Open Mic Night set for March 28 at Laramie County Public Library

Laramie County Community College students Annie Shay (music) and Mikey Hernandez (theatre) have put together this open mic night March 28 at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. Somewhere along the line, Annie (my daughter) pressed me into service as emcee. Bring your poetry and and prose and scripts and music to the library for a fine time.

Tea Party Slim (a.k.a. Snow Bird Slim) returns from Arizona early for Wyoming Republican caucuses

Face it, Tea Party Slim has the best of both worlds. He spends his winters in Arizona and summers in Wyoming.

"I should call you Snow Bird Slim," I said. Slim drove his massive RV back into town last Sunday. He parked the RV in his driveway and he and his wife Nancy were unloading their luggage. His wife looked askance at me; she did not like Slim consorting with Liberals.

"You're just jealous of us retirees," Slim said to me. "Foot loose and fancy free."

"You're early," I said. "Usually you're not back until April."

Slim hefted a suitcase in each hand. "Caucuses," he said.

"Caucuses?"

"The Republican caucuses. The party is holding them early this year. We wanted to be back to cast our votes."

Slim and I have been neighbors for years. He's hardcore conservative. I'm reliably liberal. We'd never been shy about sharing our views. Our exchanges have sharpened over the two years since the Tea Party emerged from the primordial slime. He'd been gone since Halloween. I missed the big lug.

"Who are you voting for?" I asked.

He glowered. "None of your business."

"C'mon, Slim. I'll tell you who I'm voting for on the Dem side."

"No choice," he said. "You're stuck with Obama."

"Our caucuses will be boring. Not like last time. They were held this time four years ago. We had to rent the Civic Center to hold the crowds."

Slim harrumphed. "Every lily-livered, weak-kneed liberal within 50 miles crawled out from beneath their rocks for that one."

I was a bit nonplussed by Slim's words. "They arrived in droves, Slim. A few did have weak knees, but not sure about their livers."

Slim disappeared inside with his suitcases. When he reappeared, he carried two beers. "Thirsty work," he said. He handed me a beer. It was a sunny pre-spring day in Cheyenne. We drank in silence, at least for a few minutes.

"Rick Santorum has been stepping in it," I said.

"What do you mean?

"You know, all of his crazy talk about denying birth control to women."

"Churches shouldn't have to pay for birth control."

"It's not about religion," I said. "It's about health care."

"It's about religious taxpayers being asked to pay for birth control for sex-crazed feminists."

I almost choked on my suds. "Too much Rush Limbaugh, Slim."

"Rush is right," he said. "He told that college girl where to get off."

"If I'm not mistaken, both of your daughters are college graduates."

"What's that have to do with anything?"

"How would you like it if Rush called one of them a slut and a prostitute?"

"Neither of them would have testified before Congress about birth control. They're good girls. Religious."

"It's a fact that 98 percent of Catholics practice some form of birth control."

"We're not Catholics."

"Most people practice some sort of birth control. They deserve to have insurance to cover the costs."

"Fooey," he said. "I don't want to pay for a liberal feminist's birth control."

"Most people pay for their own birth control," I said. "Don't they deserve to have a choice in the free-market of health care coverage? Don't you Republicans believe in free markets? Don't you rail against Obamacare because it's that darn federal gubment interfering in our personal lives?"

Slim sipped his beer. "On Tuesday, I'm voting for Rick Santorum."

"I thought so," I said. "Next month, I'm voting for President Obama."

"I thought so," summarized Slim.

Sh'Bang featured tonight at "Fridays in the Hynds" in downtown Cheyenne

The “Fridays in the Hynds” concert series continues tonight with music by Sh’Bang. This public event features local/regional musicians performing in an open house setting with a social atmosphere in downtown Cheyenne's Hynds Building. The initial series runs for five consecutive Fridays in March 2012, 5:30-8:30 p.m. 

Four years after: In the afterglow of the 2008 Wyoming caucuses, all things seemed possible

On this day four years ago, I mused about the possibilities that presented themselves to Wyoming Democrats. We were all aglow following record turnouts at county caucuses. None of us expected the eventual presidential candidate to win Wyoming, but we were hopeful that Jackson’s Gary Trauner could clinch the state’s lone U.S. House seat. He had come within 1,000 votes of unseating wildly unpopular Republican Barbara Cubin in 2006. As it turned out, John McCain enjoyed his second-largest vote margin in Wyoming, coming in right behind Oklahoma and just ahead of Idaho and Utah. Trauner was trounced by newcomer Cynthia Lummis, who continues to be a party-line Republican. 

On March 9, 2008, we were slightly optimistic that red Wyoming would morph into a shade of purple.

The message is clear. It takes a well-organized and well-funded campaign to win an election. Democrats in Wyoming have been down so long it looks like up to us. Many had just given up. It took a lot of effort to get them out of their lethargy – but they did come out. Almost 8,700 votes were cast statewide. In the 2004 county conventions, less that 700 votes were cast. The 2008 numbers are 12 times those of 2004. Some of those reflect people who switched parties, a Republican or Independent registering as a Dem and who will probably switch back before November. But most of those voters were either new registrants or newly-motivated Dems or people so fed up with the Republican Party that they switched and won’t go back. I know several of those in Cheyenne.

