Daily Archives: April 25, 2022

Almost a year on, new Boston police watchdog has processed only a few complaints of officer misconduct. Some advocates are disappointed. – The Boston…

Posted: April 25, 2022 at 5:24 pm

For some advocates, those numbers suggest the organization is falling short of its mission to investigate complaints of police misconduct in a city of 700,000 and that more needs to be done to ensure the new watchdog is not a toothless bureaucracy that quietly accepts the status quo.

But the agencys director says that the last year has helped us start to lay the foundation to ensure transparency and accountability within the Boston Police Department. One city councilor suggests it will take time for the community to trust the new office. And a top police union official says the low number is indicative of the forces high level of professionalism.

Jamarhl Crawford, who served on the task force that recommended OPAT to then-Mayor Martin J. Walsh, is among the critics. He described the new organization as being very lackluster in its execution. Calling the number of cases OPAT has processed thus far disappointing, Crawford said, It speaks to the fact that they didnt understand the charge from the beginning.

It has been, you know, certainly not what we envisioned or intended, said Crawford, a local police reform advocate.

However, Joseph D. Feaster Jr., another police reform task force member, gave a more generous assessment of OPATs performance. He said he was willing to give the city officials the benefit of the doubt, acknowledging that OPAT started to form in earnest under an acting mayor last year and that Michelle Wu just became mayor in November.

I will give them a passing grade, he said.

But Feaster did say, Would I have hoped for a greater number of resolutions? Absolutely.

OPAT fields and reviews complaints from the public about law enforcement officers and has subpoena power to investigate police affairs. It operates independently of the Police Department, which was crucial for those who supported its creation. The agency was charged with monitoring police and community relations, reviewing Police Department policies, and encouraging accountability and transparency within the department.

Two boards fall under OPAT: a nine-member Civilian Review Board and five-member Internal Affairs Oversight Panel. Those two boards only became fully staffed this January, seven months after they were created. The umbrella organization, which has a proposed $1.4 million budget for next fiscal year, provides research and administrative support to those boards.

Under the ordinance that created OPAT, the agencys staff is charged with reviewing and classifying each complaint and making recommendations, which can include dismissal, referral for mediation, or referrals to either of the two boards. The Civilian Review Board is charged with reviewing and investigating certain complaints against BPD. True to its name, the Internal Affairs Oversight Panel is tasked with providing external oversight for the departments internal probes, to help ensure they are thorough and fair.

OPATs executive director, Stephanie L. Everett, a Mattapan attorney, started in her role on May 3. OPAT has had the ability to receive complaints since that date, according to Wus office.

Everett said in a statement, Now that the two boards are fully seated and the board members have received the required training, we are looking forward to working with the community to continue our offices important work.

A city dashboard offers a brief summary of the five complaints that have made it through the intake process. One complainant alleged two officers improperly served a warrant. Another person said an officer vandalized a car belonging to a relative. A third alleged an assault by an officer. Another said police mistakenly responded to their home multiple times. Lastly, someone alleged an officer used excessive force and entered a home without a warrant. The dashboard does not identify the officers.

Of the five, three of the complaining parties were white and two were Black. All were women. The complaints came from across the city: Dorchester, South Boston, the North End, Roxbury, and Mission Hill.

Michael Cox, executive director of Black and Pink Massachusetts, a prison abolition advocacy group, said Friday he was disappointed but not surprised by the low number of OPAT cases that are pending. He thought it was a reflection of OPATs leadership. For him, it begged the question whether true police reform is possible.

Or do we want to be shrinking the scope of budgets as a different method of controlling police? he asked. It goes back to the defund conversation.

He added, You can create anything you want, if theres no enforcement, no accountability attached to it, its just useless.

In a statement, Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmens Association, said the low number of complaints is certainly indicative of what I have been saying all along, that the men and women of the BPPA answering the calls for service are some of the most professional officers in the nation.

And while no [department] is perfect, were incredibly proud of the work being done by our members every single day, he said.

Calderone added that when there is a complaint, and we fully expect there will be because complaints come in when officers are doing their jobs, we will continue to demand that our members be treated fairly and equitably against any allegations.

Councilor Julia Mejia, who is known as a supporter of police reform in the city, said in a statement that since Everett was appointed to lead OPAT, we have seen how this new office has begun establishing itself as a place where people can go for justice and accountability.

One of the biggest challenges we have ahead of us is working with the community to ensure that OPAT is worthy of the communitys trust, Mejia said.

City authorities, she said, are unpacking decades of abuse and mistrust in the system, and it is going to take time to make people feel comfortable relying on this office.

A previous civilian oversight board, the Community Ombudsman Opportunity Panel, existed within the Police Department and had no subpoena powers. It went three years without issuing a report, a year without meeting, and at one point its membership dwindled to a single person.

When then-mayor Walsh signed OPAT into law in early January 2021, it was considered the signature recommendation from the task force, and a hallmark of Walshs attempts at police reform.

