Uncle Sam wants you -- at the polls

The Associated Press reports that the Federal Election Assistance Commission wants to recruit "2 million poll workers for the November election to help handle what could be a record turnout for the presidential election."

"We have seen historically high voter turnout during the primaries and continued high registration rates this year," Rosemary Rodriguez, chairman of the Election Assistance Commission, said Thursday.

"Election officials throughout the nation anticipate high voter turnout to continue in the general election," said Rodriguez, Denver's former clerk.

"Preparation for high turnout includes extra ballots and voting machines, but most important, we must have as many poll workers, including bilingual poll workers, as possible to prevent long lines."

To volunteer as poll workers of election judges at a Wyoming precinct, contact your county clerk. The Laramie County Clerk is Debbye Lathrop and you can get more info at http://www.laramiecountyclerk.com/index.asp. I've been a poll worker and an election judge. I was paid for my judging capabilities, and even paid for the training session that preceded the 2006 primaries and general election. This is a great way to understand the election system in all its glory and inglory.


I especially encourage young people to volunteer as poll workers, as we could use a little lowering of the average age. Right now, I'd say that it hovers somewhere around 70, with me being on the lower end of the scale and almost everyone else on the higher end.


Who wants to be around a lot of old people, you might say. Well, we can impart some hard-earned wisdom. Also, the snacks at the precinct on election day are beyond the usual doughnuts and rotgut coffee you might expect. I hate to be sexist, but many of the women volunteers actually bake coffee cakes and strudels and lunchtime casseroles (it's a long day at the polls). So, there are some benefits....


As Democrats, we need to be at the polls to make sure that all election proceedings are conducted legally. We've all heard about the voter suppression tactics practiced by Republicans. Don't let them get away with it!

Meanwhile, over at the Pepsi Center...

The Democratic National Convention Committee announced this today:

Marking one month until the start of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, members of the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian tribes of Colorado performed a Native American blessing today outside the Pepsi Center, where Democrats will gavel open the Party's Convention on August 25th in Denver.

"Colorado has a rich Native American heritage, and the Democratic National Convention is an opportunity to showcase that heritage for all the world to see," said Colorado Lieutenant Governor Barbara O'Brien. "Both the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian tribes can trace ancestral roots in this region that long pre-date Colorado's statehood. Native Americans have deep roots in the culture of this state --in its past, present and future."

Today's blessing ceremony included the burning of sage, chants, songs and prayers. A feather was used to "smudge" the smoke around the place of blessing. Native American leaders prayed both for delegates and for citizens across the country whose lives will be impacted by work accomplished during the Convention.

"With all that goes into planning a Convention, there is tremendous value in spiritual grounding in the home stretch. Our Native American brothers and sisters have a deep understanding of spirituality and its place in our lives," said DNCC CEO Leah Daughtry. "The rich Native American traditions of the West are an important part of our country's history and will be an important part of this historic Convention -- set to open right here in just one month's time."

"As a Native American and an active Democrat, I see two important facets of my life coming together," said Frank LaMere, Chair of the Democratic National Committee's (DNC) Native American Caucus. "In one month, there will be talk of Democrats, Republicans, politics and polls. However, I offer that the Creator cares most about heart, commitment, and those who will give voice and care for the people, and who will change things in our country."

During the upcoming Convention, the Democratic Party's Native American caucus will meet on Monday, August 25 and Wednesday, August 27 at the Colorado Convention Center.

McBush and I have an outing in Denver

John McCain and I were in Denver today. Not in the same place at the same time. He was at the downtown Hyatt, addressing the American G.I. Forum convention. I was three blocks away at an arts conference in the kitschy Curtis Hotel across from the Denver Center for the Performing Arts.

McCain imparted these nuggets of disinformation about Sen. Barack Obama to the oldest Hispanic organization in the U.S. (according to Reuters):

"Had his [Sen. Obama's] position been adopted, we would have lost both wars" in Iraq and Afghanistan, McCain said in a speech to a veterans' group in Colorado."We rejected the audacity of hopelessness, and we were right," the Arizona senator added in a pointed reference to the title of Obama's second book, "The Audacity of Hope."

McCain, crystallizing his arguments over the Iraq war in his strongest language to date, warned that pursuit of Obama's plan to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq over the next 16 months while boosting forces in Afghanistan could have disastrous consequences.

