Saturday, February 14, 2015

Why Atlantic City is in Freefall Collapse: Court sides with negligent, "lawbreaking" casino over legitimate, law-biding gamers after card mfg blunder

2/14/2015

PLUS the casino profitted from settlement with the card manufacturer!


Judge orders gamblers to return winnings to New Jersey casino



golden-nugget-casino660.jpg
Aug. 31, 2012: The exterior of the Golden Nugget casino in Atlantic City N.J. (AP)
A New Jersey judge ordered the return of $1.5 million to a casino from gamblers who won at a table game after realizing the cards had not been shuffled.
State Superior Court Judge Donna Taylor ruled in favor of the Golden Nugget casino in its dispute with 14 gamblers who say it was not there fault the cards were not shuffled and should be allowed to keep their winnings.
A mini-baccarat game is where the trouble started in April 2012. The casino was using decks of cards that paid a manufacturer to pre-shuffle, but the deck at hand was not shuffled. Once the gamblers realized the cards were not shuffled, they increased their bets from $10 to $5,000 and proceeded to win 41 straight hands.
Judge Taylor said the games were illegal under state law because they did not conform to the state's gambling regulations.
"The dealer did not pre-shuffle the cards immediately prior to the commencement of play, and the cards were not pre-shuffled in accordance with any regulation," the judge wrote. "Thus, a literal reading of the regulations ... entails that the game violated the (Casino Control) Act, and consequently was not authorized."
The Golden Nugget casino bought what were supposed to be pre-shuffled cards from a Kansas City Manufacturer. The manufacturer did acknowledge it failed to shuffle the cards. The litigation between the manufacturer and the casino was resolved, but a confidentiality agreement prevents details from being revealed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report


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Police foil Valentine's Day plot by "unnamed" man and woman to kill people at mall

2/14/2015


TORONTO (AP) — A senior police official said Friday police foiled a plot by two suspects who were planning on going to a mall and killing as many people as they could before killing themselves on Valentine's Day in Halifax.
The official told The Associated Press the suspects were on a chat stream and were apparently obsessed with killing and death and had many photos of mass killings. Police and other officials said it was not related to Islamic terrorism.
The official said one of the two suspects, a 23-year-old American woman from Geneva, Illinois, was arrested at Halifax's airport and confessed to the plot. The official said she prewrote a number of pronouncements to be tweeted after her death.
Police said the suspects had access to firearms, but did not elaborate.
The official said the 19-year-old male shot himself to death after police were tipped off about the plot and they surrounded his home. Police saw two people leave the house who they determined were his parents and pulled them over on a traffic check. They then called the suspect. As the man told police that he didn't have any guns and he was on his way out of the house he shot himself, the official said.
The official spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Police earlier said two other Nova Scotia men, ages 20 and 17, were also involved, although investigators are still trying to determine what their role was. The police official said the 17-year-old male was wanted for threatening to shoot up a high school and had an outstanding warrant.
"Had they been able to carry out their intentions the possibility for a large loss of life was definitely there," Nova Scotia Royal Canadian Mounted Police Commanding Officer Brian Brennan said earlier Friday.
"We believe we have apprehended all known individuals in this matter and have eliminated the threat. We are not seeking any further suspects at this time in relation to this investigation."
Canadian Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney applauded the work of police in Canada and Geneva, Illinois and well as border officials in a statement. The Geneva police department said in a statement they were contacted by Canadian police and had no contact with the American woman before her arrest.
Canadian Justice Minister Peter MacKay has scheduled a news conference for Saturday morning.



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ISIS Agrees to Three-Year War

2/14/2015
Keith Koffler


ISIS commanders today announced that they had agreed to President Obama’s time limit of three years for the war between the Islamic state and the United States and its allies.

“We think three years is enough time to decide who’s best,” an ISIS spokesman said today. “There is much wisdom to Obama’s approach. It’s kind of like a soccer match. At some point, you have to call time, and whoever is ahead is the winner.”

President Obama’s proposed authorization of military force lasts for three years, after which the next president would have to try to extract a new authorization from Congress if he decided to continue the war.

U.S. and ISIS officials cautioned that time may be added at the end of the three years if the fighting is interrupted by injuries. Injuries are generally expected in soccer and in wars, so the actual duration of the match could extend a bit beyond three years.

