<title>2007

Monday, December 31, 2007

Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love has been confirmed in the Official Chart Of The Year as 2007's biggest selling single.

Closed off from love
I didn't need the pain
Once or twice was enough
And it was all in vain
Time starts to pass
Before you know it you're frozen

But something happened
For the very first time with you
My heart melts into the ground
Found something true
And everyone's looking round
Thinking I'm going crazy

But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open

Trying hard not to hear
But they talk so loud
Their piercing sounds fill my ears
Try to fill me with doubt
Yet I know that the goal
Is to keep me from falling

But nothing's greater
Than the rush that comes with your embrace
And in this world of loneliness
I see your face
Yet everyone around me
Thinks that I'm going crazy, maybe, maybe

But I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open

And it's draining all of me
Oh they find it hard to believe
I'll be wearing these scars
For everyone to see

I don't care what they say
I'm in love with you
They try to pull me away
But they don't know the truth
My heart's crippled by the vein
That I keep on closing
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I

Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
I keep bleeding
I keep, keep bleeding love
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love
You cut me open and I
Keep bleeding
Keep, keep bleeding love

Bleeding Love hit the top spot back in November 2007 and hasn't looked back since, flying off the shelves in the run-up to Christmas.

It beat long-staying summer No 1 Rihanna's Umbrella into second spot and Mika's Grace Kelly into third.

However, the real winners of the year have to be Take That, with an astonishing three singles inside the top twenty.

Other artists to feature in the yearly countdown include Justin Timberlake, Sugababes and Nelly Furtado.

Saturday, December 29, 2007

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Cyberslots

Friday, December 28, 2007

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Benazir Bhutto assassinated

Thursday, December 27, 2007

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Tiger escape from SAN FRANCISCO zoo, kills one

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Adult Film Company Sues X-Rated "PornTube"

DUAL ROLE: The Internet has helped porn companies boost sales, but the proliferation of unauthorized free clips online has undercut them.

PornoTube and its parent firm are accused of profiting from piracy.
By Joseph Menn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 11, 2007
A major porn producer filed a lawsuit Monday against an X-rated knockoff of YouTube, alleging that it profited from piracy by allowing its users to post videos that include copyrighted material.

Vivid Entertainment Group filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles federal court against PornoTube and its parent, Data Conversions Inc., which does business in Charlotte, N.C., as AEBN Inc.

The suit is apparently the first of its kind in the adult film industry, which has done a better job than the major Hollywood studios in finding ways to profit from putting entertainment products on the Internet.

But in the last year or so, the rapid increase in consumption of all manner of videos on the Web has in some ways hurt the porn producers more than the mainstream companies because consumers of adult fare often get what they are looking for in clips of five minutes or less. Free short clips are easy to find on the Web, undercutting the established porn producers, which earn most of their money from long-form videos.

"We've decided to take a stand and say 'no more,' " Vivid co-Chairman Steven Hirsch said. "We will go after all the free sites."

In legal terms, the Vivid suit echoes the claims of a lawsuit Viacom Inc. filed this year against YouTube, which is owned by Google Inc. The question at the heart of both cases is just how hard a website must work to ensure that users don't post videos belonging to someone else.

The law on that matter is unsettled, attorneys said. YouTube and other sites have compromised with some mainstream producers, agreeing to split ad revenue generated while their clips are played.

Hirsch said he wasn't interested in negotiating a similar deal or in constantly keeping watch for Vivid material popping up without the company's permission.

"I can't be a policeman, and I don't intend to be," Hirsch said.

Vivid has an additional beef with PornoTube. Although Vivid is required by law to record the ages and birth names of its performers, PornoTube has an unfair competitive advantage because it doesn't always comply, according to the lawsuit.

An AEBN executive didn't respond to a request for comment.

The suit accuses PornoTube of hosting excerpts of tapes that include such Vivid titles as "Night Nurses," "Where the Boys Aren't 7" and the private work of TV personality Kim Kardashian. The suit seeks damages of $150,000 per infringed work.

Other porn companies also are upset by the explosion in Web video sites, many of which rely on user submissions that borrow heavily from copyrighted material.

"What's happening in the industry is an unacceptable amount of theft," said Jon B., a vice president at Red Light District who asked that his full name not be used because family members don't know what he does.

He said Internet piracy might be reducing his company's profit 35%.

The executive said suing websites was likely to prove futile because so many existed and because file-trading occurred over decentralized networks, leaving no single party to sue.

Instead, he said Red Light was considering suing individual downloaders for pirating copyrighted material, as the music industry is doing.

"If it scares them enough, if it can take away 20% of the illegal downloads, we'll be doing the best that we can," he said.

Hirsch said the Internet remained a positive overall for Vivid, helping to provide new ways to generate revenue to make up for declining DVD sales.

Piracy has always existed, but it's more detrimental for the company as it tries to sell more of its content over the Web, Hirsch said. Competing with free Internet videos is bad enough, but competing with free versions of Vivid's material is maddening, he said.

Industry revenue as a whole is up, but it is getting split into more pieces, said Farley Cahen, publisher of Adult Video News Online magazine.

"In the past, it was peer-to-peer networks" that took a modest amount of technical ability to use, Cahen said. "Now, there's PornoTube, XTube, RedTube -- any kind of -Tube you can think of."

"There are longer and longer clips that are free, and the companies are at a loss over what to do."

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

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Blackjack

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The game of casino blackjack or 21 is by far the most popular table game offered in gambling establishments. If you are unfamiliar with the rules of casino blackjack or simply need some clarification on the finer points, you've come to the right place! This page will tell you everything you need to know to play the game, and describe the various rules that can differ from one casino to another.

If you are just learning the game, you can read this document straight through. If you are looking for a specific answer to a question, just use the table of contents below to jump straight to the section of interest.

