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2007 Barbwires 2008 Barbwires 2009 Barbwires 2010 Barbwires BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO 2011 Barbwires Current Barbwires Pulitzer Entries Pre-Web Barbwires "If you can't say anything nice about someone, sit right here by me." — Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth

Travus T. Hipp Feb. 20, 1937 — May 18, 2012 NEW: The Bullfrog Times-Picayune and Sticky Stones: Last blast from the past NEWLY UPLOADED: Love ain't free Evelyn Kerr's remembrances of the life and times of Travus T. Hipp from the pages of TimeMazine CD available

The way it was and may be again. Please volunteer and contribute. What may well have been the first marriage of talk radio, talk TV and webcast webchat. Remarriage is possible with a little help from our friends.

Barbano back on Sam Shad's statewide Nevada Newsmakers TV program Reno-Sparks-Washoe-Carson City-Dayton-Tahoe-Douglas-Storey County Charter cable Live call-ins 775-882-TALK (882-8255) Reruns statewide. Check local listings. Click here for selected on-demand re-runs from the 2009-2010-2011 Barbwire TV archives Click here for channels, times and video on-demand Barbwire.TV 5-31-2011: The Mining Addiction Barbwire banned in prime time Clinging to the Ledge: Cold War Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-22-2011 Daily Sparks Tribune TV this week: Freedom Riders and wage defenders Since they're blaming the victims, it's high time for the victims to fight back. Live with your phone calls throughout northwestern Nevada Tuesday, 5-17-2011 7:00 p.m. PDT 5-17-2011 / 02:00 5-18 ZULU-GMT Suing for Schools: Feb. 21 2010 Barbwire live TV special

What was once can happen again with a little help from our friends.

Unless otherwise noted, columns originate in the Daily Sparks, Nev., Tribune.

Aug. 2012-Aug. 2013: the Barbwire's Silver Anniversary Year
Barbwire by Barbano moved to the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

Bestest of the grotesquest for 2013
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-27-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

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

John Wayne, Michael Moore & Andrew Undershaft
The guns of mythology
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-20-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Tit for Tat: Body blows from Lydia and Kap
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-13-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

COLIN KAEPERNICK, CALL YOUR OFFICE — Groucho Marx sings Lydia the Tattooed Lady in the 1939 Marx Brothers film At the Circus. The song gained renewed popularity in the 1970's and 1980's on the nationally syndicated Dr. Demento radio show.

 

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 HAT TRICK Barbwire wins third straight Nevada Press Association first-place award BIG NEWS FROM THE 9-22-2012 NPA CONFAB IN GOMORRAH SOUTH The 2009 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners Tony the Tiger & the flaky NFL Barbwire / 11-30-2008 Deregulation is never having to say you're sorry Barbwire / 8-3-2008 Nevada: A good place to visit, but do you want to live here? Barbwire / 6-15-2008 The 2008 first-place Nevada Press Association award winners The price of a piece/6-17-2007 Boxing Pandora/9-23-2007 The Lady in the Red Dress 10-28-2007 1997 Pulitzer Prize entries Barbwire.TV Watch NevadaLabor.com for show times. Help us get the word out. Support the project at http://resurge.tv#donate SUING FOR SCHOOLS Updated 8-30-2011 Now rerunning on Carson-Dayton 226 Additional programs on Boulder City cable. Go to bcnv.org and then go to the BCTV link. If Reform Fails: Health Care, Jobs and Unions — new power to the people on the public airwaves The program premiers were available to every television set in the region because of a high-mileage media hybrid. The shows appeared on both commercial and community stations. The non-corporate entity produced the events, commercial TV greatly expanded distribution. Thus began an ongoing series of sane public interest programs which generate both entertaining heat and more than a little light. Please spread the word and consider contributing to the cause online at ReSurge.TV. You may also take the public option known as the U.S. Postal Service and send a check or money order to ReSurge.TV, P.O. Box 10034, Reno NV 89510. Your contribution will help fund the distribution as well as ongoing efforts at developing new media, including a regional, non-corporate community radio station and the return of community television to Reno-Sparks-Washoe. You are present at the creation of what I hope can become a new media model where the programming accurately reflects what's happening on the ground and the media impact is powerful enough to forcefully pass the message upward. Thanks. Be well. Raise hell. Andrew Click here for on-demand re-runs from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Barbwire.TV archives (775) 882-8255 [882-TALK] Barbwire.TV: 15-year overnight success Daily Sparks Tribune 2-10-2008 The Barbwire's Greatest Hits Highlights from radio days mp3 file HAT TRICK: Barbwire wins 3rd straight Nevada Press Association First-Place Award   BIG NEWS FROM THE 9-22-2012 NPA CONFAB IN GOMORRAH SOUTH

