
Rear Admiral Tim Giardina was removed from his post at STRATCOM after using fake gambling chips at an Iowa casino. (Image: U.S. Navy)
Right Here’s something most individuals would agree on: watching over the nuclear arsenal of the usa is a fairly occupation that is serious. And while we might sometimes believe our personal lives shouldn’t affect our job status, it makes sense that you’d want to leave this specific duty in the hands of someone who doesn’t have any skeletons in their closet.
Counterfeit Chips Unbecoming an Officer
That is why when it came out that Rear Admiral Timothy Giardina ended up being under investigation for reportedly using counterfeit chips at an Iowa casino year that is last it took no time at all for him to be suspended in September. Not long after, he was demoted from three-star rank to two-star, fired from his work while the deputy commander of US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), https://casino-bonus-free-money.com/royal-vegas-casino/ and reassigned to a staff officer place in Washington.
Of program, his activities additionally meant he’d be charges that are facing. Previously this Giardina was found guilty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice week. In accordance with a statement from the usa Navy, Giardina was convicted on two counts of ‘conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.’
‘ The count that is first Giardina lying to an investigator,’ the Navy statement read. ‘The 2nd pertaining to circumstances surrounding Giardina’s failure to turn in and subsequent usage of gambling potato chips he claims to possess found at a casino.’
Giardina was forced to forfeit $4,000 in pay as being a results of the charges. However, he’ll be permitted to stay on duty in his present position as a staff officer.
Fake Chips Applied to Play Poker
According to reports, the event started when Giardina had been accused of utilizing three counterfeit $500 chips to try out poker at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa last June. Since the investigation picked up steam, first among local gaming officials in Iowa and later within the Navy, the pressure on Giardina mounted, and he was fundamentally relieved of his duties in October. That treatment ended up being a rare occasion for such a position that is important.
While the matter had been examined by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), they were not able to determine with any certainty how Giardina found the chips that are counterfeit to verify or challenge his version of activities. Nevertheless, Giardina admitted to utilising the potato chips at the casino.
Giardina had the choice of asking for a court martial being an appeal, but instead accepted the non-judicial punishment.
‘The Navy remains committed to holding all personnel, regardless of rank, towards the highest criteria,’ stated Navy spokesperson Captain Dawn Culter.
Shakeup in Nuclear Leadership
Giardina ended up being certainly one of two high-profile officers whom lost their positions within the final year. Major General Michael Carey, whom formerly commanded the Air Force’s ballistic missile arsenal, was also relieved of his position in October. The move came after he was accused of drinking heavily, accosting foreign women, and making rude comments to his hosts during a trip to Russia in his case. The Air Force recently announced that Carey will retire on June 1 with the rank of brigadier general. These firings led to concerns about the standard of leadership into the weapons that are nuclear, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordering analysis nuclear forces in January.
Giardina was a 1979 graduate of this US Naval Academy, and spent most of his profession as a submarine officer.
2019 Social Gaming Market Could Be Worth $17.4 Billion, Experts State
Social games like Farmville will continue steadily to rise in popularity, says a new industry report. (Image: Zynga Inc)
The social gaming market is set to carry on rising in a emphatic fashion, according to a fresh report that shows it will be worth $17.4 billion by 2019. The extraordinary speed for the uptake of smartphone, tablets and cellular devices over the last few years has seen the industry rocket skywards, and lots of old-fashioned gambling companies are getting in regarding the work.
A small start-up, for an extraordinary $90 million, in the act announcing that its long-term ambition was to become ‘the quantity one in casino and social games on Facebook. in 2011, Caesars Interactive Entertainment acquired social casino games developer Playtika’
Many acquisitions and mergers have actually followed between the 2 sectors, such as for example in 2012, when IGT, the world’s developer that is largest of video gaming machines, purchased Doubledown, the entire world’s largest virtual casino for a deal worth well over $400 million. Today, virtually all for the major online gambling organizations possess some sort of cross-platform social casino presence from Unibet to PokerStars and they are all backing a winner in accordance with the report released by international market research company Research and Markets recently.
Rise of Mobile Technology
The rapid adoption of mobile technology continues to rise over the next five years, the report concludes, which will in turn drive the expansion of the social video gaming market at a compound annual growth rate of 16.1 per cent during the forecast period from 2013 to 2019. In 2012, the global gaming that is social ended up being valued at $5.4 billion.
