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

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Some institutionalized superstitions have become very profitable and so powerful that they cause wars.

Voter registration is deemed good but was actually developed to keep poor southern blacks and whites and northern European immigrants (my relatives) from voting.

As Tribune alum Dennis Myers pointed out in the April 7 Reno News & Review, registration has worked exactly as intended.

I quoted Mr. Myers' article last Tuesday when Reno-Sparks NAACP President Patricia Gallimore and I did a live half-hour on New York City radio.

I noted Myers' linkage of low turnout (for which registration is not a cure) to the criminal justice system.

Had disenfranchised black people been allowed to vote, Al Gore would have won Florida in a landslide in 2000 and U.S. blood would not still moisten the sands of Araby today.

I have had a lot of requests and am working to get the entire program available for webstreaming.

Myers' sterling research got me thinking about other con jobs that have acquired credibility through little more than longevity.

Union people know that there is no "right to work" in the U.S. Constitution or any other, but the PR label has done its job of weakening unions by forcing them to work free for non-members.

Employees injured on the job are covered by "workers compensation" insurance, which is actually a dirty commie socialist big government plot. It was instituted to keep employees from suing their employers over unsafe working conditions.

A decade ago, the Nevada State Medical Association phonied up a PR campaign asserting that doctors were leaving Nevada in droves because of "the skyrocketing cost of malpractice insurance." It was a bright, shining lie, but now any Nevadan injured by the few (less than five percent) incompetent physicians can't win enough in court to hire a lawyer. Which explains why lawyer advertising today solicits auto accidents. [1]

Conspiring to fix prices is illegal except for insurance companies thanks to the McCarran-Walter Act. (Yep, named for our late and unlamented flaming racist McCarthyite Democratic Sen. Patrick McCarran.) It's a rigged game that both Obamacare and Hillarycare failed to fix.

So if your premiums are going up, blame mostly-dead Nevada voters.

The Las Vegas Sun won a Pulitzer a few years back for documenting the rash of worker deaths on high-rise LV Strip construction. Workplace safety inspection and enforcement were largely absent.

Who cares? Workers can't sue.

This Thursday, April 28, organized labor pauses for Workers Memorial Day to remember those injured and killed on the job.

As Mary Harris "Mother" Jones famously said, pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.

HALL OF FAME former Nevada Assemblymember Bob Price, D-North Las Vegas,, still resides in Tahoe Pacific South Meadows, an acute care facility in the same complex as Renown South Meadows, 10101 Double-R Blvd. (89521)

Thanks to everyone who has called or written to cheer up the longtime Sparks resident. You may send well-wishes to the above address or call (775) 326-6148.

Former University Regent Nancy Price advises that her husband can not only receive visitors but also flowers. Bob Price has been hospitalized since November with maladies picked up in the hospital. The César Chávez NevadaLabor.com Hall of Famer was unable to attend last month's annual César celebration.

Bob Price served almost three decades in the lower house. Bob and Nancy retired to Sparks years ago. He has been a member of Las Vegas IBEW Local 357/AFL-CIO for more than half a century. He helped build the showroom at the Las Vegas Hilton which was opened by Elvis Presley in 1969 and has the King's autograph on his old lunchbox to prove it. He chaired the Assembly Taxation Committee for many sessions and became legendary for his advocacy on behalf of the little guys.

ADIOS, KENNY. More than 200 gave up their Sunday afternoon on April 24 to mourn the loss of longtime labor leader Kenny Groves, 51, who died April 11. The former chef and veteran letter carrier was elected by his union as a delegate to the Sparks-based Northern Nevada Central Labor Council/AFL-CIO. He was elevated by the council to the post of recording secretary. He leaves his wife, Cindy, also a letter carrier, three children and five grandchildren.

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

The Underbelly of the News—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential

BARBWIRE WEB EXTRAS —> TOMORROW'S NEWS TODAY: FEEL UP YOUR FIRE METER. The Reno Gazette-Journal did big spreads on threeconsecutive Sundays (Sept. 14, Sept. 21 and Sept. 28, 2014) 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, whom can you trust?

Smoking guns: Rooftop solar assassination — NevadaLabor.com Energy War Room

DIDN'T THEY MAKE A MOVIE CALLED "THE INCREDIBLES"? On 2-6-2015, the RGJ reported that the Public Utilities Commission has ordered NVE to hire an independent laboratory to review the material.

UPDATE: The report said all is well. I still recommend feeling up your fire meter on a regular basis.

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 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.

Get ahead of corporate-influenced news—>Subscribe to Barbwire Confidential.

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

Andrew Barbano is a 47-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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Copyright © 1982-2016 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 47-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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