Peace on earth, good will to Boise & Nepal
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Teenage Immigrant Welfare Mothers on Drugs
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 11-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

John F. Kennedy's 2013 inaugural address
Excerpted from the original full text from 12-29-1991 (.pdf)
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 11-22-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Why rednecks didn't vote for Obama
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 11-15-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Dreams of Redemption on All Saints Day
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 11-1-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Kiss the Reno Aces goodbye —>NOW
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-25-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

We don't need no education, Part XII
And we don't need no evolution, 'nuther
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-18-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED XI: Instant replay of rape and pillage
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-11-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Don't register your drunken relatives
Apathy is never having to say you're sorry
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-4-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Please don't cook or eat the books
ITALIAN STEREOTYPE VALIDATED —>
Aiazzi and DiLoreto almost throw blows
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-27-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

The flipside from an old fry cook
Legit media stenographers fail to pop the corporate welfare question
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-20-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

A great week for scandals
We Don't Need No Education, Part X
The master chefs continue cooking the books
[UPDATE 9-17-2012] — TOLJASO DEPT. The Awful Truth: "Successes and Challenges" indeed — As only the Barbwire predicted last spring, Dr. Heath Morrison's disappointing third-year graduation rate explains why he got outta Dodge after year two.
Teachers' business tax petitions hit Nevada streets while Chicago teachers do likewise
Damning inspection report brings union call to oust Reno VA hospital leadership
State ignores voter registration lawsuit until the day after this column printed
NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER: New community TV channel
Barbwire by Barbano / Humongously expanded from the 9-13-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

The Post-Dated Recession:
Pay me now or pay me later
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Special notice to Sparks Tribune readers In its 25th year as a daily, the 102 year-old Sparks Tribune moved to twice-per-week publication as of 1 Sept. 2012. Alas and alack, the publishers have not done a very good job informing our readers and the general public. I've been getting phone calls. The print edition will now be published on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Four longtime columnists have been retained: David Farside, Jake Highton, Harry Spencer and the Barbwire. The newspaper's website will continue to publish stories on a daily basis. My annual Labor Day column appeared in the Sept. 3 Reno Gazette-Journal. I also highly recommend journalist Mark Robison's extensive piece Hard Labor: Nevada unions tout role in helping workers, firms, economy in the Sunday 2 Sept. 2012 RGJ (starting on page one of the Reno Rebirth section of the print edition). Therein, union men Jim Burrell, Paul McKenzie and Guy Louis Rocha did the movement proud. [Click here to access the shocking but not surprising graphic included in the print edition but not on the RGJ website.] The RGJ also used a photo and information from this NevadaLabor.com golden oldie. Hope you enjoyed a happy Labor Day. Stay tuned. Be careful. Be cool. Be well. Raise hell. Andrew Barbano

Women and Unions: Orphan Majorities
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-3-2012 Reno Gazette-Journal
Updated 9-4-2012

Lie when that pollster calls you
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 8-26-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

You can't handle the truth
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 8-19-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

