Awhile back, I got a call from someone supporting the unsuccessful recall of sullied Storey County Sheriff Gerald Cook Antinoro. (Barbwire 10-31-2014 et seq.) His detractors were researching if there had ever been a sheriff ousted in Nevada history or if theirs would be the first. I gave them a cold shower. Not only was it not the first, but fleshmonger Dennis Hof, a 2018 … [Read more...]
Ghost in the Machine: The Return of NAGPAC
The spawn of seething apathy has hibernated for a quarter-century. I launched the None of the Above for Governor Political Action Committee (NAGPAC) in September of 1982 after learning that the major candidates were sending their printing out of state. Then-Gov. Robert List, R, at least had a sense of humor about my “semi-tongue-in-cheek” satire. The man who beat him for … [Read more...]
Lucky June 13: Cheap Shots and Low Blows
Pity the poor ink-stained wretch who wishes he could be writing this ‘round midnight on Tuesday. Alas, the Silver State election gods do not so ordain. So we gotta do the best we can with what we got. Predictions are too chancy and nobody’s leaking any credible polls, so the Barbwire, as usual, has spared every expense in researching the following cheap shots and low … [Read more...]
A Duo of D-Days Visit Nevada This Week
It’s D-DAY so DON’TCHA DALLY or DASTARDLY DEEDS may be DONE DIRT CHEAP. On June 6, 1944, allied troops staged a carnivorous frontal assault on Hitler’s defenses on the beaches of Normandy in France. It was recently revealed that British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had devised a much less bloody strategy to invade from the Mediterranean side. Supreme Allied Commander … [Read more...]
Mother Dolores: Our Village Loses Its Patron Saint
With all due respect to Smokey Robinson, herein trickle down the tears of clown. Mine. Dolores Feemster died last Friday, a day after her 89th birthday. Her last words to me the previous afternoon were “I love you, Andy.” She expressed similar sentiment to her BFF Lucille Adin and others. She said that often but I think she knew she was running out of time. But … [Read more...]
Grandma, Gold Standards, Forearms and Tin Ears
Grandma’s Great Depression advice was right then and it’s still right for right now. Take your money out of the bank, put it in a sealed coffee can and bury same in your backyard. Back in the 1930’s, the Roosevelt administration called in all gold coins. Law-abiding Americans turned them in for face value. Few originals remain at large. One double eagle would be worth … [Read more...]
Beer and Music and Rendering Unto Caesar
"Every rose has its thorn, Just like every night has its dawn, Just like every cowboy, sings his sad, sad song, Every rose has its thorn" - Salvey and Walden, Poison GOODNIGHT, SWEET PRINCE. Nevada retro rock band Angry Inch Mob hosted an all-day jam last Saturday at the Sparks Lounge in honor of their lost lead guitarist, Mark Anderson. The longtime Sparks resident died of … [Read more...]
Stormy Weather: Poll Dancing for Fun & Prophet
Responding to political polls is my version of working a phone sex hotline. They can’t see who I am so they have to believe what I tell them. Reminds me of the ultimate Internet cartoon from The New Yorker, a golden retriever typing at a keyboard and captioned “on the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” Woof woof. To some pollsters, I’m a young, vivacious Latina. … [Read more...]