Barbwire by Barbano 2025-26 Columaniacal Contents

2007
Barbwires

BARBWIRE
by
ANDREW BARBANO

2013-14
Barbwires

"If you can't say anything nice about someone, sit right here by me."

— Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth

2015-20 Barbwires

2020-5/22 Barbwires

6/22-11/23 Barbwires

12/23-12/24
Barbwires

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

Vote to get Pope Leo on Colbert's show
Barbwire by Andrew Barbano / Expanded from the 3-18-2026 Sparks Tribune

Welcome to FantasyLand boys and girls
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbano / Expanded from the 3-11-2026 Sparks Tribune

Under the Blood Moon —> Little Boys Playing with War Toys
Barbwire by Andrew Barbano / from the 3-4-2026 Sparks Tribune / Harry Ron Hu photo

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

Under the Blood Moon —> Little Boys Playing with War Toys
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno/ Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-4-2026

Judge not or judge tenderly
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno/ Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-25-2026

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 2-18-2026 Sparks Tribune
Melt ICE —> Mask up!

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 2-11-2026 Sparks Tribune
B-Movie: Bad Bunny, Ballgame, Bernstein and Barbano's Beethoven Brunch

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 2-4-2026 Sparks Tribune
We don't need no stinking badges!

BARBWIRE BY ANDREW BARBANO
Expanded from the 1-28-2026 Sparks Tribune
What if you knew them and found them dead on the ground?

War is peace, right?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno/ Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-21-2026

Is the light breaking through at last?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno/ Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-14-2026

Venezuela is Spanish for Vietnam
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno/ Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-7-2026

The 2025 Barbwire Blue-footed Booby Prizes
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno/ Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-31-2025

Three Wise Men: What would Jesus do?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-24-2025

The Storm before the Calm
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-17-2025 / In 6 languages

The shining city on the hill goes dark
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-10-2025

Balm to soothe and warm your cockles
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-3-2025

Happy Thanksgibleting, fellow suckers
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-26-2025

WORLDWIDE LEADER? ACT OF GOD OR JUST A GARDEN-VARIETY IMPOSSIBLE DREAMER? ALL OF THE ABOVE? VERY POSSIBLY. Was Andrew Barbano the only advocate for an American pope? Google apparently says YES! At minimum, the Barbwire stumped and broke Google trying to find out. See for yourself. And please lemme know what you think.
UPDATE: Pope Leo Ramps Up His Trump Feud With Order to American Bishops
By Leigh Kimmins / Reuters via The Daily Beast 10-8-2025

Now, from the Holy of Holies to the Den of Iniquity—>

CLINGING TO THE LEDGE: MONSTERS BALL
RAPE AND PILLAGE IN CARSON CITY—>Nevada lawmakers juiced to pass worst corporate welfare bill since 1872 Mining Law

Selena Warrior Princess vs. the Zoompa Loompas
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-19-2025

UPDATE—>BIG BEAUTIFUL CORPORATE WELFARE BILL FAILS
ALLELUIA!

Beware the Ides of November

Hanging by a Thread: Nevada Hollywood Corporate Welfare Scam breathing harder than porno film
Nevada State Assembly tied 21-21 / By Ben Margiott and crew / KRNV TV-4/KRXI TV-11 / 11-14-2024

Barbwire Tragic Trilogy
Count Dracula sucks eternal / 11-12-2025
Rail City Rat-trap rent-traps / 11-5-2025
Lady in Red: Raped Again / 10-29-2025

The End Continues
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-22-2025

When death is nobody's fault
Bullied 12 year-old commits suicide

2012-2024

I warned of danger 13 years ago. Who will answer?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-15-2025

First We Take Manhattan
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-8-2025

Defrocking the dictator
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-1-2025

Where are the holy men?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-24-2025

Who will answer?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-17-2025

1984 in 2025
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-10-2025

Cupcakes in CasinoLand
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-3-2025