Note to international visitors: The currency amounts and chip colors mentioned on this page are written from the viewpoint of a visitor to a casino in the United States, but all other information here should be applicable around the world.
Blackjack Rules: Table of Contents

* 1.0: Casino Basics
o 1.1: Choosing a table
o 1.2: Buying chips
o 1.3: Making a bet
o 1.4: Cashing in
* 2.0: Basics of Blackjack
o 2.1: Premise of the game
o 2.2: Values of the cards
o 2.3: The deal of the cards
o 2.4: How the dealer plays his hand
o 2.5: What is a Blackjack, or a natural?
* 3.0: The Player's Choices
o 3.1: Surrender
o 3.2: Hitting/Standing
o 3.3: Doubling Down
o 3.4: Splitting Pairs
o 3.5: Insurance and Even Money
* 4.0: Summary

1.0: Casino Basics
1.1: Choosing a table

Before playing the game, you'll need to find an appropriate table at which to play. If you're a newcomer to this process, there are a few items to keep in mind. You'll want to pay attention to several details about each table that you approach. The most important item is the sign declaring betting limits. Both the minimum and the maximum allowable bets should be clearly posted on a sign on the table-top. Look around to find a table that suits your bet sizes. Often, you'll find that the lower limit ($3 or $5) tables are quite crowded. In most casinos, the signs are color-coded to match the minimum bets posted on them: Red for $5, Green for $25, and Black for $100 minimum tables. Next, you'll want to make sure that the table you have selected is actually for blackjack, and not another of the various table games offered at the casino. Blackjack tables will almost certainly have the phrase "Blackjack pays 3 to 2" printed on the table felt. The next item to observe is the type of game being dealt. Beginners are usually better off playing the "shoe" games where 6 or 8 decks are used. The advantage for beginners in this game is that all of the player's cards are dealt face-up in front of each player, and the dealer can help with playing questions and decisions. Notice: Once you become proficient at the game, you might want to switch to a game with fewer decks. The casino's advantage is lower with fewer decks in play. But for now, let's stick with the multi-deck games for the ease-of-play advantage.

1.2: Buying chips

Once you are seated at a table, you'll need to purchase some chips from the dealer for your bets. Wait for a break in the action, and place your cash out in front of you on the table felt. (Some casinos might make you wait until the dealer shuffles to join the game.) An appropriate buy-in amount is anywhere from 10 to 20 times your average bet. If you are a $5 bettor, this means a buy-in of $50-$100 is typical. Don't try to hand your cash to the dealer. For security reasons, he can't take anything from your hands. Simply lay the cash on the table; he'll pick it up and change it for an equal value of playing chips. You won't be getting any change back either. He'll change the entire amount, push the chips across the table to you, and then drop the cash into a slot in the table top. Chip colors are fairly standardized in the casino industry, with red chips representing $5, green chips representing $25, and black chips representing $100. You'll also see $1 value chips (usually white) or $1 tokens (silver) on the table as well. Some casinos also use a $2.50 chip that is usually pink in color. Chip colors above the $100 denomination vary widely, with purple a common choice for $500 chips. Take a quick look at the chips to make sure that you know the values, and that you were given the correct amount for your cash. If you have any questions, just ask the dealer. Part of his job is to help players learn the game.

1.3: Making a bet

On the table felt in front of your position, you'll find a circle or box for your bets. Before each hand begins, place your desired bet into the circle in one stack. If you are betting multiple denominations of chips, place the larger valued chips on the bottom of the stack, and the smaller value chips on top. Once the cards have been dealt, you aren't allowed to touch the bet in the circle. If you need to know how much you have bet for doubling or splitting (explained later), the dealer will count down the chips for you. Once the hand is over, the dealer will move around the table to each position in turn, paying winners and collecting the chips from losing hands. After the dealer has paid you, you can remove your chips from the circle, and place your next bet. If you want to let your winnings ride, you'll need to form one stack of chips from the two or more stacks on the table after the dealer pays you. Remember, big chips should be placed on the bottom.

1.4: Cashing in

When you're finished playing, you'll want to take your chips to the cashier to exchange them for cash. If you have groups of smaller denomination chips in front of you, the dealer will probably want to "color up" your chips. This simply means exchanging groups of smaller denomination chips for larger valued chips. Wait until the end of a hand, then simply push your chips out in front of you between the betting boxes, so it can't be confused for a bet. The dealer will count down the chips, and return to you a smaller stack of chips of equal value. You can take these to the cashier for cash, or to another table for more play.

2.0: Basics of Blackjack
2.1: Premise of the game

The basic premise of the game is that you want to have a hand value that is closer to 21 than that of the dealer, without going over 21. Other players at the table are of no concern. Your hand is strictly played out against the hand of the dealer. The rules of play for the dealer are strictly dictated, leaving no decisions up to the dealer. Therefore, there is not a problem with the dealer or any of the other players at the table seeing the cards in your hand. Indeed, if you're playing at a shoe game, the player cards are all dealt face up. In any event, when you're just learning to play, don't hesitate to show the dealer or other players your cards and ask questions.

2.2: Values of the cards
In blackjack, the cards are valued as follows:
An Ace can count as either 1 or 11, as demonstrated below.
The cards from 2 through 9 are valued as indicated.
The 10, Jack, Queen, and King are all valued at 10.

The suits of the cards do not have any meaning in the game. The value of a hand is simply the sum of the point counts of each card in the hand. For example, a hand containing (5,7,9) has the value of 21. The Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11. You need not specify which value the Ace has. It's assumed to always have the value that makes the best hand. An example will illustrate: Suppose that you have the beginning hand (Ace, 6). This hand can be either 7 or 17. If you stop there, it will be 17. Let's assume that you draw another card to the hand and now have (Ace, 6, 3). Your total hand is now 20, counting the Ace as 11. Let's backtrack and assume that you had instead drawn a third card which was an 8. The hand is now (Ace, 6, 8) which totals 15. Notice that now the Ace must be counted as only 1 to avoid going over 21.