The ISIS announcement is seen as a victory for proponents of the Obama Doctrine, which states that wars can be “led from behind” and ended when the United States feels like it.
The doctrine was previously known as “surrendering.”

“We think ‘surrender’ had an awful ring to it,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “It implied we needed to continue wars until we win them, and that’s just not the case here in the 21st-century. We oppose outmoded ways of thinking.”

White House officials said that in order to maintain interest among fans watching the contest and following it on the Internet, the United States would make the matchup “more fair” by fielding players who had no idea what they were doing.

“Of course, we could wipe ISIS out in 30 days on our own if we wanted to,” said one U.S. official. “But why would we want to do that? Where’s the sportsmanship and the excitement? Much better to get our allies intimately involved and draw this thing out.”

U.S. officials acknowledged that not fielding a full U.S. team could mean that some of the play would occur on the U.S. side of the field. “Sure, they’ll send their strikers into U.S. territory,” said the U.S. official. “But we are counting on the Department of Homeland Security to block their shots.”

U.S. negotiators sought to have red cards given to ISIS fighters who slice off people’s heads or burn them alive, but ISIS successfully argued that this was an integral component of their “culture” and they should not be penalized for it.

However, U.S. troops who draw pictures of Muhammed will be issued yellow cards. Negotiators noted that they had successfully knocked this down from a red card penalty.

The contest will be preceded by at three-month “warmup” period during which ISIS will be permitted to kill as many people in Mosul as possible and plan attacks on the United States.

American troops will use the time to try to recoup weapons they were forced to leave in Yemen.

Speaking from his pickle jar in Red Square, Vladimir Lenin praised the three-year war plan. “Boy, Obama really gets it. If we can have five-year plans for the economy, why can’t we make a three-year plan for a war? This is sheer brilliance.”

A spokesman for The Nazi Veterans of Dusseldorf spoke wistfully of the three-year war plan.

“Oh, if only we had such a plan in place during World War II,” he said. “We’d end the fighting in control of nearly all of Western and Eastern Europe. If only Obama were president then instead of Roosevelt.”




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Tom Steyer’s Deep Ties to Oregon Corruption Scandal

2/14/2015

Top advisers to billionaire Dem donor helped run group accused of illicit payments to Oregon’s first lady


Top advisers to the billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer helped run a green group, financed in part by Steyer himself, that is at the center of a corruption scandal that could force the Democratic governor of Oregon to resign.
An executive at one of Steyer’s nonprofit groups and a political vendor who has received hundreds of thousands of dollars from the hedge fund manager’s political operations helped run the group, which is accused of influencing state energy policy through undisclosed payments to Oregon’s first lady.
The controversy centers on Gov. John Kitzhaber’s fiancĂ©e, Cylvia Hayes. She was paid $118,000 by the Clean Economy Development Center (CEDC) to advocate for environmentalist policies in Oregon.
Hayes never disclosed those payments, despite acting as an informal adviser to the governor as he pushed a low-carbon fuel standard for the state.
Dan Carol, then a strategic adviser to CEDC, helped Hayes land the position. He was given a $165,000-per-year job in the Kitzhaber administration.
Kitzhaber is expected to resign today under intense scrutiny over the scandal. The scandal could extend beyond Oregon given Steyer’s involvement. Steyer has donated millions to a group that helped finance Hayes’ position, which could ensnare one of the Democratic Party’s most prominent fundraisers in the scandal.
Hayes was reportedly a fellow at the CEDC  in 2011 and 2012, but as of late as August of last year, she was still listed on a since-deleted page of its website.
Also listed on that page was Kate Gordon, a member of the CEDC’s board. Gordon leads the energy and climate division of Next Generation, an environmental nonprofit group founded by Steyer.
Another director of the group, according to the website, was Mike Casey. Casey runs a media and public relations firm called Tigercomm that does polling and advertising work for Steyer’s Super PAC, NextGen Climate Action.
Casey reportedly wrote NextGen’s communications strategy for its involvement in elections in Massachusetts and Virginia in 2013. NextGen and another Steyer group, the CE Action Committee, paid Tigercomm $387,000 that year.
Former CEDC board members include Andy Stern, the former president of the Service Employees International Union. His former assistant, Josie Mooney, is a strategic adviser to NextGen.
David Chen, a former member of CEDC’s advisory board, has hosted Steyer at events held by his investment firm, Equilibrium Capital. Steyer also sits on the board of the Center for American Progress, whose senior fellow in energy and environmental policy, Bracken Hendricks, was listed as a CEDC adviser.
As his team and others to which he has ties helped run CEDC, Steyer steered funds to the group financing Hayes’ fellowship.
Internal Revenue Servicing filings show that the Energy Foundation provided $75,000 to CEDC in2011 and 2012. The foundation said the funds would help “build support for dean energy policy in the Northwest.” It told the Oregonian that it was supporting the fellowship specifically.
Steyer’s TomKat Charitable Trust has donated more than $3 million to the Energy Foundation.
Steyer is arguably the nation’s most prominent environmentalist financier, but other high-dollar donors to similar groups also bankrolled CEDC generally and Hayes’ fellowship specifically.
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a foundation that provides significant financial support for U.S. green groups, granted $25,000 to CEDC in 2012 specifically earmarked for its Clean Economy Acceleration Fellowship Program.
That came after a $100,000 grant to CEDC the year before, itemized as “general support.”
Jessica Bailey, until 2012 a program officer for sustainable development at RBF, also served as a strategic adviser to CEDC.
A former CEDC director, Aimee Christensen, also worked with RBF through her consulting firm, Christensen Global Strategies. According to its website, another of her clients was the Sea Change Foundation, which has quietly poured hundreds of millions of dollars into U.S. environmentalist groups.
Among those groups is the Energy Foundation, which has received nearly $65 million from Sea Change.


