 July 3rd, 2009 I aim for accuracy in titles, and this is about as factual as I can get.
July 3rd, 2009 July 2nd, 2009
Playable with “Casino Royale Dollars” which now has a higher exhange rate on the Forex market than the U.S. Dollar. July 2nd, 2009
This is all live. There is a line of a dozen people cruising on these things. July 2nd, 2009 June 27th, 2009
Black chips were actually being played, and some people really did arrive in limos. I grossly underestimated the turnout for the Spike. After the first night of drinking, plans usually go to shit *chough*decemberpokertournamentandminus5icelounge*cough*. I assumed that five people at most would really show up to the Gold Spike.
When I hit Planet Hollywood earlier in the evening, there were 20-30 people at Heart, and I learned that fifteen of them were going to the Spike. Well, fuck me. In a semi-panic, I rolled over to the Spike to give them fair warning, and got scolded repeatedly for not letting them know about the influx earlier. They wanted to have another dealer on hand, but I didn’t want them to pull in another dealer for no reason. In all fairness it was a Friday night in Vegas and not a Tuesday night in Des Moines, so I figured an hour’s notice of a 15 person influx was all good, but they had to shut down a Roulette table to service Rexfest people. It worked out, though. Perhaps next time a mere warning of a Rexfest will suffice. If they didn’t take it seriously before, they will now. Between my Birthday (I turned 41 yesterday), trips in and out of town, and trying to catch up with a couple dozen folks here in Vegas, I am working on 3 hours of sleep in four days. The turnout is nice and I am thrilled to see everyone as usual. Thank you all. June 25th, 2009
Let’s face it, this 30% accurate blogger is a bit more accurate than the corporate media wants you to believe. The decision is in, and … SURPRISE … the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada, in what I believe to be a violation of NRS 730 has granted NV Energy yet another rate increase. While inaccurate bloggers such as myself splash Nevada State Law across our front pages in response to this rate increase which will effect everyone in Nevada, I pulled up the homepage of our esteemed “legitimate” media outlet this morning and found …
Two menacing-looking black guys. Pay no attention the white guys in suits in public office who are robbing you blind … look … Negros!!! Don’t they look scary? You could be next! Everybody in Summerlin has already forgotten about the NV Energy rate increase. They are all on the phone to the HOA asking for the gate code to be changed lest the darkies have designs on little Britney and Kaitlyn next. Well played, R-J. Well played. Last week, the Review-Journal’s editor, Thomas Mitchell said “Free speech should be practiced only by those who are ready to deal with the consequences, which just might include a knock on the door by a friendly federal investigator wanting to know if you posted an anonymous comment on a Web site. Were you advocating violence or confessing to breaking the federal tax laws?” I don’t just criticize, though. I’m here to help. In that spirit, I have taken it upon myself to correct the homepage of the Review-Journal. Completely free of charge. What can I say? I’m a philanthropist.