A hand that contains an Ace is called a "soft" total if the Ace can be counted as either 1 or 11 without the total going over 21. For example (Ace, 6) is a soft 17. The description stems from the fact that the player can always draw another card to a soft total with no danger of "busting" by going over 21. The hand (Ace,6,10) on the other hand is a "hard" 17, since now the Ace must be counted as only 1, again because counting it as 11 would make the hand go over 21.

2.3: The deal of the cards

Once all the bets are made, the dealer will deal the cards to the players. He'll make two passes around the table starting at his left (your right) so that the players and the dealer have two cards each. (European and Australian players: See exception at the bottom of this section.) The dealer will flip one of his cards over, exposing its value.

In the shoe games, the players cards will be dealt face-up, and the players are not allowed to touch the cards. If you're just beginning, you'll probably want to start at the shoe game where you don't have to worry about handling the cards.

In the hand-held games, the player's cards are dealt face down, and the players pick up the cards. When handling the cards in a hand-held game, here are a few important things to remember.

* You are only allowed to touch the cards with one hand. If you're a poker player, this can take some effort to break old habits!
* You must keep the cards over the table.
* Any cards that the dealer subsequently deals to your hand must be left on the table, not added to the cards in your hand.

Once the cards are dealt, play proceeds around the table, starting at the first seat to the dealer's left, also called first base. Each player in turn indicates to the dealer how he wishes to play the hand. The various player decisions are covered in their own section below. After each player has finished his hand, the dealer will complete his hand, and then pay or collect the player bets.

Now, the exception I mentioned: Some casinos, mostly in Europe, give the dealer only one card face up until all the players have finished their hands. The dealer then deals his second card, and finishes his hand. This is called the European No Hole Card rule. This can change a player's strategy if, and only if, the dealer collects all player bets in the event of a dealer blackjack. Some casinos that deal only one card at first to the dealer will refund any double-down or split bets if the dealer turns out to have a blackjack. This type of no hole card rule does not have any effect on the player's optimal strategy, and should not be described as European No Hole Card rules.

2.4: How the dealer plays his hand

The dealer must play his hand in a specific way, with no choices allowed. There are two popular rule variations that determine what totals the dealer must draw to. In any given casino, you can tell which rule is in effect by looking at the blackjack tabletop. It should be clearly labeled with one of these rules:

* "Dealer stands on all 17s": This is the most common rule. In this case, the dealer must continue to take cards ("hit") until his total is 17 or greater. An Ace in the dealer's hand is always counted as 11 if possible without the dealer going over 21. For example, (Ace,8) would be 19 and the dealer would stop drawing cards ("stand"). Also, (Ace,6) is 17 and again the dealer will stand. (Ace,5) is only 16, so the dealer would hit. He will continue to draw cards until the hand's value is 17 or more. For example, (Ace,5,7) is only 13 so he hits again. (Ace,5,7,5) makes 18 so he would stop ("stand") at that point.
* "Dealer hits soft 17": Some casinos use this rule variation instead. This rule is identical except for what happens when the dealer has a soft total of 17. Hands such as (Ace,6), (Ace,5,Ace), and (Ace, 2, 4) are all examples of soft 17. The dealer hits these hands, and stands on soft 18 or higher, or hard 17 or higher. When this rule is used, the house advantage against the players is slightly increased.

Again, the dealer has no choices to make in the play of his hand. He cannot split pairs, but must instead simply hit until he reaches at least 17 or busts by going over 21.

2.5: What is a Blackjack, or a natural?

A blackjack, or natural, is a total of 21 in your first two cards. A blackjack is therefore an Ace and any ten-valued card, with the additional requirement that these be your first two cards. If you split a pair of Aces for example, and then draw a ten-valued card on one of the Aces, this is not a blackjack, but rather a total of 21. The distinction is important, because a winning blackjack pays the player odds of 3 to 2. A bet of $10 wins $15 if the player makes a blackjack. A player blackjack beats any dealer total other than a dealer's blackjack, including a dealer's regular 21. If both a player and the dealer make blackjack, the hand is a tie or push.

The dealer will usually pay your winning blackjack bet immediately when it is your turn to play. In the face down games, this means that you should show the blackjack to the dealer at that time. Some casinos may postpone paying the blackjack until after the hand is over if the dealer has a 10 card up and has not checked for a dealer blackjack. Other casinos check under both 10 and Ace dealer upcards, and would therefore pay the blackjack immediately. Regardless, when you are dealt a blackjack, turn the cards face up, and smile. It only happens about once every 21 hands, but it accounts for a lot of the fun of the game.

3.0: The Player's Choices
3.1: Surrender

We start with one of the least common decisions, but it is appropriate to begin with surrender, because this decision must be made before any other choice about playing your hand. Not every game offers surrender, and those that do fall into two categories which bear expanation: Early vs Late.

Surrender offers you as a player the choice to fold your hand, at the cost of half of the original bet. You must make that decision prior to taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or split, or double down, surrender is no longer an option.

The two varieties of surrender, early and late, differ only in the way a dealer blackjack is handled. In an early surrender game, a player may choose to surrender before the dealer checks his cards for a blackjack, offering a cheap way out even if the dealer turns out to have a blackjack. Because this offers a healthy advantage to the player, this version (early surrender) is rarely offered. The much more common variation is late surrender, where the dealer checks for blackjack first, and then only if he does not have blackjack will allow players to surrender their hands.

Surrender is a nice rule to have available for players who use it wisely. Unfortunately, many players surrender far too many hands. If you play in a game with surrender, use the Strategy Engine to determine when surrender is the appropriate play. To see how bad a hand must be to properly be surrendered, consider the following: To lose less with surrender, you must be only 25% likely to win the hand (ignoring pushes). That is, if you lose 75% of the time, and win only 25% of the time, your net loss is about 50% of your bets, equal to the amount you'll lose guaranteed by surrendering. So, learn to use the surrender option, but make sure you know when it is appropriate.

