Monthly Archives: June 2016

South Florida Events & Restaurants – southflorida.com

Posted: June 12, 2016 at 8:25 pm

"RuPaul's Drag Race" Season 8 star Derrick Barry and actress Lady Bunny hosted this competition at Magic City Casino in Miami on Saturday, June 11, with a cash prize of $5,000.

Dishes include tacos filled with avocado fritters, Mexican street corn rubbed with spices and build-your-own crispy tostada.

Gold Marquess recently rolled out a new menu of tasty cocktails, all of which are two-for-one during happy hour.

Green Bar & Kitchen offers meatless fish and beef tacos.

Ben Crandell

Parents' security concerns in the wake of New York shooting prompt organizers to drop headliner from all-night Planet Graduation party.

Ben Crandell

Eclectic pop singer will perform a mix of familiar hits and her Nashville favorites at Mizner Park Amphitheater on June 11.

Mikael Wood

Joe Jonas explains how he found his footing with this post-Jonas Brothers band. They'll open for Selena Gomez June 11 in Miami.

Ben Crandell

Band's new album is filled with a familiar brand of power pop that once made fans joyously 'Blue.'

In addition to books, the pop-up store will sell bicycles, art and records.

Miles Wilkin honored with a 2016 Special Tony Award for his work with Broadway Across America.

Written by a Wilton Manors musician, the opera looks at the 1998 murder of a gay college student and its aftermath.

Next season will involve teams representing four South Florida cities.

Guide to gambling at Seminole Hard Rock, The Isle, Gulfstream and more

The tour's season ended in spectacular fashion with four tournaments.

"Now You See Me 2" is more fun than "Now You See Me," which says something, I guess. It fits snugly in the long list of easygoing nothings, the narrative equivalent of a Fruit Roll-Up, designed to be forgotten in as many minutes as they took to watch. The cast remains the chief reason it squeaks...

Nothing else in "The Conjuring 2" is as terrifying as the 1977-era floral wallpaper lining the hallways of its dimly lit and plainly haunted North London flat, not to mention the fearsome edge on Patrick Wilson's sideburns. But despite being saddled with 20 minutes it doesn't need, the movie is...

The skepticism has been whirling around "Warcraft" since the first trailer dropped for the epic fantasy adaptation of Blizzard Entertainment's massive multi-player online role playing game, directed by visionary sci-fi auteur Duncan Jones. Orcs. with feelings? And pierced tusks? No good can come...

At a nervily compact 74 minutes, "A Monster With a Thousand Heads" often feels as if it's unfolding in real time even as necessary narrative logistics dictate otherwise. Such is the considerable achievement of Uruguayan-Mexican director Rodrigo Pla's agitated, on-the-move hostage thriller, in...

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South Florida Events & Restaurants - southflorida.com

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Online Casino & Online Poker Room – 888.com

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Online Casino & Online Poker Room - 888.com

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World Casino Directory – Casino Guide and Gambling Forums

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World Casino Directory gives full attention to the most active casino continent in the world. With only three countries in it, North America has more casinos than any other continent.

As one might suspect you will find the North American casino and gambling scene dominated by USA casinos. In the United States alone there are nearly 1,500 gambling facilities ranging from casino resort style gambling facilities to poker rooms and pari-mutuel facilities. See the complete United States casino list.

America is home to Las Vegas, Nevada and of course Vegas casinos are the top casino destination for American gamblers and international gamblers as well. Other hot gambling destinations in the U.S.A. include: Atlantic City, Biloxi, Reno and there is notable growth in the Gulf Coast gambling sectors: Mississippi and Louisiana. Both the western states of California and Colorado are also growing. In Colorado keep an eye on Black Hawk casinos. The riverboats of Illinois and Indiana continue to thrive and most recently you will find Pennsylvania casinos making a place for them on the map and other U.S. states are rapidly expanding their gaming horizons.

Pari-mutuel facilities are available in the U.S. and host events like jai alai, horse racing and greyhound races to bet on.

Nearly every state in the U.S. has a lottery. Check in on USA lottery results here.

Canadian casinos and gambling seems to be picking up all over the country which now houses over 100 casinos and growing every year. Make sure you mark Canada casinos on your map. The casinos in Canada can range from medium-sized to incredibly large casinos. You'll find slots, craps, roulette, keno, blackjack, baccarat and much more available. B.C. casinos are a very popular destination for Canadians and gamblers from the Pacific Northwest area of the United States. You'll find the fine dining available in these casinos a real treat and the service impeccable.

Online casinos generally offer odds and payback percentages that are comparable to land-based casinos. If youre a Canadian looking to play online, http://www.online-casinos-canada.ca has a lot of knowledge about Canadian online casinos and bring you fair and trustworthy information about the online gaming scene in Canada.

Canada has several lotteries and World Casino Directory has the results daily: You can check the Canadian lottery results here.

Mexican casinos have not caught on quite yet - a couple opened in 2006 but are no longer open and from our reports there are no current re-openings yet scheduled. It looked for a moment in 2006 like things were going to be worked out but with the restrictions put on casino gambling by the Mexican government in 1935 they seem to be stuck... for now. We hope that we will see legalized casinos throughout the country soon.

You will find Central American casinos to have a unique atmosphere to them and of course all your favorite casino games. Costa Rica is the most popular Central American gambling destination and tourist destination, too. Costa Rica has the most casinos in Central America with 38 casino gaming facilities as of 2011.

Panama, used to have less than half of the casino numbers of Costa Rica but between 2007 and 2009 Panama has made significant gains with more new projects for 2010 and onwards. Panama has much larger casinos and the casinos here rival those of major ones in the world. In 2008 alone 6 more major casinos opened in Panama.

The two biggest casinos in Central America are Casino Majestic in the Radisson Hotel - Panama City, and Casino Veneto from Cirsa. Both have around 40 table games and 500 slots. Central Americas biggest gaming group are Thunderbird Resorts who apart from having six casinos in Panama, four casinos in Costa Rica, also has gaming operations in Nicaragua and Guatemala.

You will also find gambling and casinos in Belize, Honduras and El Salvador

Poker players will easily find a game of Texas Hold'em if they look hard. Read our tips and breakdown of the Central American poker scene. Find the biggest poker room in Central America at the Majestic casino in Panama. Regular International Tournaments are held there. For more information on poker tournaments in C. America, take a look at the Majestic Poker Tour.

Online gambling and licensing and regulation is mainly restricted to Costa Rica and recently in Panama. Regulation is improving all the time in Central America with the Junta de Control de Juegos in Panama.

Looking for pari-mutuel activity? Presidente Remon racetrack in Panama City is one of the few in the region but is a world class venue.

