My sister Mary tells me that this is Nurses Appreciation Week. She should know, as she works in Big Bend Hospice in Tallahassee, Fla. Our mom was a nurse, as was our fraternal grandmother. Two sisters are trained nurses, although they've found more lucrative careers outside nursing.
I only have one short story featuring nurses. Actually I have two. But this one is a short one and was just published in the latest edition of High Plains Register, Laramie County Community College's excellent literary mag. I share the pages with some excellent writers, poets, artists, photographers and musicians. How do you get music into a litmag? Attach a CD. I'm playing it right now.
Thanks to all nurses, both within and outside my family.
Here's the story:
Flying Nurse
The nurse left work at five o’clock.
The car struck him ten minutes later at the corner of Elm and Vine.
He sailed through the air, all the while thinking that this was a silly thing to happen to an E.R. nurse. He spent long days tending to patients struck by cars or bolts of lightning or random suicidal thoughts or stray bullets. “There, there,” he’d say. “You’ll be right as rain in no time.” Into the E.R. came distraught parents with banged up kids – and grown-up children with disoriented elderly parents. Dog bites and bee stings and everyone feeling sad, as the song says.
Don’t think of the sad parts, he thought as he sailed through the warm urban evening. It didn’t hurt yet but he knew it would by the time he landed with a splat in the street on the sidewalk or on top of another car or in the path of a rush-hour bus. He was light as a feather now. When he landed, he’d be heavy as a ton of bricks even though he only weighed 190 pounds which was only, what, one-tenth the weight of the brick load. Bricks on the brain, that’s what he had. He and his lovely wife and two unruly kids lived in a brick house just a few blocks from downtown. If they looked out the south-facing front window right now, would they see him? “Mommy, I see Daddy sailing through the air – and he has a funny look on his face.” “That’s nice kiddo.” Children and their imaginations! As if nurses could fly.
But here he was, flying just the same.
“Jim, when the end comes – God forbid – your final thoughts won’t be on insurance.” That was Bob, his insurance agent, who was lousy with predictions. His wife Jane’s face in ecstasy – that’s what he should see now. Playing soccer in the park with his kids. His parents when they were young and vital. A geeky ten-year-old Jim riding his bike to school. That raucous college party when he first met his wife and he had to shout over the music to make himself heard and she said, no, she didn’t want to go out with him and he thought it was because he was drunk but it was really because she was engaged to a guy who didn’t last – and that’s when Jim came back on the scene. He lasted and lasted.
Jim hoped for two outcomes. Instant death on the asphalt. Or a miraculous feet-first landing in which his sneakers slapped the pavement one-two and he broke into a run that brought him all the way home. “Run, Jim, run.” The citizenry lined the sidewalks. “Run, Jim, run.” He ran and ran. It was easy as pie. He could do this all day. “Run, Jim, run.” He was flying no more. Running home, Jim was. Running to his family.
When he opened his eyes in the E.R., the wall clock read 8:05. He had a headache and his right leg throbbed. Mouth dry as a desert wind. A nurse swam into view. She looked familiar but Jim couldn’t conjure a name.
She smiled. “Didn’t your mama teach you to look both ways before you cross the street?”
“I was flying,” he said.
The nurse patted his arm. “That’s what they all say.”
You can absorb the latest High Plains Register at http://en.calameo.com/read/000197327b247d5bebebe
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Sunday, May 09, 2010
Better smile, pardner, when you call my home place "desolation"
Sunday's Denver Post featured a story about the food deserts that are created in the city by fleeing grocery stores. We're now facing the same issue in Cheyenne, now that the downtown Safeway closed its doors. If you live downtown, the closest grocery store is more than a mile away at the Albertson's on Yellowstone. Or further -- Cole Square Safeway or the Super Wal-Mart on Dell Range.
Several concerned citizens started a group to find a store for downtown -- or start a food co-op. Not sure what's happening with that effort.
I was dazzled by a few lines from the Post story:
Desolation? Colorado's Front Range boasts has some of the richest farmland in the West. The big problem now is that there are houses and highways and Wal-Marts (even grocery stores) sitting on most of it. Huge irony in the idea of an abandoned safeway in Denver sitting on top of land that could grow enough fruits and veggies for the entire neighborhood. Another irony in the idea that a new Super Safeway in the Denver burbs carries foods shipped thousands of miles away from non-desolation areas such as Raleigh, N.C. The land that the store sits on could grow enough food for everyone in the neighborhood. Except the coffee beans for the double mocha latte at the Safeway Starbucks. Still must import those coffee beans.
I wrote about this just the other day. I don't seem to get tired of the subject. I like growing things and cooking and eating and making fun of people who call Colorado "desolation." If Mr. White thinks of rich high plains land as desolation, what would he think of Cheyenne? Most of the land surrounding our city is too high and dry and cold to be used as anything but grazing for cattle and bison. Still, some of us are daring the elements to make a dent in our own food desert. And there are farms and ranches on nearby land of richer soil and lower elevations. There's the North Platte Valley's Wheatland and Torrington. And then there are the small farmers of northern Colorado. Not sure if the green-thumbed folks at Wolf Moon Farms have considered the fact they're living in desolation.
Yesterday, I bought some of my plants at Kathy Shreve's Star Cake Plants on Snyder Ave. in Cheyenne. I noticed the signs posted along Pershing and thought I'd stop in. How big can a backyard plant sale be, especially in the small backyards in the city's central core?
Plenty big, it turns out. Kathy grows all kids of seedlings in her house and in her backyard greenhouse. She also has a garden ready to go. Tables were crowded with pepper and cauliflower and broccoli seedlings. Other tables featured rows of peonies and dianthus. Groundcovers, too. For tomato seedlings, we went into her cozy greenhouse (barely room for two) and pulled out tomato seedlings and some potted plants for shandy areas. I bought two trays full of seedlings, stuff I'm not starting myself, and went on my merry way. It was a cool, windy morning. It smelled like rich earth, though, with a hint of spring.
Interesting to note that one entrepreneurial master gardener in central Cheyenne's food desert can sprout enough seedlings to grow veggies for hundreds of people.
Such abundance here in this desolate land.
Several concerned citizens started a group to find a store for downtown -- or start a food co-op. Not sure what's happening with that effort.
I was dazzled by a few lines from the Post story:
But the city faces a challenge that some other big cities don't: geography. With no major cities nearby, Denver — and the rest of Colorado — is far from most food distribution hubs.
"Trucks have to drive a long way to get to Colorado," said Drew White, supermarket analyst with Sageworks Inc., based in Raleigh, N.C.
"You're a big city in the middle of desolation," he said.
Desolation? Colorado's Front Range boasts has some of the richest farmland in the West. The big problem now is that there are houses and highways and Wal-Marts (even grocery stores) sitting on most of it. Huge irony in the idea of an abandoned safeway in Denver sitting on top of land that could grow enough fruits and veggies for the entire neighborhood. Another irony in the idea that a new Super Safeway in the Denver burbs carries foods shipped thousands of miles away from non-desolation areas such as Raleigh, N.C. The land that the store sits on could grow enough food for everyone in the neighborhood. Except the coffee beans for the double mocha latte at the Safeway Starbucks. Still must import those coffee beans.
I wrote about this just the other day. I don't seem to get tired of the subject. I like growing things and cooking and eating and making fun of people who call Colorado "desolation." If Mr. White thinks of rich high plains land as desolation, what would he think of Cheyenne? Most of the land surrounding our city is too high and dry and cold to be used as anything but grazing for cattle and bison. Still, some of us are daring the elements to make a dent in our own food desert. And there are farms and ranches on nearby land of richer soil and lower elevations. There's the North Platte Valley's Wheatland and Torrington. And then there are the small farmers of northern Colorado. Not sure if the green-thumbed folks at Wolf Moon Farms have considered the fact they're living in desolation.
Yesterday, I bought some of my plants at Kathy Shreve's Star Cake Plants on Snyder Ave. in Cheyenne. I noticed the signs posted along Pershing and thought I'd stop in. How big can a backyard plant sale be, especially in the small backyards in the city's central core?
Plenty big, it turns out. Kathy grows all kids of seedlings in her house and in her backyard greenhouse. She also has a garden ready to go. Tables were crowded with pepper and cauliflower and broccoli seedlings. Other tables featured rows of peonies and dianthus. Groundcovers, too. For tomato seedlings, we went into her cozy greenhouse (barely room for two) and pulled out tomato seedlings and some potted plants for shandy areas. I bought two trays full of seedlings, stuff I'm not starting myself, and went on my merry way. It was a cool, windy morning. It smelled like rich earth, though, with a hint of spring.
Interesting to note that one entrepreneurial master gardener in central Cheyenne's food desert can sprout enough seedlings to grow veggies for hundreds of people.
Such abundance here in this desolate land.
Saturday, May 08, 2010
Give me good food with a good story
Where Does Your Food Come From?
That was the above-the-banner teaser in this morning Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The subhead was this:
This is very cool -- and smart. Some may consider it a gimmick, but Foodies like me approve of this tactic. And the writer in me says that a chocolate bar that comes with its own story has my vote.
Why can't we do the same thing with lettuce? The AP sidebar to this story focused on tainted Romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz., and shipped to states east of the Mississippi including Florida. Why Florida, breadbasket to the East Coast, requires massive infusions of Arizona lettuce is a mystery.
So is the entire food "industry."
That's the key word -- industry. Ag became an industry and we haven't been safe or even healthy since.
The newspaper story doesn't have an answer. But it does pose some questions.
What if we nurtured and tracked a head of lettuce as Shawn Askinosie does a chocolate bar? Let's say that farmer Peter Cruz grows lettuce on a factory farm in Hot As Hell, Arizona. He nurtures the lettuce stalks as he would his own child. When it comes time to ship a batch to Florida, he labels the hemp bag with a stamp of authenticity which includes his signature and photo. The lettuce goes off to Humid As Hell, Florida, to be sold at $5 per pound.
Oops. Winn Dixie shoppers will probably pass up Peter Cruz's lettuce-with-a-story to cheaper, less wordy, alternatives.
Industry lettuce doesn't have a story. Corporate growers don't have time for creative writing. They want to plant thousands of acres, fertilize the hell out of it, spray it with pesticides, harvest it with illegal aliens from Poor As Hell in Jalisco State, load it in big trucks and ship it off to Florida. This lettuce sells for 99 cents a pound.
It also gives you E. coli.
Quite a bargain.
I am growing my own lettuce this summer in Windy As Hell, Wyoming. It will come with stories because I will insist. I will bore my family with those stories and then will turn on you, my faithful readers. You will not be able to buy my organic, homegrown lettuce because I don't want to buy stamps of authenticity and fancy wrappers. Besides, I don't know if my Romaine will come up this summer. It did last year but one never knows about late frosts and hailstorms.
There are alternatives. Go to your local farmers' market and ask for a story while you buy lettuce and tomatoes and peaches. Sometimes there are good stories and sometimes the sellers look at you funny. Some sellers have no stories because they are hired hands and don't know -- don't want to know -- the real stories. In those cases I say -- move on to the next stall.
You can buy your food from local farms. Many are organic but not all. Join the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs offered by Wolf Moon Farms, Grant Farms and Cresset Community Farm in northern Colorado and Meadow Maid Foods near Yoder, Wyo., which also has grass-fed beef and beef jerky. These are just a few -- new "craft" farmers and ranchers are sprouting all the time.
Each has a story to tell.
That was the above-the-banner teaser in this morning Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. The subhead was this:
With hundreds of people sickened by food-borne illness in a spate of recent outbreaks, traceability has become a critical food industry goal.The story was written by Georgia Gustin of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. It begins on an upbeat note with Askinosie Chocolate Factory, which operates out of an historic building in Springfield, Mo. Owner Shawn Askinosie says that he wants to "profit-share with farmers" and tracks his cocoa beans from growers in Eduador to the end product. Using a code on chocolate packages, consumers can go to the company's web site and trace the origins of their treat. Askinosie offers Single Origin Chocolate Bars. One variety is a 77 percent Davao Dark bar from the Philippines. It comes in a brown wrapper with a photo of chief farmer Peter Cruz, his signature and a stamp of authenticity. A map of the farm's location is enclosed. The web site provides a story on the history of cocoa growing in the Philippines.
This is very cool -- and smart. Some may consider it a gimmick, but Foodies like me approve of this tactic. And the writer in me says that a chocolate bar that comes with its own story has my vote.
Why can't we do the same thing with lettuce? The AP sidebar to this story focused on tainted Romaine lettuce grown in Yuma, Ariz., and shipped to states east of the Mississippi including Florida. Why Florida, breadbasket to the East Coast, requires massive infusions of Arizona lettuce is a mystery.
So is the entire food "industry."
That's the key word -- industry. Ag became an industry and we haven't been safe or even healthy since.
The newspaper story doesn't have an answer. But it does pose some questions.
What if we nurtured and tracked a head of lettuce as Shawn Askinosie does a chocolate bar? Let's say that farmer Peter Cruz grows lettuce on a factory farm in Hot As Hell, Arizona. He nurtures the lettuce stalks as he would his own child. When it comes time to ship a batch to Florida, he labels the hemp bag with a stamp of authenticity which includes his signature and photo. The lettuce goes off to Humid As Hell, Florida, to be sold at $5 per pound.
