Print edition for November 19, 2006

John Katsilometes visits the MGM Grand Garden Arena where the fight against cancer is the winner: The site was the very MGM Grand that on Saturday was the venue for Streisand's performance. But it hardly resembled a concert hall or sports areana; the top-to-bottom overhaul in deep burgundy and flat black (4,000 yards of carpet and a half-mile of drape were used) was part of a James Bond theme for "Bond for the Cure," the annual benefit for the NCI. About 1,100 of the city's more prominent citizens turned out to for the live and silent auction, a performance by Dana Carvey and a late-late screening of the new Bond film, "Casino Royale."

Letter: Baby Boomer burden must be addressed: The Social Security system is something like 70 years old. When first implemented the full retirement age of 65 was established. At that time the average life span was 15 to 20 years less than it is today. Shouldn't this increased life span be taken into account and perhaps gradually increase the full retirement age to 70 years from the 67 years now in place?

Letter: National debt suggests tax cuts are 'broke': While it's true that tax cuts may increase revenues and stimulate the economy for those of us who are adults right now, I wonder whether our children and grandchildren share our enthusiasm. They'll be the ones having to pay off the national debt caused by our desire for instant gratification, a national debt that has already reached record levels under Bush and the GOP-controlled Congresses of the past six years.

Brian Greenspun on China's potential and how this big land is taking to Vegas-style gaming in Macau: And why not? Everybody else is. In fact, practically everywhere I go China is the topic of conversation. Whether it is about economic opportunity, environmental pollution and potential eco-disaster, human rights issues, North Korean nukes, labor challenges vis-a-vis American jobs or practically any other subject, China is the topic. Period.

Letter: Democracy is great, but also frightening: Nearly half of the voters signaled their approval of the Bush administration, arguably the most inept and corrupt administration in our history. George W. Bush, at a black tie event in 2004, laughed and joked about not finding weapons of mass destruction and all the while American blood is being spilled on a war that is nothing but a big lie. And this is tragic and scary.

Editorial: Health care stalemate: Sierra insures nearly 600,000 people, roughly a third of Clark County's population, and Sunrise manages four hospitals - Sunrise Hospital, Sunrise Children's Hospital, South Hills Hospital and MountainView Hospital - and if a new contract isn't reached between the two companies by Dec. 31, thousands of people could face radical decisions in their health care.

Don't ever call him a gadfly: By Mark Hansel; Anyone who has been to a Las Vegas City Council meeting has seen the wizened man in the red shirt and black suspenders, leaning on a well-used walker and waiting his turn at the podium.

Plans for big boom back: The boom is back.

Trepp often seems to be in the wrong place at the wrong time: J. Patrick Coolican, Steve Kanigher and Mary Manning; Perhaps Warren Trepp is always just at the wrong place at the wrong time, a victim of terrible and perpetual coincidence.

Jack Sheehan and a pal pick the five iconic figures deserving of a place on a Las Vegas Mount Rushmore: We started throwing around the names of folks who would be carved onto our own Mount Rushmore in the desert, assuming we had a big old rock wall somewhere on the edge of town and a Gutzon Borglum to spend a lifetime sculpting them.

Jeff Simpson has talk with Steve Wynn about a wide range of gaming issues here and abroad: "I don't have any deal with anybody in Atlantic City," Wynn said by phone from Macau. "It's an interesting place, and the governor (Jon Corzine) wants to re-energize the Boardwalk. But there are a lot of things that have to happen before we'd be ready to do something."

'Divine Strake' is about 'bunker busting': The basic idea is simple: Take 700 tons of a mixture of fertilizer and fuel oil - the same stuff that leveled the federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995, killing 168 people - pour it into a large, bowl-shaped depression in the ground above some underground tunnels.

Letter: Free market applies to insurers, too: While we're at it, Congress should also force price controls on drug companies. We're paying too darn much for our life-saving medications! (The right price, of course, would be one low enough to ensure that no drug company will ever again invest in research and development.)

A MOMENT CAPTURED

feeling.

tiffany.brown@lasvegassun.com

Fifteen-year-old Rafael Angulo was skating with friends, Randy Torres, 15, and Edward Perez, 14 (not pictured) at West Flamingo/Kenny Guinn Park on Tuesday afternoon.

Jon Ralston on Barbara Buckley, who will become the most powerful woman in Nevada state politics: There have been influential females before. But few - if any - possess the rare mixture of talents of Speaker-in-Waiting Barbara Buckley . And neither, it needs to be emphasized, have most men who have been state power brokers.

Gamers still buzzing over passage of online bill: By Liz Benston; Passing bills in the dead of night without a lick of debate was business as usual in President Bush's Republican-controlled Congress. But the details behind the October passage of a controversial Internet gambling prohibition bill was enough to make even jaded political observers' hair stand on end.

Editorial: More education funding needed: Rogers, who detailed his budget and policy initiatives in his annual state of the system speech Friday, will be asking for more money for the state's university system to pay for myriad projects and programs that include providing more scholarships, improving retention and graduation rates and increasing research.

FLASHPOINT for Nov 19, 2006: I have been to many events after covering politics for 20 years. But none compares to the Nevada Cancer Institute fundraiser I attended Thursday. Sure, maybe it wasn't a political event per se. But there were plenty of those types there as well as many community luminaries. The event raised $5.3 million for the center founded by Heather Murren, a former Wall Street powerhouse, who along with her husband, MGM Mirage executive Jim Murren, have defied the odds since they came up with the idea five years ago. And the event had all the accoutrements in its James Bond theme ...

Heller walks into a brave new world: WASHINGTON - This is what happens when you're a new member of Congress: Your phone doesn't stop ringing, you don't know half the people who are calling and you can't possibly make all the events they invite you to attend.

Online gambling a hot potato: By Liz Benston; While the gaming industry is heralding the appointment of casino-friendly Democrats to key positions of power in Washington, experts warn that it could take many years before Congress will be willing to consider regulating online gambling.

Younger gangs, bolder violence: Abigail Goldman, Las Vegas Sun; Greg Damarin rolls through the low-lit streets off Weaver Drive with his head half-cocked out the window of an unmarked town car. He's wearing green fatigues, his hair is cut close to the scalp and his neck turns only a tick to eyeball a group of kids peddling gearless bikes.