There. That’s better. These are the folks you should fear. NV Energy rates were raised by “only” 7%, but before the ink even dried on this increase, I already received another bill insert stating that the energy company has asked for yet another rate increase. I am not kidding. That’s right folks. The 18% increase is being approved … only in steps in order adhere to the Frog in the Boiling Pot philosophy which has worked flawlessly in this nation for the last 100 years. It also appears that the majority of the PUC considerations involved NV Energy shareholder return, and little to no advocacy was done on the part of the Nevada public. Well, thank you Ms. Wagner. That was mighty Caucasian of you (unlike those menacing Negros on the RJ homepage). It’s comforting to hear that you are arguing for higher shareholder profits on the back of the Nevada ratepayer. Did Ms. Wagner also argue for “a little less of a salary” for the multi-millionaires running NV Energy? Did Ms. Wagner opine that NV Energy could make a higher return on investment if they stopped advertising? Nope. Ms. Wagner just wants you to pay … and shut your peasant mouth. After all, what are you going to do about it? But we can’t just blame Wagner. “Thompson agreed, and the commission’s final order included Wagner’s 10.5 percent return on equity.” Gee, Thompson, way to stand your ground. We now know who wears the pants in that relationship. Does she make you call her “mommy” while she’s spanking your bare ass too? In drafting the NV Energy decision, Commissioner Sam Thompson said he aimed for a “just and reasonable” solution that balanced the interests of ratepayers and shareholders. Again, the shareholders already have advocates — the executives and lawyers for NV Energy. We do not. The PUC is not in the business of asserting the interests of shareholders. Once again, this is the legal mandate of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission: NRS 703.151 Duties of Commission in adopting regulations relating to provision of electric service. In adopting regulations pursuant to this title relating to the provision of electric service, the Commission shall ensure that the regulations:
There is still nothing in there about “balancing interests of shareholders”. This is a task that the PUC has given themselves. The only considerations that the PUC can legally make, is decisions that directly benefit the public. In my opinion, publicly-paid officials abandoning their legal duties in favor of compensation for non-public entities is corruption, collusion, racketeering, and a breach of the public trust. Last but not least, the PUC emphatically stated that the increase was absolutely necessary. Of course, were the increase “absolutely necessary”, Nevada would currently have no power. The fact that we do have power is prima-facie evidence that power can be delivered at the current rates just fine. I asked both NV Energy and the PUC myself: “What happens if the increase is not approved?” Neither one of them had an answer. Well, they had an answer, but they did not want the truth to come out of their own mouth. The answer is … nothing. Absolutely nothing would happen were this rate increase not approved. Everything would be the same as it is today. You would continue paying what you are now to a state-run monopoly, the executives of NV Energy would continue receiving multi-million dollar salaries, the PUC would continue taking public money to advocate for shareholders of a private company, and the status-quo would continue. Not only is this rate increase not necessary, but the PUC could lower rates by 20% tomorrow, and you still would not notice a difference at your three-pronged wall outlet. To make a long story short … The Public Utilities Commission lied. Just flat-out lied. There is no more pleasant way to say it. As much as the local media likes to say that they fully vet the information they print and broadcast, the fact is that they do not. Had a corn-rowed black guy fed our local media an obvious lie, you can bet your sweet ass that they would have triple-checked the facts and gleefully extolled any discrepancies on the front page. Alas, these tasks are still left to inaccurate bloggers. As the mainstream continues to hemorrhage cash and wonder where it all went wrong, they may be able to trace the shift in tide to the end of this decade. They have completely abandoned their tasks as public watchdogs. Nobody trusts the corporate media anymore, and for good reason. Whether it is the editor of a newspaper vocally coming out against the First Amendment, or playing softball with large businesses in exchange for advertising … the public trust is waning. Personally, until I become Mayor, I am exploring legal avenues against both NV Energy and the PUBLIC Utilities Commission. It is my position that they are not only violating Federal Anti-Trust laws, but also that the PUC is abrogating its duties by spending an inordinate amount of time making consideration for shareholder return. NV Energy shareholders are not the constituency of the PUC. The Nevada PUBLIC is. Hell, it’s even in the name of the agency. However, don’t expect to hear about the suit in your local paper. There are too many prostitutes and colored folks on the loose that they want you to know about. Don’t despair, though. The mainstream still does serve a purpose. After all, without the mainstream, who would inform you that there is a 20% chance of rain everyday, and who else can give you the finest geriatric porn on all of the Internet? June 21st, 2009
I hit the Excalibur last night to gather some information about an upcoming tournament and to do some gaming of my own. The X’s new Strip Poker tournament was already in progress, and it looked very good from where I was standing. June 20th, 2009
It’s a Leroy’s book. It is very small, but it is practically IN the bar. They also have about 15 permiter desks. Another fine addition by the Spike. June 20th, 2009 June 19th, 2009 I hereby declare The Stratosphere the greatest casino in the world.
June 19th, 2009
It’s been a long week. Time to unwind and get my BJ and Poke on. I might do some gaming as well. June 19th, 2009 I feel like I can’t take it, like my heart’s going to cave In.