Windy City Showdown: Pope Leo vs. the American Mad King
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-27-2025

Lampoons & harpoons for poltroons, dragoons and buffoons
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-20-2025

Blame Nevada for T-Rump cancer
37th anniversary Barbwire
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-13-2025

The Confederacy has finally won the Civil War
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-6-2025 / Updated 8-10-2025 GMT

Nevada Press Assn. Hall of Fame
BREAKING NEWS—> 5 down, 3 to go
7-31-2025 Barbwire Winner
Congratulations to Barbwire nominee & Pulitzer Prize winner Norman Cardoza
Reno Gazette-Journal

Ignore the jesters and you fester
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-30-2025

Payback Time: Colbert to PBS
Never gonna happen? Neither was an American pope. See above.
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-23-2025

Monsters of our own creation
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-16-2025

T-RUMP TRAVESTY TRILOGY HAT TRICK TRIPLE PLAY
Lisa Murkowski got publicly porked
And hit us with chops on July the 4th
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-9-2025

T-RUMP TRAVESTY TRILOGY PART DEUX
We become what we despise
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-2-2025

T-RUMP TRAVESTY TRILOGY PART 1
We don't need no stinking badges!
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-25-2025

ANGELS FOR AMERICA
Pope Leo-14 and President Lech Walesa for the good guys
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-18-2025

That's great TV!
"It's interesting when people die" — Don Henley, "Dirty Laundry" 1982
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-11-2025 / Expansions in blue
Updated Friday the 13th 2025. Chainsaws optional. Don't tell Freddie Krueger.

ORPHANS OF THE STORM
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-4-2025

Never, ever forget that name
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-28-2025

UPDATE: WORLDWIDE LEADER? ACT OF GOD OR JUST A GARDEN-VARIETY IMPOSSIBLE DREAMER? ALL OF THE ABOVE? VERY POSSIBLY. Was Andrew Barbano the only advocate for an American pope? Google apparently says YES! At minimum, the Barbwire stumped and broke Google trying to find out. See for yourself. And please lemme know what you think.

Confessions of an altar boy
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-14-2025

Let it Be: An American Pope Francis2
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-23-2025

Spring chickens and old buzzards
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 5-7-2025

Conniving Corruption Contortions, Conniptions & Contradictions
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-30-2025

Let it Be: An American Pope Francis2
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-23-2025

Twin terrorists run tax-paid American gulag
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-16-2025

Toxic sludge is good for you
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-9-2025

Pinky & the Brain taking over the world
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 4-2-2025

Send back the Statue of Liberty
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-26-2025

Donald Trump's Death Sentences
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-19-2025

How to become a Nevada welfare queen
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-12-2025

March comes in with a lion —> from Ukraine

Red Scares and Nobel Red Flags
Warnings from Walesa and Ressa
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-5-2025

Zelenskyy for President!
Washington DC 2-28-2025 —> So refreshing, heartening and energizing to see a leader with brass balls in the Oval Office as opposed to the Russian traitor with three gold balls hanging in his pawn shop
Be well and raise hell, President Volodymyr / America is with you and our democracies

Let's kick some ass! Sign up at BallotBoxing.US

Stay tuned for much more!

Down there among the swamp critters
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-26-2025

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-19-2025

Rise of the Reptilian Brain Trust
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-12-2025

The Spaghetti Wall
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 2-5-2025

Dastardly depredations of Czar Dastardo
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-29-2025

Inattention abstention on coronation day
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-22-2025

The Goats of the Ides of January
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-15-2025

Dark depredations & golden opportunities
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-8-2025

A walk thru the Wayback Machine
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 1-1-2025

CésarChávezNevada.com

¡Sí se puede!

¡Union diga si!

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 2025
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

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

Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame

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

Jake Highton & Guy Louis Rocha 2024 Barbwire-nominated winners

BREAKING NEWS—>
5 down, 3 to go

7-31-2025 5th Barbwire Winner
Congratulations to Barbwire nominee Norman Cardoza
1977 Pulitzer Prize winner, Reno Gazette-Journal
BUENO!