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'American Sniper' Chris Kyle's Killer: 'I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me'

2/14/2015


'I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me': Killer's confession to deputy after he murdered 'American Sniper' Chris Kyle as possible motive is revealed for first time


  • Eddie Ray Routh killed late sniper Chris Kyle and Chad Littlefield in 2013

  • Has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity; a trial is currently underway

  • On Friday, former patrol deputy testified that Routh revealed motive in jail

  • He killed pair 'because they wouldn't talk to me' during drive to rifle range

  • Ex-Marine reportedly added: 'I feel bad, but... I'm sure they've forgiven me'

  • Testimony is the first time possible motive for killings has been revealed

  • Earlier in day, Routh's uncle testified they had smoked 'strong' marijuana together and discussed relationship and work issues before shootings  

  • A ranger also told the court that they found psychotic medicine in his home, as well as nearly-empty bottle of whiskey and drug paraphernalia


Eddie Ray Routh confessed in jail to gunning down Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend because they would not talk to him during a long drive to a rifle range, a police officer has testified.

Gene Cole, a former patrol deputy in Erath County, revealed for the first time a possible motive in the case as he took the stand at 27-year-old Routh's murder trial in Stephenville, Texas, on Friday.

Dressed in his police uniform, he told the court: 'I heard Mr Routh say, "I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me. I was just riding in the backseat of the truck, and nobody would talk to me.'

He added that the former Marine believed Kyle and his friend, Chad Littlefield had forgiven him. '[He told me], "I feel bad about it, but they wouldn't talk to me. I'm sure they've forgiven me",' he said.

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Testimony: Gene Cole (pictured in court), a former patrol deputy in Erath County, testified on Friday that Eddie Ray Routh shot dead famed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend because they would not talk to him

Testimony: Gene Cole (pictured in court), a former patrol deputy in Erath County, testified on Friday that Eddie Ray Routh shot dead famed Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle and his friend because they would not talk to him

Defendant: Mr Cole told the court: 'I heard Mr Routh say, "I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me. I was just riding in the backseat of the truck, and nobody would talk to me.' Above, Routh in court Friday afternoon

Defendant: Mr Cole told the court: 'I heard Mr Routh say, "I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me. I was just riding in the backseat of the truck, and nobody would talk to me.' Above, Routh in court Friday afternoon

Murder trial: Routh (pictured, center, during his capital murder trial in Texas) is accused of shooting dead the two soldiers at a  shooting range in February 2013. The ex-Marine has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity

Murder trial: Routh (pictured, center, during his capital murder trial in Texas) is accused of shooting dead the two soldiers at a shooting range in February 2013. The ex-Marine has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity


Gunned down: Former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, left, and his fellow veteran Chad Littlefield, right, were killed

Routh is accused of shooting dead the two soldiers at a Texas-based rifle range in February 2013. His attorneys have claimed the defendant, who had PTSD, was in a psychotic state at the time.

The killer has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. At the end of the trial, jurors must decide whether or not he intentionally committed the murders and knew that his actions were wrong.

