The unmatched and comprehensive online meeting hall for Nevada workers since 1995
"Our republic and its press will rise or fall together." — Joseph Pulitzer
Je Suis Charlie

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Andrew Barbano Editor/Publisher
Photo: Debra Reid, Sparks Tribune

Site Map
Memo to modern short attention spaniels: This front page is chronological, the site map is categorical.

SITE NAVIGATION TIP: When all else fails, read the instructions
(A favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)

Breaking News & then some—>

Taylor triumphs, T-Rump teed off
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-14-2024

Siren princesses traumatize trolls
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-7-2024

Super Bowling: Culinary Union hosts heavyweight huddle to start Super Bowl Week

Commissar T-Rump Serves Czar RasPutin
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-31-2024

After Teamsters meeting, Trump says of possible union endorsement, "Stranger things have happened"
By Jill Kolvin & Tom Krisher / Associated Press / 1-31-2024

Ben Franklin's bleary bifocals
Guest-starring Peter Sellers & The Muppets

And a true story: Song from the streets of San Francisco

Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-24-2024

Breaking News—>CANCELLED/ON HOLD / STAY TUNED.
Teamsters picket US Foods in Golden Valley, north of downtown Reno

2:00p.m. PST Jan. 24 thru 11:00a.m Saturday Jan. 27
US Foods, 850 N. Hill Rd., Reno NV 89506
In Solidarity with Teamsters Local 705 Chicago
Read all about it.

To Die For
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-17-2024

Nevada Association of Letter Carriers President Glenn Norton Dies.
1-16-2024

Portents from the Terminator
MASK UP: COVID, RSV and Influenza are swamping emergency rooms
BUYER BEWARE: Cancer-causing chemicals in makeup and everything plastic
(Consumer Reports)
SIGN AND VOTE: Initiative petition filed to regulate payday loan predators
APPLY TODAY:
Now hiring union organizers
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-10-2024

Culinary Union sets Las Vegas hotel strike deadline 1 week before Super Bowl

Control freaks and crackerjacks
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-3-2024

Local Union Leaders Seek to Build Momentum off Strong 2023
By Andrew Zuker / OurTownReno.com 1-2-2024

Hope you and yours enjoyed Happy High Holly Days
Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Festivus/
Chanukah
/Thanksgibleting
Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad
HAPPY NEW YEAR / Feliz Año Nuevo
/ Felice Anno Nuovo
Frohe Weihnachten und beste Wuensche fuer 2024
Vaxx up, stay safe, pray for Ukraine and almost 100 other currently war-torn lands.

Betty J. Barbano
2-7-1941 / 12-27-2005
Remember her laughter

Larry Barbano, Frater Mei
1947-2023

Breaking News & then some—>

T-Rump raps America
The Orange Crusher goes hip hop
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-27-2023

The greatest movie never made
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-20-2023

I Love Lucy: Open the Golden Door
All those thousands of unkempt travelers on our southern border are not our problem, they are our solution. Screen them. House them. Feed them. Educate their children. They will make us prosperous and proud.
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-13-2023

Series of measures protected renters from NV’s harsh eviction laws. Not anymore.
By Michael Lyle / Nevada Current 12-11-2023 / Also appeared in Reno Gazette-Journal 12-17-2023
Much More at Rentvolution.org

Pearl Harbor 12-7-1941

In the cocoon of our unhealthy cartoon
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-6-2023

11-30-2023
St. Andrew's Day in Scotland & BarbwireLand

Hoist ye holy spirits. Alleluia!

Be well. Raise hell. Stay safe. Ciao.

Bonfire of the Vampires
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-29-2023

Who will answer?
Part 2
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-22-2023

Last Chance Joe meets Sherlock Holmes
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-15-2023

My brother died for his country. Twice.
Larry Barbano, 1947-2023
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Special Veterans Day Edition 11-11-2023

Carano/Caesars outfit and Culinary Union cut a deal before strike deadline
Other Gomorrah South gambling joints predicted to follow suit
By Howard Stutz / Nevada Independent / 11-8-2023
U-News UPDATE: Union holds Caesars, MGM & Wynn contract ratification votes Nov. 20-21-22, a Happy Thanksgiving indeed.

