BARBWIRE by ANDREW BARBANO

Barbwire Archives

The guns of December pointed at you
Expanded from the 12-11-2011 Daily Sparks Tribune
Site map
Corporate Propaganda Research Archive

Everybody knows the dice are loaded. Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed.    Everybody knows the war is over. Everybody knows the good guys lost.    Everybody knows the fight was fixed. The poor stay poor, the rich get rich.    That's how it goes. Everybody knows.

— Leonard Cohen

HAT TRICK: Barbwire wins 3rd straight Nevada Press Association First-Place Award Barbwire.TV Watch NevadaLabor.com for show times. Help us get the word out. Support the project at http://resurge.tv#donate SUING FOR SCHOOLS Updated 8-30-2011 Now rerunning on Carson-Dayton 226 Additional programs on Boulder City cable. Go to bcnv.org and then go to the BCTV link. 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. The shows appeared on both commercial and community stations. The non-corporate entity produced the events, commercial TV greatly expanded distribution. Thus began an ongoing series of sane public interest programs which generate both entertaining heat and more than a little light. Please spread the word and consider contributing to the cause online at ReSurge.TV. You may also take the public option known as the U.S. Postal Service and send a check or money order to ReSurge.TV, P.O. Box 10034, Reno NV 89510. Your contribution will help fund the distribution as well as ongoing efforts at developing new media, including a regional, non-corporate community radio station and the return of community television to Reno-Sparks-Washoe. You are present at the creation of what I hope can become a new media model where the programming accurately reflects what's happening on the ground and the media impact is powerful enough to forcefully pass the message upward. Thanks. Be well. Raise hell. Andrew Click here for selected on-demand re-runs from the 2009, 2010 and 2011 Barbwire.TV archives Barbwire.TV: 15-year overnight success Daily Sparks Tribune 2-10-2008 The Barbwire's Greatest Hits Highlights from radio days mp3 file HAT TRICK: Barbwire wins 3rd straight Nevada Press Association First-Place Award

If somebody wants to shoot you, the odds are not in your favor. Witness the tragic case of the late David Pendleton.

"In 2008, deputies were called because Pendleton reportedly locked his ailing wife out of their home and would not allow her to get her medicine," reported Gardnerville Record-Courier journalist Sheila Gardner.

"In 2010, a family member said Pendleton removed his wife from a care center against doctor's recommendations...He eventually lost guardianship...Relatives alleged that he threatened her caregivers and greeted with a weapon a caseworker who came to the home for a welfare check. At one point, he attempted to abduct her from a care (facility). Pendleton's son told deputies his father was a federal arms dealer and had multiple weapons. He stated Pendleton was bi-polar, drank heavily and had multiple loaded weapons stored all over the residence. He said his father had made comments about shooting law enforcement officers or other people who attempted to come into his house," Gardner wrote.

On Nov. 30, he threatened a businessman with a BB gun and was busted on a felony charge of assault with a deadly weapon. He went before Judge on Dec Tom Perkins. 2.

I inquired about whatever system might be in place to protect the public.

"Judge Perkins ordered conditions of release," stated Michael Beam, Chief of the Douglas County Dept. of Alternative Sentencing (DAS).

He said Pendleton had "to be under the supervision of Douglas DAS; no alcohol possession or consumption; no consumption or possession of controlled substances; no driving; firearms and weapons can be taken into custody by a member of the defendant’s family or a friend approved by Douglas County DAS; weapons must be removed to a remote location prior to the defendant’s release," he added.

"It is my understanding the court approved a friend of the family to be responsible for removal of firearms and alcohol from the defendant’s residence. The family friend...removed approximately 66 firearms (and) alcohol. The weapons were stored off the defendant’s property. The family friend...contacted the Department of Alternative Sentencing and notified one of my officers of the circumstances of the removal of the firearms and alcohol.

"Two officers...conducted a search of the residence and did not locate any additional firearms or any alcohol or controlled substances," Beam noted.

