Daily Archives: May 15, 2022

Republicans came out swinging against the Biden administrations inaction on the baby formula crisis, saying parents are forced to gamble with their childrens health because of the persistent shortage of formula.

We shouldnt be rationing formula to keep babies fed, Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington Republican, told reporters while flanked by a group of her GOP colleagues. I talked to one mom who has a baby with allergies, and its extremely difficult. She feels like shes playing Russian roulette as she goes to the store.

Its the latest wrinkle in President Bidens domestic leadership that is being challenged by record-high gas prices and the highest inflation in roughly four decades.

The Republican lawmakers said the Food and Drug Administration needs to provide more transparency and solutions. Data has shown that baby formula is down more than 40%.

Rep. Mike Waltz, Florida Republican, said the shortage made it harder for parents to find baby formula than it is for those with substance abuse issues to find drugs, a reference to the administrations federal grant program to help addicts obtain safe crack-smoking kits and supplies.

I think we need to take a moment and think about the fact that in Joe Bidens America, it seems like its easier to get a crack pipe in a government-funded smoking kit than it is to find baby formula, Mr. Waltz said, who is a father of a four-month-old baby.

SEE ALSO: Biden to speak with retailers, manufacturers amid nationwide baby formula shortage

Rep. Elise Stefanik, New York Republican and chair of the House Republican Conference, did not rule out calling on invoking the Defense Production Act, a wartime power at the presidents discretion, to quickly replenish baby formula supplies.

View post:

Parents forced to play 'Russian roulette' with baby formula, Republicans say - Washington Times

After learning what went down at the Gridiron Club dinner superspreader event, renowned environmental and occupational health physician Dr. Donald Milton, a pioneer of the modern science of airborne transmission of respiratory viruses, who had advised the White House since the beginning of the pandemic, approached the White House Correspondents Association with a proposal to install UV lights at WHCA dinner for no charge to help prevent another superspreader event from happening.

We thought it would be nice to try and prevent that [Gridiron superspreading experience] especially given that some high profile attendees like president Joe Biden would be at the dinner, said Dr. Milton.

On August 6, 2020, world-renowned scientist Dr. Kimberly Prather, elected into the National Academy of Engineering (2019) and the National Academy of Sciences (2020), was the first to break the news to Dr. Anthony Fauci that particles containing SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, are airborne.

Oh, my God, Dr. Anthony Fauci said to her. You mean it goes further than six feet? Wow, why did we get it wrong for so long?Dr. Fauci was shocked, Dr. Kimberly Prather warmly recalled their conversation.For one hundred years, the belief in the scientific community has been that a droplet falls within six feet. I convinced him that aerosols up to 100 microns can go further than six feet. That whole belief system that things dont go further than six feet was completely wrong. I showed Fauci how far things go. Its much further.

Dr. Prather is also the one who has been pushing the N95 masks in the White House. Ive also been pushing for filtration in the White House, she said.

Given that the risk of transmission of the airborne virus is much higher in inadequately ventilated and crowded indoor settings, Dr. Kimberly Prather believed that the WHCA dinner should be organized in a safe way and that it was a good idea that Dr. Miltons offered to install the UV technology at the WH Correspondents dinner.

It was a perfect place to do it. The highest risk places are indoors, low ventilation, lots of people, and no masks. At that point, when you take off the masks, theres gonna be a really high viral load in the air. Washington DC had really high case numbers, so the chances of people being there that were infected was very high even with testing. Putting UV light was the way to go.

Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, an epidemiologist and Chief of COVID Task Force at the New England Complex Systems Institute and co-founder of the World Health Network was worried about WHCA dinner as well. In his mind, the Gridiron dinner had already proved itself to be a super spreader as an already much smaller event than WHCA dinner.

In a room of 2600 people, theres a 7.4% chance that nobody gets Covid-19.

Theres more COVID than a couple of weeks ago, WHCA dinner is so much bigger, and the density of people at this Correspondents Dinner is much higher. Altogether, its the worst of three different situations, much worse than Gridiron in every single way.

