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Corporate Propaganda Research Archive
Aug.
2012-Aug. 2013: the Barbwire's Silver Anniversary Year
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.
Lawnmower Man, bladerunners and smoke eaters
Barbwire
by Barbano / Expanded from the
8-29-2013 Sparks Tribune
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WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN, TONTO? All participants in the demonstration were reminded that breathing is both voluntary and optional. There is no requirement forcing anyone to inhale Reno's foul forest-fired air. (Photo courtesy of L. Martina Young/APoeticBody.com) |
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Everybody knows the dice
are loaded. |
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—
Leonard Cohen
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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 WE
WON: BIG NEWS FROM THE NEVADA PRESS ASSOCIATION CONFAB IN GOMORRAH SOUTH |
When I ventured into the smoky Seventh Circle of Hell that was downtown Reno last Saturday morning, I didn't expect to encounter Lawnmower Man.
He wasn't as scary as
the guy in the Stephen King novel, but disturbing just the same.
The occasion was meant to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the legendary
1963 March on Washington
for Jobs and Freedom.
As I walked through the forest-fired haze toward the federal courthouse, I noticed
a man lifting a weedwhacker from a pickup.
He cranked up just as our assembly formed.
Then he went from annoying to obnoxious.
"The individual was reckless and rude in his behavior as he threw one
of the event signs and banner for the NAACP on the ground and then walked on
them. The loud noise made it impossible to talk to him and he was using a potentially
dangerous device within a few inches of people including young children,"
reads a complaint submittedimmediately after the march to U.S. Sens. Harry
Reid, D-Searchlight, and Dean Heller, R-Carson City, both of whom
maintain offices in the courthouse.
When Lawnmower Man worked the lawn's edge, his powermower hit the feet of people
on the sidewalk, including UNR emeritus journalism professor
and Tribune columnist Jake Highton.
His blade was thus within
an inch or so of causing serious injury.
"The worker, without any notice, proceeded to run the lawnmower so close
to the participants that he physically knocked a lady over...causing her to
fall into an older woman...which almost knocked her to the ground. The worker
showed no concern for the people he had physically knocked down and proceeded
to run the lawnmower near several young children," former Reno-Sparks
NAACP President Lonnie Feemster asserted in his letter.
"I was shocked at the inconsiderate behavior and the careless treatment,"
he added.
"Why was the weed-whacking and lawn mowing scheduled at the only time
there was an approved public event?...Why didn't security personnel recognize
that the behavior of the maintenance worker was causing a problem? This work
could have been scheduled at an appropriate time without being disruptive and
endangering citizens and children."
Seeing Lawnmower Man push Prof. Highton, I got into his ear, telling him he
was endangering people.
Never looking up from his assault on the turf, LM told me to go commit an extremely
intimate act which is impossible to accomplish while alone.
I raged, but that was then.
What do I hope happens?
Disciplinary action for him and the uniform from the Dept. of Homeland Security?
Firing?
No.
I'm a union man and Labor Day is Monday.
I would like to sit
them down with those they harmed, and talk.
They need to see us as people, not nuisances inhibiting landscape maintenance.
Perhaps a long-dead Baptist preacher would agree.
Photos and more information at RenoSparksNAACP.org/
Honor your work at Monday's Virginia
City Labor Day Parade.
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.
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"Media
is the plural of mediocre."
— Jimmy Breslin |
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 should have.
Join up. You may donate at ReSurge.TV or contact me.
This is important.
Thank you.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno. (Pardon my Spanglish.)
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____________
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...
Jake Highton: King left monumental legacy but much work remains
Daily Sparks Tribune / 2-1-2007We Don't Need No Education
The continuing Barbwire series
...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 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.Site composed and maintained by Deciding Factors, CWA 9413 signatory
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