COVID-19 highlights lowlights are in the headlines

Some days, I get up and stare at the coronavirus news on my smartphone screen. I can access every news source on the planet and, even though most of them have paywalls, many allow me to read the headers and sometimes a bit of the story. Here are some lowlights from today:

New York Times:  With Virus Response, Governors Face Unending and Very Public Test

Denver Post: More Colorado families consider online education as COVID-19 risks look over upcoming school year

Reuters: Coronavirus cases hit 13 million, WHO sounds alarm

Miami Herald: This iconic Miami Beach hotel recently reopened. Coronavirus is making it close again

Wyoming Tribune Eagle: UW confirms a person working on campus contracted virus

And this: UW expects substantial enrollment decline

Toronto Star: Canadian snowbirds in flux as insurance firms deny them COVID coverage – but there is a solution

TrialSite News (Italy): University of Padua Vo Study: One Possible Hypothesis of How to Contain COVID-19

The Jakarta Post: Hong Kong Book Fair postponed amid spike in coronavirus cases

CNN: Trump turns on Fauci as disaster grows

Fox News: Local governments weigh tax hikes to plug coronavirus-induced shortfalls

The news is dismal on this Monday morning. It was dismal yesterday and the day before. The U.S., especially, is seeing spikes in the South and West. A sputtering economy tried to roar again but many leaders, even some Republican ones, on backtracking on their open strategies. The Atlanta mayor, a Democrat, has been diagnosed with the virus and is slowing its reopening which has made the Republican governor very mad. When I say mad I mean angry, although both apply in this case. Florida’s governor. A Trump ass-kisser, is moving ahead full speed on reopening. He plans to get school open next month, saying that if Wal-Mart can open so can schools. U.S. Education Secretary DeVos, a Trump flunky, tells communities to get kids back in school OR ELSE!

This could be a tragicomedy but it’s real. Very real. The Johns Hopkins University coronavirus tracking site lists more than 3 million U.S. cases and 135-plus thousand deaths. New cases are at 24,000 and climbing as it’s early yet.

Trump fiddles as the U.S. burns.

Chris and I are both high-risk and are staying home. I wear a mask when I do go out to the grocery store or fast-food drive-ups. Hunkering down is still SOP for us.

Good luck, wherever you are.

Meet some quirky North Koreans in Adam Jonson's fiction

Know anyone from North Korea?

I don't. But I feel that I do now, after reading Adam Johnson';s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, "The Orphan Master's Son."

Johnson is not from either Korea, as evidenced by his name. Nothing in his book jacket bio mentions that he lived in Korea or taught there or even briefly sojourned there. I am sure I can find more info on the Internet. But right now I am content to let a fiction writer weave his magic spell.

Johnson acquaints me with North Koreans, those benighted folks who live in the most backward and isolated country on the planet. Jun Do is the orphan master's son who, at the orphanage, is given the toughest jobs in the place by his father and, in turn, assigns the actual orphans even grimmer tasks. As a teen, Jun Do is spirited away by the government and learns how to be a night fighter in North Korea's many tunnels. Because he has an orphan name, others refer to him that way. His usual response, "I'm not an orphan." Nobody seems to believe him. His response becomes predictable and funny. In fact, This novel is filled with humor, a pleasant surprise since Westerners are supposed to feel nothing but sorrow and pity about North Korea.

I'm only a third of the way through the book. It's one of those that you read late into the night, forgetting that the witching hour has come and gone.

One other aspect of Johnson -- he writes terrific short stories. I first read his work in the short fiction collection, "Fortune Smiles." The title story features two North Koreans who have defected to the South. Such magnificent creations. Only one is fitting in to this new land, the other has all the anti-establishment swagger of Kesey's R.P. McMurphy. This is odd and endearing, since he comes from super-authoritarian North Korea. How did he survive there -- and why does he want to go back?

While you're absorbing Johnson's short stories, read "Hurricanes Anonymous." I was dubious about reading yet another story set in post-Katrina New Orleans. As always, the drama and humor is in the characters and how they face up to the situation. We humans are a strange bunch. It's masterful writer who can help us see a small band of them in new and unusual ways.

Saturday side-trip to Ethiopia

I don't often recommend restaurants. That may be because I don't often go to restaurants. I eat at home most of the time. I cook, which helps keep down expenses. Lately I've been making killer salads from my garden's greens and herbs. Soon we will have broccoli and beans and peas and tomatoes and peppers and all the rest. One must be patient to garden in this high-altitude climate.

