Local film fest features local filmmaker

Until tonight, I'd never been to a film festival.

"Film festival" means Sundance or Tribeca or -- even further afield -- Cannes or Berlin.

But not Cheyenne, Wyoming, as in Cheyenne International Film Festival.

They said it couldn't be done -- but they did it. Alan O'Hashi, a Wyoming guy now in Colorado (like so many Wyoming creatives) and his partner, Michael Conti, got the jones for putting on a filmfest in Cheyenne. They started last fall with Shoot-Out Cheyenne, a 24-hour hometown filmmaking marathon. And then turned their attention on putting together CIFF.

This weekend, all the films will be shown in the Historic Atlas Theatre in downtown Cheyenne. It used to be a movie theatre -- when Hector was a pup. Now it serves as the venue for the summer melodrama and several seasonal plays offered by Cheyenne Little Theatre Players. There is no movie screen or digital projectors. The dressing room for theatrical players is located down some rickety stairs into a spooky basement. You have to be Rube Goldberg to make the lights and sound effective.

Turns out, it's a perfect place for a filmfest. Credit to O'Hashi and his crew for rigging a screen and setting up a digital projector and getting the sound to work pretty well. This evening, an almost-full-house watched three films by hometown filmmaker Daniel Junge. Three wonderful documentaries by a guy who made his first video at Cheyenne East High School and last year had a film nominated by an Academy Award in the documentary category.

Daniel's father, Mark, is a long-time journalist and author. The past few years, Mark has been known as the guy on oxygen who rides his bicycle cross-country -- and sends dispatches to the Cheyenne paper. A fine writer. A storyteller. Damn fine progressive, too.

In his post-screening talk, Daniel credited his father and his teachers and his mentors in the filmmaking biz for teaching him how to be a storyteller. That's what it comes down to -- storytelling. Film is a visual method to tell a story.

As I watched Daniel's films, I could follow the arc of the story in "Come Back to Sudan" and "No Strings" and "Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner." I know stories -- I write them. I could see why "Last Campaign" was an Oscar nominee. Conflict. Tension. Great characters. Mystery. I was, literally, at the edge of my seat. And I wasn't disappointed.

Film festivals are sprouting up all over. Technology has allowed young filmmakers and newbies with a cause to join the fray. Said Daniel: "Democratization of video allowed schmucks like me to make films."

And even younger filmmakers are jumping in. "Kids have a visual literacy that's out of this world," said Daniel. "I think it comes through their umbilical cords."

Daniel said that he'd like to continue making films, although it would be nice to be able to support his family. He has four films in various stages of development. One is set in Pakistan and follows a Pakistani doctor in London returning to his country to treat women who have been victims of acid attacks by their husbands. He's researching a reggae-based school for the homeless in Jamaica and the medical marijuana issue in Colorado. He's also looking into the case of an Iraq War veteran in Southern California who murdered his girlfriend.

Not all ideas turn into films. But Daniel says that he's been pretty lucky that most of his subjects have become finished films.

Lucky for him. Lucky for us.

The Cheyenne International Film Festival continues at the Atlas Theatre through Sunday evening, May 23.

Rep. Cynthia Lummis: Let's prioritize!

Received a nice note from Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis:

Dear Friend:

I would like to hear your ideas and concerns for America’s future.I believe that by recommitting ourselves to government of the people - federal policy driven by every day Americans and not by Washington, D.C. insiders – to protect our liberty, revitalize our economy and restore our economic and personal freedom is the best policy. Please share your ideas and concerns so that I may better represent you in Congress. I hope to enlist thousands of Wyomingites' common sense ideas into my work in Congress.

Please forward this email to your friends and family, as we need to involve as many Wyomingites as possible.

Sincerely, Congressman Cynthia Lummis

This is what I think Congress should prioritize

Please rate the following issues you think Congress needs to address on a scale of 1-6, 1 being most important.
Jobs
Taxes (estate tax, flat tax, fair tax, VAT, capital gains tax etc…)
Cut Federal Spending/Balance the Budget
Border Security
Debt (Medicare and Social Security Reform)
Health Care Reform

All these links lead to Rep. Lummis's web site. You can prioritize these pre-selected issues and send comments to her on ways to "take America back."

"Take America back" is code for "don't you just hate it that the Democrats kicked our butts in 2008?" Also: "Let's get that black guy out of the White House."