Read the rest of my March 9, 2008, post at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/dems-been-down-so-long-it-looks-like-up.html

Four years after: Dems emerge from hiding for historic 2008 caucus in Cheyenne

Big crowd of Laramie County Democrats cheer their faves during the 2008 caucus in Cheyenne.

Four years ago today, lines were around the block at the Cheyenne Civic Center for the 2008 Democratic Party caucuses in Laramie County. There were Dems in line I've never seen, and I thought I'd seen them all. The party had to rent the concert hall to accommodate caucus-goers who, four years earlier, had plenty of elbow room in the drafty basement of the American Legion hall.

Even a Denver-based Fox News reporter and cameraman were there to record the event for the nation. When their presence was announced, a chorus of boos rang out in the hall.

Those were the days, my friends.

Read my posts from that day here and here.

"Ghosts of the Atlas" screens March 10 at (where else?) the Historic Atlas Theatre

Is the Atlas Theatre haunted?

Four years after: Barack Obama's 2008 Laramie rally was one for the record books

From my blog post four years ago tonight:

Some 10,000 people packed into the Arena-Auditorium tonight at the University of Wyoming in Laramie to greet Sen. Barack Obama. The crowd was jazzed to be at what might be the largest political rally ever held in the state. College and high school students were huddled near the stage. Their elders were huddled in their fold-out seats, most recently used by Pokes' b-ball fans.

To read the entire post, go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/barack-obama-stages-huge-laramie-rally.html

Music on the wintry streets of Cheyenne

Homemade music video by hometown musician Reboot the Robot. Filmed in downtown Cheyenne. The city never looked so big-city gritty (and cold). Hummingbirdminds likes the song. Good job, R the R!

Take part March 11 in the filming of a Democratic Party music video

This announcement comes from Wendy Soto of the Democratic Grassroots Coalition:

Be A Part of A Professionally Produced Music Video

Enthusiastic Audience Needed for an adaptation of WOODY GUTHRIE’S “UNION MAID”

To Celebrate Our Great Democratic Party

Arrive at 2 p.m. for Refreshments & Instruction

Filming Begins at 3 p.m.

Sunday March 11

Atlas Theatre

211 W. 16th St.

Downtown Cheyenne

Four years after: Wyoming Democrats get cranked up for candidate rallies and a statewide caucus

Return with us to those halcyon days of yore (March 2008) as Wyoming Democrats prepare for their largest-ever caucuses on March 8.

On this day four years ago, I wrote about the upcoming Wyoming appearances of Democratic candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama. Former President Bill Clinton held a rally for his wife Hillary on March 6 in Riverton that was attended by an SRO crowd of 2,000. Big crowds were expected for a March 7 Clinton rally in Cheyenne and a March 7 rally by Barack Obama in Laramie.

My wife Chris attended the Cheyenne event and I joined thousands of my closest friends at a packed UW Arena-Auditorium Friday evening in Laramie.

Read more at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/stand-for-change-in-laramie-friday.html

No drug tests for Wyoming welfare recipients or for legislators

The Wyoming Senate, showing more sense and sensitivity that the Wyoming House, defeated a bill yesterday that would have mandated drug tests for some welfare recipients.

The vote was 17-13. Democrats led the charge to defeat this so-called "punish the poor" bill (so-called my me) and were joined by moderate Republicans. All the votes in support of the bill were cast by Tea Party Republicans.

Sen. Kit Jennings (Tea Party-Casper), co-sponsor of the bill, supported the House-originated bill and the Senate's amended version, which stipulated random drug tests for adults instead of drug tests for all welfare recipients. In the Casper Star-Tribune, he said that 

it would have provided an answer to the many constituents he hears from who ask why they have to get drug-tested for their jobs but welfare recipients get a pass.

No word from Jennings about why it's a good idea for state government to get into the drug-testing biz.

But Sen. Chris Rothfuss, D-Laramie, said the bill would do more harm than good. He said the most likely result is that a small number of people would choose not to apply for the benefits because of the testing. 

“This is a program that is designed to help children,” he said. “The outcome of this randomized experiment is going to be that 1 or 2 percent won’t show up and their kids will probably go hungry.” 

Sen. John Hastert, D-Green River, said there were constitutional problems with the bill since the state has no probable cause or reasonable suspicion that the people it is testing are drug users. 

“By singling out this specific program, there is a sense of discrimination,” he said. “Why not drug test other forms of public assistance that we have? Like should we require drug testing for any type of subsidy?”

As the bill was debated in the House, Rep. Jim Byrd (D-Cheyenne) tried to attach an amendment mandating drug tests for legislators. It failed, but it was one heck of a good idea.

