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School,
life, death, taxes and other high ironies
Barbwire
by Barbano / Expanded from the Tuesday 7-14-2015 Sparks Tribune
Updated
15 July 2015
On
this date in 1986, César
Chávez spoke to Nevada workers at the Musicians
Union hall in Reno
Support
Don Dondero next We
Don't Need No Education>
Neverending Barbwire Series Support the project at http://resurge.tv#donate SUING
FOR SCHOOLS 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
Barbwire's Greatest Hits |
CAN'T SEE THE FOREST FOR THE TREES DEPT. The legit media mountainously missed the punchline of the joke that lawmakers, lobbyists and Gov. Veto El Obtúsè played on us peasants.
Last year, they all
scurried to Carson City to give Tesla
$1.3 billion in corporate welfare freebies. This year, they raised taxes.
By $1.3 billion. Which barely moved the needle on education budgets. (Barbwire
7 July 2015)
Who's laughing?
THE PLOT THICKENS. I stand by my prediction
that somebody is going to use the Tesla law to fund a Gomorrah South megaresort.
Almost immediately after it passed in last year's fawning special legislative
session, embattled North Las Vegas Mayor John Lee started pushing it
for a struggling development in his town.
All the experts I contacted said that safeguards exist to prevent a gambling
enterprise from qualifying. None could quote specifics. Some referred me to
policies which turned out be non-existent. Despite several followups since last
year, I'm still waiting for documentation.
THE PLOT SICKENS. As noted last
week, local media hot dog lawyer Ken McKenna has sued the state for
allegedly ordering the coverup of 178 uncounted votes in Mineral County last
November. That's enough to have changed at least three local races, one of which
involved McKenna's client.
A cartridge of early
votes was curiously left in the outgoing county clerk's desk. The vaunted Tribune
investigative reporting team, as always, has spared every expense delving into
the story. Our spies report that the cartridge in question contains zero data.
Stay tuned.
ADIOS, COMPADRE. Longtime Sparks resident
Fidel "Sauce" Sauceda,
77, passed away at the Fresno VA hospital on June 20. Some knew him as "Feets"
but I called him what his brothers called him, "Feet."
He blew trombone and I played trumpet in the Fresno VFW Post 8900 Marching
Band back in the 1960s. Feet was skilled in seven instruments. I made music
with the Sauceda brothers all over northern California. Andy Sauceda
played tuba and trumpeter Paul
served as band director.
The band was mostly Latino with two Irishmen, three Indians (their term) and
one Italian. Lead trumpet Ted Dominguez possessed the power of Louis
Armstrong. You could hear Ted eight blocks away.
Feet was the first Hispanic to achieve the rank of master sergeant in the Nevada
Air National Guard and had over 1,500 recruits to his credit.
I am who I became because of that band. (Barbwire 15
Jan. 2012 and 12 Jan. 1990)
OF GREAT MEN, TOO. Dr. Herbert Schall was
the most persistent advocate for the mentally disabled that Nevada ever knew.
The most impressive
for the physically disabled, Paul Gowins, died last month. Our paths
crossed many times. Like everyone, I was immediately impressed by the articulate
wisdom of the quadriplegic former construction worker. Nevada is poorer for
Paul's passing but much richer for his having passed this way.
Requiescat in pace, amigos. Gracias.
Be well. Raise
hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
The Underbelly of the News>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
BARBWIRE WEB EXTRAS...
WHO NEEDS BOOKS? Get on my e-list for breaking developments in the neverending fight to save the Duncan/Traner and Verdi libraries from closure.
65 YEARS OF KICKING THE CAN DOWN THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD. Read Tribune alumnus Dennis Myers' tour de force about a tour de farce in the Feb. 5 Reno News & Review. His cover story "No Fair" provides a quick and vicious history lesson about Nevada government failing to take care of its people.
MYERS: Nevadans may well wonder why one of the states biggest and most familiar problems could be ignored so assiduously for decades, like an elephant in the room. In the end, the explanation comes down to a rule of thumb for politicians: Offending the affluent comes with consequences. Offending the working poor does not.
He also posits a tax solution which liberals may find quite surprising. (I resemble that remark.) Myers once again looks positively psychic. Actually, he just reads history.
TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY: FEEL UP YOUR FIRE METER. The Reno Gazette-Journal did big spreads on three consecutive Sundays (Sept. 14, Sept. 21 and Sept. 28) on NV Energy smart meter fires. Welcome aboard. Barbwire readers were two years ahead on the fire meter issue. (Touch a Smart Meter, Go to Jail 11 October 2012)
FIRE METER UPDATES: THE NEVADA FIRE MARSHALL'S INVESTIGATION concluded "don't worry, be happy." I'm still worried and will continue fondling NVE's precious equipment > If your smart meter feels very hot, not just from sunshine, call 911.
In its Sunday 21 Dec. 2014 front page headline major story, the Reno Gazette-Journal published results of the NVEnergy-commissioned "don't worry, be happy" echo study. On 1-27-2015, the RGJ published an analysis based on veteran reporter Anjeanette Damon's review of more than 1,000 pages of documents. Barbwire bottom line: NVE handles this like auto manufacturers handle defects > It's cheaper to pay legal settlements after people are injured or killed than to fix the problem.
Don'tcha worry 'bout a thing! If you can't trust your power company, who can you trust?
DIDN'T THEY MAKE A MOVIE CALLED "THE INCREDIBLES"? On 2-6-2015, the RGJ reported that the Public Utilities Commission has ordered NVE to hire an independent laboratory to review the material. UPDATE: The report said all is well. I still recommend feeling up your fire meter on a regular basis.
ANTE INTO THE GAME: Support the new season of Barbwire.TV by putting your money where my mouth is. A thousand thanks to those who keep sending show suggestions.
"Media
is the plural of mediocre."
Jimmy Breslin |
Stay tuned.
I
encourage you to donate to the cause at Barbwire.TV/
The medium that shapes public opinion needs at least one refuge where it is not filtered through the distorted green eye shades of prissy corporate accountants for whom profit is the only priority; where self-censorship is the journalist's normal work environment and where all sins of omission are tacitly encouraged and forgiven with the wave of a balance sheet. This is important. We've got a lot of work to do.
Get ahead of corporate-influenced news>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
Andrew
Barbano is a 46-year Nevadan, chair of the Nevada César Chávez
Committee, producer of Nevada's annual
César Chávez Day celebration, first vice-president
and political action chair of the Reno-Sparks
NAACP, labor/consumer/civil rights advocate, member of Communications
Workers of America Local 9413/AFL-CIO and editor of NevadaLabor.com
and JoeNeal.org and DoctorLawyerWatch.com/
As always, his opinions are strictly his own. Check local listings for other
Nevada cable systems. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.
Barbwire by Barbano has originated
in the Sparks Tribune since
1988.
Peruse
the Underbelly of the News > Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential
All the news you never knew you needed to know
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the Tuesday 7-7-2015 Sparks Tribune / Updated 7-9-2015Applying Christian forgiveness to a fault
Barbwire by Barbano / From the Tuesday 6-30-2015 Sparks TribuneLife & death tickle the underbelly of the news
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the Tuesday 6-23-2015 Sparks TribuneAl Capone takes stock of Nevada education
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the Tuesday 6-16-2015 Sparks Tribune / Updated 6-17-2015The 2015 Nevada Legislature's greatest hits
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the Tuesday 6-9-2015 Sparks TribuneChaos theory: Republicans learn to use their majority — on each other
Cover Story by Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 6-4-2015 Several related stories linked thereatStench of sulfur suffuses Nevada's year of the gun
Barbwire by Barbano / Uncensored full-length edition expanded from the censored Tuesday 6-2-2015 Sparks Tribune
Updated D-Day, 6-6-2015: How I handled a similar situationDogs and ponies, DARE traps and tokenism
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-26-2015 Sparks TribuneCorporate welfare unites me with the moonhowlers
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-19-2015 Sparks TribuneHotplates, hotheads, hot rumors and hot Moose
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-12-2015 Sparks TribuneMayDay! The bright side of riots in the streets
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-5-2015 Sparks TribuneIn the Uber-Nevada Legislature, words can kill
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-28-2015 Sparks TribuneTesla rewrites history to chisel worker paychecks
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-21-2015 Sparks TribuneRadiation Nation: Gomorrah South bakes in the glow of victory
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-14-2015 Sparks TribuneRevenge, redistricting and amnesia in Cartoon City
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-7-2015 Sparks TribuneHarry Reid, Eddy Arnold, César Chávez and Gaga Madonna
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-31-2015 Sparks TribuneHigh noon for the high desert outback of the American Dream
Small minds discuss people, average minds discuss events, great minds discuss ideas.
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-24-2015 Sparks TribuneSt. Patrick, I need a green energy beer
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-17-2015 Sparks Tribune
Michele Fiore: the Italian girl mama wanted for me?
