So that's what gives the Vegas Strip its unusual glow...

Just finished reading John D'Agata's book, "About a Mountain." It's a nonfiction account of the on-again, off-again status of Yucca Mountain, where the U.S. wants to store its nuclear waste.

But, in the tradition of creative nonfiction, D'Agata combined this journalistic journey with his own Las Vegas story -- and that of a young man who committed suicide by jumping from the observation deck of the Stratosphere Hotel.

Seems like an odd juxtaposition of subjects. But the author ties it together neatly with facts and speculation.

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid comes off looking like a bad guy. It's odd that Reid recently faulted Pres. Obama for not being tough enough against Republicans, especially when it came to the battle over health care reform.

Burying tons of highly radioactive nuclear waste under Nevada rock won't impart many health-giving properties to Nevadans. It will bring jobs, no doubt about that. Those jobs will have health insurance, which is a good thing. There will be accidents in shipping and handling, which won't cost you any extra but could cost you your life.

Sen. Reid did a pretty nifty job of rolling over for the nuclear power conglomerates and home-state cheerleaders for Yucca Mountain.

But Harry has enough problems, what with Nevada Tea Party types hounding him at every turn.

The book's most compelling sections are these:

1. What happens when a truck carrying radioactive waste wrecks on the overcrowded Vegas freeways and catches fire?
2. How do you make signage for a nuclear repository, a sign that will be understood by humans 10,000 years in the future.

The answer to number one is: Shitstorm.

The answer to number two is a thoughtful treatise on human communication. A panel of artists and linguists and teachers and scientists were asked to come up with effective signage. The challenge was a huge one. Where was humankind 10,000 years ago? Battling sabre-tooth tigers in caves and trying to stay warm during the Ice Age. They weren't doing much recreational reading -- nor consulting any signs.

In 10,000 years, we may be back in caves. That cave may be in what used to be Nevada. There will be a sign that warns of terrible danger if you go any further into the cave but humans may not understand the sign. They may say to themselves, "Hey, this cool sign says there's a nifty surprise at the bottom of this cave." "Great -- I love surprises."

John D'Agata's book comes at a good time. The U.S. is now contemplating building more nuke plants. Uranium is being mined again in Wyoming and Colorado. Turck and rail shipments from the East Coast will have to come through either Wyoming or Colorado.

Read the book for its angst-producing sections. Read it for its fine writing.

"About a Mountain" is published by W.W. Norton, 236 pages, $23.95.

To read the L.A. Times review of the book, go to http://articles.latimes.com/2010/feb/14/entertainment/la-ca-john-dagata14-2010feb14

Got those old non-profit blues?

Non-profit. Nonprofit. Not-for-profit.

No matter your preferred term -- working at a non-profit organization can be challenging.

I work with them every day. I'm also on the board of a big social service non-profit, UPLIFT, and I'm a member and/or supporter of others.

Always need funding, they do. Yet often people running non-profits first got involved because they had a passion for the cause. Actors audition for a local play and the next thing they know, they're the development director for the community theatre group. I'm a board member of UPLIFT because the organization was the only one in the state addressing the needs of children with ADHD and other behavioral problems. I came in seeking advice and the next thing I know, I'm duly sworn in as a board member. That was twelve years ago and I'm now board president, term ending in October.

Volunteers and interns become employees and then specialists and maybe directors and are always learning on the run, never having time to stop and ask, "What's this all about?" They also ask this question: "How do I tell people what we do?"

The 2010 Snowy Range Nonprofit Institute may be just the right thing for you.

Here's some info from a University of Wyoming press release:

Communicating nonprofits' ultimate community value clearly, cohesively, consistently and compellingly is the focus of the 2010 Snowy Range Nonprofit Institute (SRNI) keynote, "Crafting Messages of Value."

Denver-based consultant Richard Male leads the session Monday, Aug. 2. SRNI, now in its ninth year, is scheduled for Aug. 1-3 at the University of Wyoming Conference Center/Hilton Garden Inn in Laramie. Male is a recognized leader in the fields of leadership development, fundraising, community organizing and public policy -- conducting training sessions, consulting, facilitating and speaking on each topic.

Male has served as executive director of nonprofits in Colorado, Missouri and Utah. One of those organizations, the Community Resource Center (CRC), has provided training, consulting and leadership services to more than 3,000 organizations in the Rocky Mountain region and beyond. While at CRC, he received a Kellogg Foundation grant to organize a public policy institute and a statewide organization devoted to grassroots leadership at the local and state levels.

Following his talk, Male will lead a hands-on workshop extending upon the themes of his talk. That session, titled "Connecting with the Community," will provide participants with opportunities to apply what they learn to their individual organizations.

This year's institute theme is "Nonprofit Management: Moving from Surviving to Thriving." Tracks are "Living Your Values" (internal processes) and "Walking the Talk" (external interactions).

For more information on this year's Snowy Range Nonprofit Institute, including the curriculum, an electronic copy of the brochure and access to the online registration system, visit the SRNI Web site: http://www.uwyo.edu/srni.

The Parkman Family Foundation has provided a limited number of full-registration sponsorships for first-time attendees. Sponsorships (scholarships) covering the $175 registration fee are on a first-come, first-served basis, available through the online registration process.

Eat some ice cream, meet Leslie Peterson

From the Laramie County Democrats:

Mike and Amy Bell are having an Ice Cream Social for Leslie Peterson, Democratic Party Candidate for Governor, on Thursday, July 15, 6:30-8:30 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend this social/fundraiser. The address is 7419 Daniel Court which is located in The Point neighborhood.

What does the Fourth of July mean to me?

In 1,000 words or less...

I'm looking out at the high prairie clouds. They drift east, as always, toward Pine Bluffs and Kimball. The people out there will get some fireworks this afternoon -- lightning and thunder and maybe golfball-sized hail. I should be able to see the light show from my backyard. Happy Third of July!

There will be store-bought fireworks in the neighborhood tonight. Already heard some the last two nights. Things that go boom are illegal in the city. Thing is, Cheyenne is ringed by sellers of fireworks. It would be a darn shame to have access to star shell cannons and flaming mortars and not be able to shoot them off. The law seems to stop very few except old law-abiding me.

I respect the law. I've broken a few in my time. Just the usual -- speed limits, marijuana prohibitions (a long time ago!), drinking laws (a very, very long time ago!) and I once watered my lawn on the wrong day. Nothing serious. I've tried to teach my children well, as the song goes.