Four of us travelled I-25 Street to Nyala Ethiopian Cuisine Saturday evening. I-25 is the longest connector street in the Cheyenne-Fort Collins Metroplex. It carries a flurry of sojourners seeking jobs, education, good food and craft beer. When foodies in Cheyenne eat out, they go to the Morris House Bistro in downtown Cheyenne or any number of places in Fort Collins. We have other places to eat in Cheyenne, but most are chains with predictable fare.

Nyala is located in a nondescript shopette just off South College Avenue, one of the busiest streets in Colorado. It shares a building with an Indian restaurant. If we could teleport this building to Cheyenne, our fair city would double its number of international restaurants with homemade offerings (that doesn't include the ubiquitous Tex-Mex and Americanized Chinese restaurants).

Until teleportation arrives, we have to transport ourselves via Ford to Fort Collins.

The nyala is an Ethiopian ibex. A photo of one hangs in the restaurant entryway. The walls are festooned with fabric hangings representing aspects of Ethiopian culture, such as the coffee ceremony and half-size versions of musical instruments such as the krar, which is cousin to the sitar and guitar. 

We chose traditional seating over the regular American-style tables. We sat in cushioned, bench-like seats, the four of us arrayed around a low-slung circular table. Our food came on a large platter. We used Injera bread for utensils. "No forks" John told us. Annie thought he was kidding, until the food arrived but no forks. We scooped up the lentils and gomen and lamb wot and beef tibs with swipes of our Injera.

Food brings people together. It also provides a glimpse into other cultures. We spoke at length with proprietor and chef Etage Asrat. She moved to Fort Collins in 1991. After taking time out to raise her three daughters and finish her education, she opened her restaurant in 2004. Her daughters now are global citizens like their mom. These days, she's an American (and a Coloradan) with roots and family in Addis Ababa. She will visit her home country this winter. Her family back home helps prepare ingredients for Nyala's cuisine. They are mostly traditional and classic Ethiopian dishes Asrat grew up with.

John is an old Ethiopian hand. He served two tours with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, first in Jima and then in Addis Ababa. "Tours" is usually a military term, but people seem to forget that JFK created the Peace Corps as a civilian counterpart to the Green Berets, which he also authorized. Congressman Richard Nixon, JFK's opponent in the 1960 presidential elections, criticized the program as a "cult of escapism" and "a haven for draft dodgers."

Chris's father, Jack Schweiger, was a U.S. Army supply officer who was tasked with getting goods into the country and to the troops. He often worked with civilian authorities and their supply needs. After all, His Imperial Majesty Halie Selassie, had an understanding with the U.S. He was happy to supply the U.S. with an outpost on the Horn of Africa to blunt the Soviet influence in nearby states. Jack did two tours in Ethiopia (1967-70). He then sent the family back to the states as he was sent to another U.S, client-state, Vietnam. Both Ethiopia and Vietnam would be out of the U.S. orbit by 1975. And Haile Salassie would be dead.

So it goes.

Nyala is part restaurant and part museum. It's worth a visit. It's much closer than Addis Ababa.

Listen live tonight as Radio Meg counts down the top 25 albums of 2012

Meg's fab tunes & prog-talk now available from Boulder to Birmingham, Tehatchapi to Tonapah:

Tune into 93.5 KOCA tonight, 10 p.m.-1 a.m. and keep your dial locked for fab music + Legit Conservative + d-bag o' the week. Our special guest tonight is fellow music aficionado Cameron L. Maris, who will help us count down the Top 25 Albums of 2012! Oh, and don't forget to send The Legitimate Conservative some questions -- it IS the last show of the year! Listen online and talk to us in the live chat! Check out http://myradiostream.com/cognitivedissonance to listen at 10 PM and http://chat.myradiostream.com/FSHs11p6864/ for the chat! Taking your requests for songs, dedications & d-bag nods til 8 PM. Laramie Civic Center, rm #255

In the future, Wyoming travelers may yearn to be stranded at Denver's revamped airport

I happened upon Fast Company's Co.Exist (and Co-Create and Co.Design) during my perambulations around the Internet. All three are great places to waste (I mean, "spend") some time exploring new inventions and trends and ideas and foodways. Next time I'm in Copenhagen, I'm going to try to get a table at Noma for a plate of ants and blueberries, or barbecue carrots with sorrel sauce and hay ash. There is a hidden beauty to suburban sprawl -- and an array of stunning photos is offered in evidence. We are wasting our time harnessing wind at ground level -- we should be tethering high-flying wind-generating kites at 10 kilometers. Lots of them.

