BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO

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Followed by a moon shadow

TRAVUS T. HIPP, 1937-2012

ADIÓS, COMPADRE — Our friend Travus, 75, passed away peacefully between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m. PDT on 18 May 2012 at his home in Silver City, Nevada. The sun is in eclipse as I write this at 6:30 p.m. on May 20. SLIGHT CHANGE OF VENUE (5-22-2012) — Adiós in Silver City, Nevada, Saturday, May 26, 2012 —> The auld church where Travus lived and died is too small for the expected multitude, so gathering, gnoshing and remembering will commence at the Silver City Community Center, 385 High Street, at 10:00 a.m. PDT. Bring food if you want but most important, bring yourself and all your memories. Memorial service starts at High Noon. Travus will be buried next to his rock star companion Lynne Hughes, a short walk away. My remembrance of Lynne from the 3-21-1993 Daily Sparks Tribune will posted with Travus' formal obituary at this website. All memories accepted for permanent posting hereat. Thanks for all your kind words. Keep up the good work and the good fight. Be well. Raise hell. Andrew Barbano

Barbano remembers the artist Reno Gazette-Journal 5-25-2012 NEW — Travus' life story and obituary Travus' last column in the 5-20 Daily Sparks Tribune Debra K. Reid photo / Sparks Tribune Jan. 4, 2009

Morrison & Maurins: M&M's hard to swallow
Seventh in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education
Expanded from the 5-20-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune
Updated 5-25-2012, 6-24-2012, 7-17 and 9-17-2012
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Corporate Propaganda Research Archive

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.

— Leonard Cohen

HAT TRICK: Barbwire wins 3rd straight Nevada Press Association First-Place Award Barbwire.TV Watch NevadaLabor.com for show times. Help us get the word out. Support the project at http://resurge.tv#donate SUING FOR SCHOOLS Updated 8-30-2011 Now rerunning on Carson-Dayton 226 Additional programs on Boulder City cable. Go to bcnv.org and then go to the BCTV link. 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 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 2009, 2010 and 2011 Barbwire.TV archives Barbwire.TV: 15-year overnight success Daily Sparks Tribune 2-10-2008 The Barbwire's Greatest Hits Highlights from radio days mp3 file HAT TRICK: Barbwire wins 3rd straight Nevada Press Association First-Place Award

Dumbness counts.

Rather than run away from his lack of Washington experience, former Georgia Gov. Jimmy Carter embraced it and made it the centerpiece of his successful presidential campaign. Former California Gov. Ronald Reagan knew a good idea when he saw one and stole it four years later, using Carter's own strategy against him.

The public relations brilliance of the ex-presidents has not been lost on outgoing Washoe County School District Superintendent Heath Morrison. Last Sunday, the North Carolina Charlotte Observer published three major articles on their new school boss.

The only public criticisms came from the Barbwire and Reno-Sparks NAACP President Lonnie Feemster. We both await feedback from the school district.

Feemster wants to review basic data used to produce Dr. Morrison's miraculous graduation rates.

I requested information on programs designed to allow students to make up lost ground.

Perhaps I already have my answer.

Charlotte Observer education reporter Ann Helms, who spent a week in Nevada researching the Morrison record, wrote that "Morrison introduced a door-to-door campaign to locate the hundreds of students a year who were listed as 'vanished,' along with those who had officially dropped out, and get them into school. If dropouts who are 18 or older enroll in the Washoe Adult High School, they are switched into the 'transfer out' category, which means they're removed from the calculation entirely, counting neither as graduates or dropouts. Morrison says it's better to have those young adults working on their education than sitting at home, but he acknowledges it's too early to say whether they'll be successful." [Reno grad rate jump too good to be true? 5-13-2012]

I have been contacted by longtime local educators who share a very different perspective.

One says door-knocking basically ceases in late September after enrollment numbers have been hyped to obtain maximum funding from the state. Another says door-knocking is a prelude to permanently wipe students off the books as though they never existed, thus artificially inflating the graduation rate, a Carter-Reagan spin from Morrison.

"Yes, in fact Reno's grad rate is too good to be true," an anonymous commenter wrote in response to Helms' blog.

"Charlotte will soon follow because...principals are putting students through APEX classes by the dozens, a computer program where students sit, answer questions and then are given full course credit," the reader stated.

A local teacher with more than 30 years' experience criticized similar Washoe programs where students work online for far less time than they would spend in class. Testing is also done online.