Some very smart people drafted the laws that went into the U.S. Constitution that was codified 234 years ago. This document is allegedly why we celebrate the holiday, although visiting space aliens (let's see some I.D., you four-headed lizard!) might think the holiday is for blowing things up, burning meat on backyard grills and buying furniture at deep discounts. Also fighting Coloradans for camping spots at Glendo and Guernsey.

The Constitution has been in the news a lot lately. Some people think that the Constitution is just fine the way it is. Others want to change it so the freedoms in the document can be protected from Obama. Not sure how changing it will protect it. But many people talk about the Constitution but few seem to know what's actually in it. God and guns are in there. If you listen to Sen. Coburn of Oklahoma, God actually invented gun rights so it doesn't matter what the Constitution says about it.

Tea Partiers seem to be of two minds about the Constitution. Some want to wrap it in concrete (or Glenn Beck's gold) so it can't be touched. Others want to change some of its amendments in order to protect it from that darn Obama. Either way, they're mad as hell. Freedoms! Nobody gets to mess with the Constitution except us!

The odd thing about the Tea Party is they are religious about the purity of the Constitution but they aren't all religious.

But some are.

Writing in today's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle's Religion section, Sunnyside Baptist Church Pastor Max Janzen wrote about freedoms:

"Despite revisions historians' attempts to dismiss it, the Founding Fathers of this great and blessed nation clearly stated what did, would, could, can and hopefully will keep us from our loss of freedom: faith in God. It is on our money, in our pledge and in the second stanza of our national anthem."

And on our bumper stickers and in newspaper ads and on Fox TV, don't forget those. And at NASCAR races.

"Our freedom, most of the general public agrees, is a gift. Gifts require givers, and those who crafted, protected and granted us those liberties have for the far greater part acknowledged they were not the givers, but that God was and is."

Most of the general public agrees with this. However, there is a part of the general public which does not. As a prog-blogger I am probably part of this minority, as are Liberals such as Rachel Maddow and Al Franken, most poets, atheists (of course), skeptics and New Dealers. We hate freedoms! We are cursed.

"So in order to really celebrate liberty, be unabashedly thankful to the God who created you, in this time, allowing you to live in this place.

"And if you don't believe in God, get to work providing freedom for other people who do. Otherwise, you believe in the slavery of others to your own opinions."

Now I've probably broken my own law and written more than 1,000 words. But I'm free to do so. The Constitution protects my right to say anything I want, even if it exceeds the word limit or makes me sound crazy as a loon. The Constitution also gives me the right to shoot off fireworks any darn place I want to. Says so right there in the 234th amendment.

Happy Fourth of July!

Freedoms!

Don't miss Cheyenne Backyard Concert with Jeff Finlin Band July 20

Everyone in Cheyenne is getting cranked up for Cheyenne Frontier Days (only three weeks and counting!). But before we get there, a few other events are in the works. Here's one (courtesy of fellow writer and music fan Linda C):

A yard concert is a casual event that brings together friends, family, neighbors and co-workers in a warm and intimate setting. It’s almost like a command performance and everyone has preferred seating!

Everyone who comes is asked to bring a favorite potluck dish, a lawn chair/s or a blanket, and BYOB. Because the band is coming without any kind of formal contract, a donation of $10 per adult is suggested as a way for them to cover expenses and make a little money, as all artists should. 100% of all contributions go to the band members.

Plates, cutlery, tea, lemonade, and water will be provided. Enjoy food beginning around 5:30 p.m. Music will start around 6:30 p.m. and go until around 9:00 p.m.

Jeff Finlin Band is Amy Gieske on bass and vocals and Jeff, a singer/songwriter/guitarist described by the Chicago Sun Times as writing “with the minimalist grit of Sam Shepard and Raymond Carver.” Jeff’s song, “Sugar Blue” was chosen for the 2005 Cameron Crowe movie Elizabethtown.

Cory McDaniel, Casper native, singer/songwriter/guitarist, a member of The Tremors, “Wyoming’s only 2-piece trio,” with Dale Bohren, now also has his “Crew” — Amy, Jody Taylor and Larry Neff— toured with Spenser Bohren, and performed solo at the Mettman Blues Festival in Germany.

Where: Hacienda del Sol — 5419 Ridge Road

When: Tuesday, July 20

Time: 5:30-9 (or so) p.m

FMI: Linda @ 307-421-6549

Home blogging -- Off and on and off again...

Blogging has been sporadic during the past few weeks. First, the home PC is on the blink. Can't get the PC and the Broadband to talk to one another. IP address seems to be missing. Replaced the Bresnan modem and I got connected a few times, but then it was the same old miscommunicating. Any of you IT geniuses out there know what's going on?

Meanwhile, I hit the library's bank of computers sporadically. I love libraries. I used to just love them for the books but now I love them for all kinds of reasons.

More later...

Getting Melodramatic...

Old-fashioned Melodrama can can dancers and cast gather with Director Andy Dennis at Superday.

Good day to politic outdoors

Dems gather publicly at Cheyenne Superday
Callback #: 307-630-1722

All these boring summer weekends

Too bad there is nothing to do this weekend.

If that sounds like a bored teen, that's because I just heard one say this.

I just spent an hour staring at the PC marveling at the weekend's events. Superday in Lion's Park all day Saturday. Music and vendor booths and food and brew and lots of sun, at least that's what the weatherpeople told me this morning. I grew so weary from our elongated winter/spring that I am thankful for each ray of Sol that hits my very sensitive Celtic skin. I wear layers of sunscreen. All the pols will be out promoting their various agendas. An election year, don't forget.

Speaking of Celts, the Cheyenne Celtic Musical Arts Festival takes place all weekend on Cheyenne's Depot Plaza (see previous post). Highlight will be The Elders from K.C., but also lots of other bands. One thing about these Celtic festivals -- Scots seem to dominate. They lord it over us Irish, them and their stinking tartans and their skirling pipes and their caber-tossing and Robert Burns look-alike contests. What do we Irish have? Music, with our sets of pipes and whistles and fiddles and such. Poetry. Writers by the score. Drinking, too. Can't forget that double-edged sword. We have swords too. And I.R.A. bomb-makers, although most of them are either dead, still in prison or riding The Celtic Tiger, selling I.M.I.R.A. T-shirts (Euros only).

And then there are all the mountain activities, including hiking, camping, fishing and a variety of folk and music festivals. Casper has its NIC Fest, where I always spend too much money on art for my crowded walls. The Jackson Hole Writers' Conference is in Jackson.

At home, there's gardening and reading novels under my oak tree.