You've lived here too long when...
PLUS: Myth Rumpney & Retro Ryan Alert
77th Anniversary of Social Security celebrated statewide Tuesday
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 8-12-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Cold Reality TV
Life is a bitch and the bitch is television
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 8-5-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Fear is a Liar
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Heat and light for the Hall of Flames
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-22-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune
UPDATE 9-23-2012: WE WON! Guy Richardson was inducted into the Nevada PressAssociation Hall of Fame in Las Vegas on Sept. 22. Guy and another first-time nominee, longtime Las Vegas Review-Journal Carson City Bureau Chief Ed Vogel, bested seven other worthy contenders. Guy's widow, Zoe Rose, flew in from Ohio for the honors, as did hisdaughter and son-in law from Sparks. Thanks be to all of Guy's former colleagues who sent endorsements. I'll publish them shortly.

Playing with fire
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-15-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

God looks nothing like Charlton Heston
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-8-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

i'toon: Fertilizing apples with citizens as mushrooms
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-1-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

We Don't Need No Education, Part VIII
Departing Reno-Sparks-Washoe school boss admits cooking the books
Eighth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-24-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune
Updated 7-17-2012

NAGPAC's Ghost Riders Saddle Up Again
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-17-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune
UPDATED 9-6-2012: Federal appellate judges put None of the Above back on the November ballot. Alleluia!
UPDATED 7-13-2013: Republican tactic thrown out by court

The Rocking Ghosts of Del Mar Station
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-10-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Followed by a moon shadow

TRAVUS T. HIPP, 1937-2012

ADIÓS, COMPADRE — Our friend Travus, 75, passed away peacefully between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. PDT on 18 May 2012 at his home in Silver City, Nevada. The sun is in eclipse as I write this at 6:30 p.m. on May 20. CHANGE OF VENUE (5-22-2012) — Adiós in Silver City, Nevada, Saturday, May 26, 2012 —> Updated 5-27-2012 — > The auld church where Travus lived and died proved too small for the expected multitude, so gathering, gnoshing and remembering commenced at the Silver City Community Center, 385 High Street, at 10:00 a.m. PDT. The graveside memorial service began at High Noon. Travus was buried next to his rock star companion Lynne Hughes, a short walk away. My remembrance of Lynne from the 3-21-1993 Daily Sparks Tribune has been linked to Travus' formal obituary at this website. All memories accepted for permanent posting hereat. Thanks for all your kind words. Keep up the good work and the good fight. Be well. Raise hell. Andrew Barbano

Barbano remembers the artist Reno Gazette-Journal 5-25-2012 NEW — Travus' life story and obituary Travus' last column in the 5-20 Daily Sparks Tribune Debra K. Reid photo / Sparks Tribune Jan. 4, 2009

Travus T. Hipp Feb. 20, 1937 — May 18, 2012 NEW: The Bullfrog Times-Picayune and Sticky Stones: Last blast from the past NEWLY UPLOADED: Love ain't free Evelyn Kerr's remembrances of the life and times of Travus T. Hipp from the pages of TimeMazine CD available

Travus T. Hipp & Tales of Nevada's Futures Passed
Expanded from the 6-3-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Travus T. Hipp leaves us laughing and forewarned
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-27-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Travus T. Hipp made his art look effortless
By Andrew Barbano / From the 5-25-2012 Reno Gazette-Journal

We don't need no education
The neverending series

ED Part XXII—>
The 2013 looney tunes legislative lexicon
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-30-2013 Sparks Tribune

ED Part XXI—>Star-stuck: Dirty deals for dirty movies
Ghostrider Nicolas Cage sticks it to Nevada school kids
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-16-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED20: Mr. Wynnderful waxes wealthier whilst we wither
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-9-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED Part XIX—>
Fixing education: The bulldozer solution
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-28-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED Part XVIII—>Petition pondering & pandering:
Just Say No, a Nevada tradition
CLINGING TO THE LEDGE—>Do the Nancy Reagan thing
Just say no to the teachers' tax petition and invalidate term limits and right-to-work-for-less in the process. What's not to like?
Barbwire by Barbano / Special Online Abstinence Edition / 3-5-2013
An edited and updated version appeared in the 3-7-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED Part XVII —>
The brutal law of unintended consequences
Between the devil and the deep Joe Neal
Long-lost research may invalidate more than 100 longstanding Nevada laws
IRONY ALERT—>New higher electoral standard for teachers' tax petition may generate more support
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-28-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

