Local Dems needed for database updates

Nicole Novotny, secretary of the Laramie County Democrats, sends this notice:

There will not be a meeting of the Laramie County Democratic Party in July, but we are in need of your help! We currently have the huge task of entering names into our new database. We have gathered names from our caucuses and meetings to assist us with our membership drives and fund-raisers.

We also would like to help out our local candidates by making this information accessible to them for their campaigns. If you have the time, please volunteer a couple of hours down at our local/state headquarters in downtown Cheyenne and assist with this effort.

Call the party office at 307-634-9001 to arrange a time to volunteer.

Wyoming Republicans: What, We Worry?

Republicans aren't worried about losing the strangehold they hold on Wyoming politics. At least if you believe GOP Chair Diana Vaughn.

In an AP story by Matt Joyce:

Vaughan said she expects the party's core principles of "smaller government and lower taxes" to win the day in state and federal elections this November.

"We're talking about Wyoming," said Vaughan, who became the state GOP chairman last month. "This is what Wyoming stands for. That's why we've got the overwhelming majority in the state Legislature. People believe in those Republican principles and that's why we elect the people that we do."

Smaller government and lower taxes, eh? She couldn't be talking about the bloated Defense Department, which is part of government, last I heard. What about the deficit spending it takes us to continue to wage the 100-Year-War in Iraq? Lower taxes? Yes, for the richest Americans, thanks to Bush's tax cuts. Republican values: bigger federal government, spending money you don't have, and a free ride for the rich -- to hell with the middle class.

It gets even better:

Vaughan said the GOP is strong enough in Wyoming to overcome any national backlash over controversial Bush Administration policies, such as the Iraq war. Vice President Dick Cheney -- a Wyoming native -- is committed to helping the state GOP in the lead-up to the general election, she said.

Now this is great news for Democrats. If there is one man in America more reviled than Dubya, it's Dick Cheney, Wyoming's favorite son. Vaughn may think that Cheney's transgressions will be forgotten once he moves back to his hideout outside Jackson. I don't think so. Sure, the Wyoming Republican Old Guard will be happy to have Dick back in the fold. But Wyoming is not theirs and theirs alone. There are Republicans and Libertarians and Democrats who think that Cheney should answer for his crimes against humanity and the U.S. Constitution.

Later in the article, Bill Luckett, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said:

Wyoming residents are listening to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama's commitment to overcoming partisanship in Washington. "I understand why the Republicans want to continue thinking that this is a Republican state and Republicans are just going to win because that's the way it's always been," Luckett said. "But we have outstanding candidates this year, up and down the ballot."

Republicans have long treated Wyoming as their own conservative ranch. It's time we opened up the gates to let us Dem dogies run wild!

And impeach Dick Cheney.

Can Latino voters tip balance in Wyoming?

The Washington Post reported today that both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are "aggressively courting Latino voters."

"Make no mistake about it: The Latino community holds this election in its hands," Obama said Sunday at a conference of the National Council of La Raza, one of the nation's largest Latino civil rights groups. "Some of the closest contests this November are going to be in states like Florida, Colorado, Nevada and New Mexico -- states with large Latino populations."

"If you have any doubt about whether you can make a difference, just remember how, back in 2004, 40,000 registered Latino voters in New Mexico didn't turn out on Election Day," Obama said Sunday in San Diego. He noted that Democratic candidate John F. Kerry "lost that state by fewer than 6,000 votes -- 6,000 votes."

Despite becoming the nation's largest minority group over the past decade, Hispanics lag behind other groups in voting. According to the Census Bureau, 58 percent of eligible Hispanics were registered to vote in 2004, compared with 75 percent of non-Hispanic whites and 69 percent of blacks.

So, that's a problem. Hispanics may register but, unless highly motivated, won't come out to vote.

While New Mexico and Colorado have large numbers of Hispanic voters, Wyoming's Hispanic population is only 6.4 percent, or about 32,000 people. Say half of those are adults, and only half of them register, that's still 8,000 potential votes for Obama. If two-thirds vote for a Democrat in 2008, that's around 6,000 votes. That's a lot of votes in the least-populated state in the U.S.

What's your excuse for not voting?

