Whiny anti-gambling obssessive (and sometime pediatrician) Dr. James Dobson exited his Focus on the Family with an admission that he's on the losing side of the culture war. He blames it on the Nineties, Bill Clinton and that damned Internet. (A bit behind the times, isn't he?) At least Dobson needn't worry about "made fools for Christ." He's been doing a splendid job of making a fool of himself without any assistance whatsoever -- and shows every indication of continuing to do so.

Don't let the doorknob hit you on the way out, Jimbo.

Ader returns. Once the most-read (and arguably the most-feared) gaming analyst on Wall Street, Jason Ader is back in the picture as the newest board member of Las Vegas Sands. Here's hoping he'll have better luck than his predecessor at exercising a modicum of restraint upon CEO Sheldon Adelson, who's been in a pedal-to-the-metal frame of mind lately. Unlike the appointment of Michael Leven as Sands' new prez, this is one Adelson hire whose resumé won't be open to second-guessing.

Fun with numbers. Nevadans, apparently angry about having the day off or maybe irked from shouldering the second-lowest tax burden in the nation (Wyoming is #50) rallied in Carson City today. A Southern Nevada anti-tax newsletter estimates the crowd at 2,000. Local constabulary spotted only half as many, tops. (Subseqently revised to "more than 1,000.") I hope Stephens Media is better at bean-counting than head-counting.

Gibbons Follies. Having lain low for a few days, Gov. Jim Gibbons is back in the news with a vengeance. After saying he simply wouldn't sign a domestic-benefits law making its way through the Nevada Lege (about the only solid accomplishment emerging from that frivolous convocation), all it took was a quick chat with untiring homophobe Richard Ziser to make Midnight Jim wimp out completely. Now he says he'll veto the bill, thereby continuing to consign many Nevadans to second-class citizenship. (Supporters of the bill are trying to get Gibbons' ear but are more likely to receive the back of his hand.)

This is just plain wrong and a slap to a lot of hard-working, taxpaying citizens whose committed relationships might as well not exist, as far as the current law is concerned. "I just don't believe in it," sayeth Midnight Jim in re domestic-partner benefits for gay and lesbian citizens. Judging by his two divorces, Gibbons doesn't put great store in conventional marriage, either.

Jim Gibbons finds something he can believe in.

But alas, his latest strategem for meeting chicks laid an egg. Or did it? You be the judge. More seriously, Nevada can't afford to fill open Nevada Gaming Control Board positions but it can afford 5,000 gubernatorial eggs? Something's cracked here and it's not an eggshell.