GorillaOffTopic, Everything But Gorilla Trades

Gorilla Off Topic is taking a pause for the holiday season.  We’ll be back January 5th.  Happy New Year!

If you’re like the Gorilla, you have probably visited Las Vegas several times, or perhaps it’s among your favorite places to visit. Well, as if there weren’t enough hotels and attractions to accommodate every individual who visits, there are about to be even more.  Don’t get him wrong, the Gorilla loves the idea of more growth in Vegas. In fact the term, “bring it on” pretty much relays the excitement he feels each time he hears about another new hotel being constructed there. So when in the early morning hours of today, the historic New Frontier Casino was imploded to make room for another bigger, better, more luxurious Casino/Resort, the Gorilla felt a wave of excitement!

Now, too much growth is just, well, too much, right? Well, yes, that is certainly true where preserving areas of wildlife and endangered species’ habitats are concerned, but not in this mecca of adult (and now more family) oriented play and fun. The New Frontier’s implosion now makes way for a multi-billion dollar resort bearing the Plaza brand and is set to open in 2010. Israeli billionaire and Elad Group owner, Yitzhak Tshuva, is partnering to build an $8 billion mega-resort where the New Frontier once stood. The New Frontier earned historical accolades by becoming the Strip’s first theme casino and hosting Elvis’s debut in the city. The hotel first opened in 1942 with a light-hearted cowboy village theme. The hotel became known for it’s bikini bull riding, cheap hotel rooms, and $5 craps before it closed for good in July.

The destruction of the New Frontier was the latest step in what is planned to be a very expensive facelift for the northern Strip. The Stardust hotel-casino was imploded in March. Tshuva promises to build “one of the most magnificent hotels in the world” on the site and will include over 3500 rooms, private residences, retail space, and a casino, all bearing the Plaza brand catering to upscale clientele. Just when it seems that Vegas couldn’t get any more beautiful and exciting, it does, and the Gorilla is looking forward to his next visit to check it all out. Keep your eye out for this primate at the Blackjack tables. Viva Las Vegas!

So, another food recall? This is getting ridiculous as far as the Gorilla is concerned. General Mills now says it’s recalling several brands of its Totino’s brand pizzas due to an outbreak of E. coli. It is suspected that the problem may stem from pepperoni produced at an Ohio plant. The company says that state and federal authorities have been investigating 21 E. coli cases in 10 states. 9 of those reported eating the popular Totino’s brand pizza, before becoming ill.

Recently, Topps Meat Co LLC, the biggest manufacturer of frozen hamburgers in the country, went out of business after the recall of 21.7 million pounds of beef linked to 30 cases of E. coli-related illness, literally crushing the meat company’s business. It was the fifth-largest meat or poultry recall in U.S. history, the USDA said. No deaths were reported in the outbreak of E. coli 0157:H7, which can cause debilitating diarrhea and dehydration.

So, what’s going on with our meat supply in the U.S.? Why isn’t the Federal government enacting tighter restrictions and regulations for suppliers of frozen prepared meats? It is a well know fact that healthy livestock carries the E. coli bacteria in their intestines. That is unavoidable unless you don’t eat meat, so when the meat comes to us raw, it is our responsibility to handle it properly by washing our hands thoroughly, after handling and cooking it to the proper temperature. But when it comes to prepared meats (cooked) that come to us frozen, we certainly have no control over how it was previously handled prior to arriving in our kitchens. What’s a meat-lover to do? The Gorilla is starting to consider something he never would have in the past; becoming a vegetarian. Not a bad idea!

With all the wildfires burning in California, the Gorilla has to ask, “Is this a result of global warming or is it a result of a season of very dry weather?” One would think it is obvious, but it really is not. An environmental researcher from UCLA commented last night that although global warming would seem the “likely answer,” it may not actually be. He went on to say that you can’t “judge by one season of bad weather.”  Of course this was his own professional opinion, but the Gorilla, being an analytical, but also common sense primate, believes in the old adage, “if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, it probably is”…. well you get the point. It is believed that although the U.S. is avidly working to cut back it’s emissions (due, in part, to the efforts of good ole’ Al Gore) many other countries, including China and Japan are spewing more carbon monoxide into the atmosphere than ever before! If something isn’t done to regulate these countries emissions as well, what will become of the global environment?  The Gorilla would love to hear what YOU think about this issue. 

The Gorilla really likes hearing cute stories of civilian justice every so often, and this one is quite amusing: When Adrian and Tiffany McKinnon returned from a week-long vacation to their Montgomery, Alabama home on Thursday afternoon, they were met with an unexpected surprise. They walked in to find that they had been burglarized, and almost everything the family of five owned had been emptied. The house was in shambles, with piles of garbage all over the place. Adrian McKinnon sent his wife to her sisters so he could assess the situation. But when Adrian McKinnon went to inspect the sunroom, to his shock, the thief ran right into him, still wearing one of Adrian’s hats! Instead of panicking, Adrian took over the gun, and held the thief, 33-year-old Tajuan Bullock, at gunpoint. Mr. McKinnon then made the thief clean up the mess he had made in the house and put things back where they belonged.  ”We made this man clean up all this mess he had made, piles of stuff he had thrown out of my cabinets and drawers,” Tiffany McKinnon said.Even more humorous was the fact that when the police arrived, Bullock actually complained about having to clean up, while being held at gunpoint. “This man had the nerve to raise sand about us making him clean up the mess he made in my house,” she said. “The police officer laughed at him when he complained and said anybody else would have shot him dead.”  Police arrested Bullock on burglary and theft charges. The Gorilla is quite sure, given the same situation, he would do exactly the same thing. More and more people are taking a zero tolerance attitude when it comes to being victims of crimes these days. After all, don’t people have a right to protect themselves, their homes, and their families? Good for the McKinnons!

Every time the Gorilla hears about the recent OJ Simpson troubles, he has to giggle a bit. Karma really is something, isn’t it? In recent news, a co-defendant in the Las Vegas, Nevada armed robbery case in which OJ was the “star” stated that OJ was well aware that there were guns present during the alleged attempted robbery. OJ even asked two other defendants in the case to bring the guns to the hotel room, where he planned to recover items from a memorabilia dealer, which he believed belonged to him. The other suspect in the case, Robert Alexander, stated that he and another man showed up with guns at OJ’s request then headed for the casino hotel room, where the memorabilia dealer was staying. It was reported that OJ just wanted to “scare” the man and never planned to use the guns. Right now, OJ’s charges include kidnapping, armed robbery, assault with a deadly weapon, and conspiracy. He is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in  Las Vegas Justice Court on November the 8th. If OJ is found guilty, and convicted on the Kidnapping charge, he faces life in prison with parole. Could this mean that OJ Simpson will finally get the comeuppances he so deserves? There may be a “Double Jeopardy” law in regard to murder cases, but thank God for OJ’s stupidity, as it may at last be the one thing that gets him what he has been so deserving of all these years- a long overdue punishment!