You gotta know how to translate Wingnutese.

Let's see if we can translate Lummis's six items:

Jobs.
What's she really means is "Unemployment sits at about 10 percent. Blame Obama. We Republicans were in charge for the previous eight years and we had nothing to do with it."

Taxes
Translation: "Taxes are for chumps. The only time I want to hear the word tax is in tax cut."

Cut Federal Spending/Balance the Budget
Translation: "Cut all federal gubment spending except defense. Anybody that wants to cut defense spending hates the troops."

Border Security
Translation: "Arizona! Arizona! Arizona!"

Debt (Medicare and Social Security Reform)
Translation: "We hate gubment. We hate debt. We hate taxes. We hate entitlements. Don't touch our Social Security and Medicare."

Health Care Reform
Translation: "Don't let federal bureaucrats come between me and my doctor. Instead, let insurance companies come between me and my doctor."

New twist in ADHD mystery

I've been writing for 20 years about our family's experience with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Our son Kevin was diagnosed with ADHD when he was five; our daughter was eight. Chris has learning disabilities made worse by ADD.

I'm not distracted or hyperactive -- just depressed.

Many parents and teachers and physicians and therapists now believe that ADHD exists. Some think that it's a conspiracy hatched by psychiatrists and drug companies.

ADHD exists -- I've seen it in action. Yet I can't rule out the fact that drug companies are making a killing marketing Ritalin and Adderall and Concerta. They work. They have side effects but the work to dampen the distraction and hyperactivity. These central nervous system stimulants (and official DEA controlled substance) allow these hyper-kids to concentrate long enough to get through a school day.

But researchers are still working on the causes of ADHD. Genetics? Too much processed sugar in the diet? Dysfunctional home life? Environmental poisons? Secular Socialism?

All attention is now on pesticides with a new study from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Here's a Reuters story about the study:

Children exposed to pesticides known as organophosphates could have a higher risk of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to a U.S. study that urges parents to always wash produce thoroughly.

Researchers tracked the pesticides' breakdown products in children' urine and found those with high levels were almost twice as likely to develop ADHD as those with undetectable levels.

The findings are based on data from the general U.S. population, meaning that exposure to the pesticides could be harmful even at levels commonly found in children's environment.

"There is growing concern that these pesticides may be related to ADHD," said researcher Marc Weisskopf of the Harvard School of Public Health, who worked on the study.

"What this paper specifically highlights is that this may be true even at low concentrations."

Organophosphates were originally developed for chemical warfare, and they are known to be toxic to the nervous system.

There are about 40 organophosphate pesticides such as malathion registered in the United States, the researchers wrote in the journal Pediatrics.

Weisskopf said the compounds have been linked to behavioral symptoms common to ADHD -- for instance, impulsivity and attention problems -- but exactly how is not fully understood.

Although the researchers had no way to determine the source of the breakdown products they found, Weisskopf said the most likely culprits were pesticides and insecticides used on produce and indoors.

Garry Hamlin of Dow AgroSciences, which manufactures an organophosphate known as chlorpyrifos, said he had not had time to read the report closely.

But, he added" "the results reported in the paper don't establish any association specific to our product chlorpyrifos."

Weisskopf and colleagues' sample included 1,139 children between 8 and 15 years. They interviewed the children's mothers, or another caretaker, and found that about one in 10 met the criteria for ADHD, which jibes with estimates for the general population.

After accounting for factors such as gender, age and race, they found the odds of having ADHD rose with the level of pesticide breakdown products.

For a 10-fold increase in one class of those compounds, the odds of ADHD increased by more than half. And for the most common breakdown product, called dimethyl triophosphate, the odds of ADHD almost doubled in kids with above-average levels compared to those without detectable levels.

"That's a very strong association that, if true, is of very serious concern," said Weisskopf. "These are widely used pesticides."

He emphasized that more studies are needed, especially following exposure levels over time, before contemplating a ban on the pesticides. Still, he urged parents to be aware of what insecticides they were using around the house and to wash produce.

"A good washing of fruits and vegetables before one eats them would definitely help a lot," he said.

Films and music at CIFF May 21-23

This news comes from the Cheyenne International Film Festival web site:

Buy your tickets for the Cheyenne International Film Festival (CIFF) set for next weekend. The Celtic sounds of the Peat Bog Mysteries will fill the Atlas Theatre.

