Windy football Saturday in Wyoming

High school football chicks. Central beat Laramie and advances to the next round.

Free speech is for people, not for corporations

I'm a big fan of street theatre -- all theatre, really. Earlier this month, activist actors who call themselves "Yes Men" pulled off an amazing bit of theatre when it held a fake press conference. The "characters" wore the guise of suits from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. They were announcing the Chamber's turnabout on climate change. During the press conference at the National Press Club in D.C., the fake Chamber spokesman was interrupted by a real staffer from the Chamber who contended that something foul was afoot. For several minutes, the reporters in the room were confused. Who was the real spokesman and who was the fake? The fake one was at the podium and he seemed genuine. Other reporters began firing questions about climate change policy to the supposed real staffer and he became the guy who was confused.

The activists put up a very funny video on YouTube. View it above while you still have the chance. The U.S. Chamber of Commerice is suing Yes Men. Says one of the Chamber's many lawyers: this is "a customary response by any organization faced with this type of misconduct by the defendants."

The Chamber contends that Yes Men "are not just merry pranksters tweaking the establishment."

But they are. The group regularly poses as corporate executives to show "how corporate greed negatively influences public policy."

The past eight years have revealed enough examples of that corporate greed. Yes Men have just thrown it into sharp relief.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, one of the great newspapers from America's heartland battleground, featured an editorial recently blasting the U.S. Chamber. The ultra-conservative Chamber is an activist org in its own right, bullying its members into towing its conservative anti-climate change, anti-Obama stances. According to the Post-Dispatch, the Chamber is a proponent of tort reform and an opponent of "lawsuit absue."

Concludes the editorial: "The U.S. Chamber's complaints about our litigious society shouldn't be taken seriously."

The editorial was reprinted today in our local paper headline under the headline: "U.S. Chamber tries to stifle free speech."

That's right. Corporations have come to believe that they are the only entities worthy of free speech. The Bush adminsitration took the same line. The Supreme Court has worked overtime to give speech protections to corporation. Our senators and reps have been paid handsomely to go along with this sham.

So we have to leave it up to actors to tell us the truth. The pretend suits are being sued by the real suits and it appears to be a one-sided court battle. The people wrest control of the First Amendment back from the corporations.

Meanwhile, watch the video and have a laugh at the expense of our corporate overlords.

Wyoming Winds tracks homeless issues

Each month, Virginia Sellner at the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless, sends me the organization's Wyoming Winds newsletter. It used to be a print publication and now it's online only. It includes articles about the WCH's Welcome Mat shelter and other local issues that affect homelessness. The WCH is now raising funds for renovations to its shelter. It also needs volunteers. It always welcomes clothing items, especially coats and boots and gloves and other cold-weather gear. Very important, as we're getting an early start on the cold and snow.

Other Wyoming Winds articles are taken from similar publications in the U.S. and internationally. Some of it hits close to home as more and more families in the U.S. lose jobs and homes.

Read the November edition of Wyoming Winds at http://www.wch.vcn.com/wwnov09.htm.

For the Wyoming Coalition for the Homeless home page go to http://www.wch.vcn.com. Take a look at the fund drive and contribute a few bucks.

Rep. Lummis signs on to House resolution praising Fox News-sponsored T.E.A. Party

Array of signs from 9/12/09 D.C. teabagger march from Jon Perr's "10 Lessons for Tea Baggers" Sept. 15 post on Crooks & Liars

It's good to know that some U.S. House members have nothing more pressing on their agendas than U.S. House Resolution 870 which says this: "Expressing gratitude and appreciation to the individuals and families who participated in the Taxpayer March on Washington on September 12, 2009."

The resolution was introduced on October 26 by Rep. Price of Georgia, who lives in the Atlanta suburbs but actually is a practicing M.D. Rep. Price is best-known for the following votes (according to www.ontheissues.org/GA/Tom_Price.htm):

Voted NO on regulating tobacco as a drug. (Apr 2009)
Voted NO on expanding the Children's Health Insurance Program. (Jan 2009)
Voted NO on giving mental health full equity with physical health. (Mar 2008)
Voted NO on Veto override: Extend SCHIP to cover 6M more kids. (Jan 2008)
Voted NO on adding 2 to 4 million children to SCHIP eligibility. (Oct 2007)
Voted NO on requiring negotiated Rx prices for Medicare part D. (Jan 2007)
Voted YES on denying non-emergency treatment for lack of Medicare co-pay. (Feb 2006)

That's just a sampling. Suffice to say that he doesn't take his medical or constitutional oaths very seriously.

