(Previous parts of this series include: Jack Eichel Takes Over the Sabres, Jim Benninging the Canucks, Mike Milburying the Islanders, Don Cherry Drafts the Leafs, Tom Wilson-Proofing the Penguins, Dundon DIYs the Hurricanes, Re-Chiarelling the Oilers, Moneyballing the Sens, Covertly Tanking the Wild, and Frenchifying the Canadiens.)

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Part I

It’s June 18th, 2017. There are three days before the National Hockey League’s first expansion draft in seventeen years, and the boardroom of T-Mobile arena, the future home of the Vegas Golden Knights, is buzzing. Months of scouting, speculation on who might be available, and discussions about possible trades are finally nearing their fruition.
Bill Foley, the team owner, steps out to grab another cup of coffee when a thought suddenly strikes him. He works it around in his brain for a second, then runs back into the boardroom. A pro scout who focuses on goaltending is making his pitch to General Manager George McPhee.
“...Well, if we don’t take Grabovski, Jaroslav Halak is available as a potential backu-“
“Don’t you DARE speak that bastard’s name to me!” McPhee screams. He quickly snaps out of the PTSD flashback that the goalie’s name inspired and moves on. “We’ll take the centre from them and... what about that Rangers backup instead? That Raanta guy?”
On the whiteboard behind them is a set of handshake deals that they have made, pending registration with the National Hockey League's office.

Anaheim trades: Shea Theodore for Expansion Draft Considerations. (Clayton Stoner)
Columbus trades: 2017 1st, 2019 2nd, ^{jack johnson}, for Expansion Draft Considerations (William Karlsson)
Florida trades: Reilly Smith for Expansion Draft Considerations (Jonathan Marchessault) and a 5th round pick
Minnesota trades: Alex Tuch for Expansion Draft Considerations (Erik Haula) and a 3rd round pick
New York trades: 2017 1st round pick, 2019 2nd round pick for Expansion Draft Considerations (Mikhail Grabovski)
Tampa Bay trades: Nikita Gusev, 2017 2nd, and 2018 4th for Expansion Draft Considerations (Jason Garrison)
Winnipeg trades: 2017 1st round pick and 2019 3rd round pick for Expansion Draft Considerations (Chris Thorburn) and Columbus 1st

Foley interrupts the goaltending conversation - this can't wait. "George, can I talk to you quickly?"
They take a sidebar. "George, I just had a thought. These deals you made - you just traded 'expansion draft considerations,' right?"
"Yes, we'll select the player that they want us to."
"But what if you don't? What if you just take whoever you want? Would it be against the rules?"
"I... well...no. Technically we could do that. But it would be dishonest and would make everyone furious at us."
"So? I didn’t buy an NHL team to make friends. I bought an NHL team to win a Stanley Cup, and also to let people know that I went to West Point. Did you know I went to West Point?”
“Yes Bill”
“I trust you George. Now go out there and get me a championship.”

Part II

Tensions are high in the green room on June 21st. General managers are walking in and out to greet and chit-chat with George McPhee and Bill Foley, the newest members of their exclusive fraternity of NHL executives. They laugh and exchange stories: Joe Sakic tells them about the gas leak in the Pepsi Centre that they noticed as soon as the season was over; Peter Chiarelli asks them to give him a call if they draft a right handed defensive defenceman (because that Draisaitl kid isn't really working out); John Chayka asks them if they're hiring. McPhee is having a hard time keeping things light and friendly, knowing that he's about to betray all of these men. Just submitting an offer sheet is enough to get you kicked out of the GM Secret Santa, let alone dishonesty at this level.
Gary Bettman walks into the green room excitedly. “Bill, George, I am so excited for us to get going. Everyone in this building is so energized, I even just saw Evgeny Kuznetsov doing some smelling salts in the bathroom!"
~
The Las Vegas Hard Rock Hotel and Casino is packed with new Vegas Golden Knights fans. The award show itself is highlighted by the best NHL.com intern-written jokes that unpaid can buy. Host Joe Manganiello is dutifully following the Jack Johnson model on stage: he might be bombing out there but boy is he eating up minutes. After Brent Burns finishes his Norris trophy victory speech, and the PA quickly wipes the crumbs and beard hair off the microphone, the time has come for Vegas’ first picks.
"From the Anaheim Ducks, Vegas picks…”
McPhee looks out at the smiling faces in the crowd. He sees Bob Murray, sitting with his plus-one for the evening (Randy Carlyle). He sees Jim Rutherford trying to turn his blaring ringtone off with his screen brightness turned up all the way. He sees Lou Lamoriello, sitting with a slightly less murderous look in his eyes than usual. He knows that the friendships he has fostered with all of these extremely normal and competent people will never recover from what he is about to do. He takes a deep breath.
“Josh Manson!"
The Vegas fans go wild. The attached trade is announced too: they have picked up Shea Theodore in exchange for “draft considerations.” The general managers’ faces contort with fury as it dawns on them what has happened. Things only get worse as McPhee and Foley continue to announce their picks.
Instead of taking Erik Haula from the Wild, they take Matt Dumba. And they still get Alex Tuch.
Instead of taking Mikhail Grabovski from the Isles, they take Brock Nelson. And they still get a 1st and a 2nd.
Instead of taking Jason Garrison from the Lightning, they take Yanni Gourde. And they still get Nikita Gusev.
~
After the show, twenty-nine general managers storm the green room with murder in their eyes. Bettman tries to deflate the situation.
“Good evening gentlemen. I understand you’re upset, bu- Wait, where’s Jim Benning?”
“He got stuck in the revolving door somehow. But we have him on speakerphone.”
Benning's voice bellows out of Pierre Dorian's team-issued Motorola Razr.
“That was an embarrassment! A mockery! An insult to everything that hockey is supposed to be! Who even wrote those 'jokes' anyway?! And by the way, the expansion draft was bullshit too!”
Bob Murray’s face is an angrier shade of red than usual. “George you scumbag, we had a fucking deal! We only traded you Shea Theodore so that you would take Clayton Stoner!”
McPhee says “Well actually, Bob, the trade was made for “draft considerations.” And I promise you we really considered taking Stoner.”
The room erupts in anger again.
Garth Snow is irate as well: "You bastard, how could you take Nelson?! Resigning Tavares would've been a sure thing if you had taken Grabovski instead! I can't imagine how this franchise's cap situation could possibly be any worse!" Lou Lamoriello smirks.
Bettman sighs and tries to be diplomatic.
“Gentlemen, I’m sorry, but he’s right. It says in the transcripts of the official trade calls that the trades were made purely for ‘considerations’, not for the selection of specific players. There’s nothing we can do about that. That being said, George, per the NHL’s licensing agreement with EA Sports we will need to confiscate a few of your phones.”
The managers walk out of the room grumbling. On the way out, a confused Dale Tallon says “There's one thing I don't understand: If George went back on all those other deals, why didn’t he take Alex Petrovic from us instead of that Marchessault guy? And he still took that cap dump Reilly Smith from us too! What an idiot.”
~
The Knights’ players were already fired up by their respective teams’ willingness to let them go – now they’re extra motivated by everyone else in the league hating their guts.

Jonathan Marchessault – William Karlsson – Reilly Smith David Perron – Brock Nelson – Yanni Gourde Tomas Nosek – Vadim Shipachyov – James Neal Ryan Carpenter – Pierre-Edouard Bellemare – Alex Tuch William Carrier Brayden McNabb – Matt Dumba Nate Schmidt – Josh Manson Shea Theodore – Colin Miller Jack Johnson Marc-Andre Fleury Antti Raanta

They claim the President's Trophy and the Stanley Cup in each of their first three seasons. The league's general managers conspire to exact revenge on these scoundrels, and all agree that Marc Bergevin should offersheet their best young players, a plan that immediately backfires when Bergevin inadvertently saves Vegas considerable negotiating time and helps them lock up their core at reasonable numbers. The Knights later find a loophole in the salary cap that allows them to add high-salary free agents seemingly at will. After they sweep through the bubble playoffs in 2020, it becomes clear that no other team can compete with them, and TV ratings hit a dismal low. Amid financial uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the National Hockey League officially folds in late 2020. Agent Allan Walsh, desperately trying to secure spots in the KHL for his stunned clients, soberly sums up the feelings of the hockey world:

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(Thank you for reading, it's been awhile!)

Ok It's Time for my...Annual *Pre-Burning Man Rant and Predictions!!

