I herewith contradict my oft-repeated advice to bury gold in a backyard coffee can for the duration of the looming Great Depression2. Invest some of your retirement money in any company that manufactures coat hangers.
No wonder Czar Donaldov put a tariff on imported metals. He knows that demand for abortion wire services will skyrocket when his new Supreme Court nominee is confirmed.
SCOTUS COITUS INTERRUPTUS? As usual, the crackerjack Barbwire investigative reporting team has spared every expense in determining why El Presidénte del Ego Grande didn’t nominate comely redheaded Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Our spies report that she refused to be left alone in the same room with the president for a one-on-one interpersonal interview.
Even if untrue, it’s a great story and Americans are suckers for great stories, eh wot?
As the late Tribune columnist and Molly Ivins Memorial Columniator Hall of Famer Travus T. Hipp oft-advised, sometimes cheap shots are the only shots you get.
DARK BROMANCE. Vladmir Putin is the richest (about half a trillion USD) and most powerful man in the world. He owns our White House and broke the European Union by funding the Brexit UK mutiny. He kick-started the re-emergence of the Soviet Union by annexing Crimea by force.
Solidarity Union legend and former Polish president Lech Walesa has warned of civil war in Poland if the current regime does not stop trying to rig the independent judiciary. (Sound familiar?)
Czar Donaldov most admires the bloodiest dictators among his fellow heads of state.
Alas and alack, we have become what we despise. We are the empire. Where is Luke Skywalker when we need him?
EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAIN. Fascist dictatorships are now the emerging fashion in governments worldwide. The best warnings were all written by women.
Jane Mayer followed the “Dark Money” (2016). Naomi Klein traced the evolution of fascism in “The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism” (2007) and “No is Not Enough: Resisting Trump’s Shock Politics” (2017). Naomi Wolf wrote the playbook that same year. (See below.)
For four decades, I have advocated that the only viable salvation for this endangered little speck of a planet lies with our females. Many simply view the world differently than us dumbass studs.
First-generation women pols like Reagan favorite Margaret Thatcher had to prove their street cred by acting more warlike than boys. Nevada spawned her share.
Second-generation female officials can now feel secure in advocating less butchering and more nurturing, less bombing and more parenting, less wounding and more healing.
This tiny planet possesses all the resources we need to live long and prosper if what poet ee cummings called “this monster mannunkind” would only stop committing suicide.
TOP 10. In “The End of America” (2007), Naomi Wolf checked off the basic fascism to-do list. Her chapter headings alone provide a primer on how dictators rise. If some of this looks chillingly current, it certainly should.
• Invoke an internal an external threat
• Establish secret prisons
• Develop a paramilitary force
• Surveil ordinary citizens
• Infiltrate citizens’ groups
• Arbitrarily detain and release citizens
• Target key individuals
• Restrict the press
• Cast criticism as “espionage” and dissent as “treason”
• Subvert the rule of law
It can never happen here, right?
GUARDING SPARKS. The Guardian/UK, one of the world’s most credible newspapers, recently dispatched one of their very best to report on the street-level impact of Tesla. Rory Carroll has worked hot spots in every hemisphere and published a killer piece on Sparks last July 3. You will find it linked to the expanded edition of this column at Barbwire.US/
I spent two days with the international journalist and suggested several interviews, including two senior citizens who live on the edge of homelessness due to uncontrolled rent increases. (Join RENTvolution.org) Sparks City Manager Steve Driscoll stated that his budget has been flat for two years despite all the growth and its concurrent demands.
State Controller Ron Knecht noted that in 2017 alone, Tesla tax freebies cost our parks, roads, schools, cops and firefighters $68.7 million. I have always agreed with conservatives that corporate welfare is an abomination that picks the pockets of the people.
The Guardian prints 180,000 papers a day in London and environs. Its website generates ONE BILLION page views per month. Another public relations coup for Nevada to go along with nuclear waste, Yerington racism and pollution and our proud status at the bottom of just about every list of community attributes.
I don’t think I’m going to get any luncheon invitations from Gov. Veto El Obtúsè or his fellow economic development pimps anytime soon.
Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Barbano is a 49-year Nevadan and editor of NevadaLabor.com. Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us>
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