In Vegas, everyone is the pooch. The business model depends on bringing in mindless money carriers who think they have a chance of leaving with more money. Does it happen? Well sure, otherwise pooches would become disillusioned and stop coming. When it does happen, it is heavily advertised as though it is something available and easily attainable. The psychological hook of intermittent reward. And then there is the pampered pooch. Those with the most money who are willing to play like there’s no tomorrow and for some there will be no tomorrow. Vegas has broken more gamblers than have been made wealthy. Pampered gets them comped (free) meals, comped lodging and in the most pampered cases, comped transportation.

The point here is that unless you own the casino, you are the pooch. Which brings us to our nation writ large. A nation of pooches. Remember the Vegas model. Trump owned a casino. He bankrupted it. Not because the business model was flawed. He went bankrupt because he couldn’t cheat. Casinos are highly regulated to ensure the games are fair. Well that’s no fun. A guy’s got to have that extra edge. We can extrapolate this tendency to cheat to his penchant for degrading the election process; his desire to rule with an iron fist, you know, like Putin; his desire to cast doubt on every institution of government to bend and stretch government to his desire for unfettered power and control. All the while feeding the pooches just enough slop to keep them sated but always wanting more. Pooches are incapable of controlling their own destinies, and realizing this, they allow the master to care for them. It’s a kind of sickness born of ignorance and selfish laziness. And like most efforts to subvert life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, it won’t happen all at once. But rather it will be a gradual erosion of liberty meant to keep only the pampered happy and fed.

If you find this fantastical, you are not paying attention. It’s happening right now. The mechanisms are in place to not just subvert the next presidential election, but to cheat. Wake the fuck up. There is nothing for you here.

Let us suppose for the moment that the most important function of a free and unfettered press is the dissemination of truth. To establish what is true, there must be agreement of fact. For instance, a journalist in attendance at a White House press conference will record what the press secretary says, without omission or embellishment. Fact. Truth.

Regardless of political ideology, the press are the defacto eyes and ears of the citizenry. Their sole purpose is to report to us what we cannot be there to witness. The role of the press in democracy cannot be understated. The Fourth Estate indeed.

There is much opining as to the state of our democracy and the impending doom of it. But erosion of our democracy can be pinpointed to a singular, pivotal event. William Paley’s decision and goal to transform CBS news into a moneymaking entity. The transformation, while seemingly subtle, from journalists to stars marked the beginning of the end of integrity in journalism. The emphasis shifted from substance to appearance. From news cast to news show. It blurred the line between reporting facts and reporting about facts. We have gradually become conditioned to rely on news personalities to not just tell us the news, but tell us how we should react to it.

So now, truth is merely a matter of perspective. Your truth cannot be my truth unless you agree with me. And rather than being discerning consumers, we lap up whatever they’re pouring in the trough without a thought of questioning whether it’s accurate or OMG whether it’s true. Jake Tapper, while conducting an interview just this morning, actually quipped, “isn’t it our job to educate the public.” What? NO!!! Your JOB is to report facts so that the public is equipped to educate ourselves. Geez, Halloween aside, these are scary times.

After watching the Mayorkas presser this morning, it is clear that reporters are concerned about the inhumane treatment of Haitian immigrants at the southern border. Mayorkas cited health and safety concerns as justification for removing the migrants.

In other news, the Arizona recount is over.

Budget talks are ongoing in Congress.

All the turmoil in this country and the poor, downtrodden still want to come here.

So I guess the irony amidst all of this is that we are so busy infighting that we have lost sight of how good America could be. All the dollars being argued, all the dollars being wasted on stupid election theories, all the dollars thrown at an immigration policy that no longer meets the needs of a bulging and bloated population. It is indeed an embarrassment of riches.

As I venture out around my own neighborhood, I am both saddened and repelled by the frequency of encountering homeless Americans. And I can’t help but wonder, where is the indignation, the self righteous proselytizing about them. Is a border crisis more in keeping with our American fascination? Or is it a distraction from the utter desperation so prevalent amongst us.

It seems inevitable that we are fated to defeat ourselves from within. The house divided against itself was never fully rebuilt. We are selfish, cold, hardened, and crass and that’s the good news. The planet is telling us. STOP. Stop reproducing like bunnies. Stop polluting the air, the water, the land. STOP. Eye on the prize. It is no surprise that legalized gambling has taken hold in every part of the country. We are a nation of addicts in need of an intervention. Or at the very least, a slap to snap out of it.

