Love them budget cuts -- except when it affects "our park"

Put this under the heading of "we don't need that darn federal gubment."

All of us in the West love the national parks and national forests. Some on the Right believe that parks such as Yellowstone -- a national treasure and international heritage site -- takes care of itself, that you just push the self-clean button when all the tourists go home in September and it takes care of itself.

Yellowstone visitation is up over the past two summers. Here are some 2010 numbers from the NPS: 

It has been a record-breaking summer for Yellowstone National Park. Visitation figures for June, July, and now August, have all shattered previous records. Yellowstone hosted 854,837 visitors in August. It is the first time August visitation has passed the 800,000 mark, and is up more than 81,000 from the previous August record of 773,307 visitors set back in 1995. Visitation for the 3 summer months topped 2.5 million. Visitation for the first 8 months of the year was almost 2.87 million.  

With gas prices climbing above $4 per gallon, this summer looks to be another blockbuster for national parks in the West, including my favorites -- Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Rocky Mountain. Meanwhile, Republicans in the House want to cut budgets on all domestic spending. 

There's an irony here. Energy exploration is the number one industry in Wyoming followed closely by tourism with agriculture a distant third. Our U.S. Congressional delegation want to cut domestic spending but seem to be O.K. with us spending freely in Iraq and Afghanistan. And $4 billion in tax breaks for oil companies? That's fine with them too. But what about keeping the toilets clean and the roads repaired in Yellowstone? Forget it!

So the National Park Foundation is raising money to make up the shortfall:   

Dear Friend, Imagine for just one moment a world without our national parks…no Yellowstone, no Grand Canyon, no Yosemite. No opportunity to share these great treasures with your children, to build memories together that would last a lifetime. We need your help! Our parks are constantly facing the threat of budget cuts and shortfalls. This year alone our parks faced a final budget cut of more than $132 million. This has had a dramatic impact on the nearly 400 national parks spanning 84 million acres of stunning scenery and historical shrines. We can’t sit idly by while America’s national parks are being compromised. Help us to ensure that our national parks continue to receive the resources they need to protect fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitats, restore and maintain hundreds of miles of trails, fund educational programs that introduce children to our parks, and support thousands of volunteers that assist our park rangers and the millions of visitors the parks see each year. Now is the best time to show your support for our national parks. Thanks to the generosity of National Park Foundation Board member Jay Kislak, if you donate now, your gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $50,000! America’s national parks belong to you. Please make a generous donation today to NPF. Only you can guarantee the future of our national parks.  

On the day after Easter, Laramie County Dems go to a revival meeting

It was standing room only at the Plains Hotel's Little Cottonwood Room as Democrats gathered the day after Easter to listen to a local preacher.

Not a revival – but it did have some of the trappings. The crowd (me included) seemed in desperate need of reviving. We had been wandering in Wyoming’s Red-State Desert for so long. Verily, we had been lifted up by HOPE in the 2008 elections but dashed against the rocks by the 2010 debacle. And then came the descent into Dante’s Inferno – the 2011 Wyoming Legislature, wherein there was much wailing and lamentation and gusts of hate from the Republican majority.

Meanwhile, the Tower of Babel, in the form of the 24-hour news cycle, continues to babble on, scrambling our brains, making it almost impossible to concentrate on the problems at hand, which are legion.

The preacher, Rev. Rodger McDaniel of Cheyenne, offered us little succor.

Instead, he urged us to work harder for our beliefs and to care more about our neighbors.

“It’s not about the Party,” he said, “it’s about the people.”

Preachers say stuff like that all the time. Love thy neighbor. Give alms to the poor. Practice what you preach. Etc

.

Most of these exhortations go out the window when our spiritual leaders step down from the pulpit. Witness the many Fundamentalist Christian leaders who preach the Gospel on Sunday and, on Monday, lobby their senators to kill Medicare for poor people, or cheer on the invasion of a foreign country, or engage in an illicit love tryst.

Said Rev. McDaniel: “Buddhas teach by example, not by quoting scripture.”

That’s a quote from a book by Lander native Matteo Pistono, author of “In the Shadow of the Buddha.” He will be speaking at Rodger’s church, Highlands Presbyterian, in May and will also be a featured speaker at the Cheyenne International Film Festival.

Rev. McDaniel sees no division between the spiritual and the political. He says that our involvement in politics should grow naturally out of our spirituality as we ponder “something bigger than what we are.”

His spiritual and political involvement didn’t begin yesterday. His father left mining and became a union Teamster and both of his parents were diehard Democrats.

“Conversations in our home were about Franklin D. Roosevelt,” he said. “My parents thought that FDR  cared how they lived, that Democrats cared about the little guy – a term my father liked to use."

“To my friends today, that’s not so clear.”

Growing up, he admired the Kennedys. As a seventh-grader in Cheyenne, he surreptitiously nailed JFK posters to walls and telephone poles. He admired Bobby Kennedy and said that “when he died, a lot of hope died.”

