"Meet John Doe" -- a 79-year-old movie has something to say about 2020

I watched Frank Capra's "Meet John Doe" Friday night on Turner Classic Movies. I've seen it before but not in the Trump era. I see it now with new eyes. It's a story about decency. A hackneyed subject, boring even. But a lively tale in the hands of director Frank Capra.

If you don't know the 1941 movie, here's a synopsis. After the credits roll over scenes of Depression America, the film opens with a workman taking a jackhammer to a chiseled stone logo: "The Bulletin: A Free Press Means a Free People." It's replaced by a shiny new metal sign: "The New Bulletin: A Streamlined Paper for a Streamlined Era." 

Cut to the newsroom. An officious young clerk strolls in, points at each expendable employee, whistles, makes the universal cutthroat sign across his neck, and clucks his tongue. The somber looks on faces reveals the awful truth -- that they are now cast loose into The Great Depression with no real safety net. 

Mitchell is one of them. But she is not going to take this lying down. She marches into the editor's office and pleads for her job, saying she will take a pay cut from $30 to $20. Editor Henry Connell is a grizzled old school editor brought in to make the paper, now owned by millionaire businessman D.B. Norton, more exciting and more "streamlined." He has no patience and no job for Stanwyck and shoos her from the office, reminding her to write her final column before she leaves.

What comes next? It's a Capra-style exploration of celebrity, greed, patriotism and fascism. It was released in 1941, almost two years into the war and just a few months before Pearl Harbor. An unsettled time, maybe as angst-ridden as 2020. As the plot unfolds, I had Trump on my mind. Couldn't help it. And I kept contrasting Capra's worldview and the one that emerged after the 2016 presidential election.

In the movie, Mitchell's parting newspaper column is a fake letter from a John Doe who rails against society's ills and says he will make his point by jumping off the city hall building on Christmas Eve. An editor, who's also been fired, comes to Mitchell and says her column is two sticks short. She hands him to new column and he runs with it. When printed, the column causes an uproar. The competing newspaper calls it a fake. Mitchell is rehired at a higher salary and told to produce John Doe. She finds a washed-up pitcher named Long John Willoughby (Gary Cooper) who bums around the country with The Colonel (Walter Brennan). Mitchell persuades Willoughby to be Doe and the plot thickens.

Doe takes to the role. He eats regularly and has money. The Colonel warns him of "the heelots," those heels who just want your money. The Colonel is the voice of reason to Doe's aw-shucks naivite. He urges Doe to flee before it's too late. But Doe is stuck -- he likes the attention and having money ain't a bad thing either. Meanwhile, Norton gets his hooks into Mitchell as Doe warms to his role until a radio appearance pushes him over the edge and he flees with The Colonel. Doe is recognized at a diner and the crowds swarm to see him. He sees that he, as John Doe, has made an impact. He returns to the city and forms hundreds of John Doe Clubs, financed by Norton.

Norton is the stand-in for every fascist ascendant in the 1930s and 40s. He issues orders. He has his own paramilitary force (Norton's Troopers). He feels that the country is going to hell in a handbasket and needs a strong hand to restore order. His ultimate goal is to transform all those members of John Doe Clubs into compliant voters. But Doe, Mitchell and Connell rally to stymie Norton's plans. That's a spoiler but, if you know Capra films, that's how they end. Decent people win, the grifters lose.

Which brings us to the America in 2020. Decent people are everywhere. They heal the sick, feed the hungry, help their neighbors.

The indecent are always with us. Perhaps we just notice them more in our time of greatest need. Trump, of course, is Indecent American No. 1. Just the other day he was asked was about Rep. John Lewis's contributions to society. He replied that they weren't so great, that Lewis didn't show up for Trump's 2017 inauguration. He wasn't alone of course -- many thousands had something better to do on 1/20/17. Trump didn't even bother to attend Lewis's farewell at the Capitol Building Rotunda.

Everything is about Trump all of the time. He has his own band of Norton's Troopers. They were out in force the night that Trump decided to go to a church he had never attended to hold up a bible. Donald's Troopers tear-gassed and beat down peaceful protesters.Then Trump's Troopers traveled to Portland to do their dirty work. 

In the years leading up to Pearl Harbor, the U.S. had its own problem with fascists. The German-American Bund (America's Nazi Party) had thousands of members. Some 20,000 of them showed up for a rally at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 20, 1939. Bund members battled with protesters outside the Garden. Trump's pop probably said "there was good people on both sides." The Bund supported Hitler and his thugs, possibly history's most indecent group although there are a lot of contenders.