Barbano back on statewide Nevada Newsmakers TV/radio program —> Almost the entire Feb. 27 show concerned the teachers' tax petition. The Barbwire in the Feb. 28 Sparks Tribune will have a major impact on it both legislatively and electorally. Turn on, tune in and tell a friend.

ED Part XVI —> School shootings:
Reno GOP Senator introduces bill to shoot schools in fiscal foot
Where is gun control when we need it?
Can you stimulate the economy by cutting wages?
U-News e-Bulletin by Andrew Barbano / 2-26-2013

ED Part XV: Greasing the suckers and goosing the gullible
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-7-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED Part XIV: Never trust gun runners, politicians or PR men
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 1-31-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED Part XIII: WCSD Trustee-elect Rosenberg is a non-believer
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

We don't need no education, Part XII
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-18-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED Part XI
Instant replay of rape and pillage
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-11-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

A great week for scandals
We Don't Need No Education, Part X
The master chefs continue cooking the books
[UPDATE 9-17-2012] — TOLJASO DEPT. The Awful Truth: "Successes and Challenges" indeed — As only the Barbwire predicted last spring, Dr. Heath Morrison's disappointing third-year graduation rate explains why he got outta Dodge after year two.
Teachers' business tax petitions hit Nevada streets while Chicago teachers do likewise
Damning inspection report brings union call to oust Reno VA hospital leadership
State ignores voter registration lawsuit until the day after this column printed
NEEDED NOW MORE THAN EVER: New community TV channel
Barbwire by Barbano / Humongously expanded from the 9-13-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Morrison import Jane Woodburn ousted from Washoe County School District
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 8-26-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

ED IX: You can't handle the truth
Third year of Morrison's graduation rate miracle proves mythological
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 8-19-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

We Don't Need No Education, Part VIII
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-24-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Morrison & Maurins: M&M's hard to swallow
Seventh in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-20-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

All that's missing is an enemies list
Sixth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-13-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Playing Dixieland - The shell game continues
Fifth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Abandon hope, all ye who enter college
Fourth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Expanded from the 4-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

The Mythological Morrison Miracle
Third in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-22-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

The marshal is getting outta Dodge
So much for Nevada education's strategic plan + 4/25 Workers Memorial Day commemoration
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-15-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Breaking our own backs: If you have kids, move elsewhere
Have teachers made a deal with the devil? / St. Mary's firings begin
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-8-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Liberty and justice for some
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-25-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

Renown 150th: Profiting at taxpayer expense
Barbwire by Barbano/ Expanded from the 3-18-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

This bitch just isn't sexy enough
A domestic cartel fixes the price of gasoline
while politicians say nothing can be done and media sit shiva.
Such is BigOil's power to intimidate while hiding in plain sight.
Barbwire by Barbano/ Expanded from the 2-26-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

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

Sunday 12-26, the last Barbwire of 2010
Liberal reasons to oppose liberal positions and policies
Guaranteed to irritate all points of the political spectrum

Gov. Dudley Do-Right's Greatest Hits
Dudley Do-Right, Snidely Whiplash and Nell Fenwick cartoon characters © Jay Ward Productions

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BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO

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Pre-Web Barbwires

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© 1982-2013 Andrew Barbano, all rights reserved

Andrew Barbano is a Reno-based member of Communications Workers of America Local 9413, the union of Mark Twain. A 44-year Nevadan, he is a writer, media maven, editor/publisher/producer of websites, radio and television programs. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune since 1988.

Aug. 2012-Aug. 2013: the Barbwire's Silver Anniversary Year
Barbwire by Barbano moved to the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.

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