Walsh left City Hall later that year to become the nations labor secretary and he was immediately succeeded by Kim Janey, who as City Council president became acting mayor. Janey is the one who appointed Everett to lead the new entity. Janey was eliminated from the mayoral race in Septembers preliminary contest, and Wu was elected the city chief executive and sworn in last November.

The Boston Police Department has been buffeted by scandal in recent years, even as the city enjoyed a downturn in street violence in 2021, including shootings and homicides, which bucked national trends. Dennis White, a former Boston police commissioner, was fired last year after decades-old domestic violence allegations resurfaced. White has denied wrongdoing. The city is currently searching for his permanent replacement.

Other controversies include an overtime fraud scandal at an evidence warehouse and revelations that the department allowed an officer, Patrick M. Rose Sr., to continue to serve on the force for years after investigators determined in the mid-1990s he had more than likely molested a child.

Danny McDonald can be reached at daniel.mcdonald@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @Danny__McDonald.

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Almost a year on, new Boston police watchdog has processed only a few complaints of officer misconduct. Some advocates are disappointed. - The Boston...

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Community Scoop An Unresponsive Prime Minister And Health Minister To A Best Endeavour – Scoop

Posted: at 5:24 pm

Opinion Ian Powell

I have expressed my concerns in these postings and other media outlets about the Governments decision, without mandate or engagement with the health sector, to abolish district health boards (DHBs) in Aotearoa New Zealands public health system

I have expressed my concerns in these postings and other media outlets about the Governments decision, without mandate or engagement with the health sector, to abolish district health boards (DHBs) in Aotearoa New Zealands public health system (thereby abandoning the longstanding democratic principle of subsidiarity between central and local government).

I have also expressed concern about the Governments increasing drift towards a laissez-faire pandemic response since last October.

On 2 February I blended both concerns together in an email to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern arguing that it was dangerous to disestablish DHBs in the midst of a pandemic. These concerns have subsequently greatly intensified with the onslaught of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

In addition to throwing our health system, both community and hospital, into crisis it has led to a massive increase in mortalities; from around 50 prior to this year (over 21 months) to a further nearly additional 600 deaths to date this year.

Below is the text of my email:

Dear Prime Minister

I am writing to you in respect of the decision to abolish DHBs by 1 July as provided for in the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) Bill currently before Parliament. You are probably aware that I was the Executive Director of the Association of Salaried Medical Specialists from April 1989 to December 2019.

This has given me the opportunity to observe and analyse several restructurings in Aotearoa, including what I regard as the best conducted and most effective, the Public Health and Disability Act 2000 which established the district health board system.

During this employment I have also had the opportunity to look at health systems internationally including the United Kingdom, Germany and other parts of Europe, Australia, and the United States. It also enabled me to meet and engage with the OECD, WHO and the World Medical Association.

You may aware that I am presently a freelance health systems commentator and blogger. What I have had published includes matters relevant to what I discuss below.

To avoid any ambiguity, I am not opposed to the whole of the Pae Ora Bill. I strongly support the proposals to establish both the Maori Health Authority and the new crown public health agency. In both cases these have been discussed and advocated in various forms for some time. They have not come from left-field. The latter was not in the Heather Simpson review of the health and disability system but the need for a public health agency has been discussed and debated over many years. In both cases the argument is not new, and their time has come.

The same cant be said for the abolition of DHBs. It was not part of Labours election manifesto in 2020 (quite the opposite) and was not recommended by the Simpson review. Its announcement last April came as a complete surprise and there has been no opportunity for the public to be engaged with or sought a mandate from (the restrictive parliamentary process for the bill falls well short of this threshold).

It is important to recognise the role and purpose of DHBs. I say this as someone who has been more critical than most of some of their actions over two decades. Establishing DHBs meant establishing for the first time statutory bodies responsible for the health and well-being of geographically defined populations and integration between community (including general practice and aged residential care) and hospital care. [area health boards gradually established in the mid to late 1980s also had this objective but had insufficient time to develop it before being abolished by the National government in 1993]

This full responsibility across the spectrum of health has been a strength of our public health system since 2001. This includes the obligation to regularly investigate, assess, and monitor the health status of its resident population. Structurally, this has given New Zealand significant advantages over many other modern health systems where, for different reasons, community and hospital care are much less integrated by being more structurally separated.

The biggest difficulty has been uneven and inconsistent national leadership (structurally and politically) to provide the level of national cohesion needed. Much good has been achieved but much more potential unrealised. Responsibility for this rests much more within central government than DHBs.

In my assessment DHBs came under unfair criticism for the handling of the vaccine rollout. But I have looked closely at the international data which confirms that by they have done very well. Our fully vaccinated rate is one of the highest in the world. It was even higher than the European Union which had the massive advantage of being able to both negotiate as a powerful collective bloc with the monopolistic pharmaceutical companies and have within its membership vaccine producing countries.