"We face another choice today. We can withdraw when we have secured the peace and the gains we have sacrificed so much to achieve are safe," McCain said. "Or we can follow Senator Obama's unconditional withdrawal and risk losing the peace even if that results in spreading violence and a third Iraq war."

While McCain was babbling on in a gust of sound and fury, signifying nothing, I was listening to Greg Esser from the largest city in McCain's state talk about how he and other young artists established an "artists' district" in Phoenix's downtown. They bought and leased squatters' houses and crack dens on the urban fringe and renovated them as live-in and exhibit spaces for the city's artists. They spent months unraveling arcane zoning and building regulations, stalwart even in the face of insufferable bureaucracy. Now the Roosevelt Row artists' district puts on First Friday and Third Friday Art Walks, with thousands of arts collectors and arts students and Yuppies and the merely curious venturing into a former dead zone.

Phoenix young people were reinventing downtown, spending their own money and time and sweat equity to bring life to an Arizona city. Urban pioneers, young capitalists with the kind of moxie that would make both Arizona Gov. Janet Napolitano (who's attended the Art Walks) and the late Barry Goldwater proud.

Meanwhile, Arizona's John McCain was trying to numb a Denver audience back to the Stone Age. That's what some Repub dinosaurs do.

Join Trauner Cheyenne Army on July 26

This message comes from Aaron Owens of the Gary Trauner campaign:

Dear Fellow Trauner Supporters,

This is the most important announcement I have shared with you so far in the campaign. I would appreciate a reply from each and every person who reads this, please. We have set up a local team to handle your replies. You can reach the team at southeast@traunerforcongress.com.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has issued a challenge to its top-tier Congressional races for this Saturday, July 26. The challenge is to GET THE MOST VOLUNTEERS active on that day: calling, knocking on doors, walking in parades, etc.

When we win this Saturday's competition, the DCCC will ask everybody on its 3-million donor list to contribute to our campaign for change. People all over the country are starting to notice the Wyoming Democrat who bucks the system, doesn't follow party lines, and is a fighter for his state instead of his party... Gary Trauner! Let's give them an opportunity to support his campaign to put America back on the right track.

Of course, Gary is winning this campaign with hard work and 1-on-1 contact with all voters in all 23 counties. The money we raise helps Gary focus on the 1-on-1 grassroots campaigning that has won him the reputation as a fighter for real Wyoming people.We need your help this Saturday more than ever! If you are receiving this email, Gary and I are expecting you to chip in... just 30 minutes. If you can't chip in 30 minutes, there is an alternative way to help below. We need each of you to help out in some way, though. Thank you, in advance!

HOW YOU JOIN THE TRAUNER CHEYENNE ARMY ON SATURDAY, JULY 26:

1) Decide which event you want to help with on Saturday:
* Calling Voters -- We will give you a list of about 30 voters to call from home on Saturday.
* Door-to-Door -- We will meet at the Trauner Office and give you a list of 30 homes to visit in your neighborhood.
* Frontier Days Events -- You will join us at Frontier Day events around town (parade, cook-off, etc.) to welcome visitors and meet voters.
* Volunteer Coordinator -- You will join our County Leadership Team all day and be responsible for an entire event's activities.

2) You send a confirmation email to southeast@TraunerForCongress.com letting us know which task you prefer (calling, door-to-door, or events, coordinator).

3) We will prepare your volunteer packets and contact you to find the best way to deliver them on Friday or Saturday.

4) Your Volunteer Coordinator will pick up your packet Saturday or Sunday.

IF YOU CANNOT GIVE 30 MINUTES:

We need cell phones with unlimited night/weekend minutes for volunteers in the office and around town to use for Saturday. Contact me for more details if you can go a day without your cell phone and want to count yourself in our Cheyenne Trauner Army on Saturday!I look forward to hearing which event you would like to help with. Please be in touch as soon as possible so we can prove to the entire country how powerful your grassroots Trauner Team is in Wyoming!

