By failing to coalesce behind a rival candidate, the Culinary Union may have gift-wrapped Nevada for Sen. Bernie Sanders [I]. According to the Boston Globe, which noted lingering tensions between Sanders and the Culinary, a 
recent poll “found Sanders the clear front-runner in Nevada with 25 percent support to [Joe] Biden’s 18 percent. [Elizabeth] Warren was in third with 13 percent, followed by [Tom] Steyer with 11 percent. [Pete] Buttigieg and [Amy] Klobuchar, who are only now putting in major resources into the state after focusing on Iowa and New Hampshire, each had 10 percent.” By contrast to its seemingly ineffectual blasts at Sanders, the Culinary’s decision to sit on its hands—dictated by consigliere Harry Reid—spells Silver State doom for Biden. Reported the Globe, “Biden was introduced by US Representative Steven Horsford to a half-full union hall.” Ouch.
Sanders’ not-so-secret weapon is the Latino community, where his numbers are especially strong. “The only negative ads on the air in the state are against Sanders, but they’re funded by a pro-Israel group rather than a rival.” That “pro-Israel group” would almost certainly be spelled “Sheldon Adelson.” The Democratic establishment—including Gov. Steve Sisolak—is playing it coy, clearly unwilling to bet on any potentially losing horses. All of which means that Sanders will best a fragmented field of rivals and gain momentum heading into make-or-break Super Tuesday. Better enjoy those Culinary health benefits while you still have them, guys.
* As though coronavirus weren’t creating enough of a Sino-scare, something calling itself the Committee on the Present Danger: China will be playing Vegas on Wednesday. The group’s 2020 Policy Battlespace 
Threat Briefings have closely tracked the presidential primaries (next stop: South Carolina). The aim of these events is to expound “about the ominous ambitions of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and—thanks in no small measure to financing from U.S. investors—its growing capabilities to act on them.” (Emphasis in the original.) The committee, whose mentors include Newt Gingrich, contends that “our next Commander-in-Chief will have to contend with and counter China’s decades-long ‘unrestricted warfare.'”
The Committee trafficks in fear mongering about Commie infiltration of American institutions like CalPERS. Speakers at the event, which will be live-streamed on Facebook from a Summerlin law office, include former assemblyman Jim Marchant, former acting assistant secretary of defense Frank Gaffney and Tiananmen Square massacre survivor Dr. Sean Lin. We wonder if any casino execs will be surfing in. As someone who still calls the capital of China “Peking” and regards the country as “Red China,” I wonder if the committee isn’t preaching to the choir.
* That was quick. Blackstone Group‘s $4.6 billion purchase of MGM 
Grand and Bellagio has closed, with Blackstone buying approximately 4.9 million MGP Class A shares at $30.67 per share. MGM Resorts International could use such good news now.
* Former drug mule Billy Hayes, of Midnight Express infamy, is coming to Las Vegas to promote medicinal pot. He’ll be playing three engagements: Feb. 20 at the Sahara West Library, March 14 at Windmill Library and a third TBA. Be sure to cancel some appointments: Hayes’ show runs 190 minutes.
* On a much-needed lighter note, online-dating applications are now taking their cues from slot machine design. Explains Casino.org, “Much like the lever-pull on slots when all bets are off as to which images will flash up on the screen, when you swipe left or right, it could be your 
‘special someone’ that next pops up. You just don’t know what’s coming, and that’s what makes it so addictive.” Couldn’t find your true love at the first swipe? Maybe the second swipe will hit the jackpot, and then the third and so on … feeding our dopamine addictions. There are even slot-like sound effects to keep you playing, er, dating. They also gratify one’s impatience at finding Mr. or Ms. Right. As mental health counselor C.J. Everhart puts it, “This isn’t just about wanting to meet someone and feeling stuck using these apps to do so, this is about having developed a need, almost a compulsion to be on the apps.” Sounds familiar, all right.
