BARBWIRE
by
ANDREW BARBANO
Pirate Laureate of the High Desert Outback of the American Dream


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Je Suis Charlie
"Our republic and its press will rise or fall together." — Joseph Pulitzer

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"Media is the plural of mediocre."
— Jimmy Breslin (1928-2017)

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   Everybody knows the dice are loaded.
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed.
   Everybody knows the war is over.
Everybody knows the good guys lost.
   Everybody knows the fight was fixed.
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich.
   That's how it goes.
Everybody knows...
Everybody knows the scene is dead
   But there's gonna be a meter on your bed
That will disclose
   What everybody knows...
   Everybody talking to their pockets.
Everybody wants a box of chocolates
   and a long red rose.
   Everybody knows. Everybody knows.
That's how it goes.
Everybody knows.


I hope you understand I just had to go back to the island.
Leon Russell, 1942-2016


SCOTUS coitus interruptus and terminal Teslacide
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 7-11-2018 Sparks Tribune / Updated 7-18 and 7-22-2018 / Expansions in blue


Greatest Hits Dept.

WE WON: BIG NEWS FROM THE NEVADA PRESS ASSOCIATION CONFAB IN GOMORRAH SOUTH —> BARBWIRE NOMINEE GUY RICHARDSON INDUCTED INTO HALL OF FAME ON FIRST BALLOT

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8 the hard way!
Barbwire wins 8th Nevada Press Association award

GOLD 2017
Don't ask Renown Med for marijuana to help your chemo
10-4-2016
We Don't Need No Education
Toxic turf threat ignored

12-13-2016
Kate Smith & Lady Gaga
2-14-2017

Bronze 6-pack
In the Uber-Nevada legislature, words can kill
4-28-2015
On artificial turf, don't breathe unless absolutely necessary (above)
11-24-2015
Leading questions, lead-headed leaders
1-19-2016

Hopelessly trying to win an earthquake
4-18-2013
2013 Loony Tunes Legislative Lexicon
5-30-2013
The politics of media ga-ga boosterism
3-20-2014

We Don't Need No Education—> Neverending Barbwire Series

1997 Pulitzer Prize entries

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SUING FOR SCHOOLS
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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 selected on-demand re-runs from the Barbwire.TV archives

Barbwire.TV:
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Daily Sparks Tribune 2-10-2008

The Barbwire's Greatest Hits
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Tomorrow's news today —> Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

I herewith contradict my oft-repeated advice to bury gold in a backyard coffee can for the duration of the looming Great Depression2. (PEERLESS PREDIXIONS PAST — Great Recession: Barbwire 5-29-2005 et seq.; GD2, Barbwire 12-27-2017 et seq.)

Invest some of your retirement money in any company that manufactures coat hangers.

No wonder Czar Donaldov put a tariff on imported metals. He knows that demand for abortion wire services will skyrocket when his new Supreme Court nominee is confirmed.

SCOTUS COITUS INTERRUPTUS? As usual, the crackerjack Barbwire investigative reporting team has spared every expense in determining why El Presidénte del Ego Grande didn't nominate comely redheaded Judge Amy Coney Barrett.

Our spies report that she refused to be left alone in the same room with the president for a one-on-one interpersonal interview.

Even if untrue, it's a great story and Americans are suckers for great stories, eh wot?

As the late Tribune columnist and Molly Ivins Memorial Columniator Hall of Famer Travus T. Hipp oft-advised, sometimes cheap shots are the only shots you get.

DARK BROMANCE. Vladmir Putin is the richest (about half a trillion USD) and most powerful man in the world. He owns our White House and broke the European Union by funding the Brexit UK mutiny. He kick-started the re-emergence of the Soviet Union by annexing Crimea by force.

Solidarity Union legend and former Polish president Lech Walesa has warned of civil war in Poland if the current regime does not stop trying to rig the independent judiciary. (Sound familiar?)

Czar Donaldov
most admires the bloodiest dictators among his fellow heads of state.

Alas and alack, we have become what we despise. We are the empire. Where is Luke Skywalker when we need him?

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN. Fascist dictatorships are now the emerging fashion in governments worldwide. The best warnings were all written by women.

Jane Mayer followed the "Dark Money" (2016). Naomi Klein traced the evolution of fascism in "The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism" (2007) and "No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump's Shock Politics" (2017). Naomi Wolf wrote the playbook. (See below.)

For four decades, I have advocated that the only viable salvation for this endangered little speck of a planet lies with our females. Many simply view the world differently than us dumbass studs.

