Putin Ferguson: The Real History of Las Vegas

Source:Putin Ferguson-

Source:The New Democrat 

If todays so-called Progressives only knew how tough Bobby Kennedy was on corruption in organized labor as Attorney General of the United States, then I don't believe he would as popular with organized labor and the far-left community as he is today.  RFK was one of the toughest and, perhaps, the most effective Attorney General we've ever had.

Attorney General Kennedy and his brother Jack, the President of the United States, when they took office in 1961, saw organized crime as one of the biggest threats to national security and the Rule of Law in America. Their Director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, didn't even acknowledge organized crime  as a problem in America.  The brothers launched a campaign that was so effective that it put corrupt union bosses like Jimmy Hoffa in prison.

I believe that the real legacy of Robert Kennedy is the bringing down of organized crime and the reduction of its impact on the United States.  This, along with his very effective work in the civil right movement was the early product of what would've been a brilliant career in public service had the man not of been assassinated in 1968.
Source:Putin Ferguson

Sophia Loren Betty Boo: Biography of Sophia Loren

Source:Sophia Loren Betty Boo.

Source:The New Democrat

Sophia Loren is perhaps the best looking Italian woman, American or native Italian, that Italy has ever produced, even though I'm more obviously more familiar with Italian-American women than native Italian women. I would put Sophia up against any other ethnic Italian woman who has ever lived and any other woman period who has ever lived as far as physical beauty and appearance go. A perfect example of that is her role in Grumpier Old Men from 1995 when she is 60 years old and still a goddess, turning on older and younger men at this point.

But as the corny saying goes, it doesn't stop there, because, like Raquel Welch, Marilyn Monroe, and other goddesses who've worked in the entertainment business, she was a very talented entertainer who could act and sing and make anyone laugh and go toe to toe with great comic actors like Cary Grant when it came to wit and wisecracks, as in the movie Houseboat. She is an actress with great comedic timing and stage presence in addition to her physical beauty and stage command.

Another thing I love about Sophia is how real she was, coming from nothing and raised by people other than her parents in Rome, Lazio, Italy in the 1930s at the height of the fascist Benito Mussolini regime. She made something great of herself with incredibly hard work, especially after we saw the Sophia that the rest of the world is so familiar with, this tall, curvy hot baby-face goddess with the great Italian voice.
Source:Sophia Loren Betty Boo

Nevada Policy Research Institute: Las Vegas Mob Wars- Government-Funded Mob Museum

Source:Nevada Policy Research Institute.

Source:The New Democrat

Las Vegas and Southern Nevada in general became a personal State for the Italian and Jewish mafias, an area they developed and owned by means of legitimate investments in Vegas that served as a cover for their criminal activities, turning Vegas into a bank they could use to fund their criminal operations but also to buy the politicians and public officials needed to keep law enforcement off their backs.

Then you add the crooked elements of organized labor in the 1940s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and perhaps even longer than that with Jimmy Hoffa, Sr., and company, which had all the resources they needed not only to stay in business but also to keep the politicians and public officials at bay and to send the message through their henchmen and hit men that messing with them would have a heavy price in terms of lives lost or ruined.

Las Vegas is the ultimate story of starting from scratch and building a major city with all the investments, businesses, and land as well as people to maintain these operations. The American mafia, Italian and Jewish for the most part, had a huge role in this along with the people they brought with them. As in government and organized labor, it took really clean, powerful people unconcerned about whether the mafia would destroy them to bring down these characters.
Source:Nevada Policy Research Institute

Vintage Las Vegas: 'Mob on The Run (1987)'

Source:Vintage Las Vegas- 1987 Las Vegas documentary.

Source:The New Democrat  

"By Ned Day, Robert Stoldal, KLAS-TV, 1987. History of mob involvement in gambling in Las Vegas, 1931-1980s. Includes segments on Moe Dalitz, Allan Dorfman and the Teamsters Union, Tony "Big Tuna" Acordy and the Atlantic City mob, Frank Rosenthal, Tony Spilotro, and the Chicago mob." 

From Vintage Las Vegas

Take Jimmy Hoffa and Bugsy Siegel, and Howard Hughes as well, away from Las Vegas and that city might still be a desert town, a country town, perhaps a place where people go to get some peace and quiet, but not the the entertainment capital of the United States that it is today. This city was literally built with blood money from the Italian and Jewish mobs, but also from crooks in organized crime such as Jimmy Hoffa, Sr.

Good business people, whether legitimate characters or crooks, are always looking for the next profit and investment where they can make that next fortune. There was no one in Vegas 80 years ago, a city of perhaps 10,000 people, similar to Bethesda, Maryland (if you are familiar with my area) which was, pre-1970 at least, just a stop on the way to somewhere like Washington or Baltimore, but that started to change in the late 1930s and early 1940s as the mobs discovered Vegas.

That is what you see in this video about the men who built Las Vegas and gave the Southwest and the broader West and even the United States (once the word was out that Vegas was a great place) the opportunity to either lose or make money, but Vegas was also a great place to have a good time just a 4-hour drive from Los Angeles.  It gave the State of Nevada a serious revenue source to build its infrastructure, schools, and everything that States need to do well.

Organize Crime Channel: When The Mob Ruled Las Vegas

Source:Organize Crime Channel-

Source:The New Democrat 

Las Vegas was perfect for the Italian and Jewish-American mobs because it was a physically large but barely populated city, with great potential to become the entertainment capital of the United States, which was not the case for Cuba, Florida, etc.  The State of Nevada itself was a huge area with a small population that these mobsters could easily control by offering them jobs in their dubious businesses.

Benjamin Bugsy Siegel (the great Jewish mobster) and Howard Hughes saw what Vegas could be before anyone else, which would be a haven for money and for business that they could develop by bringing in people from all over the country, especially the West, and from outside the United States.  They could run legitimate profitable businesses but also cover up criminal activities.

The Italian and Jewish mobs, along with Howard Hughes and a few others, made Las Vegas what it is today, the entertainment capital of the United States, where millions of Americans and foreign tourists go every year to spend their hard-earned money, lose some money, and make some money, but also have a great time and escape their everyday tedium, which is the city you see today.
Source:Organize Crime Channel

Revolutionary Workers Party: Malcolm X vs. James Baldwin

Source:The New Democrat

I have a problem with Malcolm X having a problem with the civil rights sit-ins of, I believe, from 1963, and perhaps earlier than that. Because what these young Americans were doing was saying that they were people too and that they could not be denied service simply because of their race or color. And all they were doing by going to these restaurants and diners and what Rosa Parks did on the bus by refusing to give up her seat to a Caucasian man was saying “we are here too and you can’t force us to leave.” Perhaps what Malcolm X would’ve preferred was that the demonstrators had bats or guns or something. And when a racist would tell them to move or try to physically move then that they would get hit the demonstrator.

WCPO-TV Sports: 'Sam Wyche Remembers Super Bowl XXIII'

Source:WCPO-TV Sports- former Cincinnati Bengals head coach Sam Wyche (1984-91)

Source:The Daily Post 

"Former Bengals coach reminisces with John Popovich." 

From WCPO-TV Sports