We need decency in film. Not the National Legion of Decency version. The Catholic org rated films and condemned some, telling Catholics that seeing one was a mortal sin and would send you straight to H-E-L-L. To teens in the 1960s, it was a handy guide for those films we just had to see. Censorship tends to backfire on the censor. We youngsters were also keen on reading banned books. I'm no youngster now but I always check the banned books lists to make sure I've read them. It's the decent thing to do.

You can watch "Meet John Doe" on YouTube. For a story about pre-war conflicts between Nazis and protesters in New York City, read Irwin Shaw's short story "Sailor off the Bremen." 

Laramie County Democrats stage a home-raising for Habitat for Humanity July 17

Jimmy Carter, well-known Democrat, works with locals on 2010 Minnesota  building project

Laramie County Democrats will be participating in a Habitat for Humanity build on Sunday, July 17, noon until 5 p.m. The location for the build house is 3823 Messenger Court.  The site is located off McCann Avenue between Pershing and Dell Range in Cheyenne. Volunteers are needed. To participate contact LCD Chair Linda Stowers at 307-220-1219. Close-toed shoes/boots are required on site.  Please wear Democratic Party and or Progressive t-shirts, pins or other gear if possible as pictures will be taken. Photos will be posted online. 

I have to hit the road for work that day but will stop by to pound a couple nails. I've been a fan of Habitat for Humanity since serving on the first board of directors for Habitat for Humanity of Laramie County. Local minister and blogger Rodger McDaniel once directed Habitat in Nicaragua. Back in the Contra War days, I spent a week in Nicaragua touring Habitat sites. We hauled a suitcase filled with Pepto Bismol and a bulky VW van windshield to Habitat builders in Managua and Esteli. During the American boycott, it was very difficult to get anything except in-country rebar and hometown beer. 

See you July 17. I'll be in my "Wyoming Democrats -- Alive and Kicking" T-shirt. Or maybe my "Wyoming for Obama" T-shirt. 

BYOH -- Bring your own hammer.

Another way to support Habitat -- shop at the Habitat ReStore near you. For directory of Wyoming locations, go to http://www.habitat.org/cd/env/restore_detail.aspx?place=76

My Mom was a Democrat even when she voted Republican

I wonder who my mother would vote for in 2012 if she were still alive.

It's Mother's Day today. I've spent 25 of them without my own mother, who died too young at 59.

She worked as a nurse her entire life. She sometimes took time off to have a kid, but then was back to work. She had so many kids (nine), that I wonder if she felt like those mythical women of old, who just delivered their newborns onto the fields and kept on harvesting while breast-feeding the baby and riding herd on the rest of her brood. Jimmy -- put down that rattlesnake! Janie -- keep hoeing those potatoes! 


My mother was made of sturdy stuff. We talked about many things, including politics. But I don't know whom she voted for. I know that she voted. But she kept it to herself. My father did, too, but I knew his politics from our many arguments and/or debates.

It wasn't as clear with my Mom. As both a nurse and a human being, she had deep reservoirs of empathy. Her nine kids turned to her for solace and advice. So did our friends and neighbors. I sometimes wonder if the cancer that killed her so quickly wasn't from a build-up of ingested sorrow.

She had no tolerance for cruelty. Some teasing was inevitable in a large household. But Mom drew the line when teasing wandered over the line into cruelty. She didn't like it in her home or out in the world. She devoted her life to the alleviation of suffering. She suffered along the way, but rarely spoke about her own travails.

No political party has a corner on kindness or cruelty. They are public beasts, focused on accumulating power. They nurture and encourage some, steamroll others.

But the current crop of Republicans possess a rare brand of self-centered cruelty. They seem to have no qualms about enriching the rich and engendering their selfish needs. They also go out of their way to target the powerless, the elderly, women, and "The Other," which includes people of color and non-Christians.

We now know the details of Republican priorities laid out in the Paul Ryan budget passed by the U.S. House. Permanent tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and even further tax cuts down the road. Cuts to Medicaid, which serve the least among us. Privatizing Medicare for the retired. The end of Social Security. If Mom were alive, she would have turned 85 yesterday. Happy birthday, Mom! She would be receiving Social Security and using Medicare for the inevitable ailments of old age.

In Republican-majority states, we see attacks on unionized public sector workers. This is done in the name of "fiscal responsibility" but really is a war against working people. People like me. People like my mother. Many of these same people are Republicans who've been manipulated into siding with Repubs on social issues. Meanwhile, their taxes pay subsidies to businesses so send their jobs overseas.    