The uniqueness of having statutory local structures responsible for geographically defined populations proved to be a major factor in this success. Despite having no control over supply DHBs were able to compensate for our big disadvantage as a small economy far away from vaccine producing countries.

Regrettably, earlier in the rollout, some DHBs were singled out for criticism. But the fact of the matter is that DHBs comparative milestone achievements ranked according to workforce size and population density. The bigger DHBs workforce and the denser their population, the sooner they achieved vaccination milestones. It was the DHBs with smaller workforces and lower population density because of rural communities that were comparatively slower.

As you will be acutely aware the effect of omicron is going to put the whole countrys health system under unprecedented dangerous pressure, especially our public hospitals. No longer will the impact be confined to a region. Transmission will be too high and fast to prevent increasing hospitalisations. This will likely increase mortality rates.

Hospitals are also likely to be bogged down by long covid where the effects of the virus continue for weeks or months beyond the initial illness. This will leave our public hospitals unable to do much else than do their best for Covid-19 patients (sadly with compromises). This is made worse by an already overstretched and fatigued workforce. It is much more likely than not that omicron wont be the last Covid-19 variant this year. Some of its successors will be less and others more virulent.

As you can see from my comments above, I believe abolishing DHBs is wrong and will be counter-productive. Losing statutory bodies that know their defined populations well compared with a national body (with or without regional branches) will set back the effectiveness of the health system. It is compounded by the fact that there is little idea other than prototypes what will be the replacement for the community care functions of DHBs.

But, in addition, to do this during a pandemic is dangerous. It is dangerous for patients, for those that work in the health system (especially those involved in treatment), and it is dangerous electorally.

I strongly urge you to reconsider this decision. Im confident that this could be messaged with integrity in a way that would not look like a backdown. In fact, the structure of DHBs is well-placed to better assist the effectiveness of both the Maori Health Authority and the crown public health agency.

I appreciate that you are far too busy to discuss this further directly with me but if one of your advisers or someone else on your behalf wish to do so I would welcome it

Kind regards

Ian Powell

I did receive a prompt courteous acknowledgement from the Prime Ministers office advising that this email had been forwarded on to Minister of Health Andrew Little who would reply to me directly.

Needless to say, nearly three months later, there has been no response from the Minister; not even a brief compilation of stock soundbites. Well, I tried. I have no sense of outrage because I had no sense of expectation. Back to the blogging.

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Defunding the police is a move towards community safety – The Conversation

Posted: at 5:24 pm

Defund should not be a dirty word.

In fact, defunding public police is a step towards choosing real safety for communities across Canada. Defunding means taking funds from police budgets, while shrinking the size and operations of police. At the same time, it means granting more power to community groups and dedicating more resources to community and social development. Defunding police is a necessary step toward social and economic justice.

Taking the time to cut through intimidating police rhetoric can help reveal ways police actually create harm.

Police rhetoric and intimidation push people away from thinking through the costs of policing. The rhetoric can be so overwhelming that it often prevents us from exploring alternative possibilities of non-punitive and community-led responses to transgression.

Ive recently helped to edit a collection of essays exploring the economic, political and social reasons for defunding, disarming and dismantling public police in Canada. After reflecting on the arguments, I am convinced that larger police budgets and greater police deployments will cause more harm than good.

One major reason to defund police is economic.

In some Canadian cities, public police budgets now account for more than 30 per cent of municipal budgets. The costs of policing are expected to surge even higher in the next decade.

These costs are creating structural deficits that municipalities will never escape from. On economic grounds alone, defunding police is an issue anybody interested in cities and public (and fiscal) policy should have at the front of mind. This money should be reinvested in social programs, community development, mental health, transportation and housing.

Still, its necessary to go beyond economic claims and look at the politics. The politics of police are another reason for defunding.

The politics of police forces are anti-democratic and contrary to social justice.

For example, this past February during the right-wing trucker protest, some police sided with the anti-vaccine convoy in cities like Ottawa, Winnipeg and Coutts, Alta.

Some officers used their cars as personal photo booths for the occupiers and acted as valet parking for the truckers, revealing differential treatment for mostly white settler protesters compared to, for example, Indigenous Wetsuweten land defenders and water protectors. Several officers across the country are under investigation for either donating to the trucker convoy or posting social media alerts cheering on the occupation of Canadian cities that were hurtful, disruptive and disrespectful to so many.

There are other examples of regressive police politics. Police have used public resources to support their own narrow, conservative political causes. In Edmonton and Lethbridge, Alta., police have been caught spying on their critics and circulating negative social media posts. In Toronto and Winnipeg, police unions have run attack ads against mayors when those politicians suggested police costs should be reined in.

Recently, Calgary police have indicated they will continue to wear thin blue line patches that have been called fascist and racist in the United States and in Canada too.

Some police like to suggest they are the thin blue line holding back forces of chaos in the world. This requires police to adopt an aggressive law-and-order ideology.

To mark their political stance and exceptional (some might call it extremist) posture, officers will adorn their uniforms with thin blue line patches or put blue line stickers on their cars.