I'm not bored.

Last weekend we were all volunteering at Juneteenth. Only a handful of pols showed for that one. They all got to speak. Dem Gov candidate Pete Gosar was there with a retinue. I liked his T-shirt, in UW Cowboy colors. On back it says "Walk On!" As a one-time jock and sports reporter, I know what that means. He was a walk-on player at UW. I asked him about this and he said he had to go head-to-head with about 100 walk ons his freshman year. After day after day of full pads and sun and screaming coaches, the field was narrowed to ten. Gosar eventually earned a scholarship and lots of playing time.

Walk on. He will be doing more running this summer than walking. Primaries in August!

The Elders headline Friday events at Cheyenne Celtic Musical Arts Festival

June 25-27, 2010, is the fifth year for the Cheyenne Celtic Musical Arts Festival on the downtown Depot Plaza. Organizers say that "every year this festival gets a little bigger -- and I think it gets even better!" Events are free.

The Elders will be headliners on Friday, June 25, 9-11 p.m.

Full schedule: http://www.cheyennedepotmuseum.org/_pdfs/2010/celtic%20sched.pdf

All this Republican talk about slashing state spending is giving me a headache

Jeremy Pelzer reported an astonishing fact in yesterday's Casper Star-Tribune -- Republican Gubernatorial candidates want to cut the state budget.

Some more than others.

Can you say Ron Micheli?

According to Pelzer, Micheli sees the budget as a growing threat. Kind of on the order of nuclear annihilation, unstoppable oil spills, F5 tornadoes, and another eight years of a Democrat in the Gov's seat.

On the campaign trail, Republican gubernatorial candidate Ron Micheli has aimed his sights on what he says is a growing threat -- the Wyoming state budget.

The state budget's tripled in the past seven years, he warns in forums and campaign stops around the state, and the current level of spending is simply unsustainable.

"I just know that we cannot sustain the level of growth of government that we have now," he said. "And I don't know what the answer is. Should it be cut in half? I don't know that. Should it be cut 30 percent? Again, I don't know that."

Micheli points to a 2009 report by the ideologically conservative but non-partisan American Legislative Exchange Council that concludes Wyoming's state spending trends can't continue on a sustained basis given current revenue levels.

To reduce spending, Micheli said, he would appoint fiscal conservatives to head state agencies, offer incentives to state agencies and employees to find ways to cut costs, and move to a "zero-based" budgeting process in which every new state budget is drawn from scratch instead of starting from the previous budget's spending levels.

Any major budget reduction would likely require cutting the state's employee payroll. Micheli said he favors reducing state jobs through attrition instead of layoffs -- though he hasn't ruled the latter out.

Full disclosure here -- I'm a state employee. When Micheli talks about layoffs, he's talking about me and my colleagues. So I take it personally. When he talks about appointing fiscal conservatives to head state agencies, I cringe. What does he means -- fiscal conservatives? His own coterie of hitmen from the ranks of the Tea Party? Most of the heads of state agencies that I know already are fiscal conservatives. Many are Democrats but most are not. If you wanted each Wyoming state agency headed up by a Dem, we'd still be waiting for slots to be filled eight years after Gov Dave took office.

We all know what Micheli means -- he wants Republicans who hate gubment to be in charge of the government. Remember how well that worked out under eight years of George W. Bush and Cheney and all of his gubment-hating, oil-slurping pals? I can refresh your memory if you forget. Not sure if I have enough time or enough electrons to do so in this space. But I can try.

What do Micheli's three opponents on the Repub side say about budget-cutting?

"I think that we are in pretty good shape right now, although I think that there's always room to take a look at individual agencies and see how we're doing," said GOP gubernatorial candidate Matt Mead. "It's maybe easy to talk about it in terms of political rhetoric, but it's much more difficult when you actually have to get there and make a decision."

House Speaker Colin Simpson has proposed a "sunset advisory commission" that would evaluate the policies of and need for each state agency. Similarly, GOP candidate Rita Meyer touts increasing the number of audits of state agencies and programs.

--snip--

Colin Simpson said even Micheli's assertion that the state budget has tripled since 2003 is misleading. While state revenues have tripled during that time, Simpson said, the Legislature put much of that money toward savings and one-time capital projects.

"Taken out of context, budget numbers can be dangerously deceptive," said State Auditor Meyer. "So you have to be very thoughtful when you're looking at budget numbers, when you're talking about growth."

Read more about Wyoming politics and government at http://tribtown.trib.com/wypolitics.

I wonder how many times Micheli will talk about slashing state budgets and eliminating state employees and wasteful government spending when he talks to Cheyenne audiences? I did hear him speak on the steps of the Capitol a month ago and he did indeed talk about cutting state government. But that was a Tea Party crowd. They know that gubment on all levels is wasteful -- and probably sinful.

Now where my Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security and veteran's benefits at?

Love & hate along the Pridefest parade route

At Denver Pridefest Parade with Chris, Annie and Brandon. Biggest surprise is large number of churches in parade. No surprise to see protester with misspelled sign.

Never been to Pridefest before. Might not have gone to this one if it wasn't time for a Father's Day excursion (a family tradition) and Annie's gay friend who had been in Cheyenne too long and had never seen a "Pride" parade.

I was impressed. Biggest parade I'd ever seen. Young woman standing next to me said that it was one of the biggest outside of San Francisco. Not sure about that. But it lasted about two hours. The Denver Post said that some 100,000 people saw the parade. Dang, and it didn't even have any marching bands. Music was provided mainly by sound systems on the floats. Club music, mostly, and some hip hop.

Annie and Brandon disappeared, as teens do, and Chris and I fell in at the end of the parade and walked down to the Denver Civic Center.

We passed a van that was all about God hating gays. My favorite sign read "Diversity is Perversity."

That's what it's all about, isn't it? O.K. to hate gays because they are different from you and me in this too-diverse society? O.K. to pass anti-immigration laws to keep the "Others" away from us.

"Diversity is Perversity."

Tea Partiers and born-again zealots should wear that on signs around their necks. Then we can see them coming.

Gardening in Wyoming

Garden, with water and sunset (black blob in background is our mutt chewing on bone).

Juneteenth in Cheyenne

Juneteenth committee member, community organizer, YMCA maven (and loving spouse) Chris Shay serves as emcee at Cheyenne event.

Rep. Jim Byrd introduces Juneteenth

Democratic Rep. Jim Byrd speaks about the history of Juneteenth during the celebration at Martin Luther King, Jr., Park in Cheyenne.