Empathy is a dirty word to these people. We've heard that over and over again from the talking heads at Fox, and from Tea Party types.

Empathy was not a dirty word to my mother. She lived her life by it.

Who would she vote for in 2012?

It's easier to list who she would not vote for. They all have an "R" after their names.

Join us for the Wyoming Rally to Save the American Dream on Saturday in front of the Wyoming Capitol

Attend the Wyoming Rally to Save the American Dream on Saturday, Feb. 26, noon in front of the State Capitol Building, 24th and Capitol Ave., Cheyenne. You know the building -- the "People's House" where the legislature has been cooking up a strange anti-people brew for the past seven weeks.

In Wisconsin and around our country, the American Dream is under fierce attack. Instead of creating jobs, Republicans are giving tax breaks to corporations and the very rich—and then cutting funding for education, police, emergency response, and vital human services.

On Saturday, February 26, at noon local time, the Rally to Save the American Dream is organizing rallies in front of every statehouse and in every major city to stand in solidarity with the people of Wisconsin. We demand an end to the attacks on worker's rights and public services across the country. We demand investment, to create decent jobs for the millions of people who desperately want to work. And we demand that the rich and powerful pay their fair share.

We are all Wisconsin. We are all Americans.

This Saturday, we will stand together to Save the American Dream. Be sure to wear Wisconsin Badger colors—red and white—to show your solidarity. Sign up today to join in! Go to the Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=200463373312615

This event is a project of MoveOn.org Political Action and sponsored by nogoodnik progressive union community organizers such as public employees, fire fighters, teachers, police, nurses and bloggers. My mama union, SEIU, is a co-sponsor. Others are Daily Kos and Media Matters, the prog-bloggers that drive Glenn Beck up a wall. What other reason do you need to attend?

Blowing in the Wyoming Wind: This year, read the Holy Book...ours AND theirs!

Pleased to see that Rodger McDaniel, voice of spirituality and tolerance in Cheyenne, has a new blog, Blowing in the Wyoming Wind. Today he blogs about a series of study sessions, "Major Themes of the Quran," which will be conducted each Saturday through March 19, 10:30 a.m.-noon, at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 3005 Thomes Ave. This is a partnership between the UU Church and the Southeast Wyoming Islamic Center. Also a partnership against ignorance. Go to:

Blowing in the Wyoming Wind: This year, read the Holy Book...ours AND theirs!: "“Say: We believe In God, and in what Has been revealed to us And what was revealed To Abraham, Ishmael; Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes, And in..."

Wyoming: Guns 'R' Us

This e-mail update comes from Brianna Jones of the Wyoming Democratic Party. I'd just share a link but the info isn't up on the web site. So here it is in full:

The past week has seen both ups and downs for Democratic interests. Thank you so much to each of you that has responded to our action alerts over the past week and contacted legislators. It is so important that you are taking the time, even if the outcome is not always the one you would hope.

Your input is critical. Please continue watching for our action alerts and contacting your representatives on some of these important pieces of legislation. You can find email addresses for all legislators here: http://legisweb.state.wy.us.

The following is legislation that saw action this week:

Co-employee immunity (SF 61): As sponsored by Sen. Eli Bebout (R-Riverton) and Rep. Tim Stubson (R-Casper) the bill would raise the bar for suing a co-employee (usually a supervisor) for injuries in the workplace. Currently the standard is "willful and wanton" and the standard this would put in place is "with the intent." The AFL-CIO and Wyoming Trial Lawyers Association, and the Wyoming Building and Construction Council all spoke out strongly against this legislation. It failed the Senate on first reading by a vote of 13-17.


Very rare and uncommon area designations (HB 152): This legislation as sponsored by Rep. Semlek (R-Moorcroft) would abolish the rare and uncommon designation and would "retain the authority" to remove protections. Adobe Town is currently designated as rare and uncommon. The Wyoming Conservation Voters and Wyoming Outdoor Council are opposing this legislation.

Health Care Choice and Protection Act (HB 35): Legislation sponsored by Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-Casper) passed first reading in the House today with 35 members voting in favor. This bill would make it a crime to implement the affordable care act in Wyoming. Please write your representatives and ask them to oppose this legislation.


Defense of Marriage Act (SJ 5): This legislation which was defeated in 2009, would put a constitutional amendment on the ballot to only recognize marriages that are between one man and one woman. The proposal narrowly passed the Senate on a vote of 20-10, with 11 needed to defeat the measure.