His co-sponsors include well-known wacko Rep. Bachmann of Ohio, who says that Obama's health care bill calls for "sex clinics;" Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, who carries a gun when home in Florida and has referred to the residents of U.S. possessions Puerto Rico and Guam as "foreign citizens;" Rep. Trent Franks of Arizona, who's concerned that the U.S. isn't doing enough to prevent Korean missiles from interrupting retirees' golf games in Lake Havasu City (H.R. 2845: Protect the Homeland from North Korean and Iranian Ballistic Missiles Act; and -- alas -- Rep. Cynthia Lummis of Cheyenne, Wyoming's lone U.S. rep, one of the staunchest opponents of real health care reform.

All these fine folks (and dozens more) are pushing HRS 870:

Whereas, on September 12, 2009, hundreds of thousands of American patriots, who refuse to sit idly by as the Federal Government advances skyrocketing deficits, taxpayer-funded bailouts, pork-barrel projects, burdensome taxes, unaccountable policy czars, command-and-control energy policy, and a government takeover of health care, came to Washington, DC, to show their disapproval;
Whereas individuals also wanted to convey their displeasure with the future tax increases that will be required to pay for deficit-financed spending;
Whereas these individuals understand that the fundamental American principles of limited government and personal liberty are under direct assault;
Whereas this dedicated group of freedom-loving Americans believe in open, accountable, responsible, constitutionally based government;
Whereas hundreds of buses, multiple caravans of cars from across the country, and many individually chartered flights, as well as thousands of lone-traveling cars and
trucks, brought these patriots to Washington, DC, solely for this event;
Whereas these individuals endured considerable personal expense to get to the march, including transportation and lodging expenses, as well as lost wages in many instances;
Whereas estimates of the number of people who peacefully marched from Freedom Plaza to the West Front of the U.S. Capitol on September 12, 2009, range as high as 1,700,000 marchers;
Whereas all 50 States were represented in the march;
Whereas this event is considered to be the largest ever gathering of fiscal conservatives in Washington, DC;
Whereas special accolades are due to the grassroots citizens organizations across the country who helped individuals exercise their constitutionally protected First Amendment rights in the Nation's capital; and
Whereas when the current trends of government expansion and freedom retrenchment are reversed, it will be due in large part to the efforts of the hundreds of thousands who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives expresses its gratitude and appreciation to the hundreds of thousands of people who marched on Washington, DC, on September 12, 2009, to show their love of liberty and their grievance with recent government actions.

So many strange things about this. I'm particularly struck by the figure of 1,700,000 marchers. It's been well documented that the crowd was much, much, much lower. ABCNews.com reported an approximate figure of 60,000 to 70,000 protesters, stats supplied by the D.C., fire department. Even 60,000 people is a lot if you live in Wyoming. We don't have a single city with 60,000 people (Casper and Cheyenne come the closest at 55,000-some). So, the teabaggers have something to brag about. But wildly inflated attendance figures do nothing for this group's credibility, whatever this group may be.

It's tough to understand how the resolution can credit "grassroots citizens organizations" for the march's turnout. Unless you count Glenn Beck's Project 912 and Rupert Murdoch's Fox News as grassroots organizations. Also corporate-funded astroturf orgs.

I want to thank Rep. Lummis for spending her time on such nonsensical resolutions. On second thought, maybe this is the best way to keep her away from the more pressing issues of the day.

Matthew Shepard bill signed by Obama

Bill Luckett, E.D. of the Wyoming Democratic Party, said this about today's news release detailing the signing of the Matthew Shepard bill:

Eds, please take note of the statement below, and please also incorporate by reference the press releases Wyoming Democratic Party Communications Director Brianna Jones issued over the past couple weeks as this bill passed the House and Senate with no support from Wyoming’s obstructionist congressional delegation. Call me if you need anything! Bill Luckett at luckett@wyomingdemocrats.com

And here's the release:

Contact: DNC Press 202-863-8148

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tim Kaine Issues Statement Following President Obama’s Signing of the Hate Crimes Prevention Act

Washington, D.C. – Democratic National Committee (DNC) Chairman Tim Kaine issued the following statement after President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010 in the Rose Garden this afternoon. The bill - which authorizes appropriations for military activities of the Department of Defense, military construction, and defense activities of the Department of Energy - included the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, legislation that will extend new federal protections to people who are victims of violent crime
because of their gender, sexual orientation or identity, or disability. It is an update to the federal hate crimes statute that Congress first passed in 1968.