South America, like the rest of the world, has casinos. Casinos are most prevalent in Argentina which has more than 70 casinos located within its borders.

Peru and Chile have a large number of casinos as well. You will also find casinos in the following countries: Suriname, Venezuela, Uruguay, Columbia and Ecuador.

Most casinos in South America are as up to date as anywhere else in the world and most of the larger facilities are all-inclusive resort style casinos catering to more than just the gambling sector. These facilities have a full range of tourist activities available. You will find most standard casino games here as well as some you may not have heard of. Poker is available in the casinos. You will also find home poker games in South America, but be careful, these games are not always legal.

Argentina has over 80 casinos making it the most casino populous spot in a South America. Colombia has the next most but this is difficult to authenticate due to political issues in the country. You will find casino gambling in all other countries in South America except, surprisingly, the largest country on the continent - Brazil. Guyana recently legalized casinos and there is an ongoing process regarding legislation in Bolivia and Paraguay. The Chilean government in mid 2006 allowed for the building of nine new casinos and resorts, totaling an investment of 325 million US dollars and creating some 4,000 new jobs, but a bid to open a casino in Easter Island failed, the casino on earth farthest from any other place on Earth.

Please engage in gambling discussions regarding South America casinos in our gambling forums. You can access these as well as South American casino news, general information page, lottery and other useful pages from the menu at the top of this article.

There are also pari-mutuel betting facilities available throughout South America, mainly thoroughbred horse racing facilities. Horse racing is very big in the continent, especially in Chile and Argentina. One of the most famous jockey clubs in the world can be found in Buenos Aires. Over much of the 20th century Argentina was famous for its thoroughbreds. It continues to send prize horses to competitions around the world.

Gaming shows: Until recently there was only one show in South America. SAGSE Argentina has operated for some years exclusively but in the last 3 years new gaming shows have sprung up in Chile, Colombia, and Peru.

Caribbean casinos take on their own theme which is of course tropical and beach flavored, care free and fun going and exciting! You'll be a happy gambler too when you see these casino resorts -- these are serious gambling paradises. Most of the casino resorts you'll find in the Caribbean have so much to offer you'll have plenty to do outside the casino with your family. You will find the casinos in Bahamas, Aruba, Barbados, Dominican Republic, the Virgin Islands, even Haiti. There are over 100 casinos in the Caribbean Islands. There is poker available, too.

Casinos are found in most Caribbean islands and can range from small 3-4 table and 10 slots operations in such countries as Haiti to huge operations like Atlantis in the Bahamas which has 78 table games, 800 slots and a huge sportsbook lounge. Other major gambling destinations in the region are Puerto Rico, Aruba all of which have double digit high quality casinos. The Dominican Republic has by far the most number of casinos and this figure is expected to rise to over 40 during 2007. Most of the other islands such as Martinique, Antigua, Guadeloupe, St. Kitts and Trinidad have only between 1-4 small but friendly casinos. Exotic destinations such as Bermuda and Barbados have still yet to legalize casino gambling.

The biggest casino you will find in the Caribbean Islands would be Princess Port de Plaissance Hotel and Casino located in Cole Bay, Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles. The Caribbean country with the highest number of individual casinos is the Dominican Republic which has 31 casinos recorded in our database.

Horse betting on races is also quite prevalent in Caribbean and those interested could check out the various destinations where it is available. This could include Guadeloupe that offers horse tracks at Gosier, at the Hippodrome de Pointe a Pitre. Also, Jamaica offers horse tracks in Saint Catherine at Caymanas park while Martinique offers them in Lamentin at Hippodrome de Carrere Lamentin. Puerto Rico has probably the largest track at El Comandante.

Although not generally thought of when thinking of casinos in the Caribbean there are active lotteries. Jamacia has a lottery as well as St. Kitts, Nevis, St. Thomas and others.

There is now a Caribbean gaming show that will be held each year in Puerto Rico. The Caribbean Gaming & Hospitality Conference. Job seekers can find a job in Caribbean Casinos casinos in our new job section, or casino managers / human resource departments can post a job for free.

The continent of Oceania is sometimes referred to as Australasia which is mostly Australia but includes New Zealand and some other minor islands.

Australian Casinos: Gambling in Australia is considered to be more frenzied than the rest of the world but it was not until the late 1970s that they actually had their first casino. Wrest Point Casino on the island of Tasmania was the first casino in Australia and it was quite sometime before the floodgates opened resulting in Australia now having 13 large international style casinos. No new casinos have been launched for a long time but one of the main operators PBL are likely to submit plans to open NSWs second casino.

New Zealand followed in Australias footsteps quite a few years later. Since 1994 when the Christchurch Casino opened the government has given out 6 licences to companies for legalised casinos to operate in New Zealand.

Very few of the islands have full blown casino gaming, the exception being Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and New Caledonia. Major tourist destinations such as Fiji and Tahiti are constantly considering legalized casinos and new laws may be in place during 2007/2008.

Horse and Greyhound racing is huge and came well before Casinos in Australasia. The New Zealand TAB initiated the world's first Government-run totalisator betting service in 1951. In 1996 TAB added fixed odds betting to its horse and greyhound gambling options, when the TAB began sports betting. Tattersalls is advertisng the "Most Valuable Race Series in the World" with over US million at stake.

Lotteries are also very big in the region and perhaps one of the world

Until April 2007 Kazakhstan was by far the main player in the area. Casinos mushroomed across Almaty, Astana, and other ex-Soviet cities during the 1990s reaching close to 140 during 2007. The vast Central Asian state introduced a law in January 2007 to end gambling in big cities by March 31. Casinos may now operate only in two small resort towns: Kapshagai, which is near Almaty, and Shchuchinsk, close to the capital Astana. Further updates will appear shortly.

Further North in Russia a few casinos operate. Many countries in Central Asia including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, and Uzbekistan have no licensed casinos so far. Azerbaijan also does not have a licensed casino as all were closed by the government in 1988. In India, Goa is the only state to have legalized casinos. Further south Sri Lanka has 9 casinos mainly in the capital Colombo.

Horse Racing. The competitive racing of horses is one of humankind's most ancient sports, having its origins among the prehistoric nomadic tribesmen of Central Asia who first domesticated the horse about 4500 BC.

Poker: Poker is played throughout the region and before casinos were forced to move in Kazahkstan there were some multimillion dollar tournaments there.

Lotteries: All of the countries in the region that have casinos have lotteries with the biggest being the Kazak Lotto. Most of the states in India have their own lotto which have the highest prizes in Central Asia.

Online gaming: Central Asia has one of the most undeveloped online gaming setups in the world, again probably due to the religious factor.

