Pause to think about wonders of universe

In this morning's Arizona Daily Star, I'm reading about the International Year of Astronomy. During the past couple decades, new telescopes have shown us amazing images of the universe. One of the best shows on TV is "The Universe" on the History Channel. It showcases some amazing images and imagines life on other planets through animation. But once the shows are aired, they may already need updating. Things are happening that fast.

The International Astronomical Union has declared 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy. This is in honor of Galileo who, 400 years ago, spied craters through the moon through the world's first telescope. He also proposed the unthinkable: that the earth revolves around the sun, not vice versa. The Vatican accused him of heresy for such crimes.

Now, a short 400 years later, we can view nebulae and signs of black holes. Astronomers are tracking possible habitable planets in other systems. All kinds of new telescope projects are underway around (and out of) the world.

I'll leave you with this quote, which I'm going to try to say daily. It's from IAU President Catherine Cesarsky, a French astrophysicist:

"In 2009, we would like everybody on Earth to think at least once about the wonders of the universe."

Amen

From the land of sun and snowbirds

After Nov. 4, I thought about attending the Obama Inauguration in D.C. It's historic, no quibbling about that. It's an opportunity to join with thousands of maybe millions of like-minded citizens to celebrate our election efforts -- and hope for the future.

But back in the early fall, I arranged a trip to Arizona that combined business with pleasure. Also a chance to get out of Wyoming in mid-winter. I arranged the trip to accommodate others, and forgot about possible big happenings in D.C.

But there are more of us "not" going to the inauguration than those attending. We plan to be remote participants, volunteering for worthy causes on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day and watching Tuesday's festivities on airport TVs, which always seem to be tuned into Fox News (conspiracy?). I wonder, is Fox even covering the event? It's possible the network may run highlights of all the things it got wrong during the presidential campaign. Or maybe a special Ultimate Fighting Championship Death Match pitting Ann Coulter against Rush Limbaugh. If I know Ann's fighting skills, Rush will be hurting big time after that one. He'll really need those prescription painkillers.

So I may miss the Jan. 20 ceremonies. But I'll watch them later on the web. On Monday, my son and I will volunteer for the cause in Tucson. I've already written about USAservice and some of the orgs that seek help on that day -- and throughout the year.

All in all, a great time to be an American.

Where the artists are in Phoenix

My son Kevin poses in front of graffiti art that adorns the rear of the HoodRide shop, 918 N. 5th St., in the Roosevelt Row Artist District in downtown Phoenix. The combination custom bicycle shop and silk-screen printing company's exterior was painted by a roving band of Denver graffiti artists. While in Phoenix on a business trip, I visited the district's shops during its Third Friday Night event. According to a description on the Roosevelt Row web site, HoodRide is nightly from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. and offers "music and art performances with a focus on underground, low brow and street art. On premise screen printing and eclectic Bodega store."

Feed Wyoming 2009 this weekend

On this Martin Luther King, Jr./Barack Obama Inaugural Weekend, we focus our attention on hunger. Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies sent out this press release about Feed Wyoming 2009:

The Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies announced a statewide fund-campaign to procure food for the hungry in Wyoming. Feed WYOMING 2009 was inspired by the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King and in response to President-elect Obama’s call to citizens to serve others in their communities. The collaborative effort will take place January 17, 18th, 19th and 20th as a part of a National Day of Service.

Feed Wyoming 2009 is a non-partisan, non-denominational campaign. Any money raised will go directly to the purchase of food for people in need in the regions where the dollars were raised. The USDA estimates the cost for a family of four to eat healthfully for one day is approximately $17.50. With the help of the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies, a meal for a hungry family of four can be delivered for as little as one dollar.