Doing the math calculation on the spot, Dr. Feigl-Ding quickly came up with the risk level of getting COVID at the WHCA indoor event, hosting 2600 people in the basement of the Washington Hilton.

Lets say, hypothetically, theres only a 0.1% chance someone might carry the virus and 99.9% would not. But then, in a superspreading environment where you have 2600 people, that number [99.9% chance of not getting Covid-19] falls very fast. said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding.

The math was straightforward: in a room of 2600 people,Theres a 7.4% chance that nobody has it.

The sheer number of people at the WHCA dinner, including all the catering staff indicated the high-risk environment for covid transmission.

If one person has it [Covid-19] in a super spreading environment with poor ventilation, then anyone who isnt very recently boosted or hasnt had COVID just two weeks ago would have a high chance of getting it, Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding explained. At the WHCA dinner, 7.4 % chance that nobody gets it is a serious problem. And no one wants to admit this.

UV light technology can cut down transmission by 80% and is a very standard method by now.

Health scientists were clear-eyed that something had to be done about WHCA dinner covid safety. Ventilation and filtration, according to Dr. Milton, were not enough to produce the required changes in an hour in a room of 2600 people.

One of the advantages of UV light technology, according to Dr. Milton is that you know we have this infection happening by invisible particles floating in the air and we have this invisible light that is killing them.

In terms of its impact on transmission, UV light technology can cut down transmission by 80% and is a very standard method by now, explained Dr. Donald Milton. Germicidal ultraviolet light has been around since the late 1930s as a means of preventing airborne infection and has been proven effective in preventing measles transmission in schools.

The old technology required that the UV light be restricted to the upper part of the room, because they can hurt eyes; it doesnt cause permanent damage, but its painful.

The newer technology, however, doesnt penetrate the eye and it does not cause eye injury. It also doesnt cause skin cancer. You can just shine it directly into the room without having to worry about air movement so much, said Milton.

Ultraviolet light is invisible, it doesnt change the colors of what you see.

Its super spreading events that have been critical to keeping this pandemic going.

The way we can stop super spreading events, is by doing something that can remove enough virus from the air fast enough that people dont infect a lot of other people. Ventilation alone just cant do that, Dr.Milton explained.

After weeks of Dr.Miltons attempts to convince the organizers to take him up on his offer to install UV lights quickly and free of charge, the WHCA rejected the proposal.

According to Dr. Milton, dinner organizers were worried about eye irritation as well as whether the UV lights will get in the way.Because, we initially were proposing that we use them on tripods and they suggested that maybe doing that would make the President look blue on TV. But this concern was ill-founded. Ultraviolet light is invisible, it doesnt change the colors of what you see, explained Dr. Milton.

We talked about putting them around the perimeter. And so they were mainly worried about them being in the way of people moving around and wait staff moving around, said Dr. Milton. That version, where the UV lights are mounted on tripods was actually implemented in the Pentagon because it was easier to set them up quickly and get them installed. Theyre used in the US Army headquarters.

Dr. Kimberly Prather said that UV light has to be installed professionally. Don Milton offered them a company that does it professionally and makes it work.That would have been perfect for that venue. Absolutely perfect.

UV light has to be installed professionally. Don Milton offered them a company that does it professionally and makes it work.

While Dr. Milton and his scientific team answered questions and explained the science behind the UV light technology, trying to offer reassurance, it is Dr.Miltons understanding that the WHCA is a small organization and did not have the bandwidth to deal with this as it was focused on trying very hard to implement their testing and vaccine requirements, which Gridiron dinner did not have.

The additional factor for the free of charge UV light installation proposal to go down the wire was all pre and after dinner parties hosted by the major TV networks.

We were not going to be able to implement this UV technology for all those other side eventsI think it would have had marginal effects but only really protect people who were just at the dinner, said Dr. Milton. Obviously, Biden didnt go to any of them, he added.

The White House Correspondents Association said that Miltons offer came too late.

Well, it was clearly too late for them to get comfortable with the idea, was Dr. Miltons reaction to their statement.