Next year, when ultra-conservatives bring up other punish the poor bills, it should be mandated that legislators also comply with drug tests. There must be some mood-altering substance responsible for the addled behavior of Tea Party Republicans.

Read more at http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2012/03/06/news/01top_03-06-12.txt

Four years after: Word comes about Barack Obama speeches in Casper and Laramie

2008 button for Barack Obama's visit to Laramie

On this day in Wyoming four years ago...

Barack Obama's campaign announced that he would speak in Casper and Laramie on Friday, March 7. The basketball arena was reserved for the Friday evening speech at UW in Laramie. It ended up being a good choice -- the place was SRO that Friday. Read more at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2012/03/jim-coppoc-leads-poetry-workshop-at.html

Meanwhile, Democratic Party leaders were grousing about the continuing battles in the primaries and caucuses. I warned them to back off and let the process play out in those areas of the country (Wyoming, for instance) that the DNC doesn't seem to care about. Read it at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/back-off-man-im-political-scientist.html

On-again, off-again funding for UW performing arts building now off-again

The Wyoming Legislature is changing its mind about taking $30 million in temporary funding from one-time highway funds. On Tuesday, the money came out of the highway funding bill. Said Senate President Phil Nicholas:

"All we're doing is Band-Aiding [highways] for two years, and then we're losing some enormously important opportunities.

These opportunities included funding a new engineering building and the extensive renovation of thew performing arts building.

On Thursday, the Senate took back the money.

It's getting tough to keep up. Try to keep track at http://legisweb.state.wy.us

Four years after: WY finds out that former President Bill Clinton will stump for Hillary in Wyoming

Wyoming was all atwitter four years ago this week when news came via MSNBC that former President Bill Clinton was coming to Wyoming to stump for Hillary Clinton in Riverton, Rock Springs and Laramie. Read all about it at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/bill-clinton-coming-to-wyoming.html

LCCC chorus brings to life the music of South Africa and African-American spirituals

My daughter Annie sings in the LCCC Collegiate Chorus. This was her first performance. Here she's shown (center) with proud Dad and Mom.

Nancy Cornish (front) is the director of the vocal music program at Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne. On Sunday, she directed the Collegiate and  Kantorel choruses in a program at King of Glory Lutheran Church featuring the music of South Africa and African-American spirituals. It was a great show. 

Jim Coppoc leads poetry workshop at Cheyenne library

Performance poet and musician Jim Coppoc of Ames, Iowa, leads a writing workshop on Sunday at the Laramie County Public Library in Cheyenne. Jim is in town to judge the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud competition Monday, 7 p.m., at the Atlas Theatre. 

REMINDER: Cheyenne Little Theatre Players' Mardi Gras Bash is tonight at the Atlas

Grassroots filmmaking bringing classic novel by Montana's James Welch to the screen

"Winter in the Blood" directors Andrew and Alex Smith answer questions with documentary filmmaker Tracy Rector, left, at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival at the Wilma Theatre Saturday evening in Missoula. Rector's documentary "Visionary Insight" showed the behind-the-scenes story of the Smith brothers grass-roots film. Tribune photo by Michael Beall.

These grass-roots filmmakers in Montana show us how it’s done in the Rocky Mountain West. From a successful $67,000 Kickstarter campaign to donated food to volunteer sweat equity, the Smith Brothers found new and interesting ways to make a home-grown film based on James Welch’s classic novel, “Winter in the Blood.” Read the details in this excellent Great Falls Tribune story by Michael Beall. I read about it first on the 4&20 Blackbirds blog. Thanks for the tip, Lizard! 

WY ACLU: "Religious Freedom or an Assault on Women's Health Care?"

From the The Republican War on Women Facebook page. 

Methinks it's the latter. So does the Wyoming ACLU. To read the grisly details, go to http://acluwyomingchapter.blogspot.com/2012/03/religious-freedom-or-assault-on-womens.html

Four years after: Getting out the vote in Wyoming for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton

Four years ago, Obama supporters in Wyoming were brimming with hope. We also were making scads of phone calls to Democratic voters, urging them to get out to the March 8 county caucuses.

In my March 3, 2008, blog post, I regaled my readers with tales of our split household. My wife Chris, whose feminist roots go back to the Equal Rights Amendment and Patricia Schroeder's Colorado campaigns, was a Hillary Clinton supporter. I had migrated from Dennis Kucinich to John Edwards (remember him?) to Barack Obama. Obama operatives had parachuted into enemy territory on a dark January 2008 night. We now worked with them on an aggressive ground game.

Chris and I fought very little over the use of our home phone. We reached an agreement that divided time and space and responsibility, much like the agreement between Barack and Hillary that gave the former the White House and the latter the rest of the world.

Step back in time with me at http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/phoning-cheyenne-for-barack-and-hillary.html

Republican war on women -- illustrated version

From Daily Kos

Birthers rear their ugly heads (again) in Montana Legislature

Some of Montana's Republican legislators are even crazier than the ones we have in Wyoming (from Montana Cowgirl):

One of America’s top TEA Party imbeciles has called for President Obama to prove that he is eligible to be on the Montana ballot, or else have his name removed from it.

