1. The new year’s fresh bouquet of Chris Brown headlines (sample: “Chris Brown allegedly punched woman in the eye at Palms hotel in Las Vegas”) nicely underlined Tovin Lapan’s tough piece about alleged celebrity abusers in our January issue. Using Brown and Floyd Mayweather (among others) as examples, Lapan examined the way the Strip not only welcomes male celebs with histories of domestic abuse, but makes it rain for them. The piece struck a chord with online commenter Susieque: “I’ve often wondered why so few people seem to notice this obviously sexist problem and aren’t protesting these events. Is it because so many attending them are from somewhere else, and people on vacation don’t want to get politically involved? Or is it just old-fashioned male chauvinism in a city that glorifies the ‘perfect’ female form and male aggression/domination is the daily normal?”
2. January’s feature package, our guide for Las Vegas newcomers, was a carefully handcrafted info-pour designed to help newbies get their bearings in this nutty town. Included was a section advising foodies how to eat locally. Reader Downtown Steve suggests an addition: “For the ‘Eating locally doesn’t mean eating dirt’ category, I’d have to add Vegas Roots Community Garden. Open 24 hours a day, on the honor system. Local/seasonal/organic produce is available to all.” ( vegasroots.org)
3. Time for some heavy meta: On page 42, you’ll find Andrew Kiraly’s searching consideration of the new, Adelson-era Review-Journal. Beginning in the next sentence, you can read reactions to that very piece, thanks to an earlier version of it posted to the Desert Companion blog. “Andrew raises some valid points here,” writes Bob Spettigue on the DC website. “There are legitimate concerns that Adelson will turn the paper into his personal bullhorn & mistreat anyone who doesn’t toe the party line.” At the same time, he found Kiraly’s tone condescending toward those he disagrees with. That “suggests that he (Kiraly) might not actually have the broad, open mindset that liberals are so proud of. He may be just as narrow-minded as those he criticizes.” Kiraly allows that “perhaps I should have taken pains to clarify it’s not the flavor of the agenda, it’s the fact that there’s an agenda” that troubles him. Reader Michael Amador has an agenda to suggest: “Maybe they’ll start printing the truth?” Michael Derek Martin is amused by your naïvete! “Could it REALLY become any WORSE??” RealityCheck feels ya, Michael: “The R-J cannot get any worse than it has been the past five years, so at least the possibility exists that it may get better.” Not so fast, Spettigue warns: “Never challenge ‘worse.’ When you say, ‘It can’t get worse,’ some entity out there takes it as a challenge and shows you that it can.”