These examples reinforce the idea that police are biased against left-wing political groups and embody a conservative political order.

In this conservative political police culture, critics must be neutralized. Police defunding becomes a dirty word.

A further reason to defund and abolish police is the violence they exact, especially on Black and Indigenous peoples.

Numerous studies and countless stories demonstrate the graphic violence police wantonly use against racialized people.

There are other groups suffering from police violence in ways that have become commonplace. People experiencing mental health crises are routinely shot to death by police instead of getting support.

Medical doctors and nurses in the U.S. and Canada tired of seeing the results of police violence on the bodies of their patients have formed groups calling for the defunding and abolition police.

Other groups are mobilizing for abolition and organizing workshops on alternatives to calling the police because they see police violence is causing tremendous harm.

That immediate violence is in addition to the slow violence that criminalizing people does to entire neighbourhoods. Every arrest by police can affect access to education and employment opportunities, and have a lasting impact on families. Imprisoning Communities by U.S. criminologist Todd Clear is a book everyone should read: it reveals how putting people in jail erodes social and familial bonds.

It might seem counter-intuitive, but criminalization undoes community and creates conditions for more transgression. The more police criminalize people, the less healthy our communities are. When you understand that, you start to see the harm that police do everywhere.

Do we want a society governed by a rock-em-sock-em mentality of reactive, violent responses to people in distress and need?

Or do we want to live in a generous society in which community development is the focus of government funding, and policing is no longer a major priority?

It is not a luxury to debate this for many people, especially Black, Indigenous and people of colour in Canada. Police abolition is a matter of survival.

For more discussions about defunding the police, check out the book Disarm, Defund, Dismantle: Police Abolition in Canada which confronts policing myths head on. The ideas in the book build on the work of many social movement groups calling for police defunding. The book examines the politics and economics of policing, the history of police violence, the colonial dimensions of Canada that public police continue to uphold, the police targeting of sex workers and migrants, and the need to put defunding on the agenda in every jurisdiction.

Reading these arguments may help communities envision alternatives to police while bolstering arguments to defund police and refund community.

We have decreased the power and scope or done away with harmful social institutions before. Continuing to accept the status quo by handing over massive budgets to public police institutions will not get us to a safe and healthy future. Bigger police budgets and greater police deployments are a recipe for more harm.

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WW3 threat as Putin’s mouthpiece warns of ‘no mercy’ in war ‘against Europe and world’ – Express

Posted: at 5:23 pm

Vladimir Solovyov, known as Putin's "mouthpiece", has threatened Europe and NATO countries of an impending war as he said Russia's war is entering "a new stage".

The prominent Russian state TV presenter said there "will be no mercy" during his ranting speech.

Solovyov questioned whether NATO countries will have enough weapons left to defend themselves once Russia's invasion of Ukraine ends.

The ranting propagandist, who was sanctioned by the EU for his close ties to the Russian leader, warned that Moscow will be "grinding up NATO's war machine as well as its citizens".

On the state-owned Russian television channel Russia 1, Solovyov said: "I believe the special military operation is entering a new stage.

"Ukrainians alone are no longer enough. Now they're talking about NATO countries supplying de-facto their own weapons. We'll see not only NATO's weapons being drawn into this but also their operators.

"De-facto, we're starting to wage war against NATO countries. We'll be grinding up NATO's war machine as well as citizens of NATO countries."

He added: "When this operation concludes, NATO will have to ask itself: Do we have what we need to defend ourselves? Do we have the people to defend ourselves?

"And there will be no mercy. There will be no mercy. Not only Ukraine will have been denazified, the war against Europe and the world is developing a more specific outline which means we'll have to act differently and to act much more harshly."

READ MORE:Rublev discloses Wimbledon phone call with Russian players after ban

The presenter's troubling comments come just weeks after arsonists targetted his villa in Lake Como, and activists poured red paint into his swimming pool at another of his luxury properties and scrawled "killer" on the wall.

Russia recently announced its plans to take over the south of Ukraine and the whole of the Donbas region.

Rustam Minnekayev, the deputy commander of Russia's military, said Putin's army plans to forge a corridor between Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014, and the Donbas in eastern Ukraine.

Ukrainian fighters left in Mariupol, that Russia claims to have seized, are holed up at Azovstal industrial facility which Putin has ordered to be blockaded, condemning the soldiers and civilians inside to their deaths.

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Mr Minnekayev said should Russia's forces seize southern Ukraine, it would improve the army's access to Moldova's pro-Russian breakaway region of Transdniestria.

Transdniestria borders Ukraine, causing Kyiv to fear the area could be used as a launching pad for new attacks from Russian troops.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry has denounced Russia's plans to seize full control of Donbas and southern Ukraine, calling it "imperialism".

The ministry wrote on Twitter that Russia had "acknowledged that the goal of the 'second phase' of the war is not victory over the mythical Nazis, but simply the occupation of eastern and southern Ukraine. Imperialism as it is".