Oops. Winn Dixie shoppers will probably pass up Peter Cruz's lettuce-with-a-story to cheaper, less wordy, alternatives.
Industry lettuce doesn't have a story. Corporate growers don't have time for creative writing. They want to plant thousands of acres, fertilize the hell out of it, spray it with pesticides, harvest it with illegal aliens from Poor As Hell in Jalisco State, load it in big trucks and ship it off to Florida. This lettuce sells for 99 cents a pound.
It also gives you E. coli.
Quite a bargain.
I am growing my own lettuce this summer in Windy As Hell, Wyoming. It will come with stories because I will insist. I will bore my family with those stories and then will turn on you, my faithful readers. You will not be able to buy my organic, homegrown lettuce because I don't want to buy stamps of authenticity and fancy wrappers. Besides, I don't know if my Romaine will come up this summer. It did last year but one never knows about late frosts and hailstorms.
There are alternatives. Go to your local farmers' market and ask for a story while you buy lettuce and tomatoes and peaches. Sometimes there are good stories and sometimes the sellers look at you funny. Some sellers have no stories because they are hired hands and don't know -- don't want to know -- the real stories. In those cases I say -- move on to the next stall.
You can buy your food from local farms. Many are organic but not all. Join the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs offered by Wolf Moon Farms, Grant Farms and Cresset Community Farm in northern Colorado and Meadow Maid Foods near Yoder, Wyo., which also has grass-fed beef and beef jerky. These are just a few -- new "craft" farmers and ranchers are sprouting all the time.
Each has a story to tell.
Friday, May 07, 2010
WY Education Czar Jim McBride worried that Ayers' visit could ruin UW brand
Amazing how the University of Wyoming president and rich donors and former Sen. Al Simpson and Gov. Dave Freudenthal and Republican gubernatorial candidates all got into the act in opposing Bill Ayers' visit to the state's only public university.
Now we hear that State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Jim McBride, also was scared to death by having former sixties radical and educational reform expert Ayers appear in Laramie.
Shouldn't Dr. McBride be spending more time addressing the state's sky-high high school dropout rate? Didn't he recently voice his concern about the education system's over-reliance on standardized tests?
Here's the news item I plucked this morning from the Wyoming Public Radio web site:
Now we hear that State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Jim McBride, also was scared to death by having former sixties radical and educational reform expert Ayers appear in Laramie.
Shouldn't Dr. McBride be spending more time addressing the state's sky-high high school dropout rate? Didn't he recently voice his concern about the education system's over-reliance on standardized tests?
Here's the news item I plucked this morning from the Wyoming Public Radio web site:
Top education official pushed for Ayers cancellation Molly Messick (2010-05-06)
LARAMIE, WYO. (wpr) - Documents released last week through a public records request show that the state's top elected education official called for the cancellation of William Ayers' visit to the University of Wyoming based on the potential for lost donations. Ayers is the former militant activist turned education professor who was originally scheduled to speak at UW in early April.
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jim McBride said in three separate emails that Ayers' visit could cost the university "millions." Reached this week, McBride described his thinking this way. "If you were the Board of Trustees of Coca-Cola, and someone inside Coca-Cola was going to damage your brand name and maybe make it more difficult for you to make money, would it be wise to call the CEO of Coca-Cola, call it to his attention and ask him to do something about it?"
Whether Ayers' initial visit was cancelled in part due to threats of lost donations has been a question since the decision was made. Many have voiced concern that the university might have weighed academic freedom and free speech against the potential financial cost of upsetting prominent university donors.
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Can Progressives be REAL sports fans?
Phoenix Suns wear "Los Suns" jerseys for Game 2 of NBA playoffs. Christian Petersen, Getty ImagesCan Progressives be sports fans? Real fans, not just bowtie-wearing George Will-style life-is-like-baseball-and-vice-versa fans. I mean real fans, those who follow their team's ups-and-downs, cheer wildly when they win and suffer publicly in defeat.
Another question: can sports teams be politically active for Progressive causes? Professional teams are corporations and, as corporations, must be politically savvy. They cannot afford to piss off potential fans, especially rich ones who buy skyboxes. Rich fans who buy skyboxes tend to be corporate titans with similar business interests. They speak the same languages -- money and conservative politics. These traits were put on public display with news that the owners of the Arizona Cardinals NFL team were backers of the awful Arizona anti-immigrant law. The Phoenix Suns offered a counterpoint when its players wore "Los Suns" jerseys for their NBA playoff game on Cinco de Mayo. Two amazing things about this: 1. it was the owner's idea; 2. it actually happened. Thus, a pro sports team is now on record opposing a loony right-wing law, even though some of its ticket holders are undoubtedly loony right-wingers. It is Arizona, right?
Here are a few paragraphs about the Suns' decision by Michael Wilbon, sports columnist for the Washington Post:
Instead of embracing a convenient neutrality that might have helped the bottom line with a great many locals who favor a new law that requires local police to check the legal status of suspected undocumented immigrants, Suns owner Robert Sarver called the law "flawed" and "mean-spirited" and asked his players what they thought of wearing "Los Suns" jerseys during Wednesday night's playoff game. Depending on your point of view, it was either an act of support for the Latin community, whose members feel targeted by the law, or an act of defiance toward those in the larger community who are angry over illegal immigration in a border state and rail at any dissent.
The folks here who wanted, at worst, silence picked the wrong team. The Suns locker room has too many independent thinkers, too many activists, too many players whose experiences and sensibilities are, thankfully, a lot broader than most of their neighbors. Sarver's players not only had no problem wearing "Los Suns" jerseys, they felt, to a man, pretty much the same way he did, damn the backlash, and were quite willing to say it. And there was plenty of backlash. Suns Coach Alvin Gentry, an hour before Game 2 against the Spurs tipped off, pointed to his computer, referring to the angry e-mails from folks who wanted the players in lockstep with the state's misguided new law.
Big-time college sports teams, particularly BCS football, love rich alum who buy skyboxes and sink tons of money into the university, usually in the sports programs -- but not always. Coddling rich conservative patrons of its sports programs was behind the University of Wyoming's refusal to let sixties radical Bill Ayers to speak on campus last month. Good to know that your state's only university considers building a few more skyboxes more important than freedom of speech.
What kind of politics are on display at NFL games? The Star-Spangled Banner, military aircraft fly-overs, tributes to veterans, Honor America Day, etc. Sports team wear their conservative politics openly when they name their stadiums after corporations. That's one conservative corporation wearing the banner of another conservative corporation. A wolf dressed in wolf's clothing.
When U.S. Army Ranger Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan, Arizona State University and the Arizona Cardinals fell all over themselves celebrating his sacrifice. On Sunday, September 19, 2004, all NFL teams wore a memorial decal on their helmets in honor of Tillman. One of Tillman's former teammates was Broncos QB Jake Plummer. He wanted to continue to wear the Tillman decal through the rest of the season just like his former Arizona mates. The NFL said no, that Plummer's helmet would not match those of his Bronco teammates. So Plummer grew a beard and long hair to celebrate the pre-Army Tillman.
He was indeed a brave and principled man who gave up big football bucks to join the Army. Then we discovered that the Pentagon covered up the fact that Tillman was killed by his own men. Tillman had become outspoken in his disenchantment with our overseas misadventures. The public celebrations of heroism evaporated into the mists of history.
What would happen if the NFL declared "Man Enough to Wear Chartreuse" day. Pro rodeo marks "Man Enough to Wear Pink" days to declare its support in the fight against breast cancer. But "Man Enough to Wear Chartreuse" day would mark the struggle for LGBT Equal Rights. How many NFL players and rodeo bareback riders would support that? How many NFL fans would complain, making loud empty threats about turning in their season tickets?
As a prog-blogger with a healthy skepticism, I simply cannot engage in unbridled hero worship. I'm a fan, but a jaundiced one (and I don't even like yellow). I am happy that University of Florida's Tim Tebow was chosen by the Denver Broncos in the NFL draft. I plan to buy a No. 15 Tebow Broncos jersey and wear it publicly. Will Tebow become another Hall-of-Famer like the legendary John Elway? Elway is a Republican, conservative enough to spurn a post-Super-Bowl appearance at the Clinton White House. Tebow is a conservative, a fundamentalist Christian anti-abortion crusader. I am on the opposite end of that issue, as I've written here before. Tebow has enough guts to declare his views publicly on a Super Bowl ad. I'm man enough to support his NFL aspirations. Until he fails and is traded to the Dallas Cowboys. Sure, Tebow is a Gator. But a dedicated Denver Broncos fan cannot cheer for the Dallas Cowboys, no matter whom the quarterback is.
A real fan, Progressive or not, has scruples.
Monday, May 03, 2010
There is a time to sew, and a time to write
All the cool kids in the neighborhood are turning into farmers.
Jimmy down the street dug up his backyard and planted a corn field. His plan is to use his corn for ethanol production and later, carve out a baseball field because if you build it, Kevin Costner will come over.
Ricky is growing wheat to make his own bread, as did William Alexander is his new book "52 Loaves: A Quest for the Holy Grain." NPR interviewed the author on Sunday morning.
Melanie and her kids are planting a vegetable garden and raising chickens. They're going to to eat the vegetables and the fresh eggs and eventually dispatch the chickens for Sunday dinner.
My plans are modest. Expand my vegetable garden by a few cubic yards. Plant tomatoes, beans, various lettuce varieties, spinach, broccoli, peas. I'm hoping the strawberries come in after a winter under layers of mulch. I'm hoping to get a few more plums from my plum tree and apples from my apple tree.
But no chickens. Neighborhood chicken-raising should be encouraged. If you know anything about corporate chicken-farming, you'll want to avoid the grocery store brands. Local purveyors of chicken and beef and bison sell their wares at farmers' markets.
My grandparents would get a kick out of us urban and suburban farmers. Three of my four grandparents grew up on farms. My fraternal grandmother, Florence, was a Baltimore city kid. Her family probably had a garden, as did most people back then. My maternal grandfather, Martin, grew up in the rocky wilds of Ireland's Roscommon County. The family farmed something. Grandpa was never specific, but it probably was potatoes. In America, he always had a garden. So did my fraternal Grandfather Raymond, who grew up on a farm outside Iowa City. Raymond grew beautiful tomatoes in his Denver garden. Iowa farm boys know how to grow things.
With the exception of a few real farmers and some back-to-the-land hippies, my generation worked to be as far away from the sources of food production as possible. Suburbs gobbled up farm land for big houses and huge stores, including Super Wal-Marts and the ever-expanding grocery store. Out in the hinterlands, farms got bigger with the rise of corporate ag. Cows and pigs and chickens were raised in factories. Gigantic food distribution systems were created to meet the demand. Ridiculously low fuel prices made this system possible.
This shift to corporate ag and corpulence has been well-documented in books (Michael Pollan) and films ("Food, Inc.").
Now we're all gardeners and we frequent farmers' markets. We say nice things about family farmers and curse the corporations. Yesterday, I read an L.A. Times article about an ex-Marine who formed a company that builds, maintains and harvests backyard gardens for suburbanites. First we pause to say tsk-tsk to those Yuppies too lazy or busy to garden. Secondly, though, we have to admire the pluck of this entrepreneur, who's seen an opportunity and seized upon it. New green jobs are created with this new cadre of "Mr. Greenjeans." And, when it comes right down to it, a backyard garden is a backyard garden. Here's another batch of veggies that's homegrown and not shipped from far away places.
I'll remember this in a few weeks when I'm down on my knees sewing seeds and replanting seedlings. There is a time to sow, and that comes late in May in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There is a time to reap, as long as the wind and the frost and the hail don't get the plants. When the planting is done, I can sit back, sip a Fat Tire, and admire my handiwork. I will be serenaded by a symphony of Melanie's backyard chickens.
Jimmy down the street dug up his backyard and planted a corn field. His plan is to use his corn for ethanol production and later, carve out a baseball field because if you build it, Kevin Costner will come over.
Ricky is growing wheat to make his own bread, as did William Alexander is his new book "52 Loaves: A Quest for the Holy Grain." NPR interviewed the author on Sunday morning.
Melanie and her kids are planting a vegetable garden and raising chickens. They're going to to eat the vegetables and the fresh eggs and eventually dispatch the chickens for Sunday dinner.
My plans are modest. Expand my vegetable garden by a few cubic yards. Plant tomatoes, beans, various lettuce varieties, spinach, broccoli, peas. I'm hoping the strawberries come in after a winter under layers of mulch. I'm hoping to get a few more plums from my plum tree and apples from my apple tree.
But no chickens. Neighborhood chicken-raising should be encouraged. If you know anything about corporate chicken-farming, you'll want to avoid the grocery store brands. Local purveyors of chicken and beef and bison sell their wares at farmers' markets.
My grandparents would get a kick out of us urban and suburban farmers. Three of my four grandparents grew up on farms. My fraternal grandmother, Florence, was a Baltimore city kid. Her family probably had a garden, as did most people back then. My maternal grandfather, Martin, grew up in the rocky wilds of Ireland's Roscommon County. The family farmed something. Grandpa was never specific, but it probably was potatoes. In America, he always had a garden. So did my fraternal Grandfather Raymond, who grew up on a farm outside Iowa City. Raymond grew beautiful tomatoes in his Denver garden. Iowa farm boys know how to grow things.