Ok It's Time for my . . . Annual Pre-Burning Man Rant and Predictions!!!
After 22+ years of attendance, I have watched this festival go from what was described by Wired Magazine in 1997 as, "what the internet would be like if it was happening in reality" to 2020 where, "What? In reality, this festival is happening on the internet" ?!? What a serious head fuck . . .
So strap in or strap on and get ready for disappointment . . . like virtually everything in this virtual world right now.
Here goes this year's Virtual Rant!
PREDICTIONS
The Virtual Burn is going the be everything you think it could be . . . an underwhelming and depressing reminder that you are not going the real Burning Man this year.
While it is still better than nothing, nothing is an extremely low bar. Get ready for a clusterfuck of 8 separately-produced interpretive video game dreamscapes, made by skilled teams of programmers eager to prove that their world-building technology will be able to make future financial investors a shitload of money.
Burning Man 2021 is a 50/50 chance at best. 2022 is not looking that great either. Between The Org burning cash on side projects, the FEDs wanting to crack down hard and the Bureau of Land Management clearly pretty fucking stoked that they did not have to deal with the whole shitshow this year, it's going to be an uphill battle for the festival to return.
Huge changes will need to be made.
Those few gluttons for punishment who do decide to go to the playa this week will be treated to Burning Man without the Burning Man Experience.
It will take all the hard work, organization and preparation for survival in the middle of a harsh desert environment for a week of Burning Man . . . just without the Burning Man.
If there is one silver lining of the event not happening this year, it's the fact that I don't have to pack up my dust covered Burning Man bullshit from last year, drive 19 hours, then have to smuggle drugs inside my ass to make it past the BLM rangers just go camping in one of the most fucking miserable and inhospitable places on earth.
Without Shirtcockers, Megaphones and Massive Thumping Soundsystems, it's just a bogus camping trip in bad weather with a shitload of cops.
This year we will NOT be seeing the usual post-Burn MASSSIVE FLOOD of social media posts from Burners who lost their nice $60 water bottle/container somewhere on the playa, often accompanied by a story of why this particular water container was of importance because it has a strap on it, followed by a brief description of unique camps stickers on it and a photo of said missing water bottle/container. In fact, while we are starting to think about cutting costs -- How about lost and found stops giving a fuck about your overpriced water bottle. You lost it, Becky . . . let it go. You spent 20 times More Money on Cocaine for the week than the price of your fucking stoopid-Smart-Bottle-container.
THE VIRTUAL BURN
This year’s Virtual Burn brings about more questions than it does answers.
How will Shirtcockers express their hatred of pants without a Burning Man? In a virtual world, they become no different than unsolicited dick pics.
How will Artcar Owners be able to swing their metaphorical dicks around without their Artcars booming Deep House music to show the world their girth. Sure, you can build one in the Minecraft world for this years Burn . . .But lets face it: No one is gonna be like "Who did that 3D CAD drawing, I totally wanna fuck them!"
What will all the Assholes with Megaphones do without Burners to heckle?
Without handheld amplified audio devices and wide-open spaces, they become no different than Internet Trolls.
How will Hippies on a Vision Quest be able find their spirit animal online? Without a guided shamanic ritual and Temple to burn, they become no different than someone playing Animal Crossing.
If there is no moop or trash to clean up in a virtual Burning Man how can Moop-shamers be able to prove to campmates and others that they are better at "doing Burning Man " than everyone else? In a virtual world they become no different than a Sarah McLaughlin Green Peace commercial.
How will Dooshbonnets and Dooshbags be able to gain followers on Instagram without the giant Robot Heart to climb?
How can they show the world that they not only have braved the pool of Piranhas chomping for position for line, negotiated past the all-seeing and all-knowing doorgirl with a clipboard, proving that they have climbed both the social and physical ladder to reach the top of the Robot Heart, so that they may look down upon the lowly dancefloor with both spite and pity for the unwashed masses who where not able achieve such greatness.
Without this accomplishment, they become no different than average Twitter users vying for Celebrity attention.
How will Burning Man DJs be able to disappoint us with poorly executed timing and bullshit Michael Jackson remixes? Without huge Soundsystems to bang out the worst in modern electronic music, DJs just become . . . The SAME TERRIBLE DJs just now on Twitch! #playatech #Djstreaming #Djsofburningman
Although each Virtual World must have been an amazing feat of programming in its scope and size, it kinda feels like a huge project that was done in a short amount of time. None of the Eight Worlds, in any way, reflect the typical Burning Man experience.
However, there are a few non-official super realistic Burning Man simulators out there.
By far the most realistic experience has to be the "Getting Out More This Year" Simulator.
The player is welcomed to a rich and tangible 3D World of Chris's DopeAss 70s RV, which is camped way out on 4:30 and H, where your avatar can spend all day and all night doing fun things like Ketamine, or other colorful interactive game play such as snorting Ketamine, and even interact with the virtual Chris’s chat box and watch his avatar do Ketamine.
Other game play options include doing Ketamine, talking about doing Ketamine and also doing Ketamine.
The more days and nights spent doing Ketamine, the higher the score! If you want to experience what a typical Burner really does the whole week, than this one is for you!!
Then we have: "Let's Go Party" . . . the online multi-player game where the objective is to get your group of more than 6 Burners to try and leave camp, and all go out to party together.
I did not have much fun playing. I was never able to leave the front of camp. 14 hours of game play later, Brenda still needs to go back for chapstick and Ricky can’t find his bag of blow. Then once Brenda arrives ready, Kaleporia is cold and needs a scarf. Darkwad David is going back to get some blinky lights for the 3rd time. Now Timmy can't find his cigarettes . . . Fuck.
“ManBun Boyfriend”. In this first person POV game, you (the ManBun) has little to no control within the game, with only a single "Ok, Sure" button to navigate within the world. The game play opens as the player is dragged out of bed at 6 AM by the onscreen girlfriend who takes you (the ManBun) on an treacherous journey of sunrise yoga classes, self help lectures, think and grow rich seminars, yoga, positive affirmation workshops, mindful guided mediations, yoga, healing arts ceremonies, wellness and well-being talks, yoga, vegan lifestyle in the new age conferences, yoga, mindful-and-wellness-group-chat and also yoga.
Extra points if you can score a selfie in front of the Giant BELIEVE letters!!
After 8 grueling hours of game play, it simply flashes a screen where girlfriend says "I'm Tired", and the “ManBun Boyfriend” simulator then restarts game play to opening sequence.
“DJs Girlfriend”. This simulation offers a similar experience to “ManBun Boyfriend”. However, in this first person POV game, you (the DJs Girlfriend) is invited to Follow "Dj GlockTrigger" on a dubstep-and-monster-energy-drink-filled adventure as you (the DJs Girlfriend) is rushed from empty dancefloor to empty dancefloor, while picking up extra points if you can find him a "line of blow". After 12 hours of game play the screen flashes "Hey babe I'm gonna go drink with the boyies" and game play is reset.
THE RANT
I am not that great at finance. Obviously. I’ve been to Burning Man 22 times. That should tell you enough about my poor financial / life choices.
But even this burnout Burner can do the math and see that the Burning Man Org is in financial trouble.
Burning Man may need to sell out to save itself. It would not be the first time..
Burning Man "sold out" to the PsyTrance community in 1997. To help ticket sales, the Bay Area was flooded with seriously lame underproduced Rave flyers. Or maybe Dr. Dre can toss in a few million to keep The Org afloat once again.
Or hey why don't we start tickling Elon Musk's balls again, and see if we can start choking on his shaft in return for some sweet corporate demon semen sponsorship.
The Org has already gone pinky finger deep with him. Like when Tesla brought out a full-on Electric Car Expo. That's right, in 2007, at Burning Man, right at fucking Esplanade & 9:00, they had what can only be described as an “anonymous car dealership” from “the green future”, complete with lengthy-worded displays filled with lofty promises of clean energy, infused with subtle corporate propaganda.
In the center of the exhibit sat a life-size solid black plastic model Tesla car.
As well as someone on guard 24/7 to make sure no one tagged or fucked with the stoopid thing. I personally got chased out for drawing a dick in the DUST on the window! All I know is they should have burnt it down or blew it up by the end of the week, but that lame ass mother fucker was still there on Sunday when I journeyed back to draw a dick on it again -- this time with a PAINT PEN. After executing a perfect fat-sacked-choad-headed-donger on the hood, I was once again chased out by rangers, this time with pitchforks screaming bloody murder for my head!!
Fuck you, Ranger Doug! You will never be able to prove that was Me!!!
So Look, it's not the first time The Org spread its asscheeks for a little bit of corporate dick on the side. They also bent over back in 2013 and let Mark Fucking Zuckerberg bring a Giant Golden 'LIKE' sculpture out there. I just hope they did the right thing by the end of week and it was killed with fire.
SO we know The Org is corporateBiCurious. Time to snuggle up, get out of the corporate cocksucking closet and cash in on the fact that this place sold out a long time ago.
Start flirting with attractive corporate entities like Mark Z, the Google Boys, Elon, Tommy Boy from Myspace, or maybe even P-Diddy to toss in some cash to get this fucking party started again!
Yo, Elon! How can we have Burning Man on Mars in 2050 as planned, if we can’t keep it going on Earth for the next 30 years?
At this point, The Org can spread their legs in the backseat of that Tesla and change next years theme to Space-X. I could give a FUCK!!!!! As long as we can keep Old Naked Dudes On Bikes rolling free.
Let some of these cocksucking limpdick corporations like Doritos -- who have already profited from using our Artcars and culture in a their fabricated commercials -- actually fucking pay us money and we will let them shoot a real commercial out there. Have fun pixelating the nipples out of the background actors. I COULD GIVE A FUCK as long as Shirtcockers have a natural habitat to dongslap and roam free. Let Brazzers.com build the Temple! I sincerely really don't care what they do . . . as long as Assholes with Megaphones have wide open spaces to heckle Burners in the Black Rock Desert like GOD intended.
BACK TO BASICS : THE FESTIVAL WILL NEED TO RESEST
Maybe The Org will stop fisting themselves in the burnhole with all the Cultural-Direction-Bullshit and get down to brass tax here.
They have spent years trying to market the festival as a family-friendly-non-offensive-all-inclusive-experience for the suburban upperclass while still catering to the super elite.
We need The Org to provide the DPW and Tickets . . .
Not for Cultural Direction, or Large Scale Art Funding Circle Jerks, Abstract Charity Causes, International Involvement, or any of the Meaningless Feel-Good Propaganda tools they use to control the image of the festival!
The number one focus from here on out needs to be the festival itself taking place once again in Black Rock City!
This defacto-defunding of The Org is a blessing. Look, when it comes down to it, it's not about the lame fucking themes each year. It's about the Burners who come and contribute to the festival that makes it special.
It’s not about overpriced art grants, or Rich-Dick Theme Camp placement priorities. It about the shitty unofficial un-themed camp at 7:00 and J blaring Discotrance music on a distorted soundsystem while giving away room temperature margaritas!
I could give a fuck about all of the elaborate expensive blinking bullshit! Cuts cost! Make the Burning Man effigy from toothpicks for all I give a fuck. None of that shit really matters. The spirit of Burning Man is in the person giving away ice cream from a cooler out in deep playa on a hot afternoon.
The soul of the festival is in Old Naked Dudes on a Bikes rolling free across the desert!
The heart of the festival is the Nightmare Hippy Chick on Acid rolling around in the dust, screaming about her spirit vegetable.
Believe me if The Org had its way, Burning Man would be nothing but Transformational Mediation Seminars, Yoga Classes, Ultra Overpriced Sculptures, and TED talks about how to get rich quick selling a new type of investment portfolio.
I am perfectly happy with the crappy bars and half-assed theme camps that are there just to have a good time. We don't need The Org's unique brand of new age capital-elitism bullshit.
They have clearly dropped the ball on the Cultural Direction for years, and the less they steer the ship, the better, cuz we have already washed up on the rocks.
BULLSHIT CLICKBAIT
“Top 10 Burning Man Pictures You Must See To Believe!”
And once clicked, sure enough it’s nothing but a bunch of super basic-ass photos of some super-hot-Coachella-swinger-couple at sunset in front of the most gentrified “OMG I need to get a selfie in front that to show my followers on Instagram” artwork on the playa.
You already know exactly where these fucksticks took the stoopid photo is front of, OF fucking course it's in front of the BELIEVE letters. It’s Basically the "live, laugh, love" of playa art.
Really, I won't believe this ?!
What I won't believe is that their relationship is going to last beyond next week . . . cuz there’s a 90% chance they are gonna join the wrong gangbang at the Orgy Dome and suddenly someone is not happy about the amount of buttfucking the other one received.
Thanks Business Insider Magazine for exposing the public to the wild and crazy world that is Burning Man. Now every fucking Chad and Becky from Wall Street is trying to come here to get laid. "Bro if I was there I would bang so many Hot Chicks on top of those letters" . . . "OMG I LOVE those Letters!! We are SOOO going to Burning Man to meet our future husbands <3."
How about 10 REAL photos you won’t believe?
Too bad the cameras weren’t there to snap a picture of the guy who took a shower with a fat chick and midget porn star!
It’s a shame no one from the Daily Mail UK was there to catch video of the guy who was tripping his nuts off and could not figure out how to unlock the door of the porta-potty -- escaping only by busting through the plastic roof and climbing out the top several hours later.
Or how about that chick at the meditation camp that was able to summon a higher power of consciousness and transcended the spacetime continuum for a short/infinite amount of time!
Where the fuck was BoredPanda.com to catch a photo of the person who was hit with a rubber dildo when it was carelessly thrown from the top of the Space Pirate ship into the Mayan Warrior crowd.
Now That’s some real stuff that happens out there that I would be happy to clickbait on!
THERE WILL BE SOME CHANGES MADE
The Large Scale Art:
Instead of funding massive installations that end up being resold to casinos on the Las Vegas strip, why not treat them like large Rich-Dick Theme Camps -- give the Installation Artists 200 DGS Tickets, and in return, these assholes will be happy to spend shitloads of money on blinky light towers or whatever, just so they can lock in those sweet sweet reserved tickets for themselves and their friends.
The Tone:
The Utopian Blinkylight Dreamscape has been cool for the past 16 years . . . Buuuut . . . it has gradually fallen out of touch with the world around us.
For far too long, The Org has ignored camps or underfunded art that could be perceived as dark or controversial in any way, shape or form.
Yet again, another example of their Cultural Direction Tactics to market Burning Man as a blinky-light-mickey-mouse-Epcot-Center for wealthy-business-insiders-and-celebrities featuring a safespace-family-oriented-wholesome-body-wellness-green-living-environment for social-media-influencer-photo-shoots.
Burning Man has NEVER been a Safe place!
In 1998, I witnessed a beheading by guillotine at the Opera Performance that was so realistic I spent the next 5 hours (still frying balls on acid!) convinced that Billy Graham was right about this place being a Satanic death cult that would bring about the end of the world.
IT WAS DISTURBING!
If the Barbie Death Camp incident at last years’ Burn taught us anything, it is that there clearly need to be risky and controversial works of art at the festival.
We can't be having pussy-footed Australians throwing temper tantrums like little punk bitches CUZ they don't like the way someone put Barbie Dolls inside an oven!
Why did that do-good-koala-humping-limpdick-ASS-licker think it was OK? Well . . .The Org has shoved the narrative that Burning Man is strictly "good vibes only" down our fucking throats so deep that we finally gagged from it.
Why the fuck was that guy even there? Well, he clicked on the Business Insiders’ “Top Ten Burning Man Photos You Must See To BELIEVE” and thought it was gonna be nothing but butterfly sculptures and Instagram Models in front of giant letters.
No Kids:
Yep. Sorry Minecraft Burners, but you are gonna have to wait until you are 21 to come to this party!
Renegotiating the insurance policy as an over-21 festival will save The Org millions and millions of dollars.
Out of 80,000 people, less than .05% are under 21 . . .yet we have to check IDs at every fucking bar !?
Every year the gate gets closed down and no one can filter in or out because someone asshole can't find their kid. This should be a HUGE red flag !
Law Enforcement uses the fact that minors are allowed at the event as justification to engage in predatory conduct such as undercover stings, camp raids and random tickets for unsuspecting bartenders who forget to check IDs.
Also I am not comfortable with the legal grey area the Shirtcocking and Titbouncing in the presence of minors creates.
And if it ever comes down to nudity versus allowing kids, I am sorry but we can't sacrifice the heart of this festival on account of the fact that you don't want to get a fucking babysitter for the week.
Your kids could give a flying-donald-duck-fuck about Burning Man! You and I both know goddamn well that given the opportunity they would rather play video games for the week at grandma's house then have to listen to Mom and Dad fight at Burning Man all week about who got buttfucked by whom at the Orgy Dome. . .
LEAVE THEM AT HOME!!!!!!
So the rest of us can be free to fuck, drink, smoke and wave our goddamn dicks and clits around whereever we see fit!!!
The Temple:
In the early days of the David Best Temples, they were constructed from the leftover hollows of wooden dinosaur jigsaw puzzle pieces.
It was low cost, recycled and pretty fucking cool!
Last year’s Temple was overdesigned, structurally unsound, and made from rare rustic-oak hardwood and redwood trees imported from China.
Let’s cut costs and just do what those guys from Belgium did in 2005. It's a Very Simple Plan. We get a shitload of old 2x4 boards and fucking Wing It! The Belgium Waffle House would have made a perfectly good Temple.
Garbage Dumpsters:
Yep, that's right. In the future we will have dumpsters at Burning Man! All the Survivalist and Moop-shaming Burners say it will destroy the festival. Guess what, Burn Nut? It's already common practice for larger theme camps to rent dumpsters that are emptied at the end of the week!! It's been going on for YEARS! So what?
Theme Camps will now have to pay a dumpster fee and there will be strict rules around any public dumpsters. Believe me The Org will provide the minimum amount possible to accommodate the BLM. It won't be nearly enough dumpsters for everyone to just toss all their trash, recycling and extra bikes into.
Don't worry, Radical Self-Reliant Survivalist Burnertypes, other people will still have to suffer packing up and dealing with their own trash on the ride home. Moop-shamers rejoice! You will definitely still be able to shame people for mooping and not cleaning up, if not even more so now. I don't see why we can't be Radically Self-Reliant by having dumpsters on site. We will still Leave No Trace, while leaving one less thing for surrounding communities to bitch about.
Build the Wall !!!
Ya fuck it! Build the Wall. So what? Honestly, it will be more aesthetically pleasing than that fucking orange fence. And if that is what the Feds want, that's cool with me -- as long as The Org gets to choose who does Security!
Thank fucking god we are not doing Burning Man this year.
With the world on fire all around us, it seems a bit tone-def to hold a giant rave utopia party!
I, for one, will be enjoying the week indoors under air-conditioning and rolling around in the heaps of cash I am saving by not going. I’m not attending a single workshop to expand my consciousness, not giving a single gift to anyone, and not being radical or self-reliant in any way.
Fuck your Virtual Burn.
I am Zapper Jones. I will see you in the Dust again . . . Sometime Somewhere in the Future!