All Great Things,
Aaron Ross Owens
Senior Field Organizer
WY Coordinated Campaign
307.399.0898
aaron@TraunerForCongress.com

Ehrenreich explores nation's "great divide"

Montana has nurtured many fine writers -- Tom McGuane, Richard Hugo, James Welch -- but Montanan Barbara Ehrenreich is a writer and activist with a pissed-off populist bent. I'm reading her latest book, "This Land is Your Their Land: Reports from a Divided Nation." She no longer lives in Montana, but does spend a few weeks each year in the Rocky Mountain West.

I need to see vast expanses of water, 360-degree horizons, and mountains piercing the sky -- at least for a week or two of the year.

As a Westerner sojourner, she is suddenly confronted with those changes that we residents see day-by-day, such as the morphing of small scenic towns into playgrounds for the rich. Driggs, Idaho, for example, where she and a friend rented a small house.

At that time, Driggs was where the workers lived, driving over the Teton Pass every day to wait tables and make beds on the stylish side of the mountains. The point is, we low-rent folks got to wake up to the same scenery the rich people enjoyed and hike along the same pine-scented trails.

But the money was already starting to pour into Driggs... I haven't been back, but I understand that Driggs has become another unaffordable Jackson Hole. Where the waitstaff and bedmakers live today I do not know.

I don't know either. I do know that plenty of people still commute to Jackson over the pass from Driggs and Victor, and up from Alpine, Afton and Thayne to the southwest and Pinedale to the southeast. Long commutes, especially with the winter we had this year. The super-rich are replacing the just-plain-rich, and the locals keep searching for affordable housing. Some has been built, but more is needed. Meanwhile, the waitstaff and bedmakers and coffee baristas and white-collar workers get hit the hardest by growth and the sputtering economy. That drive over the pass in that second-hand SUV just gets more and more expensive.

Ehrenreich's book is full of pithy examples of the growing inequality between the haves and the have-nots. Read it -- and prepare to get as ticked-off as she is.

McCain a hypocrite on Social Security

MSNBC (and other media outlets) reported this on July 17:

Although Republican presidential candidate John McCain has called Social Security "a disgrace," he still cashes his own retirement check every month.

"I'm receiving the benefits, the system is broken and, unfortunately, my children and grandchildren, according to the trustees of the Social Security system, will not have the same benefits the present retirees have," McCain told reporters Thursday on his campaign bus.

McCain's 2007 tax return shows Social Security benefits of $23,157 for the year, an average of $1,929.75 a month. He said he started receiving the payments "whenever I was eligible."

It's a good thing that John McCain receives a Social Security check. He paid into the system for 40-some years, so he should receive the same guaranteed payment that I expect in 2015. It's a safety net for all American workers.

However, McCain says the system is "a disgrace" and that it is "broken." If it is broken, blame it on him and his fellow Republicans. George W. Bush poisoned the term "Social Security reform" when he attempted to privatize it during his first term. For most of us, "privatize" translates into a transfer of wealth from the middle class to the corporate entities (Bush's pals) that would handle the privatization. Remember who made the money when Bush jobbed out some functions of the military? Halliburton and friends (e.g., Dick Cheney).

So, if John McCain has a plan for Social Security reform that doesn't include a windfall for his Republican pals, I'll listen to it. But it has to include a rollback of the tax cuts for the rich that the Republicans initiated in Bush's first term (such mischief they got away with in the early part of this century). Those tax cuts have funneled more money to the wealthy and left less funding for domestic programs such as Social Security. If they're going to get Social Security checks to ease their retirement, make them pay their fair share into the system.

Letter writer SHOCKED that Trauner is supported by prog-bloggers

It seems that Daily Kos wields a lot of influence in Wyoming.

Martin Halverson from Etna, Wyoming, wrote a letter to the editor in this morning's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. He is shocked SHOCKED to find that Daily Kos, an admitted prog-blog run by Liberals, supports Gary Trauner, the only Democrat running for Wyoming's lone U.S. House seat, a seat being vacated by the already vacant Barbara Cubin.

Here's a sample from the letter:

Mr. Trauner, according to the Daily Kos editors, is "a Daily Kos favorite;" the editors brag that "a majority of Mr. Trauner's funding came from us;" they further remark that "it's nice to know the DNCC sees what we see in Trauner."

Mr. Halverson (if that is his real name) from Etna (if that is its real name) is shocked SHOCKED that Democrats, even the online out-of-state variety, are supporting other Democrats. Apparently, Wyoming Republicans have never done this. All of the donations to Barbara Cubin's many campaigns have come from nickels and dimes collected by orphans in Etna.