I have a low tolerance for people who don't vote. I've heard all the excuses. "It doesn't matter -- all political parties are the same." That was disproved soundly in 2000 and 2004. "Too much trouble" or "My boss won't give me time off to vote." Jeez, in Wyoming you can vote early and absentee and by mail and even on election day. "Don't know how or where to register." Before elections, register at the County Clerk's office. But, in Wyoming, you can even register at the polls. How easy can it get? "I don't know where my polling place is." Again, go to your County Clerk's office or look it up on the Internet.


All that said, it is difficult for some people to penetrate the voting process. So the League of Women Voters is making a modest proposal (from a story in the Casper Star-Tribune by Joan Barron):

The Wyoming League of Women Voters wants the secretary of state's office to encourage the 23 county clerks to provide more voter registration outside their offices as allowed by state law.

"Part of the reason for the resolution is it's very hard for people in managed care residences, like assisted living facilities, to get out and go to register to vote," said Amy Williamson of Laramie, the league state president. She was referring to the resolution adopted at the league's recent state convention in Casper.

Williamson acknowledged that it is easy to vote in Wyoming because residents can register and vote the same day at the polls."But we are thinking also of people for whom it's difficult to get to the polls, people who are going to have to vote absentee because of that."

"But that should not bar them from voting," Williamson added Thursday. "We should be making every effort to make it as easy as possible for them to vote."

County clerks in Laramie and Washakie counties said that they set up voter registration outside the office when requested to do so."What we do is we'll go where asked," said Laramie County Clerk Debra Lathrop. "We don't just willy nilly say, Today would be a good day to go the library and register people.' You have to do it in conjunction with a sponsored event." The registration site must be a public area and there must be advance public notice of the event.

Deputy Secretary of State Pat Arp said Thursday: "Voter registration is a popular topic nationally because in most states if you don't register way ahead of time, you can't vote. Casting the vote is what is important. Registration without voting is of little value,” she said.

Statistics show that a lot of Wyoming people register but don't vote.


It's hard for me to believe that people are registering but not voting. Seems to me that if you go to the trouble of going downtown to register in Cheyenne or Casper or Sheridan, or if you have to travel from Wamsutter to Rock Springs or Jeffrey City to Riverton, then it would be just as easy to haul yourself to the polling place. Are Wyomingites lazy? Are there so many registered Republicans that their votes will just be superfluous? I will bet that there are some Democrats and Independents on the that of non-voting registered voters. Why, when there is so much at stake?

Gene research could hold clues to ADHD

Fascinating piece Friday on NPR’s Talk of the Nation Science Friday about new research on Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). To listen to the interview, go to http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=92455272. Here’s a synopsis:

This week in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists report that in two brothers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, a genetic change appears to make one of the brain's neurochemical pathways — the dopamine transporter — run in reverse. The result of that miswiring is that the brain acts as if amphetamines are always present, the researchers say.

Randy Blakely, one of the study's authors, and Allan D. Bass, professor of pharmacology and psychiatry at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, talk about the findings and what they might mean for ADHD treatment.

So, the dopamine transporters in these two brothers run backwards and that causes their ADHD? That could explain a lot, as too much dopamine leads to anxiety and nervousness and hyperactivity. The studies could lead to some breakthroughs in treatment for ADHD. It also explains the workings of Ritalin and Concerta and other central nervous system stimulants. They cause the dopamine tranporters to reverse their actions which, in the case of the two brothers, means that they are shifted from reverse into forward. Weird, eh?

Both my kids have ADHD. When we first put our son on Ritalin at the tender age of five, his pediatric psychiatrist admitted that scientists didn’t understand why Ritalin worked – it just did. Not exactly what parents want to hear when their five-year-old is being given a drug on the DEA’s list of Schedule II controlled substances, just one step down the scale from heroin, Quaaludes, magic mushrooms and LSD (also, inexplicably, marijuana).

So here are some new clues to the workings of ADHD medications.