Bob Wagner, the Montana state representative who once told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that a person is ineligible to run for president unless both parents were born in America, is back at it again. Reviving Birtherism, Wagner has sent a letter to the Montana Secretary of State (she oversees elections), commanding her to

“prove that Obama is eligible to hold the office he usurped in 2008, or take him off the ballot.”

Wagner believes that Obama’s birth certificate is a fraud; and that even if the certificate were authentic, Obama would still not be a true American citizen because his father impregnated his mother while visiting America.

LCCC Chorus performs "The Music of Africa" March 4 in Cheyenne

Enjoy "The Music of Africa" on Sunday, March 4, 3-4 p.m. at the King of Glory Lutheran Church, 8806 Yellowstone Road in Cheyenne. This will be "a festive display of the sights, songs and dances of Africa performed for you by Laramie County Community College Collegiate Chorale, the Kantorei Singers and the Men’s Ensemble. Refreshments will be served in the fellowship hall following the concert so you can visit with the performers. Admission is free. Donations will be accepted for the Veterans Administration Medical Center." Our daughter Annie is in the chorus and this will be her first public performance since starting at LCCC in January. As always, your proud parents will be in the audience, Annie. Hope that doesn't make you nervous....

Find the music in your poetry at free March 4 workshop in Cheyenne

Poet and musician Jim Coppoc will give a free public workshop on Sunday, March 4, from 2-4 p.m. at the Laramie County Public Library in downtown Cheyenne. The workshop will focus on bringing out the musicality in poems. Anyone interested in writing and performing poetry is welcomed to attend.

Coppoc, a poet, spoken-word artist and musician from Ames, Iowa, teaches English and American Studies at Iowa State University and creative writing in the low residency M.F.A. program at Chatham University in Pittsburgh. Balancing poetry, pedagogy, play writing, music and performance in his varied career, Coppoc’s publications include Manhattan Beatitude, 1997 (One Small Bird Press, 2010), Reliquary (Fractal Edge Press, 2010), and Blood, Sex & Prayer (Fractal Edge Press, 2005). Coppoc received four Pushcart Prize nominations in 2011.

Jim is in town to serve as a judge for the Wyoming Poetry Out Loud state competition that will take place in Cheyenne on Monday and Tuesday, March 5-6.

The competition begins at 7 p.m. Monday at the Historic Atlas Theater in downtown Cheyenne. Joining Coppoc as judges are Pat Frolander, Wyoming Poet laureate from Crook County, and writer and arts educator Diane Panozzo from Tie Siding, Wyo. It’s free and open to the public. Come out and see some great poetry recitation by some talented high schoolers from around the state.

Four years after: Tracking Barack Obama's path through Wyoming in March 2008

Four years ago today, my fellow Dems and I were canvassing the county for Barack Obama, a relatively unknown politician from Chicago.

I'm reminded of this today as I watched Pres. Obama's speech today in NYC in front of some of his supporters. He sounded confident. He looked presidential. And not only in comparison to the clowns running on the Republican side.

In March 2012, I'm going to look back at what was happening in Wyoming four years ago. On March 1, me and my fellow canvassers were looking ahead to to the March 8 Dem caucuses which ended up having record turnouts. We also attended rallies by Hillary Clinton in Cheyenne and an SRO speech by Barack Obama at UW in Laramie on March 7.

So travel with me back to the days when an Obama candidacy was in its infancy. Go to http://hummingbirdminds.blogspot.com/2008/03/iowa-gov-rounds-up-wyo-support-for.html

Local Democrats hold Mardi Gras Casino Night fund-raiser March 24

http://www.laramiecountydemocrats.org/

John D'Agata to read from his new book March 7 in Laramie

On Wednesday, March 7 at 7 p.m., John D’Agata will give a reading from his new book, The Lifespan of a Fact, at Second Story Books, located at 105 Ivinson Avenue, Laramie. This event is free and open to the public, and will be followed by a book-signing. For more info, visit the UW MFA Creative Writing Program web site at www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting or contact Gwynn Lemler at cw@uwyo.edu or 766-6453.

The acclaimed author of About a Mountain (W.W. Norton 2010) and Halls of Fame (Graywolf 2003), D’Agata has also edited The Next American Essay (Graywolf 2002) and The Lost Origins of the Essay (Graywolf 2009). During his two-week residency at the University of Wyoming, he will visit university classes, consult on manuscripts with graduate students in creative writing, and discuss the writing life with a wide range of campus members.

D’Agata’s latest project is The Lifespan of a Fact (W.W. Norton 2012), which reproduces the extensive correspondence between D’Agata and Jim Fingal, a fact-checker for The Believer. Publishers Weekly describes the book as “very apropos in our era of spruced-up autobiography and fabricated reporting,” adding that “this is a whip-smart, mordantly funny, thought-provoking rumination on journalistic responsibility and literary license.” The Kirkus Reviews suggests that “[The Lifespan of a Fact] will be eagerly devoured and loudly discussed by creative-nonfiction writers and readers who thrive on books about books.”