DUI-elimination of right to refuse test (HB 29): Legislation sponsored by Rep. Gingery (R-Jackson) would remove the right to refuse a BAC test when there is reasonable suspicion of driving under the influence. It passed the house 35-23.

Civil Unions (HB 150): Rep. Cathy Connolly (D-Laramie) introduced legislation, which would create a system for civil unions in the state of Wyoming. The bill was heard by the House Judiciary Committee on Friday morning and narrowly failed on a vote of 4-5. Reps. Throne (D-Cheyenne), Barburto (D-Rock Springs), Greene (R-Laramie), and Brown (R-Laramie) voted in favor. Reps. Cannady (R-Glenrock), Peasley (R-Douglas), Nicholas (R-Laramie), Krone (R-Cody), and Brechtel (R-Casper) voted against.


Illegal Immigration (HB 94): This is a proposal mimicking Arizona-style SB1070 legislation targeting illegal immigrants. It was brought by Rep. Pete Illoway (R-Cheyenne) and heard in the house minerals committee. There was no motion to move the bill and it died in committee.

Marital Counseling (HB 65): Legislation as introduced by Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-Casper) was heard in the House Labor Committee. It would require three hours of counseling before a marriage or a divorce. The committee significantly amended the bill, but it ultimately died in committee.

Health Care Freedom (SJ 02): This legislation proposes a constitutional amendment guaranteeing so-called "health freedom." It was written in direct response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). It was amended significantly on the Senate floor during first reading and passed. The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Leslie Nutting (R-Cheyenne), voted against the bill following amendments.

Abortion - available information for decision (HB 118): This bill sponsored by Rep. Bob Brechtel (R-Casper) would require women who are considering abortion to be given government-scripted information and then wait 24 hours before having the procedure. It failed on general file on a vote of 23-32. 


Concealed Weapons (SF 47): This proposal, sponsored by Sen. Kit Jennings (R-Casper), was defeated last session, would all residents to carry a concealed weapon without a permit. It passed the Senate and will now go to the House.

Sen. Chris Rothfuss will talk about the concealed weapons bill at Monday's meeting of the Laramie County Democrats (see previous post). This is another in a long line of ridiculous bills considered by this legislature. Most handgun violence in Wyoming comes in the form of domestic dust-ups, drunken brawls, and in suicide, either attempted or successful. It's entirely possible that Wyoming's preponderance of guns keeps the violent crime rate down. I'm willing to give that notion some credence. But carjackings and armed robberies and drive-by shootings are still relatively rare in the state. So why does everyone need to carry around a concealed weapon? Is this another N.R.A. inspired and written one-size-fits-all legislation? Or another Tea Party-inspired be-afraid-be-very-afraid bills?

Ask Kit Jennings. Since 2008, Sen. Jennings has been a member of Don't Touch Us, the Domestic Violence Protection Group. This group was formed in Casper after a rash of 2007 domestic incidents ended in shootings. One involved a woman who shot to death her male partner. Will concealed weapons be handy prevention tools for battered women living under the thumbs of violent and well-armed men?

Here's info from a Dec. 22, 2010, press release from the Violence Policy Center, which addresses gun violence as a "public health issue:"

Since May 2007, concealed handgun permit holders have killed at least 282 individuals--including nine law enforcement officers--in 193 incidents in 28 states. In more than two-thirds of the incidents (134) the concealed handgun permit holder has already been convicted, committed suicide, or was killed in the incident. Of the 59 cases still pending, the vast majority (47) of concealed handgun permit holders have been charged with criminal homicide, two were deemed incompetent to stand trial, two incidents were unintentional shootings, and eight incidents are still under investigation. Of the 193 incidents, 17 were mass shootings where concealed handgun permit holders claimed the lives of 73 victims.

Here's another one from Sept. 30, 2010:

Concealed handgun permit holders have killed at least 202 individuals since May 2007 with 34 percent of the killings involving family violence according to the September update of Concealed Carry Killers, a Violence Policy Center (VPC) on-line resource that tallies news reports of killings by concealed handgun permit holders. The update comes one day before the beginning of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

Forty-two of the 122 incidents involved family violence. Of these, 29 involved intimate partner violence. Fifteen of the 42 family violence incidents ended in murder-suicide, accounting for 65 percent (15 of 23) of all the murder-suicides committed by concealed handgun permit holders tallied by the VPC to date.

Violence Policy Center Legislative Director Kristen Rand states, “A permit to carry a concealed handgun has become one more weapon in the arsenal of domestic abusers who ultimately kill their intimate partner or other family member. Contrary to the false assurances of concealed carry proponents, too many of those with valid permits kill in anger, not self-defense.”

