Back at my post

Barring enormous dissatisfaction in McLean, Virginia, the USAT travel guides are off my desk for the time being, which means slightly more leisure to ponder such matters as what the rise to power of the Islamic Brotherhood in Cairo (albeit on a short, military leash) means for Caesars International‘s Egyptian casinos … or the newfound celebrity/bogeyman status of Sheldon Adelson. Last night, in one sitting, I read Richard “Skip” Bronson‘s The War at the Shore — and you might one to ‘skip’ that one. It’s pretty light on history, long on anecdotes, but at least its 217 pages make for a quick read. And, lastly, here’s a heartfelt wish for a speedy recovery to S&G reader HPark4, who suffered a right-quadricep injury while mountaineering and concludes that he’d have been better off sitting at a video poker machine instead.

H.P., I think your new slogan, “It’s safer in a casino” is damned catchy and that you’d better copyright it before either the convention-and-visitors authorities of Las Vegas or Atlantic City snurches it. It’s almost as good as, “What happens here, stays here.” Who knows? It could become an S&G catchphrase, applicable to most all mishaps: Somebody gets run over by a truck at Electric Daisy Carnival? “It’s safer in a casino.”