June 17th, 2009
Newspapers have always widely held that the First Amendment applies to themselves, and themselves only. Don’t believe me? The Review Journal, the same newspaper that brought you geriatric pornography on its homepage has unilaterally decided that some people are more deserving of Free Speech than others. The Review Journal was recently given a subpoena for information about readers, and they are handing it over. Feel free to read about it here, but you may want to consider an anonymous proxy before using the second link. If you click it, you might be a terrorist. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/16/AR2009061601923_pf.html http://www.lvrj.com/news/48240147.html While the RJ is calling this a victory on their part and is making a major production out of protecting the identity of most of the posters on their website, they are handing over the personal info of the most controversial posters. They are trying to sell their readers on the fact that as long as they only out the people with “bad’ opinions, then they have done the right thing. Of course, any paper worth its weight in fertilizer knows that this is absolutely bogus logic. Remember, the First Amendment does not exist to protect popular speech. Popular speech needs no protection. The only speech that needs Constitutional protection, is speech which is objectionable. The First Amendment was put in place not to protect the right of people to say “I agree with everything the government does”, but for people who say the opposite. The First Amendment exists to protect the most vile, controversial, and unpopular speech imaginable … not to protect speech which is pleasant. The founding fathers also noted that there is no free speech without anonymity. This is why we have a secret ballot in this country. So why has the esteemed (not really) Las Vegas Review Journal decided to turn over information about people who posted comments in the online edition of their newspaper? Editor Thomas Mitchell said “I’d hate to be the guy who refused to tell the feds Timothy McVeigh was buying fertilizer,”referring to domestic terrorist McVeigh, who destroyed a federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. Oh how altruistic, but isn’t citing terrorism as a means to invade privacy slightly played out in 2009? Apparently, the RJ desperately misses the 2003 propaganda machine, and are taking it upon themselves to fill the void. Remember folks, this is not some beat reporter, but the EDITOR of the RJ spouting this nonsense. Invoking terrorism references is the last bastion of the desperate and intellectually bankrupt, which the editor of the Review Journal clearly is. Want to do something morally wrong, and have the public accept it? Associate it with a terrorist act in some way. This is the very rationale that newspapers themselves began gleefully deriding at the start of the Iraq war, but now use it to their own advantage. Invoking terrorism for personal gain is only bad if someone else does it. Using the RJ Editor’s logic, you can extrapolate that everyone should live in glass houses and only use postcards to communicate since anyone can theoretically do something bad at any moment. What if one of the other posters on the site buys fertilizer? How can they be sure that they will not? Is the RJ culpable if one of the other 100 posters does something terrible? Nobody who subscribes to the Review Journal has to worry about fertilizer purchases anyway. Horse shit is delivered to their door on a daily basis. Of course, the RJ has a long and storied history of invasion of privacy. This is why it is always prudent to give them a fake name if you ever acquiesce to an interview. If you speak to RJ reporters, they have the proven ability to run your name through a police database, and post the results online without your permission, even if it has no relevance to the story. Don’t believe me? http://www.vegasrex.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3984&p=58413#p58413 Remember, this is a private company, no different than McDonald’s, accessing police files about a bus rider, and then posting their findings about his criminal record online in a searchable format absent any cause whatsoever. These are the same people who gleefully published photographs of the “50 most prolific prostitutes in Las Vegas” … but they absolutely refuse to get anyone from the Public Utilities Commission on the phone. 18% rate hikes or some lady selling her ass in a private hotel room. Which issue effects your life more? Unless you are going to use the paper merely as an advertising mouthpiece, stay away from the RJ. Unless you are going to say something milquetoast, status-quo, and non-controversial, you would be well-served to stay away … far away … from any online endeavors run by the Las Vegas Review Journal. Let them have the status-quo’ers who long ago shed any semblance of independent thought. Those are really the only people who consume mainstream media anyway. Look at the mainstream numbers. They are dwindling. Newspapers are hurting, and it’s by their own hand. They lost the trust of the people long ago, and are only accelerating that perception of abject distrust in the public psyche. Find someplace else to make your opinion known, and use things like the Onion