With the exception of a few real farmers and some back-to-the-land hippies, my generation worked to be as far away from the sources of food production as possible. Suburbs gobbled up farm land for big houses and huge stores, including Super Wal-Marts and the ever-expanding grocery store. Out in the hinterlands, farms got bigger with the rise of corporate ag. Cows and pigs and chickens were raised in factories. Gigantic food distribution systems were created to meet the demand. Ridiculously low fuel prices made this system possible.
This shift to corporate ag and corpulence has been well-documented in books (Michael Pollan) and films ("Food, Inc.").
Now we're all gardeners and we frequent farmers' markets. We say nice things about family farmers and curse the corporations. Yesterday, I read an L.A. Times article about an ex-Marine who formed a company that builds, maintains and harvests backyard gardens for suburbanites. First we pause to say tsk-tsk to those Yuppies too lazy or busy to garden. Secondly, though, we have to admire the pluck of this entrepreneur, who's seen an opportunity and seized upon it. New green jobs are created with this new cadre of "Mr. Greenjeans." And, when it comes right down to it, a backyard garden is a backyard garden. Here's another batch of veggies that's homegrown and not shipped from far away places.
I'll remember this in a few weeks when I'm down on my knees sewing seeds and replanting seedlings. There is a time to sow, and that comes late in May in Cheyenne, Wyoming. There is a time to reap, as long as the wind and the frost and the hail don't get the plants. When the planting is done, I can sit back, sip a Fat Tire, and admire my handiwork. I will be serenaded by a symphony of Melanie's backyard chickens.
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Wake up and smell the horses
I spent part of Sunday morning reading info posted on the Wyoming Food Freedom site. That included a detailed reading of draft legislation in the works for the 2011 Legislature.
I also read the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle editorial blasting an idea by Rep. Sue Wallis, one of the WFF co-founders, to establish a horse processing facility in Cheyenne that would include a slaughterhouse.
The editorial writers was incenses that visitors to Cheyenne driving along the newly reconstructed Lincolnway would see stock pens filled with horses, some of them destined for cans of Purina Dog Chow.
Shocking to think that visitors to Cheyenne Frontier Days wouldn't like the sights and sounds and smells of horses. As they drive up Lincolnway, they'll hear the boom of six guns from Old West re-enactors and the strains of honky tonk piano coming from the Historic Atlas Theatre. Choo-choo horns will be wailing in the railyards.
"Look at all the pretty horses," says Sis, visiting from Ohio with Mom and Dad and Junior.
Welcome to the Old/New/Old West.
I also read the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle editorial blasting an idea by Rep. Sue Wallis, one of the WFF co-founders, to establish a horse processing facility in Cheyenne that would include a slaughterhouse.
The editorial writers was incenses that visitors to Cheyenne driving along the newly reconstructed Lincolnway would see stock pens filled with horses, some of them destined for cans of Purina Dog Chow.
Shocking to think that visitors to Cheyenne Frontier Days wouldn't like the sights and sounds and smells of horses. As they drive up Lincolnway, they'll hear the boom of six guns from Old West re-enactors and the strains of honky tonk piano coming from the Historic Atlas Theatre. Choo-choo horns will be wailing in the railyards.
"Look at all the pretty horses," says Sis, visiting from Ohio with Mom and Dad and Junior.
Welcome to the Old/New/Old West.
Matt Mead's statement on Bill Ayers' visit
Anon sent me a link to a press release from Matt Mead's campaign. In my April 29 post, I had official statements from the other three Republican gubernatorial candidates about the Bill Ayers visit to UW -- and the attendant freedom of speech lawsuit. But I relied on the Casper Star-Trib for Mead's words.
Since Mr. Mead was in my headline, I thought it only fair to include his statement:
Ahhhhh! I feel fair and balanced now.
Since Mr. Mead was in my headline, I thought it only fair to include his statement:
Matt Mead, Republican candidate for Governor, issued the following statement regarding Chief Judge William Downes’ ruling in Meg Lanker’s and William Ayers’ suit against the University of Wyoming.
“I am disappointed by Chief Judge Downes’ ruling today. I still believe UW should not be lending its reputation to a known terrorist who has targeted this country. William Ayers does not belong at the University of Wyoming, plain and simple, and I wish he had never been invited. ”
“A federal court proceeding in Wyoming was the correct forum for Ayers’ suit requesting injunctive relief. While not all will agree with the decision rendered today by the chief district court judge, which enjoined the University of Wyoming from prohibiting Ayers’ speech on campus tomorrow, absent an appeal, the matter has been decided. We can be thankful that our judicial system provides for the timely resolution of disputes of difficult legal questions such as the one involved here — the extent of First Amendment protections.”
“I would ask that opponents of this visit remain peaceful and orderly in their opposition to William Ayers’ visit to Laramie. Moving forward, I hope there is clarification by the university of its policies regarding the availability of its facilities.”
Ahhhhh! I feel fair and balanced now.
Saturday, May 01, 2010
Memories erupt when you drop the V-bomb
Among people of a certain age, you cannot utter the "Vietnam" bomb without causing an explosion of emotions.
That "certain age" comes under the banner of Baby Boomer. There were many of us in this cohort last Wednesday night as another member of this complicated and conflicted group -- Dr. Bill Ayers -- spoke at the UniWyo Sports Complex at UW in Laramie.
Vietnam, Viet Nam, "Nam." Historians call it the Vietnam War, Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict or the American War. Vets have their own terms.
The war ended April 30, 1975 -- 35 years ago yesterday -- with the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. May 4 marks the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings.
Outside the sports complex, a protester too young for VN held a sign blaming Dr. Ayers for the deaths of 10,000 G.I.s. Not sure why "10,000" and not the 58,000 who officially perished in the conflict, not counting the many thousands who perished when they came home.
Inside the complex, fellow Dem Bobby Marcum wore his Vietnam Veteran cap. He had seen the sign outside and said to me that freedom of speech was one of the causes he was fighting for in Vietnam.
During the Q&A, one Baby Boomer came to the microphone and asked Dr. Ayers if he had apologized for his "terrorist acts" with the Weather Underground. The man said that he knew people who went to Vietnam but he himself did not go due to the fact he was on campus "partying and chasing girls."
Ayers replied that he had apologized many times, yet he became involved with the Vietnam resistance because the U.S. -- his country -- was murdering Vietnamese civilians at an alarming rate. This involvement was an outgrowth of his civil rights activities.
Who's the bad guy here -- Campus Party Boy or Bill Ayers? Both? Neither?
Who's to blame for this never-forgotten forever war? Shall we spread it around among demonstrators and frat boy partiers and chickenhawks (e.g. Dick Cheney and Karl Rove), and draftees and draft dodgers and College Young Republicans and SDS members and SDS FBI informants and misguided generals and oh-so-many politicians such as McNamara's best-and-brightest and Harry T and Ike and JFK and LBJ and RMN? Me?
Not so simple to choose, especially if you have your own complicated history of that era. To read fragments of my own "Conscription Chronicles," go to my web page.
P.S.: "The Forever War" is the title of a fine 1974 sci-fi novel by Vietnam veteran Joe Haldeman.
That "certain age" comes under the banner of Baby Boomer. There were many of us in this cohort last Wednesday night as another member of this complicated and conflicted group -- Dr. Bill Ayers -- spoke at the UniWyo Sports Complex at UW in Laramie.
Vietnam, Viet Nam, "Nam." Historians call it the Vietnam War, Second Indochina War, the Vietnam Conflict or the American War. Vets have their own terms.
The war ended April 30, 1975 -- 35 years ago yesterday -- with the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. May 4 marks the 40th anniversary of the Kent State shootings.
Outside the sports complex, a protester too young for VN held a sign blaming Dr. Ayers for the deaths of 10,000 G.I.s. Not sure why "10,000" and not the 58,000 who officially perished in the conflict, not counting the many thousands who perished when they came home.
Inside the complex, fellow Dem Bobby Marcum wore his Vietnam Veteran cap. He had seen the sign outside and said to me that freedom of speech was one of the causes he was fighting for in Vietnam.
During the Q&A, one Baby Boomer came to the microphone and asked Dr. Ayers if he had apologized for his "terrorist acts" with the Weather Underground. The man said that he knew people who went to Vietnam but he himself did not go due to the fact he was on campus "partying and chasing girls."
Ayers replied that he had apologized many times, yet he became involved with the Vietnam resistance because the U.S. -- his country -- was murdering Vietnamese civilians at an alarming rate. This involvement was an outgrowth of his civil rights activities.
Who's the bad guy here -- Campus Party Boy or Bill Ayers? Both? Neither?
Who's to blame for this never-forgotten forever war? Shall we spread it around among demonstrators and frat boy partiers and chickenhawks (e.g. Dick Cheney and Karl Rove), and draftees and draft dodgers and College Young Republicans and SDS members and SDS FBI informants and misguided generals and oh-so-many politicians such as McNamara's best-and-brightest and Harry T and Ike and JFK and LBJ and RMN? Me?
Not so simple to choose, especially if you have your own complicated history of that era. To read fragments of my own "Conscription Chronicles," go to my web page.
P.S.: "The Forever War" is the title of a fine 1974 sci-fi novel by Vietnam veteran Joe Haldeman.
History of Latinos and Latinas in Wyoming celebrated in new mural
This is very timely, considering what's happening in Arizona:On Saturday, May 1, Paredes Hablando - Walls That Speak, will be unveiled by La Radio Montenesa Voz de la Gente KOCA in Laramie. The mural by Stevon Lucero commemorates Latinas and Latinos in Wyoming.
There will be an 11 a.m. luncheon followed at 1:30 p.m. by the unveiling of the mural, with an Artist's Talk by Stevon Lucero, “The Unyielding Process of Chicano Art.” All events at the Alice Hardy Stevens Center, 603 E. Ivinson Ave., Laramie. At 5 p.m., there will be a screening of a film by Yolanda Cruz, 2501 Migrantes, about a population of a town in Mexico that has been forced to leave to find work.
Info: Connie, 742-2842 cocaj58@aol.com
Volunteers needed for 54th annual Cheyenne Summer Melodrama
This e-mail bulletin was sent out today by the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players. You will note some familiar names taking the helm of melodrama volunteers. read on...
It's Melodrama Time!
Mike and Chris Shay have agreed to Co-Chair the 54th Melodrama, and they are in need of people to chair the Marketing/PR and Front-Of-House(Front of House consists of Box Office, Concessions, Bar & Wait Staff)Sub-Committees. If you are interested, please email them at melodrama@cheyennelittletheatre.org
We will also be seeking volunteers to staff our bar area during the run of the show. Anyone interested in pouring our refreshments must be 21 or over and TIPS trained. Free TIPS training sessions will be offered from 5-9:30 p.m. on:
Tuesday May 4
Tuesday June 1
Tuesday July 6
Location -- at The American Legion Post 6, 2001 East Lincolnway, Cheyenne
No need to register, just show up and they'll fit you in!
TIPS training is valid for 3 years. If you have been previously trained remember to check your TIPS card or online for the expiration date!
Information to follow soon on our annual Volunteer Round Up and Atlas Clean Up Day to be held at the Atlas Theatre in June. We will provide all of the needed information regarding our other Melodrama Volunteer Opportunities available to those age 16 and up at that time.
It's Melodrama Time!
Mike and Chris Shay have agreed to Co-Chair the 54th Melodrama, and they are in need of people to chair the Marketing/PR and Front-Of-House(Front of House consists of Box Office, Concessions, Bar & Wait Staff)Sub-Committees. If you are interested, please email them at melodrama@cheyennelittletheatre.org
We will also be seeking volunteers to staff our bar area during the run of the show. Anyone interested in pouring our refreshments must be 21 or over and TIPS trained. Free TIPS training sessions will be offered from 5-9:30 p.m. on:
Tuesday May 4
Tuesday June 1
Tuesday July 6
Location -- at The American Legion Post 6, 2001 East Lincolnway, Cheyenne
No need to register, just show up and they'll fit you in!
TIPS training is valid for 3 years. If you have been previously trained remember to check your TIPS card or online for the expiration date!
Information to follow soon on our annual Volunteer Round Up and Atlas Clean Up Day to be held at the Atlas Theatre in June. We will provide all of the needed information regarding our other Melodrama Volunteer Opportunities available to those age 16 and up at that time.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Matt Mead: UW should "filter" speakers
The Casper Star-Tribune interviewed three of the four announced Republican candidates for governor on Judge Downes' decision to let Bill Ayers speak on the UW campus. The fourth was quoted from a speech during a First Amendment panel discussion at UW.
Here are some excerpts:
I would love to read quotes on this issue from Democratic Party Gubernatorial candidates.
But there ain't none. No candidates and no quotes.
Here are some excerpts:
The University of Wyoming should put some kind of "filter" in place to determine who can speak on campus, Matt Mead, Republican gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. attorney for Wyoming, said at a First Amendment panel discussion at the College of Law on Wednesday.
