Official Skatz 10 Million Views Thread

[Carl Culture]

About Mark:

London-based artist Mark Powell reuses old envelopes as canvases to produce incredible life-like drawings. His sketches are made using only a Biro pen, and they often incorporate original stamps and postage marks. By recycling the envelopes, he is in some way preserving a bit of history and the tales behind the sender.

Mark explains his work by saying, “for me the individual is a fascinating thing. With my mobile phone camera I take photos of people walking the street, riding the tube or bus. I do this unnoticed at first, no egos or megalomania, no sense of self-importance or grandeur can be seen but simply a life being lived. Each person is as important or irrelevant as the next. A face that is devoid of a clear emotion gives an ambiguity that is simple and intriguing, it shows the signs in scars of travel and an uncontrolled gaze; a life lived. The canvas of vintage envelopes holds the same qualities, travel scarred and mysterious, common and used by everyone just like the biro pen that I use.”







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[Big Gay Al]

Hello, my name is Bowie; Bow for short. I'm 14 weeks old and I'm a Belgian Tervuren. I have 2 big brothers. Winston, a 16 year old Pug who smells funny and doesn't like to play with me and Arrow, my bestest friend, a 5 year old mix breed. Mom says we go together like, well, a Bow and Arrow. I'm teething right now and love to chew everything. Mom has had to hide all the shoes because they're my favorite. Yum! Mom says someday I'll be an Agility dog. I don't know what that means but it sounds fun. And mom also says because I'm not scared of things, like most Tervs, I might be a Therapy Dog someday like my brother Arrow. I sure hope so!

Click for more pictures and comments...

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[Georgie Thompson]

The board of Birmingham International Holdings Limited has revealed Birmingham City are in talks with two different parties about the possible sale of the club.

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[Shanita Balke]

The weather's heating up and you want your style to do the same. If you're a trendsetter, you need to know what the hot styles will be for the season. See the latest in black hair trends for summer 2012 and get ready to rock your 'do!

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[Shanita Balke]

Even though natural black hair is usually highly textured, not everyone wants to wear her hair in its natural state. For some women, straightening and relaxing is a way of life. Just because natural hair is becoming ever more popular, following this trend isn't for everybody.

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[Khalid El-Amin]

Deployment comes amid reports of fierce fighting in Idlib province as rebels try to take control of strategic town.

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[Big Gay Al]

Location: Attleboro, Massachusetts, USA



Stirling and Fluka are siblings who were adopted together when they were about 3 months old. They are mostly tuxedo kitties, with a hint of stripes especially on Fluka (grey female), in the right light.

We already knew we wanted to adopt two cats to keep each other company and were touring the local shelter homes. On our way to these two (30 miles away) we got a flat tire and almost missed the appointment! Good thing we did not let that slow us down because they were just the cutest little kittens we’d ever seen. We were barely back in the car that we decided they were meant to be with us.

They have since not disappointed! Almost a year later they still love to play together and chase each other up and down the stairs, or any furniture that happens to be in the way. Despite having always lived together they definitely have their own personalities. Stirling is vocal and extremely cuddly and will wake us up with kisses every morning, while Fluka is more reserved, fancies herself a great hunter and likes nothing more than to sleep on top of an unopened suitcase.



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[PokerNewsDaily]

It is all systems go now for Full Tilt Poker’s resurrection. Today, the Rational Group, operator of both Full Tilt and PokerStars, announced that the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission has granted Full Tilt Poker an online gaming license.

News like this would have been unheard of earlier this year, as Full Tilt Poker was as good as dead and gone. All that was left was a few last shovels of dirt. In April 2011, on the day known as Black Friday, principals of Full Tilt, PokerStars, and Absolute Poker were indicted by the United States government, charged with various violations of the law such as money laundering and illegal gambling. In the mess, the domain names of all three poker sites were seized, player funds were frozen, and the poker rooms immediately withdrew from the U.S. market. PokerStars got things worked out, regaining its domain name and returning funds to U.S. customers, but Full Tilt completely fell apart.

It soon became known that Full Tilt Poker did not have the money to repay any of its customers, not even ones outside the U.S. At the time of the indictments, Full Tilt was experiencing an extreme shortfall, as it had previously credited player accounts with money it had been unable to transfer from player bank accounts. Additionally, higher-ups at Full Tilt, such as CEO Ray Bitar, had continued to take distributions from company, money that came directly from player funds.

In August, the Rational Group and PokerStars came to the rescue, agreeing to purchase Full Tilt Poker. As part of the agreement, $547 million will be paid to the U.S. government and $184 will go towards non-U.S. player repayment. Payments to U.S. customers ($159 million) will come out of the sum collected by the U.S. government.

PokerStars plans to relaunch Full Tilt Poker on November 6th with a new senior management team in place.

In a press release, Steve Brennan, Chief Executive Officer of the Isle of Man Gambling Supervision Commission said, “The Gambling Supervision Commission is confident that Full Tilt Poker will safeguard the interests of its players and adhere to the strict policies and procedures governing Isle of Man licensed gaming companies. Full Tilt Poker’s application was strengthened by the fact that their new owners and management team are known to us and have an impeccable record of compliance with the Isle of Man’s regulatory requirements.”

Full Tilt Poker had previously been licensed by the Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC), but had that license revoked in September 2011. At the time, Andre Wilsenach, executive director of the AGCC, gave his reasoning for the revocation, saying, “Full Tilt Poker had fundamentally misled AGCC about their operational integrity by continuously reporting as liquid funds balances that had been covertly seized or restrained by U. S. authorities, or that were otherwise not actually available to the operator. Serious breaches of AGCC regulations include false reporting, unauthorised provision of credit, and failure to report material events.”

Things have changed, of course, and the management and ownership that created those problems is no longer part of the company.



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[PokerNews]

Matthew Kredell analyzes state versus federal online poker legislation.

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[CardPlayer]

Dan Heimiller has emerged victorious in the 2012 World Series of Poker Circuit Southern Indiana main event, capturing his first WSOP Circuit gold ring and $117,300. This was Heimiller’s 27th ...

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