McDaniel’s first political job was as chair of the Wyoming Young Democrats in 1969-1970, calling for the impeachment of Richard Nixon over the Cambodian invasion and the Kent State shootings.  He served in the Wyoming State Legislature and chaired several Wyoming campaigns for Democratic presidential nominees.  He left his law practice to move to Nicaragua for a year where he directed Habitat for Humanity operations. He served in state government and retired in November as head of the Mental Health Division of the Wyoming Department of Health.

“Now I’m free to be a good ol’ Lefty,” he quipped.

He’s bemused by his Republican friends and colleagues who seem to be shocked by his Liberal views. "Some of my conservative friends think it is so great to have the Religious Right involved in politics,” he said. "They’re not so happy to have the Christian Left involved.”

He’s disturbed why so many good people in Wyoming seem to act and vote against their own best interests.

“Why do middle-class Americans side with the Republicans on killing Medicare?”

This is especially sad when you consider that Wyoming’s lone representative, Cynthia Lummis, is a fervent backer of the Republican’s radical budget that passed the House.

“Two-thirds of the U.S. House members are millionaires, and Cynthia Lummis is the seventh-wealthiest member of Congress,” he said. “”I don’t criticize success, but the Bible says that “to whom much is given, much is expected.”

Her net worth should skyrocket under the so-called “Ryan Budget” that includes further tax cuts for the richest Americans.

The Good Reverend quoted Reagan’s economic adviser, David Frum, on the four things that the House budget would do:

1.       Large cuts immediately in Medicare for the poor

2.       Elimination of Medicaid

3.       Large cuts in domestic spending

4.       More tax cuts for the wealthy

So, by cutting services to the least of us, the most among us stand to get more and more and more and more…

“It’s a great time to be rich,” announced Rev. McDaniel.

What was that parable about a camel and the eye of a needle?

Republicans are easy targets these days. But Democrats share the blame.

“It’s been two weeks since the House budget vote, and I’ve yet to hear the state Democratic Party say anything about it,” noted McDaniel.

He believes that the message should be loud and clear: “Lummis’s vote was wrong” and “if Enzi and Barrasso vote the same way in the Senate, they will pay a price.”

He also stressed that it is important to stand up and be counted. He gave the example of the late Democratic Sen. Tino Roncalio from Rock Springs. In 1958, Tino became the Democratic State Chairman and he traveled all over hammering the Republicans.

“Sen. Al Simpson says that Tino was never happier than when he was taking a hatchet to my dad’s head,” said McDaniel. Al Simpson’s dad was Governor Milward Simpson.

We need that hatchet now. We should be taking it (metaphorically) to the head of every Republican legislator in the state.

“Who can be surprised by those votes in the Legislature,” asked the Rev. McDaniel. Those votes were against gays, immigrants and the Affordable Care Act. One thing they didn’t vote on is accepting millions in federal aid for the long-term unemployed.

The 14 Democrats in the Legislature did what they could against the Know Nothing tide. And there were some on the Republican side with moderate views. But overall, it was one of the worst sessions in memory.

But many of those legislators ran unopposed or faced weak, underfunded candidates. There were no Democrats running in two of the five state elected offices. Democrats failed to show up at the polls.

“If the Party is dead, it wasn’t a homicide but a suicide,” said McDaniel.

But there is hope – maybe even “Hope.”

“I believe in the power to raise life from the grave,” he said. “We celebrated that yesterday."

Get out those spring hats for May 14 gathering of Grassroots Dems

But what if I don’t have a spring hat? Will a beat-up summer ballcap do?

The Third Annual Spring Hat Tea is hosted by the Laramie County Democrats Grassroots Coalition.  Please brush off your hats and join us.

Date: May 14, 2011

Time: 2-4 p.m.

Location: The Historic Plains Hotel, 1600 Central Avenue, Cheyenne

Featured Speaker: Lynn Simons, Cheyenne Resident and Democratic leader.  Ms. Simons is listed on the Worldwide Guide to Women in Leadership as having served as the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Wyoming from 1979-1991. Get more info on her at http://www.guide2womenleaders.com/usa_local_elective.htm

Fee: $15 per person

Please RSVP to 307-635-1592 by May 11.

Dems gather in scary Casper to plan future

The population of Democrats in Natrona County will increase dramatically this weekend as the Central Committee of the Wyoming Democratic Party gathers April 29-30 in Casper. We hope that this influx of Progressives can influence the bad juju inflicted on the State Legislature this past year by Regressive Know Nothings from Natrona County. You know who I mean -- Gerald Gay, Kit Jennings, Bob Brechtel, etc. Get to know them now as they will return to Cheyenne in 2012 to promote their anti-gay, anti-worker, anti-Obama agendas. So, if you feel like attending, here's the info from Bill Luckett, executive director of the Wyoming Democratic Party:

The Central Committee of the Wyoming Democratic Party meets in Casper on Saturday, April 30, at Casper College, in the Sharon Nichols Auditorium in the McMurry Career Studies Building. 

Members of the Central Committee include county chairs, vice chairs, state committeemen and state committeewomen. But note that this meeting, like all of our meetings, is open to the public, AND we are going to focus heavily on training for county party leaders, so you may want to encourage others from your county who are not technically members of the Central Committee to attend. They’ll be most welcome. We also especially hope any members of the Legislature who are not technically members of the Central Committee will attend.

