Las Vegas’s Yet-to-Open Spherical Performance Venue is Already Famous for Bizarre Imagery It Broadcasts (VIDEO)

At the Los Angeles Times, "Sphere can be bizarre and sublime — or just an ad. That’s what makes it so Vegas":

Let My Athletes Go! (VIDEO)

Let my Athletics go, that is, to Las Vegas.

The title above plays with Moses and the Book of Exodus 5:1.

Folks were shocked with the attendance for Tuesday's home game against Baltimore. Just 3,748 fans, and that's after an opening day with 17,503 (which ain't that hot either, if you ask me).

I'm watching Friday night baseball on Apple TV right now. Texas at Oakland. It's not very crowded, to put it mildly (though whatever fans are there are fired up and enthusiastic). 

Turns out this is all by design. *Hmm.*

At USA Today, "The Oakland A's (and MLB) discouraged fans from coming to the Coliseum. The people listened":

For the Oakland Athletics, it's all going according to plan.

Observe the arena of sports long enough, and you eventually memorize the playbook. And for franchises aiming to hijack taxpayers for a new arena or hold fans hostage lest they lose their team to a thirstier city, Tuesday night's barren abomination of A's-Orioles at what's now called the RingCentral Coliseum was merely the next page in a well-concocted script.

The attendance – "announced" attendance, at that – was just 3,748, the lowest crowd count at the alternately dreary and cheery Coliseum since 1980. It's also the smallest crowd at a major league game minus pandemic restrictions since an announced 5,297 fans attended an August 2019 Miami Marlins game.

The reasons why are both well-worn and also infuriating.

The A's search for a new stadium is nearing its third decade and so well-documented, you could count more artists' renderings of potential homes than significant free agents the A's retained.

The Coliseum itself – opened in 1966, home to the A's since 1968 and roughly a top 10 major league park when it was a baseball-only facility in a sea of multi-purpose behemoths in the 1980s and early '90s – has been allowed to fall into disrepair, its charm and sunny vistas dwarfed by a renovation inspired by the Raiders' 1995 return to the city.

Yeah, the A's could use a new park. But beyond the "lols" at sewage backups and playoff collapses and payroll-cutting trades, it's what's happened since the club has had the city to itself that's most maddening.

The Raiders, as they do, held the city hostage in the '90s and then bailed for Las Vegas, anyway. The Warriors built a dynasty and then hopped the bridge back to San Francisco for a haute couture arena and revenues more in line with their Silicon Valley-esque rise.

That left Oakland – The Town, as it was lovingly known by natives before getting beaten into the ground by appropriaters – all to the A's. And every move that's happened since the Raiders' 2020 kickoff in Las Vegas has smacked of fan alienation.

Let's start with the heel turn of A's president Dave Kaval, who presented himself as the fan-friendly, public-facing voice of a bright new era of Oakland baseball. He littered his social media feeds with "boom" and "100" emojis, celebrating unlikely wins, directly answering fans' queries as if he could solve anything and introducing aesthetically-pleasing and incentive-laced entry points such as food trucks, a "Treehouse" in-game hangout and an A's Access plan that in its first year doubled the season ticket base and very much looked like the future of sports attendance.

Silly us, we thought it was for the purpose of pleasing the clientele. Instead, these clearly were trial balloons aimed at workshopping ideas for a new stadium.

Since the Raiders left and the pandemic landed, the A's have held all the cards and their actions suggest as much.

A's Access was discontinued. Parking was jacked up to $30, even as COVID-19 restrictions left mass-transit options emaciated. Single-game tickets were raised – $25 for a third-deck seat in a decrepit football stadium, anyone? – and in the grimmest turn yet, many season-ticket packages were significantly raised before this season.

How much? A bleacher seat went from $456 in 2019 to $840 in 2022, according to the San Jose Mercury News, with more expensive options also doubling or nearly doubling.

Meanwhile, as the A's continued jumping through ever-growing hoops for their desired waterfront home at Howard Terminal, Kaval and MLB commissioner Rob Manfred teamed up on a not-so-subtle bit of dark messaging: Your current home sucks.

When Oakland, fooled more than once by franchise owners, did not rubber stamp a half-billion dollars in infrastructure and carve out multiple tax districts to enrich the A's, it was game on. Las Vegas was raised as a relocation option, with Kaval tweeting from a Golden Knights playoff game in case you're not into the whole subtlety thing.

