Fri, Jan 16, 2009

Russia backs human rights reform

After refusing to sign a human rights protocol in 2006, the State Duma finally ratified it, apparently to appease ties with the Council of Europe.

The Council of Europe which has 47 member states including Russia, is a powerful international organization established for the amelioration and promotion of democracy, the protection of human rights and the abolition of human rights violations in any form.

Silver Spring, Maryland: Poker for human rights

Famous poker pro player Andy Bloch is not unknown to non-profit endeavors, even though he is involved in one of the most individualist activity, poker.

Andy will host a "Poker for Human Rights" fundraiser in Silver Spring, Maryland on April 23-25, 2010 at 7PM. The format of this event is a Texas Holdem poker tournament with a $500 buy-in. Amnesty International will receive 75% of the money pool and the remaining 25% will be distributed among the last 8 players. Amnesty International expects to raise $25,000 from the event.

For more information about this event and other fundraisers at Amnesty International, check their website at:
http://www.humanrightsartfestival.com/poker.html

Andy Bloch

Andy Bloch is a famous poker pro born in 1969, but before entering the world of poker, he first sharpened his gambling teeth in the secretive universe of blackjack and more specifically blackjack card counters.

A member of the exclusive MIT blackjack team featured in books such as "Bringing down the house" and in the movie 21, Andy Bloch is one of the best blackjack card counters around and he made a lot of money from it. But life has become tough for card counters as casinos try every possible measure to disable their skills, so he turned to poker instead.

Andy became as good at poker as he was at blackjack, and he is now a member of the pokerstars team of poker pros. Pokerstars also organizes fundraisers for human right causes and Andy works closely with them in this respect.

If you have not yet opened an account at pokerstars, the poker room recommends using a Poker stars marketing code in order to receive a special welcome bonus.

If you are around Maryland in April, join Andy Bloch for this human rights poker fundraiser. There are still a lot of atrocious situations in the world and Amnesty International can help solve them. Please say a big thank you to Andy for his dedication.