I’ve written a lot about our family’s experience with ADHD. One of my early published essays on the subject in the now-defunct Northern Lights magazine was named "Hummingbird Minds" after a description of ADHD by hypertext pioneer Ted Nelson. He had ADHD in a big way and said that he and my son and millions of others had "hummingbird minds." That phrase became the title of my web site and later on my blog. In the beginning, I wrote a lot about ADHD but not so much any more. My son is 23 and in college. My daughter is about to enter high school. My son Kevin no longer takes medication for ADHD as he’s come up with other coping skills. It may be that ADHD is losing some of its sting as he ages. Not sure.

Some of my published work about ADHD can be found on my web site. Go to the "Writing" section on the sidebar and click on "On ADHD." Here’s an excerpt from my essay "We Are Distracted" published, in a slightly different form, in the 1996 book In Short: A Collection of Brief Creative Nonfiction by W.W. Norton and co-edited by Judith Kitchen and Mary Paumier Jones:

Physicians have been prescribing Ritalin (a.k.a. methylphenidate) for more than 30 years for a condition that has been known as Minimal Brain Damage (MBD), Minimal Brain Dysfunction in Children (MBDC), Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), and ADD with Hyperactivity (ADHD). If some progressive therapists and groups such as CHADD (Children and Adults with Attention Deficit Disorder) have their way, the official designation may one day be changed to Attention Deficit Syndrome with hyperactivity (ADHS). This alphabet soup can be confusing. Once, on his first day at a new school, my son announced in front of the class that he had ADHD. The next day, several very nervous parents called the school, concerned about the new student who had AIDS. Being a "hyper" kid turns you into one type or pariah; AIDS carriers get special mistreatment. It was weeks before the confusion was straightened out. But the impression had been made. Kevin was different; different is bad.

Westerners face double-nickel speed limits

"Mandatory" is a despised term in Wyoming, especially when it's applied to our vehicles. Mandatory seat-belt use. Mandatory non-use of alcoholic beverages while driving. The imposition of mandatory fuel-efficiency standards which could change the design and utility of our monstrous pick-ups.

The worst is about to come: mandatory 55-m.p.h speed limits. That's the latest buzz from Washington, D.C., as Sen. John Warner of Virginia has plans for a national 55 m.p.h speed limit. We had one once, remember, back in the 1970s. Motorists accepted it then because Middle East oil sheiks had us by the short hairs. Wonder if they'll accept it now, when once again Middle East oil sheiks have us by the short hairs and our G.I.s are dying because of it.

I was surprised to read in an article this morning by Dave Montgomery of McClatchy Newspapers that the U.S. Trucking Association is behind a national speed limit of 65. The USTA represents 3.5 million truck drivers and 37,000 trucking companies. The USTA contends that a 10 m.p.h. reduction in the speed limit would reduce fuel consumption by 27 percent. The article does not mention that 65 is already the top speed you can drive in many states. Not in the West, though.

Westerners are used to driving long distances for work and pleasure. Fuel prices have hit us hard, yet we still have these miles to cover and only so much time to do it. My trips from Cheyenne to Casper (180 miles) via I-25 take from two-and-one-half to three hours each way, depending on construction, weather, and calls of nature. At 65, the drive would still be about three hours. At 55, three-and-one-half. More of my time has to be built in the traveling portion of my day and less on the meeting portion. On the plus side, I can spend more time listening to audiobooks.

I work for the State of Wyoming and we've been discussing fuel-saving measures, such as car-pooling and better coordination of meetings and conferences. Car-pooling is a foreign concept to most Wyomingites. We not only need our cars, we love them. We also like the solitude of driving alone across the wide-open spaces. Our office has a staff of 10. If four of us have to go to an event in, say, Lander, we often drive four cars. One person may have to stay longer and another has to get home early for another meeting or a child's soccer game. Another might want to stay a couple days longer for some personal time, as Lander's a pretty cool place and located near the Wind River Mountains, Sink's Canyon State Park, and the Rez.

We're going to have to change our behavior. I'm going to have to change my behavior. Some things I'm going to have to give up. Once, I traveled with a colleague to a conference in Cody, some 350 miles away. I decided to introduce my colleague to Annie Proulx's short stories in "Close Range." After meeting a slew of Annie's crazed Wyomingites behaving badly, my colleague pleaded: "Can we listen to something else?" We settled on some classic rock CDs she brought along for just such emergencies.

