In “The Bubble” that is the greater San Francisco area, strange things happen. Consider the Berkeley City Council, perhaps the most enlightened progressive body this side of Moscow. The good folks of this council are the touchiest and feeliest of any elected body in the known touchy/feely universe. There’s not a racist or xenophobic thought among them. Or, is there? … [Read more...]
Good to know Harry Reid’s Still a Jackass
The recent verbal tussle between Nevada’s Sen. Harry Reid and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, serves as a reminder to Nevadans that in the world of political jackassery our retiring senior senator still has game. Here he is this month tangling with a younger and bigger jackass in the form of Donald Trump. Reid: “(Trump) complains about her (Hillary’s) … [Read more...]
One Person’s Bias is Another’s Fact-based Judgment
Fair treatment looks like bias to those who are accustomed to being shown obsequious deference. Once again federal lawyers who have been handed a rejection of their legal arguments by a federal judge are claiming that their case was not weak but that the judge is biased. After having their case summarily thrown out in the 92-year-old lawsuit, U.S. v. Walker River … [Read more...]
But Words Can Never Hurt Us
Public discourse is not for the squeamish. Governing is seldom a decorous endeavor. In fact, Nevada’s statute on public meetings encourages open debate and colloquy to the point that it absolutely exempts public officials from being sued for defamation over anything said in a public meeting. Thus we were gratified to see this principle of allowing vigorous and unbridled … [Read more...]
Lawmakers Should Reject Public Funding for Football Stadium
Billionaire casino and newspaper owner Sheldon Adelson is threatening to take his football and go home if Nevada legislators don’t raise room taxes in Clark County to provide $750 million toward construction costs of his proposed $1.9 billion domed football stadium that would become home to the Las Vegas Raiders and UNLV football teams. To which we reply: Don’t forget your … [Read more...]
Honestly, Pay for play is Clinton way
Forget an “October Surprise” that will disqualify Hillary Clinton from the presidency. That happened in August. Lucky for her Donald Trump is her opponent. Email begrudgingly released by the State Department this month showed beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms. Clinton violated her promise to separate the Clinton Foundation from government business. The email showed … [Read more...]
Judge rules Bundy case evidence will be cloaked in secrecy
That was a futile gesture. A federal judge has rejected efforts by the Las Vegas Review-Journal, this newspaper and The Associated Press to be privy to evidence provided to the defense attorneys for the 19 defendants accused in the armed standoff at the Bundy ranch in Bunkerville in April 2014, meaning that most evidence will remain veiled in secrecy until the trial next … [Read more...]
Memorial Day memories
Like most servicemen I have met over the years, I am pretty loathe to discuss my time in the military. However, on the occasion of this year’s Memorial Day celebration, it might be a good time to discuss some of the highlights before they fade from memory. As I recall, the only Memorial Day celebration in which I officially partook occurred some seventy years ago in Pusan, … [Read more...]