Router when you do so. ttp://www.torproject.org/ The RJ will gleefully toss out the First Amendment on the predication that you “might” do something wrong at some point in the future. Hell, they might just post anything they know about you for no reason at all (see above). The Review Journal has never been ethical or trustworthy, and this is becoming more apparent as time goes on. Also, do not forget this incident the next time the RJ itself hides behind the First Amendment. I know I won’t. When they protest and cry out that they are protected by the First Amendment, remind them that “We’d hate to be the readers who refused to tell the feds that the RJ was selling out the interests of their readers to NV Energy.” Apparently, this is logic that the RJ can relate to. June 16th, 2009 June 16th, 2009
I’ve passed this place many times in the last month as the building is fairly prominent on the I-15 heading south. I looked it up, but the website doesn’t load. At least not for me. Apparently the thing is the headquarters of some kind of poker social networking site, but beyond that, I haven’t a clue. The name is a bit aggressive, though. Every time I pass it I get a mental image of aging bald guys with World of Warcraft swords made out of duct tape charging across the room toward bunch of 24-year-old, dick swinging, baseball cap wearing Johnny Chan wannabes who can recite every word from “Rounders”. The cap wearing dudes pulling out laser-tag guns, take aim, and all hell breaks loose. I’m probably wrong, but maybe not. I’ll drop in the place sometime. June 16th, 2009 Like a 5′9″guard defending Shaquille O’Neal.
June 15th, 2009
Slightly different angle. This is being done to promote Holly Madison’s takeover of Mel B’s role in PEEPSHOW. June 15th, 2009
A sign in front of some lady’s ass indicates that it is undergoing maintenance. June 15th, 2009
June 24th is an important day for Nevada. Most people are unaware of it’s importance. This is not by accident. On June 24, 2009 at 9:30am, the Public Utilities Commission will “issue a decision” at their offices regarding whether or not to hand a non-competitive, private, publicly-traded monopoly an 18% rate increase which you will be forced to pay. The PUC and various agencies have been holding meetings about this increase over the last month, and most of these meetings have not been open for public comment. Why? Because you, the Nevada citizen, are being represented by the PUC in the matter, and therefore your meddling is not necessary. Fear not. The PUC is looking out for you. They have your back. We know this because the PUC has a mission statement. That mission statement says: “To enable universal access to affordable, efficient, safe and reliable utility service in Nevada, the Public Utilities Commission (”Commission”) will ensure that all of its decisions are based on a fair and impartial examination of the evidence, as well as exhaustive investigation. The commission will balance the interest of customers and shareholders of public utilities by providing utilities with the opportunity to earn a fair return on their investments while providing customers with just and reasonable rates.” Wait … WHAT? NV Energy already has legions of highly-paid (by us) attorneys and lobbyists who do nothing other than assert the interests of the company … should that really also be the focus of the only agency that advocates for the public in such matters? Really? The PUC does not define “fair return on investment”. Very few ratepayers make $8 million year, but that is what the president of NV Energy makes. The Vice President makes $3 million. To put this into some kind of perspective, the President of NV Energy makes 363 times what the average Nevada taxpayer makes in annual income. THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY THREE TIMES. According to the PUC, this is “fair” for NV Energy, and is “just and reasonable” for you. That’s not all, though. It appears as though the PUC has adopted its own mission statement. Contrary to the fairy tale they have written for themselves, Per NRS 703.151, this is the official, legal duty of the Public Utilities Commission: NRS 703.151 Duties of Commission in adopting regulations relating to provision of electric service. In adopting regulations pursuant to this title relating to the provision of electric service, the Commission shall ensure that the regulations:
I do not, but I do, however, see a mandate to protect, further and serve THE PUBLIC INTEREST. Not the NV Energy interest, but the public interest. In its fervor to provide real time coverage of the Gan’s autopsy and a single case of swine flu death, our local award-winning “legitimate” media has taken a decidedly hands-off approach to this issue. Imagine a world in which Channel 8 puts out one tenth as many headlines about NV Energy’s constant gouging of Nevadans as they do about the swine flu. Would things change? Possibly. But we’ll never know. Rate increases means ad dollar increases, and make no mistake about it, your “legitimate media” sells you out to the highest bidder each and every day. Face it, you will not find these issues in the pages of the RJ. So, this leaves it up to you, the Nevada citizen to ask the following question. What happens if NV Energy does not get their rate increase?