The state motor pool bought several Priuses, but I've not yet been able to snag one. That would be an improvement, mileage-wise, but until the entire fleet is a multi-colored melange of Japanese-made hybrids, is won't make a dent in our fuel consumption. Besides, Americans now have to get on a waiting list to buy a Prius. By 2010, Toyota will make them in the U.S., and availability should increase. What price will gas be in 2010?

Meanwhile, I'm going to have to forgo Annie Proulx for an audiobook that everyone wants to listen to. Yikes! Groupthink is another word despised by Wyomingites.

Street activists get Denver survival tips

The Colorado Street Medics have some advice for those attending the "actions" planned for the Democratic National Convention Aug. 24-28 in Denver. Overall it’s good advice. We Rocky Mountain residents sometimes forget that the majority of Americans do not live at a mile (sometimes a mile-plus) above sea level. In fact, most live at or near sea level. When I travel from Cheyenne (elevation 6,200 feet) to visit my family in Florida, I marvel at the oxygen and moisture invading my dried-up Western body. I can jog down Daytona Beach for miles before I realize that the heat and humidity are killing me.

So, the Colorado Street Medics, part of a network of street medics that spring into action at political protests around the world, have some advice to DNC visitors. I found the post on the Recreate ‘68 blog.

If you are coming to Denver from sea level (or any other elevation significantly below 5,280 feet), the increased difficulty in passing oxygen from your lungs to your red blood cells posses several possible behavioral effects. These include:

Increased errors in performing simple mental tasks

Decreased ability for sustained concentration

Deterioration of memory

Decreased vigilance or lethargy

Increased irritability in some individuals

Impairment of night vision and some constriction in peripheral vision (up
to 30 percent at 6,000 feet)

Loss of appetite

Sleep disturbances

Irregular breathing

Slurred speech

Headache

Suggestions for avoiding these effects:

Oral pain medications such as ibuprofen or aspirin

Rest

Frequent consumption of liquids and light foods in small amounts

Realization of physical limitations and slow progression

Practice of deep-breathing exercises

Come to Denver a couple of days early. It will help your body acclimate, which will likely reduce the behavioral effects by the time the days of action occur. While you are in Denver drink a lot of water, eat meals regularly, and get good rest. These simple things can reduce the symptoms of altitude sickness and make you more functional when it comes time to participate in your choice of action.

If you're young and healthy, altitude sickness won't be a problem. You may experience some of the above symptoms, but just drink plenty of water and don't place yourself on the receiving end of a police truncheon, and you should be fine.

Our extended family is from Denver. I lived there until I was 9, and then my father began moving us all over the West as he built ICBM missile silos. We ended up in Florida, where my father joined the space program. I went to high school and college in Florida and, after a few years working dead-end jobs in Central Florida, my girlfriend (now wife) and I moved to Denver. I was 27. I was young and healthy, yet seemed to get a buzz after a few beers. At sea level, that took more than a few beers. To this day, I don't know if this is some kind of mile-high myth, or whether it actually may be true. I became winded after walking up a flight of stairs, so I avoided stairs during my first year in Denver.

Denver was so dry! A tube of Chapstick was my constant companion. I began using sunscreen religiously, something I hadn't been so good about in Florida. I missed the beach and my friends and all my brothers and sisters. But I discovered the mountains, in both summer and winter. And I made a home in the Rocky Mountains. Except for two years in the 1990s when I was on temporary assignment in Washington, D.C., I've lived in Colorado or Wyoming for 30 years.

The Colorado Street Medics are wise to alert activists to Denver's challenging climate. The medicos had one final warning for activists contemplating a mile-high DNC visit:

It boils down to this, would you rather have someone decontaminate you from chemical irritants with your normal skin, or with skin that has been badly sun burnt? We know which we would rather treat.

Ouch.

Wyoming's own Dr. Evil fudges facts on climate change testimony

From the July 8 Huffington Post:

WASHINGTON — Seeking to play down the effects of global warming, Vice President Dick Cheney's office pushed to delete from congressional testimony references about the consequences of climate change on public health, a former senior EPA official claimed Tuesday.

The official, Jason K. Burnett, said the White House was concerned that the proposed testimony last October by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention might make it tougher to avoid regulating greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere.

