OUR BLOGGERS ARE SAYING…

A titillating title

From columnist John L. Smith:

Gambler and writer Arnold Snyder gets all the difficult jobs. Snyder is the author of the about-to-be released book "Topless Vegas."

Huntington Press has allowed me a peep between the pages, and Snyder appears to have done about as credible a job on the subject from a "how to" perspective as is possible without busting out all his credit cards.

The best part of the book isn't the sizzle, but the writing. Snyder can be very funny. Those looking for the ultimate expose of the racket won't find it here, but Snyder makes it clear at the outset the book is for patrons who want to get the most for their lap dance dollar without getting ripped off.

For details, go to SinCityAdvisor.com.

For more from John L. Smith, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/smith/.

Carson City's thugs

From Editor Thomas Mitchell:

On Thursday a Web site with the URL of lowernevadataxes.com blinked into oblivion. You type in the address and you are within two seconds redirected to the official Web site of the state Legislature.

The site was being run by a young man who used the pseudonym Todd Taxpayer. I don't know who he is but he used standup video of himself frequently. If you are really curious you can track down a cached page or two on the Internet and get a flavor of his rhetoric. There is also a YouTube video under his rubric

I'm told he was served with a cease and desist order Thursday. Being a young, ordinary family man who can't afford to pay lawyers and sit in depositions the rest of his natural life, he ceased and desisted.

On Friday morning I read, courtesy of conservative firebrand Chuck Muth in the Nevada Appeal, that another advocate of smaller government was threatened.

Muth identifies campaign/political consultant Robert Uithoven as the force behind the move to require certain lawmakers with conflicts of interest to abstain on votes that would affect their own livelihoods. Among those was Senate Minority Leader Bill Raggio, whose law firm had lobbied on a tax bill.

Of course the senators could not lose an expected vote in favor of higher taxes, so they did what they always do. They suspended ethics. For their next trick they will suspend gravity and change pi to nice round 3, no decimals.

Muth says it was nicknamed the "Absolution Revolution."

According to Muth, "Shortly after Sen. Raggio's conflict became public, the veteran Reno Republican announced on the floor of the Senate that he would be recusing himself from voting on the tax hike. Following that announcement, Uithoven received a call from Senate Republican caucus director Joe Brezny, who proceeded to issue Uithoven the 'you'll never work in this town again' threat, for which Brezny should be fired or sued. Preferably, both."

All this followed that "enhanced interrogation" session at 3 a.m. in which senior citizens were dragged out of bed and forced to listen to loud rap music -- or the Carson City equivalent.

You can't tell who is a Republican or who is a Democrat when they all goose-step to the public employee union's marching band as it beats for more taxes, more taxes, more taxes.

"For the past four months, legislators have hidden the details of their planned tax hike from the public," notes Muth. "It's been hatched in secret meetings or a 'core group' of 'elite' legislators. And they've been able to get away with it because legislators exempted themselves from the state's Open Meeting law." By the way, dear taxpayers, is your legislator one of the elite core who hatched this $800 million tax grab? No? Does that constitute taxation without representation? Maybe you should ask.

For more, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/mitchell/

Agassi made things happen

From Publisher Sherman Frederick:

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that resonated with me as I read the story in Sunday's R-J about the first graduating class at Agassi Prep.

It read: "Those who say it can't happen should get out of the way of those making it happen."

The charter school started by Las-Vegas-boy-made-good Andre Agassi is a testament to vision and determination. It's had its naysayers over the years. And it has had more than its share of hurdles to overcome. The education establishment in Nevada, as in most states, is not exactly welcoming to charter schools.

Kids from around the valley attend. They go to school longer and work hard. They excel.

On June 12, the senior class, the first in the school's history, will graduate.

No doubt many people, including students and parents, deserve credit for this achievement. But first, seems to me, someone ought to say: "Thank you, Andre." When too many said it can't happen, you made it happen.

Pretty damn cool if you ask me.

For more, go to www.lvrj.com/blogs/sherm/