In addition to the training, the major orders of business will be to elect state party officers for the next two years and to approve our state party’s Delegate Selection Plan for the 2012 Democratic National Convention. 

The Leadership Group of the Wyoming Democratic Party will meet in Casper on the previous day, Friday, April 29, for a session on party strategy, as previously announced. That meeting is planned for 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday the 29th in the downstairs conference room of the Stratton Real Estate/Blue Cross Blue Shield building at 231 E. Midwest Ave., which is between Wolcott and Durbin streets just a half block south of 2nd Street. The Leadership Group and others who’ve indicated interest in attending will get further information on this session early next week.

E-mail Bill at luckett@wyomingdemocrats.com

Sen. Al knows his chickens and his grit

Our future, according to Big Al: Baby Boomers pick grit with the chickens. 

I'm accustomed to seeing Big Al all over the state.

He was at the grand reopening of the BBHC in Cody. He was featured in a juvenile justice documentary speaking about his own run-in with the law as a teen. He attended the 2010 Governor's Arts Awards in Cheyenne to support fellow arts patron Naoma Tate.

He's been very involved in the refurbishing of the Heart Mountain Internment Center near Cody. During World War II, a young Al Simpson and his Boy Scout troop joined forces with the Scout troop at Heart Mountain on some community projects. That's how he and former internee Norman Mineta, former U.S. Secretary of Transportation, became lifelong friends. They were both at the rededication of the historic monuments at Heart Mountain in several years ago. I anticipate that both will be attending the Heart Mountain Interpretive Center's grand opening Aug. 19-21.

Sen. Alan "Big Al" Simpson,a Republican from Cody, is one of the most visible politicians in the country. During the current Congressional fight over the budget, he may end up being one of the most recognizable moderates in the news. Seems funny when you consider that Sen. Al retired from elected office way back in the last century.

But he keeps popping up. He co-chaired with Erskine Bowles the president's deficit commission, nicknamed the "cat food commission" after a quip by the senator. The senator has a million of them and many are funny or, at least, catchy.

Sen. Al had a front row seat two weeks ago for Pres. Obama's budget speech. Talking to reporters after the speech, he uttered another quotable quote. Here's part of the story from The Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire:

“Pray for the Gang of Six,” Mr. Simpson told two reporters after the speech, referring to a bipartisan group of lawmakers in the Senate who are working on a deficit-reduction plan. “They are six guys, three Republicans, three Democrats, that are committed to doing something.

The “Gang of Six,” are Democratic Sens. Mark Warner of Virginia, Kent Conrad of North Dakota, and Richard Durbin of Illinois and Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, Tom Coburn of Oklahoma, and Mike Crapo of Idaho. 

“Just pray for the Gang of Six,” he said. “You guys your age, keep praying.”

What happens if the Gang of Six fails? Mr. Simpson was asked.

“Guys like you will be picking grit with the chickens when you are 65,” he replied. End of interview.

That's the fear of millions of Americans, that we will spend our retirement picking grit with the chickens. That's even worse than eating catfood. Nutritional value of grit=0. Nutritional value of catfood (especially the gourmet kind)=much more than zero (look on your catfood label).

This "Gang of Six" is not the answer to the budget battle. As far as I know, none of them has brought up raising revenue along with budget cuts.

The House version of the budget-cutting bill will go nowhere in the Senate. Those already on Medicare and Medicaid and Social Security will be rattled and may vote for more Democrats in 2012. Those about to retire are nervous due to the fact that I have no chickens and I don't like grit. If the Repubs get their way, I will have to follow in the footsteps of my locavore brethren and sistren and get a coop filled with Rhode Island Reds.

Wyoming, of course, has plenty of grit to pick. I'm staking out my claim now.

Tea Party Slim & Sovereign Jake vs. Liberal Mike

I ran into Tea Party Slim at the downtown Starbucks. “Hey Slim,” I said. “Enjoying that Fair Trade Coffee?”

He peered at his grande coffee cup. "Slim” was printed on its side.

"It's just coffee,” said Slim.

I grabbed a colorful bag of beans from the rack. I read: “By working together and paying the prices that premium coffee deserves, we’re helping improve the lives of those farmers and their communities. Find out about additional ways we are working with farmers to ethnically source our coffee at starbucks.com/sharedplanet.”

Slim frowned. “I may have to go back to the doughnut shop. They have regular American coffee there -- and it doesn't preach at you.”

“Even Dave’s Doughnuts serves coffee made somewhere else," I said. "It’s sold by corporations like Folger’s or Nestle. The corporation gets more of the profit and small growers less.”

“Who’s the know-it-all?” Slim’s friend spoke for the first time. He looked a bit younger than Slim, maybe in his fifties. His hair was streaked with gray as was his bushy beard. He wore a striped western shirt, brown vest, jeans and Sunday-go-to-meeting cowboy boots.

“Meet Liberal Mike,” said Slim, “one of the few registered Democrats in Laramie County.”

“I’m Jake,” said the man. “Freeman."

We shook hands. His grip was firm; his eyes held mine.

"Jake Freeman," I said.

