The solutions to our national problems are simple and obvious, we’re just too set in our ways to implement them. This country has been on a wartime footing since 1942. If you don’t believe it, look at how much of our national treasure we spend on our war machine compared to other nations. No less than Donald Trump got some traction with his comment about dropping out of … [Read more...]
Fighting for human rights on César Chávez Day
Fifty years ago right now, César Chávez and Maria Zamora labored among thousands on the legendary long march to Sacramento. That 340-mile trek eventually resulted in the landmark California Farmer-Labor Act that gave field workers rights long granted to other workplaces. Sen. Omer Rains, D-Santa Barbara/Ventura, now a longtime Nevadan, was a principal legislative leader of … [Read more...]
True love, machine guns and My Sharrona
I’m in love again! Not only is my fantasy fiancée Machine Gun Michele Fiore running for the southern Nevada Congressional District 3 GOP nomination, but Sharron Angle is taking another flyer at the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Democrat Harry Reid. Don’t underestimate either by their weirdness. They are formidable campaigners. I proposed marriage to Assemblymember … [Read more...]
Those with crystal balls shouldn’t throw stones
This column settles an old score. As a barely-thirteen high school freshman in 1959, I was forced to labor through “The Age of Jackson” by eminent historian and JFK confidante Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. I found out later that it wasn’t worth the trouble. According to my best history teacher at Fresno State, “Schlesinger Junior has written reams and reams analyzing … [Read more...]
Remembering the first female U.S. presidents
May the nation’s second woman president rest in peace. Nancy Reagan had a harder job than Edith Bolling Wilson. With Woodrow Wilson’s press secretary Joe Tumulty, Mrs. Wilson limited access to the disabled president from his 1919 stroke until the end of his term in 1921. Historians have long decried Mrs. Wilson’s relaying “decisions” from the stricken president’s sickbed … [Read more...]
TV or not TV – Oscar blackouts and PBS blacklists
KOLO TV-8 went down at 5:30:10 Sunday, the opening credits of the Academy Awards. I immediately got calls from Sparks readers via my Barbwire.TV hotline. An NVEnergy power outage took down Channel 8’s legendary wide-area Slide Mountain transmitter. The station’s backup antenna (on Ampere Way behind - ahem - NV Energy) also failed. Because of Hollywood’s black blackout, … [Read more...]
Nevada caucuses: Star-studded or star-crossed?
At last Saturday’s Democratic beauty contest, I became quickly transfixed by a petite redhead wearing sunglasses and working her I-Phone. I knew that face, but from where? A-list actress Frances Fisher. (“Titanic,” “Unforgiven,” “Laws of Attraction”) Wow. And she’s an active union member, too. She had just traveled across Nevada’s northerly tier, introducing Bernie … [Read more...]
History foreshadows a GOP November win
The cycles of history predict a Republican president’s election in November. If that doesn’t motivate Democrats, nothing will. Folks a lot smarter than me have long identified cycles of presidential and party power. The best references are “The Cycles of History” by liberal Kennedy historian Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., and “The Politics of Rich and Poor” by conservative … [Read more...]