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

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This country has been on a wartime footing since 1942. If you don't believe it, look at how much of our national treasure we spend on our war machine compared to other nations.

No less than Donald Trump got some traction with his comment about dropping out of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, but no presidential candidate dares call for cuts in the Pentagon's war budget. Even Bernie Sanders has admitted that he voted for military pork when it meant jobs for Vermont.

The United States has been financing all sides of recent near- and middle-eastern wars, whether through economic and military foreign aid, direct intervention or buying the oil that funds weaponry to use against us.

I propose a capitalistic solution. (See Peace is Bullish at NevadaLabor.com/)

All we have to do is pay off our adversaries.

I doubt that anyone has hired an economist to do a study, but cashing out the likes of Al Qaeda, Boko Haram, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Taliban and the Islamic State would undoubtedly be far cheaper in terms of lives and treasure than perpetual war and terrorism.

We can find them their own territories and anyone who voluntarily wishes to live in such Twilight Zones can do so. An international consortium would keep close watch so that such adolescents could not foment further mischief and mayhem or expand their boundaries.

Autonomy with adult supervision.

We created a nation from whole cloth called Israel and it hasn't worked out very well because we didn't go far enough. We haven't tried letting other displaced peoples take their balls and go home. We just need to create those homes. (Can you say Kurdistan?)

The Zapatista Rebels of Mexico's Chiapas State provide one example.

"Indigenous Mexico’s fight for recognition and respect was symbolised by the Zapatista uprising which burst into the open on 1 January 1994, the day the country entered the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta) — an arrangement the government insisted would vault Mexico into the first world," the UK-based Guardian newspaper reported on Feb. 5 in advance of Pope Francis' visit.

The Mexican government cut a deal with the rebels which remains unfulfilled, as do the hollow promises of "free" trade.

While still a troubled work in progress, Zapatistas control parts of their own region and enacted land reform, the path to self-sufficiency.

The best way to diminish immigration is to make it attractive to stay home.

Rather than the corruption and carnage caused by entrenched oligarchies worldwide, let's just buy off the guys shooting at us and let them try running a country for awhile — under adult supervision, of course.

It's the only way I know to slowly stop making more veterans.

¡Si se puede!

¡HAIL, CÉSAR! Despite competing events including UNR basketball, last Wednesday's César Chávez Celebration XIV broke its previous paid attendance record.

Thanks to everyone who made it possible.

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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