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

Barbwire Archives

The moonhowlers control state government and I couldn't be happier.

Assemblymember Michele Fiore, R-Gomorrah South, is challenging the decision of puppet speaker John Hambrick, R-LV, to defrock her as majority leader and taxation committee chair.

Last week, she defended shadow speaker Ira Hansen, R-KKK, asking when Gov. Veto El Obtusè turned into a Democrat and "Why did you Republicans let Ira Hansen get crucified?"

In her holy book, apparently the former Tribune columniator ranks with Jesus of Nazareth on Golgotha.

"I worked diligently behind the scene to get Ira elected as the Speaker because he has good, conservative views," she told the Reno Gazette-Journal.

"He should never have stepped down."

I broke the story of Ira's long-embedded racism in this newspaper two days before it went viral. Read the archive for yourself at BallotBoxing.US/Ira.html/

As I have oft-stated since, he still controls the lower house without the title.

Fire-at-will Fiore is plumb scary, bragging about always carrying a gun in her purse.

The Legislative Counsel Bureau informs me that any employee with a concealed-carry permit may carry a firearm into their workplace.

No one thought to ask if defrocked Assemblymember Steven Brooks, D-LV, would have been allowed to pack heat when he made his single appearance at the 2013 session before being barred for bizarre gun-toting behavior.

Anyone desiring mayhem now knows to just grab Fiore's purse.

MA BELL DISSES HER KIDS. In recent years, it's been bad enough that the white pages were designed for the eyes of elves with magnifying glasses.

A few years back, when Nevada Newspaper Hall-of-Famer Bruce Bledsoe wrote RGJ editorials, he kicked the phone company's corporate ass for printing microscopic white pages, demanding reprinting in legible type.

Never happened, but they did increase the font size the following year.

Residential phone service users don't exist in the newly distributed phone books.

Everybody's now unlisted.

If you want individuals, you must call 1-866-329-7118 or go to a website to order a CD or hard copy version.

In two or three freakin' weeks!

I called and got a lady in the Philippines who said to try again much later.

People with Internet service can go to RealPagesLive.com/

Alas and alack, tens of thousands of Nevadans don't have web access.

I looked for my name online.

I pay for five phone numbers, two of which have long been listed under my last name. One has now dropped through the cracks.

The only good thing about the new books is the lack of Ira Hansen's plumbing outfit stuck to the cover, replaced by Savage & Son, a reputable union shop.

PEERLESS PREDIXION: Next year, at the suggestion of some wanker in the marketing department, they will offer residential listings for an extra fee.

I suggest calling and ordering printouts and CD's on a regular basis and asking your neighbors do the same.

The only thing the corporate dinosaur understands is cost.

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

The Underbelly of the News—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

ONLINE EXTRAS...

TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY: FEEL UP YOUR FIRE METER. The Reno Gazette-Journal did big spreads on three consecutive Sundays (Sept. 14, Sept. 21 and Sept. 28) on NV Energy smart meter fires. Welcome aboard. Barbwire readers were two years ahead on the fire meter issue. (Touch a Smart Meter, Go to Jail — 11 October 2012)

FIRE METER UPDATES: THE NEVADA FIRE MARSHALL'S INVESTIGATION concluded "don't worry, be happy." I'm still worried and will continue fondling NVE's precious equipment —> If your smart meter feels very hot, not just from sunshine, call 911. In its Sunday 21 Dec. 2014 front page headline major story, the Reno Gazette-Journal published results of the NVEnergy-commissioned "don't worry, be happy" echo study.

On 1-27-2015, the RGJ published an analysis based on veteran reporter Anjeanette Damon's review of more than 1,000 pages of documents. Barbwire bottom line: NVE handles this like auto manufacturers handle defects —> It's cheaper to pay legal settlements after people are injured or killed than to fix the problem.

Don'tcha worry 'bout a thing! If you can't trust your power company, who can you trust?

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

A thousand thanks to those who already responded and 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.

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

Andrew Barbano is a 46-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 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.

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Smoking Guns... Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential Education Dysfunction Part LIII—> Gov. Veto El Obtusè talks some trash Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 1-20-2015 Sparks Tribune Good grief: Je suis Charlie Brown Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 1-13-2015 Sparks Tribune Corporate media: Thou shalt censor thyself Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 1-6-2015 Sparks Tribune The ever-expanding Ira Hansen Archive of an anachronism BREAKING BAD Walter White and some other white guy Who's,,, ...Who? Breaking Bad 5: Machine Gun Michele and the good ole boys Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-16-2014 Sparks Tribune Dr. Michele's Greatest Ding-Dong Bells: Google at will Cancer is a fungus that can be washed out with salt water. Anybody for an ocean swim? Surf's up for God's own cancer cure. Her campus carry bill (AB148) is not dangerous because alcohol is banned on campus But what if the student bitches ask for it? Well, according to Machine Gun Mama, packing heat will ensure the safety of "hot little girls." Culinary Union protestors should be shot, especially if they inconvenience Michele's grand entrance to a hotel. Let's shoot the lawmakers who gave Nevada land away to the feds. (Anyone serving in 1864 is dead anyway, so no harm, no foul?) Government welfare queen Cliven Bundy is just a misunderstood patriot. Breaking Bad 4: Ira and his ammosexuals flip us the finger Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 12-9-2014 Sparks Tribune / Updated 12-11-2014   Union decline and rising inequality in two charts by Colin Gordon Economic Policy Institute / 6-5-2012 Labor Day: State of the Unions By Mark Robison / Reno Gazette-Journal / Sunday 9-1-2013 The above graph was 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. WOMEN AND UNIONS — ORPHAN MAJORITIES The Barbwire Labor Day column Reno Gazette-Journal / 9-3-2012 ...and more ammo... We Don't Need No Education The continuing Barbwire series Barbwire: Nevada not really a state No, we were not Battle Born in Kenya Top 10 reasons Nevada lives in the 19th Century Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 10-17-2013 Sparks Tribune Low-income penalty: Nevada socks it to the working poor BARBANO: Nevada is one big company town Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013 State of Health National health care comes up against a very sick state. WHAT'S IN IT FOR US? Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review 10-10-2013 ...and more ammo yet IMF Head Says Inequality Threatens Democracy. Here Are 7 Charts Proving She’s Right. By Erika Eichelberger / Mother Jones/BillMoyers.com 5-30-2014 “The behavior of the financial sector has not changed fundamentally…since the crisis. The industry still prizes short-term profit.” The Post-Dated Recession: Pay me now or pay me later Barbwire by Barbano / Expanded from the 9-6-2012 Daily Sparks Tribune The Post-dated Recession By Joshua H. Silavent / Daily Sparks Tribune / 5-3-2011 Nevada Press Assn. Better Newspaper Contest 2013-14: BARBWIRE SCORES SIXTH NEVADA PRESS ASSOCIATION AWARD BRONZE 2014 Hopelessly trying to win an earthquake / 4-18-2013 The 2013 Loony Tunes Legislative Lexicon / 5-30-2013 The politics of media ga-ga boosterism / 3-20-2014 2012: WE WON —> BIG NEWS FROM THE NEVADA PRESS ASSOCIATION GOMORRAH SOUTH CONFAB—> BARBWIRE NOMINEE GUY RICHARDSON INDUCTED INTO NPA HALL OF FAME ON FIRST BALLOT Support legendary photographer Don Dondero next 2010 GOLD 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 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 The life and times of Travus T. Hipp The best who ever was   Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

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Copyright © 1982-2015 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 46-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.

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