It's worth mentioning again that the vast majority of surrender is LATE surrender, after the dealer checks for BJ. Make sure you choose the right option over on the Strategy Engine. And if you do find a game that offers early surrender, drop me a note. Good opportunities like that are rare.

3.2: Hitting/Standing

The most common decision a player must make during the game is whether to draw another card to the hand ("hit"), or stop at the current total ("stand"). The method you use to indicate your decisions to the dealer depend on which kind of game you are playing.

In the face-up shoe game, you indicate that you want another card by tapping the table behind your cards with a finger. You'll be required to make the hand signals, rather than just announcing "hit" or "stand" to the dealer. This is to eliminate any confusion or ambiguity in what you choose, and also for the benefit of the ever-present surveillance cameras. If you go over 21, or "bust", the dealer will collect your bet, and remove your cards from the table immediately. When you decide to stand, just wave your hand in a horizontal motion over your cards.

In the face-down game, things are a little different. You'll hold the first two cards with one hand. To draw another card to your hand, simply scrape your cards across the table felt lightly. Watch another player at first to see how this works. The dealer will deal your additional cards on the table in front of your bet. Add them to your total hand value, but leave the actual cards on the table. If you go over 21, just toss the two cards in your hand face up on the table. The dealer will collect your bet, and discard your hand. When you decide to stand, you should tuck the two cards you are holding face-down under the chips that you have bet. This can be a bit tricky the first few times. Don't pick up the bet to place the cards underneath. Remember, once the cards are dealt, you can't touch the chips in the circle. Simply slide the corner of the cards under the chips.

The descriptions are a lot tougher than the actual play. Just pay attention to what other players are doing and you'll fit right in.

3.3: Doubling Down

Among the more profitable player options available is the choice to "double down". This can only be done with a two card hand, before another card has been drawn. Doubling down allows you to double your bet and receive one, and only one, additional card to the hand. A good example of a doubling opportunity is when you hold a total of 11, say a (6,5) against a dealer's upcard of 5. In this case, you have a good chance of winning the hand by drawing one additional card, so you might as well increase your bet in this advantageous situation. If you are playing in a face-down game, just toss the two cards face-up on the table in front of your bet. In either type of game, add an additional bet to the betting circle. Place the additional bet adjacent to the original bet, not on top of it. The dealer will deal one additional card to the hand. In the face-down game, he'll probably tuck it face-down under your bet, to be revealed later.

Players are allowed to double down for any amount up to the original bet amount, so you could double down "for less" if you wanted. Just remember that you do give up something for being allowed to increase your bet: the ability to draw more than one additional card. If the correct play is to double down, you should always double for the full amount if possible.

The question of when it is appropriate to double down is easily answered by using the Blackjack Basic Strategy Engine.

3.4: Splitting Pairs

When you are dealt a matching pair of cards (remember, ignore the suits), you have the ability to split the hand into two separate hands, and play them independently. Let's say you are dealt a pair of eights for a total of sixteen. Sixteen is the worst possible player hand, since it is unlikely to win as is, but is very likely to bust if you draw to it. Here's a great chance to improve a bad situation.

If you are playing a hand-held game, toss the cards face-up in front of your bet just like a double down. Then, in either type of game, place a matching bet beside the original bet in the circle. Note that you must bet the same amount on a split, unlike a double-down, where you are allowed to double for less. The dealer will separate the two cards, and treat them as two independent hands. Let's say you draw a 3 on the first 8, for a total of 11. Many casinos will allow you to double down on that hand total of 11 at this point. When this is allowed, the rule is called "Double after Split", predictably enough. Regardless, you can play the first hand to completion, at which point the dealer will deal a second card to the second hand, and you can begin making play decisions on it.

If you get additional pairs (in the first two cards of a hand), most casinos will allow you to resplit, making yet another hand. The most common rule allows a player to split up to 3 times, making 4 separate hands, with 4 separate bets. If double after split is allowed, you could have up to 8 times your initial bet on the table if you chose! Some casinos restrict resplitting, and some allow unlimited splitting. Another fine point is that you are allowed to split any 10-valued cards, so you could split a (Jack, Queen) hand. However, this is usually a bad play: Keep the 20.

The other complication for pair splits concerns splitting Aces. Splitting Aces is a very strong player move, so the casino restricts you to drawing only one additional card on each Ace. Also, if you draw a ten-valued card on one of your split Aces, the hand is not considered a Blackjack, but is instead treated as a normal 21, and therefore does not collect 3:2 odds. Some casinos allow resplitting Aces if you draw another, while many do not allow resplitting Aces although they often do allow resplitting of any other pairs. With all these restrictions, you may wonder whether it makes sense to split Aces. The answer is a resounding YES. Always split pairs of Aces.

For accurate pair splitting advice, consult the Blackjack Basic Strategy Engine.

3.5: Insurance and Even Money

Insurance is perhaps the least understood of all the commonly available rules for Blackjack. This is not necessarily a bad thing because the insurance bet is normally a poor bet for the player, with a high house advantage. However, that's not always the case. So, here we go:

If the dealer turns an up-card of an Ace, he will offer "Insurance" to the players. Insurance bets can be made by betting up to half your original bet amount in the insurance betting stripe in front of your bet. The dealer will check to see if he has a 10-value card underneath his Ace, and if he does have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. You'll lose your original bet of course (unless you also have a Blackjack), so the net effect is that you break even (assuming you bet the full half bet for insurance.) This is why the bet is described as "insurance", since it seems to protect your original bet against a dealer blackjack. Of course, if the dealer does not have blackjack, you'll lose the insurance bet, and still have to play the original bet out.

