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BARBWIRE
by
ANDREW BARBANO

2011 Barbwires

2012 Barbwires

Pulitzer
Entries

Pre-Web
Barbwires


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

Breaking News

 

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

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

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

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

Selling sex in morally righteous Mississippi West
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 3-8-2023

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

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

Of mice and guns
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-28-2022

Giants great and small
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-21-2022

Law & Order Special Victims:
Nevada's Disposable Cops
Plus memories of Mills Lane
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-14-2022

Jean Stoess dies at 85
The former Washoe County Commissioner passed away on Dec. 3 according to the December 13 Reno Gazette-Journal. The Barbwire will remember a great public servant in next week's edition.

Geekonomics for fun & prophet
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 12-7-2022

The Circle Game
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-30-2022

Déjà vu all over again. And again.
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-23-2022

The Barbwire Blue-footed Booby Prizes
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-16-2022

Help wanted: athletes wounded on toxic turf
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-9-2022

Do something even if it's wrong?
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 11-2-2022

Bobbing for French Fries
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-26-2022

Laxalt dances on Brianna Denison's grave
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-19-2022

Stop taking them stupid pills
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-12-2022

Underwater at Crunch Time
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 10-5-2022

Fight like a Guerrilla Gorilla
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-28-2022

Murder, mayhem & rape R Us
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-21-2022
TWO MAJOR UNION EVENTS TODAY

Truth in Advertising 101
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-14-2022

Of giants, legends & lessers
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 9-7-2022

Robbing Peter to Play Paul
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-31-2022

Dirty cellos playing oxymorons for peccadillos
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-24-2022

Trump & Khomeini: Soul-less Brothers
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-17-2022

For Sale: Unsafe at any speed, $40,000
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-10-2022

Outlive them all
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 8-3-2022

How to live forever
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-27-2022

Nevada: Company town, corporate dumpster
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-20-2022

The wages of sin
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-13-2022

Poison Annie's Revenge Executed
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 7-6-2022

The Fall of Camelot
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-29-2022

Fight back against white elephants
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-22-2022

Eagles, chickens & Treasongate turkeys
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-15-2022

Stealing from starving babies
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-8-2022

Holding guns to our heads
Barbwire by Andrew Quarantino Barbáno / Expanded from the Sparks Tribune 6-1-2022

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

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

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

We Don't Need No Education: The Neverending Series
BARBWIRE BLASTS FROM THE PAST
Site Map

Required Readings

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

Liberal reasons to oppose liberal positions and policies
Guaranteed to irritate all points of the political spectrum
DAILY SPARKS TRIBUNE 12-26-2010 / Updated 7-12-2017

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

17-year investigative series

PUMPING PROFITS — Why does gasoline cost so much?
Read the awful truth in the Barbwire Oilogopoly Archive

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

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


Below, right: The Nevada University Scandals of 2010-present
The more things change, the more they stay the same. Click here.

Below, left: The Nevada University Scandals of 1996-1997
Please let us know if much has changed.
1997 Barbwire Pulitzer Prize entries are noted with *asterisks*
Category 4 — Explanatory Journalism
Category 9 — Commentary

Janet MacDonald 1941-2012: The beautiful face of honor
The Barbwire fondly remembers the courageous university system treasurer who dared tell the truth
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 1-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune

UPDATE: Let there be Rosenbergy again
Term limits or not, vote for Howard Rosenberg anyway, dammit!
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-27-2008 Daily Sparks Tribune


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

Con jobs by charlatans in the name of our children
Originally published 5/4/97
Slavery, sweatshops and shell game education
Originally published 4/27/97
New evidence in the university financial shell game
Originally published 4/20/97
All university regents face ouster, TMCC chief quits
Originally published 3/9/97
The question no one asked Howard Rosenberg — till now
Originally published 3/2/97
The buckaroo kangaroo court hangs Rosenberg Thursday
Originally published 2/23/97
Only embrace the tar baby when DNA proves it's yours
Originally published 2/2/97
Emperors, educators, pregnant paupers & presidents
Originally published 1/26/97
*Secret university audit catches chancellor lying!*
Originally published 1/19/97
A watered down education for Mother Nevada's kids
Originally published 1/12/97
Both Nevada and its university open 1997 lost at sea
Originally published 1/5/97
The 1996 Grateful Deadhead and Chia Butthead Awards
Originally published 12/29/96
*Shadowboxing Jello, yahoo kangaroos & Downsize This!*
Originally published 12/22/96
*EXTRA! Barbano endorses environmental jockocracy *
Originally published 12/15/96
*University Scandals 1996: The Empire Strikes Back *
Originally published 12/8/96
*Howard Rosenberg: the most powerful man in Nevada *
Originally published 12/1/96
*Howard Rosenberg: unlikely David vs. Philistine Elite *
Originally published 11/24/96
*Clark Santini: still watching over his university*
Originally published 11/17/96
*Protected pianists at the Casablanca College Casino*
Originally published 11/10/96
*Ghost Professors, Gold Mines and Shell Games at UNR*
Originally published 11/3/96
*Slam-dunks: fun follytix up at the U*
Originally published 10/27/96

EDITOR'S NOTE: The Oct. 27, 1996, Barbwire began a six-month investigation into the labyrinthine intrigues of the University and Community College System of Nevada (UCCSN), now called the Nevada System of Higher Education (NSHE). At the suggestion of chess grandmaster and author Larry Evans, most of the 1996 installments, as well as one involving university issues in the following year, were entered by the Sparks Tribune in two categories of the 1997 Pulitzer Prize competition. That ongoing interest in the affairs of higher education has never waned. You may use the NevadaLabor.com search engine to do a keyword search on the occasional treatment of university issues. You will also enjoy the ongoing comments of longtime University of Nevada-Reno journalism Prof. Jake Highton (1931-2017). Be well. Raise hell. — Andrew

Current Barbwire Index

 

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


2006
Barbwires

2005
Barbwires

2004
Barbwires

2003
Barbwires

2002
Barbwires

2001
Barbwires

2000
Barbwires

1999
Barbwires

1998
Barbwires

1997
Barbwires

1996
Barbwires


2007
Barbwires

2008
Barbwires

2009
Barbwires

2010 Barbwires
BARBWIRE
by
ANDREW BARBANO

2011 Barbwires

2012 Barbwires

Pulitzer
Entries

Pre-Web
Barbwires


2013-14
Barbwires

 

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

— Alice