On April 27, 2022, the three days ahead of the WHCA dinner, the District of Columbia run by Mayor Muriel Bowser stopped daily reporting of Covid cases to CDC. The nations capital, the hub of business, politics and diplomacy was about to host the dinner.

Was that a good decision in the face of a new pandemic? How can the scientists know theres an outbreak if DC is not reporting the numbers to CDC? The media elite was on their way to celebrate at the basement of the Washington Hilton hotel without UV light added and CO2 sensors placed on the tables to measure the air quality and safety. The 79-year-old President Biden was also in attendance.

You remember the Trump White House, they relied on single testing, rapid testing. Its like we did not learn a lesson.

The White House Correspondents Association said that their event implemented all protocols and went beyond any guidance or regulation issued by CDC, or the DC health department.

I think what hes saying is that requiring people to test before they come in and for those people who were in direct contact with Biden. By requiring that they have a medically supervised test shortly before the event is more than is required, recommended by the CDC, said Dr Milton.

Testing is good, but its not perfect, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding.You remember the Trump White House, they relied on single testing, rapid testing. Its like we did not learn a lesson, he shared his frustration. He added, In the Trump White House in the October 2020 outbreak, they relied on one rapid test. If youre negative, you get to meet the President. And theyre using the same logic here, at the WHCA dinner. If you have a negative test, you get to hang out with the President at the WH Correspondents dinner. We obviously have boosters now but also, the virus is much more infectious now than ever before. Altogether, its still very risky.

Putting people in a room where they are re-breathing over two thousand other peoples breath, in the high carbon dioxide (CO2) high environment, according to Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding was a risky situation.

Indoor CO2 concentrations do not provide an overall indication of indoor air quality, but they can be a useful tool in assessing ventilation rates ( i.e. outdoor air). In the absence of other mitigation measures such as filtration and UV lights, indoor CO2 concentrations could be used as a marker for risk of respiratory virus transmission. CO2 can actually calculate the re-breathing exactly, explained Dr. Feigl-Ding.

A volunteer from the Naltic Industrials came to the WHCA dinnerwith one CO2 sensor. At 8:40 PM the CO? levels were at 2063 parts per million (PPM). Those indicators, according to Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding, were for sure a sign of poor ventilation at the WHCA dinner.

The average was 1800 PPM, 1900 PPM. Then they had some higher peaks, but still pretty bad, he said.

The ultraviolet light is a technology where if you cant get the fresh air through the air you get fresh air equivalent, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. If you cannot deliver fresh air, you must deliver at least disinfected air. And so between the two solutions, you should have to meet the ASHRAE equivalence guidelines, Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding explained.

Even if the space was compliant, ASHRAE ventilation standard is a minimum standard and does not cover pandemic mode.

According to Dr. Marwa Zaatari, Voting member of ASHRAE Standard 62.1 and a member of the ASHRAE Epidemic Task Force, The CO2 levels measured in the space are higher than levels expected if the space were to be compliant to ASHRAE Ventilation Standard. Even if the space was compliant, ASHRAE ventilation standard is a minimum standard and does not cover pandemic mode.

I think the public should be more aware, said Dr. Prather. I would have hoped, you know, for the White House Correspondents dinner, that Dr. Fauci potentially could have been involved. My dream would have been that they made that a statement. Not Okay, we are ready to get our lives back, rip off our masks and well all catch it. That should not have been the message. The message should have been: There is a way to have dinner in a safe way. And we could put CO2 sensors out. There are things we could have done, we could have cleaned the air, we could have put filters. I have written to the White House and said put these filtrations out, the Corsi-Rosenthal Box , or HEPAs, whatever you want to put. Put those around. I asked them to put them on Joe Bidens desk, she said.

There are ways that you can filter the virus from the air and have clean air and then people can remove their masks. Pushing for removal of masks, without cleaning indoor air is not okay. Thats not the order you should get it, Dr. Prather explained.

I have written to the White House and said put these filtrations out, the Corsi-Rosenthal Box, or HEPAs, whatever you want to put. Put those around. I asked them to put them on Joe Bidens desk.