Upsy daisy Nevada crazy
New renters' rights organization tries again
Judge bounces teachers union petition to put Oakland A's tax-paid corporate welfare stadium before voters
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-8-2023

A Brief History of the End of the World
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-1-2023

Happy Hallowe'en / All Hallows Eve
All Souls Day/All Saints Day
Feliz al Dia de los Muertos
Nevada Day

Letter to the Lord of War
For my bro Larry Barbano, 1947-2023
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-25-2023

Wasting workers where everybody knows your name
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-18-2023

STRIP DOWN—>Thousands picket LV Strip 8 MGMs+Caesars
Thursday 10-12-2023

Ted Pappageorge, Culinary Union Secretary-Treasurer and
union members will be available for English and Spanish interviews:
10am-12noon: Paris Casino, 3655 Las Vegas Blvd. South
5:00pm-7:00pm: Park MGM, 3770 Las Vegas Blvd. S.

Contact: Bethany Khan <BKhan@culinaryunion226.org>

MEMORIES OF MEmorial

The most dangerous animal in the world
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-11-2023

Unforgettable, Unforgivable & Unnecessary
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-4-2023

The Last Picture Show: Serenata for Renate
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-4-2023

The fires of September that changed forever

¡Viva huelga!

NV Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar Joins UAW Reno Strikers
Wednesday 10-4-2023 5:30p.m. PDT
TEN-ISH ANYONE?: State Treasurer Zach Conine hits the line
Tuesday 10-10@10-ish — 10:30 a.m. or thereabouts

A Song for César: The life & legacy of César Chávez

PBS Network Premiere: 9/29/2023 | TV-PG |
Through interviews with Maya Angelou, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana and more, see how music and the arts were instrumental to the success of the social movement Chávez helped found, which mobilized thousands of farmworkers across the U.S. Through interviews with Maya Angelou, Joan Baez, Carlos Santana, Cheech Marin and more, see how music and the arts were instrumental to the success of the social movement Chávez helped found. Connecting the activism of the 1960s to today, musicians Abel Sanchez and Jorge Santana pay homage to Chávez, grassroots organizers and farmworkers through song.

PBS Reno KNPB TV-5 additional telecasts
Saturday/sábado, September/septiembre 30 / 2:30 am PT
Monday/lunes, October/octubre 2 / 4:00 am PT

Check local listings. Spread the word on UAW picket lines.

Watch preview or full program

CésarChávezNevada.com

¡ se puede!

We know how to fight

Communications Workers of America National President Pickets with Reno/Stead UAW Strikers
Nationwide Release 9-28-2023

George "Battling" Nelson, the UAW and the Fight of the Century

Unions go for Nevada hat trick
—> 1. National UAW strike spreads to GM in Reno

Déjà vu all over again
"Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it." — George Santayana

Déjà vu all over again (5-15-2009) — César Chávez/ Nevada Labor.com Hall of Famers Sam Lumpe (1940-2016), left, and George "Battling" Nelson (1932-2016), second from left, lead the United Auto Workers Local 2162 March to Reno City Hall in 2019. Good Sam was a retired member of Sheet Metal Workers Local 26/AFL-CIO. Boxing aficionado Nelson was an internationally recognized member of the United Auto Workers Union, honored with the Walter Reuther Distinguished Service Lifetime Achievement Award not long before his death. The signs speak for themselves. The more things change, the more they stay the same.
(NevadaLabor.com photo by Andrew Barbano)

This just in from Gomorrah South —>
—> 2. Culinary Union members OK strike that would make Vegas go dark
—>
3. Culinary 226 launches organizing campaign vs. Alexxa's LV in Paris Casino

¡ se puede!

¡Union diga si!

SPECIAL ADDED DETRACTION
KLANWATCH —> Indivisible Northern Nevada and Battle Born Progress co-host 9/28 public meeting warning of the Orwellianly named "Moms for Liberty" now metastasizing in Nevada. MFL designated as a hate group according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. (White sheets optional but not recommended.)

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

MOVING ON TO THE NEXT ORGANIZING CAMPAIGN —>
(U-News 9-6-2023) —> Longtime Teamsters Union Local 533 leader Bill Montgomery died Sept. 5
May the big guy rest in peace. Watch NevadaLabor.com for more information.

a

Washoe will decide presidency in 2024
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-27-2023

Elon Musk, President of the United States
Plus 2 Barbwire National News Exclusives
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-20-2023

Death by a thousand cuts
The incredible shrinking phony phone book
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-13-2023


Requiescant in pace.


