Penny PressBy FRED WEINBERG

Editor and Publisher

We were going to leave well enough alone when the Las Vegas Mercury picked the taxpayer’s friend, State Assemblyman Bob Beers, as

their person of the year.Beers is really a moderate

Republican who is being painted for his tax stands as an extremist by Democrats who could lead the American Communist Party.

We don’t think that the Penny Press, which is 14 weeks old with this issue, has enough standing to be

making such picks and we frankly aren’t sure that the Mercury which is four years old is in much of a better position.

And we thought that their faintly sneering tone in the story spoke for itself. It was written and edited by people with no respect for anybody's views but their own.

Then, we read Editor Geoff Schumacher’s column and felt we needed to respond in the same man-ner as the Mercury’s parent, the Las Vegas Review Journal, would respond to a slight from the Las Vegas Sun.

But first, some media shop talk.The Review Journal is one of

the most conservative (and success-ful) newspapers in the nation. It is owned by Stephens Media Group of Arkansas. But, in Las Vegas,

the RJ is just about as successful as any major metro newspaper can get. So, when they wanted to grow, they needed new publications. They bought the Nifty Nickel. They start-ed a Spanish paper. But they always seemed to want something that their rivals have a lock on.

All of that advertising which we in the business euphemistically refer to as “adult” advertising.

Now, they really couldn’t put that in the RJ.

Ads for Cross dresser Boutiques and Brothels and strip clubs don’t play well in the nations’ most con-servative (and, we might add well written) newspaper.

So they started the Mercury and hired a fellow named Geoff Schumacher to edit the paper.

It became a clone of the other

two liberal weeklies, Citylife and Las Vegas Weekly, both published by very liberal companies.

So now, Schumacher wants to do something to smack Beers around. In a nice genteel sort of liberal way.

And, in doing so, became a caricature of Bernard Goldberg’s archetypical elite editor in his book, Arrogance.

In his liberal coded language, Schumacher compared his pick of Beers to who he said Time Magazine should have picked in 2001. Osama bin Laden.

Schumacher thinks the real story here is, gasp, Nevada is turning more conservative and crazy Bob Beers is the vanguard.

He blames the attack of conser-

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA 16 PAGES VOLUME I NUMBER 14 JANUARY 1, 2004

Penny WisdomI sometimes think that the saving grace of America lies in the fact that the overwhelm-ing majority of Americans are possessed of two great qualities- a sense of humor and a sense of proportion. −Franklin D. Roosevelt

Welcome To Las Vegas’ Newest Paper!Inside:It's Way Past Time For The Taxpayers To Stop Funding The LVCVA

See Editorial Page 6

GUN LAWS FAIL IN UK PAGE 3DOLORES LONERGAN PAGE 4ALEXANDER MARRIOT PAGE 4PAT CHOATE PAGE 5FRED WEINBERG PAGE 6DOUG FRENCH PAGE 7BILL HERE PAGE 8ALBERT THOMAS PAGE 10PSYCHIC CORNER PAGE 12CLINT HOLMES REVIEW PAGE 15

Against Taxes? You're Pro OsamaAsk A Liberal Weekly...

Media Analysis

Continued on page 2

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 2

PennyPressLogotype Pointedlymad licensed from: Rich Gast

Credits:Publisher and Editor: Contributing Editors:Fred Weinberg George Harris Al Thomas Sales: Doug French Bill HereVince Lupo Dolores Lonergan Pat Choate Visor Connie Ross

The Penny Press is published weekly by 5010 Productions, Inc. All Contents © Penny Press 2003

Letters to the Editor are encouraged. They should be sent to our offices at 418 1/2 S. Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas 89101. They can also be emailed to: pennypress@mailblocks.com No unsigned or unverifiable letters will be printed.

702-740-5588 Fax: 702-920-8215

www.pennypresslv.com

vatism on, among other things, those nasty senior citizens who demand so much and don’t want to pay for schools they have no use for.

Schumacher and his ilk have never understood that we the tax-payers and voters as a group really are smarter than he is and many of us have more life experiences to fall back on as we make life’s important decisions such as just how much

crap we’re willing to fund with the money we spent a lifetime earning.

As good a newspaper as Stephens runs in the Review Journal, we have to wonder if they don’t keep the clowns at the Mercury around as lab rats in a journalistic experiment to perhaps develop an inoculation against the official newspaper of greedy liberals, the Las Vegas Sun.

Assuming that’s not true, people like Schumacher ought to remember

their place in the scheme of things and, before they try and compare people like Bob Beers with Osama Bin Ladan. Newspapers with ads for cross dressers’ boutiques on the back page probably don’t have the credibility to slam legislators like Bob Beers on the front page.

In a way, you can’t fault Schumacher.

He’s like a trained seal doing what his handlers at Stephens told

him to do. Run a liberal newspaper so they can sell the hell out of strip clubs, brothels and cross dresser boutiques.

His handlers, however, ought to remember what happened to Roy Horn when another well trained ani-mal got off the reservation.

Horn is still in critical condition.

No Respect For Anybody's Viewpoint But Their OwnContinued from front page

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 3

Study Finds Canada, Australia, UK Gun Laws FailedEditor’s Note: Gun Control advo-cates frequently point to Great Britain, Canada and Australia as utopian states when it comes to what banning guns does for society. Apparently, it’s not so—something Nevada legislators and the state’s assorted liberals ought to look at before they let the facts get in the way of their opinions.

By DAVE WORKMANSenior Editor, Gun Week

Special To The Penny Press

Restrictive gun laws that have disarmed law-abiding citizens in Canada, Australia and Great Britain have been dismal failures and in some cases made it easier for crimi-nals to prey upon their defenseless victims.