Everybody wants to take their masks off. Everybody wants their lives back, but with clean indoor air, using the ways that you can do it. You filter out the air, you clean the air, you ventilate, you bring in the fresh air. There are so many ways to protect people. And, you know, its not out there. Its not out there in the way that it could or should be. And that is, you know, incredibly frustrating after, what, two and a half years.

While one of the arguments for partygoers was that the dinner was voluntary, some news network employees who spoke on condition of anonymity said that they felt peer pressure to attend.

But you know who didnt volunteer to be there?, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding. The waiters and waitresses.

According to the Hilton PR with whom The Pavlovic Today spoke, catering staff were required by WHCA to be masked, but further specification as to mask type, whether staff should wear a cloth mask, now deprecated by the CDC,or the superior N95, was absent. Most people in the room were unmasked. So that would make a minimal difference, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding.

While WHCA did focus on rigorous same-day testing and vaccine requirements, people still got infected with COVID. Secretary Blinken, VOAs Steve Herman, ABCs Jonathan Karl, and many others partygoers who did not come forward.

ABCs Jonathan Karl, went through same-day medically-supervised testing. Throughout the dinner he was sitting in the audience at the ABC table next to Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson. Announced as the winner of Excellence in Presidential Coverage Under Deadline Pressure award, ABCs veteran reporter left the table and went up on the stage to receive the prize. Before addressing the audience from the podium, he shook hands with President Biden.

I dont even know that many reporters who went to WHCA dinner and I can already count enough for two hands.

On Monday, two days after the dinner, Jonathan Karl publicly announced he tested positive for COVID-19. What was the risk of infecting the President of the United States?

Jonathan Karl may not have given it to Biden, because Jonathan Karl may have gotten it from someone at his table, so he could have just been affected. So, if Jonathan Karl was just infected, he wouldnt be infectious to Biden immediately. So it doesnt imply that Biden is immediately infected, said Eric Feigl-Ding. But its so risky, Dr. Feigl-Ding explained, because hes close contact with someone. This room is very risky. Biden was more elevated on stage and separated from other people. But still, its too incredibly risky.

George Cheek, the president and chief executive of CBS who sat next to Biden on stage, also tested positive days after the dinner.

From top TV network executives to the White House correspondents to many other guests of the guests, the COVID virus did not discriminate. Every news network has been hit with COVID, so many reporters across the networks got infected, why is no one tabulating? If journalism is the Fourth Estate overseeing political power, who watches the watchers?

I dont even know that many reporters who went to WHCA dinner and I can already count enough for two hands, said Dr. Eric Feigl-Ding.

If the WHCA dinner, including all the pre and post partygoers were to help science, so humanity could really learn from this, the networks should provide the data and research could have been done to inform the fight against the pandemic.

Dr. Milton invited WHCA goers who tested positive to contribute to science by coming to the University of Maryland School of Public Health to breathe into the Gesundheit-II so they can measure virus in breath with and without N95 mask. Gesundheit-II is a device Dr.Milton developed with colleagues at Harvard School of Public Health about 15 years ago to study viruses and peoples breath. I invited people who might have gotten infected at dinner to come out to the University of Maryland, College Park, and contribute to science by letting us measure how much viruses are in there, said Dr. Milton.

So how many people who attended WHCA dinner responded?, I asked.

Not very many, Dr. Milton was honest. We can test several people, two or three people a day. We did not exceed our testing capacity.

In science, we trust, says the media. People inside the Washington media fishbowl and political in-crowd should let the fresh air and the new ideas in.

Visit link:

The Covid Roulette: The Hard Truth And Lessons To Be Learned About The WHCA Dinner - The Pavlovic Today

If youve never gambled before, then most likely youd like to figure how much you can afford to bet on each round of the game. Make sure you can afford at least a casino minimum, which is never less than $5 on the Vegas Strip. But there is always an option to play at a 1 euro deposit casino.

Good gambling habits mean you should define the amount you can lose painlessly. Apart from setting limits on the money used to gamble, you can create the budget. For instance, you should divide your money. If you intend to spend $100, split this amount into 5 bills of $20. Also determine how many casino chips you would like to buy pre-game.

