Print edition for October 7, 2007

FLASHPOINT for Oct 07, 2007: By Jon Ralston; I gave Gov. Jim Gibbons a hard time last week for his cliche- ridden description of his mortgage-lending summit, which reached its apex with his declaration that there is no crisis and that the regulated businesses don't think they need more regulation. I now realize this is an ongoing affliction. In a Reuters interview last week after the summit, Gibbons added to his cliche catalog. He told an interviewer "the future of Nevada looks bright." And as for a plan to tax the gamers, Gibbons offered this hoary one: "This is killing the goose that laid the golden egg." And ...

Critical Mass reaches Vegas: By Mike Trask; It happens this way every month. The tattooed hipsters in tight pants migrate from throughout the valley, riding their bicycles down one of the most commercial streets in the nation - the Las Vegas Strip.

Looking in on: Gaming: By Liz Benston; Chinese customers at the newly-opened 3,000-room Venetian Macau are experiencing a taste of Las Vegas-style gambling, glitz and luxury on a massive scale.

For librarians, a new world and a new role: By Charlotte Hsu; The college librarians' job has changed immensely.

A Moment Captured: The music's blaring, but does anybody care?: Tiffany Brown; There's a dance party at the park , but no one is there to hear. Or so it seemed at Desert Breeze Park on a recent sunny afternoon.

Jon Ralston explains why the Clark County Commission will sorely miss Chip Maxfield, a soft-spoken yet effective leader: By Jon Ralston; He's steady, soft-spoken and reliable. He sort of drones on in meetings, too, doesn't he? In fact, Chip Maxfield is boring.

Editorial: Valley's cultural shift: Adding to that was the recent announcement by the Las Vegas Art Museum on its future, as reported Thursday in the Las Vegas Sun by Kristen Peterson. In 2009 the museum, which occupies space in the Summerlin library, plans to move to the old All-American SportsPark on Sunset Road, just off Las Vegas Boulevard South. The move will quadruple its exhibition space and will put it closer to the Strip and the 40 million people who visit each year.

Letter: Contractors are least of our worries in Iraq: If only we could get this much concern over Sunni and Shiite death squads who kill each other, and last but not least al-Qaida in Iraq, which has killed everybody, including women and children, in the name of Allah. Maybe this tragic war could be over by now if everybody put this much attention on the real enemies of Iraq.

Editorial: That'll be $600 billion: But there was at least one other statement comparable with those two in terms of its falsity. Bush administration budget officials estimated that the total financial cost of the war would be in the $60 billion range.

Letter: Middleman has no place in medical care: Well, my friend, any family that pays $15,000 in income tax makes enough to buy at least some insurance, anyway. So what is the difference in the government paying for health care directly with taxes targeted for that purpose, a la Medicare, and paying an insurance company to provide that care?

Letter: Why Blackwater has a license to kill: First, there is no war in Iraq. That ended in 2003. Now there is an occupation to control Iraq's oil reserves and the resistance to it. The enemy cannot be distinguished from the civilians because the civilians are the enemy. Second, Mr. Wollman does not understand the difference between the regular military and the mercenaries.

That'll be $600 billion: Coming first to mind when thinking of President Bush's tragically false pronouncements while he was whipping up support for his war are these: Iraq has weapons of mass destruction and plans to use them; Iraq collaborated with the 9/11 terrorists.

Letter: God has no business being on our currency: More and more atheists, Wiccans, pagans, etc. (good people, all) are "coming out of the closet" and are proof that a belief in the Judeo-Christian "God," while possibly true for the majority, is definitely not universal in the United States.

Commentary: Online schools have benefits traditional schools can't offer: As a board member for the Nevada Virtual Academy, and father of a fourth grade student enrolled in the online public school, I would like to offer a different view.

Letter: Capitalism often at odds with health care: Both the story and editorial demonstrate the inherent conflict of interest in a health care system based on a for-profit motive. Business cannot serve too many poor people, sick people, old people or people too remote as they are expensive and inefficient for profit making.

WEEK IN REVIEW: WASHINGTON, D.C: WASHINGTON - All week public television has been showing a sweeping Ken Burns documentary on World War II. The work shows the extraordinary contributions to the war made by ordinary Americans, which inevitably invites comparisons to today.

Vote for this, this or this: David McGrath Schwartz; Here's a lively scenario.

Powerful in Vegas, hawkish toward Iran: By J. Patrick Coolican; Sheldon Adelson, chairman of Las Vegas Sands Corp., is among a group of conservatives embarked on an effort to influence U.S. policy toward Iran, including the possibility of military action.

Editorial: Bad intentions abound: As reported Thursday in the Las Vegas Sun by Joe Schoenmann and David McGrath Schwartz, the original tax break, passed in 2005, would have given, for example, MGM Mirage $3 in tax relief for every $1 spent on green construction in the massive CityCenter.

WHERE I STAND Brian Greenspun explains how businesses can earn more green by going green: Before half of you go nuts and the other half faint, let me explain. This is not a political discussion, it is far more important. This is a call to save the planet and, by doing so, save ourselves.