Y as in _ _ _ _

Y Guy and Annie S at the "Music on the Plaza" event in Cheyenne Friday evening. At last, the sun...

Send Rev. Mooney your bibles, your torahs, your korans, your atheist texts, your dog-eared W.S. Merwin books...

I receive the weekly newsletter from the Capitol Heights Faith Communities in Denver. Two communities share one building in one of Denver's oldest neighborhoods. One is Capitol Heights Presbyterian and the other is the 10:30 Catholic Community. My family and I were members of the latter. Our son was baptized at 10:30, which had one weekly mass -- at 11 a.m. The explanation is too longto get into now.

It's been awhile since I was an active member but I like to keep up by reading the e-mail "open letter."

This week's issue had info on a unique art project:

Rev. Tim Mooney is the pastor at People's Presbyterian Church and an accomplished artist. For the Biennial of the Americas Celebration in July, he is constructing an art installation at the Space Gallery. The installation will be an American Flag made from some 4000 bibles, torahs, talmuds, korans, vedic texts, etc. - the scriptures/texts of all the major religions/belief systems in proportion to the percentage each religion/belief systems represents in our country's population. Through the installation he hopes to create a visual picture of who we are, and add to the ongoing conversation about religious, spiritual, and even atheistic beliefs that influence and affect us. The installation will be accompanied by a looping audio track with recorded prayers/hopes for our country based on the various perspectives. You can help by sending old bibles and other religious texts, preferably but not exclusively hardback to him. Red and white are particularly needed. Based on the PEW reports latest statistics he will need about 2000 bibles (protestant Christians), 1000 bibles with apocrypha (catholic and orthodox), 70 books of Mormon, 30 writings from Jehovahs Witnesses, 70 Torahs or Talmuds, 30 Sutras or Tibetan books of the Dead, 25 Korans, 15 Vedic scriptures, 70 books on atheist writings, 20 new age books, and about 300 poetry or philosophic books that cover a percentage that are unaffiliated. If you can send books, please e-mail him at timmooneystudio@aol.com and let him know the quantity and kind of book(s) you're sending. He would also gladly receive funds to support this project.

Chris and I have some old Catholic perayer books and Bibles we can send. We have Chris's father's pocket Catholic missal (sp) that he carried through WWII. I also have a Book of Mormon I can part with (I have an extra). Quite a few philosophy tomes, too, that I probably can part with.

I want to contribute. Artists should be encouraged. And this one will be chock full of messages -- subtle and no so subtle.

Contemplating Flannery O'Connor this summer in the Wind River Mountains

I stumbled upon the Ring Lake Ranch site today. It's a retreat center near Dubois. I looked at their summer schedule as was bowled over by some of the offerings.

Here's one I especially like:

Bishop Will Willimon presents "Haunted by God with Flannery O’Connor," August 1-7.

Some commentary by Director Carl Koch from the web site:

Flannery O'Connor may have been haunted by God. She was a devout Catholic who beleived it heaven and hell. I used to be cut from that same cloth. But now am no longer a practicing Catholic. However, I am still haunted by the remnants of my faith. Reading Flannery O'Connor pushes all my buttons.

I have sometimes wondered in recent years about how many mainline Protestants and Catholics consciously raise the issue of their redemption or salvation. I must confess that “Will I be saved?” doesn’t keep me up nights – and it isn’t because I’m all that good. Even so, my recent bout with cancer turned my attention to last things – but only until my tests after treatment came back clear.

On the other hand, one still hears people on opposite sides of many issues – abortion, the death penalty, gay rights, war – condemn their opponents to damnation, in effect claiming that folks on their side will be saved.

Like Flannery O’Connor, my family and I were Catholics raised in a pre-Vatican Council church that seemed a lot clearer about who would and wouldn’t be saved. Good Catholics would make it into heaven – that was a given.

But, there always was some doubt that I still carry with me.

In one of my previous lives I was a professor of American Literature. Naturally I taught Flannery O’Connor’s works from time to time. In virtually every story, O’Connor placed her characters in a situation in which they faced a moral decision – a decision between salvation and damnation. They were given a “moment of grace” during which they had the power to select the good. O’Connor didn’t allow wiggle room either. At the end of the story, the reader knew the fate of each character.

So, who can be saved? How do we recognize our “moment of grace?” Bring your musings about and stories around redemption. This should be a provocative session with a master preacher and teacher who has clearly tackled this subject from many perspectives.

Wyoming's Organizing for America holds June 15 meeting in Cheyenne

From the Laramie County Democrats:

I am happy to announce that Kathy Everingim will be hosting a house meeting on Tuesday, June 15, beginning at 6 p.m.

Her address is 1717 East 22nd St., Cheyenne.

Please bring a little beverage or snack to keep the mood festive and the taste buds guessing!

At this meeting I would like to focus on a couple things that needs to happen in order for Wyoming to keep moving forward.

1. 2010 voter outreach to that large number of 2008 first time voters in Laramie County. There was over 5,000. That's a lot of votes, especially then you consider that in 2006 only 33% of eligible Wyoming voters actually casted a ballot.

2. How to host phone banks and community canvasses

3. I would also like for us to meet some candidates, so let us hope they show up

4. There will be specific plans of action conducted, because that is where the fun happens.

Bryon Lee
Organizing for America - Wyoming
State Director
(307) 752-5972
leeb@dnc.org
http://www.facebook.com/ofa.wy

Please, take a couple minutes to check out this Recovery and Reinvestment Act Benefits video: http://www.barackobama.com/recovery/video.php?source=feature

Bad company -- Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis and staffer Johnnie Burton

From today's Casper Star-Tribune:

CHEYENNE -- Wyoming's 2010 congressional race heated up recently, as Democratic candidate David Wendt blasted incumbent U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., for employing the controversial former director of the federal Minerals Management Service.

Lummis' campaign fiercely denounced the accusation, in what could be the start of a contentious election campaign for the state's lone U.S. House seat.

In a letter sent last week, Wendt demanded Lummis explain why she employs Johnnie Burton, who came under fire during her five years as head of the MMS, the federal agency that oversees offshore drilling and revenues from energy exploration on federal lands.

Burton, who served with Lummis in the state Legislature in the 1980s and was also director of the Wyoming Department of Revenue, serves as a Cheyenne-area field representative for the congresswoman, helping constituents with issues such as receiving veterans' benefits or obtaining travel visas.