‘The development of social games can be attributed to the demand that is growing of and pills in the market. The ever-increasing demand of the mobile devices has made the game that is social rework their strategies and they are now designing games that can be played on these devices. The development on the web subscribers has also added to the growth of the game that is social. It really is expected that in 2014 one-third of Internet users are most likely to take to gaming that is social. Another factor ensuing in the growth social gaming market is free cost associated with the games on the web,’ the report noted.
Gamification
According to the scholarly research on average 200 million currently play social games online, and that figure is anticipated to double by 2019. Another growth factor could be the use of social gaming as an advertising tool by mainstream companies such as junk food restaurants and outlets that are retail increasing so-called ‘gamification’ of companies. The building of online social communities by using the mechanics of gaming incentives such as points, amounts, challenges, leaderboards and so on, is a way that is valuable of and retaining clients.
Of the total amount of time spent using social media marketing, social gaming customers spent more than 50 percent on playing games, the report discovered.
‘People have actually always been attracted to video games and these console-based games come at prices that is not affordable by typical man,’ said the report. ‘Today’s generation spend their time on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace among other people to socialize with household and friends.’
We interrupt this quote to ask, ‘MySpace? Who still uses MySpace?’
Ok, back to the quote.
‘During their time regarding the web, the users spend over 50 per cent of their own time on social games contending with buddies and colleagues. Many regarding the game developers are actually looking to tap the social media market and develop games for the networking that is social,’ the report included.
Gambling Licensees Told to Lay Off Marijuana To Stay in Game
Several gaming professionals could be afflicted with the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s declaration on medicinal marijuana. (Image US Fish and Wildlife)
In case any vegas casino executives had been even thinking about it, the Gaming Control Board has now issued a stern decree that none of its license holders may have anything to accomplish with the state’s legalization of the marijuana trade that is medical. As any good poker player knows, it’s all about pot control, most likely.
While marijuana happens to be legal for medicinal purposes in Nevada since 2000, hawaii passed a bill in 2013 that would allow companies to dispense the drug, and offered the go- ahead for 66 potential outlets that are such the state. The current system requires clients who qualify to get the drug to either grow it themselves or have it from caregivers whom develop and donate it, nevertheless the reality has been that many patients turn to illegal dealers.
‘Still Prohibited’
In March, Clark County became the first to accept applications for distribution licenses in southern Nevada, nevertheless the gaming industry has been warned off by its own regulatory authority. The agency stated that, in the eyes of the federal government, distribution and possession of marijuana is still a crime in a statement posted on the Gaming Control Board’s website.
‘Accordingly, unless the law that is federal changed, the board doesn’t believe investment or other involvement in a medical marijuana center or establishment with a person who has received a gaming approval or applied for the gaming approval is consistent with the effective legislation of gaming,’ said the declaration, published by Gaming Control Board member Terry Johnson.
‘Further, the board believes that any investment that is such involvement by gaming licensees or candidates would tend to reflect discredit upon gaming in the state of Nevada.’
State Senator Greg Brower (R-Reno), who voted in favor of the bill, said he is pleased that this stance is being taken by the Gaming Control Board.
‘This is another example of a consequence that is unintended the inconsistencies with the law,’ he said. ‘I voted I had significant reservations for it, but. My reservations have actually increased.’
High Rollers and Gambling Joints
Investigations by the Las Vegas Review-Journal have actually unearthed several numbers on the list of 109 companies applying for a Clark County medicinal cannabis license that are afflicted with the declaration. Perhaps the most prominent is M Resort CEO Anthony Marnell III, who has 71 percent of a company called Clear River LLC, that will be seeking a license. Meanwhile, brothers Troy and Tim Hearst, two of the owners of video slot route operator JETT Gaming, are also grasped to have purchased the marijuana business that is medical.
Lastly, Armen Yemenidjian, the son of Tropicana President Alex Yemenidjian, owns 40 percent of Integral Associates LLC, which has applied for five licenses. He is currently vice president of casino marketing and operations at Tropicana.
All the above were unavailable for comment on the problem.
Elsewhere, marketing administrator for Real Gaming Tom Mikovits announced he has started to sever ties with the Wellness Connection of Nevada LLC, of which he was a manager. While he does not need a gaming license himself, Mikovits is an essential executive with Real Gaming and decided his actions were into the best interests of both companies.