Manfred openly pushed Vegas as a "parallel track" to Howard Terminal, stamping the league endorsement on a plan that it was the only appropriate option for the A's, and sending a loud message to those who might have enjoyed the East Oakland sunshine and dream of a newer ballpark there.

"The Oakland Coliseum site is not a viable option for the future vision of baseball," MLB said in its initial public show to play the bad guy in this drama. "We have instructed the Athletics to begin to explore other markets while they continue to pursue a waterfront ballpark in Oakland. The Athletics need a new ballpark to remain competitive, so it is now in our best interest to also consider other markets."

Of course, viability is in the eye of the ticket-holder.

Do you want a modern, 35,000-seat venue with good weather, access and even a few adjacent amusements? That would check off most fans' wish lists, and the Coliseum site, with a billion or two dollars of TLC, could provide that.

Or do you want a real estate development masquerading as a ballpark, with a price tag of $12 billion further enriching the owner and allowing him to keep up with the Atlantas and San Franciscos and Chicagos of the world, with non-baseball revenue lining his pockets regardless of team performance?

Howard Terminal, and Howard Terminal only, could provide that.

Fans in Oakland were always sophisticated, and many hardy souls still showed up anyway. Now, perhaps, the final indignities have been delivered...

 

Raiders Welcome 3-0!

I was in Vegas two weekends back and checked out the Raiders vs. Steelers at a sports bar across the way from the Bellagio, where my wife and I were staying.

I'm fired up for the season, heh. (For the Rams too, who are looking like Super Bowl material, for sure.)

On Twitter:

¡Bienvenidos al 3-0! 🏖️ pic.twitter.com/X0HfKWtby6

— Las Vegas Raiders (@Raiders) September 27, 2021

Vegas Vactioners Face 26-Mile Traffic Jam Back to California (VIDEO)

At the Review Journal, "Memorial Day traffic jams I-15 at California-Nevada border."

There were a few drunk drivers, but most of those busted were trying to make time on the emergency lanes. That's why my wife and I get on the freeway before 6:00am, to beat the rush back to Cali.

Four Killed, Including Child, in Latest 'Mass Shooting, in Orange, California (VIDEO)

Well, first of all, what's a "mass shooting"? If I'm not mistaken, any "officer-involved" shooting in which at least two deaths occur, is defined as a "mass shooting." And who defines this? I don't know? Maybe it's a federal definition that's been on the books for years, if not decades. 

But the implication, especially for the hated leftist media, is that with such a "low bar" on defining such events, any and all such incidents, can be sensationalized, and of course, any person's wrongful death is a tragedy, the killings in the City of Orange yesterday, again, all horrific and despicable, can easily be exploited by these same disgusting media outlets, especially the "progressive" national cable networks (notably, CNN and MSNBC) who're always the first "off the gun," so to speak, to turn any and all of such terrible crimes into some new Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Hotel-type of definitive "mass shooting" incident, involving the shooter, Stephen Paddock, 64-years-old, from Mesquite, Nevada, which left 58 people dead, and almost 900 people injured, in what was, really, one of the all-time deadliest gun-related murder-massacres in American history.

Now, as for the City of Orange, I grew up there, and the shooting took place maybe a less than a mile from my dental office (the guy who does root canals, of which I've had too many), and Orange is also the location of my young 19-year-old son's school, and, as he had a recent bad incident himself, on Monday, March 22nd, and of which he's still processing, he might not appreciate how worried all of this makes his parents. 

Helpfully, this L.A. Times story below is not very "sensationalist," whereas as this one, at CNN, is very much so, where the piece notes: 

The FBI's Los Angeles division confirmed to CNN it had responded to the shooting as a matter of routine, but the Orange Police Department is the lead investigative agency. 

This is at least the 20th mass shooting since the Atlanta-area spa attacks two weeks ago that left eight people dead. CNN defines a mass shooting as a shooting incident which results in four or more casualties (dead or wounded), excluding the shooter.

Now, CNN does go with the at least "four or more casualties (dead or wounded)," and in this case, the shooter himself was arrested. But still, even four "dead or wounded" remains a very low bar, and for CNN to lump in this number of "at least the 20th mass shooting" since the horrific Atlanta killings a couple of weeks back --- which itself was quickly politicized by CNN, before literally any genuine facts were known --- gives you a pretty good clue as to what exactly's going on, which, of course, is to perpetuate all the "Big Lies" that all the leftist media peddle, about the "epidemic" of gun violence in this country, with the media's "final solution" being to strip Americans of their God-given rights, and not just the Second Amendment, but perhaps even more importantly, the First.