Gaming Industry shows: With the rise of Macau and now legislation in Singapore gaming shows are flourishing in Asia but the only gaming show ever held in Central Asia, in Kazakhstan will probably now be shelved.

Many countries in the Far East have casino gaming, but it is not surprising with events in Macau the last few years that many people think that the only country in the region with gambling is Macau (Macao). That said, Macau casinos are the most well known in East Asia.

Macau has had gaming for 150 years, but only since control of the colony reverted from Portuguese to Chinese in 1999 have things gotten hot in this tiny enclave. Macau is known for high rollers and these five star casino resorts leave no question in mind as to why they love Macau. In 2002 when the Chinese government opened up the gaming industry to casino operators outside of Macau the revenues of the casinos have overtaken those of Las Vegas. Read about the end of Stanley Ho`s monopoly on casinos in Macao.

Nearly all the countries in this region have taken notice and legislative efforts to legalize casino gambling are now creating strong interest in these countries. Of the countries without casinos, Singapore has been the first to take action, legalizing casino gambling in the end of 2006 and issuing two gaming licenses. Japan and Taiwan may be next, with Indonesia and Thailand left as the last main hold-outs.

South Korea and the Philippines have highly regulated and well established casino gaming available with tens of casinos in each country and expansion already in place for the next few years.

Malaysia has a very established casino in Genting Highlands and for many years it was the only casino in the country. For a long time Genting

Lotteries exist in one way or another in every country in the region and countries that have no casinos such as Thailand, China, and Indonesia have major lotteries.

Horse Racing, like lotteries, is a major chance to gamble, especially in countries which do not allow casinos. The Happy Valley Race Track, one of the most famous race tracks in the world, can be found in Hong Kong. The Happy Valley is part of the Hong Kong Jockey Club, one of the largest racing organizations in the world - they offer online betting, phone betting, PDA betting etc, all in addition to main horse racing operations. In mainland China the Beijing Jockey Club is one of the biggest horse-racing clubs. It is located in the Tong Zhou district and covers 160 hectares.

Although gaming shows and exhibitions have been held previously in the region, nothing has ever been as big as the G2E Asia - the latest show will be in mid 2007, and held in Macau.

Although nearly every country in Western Europe has casinos the three dominant countries, with around 500 casinos between them, are France, Germany and the UK.

Spain with nearly 40 casinos is next followed by Northern Cyprus, Netherlands, Portugal, Austria and Belgium. Italy while being one of the largest countries in terms of economy and area has only 4 casinos.

European casinos are steeped in history and none are more famous than Germany

Certain countries, or states within them, in Europe, are being challenged in the European courts with infringement of monopoly laws. A classic example is the Netherlands, (Holland), where all 14 casinos are operated by the government company: Holland Casino. Casinos began in 1976 in Netherlands and although they have always had many illegal casinos no other company has ever been allowed to open casinos. In Austria another Government body Casinos Austria also held a stranglehold on the countries 12 casino licenses until an additional license was issued to the Austrian company Novamatic. From a small country like Austria, Casinos Austria have become probably the largest and well known operator in the world. Novamatic also has casinos in many parts of the world.

Of the Nordic countries, gaming came very recently to Sweden, (4 casinos,) and Finland only legalised one casino just over 10 years ago and has never increased the numbers. Denmark has had casinos for longer but the number there has remained constant at six. Norway, although by land mass size is one of the largest countries in Europe does not have casinos, nor does Iceland.

Most of the Countries/Islands in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea have casinos and you will find casinos in Malta (4), Gibraltar (1), Crete (1), Corfu (1), Majorca (1). Figures from Northern Cyprus seem to change often but there were around 20 mid-2007

You`ll find active lotteries throughout the continent, check here for lottery results: UK Lottery Results, Ireland Lottery Results and Euro Million Winning Numbers. For general information, click the lottery link at the top of this article.

Poker is also a fanatical thing in Europe much like everywhere else in the world it seems. There are some great poker rooms inside some very nice casinos to be had. Prepare to dress for the occasion, some casinos have strict dress codes.

Pari-mutuel facilities: dog tracks, horse tracks, etc... are also all over Europe. And these tracks in our opinion are much nicer than the tracks in United States. Horse racing in Europe is very exciting, each facility you visit will be different. In America most tracks are predictably oval shaped and flat, not so here. The race tracks in Europe are different at every facility. Different turns, different shaped tracks, some with pitch to them - not flat.

There are 18 countries in Eastern Europe that have casino gambling including Russia which has the most and estimates of Moscow casinos reach 200 or more. Things are changing though in Moscow and casinos are being forced to move out of the city to far flung outposts within the next 2 years. Slovenia holds the largest casino and there are over 20 poker rooms in Poland, so we certainly have casinos in Eastern Europe.

Less than 20 years ago, under the old Soviet system, casinos were hardly heard of, or non existent in Eastern Europe. After the fall of the Berlin wall casinos sprouted up quite rapidly starting in Poland, 1989, and spreading eastwards. There is hardly a country in the region now that does not enjoy casino gaming with even impoverished Albania opening a high class Regency casino in its capital Tirana in the last 2 years.

Major gaming groups such as Cherry Foretagen and Casinos Austria led the way opening casinos across Eastern Europe and since casinos have become established major players such as Olympic and HIT casinos have taken over as the major operators.

Different from other parts of the world casinos are mainly for pure gambling entertainment but things are about to change with Sol Kerzner heading a consortium to build Europe

There is pari-mutuel gambling in Eastern Europe (grehounds and horse racing), too, and horse racing,

Poker has been very popular in the region long before many other areas of the world. Cosmos casino in Moscow was holding International tournaments long before the worldwide poker craze started years ago. So poker players will easily find a game of Texas Hold'em with a little exploring of the local haunts -- there is no shortage of poker here. In addition to poker there are also active lottery systems in place throughout Eastern European countries.

Most countries in Africa have casinos but South Africa and Egypt easily have the most, with each country coming close to 40 casinos each. Kenya follows closely behind them with 20 available gaming licenses and there are many lesser known places in Africa such as the Seychelles which have one or two casinos.

Probably the most famous casino in Africa is Sun City Casino by Africa

Sun International is the biggest player in Africa with 22 casinos located in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. Probably Africa

Casinos in South Africa are limited to 40 and more information can be found at the continents largest gaming board: National Gambling Board, which regulates South African gaming, and also from the website of Africa

2009 and 2010 will finally see major casinos companies opening in African countries other than South Africa. In Nigeria Sun International will open in the Federal Palace hotel in Lagos while another gaming giant Kerzner International will open the Mazagan Beach Resort.& Casino in El Jadida (Casablanca) Morocco, both properties will be fully operational at the start of 2010. On June 17th 2009 American gaming giant MGM announced plans to develop the 550 room MGM Grand New Giza in the shadow of the Pyramids.