Citizens are asked to consider helping in the following ways:

Ø To place a collection box at their place of business on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.
Ø To ask their members, parishioners or constituents to consider a small one-time contribution. (Feed Wyoming is suggesting the cost that one might spend for one day’s groceries.)
Ø To create an email postcard asking friends to donate online: http://www.foodbankrockies.org/site/PageServer?pagename=Donate_Funds (don’t forget to designate your donation to the Wyoming Food Bank!)
Ø To create a link on their home page.
Ø To inspire a group to host a fund-drive in a public place.
Ø To invent another way to help raise resources!

All contributions will be directed to the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies who will in turn purchase food for the more than 200 food banks and pantries across the state. All contributions to WFBR are tax-deductible.

“If each of us as citizens does a little, our collective impact will be immense” said Marguerite Meyer, Director of Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies. “This is a wonderful way of reflecting our commitment to those in need at a dire time.”

Feed WYOMING 2009 Community Partners and January 20th, 2009 statewide food/fund drop locations:
THERMOPOLIS: NOWCAP 317 So. 6th St. (307) 864-5544
CASPER: Casper Chamber of Commerce 500 No. Center St. (307) 234-5311
CHEYENNE: Needs, Inc. 900 Central Ave. (307) 632-4132
GILLETTE: Council of Community Services 114 #4-J Rd. (307) 686-2730
ROCK SPRINGS: Sweetwater County Food Bank 90 Center St (307) 307-382-7332
SHERIDAN: Sheridan Senior Center 211 Smith St. (307) 382-7332 ALL WEEKEND

For more information about Feed WYOMING 2009 contact Marguerite Meyer at the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies: 307.265.2172, 877.265.2172 or (307) 258.2908

Wyoming legislators confront immigration surge of same-sex married couples

The Know-Nothings are back to their old tricks for the 2009 Wyoming Legislative session.

This from the AP’s Ben Neary:

Some Wyoming lawmakers want to amend the state constitution to specify that Wyoming won't recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states, while opponents say they'll fight to defeat the measure for the second time in two years. Two-thirds of lawmakers would have to approve of the gay-marriage measure to put the proposed amendment before the voters. If approved, it would specify that only marriages between one man and one woman would be considered legal and valid in Wyoming.

I wrote about the ridiculousness of this bill during the 2007 session (see my March 7, 2007 post). That bill was opposed by equality-minded Democrats in the Equality State. But since Dems make up only .00005367 percent of the Legislature, we needed Republicans to kill the bill. Rep. Dan Zwonitzer was one of them. House Rules Committee member Rep. Tom Lubnau of Gillette took Zwonitzer’s side, acknowledging the Cheyenne legislator's speech before voting against the measure. The committee voted 7-6 to kill the bill, with House Speaker Roy Cohee, R-Casper, casting the tie-breaking vote. Zwonitzer couldn't vote against the bill because he's not on the committee. Other Republicans opposed the 2007 bill:

Rep. Pat Childers, R-Cody, said Monday that he would oppose the proposed constitutional amendment, just as he opposed the failed 2007 legislation that would have barred Wyoming from recognizing same-sex marriages performed in other states. He said he believes it would discriminate against people on the basis of their sexual orientation.

He said it's not the state's place to take a position on same-sex marriages. He said he believes that religious beliefs are behind the effort to change Wyoming law."I am never going to begrudge religious beliefs," Childers said. "But what they're doing is forcing their religious beliefs into the legal system. And I'm a firm believer in the separation of church and state."

Wyoming already has a law in place that says only marriages between a man and a woman may be conducted in the state. However, the state is currently bound to recognize marriages performed in other states, some of which allow same-sex marriages and civil unions.

Sen. Curt Meier, R-LaGrange, one of the bill's sponsors. He’s being lobbied by a new group called WyWatch Family Institute (which lists a Carpenter, Wyo., post office box in its contact information), describes itself as a "group of Judeo-Christian families who have a goal to preserve traditional family values in the great state of Wyoming." Which Colorado Springs-based group of fundie wingnuts is advising WWFI? You get three guesses, and the first two don’t count.

Focus on the Family. Plus the Alliance Defense Fund, an Arizona-based fundie legal group.