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WW3 threat as Putin's mouthpiece warns of 'no mercy' in war 'against Europe and world' - Express

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Top 5 Winter Sport-Themed Online Casino Games FasterSkier.com – fasterskier.com

Posted: at 5:22 pm

Petter Northug (L) and Marcus Hellner (center) playing a one-on-one game of Texas Holdem at the Palms Casino in Las Vegas.

Humans have a natural affinity for games and playing from an early age. Playing is the finest way for children to learn, and whats more? Playing is a great way for adults to pick up new skills and the majority of people might benefit from playing for the sheer joy of it.

Its been shown time and time again that everyone, regardless of age, may benefit from playing video games. Online gaming has grown exponentially since its inception in 1980, thus the narrative is far from over. As technology improved and the internet became more accessible, so did online gaming. Its only natural that games become more popular, engaging, and high-quality as these three technologies evolved.

This includes online casino games, which are played by millions of individuals throughout the globe. Online gaming systems were developed by brick-and-mortar casinos as soon as it became clear that new generations of players preferred the flexibility of playing from any location at any time. Again, this was largely due to developments in technology. Online games are accessible to everyone with a smartphone or other portable device.

When it comes to online casino games, slot machines are unquestionably the most well-liked. Slots have also evolved throughout time since they are simple to play, have fantastic visuals, and most come with free sign-ups and bonuses. Winter sports may be played for enjoyment or as a means to an end. Whatever your favorite pastimes may be, you may find a slot game to suit your interests. In this article, well review the most popular winter sport-themed online casino games, including:

Microgaming created and published this video slot in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. Speed skaters, bobsleighs, ski jumpers, and biathlon are the most valuable symbols in this 5-reel, 15-pay line slot machine. Traditional card symbols 9 through Ace are the low-paying symbols in this slot game. All other symbols may be substituted except for the Scatter symbol, which is the Gold Medal. You may earn a whopping 100,000 coins while playing in an online casino if you get five wilds in a row. Free spins and extra coins may be won in a fun bonus round triggered by the scatter symbol. Up to 120,000 coins might be yours with the scatters in play.

Winters Gold includes a unique bonus game that may be activated and is also a slot where the base game alone can easily spin in some large winning combinations. A Microgaming slot means that if you want to play it, you will need to visit Wild Fortune casino, which is a reputable and credible online casino with a plethora of entertaining games.

As far as winning streaks go, Queen of Winter Wins is your best bet. Once a player has three matching symbols on a single spin, the following spin will hold them in place.

Bonuses are available for locking a complete reel in the game. An icicle dropped by the Ice Queen causes all symbols to go wild.

Among online slot games, this form of symbol stacking is a rarity. Your odds of landing a huge win improve in direct proportion to the number of matching symbols you manage to collect.

The Queen of Winter Wins slot, like other 5-reel slots, is enjoyable to play. They put forth a lot of effort to produce a game this fantastic in such a short period. An arctic journey may be brought to life using pictures such as the owl, the crown, the amulet, and the owls. Because its so fantastic, the slot machine had me glued to the screen for quite some time.

There is no denying that the slot bonus feature in Queen of Winter Wins is its most important component. To learn more about the other prizes up for grabs, read on. The bonus round is activated when three winning symbols appear on a single pay line. Good money may be made from this Winning Streak. This bonus round, like all others, may help you turn your bankroll around and move to a position of strength. Queen of Winter Wins has the finest bonus game in current slot machines, which is why its so popular.

With its daring and risky nature, the ski jump during the Winter Olympics is a delight to see. Five-reel, 10-pay line slot from Genesis Gaming honors those who put their lives on the line for a chance at gold. Symbols including ski goggles, ski boots, skis, helmets, Olympic medals, prize bouquets, and trophies may be found on the games reels. Extra wilds and the cowbell, the slots scatter symbol, are included in this games additional bonuses. A chance to leap for glory is yours if you manage to land three or more cowbells anywhere on the reels throughout the game. In order to increase your chances of winning, the ski jump wild feature may appear at any moment and turn reels 2, 3, or 4 wild. Those who like ski jumping should check out this online slot machine.

A look at the Ski Jumps paytable is the best way to see just how much you can win while playing it, and there are several reasons why it should be on your list of favorites.

When it comes to stake levels, youll always be in the drivers seat since the coin value settings may be altered by players, unlike many other slots with a reasonable number of pay-lines.

If youd like to play the Ski Jump slot on your tablet or smartphone rather than your computer, no download versions of the game are available for both the desktop and mobile versions of the Ski Jump slot machine.

Its worth checking out Playtechs Ice Hockey slot if you want to play an ice hockey-themed slot machine game at an online casino. For example, you may match the United States and Canada against one other in this spot, which is a tremendous perk. The games standard icons are animated ice hockey players and the card values 9-A, and it has five reels and fifteen paylines (each one with a different ice hockey item on it). To win, and get more out of playing, each participant must expose an additional sum of money by passing the puck around. Playing this slot all year long is a joy because of its blend of superb sound effects, arcade visuals, and amusing bonuses. Consider taking on some hockey players by playing this slot machine.