And these are permitted gun owners. What happens when anybody can carry a concealed weapon? People such as the mentally ill Tucson shooter? Makes you think...

Rev. Rodger McDaniel takes the long way home

I was pleased to see that today's lead story in our local paper was also on the web site. To read it all, go to: The long way home - Wyoming Tribune Eagle Online.

On the day that Rev. Rodger McDaniel retired from his state job, he grabbed his backpack and walked to the COMEA Shelter to spend a week as a homeless person.

For many years, Rev. McDaniel has been urging others "to get out of your comfort zone." He puts that into practice. He's been involved in the Cheyenne community for many decades. I first met him when we served together on the first Laramie County Habitat for Humanity board. He and his family spent a year in Nicaragua directing Habitat projects. He served in the state legislature. He brought new vitality to the Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services Division of the state Department of Health. He's established partnership with Wyoming social service non-profits, such as UPLIFT. In the interest of full disclosure, I'm on the UPLIFT board. I was on hand on a snowy November evening last year when UPLIFT awarded Rodger its public service award.

As I read about Rev. McDaniel this morning, I thought about David Brooks' column in Thursday's New York Times. We have lost our sense of modesty, he writes, the knowledge that we are limited in our skills and accomplishments and need others to fill in the gaps. The self-effacing are forgotten. The self-aggrandizing take center stage. The stage itself, it seems, has taken center stage.

In a famous passage, Reinhold Niebuhr put it best:

“Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. ... Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore, we are saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore, we must be saved by the final form of love, which is forgiveness.”

The Rev. McDaniel probably won't disagree with this quote. Embedded with it are the Three Virtues that I learned in Catholic school: faith, hope and love. Or rendered a different way: faith, hope and charity. Jesus is quoted about these virtues in 1 Corinthians 13, the passage that so many of us heard (or read) at our wedding masses. It wraps up with a line that's translated in various ways. Here's one version: "So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three: but the greatest of these is love."

When I blog, I'm not always thinking of faith, hope and love. Usually I'm thinking very uncharitable thoughts. For example: "Tea Party members are a bunch of ignorant assholes." Not sure what Jesus or the Corinthians would have made of that. Not much love there, though.

Blogging is an attempt to communicate. But the most visible bloggers, it seems, are those who shout the loudest to rise above the din. I don't shout very loud. But that doesn't mean I am any less interested in my "brand." When I write, I am interested in the content but I also want people to read my work. I am shouting that the content on hummingbirdminds is pretty darn thoughtful and you ought to go read it.

Perhaps I'm deluded. Blogger and Facebook and other social media sites may not be new and innovative ways to connect people. They may just be other ways to say me-me-me.

Citizens -- gird your loins for upcoming Wyoming Legislature

Know your state legislature.

A good phrase to keep in mind as we face a new batch of legislators and a Republican-dominated government in 2011.

Moderation has been the touchstone of the Wyoming Legislature during my 20 years in the state. Legislators occasionally pass a wacko law, but have spurned attempts during the past several sessions to outlaw gay marriage.

But the new Legislature will be under the sway of Tea Party politics this year. The Equality State Policy Center in Laramie says in its latest newsletter that the 2011 session is likely to bring...

another attack on setting aside Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (provided for under the Environmental Quality Act)

another attempt to change the Wyoming Constitution to outlaw gay marriage and civil unions

a proposal for a Draconian immigration law like Arizona's

at attempt to repeal basic safety requirements for childcare facilities

And I'm sure other weird proposals will rear their ugly heads. Remember last year?

In an effort to increase citizen involvement in the process, the ESPC is sponsoring its annual Citizen Lobbyist Training on Wednesday, January 12, the second day of the general session, starting at 8 a.m. at the Plains Hotel in Cheyenne.

Here are some details:

Participants in the trainings learn how a bill becomes law. Experienced lobbyists who work for ESPC member organizations outline the attributes of an effective lobbyist and teach attendees how to testify before a legislative committee. Other presentations outline how citizens can get the attention of legislators and affect their policy deliberations from home. Sitting and former legislators offer their perspectives on lobbying and discuss approaches that worked – and didn’t work – with them.

The training attracts citizens from all walks of life, including students, representatives of nonprofit groups and people who simply want to learn more about lawmaking in Wyoming.

The Equality State Policy Center offers scholarship funds to help bring individuals and organizational representatives to our Citizen Lobbyist Training.