Outside agitators. Ain’t it always the case.

For more info on this group, go to http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/groups/wywatch-family-institute

Wyoming Equality will oppose the legislation. Spokesman Bob Spencer said he believes it will be harder to defeat the proposal this year than it was two years ago. "I think it just means that there's been a general movement toward more accepting, and therefore I think it makes our legislators, who are quite conservative, more defensive," he said.

Upcoming events for Laramie Co. Dems

Nicole Novotny, secretary of the LarCoDems, sends this info:

The next meeting of the Laramie County Democratic Party will host a legislative panel discussion. The meeting is Tuesday, Jan. 27, 7 p.m., at the Plains Hotel in downtown Cheyenne.

Also, please mark your calendars for a legislative reception to be hosted by the The Bell Family. This reception will take place on Friday, Jan. 30, 6 p.m. Tickets to attend this event will be $10 and the reception will be held at 7419 Daniel Court.

If you have questions, please call 307-631-7641.

Keep up pressure on the Wyoming Legislature for mental health bills

Thanks to Rep. Keith Gingery for this quick reply of my e-mail from Jan. 10 (see text of my e-mail below):

Dear Michael:

The Children’s Mental Health Waiver has taken a lot of work to finally get it off the ground and it is great to hear that it is being used by your family. The idea originated back in 2005 when we had parents testifying about the need to have a waiver. It took some strong arguing, but we were able to get it passed in either 2006 or 2007 (I can’t remember), and then it took a lot of work from the dedicated employees at the State Department of Health who figured out how to implement the program. It took a lot longer than I thought it should have to get the program operating and it had a few bugs ( too much paperwork and overly burdensome reporting requirements), but after incessant harassing on mine and other’s parts, we got it operating. I, too, was excited to see that the Mental Health Parity act passed in the bailout bill. We had tried that bill two years in a row here at the state level, but with no success. I think the Federal parity law will really help many Wyoming families.

We still have a long ways to go to get our mental health system working the way I want it to, but with stories like yours, it inspires me and other legislators like Rep. Millin, to redouble our efforts. The only thing I ask of you is to keep up the pressure on me and my fellow legislators to make the system even better.

State Representative Keith Gingery – Jackson Hole
Co-Chair, Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse

New book a celebration of the Red Desert

Red Desert: History of a Place, edited by Annie Proulx with photos by Martin Stupich, was released in December by the University of Texas Press in Austin.

The book had its genesis at an exhibition of Stupich’s Red Desert photos at the University of Wyoming Art Museum. The exhibit culminated in the Art Museum’s Red Desert Symposium in fall 2007. It was one of the best and most enlightening events I’ve attended in my 18 years in Wyoming.

Here’s an excerpt from Annie’s introduction:

It is our hope that this book will encourage naturalists, historians, graduate students, and Wyoming residents to venture into the Red Desert and discover for themselves the microhabitats, curiosities, and beauty of what remains in this little-known place, that they will observe for themselves the new roads and attendant dust storms, notice the biomass of halogeton, Russian thistle, cheatgrass, and other invasive weeds along those roads that come with soil disturbance. It is easy to blame all the changes in the Red Desert on energy extraction work, but that is the narrow view. There are countless Red Deserts in this world. Jack States touched the larger problem when he said, "Undeniably much of the pristine Red Desert ecosystem is imperiled not only by resource hungry corporations fueled by a resource hungry populace (that includes sanctimonious environmentalists), but also by inexorable global warming and extinction of species. To me the issues we face in the Red Desert are not that different from any other aspect of global environmental crisis spawned by a burgeoning human population."