So says Canada-based research-er Prof. Gary Mauser with the Fraser Institute, an independent economic and social research and educational group based in Vancouver, BC.

His recently-released study, entitled “The Failed Experiment: Gun Control and Public Safety in Canada, Australia, England and Wales,” asserts, “Restrictive fire-arm legislation has failed to reduce violent crime in Australia, Canada, or Great Britain. The policy of con-fiscating guns has been an expensive failure.”

Mauser further states in the opening pages of his 25-page report that, “It is an illusion that gun bans

protect the public. No law, no matter how restrictive, can protect us from people who decide to commit vio-lent crimes.”

An American citizen who has resided in Canada for 28 years, Mauser told Gun Week that he spent almost two years working on the report. He wrote the first draft in 2001, and then began digging up data “and trying to make sense out of it.”

“The most startling thing I dis-covered,” he said, “was that none of the efforts to put gun restrictions on the general citizenry works to improve public safety.”

He raised eyebrows by using totals rather than selecting statistics.

“My idea of how to measure public safety,” he said, “is to look at overall violent crimes and total homicides. . . . If those go up, then gun laws didn’t reduce it.”

He said gun control proponents “like to focus on gun deaths or even gun crime, and what I’m focusing on is public safety.”

In his study, Mauser used the US as his comparison model. He acknowledged that this is contro-versial, because “everybody knows that the US has a bunch of crazy cowboys.” However, he responds to critics by noting, “When I use the US to contrast, and as a success, I say that whatever the US is doing, it’s working.”

Bringing that into focus, Mauser notes in his report, “. . . the most

striking difference (between the US and other countries) is that the United States is one of the few countries to encourage qualified citizens to carry concealed handguns for self-defense. During the past few decades, while Britain and the Commonwealth were making firearm ownership increasingly difficult, more than 25 states in the United States passed laws allowing responsible citizens to carry concealed handguns. There are now 35 states where citizens can get such a handgun permit. As a result, the number of armed Americans in malls, on the street, and in their cars has grown to almost 3 million men and women. As surprising as it may seem to casual observers, these new laws appear to have caused violent crime rates to drop, including homi-cide rates.”

Mauser’s report has brought some reaction from anti-gunners, most notably a radio debate he had with a Calgary, Alberta, talk show host.

“I should learn to suffer fools better,” he acknowledged.

However, he has received some e-mails and “they seem rather posi-tive.”

Not only does Mauser show how gun laws have failed to reduce violent crime, he also said that in the Canadian experience, the gun law has proven itself to be an eco-nomic disaster. Mauser was among the first vocal critics of C-68, the most recent gun control law enacted

in Canada, insisting that instead of the $2 million its proponents said it would cost, it would more likely cost Canadian taxpayers close to $1 billion. Recently, that estimate was revised upward to nearly $3 billion, Mauser’s report said.

Recent reports suggest that not all Canadians are cooperating with the registration requirement, and many are outright balking at it.

Mauser puts it bluntly: “If laws restricting the ownership of guns are supposed to reduce violent crime, then this must be demonstrated to be true or gun control is no more than a hollow promise.”

Nowhere in his report does Mauser conclude that US crime rates have plummeted simply because of concealed carry laws or more liberal gun ownership laws. He did suggest that one contributing factor may be that in America, criminals are locked up for a long time for violent crime, where courts in other coun-tries might be more lenient.

“Keeping criminals in jail might have some impact,” he observed.

What confounds his critics is that he uses data from government and police sources exclusively. While anti-gunners like to “cherry pick” from statistics, Mauser looks at all the data and he does not devi-ate from the notion that gun control passed ostensibly in the interest of public safety should result in reduc-ing crimes of violence.

Investor Special Investor Special Investor Special Under $115,000 with built in tenant. Three bedroom home/over 1100 sq.ft.

Well Maintained/Seller requests rent back until the end of March 2004. LIBERTY REALTY Randall Vincent 232-6603

Investor Special Investor Special Investor Special

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 4

Fight Disease By Increasing OMEGA-3sBy DOLORES LONERGAN

Penny Press Contributing Editor

Research suggests that the aver-age American is compromising their health by not consuming enough omega-3s in their diet. Inadequate amounts of this essential fatty acid have been linked to depression, fatal heart attacks, rheumatoid arthritis, breast cancer, menstrual cramps, preeclampsia, childhood asthma and Crohn’s disease. Although there are three important sources of fat, most Americans are overdosing on one type of fat and creating deficien-cies in omega-3s. The American diet contains foods rich in vegetable oils (corn, soybean, safflower and sunflower) since they are common ingredients in processed foods. This is creating an imbalance in alpha-lin-olenic acid and linoleic acid. Instead of a 1 to 1 ratio of linoleic acid to

alpha-linolenic acid, the ratio in the average American diet may be as high as 10 to 1. If the body contains an overabundance of linoleic acid and is deficient in omega-3s, the ecosanoids your body produces are at a greater risk of causing inflam-mation and making the body more vulnerable to infection. The third source of omega-3s is found in fish oils. In the 1970s, scientists learned how valuable this essential fat was when they studied the Eskimos in Greenland, where the rate of heart attacks was extremely low. When omega-3s enter the heart tissue, they act as gatekeepers in controlling the flow of charged par-ticles such as calcium and sodium. This promotes a regular heartbeat and prevents arrhythmias (irregular heartbeat), which is the most com-mon cause of death in people suffer-

ing from heart attacks. The brain is made of nerve cells, which contain 30 percent of DHA, one type of omega-3. Dr. Joseph R. Hibbeln, a psychiatrist at the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism believes that a low level of DHA in brain tissue may interfere with nerve impulses, causing emotional instability. In pregnant women, the omega-3 levels are depleted because it is needed for nerve and eye development of the fetus. Dr. Hibbeln also believes this leads to post-partum depression. Start introducing omega-3s to your diet by eating one or two serv-ings of fish rich in EPA and DHA, two powerful components of this essential fatty acid. For example, just a 3-ounce serving of baked salmon or mackerel provides enough EPA and DHA to keep your body in

balance for one week. If salmon or mackerel are not appealing, there are several other varieties that contain omega-3s (See list.) In addition, add one tablespoon of ground flaxseeds (a coffee grinder works great) to salads or yogurt each day. This will enable you to keep your alpha-linolenic acid/linoleic acid ratio in balance. Since flaxseed can easily become rancid when stored at room temperature, keep larger quantities stored in your freezer.