We are constantly being told that NV Energy “needs” the rate increase, but if an action is necessary, that means that there will be repercussions if the action is not taken. What, exactly, are those repercussions? This is an important question that nobody has addressed. NV Energy won’t tell us. The Public Utilities Commission won’t tell us. Our ever-vigilant, award-winning, legitimate watchdog media won’t even ask. And since nobody else will break down a “fair” return for you … I will. A “fair return” is what the market dictates. A “fair return” is what people are willing to pay in a free market. A “fair return” is what one can earn by providing superior products and services in relation to their competition. Strictly speaking, in a monopoly, there is no such thing as a “fair return”. Any profit made under conditions of a monopoly are coerced gains sanctioned by the State. This is known as a “state-run monopoly”, and this is why kids in school today are being taught to fear and despise countries like Cuba, North Korea, Iran, and China. Yet here it is. In your own home. Right now. As you wave your flags and shout about our freedoms, this may be something to think about. Our market economics for many absolute necessities are no different from the countries listed above. In the eyes of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, it has always been “fair” to give NV Energy a rate increase. They approved ten major increases in a row. Face it, folks, the only people representing your interests in these matters are 30% accurate bloggers like myself, and we don’t get paid handsomely with your tax dollars to make sure that NV Energy gets a “fair” return. It does not take even the smartest of us to realize the sheer insanity of this entire situation. I do know one thing, though. I do intend to sue the Public Utilities Commission under NRS 703.11 If I become Mayor (and yes, I am still running), I am going to vigorously pursue corruption and racketeering charges against every current member of the Public Utilities Commission, retroactive to this date. I will have everything examined, and if there is anything, and I mean anything at all to indicate that decisions were made by the PUC which were contrary to interests of Las Vegas residents, and if they anything that did not protect, serve, and further the public interest as required by law … I will lead a vigorous call for the prosecution of those involved. I’m sure that everyone at the PUC is laughing and turning their nose up while reading these words … but overconfidence is almost always the precursor to a downfall. Just ask Rod Blagojevich. I’m sure he received angry letters from constituents too, and I’m sure he laughed those off as well. Nobody in public office ever thinks they will wind up the target of corruption probes … until they do. A chubby intern can’t get a president impeached, and some idiot Nevada resident making noise about corruption on a lame website is similarly nothing to worry about. Maybe they’re right, though. Maybe the PUC can allow a private company to violate Nevadans in perpetuity, and the members will never have to pay for their corruption. This is certainly what they are counting on, and only time will tell. If you are reading this, and you still want to comment in some way on the upcoming rate increase, there is still time. I don’t know how much good it will do, but the PUC claims to read citizen comments. Perhaps it is time to test that theory. Contact the Public Utilities Commission, and ask them this simple question: “What happens if you do not approve the rate increases?” If you get an answer, which I doubt, by all means … let me know. This will not be the last increase. Once this one is pushed through, another will follow closely behind it … unless you wake up. The RJ and your local media will not help you. You have to help yourself. Speak now or forever preserve the status-quo. You have nine days. http://pucweb1.state.nv.us/pucn/ConsumerInfo/Form1.aspx Nevada Public Utilities Commission Your Public Servants on the Commission who are eagerly waiting to hear from you. The members who will be making the rate increase decision are: Chairman Jo Ann P. Kelly - http://pucweb1.state.nv.us/PUCN/General/kelly.aspx When the rate increase is approved, you may want to contact the following and request that they investigate violations of NRS Chapter 703: Nevada Attorney General’s Office, Consumer Protection Division: 775-684-1180 or bcpinfo@ag.state.nv.us |
 
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