If you start with a small wager, you can increase it in case you win. Otherwise, you can minimize your losses and start another game.

Whether youre playing slots, blackjack or roulette at one of these casinos, it is always tempting to hit-it-big with the large cash out offers. Please, keep in mind that the payoff money comes from the players. Hence, getting the reward is not so easy.

If you chose to play slots, avoid the game that pays 10,000 max credits. Better opt for the one that offers 4,000 max credits. The chances of getting a payoff there are higher.

Chances are high youll lose more money when opting for large bets. On the contrary, if you make small bets, youll be able to cut your losses quicker, and ultimately go home with some payoff.

The only reason to bet more is if the chance of winning is higher than losing. Otherwise, dont take risks! If the payout remains the same, regardless of the bet, then there is no need to put more at stake.

It is possible to cash out $1000 with betting $5. It is also possible to place a $1 bet and win $200. Just focus on the possibilities of making more wagers with the current win youve gotten. If you proceed with this current betting strategy, youll take more money.

Winning $10 might seem not that successful in comparison to $100. But we are talking about gambling where surprises happen along the way. If youre not an experienced player, its better to stick to the conservative betting approach. This approach is applicable to slot machines and table games. There are more interesting facts here.

You see, casinos have a built-in advantage on their games thats called the house edge. Casinos dont beat players because they get lucky. But they beat players because the odds are stacked in their favor. Literally, the house edge is a percentage of the players bet that the casino keeps as profit. In roulette, for example, the house edge is around 5%. It means for every dollar bet, the casino has 5 as profit, and returns the other 95 to the players as winnings, on average.

Of course if you bet one dollar just once, you wont get exactly 95 back. You either lose one dollar or win more than that. But thats not the point! The point of the house edge is to estimate the average loss. Simply put, if all the roulette players bet $1,000,000 on a Friday night, the payback will be around $950,000 as winnings and a casino will get around $50,000 as profit.

We all know that casinos always win. The house edge tells us how much a casino wins on the average. The longer you play, the closer your losses will get to the house edge.

Before you start betting your money in a casino, practice first. Try out the games where it doesnt cost you anything if you lose. Seriously!

Please gamble responsibly.

Excerpt from:

How to Play at the Casino with Little Money - Varsity Online

The Philippines is a vital vicinity for gambling. The trend of online casino games has been developing unexpectedly all over the country, and the industry has made a stronghold in Southeast Asia. Players are more inclined toward online casinos. If you are one of those people, then here is the best online casinos for the Philippines gamblers. It will give you easy casino accessibility with loads of bonuses and amazing rewards.

Mansion Casino is proud to be part of the Mansion Group a leading online gaming service provider with over fifteen years of experience in the gambling industry. It was also the winner of the Online Casino Operator of the year 2018 on the IGAs.

Mansion groups are certified and controlled via the globally reputable UK Gambling Commission and Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner, each of whom is acknowledged for its stringent standards.

On your first deposit followed by signing up, you will get a welcome bonus of a maximum of $500 on a minimum deposit of $20, but you have to bet 20X before withdrawing the money. The new customers will also get a High roller welcome bonus of up to $5000 on a minimum deposit of $1000. You have to place a bet of 15X before withdrawals.

You can also earn loyalty points to buy cash bonuses at Mansion online casino. Every $20 you bet on slots will earn you one loyalty point. So, if the bet is $200, you will get ten points.

Mansion Casino offers a large number of games and lives casino experiences to Philippines gamblers. It includes God Storms, Big Circus, Wolf Gold, and more, along with living casinos like Spread Bet Roulette, Blackjack lobby, and so on.

It was created by Online gaming pioneers in 2014 to improve the services and offer the customer the best experience in online gambling.

So, what will you get here?

My Bookie players will get the loyalty rewards and 24/7 English-speaking customer service via phone, chat & email. It also offers the highest credit card acceptance rates, and payout requests are processed within 48 hours. You will receive bonuses on every deposit and hundred casino games to play.

It specializes in current & Live Vegas-style odds, early 2022 Super Bowl 56 Odds, NBA, NHL, MLB lines, this weekends UFC & boxing odds, and daily, weekly & monthly sports betting bonus offers.