Northern Africa has quite a large Muslim population and the only countries with casinos are Morocco and Tunisia each having 4 or 5 large scale operations.

In Southern Africa the are major operations outside of South Africa in countries such as Botswana with 10 casinos and Zimbabwe with 9. Other countries in the region with between 2-5 casinos are Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique and Namibia.

Apart from Kenya, in West Africa the are casinos in Tanzania and Uganda. Established for many years in the region the East Africa Casino company recently added to their casinos in Kenya by opening the Mayfair casino in the Ugandan capital kampala.

Finally in the exotic Indian Ocean Islands of Mauritius, Seychelles, Reunion and Madagascar you will find between 3 and 9 casinos on each. South African gaming group Peermont which has 10 casinos in South Africa and Botswana announced on July 1st 2009 it had taken control of all Casinos of Mauritius group 5 casinos.

Poker is no stranger in Africa with South Africa regularly hosting nation poker tournaments and other poker related events. For a summary on poker in Africa please read our latest poker article here: Africa Poker. Major Poker tournaments were held recently in Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia and RSA. South African

Africa has many lottery systems. The largest lottery in Africa is the South Africa National Lottery.

Horse racing is available in Africa, but not many countries have horse racing in them. The major exception to this rule of thumb would be South Africa where the sport is very big - South Africa has 11 race courses. More information can be found at the National Horse Racing Authority

While one might think that the Middle East is devoid of gambling, they`d be wrong. It is true however that there is not a lot to pick from. Lebanon and Israel both have casinos however in Israel you must sail into international waters before gambling can commence. Lebanon is home to the most famous casino in the region and that is the Casino du Liban, a full entertainment complex which has over 500 slots and 65 table games.

One also cannot forget Egypt - although obviously geographically located in Africa, politically it is considered in the Middle East - and it is also is the only country in the Middle East to have more than one casino. If one looks really hard, you will find places to gamble in the Middle East. For a head start in your search: find gambling news, casino jobs, poker information and more by using the `explore menu` in the upper right hand corner of this article.

Horse racing and pari-mutuel facilities are far more popular than casinos in this area of the world. Horse racing in Dubai has become the best in the world with major events also held in Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia and even Iraq. With a purse of US million to the winner, March 2009 saw the 14th running of the richest horse race in the world, the Dubai World Cup.

Casino Resorts and Hotels in the Middle East can be reserved directly through World Casino Directory - and it helps support us, too. You will find helpful members and staff in the Middle East gambling forum to try to answer your questions. There is also a poker article here that runs down the current hold`em scene and more information on poker in the Middle East.

Until the mid 1990

In just the last decade Cruise ship sailing has increase dramatically and so have the size of the vessels. In may 2007 the then largest cruise ship in the world, RCCL

On December 5th 2009 Royal Caribbean

Carnival Cruise Lines is by far the biggest Cruise ship company and has by far the most casinos. Carnival was formed in 1972 and today along with its associates, (Holland America Line, Princess Cruise, Cunard, and Costa Cruises), account for nearly half of the whole world

Not only are the number of cruise ships growing at breathtaking pace but 95% of all new cruise lines launched between 2005 and 2009 have large casino areas that are a major revenue generator for the cruise companies. Casinos are now such a revenue earner for the cruise lines that some of the large operators have negotiated with Governments to open while their ships were in port and in late 2008 Bermuda followed the Bahamas in allowing this.

Innovative cruise lines now even cater to

The quickest way to find any of our listed casinos is to enter its name in the casino search bar at the top of the page and click search. Alternatively you can select the proper continent and drill down first to the country, and then to the state or province and finally on to the casino city.

We list every land based casino in the world! In addition, you will find poker rooms, thoroughbred horse racing, greyhound tracks, racinos, jai alai frontons, sports betting and casino cruise ships.

Currently we have about 4,000 land based casinos, pari-mutuel and other established gambling facilities listed in our casino directory. If you want the complete list, see this page: world wide list of casinos.

At the World Casino Directory you will find more than just contact information, you will find casino pictures, news, and options to reserve your hotel room right on our site. Our prices are competitive and your business is appreciated.

It is important to check with your local officials to make sure that gambling at an online casino is legal in your jurisdiction.

Once you know that, please check out some of out trusted online casinos. For the French visitors we have prepared: En ligne casino. And for our German visitors: Online Casino Spiele.

World Casino Directory would also like to share our free blackjack game to practice your skills in real time. Use it as an analyzer tool which can help you to increase your wins while you play at your favorite online casino.

Check out Jackpot.co.uk which has to be one of the most complete and also "nice" websites we have visited. This British online casino website has to be about the best we have seen so far. Casino Listings offer some unique services like online casino jackpots and tournaments tracking. For exclusive no deposit casino bonuses visit Latest Casino Bonuses.

We have now launched our online poker directory. This was in part to help land based gamblers easily qualify for major poker tournaments online and from home, a trend that is gaining popularity every day. You should also check out our Poker 101 guide in our menu filed under Poker. It was written by Jon Sofen and contains excellent strategy and advice.

We have a few friends in the poker industry that are clearly worth mentioning, especially for German and French players. First there is Das Poker, an incredible German poker guide, and if French is your native tongue, check out the French version of Das Poker.

Online sports betting is a growth industry with markets on hundreds of sports events raking in billions around the world.

The majority of the betting activity takes place in or around major events such as the football World Cup as well as other sporting showpieces with world-wide interest.

Among the leading bookmakers you will find trusted brands like Paddy Power and William Hill and all leading online sports betting websites will offer free bets in order to tempt customers into registering with them.

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World Casino Directory - Casino Guide and Gambling Forums

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Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs …

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This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the world and did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators?

Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the worlds motor and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer

Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the worlds motor and the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human life from the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction to the philosopher who becomes a pirate to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph to the woman who runs a transcontinental railroad to the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels.

You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions.

This is a mystery story, not about the murder and rebirth of mans spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.

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Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand Reviews, Discussion, Bookclubs ...

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Atlas Shrugged: (Centennial Edition) by Ayn Rand, Paperback …

Posted: at 8:24 pm

Overview

This is the story of a man who said that he would stop the motor of the worldand did. Was he a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why did he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies, but against those who needed him most, and his hardest battle against the woman he loved? What is the worlds motorand the motive power of every man? You will know the answer to these questions when you discover the reason behind the baffling events that play havoc with the lives of the characters in this story.