"No, my last name is, well, it's not important," he said. "I meant that I am a Free Man -- sovereign."

I'd heard the terms before and wanted to know more. “Let me get some shade-tree-grown Nicaraguan coffee and a whole wheat organic scone and I’ll join you gents.”

I did just that. I grabbed one of the easy chairs across from Jake. He and Slim stared at me. “Do I have a booger hanging out of my nose?” I swiped my hand across my face.

Slim laughed. “Jake doesn’t know any Liberals.” He turned to Jake. “It’s like going to the zoo, eh Jake? Looking at the strange creatures.”

“I have lots of company,” I said. "In 2008, 3,800 new Democrats registered in Laramie County. Many of them voted. That's how Obama won the majority of votes in this county."

"That was then," said Slim. "Where were they last November?"

"I don't vote," said Jake.

This time, Slim and I stared at Jake.

"Don't vote?"

"Don't need to," he said. "Why should I have to register to vote for a government I don't believe in?"

Jake erupted in a diatribe about what it means to be a sovereign. The united states of America (lower case u and s) is a republic based on the Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation and the Constitution. The Magna Carta, too. And the Bible. The United States of America (capitalized) was corrupted following the Civil War. It became a centralized, profit-seeking corporation, its many laws and regulations just ways to keep the people in their place. States, on the other hand, are individual republics and make the only laws worth following.

Our coffee cups were bone-dry by the time Jake fell silent.

"I guess you don't pay taxes," I said, recalling the big check I just wrote to the IRS.

He chuckled. "I'm not a slave to the IRS. I believe in free enterprise. Me and my fellow sovereigns barter our goods and services."

"What's your skill?"

"Paperwork," he said with a grin. "In my previous life, I was a Certified Public Accountant with the State of Wyoming. I know all the tricks. I pay my filing fee and present reams of paperwork that some clerk has to input into the system. Clogs up the bureaucracy. Drives them crazy."

"Guerrilla tactics," said Slim the veteran.

"Same kind of tactics that anti-war activists used during Vietnam -- and right now," I said. "Don't pay taxes for the war machine. Or pay in bags of pennies that you haul down to the IRS office. File loads of paperwork to clog the system."

Jake stared at me. "You Liberals have your own causes," he said. "Mostly you believe in big government. An illegitimate government." He paused. "Our president doesn't even have a birth certificate."

"Now you're talkin'" said Slim.

I replied: "I thought you didn't believe in government. That's who handles birth certificates. Do you want government more involved in tracking our personal lives?"

Jake waved away my criticism. "State and local governments have some legitimacy. For instance, I register my vehicles and pay the fees. My truck needs a license plate."

"So some government is O.K.?"

"State and local. The county sheriff is the law of the land."

"If you're so sovereign, why would you take orders from any law officer."

He nodded. "Slim, your boy here is sharper than he looks."

"He has his moments," said Slim.

"There is one thing that we won't register, right Slim?" He padded his vest, lifting it up so I could see the Glock snug in its holster. Slim, in turn, lifted his jacket and revealed the SIG Sauer pistol he had showed off to me several times.

"No gun registration for these bad boys," said Jake. "It's just a way for the One World Government to track us down, take away our guns and lock us away in re-education camps."

The coffee was long gone, and the conversation had taken a bad turn.

"This government will fall, by peace or by force," said Jake.

I stood. "If you gentlemen will excuse me, I'm off to buy a gun."

"I thought you didn't believe in guns," said Slim.

"Hush, Slim," said Jake. "I think we talked him into joining us."

"No," I answered. "When the time comes, I may need it to protect myself and my family from the likes of you."

NOTE: Much of the information on the sovereign movement was taken from an excellent three-part series by Tom Morton in the Casper Star-Tribune. Joe O'Sullivan also covered some similar issues regarding city zoning laws. For some additional stories, read Tom Morton's blog at http://trib.com/news/opinion/blogs/morton/

Women Progressives in Wyoming show their steel

Many Progressive leaders in Wyoming are women. And that's the way it should be in The Equality State. Liz Byrd, Kathy Sessions, Kathy Karpan, Nellie Tayloe Ross, Leslie Petersen, Lori Millin, Cathy Connolly, Mary Throne, Wendy Soto -- the list is a long one. Send me more names via comments to add to the list! Meanwhile, here's another great poster from politicalloudmouth.com

Daily Kos: Letter to Wyoming's Sen. Enzi on Social Security Comments

Republican Sen. Mike Enzi of Gillette has been making some strange and inaccurate comments about the Social Security program that millions of Americans depend on for at least some of their retirement. One of my fellow kossacks at Daily Kos, ceprDC, attempts to set him straight. Go to Letter to Sen. Enzi on Social Security Comments

Rev. Rodger McDaniel guest speaker for Laramie County Democrats meeting April 25

Please join us for the monthly meeting of the Laramie County Democrats on Monday, April 25, 7 p.m.

There’s a change in location for this meeting. Instead of the IBEW Union Hall, we’ll be at the Historic Plains Hotel, 1600 Central Avenue

Guest Speaker will be the Rev. Rodger McDaniel, progressive blogger, minister and Rockies’ fan. He’ll be talking about ways to “push back” against the right-wing tide.

