New Wyoming varieties of spring flowers

Something to look forward to, here in Wyoming. More info here. 

Who increased the debt?

DNC Chair: "Mitt Romney's campaign is cratering"

From a Wyoming Democratic Party press release:

Tonight, DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz released the following statement on the results of the Republican primary in South Carolina: 

“If tonight proved one thing, it's that the central rationale of Mitt Romney’s campaign is cratering.  He came into South Carolina  with a 20 point lead -- a state where jobs and the economy is the number one issue -- and the candidate who hung his entire candidacy on these issues, Mitt Romney, saw his support collapse.

“Why?  Because Mitt Romney's been exposed as being out of touch with the middle class, and voters are seeing that he lives by another set of rules. He’s refused to level with voters, and now he’s in trouble.  Anyone who goes into a state with a significant double digit lead yet ends up losing that support in a week, is someone who is failing to connect.

“Voters in South Carolina saw that Mitt Romney has no core values, and that he will say anything to get elected.  He’s been exposed as having plans and policies that would keep his taxes low, and make them even lower, while doing nothing for the middle class.  The people of South Carolina also began to see what Romney’s brand of free enterprise really is: destroying companies and jobs to enrich himself while working families suffer.  Tonight, they rejected it.  At the end of the day, voters want someone they can trust, who shares their vision and who understands their plight.  And they are finding that Mitt Romney is not that person.

“Regardless of who becomes the Republican nominee, all of the candidates in the race support the failed policies of the past that drove us to the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.  That’s not what the American people want, and that’s why they know that the clear choice in this election is President Obama.”  

Okie from Muskogee will perform at Cheyenne Frontier Days

Here's some good news -- and get-well-soon wishes from fans in Cheyenne (from the Casper Star-Tribune):

Country music legend Merle Haggard plans to play Cheyenne Frontier Days this summer. 

Event organizers said Haggard would play July 22 with Chancey Williams and the Younger Brothers Band, of Wyoming, as the opening act. 

It will be the second time Haggard has played at Frontier Days. The first was in 1979. 

Tickets go on sale on Friday. 

Frontier Days runs from July 20-29. Other performers who are set to appear include Hank Williams Jr., Reba McEntire and the Zac Brown Band. 

On Wednesday, Haggard's publicist announced the singer is being treated for pneumonia in a Georgia hospital and has had to cancel the rest of his January concert dates. 

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/merle-haggard-to-perform-at-cheyenne-frontier-days/article_b58cfbf2-6373-57e5-9a80-

New UW speaker series honors contributions of Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd

Sen. Liz Byrd looks on as Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan signs law authorizing Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day at a 1990 ceremony in the State Capitol.

On Monday, we commemorated Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday with events around the country. The one held in Cheyenne featured a march by several hundred people from Depot Plaza to the State Capitol. Leading the parade were African-American leaders accompanied by Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and his wife Carol, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cindy Hill, State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, and Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen.

Love & Charity Club organized the day’s events. The club’s Rita Watson was emcee. She introduced the state’s elected officials who made non-memorable speeches. They are all Republicans. On a daily basis, their policies seek to undo gains in social justice made by Dr. King and others in the Civil Rights movement. Inside the Capitol, Republican legislators were celebrating MLK/Equality Day by drafting legislation to roll back pensions of state workers, curtail social programs, destroy public education, and gerrymander voting districts to dilute the state’s minority vote which tends to be urban and Democratic. “Urban” you say? Wyoming is rural! “Minority” you say? Wyoming is white!

Take a look at the current redistricting maps and tell me why they look so funny. Why are the votes of city dwellers being watered down by the votes of dispersed rural populations. Cities tend to be more moderate and even liberal. There does seem to be an exception, and that’s Casper. What’s the matter with Casper? But overall, this holds true. Show me a Democrat in the state legislature who isn’t from a city or the Wind River Reservation and I’ll eat my hat.

Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day march in Cheyenne.

On Monday, Rita Watson mentioned the contributions of Harriet Elizabeth “Liz” Byrd, former state senator who was ill and couldn’t attend the festivities. Liz Byrd worked for almost a decade to pass legislation for a Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. Seems odd that it would take a decade for The Equality State to honor a champion of equality such as Dr. King. In the end, the legislature named the holiday “Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day. We have a hyphenated holiday. But we do have a holiday for Dr. King, just like the rest of the states.

