STATE OF THE CITY |
Wheel ... of ... Justice! (Donate to Play!) Say we traded the judge's gavel for a slot machine. Three sevens and the criminal goes free. Otherwise, the number of bars that come up determine the number of years behind bars. It may not be the best, fairest way, but at least the casinos get their due. Oh, and it's unbiased. According to a recent report by the Progressive Leadership Alliance of Nevada, that would be one step in the right direction. PLAN released a report last week called "The Supreme Jackpot—Campaign Contributions to Nevada Supreme Court Justices," which accounts for the campaign contributions Supreme Court justices have raised since 1998. There's more than $1.5 million taken in by the seven justices, despite the fact that six of them ran unopposed. The bulk of the money, 39.9 percent, came from lawyers and lobbyists, and 29.4 percent came from casinos. Eight of the top 10 donors had cases before the Supreme Court, and half of the court cases examined had at least one party who gave money to the justices. "Certainly common sense would make one wonder, can you be impartial? Can you be fair when one group is giving you sometimes substantial amounts of money and the other group doesn't?" says Paul Brown, PLAN's Southern Nevada director. We wonder. The top five contributors from the gaming industry: Mandalay Bay Group $126,500 The top lawyers and lobbyists groups: Mainor & Harris $31,500 |
If You Don't Like The Court's Decisions, Dismantle It! Or, The System of Checks and Balances and How To Get Around It
Sen. John Ensign introduced legislation to split the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals into three parts last week. A new court, the 12th Circuit, would be based in Las Vegas and would oversee Nevada, Arizona, Idaho and Montana, shaking off the troubling affiliation with those liberal Californians.
Ensign told the Review-Journal he questions whether the present court's decisions are consistent with "the views and values of the people of Nevada."
In other news, Ensign proposed seceding from the union and making Mormon Prophet Gordon B. Hinckley President of Nevada.
This Week's Peas in a Pod: Oscar Goodman and Richard J. Daley
"If I can't help my sons, [my critics] should kiss my ass." —Daley, legendary Chicago mayor, responding to accusations that he aided his son's political rise.
"If I can't help my son, who can I help?" —Goodman, leaving the kiss my ass implied while defending himself against charges that he threw a party to help his son's business.
Is There an Editor in the House? Oh, Wait ...
Next time you need to plug a hole in a dam, this hunk of R-J Editor Thomas Mitchell's Sunday column should stopper it up just fine:
"... the forthcoming advocacy for full disclosure might provoke apoplexy and palpitations in those disinclined to skepticism and self-edification. Those so predisposed, turn away now ..."
Excellent suggestion!
Look for the New CD by Goons N' Reeses Soon
Recipients of an advance copy of a CD by Arthur Moore, sent out by Madonna's Maverick label, probably thought the disc was just another example of the labels many failures (Ebo, Home Town Hero, Lillix etc.). In short: Just about anyone on Maverick not named Alanis Morrisette. But this poor match of the first name of a character from a Liza Minelli film and the last name of the actor who played him is really a code name for Ms. Morissette, and the Arthur Moore disc is in fact a copy of her much anticipated new release, So Called Chaos, due out May 18. The deceptive naming is just one feature of the most extreme—and silly—effort yet by a label to keep new music from being shared by fans on the Internet before its official release. Each review copy of So Called Chaos has a coded watermark with the name of the person who received the disc written silently into the digital code, so leaks can be traced. Further, on the disc is a warning that secret copy-protection software may introduce a "playability issue." In short, the disc is so well protected that it will not play in DVD players, most computers, some portable CD players, automobile CD players and most standard equipment. Critics unable to play the official version, meanwhile, can—no surprise—find the songs from So Called Chaos already beginning to appear on the major peer-to-peer file-sharing networks.
You've Always Wondered What's Going On in Aaron Russo's Head. Now You Know
The bad thing about writing a story about an ex-Nevada gubernatorial candidate running for president on the Libertarian Party ticket is that you get campaign updates from that former gubernatorial candidate running for president on the Libertarian Party ticket.
Last week's update from Aaron Russo noted that Howard Stern loves him, he's gaining strength in the Libertarian Party and is about ready to become a media whore.
"We're working on TV and radio ads that we want to start broadcasting soon—and now you can check out the draft versions on the web site! And when you do, you'll go, 'Wow, those are sweet!' And I'll go (in the back of your mind), 'So send them around to everyone you know!' And you'll go, 'OK,' and you'll send them around to everyone you know. At least that's how it plays out in my head. It's up to you whether it actually works out that way or not. Let's find out."
Yes, let's!
Way to Screw the Bus Driver, R-J!
From an R-J article about the opening of the Bush-Cheney offices in Las Vegas: "A moment later, the driver of empty Clark County School District Bus No. 24910, passing the event on his return to the nearby bus yard, yelled out his window 'Bush Sucks.'"