Lead contamination tops the 2017 edition of Sonoma State’s Project Censored list of the most under-reported news stories. (“Lead contamination threatens children’s health, could triple water bills,” Reno News & Review Nov. 9)
Nevada’s competitive!
Here are the Barbwire Top 10 Nevadian Unmentionables, presented in reverse order, kinda like everything else in these parts.
10. Mental health and rural health, two critical areas always starved for funding by this stingy state.
9. Moonhowler Media: Sinclair Broadcasting doctors local news with hard-core rightwing propaganda. The octopus controls at least 20 TV signals between Reno-Sparks, Las Vegas and Elko, including local Channels 4, 11 and 21. The Barbwire covered their skulduggery well before the legit media.
8. Corporate welfare runs amok: See items 2, 5 and 7.
7. Municipal insolvency: Sparks, Reno and Gomorrah South can’t fix potholes or schools because of billions wasted on corporate welfare compounding standard state stinginess.
6. ReidWreck2: Nevada could have avoided the electoral Red Wave of 2014 but the power structure shunted resources to other states. Several political heavyweights fear that ex-Senator Harry Reid’s nomination of freshman Rep. Jacky Rosen, D-Las Vegas, favors the re-election of Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev. Rep. Ruben Kihuen, D-South Central Nevada, and LV has much more governmental experience and would have cemented the Latino base for two generations.
5. Another public relations coup for Nevada: A major national exposé is in the offing about the Oakland Raiders deal. Watch Barbwire.US/
4. Major parties are seriously ruptured. The state GOP has long been estranged from and distrusted by national and local parties. Democrats shot themselves in both feet at the 2017 legislature. See item 6 and the 6-20-2017 Barbwire.
3. Mississippi West Are Us. While legit media sit shiva, the Barbwire has been exposing endemic racism at Shaw Middle School in Spanish Springs and Yerington High School. (Barbwire Oct. 18, 25 and Nov. 1; Reno News & Review Nov. 9)
2. The company town abides. Gomorrah South casino moguls Sheldon Adelson and Steve Wynn control bi-partisan majorities of both houses of the legislature as well as Gov. Veto El Obtúsè. See items 4, 5, 7 and 8.
1. BRAIN DAMAGE MEANS NEVER HAVING TO SAY YOU’RE SORRY.
The new turf at UNR’s Peccole Park baseball complex paid for by auto dealer Don Weir, Jr., is of the same brain-damaging, cancer-causing variety as the photogenic phoniness at Mackay Stadium, Sparks’ Golden Eagle Park and area high schools (McQueen, Manogue, Carson, Douglas). I have personally informed Washoe County School Superintendent Traci Davis but don’t expect action anywhere until lawsuits start flying. (Barbwire 11-24-2015 and follow-ups.)
The pretty greenish carpet appears lawn-like because ground-up used tires are needed to separate the pseudo-grass blades. Tires contain lead and benzene in a toxic cocktail of almost 100 chemicals.
It’s kind of an athletic Flint, Michigan.
Go Pack!
YOU SAW IT HERE FIRST: Longtime community leader and Reno-Sparks NAACP executive committee member Darryl Feemster has been in St. Mary’s ICU since last week. Say a prayer…Nevada Attorney General Adam Laxalt’s gubernatorial campaign currently enjoys $1 million of TV paid for by a Koch Brothers front…Republican “tax reform” would allow tax-exempt non-profits to participate in political campaigns with tax-deductible contributions. That ain’t news. The Kochs have long laundered thru exempt non-profits. Get Jane Mayer’s “Dark Money” (Random House 2017) at Grassroots Books…West Nile Virus can lead to deadly meningitis. Got a friend slowly recovering.
Be well. Raise hell. Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Barbano is a 49-year Nevadan, editor of NevadaLabor.com and SenJoeNeal.org and first vice-president of the Reno-Sparks NAACP. As always, his opinions are strictly his own. E-mail <barbano@frontpage.reno.nv.us> Barbwire by Barbano has originated in the Tribune since 1988.
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