Burnett's assertion, which he made in a July 6 letter to Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, conflicts with the White House explanation at the time that the deletions reflected concerns by the White House Office of Science and Technology over the accuracy of the science.

Burnett, until last month a senior adviser on climate change at the Environmental Protection Agency, wrote that Cheney's office was deeply involved in getting nearly half of the CDC's original draft testimony removed.

PHOTO: Wyoming's own Dr. Evil, Dick Cheney (photoshopped image from Crooks & Liars)

Wind power available in Cheyenne this fall

I noticed that the summer's first energy bill from Cheyenne Power & Light is higher than last year's at this time. The rates are creeping up, and they're expected to go through the roof this winter.

But steps are being made locally to put renewable energy sources online. Good for global warming, but not necessarily a harbinger of lower energy prices.

This comes from a July 8 press release:

Duke Energy Generation Services, a subsidiary of Duke Energy Corp. has completed construction and is currently in start-up testing of its Happy Jack Windfarm project near Cheyenne. The new facility will provide enough energy to power up to 8,500 homes for the city of Cheyenne and the surrounding community through a 20-year power purchasing agreement with Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power Co., a subsidiary of Black Hills Corp. According to Cheyenne Light, the wind farm was built on land owned by the city of Cheyenne adjacent to the city’s Happy Jack Landfill. Fourteen wind turbines, with the expected production of about 100 million kilowatt-hours annually, were on the drawing board. At that time, the company predicted that power from the wind farm would be available to its customers in the fall of 2008.

When the project was announced, Tierra Energy was the selected developer of the wind farm. Tierra was purchased by Duke in May of 2007.

On the Web: Duke Energy: http://www.duke-energy.com/; Cheyenne Power & Light: http://www.cheyennelight.com/

Poetry and villainy get comeuppance at summer melodrama

As an actor, I'm a pretty good writer.

That's why I spend my stage time as a master of ceremonies at the Cheyenne Old-Fashioned Melodrama each summer. As one of the emcees, I fire up the crowd and keep the action moving. I occasionally do battle with hecklers or, during Cheyenne Frontier Days, drunken hecklers. I'm big and I'm loud, two important assets for any melodrama emcee.

The melodrama this year was written by Brooks Reeves and Rory Mack. It's called "The Rhyming Rapscallion" and centers around Tallen and Truly Handsome's shame at raising a son (Hardly) who wants to be a poet. His father, you see, wants Hardly to go into the family business of saving damsels in distress. He'd rather write poetry all day. Wouldn't we all! As always, there's the villain (BOO!) by the name of Dirk Degenerate and the villainess (HISS!) Shirley Take, or Miss Take if you prefer.

It's raucous fun. Just when it appears that Dirk Degenerate may win the day, there's the chase scene, the reversal of fortune, and the good guys triumph in the end, just as in real life. There are can-can dancers, too, and olio performances between acts.

"The Rhyming Rapscallion" or "A Tale that Goes from Bad to Verse" or "Dirk and Tallen Handsome" (a multitude of titles!) opens at Cheyenne's Historic Atlas Theatre on Friday, July 11, 7 p.m. For complete schedule, go to http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org/.

Cheyenne protests McCain's big-oil ties

Cheyenne’s “Day of Action for an Oil-Free President” rally will take place at 8th & Warren Ave. On Wednesday, July 9, 5 p.m. Hosted by Cheyenne’s Moveon.org Council. Meet at the southeast corner of Lion’s Park at the corner of 8th & Warren Ave. Host is Kate Wright. RSVP at http://pol.moveon.org/event/events/event.html?event_id=48246&id=13158-1460962-qsIhRex&t=4

Save those stimulus checks for heating bills

Are you ready for gargantuan home heating bills this winter? Rob Hurless, energy adviser to Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal, predicts that those bills could rise 30-70 percent. "It's pretty gruesome," he said in an Associated Press story.

Hurless and other state officials say consumers should prepare now, because the first heating bill after a cold snap this fall could be a real shock.

Chris Petrie, chief counsel for the Wyoming Public Service Commission, said there are a number of reasons for the rising price of natural gas. Among them, he said natural gas is tied to the price of oil. People in other parts of the country are changing from heating oil to natural gas. Many global contracts for natural gas are tied to oil prices.