How can I run a reverse murder mystery?

imagine AHS Vegas

Lost in the Sauce: Feb. 16 - 22

Welcome to Lost in the Sauce, keeping you caught up on political and legal news that often gets buried in distractions and theater. (the previous edition can be found here if you are super behind).
House-keeping:

How to read: the headings will guide you through this piece. The Main Course covers the “big” stories and The Sides covers the “smaller” stories. IF YOU FOLLOW THE NEWS CLOSELY: you likely know about the stories in the Main Course section, so you will be best served by scrolling down to The Sides portion.
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Let’s dig in!

MAIN COURSE

Trump’s war on the intelligence community: 10 days under an authoritarian administration

I wrote a stand-alone piece covering the biggest news from last week: Over the past 10 days, we've seen Trump fully indulge his authoritarian impulses in an attempt to stamp out any inkling of facts that he dislikes - whether that be for personal, egocentric reasons or to shore up political strength. This began with a briefing given to the House Intelligence Committee that Russia is seeking to re-elect Trump. In response, Trump purged the Office of the Director of National Intelligence of officials he perceived to be disloyal, installing loyalists in their place.
Also covered: how Trump gets away with a cabinet full of acting officials, Richard Grenell’s numerous dis-qualifications, a pardon offered to Julian Assange, and the hunt for “Never Trumpers” in the administration.

Sunday night update

On Sunday, Trump made a veiled threat toward House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff while claiming without evidence that the Democrat had leaked information from the Russia briefing on Feb. 13: “Somebody please tell incompetent (thanks for my high poll numbers) & corrupt politician Adam ‘Shifty’ Schiff to stop leaking Classified information or, even worse, made up information, to the Fake News Media. Someday he will be caught, & that will be a very unpleasant experience!” tweet
Later, while speaking to reporters, Trump called for an investigation into the leak - more concerned about the public learning of the briefing than he is about Russia’s repeated interference in U.S. elections. “They leaked it, Adam Schiff and his group. They leaked it to the papers and - as usual - they ought to investigate Adam Schiff for leaking that information,” Trump said.
Schiff responded: “Nice deflection, Mr. President. But your false claims fool no one. You welcomed Russian help in 2016, tried to coerce Ukraine’s help in 2019, and won’t protect our elections in 2020.”

Pardon-palooza

Authoritarians also dispense largesse, but they do it by their own whims, rather than pursuant to any system or legal rule. The point of authoritarianism is to concentrate power in the ruler, so the world knows that all actions, good and bad, harsh and generous, come from a single source. (The New Yorker)

Last week, Trump granted pardons and commutations to 11 people with one thing in common: connections. Trump bypassed the process of formal procedures typically used to determine who is given a pardon, instead relying on connections to his wealthy friends and political allies.

Former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, who was convicted of soliciting bribes from candidates to replace Barack Obama in the Senate after Obama was elected president, knew Trump personally from his appearance on The Celebrity Apprentice. Trump falsely claimed that former FBI Director James Comey was involved in Blagojevich's prosecution; Comey did not take over at the FBI until years after the Blagojevich case.
- Illinois' entire GOP congressional delegation—Darin LaHood, John Shimkus, Adam Kinzinger, Rodney Davis, and Mike Bost: "Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters...Blagojevich is the face of public corruption in Illinois, and not once has he shown any remorse for his clear and documented record of egregious crimes that undermined the trust placed in him by voters." (source)
Former San Francisco 49ers team owner Eddie DeBartolo, who was convicted of “failing to report a felony” in 1998 after he paid a $400,000 bribe for a casino license, was pardoned as a result of the lobbying of New England Patriots owner and frequent Mar-a-Lago guest Robert Kraft.
Michael Milken, the so-called junk bond king who was convicted in 1990 of securities and tax fraud, knew Trump personally and frequently spent time with him at Mar-a-Lago. In his first memoir, Trump called Milken “a brilliant guy.” Many of Trump’s inner circle also lobbied for a pardon for Milken, including Rudy Giuliani, Jared Kushner, Steven Mnuchin, and developer friends Howard Lorber and Richard LeFrak. In fact, last year Mnuchin “flew on Mr. Milken’s private jet from Washington to Los Angeles and helped secure a real estate tax break that could benefit Mr. Milken.” A key backer of Milken’s pardon, hedge fund manager (and executive of Wendy’s) Nelson Peltz, held a record-breaking fundraiser for Trump’s re-election campaign at his home just 3 days before Milken was pardoned.
- John K. Carroll: “As one of the lead prosecutors on the Milken case, I am outraged — not at the specific result here but at what the pardon process says about the way justice is served in our country...What outrages me, and what I think should outrage others, is the process that brought about the pardon. In as guileless an admission as I have ever seen of rich man’s justice, the White House bolstered its decision by listing a murderer’s row of Republican donors and billionaires who provided “widespread and long-standing” support for Milken’s pardon. Sheldon Adelson, Tom Barrack, my old boss Giuliani and others are listed as supporters of the pardon. If I had to prove that the scales of justice tilt toward the rich, I would offer that list and then sit down and wait for the jury to convict.”
Former New York City police commissioner Bernie Kerik, who was convicted in 2009 of lying to federal investigators and committing tax fraud, knew Trump personally and had Fox News correspondent Geraldo Rivera sign a letter on his behalf requesting a pardon from the president. In 2004, Trump called Kerik “a friend of mine” and “a great guy.” Rudy Giuliani also supported the request, as Kerik once served as a senior vice president at Giuliani Partners.
- "The pardon cancels out $103,300 in restitution that Kerik still owed the Internal Revenue Service as part of his sentence, according to a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan." (source)
Paul Pogue, a construction company owner who pleaded guilty to underpaying his taxes by $473,000, did not know Trump and did not have any Fox News personalities lobby on his behalf. Instead, Pogue’s family appears to have purchased a presidential pardon. Pogue’s son and daughter-in-law made over $200,000 in contributions to the Trump Victory Committee last year. The couple also made several large donations to the Republican National Committee and each donated $5,600 to Donald Trump for President Inc.,” according to FEC filings.

Roger Stone going to prison

Perhaps not coincidentally, Trump’s pardoning of corrupt public officials like Blagojevich occurred just two days before Roger Stone’s sentencing for lying to investigators, obstructing a congressional investigation, and witness tampering. Judge Amy Berman Jackson sentenced Stone to 40 months - or 3.3 years - in prison, much lighter than the original 7-9 year sentencing recommendation made by career prosecutors who withdrew from the case in protest of AG Barr’s intervention.
Lawfare has a great line-by-line breakdown of the sentencing hearing, if you’d like the nitty-gritty details. But if you only have time to read one excerpt from the hearing, I suggest the following:

Judge Jackson: “The truth still exists. The truth still matters. Roger Stone's insistence that it doesn't, his belligerence, his pride in his own lies are a threat to our most fundamental institutions, to the very foundation of our democracy...The dismay and the disgust at the attempts by others to defend his actions as just business as usual in our polarized climate should transcend party. The dismay and the disgust with any attempts to interfere with the efforts of prosecutors and members of the judiciary to fulfill their duty should transcend party.
"Sure, the defense is free to say: So what? Who cares? But, I'll say this: Congress cared. The United States Department of Justice and the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia that prosecuted the case and is still prosecuting the case cared. The jurors who served with integrity under difficult circumstances cared. The American people cared. And I care."

Judge Jackson pushes back
During the hearing, Judge Jackson said that the jurors in the case "served with integrity." Stone’s lawyers took this statement and moved to disqualify the judge from the case, claiming that her remarks “rendered her unable to fairly rule on his bid for a new trial.”

"Stone’s Motion for New Trial is directly related to the integrity of a juror. It is alleged that a juror misled the Court regarding her ability to be unbiased and fair and the juror attempted to cover up evidence that would directly contradict her false claims of impartiality," his lawyers argued.
"The premature statement blessing the “integrity of the jury” undermines the appearance of impartiality and presents a strong bias for recusal," they added.

As expected, Jackson denied the motion to have her disqualified...
A pardon for Stone?
But the goal may be to reach the ears of the president instead. According to Politico, a former senior administration official who remains in contact with Trump and his senior advisers says about a pardon for Roger Stone: “It’s not a question of if; it’s when.” Following the sentencing, Trump argued that Stone’s jury was “tainted” and said that “Roger has a very good chance of exoneration.”
On Sunday, Trump was asked about the possibility of a pardon for Stone and instead took the opportunity to attack the jury forewoman, again:

"That juror is so biased and so tainted, that shouldn't happen in our criminal justice system… You have a juror that is obviously tainted. She was an activist against Trump. She said bad things about Trump and bad things about Stone," the President claimed without evidence. "She somehow weaseled her way onto the jury and if that's not a tainted jury then there is no such thing as a tainted jury."

More info on Stone’s lenient sentence

In the week since four prosecutors withdrew from Stone’s case in protest of AG Barr’s interference, we have gotten a slow drip-drip of new information. A piece by The New York Times Sunday summed it up nicely: Timothy Shea, appointed to replace Jessie Liu as head D.C. attorney, was sent to the office specifically to steer cases to the president’s benefit after previous efforts failed.

A new boss, Timothy Shea, had just arrived and had told them on his first day that he wanted a more lenient recommendation for Mr. Stone, and he pushed back hard when they objected, according to two people briefed on the dispute. They grew suspicious that Mr. Shea was helping his longtime friend and boss, Attorney General William P. Barr, soften the sentencing request to please the president.
...The tensions between the office, the Justice Department and the White House date back further than the tumult in the Stone case. They have been simmering since at least last summer, when the office’s investigation of Andrew G. McCabe, a former top F.B.I. official whom the president had long targeted, began to fall apart.
Mr. Shea’s predecessor, Jessie K. Liu, a lawyer whom Mr. Trump had appointed to lead the office in 2017, pressed the McCabe case even after one team of prosecutors concluded that they could not win a conviction. After a second team was brought in and also failed to deliver a grand jury indictment, Ms. Liu’s relationship with Mr. Barr grew strained, people close to them said. She left the position this year, though she and Mr. Barr have both stressed to associates that her departure was amicable.

Undoing Mueller’s work

Trump’s efforts to derail the sentencing of Stone can be seen as part of a larger campaign to rewrite history, and specifically, erase the findings of the Mueller investigation. Roger Stone’s indictment shows that Stone was acting on Trump's personal order to find Hillary Clinton’s campaign emails stolen by Russia. In order to cover-up his role in the Russia-Wikileaks-Trump network, Stone lied to investigators and threatened a witness. By claiming that Stone did not commit a crime, Trump is attempting to reverse the findings of the Mueller report and make himself the victim.
Last week, Trump embarked on a rambling Twitter thread calling for all cases stemming from Mueller’s probe to be “thrown out.” He continued, saying: “If I wasn’t President, I’d be suing everyone all over the place.......BUT MAYBE I STILL WILL. WITCH HUNT!”
Hours later, while discussing the spate of pardons he had issued that day, Trump made the astounding assertion that he is “the chief law enforcement officer of the country” and thus has the “legal right” to interfere in criminal cases. “I’m allowed to be totally involved,” the president added. While technically he is incorrect - the Attorney General is the chief law enforcement officer - in practice Trump has been proven right. A lawless chief executive is in fact in charge of enforcing the law when the Attorney General acts as his personal fixer.

This is in the style of autocrats across the globe, who weaponize the law to help themselves and their friends and hurt their enemies. The nation’s legal system is now run by a man who has spent his life mocking it. (NYT Editorial Board)

Meanwhile, the president’s allies have reportedly been urging him to fire anyone who was involved in Mueller’s investigation:

The MAGA punditry’s outsized influence over the president means their campaign against the so-called Mueller “holdovers” is likely not falling on deaf ears, especially given Trump’s fixation with what his defenders and detractors are saying about his administration in their frequent appearances on his favorite TV programs.
“It's totally unclear to me why any members of the Mueller team need to remain in the Trump DOJ,” the pro-Trump conservative blogger Will Chamberlain wrote after news broke of the Stone sentencing recommendation.
...GOP operative Arthur Schwartz, a close friend of Donald Trump Jr. who has been described as the eldest son’s “fixer,” said of the career officials in question: “I think they should all be investigated.”
...John Dowd, a former Trump lawyer who remains in touch with the White House, characterized the line attorneys in the Stone case as “insubordinate,” and “the same crowd of prosecutors wedded to the Mueller agenda” who need to be “cleaned out” from DOJ. “And Bill Barr is doing that,” Dowd said.

What can be done about the politicization of the DOJ? In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Cass Sunstein of Harvard Law School suggests that “Congress should transform the Justice Department into an independent agency, legally immunized from the president’s day-to-day control.”

Public charge rule takes effect

The Supreme Court voted 5-4 to allow the government to implement new “wealth test” rules making it easier to deny immigrants residency or admission to the United States if they might depend on public-assistance programs. Legal challenges will continue in lower courts in the meantime. Doug Rand, co-founder of Boundless Immigration who formerly worked on immigration policy in the Obama White House, estimates that as many as 400,000 people every year could be denied green cards or visas because of the new rules.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor filed a written dissent that was sharply critical of both the federal government and her conservative colleagues, warning that they are “putting a thumb on the scale in favor of” the Trump administration. Read her full seven-page dissent here.