"Red Desert: History of a Place," ISBN: 978-0-292-71420-5$50.00, hardcover with dust jacket 10 x 8 in.; 412 pp., 72 color illus. in section; 5 b&w illus., 9 maps, 8 tables 33% website discount of $33.50 at http://www.utexas.edu/utpress/excerpts/exprored.html

Just another January Sunday in The Hole

Nature has a way of taking your breath away. Sometimes, webcams can come close to what a professional photog can do with the Tetons. This from Jackson Hole webcams, Spring Creek Ranch site, just a few minutes ago. Get updates at http://www.jacksonholenet.com/webcams/spring_creek_ranch.php.

Hummingbirdminds professes some envy for the Jackson Hole scenery, yet is happy that he doesn't have to pay those housing prices -- or endure Dick Cheney as a neighbor.

Hummingbirdminds can't help but remember something a poet from the Big Horns once told him: "Too bad you live in the ugly part of the state."

Brownie: "Feets don't fail me now!"

Sometimes life dishes up some ironies that you have to share.

Colorado Media Matters blog reports that former FEMA Director Michael Brown (a.k.a. "Brownie") was one of the residents evacuated from a Boulder County wildfire in Colorado this past week. The CMM web site reports that Brownie’s role in previous disasters was overlooked when he was interviewed on KOA radio.

On the January 8 broadcast of Colorado's Morning News on Newsradio 850 KOA, co-anchors Steffan Tubbs and April Zesbaugh interviewed Michael Brown, the former head of the Department of Homeland Security's Division for Emergency Preparedness and Response -- previously the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) -- about his evacuation due to a major wildfire in Boulder County. Neither news anchor mentioned Brown's leadership role in the federal government's much-maligned response to the Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005.

As The Washington Post noted in a January 8 online article:

Former FEMA Administrator Michael Brown, a.k.a. "Brownie" was among approximately 11,000 residents of Boulder, Colo. evacuated yesterday amid raging wildfires that have scorched at least 1,000 acres. After his eagerly anticipated resignation in Sept. 2005, the poster boy for the Bush administration's botched response to Hurricane Katrina moved back to the Boulder area, where he once served as legal counsel to the Arabian Horse Association and now operates a disaster consulting business.

You can read sections of the KOA transcript, and find other meaty insights on the Front Range media scene, at http://colorado.mediamatters.org/items/200901080002.

It's a cold windy day in Wyoming, but...

I'm a long way from Gainesville, but still get to celebrate the Gators' win Thursday night against Oklahoma.

Head to Estes Park for Jan. 17 Earth Fest

Janice Mason in the Estes Park Trail Gazette on Jan. 9 writes about the second annual Estes Earth Fest taking place on Saturday, Jan. 17, at the YMCA of the Rockies' Willome Center.

For those of you unfamiliar with the area, Estes Park is known as the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park. When you drop into town on a summer Saturday, Estes Park may be the last place you think of as "green." Traffic is backed up for blocks, with cars and SUVs and RVs spewing clouds of exhaust into the mountain air. While downtown features creekside paths with a walkway and park, the town's shops are eerily similar to the those in Myrtle Beach and Branson, Mo. T-shirts, ice cream, burger joints, etc. It's not bad, but not exactly picturesque. But you have to go through Estes to get to RMNP, at least from the Front Range side of the Rocky Mountains. RMNP is one of our family's favorite camping and hiking spots. It's only a couple hours away from Cheyenne, the closest national park. It's worth a half-hour traffic jam in Estes to reach our destination.

But some changes are afoot, green-wise. Estes Park Light and Power is now accepting reservation requests for rebates on the installation of small wind turbines and photovoltaic generators. They'll be promoting the program at the Earth Fest.

Eagle Rock School staff and students have been working for months to recreate the success of last year’s Earth Fest held at the Estes Park High School. John Guffey, service-learning instructional specialist at Eagle Rock, leads the coordination of the festival.

“My sense of Estes Park is that we have a responsibility,” said Guffey. “I believe that it’s a beautiful one that we haven’t acknowledged. It’s been here for a long time, but we just think that we can milk the cow until we dry it out. In fact, we need to change how we relate with tourists and how we relate with the Park, to be a real connecting point. So we don’t just bring people in but that we give out the message.”

