Deregulator: Alive since '85!

A SOMEWHAT LENGTHY CIVICS LESSON, NEVADA-STYLE: One myth about my adopted hometown that's difficult to dispel is that Las Vegas -- let alone Nevada -- is some sort of freewheeling, libertarian paradise. Please. For one thing, more than 80 percent of the state's land mass is controlled by the federal government, and nearly 10 percent more is either state or county property. Even 90 percent of Clark County, where Las Vegas is located, is public land. That's one reason desolate, sparsely populated Nevada is one of the most urbanized states in America : What little land is in private hands is crammed with tract houses. Gambling-inspired tourism may be the prime engine of economic activity. And prostitution is legal in 15 of the state's 17 counties ... though, notably, not in Clark (Las Vegas) or Washoe (Reno) counties. Gambling-related taxes provide roughly 40 percent of state revenues. But Nevada's sin industries aren't exactly entrepreneurial enterprises. They...

A TASK FOR AN ENTERPRISING BUSINESS REPORTER: Debunk the now-accepted-as-Gospel myth that states "lost" $13.3 billion in revenues from "untaxed" e-commerce last year. An AP story, published in USA Today , my paper and countless others across the country, repeated this bogus factoid. The $13.3 billion figure was derived by University of Tennessee researchers based on e-commerce projections by Forester Research that were, to be charitable, way off. Forester estimated that retail e-commerce transactions would amount to $58.5 billion last year; instead, the total was roughly $30 billion, or half that. I have no clue how accurate the projections were on b-to-b transactions, but I'd be willing to wager they weren't close, either. I'm also not confident in UT's methodology. They estimated that about 28% of e-commerce transactions were "escaping" taxation, but a 1999 study by Ernst & Young concluded that only about 13% of e-commerce is going...

RACIAL GERRYMANDERING, R.I.P.: Here's an unexpected surprise: While relatively few African-Americans call Nevada home (roughly 7 percent of the population is black), it turns out that the Silver State has elected the nation's highest proportion of black legislators . About 11 percent of the Legislature is comprised of black lawmakers, and as this editorial I wrote point out, that's not bad for a state once known as the "Mississippi of the West" for the blatant segregation practiced at public and private facilities. Think about it. Such politically correct havens as California has a mere six African-Americans in its 120-member Legislature, and Massachusetts has elected only seven blacks to its 200 member legislative body. It's also worth noting that none of Nevada's black lawmakers hail from majority African-American districts, and three of the seven reside in districts in which less than 5 percent of their constituents are black.

OK, IT'S OFFICIALLY CHRISTMAS: Some people are satisfied merely hearing Vince Guaraldi. That's fine (it's great jazz, after all). But over dinner Saturday night, we listened to Leon Redbone's Christmas Island CD, and on our weekend travels, we heard Buck Owens sing "Santa Looked a Lot Like Daddy" and the late great Charles Brown perform "Please Come Home for Christmas" (not on the same radio station, sadly, but I'll take what I can get). Between now and Wednesday, I'll spin "No More Pretty Presents" by the incomparably swinging Rod Piazza and the Mighty Flyers (they'll be in Vegas Jan. 9 !), and, of course, Chuck Berry's classic "Run Rudolph Run." Hope Santa's good to everybody.

CONGRATULATION, GRADUATES: Hoo-ray! Yesterday my better half Lola joined about 1,550 fellow students. She walked across the stage and received her degree from UNLV (specifically, from the school of hotel administration). She picked up her diploma only a few years later the rest of us typically do, but I'm still as pleased as punch she did it. Of local interest, other than grandmotherly university Regent Thalia Dondero, who participated in the ceremonies, the only other regents on the platform were the embattled Howard Rosenberg and Linda Howard. They're in hot water for rifling through the private files of university students and employees, most likely in violation of federal law. It's probably not a reach to consider Linda Howard (who's black) Nevada's answer to "Kerosene" Maxine Waters — petty, vindictive and dangerous. As this editorial I wrote recounts, Howard got into trouble for poring over the records of one student who called her "an idiot...

LOTTS MORE: Great piece from Dave Kopel on NRO about the 1948 Dixiecrat platform, which "quoted from the 1840 Democratic platform, which was the platform of the great Democratic President Martin Van Buren. More than any other President, Van Buren faithfully followed the Constitution, so his platform — fewer than 1,000 words long — is an especially valuable guide for constitutionalists." While Van Buren's platform offered a wonderful defense of federalism, the Dixiecrats just happened to delete this section: "that every citizen and every section of the country has a right to demand and insist upon an equality of rights and privileges, and to complete and ample protection of persons and property from domestic violence or foreign aggression." How convenient! "That statement," Kopel writes, "is the principle on which the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments are based. States' rights were not a legitimate constitutional basis for states to violate...