“Today, President Obama signed into law legislation that was first championed by the late Senator Ted Kennedy and has been more than a decade in the making.

“The Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act will help state and local officials prosecute hate crimes by providing them with additional tools and resources. President Obama and his Administration are committed to equal rights and fairness for women, LGBT Americans, persons with disabilities -- indeed, all Americans.

"There is still much work ahead, but today, 11 years after the tragic deaths of Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., President Obama has delivered on his promise to sign an inclusive hate crimes bill into law.”

This is a small step toward healing the wounds caused by Matthew Shepard's murder in Laramie on a cold October night 11 years ago. And a suitable tribute to Matt and his dedicated parents, Dennis and Judy Shepard in Casper.

CST's Joan Barron writes about last week's health care forum in Cheyenne

Casper Star-Tribune columnist Joan Barron was in the audience last week during the health care forum at LCCC in Cheyenne sponsored by the Wyoming Democratic Party.

She wrote about the gathering in Sunday's paper. Read "A good panel interrupted" at http://www.trib.com/news/opinion/editorial/article_0898acbb-eb31-5cd5-a32d-4eb3bf20ae65.html

I was there, and documented the sparsely attended but lively event in earlier posts.

"Games are the new form of narrative"

I attended a lecture at last week's Wyoming Humanities Conference by University of Minnesota professor and researcher Brock Dubbels. He designs classrooms that use virtual worlds and video games to improve learning. This is probably nothing new to you gamers, but Dubbels says that "games are the new form of narrative" and that games are difficult and challenging, offering "real-time all-the-time feedback -- it's all about interactivity."

Pretty much the opposite of your standard classroom, which hasn't changed much in the past 50 years.

I came out of Dubbels' talk thinking that my son Kevin and his gamer friends may represent a higher life form. And almost all of them had trouble in junior high and high school. Interactivity? Forget it. Most classrooms still are lecture-oriented. My daughter, now a junior in high school, complains that her teachers stand up in front of the room and talk. Talk, talk, talk. And when they are finished talking, it's time to write a paper or take a quiz. This may be a slight exaggeration, but I can't discount the fact that this is how it seems to her. She is 16. She loves to draw and paint and write and read and chat with pals on MySpace and take her dog for walks and play volleyball and toss the football around with me in the backyard.

None of that involves lectures, except when I'm using the "toss-the-old-football-around" occasions to slip in some parental bromides.

When I was in high school from 1965-69, it was all about lectures and taking tests and writing papers. I was designed for that sort of classroom. Sister Miriam Catherine spoke to us about Mark Twain and I dutifully took notes and spit the answers back at her via tests and "themes." Sr. Raymond and Sr. Norbert and Father Finn all taught the same way. About the only interactivity we got was in Father Finn's religion class. Every class period was the same. He chose us at random to read from the text. And then he'd call on someone else. If that person was daydreaming and had lost his/her place, there was a choice: a whack on the ass from the priest's paddle or an F for the day. Most of us chose the paddle because we were used to it. If we took an F, we might get paddled at home.

See, interactivity.

That sounds as if it happened in the Middle Ages. But it was 40-some years ago. Public school wasn't much different, except they had no penguins on the faculty. Lectures and tests. Paddling, too, on occasion.

Our lives have changed so much. Why hasn't the educational setting?

In Mr. Dubbels' Powerpoint presentation at the humanities conference, he showed an image of a maze. It illustrated the two-dimensional way that we learned how to tell stories. He then showed another maze, a huge 3-D network of stairways and passageways and dead ends. Multi-dimensional -- and definitely not linear.

My son's gamer friends are now in their mid-twenties. The ones that survived the usual drug-and-alcohol tribulations are teachers and mechanics and filmmakers and students and writers and IT guys. They still play games. They are still learning in new and different ways.

As for my high school daughter, she's learning in even newer and more different ways. She still goes to school. She still compalins about the teachers' awful tendency to drone on and on. As I'm doing right now...

Learn more about Brock Dubbels and his work at http://brockdubbels.efoliomn2.com/

Sen. Mike Enzi receives "public option" health care -- but doesn't want other Wyomingites to have it

From Think Progress (via Crooks & Liars): Rep. Weiner Identifies 55 Republicans On Medicare Who ‘Steadfastly Oppose’ The Public Option

Rep. Anthony Weiner’s (D-NY) office today released an internal study showing that 151 members of Congress “currently receive government-funded; government-administered single-payer health care — Medicare.” Of those 151 members, 55 are Republicans who also happen to be “steadfastly opposed [to] other Americans getting the public option, like the one they have chosen.” Included on Weiner’s list are anti-public option crusaders Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK), Sen. Mike Enzi (R-WY), Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC), and Rep. Peter King (R-NY).