In addition, he said fewer coal-burning power plants are being built because of environmental concerns. He said energy companies are turning more to natural gas to run their turbines.

Less natural gas is available for import, Hurless said. He said Canada is using natural gas to heat oil shale to make petroleum, while the Middle East and Asia are consuming more of their gas."If there is a message here, it's check the windows and do all you can to winterize now," he said.

So, the lack of a comprehensive national energy policy once again comes back to bite us in the ass.

Once I'm finished blaming the usual suspects (I'm looking at you, Bush and Cheney), I'm going to take a long hard look in the mirror and wonder why that guy didn't do more on the conservation side.

McCainosaurus stalks the streets of Denver

In this Denver Post photo, an unsuspecting Denverite screams in horror when confronted by a McCainosaurus at today's town hall meeting. She was even more shocked later when the saurian interloper began to speak, roaring a litany of crazy old dino ideas: privatizing Social Security, cutting Medicare and Medicaid, building a nuclear or coal-burning power plant in every backyard, continuing tax cuts for the rich, and staying in Iraq for 100 years. "That's crazy talk," the woman allegedly said. "Run for your lives!" The McCainosaurus devoured her, and then rampaged with his mate along Denver's 16th Street Mall.

DNCC chooses Mile High Stadium for Obama nomination speech

This just in from the Democratic National Convention Committee:

Breaking the mold of traditional political Conventions, the Democratic National Convention Committee (DNCC) today announced that Senator Barack Obama will accept the Democratic nomination for President of the United States at Denver's INVESCO Field at Mile High. INVESCO Field can accommodate more than 75,000 people and will be the site of the 2008 Democratic Convention's final day of programming on Thursday, August 28, 2008.

"The Democratic Party is nominating a true change candidate this August, and it is only fitting that we make some big changes in how we put on the Convention," said Governor Howard Dean, Chairman of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). "Senator Obama's candidacy has generated an enormous amount of excitement and interest, not only in the Democratic Party but also in the 2008 Convention. By bringing the last night of the Convention out to the people, we will be able to showcase Barack Obama's positive, people-centered vision for our country in a big way."

Rising prices put a dent in WYO politicians' travel budgets

Casper’s Keith Goodenough announced through The Underdog Report e-mail newsletter that he will officially launch his campaign for U.S. Senate on July 10, which is "Statehood Day." He plans to conduct weekly podcasts on Sunday evenings. He says that he will "invite my opponent to be a part of each and every one of them. I doubt that he will accept, but with enough voter pressure he might."

To get on Goodenough’s mailing list, drop him a line at citizen@citizengoodenough.com.

He also said this:

In order for the Wyoming Democratic Party to advance, we must be in the lead in using new technologies, and this should be one. Think of the potential if primary races in the WyoDem Party were conducted to a large degree via podcasts!

The advantages would be numerous. Politics should be about logic, and with unlimited 'airtime' on the computer a candidate like myself would have the time to fully flesh out a platform for the voters. The cost in time and money for a candidate to get around the state would be minimal. The money saved could be used in the General Election. Wyoming Democratic voters could be convince to listen to their computers in their own homes to really get a bead on the candidates, plus they could call in with their questions, comments and viewpoints.

This tech approach to campaigning is a great idea, considering gas prices and lodging prices ($110 a night in Rock Springs -- if you can find a vacancy). It does create a quandary in a state where personal contact among candidates and citizens is considered a God-given right. We're touchy-feely that way. Gary Trauner came close to beating Barbara Cubin in 2006 because he walked the neighborhoods and knocked on almost every door. He also hit rural areas, where space between neighbors is measured in miles. Unlike Goodenough, Trauner does not have a primary challenger, so all of his funding can go to the general election campaign against whomever Republican voters choose.

But here’s a fact that all of us independent-minded, behemoth-driving, outdoor-loving Wyomingites will have to face: gas prices are high and will only get higher. Driving everywhere will drive your budget into the ground. So what are the alternatives in a state that lacks a public transportation network? You tell me.

