The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has just learned that Minnesota's Department of Public Safety (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) served written notice to all Internet service providers (ISPs) forcing them to shut down and block their customers access to online poker sites in the State.
The AGED also announced that they will be prohibiting Minnesota poker players from accessing their online poker monetary accounts. This is an outrageous attack on Internet freedom, personal liberty and the First Amendment.
Please take a moment right now and call,
John Willems, Director of AGED (651) 201-7529
AND
Governor Tim Pawlenty (651) 296-3391
Tell them:
* You are a poker player and you vote
    * You strongly oppose their efforts to force ISPs to block your access to poker sites
    * They do not have the right to dictate what you do in the privacy of your own home
    * They do not have the right to withhold your money from you
    * Poker is a game of skill and NOT ILLEGAL in the USA or Minnesota
    * Please abandon this misguided effort to censor the Internet and nullify personal freedoms
That's BS. And I'm not even a player. But I know of a few who could be irritated if this passes. And I don't want to have to deal with that part of the issue. Your post should be directed towards the PPP (Partners of Poker Players) as well. :smile:
Under what law are they using as justification for doing that? You may have to start using a proxy server so they can't trace your traffic to any gaming site.
Congress and President Bush banned online gambling in 2006. link here
It prohibits American banks from making payments to online gambling sites but does not appear to authorize the government to force ISPs to block access to such sites. From what I've read it looks like the ISPs will probably win in court. That being said, if I had any money in an account on one of those sites I would cash out now just in case.
The state's Department of Public Safety said Wednesday it had asked 11 Internet service providers to block access to 200 online gambling sites.
The state is citing a federal law that requires "common carriers," a term that mainly applies to phone companies, to comply with requests that they block telecommunications services used for gambling.
But Internet service providers are not common carriers, meaning it's unlikely that a court would compel an ISP to comply with Minnesota's request, said John Morris, general counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington.
Morris also noted that the law appears to apply to phone companies directly doing business with bet-takers. But American restrictions on online gambling have already forced gambling sites overseas, where U.S. ISPs have no direct links to them.
"I think this is a very problematic and significant misreading of the statute," Morris said.
In a similar case, Pennsylvania briefly imposed requirements for ISPs to block child-pornography sites. A federal court struck down the law in 2004 because the filters also blocked legitimate sites and affected Internet subscribers outside the state.
John Willems, director of the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety, said that since telecommunications companies now provide more than just phone service, the requests "seem to be a reasonable application of the law."
"We'll see how the conversation unfolds from there," he said.
AT&T Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc., which were among the companies that received the request, said they were reviewing it. Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable ISP, had no immediate comment.
John Palfrey, co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, said the idea of forcing Internet service providers to filter sites almost has been abandoned because it works so poorly. Either too many sites are blocked, or too few -- meaning that even if the ISPs were to cooperate, online gamblers might get around the filters by finding sites that aren't on the list.
Willems said Minnesota might expand the list beyond the 200 sites currently on it.
An advocacy group for poker players said the state's plan was based on "a clear misrepresentation of federal law, as well as Minnesota law, used in an unprecedented way to try and censor the Internet."
"We're calling their bluff," said a statement from Matt Werden, the Minnesota director of the Poker Players Alliance.
I gots to find me one close to work. Although I don't get 5 hours for lunch :confused:
Weird - I was just typing that as you texted CK.
If it was 11-2am I might be interested. Otherwise I only get 30 minutes for lunch and wouldn't feel as if I had time to fully appreciate the deal. Thanks for the invite anyway.
Although, I just found out that I'm one of three that were chosen to move on to the next set of interviews for that new position I applied for within my company. So I could be in Shoreview area within a couple of weeks too.
Just read an article that says, "...the state public health lab has tested samples from more than 100 patients in Minnesota so far. Another 50 tests are pending. Of those, 10 specimens from the Cold Spring area are still being tested."
Are we supposed to assume the 100 tests that are NOT pending were negative? Is there some brain function that is missing from journalists anymore that they don't give us such basic information?
When we lived in FL, the TV stations did some big stories on that. They swabbed the seats and you can guess what they found. Publix had sanitizer stations set up just in days after the story aired.
I'm pretty sure I won't be putting items in the baby seat part of the cart anymore.
Two places I think germs spread, that people don't think of, but is so easy to fix, is the common toothbrush holder in the bathroom AND the toothpaste tube.