Write your op-eds and take your lumps

It's usually equal parts enlightening and depressing to see the comments for an opinion column in the Casper Star-Tribune. That is the case in the comments following Kim Floyd's 10/21 op-ed piece promoting the public option in health care reform legislation. Kim is the executive secretary of the Wyoming AFL-CIO. Kim lives in Cheyenne, dresses western as a matter of course, is a union member and supports access to firearms as staunchly as he supports access to health care. He's representative of a lot of Wyoming Democrats.

That's why it's so educational to see these kind of comments following his very thoughtful op-ed piece. You can read the entire thing at http://www.trib.com/news/opinion/mailbag/article_cb581fdb-d015-5ea5-a68c-fc9d10ee1e3e.html

Allen makes this comment:

Kim typical union dogma. The unions figure that gov't dr's will join the union. that will make the unions rich. Then since there will be gov't health care, the unions will dump their plans and pocket all of that money. Now we know why the unions support this massive Ponzi scheme. I bet they even are helping to write the health care bill.

Here's one from Carlito

stinky, motomouth and independent aka libral,there or no polititians on a single payor system unless they pay it themselves. All the perks an luxurys are stolen from 300+ million payors in this country.

Motomouth? Wasn't that the name of a rock group?

To be fair, there are thoughtful critics of Kim's opinions. This was posted by Guardian Angel:

Since yesterday, I thought I'd take the time to see where the true poll readings are to further enlighten yourself and others as to how the public feels as of yesterday the 22nd. Remember how the liberal democrats became somewhat "rabid" of the Bush Administrations' failure to reach across party lines - and rightly so? How quickly the liberal democrats forget (or conveniently forget) now that the House, Senate and White House belongs under their party's direction. President Obama, then candidate Obama promised to work together in a bipartisan manner. Obama, himself was quoted saying (and I quote him) "Both Parties have good ideas and we must work together..." (end quote) when presenting legislation for the American people. He went on to say that he is a "uniter and not a divider" --- what happened yesterday was bizarre when the democrats shut out the Republicans in the draft legislation session of this health care reform issue. Whether "Republican or Democrat"? This is not good at all in the area of serving the american people.

I haven't changed any spelling or punctuation. And nobody seems to want to capitalize these days anyway. But this person's comments have merit. He also goes on to quote from the polls that best represent his P.O.V.

Most important thing about all this? Write your opinions and take your lumps.

We will -- meow meow meow meow -- you!

This has been on the blogs and in the news for almost a week now. But just in case you’ve been hiding in your bunker, hunting in the Winds, or somehow cut off from all electronica – what do these songs, performers and TV characters have in common?

David Gray's Babylon, Metallica's Enter Sandman, Don McLean's American Pie, Queen's We Will Rock You, songs by REM, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen, and even theme tunes from Sesame Street, Barney the Dinosaur and the Meow Mix commercials.

Find the answer at http://tinyurl.com/yhb7caa

Free online college textbooks? Shazam!

Crooks & Liars explores the burgeoning world of online educational resources, especially for college students. A great option for middle-aged working people thrown out of their jobs and wanting (at long last) to get their degrees.

For more, go to http://crooksandliars.com/susie-madrak/technology-brings-new-life-education

Why do Enzi and Barrasso hate the troops AND equal rights for gays (and Obama)?

Matthew Shepard's parents Dennis and Judy with Pres. Barack Obama, a noted humanist

WyoDems' communications director Brianna Jones sends this release:

The Wyoming Democratic Party today expressed disappointment in Senator Mike Enzi and Senator John Barrasso for their votes against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

Representative Cynthia Lummis also voted against the act when it passed the House. We had hoped that Rep Lummis vote was an anomaly.

"This is a monumental day for anyone who has lived in fear of being persecuted, and we are disappointed our members of Congress refused to help combat crimes based on hatred and fear," said Brianna Jones, communications director for the Wyoming Democratic Party.

The act, which was approved by the Senate in a vote of 68-29 on Thursday, incorporates sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability into existing federal law prohibiting crimes motivated by bias against citizens belonging to a minority. The legislation will now be sent to President Obama. President Obama has already signaled his support.

