The Local Newsroom
Politics
How dinner with Horsford resulted in a sour taste
September 2nd, 2010
These days, whenever Richard Hofstadter comes up, it’s almost always in connection with “The Paranoid Style in American Politics” (Harper’s, 1964), the title essay in his collection that helps explain the idiots who cannot accept that President Obama was born in the United States, is a Christian, is not a Marxist and does not plan to place right-wingers in concentration camps. Read more »
Green Felt Journal
Casinos now playing Facebook games
August 26th, 2010
Casinos in Las Vegas have been marketing through social media for some time now, mostly via Facebook and Twitter. Recently, however, two Las Vegas-based casino companies have taken their investment in social media to another level with Facebook applications. Facebook allows third-party developers to create applications, or apps, that users can access through their Facebook pages. Social games are some of the most popular apps available. Unlike sites that offer play-for-free (or play-for-cash), these games require no download and can be played in a standard Web browser. By definition, they allow players to invite friends to join games and compete in friendly competitions. Read more »
Politics
Why go to Japan to see kabuki?
August 26th, 2010
Besides teaching at Brooklyn College and the City University of New York Graduate Center, Eric Alterman writes columns for numerous publications tilting leftward. Recently, he wrote “Kabuki Democracy: Why a Progressive Presidency Is Impossible, for Now,” at TheNation.com. “The piece came from a feeling I had that every time a problem cropped up, the media discourse treated it as a brand-new notion,” Alterman wrote to me, “rather than something that could have been predicted given the way the system was structured. I had this feeling over and over, and decided it would be worthwhile to delineate them.” Read more »
The Local Newsroom
The Trouble With Cashman Field
It may be old, but it’s all we’ve got. And it’s not going away
August 26th, 2010
There’s been a lot of speculation about the future of professional baseball in Las Vegas. Mayor Oscar Goodman has come out this month and said that a major league team is looking at the city, and the 51s’ player development contract with the Toronto Blue Jays expires next month, although the parties seem likely to renew their partnership through 2012. Regardless of those developments, this is certain: No matter which team is playing here in the next few years, it will be housed at Cashman Field. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Silence Is Golden
Why the NRA isn’t attacking Harry Reid
August 26th, 2010
When you call the National Rifle Association’s toll-free member hotline, this is what you’re greeted with: “To hear NRA’s statement about rumors regarding Sen. Harry Reid, please press one now.” Ever since the idea that the powerful Second Amendment advocacy group might endorse the Democratic Senate majority leader began making the rounds of conservative blogs last month, the NRA has been fielding scores of irate calls and e-mails. Read more »
Politics
Campaigning on a (right) wing and a prayer
August 19th, 2010
In 1998, a Promise Keepers website included some anti-Mormon commentary. When word of that spread, it took away traditionally conservative Mormon votes from the Promise Keepers member running for the U.S. Senate—Republican John Ensign—and helped Democrat Harry Reid, a Mormon, squeak to a third term. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Logging on to Learn
Online schools are free, flexible and getting more popular each year
August 19th, 2010
Bailey Saint-Marc has an easy commute to school every day. All the fifth-grader has to do is roll out of bed, turn on the computer and begin his daily lessons. Although it might sound like home schooling, it’s not. Saint-Marc is in the gifted program at Nevada Connections Academy, an online charter school—a free public school—that’s part of the growing field of online learning institutions in Nevada, including Nevada Virtual Academy, Odyssey Charter Schools and Silver State High School. In addition, the Clark County School District has Virtual High School, with more than 1,500 students. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Dying to Get Out
Like all real estate, cemetery plots are a hard sell these days
August 19th, 2010
When Laura Connelly’s sister-in-law hounded her and her husband about being responsible and buying cemetery plots 40 years ago, they gave in and bought two at Palms Mortuary for $986. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Is Sandoval Losing Hispanic Voters?
Some supporters think the gubernatorial hopeful is taking them for granted
August 19th, 2010
Hispanic voters wanted to love Brian Sandoval, the Republican who would be the state’s first Hispanic governor. But it’s starting to seem like he’s doing his best to turn them off. This was vividly illustrated by the recent controversy over a stunningly insensitive remark Sandoval supposedly made at the Univision television studio. It’s not at all clear whether Sandoval actually uttered the comment in question, but the accusation has reverberated widely in Nevada’s Hispanic community. Read more »
The Local Newsroom
Here Comes the Rain Again
Monsoon season is here and the Clark County Regional Flood Control District is still waging war with water
August 19th, 2010
Last week the Clark County Regional Flood Control District unveiled its newest billboard: an image of a blue car caught in a flash flood with the words “H2OTRAP” spelled out on a Nevada license plate. The winning phrase, submitted to the billboard license plate contest by Clark County resident Cheri Fisher, couldn’t come at a better time. Read more »