In the simplest description, Insurance is a side-bet, where you are offered 2:1 odds that the dealer has a 10-valued card underneath ("in the hole"). A quick check of the odds yields this: In a single deck game, there are 16 ten-valued cards. Assuming that you don't see any other cards, including your own, the tens compose 16 out of 51 remaining cards after the dealer's Ace was removed. For the insurance bet to be a break-even bet, the hole card would have to be a ten 1 out of 3 times, but 16/51 is only 1 in 3.1875.

The situation is often thought to be different when you have a Blackjack. The dealer is likely to offer you "even money" instead of the insurance bet. This is just the same old insurance bet with a simplification thrown in. Let's ignore the "even money" name, and look at what happens when you insure a Blackjack. Let's say you bet $10, and have a Blackjack. You would normally collect $15 for this, unless the dealer also has a blackjack, in which case you push or tie.
Let's assume that the dealer has an Ace up, and you decide to take insurance for the full amount, or $5. Now, two things can happen:
1) The dealer has a Blackjack. I tie with the $10, but collect 2:1 on the $5 insurance bet for a total profit of $10.
2) The dealer does not have Blackjack. I lose the $5, but collect $15 for my BJ. Total profit, again $10.
In either case, once I make the insurance bet, I'm guaranteed a profit of $10, or even money for my original bet.
So, casinos allow me to eliminate the insurance bet altogether, and simply declare that I want even money for my blackjack when the dealer has an Ace showing.

You're probably thinking that sounds like a pretty good deal. You're guaranteed a profit even if the dealer does have Blackjack. Just remember that the guaranteed profit comes at a price. You'll win more money in the long run by holding out for the $15, even though you'll sometimes end up empty-handed. Nonetheless, many players are adamant that they prefer to take even money when offered. Just be aware that you're costing yourself money when you make that choice.

The basic strategy player should simply never take the insurance bet, even the "even money" variety. Card counters on the other hand can often detect situations where more than one-third of the remaining cards are ten-valued, and the bet is then a profitable one. So, unless you know the bet is favorable, just ignore it.

4.0: Summary

That's really all there is to know. If you've never played the game before, it can be a little intimidating at first. Just sit down at a table with a friendly-looking dealer and give it a try. After 10 minutes, all these details will be easy. Like many things, it's easier done than said! Before you go to the casino, you may want to try a few hands at the BlackjackInfo Strategy Trainer.

Good luck!

Friday, December 21, 2007

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REASONS TO DOUBT THE OFFICIAL STORY OF SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001

THE DAY ITSELF - EVIDENCE OF COMPLICITY

1) AWOL Chain of Command
a. It is well documented that the officials topping the chain of command for response to a domestic attack - George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Richard Myers, Montague Winfield - all found reason to do something else during the actual attacks, other than assuming their duties as decision-makers.
b. Who was actually in charge? Dick Cheney, Richard Clarke, Norman Mineta and the 9/11 Commission directly conflict in their accounts of top-level response to the unfolding events, such that several (or all) of them must be lying.

2) Air Defense Failures
a. The US air defense system failed to follow standard procedures for responding to diverted passenger flights.
b. Timelines: The various responsible agencies - NORAD, FAA, Pentagon, USAF, as well as the 9/11 Commission - gave radically different explanations for the failure (in some cases upheld for years), such that several officials must have lied; but none were held accountable.
c. Was there an air defense standdown?

3) Pentagon Strike
How was it possible the Pentagon was hit 1 hour and 20 minutes after the attacks began? Why was there no response from Andrews Air Force Base, just 10 miles away and home to Air National Guard units charged with defending the skies above the nation''s capital? How did Hani Hanjour, a man who failed as a Cessna pilot on his first flight in a Boeing, execute a difficult aerobatic maneuver to strike the Pentagon? Why did the attack strike the just-renovated side, which was largely empty and opposite from the high command?

4) Wargames
a. US military and other authorities planned or actually rehearsed defensive response to all elements of the 9/11 scenario during the year prior to the attack - including multiple hijackings, suicide crashbombings, and a strike on the Pentagon.
b. The multiple military wargames planned long in advance and held on the morning of September 11th included scenarios of a domestic air crisis, a plane crashing into a government building, and a large-scale emergency in New York. If this was only an incredible series of coincidences, why did the official investigations avoid the issue? There is evidence that the wargames created confusion as to whether the unfolding events were "real world or exercise." Did wargames serve as the cover for air defense sabotage, and/or the execution of an "inside job"?

5) Flight 93
Did the Shanksville crash occur at 10:06 (according to a seismic report) or 10:03 (according to the 9/11 Commission)? Does the Commission wish to hide what happened in the last three minutes of the flight, and if so, why? Was Flight 93 shot down, as indicated by the scattering of debris over a trail of several miles?

THE DAY - POSSIBLE SMOKING GUNS

6) Did cell phones work at 30,000 feet in 2001? How many hijackings were attempted? How many flights were diverted?

7) Demolition Hypothesis
What caused the collapse of a third skyscraper, WTC 7, which was not hit by a plane? Were the Twin Towers and WTC 7 brought down by explosives? (See "The Case for Demolitions," the websites wtc7.net and 911research.wtc7.net, and the influential article by physicist Steven Jones. See also items no. 16 and 24, below.)

FOREKNOWLEDGE & THE ALLEGED HIJACKERS

8) What did officials know? How did they know it?
a. Multiple allied foreign agencies informed the US government of a coming attack in detail, including the manner and likely targets of the attack, the name of the operation (the "Big Wedding"), and the names of certain men later identified as being among the perpetrators.
b. Various individuals came into possession of specific advance knowledge, and some of them tried to warn the US prior to September 11th.
c. Certain prominent persons received warnings not to fly on the week or on the day of September 11th.

9) Able Danger, Plus - Surveillance of Alleged Hijackers
a. The men identified as the 9/11 ringleaders were under surveillance for years beforehand, on the suspicion they were terrorists, by a variety of US and allied authorities - including the CIA, the US military''s "Able Danger" program, the German authorities, Israeli intelligence and others.
b. Two of the alleged ringleaders who were known to be under surveillance by the CIA also lived with an FBI asset in San Diego, but this is supposed to be yet another a coincidence.