On Friday, Cole, now a Belton police officer, said Routh confessed to murdering Kyle and Littlefield 'because they wouldn't talk to me' on June 22, 2013, more than four months after the killings.

At the time, Routh was an inmate at Erath County Jail.
After Cole's bombshell testimony - the first time a possible motive for the killings has been unveiled - Judge Jason Cashon halted proceedings for the day. Testimony will resume on Monday morning.

Earlier in the day, jurors heard that Routh gunned down Kyle and Littlefield, before stealing Kyle's vehicle and driving to his uncle's house, where he told the man: 'I'm driving a dead man's truck.'

Taking the stand, Routh's uncle, James Watson, described his nephew's actions in the wake of the murders - and also revealed how they had both smoked 'strong' marijuana before them.

Questions: Earlier in the day, jurors heard that Routh gunned down Kyle and Littlefield, before stealing Kyle's vehicle and driving to his uncle's house, where he told the man: 'I'm driving a dead man's truck.' Above, Routh's uncle James Watson (right) looks at photographs offered by the defense on Friday as he testifies

Questions: Earlier in the day, jurors heard that Routh gunned down Kyle and Littlefield, before stealing Kyle's vehicle and driving to his uncle's house, where he told the man: 'I'm driving a dead man's truck.' Above, Routh's uncle James Watson (right) looks at photographs offered by the defense on Friday as he testifies

Evidence: Texas Ranger David Armstrong holds up evidence seized at Routh's home. During his testimony, he said drug paraphernalia and marijuana was found inside this Hershey's box

Evidence: Texas Ranger David Armstrong holds up evidence seized at Routh's home. During his testimony, he said drug paraphernalia and marijuana was found inside this Hershey's box

Texas Ranger David Armstrong holds a hookah
Texas Ranger David Armstrong holds a box of 9mm pistol ammunition
Found: He also holds up a hookah pipe, left, and a box of 9mm pistold ammunition, right, found at the home

Watson, 45, told the court how Routh had struggled to find a full-time job and 'didn't seem to find much joy in his life after he came back' from serving in Iraq and Haiti. 

On February 2, 2013, Watson said he smoked weed with his nephew, who had just argued with his then-girlfriend, and they chatted about his relationship troubles.

'His work situation and his relationship were the two main things upsetting him that morning,' he said. Authorities have said they believe Routh also consumed whiskey before leaving the house, but Watson said it was uncommon for them to drink in the morning.

'I don't remember drinking whiskey that morning, but it doesn't mean I didn't,' he said.

Still, the marijuana was strong, he said, and his buzz lasted around three hours.

Search: Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash points to a diagram of former Routh's Lancaster, Texas, home while questioning Ranger Armstrong, who said they also found alcohol and psychotic medicines inside

Search: Erath County District Attorney Alan Nash points to a diagram of former Routh's Lancaster, Texas, home while questioning Ranger Armstrong, who said they also found alcohol and psychotic medicines inside

Surrender: Routh eventually stops and surrenders and climbs out of the car with his hands raised
Surrender: Routh eventually stops and surrenders and climbs out of the car with his hands raised

About 90 minutes after smoking, Routh was picked up by Kyle and Littlefield and they went to the shooting range. While there, he shot both men in the back, killing them, and then stole Kyle's truck.

When he arrived at his uncle's home and said, 'I'm driving a dead man's truck', Watson misinterpreted 'dead man' as Routh himself, he said.

'He thought people were out to get him,' Watson testified.

Routh also showed his uncle a black 9mm handgun, which was owned by Kyle and which he used to kill Littlefield at the range of Rough Creek Lodge and Resort, authorities have said.

There is no doubt over the fact that Routh was responsible for shooting Kyle, a married father-of-two with the most kills to his name in U.S. military history, and his friend.

Arrested: Nash holds up an image of Routh handcuffed in the back of a police car on the night of his arrest

Arrested: Nash holds up an image of Routh handcuffed in the back of a police car on the night of his arrest

Instead, the defense and prosecution are trying to prove whether or not he was driven by mental illness when he carried out the murders.

Also on Friday, a ranger testified that he found whiskey, drug paraphernalia and medicine for schizophrenia in Routh's home the day of the shootings - giving some insight into his troubled life. 