Players will be able to choose one of seven teams before the game starts. There is a flag-based team list on the right side of the screen. Playing card symbols such as Am, K, Q, J, 10, and 9 are included in the games visuals. Additionally, there are six hockey-themed emblems, including three that symbolize the club youve decided to support.

There are crazy hockey goals in the game, which may be exploited to form some fantastic winning combos. When all other symbols save for the scatter and bonus symbols have been replaced by the wild, the game benefits greatly. When two or more of the games logos appear anywhere on the reels, players will get a generous payoff. In addition to being wild, the games Pass the Buck symbol also acts as a scatter.

Pragmatic Play created this hockey-themed video slot. There are high expectations for this game if youve played any of their slot games previously, and we can assure you that it wont disappoint. Stickman hockey players and the Cup wild symbol adorn the five reels, which are situated in front of an ice hockey field. To win up to 50x your investment, you need to keep an eye on the Coach sign among the normal symbols.

Getting three or more pucks on the reels triggers the Most Valuable Player extra feature, which awards 120 free spins and may be retriggered. Even the lowest-paying symbols in this slot pay out far more than the lowest-paying symbols in other slots. If you have a budget of only 0.20 each spin, you can play this game, and if you have 100 per spin, you can play it.

Taking cues from the original slot, the design of Hockey League Wild Match has the same three players that appear on the A to J playing cards. The referee is the highest-paying symbol once again, with a 5-in-a-row payoff of 200 coins.

The wild symbol is represented by a Stanley Cup-style trophy, and it may be used to replace all other symbols except the scatter to ensure payment, although a little one. You can win up to 5,000 coins if you get five of a kind on an active pay line. Any of the three middle reels may be taken over by these wilds, which can appear in any position and fill the whole reel set.

Hockey League Wild Match follows the tradition of Pragmatic Plays first ice adventure with a basic but effective design. Theyve been done in a cartoon-like fashion. The best accompaniment recording involves slaps of the puck against the boards, as well as a lot of organ accompaniment.

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The Technology Behind Online Casino Games – Qrius

Posted: at 5:22 pm

There are a plethora of online casinos operating in India. This makes choosing the right one a cumbersome task. This makes review and tech-audit platforms highly essential for the operability and safety of the users playing online casino games. Platforms such as onlinecasinoexperts.in assist users by informing them about the major online casino platforms and their most popular games. Besides, with the advent of technology, online gaming experiences have become more innovative and immersive at large.

As India sees rapid growth in technology, numerous online gaming platforms are springing up each day. Most of these are efficiently driven by technology solutions that make the platforms safe and user-friendly. Here are a few of the areas that are pivotal to the use of technology in online casino games:

Online casino games use proprietary technology to make gaming and casino experiences accessible via digital domains. Most of such technology-driven online casino platforms use Flash-based games that require no installation and support other Java-compatible browser games. These online casino games are also compatible with mobile phones. These platforms may also be programmed on HTML5 or other relevant software to make them web compatible.

With the rapid rise of online gaming and casino portals, security has become a paramount concern for users. The safety of personal and financial data, gaming history, and online wallets are a few areas where technology facilitates greater security. These technologies may include peer-to-peer encryption technologies such as blockchain which offers high-level security for data and verification processes, two-step authentication regimes, TLS protocols for enhanced financial security, et al.

Many online casino gaming platforms use interactive chatbots for speedy grievance redressal. These include AI-backed virtual assistance that can respond to the frequently asked questions related to online casino gaming and the platform. There are often interactive guides and tutorials for new users that help them navigate through the portal.

Online casino platforms support an array of payment options including debit cards, UPI, net banking, Paypal, and Paytm, to name a few. These gateways are integrated using third-party APIs to make withdrawals and deposits seamless and hassle-free. These tech-backed payment methods allow users to make payments and withdraw their winnings with a simple touch of a button.

A majority of the online casinos encompass a wide array of gaming options. These can range from the conventional slots, poker, and roulette to more Indianised Teen Patti, Katti, Andar Bahar, among others. These programmed games use a Return to Player (RTP) logic to ensure transparency. There is also a combination of random number generators and pattern identifiers used to make the games robust and error-free.

Many online casinos and gaming websites have an integrated sportsbook where users can bet on specific sporting events. For instance, you can calculate and predict the winner of an IPL cricket match or the number of wickets fallen to win monetary rewards. These sportsbooks are backed with technology in the registry and the payout systems. These are dynamically updated every hour to incorporate newer events and change the odds on the past ones.

The recent advancement in technology has fuelled the growth of digital casino and gaming fronts over the web and mobile. These platforms use technology in various ways including the creation of an easy-to-navigate front end, customer support chatbots, payment processes, securitization, etc. helps the interested users to learn all about these online casino platforms and the technology that drives its everyday operations and compliance regimes.