The Wyoming Democratic Party applauds longtime Wyoming residents and parents of Matthew Shepard, Dennis and Judy, for their tireless campaign to pass this legislation.

The act was attached to the defense bill. So Enzi and Barrasso had to vote against the troops and against gays, although they may have believed that there are way too many "don't ask don't tell" troopers in the armed services -- so their votes made sense. To them, anyway.

Find out more at http://www.matthewshepard.org/

"How old will you be in 2050?"

A recent Grist post talked about climate change sparking a grassroots movement that will cross borders:

The prospects for a borderless protest movement will be put to the test on Saturday, selected by grassroots group 350.org as a “day of global action” with some 3,000 events around the planet. The brainchild of U.S. environmentalist Bill McKibben, 350.org takes its name from a warning issued by climate expert James Hansen, who says atmospheric concentration of CO2 must be pegged below 350 parts per million (ppm) to avoid potential catastrophe.

Levels are currently around 385 ppm and on track to bust a 450 ppm threshold previously viewed as safe.

Launched in March 2008, the Web-based network says it has nearly 200,000 activists in dozens of grassroots groups spread across 170 countries.

“It has worked beyond our wildest expectations,” McKibben told AFP. “We’ve basically got the whole world organized, much of it for the first time. Oct. 24 is going to be, by a very large margin, the most widespread day of environmental action ever.”

Two demographic profiles dominate among 350.org’s rank-and-file, McKibben said: educated youth and people linked by religion.

“I was aware of climate change but didn’t know what I could do,” Gan Pei Ling, 22, a student at Tunku Abdul Rahman University in Malaysia, said this month at climate talks in Bangkok, where she had come to lobby negotiators.

Meeting a small node of activists in Malaysia gave her the courage to speak out, and 350.org put her in touch with like-minded young people across Asia and beyond.

Gan Pei Ling and hundreds of other 20-something activists who converged on Bangkok—many sporting T-shirts asking “How Old Will You Be in 2050?”— see global warming as an injustice toward the poor and the young.

“Older people don’t seem to care,” said Lokendra Shrestha, a 28-year-old sociology student from Nepal, where vanishing glaciers threaten much of Asia’s water supply.

Nothing makes me feel older than talking to 20-somethings, such as my son and his friends. They are engaged in a global struggle for existence. They know it, and we're only beginning to understand.

How old will I be in 2050? 100. I'll be gone. My wife will be gone. All our friends and classmates will be gone.

The better question is: How old will my kids be in 2050? Seems odd to say this but my son will be 65 -- retirement age, at least that's the way we see it now. My daughter will be 57 -- just a year younger than I am now.

They will have kids and maybe grandkids by then. What will the planet be like? What will their lives be like? Will Planet Earth be a dystopia with our coastal cities inundated with rising sea levels and our high plains prairies turned to dunes? Or will we be coming to grips with our past excesses, those that we're only now beginning to understand?

I prefer the latter scenario.

What am I going to do about that today?

How old will I be in 2050?

CIGNA logo before -- and after

The image at the top is the official CIGNA logo before Sick for Profit and Ryan O'Connell got their hands on it...

The one on the bottom is an artist's version of CIGNA's soul.

Which is the most realistic?

My vote is for the leaves falling from the CIGNA tree, leaves representing those who have been denied health care.

NOTE: CIGNA is my the company I pay my premiums to.

More on Sick for Profit at http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/sickforprofit?ref=nf

WyoDems: "Health care professionals address reform and the state's needs‏"

Brianna Jones, the WyoDems' communications director, just issued this release about last night's health forum:

Four Wyoming health care providers addressed the health insurance reform proposals going through Congress, their experiences as health care providers, the state of health care in Wyoming and what reforms the state needs during a panel discussion in Cheyenne on Tuesday.

Dr. Brent Sherard, Wyoming Department of Health director and state health officer; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, RN; Mary Forrester, RN Family Nurse Practitioner; and Lance Proctor, MD; sat on the panel, which was sponsored by the Wyoming Democratic Party and the Laramie County Democratic Party.

An audience member asked where Wyoming would be in ten years if nothing is done and Dr. Sherard candidly answered that there will be a “substantial over expenditure in our budget.” He pointed to concerns about funding our health care with natural gas and said Wyoming needs to look at ways to diversify the economy. Dr. Sherard brought attention to the need to build infrastructure to better serve the larger pool of patients that will come with universal coverage.

He also spoke about the need for increased transparency. “People cannot evaluate what they are getting for their healthcare dollars,” explained Sherard. “There is no mechanism or vehicle to evaluate your health care provider.”