My Bookie website is secured by SSL encryption, and it is licensed by the Government & Laws of Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles. Roll Over is an amount you need to bet before requesting a payout. Suppose the bonus has a 10X rollover. If you have deposited $100, you will receive a $50 bonus. So, the total rollover will be 10X the deposit + bonus.

The games offered in the sportsbook are NBA, MLB, NHL, Soccer, Golf, Tennis, MMA, and more with odds. My bookies are full of Live Betting and various other Casino games.

The King Billy website is owned and operated by Dama NV. It is registered under the laws of Curacao and licensed by Antillephone NV. King Billy holds the awards every year for the best casino. In 2017, it received Best New Casino Award in the prestigious AskGamblers Awards.

King Billy is one of the best online gambling sites for the Philippines gamblers. It provides several promotional bonuses, such as a new player receiving four welcome bonuses on registration. On first deposit 100% up to 200$ + 200 free spins, second deposit 50% up to 200$, third 25% up to $300 and on fourth deposit 25% up to 300 or 1.5 BTC. Other than this, they also have bonuses like a slot of Month, Cashback from 3% Up to 13%, Spin & Win, a 51% Bonus for Cryptocurrencies players, and many more.

It offers a vast lobby for the top casino games, live casinos, jackpots, table games, and crypto slots for crypto players. King Billy has a safe and secure transaction procedure. They accept cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Litecoin, Tether, Ethereum, and Dogecoin for payments, along with the currencies like Euro, Dollars, etc.

It has been in the industry since 2006, showing a significant presence in the world of online gambling and the poker community. There arent many online casinos in the Philippines that have provided services to the players for the last sixteen years.

Gclub Casino offers vide variety of online slot games. It is the first casino with new graphics, Blackjack tournaments, and a cashback offering for casino losses. Gclub Casino provides sports betting, which will interest Philippine players.

Gclub Casino is available with multiple casino titles like slots, variations of blackjack, roulette, esports, poker, racebook, and live betting. You will get a 50% sports Welcome bonus, 5% crypto boost, 100% first-time crypto bonus, 100% Casino Welcome bonus and many more.

BetOnline accepts cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin. You can also carry the transactions through Visa, American Express, etc., through a completely secure and SSL encrypted channel.

Boo Casino is operated and owned by Green Feather Online Limited. The company is registered under the laws of Malta and licensed by the Malta Gaming Authority on January 16th, 2019.

It offers the new user a welcome package of $1000 + 150 free spins on sign-up and a first deposit. Boo Casino offers to pick my bonus and High roller bonus for the existing players. There are also Thursday special bonuses and weekly high roller bonuses for the players.

Boo Casino comes with a package of Casino games and a live casino. Casino games like rich reels, adventure palace, the dog house, and many more. You can play live games like Roulette turkey, Roulette-German, Dragon Tiger, etc. Games are also there for beginners, like Auto-Roulette, and First Person Roulette.

Gambling is a fixture withinside the way of life of the Philippines. There are a lot of gaming options in the Philippines, and federal authorities are reasonably liberal concerning online gambling. But if you want to hide your identity online and play in offshore casinos from the US, try using one of the VPNs for the US casino players. The Casinos operational in the Philippines are licensed and safe and secure to gamble. You can explore the casinos mentioned above in the article that offer you the best bonuses and cashback.

More:

5 Best Online Casinos In The Philippines Hometown Station - KHTS Radio

Online gambling and remote betting continue to be big business in Italy, with the countries combined iGaming sector growing by a whopping 46.1% through 2021.

Not only is Italy one of the key drivers of Europes iGaming market, but its offline casinos also boast a rich and long-standing heritage.

To this end, there remain a number of beautifully designed casino structures in Italy. So, even if now theyre online for the most part and gamblers are able to access a huge range of Italian online casino locations, you can still enjoy an interactive offline experience nationwide.

But what are the best casino architectures that have been designed by Italians? Lets get into it!

If you look at much of Italys most inspirational architecture, much of this was designed and built during the Renaissance period of the 15th and 16th centuries.