Liz Byrd has deeper Wyoming roots than most of us. She went away to college and returned to find that teaching jobs with the Laramie County School District were closed to blacks. So she taught the children at F.E. Warren AFB. Remember that Republican Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower oversaw the end of segregation in the armed forces (and its schools). Sen. Byrd could enter the gates of our local military base and find a job. Not acceptance from everyone, but her value as a human being and a teacher were duly noted by the U.S. Government.

It’s gratifying to see that Sen. Byrd’s contributions are being celebrated by the University of Wyoming this week. UW’s African American and Diaspora Studies office has created the Harriet Elizabeth "Liz" Byrd Speaker Series.

Here’s info from a UW press release:

To recognize her many contributions to Wyoming, both as an educator and legislator, UW . AADS is working to raise $25,000 to endow the series, which will bring minority educators and speakers to UW and serve to honor the woman who sponsored legislation that, in 1990, established Martin Luther King, Jr./Wyoming Equality Day as a state holiday. 

"I can't think of a better person to represent the University of Wyoming," says AADS Director Tracey O. Patton. "She's emblematic of what we all hope to accomplish in life. I think every person on this planet would like to affect positive change for the world. Very few of us get to do that but she did. She has made lives better in the state of Wyoming."

Find out more about Liz Byrd at http://www.uwyo.edu/profiles/extras/liz-byrd.html

Cheyenne Mayor Rick Kaysen speaks at the State Capitol Building on Martin Luther King, Jr./WY Equality Day.

Nellie Tayloe Ross dinner March 3 in Cheyenne

More Arizona craziness: Tucson schools ban books by Chicano and Native-American authors

Can you imagine a school district anywhere banning the writing of Sherman Alexie, Leslie Marmon Silko, William Shakespeare, Roberto Rodriguez, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Sandra Cisneros and Henry David Thoreau?

This is what the Unified Tucson School District board did when it ordered the removal of "Rethinking Columbus" and other books from the curriculum. This was in response to the Arizona State Legislature's banning of ethnic studies classes in all public schools.

The Know Nothings in the Arizona Legislature are an international embarrassment. They have the upper hand now, but it won't last forever. The voices of these talented authors will outlast the barking of the bigots. Authors such as Alexie and Silko and Baca and Rodriguez and Cisneros are writers of the West. They write about the struggles that go on every day in Wyoming and Utah and New Mexico and Arizona. Their voices are loud and clear. Too loud and too clear and too popular for close-minded bigots in state legislatures across the West.

Read more here: Tucson schools bans books by Chicano and Native American authors | the narcosphere

P.S.: When the Arizona Legislature was first considering banning ethnic studies classes in May 2010, I penned a modest satire on the subject, "Ethnic Studies 212: The Superiority of the Irish." The post has received thousands of hits in the past 18 months and remains one of the most popular pieces on Hummingbirdminds. Read it at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2010/05/ethnic-studies-212-superiority-of-irish.html

Code of the West: "Remember that some things are not for sale"

I was wondering when someone was going to make the link between Wyoming's official "Code of the West" and the rise of corporate personhood. Great column by Dave Throgmorton writing in the Rawlins Daily Times. Go to Rawlins Times opinion columns

Amazon.com releases "Easy to Love but Hard to Raise" anthology

Amazon.com has just released the anthology “Easy to Love but Hard to Raise: Real Parents, Challenging Kids, True Stories" from DRT Press. Order your copy here. 

Here’s the book blurb:

If there's anything the 32 parent-writers and 15 experts of Easy to Love but Hard to Raise want you to know, it's this: 

YOU ARE NOT ALONE. We've been there. We've done that. We've navigated the system. Some of us succeeded. Some failed. We've been judged by friends, teachers, family, & strangers. We've gotten the phone calls & the looks. We've done things we never thought we'd do, good & bad. We've been up nights, cried in our pillows, and screamed in frustration. We've doubted ourselves, our children, & our partners. We've had to educate everyone, including our children's doctors. We are parents of children with alphabet soup diagnoses, invisible special needs, behavioral problems.Our children are easy to love, but oh, so hard to raise. 

Easy to Love but Hard to Raise is an anthology of personal essays written by parents of children with ADD, ADHD, OCD, PDD, ASDs, SPD, PBD and/or other alphabet soup diagnoses that takes the already difficult job of parenting and adds to the challenge. 

These essays focus on honest feelings, lessons learned, epiphanies, commonplace and extraordinary experiences. They are written by parents of toddlers, young children, teens, and adult children; those who are in the parenting trenches now, and those looking back on their parenting experiences. 

