Reasons for such rebranding efforts through the years vary widely. Among other motivations, they have occurred because of disappointing numbers on the casino floor or in room booking, new owners seeking to put their own stamp on a property and marketing initiatives to reflect and better compete in the contemporary landscape.

On Monday, I met some very smart people.

When pubic hair became less fashionable, so did talking about crabs—but they're just as common as they've ever been.

A populist mayor in Taiwan who favors closer ties with China won the opposition party’s nomination to run against President Tsai Ing-wen, who has been sharply critical of Beijing’s attempts to pressure the island into unification.

Mel Wolzinger died recently at age ninety-eight. That suggests he led a good, long life, and he did. He was active to the end. And it’s a loss to our history. Indeed, he made history.

July marks a golden anniversary for Las Vegas: the opening of the International Hotel. If you haven’t heard of it, you may be more familiar with it as the Westgate, and before that as the Hilton. It’s had quite a history.

It’s suppertime, two days before Easter, and the Sportsbook, a two-level lounge on the second floor of Twin River Casino in Lincoln, is slowly filling. A ragged line of men bend over their sheets or scan the odds displayed on monitors as they inch to the tills. The walls flash with color and movement from 103 flat screens wrapping the room, like the facets of a fly’s compound eye. At least twenty professional athletic contests are being waged in hockey, basketball and baseball, and everybody hopes it will be a good Friday.

When you enter the southernmost part of the Las Vegas Strip and are greeted by the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, you can tell everyone you’ve reached Paradise — literally.