Las Vegas Casinos Offer Refunds on Seattle-Green Bay Game

Casino offers refunds on Seattle-Green Bay game By KEN RITTER (Associated Press) | The Associated Press

 

LAS VEGAS (AP) -- A Las Vegas casino took an unusual step Wednesday and offered refunds to gamblers who lost money when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Green Bay Packers on a controversial touchdown at the end of Monday night's game.

  Derek Stevens, owner The D Las Vegas, seized on the attention being paid to the much-derided decision by replacement officials handling the NFL game and became the only casino in Las Vegas to offer refunds.

''I know exactly how it would feel if I was laying the number and I saw what happened,'' Stevens said. He declared himself ''disgusted'' with the ruling and said he just couldn't accept the outcome.

The Seahawks won 14-12 after a Packers defender and Seahawks receiver fought for the ball on a final ''Hail Mary'' pass play. Officials missed an offensive pass interference call and then decided there had been simultaneous catch by the two players. Under NFL rules, that gave Seattle the touchdown and the win.
Nevada gambling regulators said Stevens could make refunds if he wanted.

Another Las Vegas sports book operator worried the move set a bad precedent.
''Whenever there are bad calls we're going to start refunding? Based on what?'' said Jay Kornegay, race and sports book director at The LVH casino. ''We're supposed to pay out winning wagers based on official final scores by the league, in this case the NFL.''

Some offshore online betting outlets have also issued refunds.
Stevens, who has been renovating and rebranding the high-rise downtown casino formerly called the Fitzgerald, said D Las Vegas will refund straight and money-line bets made on the Packers until Sunday - but only on wagers made at his sports book.

State gambling regulations prohibit a sports book from rescinding a wager without prior approval from the Nevada Gaming Commission chairman.

The chairman, Mark Lipparelli, said a refund is different from rescinding a bet. He said that in his four years on the regulatory panel he couldn't remember a similar move.
''It's not a rescission. It's a refund,'' Lipparelli told The Associated Press. ''That's within their discretion.''

Chris Brown Tattoo

Chris Brown gets new tattoo of fighter jetBy Joyce Chen / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The "Don't Judge Me" singer showed off some fresh ink Monday hot on the heels of debuting a new neck tattoo resembling his former lover - and this time, it looks as though Brown has chosen the same spot that Rihanna got her own new tattoo.

 When it comes to tattoos, Chris Brown and Rihanna are clearly on the same wavelength.

 

"About to go in on this #fighterjet #f16 #plane #tattoo on #chrisbrown," tattoo artist John Petro captioned a shot of a tattooed Brown, 23, with the beginnings of a fighter jet etched onto his torso.

 The finished jet, which points nose-first toward Brown's belly button, sits across the singer's abs, just below his chest.

Rihanna's latest ink, of an Egyptian goddess, is similarly etched into her midsection with the wings spread just below the "We Found Love" singer's breasts.
"Goddess Isis - Complete Woman - Model for future generations - #GRANGRANDOLLY," she wrote on her Twitter Sunday. "Always in and on my heart."

 

Earlier this month, Brown showed off another new piece of body art, with a sketch of a woman's face imprinted onto the right side of his neck.

Fans and the media noted that the tattoo bore a striking resemblance to a bruised and battered Rihanna, but

Brown defended his ink against haters on Tuesday.
"I'm an artist and this is art," he wrote on his Twitter account. "Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead".

Chris Brown with tattoo artist John Petro. (Johnpetro/via Instagram)

Brown's rep confirmed to E! News that the drawing is a cross between "a sugar skull (associated with the Mexican celebration of the Day of the Dead) and a MAC cosmetics design he saw," rather than a nod to the explosive night back in 2009 when he beat up then-girlfriend Rihanna.
The pair have had a tumultuous relationship but still remain friends, and earlier this month, even sparked rumors that their romance is back on after the two locked lips at the MTV Video Music Awards.
Rihanna, 24, called Brown the "love of her life" in an emotional interview on Oprah Winfrey's talk show last month, and admitted that they "love each other and we probably always will."
Brown is currently linked to model Karreuche Tran.
jchen@nydailynews.com

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/chris-brown-new-tattoo-fighter-jet-spot-rihanna-tribute-tat-grandmother-article-1.1157569#ixzz26HgXcdtD

 

The King of Rock & Roll Died 35 Years Ago

As Posted on rocks backpages

By Barney Hoskyns | Rock's Backpages – Wed, Aug 15, 2012 10:15 AM EDT

The King of Rock & Roll died 35 years ago at his Memphis mansion, Graceland. Mick Farren — former frontman with London's beloved Deviants — wrote this heartfelt tribute to Elvis for New Musical Express——Barney Hoskyns, Editorial Director, Rock's Backpages

