{"id":6831,"date":"2011-06-03T16:12:41","date_gmt":"2011-06-04T00:12:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/?p=6831"},"modified":"2018-04-04T09:07:17","modified_gmt":"2018-04-04T17:07:17","slug":"the-hot-list-thats-not-grumpy-old-fulton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/the-hot-list-thats-not-grumpy-old-fulton\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘hot’ list that’s not; Grumpy old Fulton; A threat from Quinn"},"content":{"rendered":"

A sudden barrage of commissions has been getting between me and S&G<\/em>. At the very least, I can get a few quick hits in before the weekend. For instance …<\/p>\n

\"\"Earth to Vegas.com …<\/strong> while I realize that Las Vegas<\/strong> isn’t exactly Key West<\/strong> with slot machines, you’d expect Vegas.com<\/strong> to be approximately somewhere in this century when compiling its list of ‘LGBT hot spots<\/a>.’ The press release gilds the lily with some apparent misinformation:”Piranha Nightclub<\/strong>, known for its 180 degree Piranha filled fish tank …<\/em>”
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t they have gay best friends at Vegas.com? I forwarded the list to mine and he was quick to spot several errors. To wit: A)<\/em> “Suede<\/strong> has been long closed.”<\/span> B)<\/em> “So has Ramrod<\/strong>.” <\/span>C)<\/em> “No actual piranhas in the tank at Piranha.” <\/span>Sounds like Vegas.com either needs to develop more reliable sources or let its staff out of the building occasionally.<\/p>\n

\"\"Stan Fulton, former slot-maker<\/strong>, sometime philanthropist and general nuisance (he once tried to get the UNLV<\/strong> president sacked, in a towering fit of pique<\/a>) is in the news again. Seems the Jemez Pueblo<\/strong> tribe is reservation-shopping for a casino site in New Mexico<\/strong> near old Stan’s Sunland Park Racetrack & Casino<\/strong>. The Bureau of Indian Affairs<\/strong> has studied the economic impact and concluded that while Sunland Park would sustain a deep near-term hit, it would recover in two to two-and-a-half years, as business and population in the area grew. (Cold comfort if you happen to be employed at Sunland Park.) Fulton and his allies are not having it<\/a>. “The project will adversely impact not only horse owners, trainers, breeders, jockeys and backside employees, but will have a ripple effect on the ancillary businesses supported by the racetrack industry<\/em>,” warned a spokesman for the horsey set.<\/p>\n

By that logic (curbing one industry [casinos] to protect another [horseracing]), the federal government should have banned television because of the “ripple effect” it had on the movie industry. Normally, this argument wouldn’t stand up but … since Washington<\/strong> has to sign off on the Jemez Pueblo casino, it’s in the position to “play God” with the New Mexico economy. So whose viewpoint do you trust: the New Mexico Horsemen’s Association<\/strong> or the B.I.A.? It’s a tough call but the pro-tribal tilt of the current administration makes the conclusion all but foregone.<\/p>\n

\"\"Quinn to the rescue?<\/strong> While the Illinois Legislature<\/strong> seems to be awash in imbecility where gaming is concerned, perhaps Gov. Pat Quinn<\/strong> (D) has his head screwed on right. Rumblings from the governor’s manse are that the state’s economically suicidal gambling-expansion bill is headed for a gubernatorial smackdown<\/a>. To the extent that one can translate what Quinn means by “top heavy,” it sounds like he wants the Lege to ditch as many as four of the five new casinos — Chicago<\/strong> excepted — and the racinos, too. (Since the airport slot parlors would be inside the prison<\/span> secured area, they’re not exactly competitive with, say, Harrah’s Joliet<\/strong> or the Grand Victoria<\/em> riverboat in Elgin<\/strong>.)<\/p>\n

Not coincidentally, Chicago-based real estate magnate Neil Bluhm<\/strong> is putting the finishing touches on his pricey new Des Plaines<\/strong> casino (above<\/em>), one which would effectively become besieged on all sides if racinos were suddenly legitimized. In addition to being a “favorite son” casino owner, Bluhm also writes big checks to the Democratic Party<\/strong>. That’s smoothed his path considerably in Pennsylvania<\/strong> and it could be a key factor motivating Quinn to reach for the veto stamp. It’s good to have “juice.”<\/p>\n

Home-schooling in Vegas<\/strong>. It’s not just for Creationists anymore<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A sudden barrage of commissions has been getting between me and S&G. At the very least, I can get a few quick hits in before the weekend. For instance … Earth to Vegas.com … while I realize that Las Vegas … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[28,14,4,7,67,58,11,10,91,95,33,111,25,9,19,20,17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6831"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6831"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6831\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21452,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6831\/revisions\/21452"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6831"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6831"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lasvegasadvisor.com\/stiffs-and-georges\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6831"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}