Omega-3 FishAnchovies, bluefin tuna, blue-fish, canned white (albacore) tuna, herring, mackerel, rain-bow smelt, rainbow trout, sablefish, salmon-all variet-ies except smoked, sardines, swordfish.

Commentary: Alexander MarriotHoliday Thoughts

As we celebrate Christmas and the New Year one cannot help but wonder if this will be the last Christmas that will be free of numer-ous taxes that are about to come into effect. Taxes, which will begin stran-gling many businesses and forcing those operating on the margin to consider moving to other states or simply closing down.

Of course according to certain In Business columnists, these busi-nesses would fold anyway so it doesn’t matter that it was the state, as opposed to free competition, that forced them to close down or move

away. Christmas is a holiday made

possible by the unfettered and free economy the United States had in the nineteenth century, which cre-ated the greatest amount of wealth the world had ever seen up to that point. Christmas has not always been a joyous occasion; there was a time when it was a time of depres-sion and poverty. During the Middle Ages, when the minds of men were shackled with a mindless mysticism that those of us today could scarcely understand. Enjoying the world and its tremendous wealth was sinful; Christmas should be a time of repen-tance and fasting, not unbridled joy and feast.

Of course in this time that I

speak of it was the hegemony of the Roman Catholic Church over the minds of men that produced the utter stagnation in terms of population growth and significant technological progress, and thus, individual wealth. Capitalism wasn’t in use anywhere yet because individual rights weren’t developed as a fundamental concept yet. That wouldn’t occur until the Enlightenment and it wouldn’t be put into practice until the American Revolution and the subsequent founding of the American Republic.

Now it is our own governments, local, state, and federal, that are attempting to stagnate wealth, prog-ress, and everything else capitalism made possible for the world of men. Nevada is no exception, unfortu-

nately, and unless it is checked in the next year all subsequent Christmases will be bleaker and bleaker. We will begin down the road to when Christmas is a sad time, where we remember how good it used to be as opposed to how it is. And we can either become mindless mystics like those who prayed for heav-en to deliver them in the Middle Ages or we can be evil “secularists” and solve our own, quite worldly problems in a rational way, as our Founding Fathers did more than two centuries ago. ALEXANDER MARRIOT

For every issue ever printed...WWW.PENNYPRESSLV.COM

The Sky Is Falling?

I am coming to think that many of our federal officials dealing with terrorists have the same personality traits as Chicken Little, who thought the sky was falling.

On Christmas Eve, the sheriff in the little rural Virginia County where I live received a message from fed-eral official that a phone call from some terrorist suspects had been intercepted and it said something that sounded like Rappahannock, the county’s name. Apparently, the county was supposed to issue some level of alert. Being rather sensible people, the sheriff told his deputies

to watch out for any strangers and that was it.

Well, that was it until the Washington Post picked up the story and began speculating that maybe somebody important would be at the Inn at Little Washington, the five-star hotel, and restaurant. There was not, just the usual bunch of expense account lobbyists congratulating themselves on packing the budget with pork projects.

Still, the alert got me to thinking about real terrorists, which certainly do exist. So far, the only ones that have actually done any damage in the United States committed suicide in the process. That certainly should reduce the likely pool of terrorists. I suspect that most prospective terror-ists love their own lives more than they hate Americans. And when

terrorists from some impoverished nation do arrive, I also suspect that they find life a bit different, and bet-ter, than what they expected. It is not for nothing that so many people in the world want to live here.

Second, I have also noticed that those who did come here to do us harm traveled in luxury by jet plane from Europe and the Middle East. Suspects arriving by jet plane are easy to catch, which our federal offi-cials are doing, particularly when the suspect tries to ignite their shoe and fails.

That raises the question about a smarter, tougher breed of terrorists —those who may wish to do harm without committing suicide and are willing to travel by some means other than jet. They are worrisome creatures.

Think of the opportunities they have to enter the United States. Each day 1,000 illegal immigrants slip across our Southern Border with Mexico. In Arizona, many even drive across in their rented SUVs. In major parts of the border, the only obstacles, or signs, are crumbling two or three wire fences, which are easily pushed over.

Thus, a smarter breed of terrorist can arrive in air conditioned, though bumpy, comfort, while bringing in a load of weapons, explosives, and associates. Apparently, none have yet figured that out.

Those who walk across the bor-der would fit in with the flood of illegal immigrants and if caught the

big penalty is they would be sent back into Mexico, where they could try again.

Getting explosives, guns, and other weapons into the U.S. is made easy by the lax inspections of the cargo flowing into our ports from overseas. Eventually, even the dumber terrorists will figure out that all they have to do is go to Asia, put their weapons in a cargo con-tainer labeled apparel, and it will fly through U.S. Customs, along with thousands of similar crates.

I am probably like most Americans in that we realize that terrorists are out there, but we also have confidence in our federal and state law officials to handle the problem, as it now exists.

