The Las Vegas Strip(pers)
Las Vegas, the What-Happens-Here-Stays-Here city, has been in the news a lot as of late, and not much of it for the better. There were the abusive guardianship cases making headlines there and which I wrote about earlier (if you missed it, at least read the main article from The New Yorker which mentioned Vegas but was trying to highlight the level of elder abuse throughout many states), and of course, the recent shooting that killed 59 and injured 528 others (more on that later). Add to that the opening trials of rancher Cliven Bundy who violated federal laws by grazing his cattle on federal land without a permit or paying taxes for 24 years, then held federal marshals at bay with a group of armed militia...hmm, sound familiar? (Bundy is now saying that the federal government overstepped its power, but has little backing from his neighboring ranchers who do pay taxes and have permits for their own cattle grazing) But none of that seemed to matter as my wife and I made plans to surprise my brother for his birthday being belatedly celebrated in that city. Hotels and shows were virtually full with many sites saying "just 2 tickets left" and those being priced at $128 each. So much for people staying away. Now we'd been to Vegas many times so when I spotted the 2018 Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas at my library, I glanced through it about as excitedly as an addicted gambler going for the umpteenth time. But it turned out that there was much to learn.
First off, the task of writing a guide book such as the one above is rather daunting for just try and imagine eating at every restaurant and staying at every hotel and seeing every show; to do it properly you'd have to balance the good with the bad and probably have fistfuls of cash. Try to imagine covering your own city, small or large, and think of the time and effort it would take; and did you catch them on a good or bad night? In the case of Vegas and what lies beyond the Strip or the other more popular areas such as the downtown, you'd soon realize that this city was and is massive and --gulp-- happens to be located in a desert! Drive not too far out beyond the popular tourist areas and you'd be hard pressed to know that you're even in Las Vegas. And there is much that appears to be changing here. Before I dive into the meat of the matter, I should mention that my wife and I are like yokels when we visit Vegas, quite content to enjoy a cocktail or two and play a few of the glitzier slot machines like Elvira's (the vamp) and whatever else might strike our fancy. Yes, we knew (but didn't care) that those "spinning" images on the wheels were just video projections, software designed to make you think that the old gears and wheels were somehow still whirring away and that you had a tiny, tiny chance of some mechanical failure sending coins flying into your lap, all of which --including the coins-- are relics of the past. Here's author and creator of the Unofficial Guide series, Bob Sehlinger take on the slot machines of today: Almost all slot machines used in casinos today are controlled by microprocessors...Inside the newer machines, there is a device that computer people call a "random number generator." and that we refer to as a "black box." What the black box does is spit out hundreds of numbers each second, selected randomly...The black box has about four billion different numbers to choose from...What most people don't realize, however, is that the black box pumps out numbers continuously, regardless of whether the machine is being played or not...Why is this important? Try this scenario: Mary has played the same quarter machine for hours, pumping an untold amount of money into it. She cashes out and gets up to stretch her legs for a few minutes, thinking she'll come back afterwards and keep playing. In the meantime, a man walks up to Mary's machine and hits the jackpot. Mary is livid. "That's my jackpot!" she screams. Not so. While Mary took her walk, thousands of numbers and possible symbol combinations were generated by the black box. The only way Mary could have hit the jackpot (even if the man had not come along) would have been to activate the machine at that same exact moment in time, right down to a fraction of a millisecond. Hmm, but who doesn't go down there to play with the belief (or illusion) that a machine is hot or cold and that with enough time played, your machine will be ready to hit the big one.
And there was more; Author Sehlinger writes that the view that when it comes to the bawdy topless shows of Vegas, well, Vegas is considered rather tame despite all the flyers and always-illuminated billboards that would hint that such would not be the case. His book even directs you to sites that will tell you everything from what hotels have the best shows (full production and otherwise, that is, family or adult) and to those clubs that offer a bit more intimate and discreet entertainment (one site tells you the rules when you enter this type of establishment such as what to do with your hands during a lap dance...hint, don't follow my lead because I'd be clueless). Amidst all of this excitement and anticipation --the needed getaway, some time to play a few mindless slot machines and an excuse to gorge at a few decadent buffets-- something more important came up, and it came from a distant hotel window.
