The east coast owners of KRNV TV-4 (NBC) and KRXI TV-11 (FOX) continue to pervert and pollute the public sphere. Sinclair Broadcasting operates more than 200 stations across the country which makes it by far the biggest telecaster. They control at least a dozen signals in northern Nevada and have put into practice their profit-envy of the Aussie Murdoch family’s Fox Noise Network.
Sinclair been justly criticized for forcing their local reporting departments to run right-wing moonhowler propaganda on news programs.
Their DC bureau produces segments devoting most of the time to conservatives. They often don’t even throw a five-second bone to mainstreamers or (gasp!) liberals.
Instance in point: Last week, a story on lawsuits against mask-wearing in schools carried no point of view from someone in favor of that very sound public health practice.
No matter what newbie Nevada Gov. Giuseppe Lumbago thinks, the pandemic is NOT behind us. Five hundred Americans a day die from COVID-19.
All this is doubly shameful because in these parts, Sinclair employs a crew of good journalists who do responsible work — when the boss isn’t running things from the east coast.
Sinclair also produces its own syndicated “news-ish” shows to air on their stations.
They hired the very telegenic Sharyl Atkisson from CNN to host a half-hour weekly program called “Full Measure.” Last week’s was outrageous by any measure and truly a full measure of something that rhymes with “full.”
Ms. Atkisson interviewed a half-dozen former doctors and staffers from Houston Methodist Hospital. They were among 153 fired or forced to resign for refusing to be vaccinated. The segment I saw on TV4 contained no one advocating in favor of vaccines. I was unable to find the full program online.
Medical professionals going anti-science constitutes mass malpractice.
Kinda like Sinclair’s Washington bureau.
The Houston staffers sued and lost. Not so that moonhowler church out in Dayton that violated the statewide shutdown order from Gov. Sisolak in the pre-vaxx days of the pandemic. They successfully hid behind freedom of religion. I wonder how many died for showing up on Sundays.
The same logic and legal precedent applies to snake worshipers. Yes, there are actually some U.S. religions that deify poisonous snakes. One preacher liked to conclude his service by kissing a rattler on the mouth. One Sunday a few years back, said reptile, apparently desiring dinner and dancing before such a rude gesture, bit the holy man who died immediately. Parishoners believed it God’s will.
Everybody knows that God micromanages everything including snakes. Just ask Adam and Eve.
AS CALIFORNIA GOES, so goes the nation. Two lawsuits have been filed in the Golden State fighting a new law “allowing regulators to punish doctors for spreading false or misleading information about Covid-19 vaccinations and treatments to their patients.” (NYTimes 1-27-2023)
Looks like that one will head to Clarence and the Supremes, speaking of whom…
SAY WHAT? “The Police Cannot Be a Law Unto Themselves,” read a recent headline in the NYTimes. Just like the Supreme Court, eh wot?
QUACK QUACK, PART DEUX. I have been reliably informed that a doctor at the University of Nevada Medical School has been advising patients against vaccination unless they are past 70 years of age.
I guess if the Terminator gets you, it’s God’s will. Wonder what church that doctor attends.
KUDOS TO CHANNEL 4 NEWS. Last week, veteran reporter Ben Margiott reported on the demand by Midtown Reno merchants to get rid of concrete medians on that strip of S. Virginia Street. There exist only two places to turn around. Enterprises complain of lost revenue.
Regional Transportation Commission staff says that the dividers are for pedestrian safety.
Merchants should have opposed the concrete medians before tons of public money were expended changing the configuration of the two-mile arterial.
McDonald’s on Kietzke just north of Vassar got the center median removed about 20 years ago. It was installed because of the serious danger of cars zipping thru a corner shopping center to avoid the Kietzke/Vassar stoplight.
When the median went in, McD sales went down. So the median now ends just before McDonald’s on the east side of Kietzke heading south toward Vassar. People turning left to get their cholesterol fix fittingly clog traffic. I’ve often had to drive around the McD’s lefties to get to the Vassar light.
Of course, with the median, it was an easy right-hander into Burger King.
“B” Street in Sparks became Victorian Square and for awhile the city council (c. 1975-85) put in what was sarcastically nicknamed “the Berlin Wall,” three-foot high sloping concrete planters all along the median — which cut foot traffic to casinos on both sides of the street, especially to the Nugget from the movie theaters. The Berlin Wall came down.
UNION BLOWS AND BLUES. “According to a 2022 poll conducted by Gallup, support for labor unions has reached its highest point since 1965, with 71 percent of Americans approving of unions. Petitions filed for union elections increased by 53 percent in fiscal year 2022, resulting in the largest number filed since fiscal year 2016.” So reported the Guardian of London this week.
But only about 11 percent of the US workforce enjoys the pay and benefits of union contracts. In the private sector, union density is down to six percent. Why? Because corporate managers are taught at birth that all unions are bad. Period.
I had to take a year of labor/management relations to get my business administration degree from Fresno State. Such classes have largely disappeared in universities nationwide, including UNR.
Human nature impels us to be apprehensive of what we don’t understand.
Among industrialized nations, the U.S. has been at the bottom of union percentage for decades and middle class incomes show it. Penalties for abusing and firing workers who dare to organize are so weak that corporations just consider the rare fines as costs of doing business.
As with so many other facets of American life, the deck is stacked against the individual. So organize.
Stay safe, get vaxxed and pray for Ukraine and other currently war-torn lands, now up to 63.
Be well. Raise hell. / Esté bien. Haga infierno.
Andrew Quarantino Barbano is a 54-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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