However, I’ll really begin to worry when the Feds stop yelling the sky is falling and begin to do something to stop potential terror-ists from slipping across the border with illegal Mexican workers, and start inspecting the cargo coming in on the thousands of containers that arrive here daily.

Those actions will risk the politi-cal alienation of Hispanic political groups and shouts of outrage from importers of foreign goods —that is, people who make big political con-tributions. Yes, when that happens, I will know that there is a real threat and the President and Congress are truly worried. Then, I’ll be worried too.

PAT CHOATE

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 5

The Penny Press Tips Its Cap To:Homeland Security officials and Sheriff Bill Young who are co-operat-ing in taking prudent but not draconian steps to make New Year's more secure against the nutcase wannabe terrorists who think they're going to change the American way of life by blowing something up in Las Vegas. Someday these folks may learn that the United States is, was and will always be a hard target to them because this country is simply too big and too free to bring to its knees. Still, he who ignores history is condemned to repeat it and sensible security precautions are acts of reasonable people.

Newly robed Federal District Judge Robert C. Jones who brings a great deal of fairness and class to the Federal Bench. It's not often that both the Democratic and Republican Senators from any state can so easily agree on a judge's qualifications but Jones makes such agreement easy.

The Penny Press Sends A Bronx Cheer And A Bouquet of Weeds To:City Manager Doug Selby for signing a contract with the city marshals' union which is so vague that they don't know who the 11% pay raises are supposed to go to. Here's an idea. Get rid of the city marshals entirely. These guys do basically nothing except act like security guards with city-owned cars. They're second only to the Paiute police department as the area's Keystone Kops and they cost us a lot of money. Car 54 where are you? And, Doug; next time, read the damn contract.

Commentary: Pat Choate

Want A Penny PressIn The Mail?

$55 per year First Class MailName__________________ Penny PressAddress________________ 418 ½ S. MarylandCity_____State___ZIP_____ Las Vegas, NV 89101

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 6

OPINIONFrom The Publisher...

Time To Get Rid Of The Convention AuthorityNow that the FBI is forcibly asking us to re-evaluate the way we’ve done business in Las Vegas for the last 50 years at the County Commission level, perhaps it is time again to ask an even nastier question of the politician class.

Why does the public fund that ridicules “what hap-pens in Vegas stays in Vegas” television campaign with its room tax dollars?

There may have been a time, say until 1984, Oscar Goodman’s grand pronouncements notwithstanding, that the mob ran the hotels in town and they weren’t as good at promoting tourism as large corporations.

That is no longer the case.

Which begs the question of why we need to subsidize MGM/Mirage, Caesar’s Entertainment, Harrahs Entertainment, Mandalay Resorts and the others with $60-million of the public’s tax dollars each year which can easily be diverted to things that make more sense for a fast growing state.

Back in 1997, the state legislature actually made an intel-ligent decision, diverting a few million hotel tax dollars from the Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Authority to build new schools. In 1999, the 5/8% of the 9% room tax destined for the school district was scheduled to rise to 1 and 5/8% and from the dire pronouncements coming from the LVCVA, you would have thought that terrorists attacked the MGM Grand on New Years’ eve. All this nonsense over $12-million.

The time has come to go the rest of the way and spend those tax dollars where they need to be spent. On educa-tion. Or other real programs that need funding.

As a practical matter, diverting the $60-million the LVCVA spends on advertising will have no effect on tourism numbers in Las Vegas because the LVCVA and R&R Partners think way too much of their own work. The large casino companies will pick up any slack—and there won’t be much—and busi-ness will go on pretty much as normal. Except that it will be interesting to see if R&R gets the business from the casinos when there is a real bottom line at stake. And real agency reviews for huge accounts are not conducted the way the LVCVA pats R&R on the corporate butt every so often.

But while we’re thinking progressively, why not privatize the biggest asset of the LVCVA, the Convention Centers, and dump the whole $127-million budget this government agency leeches from the taxpayers. Just think of what we

could do with $127-million contributed to Clark County each year by tourists.

Maybe the county should create a publicly held corpora-tion and spin the stock out to taxpayers of record in Clark County.

Why we could probably cut our property taxes and the taxes we add to our utility bills.

And the convention centers would operate at a profit to the taxpayers instead of a net loss.

Can’t be done?

In a word, bullshit.

There’s a reason that MGM/Mirage, Mandalay Resorts and the Venetian can build their own convention centers and operate them at a profit even in the face of the unfair gov-ernment competition from the LVCVA.

See, when Ben Siegel, Alan Dorfman and Alan Glick were running the big casinos, the object was not to make money for the owners of record—just the folks in Kansas City, Chicago, Milwaukee and New Jersey who were the real own-ers.

Those people are now just pictures on Oscar Goodman’s law office walls.

Today’s corporate gaming executives (who do not usually need criminal defense attorneys) understand that corporate profits come from customer service. If they’re building con-vention centers, you can bet that they no longer need the LVCVA to “help” them make money.

Oh, they’ll be happy to take the largesse of the taxpayers. They may even act like the world is coming to an end if we take it away.

But at the end of the day, they’ll suck it up and continue to make money. These are, after all, the same people who own casinos in other states which charge up to three times the tax rate we charge them and still make money.

They need to accept the inevitable and start working harder here as well.

FRED WEINBERG

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 7

Commentary: Doug FrenchMemo To Knappster

The December 18th edition of the Las Vegas Mercury featured Bob Beers on the cover, naming him their “Man of the Year.” Well deserved.