General admission tickets for the Earth Fest are $5 for adults 18 and over, $2.50 for students, and children under 8 enter free. The dinner will be by separate ticket: $10 for adults 18 and over, and $5 for youth ages 6 to 17. Advance dinner tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for youth ages 6 to 17.

YMCA of the Rockies Estes Park Center is located at 2515 Tunnel Road 2515, off of Highway CO-66.

FMI: John Guffey at 586-7115, jguffey@eaglerockschool.org, or visit www.eaglerockschool.org.

Two of the more interesting Earth Fest speakers are:

David Wann is an author, filmmaker and speaker about sustainable design and sustainable lifestyles. His most recent book, “Simple Prosperity: Finding Real Wealth in a Sustainable Lifestyle,” is a sequel to the best-selling book he coauthored, “Affluenza: The All-Consuming Epidemic,” which has been translated in nine languages, including Chinese.

Jim Merkel is the author of “Radical Simplicity: Small Footprints on a Finite Earth” and directs the Global Living Project that consults with campuses and municipalities and offers workshops and lectures. Originally a military engineer, Merkel’s projects included energy demand management, design of military systems and foreign military sales. The Exxon Valdez disaster and the invasion of Iraq prompted him to devote his life to sustainability and world peace. He founded the Global Living Project (GLP) and initiated the GLP Summer Institute where teams of researchers attempted to live on an equitable portion of the biosphere.

Dear Wyoming Reps: Don't waiver on mental health legislation

Here's the text of a letter I e-mailed to Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson, supporting his stance on increased funding for mental health care and substance abuse treatment. I copied it to my representative, Lori Millin, D-Cheyenne, in the hopes that they can work together and keep Wyoming from backsliding on this issue. While the Legislature commences Tuesday, there's still time to contact your rep on this issue. For background info, see my previous posts on this issue.

Here's the letter:

Dear Rep. Gingery:

Thank you for your outspoken stance on increasing support for mental health and substance abuse programs in Wyoming.

I speak as a parent whose son Kevin spent a year in a drug treatment center 2,000 miles away because there was no place to send him in Wyoming. He was 17 at the time, and now is 23 with six years of sobriety in A.A. He goes to school in Arizona.

Our daughter Annie just finished a five-month stay at Wyoming Behavioral Institute in Casper. She was being treated for bipolar disorder. Before WBI, she spent six months at Mountain Crest Hospital in Fort Collins, Colo. Treatment costs were very high, and we would not have been able to afford it with my State of Wyoming health insurance. The Great West plan paid for approximately six weeks of in-patient mental health care. It's possible that the Mental Health Parity Legislation that passed Congress late in 2008 will provide some relief to families with mental health care challenges.

How did we afford our daughter's treatment? The Children's Mental Health Waiver funded by Medicaid through the Wyoming Department of Health. It also helps pay for an after-care program. It took some research and a bit of paperwork to get into this program, but it was well worth it.

Let's keep funding these programs. And find ways to keep our kids closer to home when they need treatment.

Thanks for all you do on behalf of Wyoming families.

Sincerely,
Michael Shay, Cheyenne

P.S.: I'm forwarding a copy of this e-mail to my state representative, Lori Millin, who's been very supportive of health-care legislation.

Wyoming delegation looks to the past

There is one benefit in Wyoming's Republicans-only Congressional delegation: you know where they stand before it hits the papers.

During the past eight years, Sen. Mike Enzi never met a Bush spending plan (or war) that he didn't like. Now that the Democrats are taking over, he's Mr. Fiscal Conservative.

Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo., in a written statement to the Casper Star-Tribune on Tuesday, said the nation can't afford to "keep printing money and giving it away with no accountability, and expecting our children and grandchildren to sacrifice for it.

"I will consider new proposals and details as they come up," Enzi added, "but I will always remember where the money comes from and look at the long-term consequences for our children and grandchildren's fiscal future."