Victory Garden bearing fruit

My Victory Garden is coming along nicely. Thanks for asking. Three tomato plants in clay pots lined up against my south fence. I documented the dicey early stages of their existence on June 16 and 24. Almost lost them to a late freeze. But now they’re thriving, gulping water in this semi-arid climate like there’s no tomorrow (can you hear the sprinkler in the background?).

I began with three six-inch plants and now the German Striped and Gold Currant plants are climbing out of their cages. The Zapotec plant was getting tall and stringy so I lopped off the top half in the hopes that it will fill out below and create some blossoms. None yet. No blossoms as of this morning on the German Striped, either. I’m beginning to worry. Lots of blossoms on the Gold Currant, with tiny cherry tomatoes busting out all over (see photo).

Several tomato-growing friends were over the Fourth of July and they told me not to worry about the plants, that the blossoms will be along by-and-by. One friend told the story of her uncle in Kearney, Nebraska, who keeps his tomato patch growing even though his kids have grown up and moved away. He has a caged enclosure "the size of a VW bus" that grows big juicy tomatoes that he gives away to neighbors and the doctors and nurses and staff at the local hospital, a place where he and his wife are spending more time lately. There’s something about the gift of a big red tomato that satisfies some ancient urge in us. A zucchini doesn’t mean as much, probably because they can grow themselves. Same with summer squash or green beans. Tomatoes are difficult, especially at this altitude and in this climate. Someone in Cheyenne gives you a ripe homegrown tomato, and you know that person is a friend. Or more. My wife likes flowers, but this former tomato-spurning person now swoons at the sight of a homegrown tomato.

Meanwhile, the morning paper carries news that salmonella-tainted tomatoes have sickened 943 people in the U.S. Not bad, really, when you think of the millions of Americans who eat tomatoes. Unless it happens to you, and then one case of salmonella is too many. This looks like a case for "CSI-Produce Posse" as authorities have begun to suspect other ingredients used in salsa, such as jalapeno and Serrano peppers and cilantro. It might have rushed to judgement on the tomatoes. "Tomatoes are the leading suspect," the story says, "although other produce is being investigated."

Isn’t that always the way it is. The authorities always pick on the big round shiny red fruit before they investigate their green accomplices from the veggie kingdom.

As goes Butte (MT), so goes Cheyenne (WY)

Sen. Barack Obama spent the Fourth of July in Butte, Montana, which says something about his hopes about winning at least some of the Rocky Mountain states in November.

Here's an excerpt from today's story by Mike Dennison in the Billings Gazette:

BUTTE -- At events more likely to host a candidate for county sheriff than president, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama spent a sunny Fourth of July here Friday, driving home his message than if he can win in Montana this fall, he can win almost anywhere.

"If you stand with me and walk with me and vote just four months from now, we will have won Montana and we will have won everywhere else," he told a cheering crowd at an outdoor picnic on the Montana Tech campus in Butte. "We are going to change this country and we are going to change the world."

Forest Service gets its fight with Rainbows

The U.S. Forest Service office in Wyoming has been spoiling for a fight with the Rainbow Family since its leaders refused to move the site of its annual gathering because it was located near a Boy Scout summer project.

As if Wyoming doesn't have enough of an image problem. Picking a fight with the peace-and-love Rainbow Family is like, well, the schoolyard bully picking on the skinny long-haired kid who wears retro-60s clothes and listens to Green Day.

According to a lead-off article in this morning's Casper Star-Tribune, the Forest Service got its fight:

http://www.casperstartribune.com/articles/2008/07/05/homepage_lead/doc486f88a0700fc081116263.txt


UPDATE (July 6): The American Civil Liberties Union plans to investigate how federal law enforcement officers treated members of the Rainbow Family during their annual gathering this year in western Wyoming. Linda Burt, executive director of the ACLU in Wyoming, said Saturday that her organization plans to accept collect calls from Rainbow Family members for the next two weeks to hear how law enforcement treated them (from CST wire and staff reports).

Where will we be on Fourth of July 2009?

The fireworks show began a little behind schedule. That was fine with me, as my wife Chris, daughter Annie and I had just cleaned up from our annual Fourth of July Party and Bocce Ball Tournament. Chris was tired after a long day, so Annie and I walked to the corner to watch the show from the lawn of the Word of Life evangelical church. We gazed to the southwest, over the Air Guard base with its burgeoning fleet C-130s and choppers.

