Campaign finance reports show that, between January 18 and April 23 of this year, Las Vegas casino mogul Sheldon Adelson gave Scott Walker's campaign a quarter of a million dollars.
Of course, that's chump change compared to the $20 million he threw away on the quixotic Newt Gingrich presidential campaign.
It's not surprising that Adelson would be attracted to Walker's politics. He has long been an adversary of labor unions. Unlike the Las Vegas strip casinos owned by Caesar's Entertainment and MGM Resorts International, the Venetian and Palazzo are non-union properties. Adelson also likes doing business with the authoritarian, free-speech-hating governments of China and Singapore. He's currently lobbying the Spanish government to give him big tax concessions and exceptions to labor laws in exchange for building a big casino-resort (that would mostly employ foreign guest-workers). In a country with a 23% unemployment rate, his economic development promises may be tempting, despite the fact that he will privatize all the profits and socialize all the risk.
No wonder he likes Scott Walker.
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Las Vegas. Show all posts
Friday, May 4, 2012
Monday, August 10, 2009
This Seems Tacky, Even for Las Vegas
I was surprised to learn that the Atomic Testing Museum in Las Vegas held a "Family Fun Day" event on Saturday. I thought Las Vegas gave up the family-fun business model back in the 90s.
While I realize that a lot of families live in Las Vegas, and it is not inappropriate for an educational museum like the ATM (the only Smithsonian-affiliated institution in Las Vegas) to try to attract their business, it just seems wrong for "Family Fun Day" at the Atomic Testing Museum to be subtitled: "Journey Through Japan." Activities include Japanese dancers, sushi rolling and origami folding.
It might be more appropriate if the Atomic Testing Museum dealt seriously with the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, the museum mostly avoids that by focusing on the bomb tests conducted by the U.S. government (especially those conducted in Nevada). It briefly mentions unfortunate health effects to workers and those who lived near testing sites but assures visitors that the government made every effort to minimize them, and that the tests were necessary to national security.
The short documentary film on Operation Crossroads does not discuss the devastation of the Bikini Islanders culture following their removal, nor the horrific effects of the unnecessary and deliberate exposure to radiation of thousands of U.S. Sailors.
The museum does not mention the filming of John Wayne's film The Conqueror and its legacy of cancer deaths among almost half the film's cast and crew.
With all of those omissions, holding a "Family Fun Day" celebration of Japanese culture at the Atomic Testing Museum is rather like having a production of Fiddler on the Roof at Germanfest would be. Hopefully, the folks in Wisconsin will always have more sense than that (at least outside of Washington County).
While I realize that a lot of families live in Las Vegas, and it is not inappropriate for an educational museum like the ATM (the only Smithsonian-affiliated institution in Las Vegas) to try to attract their business, it just seems wrong for "Family Fun Day" at the Atomic Testing Museum to be subtitled: "Journey Through Japan." Activities include Japanese dancers, sushi rolling and origami folding.
It might be more appropriate if the Atomic Testing Museum dealt seriously with the effects of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, the museum mostly avoids that by focusing on the bomb tests conducted by the U.S. government (especially those conducted in Nevada). It briefly mentions unfortunate health effects to workers and those who lived near testing sites but assures visitors that the government made every effort to minimize them, and that the tests were necessary to national security.
The short documentary film on Operation Crossroads does not discuss the devastation of the Bikini Islanders culture following their removal, nor the horrific effects of the unnecessary and deliberate exposure to radiation of thousands of U.S. Sailors.
The museum does not mention the filming of John Wayne's film The Conqueror and its legacy of cancer deaths among almost half the film's cast and crew.
With all of those omissions, holding a "Family Fun Day" celebration of Japanese culture at the Atomic Testing Museum is rather like having a production of Fiddler on the Roof at Germanfest would be. Hopefully, the folks in Wisconsin will always have more sense than that (at least outside of Washington County).
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