In any case, at the Los Angeles Times, (and a KABC Eyewitness News 7 segment, from last night, below), "4 killed, including child, in mass shooting at Orange office complex":

Four people, including a child, were killed Wednesday evening and a fifth person was injured in a mass shooting at an Orange office complex.

It marks the third mass shooting in the United States in two weeks, coming after incidents at three Atlanta spas that killed eight people, including six Asian women, and at a Boulder, Colo., supermarket that killed 10.

Few details were immediately available about the victims or a potential motive for the shooting.

Lt. Jennifer Amat, a spokeswoman for the Orange Police Department, said officers received a call about 5:30 p.m. of shots fired and responded to a business at 202 W. Lincoln Ave. in Orange. The beige, two-story office complex at the address contains a number of small businesses.

The officers encountered gunfire when they arrived and opened fire, Amat said. The shooter was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound and was listed in critical condition Wednesday night. It was unclear if the wound was self-inflicted or if he was struck by police gunfire, Amat said.

There is no current threat to the public, she added. A firearm was recovered at the scene.

Have a good day, and don't ever, let them try to take away your rights.

Reopening Las Vegas

Interesting video, at CNN:

Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman's Bizarre Interview with Anderson Cooper (VIDEO)

Look, everybody wants to open back up the economy, and I'd love to hit the roulette tables at New York New York myself (to say nothing of scarfing dinner across the way at MGM's fabulously delicious buffet). But this lady's whacked.

Honestly, let's open back up safely. Soon, yes, but safely.

At CNN:



BONUS: At CBS News, "Americans prioritize staying home and worry restrictions will lift too fast — CBS News poll."

Release the Florida School Shooting Surveillance Video

From the irrepressible Michelle Malkin:

Open government isn’t just good government. It’s the public’s right.

In Florida, the Broward County Sheriff’s office and Broward County school district are fighting to keep exterior surveillance video from the day of the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School hidden from view. As journalists and citizens who’ve waged uphill battles against secrecy well know, government agencies too often invoke broad disclosure exemptions in the name of protecting public safety when they’re really just trying to protect their own jobs.

Feckless Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and media-luvin’ school Superintendent Robert Runcie are defendants in an open records lawsuit filed Tuesday by the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Miami Herald and CNN.

Here is the lawsuit petition...

Click through to read the petition and the rest of the post.

'Alt-Right Conspiracy Theories' Following Stoneman-Douglas Parkland Mass Shooting (VIDEO)

Seems as though leftists are feeling their oats. Perhaps if they ratchet up the attacks enough they'll be able to shame the public and government office-holders into banning firearms, lawful gun-owners be damned.

And as for the conspiracy theories, I don't go for them. But it's weird that this David Hogg kid was just on the West Coast last year being interviewed on local CBS News 2 about some activist issue, and now apparently some viral videos show him rehearsing his gun control talking points before going on the national news in Parkland. You can see why people are slamming him as a "crisis actor."

It's creating a firestorm of controversy. At the Tampa Bay Times, for example, "Florida lawmaker’s aide fired after saying outspoken Parkland students are actors."

And here's far-left Anderson Cooper, who was in Parkland interviewing survivors shortly after the massacre. FWIW:

Parkland Shooter Nikolas Was Mentally Disturbed

And apparently he's on the autism spectrum and at some point had been taking medications for ADHD.

Leftists now are decrying talk about mental health, claiming it's a ruse to divert attention from "common sense" gun control, as always.

At the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:

#Parkland #Florida #NikolasCruz https://t.co/wD2o0zQM5T

— Donald Douglas (@AmPowerBlog) February 17, 2018

BREAKING: FBI ignored warning that Nikolas Cruz might conduct school shooting https://t.co/DUwBWvyZyj pic.twitter.com/w6sEnrWeM5

— Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) February 16, 2018

Nikolas Cruz was regularly in trouble at school for years, disciplinary records show - Sun Sentinel https://t.co/UvZSfixgC4

— Sun Sentinel (@SunSentinel) February 18, 2018

Parkland Shooting Survivors Plan March on Washington

Well, we'll see how this turns out. When you "march on Washington," people expect massive crowds, filling the public spaces. We're talking hundreds of thousands of people. That's a tall order, especially to organize in six weeks.