Ron Micheli: "The freedom of speech is one of the most important liberties of a free society. The Constitution protects the rights of individuals to say what they believe. Bill Ayers has that right, along with everyone else. My objection has always been that Mr. Ayers had been invited to speak by the University of Wyoming giving him legitimacy that the people of Wyoming do not wish to bestow. If Mr. Ayers is allowed to speak on the campus of UW, then it is only fair to demand that he and the individuals who invited him pay for 100 percent of the costs of the visit out of their own pockets. If we tax payers must suffer Bill Ayers at UW, fine, but we should not be expected to pay for it as well."
Rita Meyer: "I have been asked what I would do as governor in this situation. I believe that it is not the governor's role to say who should or should not speak at the University of Wyoming. The governor should not reach into that level of activity in the university. The governor's role is appointing the Board of Trustees who hire the president and provide broad oversight for the fiduciary management, academic policies, and general welfare of the students of the university. Clearly some at the university lost situational awareness by inviting Mr. Ayers to speak in the first place. Uninviting him has opened Pandora's box of raising freedom of speech issues in a university environment and given this man a bigger soapbox to shout from."
Colin Simpson: "I think the university did the right thing, and I wish that other types of issues like this would receive the same type of expedient hearing and ruling."
I would love to read quotes on this issue from Democratic Party Gubernatorial candidates.
But there ain't none. No candidates and no quotes.
Bill Ayers talks education and people listen
Bill Ayers speaks Wednesday at the UniWyo Sports Complex in Laramie. Photo by Meg Lanker. Not everyone in the UniWyo Sports Complex at UW Wednesday evening ventured through a spring snowstorm to hear Dr. Bill Ayers talk about education reform. Some were just curious and wanted to see the subject of a month-long wrangle over freedom of speech. Others came to lodge a protest.
No matter. More than a thousand people heard about the state of education in the U.S. Dr. Ayers has written many books on the subject -- and is still a practicing teacher.
Some boos erupted with the cheers with Ayers was introduced by UW Dept. of Education Professor Steve Bialistock.
That didn't seem to faze Ayers. He acknowledged that the struggle over freedom of speech and academic freedom had taken precedence over the speech itself.
"Students and faculty wanted to enageg in a dialogue with me and they couldn't," he said.
But they could on Wednesday night. Ayers spoke for about 50 minutes, using a stopwatch to time himself.
He offered no magic solution to education in the U.S.A. That's just the problem -- we're stuck in a "sterile debate on education."
On the one hand are the "free-market reformers" who believe in "charter schools and punishment." Then there are the "liberal traditionalists" who think that "the status quo is just great."
He reminded the audience that during the 2008 election, Republican John McCain said "we need to get all those lazy incompetent teachers out of the classroom."
"Didn't we all nod just a little at that?"
Punishing teachers and schools is not the answer -- but neither is just doing nothing.
"We have certain boundaries and barriers of thinking we have to imagine ourselves out of," Ayers said.
He advocates a "curriculum of questioning." Remember those bumper stickers, "Question Authority?" Like that, but apply it to all things.
I grow tired of the topic. I'm taking the reporter route on this piece but others have done it far better than me.
This one I have to mull over....
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Cheyenne native Daniel Junge will be honored at Cheyenne International Film Festival
The local arts scene in Cheyenne is expanding its repertoire with the first-ever Cheyenne International Film Festival May 21-23.
On its opening night on Friday, May 21, the CIFF honors Academy Award-nominated filmmaker and Cheyenne native Daniel Junge by screening three of his latest films, “No Strings”, “Come Back to Sudan” and Oscar-nominated “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”.
The screening and “talk-back” with the filmmaker is also a fund-raising event for the Laramie County Library Foundation. Daniel, who now lives in Denver, will be on hand to sell and autograph DVD versions of his movies with the proceeds to benefit the Library Foundation.
The Filmmakers’ Reception will be held on Saturday, May 22. Following the screening of “My Life Without Sex,” the audience will have a chance to visit with the Australian film’s director Sarah Watt live via Skype. Attendees will have a chance to meet and talk movies with film makers and producers. Also screening is the Oscar nominated live action comedic short from Sweden, “Instead of Abracadabra”.
Closing night on May 23 will be a Wyoming Showcase, "Pioneering Spirit," from two different historical perspectives. “On the Trail: Jack Kerouac in Cheyenne” features a personal appearance by John Allen Cassady (son of Beat idols Neal and Carolyn Cassady). That will be followed by the award-winning feature, “In Pursuit of a Dream” by Candy Moulton of Encampment.
John Allen Cassady will be at Phoenix Books in downtown Cheyenne signing copies of his book on Saturday May 22. Candy Moulton will be moderating a panel of women filmmakers Christine Bonn, Sarah Curry and Egija Hartmane–Salem.
The CIFF offers nine programs consisting of 33 films from around the world. The CIFF Call2Action program matches up movies with local non-profit organizations. This year, the Call2Action co-presenting groups include the YMCA youth arts and video program; The Laramie County Library Foundation; Cheyenne area veteran organizations; and the Southeast Wyoming Intertribal Powwow Association.
FMI: Wyoming Community Media at 307-509-0182.
So that's where it's all going?
Cheyenne is shipping its s*** to Colorado
Go to http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100428/NEWS01/4280340/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02
Go to http://www.coloradoan.com/article/20100428/NEWS01/4280340/1002/CUSTOMERSERVICE02
Perhaps "The Laramie Project" needs a sequel -- or an update?
A poem for today by Micah X Wyatt, Wyoming writer and teacher and attorney:
Bill Ayers prepares to speak
in the midst of my state, in
the same place and in the same
manner that Fred Phelps decried
America as the doomed nation
of homosexuals and debauchery.
In the same place and manner
that students perform Albee
and Shakespeare, and Kipling,
where tenured professors
speak of Nazis and Hindi, of
terrorists and patriots, of
humans and beasts as though
those things were different;
the one from the other.
Continue reading at http://www.facebook.com/notes/micah-x-wyatt/the-odd-bedfellows-of-freedom-of-speech/389332644356
Bill Ayers prepares to speak
in the midst of my state, in
the same place and in the same
manner that Fred Phelps decried
America as the doomed nation
of homosexuals and debauchery.
In the same place and manner
that students perform Albee
and Shakespeare, and Kipling,
where tenured professors
speak of Nazis and Hindi, of
terrorists and patriots, of
humans and beasts as though
those things were different;
the one from the other.
Continue reading at http://www.facebook.com/notes/micah-x-wyatt/the-odd-bedfellows-of-freedom-of-speech/389332644356
Free-speech & music night in Laramie
This will be a very active night on the University of Wyoming campus. Free-speech speaking combined with free-speech music.
From 7-9 p.m., educator and 1960s antiwar radical Bill Ayers will speak on campus at the UniWyo Sports Complex. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Read more about Bill Ayers at http://billayers.wordpress.com/. This is the long-delayed talk that just got its court hearing this week. Should be a very interesting and educational event.
Speaking of interesting -- the Flobots from Denver will perform a free concert tonight at 8:30 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Union ballroom.
Not too many people outside of Denver knew of the Flobots until its first major label release, "Fighting with Tools." The song "Handlebars" became a radio hit in 2008. The group's newest CD, "Survival Story," came out last month.
As you can see in the "Handlebars" vid at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA, the Flobots are unabashedly political. Some might call it leftist or radical or maybe even anti-American. Radical it may be, but this talented multi-racial group has a vision for America and spends most of its creative energy looking forward rather than backward.
Opening the concert for The Bots will be Air Dubai, a hip hop group out of Denver. So, you can be at the speech by Mr. Ayers and still catch the music unless the ballroom is totally packed, which it may be.
FMI: 307-766-6340.
From 7-9 p.m., educator and 1960s antiwar radical Bill Ayers will speak on campus at the UniWyo Sports Complex. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Read more about Bill Ayers at http://billayers.wordpress.com/. This is the long-delayed talk that just got its court hearing this week. Should be a very interesting and educational event.
Speaking of interesting -- the Flobots from Denver will perform a free concert tonight at 8:30 p.m. in the University of Wyoming Union ballroom.
Not too many people outside of Denver knew of the Flobots until its first major label release, "Fighting with Tools." The song "Handlebars" became a radio hit in 2008. The group's newest CD, "Survival Story," came out last month.
As you can see in the "Handlebars" vid at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLUX0y4EptA, the Flobots are unabashedly political. Some might call it leftist or radical or maybe even anti-American. Radical it may be, but this talented multi-racial group has a vision for America and spends most of its creative energy looking forward rather than backward.
Opening the concert for The Bots will be Air Dubai, a hip hop group out of Denver. So, you can be at the speech by Mr. Ayers and still catch the music unless the ballroom is totally packed, which it may be.
FMI: 307-766-6340.
A white middle-aged Mid-America voter hitches a ride on the 2010 Obama Express
This comes from the Fox News web site:
Every so often I go slumming at Fox News. I especially like this item because I am a white middle-aged voter in Red State Wyoming who should be watching Pres. Obama's 2010 cavalcade disappear into the distance.
But this is more generalization from Fox. Sure, CNN and MSNBC engage in it too, but you always know that Fox stands foursquare against Obama and Progressives. They like to lump white folks together, as if Tom Teabagger and Paul Prog-Blogger were all in the same club.
I worked hard for Obama in 2008. I knocked on doors and made phone calls and blogged my heart out. Am I disappointed in some things that have happened (and not happened) in the past 16 months? Damn straight I am. I wanted a public option in that health care bill. Still do. I want climate change legislation and economic reform. And there is hope that we'll get all that as long as Obama is in the White House and Dems hold some sort of majority in the House and Senate.
I can't imagine John McCain or Mitt Romney or Mike Hucakabee or (God forbid) Sarah Palin in charge. It would be more of the same stuff we saw under George W. Bush from 2001-2009. The Repubs are tired old white guys, mostly Southerners and Westerners, who are scrambling to control a nation that has outgrown them. They are the middle-aged and elderly white folks angrily shaking their fists as Young & Energetic & Ethnically Diverse America drives off into the future.
I will cast my lot with "young people, African-Americans, Latinos and women" for the forseeable future.
I can't imagine it any other way.
President Obama left white, middle-age male voters in his rear-view mirror Monday in launching his first midterm election pitch, calling on "young people, African Americans, Latinos and women" to deliver for Democrats in November.
In a video to supporters, Obama urged those who helped get him elected in 2008 not to abandon Democrats in an election year that is shaping up to take a chunk out of the Democratic majority in Congress.
Every so often I go slumming at Fox News. I especially like this item because I am a white middle-aged voter in Red State Wyoming who should be watching Pres. Obama's 2010 cavalcade disappear into the distance.
But this is more generalization from Fox. Sure, CNN and MSNBC engage in it too, but you always know that Fox stands foursquare against Obama and Progressives. They like to lump white folks together, as if Tom Teabagger and Paul Prog-Blogger were all in the same club.
I worked hard for Obama in 2008. I knocked on doors and made phone calls and blogged my heart out. Am I disappointed in some things that have happened (and not happened) in the past 16 months? Damn straight I am. I wanted a public option in that health care bill. Still do. I want climate change legislation and economic reform. And there is hope that we'll get all that as long as Obama is in the White House and Dems hold some sort of majority in the House and Senate.
I can't imagine John McCain or Mitt Romney or Mike Hucakabee or (God forbid) Sarah Palin in charge. It would be more of the same stuff we saw under George W. Bush from 2001-2009. The Repubs are tired old white guys, mostly Southerners and Westerners, who are scrambling to control a nation that has outgrown them. They are the middle-aged and elderly white folks angrily shaking their fists as Young & Energetic & Ethnically Diverse America drives off into the future.
I will cast my lot with "young people, African-Americans, Latinos and women" for the forseeable future.
I can't imagine it any other way.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Day 2 of Wyoming Repub Senators siding with their Wall Street Overlords
From a WyoDems press release:
Yesterday and today, Senate Republicans voted to block critical Wall Street reforms. In response, Wyoming Democratic Party Chair Leslie Petersen issued the following statement:
“Yesterday and today, Senators Barrasso and Enzi and the Republican Party voted to block Wall Street reforms that will protect American taxpayers by holding Wall Street accountable. President Obama and Senate Democrats are working hard to pass this critical legislation that will restrict Wall Street’s risky practices and protects consumers. This is disappointing, but it’s no surprise. Once again the Republican Party is playing the role of obstructionist to meaningful change.
“For too long, lax regulations and free-wheeling Wall Street practices fattened bankers’ wallets. And when their house of cards fell apart, American taxpayers were stuck with the fallout. More than 8 million Americans lost their jobs, and American families lost trillions of dollars in savings and assets. It’s time for Republicans to stop playing political games, join Democrats, and pass this critical Wall Street reform that will bring an end to taxpayer-funded bailouts, protect consumers, and help rein in Wall Street’s risky practices”
Specifically, the reform plan before Congress would:
Ensure that Americans have the information they need to make the right financial choices for their families by putting an end to unfair and abusive lending policies and requiring banks and credit card companies to provide clear and complete information about their products.