The alternative weekly then degenerates. Alien chasing KLAS reporter George Knapp has a column in Mercury, under the clever byline of Knappster. The Knappster’s arti-cle in the Beers edition was entitled “Double-dipping scandal obscures lawmaker sacrifices.”

The primary thrust of Knapp’s article centers around Dina Titus and her W-2’s that she submitted to the Review Journal at that paper’s request. The RJ didn’t report on her W-2 information because it wasn’t newsworthy. According to her W-2’s Titus makes only half as much during her legislature years than the other years when the taxpayers are safe and the legislature is not in ses-sion. Titus whines to Knapp that it’s “terribly unfair that it’s not a story unless it’s a scandal and that the paper will only print those stories that support its own point of view.” Titus of course said nothing about the fact that she lets taxpayers pay for her insurance while she’s doing evil things to those same taxpayers while in Carson City.

After extolling the virtues of Titus, Knapp proceeds to hammer bankers. He tries to make the case that six to 10 legislators are bankers and thus “the reluctance of the last Legislature to put reasonable taxes on Nevada’s ridiculously profitable

financial institutions.” First of all, “reasonable taxes” is an oxymoron on the level of “military intelli-gence.” Second, there is no doubt that Knapp did no research before describing Nevada’s banks as “ridic-ulously profitable.” That’s just a plain old lie.

A trip to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporations (FDIC) web-site reveals: “The median return on average assets (ROA) ratio report-ed by insured institutions based in Nevada increased modestly during the twelve-month period ending March 31, 2003, climbing to 0.91 percent from 0.71 percent. This ratio, however, remained below the national average median of 1.05 percent.”

The FDIC points out that there are many new banks in Nevada (open less than 9 years) causing the overall profitability of Nevada’s banks to be sub-par. In fact, as of March 31 of this year 14 percent of Nevada’s banks were losing money.

Nevada banks can’t even keep up with banks in other states, let alone with the casino industry. The top five casino companies make more money than all of Nevada banks combined.

Finally Knapp can’t see how a government employee can be con-flicted while in the legislature and a private sector employee can’t. Here it is, Knappster, pay attention. Government employees can vote to impose a tax and have the rev-enues raised by that tax fund their employers, and thus they benefit. Conversely, a banker serving in the legislature can vote on a tax, but the revenues raised by that tax will not

fund his or her bank. Got it. And, no Knappster, we don’t

want a full-time, professional legis-lature like California. No explana-tion required.

On another topic…

Some people believe that they should be able to dictate what can be built in their neighborhood. If they don’t like the proposed use of the project, if the project will increase traffic, if the buildings will destroy their view, or if they believe that the proposed business will attract unde-sirable individuals to the neighbor-hood, these folks will work to kill the proposed project with the use of the neighborhood bully—govern-ment.

That’s exactly what has happened with the killing of the proposed Red Rock Station that would have featured a 300-foot tower. County Commissioners recently demurred when asked to approve the project and “directed developers and resi-dents to hammer out a compromise and bring it back to the board in January,” according to the RJ.

Not allowing property owner Stations Casino to develop what they want on the site is nothing less than robbery. Stations owns the property, thus, if we still have property rights in this country, the company should be able to build whatever it wants. No matter what the neighbors think.

Stations land investment is no doubt predicated upon the company being able to build as much hotel as they can and still make it consumer friendly. If the neighbors can dictate that the company may only build

500 less rooms than it had planned, the project may not be economically viable. And, that is theft—pure and simple. The company’s land has been taken from it.

The ring-leaders of the Summerlin band of crooks are Lisa Mayo-DeRiso and Carolyn Edwards. DeRiso told the RJ, “Never underes-timate the power of a passionate community.” No, the power here is the County Commission; the commissioners took away a prop-erty owner’s rights, with neighbor-hood busy-bodies like DeRiso and Edwards cheering the crooks on.

And, let’s not forget about the Stations-hating Culinary Union, who organized many of the pro-tests. Non-union Stations would have hired thousands of workers, albeit non-union workers, to oper-ate the property. Now they will hire either—fewer employees or none at all.

Las Vegas residents (includ-ing those in Summerlin) should be begging companies like Stations to invest millions of dollars in capital that will create jobs and a facility that provides entertainment. That view of Red Rock Canyon is nice, but it doesn’t put food on the table or a roof over head. The fact is people want services and jobs more than they want nice views.

County Commissioners should remember the ideas that this country was founded on, and not be intimi-dated by union bosses and meddle-some neighbors. DOUG FRENCH

For every issue ever printed...WWW.PENNYPRESSLV.COM

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 8

The Best Vegas Calendar BAR NONE!By Billhere

brought to you by the VIVA LAS VEGAS NEWSLETTER.Subscriptions to the free, e-mailed, and complete index of Las Vegas coupons is available on the internet at:

http://www.billhere.com/free.htmlCLOSED LAST MONTH:+++++ALEXIS PARK RESORT: Joey & Maria’s Comedy Italian Wedding Show closed.+++++BLACKJACK: Beware of casinos that change the standard casino rules on table games. It always means you are getting shorted.

Orleans cuts-off 1/2 the cards of the shoe in a 6-deck game. Most casinos on The Strip now pay a lower amount for blackjacks on single deck blackjack games. That means: On a $10 bet at 6/5 they now pay you $12. On a $10 bet at 3/2, standard rules, they should pay you $15. That’s a significant loss after only a few hours of play.