Support Don Dondero & David Toll & Foster Church next.

Please send endorsements

The Barbwire Molly Ivins Memorial Columniator Hall of Flames

Site Map
SITE NAVIGATION TIPS: When all else fails, read the instructions (a favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)
Je Suis Charlie

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

The Lady in the Red Dress
The award-winning Barbwire 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 & 10-31-2018

Guest Columnists

Travus T. Hipp
Feb. 20, 1937 — May 18, 2012

BREAKING NEWS 10-24-2014: Travus and Lynne Hughes' longtime home, the old church in Silver City, burns to the ground with the loss of one life. Say a prayer and treasure the memories. Sean Laughlin promises to rebuild. Victims were Travus' first wife, Sandy, and her dog.

The Bullfrog Times-Picayune
Sticky Stones: Last blast from the past

Love ain't free: Evelyn Kerr's remembrances of the life and times of Travus T. Hipp from the pages of TimeMazine (CD available)

We put the state on life support for another two years
Assemblyman Richard "Skip" Daly, D-Sparks / Reno Gazette-Journal Guest Editorial / 7-17-2011
Editor's note: Alas and alack, the 2013 session provided instant replay.

Prof. Jake Highton, 1931-2017
Travus T. Hipp, 1937-2012
Dennis Myers, 1948-2019 [Remembering Dennis]
Orland T. Outland, 1923-2000
Labor Leaders

David Farside 1936-2014
The Farside Chronicles
Harry Spencer remembers David Farside
Tribune Editor Dan Eckles: Farside a class act

BLASTS FROM THE PAST
Some of the Barbwire's Pre-Internet Greatest Hits

Return of the Lost Boys —> KCBN's last day
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 9-29-1989 (.pdf)
Whoever promised me a CD of all 13 hours and never sent it, now would be a good time. People are waiting. Please e-mail me.
Uploaded on the occasion of the passing of Big Daddy Chuck Harper, 1934-2014
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 12-23-2014

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

Lynne Hughes and Barbara Bennett: Energy Again [.pdf]
Uploaded on the occasion of the passing of Travus T. Hipp, 1937-2012
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune / 3-21-1993

1995 Washoe Med (Renown Medical) Grand Jury Report
Additional columns just uploaded from our archives + the 3-18-2012 Barbwire
Grand Jury report available for the first time on the web

The fairy tale power of 35 pennies
From the 12-22-1991 Daily Sparks Tribune / .pdf format
Presented to my granddaughter as a university graduation present on 5-27-2011
and referenced in the 5-29-2011 Barbwire

Gail Bishop: We harvest the fruit of his labor
From the 2-20-1994 Daily Sparks Tribune (.pdf format)
Velma Bishop, 1928-2010
From the 10-3-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune

Doug Davies: Rum & Ragtime Renaissance Man
Daily Sparks Tribune 11-14-1993 (.pdf format)

Diss me, father, for I have sinned
Daily Sparks Tribune 7-16-1995 / Reprinted 7-15-2007

Merle Brennan: The Last American Sportsman, 1-7-1996
Updated with vintage photos, restored race cars and a visit from Il Comendatore himself
UPDATED 10-4-2008
Ronald Reagan, 1911-2004
A memoir from Nevada's undercover Reagan-Bush PR man
Slightly updated 6-6-2004 from the 8-2-1992 Daily Sparks Tribune original

History
Labor Day '94: People vs. Corporate Con-Job
A brief history of neo-con PR and the roots of corporate propaganda
Tragedy
Come, follow me: A walk with the grateful dead
A visit to Nevada's first AIDS leper colony
The award-winning second Tribune Barbwire
From the 8-19-1988 and 7-10-1994 Daily Sparks Tribune