9-11-2001

a

A tale of two cupcakes
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-6-2023

You bet your life
Broken promises, broken bodies, broken bets & broken democracies
Make your Labor Day weekend count for workers

Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-30-2023

Life as a color cartoon
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-23-2023

Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford keynotes Aug. 26 NAACP dinner

Renate Neumann: Once upon a time
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-16-2023

Tin boxes and tin men
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-9-2023

The apogee of the apocalypse
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-2-2023

Déjà vu all over again—> BLACK SMOKE AND BLACK FIRE
Culinary Union publishes Station Casinos' hiring discrimination lists
If you are identified as a union sympathizer, your name is MUD
As always, gambling moguls consider themselves above the law
8-2-2023
Barbwire revealed such casino practices in 1999
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-11-1999

HONOR ROLL: The late great Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, was born on 7-28-1935 in Mounds, Louisiana. Happy Birthday, old friend.

The Hounds of the Tubervilles
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-26-2023


Trucking Giant Yellow Shuts Down Operations
By Sarah Nassauer & Paul Page • Wall Street Journal / Sunday 7-30-2023

Hot August Strikes!

7-25-2023 — Teamsters reach tentative deal with UPS. Where have we heard that one before? Oh, yeah. See July 2, hereinbelow. Stay tuned.
"It ain't over 'til it's over" — Yogi Berra

Teamsters Local 533 president hails tentative UPS agreement
Ratification vote dates not yet announced
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 7-25-2023

Current strikes by the Writers Guild, Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and at Bigbux Overpriced Coffee may be only the beginning. More nationwide work stoppages are imminent at United Parcel Service (UPS) [Teamsters]; Yellow Corp. [YRC Freight and Holland, formerly known as Yellow Freight] (Teamsters); and General Motors, Ford and/or Stellantis [Chrysler-Dodge-Fiat-Peugeot] or all of the above (United Autoworkers).
Tune up your picket sign and stay tuned. Viva Huelga!
¡Sí se puede!

Hot August Strike? AGAIN?

Northern Nevada UPS drivers hold 'practice picket' as possible strike over contract looms
By Ben Margiott / KRNV TV-4 & KXRI TV-11 / 7-6-2023

More than 1,200 Reno-area UPS employees may go on strike Aug. 1
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 7-5-2023

1997 NevadaLabor.com UPS strike archive

After marathon sessions, UPS negotiations collapse
Teamster.org 7-5-2023

Love's Labours Lost Dept.
Teamsters and UPS reach tentative agreement, diminishing national strike chances
By Julia Mueller / The Hill 7-2-2023
Sparks police acted like company strikebreakers in 1997 UPS strike
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-14-2023

340,000 UPS workers are voting whether to authorize a massive strike
By Vanessa Yurkevich / CNN 6-6-2023
1997 NevadaLabor.com UPS strike archive

Teamsters Local 533 War Room

Miss Priscilla Goodbody channels Princess Cassandra
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-19-2023

Love letters from Miss Priscilla Goodbody
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-12-2023

                            

True Confession: I drink Bud Light
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-5-2023

If you strike a king
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-28-2023

Lithium Nevada sues Thacker Pass opponents, alleging trespass, vandalism and threats
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 6-29-2023

Teamsters 533 warns Austin, Texas, transportation regulators not to hire Keolis Transit
Sparks Tribune
6-28-2023

Culinary Union wins card-check agreement at former Sheldon Adelson Las Vegas properties
6-27-2023

RENTVOLUTIONV.ORG
Republican Nevada Gov. Giuseppe Lumbago vetoes pro-tenant bills despite warnings of impending homeless crisis

Invasion of the Chicken Pluckers
Gov. Ron DeSatanist soils the Silver State at GOP testiclefest
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-21-2023 / Expansions in blue

Politicians with nothing to hide
The Barbwire Nakedly & Unabashedly Announces Its New Fleshing Out Follytix Forum—>
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-14-2023
More naked reality

Sparks police acted like company strikebreakers in 1997 UPS strike
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-14-2023

GOOD JOBS WITH A FUTURE. Laborers' Union Local 169 is accepting applications for its apprenticeship program. Apply online at local169.com/apprenticeship/ For more info, call (775) 343-0171 or e-mail <laborerstraining@local169.com> Tell them you heard about it on the Barbwire.

Don't say I didn't warn you as far back as 1992—>

From the NevadaLabor.com archives

 

President Donald Trump as Andrew Jackson? So opined a plethora of prestigious, highly-paid expert pundits on election night Nov. '16. The Barbwire warned of exactly that in the previous March. Twice.
And much more as far back as 1992 and 2012.


