Arelia Margarita Taveras “made a name for herself representing the families of victims of American Airlines Flight 587, which crashed in New York City's borough of Queens in November 2001, killing 265 people.^#+ Her practice had 400 clients and earned her $500,000 a year.” She claims that she sought to relieve the pressures of her work by gambling in Atlantic City and Las Vegas over the past few years. She lost $1 million and was disbarred as a result of stealing money from clients [PDF] in order to support her gambling addiction. Taveras also lost her own home and that of her parents (who mortgaged it to support her debt). Taveras owes the IRS $58,000. In response she has filed a $20 million racketeering lawsuit in federal court against six Atlantic City casinos and one in Las Vegas, “claiming they had a duty to notice her compulsive gambling problem and cut her off.”
posted on Mar 9, 2008 - View this thread

Who's the new darling of the literary world? Charles Bock. Although, some are asking, how the hell did a guy like him get all this high-profile coverage? [Bock previously on MeFi]
posted on Feb 5, 2008 - View this thread

Pilot tells of hairy near miss at Las Vegas airport A post on Airliners.net telling, in some detail, of a near miss between an America West Airbus A320 (piloted by the author) and an Air Canada plane at Las Vegas airport. And if that puts you off flying, to calm down, another pilot's account, of a less hair-raising flight.
posted on Jul 30, 2007 - View this thread

Beneath the Neon is a book-length account of author Matt O'Brien's exploration of most of the 400+ miles of flood-control tunnels underneath the glitzy lights of Las Vegas. This excerpt contains an interview with one of the hundreds of people who manage to live in these tunnels, despite the lethal floodwaters that sometimes wash through. Here's another excerpt, and there's also a Flickr gallery of images from the book's photographer, including graffiti galleries, enterprising inhabitants, and rarely seen perspectives of the Strip.
posted on Jun 2, 2007 - View this thread

The Boneyard at the Neon Museum (Google Map view from above) is where old Vegas casino signs go to die; while the sign graveyard is only open by appointment, a virtual tour courtesy of these Flickr sets is the next best thing to a visit in person for fans of decaying gaudiness & faded glamour.
posted on Oct 9, 2006 - View this thread

When Everyone Else's Party is Your Job The 24-Hour Show is a documentary project and exhibit that offers a glimpse of Las Vegas through the eyes of the people who live and work in the city. It's based on interviews with a diverse cadré of casino and entertainment workers who have made Las Vegas home.
posted on Jun 15, 2006 - View this thread

Cheapovegas! Including tips and reports: Vegas on 19$ a Day, Porn Convention, Free Crap, Best Swimming (or how to sneak into it), and the new Hooter's Casino, to name just a few. Let Casino Boy show you the way to medium-risk, non-family fun!
posted on May 26, 2006 - View this thread

Last Man, Las Vegas. Bernard-Henri Lévy and Francis Fukuyama discuss the habits and habitat of the American demos.
posted on Mar 15, 2006 - View this thread

A Chip and a Chair: The World Series of Poker's Main Event started today at the Rio in Las Vegas. That's a change from every other year, when Binion's Horseshoe hosted the event. With the rise of online poker and televised tournaments, it's no surprise this is the biggest year ever: 5,661 people registered for the $10,000 no-limit event. That's about $50 million in prize money, once the tournament and casino costs are taken care of. CardPlayer has up-to-the-minute updates on the tournament. Things at the WSOP can get pretty crazy, as you've got thousands of gamblers ready for any sort of action. For instance, poker celeb Phil Gordon put together a Roshambo tournament (paper rock scissors) together with a $10,000 first prize, just to kill time. The main event, by the way, is only one of 45 events, started back in 1970 by a group of hard-core gamblers. Despite the record turnout, however, there's still plenty of people who didn't make it to the main event, including former Harper's reporter James McManus, who placed 5th in the Main Event in 2000 and wrote a fascinating novel on the subject.
posted on Jul 7, 2005 - View this thread

Shuffle up and deal--Phil Gordon's Podcasts from WSOP 2005 Featuring between level commentary on hands played and interviews with World Series of Poker players--well-known and not--Phil Gordon's podcasts are entertaining and informative. It's way better than waiting till ESPN broadcasts portions in September.
posted on Jun 11, 2005 - View this thread

The Chopper Show commercials are awesome! They're 30 minute (or longer) commercials for a dealership in Las Vegas. They're obnoxious, over the top, and mesmerizingly amusing. It boggles my mind that there are people who purchase cars based on these commercials, but I can understand why The Chopper is so popular in Las Vegas. If you can't speak spanish, I recommend El Chopper en Espanol - it's even funnier if you can't understand the sales pitch.
posted on Jan 24, 2005 - View this thread

A Blivet. More nuclear waste than the planned repository at Yucca Mountain can hold will pile up at reactor sites as the government continues to approve license extensions for power plants, an environmental research organization claimed in a study to be released today. If a repository is built by 2010 in the mountain, 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, its 77,000-ton capacity will be filled by existing spent fuel awaiting shipment. That's not counting another 9,900 tons that will have accumulated in the meantime from license extensions, according to the study by the Environmental Working Group.
posted on Oct 23, 2004 - View this thread