Hold Wall Street accountable by giving shareholders and investors greater control over company decisions, like the choice of company leaders or the amount of bonuses to be awarded.
Introduce new transparency by requiring that complicated financial transactions occur out in the open – steps that will help to prevent future economic disasters.
Close the legal loopholes that allowed big banks to take big risks – endangering not only their own companies, but also the whole American economy.
Enforce tough new rules that will make sure Wall Street banks pay for their own bad decisions and take taxpayers off the hook for expensive bailouts for institutions some say are ‘too big to fail’.
This judge understands freedom of speech
William Ayers will speak Wednesday 7-9 p.m. at the University of Wyoming Sports Complex.
The ruling came down this afternoon from Federal Judge William Downes in Casper. It's an especially poignant moment for these reasons (as outlined in the Casper Star-Trib):
A couple things to note here. The federal courthouse in Casper is named after draft dodger and war criminal Dick Cheney of Casper. While Judge Downes was a Marine fighting in Vietnam and Bill Ayers felt strongly enough about the war to do something about it, Cheney was looking out for his own self and his own political career, enjoying one of his five draft deferments.
Dick Cheney went to law school but has never been a judge. I can't imagine him making such as unbiased decision about Constitutional rights. He certainly did not when he was V.P. of these United States.
UW student and free speech advocate Meg Lanker is a Navy veteran. David Lane, rabble-rousing free-speech attorney from Denver, declared conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War. However, Craig Silverman in Denver, the guy who faced Lane in court more than once, said this about him in a 2009 Denver Post article: "Nobody that I know of goes to trial more than he does. He is a combat veteran."
Intriguing dichotomy here, eh? Young people who cared enough to get involved with their country's present and future, whether in the military or in antiwar activities or in the courtroom, are still engaged in the day-to-day workings of their country.
I hope there are protesters at UW tomorrow night. I may not agree with them, but they'll be spending their evening away from the TV set and out in the rain or snow, speaking (or maybe shouting) their deeply-held thoughts about the situation.
Bring it on...
The ruling came down this afternoon from Federal Judge William Downes in Casper. It's an especially poignant moment for these reasons (as outlined in the Casper Star-Trib):
While William Downes was a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Vietnam War, William Ayers was bombing U.S. government buildings as co-founder of a militant anti-war group called the Weather Underground.
Downes, now a U.S. district judge, made special note of those contrasting backgrounds when he ruled Tuesday against the University of Wyoming's decision to ban Ayers from speaking on campus.
"This court is of age to remember the Weather Underground. When his group was bombing the U.S. Capitol in 1971, I was serving in the uniform of my country," Downes said. "Even to this day, when I hear that name, I can scarcely swallow the bile of my contempt for it. But Mr. Ayers is a citizen of the United States who wishes to speak, and he need not offer any more justification than that."
Downes delivered his ruling Tuesday afternoon in his federal courtroom in Casper, after hearing more than five hours of testimony Monday. The judge, finding that UW had violated Ayers' First Amendment rights, issued an injunction sought by Ayers and UW student Meg Lanker forcing UW to allow Ayers to speak Wednesday at the UniWyo Sports Complex on campus in Laramie.
Ayers is now scheduled to speak from 7-9 p.m. in the sports complex, Lanker said after the ruling. That speech bumps his scheduled appearance at the Laramie Civic Center from the schedule.
"I'm in shock, I'm floating, I'm on cloud nine, I'm excited," Lanker said. "This went better than I expected. I was expecting to win, but I wasn't expecting to win so well, I guess -- to win and get everything that we wanted."
A couple things to note here. The federal courthouse in Casper is named after draft dodger and war criminal Dick Cheney of Casper. While Judge Downes was a Marine fighting in Vietnam and Bill Ayers felt strongly enough about the war to do something about it, Cheney was looking out for his own self and his own political career, enjoying one of his five draft deferments.
Dick Cheney went to law school but has never been a judge. I can't imagine him making such as unbiased decision about Constitutional rights. He certainly did not when he was V.P. of these United States.
UW student and free speech advocate Meg Lanker is a Navy veteran. David Lane, rabble-rousing free-speech attorney from Denver, declared conscientious objector status during the Vietnam War. However, Craig Silverman in Denver, the guy who faced Lane in court more than once, said this about him in a 2009 Denver Post article: "Nobody that I know of goes to trial more than he does. He is a combat veteran."
Intriguing dichotomy here, eh? Young people who cared enough to get involved with their country's present and future, whether in the military or in antiwar activities or in the courtroom, are still engaged in the day-to-day workings of their country.
I hope there are protesters at UW tomorrow night. I may not agree with them, but they'll be spending their evening away from the TV set and out in the rain or snow, speaking (or maybe shouting) their deeply-held thoughts about the situation.
Bring it on...
Monday, April 26, 2010
Enzi & Barrasso abandon Main Streets in Gillette and Casper to vote for Wall Street
Sen. Mike Enzi today joined his Wyoming Republican colleague, Sen. John Barrasso, to vote against debating financial reform in the U.S. Senate.
Not surprising that Senators Enzi and Barrasso vote with the Repub pack. They do that with everything. Like toddlers, they just love to say "NO!"
Ironic to see that Sen. Enzi was one of the backers of this piece of legislation (from his web site):
If he thinks that rapacious Big Banks and Wall Street corporations are models of responsible finance, Sen. Enzi needs to brush up on his own financial literacy.
Not surprising that Senators Enzi and Barrasso vote with the Repub pack. They do that with everything. Like toddlers, they just love to say "NO!"
Ironic to see that Sen. Enzi was one of the backers of this piece of legislation (from his web site):
Washington, D.C. - The U.S. Senate passed a resolution (S. Res. 485) sponsored by Senators Daniel K. Akaka (D-Hawaii) and Michael B. Enzi (R-Wyoming) designating April as Financial Literacy Month. The resolution raises awareness about the importance of personal financial education and the serious consequences that may result from a lack of understanding about personal finances. It passed last night by a unanimous voice vote.
"Americans held $13.6 trillion in household debt last year according to the Federal Reserve," said Senator Akaka. "Increased financial and economic literacy can empower people to more effectively navigate the marketplace and make smart decisions for their families. Financial education helps people save for their homes, their children's education, and deal with financial challenges."
"In the 21st century it is essential for individuals to be financially literate. Financial literacy isn’t just about balancing a check book, it is about having all the resources and information to plan your own financial future with full understanding of the risks and rewards. The more importance financial literacy is given-- the better off this country will be," said Senator Enzi.
The bipartisan resolution is cosponsored by Senators Dodd, Crapo, Johnson, Corker, Schumer, Cochran, Menendez, Wicker, Kohl, Merkley, Inouye, Durbin, Baucus, Murray, Lincoln, Begich, Gillibrand, Feingold, Levin, Carper, Cardin, Stabenow, and Hagan.
If he thinks that rapacious Big Banks and Wall Street corporations are models of responsible finance, Sen. Enzi needs to brush up on his own financial literacy.
Lots of creative writing going on in Wyoming this summer
Micah Wyatt coordinates the Young Writers Camp each summer at the Thorne-Rider Youth Camp near Story, Wyo. The YWC was on hiatus last summer but is back on track for 2010. And now Mr. Wyatt, a YWC alumnus (as is my son Kevin) sends me news about another cool summer creative writing workshop, one that combines writing and backpacking and wilderness awareness.
Here it is:
There are two writers' conferences happening in Wyoming in June. First up is the annual Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference June 4-6 in Cody. Presenters include Max McCoy and Lee Ann Roripaugh. The Jackson Hole Writers Conference will be held June 24-27 at the Arts Center in Jackson. Presenters include Janet Fitch, Tim Cahill and Winnifred Gallagher.
Here it is:
Join Gretel Ehrlich and the Wyoming Wilderness Association in a journey into the Rock Creek recommended wilderness in the Bighorn National Forest August 6-9 for adventure, reflection, and writing.
Wyoming-based author and poet Gretel Ehrlich will lead workshops and readings during the Wilderness Writer’s Retreat. Gretel is an accomplished author of This Cold Heaven, The Solace of Open Spaces, and The Future of Ice, among other works of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. Gretel Ehrlich’s essays, short stories, and poems have been included in many anthologies and publications. She has received many prestigious awards and is currently at work on a novel.
Are you a writer? All levels and varieties welcome!
Do you feel comfortable in the backcountry? We will be out for 3 nights and 4 days (with a fabulous camp cook and main camp equipment supplied).
Can you hike uphill carrying a mid-sized pack for 5 miles? The horses will carry camp in, but you’ll have to pack your personal gear.
Scholarship Information: Two full tuition scholarships are available for the 2010 Wilderness Writer's Retreat. Successful applicants will have demonstrated financial need in addition to an aptitude and vocation in the field of writing.
To apply, please submit the following to WWA, PO Box 6588, Sheridan, WY 82801 by noon on June 7, 2010:
Your name, mailing address, phone number and email contact information
Tax return receipt for 2009
One 1,000-word essay demonstrating why your participation in the Wilderness Writer's Camp will have value.
An additional sample of your work in the form of poetry or prose, at least 3 poems/pages.
Essays and writing samples will be judged for composition and development of style, and winners will be announced by noon on June 28.
Fee for the Wilderness Writer's Retreat is $700.
FMI: Contact Sara at the Wyoming Wilderness Association -- 307-672-2751; sara@wildwyo.org; 325 E Loucks St., PO Box 6588, Sheridan, WY 82801
There are two writers' conferences happening in Wyoming in June. First up is the annual Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference June 4-6 in Cody. Presenters include Max McCoy and Lee Ann Roripaugh. The Jackson Hole Writers Conference will be held June 24-27 at the Arts Center in Jackson. Presenters include Janet Fitch, Tim Cahill and Winnifred Gallagher.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Can a blog post be literary in a "narrative, narrative, narrative" sort of way?
This comes from Poets & Writers:
Inspired by a rumination on the New York Times Paper Cuts blog that asked whether a blog could ever rise to the level of literature, the literary magazine Creative Nonfiction is asking blog readers and writers to nominate "vibrant new voices with interesting, true stories to tell" for a special issue of the magazine. Specifically, the magazine is looking for entries of literary ("narrative, narrative, narrative") blog posts that were published between November 1, 2009, and March 31 of this year.
The winning essays will be published in the July 2010 issue of Creative Nonfiction and each author will receive a fifty-dollar reward for one-time reprint rights.
Can a blog post transcend the tendency of its kind toward, as Gregory Cowles of Paper Cuts puts it, being "too topical and too fleeting to count as literature"? The deadline for nominations of previously blogged essays—your own, a friend's, a stranger's—totaling no more than two thousand words each is Monday, April 26. More information is available on Creative Nonfiction's Web site.
Food is the key to being Green
Watched "Food Inc." last night on PBS.There were the usual villains, corporate ag monsters such as Monsanto and Monfort.
Unexpected heroes in small farmers and ranchers.
It was entertaining and disgusting. Empowering, too. Three years ago I resumed my intermittent gardening career. A few container tomatoes became a backyard garden plot and then two plots and an expanded area this year. I enjoy growing things and eating them. So, my motives in the beginning were entirely selfish.
Well, not entirely. I caught on to the "Victory Garden" idea. The garden had a political sense, a way to stick it in the eye of George W. Bush and his overseas wars and rapacious oil companies and the energy inefficiency of corporate ag. My three tomato plants against the world.
I didn't discover the local food movement until I was well into the process. I live in Wyoming where food is trucked in from temperate climes. No way to be a locavore in this cold and windy place.
Or so I thought. I had to expand my idea of "local" to encompass a 100-mile radius. That brings in the many local and organic farms on undeveloped acreage along Colorado's Front Range. I had to do my homework, get out and meet people at farmers' markets and research local food producers online. I've been sharing asome of my research here. I also have sidebar links on this blog to Wolf Moon Farms and Grant Farms. There are resources in Wyoming and western Nebraska.
So, on Earth Day, there's no reason to look to the skies -- unless you're watching out for hail and snow and tornadoes. Look to the dirt. Plant something. Grow it. Eat it.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
LarCoDems meet April 26 at IBEW Hall
From the LarCoDems:
The Laramie County Democratic Party will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, April 26th at 7 p.m. at the IBEW Hall, 810 Fremont Street in Cheyenne.
The meeting will include a panel discussing how to run a campaign. The panel will discuss communications, finances, activities and issues needed to run a campaign in Laramie County.
Panel members include Dave Lerner, Bobby Marcum, Mike Bell and Katherine Van Dell. All candidates, potential candidates and interested individuals are invited to attend this meeting.
For more information about the meeting, please contact Linda Stowers at 307-634-0768.
The Laramie County Democratic Party will hold its monthly meeting on Monday, April 26th at 7 p.m. at the IBEW Hall, 810 Fremont Street in Cheyenne.
The meeting will include a panel discussing how to run a campaign. The panel will discuss communications, finances, activities and issues needed to run a campaign in Laramie County.
Panel members include Dave Lerner, Bobby Marcum, Mike Bell and Katherine Van Dell. All candidates, potential candidates and interested individuals are invited to attend this meeting.