The night honors Cheyenneite Daniel Junge who was will be screening three movies – his Oscar nominated film “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”, “No Strings” and “Come Back to Sudan.”

The CIFF consists of nine programs of 35 films – shorts, documentaries, features and the Wyoming Showcase. The Wyoming Showcase includes of variety of movies shot in Wyoming, set in Wyoming or produced by Wyoming people.

The Call2ACTion links movies with local community-based organizations. This year Call2ACTion organizations are the Southeast Wyoming Intertribal Powwow Association, the YMCA Teen After School Program, The Laramie County Library Foundation, and VFW Post 1881. Call2ACTion gives local groups an opportunity to get their message out to audiences in the safe place of the arts.

Can you be outside looking in when you've spent your entire life on the inside looking out?

The Wyoming Democratic Party is holding its convention in Casper this weekend. For the first time since 2002, I'm not there. My interest in the state party and the Laramie County Democrats has waned since the 2008 elections. We were all tired. Elated by the national results but dismayed by the insistence of Wyoming voters to send Cheyenne Republican Cynthia Lummis to Congress instead of the more-qualified and dynamic Democrat, Gary Trauner. A party-line vote. Party-line votes in Wyoming always favor Republicans. In 2006, Trauner came within 1,000 votes of whipping Rep. Barbara Cubin. She was a sitting duck, disliked by Repub and Dems alike for her absence from House votes -- and nonsensical votes when she did show. But for a few diehard Repubs in northern Wyoming, the state would have a knowledgeable House member instead of a party hack.

Water under the bridge.

The Democrats have no candidate for governor this year. The very popular Dave Freudenthal is leaving. Four major Republican Party politicos are running for the nomination. There are some wild cards in the race, including Repub James Macneil, Dems Rex Wilde and Al Hamburg, and Libertarian Mike Wheeler. But the fact remains -- the 65,000 registered Democrats in the state have nobody to vote for.

According to the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, former Dem Party Chair John Millin of Cheyenne is switching parties in August to vote for Colin Simpson in the primaries. He urges other Dems to do the same. Other Dems around the state are opting for crossover votes to Rita Meyer or Matt Mead. Nobody in their right (left?) minds would vote for Ron Micheli, the most right-wing of all the candidates.

I heard Ron Micheli speak yesterday at the Tea Party-sponsored rally at the Wyoming State Capitol. He was preceded by other speakers spouting the same rah-rah buzzwords we've heard before. "Liberty." "Freedom." "Tenth Amendment." "Independence." "States' Rights." "Founding Fathers." "American Revolution."

All wonderful words and phrases until interjected into nonsensical sentences.

Here are some utterances from Mr. Micheli:

"We're outside the State Capitol looking in."

"It's time to take back the federal government."

"Greatest challenges to Wyoming are coming out of Washington, D.C."

"Federal instrusion the greatest threat..."

"We need a governor with the courage to stand up for the state and protect us from the bullies of the Obama Administration."

"We need a governor who understands the 10th amendment," he said, adding that Wyoming should join other states in the lawsuit against health care legislation. "We should not only join the fight but lead the fight."

"We must be engaged in this fight or this country is doomed."

Micheli also railed against the Obama Administration's "nationalizing of banks, auto industry and now health care" while "Communist China takes on $800 billion of our debt."

"Together, you and I can come in from the outside and make a difference."

One of Micheli's refrains is that everyone at the State Capitol on Friday was "ouside looking in." Very clever, really, in this year of hating insiders and loving outsiders. Micheli, of course, is a veteran insider, as are all of the four major Repub gubernatorial candidates.

Here's some bio info from Micheli's campaign web site:

Ron served for 16 years in the Wyoming House of Representatives. During this time, he held various leadership positions including Majority Floor Leader, Speaker Pro Tempore, and Majority Whip. Ron also was the Chairman of the House Revenue Committee for 6 years where he became known as a tax expert in the House. In addition, he has sponsored and carried many far-reaching and important legislative initiatives, including sweeping protections for victims of crimes, protections for children, and a constitutional amendment to protect taxpayers.

Ron has dedicated his life to service of Wyoming and grassroots political activity. Ron has served as a Republican Precinct Committeeman for over 20 years and has served on the Republican State Central Committee, including service on the State Central Committee Executive Committee as the Treasurer. Ron was the Chairman of the Wyoming State Republican Convention in 1994. He has also been the chairman of the Resolution Committee and the Platform Committee.