That ain't all. Read 'em and weep, pilgrims.

Nobody knows nothin'
By David Horsey, Staff Cartoonist / Los Angeles Times 11-9-2016
BARBWIRE SEZ the awesome Mr. Horsey's assertion that only the LAT/USC poll was accurate ain't necessarily so.

Those with crystal balls shouldn't throw stones
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-15-2016 Sparks Tribune
Beware the Ides of March, eh wot?

Remembering the first female U.S. presidents
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-8-2016 Sparks Tribune

"Any system of prolonged political paralysis and failed liberalism vomits up monsters. And the longer we remain in a state of political paralysis — especially as we stumble toward another financial collapse — the more certain it becomes that these monsters will take power." Christopher Hedges at NationOfChange.org 17 Oct. 2016.

History foreshadows a GOP November win
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-16-2016 Sparks Tribune / Updated 2-19-2016
17 Republican candidates were in the field at that time

All the more reason to subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
(CHEAP —> HushHush!)

Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers on Drugs
"The devil children of Ronald Reagan will rise like zombies from a bad black-and-white movie to haunt us...
"The 2016 election may bring the Year of the Living Dead."
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 11-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

GREAT MINDS THINK ALIKE DEPT.
How to avoid a civil war, by the man who predicted Trump

By David Shariatmadari / The Guardian of London, UK / 6-10-2023

Freebies for the rich and famous
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-7-2023

340,000 UPS workers are voting whether to authorize a massive strike
By Vanessa Yurkevich / CNN 6-6-2023
1997 Nevada UPS strike archive

Teamsters 533 scores legislative victory for transit workers
By Kristen Hackbarth / This IsReno.com 6-4-2023
[[ Much More ]]

Tina Turner's Basketburger
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-31-2023

GOATs, cults and corporations
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-24-2023

Cutting your woke to spite your face
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-17-2023

Beth Elise Wait Jacobs
Distinguished Nevada Educator and Union Stalwart
1930-2022

Humpty Dumpty & the blackguard dwarves
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-10-2023

Gov. Lumbago's Slush Fund
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-3-2023

The awful truth and then some
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-26-2023

The Veep and the Bus Boy
Vice-President Kamala comes to Reno & the Bus Boy gets the blues
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-19-2023

An earful of cider
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-12-2023

What's in it for me?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-5-2023

Just in time for April Fools' Day!
Trump Indicted: No one is above the law
An editorial from that dastardly f
ake-news New York Times / 3-31-2023

Hearing March 29
Sen. Daly's SB274 to help injured first responders
IMPORTANT! Send your support via above link
(Even if you didn't submit before the hearing, there is still a long way to go. Please get on the record. Your comments will follow the bill throughout the process. Thank you.)

Who will answer?
Part 1
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-29-2023

Bill would regulate mobile home park rent increases
Sen. Skip Daly's SB275 would prevent manufactured home parks from raising rents higher than the “maximum annual rent increase percentage."
Reno Gazette-Journal / 3-29-2023

Culinary Union supports AB340 reforming evictions
Culinary Union Local 226 President Ted Pappageorge / 3-29-2023

The ghost of legendary Reno Mayor Barbara Bennett returns
Sen. Skip Daly picks up the torch for the little people
Mobile home park residents urge lawmakers to stabilize rents: ‘We are in dire need’
By Michael Lyle / Nevada Current via ThisIsReno.com / 3-28-2023
Much More About Renters Rights at Rentvolution.org

Keolis Transit loses federal case it filed against Teamsters Union employee
By Bob Conrad / ThisIsReno.com 3-28-2023
Much more at the NevadaLabor.com Teamsters Local 533 War Room

Michigan repeals union-busting right-to-work for less law
By Jonathan Weisman / The New York Times / 3-23-2023
Nevada's bitter history

¡VIVA CHAVEZ!