Wyoming House Republicans sing rousing chorus of "Every Sperm is Sacred"

Know Nothings in the Wyoming House want to turn back the clock on women’s health with its Joint Resolution No. HJ7, "Resolution-conscience rights." It passed third reading in the Wyoming House on Tuesday and has now been referred to the Senate Labor, Health and Social Services Committee.

Rep. Mary Throne, a Cheyenne Democrat and one of the few women in the Wyoming State Legislature, spoke against the resolution, saying women have a fundamental right to decide whether to get pregnant.

Let’s see if the Know Nothings in the Wyoming Senate, overwhelmingly Republican and male, will decide if women’s contraception decisions will be left to the whims of their employers.

Here’s an update from Sharon Breitweiser, Executive Director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wyoming:

HJ7 -- http://legisweb.state.wy.us/2012/Introduced/HJ0007.pdf -- calls upon President Obama to reverse a rule issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) requiring insurance coverage of all Food and Drug Administration approved contraceptive methods as well as sterilization without a co-pay or deductible.  The rule excludes churches/houses of worship and makes accommodations for religiously affiliated employers such as universities and hospitals.

HJ7 would put the Wyoming Legislature on record as opposing health insurance coverage of contraception and sterilization. 

Talking points:

·         The HHS rule on essential services is not about government mandates.  This is about the importance of reproductive medical care and women's health.  HHS heeded the findings of an independent panel of experts, the Institute of Medicine, which recommended that birth control be included as a preventive health care benefit. 

·         Forcing women to pay out-of-pocket for contraceptives puts an unfair, discriminatory cost burden on a certain segment of society, and women may choose not to use the most effective form of birth control due to cost concerns. 

·         Birth control pills are sometimes prescribed and used for many other medical conditions.  Allowing employers to exclude contraceptives from health insurance plans could also prove costly to individuals with such conditions. 

·         Contraception helps prevent unintended pregnancies, improves the quality of women's lives, and reduces the need for abortion.  

Please contact the five members of the Senate Labor, Health Committee and ask them to vote "NO" on HJ7:

Senator Charles Scott, Committee Chairman, charlesscott@wyoming.com

Senator Dan Dockstader - ddockstader@wyoming.com

Senator Marty Martin - mmartin@wyoming.com 

Senator Leslie Nutting - lnutting@wyoming.com 

Senator John Schiffer - jschiffe@wyoming.com

Wyoming Senate votes to fund crucial renovation of UW performing arts building

Good for you, Sen. Phil Nicholas, Republican from Laramie (and I don't say that often):

The Wyoming Senate voted Tuesday to take $30 million proposed for one-time highway projects and put it toward renovating and expanding the University of Wyoming performing arts and engineering buildings. 

Supporters said the money is needed for UW’s performing arts program to avoid losing accreditation and to renovate one of the school’s oldest buildings for engineering. 

Opponents said the Wyoming Department of Transportation needs every cent it can get just to maintain the state’s vital highway system. 

State Sen. Phil Nicholas, the Laramie Republican who sponsored the amendment to switch over the money, said AML funding shouldn’t be used as a short-term solution to fund highways while lawmakers continue debating a long-term funding source. 

Instead, he said, AML funds should be used by the state to diversify its economy. With 64 percent of state revenues coming from minerals, he said, one way the state can achieve that goal is to ensure the school of engineering is in “tip-top shape.” 

“All we’re doing is Band-Aiding [highways] for two years, and then we’re losing some enormously important opportunities,” Nicholas said. 

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/wyoming-senate-moves-aml-cash-from-roads-to-university-of/article_12ff5cc0-9651-5ffc-b1b1-aebe90326fa6.html#ixzz1nmvW0DCq

Kind of amazing to note that the Legislature, with this amendment, considers the education of performing artists/teachers on par with educating engineers. Perhaps our state leaders are beginning to recognize the importance of the arts in Wyoming, now and for the future. We'll see what happens -- more votes ahead.

One of my essays in new "Companions in Wonder" anthology from MIT Press

I’m happy to report that one of my personal essays, “We Are Distracted,” is included in a new anthology from MIT Press. “Companions in Wonder: Children and Adults Exploring Nature Together” features work by some of my favorite writers: Rick Bass, Alison Hawthorne Deming, Barry Lopez, Robert Michael Pyle, Joseph Bruchac and Scott Russell Sanders. I’m looking forward to reading their work. Editors are Julie Dunlap and Stephen R. Kellert. I’ve been an editor of an anthology and it’s no easy task to assemble the authors, get the work, secure the rights, edit it all and get it to the publisher on time. Thanks, Julie and Stephen. The book is in the spring 2012 catalog. Here’s an excerpt:

