Thursday, February 26, 2004

News Roundup: Haiti, Howard Stern, and Rounders

Haiti is under seige from rebels. Shock Jock Stern got pulled from numerous radio stations owned by Clear Channel and the co-writer of the most famous poker film Rounders sounds off on the dark side of gambling and it's sudden popularity.

Fathers, Sons, and Gambling... The Big Gamble: Is It All in the Cards For My Son Too? is written by Brian Koppleman. Here's a bit:
Poker is the new Tribeca: prime media real estate. It is on TV at least three nights a week, and prominently featured in the slicks, where articles trumpeting the poker craze seem to be mandatory front-of-the-book content. (At this rate, Regis should be hosting his own poker show by year’s end.)

Here’s the problem: Sam knows that I co-wrote the film Rounders. It was partially based on my experiences playing poker in New York’s underground card clubs, and its growing popularity on video and DVD is often credited with starting the current poker craze. Mostly, I am proud of this. But …

Crisis: Haiti... Pressure Mounts for Aristide to Resign as rebels are turning the country upside down. Looks like the Americans are sitting this one out. Will France send troops? Here's a bit:
Pressure mounted Thursday for President Jean-Bertrand Aristide to resign, with France blaming him for the chaos in Haiti and urging that he be replaced by a transitional government.

Pro-Aristide supporters manned flaming roadblocks throughout Port-au-Prince and braced for a rebel attack while motorists lined up for dwindling supplies of gasoline amid shuttered businesses and otherwise empty streets.

Foreigners fled the island nation amid isolated looting, and President Bush said the United States is encouraging the international community to provide a strong "security presence."

Howard Stern Banned... Clear Channel Suspends Stern's Radio Show... oh the horror, the horror. Publicity stunt or does Clear Channel suck? Here's a bit:
The nation's largest radio station chain took shock jock Howard Stern off the air in six markets, saying his sexually explicit show did not meet the company's newly revised programming standards. The move came on the eve of Thursday's congressional hearing on broadcast indecency. It was not immediately clear how long Stern would stay off the Clear Channel stations.

Stern's show has graphic references to sex and regularly includes strippers and pornographic movie stars as on-air guests. The show that prompted Clear Channel to act aired Tuesday and included a man discussing an alleged sexual encounter with hotel heiress Paris Hilton.

"I could blow my stack. I'm trying to be cryptic," (Stern) said. "To tell you the truth, I don't know what's going on. They are so afraid of me and what this show represents."

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