Interesting. Pres. Bush turned a Clinton-era surplus into one of the biggest budget deficits in history, thanks to the unnecessary war in Iraq, tax cuts for the rich, giveaways to corporations, and the so-called War on Terror.

That was just fine with Mike Enzi.

Sen. John Barrasso of Casper, elected for the first time in November, said this:

"I'm going to have to wait and see exactly what's in the package," Barrasso said in a telephone interview. "And I need to be convinced that the money is going to be well spent to stimulate the economy."

Barrasso said accountability, oversight and "real value" for taxpayer money will be his priorities as he considers the massive spending plan.

Accountability? And we had that with Bush and Cheney at the helm? Ha!

Rep. Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., who was only sworn into office on Tuesday, said she had not yet seen Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's project list [every state governor was asked to send a wish list to the Obama Transition Team], nor the Obama administration's proposed stimulus package. But she will be looking carefully to be sure it actually works to stimulate the economy and is "not just an excuse to spend lots of money" in congressional members' home districts.

"I am more inclined to support stimulus through tax reductions or tax holidays than stimulus that requires further deficit spending."

Tax reductions? Just like the ones that Pres. Bush gave to his Republican pals?

Message to Enzi, Barrasso and Lummis: Look to the future, not the past.

Rep. Gingery to legislators: pass mental health funding bills

Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson, urges his fellow legislators to "continue to fund changes in its mental health and substance abuse treatment system to keep it from backsliding into being one of the worst in the nation," according to an AP story.

"People come first," Rep. Keith Gingery, R-Jackson, said. "We have to make them the highest priority."

Gingery is co-chairman of the Legislature's Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. The committee is proposing legislation to spend $14.2 million to continue fixing what had been a dysfunctional mental health and substance abuse treatment system. Gingery expects supporters will have to work hard to ensure that the money will be appropriated in the legislative session that begins Jan. 13. Lawmakers expect to have fewer dollars than in the past few years for new expenditures.

Gingery said Wyoming has gone from having one of the worst mental health and substance abuse treatment programs to one of the best.That's because of increased funding since 2005, he said, that has allowed the state to overhaul the system and move toward a regional delivery system.

The bill calls for $700,000 for early intervention with preschoolers; $260,000 toward a group home for those with mental illness; $3 million toward crisis stabilization programs in five regions around the state, allowing for someone who is suffering from a mental health emergency to receive treatment near home rather than at the State Hospital in Evanston; $3.6 million toward treatment programs in four regions for people who have both mental illness and substance abuse problems; $3.1 million toward raising salaries for mental health and substance abuse treatment providers; $3.5 million toward adult acute psychiatric care in a hospital in each of five regions.

Meanwhile, Gov Dave told agency directors today to prepare for 5 percent cuts in their budgets for the next fiscal year that begins July 1. That can mean steep cuts in the very programs that Rep. Gingery wants to improve. State funding for Medicaid programs could suffer big cuts.

Dr. Brent Sherard, director of the Wyo. Dept. of Health, said his agency will look for ways to trim costs with improved efficiency. But some reductions in state spending on Medicaid, the state-federal health program for the poor, will be required.

"We would need to do some close scrutiny to make sure those cuts had as little impact on our Medicaid clients as possible," Sherard said.

But Medicaid funding is not just for "programs for the poor." Many middle class families need Medicaid assistance during emergencies. And the Dept. of Health's Children's Medicaid Waiver program has helped many families (including ours) with mental health care for children and teens. It would be a travesty to cut those programs when they are just beginning to have an impact.

Support Rep. Gingery in his quest to improve mental health care in Wyoming. Send him an e-mail of support at kgingery@wyoming.com

Fine art, brought to you by Mother Nature

Thanks to the always alert and creative jhwygirl at 4&20 blackbirds, I bring you some examples of the weavings of Earth:According to the UUSS web site: The records displayed here are a selection recorded by the University of Utah Seismograph Stations in Yellowstone National Park. Some of these stations are part of the Advanced National Seismic System. The displays are updated every ten minutes to provide a (nearly) current record. Each panel represents 24 hours of data. Local time is displayed on the left side of the record.