Barbwire by Barbano / Excised from the 3-10-2015 Sparks Tribune as "not suitable" / Updated 3-12 and 3-13-2015
Who was that lady I saw you with last night?
That was no lady, that was...none of your damned business!
But can she cook?
Barbano to legislative committee: Let Tesla, Switch and Apple help pay for police officer video cameras
Clinging to the Ledge: guts, feathers and all
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 3-3-2015 Sparks TribuneWe don't need no stinking wages!
It became necessary to destroy the community in order to save it
Barbwire by Barbano / Special online edition 2-26-2015The skeleton of the underbelly of the news
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-24-2015 Sparks TribuneParsing our parsimonious public pursers
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-17-2015 Sparks TribuneWhat else is new? Southern Nevada CLC authorizes strike sanction vs. wage violator.
The flush of victory and the irony of deceit
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-10-2015 Sparks TribuneSenate Republicans take a jackhammer to the bedrock of Nevada trade unionism
The last bastion of local hire comes under fire
By Sean Whaley / Las Vegas Review-Journal 2-4-2015
Follytix, Foxcatchers and corporate weasels
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 2-3-2015 Sparks TribuneWe Don't Need No Education Archive
The ever-expanding Ira Hansen Archive of an anachronism
BREAKING BAD
Walter White and some other white guy
Who's,,, ...Who?
Breaking Bad 5: Machine Gun Michele and the good ole boys
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-16-2014 Sparks TribuneBreaking Bad 4: Ira and his ammosexuals flip us the finger
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-9-2014 Sparks Tribune / Updated 12-11-2014
Union decline and rising inequality in two charts
by Colin Gordon
Economic Policy Institute / 6-5-2012
Labor Day: State of the Unions
By Mark Robison / Reno Gazette-Journal / Sunday 9-1-2013The above graph was used in journalist Mark Robison's extensive Hard Labor: Nevada unions tout role in helping workers, firms, economy (Sunday 2 Sept. 2012 Reno Gazette-Journal, page one, Reno Rebirth section of the print edition). Union men Jim Burrell, Paul McKenzie and Guy Louis Rocha did the movement proud.
WOMEN AND UNIONS ORPHAN MAJORITIES
The Barbwire Labor Day column
Reno Gazette-Journal / 9-3-2012
...and more ammo...
We Don't Need No Education
The continuing Barbwire seriesBarbwire: Nevada not really a state
No, we were not Battle Born in Kenya
Top 10 reasons Nevada lives in the 19th Century
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-17-2013 Sparks TribuneLow-income penalty: Nevada socks it to the working poor
BARBANO: Nevada is one big company town
Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013State of Health
National health care comes up against a very sick state. WHAT'S IN IT FOR US?
Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013...and more ammo yet
IMF Head Says Inequality Threatens Democracy. Here Are 7 Charts Proving Shes Right.
By Erika Eichelberger / Mother Jones/BillMoyers.com 5-30-2014
The behavior of the financial sector has not changed fundamentally since the crisis.
The industry still prizes short-term profit.The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks TribuneThe Post-dated Recession
By Joshua H. Silavent / Daily Sparks Tribune / 5-3-2011
Nevada Press Assn. Better Newspaper Contest2013-14: BARBWIRE SCORES SIXTH NEVADA PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARD
BRONZE 2014
Hopelessly trying to win an earthquake / 4-18-2013The 2013 Loony Tunes Legislative Lexicon / 5-30-2013
The politics of media ga-ga boosterism / 3-20-2014
2010 GOLD HAT TRICK: Barbwire takes first place three years in a row.
The winning entries
Suing for Schools: The 20-year shuck
Expanded from the 2-21-2010 Daily Sparks TribuneRED flags flying low over Sparks
Expanded from the 1-10-2010 Daily Sparks TribuneThe wrath of self-righteous racism
Expanded from the 11-8-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune
The campaign against forcibly-paid newspaper obituaries
And they wonder why the newspaper business is dying?
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 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
SITE NAVIGATION TIPS: When all else fails, read the instructions
Copyright © 1982-2015
Andrew Barbano
Andrew Barbano is a 46-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and JoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee. He is producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as first vice-president, political action chair and webmaster of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us.
Barbwire by Barbano moved to Nevada's Daily Sparks Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in them parts ever since.
Whom to blame: How a hall-of-famer's hunch birthed the Barbwire in August of 1987
Tempus fugit.Site composed and maintained by Deciding Factors, CWA 9413 signatory
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