M&M PART DEUX. In this column last week and subsequently online, I have been working to keep the community libraries in Verdi and northeast Reno from being wiped out. Just who can act to save them becomes a circular firing squad.

"The Board of County Commissioners sets your budget," I wrote to Washoe County Library Director Arnold Maurins last week, "but, as you stated at the Library Board's May 17 meeting, the commission has no say on how that budget is allocated, including whether or not to keep Duncan/Traner and Verdi open for the few extra hours they now allow the public after school. If the partnership agreement between the county and library system is dissolved, how much will the two small libraries lose in resources like books and computers?

"I am informed that fully two-thirds of the resources at Duncan/Traner are Library System property, although overhead costs are covered by the school district.

"It appears that county commissioners and administrators could utilize the resource data as they take into consideration passing a final annual budget at their Monday, May 21, meeting, which in turn will drive your decision and that of the library board as to the survival of the two libraries," I concluded.

Commissioners and the county manager say they don't want to lose the facilities and that the impetus for gutting them is coming from Maurins who can cover his ass by saying that he's acting on recommendations from a now-defunct citizens advisory committee, a member of which told me last week that they only made up a list of options.

Washoe County Commission and Library Board contact information

All this ignores that Duncan-Traner is located in the most underprivileged part of town.

Maybe gutting libraries will eventually improve the overall high school graduation rate if many of these kids never enroll in the first place.

A longtime teacher recently informed me that nobody tracks eighth-graders who never make it to high school.

I am again reminded of the timeless observation of former Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas: "A library is a poor man's university."

IMPORTANT DATES DEPT.

May 27 —> Memorial service for former Teamsters Local 533 business agent Don Bouma (1945-2011) in Sacramento, Calif. For info, contact Dawn Bouma Eimer.

June 16 —> Reno-Sparks NAACP 67th Annual Freedom Fund Awards Banquet, Mandalay Ballroom, Circus Circus-Reno, 6:00 p.m. For sponsorship and ticket info, go to RenoSparksNAACP.org or call Patricia Gallimore (775) 746-9453 or contact The Barbwire.

SUPPORT THE NEVADA CITIZEN TV PROJECT to re-establish a people's channel hereabouts where education is sorely needed. You may donate at ReSurge.TV or contact me, especially if you think great issues like the above demand extensive and rational discussion.

Help give the gift of non-corporate TV to your community. We are making progress toward returning a citizens station to these parts. Your support is both needed and appreciated.

Keep up the good work and the good fight.

Thank you.