We are all sickened by what happened in FL last week, but we cannot ignore these tragedies any longer. I am so inspired to see the students of Parkland & kids all over this country standing up to the status quo. On March 24, we march. Join us. #MarchForOurLives @MarchForOurLives pic.twitter.com/2v3yABKYn3

— Josh Gad (@joshgad) February 18, 2018

Watch these kids from Parkland speak to politicians- “At this point you are either with us or against us”. https://t.co/6hO6SJhYGe

— Julianne Moore (@_juliannemoore) February 18, 2018

Boston Globe Front-Page on #Parkland Shootings: 'We Know What Will Happen Next'

Hmm, more of the same old gun control hysteria, this time at the Boston Globle: "Parkland. Las Vegas. Sutherland Springs. Newtown. On and on: In America, mass shootings have become so familiar that they seem to follow the same sad."

Wow. Boston Globe front today is something else. pic.twitter.com/oxCdXqN9YO

— Ali Watkins (@AliWatkins) February 16, 2018

Deport Amanda Marcotte!

Heh.

The Other McCain calls for Marcotte's deportation, on Twitter:

Can we please deport Amanda Marcotte, preferably to some Third World "shithole country"? pic.twitter.com/vYMNQLFuew

— The Patriarch Tree (@PatriarchTree) February 17, 2018

https://t.co/L2nZlLlZZ1 Trump’s all-out assault on legal immigration makes it clear that his guiding principle is white nationalism, full stop.

— Amanda Marcotte (@AmandaMarcotte) February 16, 2018

Why Did it Take So Long to Stop the Las Vegas Gunman?

At LAT, "New disclosure shows a casino guard alerted hotel to gunman before Vegas massacre began. So why did it take so long to stop him?"

Before Vegas massacre, a hotel security guard called hotel officials to warn them about a gunman on the 32nd floor https://t.co/zp0tSpO8le

— Los Angeles Times (@latimes) October 11, 2017

We Need Fallacy Control Now!

From Michelle Malkin:

We need #FallacyControl now more than ever!
In response to senseless violence, clear-headed citizens deserve a safe space from the 24/7 barrage of #GunControl nonsense==>https://t.co/tqDzUqbfIH pic.twitter.com/aKWgfvVNtn

— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) October 4, 2017

Enough is enough. It’s epidemic. It’s dangerous. And the time has come to demand its end.

In the aftermath of the horrific massacre in Las Vegas, America needs fallacy control. Yes, we must declare war on fallaciousness. Now more than ever, the nation is suffering from an outbreak of illogical thinking. In response to senseless violence, clearheaded citizens deserve a safe space from the 24/7 barrage of rhetorical nonsense. Let's break down the collective cognitive breakdown.

Argumentum ad celebritum. Empty talking points don't become persuasive arguments when uttered by Hollywood stars. But in the bizarre land of the celebrity cult, late-night comedian Jimmy Kimmel has been suddenly anointed "America's conscience" and "voice of reason."

Kimmel railed "intensely" on TV Monday night against politicians doing "nothing" to stop mass gun violence. Sobbing and emotional, he insisted, "there's a lot of things we can do about it." Yet, Kimmel acknowledged that Mandalay Bay gunman Stephen Paddock had passed multiple, mandated background checks and had no criminal history. Moreover, Paddock bought his guns legally from Nevada and Utah gun shops subject to a thicket of local, state and federal rules -- and reportedly carried 23 of his weapons into a casino/hotel that already operates as a gun-free zone.

Federal studies show that a measly 1 to 3 percent of all guns are purchased at gun shows, but that didn't stop Kimmel from tossing around non sequiturs attacking the "gun show loophole." It's a mythical exemption in federal law for private weapons sales at gun shows or online intended to drum up hysteria about unregulated gun sales. In reality, firearms purchased through federally licensed firearms dealers at gun shops, shows, garage sales or anywhere else are subject to all the usual checks and restrictions. Only a narrow category of same-state transactions between private individuals not engaged in the commercial business of selling firearms (family members or collectors, for example) are unaffected by those regulations.

There is zero empirical evidence that banning these types of transactions would do anything to prevent gun crimes or mass shootings. But who needs evidence when Jimmy Kimmel is bawling on stage "intensely"? The tears of a clown outweigh the sobriety of facts.
Argumentum ad populum and argumentum ad hashtag. Actor Billy Baldwin unloaded a fallacy two-fer with his assertion that "the overwhelming majority of Dems, Reps & NRA members endorse #GunSafety," so "how can we let the #NRA hold us hostage like this? #NRATerrorists." Claiming that an "overwhelming majority" of people agree with you doesn't make your argument sound. Nor does citing polls showing support for "gun show loopholes" that those surveyed don't fully understand. Nor does attacking the character of your political opponents and hashtag-smearing them as "NRATerrorists" for holding political viewpoints different than your own.