BEASTY BOYS—>Did Naval Air Station Fallon bury live animals after a huge fuel spill?
From the 1-19-1990 and 1-22-1990 Daily Sparks Tribune

Barbwire Diplomacy
Revisiting the fourth Tribune Barbwire: "Chilé took Nevada for a sucker" 9-2-1988
Breadlines in boomtowns: the American plantations
Expanded from the 7-19-1998 Daily Sparks Tribune / Updated 12-12-2006
Comedy
Theme casinos, Spuds MacKenzie & Brigitte Bardot
The first Barbwire
Originally published in Reno, LV and Sunworld Airlines magazines, August, 1987

Continuing Tragicomedy
Judge Clarence Thomas meets Prof. Kingsfield
Reprinted in the San Francisco and Los Angeles Daily Legal Journals, 1991
Updated 6-27-2013

More sucker punches from Lush Rambo
Barbwire by Barbano/ Expanded from the 3-11-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune
Includes links to two freshly-uploaded 1992 columns. I warned you.

Insanity from the eye of the newt
From the 5-20-1990 Daily Sparks Tribune / .pdf format
UPDATE: So what else is newt?
The great ones died but Newt's like Dracula
Happy High Holly Days anyway!
Barbano by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-25-2011 Daily Sparks Tribune

Smoke 'em if ya got 'em
The reasons behind the failure of Nevada's first non-smoking casino
Barbwire 3-2-1990

Recently uploaded blast from the past for MLK Day —
I was a teenage racist
Expanded from the 1-12-1990 Daily Sparks Tribune
This column also appeared in the 1-19-1990 Comstock Chronicle
Updated and modified versions in the Fresno Bee, Daily Sparks Tribune and Reno Gazette-Journal
Jan. 14-15, 2012

Shunting Nevada work to out-of-state carpetbaggers is nothing new

University just won't learn—>
The smoking gun: UN,R subcontractor hires and exploits undocumented workers
Dennis Myers/Reno News & Review/9-26-2013

Just like old times: UN,R and Hot August Nights
Barbwire by Barbano/Sparks Tribune/9-26-13

Marginal contractors on UNR job draw Laborers' Union ire and picket line
U-News / 9-19-2013
UPDATE: UNIONS PROTEST UNR GIVEAWAY ON STUDENT HOUSING CONSTRUCTION
Reno Gazette-Journal front page/9-24-2013

State of the Unions —>
Non-Nevada contractors, including Apple, continue to plague local workers
Reno Gazette-Journal 9-1-2013

Bullfighting in Tonopah —>
Billion-dollar tax-subsidized solar array goes to shady contractor from sunny Spain
Barbwire / Sparks Tribune 8-11-2011

Nevada workers march to UNR for Nevada jobs
U-News / 5-20-2010

2007
Barbwires

BARBWIRE
by
ANDREW BARBANO

2013-14
Barbwires

"If you can't say anything nice about someone, sit right here by me."

— Alice Lee Roosevelt Longworth

2015-20 Barbwires

2020-5/22 Barbwires

6/22-11/23 Barbwires

12/23-12/24
Barbwires

_______
Andrew Barbano is a 56-year Nevadan, was longtime executive 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 BallotBoxing.US and SenJoeNeal.org and DoctorLawyerWatch.com and Rentvolution.org and ConsumerCoalitionv.org and MississippiWestNV.org/ As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Sparks Tribune since 1988 and received its 10th Nevada Press Association award at the 2019 NPA annual convention and its eleventh in 2021. (That trophy and about six bucks will get you a Latte Mocha Cotsafracas Chingade at just about any Starbux worldwide, guaranteed.) The Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO inducted Barbano into the César Chávez Nevada Labor Hall of Fame on April 5, 2024.

Be well. Raise hell.

Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.) / être bien, élever l'enfer (And my French.) / Stammi bene. Scatenare l'inferno. (And Italian.)

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

Larry Barbano, Frater Mei
1947-2023