Disclaimer:

Only some Indian states have legalized online/regular lotteries as per and subject to the conditions laid down by state laws. Kindly refer to the 0same here

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Woman Wins $220000 At Four Winds Casino – Moody on the Market

Posted: at 5:22 pm

A guest from Ann Arbor has won a jackpot of more than $220,000 at the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo. Four Winds told us more:

The Pokagon Band of Potawatomis Four Winds Casinos are pleased to announce that a guest from Ann Arbor, Michigan won a $223,456 jackpot on March 28 while playing Divine Fortune in Four Winds Online Casino & Sportsbook! The winner, Nesa C., won while making a forty-cent bet. Another guest from Comstock Park, Michigan won a $145,828 jackpot while playing Tarzan on April 11 at Four Winds New Buffalo. The winner, who also chose to remain anonymous, won while making a $1 bet. The games have been reset for other winners to take home massive jackpots.

Other notable Online Casino jackpots include:

A $51,200 jackpot hit by a winner from Portage, Mich. playing Hypernova Megaways on April 12, 2022.A $30,044 jackpot hit by a winner from Portage, Mich. playing Jin Ji Bao Xi Endless Treasures on April 12, 2022.

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Notable jackpots hit earlier this year at Four Winds New Buffalo include:

A $126,310 jackpot hit by a winner from Flossmoor, Ill. playing Triple Red Hot 777 on January 16, 2022.A $135,000 jackpot hit by a winner from St. Anne, Ill. playing Triple Diamond Strike on March 2, 2022.A $99,450 jackpot hit by a winner from LaPorte, Ind. playing Potion Pays on April 6, 2022.

Notable jackpots at Four Winds South Bend include:

A $96,018 jackpot hit by a winner from Mexico playing Quick Hit Wild Blue on March 3, 2022.A $47,965 jackpot hit by a winner from Goshen, Ind. playing Wheel of Fortune on April 5, 2022.A $162,414 jackpot hit by a winner from Mishawaka, Ind. playing Gold Standard Jackpots on April 9, 2022.

Notable jackpots at Four Winds Dowagiac include:

A $100,105 jackpot hit by a winner from Middlebury, Ind. playing Triple Red Hot on December 18, 2021.A $20,507 jackpot hit by a winner from Dowagiac, Mich. playing Luxury Line Timber Wolf on January 30, 2022.A $70,098 jackpot hit by a winner from Granger, Mich. playing All Pays Gold on March 31, 2022.

Notable jackpots at Four Winds Hartford include:

A $29,605 jackpot hit by a winner from Eau Claire, Mich. playing Lightning Link on April 1, 2022.A $51,168 jackpot hit by a winner from Elgin, Ill. playing Capital Gains on October 2, 2021.A $60,918 jackpot hit by a winner from Coloma, Mich. playing Jade Wins on October 18, 2021.

Four Winds New Buffalo is also home to some of the areas biggest jackpots with progressives starting at $100,000. It also features a variety of table games along with more than 2,600 slot machines ranging from penny slots up to $100 machines. At Four Winds South Bend, players can find 16 table games, 12 live poker tables 1,400 of the latest games ranging from $.01 to $25 including some of the areas largest jackpots. Four Winds Dowagiac and Four Winds Hartford feature a variety of table games, slot machines, and endless fun. Four Winds online casino and sportsbook offers more than 170 casino slots casino table games and a comprehensive online sports betting offering. New players are awarded a 200 percent deposit bonus to a maximum of $200 and receive a free million dollar spin.

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XQc admits he has a gambling addiction – Dot Esports

Posted: at 5:22 pm

Twitch superstar xQc has been known for streaming gambling-related content for years during his streams. It has got to the point that the 26-year-old has admitted that he has a gambling addiction and considers himself ill.

Among the variety of content xQc produces on Twitch, one part is the Gambling Simulator, an online casino where he puts money on the line in betting games, including slots. The Canadian had already spoken about his addiction to Gambling Simulator and betting last year, but this time, he went even further and acknowledge that he pursues gambling in every game he plays.

Every game I play all I do is gamble, xQc said earlier today. GTA, I gamble. Gambling Simulator, I do the whole game gambling. Everywhere I go, I just gamble. I have one of the biggest most insanely addictive personalities youll ever find. Im addicted to everything I do.

Even though xQc openly admitted that his gambling addiction should be taken seriously, it seems that hes not planning to stop gambling at the moment because he has enough money to afford it.

Im just easily addicted so I just shouldnt gamble, xQc said. I still do it. Is that good? No, thats terrible. Thats an illness, thats ill, Im ill. But you know what, I can afford to be ill. Im lucky.

Although xQc sees himself in a privileged position, he knows gambling is an issue. The Canadian is aware that not everyone is as fortunate as him and that these people should not be gambling as he does.