Straw men and red herrings. Grossly oversimplifying support of ineffective or superfluous gun control measures as "#GunSafety" allows celebrities, politicians and activists to prop up their favorite hollow debating tactic: asserting that gun owners, NRA members, and Republicans don't care about gun safety and want more innocent people to die.

Democrat Rep. Ted Lieu illustrated a similar diversionary tactic by waving the red herring of a "gun silencer bill" and demanding that GOP "COWARDS" vote against deregulating such suppressors. Hillary Clinton also demagogued the issue, ghoulishly tweeting: "Imagine the deaths if the shooter had a silencer, which the NRA wants to make easier to get." Her running mate and Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine parroted the propaganda, claiming that Paddock "was only stopped because he didn't have a silencer on his firearm, and the sound drew people to the place where he was ultimately stopped."

Police, however, took 72 minutes to locate Paddock; it was the sound of hotel fire alarms set off by all the gun smoke that led them to the shooter. But let's not let pesky facts in the way.

Think of the children. Invoking kids to support one's public policy preferences is not an argument. It's a timeworn appeal to emotion. Without it, however, gun control advocates are all out of ammunition.

"We as a society owe it to our children" to pass "common sense" gun control, New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton pleaded.

"Thoughts & prayers are NOT enough. Not when more moms & dads will bury kids this week, & more sons & daughters will grow up without parents," Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., fumed on Twitter.

And actor Boris Kodjoe tweeted: "My 10 year old asked me how the shooter was able to get his machine gun. I told him that pretty much anyone in the US can. 'But why daddy'?"

Too bad Kodjoe's kid will never know that daddy didn't tell him the truth about fully automatic firearms (aka "machine guns"), which have been effectively banned from private civilian ownership in the U.S. as a result of federal gun legislation dating back to 1934. Nor will the children of the "Think about the children!" brigade be taught the truth about defensive gun use or Second Amendment history and jurisprudence.

We owe our children critical thinking skills and evidence-based public policy, not knee-jerk slogans and tear-jerking treacle.

Nothing Makes Liberals Leftists Angrier Than Us Normals Insisting On Our Rights

Dana Loesch tweeted Kurt Schlichter (it's "leftists" though, not "liberals"):

“Im not inclined to give up my ability to defend myself in response to demands by ppl who tell me they want me dead” https://t.co/SUjM8OgpU8

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) October 7, 2017

PREVIOUSLY: "'Lefties are full of hate. It's their animating spirit. All you have to do is listen to them talk...'"

Many, Including N.R.A., Call for 'Bump Stock' Changes

It won't make a difference. You don't need a "bump stock" to manipulate a semi-automatic rifle. Dana Loesch has been all over this, but her organization concedes that regulation is warranted.

At NYT:

Rare move by the NRA: Las Vegas Shooting: N.R.A. Supports New Rules on ‘Bump Stock’ Devices https://t.co/DnuI1ils61

— Sheryl Gay Stolberg (@SherylNYT) October 5, 2017

'Lefties are full of hate. It's their animating spirit. All you have to do is listen to them talk...'

That's Glenn Reynolds, at Instapundit, "KURT SCHLICHTER: 'I, for one, am not super inclined to give up my ability to defend myself in response to demands by people who eagerly tell me they want me enslaved or dead. Literally dead'." Schlicter's a great writer --- really good --- although he's pretty much a jerk on Twitter, and he needs to stop stupidly calling radical leftists "liberals."

He nails it at the link, though, and Professor Reynolds sums it up nicely.

Dana Loesch on Twitter has just one data point, as if we needed more:

Hi @NancySinatra , hasn’t there been enough death for you?
God bless. https://t.co/jc1abrTy3B pic.twitter.com/erIOJwQqxG

— Dana Loesch (@DLoesch) October 5, 2017

President Trump Visits Las Vegas (VIDEO)

The full video's at the PBS News Hour, "Watch Live: President Trump speaks after meeting first responders in Las Vegas." (Streamed earlier.)

And at the Las Vegas Sun, "Trump in Las Vegas: America is ‘a nation in mourning’."

I Used to Think Gun Control Was the Answer

A great, great piece, from Leah Libresco, at the Washington Post:

This is a must-read. Stop simply shouting Australia! and update your knowledge. https://t.co/dwOINpeMJf

— Milena Rodban (@MilenaRodban) October 3, 2017