WELFARE FARMING AND WATER: A quick post from surgery land. (Lola's fine;L.A. traffic, as always, reminds us why we moved to Vegas.) Virginia Postrel (see item 5 ), Eugene Volokh and others are engaged in an interesting discussion around a rather bathetic New York Times story that appeared 12/8 about the decline of rural Ameica. The problem is that 70 years of welfare via farm subsidies has led to stasis, giving many farm-state residents incentives to remain dependent on agricultural welfare and maintain an otherwise-unsustainable lifestyle. Farm welfare of another type could cause havoc in the Southwest, where a handful of farmers in the Imperial Valley of California are basically holding the residents of at least three states hostage. Farmers get water for next to nothing from the Colorado River and use it to grow cotton in the desert, among other things. Monday, farm reps deep-sixed an agreement which would have given the residents of Southern California, Southern Nevada and A...

SOLIDARITY WITH SADDAM? Oh, great. The four Canadians who plan to be human shields have entered Iraq. It's one thing to stand up for the suffering Iraqi people and call for an end to economic sanctions (must I point out that, perhaps, Saddam's actions may have something to do with their continuation?), but to place yourself in harm's way on Iraqi territory is pretty damn close to siding with the dictator, is it not? Fred Hiatt sounded a similar note in a Washington Post column yesterday on "Saddam's Lawyers" in the antiwar left: "The opponents of war often claim to be speaking for the Iraqi people. In any dictatorship, it is impossible to gauge how the people feel, particularly in one as brutal as Iraq. Two years ago the Revolutionary Command Council added 'amputation of the tongue' as an approved punishment for anyone who speaks ill of Saddam Hussein or his family." Again, this is not an argument for or against military action. But it is ...

LOTT-A NONSENSE: Strong piece on National Review Online by Robert A. George on why Trent Lott should be dumped by Senate Republicans ASAP. Some highlights: Lott's Monday night "apology" "was very nice and, all things considered, one might give Lott the benefit of the doubt — if he didn't have a record, unmatched by any other current leading Republican of paying homage to a romanticized view of the 'old South.' ... "Perhaps Sen. Lott should ask Alabama-born Condoleezza Rice — whose childhood friends were killed in a church bombing — if she believes her life would have been better if Strom Thurmond had become president. ... "Most people don't expect a 100-year old Thurmond or an 85-year-old Robert Byrd (D., W.V.) to completely escape their racist pasts. But Trent Lott is an adult baby boomer, of the same generation as the current and previous presidents. The leaders of this generation supposedly went through the '60s and supposedly lea...

THAT THING CALLED LIFE: Just got started in the blogosphere, and already I need a vacation. Seriously, though, postings may be light for awhile. I'm still digging out from the graduation party we threw for Lola (UNLV Hotel College, Class of '02) Saturday. She has left for L.A., where she'll have hand surgery Thursday. I'll join her Wednesday night, and thanks to the Postrels, I'll have a place to crash while she's in the hospital. We'll be back in Vegas Saturday or Sunday. Speaking of the Postrels, Virginia is seeking reader input for a new photo for her site . Vote early and often.

I'M A LITTLE BEHIND THE CURVE ... but if you're a frequent visitor to blogdom, you're aware that Reason, where I spent nine wonderful years, launched its own in-house blog this weekend. It'll be a must-read, I'm sure.

END OF AN ERA? I've been a fan of the Atlanta Braves since their 1969 division title, and Tom Glavine ranks among my personal favorites since I've been following the team. He's the thinking man's pitcher, perhaps more so than Greg Maddux, because Glavine's had really only one grade A pitch his entire career ... a change-up. Glavine's had a lower margin of error than any other successful control-type pitcher of the era. At least Maddux has featured a top-notch slider and change-up, not to mention control that suggests a deal with the devil. (In case you're curious, the list of fave Braves is comprised of Dale Murphy, Henry Aaron, Phil Niekro, John Smoltz and Glavine, with honorable mentions for Ron Gant, David Justice, Jeff Blauser and Mark Lemke, since I also saw these guys play Class A ball for the Durham Bulls.) Well, Glavine's a Met now, and I'm not all that broken up about it. He'll be 37 next year and wanted a three- to four-year commitme...

HEADS ROLL: Paul O'Neill resigns from Treasury. No big surprise there, since it's been rumored for weeks, he was never considered an insider and was always a bit of an odd choice, distinguishing himself primarily for highlighting the inane complexity of the tax code. The resignation of Larry Lindsey, however, is more of a head-scratcher, since he has been a confidant of Bush for awhile and is a sound guy. Maybe he's embarrassed for having to defend the steel tariffs and the farm bill -- which, IMHO, might be contributing to the lack of confidence by consumers and investors in the economy. Both of these moves -- and the rejection of the EchoStar/DirecTV satellite merger -- make zero economic sense but have scored political points for the White House. I'm guessing we'll know about the back story of the Lindsey decision soon.