For info and agenda, go to www.laramiecountydemocrats.org 

This progressive blogger is off to the Netroots Nation 2011 Conference in June

I’m pleased to announce that I’ve received a scholarship to the Netroots Nation 2011 Conference in Minneapolis. Thanks to all my friends and acquaintances who voted for me. And thanks to Democracy for America. I’ll be hauling myself, my blog and my laptop off to one of the twin cities June 16-19.

I am told that the Minneapolis summer is warmer than Wyoming’s and a bit more humid. I am also told that it doesn’t snow there in June. In Wyoming, you can’t promise that.

As Minnesota Sen. Al Franken said at Netroots National 2010 in Las Vegas: "It's a little bit less glitzy and glamorous than Las Vegas, but it's also a little bit less hot. It's a place with great fishing, beautiful scenery and tons of energetic progressives ready to show Netroots Nation a good time."

"Lots of progressives." Wow. We have a small but mighty contingent of progressives in this state. And we are formulating big plans to push back against the Wyoming red tide. Now -- and in 2012.

As a Red State blogger, I often feel isolated. The conference is an opportunity to trade tips and organizing strategies with other prog-bloggers. I’ve been paying particular attention to Wisconsin bloggers the past few months. Those are some grassroots community organizers who know how to fight a Tea Party governor and his minions who are trying to dismantle 100 years of progress.

On Wisconsin! And, in June, on to Minnesota!

When it gets personal, writers have to dig deeper

I don't need to be invited to write.

But it helps.

Last week, I was invited to attend a writing workshop by Sandra Root-Elledge, associate director of program development for the Wyoming Institute for Disabilities (WIND) at the University of Wyoming. Sandy and I serve together on the UPLIFT board. So I took Friday off and drove over the pass ("blowing snow, icy roads, turn off cruise control") to Laramie. Springtime in the Rockies.

On campus, a collegial group gathered to talk -- and write -- about their children with disabilities. One of us had physical disabilities, and she was accompanied by a scribe. Not all of us were parents -- several of the attendees work with populations with special needs and have many stories to tell.

Workshop leader was Kathy Roberson who, in 2008, started a writers' group for family caregivers at the Boggs Center in New Jersey. She has master's degrees in creative writing and social work. She also has a 20-year-old daughter with developmental disabilities. Kathy as in town with her husband, a fisheries biologist, who was attending a conference. She connected with Sandy at WIND and a workshop was created.

It is difficult to write well and honestly about those closest to you. Way back in the last century, I pitched several publishers and agents about my manuscript about our family's struggles with our son who has ADHD. I received little encouragement but many comments. "Dig deeper," one editor told me. "I don't want to dig any deeper," I told myself, and kept sending out the manuscript. Looking at it now, I realize that the critique was correct. There was lots of good stuff on the page. Nifty sentences, some insights, a bit of humor. But it was heady, my story as told by some person at a remove from my story -- and that person was me.

I've been able to publish some of the book's chapters, often after a lot of revising. One of the essays will appear this September in the anthology Easy to Love by Hard to Raise. That has prompted me to go back and look at the rest of the manuscript and dig deeper. That is at least partly what writing is about -- digging until the writer hits the mother lode.

Kathy Roberson's writers' group in New Jersey has bred some amazing poems and essays and stories. She shared some of them with us last Friday at the WIND workshop. Kathy uses a number of prompts as writing exercises. One was "Write about an article of clothing that holds a distinct memory or meaning." She tells the caregivers that they can follow the prompt or not. Most do, and come up with some amazing writing about quirky bathing suits or Navy blue Converse sneakers or a baby outfit with this script across the chest: "Thank Heaven for Little Boys." As you read this short memoir, you can't help thinking about the challenges as this little boy with disabilities grows up.

To read the prompts and some of the finished work, go to "Writing Our Journey: Poems and Essays by Family Caregivers."

On Friday, Kathy gave us this prompt: "Write about the word ambivalence."

I had to think about this one. Usually I just jump into the writing. Ambivalence, I think, is a term that many of us face daily. I love my children but they drive me to distraction. My wife and I have been a caregiving team for what seems like forever -- we just want to be a couple again. I try to be supportive with my daughter as she wrestles with homework and now tests for her G.E.D. At the same time I'm wondering why she has so much trouble with work that is so easy. I know the answer -- learning disabilities and ADD and a school career filled with failures. Still, I can't get over the fact that neither of my children graduated from high school. My son is on the lifetime plan at a community college. I'm not sure that my daughter will succeed in college or even get there.

This is the time of year when the graduation announcements arrive. The other day we received one from my nephew in Florida graduating from University of North Florida. I'm proud of him but his notice reminds me that I won't be attending a high school graduation this fall. I recall saying this the day my daughter was born: "When she graduates from high school, I'll be 60." Well, I'm 60 and she's not graduating. She'll have her G.E.D. But no diploma.

Where does my ambivalence lie? All over the damn place. I'll try to sum it up: "Enough already with the damn graduation announcements." That's what I wrote about.

Other workshop participants have children with severe developmental disabilities. These children and young adults cannot speak or take care of themselves. They have autism or Down Syndrome or very rare disorders of the brain and spine. They live in group homes and spend their days at the Ark, one of the best centers for the developmentally disabled in the region.

Faced with this, I remember one of my mother's favorite sayings: "Count your blessings, Michael." My mother had to count her blessings often -- she had nine of them, she said, with me the oldest. This didn't count my father, who would be the tenth blessing if you're trying to keep up. My mother was wise but I rarely counted what was good and dwelled instead on the negative. That was part of my depression, this inner turmoil. This is more curse than blessing, but I may not have become a writer without it.

Ambivalence is life. To see life in black and white is to be blind to the colors and shades of gray.

The poems and essays by the workshop participants were sad and funny. Filled with ambivalence.

Kathy left us with one of her poems. It's entitled "Ambivalent Living." It's very personal and does a terrific job of summing up the title.

Ambivalent Living
Kathy Roberson

It's October and the fluttering,
garish, dazzling display of color
defies the unmistakable scent of
melancholy settling; this time of
change resists easy conclusions.

Inside, on the warm couch, her long,
adolescent limbs curl along side me
while she contentedly sucks that one
calloused thumb; fear and faith in
the far future vie for voice, rise in
my throat and are swallowed just
as swiftly as I stand to plan the
fleeting details of our day.

A drawing called Love: a child
poised in mid-air, and a woman,
both arms stretched forward, ready
to catch, enfold, or else hold still,
risk release into open sky. I've mused
since about which way the story was
supposed to go and see now, in this
season of uncertainty, how either way
the name remains the same.

Some Wyoming Democrats wear the cloak of invisibility

Good story by Kirk Johnson in the April 16 New York Times. Wyoming booms with energy development. State government flush with cash. Republicans rule the roost. Democrats invisible -- and some want to stay that way.

Not me.

Go to http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/17/us/politics/17wyoming.html

Photo of Gillette mural by Steve Remich

D.C. gathering asks "Arts or Sciences?"

At an April 8 gathering in D.C., "Arts or Sciences?" was the topic. We need both, of course

Peter Cunningham, Assistant Secretary for Communications and Outreach at the U.S. Department of Education, had a few things to say:

Some people would also have you believe that we have to choose between the arts and other subjects—but that’s a false choice. We need them both...

--snip--

We care about poetry and we care about the stars and—believe it or not—there’s a literary magazine devoted to poetry about stars. It’s called Astropoetica, and you can find it on the internet.

We live in a great country. Let's keep it that way.

Couldn't agree more, Mr. Cunningham. And we can't have a great country without science and poetry and the arts and research. These are all areas that House Republicans are targeting in their budget cuts. Medicare and Medicaid, too. And so many other things that are crucial to life in the 21st century.

Read more at Arts or Sciences?

Photo (from NEA blog): Nébuleuse Nord America, Luc Viatour © GFDL, www.lucnix.be

Push Brothers! -- great poster for the workplace

Push brothers -- and sisters. Roll back the Republican war on workers. Thanks to Political Loudmouth.

Karoli reports on "ADHD Nation's" reaction to budget bill

I like to share links with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) in their headers. This is a good one on karoli's blog at Crooks & Liars. Go to "Republicans Suddenly Worried About Scaring Seniors? ADHD Nation Take Two." 

Democratic Grassroots Coalition installs new officers April 18 at IBEW Union Hall

Laramie County Democrats Grassroots Coalition meets on Monday, April 18, 7 p.m., at the IBEW Union Hall, 810 Fremont, Cheyenne. Main order of business is the installation of new officers. See you there...

Save the date for the Children’s Justice and Mental Health conference in Cheyenne

This June 14-17 conference is timely, as mental health needs and juvenile justice continue to be big topics in Wyoming. Just yesterday, Gov. Mead was interviewed by Bob Beck on Wyoming Public Radio about the state’s flawed juvenile justice system.

The ACLU and other organizations have criticized the high numbers of juveniles who are jailed, many for minor offenses. Groups have called for a uniform approach towards addressing young offenders. Now, each county decides how to handle juveniles. Gov. Mead says he is trying to get a handle on how large the problem is, but says he does favor some type of uniform approach.

"The goal is not to put as many Juveniles in jail as possible, the goal is to address Juvenile problems and delinquency and address it. Jail is always going to be part of that, but we don't want to put more than we have to in jail."

Mead says he would like to see a Juvenile Justice system with strong accountability, but he does think they need to move away from incarcerating Juveniles. The legislature's Judiciary committee is tackling the issue next week.

Gov. Mead is in the hot seat on this one. His Republican Party supports tough crime laws  and local control. They have a Biblical bent toward “spare the rod and spoil the child.” None of that bodes well for juveniles seeking fairness from the justice system, especially in very rural counties.

The 2011 Children’s Justice and Mental Health Conference, “Well-Being, Family Voice, and Children’s Choice,” will be held June 14-17, 2011, at Little America, Cheyenne

Parent scholarships are available (see below for more info).

The conference agenda is built around several keynote sessions with a selection of breakout sessions. The conference will focus on building the capacity for a broad group of stakeholders including service providers, parents, and policy-makers in the following areas: trauma informed care, understanding the juvenile justice system, parenting children with serious emotional disorders, system of care for children’s mental health, and medication assisted treatment for youth and adolescents.

Internationally known counselor, speaker, and author, Dr. Bruce Perry, will be the keynote speaker. Dr. Perry is a recognized authority on children in crisis. He has been consulted on many high-profile incidents involving traumatized children, including the Columbine school shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing, and the Branch Davidian siege. Additionally, Dr. Rick Delaney, a psychologist who specializes in foster and adoptive children and their parents, will be sharing practical strategies for parenting and working with children with serious emotional and behavioral problems.

Conference also includes a panel focusing on the juvenile justice system entitled, “Where Do Parents Fit In?” And Dr. Bob Klaehn will present on medication assisted treatment for youth and adolescents.

There is not a registration fee but participants must register at http://gal.state.wy.us and click on “annual conference” or http://www.courts.state.wy.us/CJP

UPLIFT has been awarded funding from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry for a limited number of scholarships to assist with travel/lodging costs.  Parents participating in this event will have the opportunity to engage with other stakeholders and build their skills in understanding and parenting their child.  Parents of children or youth with emotional or mental health disorders need to register for the conference at website listed above and then submit the following information to UPLIFT at 4007 Greenway St., Ste. 201, Cheyenne, WY 82001 or kconner@upliftwy.org

P.S.: I serve on the UPLIFT board. You can leave a comment here if you seek more info.

Local art walk this evening -- and a meeting about energizing the local art scene

This is the second Thursday of the month so that means...

...the Art Design and Dine art walk from 5-8 p.m. Eight local galleries and exhibition spaces are open with new work this evening. Mixed-media artist Pravina Gondalia (sample of her work shown above) will be at Glen Garrett's Gallery, Haitian art will be on display at Clay Paper Scissors, glass artists at Prairie Wind and Deselms, and the art of Ringo Stavrowsky at the Link Gallery. Check out the ADD web site for more info on the shows.

Also at the Link Gallery -- Alan O'Hashi will announce the line-up for the Cheyenne International Film Festival. The first festival last spring was fantastic and I'm looking forward to some boffo movies (and box office) this year. Get more info at www.cheyenneinternationalfilmfestival.org

And don't forget the food and beverages at Ruby Juice and the Laramie County Public Library Cafe, co-sponsors of the art walk.

Prior to the art walk from 4-5:30 p.m., the Cheyenne Arts Council will host a meeting at the Historic Atlas Theatre, 211 W. 16th St., to "present its mission, image, goals and action plan -- the arts community is invited to express interest and to get involved." Get more info at 307-222-4747 or www.cheyenneartscouncil.org.

Artists and writers and performers and arts workers and arts funders and arts appreciators should show up. Remember what Woody Allen said about "showing up." It's especially important now as the Cheyenne Arts Council takes shape.

Tea Party Slim is not so civil about The Civil War

Tea Party Slim and I were on the back porch discussing the American Civil War. We would have been on the front porch but the Wyoming west wind was blowing too damn hard. Under shelter, we sipped iced tea festooned with sprigs of mint.

“You mean The War Between the States, don’t you?” said Slim.

“The Civil War is what I’m talking about,” I replied. “It was 1861-1865. It started with the South seceding from the Union and firing on a military fort in Charleston Harbor.”

“That’s the one I’m talking about – The War of Northern Aggression. The South just wanted to live in peace…”

“…with their slaves.”

Slim held up his hand. “Not all Southerners had slaves. In fact, 85 percent of them did not.”

“But 15 percent did. And they were the merchants and land barons and politicians that forced the issue. People like Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Scarlett O’Hara’s pa, Mary Custis, etc.”

“You mean Mary Custis, granddaughter of Gen. George Washington, slaveholder?”

“One and the same.”

“Or Thomas Jefferson, slave owner and well, you know… He liked his female slaves.” Slim was trying to be delicate.

“Sally Hemmings – we all know the story,” I said. “And I’m sure there are hundreds like it all across the South. The Massa had all the power and when he came calling, well, how could a girl turn him down?”

“O.K., O.K., enough of that,” said Slim. “People make mistakes.”

“Rape is merely a mistake?”

“Let’s get back to the politics. This stuff makes me sick.”

“Rape is politics.” I had to get in one more jab. “But we were talking about The Civil War. Ken Burns called it that on PBS.”

“Don’t get me started on PBS.”

I dearly wanted to get him started on PBS, one of the Tea Party’s favorite targets, but held my tongue. “Shelby Foote is interviewed on the show. He’s a Southerner and he calls it The Civil War.”

“He has to do that on TV.”

I disappeared inside and brought back Shelby Foote’s massive three-volume The Civil War: A Narrative. “Shelby Foote called it The Civil War.”

“His publisher made him do it,” said Slim. “The War of Northern Aggression: A Narrative wouldn’t be welcomed in those New York literary circles.”

“Foote was from Mississippi, land of great writers” I added. “You can borrow the books if you want.”