The following casinos are now only paying 6/5 for blackjack on single deck blackjack games instead of 3/2: Aladdin, Bally’s, Boulder Station, Caesars Palace, Excalibur, Flamingo, Green Valley Ranch, New Frontier, Las Vegas Hilton, O’Shea’s, Paris Las Vegas, Sunset Station, Treasure Island and Westin Casuarina. Stay away - you can’t win! Pertinent articles at:http://www.lasvegasweekly.com/2003/10/23/upfront4.htmlandhttp://www.inbusinesslasvegas.com/2003/11/14/gaming.htmlandhttp://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/leisure/2003/nov/13/515853930.html+++++BLACKJACK CONFIDENTIAL MAGAZINE: Suspended publication.+++++FITZGERALDS: The Larry G. Jones comedy show closed.+++++FLAMINGO: Amazing Johnathan show closed.+++++GOLD COAST: Serendipity Show closed.+++++GOLDEN NUGGET: Spirit of The Dance and the Funny Bone Comedy shows are both closed.+++++HOLSUM BREAD: Their building on 299 West Charleston is now closed. That’s where every down-and-out Las Vegas gambler bought day old bread or got free two-day old bread in the dump-ster in the back. Every degenerate gambler knew that scenario! The building is being converted into chi-chi residences called the “Holsum Lofts”. Renovation starts in February, 2004. Completion in June, 2004. Another Vegas tradition bites the dust! Story at:http://www.lvbusinesspress.com/articles/2003/11/21/colum-nists/col01realestate.txt+++++JAGUARS STRIP CLUB: Closed because their liquor permit was revoked due to the owner pleading guilty to corrupting local poli-ticians. Might re-open after the holidays. Read all about it at:http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/lv-crime/2003/dec/24/516075568.html+++++LA CONCHA MOTEL: Across the street from the Stardust and next to the Riviera has been demolished to make way, eventually, for a casino/hotel high rise tower.+++++MGM GRAND: Ricardo’s Mexican Restaurant closed to allow con-struction for new monorail station access.+++++MIRAGE: Buffet closed for renovation. Re-opening June,2004.

+++++O’SHEA’S: The Vegas Baby show opened and closed.+++++PALMS: Marshall Sylver’s Hypnotist Show closed and none too soon. We have confirmed that he used amateur local actors as his “supposed” volunteers whom he put under hypnosis in his act. Is this what other hypnotists are doing?

In addition, the Nevada Attorney General has accused Sylver of bilking customers, of his self-help program, out of tens of thou-sands of dollars. You can read all about it at:http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Dec-08-Mon-2003/news/22704278.html+++++PEDICABS: Shut down on The Strip. Officials were complain-ing about the traffic problems they caused but the real reason was pressure from the taxicab industry, which was losing rides. Pedicabs are still available on private property inside shopping malls.+++++RIO: Carnival World Buffet. They are intermittently closing half the food serving stations for renovations and do not reduce their outrageous price of $16.99 per person to their dinner buffet. The renovations will continue until April, 2004! Avoid this rip-off by going to the Gold Coast ($9.95) or the Palms ($11.99) which are just across the street. In any case, both buffets are better.+++++RIVIERA: MEN, THE SHOW, Little Anthony & The Imperials and Ray Brown, Jr. shows all closed. +++++SAPPHIRE TOPLESS CLUB: The Sex Strikes Back show closed.+++++CLOSINGS COMING UP+++++Dec.28= Magical Forest. Huge, must-see Xmas drive-thru clos-es:http://www.opportunityvillage.org/Calendar/Magical_Forest.htm+++++Dec.31= Rock History Photography Collection closes - Rio.+++++Jan.1, 2004= Hard Rock Hotel closing Baby’s nightclub for major renovations. Re-opening in June, 2004.+++++Jan.18, 2004= TREASURES OF CHATSWORTH exhibit closing. Located in the Gallery of Fine Art inside the Bellagio. Information at: http://www.bgfa.biz+++++Jan.31, 2004= Catch a Rising Star Comedy Club closing - Excalibur.+++++Jan.??, 2004= FAO Schwarz Toy Store in the Forum Shops in Caesars Palace is closing, due to bankruptcy, in mid-January.+++++Feb.29, 2004= Martin Nievera Show closing - Golden Nugget.+++++May 2, 2004= “A Century of Painting: From Renoir to Rothko” exhibit closing in the Guggenheim Hermitage Museum in the Venetian.+++++===================================Please e-mail errors, omissions and additions to:billman@lvcm.com

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 9

Listen To America's Most Respected Commentator

On Las Vegas' Most Respected Radio Station

Weekdays at 5:30am,7:30am,Noon, 5:53pm

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 10

Commentary: Albert ThomasWhich Way The Market?

I am hearing predictions by brokers, financial planners, talk show hosts and the talking heads on TV that the market is going back to its old highs - DOW 11,700 and NASDAQ 5000 here we come.

It seems to me that in 2000 I heard these same people saying there was no top to the market and were looking into their crystal balls for DOW 30,000 or some other fantastic number. Suddenly the market turned over with the DOW dropping 3,000 points and the NASDAQ losing 80% of its value. Can it happen again? I don’t predict and all I can say is the market can do anything.

BUT what if it does turn down? Are you going to sit as you did before and watch your money disappear? Right now everything looks rosy and the momentum is carrying the indexes higher almost every day. Buy and hold is the right strategy – for now.

Hind sight is always 20/20 and you will want to own stocks and mutual funds now, but not get caught in the next down draft. There will be one! There always has and you can see it clearly if you are a student of market history. Since 1900 there

have been 16 to 18-year cycles of bull and bear markets and within those there have been other shorter cycles of ups and downs.

Many brokers and investors try to predict when those turns will occur and they are mostly wrong. It is definitely not a good idea to try to outguess the market. You must learn to read the rather obvious signs of the major turns. I say obvious, but it is clear they are not obvious to most brokers or financial planners. Having been a professional trader, exchange member and floor trader for many years I will tell you the obvious ‘secret’.