10) Obstruction of FBI Investigations prior to 9/11
A group of FBI officials in New York systematically suppressed field investigations of potential terrorists that might have uncovered the alleged hijackers - as the Moussaoui case once again showed. The stories of Sibel Edmonds, Robert Wright, Coleen Rowley and Harry Samit, the "Phoenix Memo," David Schippers, the 199i orders restricting investigations, the Bush administration''s order to back off the Bin Ladin family, the reaction to the "Bojinka" plot, and John O''Neil do not, when considered in sum, indicate mere incompetence, but high-level corruption and protection of criminal networks, including the network of the alleged 9/11 conspirators. (Nearly all of these examples were omitted from or relegated to fleeting footnotes in The 9/11 Commission Report.)

11) Insider Trading
a. Unknown speculators allegedly used foreknowledge of the Sept. 11th events to profiteer on many markets internationally - including but not limited to "put options" placed to short-sell the two airlines, WTC tenants, and WTC re-insurance companies in Chicago and London.
b. In addition, suspicious monetary transactions worth hundreds of millions were conducted through offices at the Twin Towers during the actual attacks.
c. Initial reports on these trades were suppressed and forgotten, and only years later did the 9/11 Commission and SEC provide a partial, but untenable explanation for only a small number of transactions (covering only the airline put options through the Chicago Board of Exchange).

12) Who were the perpetrators?
a. Much of the evidence establishing who did the crime is dubious and miraculous: bags full of incriminating material that happened to miss the flight or were left in a van; the "magic passport" of an alleged hijacker, found at Ground Zero; documents found at motels where the alleged perpetrators had stayed days and weeks before 9/11.
b. The identities of the alleged hijackers remain unresolved, there are contradictions in official accounts of their actions and travels, and there is evidence several of them had "doubles," all of which is omitted from official investigations.
c. What happened to initial claims by the government that 50 people involved in the attacks had been identified, including the 19 alleged hijackers, with 10 still at large (suggesting that 20 had been apprehended)? http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/sns-worldtrade-50suspects,0,1825231.story

THE 9/11 COVER-UP, 2001-2006

13) Who Is Osama Bin Ladin?
a. Who judges which of the many conflicting and dubious statements and videos attributed to Osama Bin Ladin are genuine, and which are fake? The most important Osama Bin Ladin video (Nov. 2001), in which he supposedly confesses to masterminding 9/11, appears to be a fake. In any event, the State Department''s translation of it is fraudulent.
b. Did Osama Bin Ladin visit Dubai and meet a CIA agent in July 2001 (Le Figaro)? Was he receiving dyalisis in a Pakistani military hospital on the night of September 10, 2001 (CBS)?
c. Whether by Bush or Clinton: Why is Osama always allowed to escape?
d. The terror network associated with Osama, known as the "data base" (al-Qaeda), originated in the CIA-sponsored 1980s anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan. When did this network stop serving as an asset to covert operations by US intelligence and allied agencies? What were its operatives doing in Kosovo, Bosnia and Chechnya in the years prior to 9/11?

14) All the Signs of a Systematic 9/11 Cover-up
a. Airplane black boxes were found at Ground Zero, according to two first responders and an unnamed NTSB official, but they were "disappeared" and their existence is denied in The 9/11 Commission Report.
b. US officials consistently suppressed and destroyed evidence (like the tapes recorded by air traffic controllers who handled the New York flights).
c. Whistleblowers (like Sibel Edmonds and Anthony Shaffer) were intimidated, gagged and sanctioned, sending a clear signal to others who might be thinking about speaking out.
d. Officials who "failed" (like Myers and Eberhard, as well as Frasca, Maltbie and Bowman of the FBI) were given promotions.

15) Poisoning New York
The White House deliberately pressured the EPA into giving false public assurances that the toxic air at Ground Zero was safe to breathe. This knowingly contributed to an as-yet unknown number of health cases and fatalities, and demonstrates that the administration does consider the lives of American citizens to be expendable on behalf of certain interests.

16) Disposing of the Crime Scene
The rapid and illegal scrapping of the WTC ruins at Ground Zero disposed of almost all of the structural steel indispensable to any investigation of the collapse mechanics. (See also item no. 23, below.)

17) Anthrax
Mailings of weapons-grade anthrax - which caused a practical suspension of the 9/11 investigations - were traced back to US military stock. Soon after the attacks began in October 2001, the FBI approved the destruction of the original samples of the Ames strain, disposing of perhaps the most important evidence in identifying the source of the pathogens used in the mailings. Were the anthrax attacks timed to coincide with the Afghanistan invasion? Why were the letters sent only to media figures and to the leaders of the opposition in the Senate (who had just raised objections to the USA PATRIOT Act)?

18) The Stonewall
a. Colin Powell promised a "white paper" from the State Department to establish the authorship of the attacks by al-Qaeda. This was never forthcoming, and was instead replaced by a paper from Tony Blair, which presented only circumstantial evidence, with very few points actually relating to September 11th.
b. Bush and Cheney pressured the (freshly-anthraxed) leadership of the Congressional opposition into delaying the 9/11 investigation for months. The administration fought against the creation of an independent investigation for more than a year.
c. The White House thereupon attempted to appoint Henry Kissinger as the chief investigator, and acted to underfund and obstruct the 9/11 Commission.

19) A Record of Official Lies
a. "No one could have imagined planes into buildings" - a transparent falsehood upheld repeatedly by Rice, Rumsfeld and Bush.
b. "Iraq was connected to 9/11" - The most "outrageous conspiracy theory" of all, with the most disastrous impact.

