
Rear Admiral Tim Giardina was taken off his post at STRATCOM after using gambling that is counterfeit at an Iowa casino. (Image: U.S. Navy)
Here’s something most individuals would acknowledge: watching over the nuclear toolbox of the usa is a pretty occupation that is serious. And it makes sense that you’d want to leave this particular responsibility in the hands of someone who doesn’t have any skeletons in their closet while we might sometimes think that our personal lives shouldn’t affect our job status.
Counterfeit Chips Unbecoming an Officer
That is why whenever it came out that Rear Admiral Timothy Giardina had been under investigation for reportedly using counterfeit chips at an Iowa casino year that is last it took virtually no time at all for him to be suspended in September. Not long after, he was demoted from three-star rank to two-star, fired from his work while the deputy commander of US Strategic Command (STRATCOM), and reassigned to an employee officer position in Washington.
Of course, their activities also meant he’d be charges that are facing. Earlier this week, Giardina was discovered guilty under the Uniform Code of Military Justice. According to a statement from the united states Navy, Giardina was convicted on two counts of ‘conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.’
‘ The count that is first Giardina lying to an investigator,’ the Navy statement read. ‘The second associated with circumstances surrounding Giardina’s failure to turn in and use that is subsequent of potato chips he claims to own bought at a casino.’
Giardina was forced to forfeit $4,000 in pay as being a total results of the charges. However, he’ll be allowed to remain on duty in his position that is current as staff officer.
Fake Chips Applied to Play Poker
Based on reports, the event started when Giardina ended up being accused of using three counterfeit $500 chips to relax and play poker at the Horseshoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa last June. The pressure on Giardina mounted, and he was ultimately relieved of his duties in October as the investigation picked up steam, first among local gaming officials in Iowa and later in the Navy. That elimination ended up being a rare occasion for such an important place.
While the matter had been examined by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), they were unable to determine with any certainty how Giardina found the fake potato chips either to verify or challenge his version of activities. Nevertheless, Giardina admitted to utilizing the potato chips at the casino.
Giardina had the option of asking for a court martial as an appeal, but instead accepted the non-judicial punishment.
‘The Navy remains dedicated to holding all personnel, regardless of rank, towards the highest criteria,’ said Navy spokesperson Captain Dawn Culter.
Shakeup in Nuclear Leadership
Giardina ended up being one of two high-profile officers who lost their positions into the year that is last. Major General Michael Carey, who formerly commanded the Air Force’s ballistic missile arsenal, was additionally relieved of their place in October. In his case, the move came after he was accused of drinking heavily, accosting international ladies, and making rude comments to his hosts during a vacation to Russia. The Air Force recently announced that Carey will retire on June 1 because of the rank of brigadier general. These firings led to concerns about the standard of leadership within the nuclear weapons system, with Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel buying a review of nuclear forces in January.
Giardina was a 1979 graduate associated with United States Naval Academy, and invested the majority of their job as an officer that is submarine.
2019 Social Gaming Market Could Be Worth $17.4 Billion, Experts State
Social games like Farmville will continue to increase in popularity, claims an industry report that is new. (Image: Zynga Inc)
The social gaming market is set to carry on rising in an emphatic fashion, according to a new report that shows it will be worth $17.4 billion by 2019. The extraordinary speed associated with the uptake of smartphone, tablets and cellular devices over the last few years has seen the industry rocket skywards, and lots of conventional gambling companies are getting in regarding the work.
In 2011, Caesars Interactive Entertainment acquired social casino games designer Playtika, a small start-up, for the extraordinary $90 million, in the process announcing that its long-term aspiration was to be ‘the number one in casino and social games on Facebook.’
Many acquisitions and mergers have followed between the two sectors, such as in 2012, whenever IGT, the planet’s developer that is largest of gaming machines, bought Doubledown, the entire world’s largest digital casino for the deal worth well over $400 million. Today, virtually all for the major online gambling companies have some sort of cross-platform social casino existence from Unibet to PokerStars and they’re all supporting a success according to the report released by international market research company Research and Markets recently.
Increase of Mobile Technology
The rapid adoption of mobile technology continues to increase over the next five years, the report concludes, which will in turn drive the expansion of the gaming that is social at a compound yearly growth rate of 16.1 per cent during the forecast duration from 2013 to 2019. In 2012, the global gaming that is social was valued at $5.4 billion.