Scholarship applications will be considered from individuals and all nonprofit organizations, with priority given to groups working with women, people of color, youth, low-income, rural, disabled, Native Americans, immigrants and refugees, and gay, lesbian and transgendered people.

Registration is open until the training is filled.

FMI: E-mail it to Dan Neal at dneal@equalitystate.org.

Making sure that my premiums are spent on health care and not solid-gold Hummers for insurance execs

"Lived experience" is the buzz phrase for future mental health care

I am not a clinician.

But I am a parent of two children with mental health issues. As an adult who’s struggled with depression and takes wonder drugs for it, I am also considered a consumer of mental health services.

This “lived experience” may prove to be crucial in the future.

Change, you see, is on the horizon. I would say that the dark clouds of doom are looming, threatening to destroy us all, but that would depress me and I’d have to go lie down and read Kafka for the rest of the day.

The annual conference in Atlanta for the National Federation of Families for Children’s Mental Health began the day after Black Tuesday, Nov. 2. Many presentations were colored by that fact.

Andrea Barnes, policy wonk for the federation, said this on the opening day’s overview session: “What we know about the Republicans’ agenda is they want to roll back everything, especially prevention funds. The Affordable Health Care Act has some very important pieces regarding mental health. There is no guarantee that all the provisions will be enacted now that the Congress has changed.”

Much talk about change – the bad kind. Some gloom and doom.

But by the end of the conference, I felt hopeful that stressful times and creative thinking may bring about a new and more family- and community-centered way of taking care of our youth.

“We have to find alternative ways to do business,” said Gary M. Blau, Child, Adolescent and Family Branch, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). He urged us to embrace the reality of huge deficits and the changing face of Congress. He said that it was our “lived experience” that will make the difference.

This changing dynamic will not only need involvement from parents and youth and family members and the community. It will be crucial. “We need to implement things that work – things our young people have told us,” Blau said.

As I said earlier – I’m not a clinician. Nor am I part of a social services non-profit and treatment center. I am a lay person on a board for a UPLIFT, the federation affiliate in Wyoming. I do not know all the lingo and acronyms tossed around like confetti at these conferences. However, my wife and I have 20 years of experience helping our children with their mental health challenges.

Here’s a brief intro from Gary Blau as to how this world is changing.

He outlined five areas in substance abuse and mental health that SAMHSA and the federation would like to be included in benefit packages, such as those that are part of Medicaid and Medicare.

1. Respite care, so parents can get a break and even go back to work.
2. Therapeutic mentoring to extend services
3. Behavioral health consultation services. Monitor children in daycare and preschool and get help for those who need it. Can reduce the number of kids kicked out of daycare for aggressive behavior.
4. Use technology to deliver services. “Our kids come out treatment and don’t go to AA meetings. They do communicate via social network sites.” This can be used for e-therapy and peer counseling.
5. Parent and caregiver support services. He said that this is the number one issue for SAMHSA. “We need a cadre of parent support providers, and we’re working on a certification process.”

All of these acknowledge the fact that parents and youth are on the frontlines and know what’s needed. That’s a big change from 20 or even 10 years ago when parents often were blamed for their children’s failing – and therapy was something done to a teen and not with the teen.

These changes will be needed as budgets shrink and more Americans (32 million) enter the health care insurance system via the (mostly) Democratic Party’s reform package.

None of it can happen without advocacy. “If folks in this room don’t advocate, our very existence is threatened,” said Blau.

I consider this blog an advocacy tool. More to do, of course, both locally, statewide and in Congress.

For more info, go to the federation web site at http://www.ffcmh.org/ or SAMHSA at http://www.samhsa.gov/. For help in Wyoming, go to http://www.upliftwy.org/ or call 307-778-8686.

Sometimes it takes an artist to interpret war's horror

From GOOD magazine:

Design Boom recently featured this simple but incredibly powerful installation by Brooklyn-based artist Sebastian Errazuriz. Using the wall outside his studio, he's created a simple tally of some sobering numbers: military combat deaths in Iraq in 2009, and military suicides in 2009

From Design Boom:

'When I first found the overall statistics that summed the 304 suicides by US soldiers during 2009, I was shocked. I tried to find a number to compare that statistic. To my surprise the suicide statistic doubled the total of 149 US soldiers that had died in the Iraq war during 2009 and equaled the number of soldiers killed in Afghanistan.'

Errazuriz's first instinct was to post the statistic on facebook—dumbfounded by the lack of response and interest, he bought can of black paint and decided to 'post' the news in the real world on his own wall outside his studio in Brooklyn. Equipped with a ladder, he marked a black strip for every dead soldier, until both the suicide rates and war rates occupied the entire wall and were registered as a single image.

