa Cruz; and Club San Rafael. It has created a website -- AllInForCalifornia.org -- to build public support, and COPA card rooms in June contributed $18,200 to Correa's 2018 attorney general campaign committee. COPA in June even picked a provider to design and operate its game, signing a licensing agreement for software and related technology.

COPA spokesman Ryan Hightower said his group is confident Gov. Jerry Brown and lawmakers have "no desire to see billions of dollars and thousands of jobs shipped out of state to Nevada or D.C." COPA members don't see themselves as particularly strange bedfellows, he said, "since the card room operators have agreed to provide funding to protect tribal sovereignty in future legal and political initiatives. The beauty of SB 40 is that tribes don't have to partner with card rooms for a license if they don't want to."

But they will, opponents believe.

SB 40 is opposed by the California Tribal Business Alliance, which includes the Lytton Band of Pomo Indians, owners of the San Pablo Lytton Casino; the Pala Band of Mission Indians, with a northern San Diego County casino resort; and the Paskenta Band of Nomlaki Indians, who have the Rolling Hills Casino just off Interstate 5 in Tehama County. Palm Springs' Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, another gaming tribe, also opposes it.

"We think that the bill is tailored to benefit COPA," alliance Executive Director Chris Lindstrom said. "We want it to be an open, fair process -- we'll compete against anyone if and when it comes to that, but we don't believe preferential treatment should be given to any particular group."

Lindstrom and his clients believe the bill unfairly benefits COPA because dozens of tribes and card rooms together can more easily raise the $50 million "buy-in" than can individual tribes, thus winning a crucial few years of monopoly in the fledgling industry.

Hightower said the alliance should think twice before accusing COPA of being the side seeking a monopoly.

"Every tribe and card room in California was invited to join COPA for the whopping fee of one dollar," he said, also noting many COPA members are small tribes without casinos. "Without COPA they would have been locked out of the market. This is precisely why some tribes didn't want to join COPA -- they didn't want to share the profits with the smaller, less fortunate tribes."

The $50 million figure isn't a "magic formula" and is up to the Legislature, Hightower said, while "nothing prevents other tribes or card rooms from pooling their resources either."

Correa said his door is open; he's willing to hear any proposed amendments so long as the bill advances soon. "Come talk to me, if we sit down and talk we can come up with a win-win solution."

The state Justice Department has said it needs 18 to 24 months to implement a regulatory system for online poker, but Lindstrom noted SB 40 gives the state just 90 days to adopt regulations and review license applications. "This is going to be a significant expansion of gaming so this is not something you want to put on a fast track -- you need to make sure all the due diligence is done."

"California is still a can-do state," Correa replied, and is capable of acting fast to land an extra quarter-billion in revenues this year.

Hightower agreed: "If the political will is there, then there will be a way."

The state Senate Governmental

Actress Kirstie Alley has a lot to brag about these days especially after slimming down from her appearance on Dancing With The Stars which transformed her body from a size 14 to a size 6. With her newfound shapely figure, she joined David Letterman last night with a compiled list of fat jokes she was more than ready to throw in his face but does that mean he’ll stop heckling her?…. probably not.

According to USA Today, the actress has lost a total of 90 pounds since her appearance on Season 12 of DWTS and she among many of its victims, I mean contestants have gone under the same transformation including Kelly Osbourne who is now sporting a tiny frame. The workouts on the show are grueling and together with a strict diet of 1400 calories, Kirstie became part of the incredible shrinking dancers crew.

Last night, while joining Dave on the Late Show, Kirstie had a special surprise in store for the comedian who was never shy about taking shots at her weight. As she sat down to join Dave, she whipped out a piece of paper and on it were a few of the jokes that Dave has dished out over the years, which the 60-year-old actress was more than happy to throw back in his face.

Among the few included, “Last night on DWTS, Kirstie Alley fell on the dance floor, how many felt it?” and another about the judges giving her an 8 for her performance, on the Richter Scale.

Kirstie Alley's weight loss is pretty amazing but don’t expect Dave to put an end to his jokes, it’s kind of his job.

In May, Frank Fahrenkopf, the head of the American Gaming Association, told reporters in Las Vegas that there are more than 1,000 online-gaming websites operated by nearly 300 offshore companies targeting the U.S. market.

And that was after the federal indictments in April of executives and payment processors at the three biggest online poker companies.

A 2006 federal law bars U.S. financial institutions from processing interstate online gaming transactions. But the indictments caused only a temporary drop in online poker volume.

In other words, online gaming is already huge, its growth is inevitable - and it is time for the federal government to get out of the way and allow existing, licensed gaming companies to offer online play in states that agree to allow it.

But even if that were to happen on the federal level, New Jersey voters would have to agree to amend the state constitution, which currently permits legal casino gambling only in Atlantic City.

And that's our problem with state Sen. Raymond Lesniak's continuing attempts to legalize intrastate online gambling in New Jersey.

In March, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a Lesniak bill that would have allowed online gaming in New Jersey. The governor said that even though the bill required that the servers running the online gaming be housed in Atlantic City and be operated by gaming companies already licensed in New Jersey, the measure essentially extended legal gambling to the entire state - which would violate the state constitution.

Furthermore, Lesniak's original bill would have allowed cyber-gaming establishments to sprout all over the state - undermining attempts to draw more people to Atlantic City, and jeopardizing the stream of tax dollars the resort sends to Trenton.