First-generation women pols like Reagan favorite Margaret Thatcher had to prove their street cred by acting more warlike than boys. Nevada spawned her share.

Second-generation female officials can now feel secure in advocating less butchering and more nurturing, less bombing and more parenting, less wounding and more healing.

This tiny planet possesses all the resources we need to live long and prosper if what poet ee cummings called "this monster mannunkind" would only stop committing suicide.

TOP 10. In "The End of America" (2007), Naomi Wolf checked off the basic fascism to-do list. Her chapter headings alone provide a primer on how dictators rise. If some of this rings chillingly current, it certainly should.

It can never happen here, right?

ONLINE ADDENDUM: Please keep in mind the simple difference between the two authoritarian regimes of dictatorship. Leninism (mis-defined as Communism) is an authoritarian form of government where a narrow clique at the top of government controls the means of production. Fascism is also a brutal concentration of power but the means of production remain largely in private hands.
The old Soviet Union and the current version of China are the best examples of classic Leninism. True communism is best typified by the utopian egalitarian community fantasized in James Hilton's 1933 novel and classic 1937 film "Lost Horizon." Directed by Frank Capra, a valhalla of civilization and repository of mannunkind's knowledge is preserved in a remote valley in the Himalayas in a world on the verge of self-destruction in World War II.
Communism turned into Leninism when Vladimir Lenin and his pal Josef Stalin ousted the revolutionary Russian government, ushering in a century of oppression. Vladmir Putin's Russia is a hybrid of Leninism and Fascism with a lot of the means of production turned over to "kleptocrats" now respectfully described as oligarchs. All of this has made Vladimir Putin not only a latter day czar but also the richest man in the world, worth about half a trillion by some estimates.

As the great union longshoreman-philosopher Eric Hoffer so aptly noted half a century ago, when taken to their logical conclusions, Leninism and capitalism lead to the same place. (Fascism is an extreme version of capitalism. Barbwire 5-8-2005)

ADDITIONAL RECOMMENDED READING: THE FIRST ECOTOPIAN NOVEL, "The Fifth Sacred Thing" by Starhawk (Maya Greenwood) (Bantam, 1993).

GUARDING SPARKS. The Guardian/UK, one of the world's most credible newspapers, recently dispatched one of their very best to report on the street-level impact of Tesla.(Barbwire 12-27-2017) Rory Carroll has worked hot spots in every hemisphere and authored a book ("Comandante") about the late Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chávez. He published a killer piece on Sparks last July 3. You will find it linked to the expanded edition of this column at Barbwire.US/

I spent two days with the international journalist and suggested several interviews, including two senior citizens who live on the edge of homelessness due to uncontrolled rent increases. (Join RENTvolution.org) Sparks City Manager Steve Driscoll stated that his budget has been flat for two years despite all the growth and its concurrent demands.

State Controller Ron Knecht noted that in 2017 alone, Tesla tax freebies cost our parks, roads, schools, cops and firefighters $68.7 million. (And taxpayers wonder why Reno firefighters don't have serviceable hook 'n' ladder trucks.) I have always agreed with conservatives that corporate welfare is an abomination that picks the pockets of the people.

The Guardian prints 180,000 papers a day in London and environs. Its website generates ONE BILLION page views per month. (I should live so long.)
Another public relations coup for Nevada to go along with nuclear waste, Yerington racism and pollution and our proud status at the bottom of just about every list of community attributes.

I don't think I'm going to get any luncheon invitations from Gov. Veto El Obtúsè or his fellow economic development pimps anytime soon.

Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
_______
Andrew Barbano is a 49-year Nevadan, 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/ 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 and received its 8th Nevada Press Association award and 5th first-place at the 30 Sept. 2017 NPA annual convention in Carson City. (That trophy and about six bucks will get you a Latte Mocha Cotsafracas Chingade at just about any Starbux worldwide, guaranteed.)

WEB XTRAS & SMOKING GUNS —> Sore-oppressed Soul-Sister Cities:
Menlo Park and Reno-Sparks-Fernley share similarly sad high-tech stretch marks

"All humanity has left the area": paying for Tesla's Gigafactory
Barbano and Nevada conservatives decry corporate welfare depredations

By Rory Carroll / The Guardian 7-3-2018

Editor's Note: The Guardian publishes 180,000 newspapers daily in London and environs and generates ONE BILLION monthly web page views. (I should live so long.)