Tremendous in its scope, this novel presents an astounding panorama of human lifefrom the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboyto the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destructionto the philosopher who becomes a pirateto the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumphto the woman who runs a transcontinental railroadto the lowest track worker in her Terminal tunnels.

You must be prepared, when you read this novel, to check every premise at the root of your convictions. This is a mystery story, not about the murderand rebirthof mans spirit. It is a philosophical revolution, told in the form of an action thriller of violent events, a ruthlessly brilliant plot structure and an irresistible suspense. Do you say this is impossible? Well, that is the first of your premises to check.

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Encyclopedia of Literature

ATLAS SHRUGGED by Ayn Rand

INTRODUCTION by Leonard Peikoff

Ayn Rand is one of America's favorite authors. In a recent Library of Congress/Book of the Month Club survey, American readers ranked Atlas Shruggedher masterworkas second only to the Bible in its influence on their lives. For decades, at scores of college campuses around the country, students have formed clubs to discuss the works of Ayn Rand. In 1998, the Oscar-nominated Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life, a documentary film about her life, played to sold-out venues throughout America and Canada. In recognition of her enduring popularity, the United States Postal Service in 1999 issued an Ayn Rand stamp. Every book by Ayn Rand published in her lifetime is still in print, and hundreds of thousands of copies of them are sold every year, so far totaling more than twenty million. Why? Ayn Rand understood, all the way down to fundamentals, why man needs the unique form of nourishment that is literature. And she provided a banquet that was at once intellectual and thrilling. The major novels of Ayn Rand contain superlative values that are unique in our age. Atlas Shrugged (1957) and The Fountainhead (1943) offer profound and original philosophic themes, expressed in logical, dramatic plot structures. They portray an uplifted vision of man, in the form of protagonists characterized by strength, purposefulness, integrityheroes who are not only idealists, but happy idealists, self-confident, serene, at home on earth. (See synopses later in this guide.) Ayn Rand's first novel, We the Living (1936), set in thepost-revolutionary Soviet Union, is an indictment not merely of Soviet-style Communism, but of any and every totalitarian state that claims the right to sacrifice the supreme value of an individual human life. Anthem (1946), a prose poem set in the future, tells of one man's rebellion against an utterly collectivized world, a world in which joyless, selfless men are permitted to exist only for the sake of serving the group. Written in 1937, Anthem was first published in England; it was refused publication in America until 1946, for reasons the reader can discover by reading it for himself. Ayn Rand wrote in a highly calculated literary style intent on achieving precision and luminous clarity, yet that style is at the same time colorful, sensuously evocative, and passionate. Her exalted vision of man and her philosophy for living on earth, Objectivism, have changed the lives of tens of thousands of readers and launched a major philosophic movement with a growing impact on American culture. You are invited to sit down to the banquet which is Ayn Rand's novels. I hope you personally enjoy them as much as I did.

About the Books

Atlas Shrugged (1957) is a mystery story, Ayn Rand once commented, "not about the murder of man's body, but about the murderand rebirthof man's spirit." It is the story of a manthe novel's herowho says that he will stop the motor of the world, and does. The deterioration of the U.S. accelerates as the story progresses. Factories, farms, shops shut down or go bankrupt in ever larger numbers. Riots break out as food supplies become scarce. Is he, then, a destroyer or the greatest of liberators? Why does he have to fight his battle, not against his enemies but against those who need him most, including the woman, Dagny Taggart, a top railroad executive, whom he passionately loves? What is the world's motorand the motive power of every man? Peopled by larger-than-life heroes and villains, and charged with awesome questions of good and evil, Atlas Shrugged is a novel of tremendous scope. It presents an astounding panorama of human lifefrom the productive genius who becomes a worthless playboy (Francisco d'Anconia)to the great steel industrialist who does not know that he is working for his own destruction (Hank Rearden)to the philosopher who becomes a pirate (Ragnar Danneskjold)to the composer who gives up his career on the night of his triumph (Richard Halley). Dramatizing Ayn Rand's complete philosophy, Atlas Shrugged is an intellectual revolution told in the form of an action thriller of violent eventsand with a ruthlessly brilliant plot and irresistible suspense. We do not want to spoil the plot by giving away its secret or its deeper meaning, so as a hint only we will quote here one brief exchange from the novel:

embraced the movie. Five months after its release, Mussolini's government figured out what everyone else knew, and banned the movie. This is eloquent proof of Ayn Rand's claim that the book is not merely "about Soviet Russia." After the war, the movie was re-edited under Ayn Rand's supervision. The movie is still played at art-house cinemas, and is now available on videotape.

Anthem (1946), a novelette in the form of a prose poem, depicts a grim world of the future that is totally collectivized. Technologically primitive, it is a world in which candles are the very latest advance. From birth to death, men's lives are directed for them by the State. At Palaces of Mating, the State enacts its eugenics program; once born and schooled, people are assigned jobs they dare not refuse, toiling in the fields until they are consigned to the Home of the Useless. This is a world in which men live and die for the sake of the State. The State is all, the individual is nothing. It is a world in which the word "I" has vanished from the language, replaced by "We." For the sin of speaking the unspeakable "I," men are put to death. Equality 7-2521, however, rebels. Though assigned to the life work of street sweeper by the rulers who resent his brilliant, inquisitive mind, he secretly becomes a scientist. Enduring the threat of torture and imprisonment, he continues in his quest for knowledge and ultimately rediscovers electric light. But when he shares it with the Council of Scholars, he is denounced for the sin of thinking what no other men think. He runs for his life, escaping to the uncharted forest beyond the city's edge. There, with his beloved, he begins a more intense sequence of discoveries, both personal and intellectual, that help him break free from the collectivist State's brutal morality of sacrifice. He learns that man's greatest moral duty is the pursuit of his own happiness. He discovers and speaks the sacred word: I. Anthem's theme is the meaning and glory of man's ego.