20) Pakistani Connection - Congressional Connection
a. The Pakistani intelligence agency ISI, creator of the Taliban and close ally to both the CIA and "al-Qaeda," allegedly wired $100,000 to Mohamed Atta just prior to September 11th, reportedly through the ISI asset Omar Saeed Sheikh (later arrested for the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, who was investigating ISI connections to "al-Qaeda.")
b. This was ignored by the congressional 9/11 investigation, although the senator and congressman who ran the probe (Bob Graham and Porter Goss) were meeting with the ISI chief, Mahmud Ahmed, on Capitol Hill on the morning of September 11th.
c. About 25 percent of the report of the Congressional Joint Inquiry was redacted, including long passages regarding how the attack (or the network allegedly behind it) was financed. Graham later said foreign allies were involved in financing the alleged terror network, but that this would only come out in 30 years.

21) Unanswered Questions and the "Final Fraud" of the 9/11 Commission:
a. The September 11th families who fought for and gained an independent investigation (the 9/11 Commission) posed 400-plus questions, which the 9/11 Commission adopted as its roadmap. The vast majority of these questions were completely ignored in the Commission hearings and the final report.
b. The membership and staff of the 9/11 Commission displayed awesome conflicts of interest. The families called for the resignation of Executive Director Philip Zelikow, a Bush administration member and close associate of "star witness" Condoleezza Rice, and were snubbed. Commission member Max Cleland resigned, condemning the entire exercise as a "scam" and "whitewash."
c.The 9/11 Commission Report is notable mainly for its obvious omissions, distortions and outright falsehoods - ignoring anything incompatible with the official story, banishing the issues to footnotes, and even dismissing the still-unresolved question of who financed 9/11 as being "of little practical significance."

22) Crown Witnesses Held at Undisclosed Locations
The alleged masterminds of 9/11, Khalid Sheikh Mohamed (KSM) and Ramzi Binalshibh, are reported to have been captured in 2002 and 2003, although one Pakistani newspaper said KSM was killed in an attempted capture. They have been held at undisclosed locations and their supposed testimonies, as provided in transcript form by the government, form much of the basis for The 9/11 Commission Report (although the Commission''s request to see them in person was denied). After holding them for years, why doesn''t the government produce these men and put them to trial?

23) Spitzer Redux
a. Eliot Spitzer, attorney general of New York State, snubbed pleas by New York citizens to open 9/11 as a criminal case (Justicefor911.org).
b. Spitzer also refused to allow his employee, former 9/11 Commission staff member Dietrich Snell, to testify to the Congress about his (Snell''s) role in keeping "Able Danger" entirely out of The 9/11 Commission Report.

24) NIST Omissions
After the destruction of the WTC structural steel, the official Twin Towers collapse investigation was left with almost no forensic evidence, and thus could only provide dubious computer models of ultimately unprovable hypotheses. It failed to even test for the possibility of explosives. (Why not clear this up?)

25) Radio Silence
The 9/11 Commission and NIST both allowed the continuing cover-up of how Motorola''s faulty radios, purchased by the Giuliani administration, caused firefighter deaths at the WTC - once again showing the expendability, even of the first responders.

26) The Legal Catch-22
a. Hush Money - Accepting victims'' compensation barred September 11th families from pursuing discovery through litigation.
b. Judge Hallerstein - Those who refused compensation to pursue litigation and discovery had their cases consolidated under the same judge (and as a rule dismissed).

27) Saudi Connections
a. The 9/11 investigations made light of the "Bin Ladin Airlift" during the no-fly period, and ignored the long-standing Bush family business ties to the Bin Ladin family fortune. (A company in which both families held interests, the Carlyle Group, was holding its annual meeting on September 11th, with George Bush Sr., James Baker, and two brothers of Osama Bin Ladin in attendance.)
b. The issue of Ptech.

28) Media Blackout of Prominent Doubters
The official story has been questioned and many of the above points were raised by members of the US Congress, retired high-ranking officers of the US military, the three leading third-party candidates for President in the 2004 election, a member of the 9/11 Commission who resigned in protest, a former high-ranking adviser to the George W. Bush administration, former ministers to the German, British and Canadian governments, the commander-in-chief of the Russian air force, 100 luminaries who signed the "9/11 Truth Statement," and the presidents of Iran and Venezuela. Not all of these people agree fully with each other, but all would normally be considered newsworthy. Why has the corporate-owned US mass media remained silent about these statements, granting due coverage only to the comments of actor Charlie Sheen?

GEOPOLITICS, TIMING AND POSSIBLE MOTIVES

29) "The Great Game"
The Afghanistan invasion was ready for Bush''s go-ahead on September 9, 2001, with US and UK force deployments to the region already in place or underway. This followed the failure earlier that year of backdoor diplomacy with the Taliban (including payments of $125 million in US government aid to Afghanistan), in an attempt to secure a unity government for that country as a prerequisite to a Central Asian pipeline deal.

30) The Need for a "New Pearl Harbor"
Principals in US foreign policy under the current Bush administration (including Cheney, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Perle and others) have been instrumental in developing long-running plans for worldwide military hegemony, including an invasion of the Middle East, dating back to the Ford, Reagan and Bush Sr. administrations. They reiterated these plans in the late 1990s as members of the "Project for a New American Century," and stated a clear intent to invade Iraq for the purpose of "regime change." After 9/11, they lost no time in their attempt to tie Iraq to the attacks.

31) Perpetual "War on Terror"
9/11 is supposed to provide carte-blanche for an open-ended, global and perpetual "War on Terror," against any enemy, foreign or domestic, that the executive branch chooses to designate, and regardless of whether evidence exists to actually connect these enemies to 9/11.

32) Attacking the Constitution
a. The USA PATRIOT Act was written before 9/11, Homeland Security and the "Shadow Government" were developed long before 9/11, and plans for rounding up dissidents as a means for suppressing civil disturbance have been in the works for decades.
b. 9/11 was used as the pretext to create a new, extra-constitutional executive authority to declare anyone an "enemy combatant" (including American citizens), to detain persons indefinitely without habeas corpus, and to "render" such persons to secret prisons where torture is practiced.