Rachel Carson’s classic 1956 essay “Help Your Child to Wonder” urged adults to help children experience the “sense of wonder” that comes only from a relationship with nature. It’s clear we haven’t succeeded in following her advice: eight-year-olds surveyed in the United Kingdom could identify more Pokémon characters than common wildlife species; and Richard Louv’s recent best-selling book Last Child in the Woods identifies a “nature deficit disorder” in children around the world. But today a growing number of environmentally minded parents, teachers, and other adults are seeking to restore nature to its rightful place in children’s lives. This anthology gathers personal essays recounting adventures great and small with children in the natural world.  The authors--writing as parents, teachers, mentors, and former children--describe experiences that range from bird watching to an encounter with an apple butter-loving grizzly bear. Rick Bass captures fireflies with his children and reflects on fatherhood; Michael Branch observes wryly that both gardening and parenting are “disciplines of sustainability;” Lauret Savoy wonders how African American children can connect to the land after generations of estrangement; and Sandra Steingraber has “the big talk” with her children, not about sex but about global warming.  By turns lyrical, comic, and earnest, these writings guide us to closer connections with nature and with the children in our lives, for the good of the planet and our own spiritual and physical well-being. Booklist Online says this:  Editors Dunlap and Kellert have assembled a stellar collection of essays by exceptional nature writers about adults and children enjoying the outdoors together…[T]his is a striking celebration of nature’s role in sustaining family bonds.

To order “Companions in Wonder,” go here. It’s a $21.95 trade paperback. ISBN-10: 0-262-51690-X; ISBN-13: 978-0-262-51690-7

Laramie County Democrats host legislative reception March 2

Pilot your aircraft carrier down to the Laramie County Democrats' legislative reception on Friday, March 2, 6:30-8 p.m.

Drop anchor at 514 W. 24th St., Cheyenne.

If you bring a dish to share, be there by 6 p.m.

Meet your Dem legislators from around the state who'll be staying in town for the Nellie Tayloe Ross Banquet Saturday night.

Suggested donation $10, with proceeds going toward helping the Laramie County Dems and the Grassroots Coalition during the 2012 election.

P.S.: Aircraft carriers are optional, now that the Repubs' goofy Doomsday bill has been sent down to Davy Jones' locker.

Forget "the dirty dozen” – Wyoming Congressional delegation "the dirty trio”

This comes from Kate Wright, executive director of Wyoming Conservation Voters

Today [Feb. 7, 2012], Wyoming Conservation Voters joined the national League of Conservation Voters in releasing the 2011 National Environmental Scorecard, revealing scores for the Wyoming delegation in the first session of the 112^th Congress. 

The 2011 Scorecard reflects the most anti-environmental session of the U.S. House of Representatives in history, featuring unparalleled assaults on our nation’s bedrock environmental and public health safeguards.

The good news is that while the House voted against the environment a shocking number of times, both the U.S. Senate and the Obama administration stood fast against the vast majority of these attacks.  Indeed, not only did our cornerstone environmental protections emerge from 2011 largely unscathed, the Obama administration also made major progress through administrative actions to protect our air and water. 

 “We are disappointed in those members of the Wyoming delegation who supported the attacks on public health and environmental protections in 2011,” said Kate Wright, Executive Director of the Wyoming Conservation Voters. “It is deeply upsetting that the entirety of the Wyoming delegation, Rep. Lummis and Sens. Enzi and Barrasso, chose to put corporate polluters and other special interests ahead of the health and well-being of Wyoming families.” 

The 2011 Scorecard includes 11 Senate and a record 35 House votes on issues ranging from public health protections to clean energy to land and wildlife conservation. The House votes included in the 2011 Scorecard are simply many of the most significant votes taken in a year that saw the House voting more than 200 times on the environment and public health.

“In 2011, the House Republican leadership unleashed a truly breathtaking and unprecedented assault on the environment and public health, the breadth and depth of which have made the current U.S. House of Representatives the most anti-environmental in our nation’s history,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “LCV is grateful to the Obama administration for helping to ensure that the House Republican leadership did not succeed in gutting our nation’s cornerstone environmental and public health protections in 2011.”

Senator John Barrasso, 9%
Senator Mike Enzi, 9%
Representative Cynthia Lummis, 11%

For over 40 years, the National Environmental Scorecard issued by LCV has been the nationally accepted yardstick used to rate members of Congress on environmental, public health and energy issues.

The full 2011 National Environmental Scorecard can be found at www.lcv.org/scorecard 

Local music, local art and local fun at Fridays in the Hynds during March

Some young creatives are trying to bring some life to downtown Cheyenne during March:

Fridays in the Hynds is a new concert series in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This public event features local/regional musicians performing in an open house setting with a social atmosphere. The initial series will run for five consecutive Fridays in March 2012, 5:30-8:30 p.m. 

LightsOn occupies the historic Hynds Building. Among the many cultural projects happening with LightsOn!, we’re starting a concert series, “Fridays in the Hynds.” Inspired by the community spirit of downtown summer events, we want to offer a new experience to Cheyenne to continue that spirit in the winter months. 

