BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO

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Mr. Wynnderfull and the Ghost Rider have served notice that the peons shall again grovel for crumbs falling from the feast of the fat.

The Nevada Legislature is performing as ordered, subsidizing the businesses of Las Vegas/Macau gambling mogul Steve Wynn and Leaving Las Vegas Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage — at the expense of their lessers without lobbyists: little kids who can't vote or shoot back as supposedly wise elders play cowboys and Indians in three-piece suits.

BALLOT BOXING. Local citywide voting was imposed after Reno notoriously spawned the most corrupt government in the country a half-century ago.

The police chief even got defrocked.

Chicago-style "ward heelers" could trade votes and avoid blame.

A councilman could impose something unpopular on his own district while voting against it.

That's how the current Reno-Sparks convention center ended up in a field surrounded by dirt roads rather than downtown where it belonged — much to the enrichment of friends and relatives who had purchased land around it.

The cure has become the disease and at-large elections now allow the powerful to impose their will by richly funding the campaigns of their minions.

Which is why Senate Bill 457 should pass. [UPDATE: In the finest tradition of GOP voter suppression, Nevada Gov. Veto El Obtúse vetoed SB457.]

IN MEMORIAM: THE GRATEFUL DEAD. Last Saturday marked the anniversary of the death of the greatest radio host the world ever heard, former Tribune columnist Travus T. Hipp (1937-2012).

His fans have been visiting his memorial section at NevadaLabor.com.

I'll be posting their comments and have uploaded the last column he e-mailed to me.

I also dug out the first three copies of his short-lived newspaper, the Bullfrog Times-Picayune (1987-88), the voice of the short-lived township with no population, Bullfrog County, Nevada.

It was created by the legislature to shunt federal nuke dump money (which never materialized) into the hands of the state rather than Nye County.

The little publication represents some of Travus' best-ever writing.

A fan in Gomorrah South says a few more may be archived at UNLV.

I'll keep you posted.

The current legislative session lies brain-dead in an iron lung, frozen in the 1950s.

I wish Travus and his favorite lawmaker, the late Assemblyman Dr. Marvin Sedway, D-Las Vegas, were around to resuscitate the beast and remind the monster of its responsibilities.

From the den of iniquity...

TO THE HOLY OF HOLIES. On May 29 at 6:30 p.m., Little Flower Church at Plumb and Kietzke in Reno hosts a huge path to citizenship assembly sponsored by a broad range of regional organizations.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Searchlight, will speak, as will Nevada State Senate Majority Leader Moises Denis, D-Las Vegas.

For info, contact Cory Hernandez (775) 560-2233; or Pat Fling (775) 772-1979; or Elvira Diaz (775) 203-5759; or Carlos Silva (702) 595-8256.

UPDATE — "Immigation in America today is not a political issue, it is a moral issue," Sen. Reid told a standing-room-only gathering of well over 1,000 people.

Reid noted that his wife, Landra, is the daughter of a Russian immigrant. She accompanied her husband to the event at Little Flower.

The senator told of a 45 year-old man who works in a condominium building where the Reids reside when in Washington.

"This grown man got on his knees and begged me for help (on immigration)," Reid said. "He had not seen his wife (in Mexico) in five years. No man should feel the need to get on his knees and beg," Reid added.

Archdiocese of Reno Bishop Randolph Calvo noted that America once welcome immigrants, adding "will this time be remembered as the time when America welcomed immigrants once again?"

Junior U.S. Sen. Dean Heller and Rep. Mark Amodei, both R-Carson City, did not attend despite being invited. Several television stations covered the proceedings. Only Spanish-language print media and the Barbwire provided the event with any ink. Go figger.

"Media is the plural of mediocre."                               — Jimmy Breslin

IN MEMORIAM: LIKE A ROCK. This Monday would have been the 68th birthday of Alliance for Workers Rights founder Tom Stoneburner.

He died in 2005 fighting for Nevada workers who have no union.

IN MEMORIAM: GIVE 'EM HELL, HARRY. A few weeks ago, labor legend Harry Kelber (1914-2013) died in New York City.

A lifelong advocate for union democracy, on his 98th birthday last year, he declared his candidacy for the presidency of the AFL-CIO.

I aspire to be half the advocate and commentator he was.

Solidarnosc, brother.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.

WEB EXTRAS...

HONOR YOUR DON. Keep sending comments supporting legendary Nevada photographer Don Dondero (1920-2003) for the Nevada Press Association Hall of Fame.

His life's work appeared worldwide, including this newspaper.

Enlist in the campaign to install Big Don.

Please send me your memories and endorsements via e-mail or to P.O. Box 10034, Reno NV 89510.

The Barbwire got the late Reno Gazette-Journal columnist Guy Richardson elected last year.

Let's go for a repeat.

BARBWIRE.TV. Support the return of community TV to these parts.

If last year's elections didn't convince you of the need, the 2013 legislature certainly will.

Join up. You may donate at ReSurge.TV or contact me.

This is important.

Thank you.

VOTE FOR THE LUCKY 13, the most powerful Nevadans of 2013. Send nominations to <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>

Last year's rogues gallery will be linked to the expanded web edition of this column at NevadaLabor.com/

LET'S GET IT ON. E-me to get on the Barbwire News bulletin list for information not filtered through corporate lenses.

I broke a bushel of major stories last year which the above lead item will very probably top.

Turn on, tune in and tell a friend.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)

____________

Andrew Barbano is a 44-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. 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 Daily Sparks Tribune since 1988.

Smoking Guns... Barbwire Corporate Welfare Archive Barbwire Corporate Propaganda Archive Cabellyup.com Star-stuck: Dirty deals for dirty movies Ghostrider Nicolas Cage sticks it to school kids Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-16-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune Mr. Wynnderful waxes wealthier whilst we wither Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-9-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune FROM HUGH JACKSON THE LAS VEGAS MEANER GLEANER The best Nevada political commentator alive Policy with the stars Of Wynn service, lip service and Cage fighting Las Vegas CityLife / 5-15-2013 Rules of Disengagement Gov. Veto El Obtúse struck dumb, but with a smile Las Vegas CityLife / 4-17-2013   ...and more ammo... We Don't Need No Education The continuing Barbwire series The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Post-dated Recession By Joshua H. Silavent / Daily Sparks Tribune / 5-3-2011 Union decline and rising inequality in two charts by Colin Gordon Economic Policy Institute / 6-5-2012 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. Not included in the RGJ online edition. WOMEN AND UNIONS — ORPHAN MAJORITIES The Barbwire Labor Day column Reno Gazette-Journal / 9-3-2012 Nevada Press Assn. Better Newspaper Contest 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 Tribune Click here to view the show on your desktop RED flags flying low over Sparks Expanded from the 1-10-2010 Daily Sparks Tribune The wrath of self-righteous racism Expanded from the 11-8-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune Government contacts Nev. congressional delegation Nevada Legislature State of Nevada Secretary of State Carson City Clark County City of Las Vegas Douglas County Reno City Council Sparks City Council Washoe County Commission Washoe Registrar of Voters 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 1997 Pulitzer Prize entries ...and more ammo yet The life and times of Travus T. Hipp The best who ever was

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Copyright © 1982-2013 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 44-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 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.

Site composed and maintained by Deciding Factors, CWA 9413 signatory

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