A 911 call on Dec. 7, probably from Pendleton, reported a dead body in the Gardnerville cemetery. A deputy instead found Pendleton pointing a loaded shotgun at him. The deputy killed Mr. Pendleton 10 feet from the Pendleton family plot where his own gravestone was already engraved with everything but the year of death.

Authorities are trying to determine how Pendleton obtained the shotgun.

Could he have at least been red-flagged in our limited system of background checks for legal firearms sales?

Apparently not.

Convicted of no crime, he was bailed out on pre-trial release. Despite his record of wacko behavior, he could have purchased a firearm despite Judge Perkins' order. There was apparently nothing mandating Mr. Pendleton's inclusion in the FBI national database which may have prevented him from buying guns from licensed dealers.

Douglas County District Attorney Mark Jackson checked off a general laundry list of potential stumbling blocks including the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution and confidentiality laws shielding the mentally disabled and concealed weapon permit holders.

An online ad for concealed-carry consultants accompanied Gardner's story.

It looks like the troubled Pendleton committed what's flippantly known as suicide by cop.

Mental illness is often inflicted upon the true victims of suicide: those who must live in the aftermath, from police officers to family members to railroad engineers.

If someone sane or insane is intent on shooting you, the odds are against you. Even guns aren't much of a defense. You are the most likely person to get shot with your own firearm.

From what the DA told me, the instruction manual with the do's-and-don'ts of posting to the federal firearms database apparently makes your average bible look thin. It's thus perhaps most useful as a physical shield from bullets.

May Mr. and Mrs. Pendleton rest in peace and may the responding officer live in peace.

GO TO NEVADALABOR.COM to sign the petition to save the Reno mail processing center, next-day local delivery and about 200 jobs. I signed and so should you.

Sign the petition to the U.S. Senate

A conservative Congress imposed a punitive financial burden (payable to the U.S. Treasury) on the otherwise-profitable USPS. The intent was to erode service and thus public support as a prelude to outsourcing — which costs an average of 83 percent more. (Harper's Index, Harper's Magazine Dec. 2011).

FINALLY, A REASON TO ATTEND DEMOCRATIC PRECINCT CAUCUSES: Organized labor-sponsored initiative petitions to address Nevada's chronic underfunding of education will be available for signature. If you are not registered to vote, you may do so onsite Jan. 21. Info: 775-323-VOTE.

SUPPORT THE NEVADA CITIZEN TV PROJECT, a non-corporate environment for a new channel and network showcasing the many voices of activists, artists and magnificent misfits of the High Desert Outback of the American Dream. For more info or to ante in, go to ReSurge.TV or contact me.

If the kids can occupy Wall Street, we can occupy our fair share of the public TV spectrum.

