Columns by Brian Greenspun

Principles are worth the time, cost it takes to wage the fight: June 18, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; Where’s my lawyer? It turns out that my dear friend Larry Ruvo and I share the same lawyer. Normally, that wouldn’t cause a problem because one thing we learn in law school — yes, I did that a lifetime ago — is to multitask.

We can honor our fathers by applying the wisdom they shared: June 16, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; Happy Father’s Day! I've been fortunate in my life to have fathered a most remarkable daughter who, in turn, has made me the happiest grandfather on the planet — twice. There is nothing else to consider when weighting the happiness scale. There are, however, other considerations that define the responsibility that comes with being a father or a grandfather.

Again, legislators fail to stand up for Southern Nevada: June 2, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; Show us the money, Governor.

Traffic is seen Jan. 13, 2011, on Interstate 15 in a construction zone for the Interstate 15 South Design-Build South Project.

Inequity in state’s spending on roads is a joke: May 21, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; Connecting the dots in Carson City is a fool’s errand. Enter the fool. Sen. Debbie Smith has bottled up Senate Bill 322 in her committee despite a previous unanimous vote to move it to the floor for passage. But why?

Our Legislature needs to step up and get the job done: May 19, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; I have been one of those Nevadans who believed that the Legislature should meet no more than every two years and for no more than a specific amount of time. The theory has been that when forced to do the work, legislators will get it done and leave the good people of Nevada alone the rest of the time. I was wrong.

Better have a good reason if you forgot Mother’s Day: May 12, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; Hank Greenspun was well-known for taking his life in his hands by forgetting such important dates as Mother’s Day, his wedding anniversary, an important birthday and the like. He compounded the problem by writing about these matters in his “Where I Stand” column. I know that Las Vegans — both newcomers and those who have been here forever — enjoy reliving some of the good old days through Hank’s words. So I have chosen a column he wrote on Mother’s Day 1954 to republish today.

Firefighters spray water on twisted metal to keep fire and fumes from escaping at the Pacific Engineering Production Company of Nevada plant May 5, 1988.

Anger after the explosion’s fallout: May 5, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; On this weekend’s 25th anniversary of the explosion at the PEPCON industrial plant — a mighty blast that killed two people, injured several hundred and blew out windows throughout the valley — I am ceding my normal column space to my late father, Hank Greenspun, who was the editor and publisher of the Sun at the time.

Smatresk’s leadership elevates university: April 28, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; How do we evaluate Neal Smatresk? Employee evaluations are supposed to be private — mostly, I assume, because candor is important when deciding whether a person has done or is doing a good job. People who talk about others want protection from any reprisals, and protecting a person from too much candor — an opinion laced with bias — is also good policy.

Kudos to NV Energy for helping our health: April 7, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; If you have your health, you have everything.

We have a right to feel safe: March 31, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; In the end, they just didn’t feel safe. Assembly Majority Leader William Horne expressed that sentiment after the very sad saga of Assemblyman Steven Brooks during the process that led to his being expelled by the legislative body to which he was duly elected.

Gag order obscures the real fight: March 24, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; I think I know why Nevada voters, like so many others, are getting sick of politics.

Promising signs for the future: March 17, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; In a world that has seen a dearth of positives over the past five years, I think the signs this past week around the world and here at home give us reason for hope.

Continue the good work CCSD chief started: March 10, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; Thank you, Dwight Jones.

Kids will be ready to take torch: March 3, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; I’ve always enjoyed getting haircuts — even if I only needed a little trim — because it was an opportunity for pleasant conversation with Tony.

Las Vegans continue giving: Feb. 24, 2013; By Brian Greenspun; The power of love in Las Vegas is a reason for celebration.

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Turns out ‘1984’ was not fiction: The predictions of “1984” were about 30 years premature.; Continues…; Lee Bernstein, Las Vegas
Congress will lead us to our slaughter: Any fear we the people have about governmental surveillance is minuscule and pales in comparison with the actual insidious cancer from within that is slowly killing us, our freedoms and our democracy.; Continues…; John Dombek, Santa Clara, Utah
U.S. must be more careful who we arm: I’m concerned about arming Syrian rebels.; Continues…; Sandra Miner, Las Vegas
Intrusion into our lives is too much: First the IRS targeting conservative groups, then the Justice Department snooping into the records of reporters, and now the government targeting all of us via the monitoring of our calls.; Continues…; Subhas Dhodapkar, Las Vegas
Our lawmakers are the real traitors: Every day new revelations come out about how big a dragnet our government has used in gathering private information from, on, or about American citizens; as well as how our government has violated not only our trust but our constitutional rights, and I for one am angry.; Continues…; Kathleen M. Stone, Pahrump
Question motives of Snowden, writer: Does Edward Snowden really believe his actions, as a whistle-blower, were leaked to make the public aware of our government’s abuse of our civil liberties?; Continues…; George Seminara, North Las Vegas
You can’t compare Snowden, Ellsberg: In his column Wednesday, Tom Keane draws a favorable comparison between Edward Snowden and Dan Ellsberg, who in 1971 made public a top secret study of the events leading up to, and justifying the continuation of, the war in Vietnam.; Continues…; Stewart Blumenfeld, Las Vegas
A better way to thank a veteran: As a veteran who served in every clime and place for two decades, I find it interesting how it is now in vogue to thank veterans for their service.; Continues…; Peter McMurran, Henderson