Mr. Halverson has checked Gary Trauner's FEC filings and found "no fewer than 28 labor union donations to his campaign. Could it be that Wyoming is a Right to Work state and the hugely profitable union industry hopes to change that?"

I, for one, am glad to see that 28 labor unions still exist. The Republicans have done their best to destroy unions and to pass anti-union legislation. I happen to belong to one, the Wyoming Public Employees Union, and know that the WPEA has worked hard to boost wages and benefits of the thousands of state workers in Wyoming. Because Wyoming is a Right to Work state, you don't have to belong to a union to work in state government or in the oil fields or anywhere else. You don't have to belong to the union to benefit from their advocacy. In fact, you can even be a Republican, as are at least two-thirds of the registered voters in Wyoming. I happen to know many non-union Republicans in state government. They get the same pay and benefits I do. I pay dues, they don't. I work with the union to better our lot (for all of us) and they just glide along. Some of them even donate to Republicans whose deepest wish is to banish unions forever. Odd, isn't it?

Mr. Halverson signs off this way:

It amazes me that Daily Kos "favorite" Gary Trauner asks us, with a straight face, to believe that he can represent Wyoming in Congress with all that "liberal," "progressive," and union money under his belt. Fact is -- he can't.

If the man had done his homework, he'd find that Gary is raising money from Wyomingites at an unprecedented level. Why, just last month this Liberal blogger from Cheyenne donated some of his hard-earned union wages to Trauner's campaign. I was joined in this activity by 499 other Wyomingites during the second quarter of 2008. Some of them may be Republicans, Libertarians or Greens. We all realize that Wyoming -- and the country -- need new leadership with new ideas. Trauner can represent Wyoming. And will. With a straight face.

Victory Garden becomes e-garden

I may have to rethink the term "Victory Garden." Victory gardens were grown on the home front during WWII so people could supplement the food they could get at the store via ration coupons. It also was an attempt to free up food to go to GIs overseas. We were a much more rural nation then, many more of us were farmers who had their own 60-acre-plus victory gardens.

But movement to the cities had begun. Southerners streamed up from Appalachia and the cotton-growing Delta to make tanks in converted Detroit auto plants. Dust Bowl refugees had escaped Oklahoma and Kansas for southern California and moved from picking fruit as day laborers to defense workers. All these were farm people who knew how to grow tomatoes and corn. So up popped victory gardens. "V" (as in "Veggies") for Victory!

What kind of victory am I looking for in my garden? Victory from salmonella-laced tomatoes? As it turns out, that may have been a false alarm. Victory from rising produce prices? I've already spent enough on plants and containers and water to buy dozens of store-bought kinds, even organic ones. Am I freeing up food supplies for military MREs? Not likely.

A week ago on NPR's Science Friday, hot-shot gardeners Barbara Ellis and Rosalind Crasy talked about e-gardens. Those are environmentally-sound gardens, veggies grown pesticide-free using drip irrigation or "gray water" from sinks and bathtubs. They offered so many tips that I started to take notes and then realized they both had written books. They are long-time gardeners and find themselves on the cutting edge of a green revolution. It's part of a national effort to replace lawns with Xeriscaping and fruit trees and vegetable-bearing plants. It's a trend in the burbs and in the cities, where roof-top gardens not only produce beans and tomatoes, but clean up the air. Green rooftops can cut down the energy it takes to cool the building. And some architects are even planning green high-rises with gardens that cover the entire surface, not just roofs.

Meanwhile, back in the small city of Cheyenne, Wyoming, my tomatoes are growing. I popped a few Gold Currant cherry tomatoes into my mouth yesterday and I tasted the sun. Tomatoes are popping out all over. My German Striped and Zapotec plants are blooming. I am using way too much water on them, as it hasn't rained for a month. So maybe I will continue to label my growing efforts with a small "e" for e-garden.

Next summer, I'm tearing out my grass (the real water hog) and replacing my entire yard with a real E-garden and low-water plants and rocks. Lots of rocks.

Judge puts stop to wolf killing in Wyo.

This is big news from the wires:

A federal judge in Montana has restored endangered species protection for gray wolves in the Northern Rockies, putting a halt to legal wolf killing in Wyoming and derailing plans by it and two other states to hold public wolf hunts in the fall.