Be well. Raise hell.
______

Andrew Barbano is a 43-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. 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... Economist: This is a true depression Elliott Parker Guest Editorial / Las Vegas Sun / 11-27-2011 POWERFUL PUNDITORY PANJANDRUMS: Compelling guest commentary Nevada Press Assn. annual award winners announced. HAT TRICK: Barbwire takes first place for third year 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 desktop 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 ...and more ammo The plight of the paper pushers The great recession made bashing public workers a national sport Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review / 11-23-2011 Bury the Bad News with Rose-colored Reporting How urgent can economic troubles be if leaders say things are getting better? Dennis Myers / Reno News & Review / 11-23-2011 Fact-free nation: Inside the lie machine Mother Jones Magazine May-June 2011 / Cover story and in-depth analysis Bill Moyers: Welcome to the Plutocracy Money fights hard and it fights dirty Speech delivered at Boston University on 29 Oct. 2010 Part of the Howard Zinn Lecture Series Barbwire Corporate Welfare Archive Cabellyup.com From clear-cut forests to dirty Gulfstream waters, this land belongs to old BP TOLJASO LONG TIME AGO BP/ARCO: The greasy root of our evils Barbwire / Daily Sparks Tribune 9-10-2006 The awful truth — Read it and weep, fellow suckers Labor Day 2009: Rise of the Vampire Corpobots Expanded from the 9-6-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune Angry Americans and Freudian fraud Using war to market cigarettes Expanded from the 8-23-2009 Daily Sparks Tribune BARBWIRE Nevada Corporate Welfare Archive Propaganda fuels gasoline price fixing Barbwire 8-14-2005 Donate to the cable ratepayer legal defense fund at our PayPal-enabled ReSurge.TV Consumer War Room Phillips, Kevin; Numbers Racket: Why the economy is worse than we know Harper's Magazine; May 2008; page 43 Phillips has authored numerous books on history and politics over the past 40 years. His most recent, Bad Money: Reckless Finance, Failed Politics and the Global Crisis of American Capitalism, was published by Viking on April 15, 2008. NAOMI WOLF: Fascist America in 10 Easy Steps There are some things common to every state that's made the transition to fascism. Author Naomi Wolf argues that all of them are present in America today. Alternet 5-20-2007 Johnson, Chalmers; REPUBLIC OR EMPIRE? A National Intelligence Estimate on the United States; Harper's magazine; January, 2007. I love it when heavy hitters validate what I've been saying for years in the tiny Sparks Tribune. Barlett, Donald L. and Steele, James B.; America: What Went Wrong? (1992); America: Who Really Pays the Taxes? (1994); America: Who Stole the Dream? (1996) ; Andrews & McMeel/Universal Press Syndicate. Review of Alex Carey's Taking the Risk Out of Democracy: Propaganda in the US and Australia The Orwell Diversion by Alex Carey Excerpted from the book available below ORDER Taking the Risk Out of Democracy Corporate Propaganda versus Freedom and Liberty By Alex Carey Edited by Andrew Lohrey Foreword by Noam Chomsky University of Illinois Press      SEE ALSO: Lapham, Lewis H.; Tentacles of Rage: The Republican Propaganda Mill, A Brief History; Harper's Magazine cover article; September, 2004, page 32.      By one conservative estimate, the corporate right has spent about $3 billion over the past three decades manufacturing public opinion to suit big business goals. Lapham's number covered the early 1970's to the present day. Alex Carey noted that by 1948, anti- New Deal corporate propaganda expenditures had already reached $100 million per year, not adjusted for inflation, for advertising alone. (Carey, ibid; page 79)      Adjusted for inflation, that 1948 $100 million becomes $801,659,751.04 in 2005 dollars. Conservatives Help Wal-Mart, and Vice Versa As Wal-Mart struggles to rebut growing criticism, it has discovered a reliable ally: conservative research groups. New York Times 9-8-2006; Free registration may be required.       BARBWIRE: Labor Day '94: People vs. corporate con job, 9-4-94 Chilling forecasts from Alex Carey       BARBWIRE: The Nevada Republican Party Becomes Communist, 3-30-97 A prescient Plato on the dangers of oligarchy The sands of time do not cloud the long memories of the sheiks of Araby Barbwire 9-10-2006       Rinfret, Pierre A.; Peace is Bullish; Look magazine, 5-31-1966

NevadaLabor.com | U-News | Bulletins + Almanac Casinos Out of Politics (COP) | Sen. Joe Neal Guinn Watch | Deciding Factors | BallotBoxing.US DoctorLawyerWatch.com | Barbwire Oilogopoly Archive Barbwire Nevada Corporate Welfare Archive Annual César Chávez Celebration War Rooms: Banks, Cabbies, Cabela's, Cable TV, Cancer Kids/Mining, Energy, Food, Health Care, Resurge.TV/consumers, Starbucks, Wal-Mart Search this site | In Search Of...

Barbwire Archives

Copyright © 1982-2011 Andrew Barbano

Andrew Barbano is a 43-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 premiered in the Daily Sparks (Nev.) Tribune on Aug. 12, 1988, and has originated in those parts ever since. Tempus fugit.

Site composed and maintained by Deciding Factors, CWA 9413 signatory

Comments and suggestions appreciated. Sign up for news and bulletins