It was one of the worst storms to hit London since God knows when. The thunder rolled, lightning flashed and the rain hammered into the roof. There's something about a storm that brings a sense of doom. It fitted so perfectly.
When the ITV news flash sign came on the TV screen everyone looked up. When the flash sign was immediately followed by a still of Elvis Presley, a quiet voice breathed, "Oh, my God."
"Reports are coming in that Elvis Presley, the rock and roll singer, died this evening at his home in Memphis, Tennessee."
We all looked at each other in disbelief.
"Elvis is dead!"
It didn't seem quite credible. And yet it wasn't the kind of shock that followed the news of J.F.K. being cut down. There had been so much speculation about Presley's mental and physical health that his death was unpleasantly predictable.
It was almost impossible to know what to think. My first impulse was to pick up the phone and call a couple of people. I tried two numbers, but they were both busy. Obviously other people had reacted the same way. It was the kind of news that demanded to be passed on. Elvis had always been there. For more than two decades he'd maintained a unique position in too many people's lives. Despite all the depressing rumours it scarcely seemed possible that he'd gone, that Elvis Presley was dead at 42.
I guess the only word I can use is numb. Numb, and just very slightly embarrassed at the way I was reacting. It wasn't the ordinary kind of grief that you feel for a personal friend. There was no voice telling me that I'd never see Elvis Presley again. Jesus Christ, I'd never seen him, ever. I didn't even regret that I'd never get the chance to see him. The Elvis Presley I'd have given my right arm to watch was the wild hoodlum in the gold jacket who vanished into the US Army and never returned. I'd mourned his passing many years ago.
I think, to be absolutely truthful, any grief for Elvis Presley has to be bound up with a grief for my own early youth. It's grief for that long vanished innocence, that virgin state in which it was possible to discover rock and roll for the very first time.
The moment when I first heard 'Heartbreak Hotel' coming out of the radio was an experience that's impossible to reproduce. It was a time when the radio didn't add up to much more than The Archers, Journey into Space and The Goon Show. The readily available music was all 'Que Sera Sera', 'Love And Marriage' and 'How Much Is That Doggie In The Window?'
*
After 'Heartbreak Hotel', all that changed. Music had the power. It may have taken another six or seven years for Bob Dylan to articulate it, but right from the start it was obvious that the times were changing. If it needed a confirmation, it was right there in the way Elvis was condemned out of hand by parents and pulpit.
Elvis Presley was far more than just an entertainer. He was something different to Frank Sinatra or Bing Crosby. He'd picked up the teenage banner that had been dropped by James Dean. He not only picked it up, but he picked it up and ran with it. From the way he combed his hair to the sneer and the snapping knee, he was the beginning of the rebellion. You stopped thinking about being a chartered accountant and began to wonder if, just maybe, you could be Elvis.
Of course, the passing years brought disappointments. He came back from the army to make all those awful films and often equally awful records. The greatest white R&B singer the world had ever seen decayed before our eyes into a Hollywood clown who appeared to have no respect for his work, his audience or himself.
If it had been anybody but Elvis Presley he probably would have been quietly forgotten, but he was just too big for that. If it was only in the middle of the night, when listening to the old records, the magnetism still came alive in those attempts to recapture the first careless rush. It was a haven of simplicity in a world of 'Visions Of Johanna' and 'Have You Seen Your Mother, Baby'.
Presley had racked up so much affection in the '50s that it was even hard to blame him for his dire output. More often than not the blame was laid at the door of Colonel Tom Parker. It may not have been logical, but even when he did his worst, it was hard to believe that it was Presley's fault.
*
Elvis-worship lay dormant in a lot of us during the '60s. Just how many of us became noticeable by those who sat up and took notice when, at the end of the decade, it suddenly seemed as though our man was going to make a comeback with records like 'Promised Land', 'Burning Love', his TV special and his return to the live stage at the Las Vegas Hilton. As it turned out, Presley didn't come back to us. His return was for the blue rinse and double-knit set. He was fated never to return to rock and rollers and overgrown juvenile delinquents who had sweated out their adolescence with him.
Once again the decay started. His public behaviour became erratic. It looked as though — instead of coming back — Elvis Presley had dipped his toe into the real world but quickly withdrawn it again. The rumours flowed out from behind the high walls of his guarded mansions. They talked about his custom-built blondes, his drugs, his neurotic eating and violent temper tantrums. His marriage came and went, and the figure who was once a hero turned, bit by bit, into a petulant, overweight pampered child.
It was sad. It was like watching an old friend, whom you hadn't seen in a long time, slowly going to pieces. That may have been sad, but it was only a fraction as sad as the thought of Elvis Presley, maybe the biggest idol the world's seen yet, dying alone and disturbed in his luxury prison. There's just no way that you can help an idol. Maybe, in the final analysis, the world can't support an Elvis Presley all the way to a fulfilled and peaceful old age.
The clichés come thick and fast at a time like this. Some of them are even true. Without Elvis Presley, history would certainly have been different. Jagger might have become an estate agent, Dylan a rabbi, Lennon a bricklayer or Johnny Rotten a judge. He probably was one of the tiny handful of artists who actually affected the course of human affairs. Maybe the load was too much for him to carry. I don't know. None of us can really imagine how it feels to walk around being Elvis Presley every day of your life.