Topics include : how children came to be diagnosed, the experience of dealing with problem behaviors in various contexts and settings, experiences with/feelings about treatment (therapies, medications, alternative treatments), school (and other advocacy) experiences, children's social interactions/friends, and the effect of parenting a difficult child on a parent's emotional and physical health, marriage, and other relationships.

I’m one of these 32 parent-writers. My essay is entitled “The Great Third Grade AIDS Scare.” Buy the book. Read the essays. You’ll have a much better idea about the challenges faced by kids with ADHD, OCD, PBD, etc. – and their parents.

I’ve written a number of hummingbirdminds' posts about the struggles our children have had with ADHD, ADD, learning disabilities, addiction and mental illness. You can look them up!

"Easy to Love but Hard to Raise" has a Facebook fan page. Check it out here.

UW hosts first poetry slam of the semester Jan. 25 in Laramie

University of Wyoming Poetry Slam
Wednesday, January 25, 8:00 pm
UW Union Gardens

Those wishing to compete can sign up at either the Student Activities Council event table on Wednesdays in the Union Breezeway, or in the Campus Activities Center in the basement of the Union.  Limited to 25 contestants, so competition spots will be given on a first-come, first-served basis.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Day events celebrate diversity & equality across The Equality State

From Dan Neal at the Equality State Policy Center:

State residents will celebrate Martin Luther King Day with in communities across Wyoming including in Riverton where Rez Action, a group working with the Equality State Policy Center, plans a march and speeches by three leaders of the Wind River tribes. 

“We invite all those who want to celebrate equality to march with us to honor the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,” a news release from the organizers says. “We march in celebration of equality and Dr. King’s vision of ‘that all of us will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.’” 

Other events are planned in Laramie and Casper. 

Tribal members Micah Lott and Molly Holt are two of the Rez Action members staging Monday’s “Embrace Equality Celebrate Diversity” event in Riverton. Participants will rendezvous at 1 p.m. at City Park for the march to City Hall. State Rep. Patrick Goggles, the House minority leader who represents HD33, will speak as well as former state representative Scott Ratliff, now an special assistant on Native American issues to U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi, Northern Arapaho tribal liaison Gary Collins, and Riverton activist Cody Green. 

For information, please contact Micah Lott at 307-851-1344 or micah.lott93@gmail.com. Rez Action members describe the group as an organization of “dedicated activists who fight social injustice, discrimination, and advocate for a healthy environment.” 

The Casper NAACP will host the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day March and Rally starting at 11 a.m. at Casper’s City Park at Center and 7th streets. Marchers will walk to the United Methodist Church downtown. Eastern Shoshone Tribal elder Ivan Posey will speak. Members of the Wind River Unity Youth Council will participate as dancers with the Scout River Drum Group. Following a soup lunch at the church, the Unity group will conduct a workshop at 1 p.m. In Casper, contact Nurieh Glasgow at 234-3428 or Janet de Vries at 268-2446 for more information. 

A third march is planned on Jan. 16 in Laramie. Marchers will walk from the Albany County Courthouse to the University of Wyoming Student Union starting at 4 p.m. followed by a supper in the union ballroom. As part of its Martin Luther King Jr./Days of Dialogue, actor Hill Harper will speak at 1 pm. Jan 18 at the Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences auditorium. A full schedule of events is available here. 

In Cheyenne, a march is planned at Noon from the old Union Pacific Railroad Depot up Capitol Avenue to the state Capitol. Gov. Matt Mead and Mayor Rick Kaysen will speak along with State Auditor Cynthia Cloud, and State Supt. of Public Instruction Cindy Hill. The march is being organized by the Love and Charity Club. Contact moderator Rita Watson at 307-632-2338 for more information.

Planet Jackson Hole: "Wyoming picker causes raucous caucus" in Iowa

Ten Sleep musician Jalan Crossland busted by police during protests against Republican candidates during Iowa caucus. Go to Wyoming picker causes raucous caucus. I reported this first on Dec. 31. Go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2011/12/who-is-mystery-man-from-ten-sleep.html

Occupy Greeley invites us to an "Inside Job" screening Jan. 21

From our pals at Occupy Greeley.

UPDATE: Occupy Cheyenne's plan for Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day march

Here's an update on the Martin Luther King Day Jr. Day march in Cheyenne.