A cover story in TIME about the shooting in Las Vegas was simply subtitled "America's Nightmare," and indeed for the hundreds that were wounded or killed, nightmare would be an accurate description. The writers began to speak throughout the issue: Almost half of the world's civilian-owned guns are in the hands of Americans. But these guns are not distributed equally. Many are hoarded by "super-owners," a group of mostly male extremists who make up just 3% of the adult population but own an average of 17 guns apiece. (In fairness, a few of my friends have at least that many guns but are far from extremists and are almost overly-responsible gun owners, one telling me that he just likes to shoot and collect different guns.) Another writer told of never having held a gun but deciding to go clay-pigeon shooting with her sons while on vacation and finding out that she quite enjoyed it. She (writer Kristin Van Ogtrop) wrote: ...if I didn't annoy them with information about how they can stay safe, how would they know I love them? But when it comes to warning them about guns, I'm flummoxed. And so, to the politicians who are urging us to focus not on policy but on uniting: after you tell us how to do that, maybe you can help me keep kids alive. I've got a running list of places children should avoid so they don't get shot: nightclubs, movie theaters, churches, college campuses, elementary schools and outdoor concerts. Anything I missed? Another staff writer, Susanna Schrobsdorff, wrote: If you could see grief on a map, there would be rings of anguish radiating from whole regions of the U.S. right now. From Texas to Florida to Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, the hurt would expand with each person affected to the people they're connected with in all parts of the country. No state would remain untouched...The magnitude of suffering over the past few months is unfathomable to those who haven't spent time in a war zone or in countries where nature's most brutal assaults are even more frequent...We have run out of adjectives for these kinds of events. Last year's deadliest mass shooting in American history has been overtaken by this year's deadliest mass shooting in American history. Said another part of the article: “If Sandy Hook didn’t result in legislation that either eliminated or restricted the type of guns that can be sold, or the people to whom they can be sold, nothing will ever change,” says Patrick Dunphy, an attorney who has sued a gun shop. “When you have someone slaughtering kids in a grade school, if that isn’t enough, what is?” In 2012, a 20-year old shooter walked into the Sandy Hook elementary school and killed 20 children aged 6 and 7, as well as 6 adult teachers.
In a later piece, the same magazine asked what, if anything, was happening in Congress to address the issue of gun violence. The article was simply captioned: Waiting for Gun Control After the Texas Shooting? Don't Hold Your Breath. Yes, after the shooting in Las Vegas, another shooter randomly fired into a Texas church and killed 26 before cowardly running away and being killed when he crashed his car. Said the article: It is very nearly certain that no comprehensive gun control legislation will surface in Congress in the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting...It’s been five weeks since the mass shooting in Las Vegas, the worst in U.S. history, and little has changed. Up until the shooting in Las Vegas, Congress was set to pass the use of "supressors" for the recreational gun user; you might know them better as "silencers," the sort you see in Hollywood spy films (in truth, silencers are anything but silent, their use only bringing the noise level down from around 160 db to 130 db or about the same noise level as a jackhammer on the street). The bump stocks that the Vegas shooter used, a device that turns a single-fire trigger into one that can fire bullets at a rate of nine rounds per second (the Vegas shooter used "military-grade rounds"), was passed through Congress as an "aid" to help disabled gun shooters; the bump stock manufacturer, one that briefly stopped its sales after the Vegas shooting, is now back to selling it "aids" online.