About Objectivism

Ayn Rand held that philosophy was not a luxury for the few, but a life-and-death necessity of everyone's survival. She described Objectivism, the intellectual framework of her novels, as a philosophy for living on earth. Rejecting all forms of supernaturalism and religion, Objectivism holds that Reality, the world of nature, exists as an objective absolutefacts are facts, independent of man's feelings, wishes, hopes, or fears; in short, "wishing won't make it so." Further, Ayn Rand held that Reasonthe faculty that identifies and integrates the material provided by man's sensesis man's only source of knowledge, both of facts and of values. Reason is man's only guide to action, and his basic means of survival. Hence her rejection of all forms of mysticism, such as intuition, instinct, revelation, etc. On the question of good and evil, Objectivism advocates a scientific code of morality: the morality of rational self-interest, which holds Man's Life as the standard of moral value. The good is that which sustains Man's Life; the evil is that which destroys it. Rationality, therefore, is man's primary virtue. Each man should live by his own mind and for his own sake, neither sacrificing himself to others nor others to himself. Man is an end in himself. His own happiness, achieved by his own work and trade, is each man's highest moral purpose. In politics, as a consequence, Objectivism upholds not the welfare state, but laissez-faire capitalism (the complete separation of state and economics) as the only social system consistent with the requirements of Man's Life. The proper function of government is the original American system: to protect each individual's inalienable rights to life, liberty, property, and the pursuit of happiness. Objectivism defines "art" as the re-creation of reality according to an artist's metaphysical value-judgments. The greatest school in art history, it holds, is Romanticism, whose art represents things not as they are, but as they might be and ought to be. The fundamentals of Objectivism are set forth in many nonfiction books including: For the New Intellectual; The Virtue of Selfishness; Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal; Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution; Philosophy: Who Needs It; and The Romantic Manifesto. Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, written by Ayn Rand's intellectual heir Leonard Peikoff and published in 1991, is the definitive presentation of her entire system of philosophy.

ABOUT AYN RAND

Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, on February 2, 1905. At the age of nine, she decided to make fiction-writing her career. In late 1925 she obtained permission to leave the USSR for a visit to relatives in the United States. Arriving in New York in February 1926, she first spent six months with her relatives in Chicago before moving to Los Angeles. On her second day in Hollywood, the famous director Cecil B. De Mille noticed her standing at the gate of his studio, offered her a ride to the set of his silent movie The King of Kings, and gave her a job, first as an extra and later as a script reader. During the next week at the studio, she met an actor, Frank O'Connor, whom she married in 1929; they were happily married until his death fifty years later. After struggling for several years at various menial jobs, including one in the wardrobe department at RKO, she sold her first screenplay, "Red Pawn," to Universal Studios in 1932 and then saw her first play, Night of January 16th, produced in Hollywood and (in 1935) on Broadway. In 1936, her first novel, We the Living, was published. She began writing The Fountainhead in 1935. In the character of Howard Roark, she presented for the first time the Ayn Rand hero, whose depiction was the chief goal of her writing: the ideal man, man as "he could be and ought to be." The Fountainhead was rejected by a dozen publishers but finally accepted by Bobbs-Merrill; it came out in 1943. The novel made publishing history by becoming a best-seller within two years purely through word of mouth; it gained lasting recognition for Ayn Rand as a champion of individualism. Atlas Shrugged (1957) was her greatest achievement and last work of fiction. In this novel she dramatizes her unique philosophy of Objectivism in an intellectual mystery story that integrates ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sex. Although she considered herself primarily a fiction writer, she realized early that in order to create heroic characters, she had to identify the philosophic principles which make such people possible. She proceeded to develop a "philosophy for living on earth." Objectivism has now gained a worldwide audience and is an ever growing presence in American culture. Her novels continue to sell in enormous numbers every year, proving themselves enduring classics of literature. Ayn Rand died on March 6, 1982, at her home in New York City.

Recollections of Ayn Rand A Conversation with Leonard Peikoff, Ph.D.,Ayn Rand's longtime associate and intellectual heir

Dr. Peikoff, you met Miss Rand when you were seventeen and were associated with her until her death, thirty-one years later. What were your first impressions of her? What was she like? The strongest first impression I had of her was her passion for ideas. Ayn Rand was unlike anyone I had ever imagined. Her mind was utterly first-handed: she said what no one else had ever said or probably ever thought, but she said these things so logicallyso simply, factually, persuasivelythat they seemed to be self-evident. She radiated the kind of intensity that one could imagine changing the course of history. Her brilliantly perceptive eyes looked straight at you and missed nothing: neither did her methodical, painstaking, virtually scientific replies to my questions miss anything. She made me think for the first time that thinking is important. I said to myself after I left her home: "All of life will be different now. If she exists, everything is possible."

In her fiction, Ayn Rand presented larger-than-life heroesembodiments of her philosophy of rational egoismthat have inspired countless readers over the years. Was Ayn Rand's own life like that of her characters? Did she practice her own ideals? Yes, always. From the age of nine, when she decided on a career as a writer, everything she did was integrated toward her creative purpose. As with Howard Roark, dedication to thought and thus to her work was the root of Ayn Rand's person. In every aspect of life, she once told me, a man should have favorites. He should define what he likes or wants most and why, and then proceed to get it. She always did just thatfleeing the Soviet dictatorship for America, tripping her future husband on a movie set to get him to notice her, ransacking ancient record shops to unearth some lost treasure, even decorating her apartment with an abundance of her favorite color, blue-green.

Given her radical views in morality and politics, did she ever soften or compromise her message? Never. She took on the whole worldliberals, conservatives, communists, religionists, Babbitts and avant-garde alikebut opposition had no power to sway her from her convictions. I never saw her adapting her personality or viewpoint to please another individual. She was always the same and always herself, whether she was talking with me alone, or attending a cocktail party of celebrities, or being cheered or booed by a hall full of college students, or being interviewed on national television.

Couldn't she have profited by toning things down a little? She could never be tempted to betray her convictions. A Texas oil man once offered her up to a million dollars to use in spreading her philosophy, if she would only add a religious element to it to make it more popular. She threw his proposal into the wastebasket. "What would I do with his money," she asked me indignantly, "if I have to give up my mind in order to get it?" Her integrity was the result of her method of thinking and her conviction that ideas really matter. She knew too clearly how she had reached her ideas, why they were true, and what their opposites were doing to mankind.

Who are some writers that Ayn Rand respected and enjoyed reading? She did not care for most contemporary writers. Her favorites were the nineteenth century Romantic novelists. Above all, she admired Victor Hugo, though she often disagreed with his explicit views. She liked Dostoevsky for his superb mastery of plot structure and characterization, although she had no patience for his religiosity. In popular literature, she read all of Agatha Christie twice, and also liked the early novels of Mickey Spillane.

In addition to writing best-sellers, Ayn Rand originated a distinctive philosophy of reason. If someone wants to get an insight into her intellectual and creative development, what would you suggest? A reader ought first to read her novels and main nonfiction in order to understand her views and values. Then, to trace her early literary development, a reader could pick up The Early Ayn Rand, a volume I edited after her death. It features a selection of short stories and plays that she wrote while mastering English and the art of fiction-writing. For a glimpse of her lifelong intellectual development, I would recommend the recent book Journals of Ayn Rand, edited by David Harriman.

