ATLANTIC CITY PRESS: …The industry posted a $42 million gross operating profit during the first three months this year — far below the same period last year when profits were $114 million, but an improvement from the fourth quarter, when the industry took a nearly $19 million operating loss due to Hurricane Sandy…

Revel emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday under the new ownership of its lenders. The bankruptcy reorganization reduced Revel’s debt from about $1.5 billion to $272 million, removing much of the financial burden that threatened the casino’s survival…

In addition to decreases in profitability, the industry had a nearly 8 percent drop in net revenue, nearly 2 percent decrease in room revenue and 12 percent downturn in casino revenue, according to the gaming enforcement division… (more)

NEW YORK TIMES: …“Nothing is as it was before,” Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker told Parliament last month, explaining why, after years of resistance, Luxembourg had decided to start sharing information with foreign tax authorities about the money stashed in its banks. “Not everything has changed, but lots of things have changed. Other changes are necessary, or everything will change.”

The attention this week on the ability of Apple and other prominent American corporations to avoid corporate taxes through offshore tax arrangements obscures a perhaps more significant development, highlighted by Luxembourg’s abrupt retreat from banking secrecy: the relentless pressures being piled on opaque money centers around the world amid a sweeping global assault on tax evasion and the secrecy that enables it.

“Bank secrecy is a relic of the past,” said Algirdas Semeta, the European Union’s senior official responsible for tax issues. “Soon we will see the death of bank secrecy around the world.” … (more)

HUFFINGTON POST: … Ibragim Todashev, 27, was questioned Wednesday in Orlando, Fla. about his connections to the older of the two bombing suspects, whom he knew through their participation in Mixed Martial Arts.

At some point during the interview, Todashev “just went crazy,” law enforcement officials told ABC News. The Chechen immigrant pulled out a knife and stabbed the FBI agent several times before the agent shot and killed him. The agent’s injuries were non-life threatening.

CBS News correspondent Bob Orr reports that prior to the attack, Todashev implicated himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev in the murder of three Massachusetts men in 2011. Brandon Mess — Tsarnaev’s former roommate — and two others were slain in Mess’ apartment, their throats slashed and bodies covered in marijuana… (more)

NEWSMAX: Washington threatened Wednesday to increase support for Syria’s rebels if President Bashar al-Assad refuses to discuss a political end to a civil war that is spreading across borders…

The battle for the town of Qusair has brought the worst fighting in months in a war that has already killed more than 80,000 people, and by drawing in Hezbollah has spread sectarian violence across frontiers at the heart of the Middle East.

Washington and Moscow are scrambling to revive diplomacy, compelled to step up peace efforts by new reports of atrocities on both sides, suspicions that chemical weapons have been used and the rise of al-Qaida-linked fighters among Assad’s foes… (more)

USA TODAY: The teen birthrate in 2011 set another new record low, according to the latest federal data, released Thursday. The numbers reflect a continued trend downward for teens having babies.

The new rate, 31.3 births per 1,000 women ages 15-19, is about half the 1991 rate of 61.8 births per 1,000 teens, which was an all-time high, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.

The teen birthrate has been dropping steadily since the 1991 peak, save for blips in 2006 and 2007. The new report shows particularly steep drops, with a 25% decline in the overall teen birthrate just since 2007… (more)

USA TODAY: ….”The owner used extremely poor quality iron rods and cement,” committee head Khandker Mainuddin Ahmed told The Associated Press a day after submitting the report to the government. “There were a series of irregularities.”…

The report found that building owner Sohel Rana had permission to build a six-story structure and added two floors illegally so he could rent them out to garment factories. Past statements from authorities said the owner had permission for a five-story structure and added three floors illegally…

“A portion of the building was constructed on land which had been a body of water before and was filled with rubbish,” Ahmed said… (more)

EDITOR: One might assume that such irregularities could not happen in the USA, especially in Lancaster. Except…there was McCaskey East which had to be structurally retrofitted. The obvious dangers remained unreported, or at least not acted upon, during construction. It has always defied our understanding.

HUFFINGTON POST: The Obama administration acknowledged for the first time Wednesday that four American citizens have been killed in drone strikes since 2009 in Pakistan and Yemen. The disclosure to Congress comes on the eve of a major national security speech by President Barack Obama.

In conducting U.S. counterterrorism operations against al-Qaida and its associated forces, the government has targeted and killed one American citizen, Anwar al-Awlaki, and is aware of the killing by U.S. drones of three others, Attorney General Eric Holder said in a letter to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy.

Al-Awlaki, a radical Muslim cleric, was killed in a drone strike in September 2011 in Yemen. Holder said three other Americans were killed by drones in counterterrorism operations since 2009 but were not targeted. The three are Samir Khan, who was killed in the same drone strike as al-Awlaki; al-Awlaki’s 16-year-old son, Abdulrahman, a native of Denver, who also was killed in Yemen two weeks later; and Jude Kenan Mohammed, who was killed in a drone strike in Pakistan… (more)

FINANCIAL TIMES: Amazon wants its staff to work in three giant spherical greenhouses in downtown Seattle, as its instinct to keep a low-profile is overpowered by the kooky futurism of its chief Jeff Bezos.