The justice wrote that granting emergency applications often upends "the normal appellate process" while "putting a thumb on the scale in favor of the party that won." Targeting her conservative colleagues, she said "most troublingly, the Court's recent behavior" has benefited "one litigant over all others."
"Claiming one emergency after another, the Government has recently sought stays in an unprecedented number of cases," Sotomayor said. "It is hard to say what is more troubling," she said, pointing to the case at hand, "that the Government would seek this extraordinary relief seemingly as a matter of course, or that the Court would grant it." CNN

THE SIDES

Justice Department’s new rules benefit Giuliani

In a letter to House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler, the DOJ indicated that the agency has implemented another layer of approval that would make it difficult for prosecutors to widen their probe into Rudy Giuliani:

The Justice Department revealed Tuesday that law enforcement officials running Ukraine-related investigations must seek approval before expanding their inquiries — a move that could have implications for Rudolph W. Giuliani, as President Trump’s personal attorney pushes for scrutiny of the president’s political foes while facing a federal probe into his own conduct.
Assistant Attorney General Stephen E. Boyd wrote to Nadler that the department had tapped two U.S. attorneys to assist in the process — Scott Brady in Pittsburgh to receive and assess new information, and Richard Donoghue in Brooklyn to help coordinate personnel throughout the Justice Department involved in Giuliani’s case and others with a focus on Ukraine. An accompanying internal memo, circulated by Rosen in January, says that he and Donoghue must approve expansions of any inquiries.

Related: The Hill admits John Solomon’s columns were misleading

The Hill’s review of Solomon’s work can be found here. I have found the review itself to be overly generous to the publication (no surprise), so I will quote from a WaPo summary of the review:

In effect, the Hill said Solomon amplified an inaccurate and one-sided narrative about the Bidens and Ukraine that was fed to him by Giuliani, “facilitated” by businessman Lev Parnas, who was working with Giuliani at the time, and reinforced by Solomon’s own attorneys, who also represented clients embroiled in U.S.-Ukraine politics.
But the Hill stopped short of retracting or apologizing for Solomon’s articles, nor did it say it shouldn’t have published them. It also didn’t characterize Solomon’s motives in presenting what appears to be a largely debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine.
“In certain columns, Solomon failed to identify important details about key Ukrainian sources, including the fact that they had been indicted or were under investigation,” said the internal investigation, which was overseen by the newspaper’s editor, Bob Cusack. “In other cases, the sources were [Solomon’s] own attorneys” — Victoria Toensing and Joseph DiGenova, who have also represented President Trump and Giuliani, who was also a key source for Solomon’s columns.
Solomon didn’t disclose this connection in his columns nor did he disclose to his editors that he shared drafts of his stories with Toensing, DiGenova and Parnas, the review noted.

Trump tries to block Bolton book

The Washington Post reports that Trump is attempting to block the release of former National Security Adviser John Bolton’s book, instructing aides that it should not be released until after the November election.

Trump has told his lawyers that Bolton should not be allowed to publish any of his interactions with him about national security because they are privileged and classified, these people said. He has also repeatedly brought up the book with his team, asking whether Bolton is going to be able to publish it, they said.
Trump told national television anchors on Feb. 4 during an off-the-record lunch that material in the book was “highly classified,” according to notes from one participant in the luncheon. He then called him a “traitor.”
“We’re going to try and block the publication of the book,” Trump said, according to the notes. “After I leave office, he can do this. But not in the White House...I give the guy a break. I give him a job. And then he turns on me,” Trump added during the West Wing lunch. “He’s just making things up.”

Susan Rice tells Bolton the truth

During a panel discussion at Vanderbilt University on Wednesday, Bolton shared the stage with Obama’s national security adviser Susan Rice. Bolton made excuses for his failure to testify in Trump’s impeachment trial, blaming the House for committing “impeachment malpractice.” Rice challenged Bolton repeatedly, denigrating his decision to promote his book instead of testify:

"I thought a lot about if I had been in that position how would I have approached it, and I'll be honest: It's inconceivable to me that if I had firsthand knowledge of gross abuse of presidential power that I would withhold my testimony from a constitutional accountability process.”
"I can't imagine withholding my testimony, with or without a subpoena," Rice said. "I also can't imagine, frankly, in the absence of being able to provide the information directly to Congress, not having exercised my First Amendment right to speak publicly at a time when my testimony or my experience would be relevant. And, frankly, when my subordinates ... were doing their duty and responding in a fashion consistent with their legal obligations to provide information."
"I would feel like I was shamefully violating the oath that I took to support and defend the Constitution."

Trump corruption update

President Donald Trump’s choice to stay at his own Las Vegas hotel each night during the western states swing that wraps up Friday likely cost taxpayers a million extra dollars as well as diverted thousands of them into his own cash registers.

Breaking with precedent, Trump flew back to Vegas to stay every night at his Trump International Hotel, despite his day activities taking place in California, Arizona, and Colorado.

Had Trump held the same events but done so in a geographically logical order ― starting in Beverly Hills and finishing in Colorado Springs, but overnighting each day in the city where he would begin the following morning ― Trump would have spent four fewer hours aboard Air Force One, thereby saving taxpayers about $1.1 million.
...Indeed, the repeated overnight trips to Las Vegas may have forced the Secret Service and other support personnel to keep a motorcade there for a full four days, rather than move it to the site of an upcoming presidential trip

This week, Trump has a whole new country to focus on: India, home to the largest portfolio of Trump real estate projects outside North America, according to the president’s son Donald Trump Jr. According to The Washington Post, since the elder Trump’s last trip to India in 2014, two of his business partners have encountered massive legal and financial trouble.
During Trump’s time as president, the Trump Organization has vigorously promoted their properties in India, earning millions of dollars in royalties:

In 2018, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr. — who runs the Trump Organization with his brother, Eric Trump — spent several days in India promoting the family’s developments, attending a champagne dinner with condo buyers who plunked down $39,000 deposits and bringing in millions of dollars in new sales. While there, he also met with Modi behind closed doors. The next year, Trump’s Indian business partners flew 100 early buyers of his luxury condos near Delhi to visit Trump Tower and Trump Ferry Point golf course in New York City as a way to generate interest in the properties in India. One attendee gushed afterward about meeting the son of a U.S. president on the trip.

Trump 2020: Cambridge Analytica and Facebook

President Donald Trump’s campaign is bringing on an alum of the controversial data firm Cambridge Analytica...Matt Oczkowski, who served as head of product at Cambridge before it went bankrupt and shut down in 2018, is helping oversee the Trump campaign’s data program...Oczkowski, who also worked on Trump’s 2016 effort, joined the reelection campaign in January, and payments to his company, HuMn Behavior, are expected to show up on Trump’s next campaign finance disclosure later this month. (Politico)

An Axios report revealed where most of Trump’s re-election campaign is spending its advertising budget: on Facebook ads. “Last fall, the campaign urged Facebook to keep the same tools for political advertisers that they make available to companies...Facebook ultimately decided not to change its policies around microtargeting.” However, unlike in 2016, the campaign is also diversifying, “testing new strategies on several dozen platforms, including YouTube, Google, ad exchanges, publisher networks and conservative podcasts.”

Side note: The IRS is suing Facebook for $9 million in back taxes, alleging the social media company undervalued intellectual properties when selling them to an Irish subsidiary in 2010. Ireland has lower corporate tax rates than the United States, so the move reduced the company’s tax bill.

Erik Prince investigations

There is apparently another investigation into Blackwater Founder - and brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos - Erik Prince. The FBI is reportedly investigating Prince “for his 2015 attempt to modify two American-made crop-dusting planes into attack aircraft — a violation of arms trafficking regulations...The planes became part of private military services Prince proposed to sell or use in mercenary operations in Africa and Azerbaijan.”
This new investigation adds to Prince’s legal problems, though he insists that he is untouchable “under this guy,” referring to Trump. The Wall Street Journal reports that the Justice Department is “in the late stages of deciding whether to charge” Prince for allegedly lying to Congress in its Russia probe and violating U.S. export laws in his business dealings overseas.

Trump blocking prominent climate change warning

The United States is against mentioning climate change in the communique of the world’s financial leaders, G20 diplomats said, after a new draft of the joint statement showed the G20 are considering including it as a risk factor to growth...G20 sources said the United States was reluctant to accept language on climate change as a risk to the economy. Reuters

On Sunday, it was announced that the U.S. ultimately agreed to a less-prominent placement for the risks of climate change. It will now appear in language referencing the Financial Stability Board’s work examining the implications of climate change for financial stability.

One of the G20 sources said it was the first time a reference to climate change had been included in a G20 finance communique during Trump’s presidency, even though it was removed from the top of the joint statement. U.S. officials have resisted naming climate change as an economic risk since Trump took office in 2017. One of his first acts as president was to announce Washington’s withdrawal from the Paris climate accord.

Rightwing threats

Last week, two men were arrested in separate incidents involving threats to President Trump’s perceived opponents.
A Michigan man, Brittan J. Atkinson, was arrested on Thursday for sending death threats to Mark Zaid, an attorney for the Ukraine whistleblower. Atkinson sent the threats in November, on the day that Trump held up a photo of Zaid and read some of his tweets at a rally in Louisiana.

"All traitors must die miserable deaths," Atkinson's email read in part, the indictment says. "Those that represent traitors shall meet the same fate[.] We will hunt you down and bleed you out like the pigs you are. We have nothing but time, and you are running out of it, Keep looking over your shoulder[.] We know who you are, where you live, and who you associate with[.] We are all strangers in a crowd to you[.]"

On Wednesday, Salvatore Lippa of New York was arrested for threatening to assault and murder Rep. Adam Schiff and Sen. Chuck Schumer in voicemails last month.

Lippa started the threatening message by calling the congressman "Schiff, Shifty Schiff," invoking the nickname used by President Donald Trump for Schiff, the lead House manager during Trump's impeachment trial.
...When questioned by U.S Capitol Police, Lippa admitted to making the threatening calls to Schiff and Schumer because he said he was upset about the impeachment proceedings, prosecutors said.

State news

Washington Post: A second court has temporarily blocked North Carolina’s new voter identification law on the argument that it discriminates against African Americans. The ruling reduces the likelihood that the rule will be in effect in a key swing state during November’s elections. A three-judge panel of the North Carolina Court of Appeals ruled Tuesday that intent to discriminate was a “primary motivating factor” behind the voter ID law, which passed the Republican legislature in late 2018.
CBS News: Florida cannot bar felons who served their time from registering to vote simply because they have failed to pay all fines and fees stemming from their cases, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
CNN: Mississippi's law banning abortions at the detection of a fetal heartbeat -- as early as six weeks into pregnancy -- will remain blocked, a panel of circuit judges ruled on Thursday...The three-judge panel on the 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a lower court's ruling that the Mississippi law unconstitutionally prohibited pre-viability abortions.
Tampa Bay Times: A curious request arrived in the inboxes of Florida tax collectors last week from an employee of the Republican National Committee. He asked for “all email addresses that have been collected and are in the possession of the Tax Collector’s Office.” He also wanted any names, property addresses and phone numbers connected to those emails in their records. If the tax collectors had complied, the Republican Party would soon have a valuable trove of personal information for millions of Floridians as it gears up for the 2020 election: A detailed database of many taxpayers’ emails plus the name, address and phone number tied to that email.
Associated Press: Most Republican lawmakers refused to attend a Tuesday night session of the Oregon House of Representatives amid a slowdown over anger at a sweeping bill on climate change. Earlier, Republican lawmakers, who are a minority in the House, insisted that bills coming to the floor be read in their entirety instead of being summarized, which slowed things down substantially. The 2020 session of the Legislature lasts only 35 days, being an even-year short session.
Q13 Fox News: Efforts to expel a controversial state representative from the Washington Legislature are likely over after no Republicans would sign a letter calling for state Rep. Matt Shea’s expulsion. The Spokesman-Review reports that all 98 members of the state House of Representatives were asked Thursday to sign a letter calling for the expulsion of Spokane Valley Republican. All 56 Democrats signed the letter, but no Republicans did.

CONTINUED BELOW

Bill Coulthard, an attorney and former state legislator, was killed by a car bombing in downtown Las Vegas in 1972. A key suspect was a casino magnate, though no arrests were ever made in the case.