Both Mary Forrester and Lorraine Saulino-Klein stressed the problems that arise when patients neglect serious conditions because they do not have insurance and cannot afford care.

“We pay two times as much for our health care than other developed countries and have inferior outcomes,” said Lorraine Saulino-Klein.

There was consensus from the panel that a stronger push for preventative medicine is essential. Dr. Proctor said, “There needs to be incentives to have a healthier population so that we pay more for quality than quantity.”

Please direct questions to Brianna Jones (752-5288) or to panel members at
the following numbers:
Dr. Brent Sherard: 777-6778
Dr. Lance Proctor: 760-2012
Lorraine Saulino-Klein: 742-5107
Mary Forrester: 742-5202

Cheyenne health care forum: H1N1 vaccine

Dr. Brent Sherard, the state's chief medical officer, spoke last night about another big issue that I forgot to mention.

Before the forum's major interruption, Mike Bell asked Dr. Sherard about certain rumors circulating on the web and on at least one major media outlet (guess which one?) that the H1N1 (swine flu) virus is tainted and people should avoid it.

He dismissed the rumors. It's perfectly safe, he said, and noted that the vaccine was the result of lots of work and plenty of oversight. "I've worked in government for eight-and-one-half years," he said. "You spend a lot of time soliciting opinions and getting input for something that's good for the majority. And then you formulate a plan."

Although he only implied it -- this is also why it's taking so long to distribute the vaccine. All this cogitation takes time. Laramie County Health Department has received some H1N1 vaccine and expects a lot more. Meanwhile, it's running short of the seasonal flu vaccine because citizens like me have come in for their shots. One flu shot is better than no flu shot -- that may be the way people are viewing this. I've been getting a seasonal flu shot for 15 years and only got the flu once. That was two years ago, I think, when government planners distributed a flu vaccine that didn't cover all the strains circulating that year. The flu kept me out of work for a week. But it might have been worse had I not had the shot.

That was the fall of 2007. Come to think of it, that was right about the time that I began to take Barack Obama seriously as a presidential candidate. I wasn't on board yet, but something about Obama got my attention for the first time. I liked the cut of his jib, the content of his speeches.

Could the strange flu vaccine of ought-seven have been doctored to be Obama-friendly? But why would Bush Administration health officials hatch such a plan? Perhaps they didn't take Obama seriously and they thought if more of us got on his bandwagon, fewer of us would join Hillary Clinton's campaign express. Hillary was No. 1. She was the real threat, after all, not some newly-elected African-American Senator from Illinois with the very off-putting name (for patriots anyway) of Barack Hussein Obama.

Genius, I tell you. Sheer genius!

P.S.: For the truth about H1N1 and the vaccine, visit http://webgate.co.laramie.wy.us/_departments/_health/swine_flu.asp. The CDC reports on its web site that 11,400 units of H1N1 vaccine have been issued to various locales in Wyoming (as of 10/16/09).

Health Care Forum tip: consider your retorts carefully

When I say "teabagger," I'm referring to the prog-blog meaning of the word. A handy label for people who attend local and national anti-Obama tea party rallies, such as the ones organized and energized by Glenn Beck and Fixed News on Sept. 12. Those shouting crazies who disrupt town hall meetings. The fuming bearers of misspelled signs.

To some, though, "teabagger" refers to a sex act described and/or pictured on a variety of non-political blogs and web sites.

I should have considered my words more carefully when I called The Woman In The Back Row (hereafter referred to as TWITBR) "a teabagger."

But that was later. When she arrived, she trotted out all the lines from the Glenn Beck Playbook. Her first non-question to Tuesday night's health reform panel organized by the Democratic Party was about tort reform. Uh oh. A Republican talking point. The panel took a shot at the answer. Yes, tort reform was important but not crucial. The next panelist talked. TWITBR spoke again. This time she had a litany of complaints. All alternative opinions in the national health care debate are being shut out. "I don't appreciate the secrecy," she said. Process at the federal level is asking for failure because it's terrifying to people." People don't want decision made by a one-sided process. And so on.

Mike Bell, vice chair of the Wyoming Democrats and the evening's moderator, asked her to to specific and maybe ask a real question.

She then reeled out some statistics, saying that 51 percent of the American people don't like the health care public option.

Me: "57 percent of the American people want the public option. The survey was just on the evening news"

Mike: "More like 65 percent."

She disputed our figures. I said she could look it up. She said she did look it up and said our statistics were wrong.

