Bookmarks for October 14th through October 15th

rakontur links for October 14th through October 15th:

• Rosenthal offered link to gangster era: Connections facilitated his rise and fall in Las Vegas (Las Vegas Review Journal) - Rosenthal's passing marks the close of yet another chapter in the transformation of Las Vegas from a gambling destination of ill-repute to a global destination celebrated by everyday tourists, politicians and corporate leaders who invest billions of dollars in resorts.
  
  "He was the innovator and creator of what we know today as the race and sports book in Las Vegas with all the modern accoutrements," said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, a former attorney who represented Rosenthal in high-profile scrapes with Nevada regulators, including now-Sen. Harry Reid. "He was an uncanny bettor and won a lot more than he lost."


• Your ‘Fear and Loathing’ Las Vegas Weekend (BlackBook) -


• Joe Cool case killer gets 5 life terms (Miami Herald) - ''For the family, I wish that, um, I wish I could take back what happened,'' Archer said in court. ``I wish I could show a little more emotion. But I'm not built that way. "There's nothing I can say to fix it or take it back,'' he said. ``I deserve to sit in jail the rest of my life. I deserve the death penalty. No question about that.''


• Miami SEC bashed for dropping Bear Stearns case (Miami Herald) - The Securities and Exchange Commission's Miami office had it all worked out: It was ready to charge Bear Stearns with fraud for overvaluing certain debt securities. After months of settlement talks, the commission agreed that Bear Stearns would pay $500,000 in penalties. Then, suddenly, the SEC simply dropped the case.


• Frank 'Lefty' Rosenthal dead at age 79 (Las Vegas Review Journal) - When I first heard Robert DeNiro had agreed to play a character based on Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal in the Martin Scorsese movie "Casino," I couldn't stop grinning. It was just about perfect. I imagined Rosenthal, a man possessed of a positively gigantic ego, almost allowing himself to be impressed. DeNiro, Brando, Olivier, with the ghost of Cary Grant mixed in for good measure: That would have been ideal by Rosenthal's measure of himself and his place in gambling's Pantheon.


• Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal dies at age 79 (Las Vegas Sun) - Former Las Vegas casino executive and mob-connected sports handicapper Frank "Lefty" Rosenthal has died at his Florida home at age 79.


• Frank Rosenthal responds to Miami Herald article about "Casino" - Back then, Rosenthal ran the Stardust, Freemont, Hacienda and Marina casinos in Las Vegas. According to federal law enforcement agencies, those casinos were operated by the mob. But then the '80s arrived. Federal law enforcement chased the mob out of Las Vegas. Rosenthal survived a car bombing, an alleged mob hit. And the Las Vegas gaming commission banned him from ever running a casino again.