Illegal RNC trashing Democratic registrations in Vegas -- Employees of a private voter registration company allege that hundreds, perhaps thousands of voters who may think they are registered will be rudely surprised on election day. The company claims hundreds of registration forms were thrown in the trash. ... The out-of-state firm has been in Las Vegas for the past few months, registering voters. It employed up to 300 part-time workers and collected hundreds of registrations per day, but former employees of the company say that Voters Outreach of America only wanted Republican registrations. Two former workers say they personally witnessed company supervisors rip up and trash registration forms signed by Democrats. ... The company has been largely, if not entirely funded, by the Republican National Committee. Similar complaints have been received in Reno where the registrar has asked the FBI to investigate.
posted on Oct 12, 2004 - View this thread

Framed for defending herself. On August 28th, 2002 in Las Vegas, Nevada a woman named Kirstin Lobato was sentenced to life in prison. She was the victim of an attempted rape in May 2001, and had defended herself against her rapist. prosecutors used this "confession" of self defense to convict her of a murder that happened months later and in a town where she didn't even live. How "innocent until proven guilty" can you be if prosecutors are willing to use known perjurers and refuse to allow expert testimony?
posted on Nov 26, 2003 - View this thread

MOON: Because you've been everywhere else. [warning: sound and flash]
"Moon Resort and Casino will be an escape into the future with hundreds of attractions including a giant lunar-themed aquatic center, exclusive shopping complex, terrestrial biosphere, moon buggy rides, and its own International Space Station. Nestled between the [10,000 room] hotel's dramatic wings will be the centerpiece of the resort, the Moon itself, towering over 350 feet and housing the world's largest casino." The creator is not without controversy, but Robin Leach is already on board.
posted on Nov 25, 2002 - View this thread

"Moon opens for business"
The first commercial trip to the moon has been approved by the US government, according to the BBC. TransOrbital, Inc. received approval to launch its TrailBlazer satellite into lunar orbit in June of 2003; the satellite will not touch down, but instead will orbit the moon and "provide stunning, high-definition (HDTV) video and maps of the lunar surface (at 1 meter resolution), as well as new images of earth-rises over lunar craters." [press release] Another company, Lunacorp, is hoping to send its own satellite up soon.
posted on Sep 10, 2002 - View this thread

Harmik… a name synonymous with the legendary singer Tom Jones. Internationally recognized and praised as the #1 Tom Jones look and sound alike in the world. When Harmik met Tom in 1998, Tom amazed at the resemblance said to Harmik "you look more like me than I do."
posted on Jun 14, 2002 - View this thread

Las Vegas obstetricians are turning away newly pregnant women, including existing patients who become pregnant, because they say they cannot afford to deliver more babies ... If newly pregnant women cannot find care in Las Vegas, their choices include moving elsewhere, traveling out of state for care or going without prenatal care and delivering in area emergency rooms or a casino?
posted on May 8, 2002 - View this thread

File under "How Low Can You Get?". Las Vegas TV station dubs in sound and gunshots on a video tape showing an attempted robbery at Harrah's. Original footage had no sound so it had to be made more "dramatic".
posted on Feb 21, 2002 - View this thread

This is unbelievable! Make sure you read about Mike and Craig's adventures at the Adult Expo in Las Vegas. Talk about taking medicine to the sick. Thought provoking, to say the least. (This link is work-safe.)
posted on Feb 12, 2002 - View this thread

Howard Stern bets $100,000.00 in Las Vegas and the winnings would have gone to one of three contestants whose story is the saddest. The woman with the dying daughter actually played, decided to hit on 15 and busted. Sorry lady, your kid's just gonna have to croak from brain cancer while you're working and and struggling to pay her hospital bills.
posted on Feb 7, 2002 - View this thread

No, ummm, no Guns n' Roses reunion show, I guess. Ex-GnR guitarist and Hair Club for Men spokesman Slash was denied entry to the Las Vegas Hard Rock Cafe to see his old band perform New Year's Eve. GnR management were worried that Axl would be "freaked" if he know Slash was there. I bet the guys at Buddyhead are pissed that GnR are never coming back.
posted on Jan 8, 2002 - View this thread

Religious ferver? Or just fascism in new clothes. Why do we continue call these people religious fundamentalists? Osama is closer to Stalin.
posted on Oct 4, 2001 - View this thread

Don't make phone calls in Vegas. The Mob is listening. Whores! Wiretapping! Kevin Mitnick! Men nicknamed 'Aspirins' with electric drills! And more, courtesy of The Register. How widespread is this kind of telco infiltration? Should we trust any phone calls, anywhere?
posted on May 15, 2001 - View this thread

Only in Las Vegas... If you're considering an elopement to Las Vegas, but don't want the friends and family to miss out, the Little White Chapel on the Strip now offers live streaming and on-demand replays of those touching moments when the Elvis impersonator goes into "Falling In Love With You". This is what the net was meant for.
posted on May 14, 2001 - View this thread