Friday's Follies

The Week in Review

Gore Invented the Internet. Quayle did the Spellcheck: Politics continue to run rampant and will continue to do so. Today's chatter is full of the Dems in South Carolina and Repubs two states further south in Florida. The bickering among candidates and between parties has been going at a fever pitch. Hillary and Barrack diss each other to the point that Uncle John scolds them. On the other side of the wannabe aisle "Straight Talk John, zaps Amen Huck, who pings Mormon Mitt, who belittles Rugged Rudy who dumps on Rally-round-me Ron who pounds the policies of George who isn't even in the race.

Each candidate spends plenty of time degrading their opponents views then a little time defending their own platform. With so many contradicting charges and defenses, somebody has to be stretching the truth. The whole series of misstatements, spins, and untruths remind me of a quote from physician and writer John Arbuthnot whose life straddled the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, "Political parties die from swallowing their own lies." Perhaps we are seeing two parties choking on their own pablum. It might be time for a third or even fourth party to enter the fray. Could something be Blooming in New York?

Bring back the good old days: Three cheers for Terry Caudill. For those who are able to remember Downtown's Glitter Gulch in the days when most casinos were owned by locals who spent much of their time on site, things are reverting. Caudill is a homey. A UNR grad who worked as a keno runner and craps dealer. Keno running literally takes place on the ground floor. His mix of formal education and OJT makes him a good bet to add former King Benny Binion's place to his deck of Queens. Terry, owner of the Four Queens was recently cleared to be the owner of Binion's Gambling Hall & Hotel.

Union's dilemma: The local unions will have to practice their tightrope walking. Revenue to state tax coffers are as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. The Sir Gibbons the Guv has proposed cuts in all state budgets, resulting in a howl from those who feel the squeeze. The Guv pulled an ace from his sleeve and signed an executive order that repealed the use of project labor agreements, or PLAs. The agreements are agreements between public agencies and unions that effectively give the unions contracts that guarantee wages and benefits. Think pre-emptive no-strike. The union dilemma? Let the work go to non-union contractors and save the state millions, or insist on a hit and hope they don't bust.

THIS JUST IN... As we create today's post word comes that the top four floors of the Monte Carlo Hotel are on fire. The 32-story hotel that accommodates some 3,000 guests is ablaze. At this writing there are no reports of injuries or deaths. We will update you in tomorrow's post.

Dr. Forgot