The shopping cart is not so dirty when you consider the warehouses all that food is stored in. I used to load a lot of semi-trucks, and they are not exactly clean either. Thats why stuff is wrapped. Of course veggies are not wrapped, so you had better wash them.
That's where there's a problem in Alaska. You Can grow your own but then you need more food because you have the munchies all the time. It's a catch 22.
Jason Lewis is a nut, the Ventura tax cuts are part of the reason we're in this mess in the first place. They have been costing us $1.5-2 billion each year for the last 10 years. Schools are laying off teachers, elderly care is being underfunded to the point where it's going to start costing lives. Fares are rising on an already dysfunctional transportation system, thus prohibiting people who already are disadvantaged from getting to work, which is a huge strain on the economy. Tuition at MnScu schools has increased by 80% since Pawlenty took office (that's 80% in 6 years). If the governor's budget were to pass this year, tuition would eclipse state funding as the largest source of revenue for MnScu for the first time in history. I could keep going, but any rational person can see that you cant just cut $6 billion (or $5 billion counting the federal stimulus money) off of a $34 billion budget (that's almost 18% for you math geeks). The solution needs to be some combination of cuts and tax increases, starting with with reversing the Ventura tax cuts and possibly adding a 4th tax bracket. That being said, if the money is there to cut corporate taxes like Pawlenty wants to do, we should go for it as we would probably see a positive return on that before too long. To sum up my rant, we do not have a spending problem on the state level as so many on the right say, but a revenue problem.
I'll let you pay my taxes then and we'll call it even. :wink:
Schools waste money...that's right they waste money. I don't have sympathy for them. Have them run them like a real business. There's way too much administration vs teachers. Fire the admins and keep the teachers.
Lastly MN is the 4th highest taxed state in the nation. I'm really don't want to be #1 in that category. Yes, we have to pay taxes for services, but MN gives away way too much money for crap we can't afford. I wish I could go to my boss and take more money when I'm not fiscally responsible, that's what the legislature does. You can find any particular item to pick appart in this budget as not getting enough money, but the rally is to say they should get less over all. No one is saying schools should close, but they should spend money more responsibly. Just using yours reply as an example.
But I'll make you a deal. You pay all my taxes and you can have what ever government service you want. I like keeping my money. :wink:
my oldest daughter planned a treasure hunt for her boyfriends 18th birthday today. She wrote all the clues cept one (I have not seen or read them yet-well, looking kinda at a couple now). She needs a clue written that will take him from Blockbuster on Hamline and University to Target (same parking lot). Looks like she wants the next clue to send him to look for something with stars in Target. Wish I could make it easy and just say "go to Target and look for the glow in the dark stars package". heh
 The Poker Players Alliance (PPA) has just learned that Minnesota's Department of Public Safety (DPS) Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division (AGED) served written notice to all Internet service providers (ISPs) forcing them to shut down and block their customers access to online poker sites in the State.
The AGED also announced that they will be prohibiting Minnesota poker players from accessing their online poker monetary accounts. This is an outrageous attack on Internet freedom, personal liberty and the First Amendment.
Please take a moment right now and call,
John Willems, Director of AGED (651) 201-7529
AND
Governor Tim Pawlenty (651) 296-3391
Tell them:
* You are a poker player and you vote
    * You strongly oppose their efforts to force ISPs to block your access to poker sites
    * They do not have the right to dictate what you do in the privacy of your own home
    * They do not have the right to withhold your money from you
    * Poker is a game of skill and NOT ILLEGAL in the USA or Minnesota
    * Please abandon this misguided effort to censor the Internet and nullify personal freedoms
Your opinion matters. Your calls matter
its a royal pain in the ...
well Oregon has done this and they are busting people who do it ...even for pennies :frown:
It prohibits American banks from making payments to online gambling sites but does not appear to authorize the government to force ISPs to block access to such sites. From what I've read it looks like the ISPs will probably win in court. That being said, if I had any money in an account on one of those sites I would cash out now just in case.
The state is citing a federal law that requires "common carriers," a term that mainly applies to phone companies, to comply with requests that they block telecommunications services used for gambling.
But Internet service providers are not common carriers, meaning it's unlikely that a court would compel an ISP to comply with Minnesota's request, said John Morris, general counsel at the Center for Democracy and Technology in Washington.
Morris also noted that the law appears to apply to phone companies directly doing business with bet-takers. But American restrictions on online gambling have already forced gambling sites overseas, where U.S. ISPs have no direct links to them.