Using a 200-day moving average of any one of the major indexes (I prefer the S&P500) you can plot these every day and when the index pen-etrates the 200-day line in an upward direction it is a signal to buy. That is where we are now. Inversely when it penetrates that line going down it is time to sell and put your money in cash or bonds. If you don’t want to do the math computa-tions there is an excellent chart in the Investor’s Business Daily newspaper called their Mutual Fund Index that will do all the work for you.

It is nothing more complicated than that and you can go back into history as far as you wish and you will see it proven time after time. You are holding stocks or funds while the market is going up and you are in cash while it is going down. Don’t be fooled by “research” or by any other

complicated method. This works.There is no need to predict the market. It will

tell you in simple language what it is doing and whether you should be a buyer or seller.

Copyright Albert W. Thomas All rights reserved. Author of “If It Doesn’t Go Up, Don’t Buy It!” www.mutualfundmagic.com comments to al@mutualfundmagic.com

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 11

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 12

Week of January 1—8, 2004ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20) Do not make large purchases or investments. Spend some quality time with your lover. You can’t win and they won’t listen. Offers of joint ventures are likely. Your lucky day this week will be Wednesday.

TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21) Try to curb overindulgence this week. Cultural activities will prove to be quite enlightening for everyone. Go with the flow and don’t be concerned about your own job. You must strive to get the most important projects completed properly, rather than doling everything in a half baked way. Your lucky day this week will be Sunday.

GEMINI (May 22-June 21) Do not push your luck with your boss. There’ll be difficulties if you spend too much. You will expand your circle of friends if you join groups. You may have problems with children. You’re undergoing changes. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

CANCER (June 22-July 22) You will be extremely sentimental, and if pushed by others you may hold a lasting grudge. Someone you least expect could be trying to make you look bad. You can ask for favors or run your ideas by those who will be able to support your objectives. Don’t let others know about your private affairs. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

LEO (July 23-Aug 22) Make arrangements to meet friends at your local dance club. Stop those bad habits. Have some fun, but draw the line if someone tries to fast talk their way into your heart. Take a trip or just spend some quality time with your mate. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23) Do not push your luck with your boss. Pleasure trips should be on your agenda. Plan to do things with your faithful pet or with youngsters who have interesting hobbies. You need to spend time with friends and family. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23) You should not be concerned with coworkers who insist on spreading rumors. Refuse to let others make unrealistic demands of you. Friends and relatives can give you good advice. Don’t blow situations out of proportion. Your lucky day this week will be Wednesday.

SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) Get help setting up a reasonable budget. Look into ways of making extra cash. Overindulgence will be a problem if you are out in a social setting. Travel and educational pursuits may help alleviate the stress you have been feeling. Look into intellectual and physical games that will test your abilities. Your lucky day this week will be Tuesday.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21) Your popularity will be because of acquaintances; however, loved ones could feel left out and insecure. Any intimate relationships with colleagues will lead to gossip that could easily affect your position. You will not be pleased with family members who try to put demands on you when you just don’t have the time. Positive connections can be made if you get involved in environmental organizations. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

CAPRICORN (Dec 22. - Jan. 20) Travel opportunities must be taken advantage of. You can count on getting a pat on the back for your efforts. Someone may be trying to pull the wool over your eyes. In-laws or older individuals may give you a bit of a hard time this week. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19) Take some short trips it will prove to be more fruitful than you imagined. You must act quickly. Opportunities for romance are present. Your pilgrimage may end up being fruitless. Your lucky day this week will be Monday.

PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20) It will best to put in some overtime rather than get involved in family gatherings. Your need to get away could lead you into greater debt. Problems with colleagues are likely. Avoid too much discourse with colleagues this week. Your lucky day this week will be Saturday.

Welcome to the Psychic Corner with VISOR

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 13

A little over two years ago, some Las Vegas businessmen brought Parnelli Jones over to the studios of a radio station I used to own to do some radio commercials for a product they invented called Rollgard...Keep in mind, that having owned the official radio station of the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, I had a lot of friends in common with Parnelli and we started talking about the product.

He saw my truck outside, a 1999 4 Wheel Drive Ford F-150 (since sent to truck heaven), and arranged for the owners of the company to install Rollgard on the truck, telling me that I really had to have it. Said it would make the truck handle like a Corvette.

That was in August of 2001.

I now have the distinction of having driven almost 150,000 miles in three big trucks that were Rollgard equipped.

I was impressed then and I’m so impressed now that I own stock in the company that makes Rollgard.

Parnelli knows trucks, driving and suspen-sions and he was right.

Simply put, Rollgard makes any big truck with leaf springs han-dle like a high per-formance sports car. For less than $400.

The F-150 has been replaced with a 2002 4-Wheel Drive Ford Excursion. That’s the biggest, heaviest production passenger vehicle sold in the United States. The SUV Nazi’s hate it, but they don’t live on Mt. Charleston and have to deal with 10 feet of snow every year. I love it and Rollgard tamed that beast on the highway as well as the winding mountain roads.

Rollgard looks simple, but is based on solid scientific principles as applied by a race car designer to fix some of the faults inherent in truck based vehicles with high centers of gravity.

They lower the center of gravity of a truck or SUV and restore your ability to steer without making constant corrections.

With Rollgard, the truck or SUV goes where you point it. It keeps your rear wheels flat on the ground and you don’t sway in your track. This means that you can drive at normal speeds safely on the interstate and you are much less likely to roll over in the event of a sudden maneuver. It raises your margin of error.

Rollgard fits on any vehicle which uses leaf springs, take about 30 minutes to install and cost $395.

