Diss of the Day. “Having just raised the newsstand price for weekday and Saturday editions by 50 percent, the Las Vegas Review-Journal announced Monday it has eliminated sections of the paper as a cost-cutting measure.” — lead sentence of the Las Vegas Sun‘s coverage of cutbacks at its crosstown rival.
No tears for Desai. The doctor whose reckless methods put thousands of people — including our own beloved Jean Scott — at risk has suffered a stroke. I’m not going to be needing any crying towels and, judging from the all-schadenfreude “Comments” thread to that story, neither is anyone else in town. My favorite comment was also the shortest. It reads simply, “Karma.” (Although, “Lets [sic] hope that this is nothing trivial” is almost worthy of Oscar Wilde.) As ever, brevity is the essence of wit.
Harry Reid (D-Invertebrate). Sometimes — actually, very often these last seven years — it’s embarrassing to be a Democrat. Party “leadership,” as constituted by the likes of our own Sen. Harry Reid, desperately needs a spinal infusion. The ceaseless capitulations to a mostly reviled administration are difficult to stomach: Patriot Act, FISA telecom immunity, Iraq War funding and now this (I’d be less opposed if Big Oil was actually using all the leases it already has; this smells of corporate welfare to me).
The dead giveaway is buried at the end of the story, where a lobbyist displays unusual candor and says: “We never presented this as going to have an immediate impact on lowering the price of gasoline.” Ah, truth in Washington — now there’s a precious natural resource.
As usual, Hugh Jackson says it best, with accompanying Photoshop drollery. At least Hapless Harry can take solace in the news that the Justice Department says it has caught yet another GOP lawmaker with his hand in the cookie jar. I don’t agree with Rep. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) about much, but he’s right that there’s a culture of corruption that needs to be blown away by winds of change come November.
Occupancy rate or price point? Which is more important? Michael Gaughan has decided it’s the former, which is why he’s discounting room rates as deeply as 40% to amortize the extra cost of gas to get from SoCal to South Point. Liz Benston has more on it, plus a prognosis on the future of the cell phone ban in Nevada sports books. Forecast: still cloudy.