I heard Mr Routh say, "I shot them because they wouldn't talk to me. I was just riding in the backseat of the truck, and nobody would talk to me
Gene Cole 
Ranger David Armstrong told the court that he discovered a nearly-empty bottle of whiskey, an empty glass and drug paraphernalia, including bongs, pipes, a grinder and marijuana.

He also found a prescription drug, 
Risperidone, used to treat psychosis, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, but defense Attorney Tim Moore told the court it had not been collected as evidence. 

Rangers also found 'an assortment of firearm ammunition' inside Routh's guest room - as well as Chris Kyle's name and number written down and pinned to his fridge, Armstrong said. 

Although the prosecution suggesed that Routh had been numbed by alcohol or marijuana at the time, Armstrong said Routh had not smelled of either after his arrest.

Instead, he claimed in court that the home smelled of marijuana - although this was not included in his report at the time.   

Chris Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, greets a supporter before court is in session on Friday

Chris Kyle's widow, Taya Kyle, greets a supporter before court is in session on Friday

Support: Taya Kyle, who testified in the trial earlier this week, hugs a reporter before the proceedings
Support: Taya Kyle, who testified in the trial earlier this week, hugs a reporter before the proceedings

Kyle's widow, Taya, was in the courtroom again on Friday. Earlier in the week, she gave emotional testimony about the last time she ever spoke to her husband. 

On Thursday, prosecutors showed the jury a never-before-seen video of the moment Routh tried to speed away from authorities before he eventually surrendered. 

The video shows Routh driving Kyle's truck, which he stole after shooting the men in their backs at a Texas driving range, before speeding away from police officers, who trail him for nine minutes.  

Former Marine: Routh, pictured in court on Friday morning, served in Iraq as a small arms technician
Former Marine: Routh, pictured in court on Friday morning, served in Iraq as a small arms technician
But as he nears Interstate 35E and Interstate 20, he is forced to stop due to a technical difficulty - and he can be seen emerging from the vehicle with his hands raised as officers swoop on him. 

Body camera footage also shows police officers pleading with Routh to get out of the truck for 30 minutes before the chase.

His attorney has suggested Routh, who was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, was in a psychotic state and thought Kyle and Littlefield were going to kill him. 

'Is the apocalypse upon us right now?' Routh can be heard saying on the body-cam recording.

The 27-year-old also talked about voodoo, hell, and the apocalypse, and wondered aloud to the cops: 'I don't know if I'm going insane.' 

At different points in the video, Routh made comments including, 'I didn't sleep a wink last night at all,' 'I don't know if I'm going insane,' and, 'Is this about hell walking on earth right now?'

In court, Lt Michael Smith testified that Routh said something to the nature of: 'He had taken a couple souls and he had some more souls to take.'

'Everything's just happening so fast...I don't know if I'm going insane,' he told the police officer.

'That's what we need to figure out,' the officer responded. 'We need to figure out what you're thinking and then see if it's right or wrong.' 

He eventually sped away from officers. 

Routh's defense attorney R. Shay Isham argued that his client's ravings served as proof that he was out of touch with reality that night - but prosecutors have argued that the fact he drove away, and had earlier stopped at a Taco Bell drive-thru for two burritos, showed he was of right mind. 

As the videos played in court on Thursday, Littlefield's relatives sobbed, while Kyle's widow Taya shook her head, ABC reported.

The defense and prosecution are trying to prove whether or not Routh was driven by mental illness when he carried out the murders. Above, Kyle was an acclaimed sniper who later wrote the book 'American Sniper'

The defense and prosecution are trying to prove whether or not Routh was driven by mental illness when he carried out the murders. Above, Kyle was an acclaimed sniper who later wrote the book 'American Sniper'

Blockbuster hit: The case has gained national attention due to 'American Sniper', the movie starring Bradley Cooper (pictured alongside Sienna Miller) and based on Kyle's memoir, which was released to critical acclaim
Blockbuster hit: The case has gained national attention due to 'American Sniper', the movie starring Bradley Cooper (pictured alongside Sienna Miller) and based on Kyle's memoir, which was released to critical acclaim

Routh has pleaded not guilty to the capital murder charges on the basis that he is mentally ill, suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. 

Routh was a small arms technician who served in Iraq and was deployed to earthquake-ravaged Haiti before leaving the Marines in 2010. 

If convicted of capital murder, he faces life in prison without parole.

The case has gained national attention due to 'American Sniper' - the movie starring Bradley Cooper and based on Kyle's memoir - which was released to critical acclaim.


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