And airports aren't just for passing through any more. Munich's new airport offers an entire Oktoberfest experience, Hong Kong International offers an outdoor nine-hole golf course and a 350-seat IMAX theatre, Lagos's new airport will feature a duty-free shop with bargain-basement prices on kitchen appliances, and Changi International in Singapore features a Balinese-themed swimming pool. The airport was built on the site of one of Japan's most notorious World War II POW camps, the setting for James Clavell's compelling novel, "King Rat." Wonder if you can buy the book at the airport?

And here's what co.Exist had to say about Denver's soon-to-be-renovated DIA:

Architect's rendering of the new DIA

The Denver International Airport is getting more “Colorado.” It’s being expanded and transformed into a quasi city center, connected both physically and emotionally to downtown Denver and the region. A Westin hotel and conference center (with a dynamite rooftop pool and views of the Rockies) is part of the expansion program along with an outdoor public plaza for staging community events and a new fast rail line (and station) that will whisk travelers and Denver residents alike to/from downtown Denver.

Cheyenne can't compete with that. However, our new airport terminal may help airlines do a much better job shuttling us to DIA for the ambience that surrounds a Thanksgiving flight to Aunt Martha's or a business trip to D.C. Heck, Wyoming travelers may soon yearn to be stranded at DIA due to a holiday blizzard.

It's interesting to note that the new DIA will connect people "physically and emotionally to downtown Denver and the region." It may soon be easier to fly than drive from Cheyenne to Denver for a football weekend or for a weekend of shopping and entertainment. While Cheyenne long ago ceded Front Range leadership to Denver, this new transportation complex could make that reality permanent. But Cheyenne can hop on this bandwagon, making sure that we're a primary feeder hub to DIA and Denver. We haven't done a very good job of that in the past. By enhancing those things that make us great, we'll be a player in the region.

That doesn't mean making Cheyenne a mini-Denver. It means making Cheyenne more Cheyenne. As Mayor Kaysen has said time and again, one of our priorities has to be the revitalization of downtown. Keep at it, Cheyenne. Make Cheyenne more Cheyenne by saving its historic central business district. Nobody makes a destination of a place that excels in strip malls or Wal-Marts. They do want to travel to a place that has character. That's what Cheyenne Frontier Days is all about -- "Live the Legend!" It's the Old West meeting the New West. The Old West is rodeo and cowboys and country-western music. The New West means a vibrant downtown with brewpubs and restaurants and rock concerts and art galleries and western clothing stores mixed with funky boutiques. The distinctive music and art that's offered at these places should come from local and regional musicians and artists and artisans. The restaurant food should come from Southern Wyoming (SoWy) and Northern Colorado (NoCo) farms and ranches. Some of it can be grown on rooftop gardens and greenhouses. What a thriving place downtown Cheyenne will be. Denverites may want to hop on a plane at DIA and fly north to Cheyenne because there's no place like it on earth. Imagine that.

Architect's rendering of new Cheyenne airport terminal.

"He had arrived at a cliff, with an abyss before him and a fire behind him"

Meredith Melnick writes in Time Magazine Online today about World Suicide Prevention Day, which will take place on Monday, Sept. 10 (tomorrow):

Every day 3,000 people end their own lives, and for every person who dies, there are 20 more people who unsuccessfully attempt a suicide, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). In the United States alone, that amounts to one death by suicide every 16 minutes, says the National Council for Suicide Prevention (NCSP).

It’s a bit tricky to figure out how to honor World Suicide Prevention Day and so the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) and the WHO have collaborated on a list of activities for organizations to consider as a way to help support the cause. But what about individuals?

The NCSP launched a “Take 5 to Save Lives” campaign that summarizes how we can all help prevent suicide — simple steps like learning the signs of suicidal behavior, raising awareness by telling other people about the World Suicide Prevention Day, and asking for help if you are concerned about your own thoughts and behavior.