The online retailer’s plans to make the plant-filled glass domes the centrepiece of its new headquarters, revealed in documents filed with Seattle city planners this week, got a mixed reception at a public meeting.

The biospheres will be between 80ft and 95ft high and create a “more natural, parklike setting”, according to the architects, where workers will huddle in offices and meeting rooms bordered by indoor shrubbery and fully grown trees… (more)

THINK PROGRESS: Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) brushed away a question about Latinos working in his administration during a roundtable discussion at The Union League in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Friday, telling the moderator, “If you can find us one let me know”:

MODERATOR: Do you have staff members that are Latino?

CORBETT: No, we do not have any staff members in there. If you can find us one, please let me know… (more)

Pa. Veterans Should Never Pay for Help to Apply for Benefits

LANCASTER, PA¬- The Lancaster County Board of Commissioner in conjunction with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs urge Veterans to beware of scams. Veterans, active military personnel and their dependents should never pay for help to apply for veterans benefits, according to the Pa. Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (DMVA).

“We’ve seen advertisements from businesses that offer veterans assistance in applying for benefits for free, and then end up charging a fee for financial planning services,’’ Brig. Gen. Mike Gould, the state’s deputy adjutant general for veterans’ affairs, said. “We need to get the word out that veterans should never pay for these services. Free assistance is readily available from any accredited veterans service officer at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, the County Director of Veterans Affairs, or through a chartered veterans service organization such as the American Legion, VFW, DAV, or AMVETS to name a few.”

County Directors of Veterans Affairs are accredited officers that provide veterans and their dependents assistance to identify and help determine eligibility for a wide range of veterans benefits; assist in the preparation of applications for county, state and federal veterans benefits and programs such as: burial allowances; grave markers and headstones; disabled veterans real estate tax exemptions; veterans emergency assistance; education gratuity program; federal health care benefits, service-connected disability and non-service connected disability pensions, and survivor benefits.

“We encourage Veterans in Lancaster County to contact the Lancaster County Veterans’ Affairs Office at 299-7920 or 150 North Queen Street, Suite 103, Lancaster, to learn of services available to them before having a service completed by an outside organization or company,” stated Commissioner Scott Martin, Chairman, Lancaster County Board of Commissioners. “The last thing we want is for a Veteran to pay for a service that can be provided to them for free.”

More information about services provided for Veterans can be found on the County Website at www.co.lancaster.pa.us or by visiting the Pa. DMVA online at dmva.state.pa.us and click on Veterans Affairs. Other helpful information is available on that website or by following DMVA on Facebook at or Twitter.

The Board of Commissioners also encourages the distribution of the below recommendations for Veterans as provided by the United States Federal Trade Commission.

Stop Cheating Our Veterans!

Many legitimate charities are soliciting donations to support the nation’s military veterans as well as the families of active-duty personnel. But not all “charities” are legitimate: Some are sham operators whose only purpose is to make money for themselves. Others use paid fund-raisers whose fees eat up most of a donation. According to the Federal Trade Commission, there are several ways to make sure your donations go to a legitimate charity, rather than a greedy scam artist:

• Recognize that the words “veterans” or “military families” in an organization’s name don’t necessarily mean they will benefit from the money you are donating. To check on an organization, contact militaryonesource.mil.
• Look for an organization’s track record. Scam artists follow the headlines and charities that spring up literally overnight in connection with military conflicts and related news stories may disappear just as quickly.
• Callers may try to trick you by thanking you for a pledge you didn’t make.
• Some phony charities use names, seals, and logos that look or sound like those of respected, legitimate organizations. You may see a small difference in the name of the charity from the one you mean to deal with.
• Some charities hire professional fund-raisers for large-scale mailings, telephone drives, and other solicitations. Ask if the caller is a paid fundraiser and the percentage of your donation that will go to the charity.
• Check with the National Association of State Charity Officials (nasconet.org) to determine if the organization is registered in your state and to verify how much of each donation goes to the charity, and how much goes to fundraising and management expenses. You also can check with the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance (bbb.org/us/charity), and GuideStar (guidestar.org).
• For security and tax record purposes, it’s best to pay by check – made payable to the charity, not the solicitor. If you’re thinking about giving online, look for indicators that the site is secure, like a lock icon on the browser’s status bar or a URL for a website that begins “https:” (the “s” stands for “secure”). Unfortunately, no indicator is foolproof; some fraudulent sites have forged security icons.
• Ask for a receipt that shows amount of contribution, and that it is tax deductible.
• Be cautious of promises of sweepstakes winnings in exchange for a contribution. U.S. prohibits requiring a donation to be eligible to win a sweepstakes.
• If you think an organization may not be legitimate, contact your state Attorney General (attorneygeneral.gov) or the FTC (ftccomplaintassistant.gov).