Be well. Raise hell.
____________

Andrew Barbano is a 43-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... The above column is seventh in a current series on the collapsing future of Nevada education —> We don't need no education If you give it away, you can't sell it How the Beehive State bested Nevada by investing in education rather than prostituting to corporations High-tax Utah has now surpassed Virginia on the Forbes list of most business-friendly states Tax-the-workers Nevada is at the bottom of the barrel, as usual By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 7-12-2012 We Don't Need No Education, Part VIII Eighth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-24-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune All that's missing is an enemies list Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-13-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Playing Dixieland — The shell game continues Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Abandon hope, all ye who enter college Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Mythological Morrison Miracle Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-22-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The marshal is getting outta Dodge So much for Nevada education's strategic plan + 4/25 Workers Memorial Day commemoration Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-15-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Breaking our own backs: If you have kids, move elsewhere Have teachers made a deal with the devil? / St. Mary's firings begin Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-8-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Blast from the past: SUING FOR SCHOOLS Barbwire 2-21-2010 / Updated 8-30-2011 Click here to view on demand plus other programs from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Barbwire.TV archives ...and more ammo... Proper Education vs. Public Relations Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review / 4-26-2012 David Brooks, Diane Ravitch and the education wars John Merrow / LearningMatters.TV / 7-6-2011 Gates, Broad: Who is running America’s schools and are they running them aground? Maureen Downey / Atlanta Journal-Constitution / 5-9-2011 "Interesting Charlotte Observer story this weekend on whether the schools there are under the control of philanthropist Eli Broad, whose foundation, the Broad Foundation, has given Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools almost $3.3 million in recent years. (Broad has been a big funder in Georgia as well, and recognized Gwinnett last year with its highly coveted prize for being the nation’s top urban district.)..." Who's the power behind Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools? If you follow the money, you'll find the Broad Foundation. And skeptics are questioning its clout. Ann Doss Helms / Charlotte Observer / 5-8-2011 The Broad Report Make no mistake, "what is happening in large urban districts today has been carefully orchestrated by vulture philanthropists." — Susan Ohanian How to tell if your school district is infected by the Broad virus Seattle Education / 4-19-2011 Why Charlotte-Mecklenburg parents should sue Peter Gorman and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board Schools Matter / 4-4-2011 Demonizing Public Education Diane Ravitch / Education Week 10-26-2010 Ms. Ravitch reviewed the film Waiting for Superman for the New York Review of Books POWERFUL PUNDITORY PANJANDRUMS: Compelling guest commentary Nevada Press Assn. annual award winners announced. 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 Economist: This is a true depression Elliott Parker Guest Editorial / Las Vegas Sun / 11-27-2011 The plight of the paper pushers The great recession made bashing public workers a national sport Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review / 11-23-2011 Bury the Bad News with Rose-colored Reporting How urgent can economic troubles be if leaders say things are getting better? Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review / 11-23-2011 Fact-free nation: Inside the lie machine Mother Jones Magazine May-June 2011 / Cover story and in-depth analysis Bill Moyers: Welcome to the Plutocracy Money fights hard and it fights dirty Speech delivered at Boston University on 29 Oct. 2010 Part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series Barbwire Corporate Welfare Archive Cabellyup.com From clear-cut forests to dirty Gulfstream waters, this land belongs to old BP TOLJASO LONG TIME AGO BP/ARCO: The greasy root of our evils Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune 9-10-2006 The awful truth — Read it and weep, fellow suckers Labor Day 2009: Rise of the Vampire Corpobots Expanded from the 9-6-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune Angry Americans and Freudian fraud Using war to market cigarettes Expanded from the 8-23-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune BARBWIRE Nevada Corporate Welfare Archive Propaganda fuels gasoline price fixing Barbwire 8-14-2005 Donate to the cable ratepayer legal defense fund at our PayPal-enabled ReSurge.TV Consumer War Room Phillips, Kevin; Numbers Racket: Why the economy is worse than we know Harper's Magazine; May 2008; page 43 Phillips has authored numerous books on history and politics over the past 40 years. His most recent, Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, was published by Viking on April 15, 2008. NAOMI WOLF: Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps There are some things common to every state that's made the transition to fascism. Author Naomi Wolf argues that all of them are present in America today. Alternet 5-20-2007 Johnson, Chalmers; REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE? A National Intelligence Estimate on the United States; Harper's magazine; January, 2007. I love it when heavy hitters validate what I've been saying for years in the tiny Sparks Tribune. Barlett, Donald L. and Steele, James B.; America: What Went Wrong? (1992); America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? (1994); America: Who Stole the Dream? (1996) ; Andrews & McMeel/Universal Press Syndicate. Review of Alex Carey's Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Propaganda in the US and Australia The Orwell Diversion by Alex Carey Excerpted from the book available below ORDER Taking the Risk Out of Democracy Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty By Alex Carey Edited by Andrew Lohrey Foreword by Noam Chomsky University of Illinois Press      SEE ALSO: Lapham, Lewis H.; Tentacles of Rage: The Republican Propaganda Mill, A Brief History; Harper's Magazine cover article; September, 2004, page 32.      By one conservative estimate, the corporate right has spent about $3 billion over the past three decades manufacturing public opinion to suit big business goals. Lapham's number covered the early 1970's to the present day. Alex Carey noted that by 1948, anti- New Deal corporate propaganda expenditures had already reached $100 million per year, not adjusted for inflation, for advertising alone. (Carey, ibid; page 79)      Adjusted for inflation, that 1948 $100 million becomes $801,659,751.04 in 2005 dollars. Conservatives Help Wal-Mart, and Vice Versa As Wal-Mart struggles to rebut growing criticism, it has discovered a reliable ally: conservative research groups. New York Times 9-8-2006; Free registration may be required.       BARBWIRE: Labor Day '94: People vs. corporate con job, 9-4-94 Chilling forecasts from Alex Carey       BARBWIRE: The Nevada Republican Party Becomes Communist, 3-30-97 A prescient Plato on the dangers of oligarchy The sands of time do not cloud the long memories of the sheiks of Araby Barbwire 9-10-2006       Rinfret, Pierre A.; Peace is Bullish; Look magazine, 5-31-1966

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Copyright © 1982-2012 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 43-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 premiered in the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in those parts ever since. Tempus fugit.

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