Some suggested activities include holding a press conference, writing an article for your local paper, distributing information about depression, posting the WSPD banner on your blog or web site, lobbying politicians about mental health issues and other activities. Seems to me that "spreading the word" is one of the most helpful things anyone can do, since the stigma surrounding depression and suicide seems to be the strongest barrier to prevention.

Cheyenne author Edith Cook wrote movingly in the Sept. 5 Wyoming Tribune-Eagle about her brother's and niece's suicides. The Sunday Denver Post carried a front-page story about the aftermath of the December 2011 suicide of one of the city's foremost philanthropists, Noel Cunningham. He hung himself in his basement. His wife, Tammy, found his body when she arrived home from work that evening:

"It was really difficult, because all I could see for the next couple weeks was Noel, and the way I found him."

Suicide is especially difficult on those loved ones left behind, especially if it arrives as a ghastly surprise, as it did with Mrs. Cunningham. While she tried to get her husband to open up about his inner pain, he never did.

The most moving and poetic quote from the Post article came from an unexpected place -- former Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter's eulogy at the 62-year-old Cunningham's memorial service. He said that Cunningham's manic level of service to his community and to international hunger relief had a "dark brother:"

"Call it depression, or despondency, or despair, but it is real, and it has to be dealt with in this eulogy."

--clip--

"Like many of us in this life," Noel had arrived at a cliff, with an abyss before him and a fire behind him, Ritter said.

"He did not see us, he could not see us, on the other side of the fire, pleading with him, telling him we love him, telling him that we will do anything, anything in the world for him, if he would just let us help him put out the fire, and bring him back from the cliff," Ritter said.

The final powerful lesson that Noel gave us all, Ritter said, "is that self-care matters too, even for the selfless."

Not bad for a politician known more for fiscal austerity than metaphor.

How many people in Wyoming are at this cliff today? Too many. Teens and aging white males are especially vulnerable, or so say the statistics. Wyoming's rapidly greying population has many of the latter group, and they tend to kill themselves in dramatically Western ways -- by gun and by rope.

So spread the word: "You don't have to face the abyss and the fire alone. I am your friend. I can help."

Call for entries (kids only!): International Peace Poster Contest

"Children Know Peace," 2011-2012 grand prize winner

I know Lions Clubs best for its sight programs. Club members collect old eyeglasses and provide glasses for people who need them but can't afford them. The club also sponsors an eye bank and vision screening. But the Lions apparently have other visions for us all:

Each year, Lions clubs around the world proudly sponsor the Lions International Peace Poster Contest in local schools and youth groups. This art contest for kids encourages young people worldwide to express their visions of peace. For 25 years, more than four million children from nearly 100 countries have participated in the contest.

The theme of the 2012-13 Peace Poster Contest is "Imagine Peace." Students, ages 11, 12 or 13 on November 15, are eligible to participate.

Each year's art contest for kids consists of an original theme incorporating peace. Participants use a variety of mediums, including charcoal, crayon, pencil and paint, to express the theme. The works created are unique and express the young artists' life experiences and culture.

Twenty-four international finalists are selected each year, representing the work of more than 350,000 young participants worldwide. Posters are shared globally via the Internet, the media and exhibits around the world.

To learn more about the Lions International Peace Poster Contest, please view our brochure, contest rules and deadlines, call 630-203-3812 or contact the Lions Clubs International Public Relations Department.

Daniel Junge returns to Cheyenne with an Oscar-winning doc and a new short film

This comes from the CIFF's Alan O'Hashi: The Cheyenne International Film Festival is honoring Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Daniel Junge on Saturday, May 19. The full evening event is selling out, but CIFF is offering tickets for the films, interview and questions and answers with Daniel Junge. The films include “One Day” which is Daniel’s latest short film followed by the Oscar-winning “Saving Face.” Tickets are also available at the Phoenix Books and Music walk-up box office 1612 Capitol Avenue in Downtown Cheyenne. Tickets for the reception honoring Daniel Junge are also on sale online and at the box office.

Cheyenne native Daniel Junge wins Oscar for documentary "Saving Face"

"Saving Face" filmmakers Daniel Junge, left, and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy of Pakistan accept their Oscar for best documentary short at the 84th Annual Academy Awards tonight in L.A. Junge grew up in Cheyenne and now lives in Denver.