But, because the company which manufactures Rollgard is here in Las Vegas, you can buy it direct and save. In this ad is a coupon for $100 off the price AND free installation in the Rollgard shop, here in Las Vegas.

If you have any questions about Rollgard, you can call me, Fred Weinberg, at my office, 702-740-5588

If I’ve done a good job selling you, call Rollgard at 312-6124 and tell them you want one installed as soon as they can. You’ve got nothing to lose because there is a 30-day money back guarantee, no questions asked.

NOW! FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY!Bring In this ad and get $100 off Rollgard and Free Installation!Offer Good To January 31, 2004

Here’s the F-150. We put about 50,000 miles on it with Rollgard

Yes, the Excursion is big. With Rollgard, it is very well behaved!

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 14

Increase Your Cash FlowCut Your Cash Expense!Use your excess inventory to create more

cash flow through barter.We’ll show you how.

Call our Las Vegas office at739-3474Use Your Assets toIncreaseYour Business!

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 15

By CONNIE ROSSPenny Press Contributing Editor

Clint Holmes! Clint Holmes! Clint Holmes!

Saying that name in the Las Vegas entertainment business is like saying location, location, loca-tion in the real estate industry. You don’t need anything else to make a perfect choice; but, in the case of Clint Holmes’ show at Harrah’s, nightly except Sunday in Clint Holmes Theater at 7:30 p.m., you get a lot more than just the genuine charm and magnificent talent of Clint. You get a brilliant ensemble cast and some touching surprises.

Since Clint Holmes first unex-pectedly “showered” Las Vegans with his terrific vocals, dancing and song stylizations almost a decade ago, he has done nothing but get better and better and better. He

has been voted Best Singer in Las Vegas four straight years; and, at only $59.95, you have to see his show now.

My family and I caught the holiday version last week. My reluctant, typically “a local” hus-band (a Las Vegas entertainment producer and director in his own right) didn’t want to fight the Strip traffic and go out on a weeknight and on and on, but I prevailed, even as he sort of grumbled. Dad (80) and Mom (won’t tell) were thrilled to see Clint again. They are big fans. They see him often on his new morning television show on Las Vegas One, the Dennis Bono Show, Tony Sacca’s TV programs and specials and lots and lots of charity events. Does this generous superman of a superstar ever sleep? Probably not, because he keeps his

shows constantly fresh as well by changing the content (a brand new version will premiere to the press January 28), but not his sometimes comical, sometimes emotional and passionate sense of himself and his music, or his incredible cast.

Janien Masse’ is a family friend, a terrific lady and as soulful as she is beautiful, prompting my husband to exclaim, “That girl can sing!” and not regretting one more moment of the evening’s soiree. Janien will be showcased, along with musical director, Bill Fayne, in the new show, which will include an opera section with them, Clint and their world-class band. “We will keep it high energy, diverse and dynamic,” Masse’ says about that production and beginning rehearsals after the first of the year.

She is no stranger to the Las Vegas entertainment scene either. She came here from New York in 1995 for “Starlight Express” and opened “Le Cabaret Room” at the Paris Hotel and Casino in September of 1998 and to rave reviews as Esmeralda in “Notre Dame de Paris” there. She won that role in a ten-minute audition after the producers had searched the world for the show-stopping star. When Janien had sung two pieces of the sheet music for the lyricist, he stood up and exclaimed,” This is my Esmeralda!”

Soon after, Masse’ starred in another Vegas world-premiere musi-cal, ”Men are from Mars Women Are from Venus.” She was liter-ally plucked from that show to co-star opposite Clint at Harrah’s and also shortly thereafter received the award for “Best Local Thespian” from the City of Las Vegas. Today, among her other talents, she is

mother to eight-month-old Sabrina Valentine and wife to actor Phil of “Tony and Tina’s Wedding” at the Rio and instructor of The Actors Gym Acting School.

Speaking of mothers. Clint’s mom is now 88 and provides one of the most poignant moments in his show to an audience, which, by now, he has thoroughly touched, warmly reminiscing about her, an English opera singer, and his father, a jazz musician, overcoming more than just their opposite skin-colors to celebrate 50 years of marriage and their diverse musical styles through their son. Pictures of the handsome couple flash on a giant video screen on-stage; a sound track features his mother’s pure operatic voice. Then Clint goes onto the audience as he does often during the show and says, ”Would you like to hear her sing in person?” That same magical voice rings out, and the still-vibrant Mrs. Holmes stands and completes a few more bars of enchanting “Summer Time.” There was not a dry eye in the house.

My own mother was enthralled. She likes mothers to be recognized by their kids. (Mama Scinta is an acquaintance, so this tribute pleased her a lot, too.) Dad was visibly weeping; and my husband was a mess, so much for his reluctance. WE HAD HIM! “Gee, this show is JUST GREAT,” he exclaimed. And, of course, he was right, as always. It is great; Janien, Bill and the band are wonderful; and the entire experience of Clint Holmes’ show IS Clint, gracious, witty and musically awe-inspiring.

Call 369-5222 for reservations. You’ll need them. It’s a sell-out every performance. Clint Holms! is all you need to say.

World-class Ensemble Cast And Touching Surprises Real Treat To ‘Strip’Audiences Any Time Of Year In ‘Clint Holmes Show’ Nightly At Harrah’s

Janien Masse’, featured female performer from the show of the same name, joins star Clint Holmes. What sets this wonderful production at Harrah’s apart from competitors is the charm and talent of Clint, coupled with some of the best ensemble cast members anywhere, especially Masse’ and musical director Bill Fayne. Of its genre, it’s the Best on the “Strip”!

THE PENNY PRESS, JANUARY 1, 2004 PAGE 16