As MMS director, Burton oversaw the agency plagued with what one federal investigator later called a "culture of ethical failure." Agency workers were caught taking bribes from, having sex with and using drugs with energy industry employees. Burton also promoted a now-defunct royalty-in-kind program that allowed energy companies to avoid making billions of dollars in payments to the government.

She also was criticized for not acting quickly enough to correct blunders on offshore energy leasing contracts that cost the federal government billions of dollars in royalty payments.

Read all about the scandals that plagued the MMS during Burton's tenure in the Denver Post's investigative report from September 2008 at http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_10431998

And read this scary post at emptywheel: http://emptywheel.firedoglake.com/2010/06/02/dick-cheneys-wyomings-face-at-mms/

There's more. So much more. And you thought that the Gulf of Mexico was oily.

Ken McCauley comes calling -- in the rain

Ken McCauley stopped by my house yesterday. Surprised to see him as it was raining and there's still time enough to campaign for the 2010 Wyoming primaries in August.

But he's new to political campaigning and thought he'd get an early start. I invited him in but he said he had a lot of territory to cover. He handed me a flyer. We talked outside in the drizzle.

Democrat for House District 8. My previous rep was Democrat Lori Millin, who's parlaying her two terms in the Wyming House to a campaign for the Wyoming Senate. Both House and Senate need all the Dems it can get. Wildly outnumbered in both houses. Still, there's always hope.

I walked the neighborhood for Lori in 2006 and will probably do the same for Ken. Lori beat long-time House Repub Larry Meuli in 2006 and newcomer Bob Nicholas in 2008. Both were squeakers. In 2008, results on KGAB Radio had Millin the loser. She ended up winning by a handful (documented at the time on this blog -- I forget the number).

Ken has a similar challenge. I've seen him working up to this for some time. He's a fellow traveler in the Laramie County Democrats. We were both handing out Gary Trauner flyers in the dark on election eve 2008, urging people to get out to vote for a good cause, albeit a losing one.

His campaign material displays his name underlined by an A-10 and its contrail. Ken flew A-10s in the USAF and is a combat veteran. He now flies big jets for United. That alone shows dedication and skill. Military service carries with it a mantle of patriotism. But that's not enough, at least for me. Many ex-military politicians have deserved votes. Others have not. I know some of Ken's politics and will research the rest and go to his public appearances. His significant other, fellow writer Joanne Kennedy, thinks a lot of him and that's probably enough for me. Still, an informed voter gets to win the arguments.

For the rest of you -- Ken deserves your attention. And, once you learn about his person and his politics, your vote.

Five Democrats in the Wyoming Gov race

The WyoDems' site lists the following Democrats in the Governor's race:

Pete Gosar, 1774 Coughlin Street, Laramie, WY, 82072
Phone: 307-760-3219. E-mail: gosar4gov@gmail.com

Al Hamburg, 4705 Road 70Y, Torrington, WY, 82240
Phone: 307-532-7710. E-mail: TBD

Leslie Petersen, PO Box 1147, Jackson, WY, 83001
Phone: 307-413-5004. E-mail: leslie@peopleforpetersen.com
http://www.peopleforpetersen.com

Rex Wilde, 1910 E. 22nd Street, Cheyenne, WY, 82001
Phone: 307-274-5450. E-mail: rexwilde2010@gmail.com

Chris L. Zachary, 1015 Warren Ave., Cheyenne, WY, 82007
Phone: 307-514-2891. E-mail: chrislzachary@yahoo.com

Leslie Petersen of Jackson, recently the party chair, is deemed front-runner by those in the know and bloggers, not necessarily the same group. I've been following Mr. Gosar on his Facebook page. His photo is a shot of him on the gridiron. Not a bad thing. I am a prog-blogger but as a one-time jock I don't automatically dismiss former football, basketball and baseball players as viable candidates. Hockey players, maybe.

One problem -- most ex-jocks tend to be Republicans. Sen. Bill Bradley is a notable exception. Maybe it's the legacy of St. Reagan's turn as George "The Gipper" Gipp in the movies. That forever tainted jocks making the transformation from gridiron to backroom politics.

Is there something about sports that makes conservatives? When I think of sports heroes, I think of the hard-chargers and risk-takers. I think of Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods and Joe Namath and Pete Maravich and Dan Issel and Roberto Clemente and Muhammad Ali and John Elway and George Brett and so on. Champions.

Maybe it's the big money of pro sports that makes conservatives. If you make a million dollars a minute, are you going to be radical in your politics? Can you afford it? Probably not.

I wish Mr. Gosar the best. But I do think that Ms. Petersen is going to take the primary and be our candidate for the November election.

What are her chances against Colin Simpson or Matt Mead? Not good. Simpson and Mead are moderates, as is Petersen. When two moderates face off in the Governor's race, the Republican always wins. Repub voters outnumber Dems in Wyoming two to one.

However, when the Dem is a smart moderate with great Wyoming creds (Dave Freudenthal), and is going up against a cuckoo Repub, as happened in both 2006 and 2010, the Dem wins.

I do not put Rita Meyer in the cuckoo category. She is savvy and may end up as the Republican candidate. But Ron Micheli is definitely in cloud cuckoo land. Right winger. Tea Party fave. Wants to cut state government by 40 percent.

Peterson can beat him in the race.

I'm a confirmed Dem. But I could see myself voting for Simpson, possibly Mead. But there is much danger in a Petersen/Micheli face-off. We live in strange times. Anything can happen.

That's why many Dems will switch to the Republican side in August to vote against Micheli. Think about it...

Great news for Cheyenne locavores

This comes from Cindy Ridenour:

Summer Farmers' Market Season officially opens on Tuesday, June 8 as the Wyoming Fresh Market opens.

Wyoming Fresh Market

3:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Tuesdays, June 8 - October 12

Yellowstone Road in front of Sutherland's

"Eat Local. It's thousands of miles fresher."

Opening the Season with:

Fresh Garden Produce,

Grassfed Beef and Bison, Ready-to-eat BBQ, Smoked Salmon and Chowders,

Gourmet Pasta,

Baked Goods,

Local Jams, Honey, and Peanut Butter Spread,

Garden bedding plants and hanging baskets, house plants,

Natural Body Care Products

To come in the following weeks:

Tortillas and Chips, Salsas,

Grassfed Lamb,

Free-range eggs,

Colorado Tree Fruits, starting with cherries - perhaps end of June,

More Fresh Produce and body care vendors,

and more...

Dem Gov hopeful Pete Gosar participates in Energy Expo Gubernatorial Debate

From a press release:

Democratic Party Gubernatorial candidate Pete Gosar will be in Casper on Tuesday, June 8, 2010, at the Democratic Men’s Meeting. The meeting will take place at the Parkway Plaza at noon.

