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i'toon: Fertilizing apples with citizens as mushrooms
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 7-1-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune
Updated 7-2, 7-5 and 7-10-2012

Copyright © 2012 Woodrow Barlettani for The Daily Sparks Tribune

I've been gathering TV news Nielsen ratings to determine, among other things, if KRNV TV-4's conversion to an electronic supermarket tabloid format paid off.

Apparently not. KOLO TV-8 (ABC) leads in TV households in both morning and evening blocks.

I was also curious if KRXI-11's (Fox) venture into the late news market has won any audience (doing OK, tied with KOLO in some key demographics. KTVN TV-2 still wins at 11:00 p.m. because of the strong lead-in from CBS prime time).

Alas and alack, the numbers game this week has been superseded or, pardon the pun, superseeded (sic) by applesauce.

APPLE: HARD-CORED PORNO. The Washoe County School District, the Reno City Council and Washoe County Commission did their collective best to violate the spirit if not the letter of the Nevada open meeting law in approving millions upon millions in corporate welfare tax breaks for Apple Computer's proposed server farm and purchasing office.

The school board, which just hired a new superintendent sworn to maintain the fiction that the local graduation rate has actually increased (see The Mythological Morrison Miracle in the April 22 Barbwire at NevadaLabor.com), listed the Apple agenda item as "Project Jonathan" (tee-hee).

The denizens of the downtown Reno black tower on the Truckee did 'em one better: "Item J.11, Staff Report (For Possible Action): Discussion, direction and potential approval of Amendment No. 1 of the Reimbursement Agreement dated June 8, 2011, by and between the City of Reno and Northern Nevada Urban Development and Management Company."

Huh?

Franz Kafka, call your office.

Washoe County Manager Katy Simon blithely said "anybody who knew to look could have easily figured out what it was." (Reno Gazette-Journal 6-28-2012)

This was an intentional attempt to hide in plain sight.

Smarting at being hornswaggled, the Reno Gazette-Journal printed the awful truth. The Reno City Council usually makes staff reports available with the required open meeting notice three days ahead. In this case, the staff report was witheld.

Gov. El Brúte Obtúse told Sam Shad on Thursday's statewide Nevada Newsmakers TV show that all the secrecy was necessary and there was ample time for public comment at the three same-day public meetings.

Bullshit is good for mushrooms but bad for taxpayers.

The Apple deal reminds me of the 1985 theft of Washoe Medical Center (worth up to $120 million) for a mere $3 million. It was also ramrodded on short notice. At least that took place over several weeks, not 24 hours. Then as now, all info was tightly controlled.

The insiders intimated that their data showed that (notwithstanding the facts) the hospital was going to go bankrupt. The bandidos — who are now the renamed Renown owners —said they'd take the white elephant off the county's hands. Washoe Med was always profitable. Controlling the actual data was critical and they got a free hospital by doing so. (See the Washoe County Grand Jury report at the NevadaLabor.com Health Care War Room.)

Things were much worse with the Apple coring. Apparently only self-styled government watchdog Sam Dehne stood up for the public interest about what is, no matter its merits, an overnight railroad job.

"Sam said in plain sophisticated English that he is not against people having jobs," he wrote in an e-mail, "but Apple will effectively be taking your taxes (the taxes Apple is NOT going to have to pay) and using your taxes to pay bloated salaries. Apple will take the taxes that moms and pops have to pay and use those taxes to drive the competition out of business. Shame on Apple, as if they couldn't afford to play fair. Shame on RGJ. Don't you dare ever write anything critical of welfare recipients again."

He has posted his full speech on YouTube.

Good job, old colonel.

The late, great RGJ columnist Guy Richardson told me that the profit-hungry Reno Gannett-Journal newsroom was and would remain understaffed. It was arguably the job of the major news source for the region to ferret out the Apple story. They failed, as did TV which busied itself with dogs, bears, bowling, Colorado forest fires, murder, mayhem and rape.

Schools, parks, roads, police and fire protection lose desperately needed financial support when corporate welfare is doled out. (See Cabellyup.com)

It's not like this wasn't going to go thru anyway.

Intentionally keeping the taxpayers in the dark like mushrooms is shameful.

None of the elected officials on the three governing bodies are worthy of holding public office if they knowingly participated in the coverup.

Secrecy is bad public policy. Witness the Renown corporate octopus which once promised to lower health care costs and pay for all indigent care in perpetuity. Ha. Ha. Ha.

R.I.P. RON BELL. The former advertising and marketing director (1976-77) of the Gold Dust Hotel-Casino and Gold Dust West passed away in Las Vegas from cancer a few days ago. He leaves a wife, Tanzy, and two daughters, one of whom became a writer on "Saturday Night Live." Had he chosen to do so, he could have been one of the best standup comics in the world. I'm sure my old friend left 'em laughing. Adios.

SUPPORT THE NEVADA CITIZEN TV PROJECT to re-establish a non-corporate people's channel to supplement education and public information among other things.

You may donate at ReSurge.TV or contact me.

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... Barbwire Nevada Corporate Welfare Archive Reno News & Review: Same color as apple butter Deception: Should public officials give their allegiance to the public or to Apple? By Dennis Myers, RN&R, 07.05.12. Apple accused: Rights groups call for changes in discrimination policies. By Dennis Myers, RN&R, 07.05.12. EDITORIAL: One bad apple? Our local government operated in bad faith. Not with Apple but with us citizens. RN&R, 07.05.12. 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 Morrison & Maurins: M&M's hard to swallow Seventh in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-20-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune All that's missing is an enemies list Sixth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-13-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Playing Dixieland - The shell game continues Fifth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 5-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Abandon hope, all ye who enter college Fourth in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-29-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Mythological Morrison Miracle Third in a series on the collapsing future of Nevada education Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 4-22-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune Updated 4-24-2012 — Dr. Morrison is in Charlotte, NC, today signing his contract to accept the superintendent position. 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 NAGPAC's Ghost Riders Saddle Up Again Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 6-17-2011 Daily Sparks Tribune NAGPAC attacked Romney and Heller campaigns seek victory by limiting voter choices By Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 6-21-2012 The Ghostly Return of None of the Above Barbwire by Barbano / Daily Sparks Tribune 11-9-1997 The None of the Above working people's platform Barbwire by Barbano / Daily Sparks Tribune 11-16-1997 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. CHANGE OF VENUE (5-22-2012) — Adiós in Silver City, Nevada, Saturday, May 26, 2012 —> Updated 5-27-2012 — > The auld church where Travus lived and died proved too small for the expected multitude, so gathering, gnoshing and remembering commenced at the Silver City Community Center, 385 High Street, at 10:00 a.m. PDT. The graveside memorial service began at High Noon. Travus was 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 has been linked to Travus' formal obituary at this website. All memories accepted for permanent posting hereat. Stay tuned for pictures and stories of the appropriately rainy day. 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 Travus T. Hipp & Tales of Nevada's Futures Passed Expanded from the 6-3-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune      At bottom, he was an artist who used his voice to soar and slice, a tenor for the tenor of our times. Many of his mourning California listeners talk about the vocal spells he wove, how he soundly organized the noise of daily life into music that entertained, engaged, enlightened, educated, enthralled and occasionally enflamed. [From the saga of Travus T. Hipp and contributions by The Barbwire to the May 25 Reno Gazette-Journal and May 26, 2012, Daily Sparks Tribune.] POWERFUL PUNDITORY PANJANDRUMS: Compelling guest commentary including random samplings of the wisdom of Travus T. Hipp 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 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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