All this isn't what's really important. All I know is that the death of Presley has produced a kind of dull hurt that's hard to pin down. I can't exactly define why or how it hurts. All I know is something that used to be important to me has gone.
I guess that's the measure of the man and what he meant. At least, what he meant to me.
© Mick Farren, 1977
Read dozens more pieces on Elvis — and on artists from Aaliyah to ZZ Top — at Rock's Backpages. 20,000+ articles by the best writers from the finest music publications of the last 50 years.

Theater Shooting Suspect Was Graduate Student at Medical School in Colorado

U.S. News on NBC News.com
By Pete Williams, Bill Dedman and NBC News staff

The man suspected of carrying out the Colorado movie theater shooting, wearing an outfit of black ballistic gear, was a 24-year-old Phi Beta Kappa graduate student in neuroscience who started buying his four weapons legally in May.
James Eagan Holmes, from San Diego, was a graduate student in the neuroscience program at the University of Colorado Medical School campus in Aurora, a university spokesman told NBC News. He was in the process of withdrawing from school, the university confirmed.

NBC News

James Holmes, the suspect in the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting.

"The University of Colorado Denver Anschutz Medical Campus can confirm that Mr. James Holmes was in the process of withdrawing from the University of Colorado Denver's graduate program in neurosciences," the university statement said. "Mr. Holmes enrolled at the university in June 2011."

The university website listed one of his courses as the Biological Basis of Psychiatric and Neurological Disorders. He was listed on the class website as making a presentation in the spring on MicroRNA biomarkers.
The University of California, Riverside, confirmed that a student named James Eagan Holmes, with the same date of birth, graduated with a bachelor's degree in neuroscience in 2010. He graduated in four years, attending from the fall of 2006 to spring 2010. Public records show that the Holmes living in Aurora had a previous address at a Riverside dormitory.
A student who lived across the hall from Holmes at Cal-Riverside, who asked not to be named, said Holmes completed the honors program and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Golden Key honor societies.

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Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said Friday that Holmes, born Dec. 13, 1987, is the man who is believed to have killed at least 12 people at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, a suburb of Denver. "We are confident that he acted alone," Oates said. He said he had no way to tell how many rounds were fired, but it was "many, many." Holmes was arrested without any resistance at his white Hyundai car in the theater parking lot, parked just outside the theater's back door. He was wearing a black ballistic helmet, a ballistic tactical vest, ballistic leggings, throat and groin protectors, a gas mask, and tactical gloves, Oates said. The police chief did not address reports that Holmes told officers, "I'm the Joker," referring to the villain in the Batman story. Four weapons were found, Oates said. Two were handguns, made by Glock. Both were 40-caliber. At least one of those was used, the police chief said. One shotgun, a Remington model 870, one of the most popular models. Pump action, single barrel. And one Smith and Wesson AR-15 type rifle, called by some an "assault rifle." These weapons can accommodate large ammunition "clips," but authorities have not yet said what kind of magazines were at the scene. The purchase place and dates are still being traced, and the chief said he didn't know yet if Oates had the weapons legally. Officials told NBC News that all four were purchased legally, beginning in May. Holmes will be arraigned in court on Monday. News organizations have made requests to the judge to allow cameras in the courtroom. The only previous police record for Holmes is a speeding ticket in October 2011, the chief said. Know James Holmes? If you have information, send an email to Bill Dedman of NBC News. NBC's Pete Williams reports the Colorado gunman identified as James Holmes carried two pistols, a rifle, and a shotgun into the midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and said authorities are looking into how he was able to get in through the theater's emergency exit. Holmes' family, who live in Rancho Penasquitos, a community in the northeastern part of San Diego, issued a statement through the San Diego Police Department. "Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the family and friends of those involved," the statement said. "We ask that the media respect our privacy during this difficult time. Our family is cooperating with authorities in San Diego, California, and Aurora, Colorado. We are still trying to process this information and we appreciate that people will respect our privacy." A man believed to be Holmes' father was seen leaving with luggage, escorted by police. A neighbor, Tom Mai, told The Los Angeles Times that Holmes was a shy, well-mannered kid who was very active in the church. He had trouble finding work after college, Mai said, and then went off to graduate school. Holmes attended Westview High School in San Diego, graduating in 2006, the Poway Unified School District confirmed. A woman who said she knew him in high school told NBC News that Holmes was a good person, but oddly always rooted for the villains in superhero movies. "He was a nice guy. Who very much wanted to be liked and wanted," the woman said. "He was a very, very smart guy. I honestly can not believe he could do this. I know, I know, everyone says that. But it is truly devastating to me. "He did not have many friends for someone who wanted to be liked," she said. "He loved all the villains in superhero stuff, which I did point out as odd. Most people enjoy the hero!" Public records indicate that Holmes lived with two roommates, also from California, in the Aurora building where police have found explosives, at 1690 Paris St., Apt. 10. The building is reserved for students, faculty and staff from the medical campus.