CESAR CHAVEZ ABIDES. His United Farm Workers Union in California is trying to rebound after years of erosion in a difficult environment. I was heartened to learn that Nevada Legal Services is actively working on behalf of Lyon County laborers. On March 30, 2023, an awareness event will be held at the Yerington Theater from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. For info, contact Lorena Castaneda at the Farmworker Law Project (775) 284-3491 Ext. 230, <lcastaneda@nevadalegalservices.org>

Recurring revolutions and tent control
César Chávez Yerington event 3-30-2023
Hearing March 29: Bill to help injured first responders
Nevada Womens' March 3-25-2023
Once and future rent control
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-22-2023

BEWARE THE IDES OF MARCH

TURF WAR
Sparks City Hall wants to kill your kids
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-15-2023

Aaron Rodgers, call your office


Michigan pushes repeal of right-to-work for less law
By David Leonhardt /The New York Times 3-10-2023

Keolis Nevada infamy spreads to France, strikes and all

Selling sex in morally righteous Mississippi West
Sen. Dina Neal keeps up the heat on Elon Musk & Tesla
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno
/
Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-8-2023

INFO: Assemblymember Venicia Considine, D-Clark
Seating is limited, RSVP recommended Chris.Molnar@asm.state.nv.us
RSVP is not required to attend.
(775) 684-8801

APOCALYPSE THEN—>
It can't happen here. We're too smart, right?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-1-2023

Abandon hope all ye who enter here
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-22-2023

Moonhowlers: Fix Social Security. Please die.
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-15-2023

Fatherly advice from the Holy See of Me
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-8-2023

Snake oil, snake worship and quack news
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-1-2023

Gov. Giuseppe Lumbago: Pie in the Sky
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-25-2023

RIP GOP: Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-18-2023

‘We’re all burned out’: VA workers rally outside hospital over staffing shortages
By Mark Hernandez / ThisIsReno.com 1-15-2023

Virginia Transit Strike May Impact Northern Nevada
Sparks Mayor/RTC Chair supports union right to picket
By Kristen Hackbarth / ThisIsReno.com 1-12-2023
More at U-News/Teamsters Local 533 War Room

RIP GOP: 2000 Prediction Coming True
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-11-2023 / Updated 1-12-2023

Who's the boss?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-4-2023 / Updated 1-12-2023 / Expansions in blue

Betty J. Barbano
2-7-1941 / 12-27-2005
Remember her laughter

Hope you and yours enjoyed Happy High Holly Days
Christmas/Kwanzaa/Solstice/Festivus/
Chanukah
/Thanksgibleting
Feliz Navidad, próspero año y felicidad
HAPPY NEW YEAR / Feliz Año Nuevo
/ Felice Anno Nuovo
Frohe Weihnachten und beste Wuensche fuer 2023
Vaxx up, stay safe, pray for Ukraine and 53 other currently war-torn lands.


War in moderation?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-13-2022


Eee-yo-leven!
Barbwire wins 11th Nevada Press Association award
6 of 11 gold
Tribune editorial page voted 2020 best

Dennis Myers 2nd Barbwire nominee elected to NPA Hall of Fame

Support Don Dondero and Jake Highton and David Toll and Foster Church and Norman Cardoza next
Send endorsements

The Dean's List

   The Dean of Reno Bloggers could very well be Andrew Barbano, self-described "fighter of public demons," who started putting his "Barbwire" columns online in 1996 and now runs 10 sites.

RENO NEWS & REVIEW, 11-9-2006

 

The Lady in the Red Dress
The Barbwire's classic Nevada Day column written in 1983
The compleat history of the Silver State in 500 words
SO WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE?

DAILY SPARKS TRIBUNE 1-3-2011

Je Suis Charlie

30+ years of Barbwire Archives thru today

SITE MAP

SITE NAVIGATION TIP: When all else fails, read the instructions
(A favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

All the news you never knew you needed to know—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
The Underbelly of the News—>TOP SECRET, HUSH HUSH!

Navigating the flagship—>Making quick work of NevadaLabor.com

WHEN ALL ELSE FAILS DEPT.—> A year or so back, I got my first criticism in more than two decades that this site is a bit confusing to navigate. I take that as a compliment. Confusing people is one of my few talents.
    I thought I had anticipated any such problems years ago by liberally sprinkling links to the front page site map. (These days, am I supposed to say that I sprinkled progressively rather than liberally?)
    The front page of NevadaLabor.com acts as a chronological listing of recent workplace news with the latest at the top. I archive annually to create a continuous permanent record fully accessible via the site map or any garden-variety websearch.
    "We Don't Need No Education" is now approaching its 100th installment and long ago earned its own section inside. Say hi to Don Quixote.
    Current Barbwires plus more than 20 years of columaniacal archives, the Statewide News Roundup and Breaking News/Bull'tins/Almanac are all available via the site map—>as well as the usual general or specific ongoing madness and historical inflammation. (Once something's posted here or to any of my other sites, it's up forever.)
    While the front page is chronological, the Statewide News Roundup is categorical, e.g., construction, hospitality, legislation, health care and many others. Breaking News/Bull'tins/Almanac often publishes original U-News as well as links to items at other sites that are not hot enough for the front page chronology. The NevadaLabor.com search engine acts as a short-cut to everything, depending on what you seek. So simply seek and ye shall find.
    As my old friend Wise John the Lake Havasu Cropduster Pilot often says, "when all else fails, read the instructions." So when all else fails, re-read the above, then go to the nearest site map link and/or "search." The NevadaLabor.com search engine is really amazing. It's also union-signatory and thus quite efficient.
    Thanks for your inputs and support over lo, these many years. Keep up the good work and the good fight.
    Esté bien. Haga infierno. / Be well. Raise hell.