This includes the Casino di Venezia, which is located in Venice and was designed by the brilliant architect Mauro Codussi (who happened to design some of the most beautiful churches in Venice).

Of course, the city itself is widely considered to be one of Italys most beautiful locations, but its also home to one of the best casinos in Italy.

Interestingly, the Casino di Venezia is also the oldest gambling establishment in the country, having initially been opened way back in 1638 and served both locals and international visitors for centuries.

Situated just 20 minutes from the Piazza San Marco, its set in the Vendrami Calergi Palace, which used to be renowned as the home of Italian royalty. Because of this, it retains mezzanine floors and its quaint, avant-garde charm, along with some classically designed columns that face out towards the iconic Grand Canal.

Just as you would at any online casino in Italy, youll find a broad range of games and tables available at the Casino di Venezia. For example, you can play both American and European iterations of roulette, alongside poker, baccarat and even chemin de fer.

Whats more, there are more than 600 slot machines located at the venue, making it one of the busiest establishments in the competitive Italian casino vertical.

Technically, the town of Campione is an enclave in the Swiss region of Ticino, and remains geographically separated from Italy by Lake Lugano.

However, its situated just 60 kilometres away from the Italian heartland of Milan, and has become an epicentre of activity for gamblers due to the locations liberal betting laws and status as a tax-haven for punters and operators alike.

The town casino was designed by architect Mario Botta, and formally erected prior to World War II. It was further extended as recently as 2008 too, with the bones of the original structure demolished and replaced with a brand-new set of buildings.

The new design was cultivated to promote comfort and welcome throughout, while the spectacular architecture offers access to 55,000 square metres and nine separate gambling floors. There are even three levels of underground parking, so this is an immense structure thats truly larger than life.

By night, the structure was always visible across the striking Lake Lugano, creating a famous and iconic landmark thats utterly breathtaking.

However, the failure to repay tax contributions to the government saw the casino officially declared bankrupt on July 27th 2018, before being closed down completely in January the following year.

Fortunately, it was subsequently reopened in June 2021, offering a range of casino games such as French roulette, chemin fer, blackjack, poker and craps.

If youre planning a trip to Italy, you could do far worse than visit the small, quaint and semi-autonomous region of Valle dAosta in the northwestern part of Italy.

Here, youll find the fabulously constructed Casino de la Valle, which is uniquely situated in the heart of the Italian Alps and surrounded by the four highest mountain peaks in Europe.

Before we take a closer look at the architecture, its interesting to note that this casino was made famous in the 60s by legendary James Bond Sean Connery.

In 1963, the Scot paid a famous visit to the casinos roulette table, laying down three consecutive bets in the number 17. Incredibly, the number came in on each occasion, at individual odds of 37:1 and a payout of 35:1.

The cumulative odds of this happening were a mere 50,653/1, while Connery earned a cool 17 million lire (or 160,000 in todays English money) for his troubles.

Thanks to the casinos picturesque location, romanticised nature and famous hot springs, the Casino de la Valle remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in Italy. The structure was actually built during World War II, after Elijah Page (the acting mayor at the time) suggested that building a casino would help lift the spirits of besieged citizens.

The modern iteration of the casino simply screams tradition and modernity, with various gambling rooms, bars and a stunning restaurant distributed beautifully across 43,000 square feet.

Incredibly, youll also find around 600 slot machines and 90 table games located at the Casino de la Valle, the latter of which include blackjack, craps, Punto Blanco and Caribbean stud poker.

Featured Image Credit: Dennis Jarvis on Flickr

More:

What Are the Best Casino Architectures Designed by Italians? - UrbanMatter

By Joey Roulette

WASHINGTON (Reuters) Boeing Co is feuding with Aerojet Rocketdyne, a key supplier for its Starliner spacecraft, as the U.S. aerospace giant races to test launch the uncrewed astronaut capsule and mend its reputation in the space sector, people familiar with the matter said.

The CST-100 Starliner is scheduled for a May 19 Florida launch atop an Atlas 5 rocket to the International Space Station, with Boeing aiming to show NASA that the spacecraft is safe to ferry astronauts to and from the orbiting outpost. Software failures cut short a similar 2019 uncrewed test flight.