500 new Wyo. donors for Gary Trauner

Adam Ruff, campaign manager for Trauner for Congress, reported today that Gary raised $322,578.45 during the second quarter of this year. With cash in hand of more than $700,000, that gives the campaign a war chest of a million-plus. More than 500 new Wyoming donors kicked into the pot this quarter, adding up to 1,000 donors inside the state.

Trauner for Congress raised a big chunk of change two weeks ago when Ruff put out a call for donations on June 30, the last day of the quarter.

We told you that we were just over $7,500 short of reaching our goal for the quarter. You stepped up. You stepped up in a BIG way. In the next 12 hours we raised $35,143.63 online! When we asked for help, you showed what support Gary Trauner has in this state and the nation.This quarter – Gary not only out-raised every other opponent – he out-raised every other opponent COMBINED.

I was one of them, making a modest donation (no, it wasn't the 45 cents part of $322, 578.45). But it's important for Wyomingites to make modest donations to Trauner's campaign. The Republican opposition has tried to paint Gary, a Democrat, as an elitist "Coaster" who moved to Jackson Hole -- and you know how liberal that place is! The more support we throw behind Gary, the weaker that weak argument appears. At least one of the four candidates running on the Republican side -- rancher Mark Gordon -- has "donated" more than $400,000 of his own dough to his campaign. Gordon also picked up the endorsement of Malcolm Wallop. This name rings a bell with Wyomingites, as Wallop served as one of the state's U.S. Senators. Newcomers won't know him from Adam, and Democrats don't care.

While we have raised almost 1 million dollars to date – this race will be expensive and competitive. Our opponents have, and will likely continue to, dump in their own money. The other side will fund television, radio, newspaper ads and mail against us. We need to make sure we are able to compete. Please continue to help in any way you are able.

So, keep those sawbucks rolling in. And when Gary comes to town, walk door-to-door with him in your neighborhood. You may have trouble keeping up, but you'll learn a lot about him -- and your neighbors.

UPDATE (7/19): Republican Mark Gordon, the rancher from Johnson County running for the U.S. House, has donated $648,000 to his campaign, not the $400,000 I mentioned above. That's a lot of dough. Ranching been bery bery good to Mr. Gordon.

Dave Plouffe, close personal friend, asks for support (and five bucks)

David Plouffe, campaign manager for Obama for America, sent me another personal e-mail message this morning. To me and millions of his closest friends and advisers. The messages usually carry good news, which is nice. There's a slightly ominous ring to this one. The Republican National Committee and the McCain campaign, according to Dave (may I call you Dave?), "finished June with nearly $100 million in the bank." And that's just the spare change that Cindy McCain found rummaging around in her purse!

Democrats are trailing, money-wise. And Dave, I hope we don't have any accounts with IndyMac Bank. Obama supporters raised $52 million in June, helped significantly by my $25. If you add all that to the DNC's account, "we now have nearly $72 million in the bank. That's a very strong financial position to be in. But we remain at a massive disadvantage to our opponents."

Dave is asking me and my compatriots to donate $5 online now. The least I can do. A million people donating $5 apiece adds up to $5 million more in the bank. To contribute, go to https://donate.barackobama.com/junenumbers.

Here's how Dave sums things up:

I know this isn't the first time we've asked you for financial support, and it won't be the last. We have developed a strategy -- a very aggressive strategy -- that will only work if our millions of supporters continue to contribute their time and their money. That strategy will work, and it has to. The stakes are too high and the need for change too great. But victory is only possible with your continued help. We can't do this without you.

I'm fine with that. The stakes are high -- couldn't be any higher -- and money talks in all election campaigns, but talks the loudest every four years.

The Obama campaign is never shy about asking for money. I noticed that during the winter when the Obama operatives parachuted into Wyoming in advance of the March caucuses. They arrived organized and motivated, with armloads of U.S.-made "Wyoming for Obama" T-shirts for sale. I like it when I hear the word "aggressive" spoken by Democrats. I like the fact that Sen. Obama responds immediately to Republican slime attacks. I like the Dems new in-your-face style. I wish that Al Gore and John Kerry had used the same tactics instead of listening to the namby-pamby wing of the party.

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/