The Secret Sun: Vegas Rising, or Babylon on the Colorado

Wow, the hits just keep on coming.

For reasons I'm not entirely comfortable acknowledging, we're seeing more and more focus placed on Sin City these days. We're going to be seeing a lot more besides, so gird your loins.

Like I've always said, you don't ever need to wonder if someone's trying to drill a meme, theme or symbol into your skull. The massive PR and advertising firms that are paid extremely well to hammer these things home tend to take a Shock-and-Awe approach to their work.

The question then becomes why and where is it all going.

They tried slipping this under the door Saturday morning, a time of the week when pretty much nobody pays attention to the news. And the stories all said Paddock had Diazepam in his system, which he was probably taking as a sleep aid.

Unfortunately, you'd have to be taking a shit-ton of it for a long time before it ever drove you to shooting up a country music festival. It is a sedative, after all. You probably know Diazepam better as Valium, a common synonym for chilled out.

I'm not sure who exactly is trying to signal "this is all bullshit" to us but it seems like a lot of folks within the local law enforcement certainly are.

Of course, Paddock's motives are a mystery. Things that don't actually exist are usually pretty mysterious.

There are two possibilities as far as I'm concerned; one, Paddock was dead long before any shooting ever started, or two, he was being Orion Krause'd by a black ops team in the suite next door. I'm open to both, but leaning more towards the first.

And then there's this.

Under normal circumstances, I'd have taken this story (more or less) at face value. But given the fact that this guy was allegedly guarding the door to Paddock's hotel room after the shootings, and in the context of all the other Mandalay Bay monkey business, "face value" is pretty much the last thing I'd take here.

This guy could be a child molesting scumbag or he could have set up to take a hard fall because he couldn't keep his big, fat, mustachioed mouth shut. Or maybe it's both.

They have something on everyone, Mister Mulder. The question is when they'll use it.

And then there's all the hearsay from unnamed hookers, prostitutes and call girls being planted on phony sites like Radar. Saw some of that this week, too.

Though I must say the bit about Paddock allegedly telling his favorite Scarlet Woman that he was being controlled by the government got my attention.

I mean, if you can't trust anonymous tipsters who make a living selling their asses to creepy old gamblers, who can you trust?

And don't forget to file this little item in your "Stinks on Ice" folder, along with the other Final Destination-type events met by Harvest 91 concertgoers. Assuming you haven't already.

Speaking of stinkers, there's also this. I need to look a bit deeper into this mess and sniff around for any tell-tale signs of high ritual. Let's just say I won't die of shock if there are.

And on the heels of the massive Consumer Electronics Expo we hear know that Vegas has been tapped to be a hub for video-gaming, an industry that far outstrips Hollywood when it comes to handing out money-printing licenses.

This story actually makes sense to me-- Las Vegas is an easier commute for the Area 51 mind-control engineers. I mean, have you ever seen the traffic around Los Angeles? Brutal.

Note that pic was taken at Luxor. Where else, right?

I still haven't decided whether Wynn is being shown the door because he flapped his yap about Paddock and the service elevator or just because he's older than dirt and the Vegas want some fresh blood. And not just to drink.

Time was guys his age retired and shipped off to live out their golden years on their private islands (think Peter O'Toole in Caligula). Maybe Wynn just needed a little push.

And there's a real shocker, eh? Never mind that Reno is a good seven hours away from Vegas. How can you not have your ritual games in your new world capital city? It's a sacrilege.

Given they planted a giant OA in the middle of town, I'd say it was inevitable they hold events in Nova Babalonia. In fact, I wouldn't be overly shocked if they turned out to be Reno Olympics in name only.

And of course the Vegas Golden Knights (no "Las") are the hottest ticket on ice these days. Note the various Elvish Apollyons fresh outta the Abyss here.

And so many pop and rock stars are planning residences in Heaven or Las Vegas it makes the head spin. And the way it's panning out, there's such a broad range of artists booking gigs there you'd almost suspect there was some kind of agenda at work here.

Check out the roster here--it's like a hit parade of stars: You got Adele for your mainstream audiences..

...Lady Gaga, for aspiring beauticians of all ages, genders and colors...

...Britney, for 90s girlz drinking away the disappointment...

...Elton John, for free-spending Baby Boomers...

...Ricky Martin for... actually, I have no earthly clue
who still listens to Ricky Martin...

...Jennifer Lopez, for middle-aged HR administrators out for
a night with the lay-tays...

...ZZ Top, for bikers lookin' to raise hell one last night
before retiring to Costa Rica...

...Aerosmith, for suite-booking whales,
their escorts and their toupees...

...Incubus, for the Texas Hold 'Em tournament crowd...

...The Killers, for rich Mormon software engineers and their tipsy wives...

... Nickelback, for polite but angsty Canadian snowbirds...

...and The Backstreet Boys, for terrible music-lovers of all ages and income brackets.

Also, 17.

Quite a mix there of major earners. I always regarded Las Vegas as the showbiz version of God's Waiting Room but apparently the rules have changed since I bothered to look.

Only the best will do for the Vegas.

POSTSCRIPT: VEGA, VEGA, VEGA!!!

Here's a few random yet totally-egregious examples of memetic Vega overkill. The more you see this stuff the more obvious it becomes that this is all about as spontaneous as pro wrestling.