Pete will also attend the Energy Expo Gubernatorial Debate in Gillette. The debate is being
held at from 4-6 p.m. at the Cam-Plex Multi Event Facility.

Pete will be available at both events to answer questions and discuss issues facing Wyoming.

Contact: Pete Gosar, 307.760-3219, gosar4gov@gmail.com

Tales about Heart Mountain -- and the "Octopus in the Freezer"

Photo shows the interpretive walk on the site of the Heart Mountain Relocation Camp between Cody and Powell. Photo taken by Lee Ann Roripaugh on her family's tour of the site yesterday before a presentation at the WWInc conference. (from Facebook)

Lee Ann and Bob Roripaugh presented a fantastic reading last night at the WWInc conference in Cody. They took turns reading poems from Lee Ann's book, Beyond Heart Mountain. Readings were accompanied by slides from the internment camp, provided by Dave Reetz of Heart Mountain Foundation. Very moving.

Lee Ann read the poetic monologues that were in women's voices. Bob, her father, read the men's voices.

Lee Ann is Bob's daughter. Bob is Wyoming Poet Laureate Emeritus and retired University of Wyoming professor. Lee Ann teaches in the creative writing program at the University of South Dakota in Vermillion.

Lee Ann talked about growing up in Laramie. Back then, the university town was very, very white -- still is. Life wasn't easy for a shy non-white kid. Her mother, Yoshiko, met Bob when he was serving with U.S. Army occupation forces in Japan.

Bob grew up in west Texas where WWII bomber crews trained at the air base outside town. Meanwhile, in Japan, Yoshiko was a school girl whose town was pounded regularly by those very bombers.

In Japan, they met and fell in love and married and moved to the U.S. Bob taught English and wrote about his experiences. Bob's story "Peach Boy" was published by the Atlantic Monthly in 1958. This led to enquiries by editors. According to Bob, one letter asked if he was working on a novel. "I told him I was, even though I was really working on a book of short stories."

This led to a published novel. It's also a useful tip for short story writers. If an editor or agent ever asks if you're working on a novel, say yes.

In Cody on June 4, 2010, Bob read about one of the internment camp's No-No Boy who refused to serve in the U.S. Army and was sent away from his family to another camp. He read about the Isei building a mini-internment camp for the horned toads he found around the camp.

Lee Ann read in the voice of the camp nurse. She read about a Nisei woman whose son interrogates Japanese prisoners of war. She read in the voice of a young girl who has to listen to the snores of the old lady on one side of her thin barrack's walls (they don't go all the way to the ceiling) and the couple on the other side who fight and then make strange noises like the hooting of owls.

Each of the writers then read samples of their own work. Bob read a part of "Peach Boy" and the poem "Yellow Willow," both based on his experience in Japan. Lee Ann read some poems about growing up in Laramie: "pearls," "Antelope Jerky" and "Octopus in the Freezer." I've heard Lee Ann read "Octopus" before. But it was good to hear again because it alternates between horrifying and hilarious. Lee Ann's mom had bought an octopus at a Denver market and it was stored in the freezer. Lee Ann heard bumps in the night and the clanging of a furnace and thought it was the octopus banging around in the freezer. Not sure which of Lee Ann's three books this is in, but buy them all and pay special attention to "Octopus." A new twist on childhood fears of a monster hiding under the bed.

Lee Ann, Bob, Max McCoy and two literary agents will be conducting workshops and presentations all day today. More info at http://www.wyowriters.org/

Wyoming writers in High Plains Book Awards

Two very talented -- and wildly different -- writers from Wyoming have books as finalists for the High Plains Book Awards.

Samuel Western's book, A Random Census of Souls: Prose Poems (Daniel & Daniel Publishers), is one of three finalists in the poetry category for the awards. Sam lives in Sheridan and has won a creative writing fellowship from the Wyoming Arts Council.

Info about the book:

Prose poems built of strong narratives, keen descriptions, and lively characters Packed with vivid and meaningful detail, these gemlike prose poems bear witness to lives both static and changing, set in well-defined contemporary and historic scenes. The stories reveal real people and their troubles, joys, and desires. The writing is bold and full of social consequence, whether set in among Wyoming high prairie, New England hardscrabble farm, or the metropolis of Ancient Rome.

About the Author:

Samuel Western has served in the Swedish merchant marine and worked as a commercial fisherman, contract logger, longshoreman, and hunting guide. He is the author of the book Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River: Wyoming's Search for Its Soul, and he has published poems and pieces in The Economist, Wall Street Journal, LIFE, Sports Illustrated, High Country News, Northern Lights, and Owen Wister Review. He holds an MFA from the University of Virginia -- where he also taught English -- and is the recipient of a Wyoming Literary Fellowship. He lives and writes in Sheridan, Wyoming.

Robert Greer's novel Spoon is one of three finalists in the fiction category. Bob has a ranch outside of Wheatland. He may be the only African-American physician best-selling novelist rancher in Platte County. But that's just a guess. Here's some info from Bob's web site:

Make time for SPOON, an engrossing literary novel from Robert Greer about a half-black, half-Indian man searching for his roots. Arcus Witherspoon comes to work for the Darleys as a ranch hand, but he ends up becoming a friend and mentor to their son, T.J., and a resolute ally when a coal company begins to pressure the Darleys to sell. Set in Montana's ranch land, this is a story about family, identity, and as always for Robert Greer, about our land and way of life in the West. A moving, memorable, and suspenseful tale.

Read an interview with Robert here

Fine summer reading.

Hallucinating on the road to Cody, WY ("Visions of Cody?")

Arrived in Cody yesterday as the sun set. We traveled in a caravan from Cheyenne. Seven-hour trip. Gorgeous scenery. The clouds were playing tricks with us, high-altitude winds carving them into a shark, the number two, a wagon pulled by a kid and -- according to my women traveling companions -- schlongs. Over beers, they also spoke of phallic rock formations. Perhaps seven hours on the road brings on hallucinations?

I didn't see any of the latter. One cloud looked like a Titan 3C rocket, another like a giant squid. But I was driving and had very little interest in cloud gazing which might cause me to drive into a shapely rock formation. And I was involved in listening to a book on CD, "The Spies of Warsaw" by Alan Furst. Read several of Furst's books but never listened to one. The reader (must get his name) has great facility for voices, delineating them with just a change in pitch or a bit of an accent. This is the unabridged version, but I may many more miles to go on this trip and will be able to finish this one and maybe another.

