When Dan DeQuille wrote for the Territorial Enterprise of Virginia City fame, back in the 19th century, he used this depiction of a braying, angry, miner's burro. He always called it, as did most of the prospectors of the day, "A Washoe Canary." Below are some of our brayings, that is, Washoe Canary Songs.

A Big Howdy-Do To Don Cook

by Johnny Gunn

In Nevada, the groundhog has as much chance of predicting the weather accurately as any Phd at the Desert Research Institute, as is proved regularly on television and in the papers.  Political pundits will be out in greater force than the woolly little woodchuck, and will not be any better at their predictions.  The campaign for your heart and soul is well underway with candidates coming out of their dens even faster than the pundits, and this year, a presidential election year, will be frenzied at the least.

We’re already being inundated with Political Action Committee (PAC) advertising, some pretty vulgar for being so early in the campaign, and many individual candidates are proclaiming their desire for various seats that will be available.  What happens next will be entirely up to you.

If you register to vote, if you educate yourself on the people and the issues, and then, if you vote, you will have a say in the governance of your life.  Your man, your position, may not win.  The point being, you took part in the process, and voiced your opinion, your desire.  In that process we just brought forward, the most important part is your personal education of who, what, where, when, and why, of each candidate, of each issue, and that is a daunting task.

Billions of dollars will be spent between now and November to sway you, impress you, deceive you, maybe even get your attention with some truth, and working your way through the fuzz, fog, and froth of campaigning is most difficult.  In this issue, we at The Observer are pleased to welcome the words and wisdom of Donald J. Cook, a freelance and well published writer who makes his home in Reno.

His background goes well beyond journalism, however, and this makes him a real gem around the news room.  Cook recently retired from a long career as Reno City Clerk, so when he talks about how politicians can hide the facts from you, he knows what he’s talking about.  When he discusses how politicians get away with obvious lies and distortions, he is speaking about things of which he has immediate knowledge.

Don Cook’s articles will be filled with the information you will need to be an informed and educated voter come November.  With seats available on the Supreme Court, in the state assembly and senate, at the local city councils and county commissions, with those who wish more taxes and those who wish less, with petition drives underway to change our constitution, with city, county, state, and federal funds not always in sync with auditor’s requirements, there will be much to learn and discuss.

Let the games begin.