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The Denver Post newspaper reported that Holmes, in an apartment rental application he last year, described himself as "quiet and easy-going." A pharmacy student who lives in the building told The Post he called 911 around 12:30 a.m. Friday because there was a song blaring from the stereo inside apartment 10, where Holmes lived. The student, who wanted to be identified only as Ben, said he couldn't make out the song but that it seemed to be the same one playing on repeat. He also said Holmes kept to himself and wouldn't acknowledge people when they passed in the hall and said hello. "No one knew him. No one," he told The Post.

Oscar-winning film star Ernest Borgnine dies at age 95 in LA

Yahoo.com  THE UPSHOT Yahoo News

Re- Posted on July 8, 2012 at 5:14 PM

 

Ernest Borgnine, who won the best-actor Oscar as a lovesick butcher in "Marty" in 1955, died Sunday. He was 95.

His longtime spokesman, Harry Flynn, told The Associated Press that Borgnine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles with his family by his side.

A prolific and talented character actor, Borgnine was known for gruff, villainous roles such as the heavy who beats up Frank Sinatra in "From Here to Eternity" and one of the bad guys who harasses Spencer Tracy in "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Borgnine, who earned a salary of $5,000 for playing his Academy-Award winning role as Marty, once said "I would have done it for nothing."

He was also known as the Navy officer in the television series "McHale's Navy," which aired from 1962-66. Borgnine earned an Emmy Award nomination at age 92 for his work on the series "ER."

"The Oscar made me a star, and I'm grateful," Borgnine told an interviewer in 1966, according to AP. "But I feel had I not won the Oscar I wouldn't have gotten into the messes I did in my personal life."

The actor was married five times, including to singer Ethel Merman, who became his third wife in 1964. The marriage barely lasted a month.

Borgnine is survived by his fifth wife, Tova Traesnaes — whom he married in 1973 — son Christopher and daughters Sharon and Diana.

Mike Tyson, Spike Lee are Broadway Bound

“Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.”

This summer, Mike Tyson is taking on a new role, appearing on Broadway in a one-man show called “Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth.” The former heavyweight champion and director Spike Lee chat with the TODAY team about conquering the stage together.

TODAY   |  Aired on June 19, 2012

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Amber Portwood, Teen Mom Star Sentenced to Prison

Teen Mom Amber Portwood is headed to prison.

Amber Portwood, Teen Mom star, is sentenced to prison on a felony drug charge. Octomom Nadya Suleman is considering stripping for money. Rather than horrified glee when it comes to public mommy train wrecks, perhaps we should find some sympathy. And yes, even sadness.

Portwood was released from jail less than a month ago with ambitions to join the military. The MTV starlet was placed behind bars after violating her probation and skipping out on a mandatory drug appointment.
Now, the 22-year old has been ordered to five years in prison after asking an Indiana judge to go back on her sentence, TMZ reports. Previously, when Portwood was arrested in December for drug possession, she was offered jail time or to enter a drug rehab center, Portwood requested jail time over scheduled drug rehab appointments and thus will remain incarcerated for the remainder of her sentence.
Her lawyer reportedly asked the judge for leniency, but the judge was not moved by her lack of desire to help herself.
Portwood is headed to the Indiana Department of Corrections therapeutic community program, a treatment program in which the Teen Mom will have to stay in and will receive “time served” provided she remains in the facility on ‘good behavior.’
Her brother Shawn tells E!News, “the system failed her, and that's all I can say…She does not deserve to be [in jail] or anything that has happened to her. Adding, "She is there because of who she is."

Amber Portwood, the Teen Mom star, was sentenced to prison on a drug charge. drug Troubled moms, elevated to celebrity – like Octomom Nadya Suleman (pictured here in May 2012) who is considering stripping for money – have become parodies of our greatest social problems.

AP