Ayn Rand's life was punctuated by disappointments with people, frustration, and early poverty. Was she embittered? Did she achieve happiness in her own life? She did achieve happiness. Whatever her disappointments or frustrations, they went down, as she said about Roark, only to a certain point. Beneath it was her self-esteem, her values, and her conviction that happiness, not pain, is what matters. I remember a spring day in 1957. She and I were walking up Madison Avenue in New York toward the office of Random House, which was in the process of bringing out Atlas Shrugged. She was looking at the city she had always loved most, and now, after decades of rejection, she had seen the top publishers in that city competing for what she knew, triumphantly, was her masterpiece. She turned to me suddenly and said: "Don't ever give up what you want in life. The struggle is worth it." I never forgot that. I can still see the look of quiet radiance on her face.

Related Titles

Fiction in Paperback Anthem (New York: Signet, 1961). Atlas Shrugged (New York: Signet, 1959). The Fountainhead (New York: Signet, 25th anniv. ed., 1968). Night of January 16th (New York: Plume, 1987). We the Living (New York: Signet, 1960). Nonfiction in Paperback Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal (New York: Signet, 1967). The Early Ayn Rand: A Selection from Her Unpublished Fiction (New York: Signet, 1986). For the New Intellectual (New York: Signet, 1963). Philosophy: Who Needs It (New York: Signet, 1964). Return of the Primitive: The Anti-Industrial Revolution (New York: Meridian, 1999). The Romantic Manifesto (New York: Signet, 2nd rev. ed., 1971). The Virtue of Selfishness (New York: Signet, 1984). On Ayn Rand and Objectivism The Ayn Rand Reader, edited by Gary Hull and Leonard Peikoff (New York: Plume, 1999). Journals of Ayn Rand, edited by David Harriman (New York: Dutton, 1997). Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, by Leonard Peikoff (New York: Meridian, 1993).

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

Atlas Shrugged

The Fountainhead

We the Living

Anthem

a) "It is a sin to write this. It is a sin to think words no others think."

b) "I wished to know the meaning of things. I am the meaning."

c) "I owe nothing to my brothers, nor do I gather debts from them."

Objectivism

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Alan Greenspan

Born February 2, 1905, Ayn Rand published her first novel, We the Living, in 1936. Anthem followed in 1938. It was with the publication of The Fountainhead (1943) and Atlas Shrugged (1957) that she achieved her spectacular success. Ms. Rand's unique philosophy, Objectivism, has gained a worldwide audience. The fundamentals of her philosophy are put forth in three nonfiction books, Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology, The Virtue of Selfishness, and Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal. They are all available in Signet editions, as is the magnificent statement of her artistic credo, The Romantic Manifesto.

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Atlas Shrugged: (Centennial Edition) by Ayn Rand, Paperback ...

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Atlas Shrugged Movie | Latest news about the ATLAS SHRUGGED movie

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The new article Using Taoism and Writers to Fight the Regime in the Moscow Times by Russian writer Yulia Latynina begins:

Riot police broke up a sanctioned protest rally on May 6. After that, police detained Moscow pedestrians carrying white ribbons the symbol of the protest movement. They also stopped suspicious individuals carrying no ribbons at all. That is why writer Boris Akunin proposed a truly Taoist form of protest: a walk along Moscows central streets on Sunday.

The idea was for Akunin and fellow writers Dmitry Bykov, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, Lev Rubinshtein and yours truly to walk from the Pushkin monument on Pushkin Square to the Griboyedov monument at Chistiye Prudy, with an open invitation for readers to join them. I cant say exactly how many people actually turned out, but it was clear that the number was close to 15,000.

On Sunday, I arrived at the Pushkin monument by noon and tried unsuccessfully to locate Bykov or Akunin. Before I could take another step, I was mobbed by people proffering books for me to sign.

I at last struggled free to look for Bykov on the steps of the nearby movie theater, but he wasnt there. People once again came running from everywhere asking me to sign their books. One even held out a copy of Atlas Shrugged the novel written by U.S. objectivist writer Ayn Rand who was persecuted in Russia by the Bolsheviks and said, Well, youre a second Rand, so sign it.

The only other writers I found in the crowd were Bykov and Akunin each of them for only an instant because the moment I would stop to speak to one of them, a crowd of people would instantly crystallize around me, sticking together like grains of sand and thrusting forward copies of books written by myself and others that they wanted signed.

This whole facet of the crowds spontaneous behavior was terribly fascinating. The people who were ostensibly supposed to lead the walk Ulitskaya, Bykov, Akunin and musician Andrei Makarevich were unable to walk together or speak to one another because the moment any two of them spotted each other and briefly stopped walking, each was immediately encircled by this crystallizing mob. Despite the lack of organization, the whole group of us walked from Pushkin to Griboyedov without any problems whatsoever.

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Atlas Shrugged Audiobook | Ayn Rand | Audible.com

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There's very few things I can add to all that have been said about "Atlas Shrugged" that haven't been said before. Ayn Rand wrote a timeless masterpiece who put her name across the most influential writers of the english language. The story by itself is an Ode to the Human Mind and the best within us. This book change the lives of those who enter in contact with it and, most of the time, for the better.

The production of this audiobook is perfect. There's no background noise and the sound is as crisp as it could be. Only on the technical standpoint, the recording is as perfect as the state of the technology allows it to be.

So, why I gave it only 3 stars? Because of the casting of Mr. Brick. I have no quarrel with him. He's a talented artist who, I am sure, would give an outstanding reading of "Pride and Prejudice". He's, sadly, a poor choice for "Atlas Shrugged". His voice is unable to carry the certainty of John Galt, Dagny Taggart seems to be a moment away to sobbing, Francisco d'Anconia got a mundane voice while Jim Taggart sounds perfectly sane(!). This mostly ruined my enjoyment of this recording. "Atlas Shrugged" is a righteous book and his voice is too mellow to sound right.

In summary, may I suggest to those who really want to enjoy this story that they acquire the Christopher Hurt's rendition of it? The quality is less than stellar but the reading is perfect. In fact, I listened to the later right after I listened Mr. Brick's recording, just to forget the poor experience I lived.

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Golden Rule (fiscal policy) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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The Golden Rule is a guideline for the operation of fiscal policy. The Golden Rule states that over the economic cycle, the Government will borrow only to invest and not to fund current spending. In layman's terms this means that on average over the ups and downs of an economic cycle the government should only borrow to pay for investment that benefits future generations. Day-to-day spending that benefits today's taxpayers should be paid for with today's taxes, not with leveraged investment. Therefore, over the cycle the current budget (i.e., net of investment) must balance or be brought into surplus.

The core of the 'golden rule' framework is that, as a general rule, policy should be designed to maintain a stable allocation of public sector resources over the course of the business cycle. Stability is defined in terms of the following ratios:

If national income is growing, and net worth is positive this rule implies that, on average, there should be net surplus of income over expenditure.