—> Andrew the Barbwire Man

Political Animal Crackers & Crackups

      "I think it is dangerous to confuse the idea of democracy with elections. Just because you have elections doesn't mean you are a democracy...I'm still taken aback at the extent of indoctrination and propaganda in the United States. It is as if people there are being reared in a sort of altered reality, like broiler chickens or pigs in a pen."

Indian novelist Arundhati Roy
in the Barbwire of 9-12-2004


      
The American electorate is a dumb cow that follows the herd, is easily stampeded, gets milked for all she's worth and produces offspring for meat, muscle or cannon fodder to benefit the few. When all used up, she is sent to the slaughterhouse so that she may give her overlords the last full measure of devotion, bones for Jello and hide for belts. No stars and stripes for her grave because she doesn't merit one, having been totally consumed by our consumptive system.
Barbwire 9-12-2010

"If elections mattered, they wouldn't let us do it." Travus T. Hipp, 1982


Editor's Note: Many of the news links on this site are from Nevada dailies. In late 2006, the Reno Gannett-Journal began nuking much of its archive. If you encounter any broken links, I encourage you to contact them and send me a copy. On the one hand, they want to build their web traffic in order to increase the price of ads. On the other hand, they are killing that very traffic. Far be it from me to reconcile the Dilbert-style motivations of an outfit for which a 38 percent net profit is not enough. If you can explain it, please enlighten me. (Before you e-mail me, please read this bulletinAB) UPDATE: In early 2008, the Las Vegas Sun "upgraded " its website, nuking more than a dozen years of links. If you find an orphaned Sun story, search their site for the title.

 



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for Nevada workers since 1995



The tale of our gorgeous union-created graphics

In 2002, we were honored to produce the Centennial Book for the 100th anniversary of the founding of northern Nevada Painters and Allied Trades Local 567/AFL-CIO. Working on a short time frame, we cast a nationwide net for appropriate cover art and succeeded beyond our wildest dreams thanks to muralists Kathleen Scarboro and Kathleen Farrell. The above illustration ("Papering the World: Joliet's Wallpaper Industry") appeared on the cover and interior of Local 567's Centennial Book, copies of which have been submitted to Nevada libraries and historical organizations. The mural, painted on a wall in Joliet, Illinois, depicts Painters Union members manufacturing wallpaper the old fashioned way, long about the time of Local 567's founding. Ms. Farrell is a member of United Scenic Artists Local 829, an affiliate of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades/AFL-CIO. Ms. Scarboro is a member of the Maison des Artists in Paris, the association which represents artists in France.

Ms. Farrell executes murals, mosaics and figurative sculptures for the labor movement. Her work and that of others may be viewed at the Friends of Community Public Art web site. "We have added new table top size sculptures for sale as well as additions of our life size sculptures," she says. "A number of the sculptures feature union members including the Baseball Player (The Catch) and The Firefighter. I have also finished the rad workers sculpture I mentioned awhile back. I welcome work from unions that would like to buy the existing sculptures or hire me to create awards, tabletop size sculptures and life size sculptures."

Sister Farrell may be contacted at terri@fcpaonline.org; phone (815) 722-4140; fax (815) 722-9007. You may view more of her work and obtain additional contact information at http://fcpaonline.org/artist.asp?a=farrelka

Rotating at the top of this site as well as in pastel form in the background of this page is a mural produced for the Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Union/AFL-CIO. The others were acrylics on canvas done for the United Food and Commercial Workers and to memorialize the plight of U.S. chicken processing workers (si podemos). Enjoy.

Be well. Raise hell.

Murals/montages copyright © Kathleen Farrell



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