Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 12, 2014 in Blog, Politics |
Western democracies ask what can be done to curtail and possibly eradicate Islamic extremism, which has surpassed other threats as the greatest endangerment to world peace and prosperity.
Things are really getting ugly in some places. And it’s getting scarier.
This is a frustrating problem with few if any, solutions that are readily obvious. Even experts in diplomacy can’t point to a workable game plan for slowing down a global scourge of violence.
A possible solution: What just might save us all is an Arab-version of Oprah Winfrey or Dr. Phil.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 10, 2014 in Blog |
What’s America’s biggest problem?
First, let me tell you what it’s not.
It’s not the economy. It’s not terrorism. It’s not the increasing scarcity of natural resources. It’s not any of the typical uncertainties commonly associated with our perilous future.
Our biggest problem goes much deeper than that.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 10, 2014 in Blog |
At least LBJ tried
There’s a humongous difference between liberals and conservatives when it comes to views on how government should work, and what’s to be done by those we elect to be in charge. We, liberals, believe in action and activism. We want our leaders to lead, and to do so daringly. Conservatives to the contrary, believe in doing nothing — unless it’s waging a war somewhere. Conservatives are dismissive of Wall Street running wild and letting people, among them the most disadvantaged, fend for themselves. Accordingly, they chose to not govern at all. They abdicate responsibility, They’re on a perpetual holiday. The question is — why does President Obama also seem to be on the same long vacation?
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 9, 2014 in Blog, Personal, Rants and Raves |
Yesterday at a local Firestone Auto Center, I encountered something way too common.
While standing at the counter and explaining what repair services needed to be done, my time was poached and my man-space was violated. I’m talking about being hijacked by the all-too-frequent alien invader phone call.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 8, 2014 in Blog, General Poker, Talking Points, Video 1, World Series of Poker |
Tatjana Pasalic and I have done quite a few interviews together. I’m a big fan of her work, which is regularly posted at CalvinAyre.com.
Below this most recent interview, at the 2014 WSOP, see Part 1 of “How the West Was Won,” which is a nice overview of WSOP history.
READ: More background on the history of the WSOP
TAG: “Indeed, the casino started to look filthy. Everything inside smelled like smoke. Televisions inside the hotel rooms were broken and stayed that way for months. Some of the TVs still used old-fashioned rabbit ears. Hotel rooms went for as cheap as $19 a night, and they still couldn’t book them. Binion’s Horseshoe was an excruciating reminder that “old” Las Vegas was disappearing fast, soon to be extinct. It was a dying dinosaur on its last legs. Fewer tourists came downtown anymore and those who stayed there didn’t tend to gamble much. The real casino action and entertainment were down on The Strip, which might as well have been not just in a different state, but on another planet.”
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 8, 2014 in Blog, Music and Concert Reviews |
….great rock and blues legend, brilliant songwriter, and legendary pianist — Leon Russell.
Time for another rambling wreck of random thoughts and occasionally wacky ideas, about whatever comes to mind during this midnight hour on a hot August night here in Las Vegas.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 7, 2014 in Blog, Book Reviews, General Poker, World Series of Poker |
Chris Moneymaker holds no particular fascination for me and I have no interest in writing about him or that period again. He’s a backstabber. But his impact on poker was incalculable. Congratulations to Eric Raskin on writing the definitive story of his victory.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 6, 2014 in Blog, Movie Reviews, Talking Points |
I suspect that my intense interest in, and passion for, things like American politics, world history, international affairs, and my deep sense of civic responsibility stems largely from the important lessons I learned while still young.
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 5, 2014 in Blog, General Poker, Personal |
I worked for PokerStars.com for nearly three years. I served as the company’s Director of Communications between 2004-2006. Until now, I have written and said very little about my time spent with PokerStars. This was largely out of respect for the confidentially of the company and those I worked with closely during those years. However, the recent sale of the company by the Scheinberg Family allows me now to be more candid about what I did, and the activities I observed. Today marks the ten-year anniversary of the following telephone conference call, which essentially created the European Poker Tour (EPT).
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Posted by Nolan Dalla on Aug 4, 2014 in Blog, Movie Reviews |
Philip Seymour Hoffman in one of his final on-screen appearances, A Most Wanted Man, based on the book by John le Carre
In the real world of clandestine intelligence-gathering operations, otherwise known as “spying,” no bullet ever gets fired. The good guys don’t swing on trapeze wires between skyscrapers over breathtaking city skylines. The villains aren’t giggly chrome-domed psychopaths holding hissing white Persian cats. The real spy game is subtle, and at times — messy.
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