The Grand Ostrich Party. But to be fair, that monicker applies to both sides of the aisle and the debate. Even those still capable of critical thinking have a tendency to gravitate to sources that support their own senses of reality. Then they bury their heads in the sand if something contrary hits their orbit. So there can be no meaningful interactions, no chance for presenting an idea that might be received positively by the other side.

But the sad fact is that many in this country suffer from a feeling of powerlessness and an inability to make positive strides economically. They are the disenfranchised and frankly the pissed off. By nature of the origins of this country, caucasians feel the most threatened and cheated. A glance at recent history certainly bears this out. Even more ironic is the faction being embraced is the one that has caused the pain. Think for a moment what Trump did for the middle class and then think for a moment what Trump did for the wealthy in economic terms. As we slip further into oligarchy, the foundation building is vital. Forget the wall. What Trump did what to solidify a belief amongst white middle class people that only a rich clown could get them to the promised land. And many clung to him like he was a life raft in a sea of Black Lives Matter sharks.

It has been suggested that conservatism is going through its Hippie phase. This is insulting to hippies. There were the overriding messages: Make love, not war; Flower Power; Free love; Don’t trust anyone over 30. This does not seem comparable to the mental illness afflicting the party faithful currently. Hippies were viewed more as a cultural phenomenon rather than a political movement aimed at overthrowing democracy. Although it could be said that there is much use of psychedelics currently.

The circular fire squad thinking leads us inevitably to the COVID-19 crisis and the politicization of vaccines. As any self respecting cult leader will tell you, it is the survival of the cult that is of paramount importance. Not the survival of cult members. So in order to further the endurance of dear leaders tenets, the cult members will be convinced that death is preferable to relinquishing the belief system. While dear leader watches them die he will smile to himself knowing the power of his spoken word. And then the pathetic realization that there is no vaccine for that.

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Vegas tradition. Film don’t lie. Yet, and it is a mystery, nefarious and criminal acts are committed in casinos every day. While the cameras are running and everyone knows they are running, nefarious and criminal acts happen every day in Nevada casinos.

So, to us in Nevada, the idea that someone would commit a criminal act while being filmed is not only not surprising, it happens in Vegas daily.

What would embolden a person to act inappropriately or illegally knowing they are being filmed is difficult to explain, but I would suggest it has more to do with feeling a sense of invincibility or invisibility, that somehow they won’t see me.

This, I believe, is what allowed Chauvin to keep his knee on Floyd’s neck. He felt the invincibility of the thin blue line and it emboldened him to feel invisible. And if not invisible, then untouchable.

The verdict was right. But it remains to be seen if right translates to action. There remains the Wild Wild West mentality that the sheriff must be the baddest, bestest gunslinger in the town in order to maintain law and order. This encourages the badass gunslingers to come in and challenge him. We really haven’t advanced much.

Cops can’t be everywhere at once. So enforcement is selective. And cops determine through past experience and other cop influence which areas are in need of greater enforcement and which areas are to be avoided. And when they protect and serve using such guidelines, there is no alternative but to protect and serve each other. During this trial, they deviated from the curve. But that is not to be seen as progress or rehabilitation. It is a tactical move toward survival. So be careful what you cheer and ask for. In this case, a well placed cell phone ensured prosecution and conviction. But remember Vegas rules: film does not prevent action, it only documents what has already happened.

When New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced he would be giving a public, press conference apology, I thought bad idea. There is no way to come off as anything other than tone deaf and a classic chauvinist no matter what you say, how you say it, or even if you think you mean it. And after it was over, he would have been better off to say nothing.

Ask any woman who has been in the workforce for any length of time if she has experienced sexual harassment the overwhelming majority will answer in the affirmative. In fact, it is unusual to not experience harassment.

Having worked in the gaming industry for a few years, I can attest to the industry’s reluctance to advance to the 21st century. Make no mistake, corporate or mob owned, the joints all operate the same. Men in power are masters of the universe and the girls just need to play along, no waves. The subservient behavior is so ingrained, the women themselves abet the culture. It is amusing somehow that the guys who get slammed are lower level managers who make inappropriate comments, as in one instance, the guy liked the look of her ass when she bent over. Meanwhile the guy in the executive suite is making obscene overtures with impunity.