"Facebook is taking everything": rising rents drive out Silicon Valley families
Property companies advertising their proximity to Facebook’s campus are giving low-income residents a choice: pay a huge rent increase or move out
By Sam Levin / The Guardian 6-20-2018

ANTE INTO THE GAME: Support the new season of Barbwire.TV by putting your money where my mouth is.


Metastasizical Statisticals

Trump FCC chair investigated for Sinclair ties
TheVerge.com / 2-15-2018

Ready for Trump TV? Inside Sinclair Broadcasting’s Plot to Take Over Your Local News
Its mix of terrorism alerts, right-wing commentary and “classic propaganda” could soon reach 3/4 of the US.
By Andy Kroll/Mother Jones Oct.-Nov. 2017

How Sinclair Broadcasting puts a partisan tilt on trusted local news
By William Brangham/ PBS NewsHour 10-10-2017

Top-down Democrats haven't learned
By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 8-10-2017

More Faux than Fox? Corporate octopus Sinclair moves to dominate Nevada and U.S. television
By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 8-3-2017


  A thousand thanks to those who keep sending show suggestions.

  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.

 

END OF TIMES SURVIVAL KIT. Defend yourself with humorous or humorless but always-peerless pontification by subscribing to the Barbwire Confidential News Service. Scandalous bonuses for new subscribers.

Hush Hush!

"Media is the plural of mediocre."
— Jimmy Breslin (1928-2017)

Last year's dark foreshadowings unfortunately became reality. I thus suggest inoculation by signing onto the HushHush! list at BallotBoxing.US/ It's cheap as well as enlightening entertainment. Thank you kindly for your support.

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

Peruse the Underbelly of the News —> Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

For all the news you never knew you needed to know 'til now: Tell your friends and friendly enemies to subscribe to Barbwire Confidential for warm laughter, cheap thrills, hot scoops and occasional cold logic at BallotBoxing.US/ Cheap at twice the price. (Hush Hush!)


Smoking Guns—>
Fake boobs and fake news: Guts, feathers and all
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 7-4-2018 Sparks Tribune
Cat house to state house: Any publicity is good publicity
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 6-27-2018 Sparks Tribune
Ghost in the machine: The return of NAGPAC
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 6-20-2018 Sparks Tribune
Lucky June 13: Cheap shots and low blows
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 6-13-2018 Sparks Tribun
A duo of D-Days visit Nevada this week
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 6-6-2018 Sparks Tribune
Grandma, gold standards, forearms and tin ears
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 5-23-2018 Sparks Tribune
Mother Dolores: Our village loses its patron saint
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno
/ Expanded from the 5-30-2018 Sparks Tribune
Beer & music and rent & pillage
Barbwire by Andrea Luigi Barbáno / Expanded from the 5-16-2018 Sparks Tribune
Stormy weather: Poll dancing for fun & prophet
Barbwire by Andres Luis Barbáno / Expanded from the 5-9-2018 Sparks Tribune
Flint, Nevada: Dirty deeds done dirt cheap
Barbwire by Andres Luis Barbáno / Expanded from the 5-2-2018 Sparks Tribune


$75 dead or alive: Still crazy after all these years
A mass murderer becomes famous on TV a century later

How come nobody noticed 'til now?
Barbwire by Andrew Barbáno
/ Expanded from the 2-21-2018 Sparks Tribune

Triangle Shirtwaist Factory owners Max Blank and Isaac Harris. Is not Mr. Harris eerily familiar to television junkies?

From the Emmy-winning opening slate of the blockbuster "Cheers" television series. Combined with its "Frasier" spinoff, it lasted 20 years.
The "shirtwaist kings" immigrated from Russia and made a fortune manufacturing "Gibson Girl"-style blouses. (Photo, "The American Experience"/PBS)
The Emmy-winning opening slate of the "Cheers" television series before the "slate" of creators is superimposed. Looks like Mr. Harris' dead ringer (at left) is having a bloody good time.

"Who ya gonna believe, me or your own eyes?" Chico Marx disguised as Groucho Marx in "Duck Soup" (1933)
Back to the story of the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist holocaust

SITE NAVIGATION TIPS: When all else fails, read the instructions (A favorite John Hanks aphorism I've been using for decades)

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Copyright © 1982-2018 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 49-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and SenJoeNeal.org; and former chair of the City of Reno's Citizens Cable Compliance Committee. He is the executive producer of Nevada's annual César Chávez Day celebration and serves as first vice-president and political action chair 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.

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

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