Official Skatz 10 Million Views Thread

[Percy The Perv]

Romy Awards Vienna April 1397x2184 340kb





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[Percy The Perv]

Selena Gomez Ellen Degeneres Show Collage 1280x788 850kb





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[Georgie Thompson]

West Indies batsman Chris Gayle has joined the Bangalore Royal Challengers for the remainder of the IPL season.

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[NASA]

Gasa Crater Gully Monitoring

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[NASA]

Like looking for Easter eggs in a lawn of long grass, the hunt for the Milky Way's most massive stars takes persistence and sharp eyes. In their stellar search through our Galactic backyard, astronomers have used powerful telescopes sensitive to X-ray and infrared radiation to find evidence for a substantial population of X-ray emitting massive stars.This image shows infrared data from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope near the plane of the Milky Way galaxy. Both outlined boxes contain an artificially darkened view of the Spitzer data, to highlight a bright X-ray source (blue) detected at the center of each square with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. Each X-ray source coincides with a strong infrared signal.Analysis of the X-ray and infrared data, as well as optical and radio observations, reveals that these bright sources are, in fact, extremely massive stars. Two other massive stars have also been found near the plane of the Milky Way using similar methods. Deep observations from ESA's XMM-Newton also provided valuable information for these other two objects. All four of these stars are thought to be at least 25 times more massive than the Sun and lie between 7,500 and 18,000 light years from Earth. These stars are expected to last only a few million years and will end their lives with supernova explosions.Finding these very massive stars is not easy. Dust and gas throughout the Milky Way obscures much of the view from optical telescopes near the plane of the galaxy. Infrared images suffer less obscuration but are extremely crowded with stars. However, these stellar behemoths shine brightly in X-ray light and easily stand out from their neighbors in Chandra images.Why are these massive stars so bright in X-rays? Some massive stars have winds that blow material away from their surface at over 2 million miles per hour. If this high-speed material collides with the wind from a companion star, it is decelerated so suddenly that it acts like it has collided with a Solar System-sized brick wall. The shock waves resulting from this enormous collision generate temperatures up to 100 million degrees, and produce copious amounts of X-rays.These Chandra observations followed a survey of the plane of our Galaxy by the Advanced Satellite for Cosmology and Astrophysics (ASCA), a previous X-ray mission. This survey detected about 160 X-ray sources, but only a third of them could be definitively identified due to the limited spatial resolution of ASCA. Because Chandra's ability to resolve sources is significantly greater, much more precise positions could be obtained. This has allowed scientists to identify counterparts to the X-ray sources in other wavelengths. There are many other unidentified Galactic X-ray sources with X-ray properties similar to these four sources, so a large population of massive stars may remain to be discovered with future Chandra observations.These results were published in the February 1st issue of The Astrophysical Journal in a paper led by Gemma Anderson (University of Sydney). Other authors included Bryan Gaensler (University of Sydney), David Kaplan (University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee), Bettina Posselt, Patrick Slane and Stephen Murray (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, or CfA), Jon Mauerhan (California Institute of Technology), Robert Benjamin (University of Wisconsin, Whitewater), Crystal Brogan (National Radio Astronomy Observatory), Deepto Chakrabarty (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Jeremy Drake (CfA), Janet Drew (University of Hertfordshire), Jonathan Grindlay and Jaesub Hong (CfA), Joseph Lazio (Naval Research Laboratory), Julia Lee (CfA), Danny Steeghs (University of Warwick), and Marten van Kerkwijk (University of Toronto).

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[PokerNewsDaily]

There are so many aspects of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) recent actions against online poker that I don’t understand.

I don’t understand why the very government that was built to champion personal liberty would take away our rights to play online poker, a game that citizens of almost every other country in the world are allowed to play. Why don’t we have the same rights as those who reside in other countries?

I don’t understand why the DOJ has spent so much time and money trying to shut down a game. Wouldn’t their time be better spent trying to crack down on some of the truly destructive crises in our nation like terrorism, drug dealing, and crime?

I don’t understand why our government chose to make the jobs of tens of thousands of Americans vanish overnight. And it’s not just the players who have lost their income source. What about the poker media, customer service agents, event planners, and developers in the online poker business? What will the staff of the poker magazines, poker television shows, and poker sponsorship companies now do for work?

