Nevada had better look to its laurels. The Silver State has been ranked only as the third most sinful in America. That’s probably because we’re down at #30 in the “hatred and 
anger” category, a good place to be. We’re also 29th in vanity, which you could guess from the way a lot of people around here dress. However, we’re way up #1 for greed and laziness. I’d never think of Las Vegas as the capital of sloth but apparently so. We’re fourteenth in lust but fifth in jealousy, which suggests a lot of people are suffering from Iago‘s green-eyed monster for no good reason. We’re fifth in gambling addiction percentage-wise but, even with marijuana now legal, don’t show up on the radar for problem drug use. That’d be Vermont. Alarmingly, we’re third in violent crimes per capita. (Maine is the safest state.) But even with all those comped drinks, we’re somewhere in the middle for problem drinking.
Maybe the proliferation of strip clubs and legalized brothels has something to do with why Nevada isn’t in the top five for “Highest Average Time Spent on Adult Entertainment Sites.” Point your browser here for the methodology used by WalletHub. In the meantime, enjoy a free beer along with your video poker session.
* As television, poker has always struck me as a crushing bore, even when people like Lauren Graham were playing it. However, for those who find it fascinating — and perhaps enjoy the anti-social personality quirks of the pros — Rush Street Prods. has good news for you. It will be debuting Poker Night Live (10 p.m. EST) from Gardens Casino, near Hollywood. Rush Street is promising celebrity participants, although only Phil Hellmuth and Joe Stapleton have been announced to date. If you get a frisson from watching play happen in real time, this is for you. It will air on CBS Sports Network, starting March 20.
* Since the 10/1 shootings on the Las Vegas Strip, we have little to show for it but the “thoughts and prayers” of double-talking politicians in Washington, D.C. Well, after last week’s massacre in Florida those sweet speakers can shove their hypocritical thoughts and prayers where the sun doesn’t shine. Esquire sent a correspondent to Las Vegas and found a climate virtually unchanged by the Mandalay Bay rampage. After that happened, there 
was much talk of thoughts and prayers, and that Something Must Be Done. And what has been done? Nothing, aside from heightened security measures from the hotel owners (the private sector putting the public one to shame). Even with the National Rifle Association giving its blessing to the banning of bump stocks, Stephen Paddock‘s deadliest accessory, nothing has been done at either the state or national level. How many people have to die before our our gutless wonders masquerading as “leadership” realize that gun violence is an epidemic in our country that must be addressed? One Florida congresswoman said last week that this wasn’t the time to talk about our gun problem. If not now, when? I’m sure she said the same thing when 58 lives were snuffed out at Mandalay Bay. I don’t have the solution, much as I wish otherwise, but a vigorous discussion of how to stem the epidemic is a good place to start.