On Wednesday, after taking our cause to Monday's NAACP meeting, I advised Occupy Cheyenne people not to bring signs to Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day march in downtown Cheyenne. My advice was a bit premature -- my hummingbirdminds' impulsivity took over. Yesterday I heard from Gloradene Stevenson, president of Love & Charity Club, organizer of the march. She was out of town. Gloradene said that Love & Charity has no problem with us bring respectful signs to the march.

So bring your signs. Participate in the march and accompanying MLK Day events.

Attention Occupy Cheyenne: Here's the plan for Monday's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day march

This is a copy of the status update I sent to my fellow occupiers on Occupy Cheyenne:

My wife Chris and I attended the local NAACP meeting Monday night at the Laramie County Public Library. Chris chairs the planning committee for Juneteenth, the annual summer celebration held in Cheyenne’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Park. Rev. McDowell gave up 15 minutes in the NAACP agenda so I could talk to the membership about Occupy Cheyenne.

I spoke about our street actions and protests. I talked about our General Assemblies and the work we did on the declaration. I read the first two paragraphs of the declaration. As I read, I thought that there was little in the declaration that Dr. King would disagree with.

I then told the group about our plans to participate in Monday’s Martin Luther King, Jr., Day (known in Wyoming as “Equality Day”) march from the Depot Plaza to the Capitol. I told them that our plans were to bring signs that were respectful to Dr. King but also carried a message from Occupy Cheyenne.

Several members spoke out against the sign idea. They felt it would distract from the commemoration. Rev. McDowell, president of the local NAACP chapter, suggested we talk to the actual organizers of the march, Love & Charity, about our plans. I plan to do that before the march.

My suggestion is that we forget about the signs and attend the march. How many of you have participated in the local MLK Day march? It’s well attended but the numbers could be better. Rev. McDowell and others spoke last night about the crucial nature of the 2012 elections. Equality is threatened on all fronts, but especially in Wyoming with its Tea Party Republican-dominated Legislature. Unnecessary cuts will be made to programs crucial to the 99% while legislators will busily be turning over the store to their benefactors in the energy industry.

The NAACP members support our goals. They were interested in hearing about our actions. They were very interested in participating in the action we plan for the first day of the Legislature, although I had few details.

On Occupy Cheyenne's Dec. 10 action, we were allied with union members in Wyoming AFL-CIO affiliates. As far as I can tell, we’re one of the few Occupy movements in WY and CO that have done this. Other alliances would be welcomed. Attend the MLK Day march, meet some of your fellow marchers, introduce yourself as a member of Occupy Cheyenne, attend the soup and crackers luncheon after the march at the Allen AME Chapel, attend the “Youth Salute” to Dr. King at 4 p.m., at the Second Baptist Church. And there’s also a full slate of events this weekend.

See you Monday at noon for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day/Equality Day march.

Gregory Hinton at the BBHC in Cody: "Out West with Buffalo Bill"

This news comes from Gregory Hinton: “I would like you to be among the first to know the preliminary results of my recent research at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody as a 2011-2012 Resident Fellow. The title of my talk was Out West with Buffalo Bill. The primary objective of my research was to analyze the art, artifacts and papers of the BBHC for evidence of LGBT history and culture in the American West, particularly as it related to Buffalo Bill's Wild West.” Photo: Colonel William F. Cody, 1889, by French painter Rosa Bonheur (courtesy of the BBHC). For more about this research, go to http://wyomingarts.blogspot.com/2012/01/gregory-hinton-discusses-preliminary.html. Cross-posted from Wyomingarts.

"Defy the Hate" photo shoot Feb. 14 in Cheyenne targets bullying

From the “Defy the Hate” Facebook invite:

A “Defy the Hate” photo shoot will take place in the student lounge area at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne on Tuesday, Feb. 14 (Valentine’s Day), 11 a.m.-5 p.m. 

This shoot will conducted in honor of those who have committed suicide due to bullying. This shoot is also a community awareness shoot. Suicide and bullying is a growing problem. Too many of our youth are ending their lives needlessly. Too many teachers, principles, guidance counselors, and even some parents are turning a blind eye to this. Schools are saying that they have no record of some kids being bullied... really, how many kids feel safe to come to a teacher about this? How many kids have to lose their lives to this disease of bullying, ignorance, and indifference before someone realizes this is a problem? Schools are supposed to be a safe place. It seems the schools have become a battleground for the lives of the kids that go there. Come to this open shoot and make a stand against bullying and suicide. Come show the schools and bullies that you aren't going to put up with their hate and indifference any longer. It is time to be heard. Let’s show everyone that the community of Cheyenne won't stand for this. 