33) Legal Trillions
9/11 triggers a predictable shift of public spending to war, and boosts public and private spending in the "new" New Economy of "Homeland Security," biometrics, universal surveillance, prisons, civil defense, secured enclaves, security, etc.

34) Plundered Trillions?
On September 10, 2001, Donald Rumsfeld announced a "war on waste" after an internal audit found that the Pentagon was "missing" 2.3 trillion dollars in unaccounted assets. On September 11th, this was as good as forgotten.

35) Did 9/11 prevent a stock market crash?
Did anyone benefit from the destruction of the Securities and Exchange Commission offices at WTC 7, and the resultant crippling of hundreds of fraud investigations?

36) Resource Wars
a. What was discussed in the Energy Task Force meetings under Dick Cheney in 2001? Why is the documentation of these meetings still being suppressed?
b. Is Peak Oil a motive for 9/11 as inside job?

37) The "Little Game"
Why was the WTC privatized just before its destruction?

HISTORY

38) "Al-CIA-da?"
The longstanding relationship between US intelligence networks and radical Islamists, including the network surrounding Osama Bin Ladin. (See also point 13d.)

39) Historical Precedents for "Synthetic Terror"
a. In the past many states, including the US government, have sponsored attacks on their own people, fabricated the "cause for war," created (and armed) their own enemies of convenience, and sacrificed their own citizens for "reasons of state."
b. Was 9/11 an update of the Pentagon-approved "Project Northwoods" plan for conducting self-inflicted, false-flag terror attacks in the United States, and blaming them on a foreign enemy?

40) Secret Government
a. The record of criminality and sponsorship of coups around the world by the covert networks based within the US intelligence complex.
b. Specifically also: The evidence of crime by Bush administration principals and their associates, from October Surprise to Iran-Contra and the S&L plunder to PNAC, Enron/Halliburton and beyond.

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Lung Cancer

Click On Image To Enlarge

Lung Cancer

Overview
Although lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States, it is also one of the most preventable kinds of cancer. At least four out of five cases are associated with cigarette smoking. More than 170,000 people in the U.S. are diagnosed with lung cancer each year, most between the ages of 40 and 70. Click here for more statistics.

What causes lung cancer?
Cigarette smoke has 4000 chemicals and of these, over 40 are known to cause cancer. Normal human cells become cancer cells when exposed to carcinogens.
The risk of developing lung cancer in humans is proportional to the number of cigarettes smoked. Smokers are 8-20 times more likely to develop lung cancer compared to people who have never smoked.

	For nonsmokers, here is a normal, inflated lung to compare to the smoker's lung below. This is what your lungs should look like.
	The picture on the left is a smoker's lung. Cigarette smoke has tars and chemical agents in it that irritate the lungs and cause lung cancer to form. The cancer cells in this picture are shown by the whitish area in an otherwise blackened lung. Source: American Lung Association

Why is lung cancer a serious problem?
Over 300,000 people die from lung cancer in the United States alone. The economic loss is calculated to be over two billion dollars a year.
Since the majority of lung cancer is diagnosed at a relatively late stage, only 10% of all lung cancer patients are ultimately cured. If the patient cannot be cured by surgery at the time the cancer is found, there is a 50% chance that death will occur in less than one year.

What are the symptoms of lung cancer?
In its early stages, lung cancer normally has no symptoms. Most lung cancers begin to grow silently, without any symptoms. Patients with lung cancer often do not develop symptoms until the cancer is in an advanced stage. The actual time from when one cell becomes cancerous until it is large enough to be diagnosed or produce symptoms may take as long as 10 to 40 years. When symptoms start to appear, they are usually caused by blocked breathing passages or by the spread of cancer to other parts of the body.

Conclusion
Smoking causes cancer. The occurrence of lung cancer can be reduced by not smoking.

Monday, December 17, 2007

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Woman Has 10 Husbands

MIAMI Sun Dec 16- The honeymoons are over for a 26-year-old woman who authorities say has at least 10 husbands.

Eunice Lopez is accused of marrying 10 men -- without divorcing any of them -- over the last five years.June 22, 2002 -- Mauricio Carlos Matos

Aug. 11, 2003 -- Jose L. Ramos

March 5, 2005 -- Luis Antonio Cordeiro

Nov. 5, 2005 -- Humberto Navarro Suarez

Nov. 17, 2005 -- Leandro Abelha

Jan. 6, 2006 -- Euclides Yepes May 11, 2006 -- Martin Errazola Alvarez

June 2, 2006 -- Antonio Serrano

July 24, 2006 -- Diego M. Hernandez-Figueroa

Nov. 21, 2006 -- Fernando Jose Urroz Leguisamo

Eunice Lopez has been charged with bigamy, accused of marrying 10 men between 2002 and 2006 without divorcing any of them, federal immigration authorities say. The Miami Herald reported Saturday that a records search by the newspaper found seven additional marriages under the bride's name and birth date.

Lopez arrived in South Florida from Cuba in 2002 and was a legal U.S. resident.

"I can tell you that none of the individuals she married had any type of residency," said Terry Chavez, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade office of the state attorney.

Prosecutors say she charged her husbands an unspecified amount to help them secure immigration status and continued asking the men for money long after the wedding, threatening to expose them if they didn't pay.

Chavez said the state attorney's office began investigating after being tipped off by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

She was arrested in Palm Beach County early Wednesday morning.

She was drinking beers with another woman in an open area just after midnight when a Palm Beach County deputy approached the pair to ticket them, authorities said.

When he saw Lopez's ID, the deputy realized she was wanted and arrested her.

Lopez was released on $18,000 bond. Her last known address was in Hialeah, just north of Miami. A telephone listing for her could not be located, and it was not known whether she had an attorney.

It is unknown why she would want to marry 10 men.

It is also unknown if she was married to men in other counties or countries.

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