Helping Haiti’s children through portraits, music and puppetry

From Clay Paper Scissors Gallery & Studios in Cheyenne (via Wyomingarts blog): 

Clay Paper Scissors has a lot going on this December, and we hope to see you come by at some point this month. We'll be open during Art Design & Dine from 5-8 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 8, and also on Dec. 10 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. and Dec. 17 from 3-5 p.m. We are also open by appointment -- just call 307-631-6039 to set up a time.  

We are featuring a show of portraits by Cheyenne artist Paula Egan-Wright called Children of Haiti. These wistful and winsome portraits are being sold as a fundraiser for the new Kay Lesli school for orphans in Haiti. Clay Paper Scissors is donating part of the commission on every piece sold from this show to the project. Additionally, we will be offering some items by local artists that will make great gifts for yourself or someone on your list! We have bright and useful tote bags, beautiful functional pottery, lovely seasonal cards and jewelry for yourself or that special someone. All these items are by Wyoming artists -- most local here in Cheyenne! Support your local artists for Christmas! 

Paula Egan-Wright is offering a couple of opportunities to have your portrait -- or that of someone you love -- done! Portraits are by donation with proceeds supporting the Kay Lesli school in Haiti. Paula will be available on a first come, first serve basis on Dec. 10 from 11:15-1 p.m. and on Dec. 17 from 3-5 p.m. These portraits make unique gifts for grandparents or a special someone. Bring your children or grandchildren down to sit!  

On Dec. 10, Paula Egan-Wright and students will present a puppet show called "The Magic Orange Tree." This short show is a Haitain folktale that paints a portrait of life in Haiti, all the while touching on several contemporary issues -- superstition, the oppression of children, and the public responsibility for meeting the needs of children. The play features several Caribbean melodies and will be performed with puppets by seven dedicated students. It will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 10 and is open to the public. Donations benefiting the Kay Lesli school for orphans in Haiti will be gratefully accepted. 

On Dec. 17, 3-5 p.m., there will be an artist reception for Children of Haiti. Paula Egan-Wright will be there doing portraits for donations. These quick portraits make wonderful gifts -- anyone can sit, and all donations benefit the Kay Lesli school. In addition, the vocal trio Just Friends will sing a few syncopated melodies from the islands and some Christmas tunes to add to the ambiance. 

"Dr. Dirt" makes art by cleaning shapes into filthy urban surfaces

From Grist: Street artist Moose Benjamin Curtis doesn't use spray paint or wallpaper paste -- the usual tools of this trade. Instead, he wields scrub brushes, old socks, cleaning fluid, and, when he's living large, a high-pressure hose. He creates images by cleaning shapes into filthy urban surfaces such as retaining walls, signs, and tunnels. People have called it "reverse graffiti," "clean graffiti," and "negative space." Moose prefers "grime writing." He has called himself "a professor of dirt." For more: http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-11-04-dr.-dirt-street-artist-scrubs-images-into-the-urban-landscape

Moose's work at the Broadway Tunnel in San Francisco in 2009

Denver Police overreact (again) at Occupy Denver

Here's how my hometown of Denver looks to the world right now. This photo comes from Westword and was shot by Kelsey Whipple. It shows cops aiming guns filled with pepper bullets at protesters. Photos like this were in newspapers worldwide. Here's the view from the London Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2055243/Occupy-Denver-Police-use-rubber-bullets-pepper-spray-protesters.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

My gun is bigger than your nonviolence: Police raise weapons while making an arrest during the Occupy Denver protest in Denver on Saturday. (Craig F. Walker, The Denver Post). Photos like this were on the pages of newspapers throughout the world today.

Read more:Occupy Denver protesters, law enforcement officers clash; 20 arrested - The Denver Posthttp://www.denverpost.com/commented/ci_19223274?source=commented-news#ixzz1cHOwYtyh

Demtoberfest Oct. 15 in Laramie

Wonder what the Germans think of all these variations on Octoberfest?

Looks like a fun event to add to the Gorby speech 3:30 p.m. Friday at the Auditorium-Arena, basketball madness Friday night, the homecoming parade Saturday morning with historian Phil Roberts as grand marshal and football on Saturday afternoon. Homecoming weekend in Laramie!

Once upon a time in the West, a WY Republican senator proposed a monorail for Yellowstone NP

Sao Paolo, Brazil, monorail -- this could have served
the Jackson to Old Faithful Inn route, if Sen
Malcolm Wallop had had his way.

