H&I Fires 10 NOV 2007

Open post for those with something to share, updated through the day. New, complete posts come in below this one. Note: If trackbacking, please acknowledge this post in your post. That's only polite.

Time to add a new caveat, because from email it's not clear to some folks (mind you, if you don't read this it won't matter...) Being an open post, people (collectively, the Denizens) other than I post in the H&I. They sign their work (most of the time) - keep that in mind when you want to flame someone in email please - if it doesn't say "The Armorer" or "John" then I didn't write it! And honestly - if you don't like something said or posted... leave a comment, and hash it out (within the context of The Rulez which are clearly posted on the comment form, I would add).

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Heh. Random observations about Las Vegas...

I haven't been in Las Vegas for two years, and almost didn't recognize the place. The town has no past, they keep imploding it - only a fantasy future.

Just how much slush *is there* in the global economy that keeps a place like Las Vegas going and growing?

You'll know the water shortage is being taken seriously around here when the casinos turn the fountains off. The water shortage is what will do the most to finally slow growth here, methinks. Then they'll spend casino money on figuring out how to save water.

I miss the coins. Banging into the tray. I heard that from a *lot* of people. Oddly enough, the casinos are too quiet. I'm sure the younger generation won't care, they never heard the coins. I only spent $40 on the slots - not just because I'm simply unable to spend that much time in front of the one-armed (heh, push-button) bandit, but because the feedback is so muted, what little fun there was... was gone. This constititutes a single data point, but it struck me, even on Friday night, the slots weren't being played that much. But the table games were packed.

The food wasn't as good. The Monte Carlo breakfast buffet is a workmanlike effort, but no pizazz. The MGM Grand Studio cafe was as I remember it (by which I mean good!).

I love the Cirque du Soleil. I got cheap tickets to Ka at the MGM Grand.. I love the music, and I am always impressed by the melding of engineering, art, and athleticism that characterizes the Cirque. And the whimsy. Especially the whimsy.

Everybody thinks they're the center of the political spectrum. Well, except for Steve. He proudly asserts that he's an extreme right winger... (Hi, Steve). That's the only way I can explain lefty bloggers asserting the Washington Post is a right-wing rag, reliably in the pocket of the administration.

I apparently don't look like a right-wing drooling knuckle-dragging gun nut. Which is kinda funny, because the person who thought I was nice and reliably leftish actually mentioned my blog in those terms. And I was wearing an embroidered Castle Argghhh! shirt. Then they admitted they'd only visited it that morning, once, and had made that assumption based on my graphics. Fair enough. She wasn't really in my target demographic.

There are a number of, oh, call 'em second tier progressive bloggers who sneak into the Castle via the postern gate as a guilty pleasure. They're uncomfortable with my politics (partially because I am both a bad liberal *and* a bad conservative - evidenced by being a sycophantic toady of the Bush Administration invited to the White House, and holding a seat on the Veteran's and Military Affairs Advisory Council for Democrat Nancy Boyda... anyway - they come for the Gun Pr0n. Because I usually offer it in mostly apolitical terms. But they'll never admit it publicly, because they'd take a raft of gaff from their own side.

Echo chambers and blinkers abound. On both sides.

Doing Hugh Hewitt is fun. He's very adept at saving your from yourself, and feeding you what you need. Musta been the deer in the headlights look.

Eric Egland for Congress! Replace a corrupt long-time Republican with a fresh, veteran face who actually knows something about military affairs - as evidenced when Eric and I decoded Austin Bay's broken and garbled transmission about getting a chance to put a message on a JDAM. I don't know what it sounded like to you guys who were listening - but to us, it was just as Hugh described it - about every third syllable came through.

Casinos that are really popular with smokers... stink. Badly. I don't mind smoking, go for it. But I don't like the effects of a lot of smokers in one place for a long time.

Okay, they're boarding. I guess I need to post this and go!

Oh, and I like the new boarding process for Southwest. -the Armorer

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Now that I'm at the KC airport awaiting the end of SWWBO's appointment with her massage therapist (I went to Vegas, the penalty was I waited until she was done to get picked up, good deal) I'll finish off the random thoughts bit - Provincial Reconstruction Teams... put the people who manage construction projects on the Strip in charge. Those are monumental projects, with a bazillion moving parts. Just a stray neuron firing. -the Armorer

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