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Top Casino Games to Play at 96Ace Online Gambling Malaysia – The Sports Bank

Posted: at 5:22 pm

As the pandemic continues on, ebbing and flowing from month to month, more and more activities going digital, and that includes gaming. The gambling industry is seeing explosive growth right now and especially so in the online sector. The world is going more virtual and casino space is adjusting accordingly. In a more globalized world, there is gaming action to be found, at all times, on the world wide web. And with most money changing hands digitally these days, its more convenient than ever to pay online.

Thats where 96Ace Online Gambling Malaysia comes in, a leading brand that offers numerous popular standard casino games. Lets take a run through some of them, starting with a game thats more or less synonymous with James Bond movies.

Get your inner Agent 007 on by taking a virtual spin on the roulette wheel. One of the more popular games at96Ace online gambling Malaysia, roulette is considered one of the more classier and sophisticated ways to bet at a casino, you know, a real life brick-and-mortar edition. Hence that carries over to the online casino too. An exciting game of chance thats best experienced IRL with no social distancing requirements, you can find fun with it in cyberspace too.

There are many ways to stake up these days online, beyond just providing your credit card information. PayPal is the worlds most popular online currency exchanger, but Venmo isnt far behind. There is also Skrill, Square, Zelleand so on.

Here in America, sports betting is exploding, and its just getting getting started. It was in May 2018 that the Federal government allowed the states to determine the legality of sports gambling, and the states have been rewriting the laws ever since. Numerous countries in the rest of the world have a big head start on us, and you can see that experience on display at 96Ace Sportsbook Malaysia. They have a solid infrastructure in place, and day or night, there are sporting events, somewhere in the world, taking place.

That means 24/7 opportunities to bet on sports, and you can start with the worlds most popular game- football/soccer/futbol. The UEFA Champions League is down to the semifinals, if you want some European continental flair.

Just in case you want to focus on only one country- the worlds most popular top flight is Englands Premier League. Currently, there are three two-horse races to focus on: Manchester City and Liverpool battling for the title, Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur for the fourth and final Champions League qualification slot for next season and Everton vs Burnley in the final spot to avoid relegation.

Also, the NBA playoffs are in full swing, so you may want to lay some money down on that. The defending NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks are looking really good right about now and could repeat. So check out the 96Ace sports book today.

Slot machines, the slots, or as they call them in some parts of the world the pokies, are the everyday everyman way to bet. Theyre just about anywhere you have an establishment with a gaming license, but now you can take them with you. Go and Download Slot Apk in order to experience online slot action on the go from anywhere. After all, if its a nice spring day, following another long winter, who wants to be inside on a computer.

Game on!

Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Bank (TheSportsBank.Net) and author of Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America, as well as No, I Cant Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.

He has regularly appeared in WGN,Sports Illustratedand theChicago Tribune,and co-hosts the After Extra Time podcast.Follow himonTwitterandInstagram.

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How is Sports Betting Different from Casino Games? – TheSpread.com

Posted: at 5:22 pm

Sports Betting vs. Casino Games

Gambling has made its way online through a variety of media and methods.

One of those is through online casino platforms like 918kaya and scr888; another is through online sports betting.

Though casino games and sports betting have similarities, especially when gambling real money, they are two very different forms of media. Knowing the difference between the two can help you decide which method you prefer best to begin earning a few bucks if you're new to online gambling or online gaming.

Casino Games

You would typically find these when entering a land-based casino or an online casino. Casino games vary in features, from slot machines, card games, arcade games, or other games that can involve a device or a live dealer.

To win casino games, you need luck and probabilities to guide you. Betting at any casino game means knowing that you will rely on the chance of getting a win. It's less to do with skills or physical abilities but with your mental ability to trust your gut, make a guess, or believe in your instinct.

Casino games, however, need your active attention whenever you're playing. It's a fun pastime, and it's as if playing a video game while being able to earn real money. Most games, especially slot games, are vibrant or designed with 3D features to let players feel like they're simply having fun using the machine.

Sports Betting

This, in contrast to casino games, will not need your active attention or any movement from the players to win. Sports betting means betting real money on any sport.

Sports betting platforms, for example, will have a list of sports that you will be able to watch in real-time. Especially if it's a season full of games, league matches, or championships, then the list will be pages worth of live games to watch.

After you have chosen a game to watch, you will be given an opportunity to bet on sports teams, players, or predictions. Sports betting will mostly rely on statistics, your knowledge of the game, and its players. Of course, luck can play a role in most parts of the matches, but most of the time, gamers who decide to go for sports betting are partnered with numbers and statistics that can help them make accurate decisions on their bets.

Unlike casino games, where gamers can play solo or with a maximum of five other people during table games, sports betting pits you against hundreds to thousands of people who are watching the same game and betting the same or against your own bet.

Conclusion

If you're a sports fan, then sports betting can be the method for you if you want to earn a few bucks online. You'll love watching live sports or e-sports as you bet on your favorite teams.

Meanwhile, if you're not that into sports and prefer playing slots, card games, and other casino games, then going to an online casino will be the best medium for enjoying hundreds of games to bet on.

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