While these webicorder displays are colorful, they do illustrate some fairly serious earthquake activity in Yellowstone. Some say it is the precursor of a gigantic eruption of the Yellowstone caldera. Others say it is fairly normal seismic activity for the region. I look at it and think that science is intriguing and beautiful.

Artists' credits (top to bottom): Mary Lake, Yellowstone N.P., Dec. 29; Soda Butte, Yellowstone N.P., Dec. 27; The Promontory, Yellowstone N.P., Dec. 28.

Serve your community on "Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service"

Wyomingites looking for ways to serve their communities on Jan. 19's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day of Service can go to http://my.mlkday.gov/public/searchResults.aspx?st=WY&type=0 . If you don’t see anything there that piques your interest, or if there’s nothing listed in your home town, you’re invited to create your own community service project.

According to the web site:

The King Day of Service is a way to transform Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and teachings into community service that helps solve social problems. That service may meet a tangible need, such as fixing up a school or senior center, or it may meet a need of the spirit, such as building a sense of community or mutual responsibility. On this day, Americans of every age and background celebrate Dr. King through service projects that strengthen communities, empower individuals and bridge barriers.

This video's for you -- Enzi, Barrasso and Lummis

Pointy-headed artists meet the hardhats

Creativity is embedded in everyday objects. Our clothes, cars, cellphones and homes all have some sense of design (although you wouldn't know that by my wardrobe). We like our stuff functional and we want it to look good.

What if we brought that same sense of creativity to Wyoming's energy industry? Let's take those wind turbines sprouting up all over the state. They're always white. There may be a great functional reason for that. White is cheaper. White scares away birds. White structures absorb less heat.

What if artists were brought into the process at the beginning? Artists, especially those who make public outdoor art, could offer advice on color, design and materials. They could work with engineers on the shape and size of the blades. Artists, in turn, could learn about metallurgy and BTUs and construction techniques.

I know, I know. We don't want any of those pointy-headed artists messing around in our factory. Next thing you know, they'd be painting all of our machinery a nice cornfield yellow or Wyoming sky blue.

But we're all trying to make a living here. And we're in a new era, where creativity could hold the key to the U.S. making it to its 300th birthday later this century.

An e-mail from Laramie artist Julianne Couch prompted this post. She's looking for visual artists in Wyoming who might be working with wind farms or other forms of energy production in their art. She writes that those "other forms" could mean anything from coal mines to nuke plants. She wants to talk to those people for her new book project, "Earth, Wind & Sky: A Power Trip." Contact Julianne at jcouch@uwyo.edu.

I've seen the work of artists who've documented the depredations of energy exploration in their photos and paintings. I'm all for that. We all know that each picture tells a story. But I'm also concerned that artists can sometimes paint themselves out of the larger picture. The quest for non-renewable energy sources is ruining our state and killing our planet. That's true. But what if the pointy-headed artists and the energy workers in hardhats were thrown together and told to come up with a solution to, say, the air pollution problem in the Pinedale Anticline? The template of roads criss-crossing Wyoming's fragile ecosystem? The clouds of CO2 that escape our many power plants and add to global warming? We might come up with some solutions. We all might learn something about each other. There's also the possibility of fisticuffs (the artists would lose).

But it does come down to this: we need solutions or we're goners. The Obama Transition Team has put out a call to all states asking for ideas on getting the citizenry back to work. The OTT also asked this question: "How would you put your artists to work?"

I've offered one answer. There must be other good ideas out there....

When the end comes, what will we do with the Texas Republic?

Andrew Osborn writes in the Wall Street Journal about the imminent break-up of the U.S. -- as envisioned by a Russian prognosticator.