Guns & Roses was a popular group in the mid-80s, but it name might be a description of the state of our country. Each year, there are 33,000 gun-related deaths (and resulting funerals) and we are on track to have the distinction of having a mass shooting* happen every day, or as the NY Times put it, 511 Days. 555 Mass Shootings. Zero Action from Congress. Here are a few numbers from states taking matters into their own hands...10 have restricted the sales of assault weapons (thus, 40 still allow them); 20 now require expanded background checks (30 do not); 7 require the registering of guns (43 do not); 15 require gun dealers to be licensed (35 do not). Hmmm...Congress still opposes background checks for purchasers of guns (only licensed dealers have to perform background checks), even though 2 million firearms were blocked because of the use of background checks (many were attempts to purchase by felons, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ...Jim Brady was shot during the attempted assassination of then-President Ronald Reagan, the shooter using a handgun purchased at a pawnshop with no background check); says the same page: The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22 countries that are our peers in wealth and population.
For my wife and I, our attempt to book a show or a room in Las Vegas revealed that indeed little seems to have changed there as well; shows were sold out and many of the hotels had limited rooms. Conventions were still booked and according to my brother who was already there, the casinos were all up and running as if little had happened. Final note...there was an interesting article in The New Yorker about the emotions that resonate with those who accidentally kill someone, say a child running out into the street or a flat tire sending your car into another. Says the piece: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, there were nearly a hundred and forty-seven thousand unintentional-injury deaths in the United States. For the shooter in Las Vegas, this category would not apply. For those of you outside the U.S., it would appear that our history's Wild West has reappeared; and in many ways that would be true for this country seems to love its guns. Money may be the root of all evil, but after seeing little effect on either gambling or gun ownership in Las Vegas and elsewhere, one has to question where our values may be heading. Vegas has changed in some ways but apparently not in others; it's still a draw. Ironically, our plans to visit would change but not for the reasons one would think...but that would prove an entirely different story.
*A mass shooting is characterized as four or more people killed or wounded in a single incident by a single shooter...this would not include the death of the shooter.
 |
| The newer type of slot machine in Vegas |
 |
| A relic from the old Vegas draw |
A cover story in TIME about the shooting in Las Vegas was simply subtitled "America's Nightmare," and indeed for the hundreds that were wounded or killed, nightmare would be an accurate description. The writers began to speak throughout the issue: Almost half of the world's civilian-owned guns are in the hands of Americans. But these guns are not distributed equally. Many are hoarded by "super-owners," a group of mostly male extremists who make up just 3% of the adult population but own an average of 17 guns apiece. (In fairness, a few of my friends have at least that many guns but are far from extremists and are almost overly-responsible gun owners, one telling me that he just likes to shoot and collect different guns.) Another writer told of never having held a gun but deciding to go clay-pigeon shooting with her sons while on vacation and finding out that she quite enjoyed it. She (writer Kristin Van Ogtrop) wrote: ...if I didn't annoy them with information about how they can stay safe, how would they know I love them? But when it comes to warning them about guns, I'm flummoxed. And so, to the politicians who are urging us to focus not on policy but on uniting: after you tell us how to do that, maybe you can help me keep kids alive. I've got a running list of places children should avoid so they don't get shot: nightclubs, movie theaters, churches, college campuses, elementary schools and outdoor concerts. Anything I missed? Another staff writer, Susanna Schrobsdorff, wrote: If you could see grief on a map, there would be rings of anguish radiating from whole regions of the U.S. right now. From Texas to Florida to Puerto Rico and Las Vegas, the hurt would expand with each person affected to the people they're connected with in all parts of the country. No state would remain untouched...The magnitude of suffering over the past few months is unfathomable to those who haven't spent time in a war zone or in countries where nature's most brutal assaults are even more frequent...We have run out of adjectives for these kinds of events. Last year's deadliest mass shooting in American history has been overtaken by this year's deadliest mass shooting in American history. Said another part of the article: “If Sandy Hook didn’t result in legislation that either eliminated or restricted the type of guns that can be sold, or the people to whom they can be sold, nothing will ever change,” says Patrick Dunphy, an attorney who has sued a gun shop. “When you have someone slaughtering kids in a grade school, if that isn’t enough, what is?” In 2012, a 20-year old shooter walked into the Sandy Hook elementary school and killed 20 children aged 6 and 7, as well as 6 adult teachers.