Last week, I posted about the traffic congestion at I-25 and College Drive in Cheyenne. I suggested that there may be a solution in sight, as U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced that Cheyenne will receive a $400,000 grant to “reduce crashes” at the interchange.

In that post, I kidded around about monorails. I couldn’t resist. Fans of “The Simpsons” know the monorail song from the fifth series episode in which a Harold Hill-style huckster talks the gullible citizens of Springfield into an ill-fated monorail project.

They’re a joke. Except in Mumbai and Tokyo and Las Vegas and Moscow and Dusseldorf and Singapore where monorails move hundreds of thousands of people a day – and hardly any of the passengers break out in the monorail song. I’ve ridden the tourist monorails in Orlando and Seattle, and people-mover versions at DFW Airport and downtown Detroit.

I was shocked to discover that a Republican U.S. Senator once proposed a monorail for Yellowstone National Park. It was 1991 and people were in an uproar over traffic congestion and pollution at our major parks. Sen. Malcolm Wallop of Sheridan was no environmentalist. But he did think the National Park Service should investigate a YNP Monorail.

I find lots of archival references to Wallop’s proposal. WY PBS did a Main Street Wyoming interview with Wallop on the subject. The Monorail Society’s newsletter lists and summer 1991 story about Wallop’s proposal. But I didn’t have the time or research skills to ferret out the details.

I did find a June 2, 1991, article in the Baltimore Sun by Associate Editor Ernest B. Furgurson. He announced that he was about to set out on an exploration of the West’s national parks:

During the next few weeks, I plan to set foot on some of the most valuable land in America. It is valuable because it is undeveloped, and if there is a heaven it will stay that way. 

--snip-- 

Environmentalists are not the only park lovers who see traffic as probably the most serious single problem. Sen. Malcolm Wallop of Wyoming, with whom they are often at odds, suggested this week that the National Park Service consider "futuristic" mass transport, such as monorails, to ease road crowding. 

His idea was immediately derided as a way to convert national parks into theme parks like Disneyland. But if even Mr. Wallop is willing to impose a slight inconvenience on the all-American motorist who wants to drive every foot of the way, there may be hope for change. 

Building monorail systems in Yellowstone, Yosemite and Denali (Mt. McKinley) parks seems at first glance too much of a project, sure to destroy terrain and mar views. But shuttle buses already are required at Denali, and available at other parks such as Yellowstone. At Yosemite, the park service is limiting the number of cars in the valley to 5,000 at a time.

This seems so long ago and far away. If a 2011 Republican senator proposed a monorail or light rail line to anywhere, he or she would be targeted by Luddite Tea Party conspiracy types who see all mass transportation as an international plot against suburban sprawl. These people have already made a stir in Casper where a few loud yet ill-informed citizens saw a zoning change as part of the nefarious UN Agenda 21 plot. Florida recently turned down millions for a high-speed rail line on its west coast. The Feds took the money and sent it to other rail projects in the northeast and California. In ten years, those blue state voters will be zipping along to the polls while commuters in Tampa and Orlando will spend election day in gridlocked traffic. They won’t be singing the monorail song. They will be singing the blues.

There’s no real reason for a Yellowstone monorail. It would be terribly expensive. Those big concrete tracks and stanchions would be a blight on the landscape. Yellowstone really only has horrible traffic two months of the year -- July and August. Many summer tourists are accommodated by shuttle and tour buses. Modern autos spew much less pollution. Besides, there’s just no way around the fact that we westerners love our cars. I do.

You never know, though. WY Sen. John Barrasso just might surprise everyone by suggesting national park monorails or light rail systems or even blimps. He’ll do anything to get an interview on Fox News.

Mission actually accomplished. Obama bags Osama

In reference to my previous blog about the non-accomplishment of an earlier mission...

Daily Kos: Mission actually accomplished. Obama bags Osama

Schedule of events leading up to Greg Mortenson's March 29 talk in Cheyenne

In January, I reported that Greg Mortenson, author and activist, will be speaking in Cheyenne on March 29.

There will be an entire slate of events in Cheyenne leading up to Mortenson's talk. Here they are (cross-posted from wyomingarts blog):

Tuesday, March 22.       