The Locked Cabinet and the Virus

I had been called to the city of sin for a bi-annual conference that I had taken for the past 24 years. I had sat through it in health, in the cold, rain, and sickness. I was there 10 days after Tupac was murdered, and was walking down Fremont street several months later on the day when they took Christopher Wallace. A year later in 1998, a colleague and I woke up to a phone call from my then wife telling me about what happened to President Clinton, and that was when the words, "For a blowjob?" coming from my companion led me into a similar predicament. For the next several years, a tangled divorce that I've never fully unwinded from, occupied my attention. It wasn't until the morning of September 11th in 2001 that gave me the wakeup call I needed. I scooted the young blonde out of my room and told her to call her dad, since I knew Tom was in New York that day.
Mosque bombings, terrorism, market bubble bursting, swine flu, recession, succession, shootings, a shooter, second divorce, new house, new life, and the same old job on the same old beat all meant that Las Vegas and I had been doing this dance through the thick and the thin for over two decades.
And I have never seen it like this.
My uber driver nodded, "Yeah man. Shit is wild. I only picked up 8 people in the last 9 hours."
He was young, the new leather interior in a wide bodied Escalade smelled like an expensive loan. His eyes were twitchy as he tried not stare at me, wondering if I was going to cough from all the dry mouthing I had been doing from the LAS to my hotel.
I had grown used to the stares, the selective social distancing for looking Chinese and all of its stereotypes as the weeks leading into March of 2020. The beginning trend of people instinctively coughing whenever they saw me soon became a daily ritual. It was all a part of tribe mentality I convinced myself, chuckling as I remembered the pie scene from the movie Stand By me.
That made my uber driver nervous.
"Here we are," he finally breathed.
I thanked him and proceeded to the service counter with my carry on.
"Sorry for the wait," replied the representative, "We laid off 80% of our staff this morning."
I was taken aback by her candid greeting.
"Looks like you'll be in a private room owned by one of our guests. And as it is not through the hotel, please contact your host for any services that you require. We will need a $500 deposit on a credit card for any incidentals."
Several minutes later I found myself riding the elevator up 26 stories and into my rental. I contacted my host through the app to let him know that I had arrived. It was my first time using the app service so if anyone wants to chime in on how necessary or unnecessary that action is, please, enlighten me.
I had chose this room because there was a large, deep soak bathtub. I don't have many preferences in life but if there is a chicken fried steak on the menu I must get it at least once, coke over pepsi, and onion rings. Don't ask me why they are all food based, but they are, except for the bathtub. At nearly 6'1 I am always trying to find a decent soak. When I was younger my grandmother owned a Japanese soaking barrel, and ever since then I have been chasing after that nostalgic experience. Instead I often find myself cramming, contorting, and cold above the chest.
There was not much for me to do as President Trump had canceled his conference with the Jewish Coalition, which meant that other subsequent CEO's began withdrawing from all the other Vegas conferences. Something that I should have foreseen, which could have otherwise prevented me from traveling during this time. But there was no helping it, and this was definitely not the worst place to be stuck in.
I looked into the bathroom mirror and decided to wash the trails of the airport from my face and then made my way down to the casino floors. Everything was closed. All the restaurants anyways. So I hailed a cab and found my way to Gordon Ramsay's Hells Kitchen. The best lobster risotto I ever had, a mediocre bar experience, a change of hands for an 8 ball on the street, and I was on my way into Caesar's Palace. I had reasoned with myself that my foresight was not the best at this time so blackjack and poker were out of the question. I stuck to roulette and craps, winning big at the dice. And if you've ever been to a high roller table then all the movies are true, there you will find willing women to blow on the ivories for you.
Somehow we found our way back to my room, a slew of fancy cocktail dresses and Victoria secret's underwear were strewn in a near comical fashion. A rolled Benjamin walked down Abbey road. And there's nothing quite like two young and beautiful women taking pictures of your junk to brag to their friends later to accentuate your high. Everyone loves an anomaly.
The two of them were in town for CONEXPO, one of the world's largest construction gatherings. One was 28 and a leading architect for a large firm and the other was a 32 year old forewoman who was sent to accompany her to fill in the job's specifics.
"You've got soft hands for a construction worker," I quipped.
She raised her drawn in eyebrow at me, "Not as soft as a desk jockey's."
We both laughed until our eyes were drawn to the young architect who had begun to slowly undress in front of us. She swayed her hips to the lofi soul of Joji. My champagne glass sparkled in the light as the smells of girl scout cookies lit up the bathroom.
"You don't mind if I smoke do you?"
"Oh, give it here," came the architect's voice.
"I should probably get an ashtray."
I got out of the tub and walked into the living area. I pulled open a few drawers, and found nothing. I tugged on the handles of the cabinet underneath the wetbar only to find it locked. That was when I noticed the notice stickied on its door, "Please do not open. These are my private possessions," made with a cheap labeler. "There's probably alcohol in this thing," I said aloud. I turned to look into the bathroom but neither of them seemed to care as I watched the water falling from their hair and down their backs. The rest of the night was well, you can imagine.
I woke up around 4:30 A.M. and heard an ungodly rattling. As I stirred in bed, I heard a voice asking sleepily, "What was that?"
"I don't know," came another voice. "It's probably the pipes or something."
The architect was unsure so she got up and turned on a light. She turned to look at me, "Did you get this on AirBNB?"
"Yeah, something like that."
We heard the rattle again. I could tell that she was afraid so I decided to get up with her.
"Do you know where the light is," she asked?
"Nope," I said as I struck a match for dramatic effect.
"Oh god," she rolled her eyes.
I smiled, "It's more fun this way."
She grabbed my arm as we made our way into the larger part of the suite in search of the noise. We looked in the closet, the bathroom, the enclosed toilet, and I even pulled a few drawers open for effect.
"What is this," she asked me. She had found the cabinet under the wetbar.
"I don't know. It was locked when I got here." I struck another match, "It says not to touch it or something, owner's possessions I think."
"Oh god, that is so creepy," she moaned. "I once went to this place in Lake Tahoe and it wasn't until the last day that my boyfriend found a loft that was hidden because the stairs had been removed. When he climbed it, there was a router and a twin sized bed in the corner. Super chills man."
"Well, the cabinet is too small for anything weird to be in there," I told her.
"You don't know that, have you ever seen those double jointed circus people?"
"Well, if there's some more champagne in there, then I wouldn't mind breaking the lock."
"It would be warm," she said.
"Ah yes, the important things."
We laughed, but just as we were going to get back into bed she ran into the bathroom and got a towel and tied an extensive knot around the handles.
Several hours later we were woken up with a loud banging. I bolted up in bed.
"Sir!"
My mind raced to gather itself and assess at least 9 things wrong with my current situation. Cops, someone's boyfriend, my wife? Oh shit, why was I still getting myself into these predicaments? You would think I've learned a thing or two by now.
"Sir! This is hotel security. Are you in there sir? We're asking everyone to evacuate the building."
I got out of bed and rushed to open the door before they keyed their way in, "Hey what is going on?"
A man in an N95 mask and gloves was at the door, "Sir, we've been asked to evacuate everyone out of the building immediately. The hotel will be closing due to SARS-COV-2."
"What's going on," one of the girls asked.
"Miss, everyone needs to leave. We are evacuating the building. Please gather your belongings."
I looked at my companions and subsequently told them, "I can't believe they canceled Vegas."
For the next 20 minutes we scrambled to get ready. For a group of strangers it worked decently well. We cut the last lines and split it between the three of us. A smile, a kiss, and a hurried goodbye later meant that we found ourselves rushing for the elevator.
"Oh god, I forgot about the towel I tied to the cabinet," the architect said.
"It shouldn't be that much of a problem. Someone will just take it off later," I tried assuring her.
"What if no one gets back in there for weeks?" She looked at me slightly anxious, as if she was afraid to breathe the words, and a side of me knew what she was going on about.
"Alright, I'll go back," I told her.
The forewoman looked confused.
"I'll got with you," the architect said.
"No, you two get downstairs and see what is going on."
She looked at me with these doe eyes, the same look that has kept me awake for the past several days as I am laying here in boredom.
"I'll be fine I told her."
I ran back to the room, slid my keycard and began to untie the knot on the cabinet. And in my paranoia I took a video recording of the place before leaving, just so that I had evidence that the room was left in relatively good order later. The door slammed behind me, I pulled up my app to request an Uber as I made my way to the elevator. My phone vibrated, it must be the app I reasoned as I began shifting through my luggage to make sure I had gotten everything. When I reached the ground floor I searched for my two companions but found hotel personnel were rushing people into open taxis and Ubers to the airport. An entitled prick stood outside the valet desk as a manager profusely apologized for the inconvenience and how the hotel would compensate for one thing or another as he opened the door to a Porsche Panamera.
There was nothing for me to do except get into an Uber. I pulled up my phone expecting to see a familiar message that notified me that my driver would be arriving in 3 minutes, but instead it was a message from my host that simply said, "Thank you."

2017 Las Vegas Shooting; there is something that really puzzles me...

Wrestling Observer Rewind ★ Jun. 21, 1999

Going through old issues of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter and posting highlights in my own words. For anyone interested, I highly recommend signing up for the actual site at f4wonline and checking out the full archives.
PREVIOUS YEARS ARCHIVE: 1991 • 1992 • 1993 • 1994 • 1995 • 1996 • 1997 • 1998


1-4-1999	1-11-1999	1-18-1999	1-25-1999
2-1-1999	2-8-1999	2-15-1999	2-22-1999
3-1-1999	3-8-1999	3-15-1999	3-22-1999
3-29-1999	4-5-1999	4-12-1999	4-19-1999
4-26-1999	5-3-1999	5-10-1999	5-17-1999
5-24-1999	5-31-1999	6-7-1999	6-14-1999

Stemming from the death of Owen Hart, as expected, the Hart family filed a lawsuit this week against the WWF, Vince and Linda McMahon, the stunt coordinators, the manufacturers of the harness and cables used, the city of Kansas City, and the owners of the Kemper Arena alleging negligence in the stunt that killed him. Martha Hart, her children, and Owen's parents Stu and Helen are listed as plaintiffs. They all, along with Bret Hart, appeared at a press conference when the lawsuit was announced. "My children have lost their father, and I have lost the love of my life, because of the greed of the WWF and its insistence that its wrestlers take ever-greater chances to attract entertainment dollars in this era of extreme sports," said Martha Hart. Dave doesn't have all the details of the lawsuit at press time since it was just filed right before this issue came out, but he will have a lot more detail next week.
A separate criminal investigation is still ongoing, with police looking into the rigging and if proper safety precautions were followed. The most likely charge, if any, would be involuntary manslaughter and Dave says there would need to be a lot of evidence to actually be able to file a charge for that. He thinks it'll be difficult to prove anything to that extent. The Kemper Arena people are pleading ignorance, basically saying, "Hey we just rented them the building, we had nothing to do with any of that." The police have also ruled out foul play, saying no one pushed Hart off and his harness wasn't tampered with. No one was standing near Owen when he fell.
Sable made an appearance on WCW Nitro this week, being shown multiple times sitting in the front row, which raises a lot of legal issues. The showed several close-ups and also had her wave at the camera, though they never identified her. Bischoff only barely acknowledged it on commentary, saying that he's seen that woman in Playboy. Last week on Nitro, they did an angle where someone drove a Humvee into Kevin Nash's limo and on WCW's website, Bischoff strongly hinted that Sable was the driver. Anyway, in this case, WCW is denying any knowledge that Sable would be there, simply claiming that she bought a ticket to the show. WWF and WCW still have pending lawsuits against each other that have been dragging on for years. Sable has her lawsuit against WWF and of course, now they're dealing with the Owen Hart lawsuit. In fact, WWF was also sued this week by the Kuwaiti TV announcer that Vader beat up a couple of years ago for $1.5 million. WCW may be hoping that since WWF has so many legal problems right now that they may not challenge Sable's contract status. Dave thinks that's a dangerous gamble on WCW's part because WWF has to protect their contracts and can't risk setting a precedent of allowing people to jump ship while still under contract and letting it go unpunished. Plus, it could backfire. Goldberg is in the midst of a contract dispute with WCW right now. What happens if he shows up on Raw next week the same way Sable did? If that were to happen, WCW wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on in court now that they've done it first. No word yet on how WWF plans to respond to Sable's Nitro appearance.

WATCH: Sable appears on Nitro

Anyway, last week WWF sent Sable a cease and desist, ordering her to stop using the name Sable from this point forward. The main reason is because WWF is attempting to get a cut of the profits from the upcoming Playboy issue featuring her and they're trying to work out a deal to allow Playboy to market her as "Sable" when they release it. WWF was upset that Sable struck her own deal with Playboy for this 2nd issue, going behind their backs to do so. Her contract calls for WWF to act as her agent on such deals and since the first Playboy was such a monster hit, there's obviously a lot of money to be made with a 2nd one.
Sable was also interviewed in TV Guide this week and had a lot to say about the company. She basically said everyone backstage is on drugs (even suggesting that many of the ring crew and stagehands are on drugs) and criticized WWF for continuing the show after Owen Hart died. When asked why she was willing to pose for Playboy but didn't want to go along with "accidentally" exposing her breasts on TV, she said, "There is a time and place for that. I do not feel like--in the middle of a wrestling arena where they're serving alcohol and there are screaming fans, including children, in the front row--I don't feel like that is the proper place to be exposed." When asked what happened after she refused, she said she was de-pushed and they scripted her to lose the women's title. When asked about the claim in her lawsuit that male wrestlers would poke holes through walls to watch the women's dressing room, Sable said that her and the other women complained to management about it repeatedly. She said she felt unsafe being backstage. She also noted that her WWF contract was for $150,000 guarantee, which was less than what men in the company make. There was also a claim in Sable's lawsuit that a fellow wrestler threatened to bite and disfigure her face to ruin her career and nothing was done. Dave says that word is Luna Vachon was the one who said that. And to say nothing was done isn't quite true, since she was fired soon after for multiple instances of misconduct, including that.
WCW Great American Bash is in the books and to say it was bad would be an understatement and an insult to bad shows. The company reeks of desperation right now. The event saw the return of Sid Vicious, "who has walked out on every contract and every company he's been with for his entire career." Plus, he was fired from WCW a few years ago for trying to murder Arn Anderson. Speaking of, rumors that Anderson okayed this deal are false. He was never told about it in advance and found out Sid had signed with WCW when he showed up to the arena. Bringing back Sid and putting him in the world title picture is a desperate move by a desperate company. Of course, this also means the end of Sid in ECW. Dave also takes this moment to rant on WCW bringing in Master P, talking about a press conference they held where Master P seemed clueless about WCW and didn't even know Curt Hennig's name (they're supposed to be feuding) and how Bischoff was kissing his ass the whole time and says it's become a game where WWF and WCW compete over which of them can sign the biggest celebrities and suck up to them. And these celebs are often here just to collect a check, which hurts the product. He also talks about how WCW just immediately kills the appeal of anyone they bring in. Master P is already seeming like a failure. Dennis Rodman proved last year that he's not worth the money they spent to bring him in. They signed Tank Abbott to a 3-year deal, hyped him for one episode of Nitro, and then already seem to have given up on him. So what's next? Dave half-jokingly wonders if WCW has Jake Roberts' phone number.