The mission is a crucial step toward re-establishing Boeing as a viable rival to billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musks SpaceX, a drive complicated by Boeings disagreement with propulsion system supplier Aerojet, according to three people who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Chicago-based Boeing and El Segundo, California-based Aerojet are at odds over the cause of a problem involving fuel valves in the Starliner propulsion system that forced a postponement of a test flight last July, with the two companies faulting one another, the sources said.

The disagreement, which has not been reported before, comes at time when Boeing already is scrambling to emerge from successive crises that have hobbled its jetliner business and drained cash.

The Aerojet dispute is the latest illustration of Boeings struggles with Starliner, a program costing the company $595 million in charges since 2019. Facing fixed-price NASA contracts that leave Boeing with little wiggle room financially, the company has pressed forward with the Starliner test.

Boeing in a statement provided by a spokesperson to Reuters acknowledged for the first time that it ultimately intends to redesign Starliners valve system to prevent a repeat of the issue that forced last years test-flight postponement. The Boeing statement said that we are working on short- and long-term design changes to the valves.

Thirteen fuel valves that are part of a propulsion system that helps steer Starliner in space were discovered stuck and unresponsive in the closed position, prompting last years postponement.

The various technical setbacks have pushed Starliners first flight with people aboard into an unknown future, placing it far behind Musks SpaceX, whose Crew Dragon capsule, developed under the same NASA program as Starliner, has already flown five astronaut crews for the U.S. space agency.

NASA hopes Boeing can provide additional options to carry astronauts to the space station. NASA in March awarded SpaceX three more missions to make up for Boeings delays.

A team of Boeing and NASA engineers is in general agreement that the cause of the stuck valves involves a chemical reaction between propellant, aluminum materials and the intrusion of moisture from Starliners humid Florida launch site.

Aerojet engineers and lawyers see it differently, blaming a cleaning chemical that Boeing has used in ground tests, two of the sources said.

An Aerojet representative declined to comment.

ROOT CAUSE

Testing to determine root cause of the valve issue is complete, Boeing said in its statement, and the work did not find the problems described by Aerojet.

NASA shares that view, Steve Stich, who oversees the Boeing and SpaceX crew programs for the space agency, told Reuters.

Boeing also said Aerojet did not meet its contractual requirements to make the propulsion system resilient enough to resist the problems caused by the chemical reactions.

Boeing last week wheeled Starliner back to the launch pad for a third time ahead of the upcoming launch, having swapped out the propulsion system for a new one with a temporary fix that prevents moisture from seeping into the valve section.

Boeing and NASA said they did not recreate any fully stuck valves during nine months of testing, instead measuring the degree to which valves struggled to open.

This approach was used in order to get Starliner back to the launchpad quickly, two of the sources said.

NASA, Boeing, Aerojet and independent safety advisers are set to meet this week to reach a final determination on the cause of the valve problems and decide whether the temporary fix will work.

Boeing officials privately regard Aerojets explanation for the faulty valves as a bid to deflect responsibility for the costly delay for Starliner and to avoid paying for a redesigned valve system, two of the sources said.

Its laughable, one person involved in the joint Boeing-NASA investigation of the value issue said of Aerojets claim, speaking anonymously to discuss confidential supplier relations. Getting a valve maker or propulsion system provider to write down, Yeah, I screwed that up thats never gonna happen.

After testing and software issues caused Starliners 2019 failure to dock at the space station, NASA officials acknowledged they had trusted Boeing too much when they decided to devote more engineering oversight to the newer SpaceX than the aerospace giant.

The feud with Aerojet is not Boeings first Starliner subcontractor quarrel. In 2017, Starliner had an accident during a ground test that forced the president of a different subcontractor to have his leg medically amputated. The subcontractor sued, and Boeing subsequently settled the case.

(Reporting by Joey Roulette; Editing by Will Dunham and Ben Klayman)

Read more here:

Exclusive-Boeing clashes with key supplier ahead of Starliner spacecraft launch - KELO