The justification for the Golden Rule derives from macroeconomic theory. Other things being equal, an increase in government borrowing raises the real interest rate consequently crowding out (reducing) investment because a higher rate of return is required for investment to be profitable. Unless the government uses the borrowed funds to invest in projects with a similar rate of return to private investment, capital accumulation falls, with negative consequences upon economic growth.

The Golden Rule was one of several fiscal policy principles set out by the incoming Labour government in 1997. These were first set out by then Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown in his 1997 budget speech. Subsequently they were formalised in the Finance Act 1998 and in the Code for Fiscal Stability, approved by the House of Commons in December 1998.

In 2005 there was speculation that the Chancellor had manipulated these rules as the treasury had moved the reference frame for the start of the economic cycle to two years earlier (from 1999 to 1997). The implications of this are to allow for 18billion - 22billion more of borrowing.[1]

The Government's other fiscal rule is the Sustainable investment rule, which requires it to keep debt at a "prudent level". This is currently set at below 40% of GDP in each year of the current cycle.

As of 2009, the Golden rule has been abandoned.

In France, the lower house of parliament voted in favour of reforming articles 32, 39 and 42 of the French constitution on 12 July 2011.[2] In order to come into force the amendments need to be passed by a 3/5 majority of the combined upper and lower houses (Congress).

In 2009 articles 109, 115 and 143 of Germany's constitution were amended to introduce the Schuldenbremse ("debt brake"), a balanced budget provision.[3] The reform will come into effect in 2016 for the state and 2020 for the regions.

On 7 September 2011, the Spanish Senate approved an amendment to article 135 of the Spanish constitution introducing a cap on the structural deficit of the state (national, regional and municipal).[4] The amendment will come into force from 2020.

On 7 September 2011, the Italian Lower House approved a constitutional reform introducing a balanced budget obligation[5] to Article 81 of the Italian constitution. The rule will come into effect in 2014.

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Republic of Minerva Tonga | Atlas Obscura

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Although many utopian societies seem doomed from the outset, the Republic of Minerva was up against a unique challenge: creating a libertarian micro-nation on reclaimed reefs in the Pacific Ocean, when the land already had an owner.

Situated 250 miles from Tonga, the Republic of Minerva was conceived by wealthy Nevada real estate mogul Michael Oliver. According to Oliver, his organization the Ocean Life Research Foundation had raised $100 million to create a utopian society on Pacific reefs. Oliver's plan was to create a micro-nation without taxes, welfare or economic intervention, that lived chiefly off of tourism and fishing.

In 1971, Minerva's construction began by bringing barges of sand to the reefs to raise them out of the ocean. Oliver then led a conference of neighboring states in which he delcared his intentions, only to find out that Tonga had issued a claim over the land. At that point, Oliver and his organization jumped the gun a little bit. Ignoring other claims to Minerva, Oliver issued a declaration of independence and created a coin currency for his new nation and was all set to launch into his experiment in nation building.

Unfortunately, the King of Tonga did not accept the new country's legitimacy, and issued a document laying official claim to the reefs. Within months, representatives from Tonga made it clear they were in control of the reefs, and Oliver and his followers left without a fight.

Since that time, a few other groups have tried to set up shop on the islands of Minerva, only to be rebuffed once again by the Tongan government. Almost all of the land brought to the reefs has since been reclaimed by the Pacific Ocean.

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Minerva Reef Directions | Island Cruising Association

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Minerva sailing directions South Pacific voyagers, particularly those bound from Tonga or Fiji for largely cyclone-free New Zealand, should keep North and South Minerva Reef in mind for a possible storm refuge, rest stop, adventure destination, or at the very least as a potential hazard to navigation. These two atolls also represent an opportunity to see tropical Indo-Pacific sea life in a nearly undisturbed condition. Weather windows The best times to visit the Minervas are either northbound during the late Southern Hemisphere fall near the end of May/ early June or southbound during the late spring in October. Arriving too early (northbound) or too late (southbound) invites exposure to severe weather conditions. Depart New Zealand for the voyage north right behind an outgoing low, not in the middle of a high, and embark from the Minervas southward just as the leading edge of a preferably mild high reaches the area.

Information sources British Admiralty Chart 985, Mi nerva Reefs.: accurately depicts both atolls and includes a close-up of the pass into South Minerva useful for orientation. Approximate CPSentrance coordinates, for use in good light in conjunction with the chart and a lookout only, are 230 37.36 S, 178056.11 W (North Minerva) and 23 56.55 S, 179007.60 W (South Minerva). Sailing Directions Planning Guide for the South Pacific Ocean (Publication 122) also contains useful data for a visit to the Minervas. General layout North Minerva Reef is nearly circular, with an approximate diameter of 3.5 nm. Using a proper lookout, one can move around inside the atoll in order to anchor in the greatest protection for the prevailing wind. South Minerva Reef consists of two roughly circular rings of reef joined in the middle, like a number 8 tilted slightly in a northeast-southwest orientation. Only the two-milediameter eastern lagoon is accessible to larger vessels, and anchoring in Herald Bight, outside the pass, is tenable for wind directions lacking a northerly component. Like North Minerva, movement throughout this eastern lagoon for optimal anchoring is possible with a vigilant lookout. We noted a narrow pass on the northern rim of the western lagoon not shown on the chart, potentially navigable for centerboarders and dinghies. Good holding ground is prevalent inside both Minervas, and both feature slightly

bumpy conditions at higher tides in normal weather conditions. Gear A fully stocked medical kit, manuals, and training; good longdistance communication capability, such as single-sideband or ham radio or an Inmarsat transceiver; and survival fishing and watermaking equipment are all critical for a trip to the Minervas. Fishing and diving gear will greatly enhance your pleasure and dinner menu. Specifically, bring medium to heavy trolling gear for offshore fishing, 10- and 20-poundclass spinning rods for lagoon fishing, wetsuits for diving and snorkeling in the cool water, thick dive boots or other protective footwear for reef walking, and a Hawaiian sling and lobster snare. Jurisdiction The Minerva Reefs were ceded to Tonga in 1972 and ratified by the South Pacific Forum the same year. In 2010 Fiji disputed the Tongan ownership and placed gunboats at North Minerva to try and force their claim. The claim is currently under dispute.

Obviously,you will have either cleared customs out of Tonga or not yet checked in when you visit. The Minervas, however, have been long considered a stopover between countries, certainly in severe weather or for vessel repairs. Nevertheless, go easy on the seafood harvest, never taking more than you can consume in a short time, and do not disturb giant clams, sea turtles, or other threatened creatures. A visit from a Tongan patrol boat should not, under these conditions, be cause for concern.

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