What health care reform looks like for people with mental illness

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides fact sheets on the huge new health care reform law and what it means for those of us struggling with depression and bipolar disorder and schizophrenia and behavior health issues. Mental health parity is finally becoming a reality. I just discovered that my health insurance has caught up with the times, removing caps on mental health treatment, both out-patient and long-term hospitalization. Change! And hope!

http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=Issue_Spotlights&template=%2FContentManagement%2FContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=100489

I don't run away from social justice churches, I run toward them

The latest hubbub surrounding Fox's Glenn Beck is about religion.

What does Glenn Beck know about religion? A lot, it seems. And I'm not being facetious.

"I beg you, look for the words 'social justice' or 'economic justice' on your church Web site. If you find it, run as fast as you can. Social justice and economic justice, they are code words."

Glenn Beck is an oddball. But he knows a simple fact: the more liberal-minded the Christian congregation, the more it addresses social justice and economic justice and even peace & justice.

But not always.

During the Civil Rights struggle, many of the strongest advocates for social justice attended conservative black churches such as Atlanta's Ebenezer Baptist. Their members turned to Old Testament scripture as inspiration for hymns, employing metaphor to sing about votings rights and human rights and workplace justice.

Across town, many of the most virulent racists attended white Baptist churches where they dug deep into the Bible to justify their prejudices. It's amazing what you can find in the Bible if you look really, really hard. Glenn Beck knows all about this.

I was raised Catholic. Catholicism, for the most part, finds its inspiration in the New Testament. Not surprising. The New Testament focuses on Jesus Christ's short life. His death and resurrection led to the founding of "The One True Church," a term you don't hear any more.

The mass was in Latin. The priests were the keepers of the Latin. During mass, the priest's back was turned to the congregation. Sometimes he turned around to share a stray "Agnus Dei, Qui tolis peccata mundi, misere nobis" with the dozing churchgoers. The altar boys mumbled along with him, ringing bells and fidgeting in their black-and-white cassocks. In the pews, nuns kept their eyes peeled for chatting kids and dozing parents.

I can't imagine a more conservative setting. The priest's homily was in English and focused on moral lessons. In Catholic School, amidst the Madrasah-like setting, the Christ-centered message was woven into every class. Do the right thing. Treat others as you want to be treated. Feed the poor. Comfort the afflicted. Afflict the comfortable.

Just kidding about that last one. But that is a lesson I learned in Catholic School. And one I continue to practice.

I never heard anything about social justice or economic justice. Those terms came later (a Jesuit priest is credited with the first description of social justice). I did learn that everyone had the right to vote and freedom to earn a living.

I don't go to church now. If I did, I would go to a social justice church, an economic justice church, a peace and justice church. I wouldn't attend a "healthcare is a privilege not a human right" church, a "get a job you stinkin' ______________ (fill in the name of your favorite despised minority)" church, a "bomb 'em all, let God sort 'em out" church.

Learn more and listen to Glenn Beck at http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/08/glenn-beck-urges-listeners-to-leave-churches-that-preach-social/

Welcome to spring training -- origins of Arizona's Cactus League

Douglas McDaniel writes an intriguing article for the Phoenix Performing Arts Examiner on the origins of the Cactus League. Very timely as Major League Baseball starts spring training in Arizona and Florida. Read the entire article at http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-2040-Phoenix-Performing-Arts-Examiner~y2010m2d27-Spring-training-brought-civil-rights-legacy-to-Arizona

When baseball "broke the color barrier," there were all kinds of ripple effects. Arizona hasn't always been the most hospitable place for non-white people. Those migrating across the border aren't always welcome, unless they're mowing golf courses or washing dishes at your favorite Mexican restaurant. Arizona voters turned down a 1990 MLK Day proposal. The NFL yanked the 1990 Super Bowl out of Arizona. In 1992, state voters finally recognized the evil of their ways and okayed the MLK Day holiday. The Super Bowl finally came to Sun Devil stadium in 1996.

In the 1940s, economics and nice weather and a few pushy individuals such as Bill Veeck made the Cactus League happen.

Florida, on the other hand, was definitely a part of the Dixie South. I just finished listening to a PBS series about the very slow dissolution of the color barrier at NASA during the 1960s. Some of the NASA employees interviewed cited Cape Canaveral as the worst place for a black employee. Worse than Huntsville, Alabama? Well, Huntsville had a long-standing federal presence. The military had been integrated since 1948 and many had been stationed in Huntsville. Scientists and researchers had been coming to Huntsville from all over the world. Houston, home to the Johnson Space Center, was at least a big city where blacks and white occasionally mingled.