"I think this is a very problematic and significant misreading of the statute," Morris said.
In a similar case, Pennsylvania briefly imposed requirements for ISPs to block child-pornography sites. A federal court struck down the law in 2004 because the filters also blocked legitimate sites and affected Internet subscribers outside the state.
John Willems, director of the Alcohol and Gambling Enforcement Division of Minnesota's Department of Public Safety, said that since telecommunications companies now provide more than just phone service, the requests "seem to be a reasonable application of the law."
"We'll see how the conversation unfolds from there," he said.
AT&T Inc. and Qwest Communications International Inc., which were among the companies that received the request, said they were reviewing it. Comcast Corp., the nation's largest cable ISP, had no immediate comment.
John Palfrey, co-director of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University, said the idea of forcing Internet service providers to filter sites almost has been abandoned because it works so poorly. Either too many sites are blocked, or too few -- meaning that even if the ISPs were to cooperate, online gamblers might get around the filters by finding sites that aren't on the list.
Willems said Minnesota might expand the list beyond the 200 sites currently on it.
An advocacy group for poker players said the state's plan was based on "a clear misrepresentation of federal law, as well as Minnesota law, used in an unprecedented way to try and censor the Internet."
"We're calling their bluff," said a statement from Matt Werden, the Minnesota director of the Poker Players Alliance.
10bucks!!!
Weird - I was just typing that as you texted CK.
If it was 11-2am I might be interested. Otherwise I only get 30 minutes for lunch and wouldn't feel as if I had time to fully appreciate the deal. Thanks for the invite anyway.
NE Mpls for now.
Although, I just found out that I'm one of three that were chosen to move on to the next set of interviews for that new position I applied for within my company. So I could be in Shoreview area within a couple of weeks too.
better ?? is when are u???
Working standard 9-5 now and maybe 7-? if I get the job.
In the summer it's a great place to have a picnic!!
I know that name
Are we supposed to assume the 100 tests that are NOT pending were negative? Is there some brain function that is missing from journalists anymore that they don't give us such basic information?
and eeeeweeee to greywolfs next comment.
Two places I think germs spread, that people don't think of, but is so easy to fix, is the common toothbrush holder in the bathroom AND the toothpaste tube.
Life is so complicated sometimes. :smile:
stored most of the time in dim lighting, used by tons of unwashed hands, hardly ever sanitized...
- Ummm, you gonna have chili fries delivered to your lane DURING your game, sir?
wish i could move to alaska...poach my dinner and grow my own..
Sorry, you mentioned 'munchies all the time' - I just assumed...
Off to express my God Given Rights of Free Assemblage and Speech.
Come join me, Maybe we can spend the rest of the day together in the Pokey! :wink:
Schools waste money...that's right they waste money. I don't have sympathy for them. Have them run them like a real business. There's way too much administration vs teachers. Fire the admins and keep the teachers.
Lastly MN is the 4th highest taxed state in the nation. I'm really don't want to be #1 in that category. Yes, we have to pay taxes for services, but MN gives away way too much money for crap we can't afford. I wish I could go to my boss and take more money when I'm not fiscally responsible, that's what the legislature does. You can find any particular item to pick appart in this budget as not getting enough money, but the rally is to say they should get less over all. No one is saying schools should close, but they should spend money more responsibly. Just using yours reply as an example.
But I'll make you a deal. You pay all my taxes and you can have what ever government service you want. I like keeping my money. :wink:
Ok stepping down from my soap box.
happy star wars day
need help writing a clue if anyone is interested.
I need it written in an hour.
my oldest daughter planned a treasure hunt for her boyfriends 18th birthday today. She wrote all the clues cept one (I have not seen or read them yet-well, looking kinda at a couple now). She needs a clue written that will take him from Blockbuster on Hamline and University to Target (same parking lot). Looks like she wants the next clue to send him to look for something with stars in Target. Wish I could make it easy and just say "go to Target and look for the glow in the dark stars package". heh
his car
to blockbuster
to Target
text her
to the big green chair
to the top of the highbridge (our front yard)
to come inside
she has a steak, corn on the cob, pumkin pie dinner for him.
You might need to see Spot save
Now don't drive far to find the star
With an instrument that you crave
(telescope)?
Not much time here sorry :neutral:
I like the third line alot
I just looked at Target.com ... lots of telescopes - kid ones to big ones