WATCH: Master P's WCW press conference

Oh yeah, the PPV. The show wasn't sold out, only drawing 11,600 to an arena that holds 13,000. And even of those that were there, the crowd was heavily papered so paid attendance was significantly less. Dave notes that last month, WWF sold out the same arena for a house show that didn't even have Austin or Undertaker on it. The 2 opening matches were Hak vs. Brian Knobbs and Van Hammer vs. Mikey Whipwreck, leading Dave to wonder why WCW would use those guys but somehow couldn't figure out a way to get Billy Kidman or Juventud Guerrera on the show. Scott Norton was supposed to face Ernest Miller (and lose) but didn't work the show due to high blood pressure. Dave seems to suspect Norton just didn't want to do the job. Ric Flair vs. Roddy Piper was "the single worst PPV match Flair has ever been in." Sting vs. Rick Steiner gets negative stars, as did Kevin Nash vs. Randy Savage. Dave goes into a whole rant about the tag title match, saying there's backstory from earlier in the week. It's a long confusing mess, but basically, Ric Flair was supposed to be involved in an angle with Benoit on Thunder last week, but nobody at WCW sent word that he was booked for the show or sent him a plane ticket. So on the afternoon of Thunder, WCW realized their mistake and told Flair to get to Syracuse for the show ASAP. They spent thousands of dollars chartering a jet to fly him there and spent most of the show booking it on the fly and stalling, hoping he would make it before they went off the air. He finally arrived at the arena with 10 minutes left in the live show but by then, they had already re-booked things, and told Flair he was no longer needed. Anyway, the booking change on Thunder is what led to DDP and Kanyon winning the tag titles on this PPV.
UFC approved a new rule book that addresses a lot of issues. Dave breaks down everything, from drug testing protocol, changes in judging rules and the scoring system, and the new rounds system among other things. Lots of interesting stuff that is pretty much the genesis of modern-day UFC rules. I know I've mentioned this before but I don't usually cover the MMA news that is in every issue of the Observer. But I know there's a lot of crossover between wrestling and MMA fans so I'm sure a lot of MMA fans are reading these. From the very beginnings of the sport, Dave has covered it in detail just like he does wrestling. Not just UFC, but all the Japanese promotions too. Pancrase, RINGS, Pride, etc. So if you're an MMA fan with an interest in the behind-the-scenes news going on in the 90s, you really should go read this stuff, it's interesting even for me and I'm not an MMA fan.
Diablo Velasco passed away this week at 75. You probably haven't heard the name but he's the guy who trained some of the greatest legends in Lucha Libre, including El Santo, Blue Demon, Perro Aguayo, and dozens of others.
The ECW/TNN deal still hasn't officially been announced but it's pretty much a done deal. ECW will still run their syndicated shows, but none of the footage that airs on the TNN show can be used on the syndicated shows, which is going to really hurt those shows. ECW has to keep their syndication deals in place though, because if the TNN show doesn't work out or got cancelled, they'd be left without any television and that would kill the company. But don't expect a lot of storylines or angles to take place on the syndicated shows anymore, it'll almost all be done on the TNN show. Right now, ECW is just staying the course and not really doing any major storylines. The plan is to wait until the TNN show before doing any big angles and they may re-do some old successful angles with new wrestlers, since they figure the vast majority of the audience won't be that familiar with ECW's past.
Rob Van Dam has a small role in an upcoming episode of NBC teen series City Guys. The New York Post criticized NBC for it, pointing out that RVD is a known pot-head who advocates for marijuana in ECW and wears "420" merch and stuff like that and says he shouldn't be on a kids show. NBC execs are said to be upset about it, but the episode has already been filmed so hey, what can ya do? (Can't find any footage from the episode, but here's a pic from the set).

PHOTO: RVD on the set of City Guys

The guy last week who bid $11,999 for Tammy Sytch's old breast implants ended up not paying, so they're back up for auction. Check your local eBay.
Eric Bischoff hasn't attended a Thunder taping in weeks. Head booker Kevin Nash wasn't there for Thunder this week either. Just in case you were wondering how much the people in charge of WCW care about that show.
Insane Clown Posse claimed on their website that they're heading to WCW soon (yup).
A lot of people in the locker room were praising Ric Flair for putting over Buff Bagwell clean without complaint a couple of weeks ago. Basically, the locker room sees Flair as the only old guy there who is willing to put them over and try to help make them stars, while guys like Hogan, Savage, Piper, and Nash hold everybody else down and won't work with them.
Speaking of Nash, although he's technically the head booker of the company, he really only books his own programs and a couple of his friends. Dusty Rhodes and Kevin Sullivan are basically booking the rest of the company.
Shane Douglas is said to be close to starting with WCW. In a recent interview, Flair said he would never work an angle with Douglas (but of course he does). He also didn't seem thrilled about Sid Vicious being brought back, for obvious reasons.
Bischoff has tried to defend his decision to fire Davey Boy Smith, saying the paperwork was drawn up before they knew how bad Smith's medical condition was. Dave says that may be true, but it wasn't mailed until several days later and by then, everybody in the industry knew that Smith was fighting a life-threatening spinal infection, so Bischoff's "we didn't know" excuse doesn't really hold up.
Lou Thesz was interviewed about Owen Hart's death and basically criticized the state of the wrestling industry, saying, "I don't think I've ever felt as old or as out of touch as I do today." Thesz said that he stopped watching wrestling years ago but he has tried not to publicly criticize the business because he knows the wrestlers are just trying to make a living and give the crowds what they want. He then added, "I don't mean to be unkind, but I don't have to tell you about the audience. They're not too bright."
Harley Race was in the Kemper Arena the night Owen Hart died and says he was one of the last people to talk to Owen before he went up on the catwalk and had even joked with him beforehand, telling him to make sure the rope didn't break and that Owen laughed about it.
The plan to reveal Vince McMahon as the "Higher Power" was a last minute decision. They had hoped to have a major babyface turn heel for the role and had asked Mick Foley to do it, but he turned it down.
Due to Owen's death, the Over The Edge PPV seems to have pretty much been buried. When showing clips of Undertaker winning the title, they just say "On PPV Last month." Dave says he's willing to bet that next year's May PPV will be given a new name and there probably won't be anymore PPVs entitled "Over The Edge" (correct. And even though it was never released on home video, it was eventually made available on the Network).
WWF is looking to sell the hotel and casino that they bought in Las Vegas. They hope to use the money to buy a different piece of property in Vegas that would be more accommodating for what they want (a hotel/arena that they could run live wrestling shows out of).
All the letters are about Owen Hart, and this time some people are defending WWF's decision not to stop the show. He also disagrees with Dave saying that Steve Austin's beer tribute to Owen was contrived, saying there would have been a huge outcry if Austin had done nothing. Dave disagrees, saying that neither Vince or Undertaker spoke on the tribute show and there was no outcry. He also says Austin didn't go to Owen's funeral, even though he was heavily pressured to, but there was no outcry for that either. Dave says Austin's tribute to Owen was held until the very end of Raw as a ratings ploy, to keep fans tuned in throughout the entire show.

MONDAY: More on Sable's lawsuit and Nitro appearance, more on the Owen Hart lawsuit, Goldberg & Chris Jericho WCW contract news, and more...

“The Joe’s stones (are on) on ice”?

Removed comments/submissions for /u/dblagbro

The 1970s

A lot of people have asked if the world was really that naive in the 1970s, so I thought I would share some of my experiences. I'm Jan's age.
I lived in a small city close to L.A. While I was in high school, a couple of men were running a teen sex ring out of their barber shop/hair salon. The police knew about it and were even involved to some extent. Men would drive from L.A. to have sex with teens in the back of the shop.
One of my friends was a victim. I was friends with him all through high school, and he didn't tell anyone about this until toward the end of his senior year. He lived near the shop, and the summer he turned 14 the owners stopped him while he was riding his bike around the area (it was in a strip mall with a ice cream shop, so he was there a lot.) He was a funny-looking kid with bad teeth, and they "adopted" him and paid for expensive dental work, bought him nice clothes, and gave him a nice a haircut. His parents didn't suspect anything.
They also gave him a job in the salon. His job was to give men blowjobs. He did this for years before finally trying to figure out how to get away from them.
Before he told me about what was really happening, some friends and I visited him at the hair salon one day. We thought we'd say hi and maybe he could take a quick break. I even thought I might get a haircut.
When we came in, the place had this mean vibe. I'd never felt that walking into a shop before. It's hard to describe, but it was palpable. They reluctantly let Doug say hi to us but then he told us we had to leave.
I said, "Actually, I wanted a haircut." And he said, "You don't want your hair cut here." I was all, "Um, okay." So we said goodbye and he went back to work. Years later I would remember that a man had just come in, spoken to the owner, and gone in back. When Doug went back to work, he went in back too.
We left, thinking he had a super mean boss, but that's all. I mean, we *felt* that things were different from anything we'd experienced before, but there was simply no explanation.
When Doug told a group of us about this at lunchtime at school, I didn't believe him. For one thing, he was so calm. For another, being publicly gay was very new and most people made fun of gays. So it seemed like an anti-gay thing to say. But most of all, it was such an outrageous story. I think about half the kids believed him and half didn't. When I said I didn't, he said, "That's the problem. Nobody believes me." I can still hear that plaintive way he said it. He kept saying that he didn't know how to get away from these men.
None of us, as teenagers, thought to tell him to go to the school counselor. Or the police. Or his parents, or a trusted adult. Even the kids who believed him had no suggestions. None of us told our parents, a teacher, or anyone else. We had never had any instruction on what to do about ongoing sexual assault by an adult we knew.
A few weeks later, we were hanging out after class. Another student was there and so was our teacher. Doug brought it up again. This time he was more distressed. He repeated what he'd told us. The other student (a year older than me) took it seriously. I said something like I had to go or that I'm not sure this is real. We talked for a minute, and I told him I didn't know what to believe because he was so nonchalant the first time he said it. I think he started to cry or almost cry, and repeated that no one believed him.
Our teacher stood there, watching and listening. The other student comforted Doug, and our teacher stood there doing nothing. I was overwhelmed and confused, so I just left. It didn't seem at all odd to me that our teacher did nothing.
Less than a year later, a teenage girl was murdered. It came out that a group of teens had been regularly given drugs and alcohol by cops, who met them at a park near their school to hang out. One particular cop was a suspect in the murder. He killed himself before he could be arrested. All of this was eventually linked to the sex ring that exploited our friend Doug. There were a lot of arrests, and a lot of arrests that should've happened but didn't.
I don't think Doug was ever given any help or ever called to testify. He turned 18, left town, and died of AIDS a few years later.
When I look back on this, it astounds me that dozens of teens were being sexually exploited so visibly by so many adults for so many years, and yet no one caught on or put a stop to it until a girl was murdered.
There are other, unrelated things I remember about that time as well.
For example, I have an uncle who eventually went to prison for molesting his granddaughters. He lived in a different city, but when I was a kid whenever our families visited I got this creepy vibe from him. My mom was really good at protecting me from pedophiles — but she only talked about stranger danger, not someone in the family.
My mom had been sexually abused by her grandfather as a child, so she knew about family pedophiles. But she never noticed my uncle's creepiness and she never did anything to protect me from it. However, the instincts she instilled in me did protect me. I stayed away from him. He was never able to get close enough to abuse me.
But again, it never occurred to me to tell my mom he seemed creepy. And it never occurred to her to look for red flags. In fact, no one even knew she had been abused as a child until a family reunion in the 1980s when her cousins started talking about their own abuse. She hadn't know he'd abused anyone else. Only a few years ago, I found out one of my uncles was also abused. Again, no one ever talked about stuff like that back then.
I can also tell you that when I was 11 and 12 years old, I often was put on a Greyhound bus alone to visit my older sisters in the summer — one of whom was a two-day drive away. My family went to Las Vegas a lot, and my cousin and I (both between 10 and 14 years old) were sent to Circus Circus alone for the day while our parents went to different casinos. Las Vegas was far scummier then than it is now, and it's pretty scummy now. Thankfully, nothing happened to us.
It was before child kidnappings were widely publicized, before people talked openly about abuse, and before parents constantly supervised their children. We walked to the park alone, spent weekends playing by ourselves all day, ran all over the neighborhood, and our parents didn't know where were until we came home at dinnertime. We were often dropped off at the mall or the movies for hours. As kids, we were left in the car while our moms went grocery shopping. It really was a different world.
All that said, Jan's parents still seem insane. I have to factor in the Mormonism but there still seems to be much more there. Their passivity is maddening. Some of it I can understand but most of it I don't.

[TOMT] [MOVIE] [EARLY 2000s] A women is on trial for the murder of her rich husband.