This entitled behavior is learned. Whether they learn in at home or pick it up once they get to the work environment is not germane. And sadly they do not exist in a vacuum. There are enablers enough to go around. So if you think Cuomo’s face touchy is inappropriate, and we do, come work in a casino where there is a literal buffet of inappropriate.

Working at the Flamingo I was constantly hounded by shift manager BG for a date. I was pretty unsophisticated and just sort of laughed him off. He was known to run a stable of female employees but never seemed satisfied. The joint had just transitioned to Hilton ownership, but vestiges of mob influence remained. And the boys ran it like a brothel.

Typical Italian male management style was all subject to emotional whims. They like their ladies smiling and appreciative. And be sure to laugh at all their jokes. I ran afoul of shift boss Joe Bananas while working at Holiday Inn Center Strip because I was not properly amused. At the time I thought he was nuts. I soon learned that he was all too typical.

The idea that a MeToo movement was even possible seemed like a hoax. In the corporate casino world, human resources was always viewed as ineffective and anyone who availed themselves of their services was viewed as a traitor. Any employee successful in getting redress would have sought independent legal counsel after termination of employment. As time goes by and a new generation takes hold, attitudes about tolerance will evolve and those men who persist in the old ways will be eliminated. And HR will be a critical component.

But it will not be a straight line progression. Peaks and valleys. Right now we are in a valley. It will take more than a couple of pack mules to get us back to the top. And predators have an uncanny ability to adapt and shift to stay in the game.

COVID-19 has all but decimated the economy of Las Vegas. The once vibrant, strong tourism industry is a mere shadow of what was heretofore a great game. So what does the future hold. There will no doubt be a resurgence once the pandemic has subsided. But the larger question remains what will Vegas be. It will not be the same as it was and in some ways that’s to be expected . But inevitably people will suffer.

Already the trend is to shrink the casinos. The philosophy of bigger is better has reached its apogee. It will be gradual in some cases and quite abrupt in others.

Take for example Bally’s Las Vegas. A once grand, sprawling cutting edge casino, has been reduced to a sawdust joint. The blackjack odds are 6:5. The high limit room is history. The outer pits now have a $500 max bet on blackjack. It’s a grind in more ways than one. And it all happened overnight.

Along with the brave new vision has gone jobs. The table games dealers suffer the greatest indignity. Their once well paying livelihoods are gone. They are union represented and still they are forced into reduced working hours. These are full time employees now told the most they can hope for is 16-24 hours/ week. The only true full time employees are the dice dealers. The pits have been condensed and combined to favor dice employees, both dealer and supervisor.

I mention this to remind our government leaders that with all this rustling comes two outcomes: reduced tax revenues and increased unemployment. Attrition will abet the process, but that will require a generation of time. The pain and suffering will be immediate.

So? The shame here is that Eldorado-Caesars owns a few joints. And rather than afford Bally’s employees shifts at sister property Paris, they are shut out. Historically casinos are not labor friendly and are legally protected and favored. They own the politicians and the courts. Democracy and justice stop at the front door of the casino.

Vegas and her casinos are all about reinventing. The fevered drive to constantly change the landscape is reactionary and is directly attributable to the “J curve”. Always interested in what makes the gambler tick and part with their money, corporate casino owners rely on statistics. The “J curve” as it relates to legalized gambling, charts the predictable excitement gamblers have for a new game, with increasing revenues, followed by a sharp decline as gamblers become bored or wise to the game. So there is a practical reason Vegas has no flair for nostalgia.

Well just find another job, right? Here’s the rub with our economy…there are no other jobs. When we talk about diversification, the talk lasts about as long as the economic downturns and is then forgotten. Change is so hard. And lest we forget, public education in Nevada is like a migrant at the border. Underfunded and unwelcome. And with all this neglect comes an undereducated work force making us unattractive to anyone other than an Amazon looking to build a warehouse. You don’t need schooling to stack and pack merchandise. And those of us who have been employed in casinos for years are not desirable to prospective employers…we too old.