Brevard County, Florida, was not so enlightened. An African-American town was obliterated to make way to launch facilities. "Separate but equal" was still in effect at schools and restaurants and the workplace.

I grew up one county to the north. Volusia County was home to the Daytona Speedway and the World's Most Famous Beach. Blacks couldn't go to this famous beach. They had to go to Bethune Beach, or N----- Beach as it was known to Crackers. Sundown laws kept blacks off of the beach side at night. Schools were segregated through the 1960s. The KKK was active into the 1970s and may still be.

How did black players on MLB teams fare in Florida? Did they have to stay in separate hotels and eat at separate restaurants? I don't know the answer to those questions. But I plan to find out.

To view a hilarious mockumentary on "The Old Negro Space Program," go to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6xJzAYYrX8

'Jesus Guns': Two More Countries Rethink Using Weapons with Secret Bible References - ABC News

This is one of the oddest things I've read all week. Trijicon, a Michigan defense contractor, makes gun sights for the U.S. Marines and U.S. Army that include Biblical references. I'm all for providing good gun sights to our military. I have nothing against Biblical references, as long as they're kept out of the hands (and mouths) of hypocrites such as Pat Robertson and Republican senators. But in a gun sight? Don't you think that our Muslim allies might have a little problem with that?

"It's wrong, it violates the Constitution, it violates a number of federal laws," said Michael "Mikey" Weinstein of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, an advocacy group that seeks to preserve the separation of church and state in the military.

"It allows the Mujahedeen, the Taliban, al Qaeda and the insurrectionists and jihadists to claim they're being shot by Jesus rifles," he said.

Weinstein, an attorney and former Air Force officer, said many members of his group who currently serve in the military have complained about the markings on the sights. He also claims they've told him that commanders have referred to weapons with the sights as "spiritually transformed firearm[s] of Jesus Christ."

He said coded biblical inscriptions play into the hands of "those who are calling this a Crusade."

Read the entire article at 'Jesus Guns': Two More Countries Rethink Using Weapons with Secret Bible References - ABC News

A "Kangaroo System" documented in "Juvenile Justice in Wyoming"

This trailer is from a documentary by Laramie's Chris Hume.

Contribute to Clinton Foundation for Haiti earthquake relief

Citizens and non-profits and gubment bring earthquake relief to Haiti

The always vigilant jhwygirl at 4&20blackbirds provides some great info on Haiti Relief. First, there's this Google link to donate to CARE and Unicef: http://www.google.com/relief/haitiearthquake/. Scroll down and click on Google Earth to view the Haiti devestation, just in case you listen to Rush Limbaugh and are an earthquake denier or a poverty denier or an Obama hater.

She also brings up the text messaging route. Text message “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts. Another org is Yonn Ede Lot, which works mainly with Haiti's rural poor. You can text message “YELE” to 501501 to donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts. FMI: http://www.yonnedelot.org/.

According to today's New York Times, the Red Cross has collected more than $5 million so far via the texting method.

In other news, the U.S. government has entered the fray by pledging $100 million for relief, sending planeloads of supplies and dispatching an aircraft carrier loaded with helicopters and food and medical equipment. The Air Force's Special Tactics Squadron and its air traffic controllers have brought a semblance of order to the Port Au Prince airport. At the behest of the sitting U.S. president, two ex-presidents (still on the government payroll) are spearheading the public push for Haiti relief.


That darn gubment. Can't do anything right.

Act locally and "Move Your Money"

Add "bank locally" to the long list of what all of us should do locally -- eat locally, shop locally, create (and appreciate) art locally, etc.

Wyoming residents interested in investing locally should consider putting at least some of their assets in credit unions or local banks.

This is spurred by a new cause advocated by Arianna Huffington of The Huffington Post. Called Move Your Money, the Facebook fan page is racking up big numbers. The web site has some great info, and included a photo of George Bailey ("the good ol' Savings & Loan") facing off against megalomaniac banker Mr. Potter in "It's a Wonderful Life."

I'm a long-time credit union member. I patronize my local credit union: First Education FCU

Here's a list of Wyoming credit unions: http://www.cuawyoming.com/

And a list of Wyoming banks: http://us1.irabankratings.com/MoveYourMoney/IRACommunityZip.asp?affiliate=moveyourmoney&zip=82001&submit=Search

An issue of morality -- "Healthcare For All Americans"