This concert series exemplifies the mission of LightsOn! LightsOn! is a Wyoming Non-Profit Corporation affiliated with the Wyoming Community Foundation as a special initiative. The mission of LightsOn! is to create a new economic anchor in downtown Cheyenne founded in education and built on the strength of the arts. 

Concert schedule: March 2, Moe Diggin; March 9, Sh'Bang; March 16, Beat Grass; March 23, The Todd Dereemer Band; March 30, Greyweather.

Wyoming Sen. Al Simpson calls fellow Republican Rick Santorum "rigid and homophobic"

From Face the Nation on CBS:

Former Senator Alan Simpson had some choice words for his one-time colleague, former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum. 

"I know Santorum, I served with him," he said. "He is rigid and a homophobic. He believes that gays and lesbians, he mentioned in an interview in 2003, about bestiality, and gays and lesbians. I think that's disgusting," said Simpson. 

The former three-term Republican senator from Wyoming, who has always been known for both his candor and his ability to work across party lines, said Republicans are hurting themselves by focusing on social issues. 

"Here's a party that believes in government out of your life, the precious right of privacy and the right to be left alone. How then can they be the hypocrisy of fiddling around in these social issues? We won't have a prayer," he told Bob Schieffer in an interview for CBS News' Face to Face, a weekly web interview from the staff of Face the Nation. 

Those social issues are a defining part of Santorum's candidacy and his newfound support as a the leading conservative candidate. "And they asked him, well he said I want a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and they said well what about the people who are already married? And he said well they would be nullified. I mean what is, what's human, what's kind about that? We're all human beings, we all know or love somebody who's gay or lesbian so what the hell is that about? To me it's startling and borders on disgust," said Simpson, who would be considered a centrist Republican by today's standards and served at a time when the two parties in Congress were not as far apart on the ideological spectrum as they are today.

Read a transcript of the full interview with Simpson.

Republican-dominated Wyoming House passes the "punish the poor" bill

Wyoming House passes the punish the poor bill:

The Wyoming House of Representatives approved a bill that would require some state welfare recipients to undergo drug testing. 

By a vote of 37-23 on Monday, the House gave its final approval to the bill. It now goes to the Senate. 

Similar drug-testing bills are pending in Colorado, Utah and other states. Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich have endorsed the idea.

Read more here.

The votes:

Ayes (Punish the Poor!):  Representative(s): Berger, Blikre, Bonner, Brechtel, Buchanan, Campbell, Cannady, Childers, Davison, Edmonds, Eklund, Gay, Greear, Greene, Harvey, Hunt, Illoway, Jaggi, Kasperik, Kroeker, Krone, Lockhart, Loucks, Lubnau, Madden, McKim, McOmie, Miller, Peasley, Pederson, Petersen, Quarberg, Reeder, Semlek, Stubson, Teeters, Wallis 
 
Nays (Dems and Repubs with empathy):  Representative(s): Barbuto, Blake, Botten, Brown, Burkhart, Byrd, Connolly, Craft, Esquibel, K., Freeman, Gingery, Goggles, Harshman, Moniz, Nicholas B, Patton, Petroff, Roscoe, Steward, Throne, Vranish, Zwonitzer, Dn., Zwonitzer, Dv. 

Aircraft carrier amendment gone -- but Wyoming Republicans still preparing for Doomsday

Drat! And it was such a juicy blogging topic:

The Wyoming House of Representatives on Monday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States.

Before passing House Bill 85 by a voice vote on second reading, lawmakers struck out language directing the task force to study Wyoming instituting its own military draft, raising a standing army, and acquiring strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier. 

Read more: http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/doomsday-bill-moves-forward-minus-the-aircraft-carrier/article_00916968-6171-11e1-a45b-0019bb2963f4.html#ixzz1ncCasls1

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

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

First Coloradans steal Buffalo Bill's body. Now they turn him into a superhero!

From Denver's Westword: On Sunday, February 26, the Buffalo Bill Museum and Grave will open a new special exhibit titled Buffalo Bill Superhero. The character of Buffalo Bill (born William F. Cody) was on the cover of almost 2,000 dime novels, making him America's first comic book hero and paving the way for Batman and Superman. Covers provided by Steve Friesen.  

Volunteers put the "community" in Cheyenne's community theatre

This afternoon's matinee is the last performance of "Bad Seed" by the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players.

Too bad, really, as it's a fine show that addresses some up-and-coming issues of the 1950s, when the play first hit Broadway. During that time, there was a great debate over the nature-nurture thesis. Some experts thought that the nurturing of a good family could overcome any bad natural tendencies, such as murdering your classmates. Others thought there could be a "bad seed," that some children are just inherently bad.

In the play, eight-year-old Rhoda is a cute-as-a-button killer. A classmate drowns during a school picnic and Rhoda was the last one to be seen with him. Did she or didn't she? -- that's the plays big question. You can get a full description of the plot here.