For more information about the meeting, please contact Linda Stowers at 307-634-0768.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Writer Lauren Myracle speaks about "Peace, Love & Freedom"
Writer Lauren Myracle spoke about "Peace, Love & Freedom" tonight at LCCC's Bill and Marietta Dineen Writers Series.
Lauren is a best-selling author of books for tween and teen girls. A few years back, when my daughter was somewhere between tween and teen, I bought her a copy of "ttyl." It's a novel told in IM text, a foreign language to some of us Boomers but perfectly comprehensible to 12-year-olds.
Annie said she liked it. That was the last time she said anything positive about anything, as she then was sucked into the vortex of angst-ridden teenhood.
She's still there. But I went to Lauren's presentation and bought her a book, "How to be Bad," co-written by Lauren and two of her teen-writer pals. I liked the book immediately because it had a gator on the cover. A plastic one, but still a gator. Not sure about the plastic reptile's significance. Maybe Annie will fill me in later. She may text me her opinions.
Lauren Myracle has appeared high up on the American Library Association's banned books list. Major target is books in her Internet Girls series, which includes "ttyl," "ttfn" and "l8r g8r." The girl characters in the books talk about teen things. Lauren and her friend Kimberly read an excerpt. Seemed very funny and creative to me. Boys are mentioned a lot. Parties too. A tiny bit of loose language. Nothing even close to the epithets unleashed by the 11-year-old girl character in the new movie, "Kick-Ass." But alarming just the same to some parents.
"People are freaked out by female sexuality," said Lauren.
She read some letters from parents. One father named Chuck used the following words to describe Lauren and her work: "loose morals," "pedophile," crap," "no conscience," and "misguiding youth."
A woman named Leslie from Idaho wrote a letter blasting Lauren, saying she was going to complain to the school library and get the book taken off the shelves. But Lauren says that she always replied -- and tries to "kill them with kindness."
In this case, it worked. Leslie had a sense of humor and by the end of a series of letters, began to come around. She still wasn't going to let her 12-year-old daughter read Lauren's books.
Not sure I would have the patience or kindness to respond to these kind of letters. Kurt Vonnegut used to say that he welcomed book-banning, book-burning and all kinds of censorship because it boosted sales. I'm sure he also got a vicarious thrill out of laughing in the faces of the troglodytes.
Lauren drew a line in the sand over one challenge. Scholastic Book Fairs told Lauren that her book "Luv Ya Bunches" would be accepted if she removed all the references to the "two moms" of one of her characters. Lauren said no -- and her editor backed her up.
She tells stories of parents challenging her books at school and public libraries. Library copies of her books have been found in dumpsters. There have been cases of people stealing all her books from the library and disappearing.
These aren't kids doing this.
The author is a Christian and sings in her church choir. She made a point in saying that there are many types of Christians. In her church, she noted, Jesus wouldn't hate a girl that had two moms.
Lauren Myracle lives in Fort Collins with her kids and husband, poet and high school teacher Jack Martin. Her web site is www.laurenmyracle.com
Lauren is a best-selling author of books for tween and teen girls. A few years back, when my daughter was somewhere between tween and teen, I bought her a copy of "ttyl." It's a novel told in IM text, a foreign language to some of us Boomers but perfectly comprehensible to 12-year-olds.
Annie said she liked it. That was the last time she said anything positive about anything, as she then was sucked into the vortex of angst-ridden teenhood.
She's still there. But I went to Lauren's presentation and bought her a book, "How to be Bad," co-written by Lauren and two of her teen-writer pals. I liked the book immediately because it had a gator on the cover. A plastic one, but still a gator. Not sure about the plastic reptile's significance. Maybe Annie will fill me in later. She may text me her opinions.
Lauren Myracle has appeared high up on the American Library Association's banned books list. Major target is books in her Internet Girls series, which includes "ttyl," "ttfn" and "l8r g8r." The girl characters in the books talk about teen things. Lauren and her friend Kimberly read an excerpt. Seemed very funny and creative to me. Boys are mentioned a lot. Parties too. A tiny bit of loose language. Nothing even close to the epithets unleashed by the 11-year-old girl character in the new movie, "Kick-Ass." But alarming just the same to some parents.
"People are freaked out by female sexuality," said Lauren.
She read some letters from parents. One father named Chuck used the following words to describe Lauren and her work: "loose morals," "pedophile," crap," "no conscience," and "misguiding youth."
A woman named Leslie from Idaho wrote a letter blasting Lauren, saying she was going to complain to the school library and get the book taken off the shelves. But Lauren says that she always replied -- and tries to "kill them with kindness."
In this case, it worked. Leslie had a sense of humor and by the end of a series of letters, began to come around. She still wasn't going to let her 12-year-old daughter read Lauren's books.
Not sure I would have the patience or kindness to respond to these kind of letters. Kurt Vonnegut used to say that he welcomed book-banning, book-burning and all kinds of censorship because it boosted sales. I'm sure he also got a vicarious thrill out of laughing in the faces of the troglodytes.
Lauren drew a line in the sand over one challenge. Scholastic Book Fairs told Lauren that her book "Luv Ya Bunches" would be accepted if she removed all the references to the "two moms" of one of her characters. Lauren said no -- and her editor backed her up.
She tells stories of parents challenging her books at school and public libraries. Library copies of her books have been found in dumpsters. There have been cases of people stealing all her books from the library and disappearing.
These aren't kids doing this.
The author is a Christian and sings in her church choir. She made a point in saying that there are many types of Christians. In her church, she noted, Jesus wouldn't hate a girl that had two moms.
Lauren Myracle lives in Fort Collins with her kids and husband, poet and high school teacher Jack Martin. Her web site is www.laurenmyracle.com
The 3/50 Project promotes local businesses
Rebecca Barrett of downtown Cheyenne's Link Gallery was on Channel 5 this morning promoting The 3/50 Project. She said look it up on the Internet and since Rebecca commands respect with her Brit accent and big hair, I obeyed.
The 3/50 Project has simple goals. Go to three local businesses and spend $50. The nicely-designed web site says it this way:
It doesn't ask you to spend all of your disposable income at local stores and restaurants. Just $50. The 3/50 project site says that "if half the population spent $50 a month locally, they would generate $42.6 billion in revenue." Such a modest goal. You'll spend $50 taking your spouse out to dinner for Mother's Day. In fact, you're pretty darn cheap if you just spend $50 at your locally-owned restaurant. May I suggest some local artwork or possibly a book written by a local author?
In Cheyenne, we're challenged by a hard fact -- most of our restaurants are chains. Mom-and-pop diners and locally-owned restaurants don't seem to go over too well in Cheyenne. We have some nice ones downtown but drive along Dell Range and all you see is a conglomeration of olivegardenapplebeeschilisihopsherrys. I eat at these places. The 3/50 Project wants to me to spend some of my money at local places. I can do that.
I've been to Laramie many times lately. Downtown are Sweet Melissa's Vegetarian Cafe, Jeffrey's Bistro, Coal Creek Coffee and the Anong's Thai Cuisine which is the second of a two-restaurant conglomerate that started in Rawlins. Downtown Laramie also has two indie bookstores. Some cool little shops to buy arts and crafts and bread and all kinds of stuff. The Big Hollow Food Co-op too.
Sure, it's a college town, and its clientele may be a bit more eclectic that Cheyenne's. I live in a government and military and railroad town, crossroads of two major interstates. City of some pretty big shoulders. Rocky Mountains shoulders -- not Sandburg's Midwestern big-city variety.
Still, no matter where they live, shoulders have to eat. And shop.
The 3/50 Project has simple goals. Go to three local businesses and spend $50. The nicely-designed web site says it this way:
What three independently owned businesses would you miss if they disappeared? Stop in. Say hello. Pick up something that brings a smile. Your purchases are what keeps this business around.
It doesn't ask you to spend all of your disposable income at local stores and restaurants. Just $50. The 3/50 project site says that "if half the population spent $50 a month locally, they would generate $42.6 billion in revenue." Such a modest goal. You'll spend $50 taking your spouse out to dinner for Mother's Day. In fact, you're pretty darn cheap if you just spend $50 at your locally-owned restaurant. May I suggest some local artwork or possibly a book written by a local author?
In Cheyenne, we're challenged by a hard fact -- most of our restaurants are chains. Mom-and-pop diners and locally-owned restaurants don't seem to go over too well in Cheyenne. We have some nice ones downtown but drive along Dell Range and all you see is a conglomeration of olivegardenapplebeeschilisihopsherrys. I eat at these places. The 3/50 Project wants to me to spend some of my money at local places. I can do that.
I've been to Laramie many times lately. Downtown are Sweet Melissa's Vegetarian Cafe, Jeffrey's Bistro, Coal Creek Coffee and the Anong's Thai Cuisine which is the second of a two-restaurant conglomerate that started in Rawlins. Downtown Laramie also has two indie bookstores. Some cool little shops to buy arts and crafts and bread and all kinds of stuff. The Big Hollow Food Co-op too.
Sure, it's a college town, and its clientele may be a bit more eclectic that Cheyenne's. I live in a government and military and railroad town, crossroads of two major interstates. City of some pretty big shoulders. Rocky Mountains shoulders -- not Sandburg's Midwestern big-city variety.
Still, no matter where they live, shoulders have to eat. And shop.
Monday, April 19, 2010
UW panel discusses Wyoming's new "Code of the West"
The University of Wyoming sometimes has its finger on the pulse of topical events.
And sometimes not.
But I'm hoping I can get to this panel discussion on Wyoming's new legislatively-mandated "Code of the West."
You might remember that I wrote a satiric column about the new code way back in February. It was reprinted on the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle's op-ed page.
The topic continues to fascinate --
Some thoughtful people on the panel. Sam Western is at UW this semester teaching Wyoming business history. He wrote a memorably scathing book about his state, "Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River." Sam also writes for The Economist. I'm sure he'll have some interesting comments about the code.
And sometimes not.
But I'm hoping I can get to this panel discussion on Wyoming's new legislatively-mandated "Code of the West."
You might remember that I wrote a satiric column about the new code way back in February. It was reprinted on the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle's op-ed page.
The topic continues to fascinate --
Cowboy ethicist Jim Owen's "Code of the West" will be the focus of a panel discussion Tuesday, April 27, at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
The free event, coordinated by the UW American Heritage Center's (AHC) Alan K. Simpson Institute for Western Politics and Leadership, will begin at 5 p.m. in Room 129 of the Classroom Building.
The panel will include Owen, founder of the Denver-based Center for Cowboy Ethics and Leadership and director of "Code of the West," which last month was signed into law as the official Wyoming state code; Sam Western, a Sheridan-based author; and David Wrobel, chair of the Department of History at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
The discussion will bring varied points of view to the questions of whether the cowboy appeal and image is helpful to our region or whether it hinders economic growth and cultural development. Or does it do both?
The speakers will also discuss the historical roots of the cowboy appeal and why Owen's code has achieved such popularity, and, in some cases, criticism, by co-opting that appeal.
Peter K. Simpson, UW's Distinguished Simpson Professor in Political Science Wyoming Politics, Policy and Culture, will moderate the panel discussion.
The AHC's Alan K. Simpson Institute for Western Politics and Leadership focuses on the acquisition, preservation and research use of the papers of prominent individuals who and businesses and organizations that have provided leadership -- political, economic, social and cultural -- for Wyoming and the Rocky Mountain West.
For more information, contact the AHC at (307) 766-4114 or go to the official Web site at http://ahc.uwyo.edu.
Some thoughtful people on the panel. Sam Western is at UW this semester teaching Wyoming business history. He wrote a memorably scathing book about his state, "Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River." Sam also writes for The Economist. I'm sure he'll have some interesting comments about the code.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Earth Day has come a long way -- but the journey is far from over
Earth Day 40 years ago -- and now ...
I wasn't paying too much attention to Earth Day in 1970.
But I am now.
My formerly all coal-powered blog now taps into some alternative energy generated at the Happy Jack Wind Farm west of Cheyenne.
Like WOW -- training and promoting Wyoming's art and artists
Negotiated the foggy summit between Cheyenne and Laramie yesterday. This time of year brings fog and snow and rain and hail and any number of interesting weather conditions. It also brings lots of arts events.
On Friday, Works of Wyoming (WOW) in Laramie was hosting its first-ever Starving Artists' seminars. It included sessions on "Photographing Your Work," Developing an Arts Web Site" and "Promoting Yourself as an Artist." I dropped in just in time for the latter, taught by digital artist and graphic designer Chuck Egnaczak, who once taught in the University of Wyoming art department and now is at the University of Tampa.
I was the only writer in a classroom full of artists. But every topic covered by Chuck applied to writers as well.
Some notes from my journal:
"Building a personal brand is critical."
"Self-promotion is the most important thing you can do."
"Before you put up a web site, establish its purpose. Design it as a focused strategic ad for you."
"Testimonials are the most efficient way of selling in the U.S."
"Design your own multimedia CV to promote your work."
I thought about my web presence as a writer. I have a blog that's mostly about politics. I have a web site that's moribund. I have established a fan page on Facebook but haven't activated it yet.
