Macau Responds To Faltering Casino Revenues, Failed Projects With Another Giant Casino Project - AFP

The latest giant Macau casino complex, City of Dreams, opened its doors Monday, a high-stakes test of whether a reclaimed swamp in the gaming haven can avoid sinking into obscurity.

Backed by scions of two gaming dynasties, the 2.4 billion US dollar complex will eventually offer more than 500 casino tables and 1,500 gaming machines, as well as top-end restaurants, shops, hotels and a lavish entertainment venue.

The grand opening was marked by a huge fireworks display, while hundreds of punters queued to try their luck at the new tables. City of Dreams will be the only casino to open in the former Portuguese colony in 2009 after six years of frantic construction. It is being seen as a barometer of whether the reclaimed Cotai Strip can emulate its more famous relation in Las Vegas.

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The slowdown cast doubt on the future development of the Cotai Strip, which is positioned away from the city centre and is key to Macau's efforts to become an all-round tourism destination. A gleaming Cotai project by US firm Las Vegas Sands was halted late last year with the loss of more than 11,000 jobs, and the firm is still struggling for finance to complete the complex.

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http://www.sinodaily.com/reports/City_of_Dreams_hopes_to_end_Macau_nightmare_999.html

Sheldon Adelson, owner of Sands Corp, lost 95% of his wealth last year, about $30 billion, much of it lost in Macau, according to Forbes. That loss is right up there with Madoff's scheme.

Vegas has been the center of high-risk finance, and when Wall Street melted-down, Vegas burned to the ground. Or, was the "market contagion" the other way around?

There is a major connection between the two biggest American money centers that is not often acknowledged and little studied. GOOGLE "Mafia Wall Street" and "Vegas Wall Street". There's not much recent serious work on the subject.

Adelson was also a primary bankroller for Freedom's Watch, a right-wing propaganda organization. Freedom's Watch funders include: "Anthony Gioia, a Buffalo businessman who was Bush's ambassador to Malta; Kevin Moley, who was Bush's ambassador to the U.S. Mission to the United Nations in Geneva; Howard Leach, a former Republican National Committee finance chairman who was Bush's ambassador to France; Dr. John Templeton of Pennsylvania, chairman and president of the John Templeton Foundation; Ed Snider, chairman of Comcast Spectacor, the huge Philadelphia sports and entertainment firm; Sheldon Adelson, chairman of the Las Vegas Sands Corp. and ranked by Forbes magazine as the third-wealthiest American; and Richard Fox, who is chairman of the Jewish Policy Center and was Pennsylvania State Chairman of the Reagan/Bush campaign in 1980." Source: Rightwatch

Adelson is, of course, a "beard" for a circle of corrupt, Right-wing Wall St. operators with ties to the intelligence community, a circle that includes Carl Lindner, Charles Keating and Junk Bond King Mike Milken, also long-time McCain backers. When his bankers went belly-up, McCain's chances were finished.

leveymg's Journal - THE CRIMES AND COVERUPS OF JOHN McCAIN, “REFORMER” Jun 3, 2008 ... Like the Bush Family, McCain had his Hand in the BCCI and S&L Scandals McCain claims that his involvement in the Keating S&L scandal wasn’t ...
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/... - 48k

McCain Backer's Firm Pleaded Guilty To Funding Terrorist Group In Colombia ...Jul 2, 2008 ... Late last week, Lindner co-hosted a $25000-per-person fundraiser for McCain and the Republican Party in the wealthy Indian Hills ...
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/07/02/m... - 146k -

The public should get a view into the background of Lindner, Keating and McCain, which essentially boils down to big Mafia money that has flowed into the GOP and various extreme Rightist groups around the world since Meyer Lansky made a deal with the Republicans in the mid-1940s.In exchange for their legalized gambling and liquor concessions, Top Bosses Lansky and Giancana straightened up the mob's image in the southwest, in exchange the GOP (along with elements of the CIA) got a piece of the action. See, http://www.mail-archive.com/ctrl@listserv....

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=5770832&mesg_id=5770832

If we just keep building more of the same shit that's failing all around us, it will be OK!

:eyes: