Health Care Forum tip: consider your retorts carefully

When I say "teabagger," I'm referring to the prog-blog meaning of the word. A handy label for people who attend local and national anti-Obama tea party rallies, such as the ones organized and energized by Glenn Beck and Fixed News on Sept. 12. Those shouting crazies who disrupt town hall meetings. The fuming bearers of misspelled signs.

To some, though, "teabagger" refers to a sex act described and/or pictured on a variety of non-political blogs and web sites.

I should have considered my words more carefully when I called The Woman In The Back Row (hereafter referred to as TWITBR) "a teabagger."

But that was later. When she arrived, she trotted out all the lines from the Glenn Beck Playbook. Her first non-question to Tuesday night's health reform panel organized by the Democratic Party was about tort reform. Uh oh. A Republican talking point. The panel took a shot at the answer. Yes, tort reform was important but not crucial. The next panelist talked. TWITBR spoke again. This time she had a litany of complaints. All alternative opinions in the national health care debate are being shut out. "I don't appreciate the secrecy," she said. Process at the federal level is asking for failure because it's terrifying to people." People don't want decision made by a one-sided process. And so on.

Mike Bell, vice chair of the Wyoming Democrats and the evening's moderator, asked her to to specific and maybe ask a real question.

She then reeled out some statistics, saying that 51 percent of the American people don't like the health care public option.

Me: "57 percent of the American people want the public option. The survey was just on the evening news"

Mike: "More like 65 percent."

She disputed our figures. I said she could look it up. She said she did look it up and said our statistics were wrong.

Then I asked the fateful question: "Are you a teabagger?" She was showing all the symptoms. I should have referred her to one of the physicians on the panel.

"What?" she yelled. Her eyes bugged out.

I turned back to the panel, hoping that the informative talk could resume.

Next thing I know, TWITBR was beside me yelling "Asshole!"

I turned. She was fuming. "You know what a teabagger is?"

"Yeah," I said, "a conservative who yells at town hall meetings."

"You know what a teabagger is?"

I knew what she was getting at. But I was het up now in the tradition of my Irish ancestors. "Teabaggers go to tea parties."

"Asshole," she said again. I felt the calming hand of a fellow Democrat on my shoulder, some murmuring in the crowd. Mike came over to referee.

TWITBR then described the teabagger sex act.

"It has nothing to do with that."

She fumed some more. Calming Democratic voices could be heard but the room was red. "Idiot," she said.

"You're the idot," I said, adult-like.

She stomped away grumbling. I think I heard "asshole" again. Gary's calming hand was still on my shoulder. He's a teacher -- he knows how to calm feuding factions.

The woman in the back row stomped to the door. She said something bad about stupid Democrats and how they couldn't even get a crowd out for this event. She was correct on the attendance -- only 16 people in the audience.

And then there were 15.

"Go talk to Lummis." This was my parting shot, referring to ultra-conservative Wyoming Rep. Cynthia Lummis.

Mike told me to cool it for the second time. And I found myself turning red as those remaining in their seats tried not to stare at me.

Rep. Pete Jorgensen from Jackson went up to the podium in an effort to get us back on track. Steam was still coming out of my ears so I didn't hear most of it. He talked about controlling costs and gave grudging praise to Mitt Romney's successes with that in Massachusetts. He then noted that "75 percent of critical care for people of Wyoming is done outside the state." That's a fact of life in a rural state that has neighboring cities such as Denver and Salt Lake City and Billings with excellent medical facilities.

Not even critical care. I chose to go to Fort Collins tomorrow for a root canal. F.C. has dental surgeons and Cheyenne doesn't. Most people I know go to Fort Collins doctors and choose hospitals there and in Denver for their critical care. Coloradans sometimes make the trip to Cheyenne. But most of them are veterans seeking care at our excellent V.A. Hospital.

The rest of the evening was interesting yet anticlimactic. The panelists, whose names I haven't even mentioned, were Mary Forrester, a family nurse practitioner from Laramie; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, a registered nurse from Laramie; Dr. Brent Sherard, head of the Wyoming Health department and the state's chief medical officer; and Dr. Lance Proctor, an anaesthesiologist from Laramie.

The event was organized by Brianna Jones, public information officer for the Wyoming Democrats. The Democratic National Committee had encouraged each state to hold forums on Oct. 20 to push harder for real health care reform.

Dr. Sherard talked at length about Medicaid. About 14-15 percent of the state's population is uninsured.

That's 75,000-80,000. About 75,000 people in Wyoming are on Medicaid. That adds up (at most) to to 160,000. The rest (370,000), he said, have some kind of health insurance.

If some sort of public option were instituted for the uninsured (as Obama has proposed), Dr Sherard said he's not sure "who will take care of them until we get the infrastructure in place." The state's Medicaid program, funded by state and federal dollars, is stressed.

He also talked about prevention. If it was instituted in the correct way, it would save money and lives. Said Dr. Sherard: "Beware of facts by health care economists who say that prevention will not save a dime."

That's one of the problems with this health care conundrum. Whom do you believe? Which set of facts by which expert do you work with? You have to do some homework. That goes for teabaggers and pinko liberal bloggers alike.

Dr. Sherard, formerly a family physician in Wheatland, volunteers at the Cheyenne Free Clinic.

Mary Forrester volunteers at the downtown free clinic in Laramie. The clinic is only open one night a week and is "very busy." It only serves people "with absolutely no insurance."

"At the clinic, there are so many of them that are working but have nowhere else to go," said Forrester. Their employees may have cut coverage or never had it. Some people aren't able to work. And some have just made some bad choices or lived through bad times.

The clinic works on volunteers and donated money. It accepts no government funding.

Forrester is a firm believer in universal coverage. "This is the only way we can cut down costs and reduce unnecessary suffering."

Dr. Proctor says that it's "embarrassing that the U.S. has no universal health care." He wants us to "eliminate the middle man and pool our money and use that to do good by providing the infrastructure we need for health care."

The doctor is originally from Texas. As a specialist, he's the rare Democrat. "95 percent of my colleagues are Republicans," he said. "They think I'm crazy. But most of their opposition is based on fear." Doctors spend so many years in school and interning and residency and starting a practice "that they're afraid of losing what they've worked hard for."

He advocates a compromise by creating a public trust. This should calm the fears and create a better system, he said.

"For health care, we pay two-and-one-half times in the U.S. compared to other western countries," said Lorraine Saulino-Klein. Republicans usually scoff at health care in Canada and other western democracies. They contend that care is rationed and that people have to wait for months for surgical procedures.

"It takes me three months to get a mammogram in Laramie," she said. "Don't believe the scare tactics." She wants to see the regulation of drug and insrance companies. "If that doesn't work, do a public option," she said.

She noted that scare tactics again enter the equation with the mention of "public option." Critics decry the "government takeover of health care" and 'socialized medicine." She had some fun with this: "You know how many people are dropping out of Medicare. They're the most satisfied people in the country."

The forum broke up at 9 p.m. A fine time was had by all. Well, almost everyone.

It's possible I may encounter TWITBR at this Thursday's 7 p.m. health care forum at the Laramie County Public Library. This forum will feature staffers from the offices of Rep. Lummis and Wyoming Senators Barrasso and Enzi. They're all Republicans. It will be a partisan crowd. Enzi is one of the Senate Finance Committee's "Gang of Six." The term "public option" will be mentioned only in jest. Teabaggery won't be mentioned but patriotism will be. Over and over and over again.

Noah: "This ark ain't gonna float if we have to put one more pair of dinos on it"

The new 20,000-square-foot Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum in Montana includes sculptures of T-Rex skeletons, murals of ancient mountains and a diorama of dinosaurs walking two-by-two into Noah’s Ark.

Yes, just when you thought it was safe to venture back to eastern Montana, a creationist museum opens up.

Glendive, known to some as the crossroads of east-central Montana, and to others as the only town on I-94 in Montana east of Billings to have three exits, opened its new museum this summer.

Donna Healy wrote about it in Sunday’s Billings Gazette. It sounds like an educational and amusing place:

Displays on the Glendive museum's second floor, which rings the central exhibit space like a gallery, are geared toward refuting evolutionary theory.

A large case contains a diorama of Noah's ark, built on a scale meant to represent an ark of 300 cubits, or 450 feet. Miniature animals and dinosaurs move two-by-two into the ark.

Glendive is dinosaur dig country. Many of the skeletons at the museum are modeled after those found in the vicinity. It's also the site of Makoshika State Park in the Hell Creek Formation that has yielded major dinosaur finds, and the nonprofit Makoshika Dinosaur Museum, which opened in 2004 in a renovated downtown building.

Both the state park and the Makoshika Dinosaur Museum are on the Montana Dinosaur Trail, a nonprofit created in 2005 to promote tourism at affiliated museums and dig sites.

Otis E. Kline Jr., founder and director of the Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, attended some early meetings of the Dinosaur Trail group, he said. But he left the organization when the group adopted the slogan "150 million years in the making."

Kline doesn’t say this, but he probably would have preferred something like "6,000 years of ignorance – and counting."

The Montana museum joins two other creation-based dino museums in the U.S. – one in Kentucky and one in San Diego. They now are drawing dangerously close to Wyoming. While most Wyomingites are known for their pragmatism and live-and-let-live attitudes, the state also home to scores of dinosaur digs and lots of space for kooky museums. There also has been an alarming rise in fundamentalist activity.

We’ll let a member of the reality-based scientific community have the last word. Jack Horner, the curator of paleontology at the reality-based Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman, says that there is a fundamental difference between his museum and the one in Glendive.

"It's not a science museum at all," Horner said. "It's not a pseudo-science museum. It's just not science. …There's nothing scientific about it."

Blessed are the meek with pre-existing conditions -- insurers love you!

http://twitpic.com/m33zz (thanks to almightygod on Twitter)

You couldn't pay me to read Palin's book

Doc2 on Daily Kos wonders how far prices will drop before Sarah Palin's book, "Going Rogue," actually hits the stands Nov. 17.

The listed retail price for a handcover copy of "Going Rogue" is $28.99.

According to doc2, here are the bargain prices:

Borders: $17.39.
Barnes and Noble: member price $15.65.
Amazon.com: $9.00 (plus free shipping!)
Wal-Mart: while supplies last, $8.99

At this rate, the publisher will be paying us to read it. I'm not sure if "Going Rogue" is drivel. Just pretty sure.

Read kossack doc2's post at http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/10/19/794828/-Going-Rogue-going-for-peanuts

Wyoming MoveOn supporter to Sen. Hatch: I dare you to kick my teeth in

Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah is going to kick MoveOn.org in the teeth. MoveOn members picketed his D.C. office to protest the fact that he has sold his everlasting soul to the health insurance industry.

Sen. Hatch must be mature enough to know that he's too old to kick anyone in the teeth, let alone a bunch of organic-food-eating, latte-swilling, mountain-biking activists from Blue States. Blue Staters are in much better shape than Red Staters, younger too, and a lot better educated. They may not be as mean as the Repubs, but they are wiry and crafty. They float like butterflies, sting like bees.

This comes from Crooks & Liars:

Seems Orrin Hatch is not taking to kindly to having his office protested by MoveOn.org for being in the pocket of the health care industry. I've got to wonder, how would the Republicans react if a Democratic member of the Senate went on television and said they'd like to kick those Tea Bag protesters in the teeth?

Hatch: Now by the way MoveOn.org is a scurrilous organization. It's funded by George Soros. He's about as left wing as you can find in this country. And they're up to just one thing, and that is to smear good people. And frankly, they're not gonna smear me without getting kicked in the teeth by me.

Stay classy there Hatch. While MoveOn has received $1.46 million from George Soros as Wikipedia notes:

MoveOn's primary source of funding is its members. MoveOn.org raised nearly 60 million dollars in 2004 from its members alone, with an average donation of $50.

Yes, I live in a Red State but have contributed my share to MoveOn -- probably right around $50. Now that I've made that public, I suppose that Sen. Hatch will drive his Ford Expedition down I-80 from Provo to Cheyenne and kick my teeth in. Yeah, him and what army?

Remember Sen. Hatch's inspiring words at Sen. Ted Kennedy's funeral? They were long-time BFFs, at least that's the way it sounded. He was honoring Kennedy's legacy then and now seems to have forgotten it.

Your BFF from those good ol' days in the U.S. Senate would be ashamed of you now.

Read my lips: Public option!

The health care reform debate or argument or shouting match -- whatever you want to call it -- is heating up. On the local scene, health care professionals will gather at the Laramie County Community College in Cheyenne for a panel discussion.

It will take place in the college's Centennial Room 130 on Tuesday, October 20, at 7 p.m.

Participants will include Dr. Brent Sherard, Wyoming Department of Health director and state health officer; Lorraine Saulino-Klein, Registered Nurse; Mary Forrester, Family Nurse Practitioner; and others.

This is a chance for Wyomingites to hear from professionals in the health care field speak first-hand about what reform means to them.

"No one knows more about the urgent need for health insurance reform than those who work within the health care system every day," said Wyoming Democratic Party Executive Director Bill Luckett in a press release. "It is important that we have the opportunity to hear their perspective."

Mike Bell, Vice Chair of the Wyoming Democratic Party, will serve as moderator. The Laramie County Democrats encourage everyone of all political stripes to attend and participate. You can attend even if you're not striped. A Q&A will follow the panel discussion.

Why should anyone anywhere ever listen to anything said by a Cheney?

Some Wyomingites defend Dick Cheney because they knew him in Casper or met him during his stint in the state legislature. This is a pretty chummy state, after all, which more antelope than people. If you alienate your neighbor, you just might not have anyone to talk to all winter. You could end up standing next to Dick or Lynne Cheney at an event at University of Wyoming or at some Republican fund-raiser in Jackson. Not me, of course, as I rarely go to
Jackson and never go to Republican fund-raisers -- can't even afford the admission fee.

I have met neither Dick or Lynne. I know people in Casper who know them. I once came very close to V.P. Cheney when his motorcade zoomed from my neighborhood airport to the state legislature. The speech was broadcast to the multitudes. We were all suitably impressed.

Dick made a big deal of speaking his mind in the months following Pres. Obama's inaguaration. He's been quiet, of late.

But the same can't be said of his daughter Liz.

Liz, I think, was born in Wyoming. But she's lived most of her life inside the Beltway. She's been bust lately promoting a new group opposed to the "radical" foreign policy of the Obama administration, says Politico.com. The group is called Keep America Safe, or KAS. She's have work on that abbreviation to make it an acronym.

From Politico:

“The policies being proposed by the Obama administration are so radical across the board,” Cheney said. “Whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat, you want the nation to be strong and so many steps this president is taking are making the nation weaker.”

Keep America Safe will focus on issues like troop levels, missile defense, detainees, and interrogation, according to Liz Cheney, who is heading the group along with Weekly Standard editor William Kristol and Debra Burlingame, the hawkish sister of an American Airlines pilot killed in the September 11 attacks.

The group, incorporated as a 501 (c ) 4 non-profit, launches its fundraising drive online Tuesday with a web video accusing Obama of failing to back up his “tough talk” and with a website aimed to provide an organizing tool for hawks.

I shall give as much credence to Liz Cheney as I did to her father. Hardly any at all...

Dear CIGNA CEO: Why are you afraid to meet with Dawn?

CIGNA, my health insurance company, is waiting to hear from you.

Go to its Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/CIGNAeducation/.

Ask CIGNA CEO H. Edward Hanway why he has two gold umbrella stands in his $24 million mansion but he won't sit down and talk to Dawn Smith, the woman his company denied care to.

Go on. It's fun.

Power outage shuts down Cheyenne

Power went out around town today just as I was returning from lunch.

No power at work. Traffic lights out. Called my wife on the cell and no power on the east side of town. Called my daughter, home from school for a teacher planning day, and she was adrift in a house with no PC or TV or microwave. One of my colleagues got a cell call that power was out at the Air Force base and in the rural eastern part of the county.

Very odd.

It was very hard to get news about the outage. Two of my colleagues have Blackberries with Internet access but they came up with nothing. We have a battery-powered radio but no batteries. Our battery-powered weather radio was no help.

I could have gone to my car and powered up the local AM station. But it was parked three blocks away -- three long blocks away. Label me "L" for lazy.

Wondered what might happen if this was a real emergency.

A few minutes ago, found this report on the Casper Star-Tribune site:

Power began to flicker back on throughout Cheyenne at 2:13 p.m. after an extended citywide power outage this afternoon.

The Western Area Power Administration transmission line serving Cheyenne Light, Fuel & Power went down at approximately 12:50 p.m. today, according to Mark Stege, vice president of operations for Cheyenne Light.

At the request of WAPA, Cheyenne Light dispatched crews to the Archer substation, about 10 miles east of the city, to investigate the outage.

Stege said that the system-wide outage affected 36,000 of their 39,000 customers.

A media release said earlier in the day, Cheyenne Light also experienced sporadic outages around the city due to weather conditions and ice on the lines. Crews will continue working throughout the evening to monitor the situation.

Wilkerson said he didn't know if other parts of WAPA's coverage area were affected. WAPA, operated by the U.S. Dept. of Energy, delivers hydroelectric power to parts of Wyoming and 14 other Western states.

The power outage shut down much the city during Tuesday's lunch hour. Cheyenne police directed traffic through busy downtown intersections, and many businesses closed temporarily.

The West's gazillionaires, billionaires and pikers

David Frey writes in New West about the Rocky Mountain region's richest people, at least according to Forbes Magazine. I'm a bit ashamed of Wyoming's lack of gazillionaires. True, there is at least one high roller in Jackson. Make that a family of high rollers: Christy Walton of Wal-Mart fame and her family. They're No. 4 on the list with $21.5 billion.

I have helped make Wal-Mart the powerhouse that it is today. Yes, I shop locally when I can. But it's tough to be a purist when you have only so much money to spend and the 24-roll Super-Ultra-Soft packs of toilet paper are on sale.

The Walton family presence in Jackson may also explain why Wal-Mart has upped its contributions to local causes in Wyoming. While there is no Wal-Mart in Jackson, there are two in Casper -- one on the east side and one on the west. With all those eager shoppers sandwiched in-between.

Here's Mr. Frey's take on the richy-rich of WYO:

If Wyoming’s three richest families decided to boost the economy by giving all their money to fellow Cowboy State residents, each resident of Wyoming would walk away with $44,493. That gives Wyoming the biggest chunk of billionaire dollars per capita in the country, according to Forbes magazine’s latest list of 400 wealthiest people in America.

It helps that Wyoming’s sparse population makes the state better known for wide-open spaces than urban squalor. It also helps that Wyoming is home to the richest family in the West. Making Forbes’ list at No. 4 is Christy Walton and family, who have brought their $21.5 billion Wal-Mart fortune to Jackson, making them the wealthiest Westerners.

Two other billionaires call Wyoming home. Squeaking in at the bottom of the Forbes list are Conair’s Leandro Rizzuto, of Sheridan, with $1.2 billion, and TD Ameritrade’s J. Joseph Ricketts, of Little Jackson Hole, with a meager $1 billion. Combined, they add up to $23.7 billion.

Philip Anschutz is the richest of all in Colorado, coming in at No. 37 with $6 billion. Rumor has it that he's currently trying to buy up the rest of the West to put in wind turbines that will supply endless power to his ego.

Almost all the interior West states claim at least one billionaire. Except for Utah and New Mexico. That's a darn shame. But Frey sees a bright side:

As long as there’s a Santa Fe and a Park City, they’ll still come to visit.

Render unto the city that which is the city's, and to heck with the county

Latest local issue is whether rural residents, those people who moved to unincorporated Laramie County so they wouldn't have to pay for city services, should be able to vote in city elections.

My immediate response was, "You're kidding, right?"

This issue arose out of the City Council's cellphone ban. Soon, an ordinance goes into effect that allows cops to ticket those who drive under the influence of cellphone (DUIC). That's only the hand-held variety. Motorists can buy headsets and talk to their cutomers or family members or BFFs 'til the cows come home to their rural ranchettes.

A country resident who owns a business in the city, M. Lee Hasenauer, grew restive under the restrictions and began a petition drive to overturn it. He collected a bunch of signatures and the Cheyenne City Clerk's office is going through them to see if there are at least 2,802 valid ones to hold a special election on the issue. The odd thing is, all petitioners must be city residents and the election would be held by the city. So rural residents, including Mr. Hasenauer, won't be allowed to vote. He believes that he and other county residents who own businesses in the city should be allowed to vote in its elections.

That's where the legislature comes in. It would have to change the laws to allow voters living outside a certain jurisdiction to vote there.

So, Mr. Hasenauer got busy and arranged a meeting with the Laramie County Commission that will include Rep. Tony Ross and Sen. Pete Illoway. According to yesterday's Wyoming Tribune-Eagle, "the meeting is listed in the county commission's weekly schedule as 'city elections open to county.' "

Kudos go to any citizen who who gets involved, no matter the issue. You have to hand it to Mr. H -- he's made strides on this issue in a short amount of time. Even if he's shot down on this, I would encourage him to continue his civic engagement and extend it to volunteering at the YMCA, organizing food drives for the Comea Shelter and mentoring budding entrepreneurs at Triumph High School -- the school for kids who've gone astray and need a hand up.

But that's not what this is about, is it? It's about power, as is the case with most things. Mr. H lives in the county but wants to tell the city what to do. I wonder what he and his neighbors did the last time the city announced a county annexation? Much wailing and gnashing of teeth. County residents go apoplectic when annexation is even mentioned. Yet, these same people also benefit from the core city that is the home of a fantastic county library, courtesy of a countywide sixth-penny tax ballot; the Civic Center; all of the Cheyenne Frontier Days events; Cheyenne Symphony; Cheyenne Little Theatre Players; YMCA and fitness clubs; all of the county's secondary schools; restaurants and bars (even a new martini bar); etc.

I know that county residents patronize and contribute to all these organizations and businesses. When you county folks buy groceries at Wal-Mart on Dell Range, your sales taxes come back to you -- two cents of every six-cent tax goes to the county and four cents to the state. The city does not tax you for your trip from the county wilderness into the big city. In fact, city businesses welcome your expenditures which go to pay salaries, money that is spent in Cheyenne (and often in Fort Collins and Denver). Apparently, one of those businesses belongs to Mr. H.

My advice to county residents? If you want to be involved with your city, then do it. But don't dream up some non-issue to try to change the laws. We welcome your involvement. If that's not your cup of tea, then we'll let you take care of the prairie dogs and we'll take care of the symphony and the library and the post office and the state museum and Depot Plaza and....

Lummis shames Wyoming -- again

From the Wyoming Democratic Party:

The Wyoming Democratic Party said today that they are ashamed that Representative Cynthia Lummis voted against the Matthew Shepherd Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

"It is extremely disheartening to see that our lone Representative has taken a stand
against such a deeply personal issue to the people of Wyoming," commented Brianna Jones, Communications Director. "Eleven years ago we were mortified by the murder of Matthew Shephard; today we are equally embarrassed that Rep Lummis did not stand up to help prevent and punish future crimes of this hateful nature," said Jones.

The act, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, would include sexual orientation, gender, gender identity and disability to existing federal law prohibiting crimes motivated by bias against citizens belonging to a minority. The
legislation will now move to the Senate, and if passed, be sent to President Obama. President Obama has already signaled his support for the legislation.

The Wyoming Democratic Party urges Senator Mike Enzi and Senator John Barrasso to vote in favor of the Matthew Shephard Act. "This important piece of legislation has been languishing for over ten years and we are hopeful our Senators will recognize that those at the heart of this act deserve to be equally protected by the laws of this nation," added Jones.

Democrats: Think for yourself, Wyomingites!

Reuters lands in Wyoming to report on natural gas polluting water wells

Jon Hurdle reported this in an Oct. 1 Reuters story:

PAVILLION, Wyoming - Louis Meeks, a burly 59-year-old alfalfa farmer, fills a metal trough with water from his well and watches an oily sheen form on the surface which gives off a faint odor of paint.

He points to small bubbles that appear in the water, and a thin ring of foam around the edge. Meeks is convinced that energy companies drilling for natural gas in this central Wyoming farming community have poisoned his water and ruined his health.

A recent report by the Environmental Protection Agency suggests he just might have a case -- and that the multi-billion dollar industry may have a problem on its hands. EPA tests found his well contained what it termed 14 "contaminants of concern."

It tested 39 wells in the Pavillion area this year, and said in August that 11 were contaminated. The agency did not identify the cause but said gas drilling was a
possibility.

What's happened to the water supply in Pavillion could have repercussions for the nation's energy policies. As a clean-burning fuel with giant reserves in the United States, natural gas is central to plans for reducing U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

Entire article reprinted from Reuters at http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2009/10/01-8

How much of our money do health insurance execs need want desire?

True Majority wants support in its campaign to fire greedy CEOs. Latest target is the CIGNA CEO, Ed Hanway. I'm all in favor of this, as some of my hard-earned income goes toward Mr. Hanway's purchase of solid gold umbrella stands and other assorted necessities.

Here's the post from True Majority:

To launch this campaign, Stacie Ritter went to confront Cigna CEO Ed Hanway at his Philadelphia mansion. Stacie's twin daughters got cancer when they were just 4 years old, but Cigna is denying them access to a critical drug they need.

So Stacie went right to his front door to demand the medicine her kids need, and deliver a message from other Americans like us that we're sick of Big Insurance pushing us around.

Ed Hanway declined to see Stacie, just like his company is declining to take care of her kids. But Stacie's not giving up, and neither can we.

Next week, we're planning more events with Stacie and other patients that challenge even more CEOs at Big Insurance corporations. Can you help make sure we've got the resources to pull it off? Chip in $35 to support this effort right now.

Go to https://secure.truemajority.org/o/2/p/7002/tma_defaultdonate_page_KEY=128

I know that sometimes it seems like we're tilting at windmills, but the resignation of [Bank of America CEO] Ken Lewis reminds us that if we keep at it, our voices CAN be heard.

Great moments at The Literary Connection

The Literary Connection was held Friday and Saturday at LCCC in Cheyenne. Too lazy to do an actual story about the event so will delve into my notes for some great quotes:

"Writing is an exercise in longing" Quote by Isabel Allende which Laura Pritchett has on her PC.

Laura Prichett: "Every single piece of fiction I've written is set in northern Colorado and Wyoming. Those places are part of my soul."

Pam Houston: "Writing is about surrender to the metaphor. Not wresting control of it but surrender. We have to keep learning this over and over again."

"I'm a sharp observer," said Houston, author of "Cowboys are My Weakness." "I take things and put them together with other remarkable things and make a new thing. I'm like a collagist. I spend a whole lot of time creating raw material and then a lot of time on placement. Everything is moveable."

Michelle Obama: "The arts are at the heart of our national life"

Last week, First Lady Michelle Obama served as host for a concert at the Pittsburgh Creative & Performing Arts School for its students and the spouses of leaders attending the G-20 economic summit. She delivered a sppech about the importance of arts as a prelude to performances by Sara Bareilles, Yo-Yo Ma and Trisha Yearwood.

Excerpts from her speech (from a White House transcript, reprinted in the Sept. 25 L.A. Times):

"We believe strongly that the arts aren't somehow an 'extra’ part of our national life, but instead we feel that the arts are at the heart of our national life. It is through our music, our literature, our art, drama and dance that we tell the story of our past and we express our hopes for the future. Our artists challenge our assumptions in ways that many cannot and do not. They expand our understandings, and push us to view our world in new and very unexpected ways…..

"It's through this constant exchange -- this process of taking and giving, this process of borrowing and creating -- that we learn from each other and we inspire each other. It is a form of diplomacy in which we can all take part….

A great message to an audience from all over the world. Let's hope U.S. leaders also were listening.

Wyoming: health insurance premiums up 129 percent during past 8 years

We don't need no stinkin' health care reform!

Right....

Mike Bell, vice chairman of the Wyoming Democratic Party, wrote a fine guest editorial about health care for Sunday's Casper Star-Tribune. Here's a sampling:

Over the past eight years in Wyoming, health insurance premiums increased by 129 percent, bringing Wyoming to an average family policy that now costs over $13,500 a year. Alternately, wages in Wyoming rose a paltry 37 percent over the same period.

To read the rest, go to http://www.trib.com/news/editorial/forum/article_7303a04e-dfb2-556d-9905-46e4036b02db.html or http://www.wyomingdemocrats.com/

Tectonic Theater Project revisits Laramie w/update

The epilogue of "The Laramie Project" will be screened at a theatre or library or arts center near you on Oct. 12. It may not be anywhere near you if you happen to live in Wyoming. Off Stage Theatre Company in Jackson plans a screening. No word about any events in Laramie.

UPDATE: Oct. 12 presentation in Laramie

THE LARAMIE PROJECT: TEN YEARS LATER: AN EPILOGUE

By Moises Kaufman, Leigh Fondakowski, Greg Pierotti, Andy Paris, and Stephen Belber.

October 12, 7:30 p.m., FREE! Arts & Sciences Auditorium, University of Wyoming, Laramie

See the August 2009 press release from The Tectonic Theater Project here.


See the September 29, 2009 press release from the AP here.

This event is FREE and the public is cordially invited.

Sunday afternoon at the river

Daughter and dog on the Poudre