Then I asked the fateful question: "Are you a teabagger?" She was showing all the symptoms. I should have referred her to one of the physicians on the panel.

"What?" she yelled. Her eyes bugged out.

I turned back to the panel, hoping that the informative talk could resume.

Next thing I know, TWITBR was beside me yelling "Asshole!"

I turned. She was fuming. "You know what a teabagger is?"

"Yeah," I said, "a conservative who yells at town hall meetings."

"You know what a teabagger is?"

I knew what she was getting at. But I was het up now in the tradition of my Irish ancestors. "Teabaggers go to tea parties."

"Asshole," she said again. I felt the calming hand of a fellow Democrat on my shoulder, some murmuring in the crowd. Mike came over to referee.

TWITBR then described the teabagger sex act.

"It has nothing to do with that."

She fumed some more. Calming Democratic voices could be heard but the room was red. "Idiot," she said.

"You're the idot," I said, adult-like.

She stomped away grumbling. I think I heard "asshole" again. Gary's calming hand was still on my shoulder. He's a teacher -- he knows how to calm feuding factions.

The woman in the back row stomped to the door. She said something bad about stupid Democrats and how they couldn't even get a crowd out for this event. She was correct on the attendance -- only 16 people in the audience.

And then there were 15.

"Go talk to Lummis." This was my parting shot, referring to ultra-conservative Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

Mike told me to cool it for the second time. And I found myself turning red as those remaining in their seats tried not to stare at me.

Rep. Pete Jorgensen from Jackson went up to the podium in an effort to get us back on track. Steam was still coming out of my ears so I didn't hear most of it. He talked about controlling costs and gave grudging praise to Mitt Romney's successes with that in Massachusetts. He then noted that "75 percent of critical care for people of Wyoming is done outside the state." That's a fact of life in a rural state that has neighboring cities such as Denver and Salt Lake City and Billings with excellent medical facilities.

Not even critical care. I chose to go to Fort Collins tomorrow for a root canal. F.C. has dental surgeons and Cheyenne doesn't. Most people I know go to Fort Collins doctors and choose hospitals there and in Denver for their critical care. Coloradans sometimes make the trip to Cheyenne. But most of them are veterans seeking care at our excellent V.A. Hospital.

The rest of the evening was interesting yet anticlimactic. The panelists, whose names I haven't even mentioned, were Mary Forrester, a family nurse practitioner from Laramie; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, a registered nurse from Laramie; Dr. Brent Sherard, head of the Wyoming Health department and the state's chief medical officer; and Dr. Lance Proctor, an anaesthesiologist from Laramie.

The event was organized by Brianna Jones, public information officer for the Wyoming Democrats. The Democratic National Committee had encouraged each state to hold forums on Oct. 20 to push harder for real health care reform.

Dr. Sherard talked at length about Medicaid. About 14-15 percent of the state's population is uninsured.

That's 75,000-80,000. About 75,000 people in Wyoming are on Medicaid. That adds up (at most) to to 160,000. The rest (370,000), he said, have some kind of health insurance.

If some sort of public option were instituted for the uninsured (as Obama has proposed), Dr Sherard said he's not sure "who will take care of them until we get the infrastructure in place." The state's Medicaid program, funded by state and federal dollars, is stressed.

He also talked about prevention. If it was instituted in the correct way, it would save money and lives. Said Dr. Sherard: "Beware of facts by health care economists who say that prevention will not save a dime."

That's one of the problems with this health care conundrum. Whom do you believe? Which set of facts by which expert do you work with? You have to do some homework. That goes for teabaggers and pinko liberal bloggers alike.

Dr. Sherard, formerly a family physician in Wheatland, volunteers at the Cheyenne Free Clinic.

Mary Forrester volunteers at the downtown free clinic in Laramie. The clinic is only open one night a week and is "very busy." It only serves people "with absolutely no insurance."

"At the clinic, there are so many of them that are working but have nowhere else to go," said Forrester. Their employees may have cut coverage or never had it. Some people aren't able to work. And some have just made some bad choices or lived through bad times.

The clinic works on volunteers and donated money. It accepts no government funding.

Forrester is a firm believer in universal coverage. "This is the only way we can cut down costs and reduce unnecessary suffering."

Dr. Proctor says that it's "embarrassing that the U.S. has no universal health care." He wants us to "eliminate the middle man and pool our money and use that to do good by providing the infrastructure we need for health care."