Now, Lesniak, D-Union, says he plans to introduce another measure that will address the concerns about cyber-gaming cafes opening everywhere. (The new bill would also eliminate a requirement, objected to by Christie, that a percentage of online-gaming tax revenue be funneled to the horse racing industry.)

Those changes, of course, are crucial. But they ignore the main issue: New Jersey will need to amend the state constitution to allow online gaming.

And that's not just our opinion. It is the opinion of the Casino Association of New Jersey. It's the opinion of the governor.

Online gaming is an inevitable outgrowth of the Internet. It is occurring now in the shadows. But the first step in New Jersey - either for an intrastate system or, if the federal government gets out of the way, as part of a nationwide system - is getting a constitutional amendment on the ballot.

That's not going to happen in time for this November.

Which is a shame. Because it is the key hurdle to bringing online gaming to New Jersey.

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick said in a radio interview this week that he would support one competitively bid video-slot facility in the state, if it is part of a deal that authorizes three resort style casinos.

“We are past the point where there is or is not going to be expanded gaming,” Patrick said during a program on WTKK. “We're talking about how.”

Suffolk Downs, the only Thoroughbred track remaining from a once vibrant circuit of racing venues, has lobbied extensively for expanded gaming over the past decade. Executives at the East Boston track signed an agreement with Caesars Entertainment Corp. earlier this year to develop a resort casino, if lawmakers make casino gambling legal. Their proposals in the past have promised some casino profits would be earmarked to boost purses for Thoroughbred racing.

One year ago this week, legislation that would have authorized three casinos and two video-slot facilities at racetracks was left unsigned on the governor's desk, because he objected to the video-slot provision.

“My objection there was that those were no-bid contracts,” Patrick said. “I am not going to support no-bid contracts. That's not going to change.”

Over the past six months, Gov. Patrick, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, and Senate President Therese Murray quietly have bargained behind closed doors on the broad outlines of an informal agreement each can support. DeLeo said last month that lawmakers will debate the legislation in September.

Also this week, lawmakers approved, and the governor signed into law, a measure that reduces the number of live racing days at Suffolk Downs and extends simulcasting legislation to January 31, 2012. The current legislation, which requires 100 live racing cards, was due to expire July 31.

Under the new law, Suffolk Downs now is required to run 80 live racing cards, in order to take wagers on races in other states. An 80-day meet was the basis of a contract agreement with the New England Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association, following a bitter and divisive labor dispute last winter.

The new regulation also reduces the number of live racing days for Plainridge Race Course, a harness track. It also extends the right of Raynham Park, a Greyhound tracks, to simulcast from other venues without staging any live racing. Massachusetts voters banned dog racing in a referendum vote that took effect in 2010.

TMZ is reporting that Ashton Kutcher's mini mansion, parked on the lot of CBS studios for his new role on Two and a Half Men, is making waves on the set, as some of the cast and crew think it's a sure sign he's going to be a diva to work with.

The fully-loaded two-storey mobile estate is said to be full of obnoxious features, like satellite TV hookups, pop out features and custom additions.

Apparently, there are lots of workers on the show that are still supportive of Charlie Sheen and think that Kutcher's trailer is over the top and an indication that he's letting his new job go to his head. Kutcher is said to have signed up for just one season of the Two and a Half Men, which premieres Sept. 19, and will earn a cool $20 million.

It was announced in May that Kutcher would be replacing Sheen in May, after Sheen's personal problems became very public. Producers tried to keep Sheen at bay, which proved impossible after Sheen began to publicly ridicule the show's co-creator, Chuck Lorre.

Still, it remains to be seen how Lorre intends to write Kutcher into the show, and Sheen out of it. Sure, there's been speculation that they will kill off Sheen's character, Charlie, and replace him with a long-lost uncle (or something like that), but another interesting scenario is that Kutcher simply takes over the Charlie role – a hypothesis that is detailed here.

The Isle of Man continues to demonstrate a first-rate reputation when it comes to regulating online gambling and providing licenses to operators from all around the world. To further expand the overall scope of the regulatory business, the current regulatory authority is looking to provide new licensing opportunities for a number of business-to-business (B2😎 servises. The existing 2001 Online Gambling Regulation Act documents provisions to enable a new network service license.

The new licensing level was established by the Isle of Man in an effort to continue to recognize the growing importance of B2B within the online casino and gambling industry. The head of the Isle of Man’s e-Gaming Development, Garth Kimber, noted that the introduction of these new licensing levels provides the country with the capability of satisfying all the models associated with the gaming business throughout the country, including companies that sell platform capabilities and ones that direct customers. According to Kimber, there are new three tiers to the new license, aside from the network service license; there are now the standard licenses as well as the sub-license.

Kinber has said that by creating these new licensing arrangements, the Isle of man is able to remain in pace with the ever expanding e-gaming industry, including online gambling, without making licensing a complicated task. These licenses will be focused on care issues, including regulation, the protection of players when it comes to personal information and their funds, and the assurance that all the games posted online are fair. By adapting their regulations, players are provided with additional protection and it makes the Isle of Man commercially attractive for other outside e-gaming businesses. Kimber noted that because the regulations are easy to understand and licensing is not difficult to obtain as long as the e-gaming business is legitimate, a lot of companies find great business opportunities in the country.