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Barbwire
by Barbano / Expanded from the 1-10-2013 Daily Sparks Tribune
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NEWS FROM THE 9-22-2012 NPA CONFAB IN GOMORRAH SOUTH Watch NevadaLabor.com for show times. Help us get the word out. Support the project at http://resurge.tv#donate SUING
FOR SCHOOLS 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. Barbwire.TV:
The
Barbwire's Greatest Hits HAT TRICK: Barbwire wins 3rd straight Nevada Press Association First-Place Award |
Only fools make predictions about follytix.
So let's get foolish.
Even the most optimistic
dreamers never make book on anything good coming out of the Nevada Legislature.
During fat years, a few crumbs fall off the table to tantalize the deprived.
During lean years, those groveling on the floor are left to chew on the carpet.
When it's time to cut, Nevada makes the least among us suffer the most.
The physically and mentally
disabled are always the first hit and last helped.
The state mental health system
has never recovered from the depredations of 1991.
Years ago, Sen. Joe Neal, D-N. Las Vegas
(1972-2004), told me that former Gov.
Mike O'Callaghan (D, 1971-79) "lived to see his two greatest achievements
undone by his successors."
Those accomplishments improved the lot of the mentally ill and the injured worker.
Their deprivation continues.
Where has the National Rifle Association been?
Since they apparently
know that psychiatric care is the one effective preventative to gun violence,
why haven't they been lobbying for better mental health care and funding?
Will we see the awesome NRA in Carson City next month making common cause with
the politically weak social service lobbies?
Politicians only react
to pressure.
My virgin voyage in clinging to the ledge came 40 years ago.
A couple of old lobbyists who had elected, corrupted and betrayed a lot of politicians gave me some timeless advice.
1. Keep your own counsel — the modern version of "loose lips sink ships."
Now with most every lobbyist and lawmaker able to tweet from the john, backstabbing rumors spread at the speed of light.
2. Never underestimate the power of being able to use people's names. This was uttered in the context of a powerful lawmaker who was also a news director and filed daily reports from his office.
He thus enjoyed had consummate clout. (Clout is the principal reason to support the return of a Reno-Sparks community TV station. See Barbwire.TV)
3. When lining up votes, get legislators (and lobbyists) to say "you have my commitment" or statements to that effect.
Don't just say thanks after hearing weasel words like "I'll consider it" or "I really like that."
Push.
Politics does not reward the shy.
"Commit" means they have given their word.
Those who break commitments soon rue the day as their pet projects curiously die hard deaths.
So does 2013 offer any
hope for education or the least among us?
Most probably not.
But I predict here's what you will
see: Surprising and deadly serious challenges to both term limits and longtime
union-busting laws, among many others.
And not necessarily
from lawmakers.
Stay tuned to The Barbwire for more.
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/
WEB EXTRAS
SUPPORT THE DONALD. Kudos for the kind words
about Don Dondero (1920-2003)
as we ramp up the campaign to install the photographic superstar in 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.
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.
More soon.
Feliz año
nuevo.
Be
well. Raise hell.
____________
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...
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 TribuneJFK, Jr.: Hope dies hard and yet springs eternal
Barbwire by Barbano / Daily Sparks Tribune / 7-25-1999Your better life today had President Kennedy lived
Barbwire by Barbano / Daily Sparks Tribune / 12-28-1997
...and more ammo...
The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later
Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks TribuneThe 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 desktopRED flags flying low over Sparks
Expanded from the 1-10-2010 Daily Sparks TribuneThe wrath of self-righteous racism
Expanded from the 11-8-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune
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 price of a piece / 6-17-2007
Boxing Pandora /9-23-2007
The Lady in the Red Dress
10-28-2007
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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