In the CLTP program's "Director's Notes," Toni Tomei notes that the play may display its "threads of age" but its subject is still debated and "has been played out in countless books, films and television shows since." Not to mention the nightly news. How many murders have we seen committed by "that nice boy next door?" You know, Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Dylan Klebold.

But the best part of the play is in the doing of it. My wife and I are just two of the many volunteers who showed up during the course of the play. The cast and crew has been at the Mary Godfrey Theatre every day since the beginning of the year. Auditions were held, followed by six week of rehearsals. A set was built. Tickets were sold and press releases sent out. It takes a village to put on a play.

Saddle Ridge Elementary School student Lexie Woolridge (the creepy Rhoda) was recently seen as Baby Kangaroo in "Seussical, Jr." Assistant Director Wes Peterson is a recent graduate of Montana State University, a high school teacher and last year played Finch in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." Sharry Arneson (Miss Kent) works at the Barnes & Noble Starbuck's and both of her twenty-something children are actors. David James (Leroy) studied acting at NYU and enjoys painting. Fifteen people designed and built the set, including Eddie Heying (foreman), actor/singer and CLTP Office Manager Dana Heying and their two talented daughters.

Both of our kids have been involved with our community theatre. During his high school years, Kevin acted in several plays and also was a summer melodrama volunteer. He spent his community college years in Tucson as the student theatre's light-and-sound guy. Our daughter has volunteered as an usher and popcorn maker. Last night, I was house manager and my wife ran the box office. In the audience last night was a local physician, several fellow state employees, at least one preacher, a young married couple who met on the set, an artist, teachers, railroaders, retirees, etc. They were at the Mary Godfrey Theatre despite stiff competition from a Cheyenne Symphony performance and the second night of "Oklahoma" next door at East High School. Not to mention the competition presented by the wind and the cold.

If you get a chance at 2 p.m. today, go see "Bad Seed." Or get your tickets now for "The 39 Steps" March 23-April 1 at the Historic Atlas Theatre. The CLTP will also hold its 2012-2013 season debut session April 5 at the Atlas. You can also support the CLTP Mardi Gras Bash fund-raiser March 3 (next Saturday) at the Atlas.

Support your local theatre! FMI: http://www.cheyennelittle theatre.org

My new favorite pre-post-Apocalypse web site: Under the Mountain Bunker

My new favorite Armageddon-savvy, pre-post-Apocalypse, end-times-ready web site is Under the Mountain Bunker with the motto "Come for the Apocalypse, stay for the coffee!" This blogger mom in Colorado was born and raised in Wyoming so knows something about her subjects. She has some nifty commentary on the Wyoming Legislature's proposed new Doomsday bill. And she offers this neat graphic. Thanks, UTMB!

Wyoming Legislature stocks up for Doomsday. First purchase: aircraft carrier

Wyoming can't afford to fully fund its Health Department or rebuild its roads.

But House Republicans want to spend thousands of dollars to study the purchase of an army, strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier in case of "a complete economic and political collapse."

Here's the strange news in this Casper Star-Tribune article by Jeremy Pelzer (and thanks to Meg at Cognitive Dissonance for alerting me to this pressing issue):

State representatives on Friday advanced legislation to launch a study into what Wyoming should do in the event of a complete economic or political collapse in the United States. 

House Bill 85 passed on first reading by a voice vote. It would create a state-run government continuity task force, which would study and prepare Wyoming for potential catastrophes, from disruptions in food and energy supplies to a complete meltdown of the federal government. The task force would look at the feasibility of Wyoming issuing its own alternative currency, if needed. 

And House members approved an amendment Friday by state Rep. Kermit Brown, R-Laramie, to have the task force also examine conditions under which Wyoming would need to implement its own military draft, raise a standing army, and acquire strike aircraft and an aircraft carrier. 

The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. David Miller, R-Riverton, has said he doesn’t anticipate any major crises hitting America anytime soon. But with the national debt exceeding $15 trillion and protest movements growing around the country, Miller said Wyoming — which has a comparatively good economy and sound state finances — needs to make sure it’s protected should any unexpected emergency hit the U.S. 

Several House members spoke in favor of the legislation, saying there was no harm in preparing for the worst. 

“I don’t think there’s anyone in this room today what would come up here and say that this country is in good shape, that the world is stable and in good shape — because that is clearly not the case,” state Rep. Lorraine Quarberg, R-Thermopolis, said. “To put your head in the sand and think that nothing bad’s going to happen, and that we have no obligation to the citizens of the state of Wyoming to at least have the discussion, is not healthy.” 

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The bill must pass two more House votes before it would head to the Senate for consideration. The original bill appropriated $32,000 for the task force, though the Joint Appropriations Committee slashed that number in half earlier this week.

I'm all in favor of being prepared. I'd even be in favor of purchasing an aircraft carrier for emergencies if we had adequate port facilities in this landlocked state. But we don't. And won't, unless global warming due to excess burning of Wyoming coal accelerates and the Left Coast encroaches on Star Valley.

Wyoming Republicans seem to excel at crackpot bills. But this one is a doozy.