I don’t understand what will happen to the players who have had their bankrolls frozen without warning. How will they pay their bills? How many of them will lose their homes and now be subject to the unemployment and welfare that our government claims to work so adamantly to reduce?

I don’t understand why the DOJ has chosen to make the United States the laughing stock of the world. I am getting emails from friends in other countries making fun of our legislators for turning away millions of dollars that could be garnered through the taxation and regulation of online poker – dollars that could reduce the national debt. The online sites have been begging to be taxed and regulated for a long time.

I don’t understand the tainted future of events like the World Series of Poker. About half of the field in the Main Event qualifies through online satellites. Now this widespread opportunity to turn players’ dreams into reality has vanished. What’s going to happen to the poker dealers and tournament staff who will no longer be needed due to the reduced entries?

What’s going to happen to the city of Las Vegas – a city already in dire straits due to the current economic climate? Reducing the number of people who come to Las Vegas, a city so dependent on the bustling business of its visitors who spend money on lodging, dining, and entertainment, will only add to its economic anguish.

I don’t understand why I personally can’t continue to play in my online home league. I already miss the nightly $1 tournaments and the chance to chat and bond with my friends. I’m surprised how much joy these $1 events have brought me. It isn’t about the money; it’s about the bragging rights and the competition we each enjoy. Also, we’ve been keeping records on each player’s performance, so now how will we finish the league and determine the champion?

I don’t understand why I now have to go to a brick-and-mortar casino in order to play poker. What a waste of time, money, and gas to drive to a card room when I could play in the comfort of my own home. There are many times when I have an hour to kill, so I log on and enjoy some poker. Now, I won’t be able to go to the card room and wait for a game unless I am willing to commit many hours to playing.

I don’t understand why the government has taken away my freedom of choice. After decades of building my poker skills to their current level, I now have only a few places to play the games I prefer. The games and limits that were so readily available to me online are not offered in my local card room.

I don’t understand what I’m going to do the 200+ nights a year I am traveling. I used to fill the time playing online poker. Now what?

I don’t understand what people who can’t leave their homes to get to a casino will do now. I have an elderly friend going through chemotherapy whose only joy in life right now is playing online poker. I know paralyzed veterans who are so disabled that they can’t go to card rooms. What about my brother who lives in Utah; where will he play now?

I don’t understand what people on fixed incomes will do now regarding playing poker. Online, they can make $5 last all night. They can play $1 sit and gos or $0.02-$0.04 Limit. If they go to a card room, they need to have at least $100 to get into the smallest No Limit game.

I don’t understand the hypocrisy of a government that allows its citizens to wager on horse races, fantasy football, lotteries, etc. online, but won’t allow wagering on a game of skill.

I don’t understand what will happen when many of our online players move to other countries in order to make a living. We will be losing some of our smartest young minds that have a lot to offer to the United States.

I don’t understand why my country has let me down. I’ve been a law-abiding, tax-paying citizen my entire life. I’ve been a flag-waver. I am overcome with emotion when I hear our national anthem. I’m as patriotic as they come. I’ve always been proud to be an American. I don’t understand why everything has changed.

I’m angry, sad, disgusted, and confused about what has happened with online poker. The illogical destruction of the poker community along with the loss of opportunity to embrace the game for all it has to offer its citizens and government alike is beyond reason to me. What used to be my pursuit of happiness has evaporated along with a piece of my patriotism. I already miss playing my favorite game.

I don’t understand.



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[PokerNews]

On Wednesday, April 20, 2011, the Alderney Gambling Control Commission released a statement regarding idictment against its licensee, Full Tilt Poker.

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[Carl Culture]

Good Wednesday morning to you all. This morning we feature a picture showing a scene in Jerusalem in the 1920's. The background is interesting, as you see what looks like a military man, men dressed up, and maybe men in Arab clothing. Not sure what the event was.





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[Carl Culture]

Enlightening Oneself ::: Sanjay Nanda ::: Kye monestary, Spiti, HP, an old tibetian pilgrim had just come out of the prayer hall which was cold and was warming himself in the midday sun (...)

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[Carl Culture]

Painted Dunes can be seen atop Cinder Cone at Lassen Volcanic National Park in California. The colors are a result of volcanic activity. The beauty is breathtaking. The vision, as you can see, is like an oil painting. God's tapestry on Earth. ÂSUCKINGHOBBITDICKS ( This photo and caption were submitted to Your Shot.)





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