Business in Vegas will remain unchanged, at least in one respect. It will still be cruel, misogynistic and ruthless.

It was great for GOAT fans. Tom Brady devotees.

I will tell you one fan that was millions of happy. $2.3 million to be exact. The bet was made by a Vegas gambler on the BetMGM sports app, all on Brady’s Bucs to win +3. So the gambler wins the bet and the BetMGM site crashes immediately. No one can collect.

But the interesting part of the story could very well be some strategic behind the scenes negotiating to ensure some favorable officiating. The first half was definitely skewed toward the Bucs with some biased calls. But you know it’s just a game. And anybody could lay down $2.3 mil without some hedging.

And for some folks like me who have never won a sports bet ever, there might be some satisfaction in seeing the books get burned.

It also lays some unsavory conspiracy theories to the suspicion that Vegas and sports just do not mix. And should not mix. From three Rebels in a hot tub, to a $2.3 mil Super bet, it’s just, well, high drama.

Congrats Tom. Please retire your under inflated balls.

Marjorie Taylor Greene. Can we please put a moratorium on giving her a speedy rise to fame, or more precisely, infamy. I get it that she is batshit crazy, but honestly how much of that is her and how much is theater.

She seems quite delighted in all the attention in a way that is truly Trumpian. The reports that she has endorsed the untimely demise of Pelosi and her reported disclosures of fellow congressmen’s locations during the insurrection indicates she is possessed of a singular goal: her own advancement at the expense of democracy. And we are back to Trumpism.

Shape shifters were supposed to be mythical but many Republicans display evidence that they are real and they are among us. To call Greene loathesome just doesn’t do her proper justice. She is all that and so much more.

Quite the fan of conspiracy theories, Greene has taken a macabre interest in the 1 October shooting. She is spouting a theory that anti-gun lobbyists were behind Paddock’s shooting spree. Lest we forget, there is no evidence to date that Paddock had any political affiliations, that he had any political agenda. He was a loner. It is also true that we will never know why he did what he did. And since there can be no right answer, it has become fertile ground for alternate facts and realities. A truly insensitive, tone deaf posture and one that must cause unspeakable pain and sadness for those left forever damaged not to mention those left behind. Let’s get over her by removing her from office as is the process in Congress. Seems as though we have more pressing matters at the moment but politicians in general never miss an opportunity to claim the limelight. Shape shifting.

There can be no healing until those who are in office disconnect from the guy who lost and who should remain isolated rather than deified. Free your mind and your ass will follow.

How incredibly fitting it is that DJT has hired an attorney who represents mobsters for clients. I almost spit milk out my nose. Were it not so pathetic, it would be hysterically funny. In Vegas, we have a resident former mob lawyer, Oscar Goodman. He represented Tony Spilotro successfully getting Spilotro acquitted in his conspiracy trial which of course made him available for a shallow cornfield grave in Indiana. But Oscar’s claim to fame was his ability to dance between the raindrops by proving he was a guy who could keep his mouth tightly shut.

So for a mob attorney to take on the impeachment defense for a wise guy who can’t keep his mouth shut must come with some hefty incentives.

We might speculate concerning a line of defense. For example, the impeachment of a former president is unconstitutional. That’s a good one. Or maybe, my client, your honor, is clinically insane. I prefer that one. Or seriously, your honor, my client is a pathological liar and can’t be trusted to aid us in his defense. So you should just let him go. Okay?

The atmosphere in the courtroom is sure to be lighthearted good fun while the judge eviscerates the DJT legal team. But I suppose it’s not a courtroom in that it’s the Senate chamber and the judge is really a Supreme Court Chief Justice. But I don’t think we should get caught up in those minor details. Just enjoy the moment.

The saddest reality here is DJT is the leader of the gang that couldn’t shoot straight. Pathetically unqualified to be a gangster, he fancies himself a mob boss. We have numerous taped encounters of DJT threatening and cajoling government officials in an attempt to secure overturning his election defeat. We have the film of DJT firing up the angry mob that ultimately stormed the capitol in what could only be interpreted as an unsuccessful coup. All of these actions are obviously despicable and worthy of impeachment. And yet we know that a conviction will likely not be forthcoming.

Like the entirety of his time in the White House, it will be a farce with tragicomedy elements. As someone now famously said, “it is what it is”.