THE DRUG LOBBY: The Marijuana Policy Project, a principal sponsor of Question 9, the unsuccessful ballot measure which would have legalized possession of up to three ounces of marijuana in Nevada, wants to get federal drug czar John Walters fired . The group makes a credible argument Walters was lobbying when he made two trips to Nevada this year to urge people to vote down the measure. (I editorialized about them here .) Lobbying by a federal employee is prohibited by the Hatch Act. The group is also asking Nevada's secretary of state to fine Walters $5,000 for failing to file a "campaign report" with election officials. MPP has petitioned the federal Office of Special Counsel to strip Walters of his duties and bar him from future government employment. The response from Washington? "It's a Cheech and Chong interpretation of the law," Walters flack Tom Riley told the Review-Journal. "Part of the description of the job description is to fight drug leg...

5-1: Carolina looked like the Baby Heels last night, getting blown out 92-65 by a surprisingly good Illinois team. The Heels played like a team whose eight-man rotation is made up of five freshmen and three sophomores, and the Illini's balance and deep front line paid off. IMHO, the Illinois backcourt -- step-for-step as quick as Felton and McCants -- was the key to the game. The Heels' guards are clearly not accustomed to playing against guys that fast, and it showed up in turnovers, rushed shots, etc. Kentucky at the Dean Dome is next. I remain juiced about this team, its athlecticism, its smarts, and its chemistry ... particularly after I witnessed one of the eight victories last year -- a one-point win over Binghamton, for crying out loud -- in person. It should be a great season to wear Carolina Blue.

RAINES OF TERROR? The New York Daily News reports the brass of the Times has killed sports columns by Harvey Araton and Pulitzer Prize winner Dave Anderson which opposed the Gray Lady's editorial stance on the Augusta National flap -- a controversy, BTW, that's been completely ginned up the Times and USA Today. Add to that the Times' recent front-page hatchet job on Robert McTeer of the Dallas Fed, skillfully dispatched by the WSJ's Bill McGurn , and you wonder whether the title "newspaper of record" is up for grabs. As Virginia Postrel , Mickey Kaus and others have pointed out, NYT Executive Editor Howell Raines cut his journalistic teeth as a Southern newpaper editor during the early stages of the civil rights movement. Back then, Raines, Tom Wicker and others were heroes. Unfortunately, their worldviews are frozen in that era and as a consequence they've become some of the most pernicious advocates of racial preferences since. IF IT AIN'T RE...

EVERYTHING'S WAITING FOR YOU ... This afternoon, the mayor of our fair city, Oscar Goodman (the former mob lawyer who played himself in Martin Scorsese's Casino ), will light a knockoff of the famous "Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas" sign . (As my friend and colleague Steve Sebelius notes, the old sign is on the south end of the Strip, all of which is outside the city limits, so even after you drive north past the landmark, you're still not in Las Vegas, you're in Clark County. Oh well.) The new version, "Welcome to Fabulous Downtown Las Vegas," will be located downtown, of course, and it marks about the bazillionth attempt at downtown boosterism on Goodman's watch. At least this one's relatively harmless, and is unlikely to ding local taxpayers that much. Since coming to office in 1999, saving downtown has been Goodman's quixotic quest. He's had no shortage of ideas: Build an arena for an NBA or NHL team; a stadium for a Major L...

PUCK, POST AND CENTRAL COAST CUE : The first day after a holiday weekend, and I'm recovering from a tryptophan hangover, so my first "real" posting is about food. The inimitable Bob Senn, proprietor of our favorite wine shop, the Los Olivos Wine & Spirits Emporium (nestled between Santa Barbara and Santa Maria on California's stunning Central Coast), reports that the legendary Hitching Post restaurant in Buellton, Calif., will be featured on Wolfgang Puck's Food Network show Dec. 5. Owner Frank Ostini will demonstrate Santa Maria-style tri-tip barbecue . Tri-tip is a sirloin cut available mainly in the West that's slow-cooked over an open spit (or on a Weber kettle, for the backyard barbecue crowd), marinated or seasoned with a rub. It's my favorite variety of beef (and one that I try my hand at on occasion). From a boy who grew up in the midst of the warring regions of North Carolina barbecue, discovering tri-tip was an epiphany, though it'll ...

Greetings. I'm Rick Henderson . Since April 2009, I've been the managing editor of Carolina Journal , the monthly tabloid produced by the free-market John Locke Foundation in Raleigh. It's a terrific gig, assigning stories, editing, writing, and producing stories for the Web site daily. It's great to be home again. I live with my wife Cara and our four pets in Raleigh. From January 2006 - February 2009, I was an editorial writer at the Rocky Mountain News in Denver. (Then the paper shut down.) Previously, I was on the editorial page of The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., the final seven months as deputy editor of the page. Before that, I spent four terrific years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal (Nevada's largest newspaper!) as an editorial writer and columnist. My first paying gig in journalism, 1989-1997, was a labor of love at Reason magazine, five of those years as the monthly's first full-time bureau chief in Washington, D.C. I'm a North ...