‘The growth of social games can be attributed to the demand that is growing of and pills in the market. The ever-increasing demand of the cellular devices has made the social game developers rework their strategies and they are now designing games which can be played on the unit. The growth in the Internet subscribers has also contributed to the development of the game that is social. It’s expected that in 2014 one-third of Internet users are likely to take to gaming that is social. Another factor ensuing in the development social gaming market is free cost of this games on the net,’ the report noted.
Gamification
According to your scholarly study an average of 200 million currently play social games online, and that figure is anticipated to increase by 2019. Another growth factor could be the adoption of social gaming as an advertising tool by mainstream companies such as junk food restaurants and retail outlets the increasing so-called ‘gamification’ of businesses. The building of online social communities by using the mechanics of gaming incentives such as for example points, amounts, challenges, leaderboards and so forth, is a valuable means of acquiring and keeping clients.
Of the amount of time invested using social networking, social gaming customers spent more than 50 percent on playing games, the report discovered.
‘People have actually always been attracted to games that are video these console-based games come at prices that is not affordable by typical man,’ stated the report. ‘Today’s generation spend their time on Facebook, Twitter and MySpace among other people to socialize with household and friends.’
We interrupt this quote to ask, ‘MySpace? Whom still uses MySpace?’
Ok, right back to the quote.
‘During their time regarding the web, the users spend over 50 % of their time on social games contending with friends and colleagues. Many associated with the game developers are now searching to tap the social media market and develop games for the social networking sites,’ the report added.
Gambling Licensees Told to Lay Off Marijuana To Keep in Game
Several gaming executives could be suffering from the Nevada Gaming Control Board’s declaration on medicinal marijuana. (Image US Fish and Wildlife)
In the event any Las Vegas casino professionals were even great deal of thought, the Gaming Control Board has issued a stern decree that none of its license holders may have anything to accomplish with the state’s legalization of this medical marijuana trade. As any poker that is good knows, it’s all about pot control, in the end.
While marijuana was legal for medicinal purposes in Nevada since 2000, their state passed a bill in 2013 that would allow organizations to dispense the drug, and provided the go- ahead for 66 potential outlets that are such the state. The system that is current patients who qualify to receive the drug to either grow it themselves or obtain it from caregivers who grow and donate it, but the reality is that numerous patients turn to illegal dealers.
‘Still Illegal’
In March, royal vegas casino flash Clark County became initial to accept applications for distribution licenses in southern Nevada, however the gaming industry has been warned off by its own authority that is regulatory. In a statement posted on the Gaming Control Board’s website, the agency stated that, in the eyes of the federal government, distribution and control of marijuana is nevertheless a crime.
‘Accordingly, unless the law that is federal changed, the board will not believe investment or other involvement in a medical marijuana center or establishment by a individual who has received a gaming approval or applied for a gaming approval is consistent with the effective legislation of gaming,’ said the declaration, published by Gaming Control Board member Terry Johnson.
‘Further, the board believes that any such investment or participation by gaming licensees or applicants would tend to reflect discredit upon gaming in hawaii of Nevada.’
State Senator Greg Brower (R-Reno), who voted and only the bill, said he is pleased that this stance is being taken by the Gaming Control Board.
‘This is another example of an consequence that is unintended the inconsistencies using the law,’ he said. ‘I voted I had significant reservations for it, but. My reservations have actually increased.’
Tall Rollers and Gambling Joints
Investigations by the Las vegas, nevada Review-Journal have actually unearthed several figures among the 109 companies applying for a Clark County medicinal cannabis license that may be suffering from the declaration. Perhaps the most prominent is M Resort CEO Anthony Marnell III, who owns 71 percent of the company called Clear River LLC, that will be looking for a permit. Meanwhile, brothers Troy and Tim Hearst, two of the owners of slot machine game route operator JETT Gaming, are also comprehended to have dedicated to the marijuana business that is medical.
Lastly, Armen Yemenidjian, the son of Tropicana President Alex Yemenidjian, owns 40 percent of Integral Associates LLC, that has sent applications for five licenses. He is currently vice president of casino advertising and operations at Tropicana.
Most of the above were unavailable for remark on the situation.
Elsewhere, marketing professional for Real Gaming Tom Mikovits announced he has begun to sever ties with the Wellness Connection of Nevada LLC, of which he was a manager. Himself, Mikovits is an important executive with Real Gaming and decided his actions were in the best interests of both companies while he does not have a gaming license.