[S3E13] The Basic Story So Far

Rearranging the the episode summaries on Wikipedia and the Wikia I came up with this three part basic summary (not including everything):

Good Cooper

Dale Cooper remains trapped in the Black Lodge.
[In New York City, Sam Colby sits in a warehouse watching a glass box. Tracey Barberato visits him. With the security guard absent during Tracey's second visit, Sam lets her into the room. As they have sex, a pale androgynous entity—the Experiment—materializes in the glass box and murders them.]
Inside the Lodge, Cooper encounters MIKE, Laura and a skeletal tree with a featureless head (an evolved form of MIKE's severed left arm). Laura tells Cooper that he can go out now but the tree says that his doppelgänger has to return first. After an encounter with the tree's doppelgänger intervenes, the floor of the Lodge gives way and Cooper falls into the glass box in New York, then into space. Cooper lands in a metal building where two women (Naido and American Girl) appear to protect him from an unseen entity until he leaves through a portal.
Dougie Jones, who just had sex with Jade, a Las Vegas prostitute, becomes sick and sees the Lodge's red curtains. Dougie is drawn into the Lodge, where he turns into a golden bead. The real Cooper, taking Dougie's place in Las Vegas, is found in a disoriented state by the prostitute, who drops him off at a casino. Criminals who are pursuing 'Dougie' place a bomb under his car, still parked outside the Jade's house. Cooper wanders around the casino and plays slot machines marked by hallucinatory images of the Lodge, winning megajackpots every time. Cooper wins 28 consecutive megajackpots at the casino, totaling $425,000, then is driven to Dougie's home. Dougie's wife, Janey-E, is upset about her husband's three-day disappearance, but she is relieved that they can pay his $20,000 gambling debt ($52,000 after interest).
Still near-catatonic, Cooper settles into Dougie's life. While getting dressed, he sees a vision of MIKE, who informs him that either he or his remaining doppelgänger must die. Janey-E drops Cooper at Dougie's workplace, where he reacts to a statue outside, the smell of coffee, and the words "agent" and "case files". After a light illuminates a colleague's face, Cooper accuses him of lying, angering Dougie's boss.
The criminals who planted the bomb under Dougie's car contact their superior, Lorraine, who expresses fear of being killed if the job isn't completed and sets off a mysterious alarm. Later, Dougie's car explodes when some car thieves trigger the bomb. The Mitchums beat and fire the casino supervisor, accusing him of complicity in Cooper's winning streak. Jade drops Cooper's Great Northern Hotel room key in a mailbox. Police take Cooper to Dougie's home and Janey-E receives a photo of Cooper with the prostitute from two criminals demanding Dougie's gambling debts plus interest, totaling $52,000. Janey-E meets them, lambasts them and gives them $25,000, her "first, last and only offer".
Cooper draws cryptic images on the case files, guided by lights on the pages. Dougie's boss recognizes a pattern in the drawings and thanks Cooper. Cooper has another vision of MIKE telling him "Wake up! Don't die!". Duncan Todd retrieves an envelope marked with a black spot from his safe and sends it to hitman Ike "The Spike" Stadtler. The envelope contains photos of Lorraine and Dougie. Ike kills Lorraine and her coworkers, demolishing his signature "spike" weapon in the process.
Police visit Cooper at Dougie's workplace to question him about his destroyed car. As he leaves with Janey-E, Ike runs at them with a gun, but Cooper expertly disarms him while having a vision of the skeletal tree. Dougie's boss says that Dougie sometimes has episodes due to a car accident. The Las Vegas police discover no record of Dougie Jones before 1997, and take fingerprints and DNA from Cooper's coffee mug. They arrest Ike "the Spike", who has left a phone message for "J.T". Duncan Todd orders Anthony Sinclair to frame 'Dougie' for the denial of an arson insurance claim that lost the Mitchums $30 million. The Mitchums see a news story about Ike's arrest, and recognize Cooper as "Mr. Jackpots".
Janey-E notices that her husband's physique has improved and has sex with him. Dougie's boss sends Cooper to give the Mitchums a $30 million check after realizing their claim is legitimate. The Mitchums plan to kill Cooper, but after Bradley has a prophetic dream, they decide he is not their enemy and take him for drinks, where Cooper reacts to the words "damn good" while eating cherry pie.
Cooper and Sonny Jim play catch.
The Mitchum brothers and their assistants take Cooper to Bushnell Mullins' office, celebrating and bearing gifts for Mullins. Anthony Sinclair hides from the brothers as he fearfully calls Duncan Todd, who gives him one day to kill "Jones."
Delivery men bring a gym set for Sonny Jim and a new car to the Jones home as Janey-E happily looks on. Janey-E and Cooper later watch Sonny Jim play on his new gym set.
The Detectives Fusco look over the results of "Douglas Jones"' fingerprint as an altercation takes place in the next room. Sinclair comes to see Detective Clark for poison.
Janey-E takes Cooper to work in the new car. Sinclair waits nervously for "Dougie" and takes him to get coffee. After taking a sip, Cooper wanders over to observe the shop's pie as Sinclair laces his coffee. He returns and Sinclair breaks down, leaving with the poisoned coffee. Cooper takes Sinclair's coffee and is brought a slice of pie. Sinclair pours the coffee into a urinal and throws the cup in the trash before apologizing to "Dougie."
In Mullins' office, Sinclair tearfully confesses his activities with Todd.

Bad Cooper

In Buckhorn, South Dakota, Cooper's doppelgänger—a sinister, long-haired man with black irises—retrieves two associates, Ray and Darya. Police find the severed head of Buckhorn librarian Ruth Davenport placed on the headless body of a John Doe. Local principal Bill Hastings's fingerprints are found and he is arrested. Bill denies guilt, but fumbles his alibi. His wife, Phyllis, accuses him of having an affair, while Phyllis has been having an affair with Bill's lawyer, George. A ghostly woodsman occupies another cell. Phyllis is murdered at home by Cooper's doppelgänger. Cooper's doppelgänger attempts to obtain information through Darya, Ray, and another associate, Jack. Perceiving that his associates have turned on him, Cooper's doppelgänger murders Jack and Darya, and later sets out for a federal prison in South Dakota, where Ray has been jailed. He also reveals that he is due to return to the Lodge, but has a plan to avoid this.
Cooper's doppelgänger drives a car, becomes sick and sees the Lodge's red curtains. Cooper's doppelgänger crashes and is apprehended by the police. At the FBI headquarters in Philadelphia, Agent Tamara Preston is debriefing Gordon Cole and Albert Rosenfield when Cole receives a phone call stating that Cooper has been found in South Dakota. The FBI is informed that Cooper has been found and taken to federal prison in South Dakota, where he is interviewed by Gordon, Albert, and Tammy. Gordon and Albert discuss their misgivings about the inmate, one of whose fingerprints is the reverse of Cooper's. They decide to seek the one person they think can help them. Cooper's doppelgänger makes a phone call in prison that causes the security system to go haywire. He says "The cow jumped over the moon," before hanging up, stopping the alarms.
In Buckhorn, an autopsy of the decapitated body reveals Dougie's wedding ring in the stomach.
Cooper's doppelgänger sits in his jail cell and correctly predicts that his food is coming. He takes his food and goes to the mirror, noting that BOB is still with him.
At the Pentagon, Colonel Davis is informed that the fingerprints on the Buckhorn body match Garland Briggs's – the sixteenth set of his prints they have found in 25 years. Albert finds Diane, Cooper's erstwhile assistant, in a bar. Lt. Knox arrives in Buckhorn and is stunned to learn that Garland Briggs's fingerprints come from a body in its late forties, not seventies. Albert and Gordon convince Diane to speak to Cooper in prison. She is upset by the conversation and tells Gordon the man is not Cooper.
Cooper's doppelgänger blackmails Warden Murphy into releasing him and Ray. Ray shoots Cooper's doppelgänger. Woodsmen tear at his body, revealing a sac with BOB's face. Ray flees, leaving Phillip Jeffries a message that Cooper's doppelgänger may have survived. Later, Cooper's doppelgänger awakens.
[In 1945 New Mexico, the first atomic bomb is detonated. A convenience store is occupied by woodsmen. Floating in a void, the Experiment spews a stream of fluid; one globule manifests BOB's face. In a building above a purple sea, a man resembling the giant watches the detonation, the convenience store, and BOB. He levitates, light emanating from his head. Señorita Dido enters, and an orb with Laura Palmer’s face inside floats down to her. She sends the orb to Earth. In 1956 New Mexico, a creature hatches from an egg. A woodsman descends to the ground, then enters a radio station and kills the receptionist. Overpowering the disc jockey, he repeatedly broadcasts the words "This is the water and this is the well. Drink full and descend. The horse is the white of the eyes and dark within", rendering listeners unconscious. The creature enters an unconscious girl's room and climbs down her throat. The woodsman kills the disc jockey and leaves.]
Cooper's doppelgänger meets hitmen Hutch and Chantal at a farm. He sends a text to Diane and calls Todd to ask if he has done "it" yet. He orders Murphy's death and mentions a job in Las Vegas.
The FBI stops in Buckhorn to examine the body with Briggs's fingerprints. Hastings tells Tammy that he and Ruth visited Briggs in another dimension, where he had been "hibernating" for years, and witnessed his beheading as he was saying Cooper's name. Hastings's secretary was killed in a car explosion and his lawyer arrested for the murder of his wife.
Gordon has a vision of Laura. Albert informs him that the FBI has intercepted a text message from Diane informing someone of Hastings' arrest. Tammy shows them a photo that places Cooper's doppelgänger at the location of the New York murders. At the location where Hastings met Briggs, the FBI finds Ruth's body with coordinates written on one arm. Gordon sees woodsmen in a portal and is drawn back by Albert. One of the woodsmen sneaks up on Hastings and kills him.
Gordon and Albert recruit Tammy and deputize Diane to the Blue Rose task force. Albert interrupts Gordon and his French lady friend to show him a text message Diane received asking about Las Vegas. Chantal and Hutch assassinate Warden Murphy. Diane finds that the coordinates on Ruth Davenport's arm point to Twin Peaks.
Cooper's doppelganger arrives at the farm as Ray and his associates watch him on security camera. They bring him to their location and he says he is there to see Ray. He is told that Renzo is the leader of the men, as he is undefeated in arm-wrestling. The doppelganger likens this practice to children's games and challenges Renzo, wagering Ray. After much toying with his opponent, the doppelganger wins, then kills him.
As the group' new leader, he is granted his request to be alone with Ray, who – after being shot in the leg – tells him the details of his contract from Phillip Jeffries to kill the doppelganger, as he has "something inside" (Bob) that he wants. Ray takes out the owl cave ring, saying that he was supposed to put it on him after killing him. Richard Horne joins the group as they watch on camera the doppelganger and Ray, who hands over the coordinates. Ray tells the doppelganger Jeffries' last known location and is killed. The ring disappears from his finger and appears in the red room, followed by himself. MIKE places the ring on its pedestal.
Hutch and Chantal drive towards Utah, discussing Mormons.

Twin Peaks

Dr. Jacoby receives a shipment of shovels. Dr. Jacoby broadcasts conspiracy theory videos to sell his golden shovels, with Jerry Horne and Nadine Hurley among his viewers. Nadine Hurley watches Dr. Jacoby's latest broadcast from her drapery store.
At the Great Northern, Ben Horne introduces his brother Jerry to his new secretary, Beverly.
Deputy Chief Hawk gets a call from the Log Lady, who tells him some evidence relating to Dale Cooper is missing. Hawk continues his investigation and approaches Glastonbury Grove, the entrance to the Lodge near Twin Peaks. Hawk, Andy and Lucy are unable to discern what is "missing".
Sheriff Frank Truman gets an update on Hawk's investigation, and Deputy Bobby Briggs recalls that Cooper was the last person to see his father, Major Garland Briggs, before his death.
Andy and Lucy's son Wally Brando arrives at the Sheriff's Office to pay his respects to his godfather, Harry Truman.
Norma sorts through documents as Heidi is serving and Becky delivers bread to Toad and gets money from Shelly. Norma goes to Shelly, urging her to help Becky rather than continue to enable her. Becky takes the money to Steven and they snort a drug.
At the Twin Peaks sheriff's station, Hawk and Andy continue to sort through files.
Richard Horne smokes underneath a 'no smoking' sign. Employee Federico asks him to quit and the off-duty Deputy Chad Broxford takes over but ends up taking a bribe from Horne. Charlotte, from the next table over with Elizabeth, asks him for a light, but he grabs her and threatens to assault her.
Shelly is meeting friends at the Roadhouse, shares a nostalgic moment with James Hurley and flirts with Red. Red, who is a drug supplier, charges Richard Horne with a delivery. Richard speeds recklessly in his truck, running over and killing a young boy. The incident is witnessed by Carl Rodd, who comforts the boy's mother, and kindergarten teacher Miriam.
Hawk drops a coin in the bathroom and sees that the stall manufacturer's logo is a Nez Percé chief. Noticing two screws missing from the stall door, he finds several written pages inside.
Jerry Horne wakes up in the woods, extremely stoned from his last bout of doing drugs. He calls Ben, frantically claiming someone stole his car and he does not know where he is.
Hawk and Frank Truman examine the pages torn from Laura's diary. One entry describes a dream in which Annie tells Laura that the good Dale is trapped in the Lodge. Frank calls Doc Hayward, who recounts his memories of the day Cooper returned from the Lodge.
Andy arranges to meet the farmer who owns the truck driven by Richard Horne in the hit-and-run, but he never arrives.
Beverly tries to locate the source of a mysterious hum in Ben Horne's office, then returns home to her terminally ill husband, Tom.
Roadhouse owner Jean-Michel talks on the phone about his prostitution business.
Late at night at the Double R Diner, Heidi and Shelly serve customers while Norma goes through some paperwork. A man runs in and asks if anyone has seen Billy before running out again.
Bobby visits his mother with Truman and Hawk to ask about Cooper; her husband Major Briggs long ago foretold their arrival, and she gives them a cylinder containing a location, date, and Cooper's name written twice.
Johnny Horne injures himself, and Jerry Horne hallucinates his foot is talking to him.
Truman removes a slip of paper with directions, which Bobby understands, noting the "Jack Rabbits Palace" to be an imaginary place he and his father had during his childhood. Also in the object is the transmission Briggs intercepted with Cooper's name.
Ben and Beverly again investigate the strange noise in the hotel, which Ben likens to a monastery bell. The two nearly share a romantic moment, but Ben politely refuses.
Richard Horne confronts Miriam, who tells him she has written to Sheriff Truman about the hit-and-run. He attacks her and leaves her for dead in her trailer, then has Deputy Chad intercept the letter.
Carl plays guitar and sings outside of his trailer and stops when a red mug is thrown through a trailer window by Steven Burnett, who is inside abusing Becky.
Jerry, lost in the woods, yells when he loses phone signal.
Richard attacks his grandmother Sylvia in her home and robs her. She calls Ben and demands money from him. Ben asks Beverly to have dinner with him.
Hawk receives another call from the Log Lady, who tells him "Laura is the one."
A group of children discover Miriam crawling from the underbrush.
Becky learns Steven has been cheating on her with Gersten Hayward. She drives to Gersten's apartment and shoots through the door, but the couple are elsewhere. At the diner, Becky's parents, Shelly and Bobby, discuss the incident with her. Red arrives and Shelly leaves to kiss him. A child fires a gun through the diner window, causing a commotion.
While Hawk and Truman study an ancient map, the Log Lady calls Hawk and tells him "There's fire where you are going."
Jerry runs out of the woods and into a clearing.
Sarah Palmer buys alcoholic beverages and cigarettes at a grocery store. She also inquires about an unfamiliar jerky being sold at the store. She warns them of men coming and suffers a breakdown.
Carl Rodd stops a trailer park resident, Kriscol, asking him about his income and gives him $50, saying not to pay his rent for the month.
Hawk goes to Sarah's home. He hears a noise inside, which Sarah dismisses as something in the kitchen. Hawk ensures her that if she needs anything, to call him.
Miriam lays unconscious in a hospital bed at Calhoun Memorial Hospital.
Audrey Horne demands that her husband, Charlie, help her find Billy, her missing lover. He reluctantly phones Tina, and is astonished by what she tells him, but does not tell Audrey what Tina said.
Frank Truman visits Ben Horne to tell him his grandson Richard killed the boy in the hit-and-run, and then attempted to kill the only witness, Miriam. Ben gives Frank the key to Room 315 as a memento for Harry, and agrees to pay Miriam's medical costs.
At the Double R Diner, Shelly gets a phone call from Becky, who says that Steven has been absent for two days and she is worried about him. Shelly invites her daughter to the diner for pie.
Bobby goes to the diner and visits with Ed and Norma. He describes to them that he came across some belongings of his father. Walter Lawford soon shows up to join Norma and Ed and Bobby move to another booth. Walter reports on the franchise progress of the diner, saying that she is selling her pies too cheap, though she disagrees with the franchise stores' practices compared to the flagship store.
At Run Silent, Run Drapes, Nadine is visited by Jacoby after he spotted one of his shovels in the window. He expresses his admiration for the decoration and she praises him and his show. They reflect on their last meeting at a supermarket during a storm.
Sarah watches boxing as she drinks.
A near-hysterical Audrey demands Charlie to tell him what Tina had told him. He tells her to go to the Roadhouse to see if Billy is there, offering to go with her, though she is indecisive and breaks down crying.
At the Roadhouse, an MC introduces James Hurley, who performs "Just You" as a clearly moved Renee watches.
Ed sits alone at Big Ed's Gas Farm.