We saw nothing special, as far as fireworks go. But I kept wondering about Fourth of July 2009. Pres. Obama will be in the midst of his sixth month in office. Will he be removing U.S. troops from Iraq? One to two brigades a month, as he promised in speeches all over the country? Or will he have caved to political expediency? It’s easy making promises in front of 15,000 cheering Wyomingites in March in Laramie. It’s hard to make good on those promises once you’re the chief of the world’s super power, with lobbyists and legislators and citizens yapping at your heels every moment of every day.

It was the fervor of the antiwar crowd that vaulted Barack Obama to the Democratic Party nomination. Yes, it was also the economy stupid – rising gas prices, unemployment and all the rest. And the venality of the Republicans. And blatant mismanagement of the government. But it was the "Out of Iraq" crowd that made the difference for Obama. We pushed and pulled and cajoled. We could not support Hillary Clinton because of her votes on the war. That was the big difference between Barack and Hillary. Barack against the war, Hillary for it. Yes, she made statements to the contrary, but her votes and quotes are on the record.

With bombs bursting in air, I thought about John McCain. Warrior, senator, Westerner, old guy. He’d seen rockets rising to meet him during combat runs over North Vietnam. One of them tore through his plane and made him a P.O.W. He used to be a straight talker but is no longer. He hasn’t yet met a Bush policy he doesn’t like – or endorse. A Pres. McCain will never get us out of Iraq.

My reverie ended with the fireworks. When I looked around, Annie was gone and I was sitting on the grass with groups of disbanding strangers. In four months, we all troop to the polls and vote. Wyoming will go McCain’s way, but I’m voting for Obama, even though my vote gets lost among the electoral votes. Obama will win. I’ll wait at least until the fireworks go off this time next year to begin the criticism.

FMI: http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/wyhome

Quiet neighborhood, low crime rate

Our neighborhood is relatively quiet and crime-free. Occasionally, teens tear down our street on the way to the high school. A neighbor got busted for firing fireworks within city limits last Fourth of July. Late on summer nights, somewhere nearby, an annoying dog barks until its owner comes home.

Nothing major to report to the Crime Blotter. Cheyenne, in general, has a low crime rate. The Wyoming Tribune-Eagle tried to scare us about street gangs with a recent series of stories accompanied by colorful headlines. Gang-like graffiti is popping up all over town, which led city leaders to declare a gang alert. Not sure what that is, but it sounds serious. City maintenance crews are scrubbing graffiti from city property but private property owners are on their own. Some perpetrator even tagged the state parking garage downtown. A big colorful tag on the wall inside the second floor. It can't be seen from the street. I would venture that not many gang members are out the claim a parking garage as their turf. Maybe it's a new trend.

I was surprised yesterday when I came home for lunch and found police cruisers swarming the neighborhood. I spied one idling in the dead-end street that runs by my house. I wandered out to get some info. "Armed robbery at the Cenex station," said the policeman. "Seen anybody?" I told him I just got home. "Let us know if you do," he said, and then drove off. As I sat on my couch munching a sandwich, I saw several police cars pass. On the way back to work, I drove by the Cenex station and at least five police cars were on the scene, one with its lights flashing.

This morning's paper said that the robber was "a Caucasian man of average height and weight" dressed in a cowboy hat and a flowered shirt. Many residents fit this profile once Cheyenne Frontier Days begins later this month. But, as a rule, a white guy in a cowboy hat and flowered shirt waving a semi-automatic pistol and running down one of the town's busiest streets attracts attention. But nobody claims to have seen him. Same with me and my neighbors. Nobody saw him.

This is the second time in the past five years that the Cenex station has been robbed. The first time, the robber ran through the park across the street from our old house. My daughter and her friend were out in the playground after school. They saw the guy put something under the Dry Creek bridge, and then tear off to the West. The police arrived a few minutes later and brought down the robber. My daughter and her friend told me about the bridge and I told the police and that's where they found the loaded gun. I'm glad it wasn't the kids who did the finding....

As I said, a pretty quiet neighborhood.