For a decade, Russian academic Igor Panarin has been predicting the U.S. will fall apart in 2010. For most of that time, he admits, few took his argument -- that an economic and moral collapse will trigger a civil war and the eventual breakup of the U.S. -- very seriously.

A polite and cheerful man with a buzz cut, Mr. Panarin insists he does not dislike Americans. But he warns that the outlook for them is dire.

"There's a 55-45% chance right now that disintegration will occur," he says. "One could rejoice in that process," he adds, poker-faced. "But if we're talking reasonably, it's not the best scenario -- for Russia." Though Russia would become more powerful on the global stage, he says, its economy would suffer because it currently depends heavily on the dollar and on trade with the U.S.

Mr. Panarin posits, in brief, that mass immigration, economic decline, and moral degradation will trigger a civil war next fall and the collapse of the dollar. Around the end of June 2010, or early July, he says, the U.S. will break into six pieces -- with Alaska reverting to Russian control....

Mr. Panarin's apocalyptic vision "reflects a very pronounced degree of anti-Americanism in Russia today," says Vladimir Pozner, a prominent TV journalist in Russia. "It's much stronger than it was in the Soviet Union."

The WSJ has provided an excellent graphic (shown above) with its Dec. 29 story. When I saw it, I realized that Igor (is that ee-gore or eye-gore?) Panarin has never spent time in the U.S. If he'd been to the South, he would know that you could never split the Dixie states of Georgia, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi from Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia and North and South Carolina. If one of them is to secede or break it off from the U.S., so will the rest of them. Besides, Southerners wouldn't countenance joining the EU, with includes those cheese-eating surrender monkeys, the French.

Virginia is a question mark. I would say that the northern part of the state, the section that has been infiltrated by D.C. Democrats, would go with the Atlantic America states, leaving the rest of the state to team up with Dixie. The South shall rise again! And why not? They have all the military bases. Lots of firepower in rural Georgia and Alabama.

But what about Texas? That's the question Americans have been asking for decades. It's laughable to think that Texas would want Oklahoma, especially after the recent BCS decision that put OU in the national championship game over The Horns. Texans would be more likely to blow the Okies to shit. If they didn't, the Okies would go with the Central North-American Republic and its Canadian pals. What's even more laughable is that the Texans would be under the influence of Mexico. Igor has never heard of the Alamo. He also doesn't realize that Mexico, obviously on the upswing after the 2010 dissolution of El Norte, will not want all of those Texans swarming across the Rio Grande to take Mexican jobs. I predict that Mexico will build a really big electrified fence to keep out the Gringos.

New Mexico? So many segments to the "Land of Enchantment." First, Santa Fe. Then the eastern plains. Albuquerque, where I was a zygote and later a fetus. The pueblos and their casinos. Roswell. All things considered, I think New Mexico will be better suited hooked up with the California Republic. More in common with Arizona and Nevada than Texas.

Colorado, too. More mountains that prairies, more city and frou-frou resort that Wichita. Add another one to California. This is getting to be a rather large Republic, maybe too large for the Chinese to handle.

So take away Utah and Idaho. Connect them with Wyoming and Montana, and you have the Intermountain Republic, or maybe the Republican Republic. There is some precedence for this. Remember Philip K. Dick's "The Man in the High Castle," wherein the Axis powers were victorious in WWII and the Japanese occupied the West Coast and the Nazis had the East Coast? In the book, The Man in the High Castle imagined a different reality out in Wyoming. If the U.S. broke up, this mountainous republic would be as difficult to subdue as Afghanistan -- and better armed. Wyoming and Montana also have nukes, which gives us an advantage against the Chinese, Canadians, Mexicans and even the EU. We'd have a worthy adversary in North Dakota. Maybe we can talk the Dakotas into joining us -- forget about those Canucks! They'll force you to enjoy socialized medicine!

Mr. Igor Panarin needs to do his homework before he goes around talking about the end of the U.S.A. as we know it. Next thing you know, he'll be predicting a black president for the U.S. Silly man.