Chicago Outfit

The Chicago Outfit is still a major organized crime syndicate in the United States. The Chicago Outfit runs the Las Vegas casinos and use the cash flow for laundering their criminal profits. They control Vegas through the Nevada Gaming Commission and politicians like former Mayor of Las Vegas and defense attorney for the mobsters Oscar Goodman and his wife Carolyn Goodman who is the current Mayor of Vegas. The Chicago Mob have many organized crime associates who are Jewish and used as their front men to manage their businesses in Vegas and Hollywood like Frank Rosenthal who was from Chicago and ran various casinos in Nevada. They made a movie about it called Casino. Oscar Goodman worked as a defense attorney for mobsters including Frank Rosenthal and he was the mayor of Las Vegas from 1999 to 2011 and his wife Carolyn Goodman has been the Mayor of Las Vegas from 2011 until today. The Goodmans currently run Las Vegas and work for the Italian and Jewish mafias. Meyer Lansky II is a current top Polish-Jewish Mafia boss in the United States and he is working with the Chicago Outfit and he manages territories in Las Vegas today. The Jewish mobsters have always been subordinate to La Cosa Nostra which authorized their formation of Murder Inc. through their Commission. Most of the top Jewish gangsters like Mayer Lansky and even Al Capone served Italian bosses like Big Jim Colosimo. Louis Capone was a boss of the Jewish Mafia known as Murder Inc. The Capone family are really a branch of the Florentine House of Capponi which is currently headed up by Count Neri Capponi today. Some of the Florentine noble families originated out of ancient Babylon. The Chicago Outfit is primarily owned by the Colonna family and Florentine noble families like the House of Medici and House of Capponi. John Roselli was a top gangster in the Chicago Mob. The Rosselli del Turco family are a Florentine nobility with Marchese Niccolo Rosselli del Turco as the current head. The Colonna family also own the Colombo crime family of New York City. Both the Colonna and Colombo names mean column. Hollywood is a joint operation infiltrated by the Chicago Outfit and Five Families. Albert Warner was a founder of Warner Bros. and married to Bessie Siegel who was likely a relative of Bugsy Siegel. Bugsy Siegel was a co-founder of Murder Inc. and was friends with Dorothy DiFrasso a member of Hollywood. Dorothy DiFrasso married Count Carlo Dentice di Frasso and she even introduced Bugsy Siegel with Benito Mussolini. The Frasso family are Sicilian nobility that have residences around Rome. The Five Families are competitors with the Chicago Outfit and also business associates at times. The Colombo crime family are the link between the two mafia factions. Jerry Reinsdorf is a billionaire and an owner of the Chicago Bulls and White Sox and he is a Jewish crime associate of the Chicago Outfit and Colombo crime family. Arnold Rothstein was a Jewish mobster from New York that had 8 players for the White Sox throw the World Series for the mafia's bets. The mafia still rigs professional sports for bets. Anthony Riccio is the second in command of the Chicago Police and an associate of the Chicago Outfit. Riccio handles Eddie Johnson the head of the Chicago PD who was appointed by the white collar Jewish mobster Rahm Emanuel who has a portrait of himself as the Godfather. Tony Rezko is a financier from Chicago that was convicted of wire fraud, money laundering, and corrupt solicitation which was a watered down charge for extortion. Rekzo also helped to finance Barack Obama's Senate campaign and sold him part of his property above the market value while under federal investigation. Alexi Giannoulias is a banker and politician from Chicago who has worked for Broadway Bank which financed Tony Rezko and also Chicago mobsters Michael Giorango and Demitri Stavropoulos with tens of millions. Barack Obama is friends with Alexi Giannoulias and they are both associates of the Chicago Outfit.
Byline Bank is a bank based in Chicago created by the Fasseas family with Peter Fasseas and his wife Paula Fasseas. Several Mexican businessmen like the billionaire Antonio del Valle Ruiz and his son along with the group BXM Holdings has invested into Byline Bank which has been making a large amount of non performing loans. Antonio del Valle Ruiz is a high level overseer of Mexican drug cartels and he is worth over 3 billion. When banks make a lot of bad loans that don't get paid back it is usually for one of two reasons. The bank is using loans as a disguise for bribes and criminal pay offs which is what Byline Bank has been doing or the bank is using interest rates that are too high and that cannot be paid back. Roberto Herencia who was Jesuit educated at Georgetown has been Chairman of Byline Bancorp and Byline Bank and was President and CEO of BXM Holdings. Roberto Herencia was also nominated by Obama to serve on Overseas Private Investment Corporation’s Board of Directors. The Chicago Outfit have alliances with the Mexican drug cartels which the Five Families are in competition with. The Chicago Mafia's alliance with Mexican drug cartels is related to their owners relationship with cartel owners in Spain like the Aragon and FitzJames families. The Colonna family have family branches in Spain and ruled as Viceroys in Aragon, Valencia, and Catalonia. New York factions want a wall at the border to disrupt their networks. The Detroit Partnership work with both the Chicago and New York factions and the Balistrieri crime family are the Chicago Mob's reinforcement. Several top Mexican bankers went to the University of Chicago like Agustin Carstens the Governor of the Bank of Mexico and Francisco Gil Diaz the former Mexican Secretary of Finance. Robert Zimmer is the President of the University of Chicago and a very high level criminal associate of the Chicago Mafia. The Clinton and Obama families are in league with the Chicago Outfit and that is why Barack Obama was a professor at the University of Chicago. Rahm Emanuel is a Jewish mobster and associate of the Chicago Mob for the mob as the Mayor of Chicago and former Chief of Staff under Barack Obama. The Jesuit Georgetown educated John Podesta is from Chicago and the name Podesta is an Italian word for a high official or the chief magistrate of a city. John Podesta and his Jesuit Georgetown educated brother Tony Podesta founded Podesta Group a lobbyist racket. The Podestas and Hillary Clinton were caught using pizza as a metaphor for children and Hillary mentioned making a sacrifice to Moloch in these emails. The Podestas are involved with sex trafficking of children. Hillary Clinton was born in Chicago. Barack Obama was president under the ATF's Project Gunrunner which ended up supplying weapons to the Mexican Mafia and drug cartels which were used in various murders of Mexican citizens. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was killed by cartel associates and weapons found related to the crime traced back to the ATF's Operation Gunrunner also called Fast and Furious. Barack Obama promotes restricting the gun rights of Americans while supplying the Mexican drug cartels with guns that have murdered both Americans and Mexicans. The Chicago Outfit operate in Arizona which is located next to Las Vegas. This is why the city of Tucson, Arizona is really named after Tuscany. Florence is the capital of Tuscany, Italy. There is a Florence, Arizona about 40 miles north of Tucson. The Florentine nobility manage the Chicago Outfit and the remnant of the Jewish Mafia for the Colonna family. The Chicago Outfit is involved in weapons, drugs, and human trafficking across the US-Mexican border. John DiFronzo is a top boss of the Chicago Outfit along with his brother Peter DiFronzo. Joseph Andriacchi acts as a consigliere. John DiFronzo owns car dealerships in Chicago. They use car dealerships for concealing stolen vehicles used for criminal trafficking and for obtaining dealer plates which makes it easier to move around stolen vehicles. The Italian Mafia are also involved in waste disposal and construction companies which are both used for disposing of bodies. The Carey family own the Hawthorne Race Course in Cicero right next to Chicago. Jimmy Inendino is a Chicago mafia boss in Cicero. Salvatore DeLaurentis is the current acting boss of the Chicago Outfit. The mafia use racetracks as headquarters and launder their criminal profits through fixed wins. The Chicago Outfit specializes in infiltrating the Democratic Party through blackmail, pedophilia, and human trafficking.

casino owner murdered in las vegas video

Gambling executive Ted Binion, son of the casino owner Benny Binion, died more than 20 years ago in Las Vegas under suspicious circumstances. Beyond the Sun. The death of Ted Binion in September 1998 had all the ingredients of a yarn tailor-made for Las Vegas. He was the son of the late Benny Binion, an iconic casino owner whose The murder of taxi driver Marvin Shumate is one of the most famous unsolved crimes in Las Vegas. Marvin Shumate was a regular taxi driver in Las Vegas. However, he had a get rich quick scheme that including kidnapping his son’s friend who happened to be the son of Las Vegas Casino owner Benny Binion. [8] Las Vegas Now – Ted Binion Kidnapping Plot Malta Casino Owner Yorgen Fenech Charged with Journalist Murder, Prime Minister Muscat Resigns Most Popular High Speed Victorville, California to Las Vegas Rail Line Targeted for Spring A man arrested near the Mexican border last week on charges stemming from a 2016 homicide in the Las Vegas Valley has already been returned to Southern Nevada to face charges. Jeremy Strohmeyer, 18, stands in court on Aug. 25, 1997 in Las Vegas, where he pleaded innocent to charges that he sexually assaulted and killed 7-year-old Sherrice Iverson in a Primm casino restroom. LOS ANGELES, Nov. 23 - A jury in Las Vegas declared two former lovers not guilty on Tuesday of murdering a millionaire casino owner in 1998 but found them guilty of conspiring to steal more than Malta casino mogul Yorgen Fenech was charged Friday with complicity in the 2017 murder of anti-corruption journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. It is a case that has effectively brought down the NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — One of Nevada’s most notorious convicted murderers, dubbed a “black widow killer,” said after being released from prison Friday that she did not kill her millionaire husband 25 years ago in Las Vegas, and plans to use proceeds from her story to offer money for tips about who did. Binion came to Las Vegas in the 1940s, where he established the Horseshoe Casino, home of the World Series of Poker. Fast forward to late 1967, where Las Vegas cab driver Marvin Shumate has hatched a plan to get rich quick by ransoming the child of a casino owner, and his target was Benny’s 24-year-old son, Ted Binion. We can only wonder if Shumate had an actual death wish or whether he was just that stupid when he decided to kidnap the child of an old-school cowboy and confessed killer

casino owner murdered in las vegas top

Las Vegas shooting: Fifty killed and over 200 injured ...

A mass shooting incident has happened in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay casino where a concert was going on. 20 have died and more than 100 are injured in the att... On the Case with Paula Zahn Episodes 2020 [December 22, 2020] Millionaire Las Vegas Casino OwnerOn the Case with Paula Zahn Episodes 2020 [December 22, 202... Las Vegas shooting: Fifty killed and over 200 injured before gunman found dead in resort casino Please Like And Subcriber ! Thanks for ALL ! A mass shooting incident has happened in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay casino where a concert was going on. At least 2 have died and more than 24 are injured in ... Local man, 64-year-old Stephen Paddock, named as the gunman responsible for killing more than at least 50 people and wounding 200. las vegas shooting, Vegas: 59 killed in worst ever US mass shooting

Las Vegas Murders | Homicides | Las Vegas Review-Journal

casino owner murdered in las vegas

casino owner murdered in las vegas - win

TIL in 1972, a prominent attorney and former state legislator was killed in a car bombing in downtown Las Vegas. No one was arrested for his murder, though one suspect was a Vegas casino owner.

A Dallas gangster-turned-casino owner was the main suspect in the 1972 car bomb murder of a local Las Vegas attorney and business rival.

[OC] Vegas Pulls a Fast One at the Expansion Draft (An Alternate Reality)