And there's more:

After his service in the legislature, Ron served in the cabinet of Governor Jim Geringer as the Director of the Wyoming Department of Agriculture from 1995-2003. While leading this state agency, Ron also served in the Governor’s natural resource sub-cabinet where he became an expert on Wyoming’s natural resource issues including oil and gas development, use of public lands, and the impact of state and federal regulation on small and large business owners. Ron has also worked with many national and regional organizations that direct policy to protect and assist Wyoming businesses.

Mr. Micheli is a fourth-generation Wyoming rancher and went to UW and most of his kids and his brothers and sisters and cousins and cattle went to UW.

That's "Insider" with a capital "I."

But this year, the Tea Party crowd wants -- or at least pretends to want -- "Outsiders" with a capital "O."

"O" as in "Oh my God that's the funniest thing I've heard all year."

Master Gardeners' Plant Sale and Gardening Fest May 15 at Cheyenne Depot

Mike Ridenhour sent this:

Put away the snow boots and dust off the gardening boots. Spring arrives in Cheyenne with the annual Master Gardeners' Plant Sale and Gardening Festival. Come get supplies to grow your own local food, and get some early season goodies from some of the Wyoming Fresh Market vendors.

Saturday, May 15, 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

Historic Train Depot Plaza, Downtown Cheyenne

At the Garden Festival:

Annual and perennial flowers, vegetables, herbs, a limited number of small trees and shrubs. Also look for gently-used tools, a garden boutique and books and magazines on gardening. Brief, free lectures and workshops under the tent will cover designing a productive vegetable garden (including meeting the challenge of Wyoming’s climate).

Wyoming Fresh Farmers Market will preview their market season at the Festival. The market booth will include the following local products:

Heirloom tomato plants and bedding plants from Local Roots (formerly Wolf Moon Farms)
Gourmet Pasta from Pasta Pazza
Grassfed Beef, Jerky, and Eggs from Meadow Maid Foods
Grassfed Bison and Jerky from High-Point Bison
Natural Emu-oil Soaps and Lotions from Rabbitt Creek Enterprises
Cheyenne Honey
Pioneer BBQ

Wyoming Fresh Farmers Market starts its regular season on Tuesday, June 8, 3-7 p.m. on North Yellowstone, in front of Smart Sports.

New West: "Why We Need a New Party, A Party for Commonwealth"

As we ponder gridlock in Washington, D.C., and one-party rule in many Rocky Mountain states, it's a good time to read something like this:

What we need is a Party that focuses on municipal and county offices, and no higher. Let the Democrats and Republicans gridlock themselves at the state and federal level; what we need is action at the local level, such as the promotion local food production, or the creation of local energy trusts. We need a Party that focuses on the wealth of local communities – by that I mean local history, culture, economic opportunity, and can-do spirit.

Let’s call it the Commonwealth Party and let’s say its mission is to build economic and ecological resilience to meet the steep and diversifying challenges of the 21st century.

Why We Need a New Party, A Party for Commonwealth by Courtney White at NewWest

Next Art Design & Dine event is May 13

From the Art Design & Dine blog:

Art Design & Dine will be taking place in Cheyenne this Thursday, May 13, from 5-8 p.m. Stop at any one of the eleven arts venues to pick up a map. Get your map stamped at any five businesses on the walk and receive 10 percent off your bill at the Historic Plains Restaurant in downtown Cheyenne.

Start your walk at....
Deselms Fine Art
The Link Gallery
Artful Hand Studio and Gallery
Clay Paper Scissors Studio and Gallery
The Quilted Corner
The Unitarian Universalist Church
Ewe Count
Envy PhotoGraphics
Prairie Wind
Glen Garrett - Architect
Nagle Warren Mansion

In a land where nurses can fly

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

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:

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.

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:

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.

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:

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.

Can Progressives be REAL sports fans?

Phoenix Suns wear "Los Suns" jerseys for Game 2 of NBA playoffs. Christian Petersen, Getty Images

Can 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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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.

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.

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:

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....

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

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

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.

A white middle-aged Mid-America voter hitches a ride on the 2010 Obama Express

This comes from the Fox News web site:

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.

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):

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...

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):

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:

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.

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.

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.

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

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:

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.

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 --

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.

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."

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.

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

Carlton Davis, author of "Bipolar Bare," speaks April 20 at UW Disability Days