The doctor is originally from Texas. As a specialist, he's the rare Democrat. "95 percent of my colleagues are Republicans," he said. "They think I'm crazy. But most of their opposition is based on fear." Doctors spend so many years in school and interning and residency and starting a practice "that they're afraid of losing what they've worked hard for."

He advocates a compromise by creating a public trust. This should calm the fears and create a better system, he said.

"For health care, we pay two-and-one-half times in the U.S. compared to other western countries," said Lorraine Saulino-Klein. Republicans usually scoff at health care in Canada and other western democracies. They contend that care is rationed and that people have to wait for months for surgical procedures.

"It takes me three months to get a mammogram in Laramie," she said. "Don't believe the scare tactics." She wants to see the regulation of drug and insrance companies. "If that doesn't work, do a public option," she said.

She noted that scare tactics again enter the equation with the mention of "public option." Critics decry the "government takeover of health care" and 'socialized medicine." She had some fun with this: "You know how many people are dropping out of Medicare. They're the most satisfied people in the country."

The forum broke up at 9 p.m. A fine time was had by all. Well, almost everyone.

It's possible I may encounter TWITBR at this Thursday's 7 p.m. health care forum at the Laramie County Public Library. This forum will feature staffers from the offices of Rep. Lummis and Wyoming Senators Barrasso and Enzi. They're all Republicans. It will be a partisan crowd. Enzi is one of the Senate Finance Committee's "Gang of Six." The term "public option" will be mentioned only in jest. Teabaggery won't be mentioned but patriotism will be. Over and over and over again.

Noah: "This ark ain't gonna float if we have to put one more pair of dinos on it"

The new 20,000-square-foot Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum in Montana includes sculptures of T-Rex skeletons, murals of ancient mountains and a diorama of dinosaurs walking two-by-two into Noah’s Ark.

Yes, just when you thought it was safe to venture back to eastern Montana, a creationist museum opens up.

Glendive, known to some as the crossroads of east-central Montana, and to others as the only town on I-94 in Montana east of Billings to have three exits, opened its new museum this summer.

Donna Healy wrote about it in Sunday’s Billings Gazette. It sounds like an educational and amusing place:

Displays on the Glendive museum's second floor, which rings the central exhibit space like a gallery, are geared toward refuting evolutionary theory.

A large case contains a diorama of Noah's ark, built on a scale meant to represent an ark of 300 cubits, or 450 feet. Miniature animals and dinosaurs move two-by-two into the ark.

Glendive is dinosaur dig country. Many of the skeletons at the museum are modeled after those found in the vicinity. It's also the site of Makoshika State Park in the Hell Creek Formation that has yielded major dinosaur finds, and the nonprofit Makoshika Dinosaur Museum, which opened in 2004 in a renovated downtown building.

Both the state park and the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum are on the Montana Dinosaur Trail, a nonprofit created in 2005 to promote tourism at affiliated museums and dig sites.

Otis E. Kline Jr., founder and director of the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, attended some early meetings of the Dinosaur Trail group, he said. But he left the organization when the group adopted the slogan "150 million years in the making."

Kline doesn’t say this, but he probably would have preferred something like "6,000 years of ignorance – and counting."

The Montana museum joins two other creation-based dino museums in the U.S. – one in Kentucky and one in San Diego. They now are drawing dangerously close to Wyoming. While most Wyomingites are known for their pragmatism and live-and-let-live attitudes, the state also home to scores of dinosaur digs and lots of space for kooky museums. There also has been an alarming rise in fundamentalist activity.

We’ll let a member of the reality-based scientific community have the last word. Jack Horner, the curator of paleontology at the reality-based Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, says that there is a fundamental difference between his museum and the one in Glendive.

"It's not a science museum at all," Horner said. "It's not a pseudo-science museum. It's just not science. …There's nothing scientific about it."

Blessed are the meek with pre-existing conditions -- insurers love you!

http://twitpic.com/m33zz (thanks to almightygod on Twitter)

You couldn't pay me to read Palin's book

Doc2 on Daily Kos wonders how far prices will drop before Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," actually hits the stands Nov. 17.

The listed retail price for a handcover copy of "Going Rogue" is $28.99.

According to doc2, here are the bargain prices:

Borders: $17.39.
Barnes and Noble: member price $15.65.
Amazon.com: $9.00 (plus free shipping!)
Wal-Mart: while supplies last, $8.99

At this rate, the publisher will be paying us to read it. I'm not sure if "Going Rogue" is drivel. Just pretty sure.

Read kossack doc2's post at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/19/794828/-Going-Rogue-going-for-peanuts