Time to rethink all this. Most successful writers I know have their names on their web sites and blogs. I don't, having opted for a more thematic approach in hummingbirdminds. That's in keeping with creative blog titles that match the blogger. "Left in the West" to match Montanan Matt Singer's leftie slant. "Big Square State" to denote the home of some very active Colorado prog-bloggers. "Red State" is a conservative blogger's site and comes from a red state much like my own. And so on.
Again, most successful fiction writers I know keep politics off of their sites -- or keep it to a minimum. This is mostly true of my moribund web site. It features samples of my short fiction. Also essays on a variety of topics: literary tourism, ADHD, mental health and politics. My blog, on the other hand, focuses on my stand as a progressive in a red state. It's a pretty good brand, but I really haven't used it to further my writing career.
By the way, "brand" is a common term in the West. A public walkway that connects the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens with the Old West Museum features imprints of brands from local cattle ranches. If you're a rancher, that brand covers all aspects of your life, from the ranch itself to your family's identity to the cattle you raise. Having a brand is not only important -- it's crucial.
When you say "brand" here, pardner, you better mean it.
Mr. Egnaczak spent a lot of his time on this very subject. I've been thinking about it ever since.
The WOW's Starving Artists' seminars covered three days. It drew artists from around the state. WOW's Sarah Dahlberg says that there will be others. Meanwhile, Works of Wyoming's brochure lists a full slate of activities. Next up is "Works (for and by) Fabulous Women."
The gallery opening will be held on Friday, May 14, 6 p.m.
Another big WOW event happening May 14 -- I'll be on hand at 3 p.m. talking about Wyoming Arts Council programs for individual artists.
I encourage my fellow writers in Cheyenne and Laramie to enter a piece for the "Fabulous Women" opening night event. I may do the same.
Not only is it important for artists and writers to get their work out into the public domain. We need to support these homegrown efforts to promote Wyoming's creative folks. WOW sells local art in its gift shop. Offices are in the old civic center building -- new uses for attractive old buildings.
Local art. Local artists. Local writers. Local business.
On Friday, Works of Wyoming (WOW) in Laramie was hosting its first-ever Starving Artists' seminars. It included sessions on "Photographing Your Work," Developing an Arts Web Site" and "Promoting Yourself as an Artist." I dropped in just in time for the latter, taught by digital artist and graphic designer Chuck Egnaczak, who once taught in the University of Wyoming art department and now is at the University of Tampa.
I was the only writer in a classroom full of artists. But every topic covered by Chuck applied to writers as well.
Some notes from my journal:
"Building a personal brand is critical."
"Self-promotion is the most important thing you can do."
"Before you put up a web site, establish its purpose. Design it as a focused strategic ad for you."
"Testimonials are the most efficient way of selling in the U.S."
"Design your own multimedia CV to promote your work."
I thought about my web presence as a writer. I have a blog that's mostly about politics. I have a web site that's moribund. I have established a fan page on Facebook but haven't activated it yet.
Time to rethink all this. Most successful writers I know have their names on their web sites and blogs. I don't, having opted for a more thematic approach in hummingbirdminds. That's in keeping with creative blog titles that match the blogger. "Left in the West" to match Montanan Matt Singer's leftie slant. "Big Square State" to denote the home of some very active Colorado prog-bloggers. "Red State" is a conservative blogger's site and comes from a red state much like my own. And so on.
Again, most successful fiction writers I know keep politics off of their sites -- or keep it to a minimum. This is mostly true of my moribund web site. It features samples of my short fiction. Also essays on a variety of topics: literary tourism, ADHD, mental health and politics. My blog, on the other hand, focuses on my stand as a progressive in a red state. It's a pretty good brand, but I really haven't used it to further my writing career.
By the way, "brand" is a common term in the West. A public walkway that connects the Cheyenne Botanic Gardens with the Old West Museum features imprints of brands from local cattle ranches. If you're a rancher, that brand covers all aspects of your life, from the ranch itself to your family's identity to the cattle you raise. Having a brand is not only important -- it's crucial.
When you say "brand" here, pardner, you better mean it.
Mr. Egnaczak spent a lot of his time on this very subject. I've been thinking about it ever since.
The WOW's Starving Artists' seminars covered three days. It drew artists from around the state. WOW's Sarah Dahlberg says that there will be others. Meanwhile, Works of Wyoming's brochure lists a full slate of activities. Next up is "Works (for and by) Fabulous Women."
Works of Wyoming is calling for artists for our Fabulous Women Show. If you make artwork for or about women (women's issues, tribute to a woman in your life, etc.) or you are a woman and make art, you are eligible to participate in our show. Work can be in any media. Applications can be found online at www.worksofwyoming.org and should be submitted to wow@uwyo.edu by Friday, April 30. There will be a $15 entry fee for works chosen.
Our show is also open to spoken-word artists and musicians if your work is for, about, or by ve minutes to perform or read a piece. Titles, lyrics or descriptions of pieces must be submitted by Friday, April 30, to be eligible.
The gallery opening will be held on Friday, May 14, 6 p.m.
Another big WOW event happening May 14 -- I'll be on hand at 3 p.m. talking about Wyoming Arts Council programs for individual artists.
I encourage my fellow writers in Cheyenne and Laramie to enter a piece for the "Fabulous Women" opening night event. I may do the same.
Not only is it important for artists and writers to get their work out into the public domain. We need to support these homegrown efforts to promote Wyoming's creative folks. WOW sells local art in its gift shop. Offices are in the old civic center building -- new uses for attractive old buildings.
Local art. Local artists. Local writers. Local business.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
I pay taxes to the gubment, the gubment fixes my street (maybe)
I'm just finishing up my taxes. I have to pay this year. The payment would be a lot bigger if it wasn't for the Making Work Pay deduction. I'm thankful for that. And I'm glad I used a pencil to fill out my forms the old-fashioned way.
Now if they (the Big Gubment "THEY") could only fill the potholes on my street.
Find out more about Wyomingites and taxes at http://www.ctj.org/obamastaxcuts/wy.pdf
Now if they (the Big Gubment "THEY") could only fill the potholes on my street.
Find out more about Wyomingites and taxes at http://www.ctj.org/obamastaxcuts/wy.pdf
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Bill Ayers will speak in Laramie -- townsfolk shaking in their boots
This is old news now, but Bill Ayers is coming to speak at the University of Wyoming in Laramie on April 28. This convoluted story gets more interesting all the time. Suffice to say that it took free-speech advocate Meg Lanker a few weeks to get Ayers to Laramie. He won't be speaking on campus -- that's been ruled out by the administration. But he will be speaking somewhere in Laramie.
I like this quote from UW that appeared in today's Casper Star-Tribune:
Quite nice of Ms. Weidel to suggest other venues in Wyoming towns other than Laramie. But I think she missed the point, which is having Mr. Ayers speak in Laramie.
The Star-Trib story also had this quote:
Empathetic Republicans are always so concerned that anger may be escalated. That's only when it comes to speeches by Liberals. Who cares when Tea Party activists threaten bodily harm against elected officials?
I thought Wyomingites were supposed to be a live-and-let-live bunch? After all, former sixties radicals Angela Davis and Bobby Seale have both spoken to UW. But the wingnuts latched onto Ayers with Pit Bull zeal during the 2008 elections. They're not going to let go easily.
And when did Wyomingites turn into such weinies? Intimidated by a little ol' leftist? People in Laramie scared? What would The Virginian say to that?
I like this quote from UW that appeared in today's Casper Star-Tribune:
On Monday, UW General Counsel Susan Weidel told Lanker in a phone call and a two-paragraph e-mail that the university wouldn’t allow Ayers to speak anywhere on campus.
“The University of Wyoming will not be available as a venue for the event you are hosting for Mr. William Ayers,” Weidel wrote in the e-mail.
“As I mentioned in our telephone conversation, you may want to consider other large venues both public and private in both Laramie and Cheyenne,” Weidel concluded in her e-mail.
Quite nice of Ms. Weidel to suggest other venues in Wyoming towns other than Laramie. But I think she missed the point, which is having Mr. Ayers speak in Laramie.
The Star-Trib story also had this quote:
Brian Profaizer, president of the University of Wyoming conservatives, said that while he isn’t as opposed to Ayers speaking off-campus as he would have been if Ayers spoke on campus, he fears problems when Ayers finally shows up.
Profaizer said he is particularly worried that, even though Ayers won’t speak at UW, many university alumni still might stop sending donations.
“I thought that Laramie, overall, the city the university, we sent a strong message the first time,” Profaizer said.
“There were a lot of upset people the first time around, and I think that that anger is just going to be escalated.”
Empathetic Republicans are always so concerned that anger may be escalated. That's only when it comes to speeches by Liberals. Who cares when Tea Party activists threaten bodily harm against elected officials?
I thought Wyomingites were supposed to be a live-and-let-live bunch? After all, former sixties radicals Angela Davis and Bobby Seale have both spoken to UW. But the wingnuts latched onto Ayers with Pit Bull zeal during the 2008 elections. They're not going to let go easily.
And when did Wyomingites turn into such weinies? Intimidated by a little ol' leftist? People in Laramie scared? What would The Virginian say to that?
This just in -- Tea Party saboteurs unmasked
The Tea Party’s Tax Day protests are just around the corner on April 15. It may be a coincidence, but I’ve been reading a lot of wingnut posts advancing a conspiracy of major import. Some Tea Partiers contend that those protest signs that snarky progressives like to make fun of, those with misspelled words and terrible grammar, are actually designed and carried by snarky progressive saboteurs. Anyone else heard this?
Made me think. Why would a snarky progressive go out of his or her way to make signs and attend Tea Party rallies? Yes, there is the camaraderie of hanging out with a bunch of American patriots. And the stirring speeches – can’t forget those. You can sign petitions to nullify various nefarious government practices. You can get free copies of the Constitution. If it’s a nice day, you can get fresh air and a tan.
Then I received a copy of the following e-mail. Its origins are murky, but it smacks of authenticity. It made me rethink my entire belief system, or at least that part that covers tea bags, spelling and grammar.
The e-mail harkens back to those halcyon days of last April when Tea Partiers were first stirring the pot.
The e-mail:
Made me think. Why would a snarky progressive go out of his or her way to make signs and attend Tea Party rallies? Yes, there is the camaraderie of hanging out with a bunch of American patriots. And the stirring speeches – can’t forget those. You can sign petitions to nullify various nefarious government practices. You can get free copies of the Constitution. If it’s a nice day, you can get fresh air and a tan.
Then I received a copy of the following e-mail. Its origins are murky, but it smacks of authenticity. It made me rethink my entire belief system, or at least that part that covers tea bags, spelling and grammar.
The e-mail harkens back to those halcyon days of last April when Tea Partiers were first stirring the pot.
The e-mail:
Dear Fellow Conspirators:
Here’s an update on our effort to disrupt Tax Day 2009 protests planned by the Tea Party across the U.S.
We’ve had limited success on recruiting people for Operation Miss Spell. As of this writing, we were able to locate and recruit less than a dozen saboteurs for upcoming Tea Party rallies. The plan, of course, was brilliant in its simplicity. A bunch of snarky progressives were going to carry signs with misspelled words and bad grammar into the fray. An uproar would ensue. Lots of photos taken. Photos go viral. Tea Partiers would look bad. Ridicule would nip their grassroots revolution in the bud.
We ran into problems almost immediately. Several organizers (including yours truly) were veterans of sixties’ antiwar protests. We were ready to mix it up again, storm the ramparts, engage in street theatre. Problem was, I just had knee surgery and Jim’s allergies were acting up. Sunshine was all for donning her old hippie dresses and carrying signs, but she was invited to a chakra-cleansing retreat in Marin County so had to bow out.
We thought we’d be able to find some fellow travelers, old hippies who had taken one too many bad trips. We’d just hand them misspelled signs and point them in the right direction. They’d be thrilled to march again. We felt that they would fit right in with the clueless multitudes. But then we told them to get haircuts or shaved heads to fit in with the crewcut and balding crowd. They balked. “Gotta let my freak flag fly, man.” We dropped that idea.
We turned to the younger progressive crowd. The bloggers were no help, as they were too busy blogging their outrage to actually go out into the sunshine and feign outrage. One prog-blogger even said what we had expected all along – “I only go out at night – and that’s to the corner coffee shop with free wireless so I can blog some more.”
We tried some of the union members. Teachers’ union members (especially English teachers) said they wouldn’t be caught dead with a sign that spelled "socialism" as "socilism" and "liar" as "lier." We told them it was for a good cause, but they threatened to send us to the principal’s office. History teachers didn't like the idea of comparing an elected U.S. president with Hitler or Stalin. Teamsters wanted to get paid overtime – who were we to argue? Those in the service unions were overwhelmingly ethnic, which ruled them out immediately. We even tried actors and actresses, figuring they’d like to engage in a little street theatre. But they started to rewrite the plan. An avant-garde troupe from Chicago wanted to dress in drag and hold hands while carrying signs. We told them it would defeat the entire purpose. Nobody would believe they were Tea Partiers. And they might get their asses beat. Actors – always trying to rewrite the script.
This brought us to the plan’s major problem. Tea Partiers are white and old. Progressives tend to be non-white and young. Sure, there are a few of us aging white hippies in the mix. But not nearly enough to infiltrate all the Tea Party shindigs.