In a later piece, the same magazine asked what, if anything, was happening in Congress to address the issue of gun violence. The article was simply captioned: Waiting for Gun Control After the Texas Shooting? Don't Hold Your Breath. Yes, after the shooting in Las Vegas, another shooter randomly fired into a Texas church and killed 26 before cowardly running away and being killed when he crashed his car. Said the article: It is very nearly certain that no comprehensive gun control legislation will surface in Congress in the aftermath of Sunday’s shooting...It’s been five weeks since the mass shooting in Las Vegas, the worst in U.S. history, and little has changed. Up until the shooting in Las Vegas, Congress was set to pass the use of "supressors" for the recreational gun user; you might know them better as "silencers," the sort you see in Hollywood spy films (in truth, silencers are anything but silent, their use only bringing the noise level down from around 160 db to 130 db or about the same noise level as a jackhammer on the street). The bump stocks that the Vegas shooter used, a device that turns a single-fire trigger into one that can fire bullets at a rate of nine rounds per second (the Vegas shooter used "military-grade rounds"), was passed through Congress as an "aid" to help disabled gun shooters; the bump stock manufacturer, one that briefly stopped its sales after the Vegas shooting, is now back to selling it "aids" online.
Guns & Roses was a popular group in the mid-80s, but it name might be a description of the state of our country. Each year, there are 33,000 gun-related deaths (and resulting funerals) and we are on track to have the distinction of having a mass shooting* happen every day, or as the NY Times put it, 511 Days. 555 Mass Shootings. Zero Action from Congress. Here are a few numbers from states taking matters into their own hands...10 have restricted the sales of assault weapons (thus, 40 still allow them); 20 now require expanded background checks (30 do not); 7 require the registering of guns (43 do not); 15 require gun dealers to be licensed (35 do not). Hmmm...Congress still opposes background checks for purchasers of guns (only licensed dealers have to perform background checks), even though 2 million firearms were blocked because of the use of background checks (many were attempts to purchase by felons, according to the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence ...Jim Brady was shot during the attempted assassination of then-President Ronald Reagan, the shooter using a handgun purchased at a pawnshop with no background check); says the same page: The U.S. firearm homicide rate is 20 times higher than the combined rates of 22 countries that are our peers in wealth and population.
For my wife and I, our attempt to book a show or a room in Las Vegas revealed that indeed little seems to have changed there as well; shows were sold out and many of the hotels had limited rooms. Conventions were still booked and according to my brother who was already there, the casinos were all up and running as if little had happened. Final note...there was an interesting article in The New Yorker about the emotions that resonate with those who accidentally kill someone, say a child running out into the street or a flat tire sending your car into another. Says the piece: According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2015, the most recent year for which data are available, there were nearly a hundred and forty-seven thousand unintentional-injury deaths in the United States. For the shooter in Las Vegas, this category would not apply. For those of you outside the U.S., it would appear that our history's Wild West has reappeared; and in many ways that would be true for this country seems to love its guns. Money may be the root of all evil, but after seeing little effect on either gambling or gun ownership in Las Vegas and elsewhere, one has to question where our values may be heading. Vegas has changed in some ways but apparently not in others; it's still a draw. Ironically, our plans to visit would change but not for the reasons one would think...but that would prove an entirely different story.
*A mass shooting is characterized as four or more people killed or wounded in a single incident by a single shooter...this would not include the death of the shooter.
Comments
Post a Comment
What do YOU think? Good, bad or indifferent, this blog is happy to hear your thoughts...criticisms, corrections and suggestions always welcome.