Photography will be provided by Flux Photography Studios and Lunar Studios. More info will be added as it becomes available.

UW grad Bob Vernon-Kubichek named new Wyoming director for Obama for America

Candidate Barack Obama talks to SRO crowd at UW on March 7, 2008.

This news comes from Chuck Herz, chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

My name is Bob Vernon-Kubichek and I am the new Wyoming Director of Obama for America. 

I would like to briefly introduce myself and provide a brief overview of the work OFA will be doing in 2012. 

I grew up in Casper, and graduated from Natrona County High School in 2006. During the summer of 2006 I worked on the Gary Trauner for US House campaign, and fell in love with the political business. I spent the following two years working on campaigns in Utah while attending the University of Utah.

In 2010 I graduated from the University of Wyoming with a B.A. in political science, after which I began working towards my M.A. in political science as a Graduate Assistant at UW. While I absolutely loved my time at UW, near the end of the fall semester I was presented the opportunity to become the new OFA State Director in Wyoming. I was compelled to accept this opportunity because I felt this fight was too important to simply sit on the sidelines and watch. 

In the coming months I will be meeting with citizens across Wyoming to begin building teams of volunteers to work towards the reelection of President Obama. The primary objective of our work in Wyoming will be support the campaign by making calls to supporters, canvassing neighborhoods, and ensuring that Americans across the county get out and vote for the President next November. 

This campaign is critical to the future of our country, and I cannot understate what is at stake. Failure would mean the reversal of the progress we have made over the last four years, and giving the country over to Republicans who have no interest in defending the middle class, expanding access to health care, or supporting a public education that is the engine of our future. 

I ask you to join me in this fight for the future of our people. There are people counting on us, and we cannot let them down. 

If you are interested in taking an active role in our efforts, I would ask you to either contact me directly at RVernonKubichek@BarackObama.com, or go to the Barack Obama home page and sign up to join. Upon signing up online we will receive your information and will contact you shortly. Soon there will be a calendar up with a list of upcoming events in your area along with how to get involved in the movement. 

Thank you so much for your time, and I look forward to serving you in the year ahead.

Wanted: Obscure films and photos of Dick Cheney

Cheney in his most famous role as grumpy old right-winger

Noted filmmaker R.J. Cutler is doing a movie about former Republican Veep and war criminal Dick Cheney. He seeks footage from Dick's years as a callow Wyoming youth.


Let’s see if we can come up with photos of Dick Cheney in a tutu. Or a young Dick torturing a kitten. Or lost footage of Cheney volunteering for the draft and slogging through a Southeast Asia rice paddy (he was so eager to send our children to Southwest Asia to slog through the desert). 

This comes from the Casper Star-Trib (via the Billings Gazette):

Starting in December, Cutler's Hollywood-based production company, Actual Reality Pictures, placed ads in the Casper Star-Tribune asking for film footage or photographs of Cheney, who lived in Wyoming during his teen years, attended the University of Wyoming, and represented the state in Congress from 1979 to 1989. 

Ryan Gallagher, an associate producer at Actual Reality, said the company is looking for footage that they wouldn't be able to find in government archives or purchase from stock film companies.  

"You look for as much exclusive and unknown footage that you can," Gallagher said. "Maybe somebody has a home video somewhere that we haven't heard about and that we'd just like to see."  

So far, Gallagher said his company hasn't gotten much response.  

The Cheney documentary is scheduled to air on Showtime sometime next fall, Gallagher said. Gallagher said it's "premature" to give details about what the documentary will be about, as they're just now starting to work on the film.  

Cutler is best-known for documentaries such as the Oscar-nominated "The War Room," which chronicled Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, and "American High," an Emmy-winning film about the lives of high school students in suburban Chicago. 

Anyone interested in submitting pictures or film of Cheney can contact Actual Reality Pictures at 213-534-3970 or cheneydoc@gmail.com.

God says: Keep those hands out of your pockets or risk an eternity in hell!

I am assuming that this is one of those fake photoshopped church signs (I pulled it off of Facebook). I do remember a seventh grade "sex ed" class in which the priests at St. Francis Catholic School in Wichita told us boys that it was a mortal sin to put our hands in our pockets. I still get illicit chills when I put my hands in my pockets, especially on a cold day.