We’re recommending that Operation Miss Spell be abandoned. It’s turned out to be a gigantic hassle. We have some other ideas, such as hiding all dictionaries and disabling computer Spell Check programs with our "Brown Acid" virus. The committee will continue working on this.
In my book, every week is National Library Week
For links to a library near you, go to http://www.wyominglibraries.org/
For more about National Libraries Week, go to http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/pio/natlibraryweek/nlw.cfm
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Local community college stimulated by gubment
I am a graduate of -- and a fan of -- community colleges. They were called junior colleges back in my day due to the fact that they were considered junior partners to four-year colleges. Farm teams, if you will. The place where second- and third- and even fourth-stringers went to brush up on their math and grammar and chemistry before they could consort with their high-SAT-scores brethren and sistren.
Community colleges are now cool. Witness the cool new sitcom "Community" on NBC (with Chevy Chase, no less). Pres. Obama is almost as excited about community colleges as he is about health care reform and NCAA men's basketball bracketology.
I think he picked Kansas as national champ. He's not always dead-on.
Our local community college has received some stimulus funds from the gubment. Here's what the Associated Press reported yesterday:
Community colleges are now cool. Witness the cool new sitcom "Community" on NBC (with Chevy Chase, no less). Pres. Obama is almost as excited about community colleges as he is about health care reform and NCAA men's basketball bracketology.
I think he picked Kansas as national champ. He's not always dead-on.
Our local community college has received some stimulus funds from the gubment. Here's what the Associated Press reported yesterday:
Laramie County Community College officials say the Cheyenne school is receiving about $5.3 million in federal stimulus funds to contribute to its upcoming budget.
Vice President of Administration and Finance Carol Hoglund says the college will get $2.2 million in stimulus money to help with salaries and costs of enrollment growth. The school will also receive $3.15 million in stimulus money for major maintenance needs.
Glennbeckistan casts its fundie eyes on Wyoming
Why is Glenn Beck casting his crazy eyes at the southwest corner of Wyoming?
Could it be that one of the Republican Party candidates for Wyoming Governor is right-winger and potential Tea Partier Ron Micheli from Uinta County? Is it a coincidence that southwest Wyoming once was part of Utah Territory until it was taken away in punishment for LDS polygamy?
Methinks that Ron Micheli is a card-carrying member of Glennbeckistan.
For more info on this strange and amazing country, go to Chip Ward's article on truthout at http://www.truthout.org/welcome-glennbeckistan58079
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Cheyenne's Art Design & Dine featured local art & local food and local friends
I had a great time during Art Design & Dine on Thursday in Cheyenne.Eight local Cheyenne art and design venues were open for what was billed as "an evening of art, food and fun."
Agreed.
My first stop was Georgia Roswell's Artful Hand Studio and Gallery on the corner of First Avenue and House. It's across the street from the house of my first boss in Wyoming, Joy Thompson. Georgia and Dave Rowswell ventured out from Georgia to live and work in Cheyenne -- and we're glad they did. Georgia incorporates paints and old jeans and cheesecloth and okra into her work. Yes, okra. I'm not a fan of okra unless its teamed up with Andouille sausage and shrimp and tomatoes in gumbo. But Georgia has found a cool new use for this heretofore slimy vegetable.
Georgia has a great new piece showing an aerial view of the Florida Keys (in photo, "The Keys," mixed media, 7"x24"). She's spent a lot of time in Siesta Key. Not my favorite Keys' locale. But she's done a fine job incorpirating cheesecloth and paints in this piece. Made me homesick for the beach. Any beach.
Artful Hand also featured work by local artist and librarian Meghan Cochrane. Meghan spoke about her quilting technique using aerial photographs. She was able to salvage discarded black-and-white aerial photos from the 1940s. She cuts them apart and weaves them by hand and sewing machine to make intriguing photo paper quilts.
Local artist Win Ratz also had work in Artful Hand.
Georgia served up some of her delicious baked goods.
Rebecca Barrett's Link Gallery also featured art and food. The food came from 901, the hot new downtown drinking and dining establishment. Naturally, I haven't been there yet as I'm about as "with it" as black-and-white photos from the forties.
Lots of people in the Link admiring regional art and watching a performance by a local punk/spoken word band. Alan O'Hashi was on hand to announce the line-up for the Cheyenne International Film Festival.
I only managed to visit two of the evening's eight galleries before I launched into a coughing jag. I've been sick all winter, and now have a cough that won't go away. Doctor tells me to take more vitamin C and D and get more sleep. I have a feeling I need some beach time. But the closest I'm going to get for now is ogling the Florida Keys hanging on the wall of the Artful Hand.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Sustainability Summit April 12-13 at UW
UW has had some bad luck of late with speakers. First Bill Ayers gets the ax and then Vandana Shiva cancels her keynote speech at the Shepard Symposium.
But this event is coming up next week and it looks like a winner:
This Sustainability Summit is intended to provide a forum for local leaders and interested citizens to learn about environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The Wyoming Sustainability Summit will provide a venue for sharing information about challenges and successes with sustainability initiatives and how to successfully address these issues in residences, businesses, and communities. We hope this summit will stimulate conversation within and between Wyoming communities. The Summit will include panel discussions, keynote presentations, and round table discussions between community leaders and citizens.
General public registration is now closed. Walk-ins are welcome on the day(s) of the conference for $25, if seating remains. Meals/snacks will not be available for walk-ins.
Contact: Jill Lovato, Co-Chair, UW Campus Sustainability Committee, and Haub School/Ruckelshaus ENR Project Coordinator, (307) 760-4149, or mailto:jillberg@uwyo.edu?subject=Wyoming%20Sustainability%20Summit.
Speakers:
Kick-off Speaker - Taylor Haynes MD, UW Trustee, Owner/President of Thunderbasin Land Livestock & Investment Company, and member of the Ruckelshaus Institute Board. Haynes will discuss organic beef ranching and holistic resource management.
Keynote Speaker - Bob Dixson, Mayor of Greensburg, Kansas. Mayor Dixson will discuss Greensburg's GreenTown program, which is an effort to provide support, resources, and information to residents on creating a model green building community and sustainable principles for rebuilding processes.
Synthesis Speaker - Duke Castle, The Castle Group. Castle will discuss Oregon-based the Natural Step Network, a nonprofit organization that he founded in 1997 to show business and community organizers how they can move toward creating a sustainable society while maintaining a healthy economy.
Lunchtime Speaker (April 12) Brian Kuehl - Managing Partner of the law firm, The Clark Group. Kuehl will discuss how engaging the whole community contributes to sustainability. His talk will include case studies from around the United States to explain how the act of bringing together traditional adversaries is essential for sustainability.
Accommodations:
Hilton Garden Inn and other lodging (click here). Discounted rooms ($99) are available at the Hilton until March 12, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please indicate that you are attending the "Wyoming Sustainability Summit" when you reserve your room, or contact for Breann Tolman at (307) 721-7570.
But this event is coming up next week and it looks like a winner:
This Sustainability Summit is intended to provide a forum for local leaders and interested citizens to learn about environmental, social, and economic sustainability. The Wyoming Sustainability Summit will provide a venue for sharing information about challenges and successes with sustainability initiatives and how to successfully address these issues in residences, businesses, and communities. We hope this summit will stimulate conversation within and between Wyoming communities. The Summit will include panel discussions, keynote presentations, and round table discussions between community leaders and citizens.
General public registration is now closed. Walk-ins are welcome on the day(s) of the conference for $25, if seating remains. Meals/snacks will not be available for walk-ins.
Contact: Jill Lovato, Co-Chair, UW Campus Sustainability Committee, and Haub School/Ruckelshaus ENR Project Coordinator, (307) 760-4149, or mailto:jillberg@uwyo.edu?subject=Wyoming%20Sustainability%20Summit.
Speakers:
Kick-off Speaker - Taylor Haynes MD, UW Trustee, Owner/President of Thunderbasin Land Livestock & Investment Company, and member of the Ruckelshaus Institute Board. Haynes will discuss organic beef ranching and holistic resource management.
Keynote Speaker - Bob Dixson, Mayor of Greensburg, Kansas. Mayor Dixson will discuss Greensburg's GreenTown program, which is an effort to provide support, resources, and information to residents on creating a model green building community and sustainable principles for rebuilding processes.
Synthesis Speaker - Duke Castle, The Castle Group. Castle will discuss Oregon-based the Natural Step Network, a nonprofit organization that he founded in 1997 to show business and community organizers how they can move toward creating a sustainable society while maintaining a healthy economy.
Lunchtime Speaker (April 12) Brian Kuehl - Managing Partner of the law firm, The Clark Group. Kuehl will discuss how engaging the whole community contributes to sustainability. His talk will include case studies from around the United States to explain how the act of bringing together traditional adversaries is essential for sustainability.
Accommodations:
Hilton Garden Inn and other lodging (click here). Discounted rooms ($99) are available at the Hilton until March 12, on a first-come, first-serve basis. Please indicate that you are attending the "Wyoming Sustainability Summit" when you reserve your room, or contact for Breann Tolman at (307) 721-7570.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
UW cancels Ayers' speech, but he still gets paid
From the AP today:
The director of a University of Wyoming center that invited a former 1960s radical to campus says he canceled the event because of safety concerns and because the event's purpose was lost.
The invitation to William Ayers to speak drew hundreds of protests.
Ayers was invited by Franciso Rios, director of the UW Social Justice Research Center.
Rios says he and other UW officials received hostile e-mails and telephone calls about Ayers' scheduled speech on Monday.
Rios says Ayers had originally been invited to speak about educational issues, but controversy over Ayers' personal history had overshawdowed that.
Rios says Ayers will be paid a $5,000 speaking fee. The money comes from the center's private endowment funds.
Tuesday, April 06, 2010
In praise of indie bookstores supporting local authors in Rocky Mountain states
Hummingbirdminds saw this post on the Rocky Mountain Authors at the Tattered Cover Facebook page. While it was written with Colorado authors in mind, I think it can easily be revised to reflect an interest in writers from a Big Square State other than Colorado.
Here's my revised version:
Other states in the Rocky Mountain West may want to do some customizing of their own. What say you Montana and New Mexico and Utah and Arizona and Idaho?
Now go investigate other regional writers at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Denver-CO/Rocky-Mountain-Authors-at-the-Tattered-Cover/351469358952?ref=nf
I noticed a very fine section of Rocky Mountain writers (past and present) during a visit last week to Lander's Book Basket on Main Street. I know that the bookstore disguised as a barn at Sweetwater Junction packs plenty of heat by local and regional writers. I didn't stop there during my recent trip due to the fact that I couldn't see the turnoff in the blizzard. I could go on and on about fantastic bookstores in unexpected places. You can find a long list at the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association page.
Here's my revised version:
There are lots of good reasons to read work by local Rocky Mountain authors. Here are a few, and feel free to add your own good reasons to this list!
1. Buying a book by a local author from your local Tattered Cover Book Store helps to keep money in the State ofColoradoWyoming, instead of sending it off around the country whereColoradoWyoming residents can't benefit from sales taxes or business incentives. Money spent inColoradoWyoming, ONColoradoWyoming, STAYS inColoradoWyoming.
2. By supporting local authors, you help diversify the knowledge that can be distributed through the written word in the Rocky Mountain region. We write lots of books here in the Rockies that can be found nowhere else on Earth (except perhaps online on the Tattered Cover website! http://www.tatteredcover.com/).
3. When you buy a local author's book, you are helping to nurture the artistic and intellectual community ofColoradoWyoming. Studies show that great cities and great communities are great not because of their technology or industry, but because of their arts and cultural offerings. Every time you buy a locally written book you add another brick to the cultural palace of the Rocky Mountains!
Other states in the Rocky Mountain West may want to do some customizing of their own. What say you Montana and New Mexico and Utah and Arizona and Idaho?
Now go investigate other regional writers at http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Denver-CO/Rocky-Mountain-Authors-at-the-Tattered-Cover/351469358952?ref=nf
I noticed a very fine section of Rocky Mountain writers (past and present) during a visit last week to Lander's Book Basket on Main Street. I know that the bookstore disguised as a barn at Sweetwater Junction packs plenty of heat by local and regional writers. I didn't stop there during my recent trip due to the fact that I couldn't see the turnoff in the blizzard. I could go on and on about fantastic bookstores in unexpected places. You can find a long list at the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association page.
Check out Bill Ayers' letter on Meg's blog
Meg Lanker, Laramie rabble-rouser and radio personality, printed a letter from activist Bill Ayers on her blog, http://www.wyomingnewsunderground.com/2010/04/doublespeak-at-university-of-wyoming.html.
This was in response to his invitation and then disinvitation to speak at the University of Wyoming. It's a long letter so I won't reprint it here. But I welcome you to read it and then spread it far and wide like tumbleweeds of truth unleashed by a righteous Wyoming cyclone of social justice.
This was in response to his invitation and then disinvitation to speak at the University of Wyoming. It's a long letter so I won't reprint it here. But I welcome you to read it and then spread it far and wide like tumbleweeds of truth unleashed by a righteous Wyoming cyclone of social justice.
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