“No thanks,” he said. “I’ve read all I need to about The Civ… I mean, The War Between the States.”

I held the books in my lap. They weighed a ton. I wondered if I should tell Slim that I’d only read half of the first volume.

“That’s the problem – the victor gets to tell the story,” said Slim. “The North won. The North tells their side of the story.”

“I told you that Foote is a Mississippian,” I said. “Did you watch him on the PBS series? He spoke very kindly about the South and Southerners and said some harsh words about the North. The Union generals stunk, for one thing.”

Slim smiled. “They did, didn’t they? McClellan was the worst.”

“It’s hard to say who the worst was,” I replied. “So much competition. But they did find a leader in Grant. And Sherman is credited with creating the “total war” concept with his march through the South.”

“Talk about rape and pillaging.”

“And burning crops and houses and generally laying waste to the countryside.”

“The War of Northern Aggression – like I said.”

“The Civil War – like me and Shelby Foote and Ken Burns and millions of others said. You can look it up.”

We sat in silence. I could tell we had reached an impasse. Slim was looking a bit glum. I decided that the day needed some new energy. “I’m surprised, Slim, that you didn’t once mention the magic words.”

He looked at me. “Magic words?”

“States’ rights,” I said.

His eyes bulged. Steam poured out of his ears. The glass shattered in his hand. “States’ rights,” he bellowed. “That’s what it was all about. No matter what you call the war, it was about the rights of a state or group of states over the rights of a federal government. Why just look at what’s happened since. We got the feds telling us what to do, from what crops we grow to the kind of cars we drive. Half of Wyoming is owned by the feds and we should take it back, we should….”

As Slim went on and on, I sat back in my chair and sipped my mint tea. The history of The Civil War weighed heavily on my lap and in my mind.

Photo: Tea Party uber-patriot. Photo by Don Jenkins, The Daily News

UW prof Christine M. Porter receives huge grant to build sustainable community food systems

The following comes from a University of Wyoming press release. I'm going to reprint the whole darn thing not only because this is such a cool project but also because it is spring and getting close to planting season and I'm in a pretty good mood.

A University of Wyoming professor is leading a $5-million, multi-state project to build community food systems that nourish populations in both current and future generations.

Christine M. Porter, assistant professor in the College of Health Sciences Division of Kinesiology and Health, leads the five-year "Food Dignity: Action Research on Engaging Food Insecure Communities and Universities in Building Sustainable Community Food Systems," project. It is funded by the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (AFRI) Competitive Grant program.

This is the largest USDA grant the university has received, says Bill Gern, UW vice president for research and economic development. Porter’s project has three facets: extension, research and education.

The project's extension portion includes five community food initiatives. Each will create a local steering committee to disperse small grants that invest in citizen solutions to their own food system issues.

Two of the initiatives are in Wyoming -- Gayle Woodsum of Action Resources International is organizing the Albany County project and Virginia Sutter of Blue Mountain Associates, Inc. will lead the Wind River Indian Reservation initiative. The others are Dig Deep Farms and Produce in Alameda County, Calif.; Whole Community Project of Cornell Cooperative Extension, Tompkins County, N.Y.; and East New York Farms!, Brooklyn, N.Y.

The research focuses on developing case studies of what each community has already done and during the next five years will make clear what factors influence their successes and failures as they work to create sustainable community food systems that provide ample and appropriate food for all, Porter says.

The education portion aims to create new cross-disciplinary undergraduate minors in sustainable food systems to prepare UW and Cornell University graduate students to engage in this work.

"At UW, the team developing the minor is considering nesting this within a more generic sustainability program of study," Porter says.

She says the project comes at a crucial time in today's economy.

"We are close to peak oil and peak soil, are enduring the greatest wealth and income inequality in decades, and somewhat ironically, face soaring rates of both food insecurity and obesity," Porter says.

While there is no single cure-all for these problems, Porter and her team view community food system development as a core part of the solution.

"We'll never compete with China in making plastic buckets or tennis shoes," she says, "But we can grow, process and sell our own food. The more we localize food systems, the more local jobs we create and the fresher our food is when it reaches our plates."

She also says research shows that medium-sized producers are more productive than industrial-scale farms and also tend to be more attentive to ecological and community sustainability.

While finishing her doctoral degree work, Porter says AFRI had a call for proposals to foster food security and local economic development through a blend of research, extension and education.

That pushed her to "dream bigger than I ever would have before dared." She assembled a team of more than two dozen top-notch community food practitioners and UW and Cornell University representatives for the "Food Dignity" proposal.

Many UW faculty, staff and students are involved in the project, including Urszula Norton, Kent Becker, Bill Gribb, Cole Ehmke, Deborah Paulson, Jill Lovato, Cheryl Geiger, Leslie Darnall and Peggy McCrackin. 

For more information about the project, contact Darnall at (307) 766-2141, email ldarnall@uwyo.edu or visit the website at www.fooddignity.org .

Photo: Alexa Naschold admires cabbage at a community garden. Her mother, Christine M. Porter, UW Department of Kinesiology and Health assistant professor, received a $5 million grant for a multi-state sustainable community food project study. (Photo by Christine Porter)