More impressive than the times he made the Statue of Liberty disappear or impregnated a woman on stage, Vegas regular David Copperfield has finally found a real- world application for his magic: Last week in West Palm Beach, Florida, Copperfield tricked a group of robbers by turning his pockets inside out and making it appear that he wasn't carrying anything, when in reality he had a cell phone, passport and wallet on him. His two assistants were not so lucky—lacking Copperfield's sleight-of-hand skills, they dutifully handed over their money and valuables.
Cops caught the assailants soon after, though, and all of the stolen property was recovered. A spokesman for the West Palm Beach Police told E! Online that it's generally best to just do what you're told in a mugging. "Usually, the protocol is to give 'em what you got, and not play games with them," he said. Still, Copperfield's technique proved effective. Maybe he can consult for Metro the next time he's in Vegas.
The Newest Mistake(s)
The staff of the New Zealand Sun-Herald have kindly given us a new impression of Vegas by committing a series of errors in a Monday article: calling the 10-year-old Stratosphere the "latest big landmark on the Strip" (guess Wynn Las Vegas doesn't count); touting Ivana Trump's condo tower (scrapped months ago); boasting that "Sin City is proud of its dark side" (says who?); and claiming that Circus Circus is among the few "remaining" properties with kid-friendly amenities (screw you, Mandalay Bay with your shark reef, Boyd Gaming with all your bowling allies and Station Casinos with your Kids Quest play areas).
Gaming Plays Immigrants
The point of the esprit de corps entitled "A Day Without Immigrants," leaders had said in the conception of the movement, was to prove in real terms the impact Hispanics have on the American economy, and right here in Las Vegas, where more than one-quarter of the gaming industry is comprised of people who had been potential boycotters on May 1. Leaders had planned to withhold Hispanic labor for a day.
But in a masterful move, several executives of the city's major hotels managed to elude the foreseen disaster by redirecting the activists' movement.
You'll accomplish more for your cause by going to work than being absent, said the executives, with support from the Culinary Union. To further convince them, executives offered a bribe: their signatures on a petition for reform.
Yet, it worked. According to the R-J only 3,000 partook in the morning protest, during work hours, hardly causing a skip in the local economy's pulse. But in the evening protest, some 8,000 showed up—stirring one of May Day's incisive leaders to tell the R-J:After 6 p.m.? "That's not a boycott, that's a parade."
Mexico First, Then LA!
"The leader of the Independent American Party of Nevada wants Gov. Kenny Guinn to declare war on Mexico in an effort to stop the flow of illegal immigrants to Nevada. ... He said there may be as many as 250,000 illegal immigrants in Nevada, which he said constitutes an invasion."— R-J, May 1.
Who else should we declare war on?
• New Years Eve revelers: Estimated invasion force of 300,000 annually consumes liquor that could be consumed by Nevadans.
• Conventioneers: More than five million annually, ravaging our supply of rubber-chicken dinners.
• Californians: More than 10 million infiltrate our borders each year disguised as Americans.
• Lee Greenwood: While we're at it.