"The Schlongs of Wyoming." Enough of that...

The Wyoming Writers, Inc., board meets this morning to talk about budgets, last-minute conference details, elections and all those boring but crucial board details. The conference has a great line-up this year and it will be an exciting weekend.

More conference posts later....

Looking for a real test for ADHD

From the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/health/01attention.html?hpw

Who's running on the side of the Democrats?

On Friday, Wyoming Democrats' Chair Leslie Peterson filed to run for governor.

Tuesday afternoon, she'll announce her candidacy in the Wyoming Capitol Rotunda in Cheyenne.

Friday's news surprised me. I haven't met Ms. Peterson but have followed her press releases and policy statements for the past year. Feisty and well-written, possibly with the help of Party HQ. That's what PR people are for (I know -- I've been one).

As far as I can call tell, she has several strikes going into the primary. One, she's from Teton County, land of second-home Coasters, retired Republicans of dubious ethics (Dick Cheney et. al.) trust-fund babies, spectacular scenery, artists, writers, more Democrats (including Gary Trauner and Ted Ladd) than is usually permitted in this one-party state, and more tourists than residents from now until Labor Day.

Two, she's a woman. Wyoming is The Equality State, you might say. Surely it's had at least one woman gov. Yes it has -- and don't call me Shirley. Nellie Tayloe Ross (D) served as governor of Wyoming from 1925-27.

Since then, it's been a long dry spell for women governors. Kathy Karpan ran on the Dem ticket in 1994 but lost. I'm not sure if women have waged campaigns (Dem or Repub or other) since then, but none have come close to being elected.

At the same time, we've had six-term U.S. Rep. Barbara Cubin and current U.S. Rep. Cynthia Lummis. Both are diehard Repubs. So, Wyoming is not allergic to voting for women in Congress, but they don't like women running for Gov.

That's the bad news. The good news is that Ms. Peterson is a Wyoming native. She was born in Lovell, a conservative farming community on the northeast side of the Big Horn Basin. She graduated from University of Wyoming. Here's part of her bio:

"Like a lot of us in Wyoming, I've had broad experience and done a lot of different things to get along" she said. Petersen was born in Lovell, grew up in Dubois and graduated from Dubois High in a class of six. She attended the University of Wyoming in the 1958-59 school year and was on the rodeo team and was selected for the Spurs honor society. She grew up on the CM Ranch, one of the oldest dude ranches in Wyoming and also worked in the family hunting business in the fall. Her father, Les Shoemaker was the first President of the Wyoming Outfitters' Association. Petersen moved to Jackson in 1975 and her husband of 34 years is Henry (Hank) Phibbs, a Jackson attorney, who grew up in Casper and is currently serving as a Teton County Commissioner. They have two grown sons, Travis Petersen and daughter-in-law Kristi, of Wilson, and Monte Petersen of Pagosa Springs, CO.

Pretty good credentials. Wyoming likes its natives, even its Democrats such as Dave Freudenthal and Mike Sullivan. And they're both lawyers! Go figure.

More possible good news -- there are four strong candidates running for Gov on the Repub side. They might beat themselves up this summer and the right-wing candidate Ron Micheli might end up as the candidate. Wyoming tends to be more moderate than other mid-American red states such as Idaho and Utah and even Oklahoma. Once Micheli's wacko Tea Party credentials come to light, a "Freudenthal Democrat" might sneak in and win the governor's race.

Welcome to the fight, Ms. Peterson. We may yet dare to hope for victory in November.

Get more info at http://www.peopleforpeterson.com/

Wyoming Writers, Inc. gather in Cody

On June 3, I leave for the Wyoming Writers, Inc., conference in Cody.

It's a great gathering of writers and poets from throughout the state (and beyond) who travel many miles to attend workshops and meet with editors and agents and read their work and listen to the work of others. There's also some catching up to do with people you see only once a year.

This year's conference features the Wyoming father-daughter writing team of Bob Roripaugh and Lee Ann Roripaugh. Bob is Wyoming Poet Laureate Emeritus and retired from teaching at UW. He's mainly known for his poetry but he was first published as a novelist.

Lee Ann is Bob and Yoshiko Roripaugh's daughter. She began college as a musician and ended with an M.F.A. in creative writing. One of her mentors was the great Yusef Komunyakaa. Lee Ann's first book, "Beyond Heart Mountain," won the National Poetry Series Prize. It features poems told in the persona of internees at Heart Mountain Relocation Camp. Located between Cody and Powell, the camp was the third-largest city in the state from 1942-46, home (?) to more than 10,000 Japanese-Americans moved from the West Coast during the hysteria following the Pearl Harbor attack.

The Heart Mountain Foundation is building an interpretive center at the camp, now a National Historic Site. Wyoming Writers, Inc., wanted to hold an event at the center but it won't have its debut until August. Instead, the Roripaugh family will talk about Heart Mountain at the conference's lead-off session at 7 p.m. on Friday, June 4. A book signing will follow, and then an open mike reading. Saturday and Sunday are full of workshops and readings and schmoozing. All events are at the Holiday Inn in Cody.

Come on up and join us.

We are not weinies. We are Dems.

Are Wyoming Democrats weinies?

No. We take our licks, persevering against overwhelming odds. Repubs outnumber us 2-to-1. At gatherings, we often admit that we are Democrats, risking public humiliation. In 2008, we made thousands of phone calls and knocked on many doors to utter the name "Barack Obama." Very few of us were cursed at or beat up for our troubles.

But there were signs at tonight's Laramie County Democrats' meeting that we're not the champs we think we are.

Bryon Lee is Wyoming's Organizing for Obama chair, the only full-time paid Obama person within 97,818 square miles. He's from Gillette and now lives in Sheridan. He's been traveling the state to find Democrats grumbling about Obama and Gov. Freudenthal and lack of Dem candidates and even the horrible spring weather which must be Obama's fault. Sometimes he arrives at meetings to find tumbleweeds rolling through an empty room. A sad state of affairs.

He and six like-minded Dems waded into a Sheridan rally of some 250 Tea Party people a few weeks ago. They were hoping to serve as an antidote to the usual fawning media attention give to teabaggers.

They got it. Name-calling -- commies! socialists! When Bryon applauded the mention of Obama's name, he was shoved by a Tea Party goon. "You assaulted me," Bryon said. The menacing crowd closed in. Fortunately there was a reporter there and the incident ended up on the front page of the Sheridan Press.