·       MOVIE: 12:00-2:00 in the student lounge. Charlie Wilson’s War  (popcorn and snacks will be provided).

·   PUBLIC DISCUSSION: 6:30-8:00pm in CCI 129/130 (The Centennial Room). Prints of Central Asia: Peggy Kelsey’s Afghan Women’s Project.

o      An exhibit of Ms. Kelsey’s prints will go up in the Ludden Library in early February.

o     A reception in the library will follow Ms. Kelsey’s talk on March 22

Wednesday, March 23.

·       ETHNIC LUNCH: 12:00-1:00 pm in CCI 1219/130 (The Centennial Room).

·       ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION: 1:00-3:00 pm in CCI 1219/130 (The Centennial Room).  Dr. Marianne Kamp, Dr. Mohammed Salih and Arshi Nisley will discuss Women and Islam: Confronting Misconceptions.

Thursday, March 24.

·       MOVIE: 12:00-2:00 in the student lounge. The Kite Runner (popcorn and snacks will be provided)

Friday, March 25:

·       BOOK DISCUSSION: 12:30-1:30pm. Discussion of Greg Mortenson’s book  Three Cups of Tea and/or Stones into Schools.  Students interested in participating should contact Jennifer McVay for information and to make arrangements.

LCCC students will be visiting local schools to discuss Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea. Where appropriate they will also be discussing the children’s edition Listen to the Wind.

Instructors at LCCC have integrated readings from Mr. Mortenson’s books into course curriculum.

The LCCC Ludden Library will be creating displays that look at life in Central Asia.

Finally, we hope to have LCCC students prepare poster presentations that examine different aspects of life in Central Asia.

FMI: David Marcum, LCCC Instructor of Political Science and Director of Government Studies and International Studies, 307.778.1220.

Questions that relate to Greg Mortenson’s actual visit on March 29 should be directed to the LCCC Foundation at http://www.lccc.cc.wy.us/

"Three Cups of Tea" author Greg Mortenson to speak in Cheyenne March 29

From a post on Facebook (cross-posted from wyomingarts blog):

Two-time Nobel Prize nominee Greg Mortenson will share insightful commentary and stunning photography to educate and promote awareness of the importance of primary education, literacy and cross-cultural understanding about the remote regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

He will speak at the Taco John’s Events Center in Cheyenne on Tuesday, March 29, 7-10 p.m. Limited amount of tickets go on sale on Friday, Jan. 7. Tickets: $5 Students (K-College)/$15 General Public. Contact the Taco Johns Events Center at (307) 433-0025 or on-line at www.cheyennecity.org

Greg Mortenson promotes peace through education. He is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute www.ikat.org, founder of Pennies For Peace www.penniesforpeace.org, and co-author of New York Times bestseller "Three Cups of Tea" which has sold over 4 million copies, been published in 47 countries, and a New York Times bestseller since its 2007 release, and Time Magazine Asia Book of The Year.Mortenson’s new book, "Stones Into Schools: Promoting Peace with Books Not Bombs, In Afghanistan and Pakistan," was released by Viking on December 1, 2009.

As of 2010, Mortenson has established over 145 schools in rural and often volatile regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan, which provide education to over 64,000 children, including 52,000 girls, where few education opportunities existed before.

Laramie County Partners are bringing Greg Mortenson to Cheyenne for a series of activities, including talking to school children and a public event in the evening on March 29. The partners include: Laramie County Community College Foundation, Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne Rotary, Laramie County Library, Laramie County Library Foundation and Laramie County School District No. 1.

http://www.facebook.com/LaramieCountyPartnersPresentGregMortenson

Skip the holiday stuff, buy a goat (or a cow)

Ideas from Sojourners and CRWRC about alternative gift-giving for the holidays: http://www.crwrc.org/pages/crwrc_giftcatalog.cfm?utm_source=Sojourners%2BAd&utm_medium=banner&utm_campaign=Sojo

Wyoming's Barrasso and Enzi join 43 other Senators to block bill to stop sending US jobs overseas

Daily Kos blogger MinistryOfTruth was suitably upset today when Senate Republicans voted to keep sending American jobs overseas.

45 Senators BLOCK bill to stop sending US jobs overseas with a tax cut wet kiss. This is MADNESS!

History of Haters in America, Part I

Passed along by always-vigilant activist Meg Lanker of Laramie.