The moral of this story -- nothing happens if you don't show up. Also -- don't let the teabaggers have all the fun.

Speaking of showing up -- Organizing for America is holding a meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Windflower Room of the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. Bryon will be there to talk about organizing for the 2010 elections.

The weinie issue continued when Ken McCauley spoke. Ken is an Air Force combat veteran and now flies big passenger planes for a living. He put together a presentation on national security because he was upset about wording in the 2010 Wyoming Democrats platform approved at last weekend's state convention in Casper. Ken distributed a handout that looked to be from PowerPoint (I'll ask him if it's available online and provide a link to it).

WyoDems adopted the following phrase in its platform:

"Wyoming Democrats support a foreign policy that reflects and promotes the principles of freedom, human rights and compassion without the use of force."

I'm a peacenik and even I couldn't believe that a phrase like this ended up in the party platform. I spent most of the 2004 state convention trying to get "U.S. Out of Iraq" planks in the WyoDems' platform. I received a smattering of support but the votes were overwhelmingly against the efforts. Maybe it was my Dennis Kucinich T-shirt that turned off the John Kerry multitudes. Maybe it was too soon to openly oppose a war that hadn't yet turned into its "extremely ugly" phase.

At last week's Casper convention, Ken tried to replace the platform statement with a hastily-worded one of his own:

"Wyoming democrats support the suppression of domestic and international terrorism that threatens U.S. security. We support the promotion of stable world democracy, safeguarding nuclear material, and worldwide reduction of WMDs."

His suggestion was ignored by the conventioneers.

So he put together his presentation and tonight offered a revised version, borrowing wording from Pres. Obama's recent speech to West Point cadets:

"Laramie County Democrats support combating the root causes that lead to terrorism, and we support the Obama administration's efforts to disrupt and dismantle known terrorist organizations so that legitimate and peaceful leadership can prevail in areas that spawn terrorism."

There was a spirited discussion. A motion was made to adopt the statement as a resolution. It passed unanimously.

We are not weinies. We are Dems.

Michael Pollan chronicles "food movement"

Looking forward to reading this (from a Grist column by Bonnie Azab Powell):

In what is ostensibly a five-book review for the June 10 New York Review of Books, journalist Michael Pollan has an epic essay charting the emergence and character of the food movement. Or, as he puts it, "movements." They are unified, for now at least, by little more than the recognition that industrial food production is in need of reform, "because its social/environmental/public health/animal welfare/gastronomic costs are too high." (Pollan, of course, has been indispensable to the rise of this movement, even though he omits his 2006 best-seller, The Omnivore's Dilemma, from his list of its catalysts -- among them Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation and Marion Nestle's Food Politics.)

Ethnic Studies 212: Superiority of the Irish

My friend Sean Seamus O'Casey Yeats Swift Cuchulain Beckett Guinness Doyle teaches high school in Tucson. His most popular course is Ethnic Studies 212: "The Irish are Superior to All of You F**kin' Gobshites." Tucson kids of all ethnicities clamor to get into the class so they can learn the meaning and proper use of "gobshite." Once in the class, they are flummoxed to learn from Mr. Doyle that there will be a fair amount of reading of fine Irish literature, performance of Irish drama and singing of Irish songs with just an occasional mention of gobshite, mostly in reference to the Arizona governor, legislature and assorted teabaggers.

Sean is upset with Arizona's new law banning ethnic studies classes. Gov. Jan Brewer just signed the law that bans classes that "promote the overthrow of the U.S. government, promote resentment toward a race or class of people, are designed primarily for pupils of a particular ethnic group, advocate ethnic solidarity instead of the treatment of pupils as individuals."

"It's not fair," bemoaned Sean during a recent phone call. "Only once have I called for the overthrow of the U.S. Government, and that when that gobshite Reagan was president. And his people are Irish, so I can call him what I want."

I asked Sean if he promoted resentment toward a race or a class of people.

"Guilty," he said. "Once my students read The Great Hunger, they resent the Brits. After we watch Gangs of New York, they resent the American Nativists who advocated sending the Papists back to Ireland or killing them, whichever was easiest. They also hate Leonardo DiCaprio for his pathetic Irish accent. After seeing a performance of Synge's Playboy of the Western World, they resent me because they thought there would be lots of nudes in it. After reading Year of the French, they resent the French for being so inept on the Irish battefields against the Brits. After reading How the Irish Saved Civilization, they resent the Roman Catholic Church and all the popes. After hearing about Cuchulain's magnificent warp-spasms in Cattle Raid of Cooley (Táin Bó Cúailnge), they resent all of the wimpy comic-book heroes from their mis-spent youth. After reading An Béal Bocht(The Poor Mouth) by Flann O'Brien, they don't think much of the Irish.

"So you are teaching resentment."

He laughed. "I'm not teaching resentment. I'm teaching literature and drama and media arts and history."

"What about solidarity? Gov. Brewer says that teachers must teach about individualism and personal freedom."

"So maybe I should teach only Ayn Rand?," said Sean. "Look, the Irish are all about personal freedom and individualism. They could teach Ayn Rand a thing or two. You ever try to organize the Irish to do anything? Why do you think the Brits had such a free hand in Ireland for 500 years?

I asked him if he designed ES 212 for pupils of a particular ethnic group, such as Irish-Catholic Americans?

"That may be the class's saving grace. Irish-Americans don't want to hear the real story. They like leprechauns and St. Patrick's Day and Notre Dame's "Fighting Irish." They want to talk about great-grandpa leaving the old sod and coming to America with no shoes and not a penny to his name. They want to talk about finding their colorful relatives in Roscommon or Cork.

"They mostly avoid my class like the plague. Kids that want myths can take history classes that use Texas-sanctioned texts. Or Lynne Cheney's books. My best students tend to be recent immigrants from Mexico, Vietnam, the Sudan, Iraq, Sri Lanka, El Salvador. They know that life is messy. They came to the U.S. so they wouldn't be murdered or starved to death in their native lands. When they read Seamus Heaney and Jonathan Swift, or some Irish-American writers like Flannery O'Connor and James T. Farrell, they can relate to it."

"I'll take a kid from Darfur with a name like Mabior Dau over a Yuppified Republican Phoenix suburbanite named Maureen O'Sullivan any day."

"So Gov. Brewer's law may not apply to you?" I asked.

"That gobshite can kiss my arse. I don't care what she thinks. I'm going to keep teaching kids that life is wonderful and cruel and complicated and ridiculous and funny as hell. Especially if you're an immigrant in Arizona."

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.