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All quiet on the UW front in advance of Coulter speech
Today's Casper Star-Tribune featured an article about Ann Coulter's speech this evening at UW. A couple things stand out:
The argument about free speech on the UW campus is alive and well. That's a good thing. Keep bringing in the speakers and keep debating.
Read the article at http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_af219e5f-0256-5e4b-b475-8dc5ac629eaa.html
The argument about free speech on the UW campus is alive and well. That's a good thing. Keep bringing in the speakers and keep debating.
The UW Foundation didn’t respond to repeated queries about whether any alumni threatened to stop donations to the university because of Coulter.Good coverage of the Ann Coulter's Home Rainbow fund-raiser for Wyoming LGBT orgs.
Read the article at http://trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_af219e5f-0256-5e4b-b475-8dc5ac629eaa.html
Tea Party descends on U.S. Capitol to kill gubment "monster"
Tea Partiers are swarming Congressional offices today, shouting "Let's kill the monster -- but keep those Social Security checks and Medicare payments coming!"
Meanwhile, majority of Americans tiring of all this pitchfork-rattling and torch-waving. Go to http://blogs.reuters.com/frontrow/2011/03/30/as-tea-party-cranks-up-heat-on-congress-poll-shows-public-support-waning/
Laramie County Democrats meet to ponder the 2011 legislative session -- and plan for the future
Full house tonight for the monthly meeting of the Laramie County Democrats. We meet on the last Monday of each month at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Union hall in sight of Frontier Refinery. We had to wait awhile for another meeting to adjourn, this one of the refinery's union members. But we didn't mind -- lots of catching up to do with fellow Dems. And time to meet some new people.
One note on unions -- Wyoming is a so-called "Right to Work" state. Another one of those Republicanisms. "Right to Work" means that the corporations tell you if you have the right to work in this state. And what wages they deign to give you. We know from events in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan that the Republican Party's primary agenda is to kill unions so that they can tell everyone where, when and how they have the right to work. They want all of us to make the same wages as a factory worker in Indonesia. When we all get paid 15 cents an hour, the conglomerates will move all the jobs back to the U.S.A. And they shall be proclaimed heroes.
Why were people gathered tonight? We are angry. We are shocked that the highs of 2008 have been replaced by the ultra-lows of 2011. The national scene has gone loco. Governors elected with less that 50 percent of the vote are outlawing unions, stripping tenure from your children's teachers, privatizing crucial government services, banning foods stamps to union families during strikes, bringing murder charges against women who get abortions, etc. And that's just some of the crazy laws that have been proposed -- and adopted -- around the U.S.
Wyoming had its share of right-wing crazies in the legislature. We were able to avoid electing a right-wing crazy as Governor -- Ron Micheli of Uinta County -- and did end up with a moderate, Matt Mead. Gov. Mead seemed upset at some of his party's legislative antics, but he also has spouted some of the same anti-Obamacare rhetoric that you see at Tea Party rallies.
What can Dems do when they are only 14 out of 90 legislators?
"We decided to go on defense," said Rep. Jim Byrd at tonight's meeting. "We could tell that the crazies were at the gates."
The crazies are almost too numerous to mention. So were their crazy bills. Even before the session ended, the Casper Star-Tribune summed it up as a total waste of time. A number of the time-wasting Republicans are from Natrona County. Kroeker, Brechtel, Gay. Something nasty in that water up there.
No so-called social issue bills were passed by this legislature. It wasn't for lack of trying. But it wasn't just the Dems who blunted the onslaught. Rep. Ken Esquibel said the House Republicans got split among its factions. Rep. Byrd: "There is a moderate Republican component. We need to support them."
These Repubs have been labeled RINOs (Republican in Name Only) by right-wingers disappointed that the social issue bills didn't pass. At least one letter to the ed in the CST has called for a concerted effort to defeat the RINOs and replace them with more right-thinking members. You will recall that Republican Cale Case publicly opposed the anti-gay marriage bill and Sue Wallis opposed the abortion notification bill. There were others.
But the main thing is to elect more Democrats. That's the goal for 2012. We'll start with Laramie County. You say it can't be done? Well, 3,800 new Democrats registered to vote in 2008. Many of them actually voted. In 2010, they either stayed home or voted Republican. The votes are out there...
One note on unions -- Wyoming is a so-called "Right to Work" state. Another one of those Republicanisms. "Right to Work" means that the corporations tell you if you have the right to work in this state. And what wages they deign to give you. We know from events in Wisconsin, Ohio and Michigan that the Republican Party's primary agenda is to kill unions so that they can tell everyone where, when and how they have the right to work. They want all of us to make the same wages as a factory worker in Indonesia. When we all get paid 15 cents an hour, the conglomerates will move all the jobs back to the U.S.A. And they shall be proclaimed heroes.
Why were people gathered tonight? We are angry. We are shocked that the highs of 2008 have been replaced by the ultra-lows of 2011. The national scene has gone loco. Governors elected with less that 50 percent of the vote are outlawing unions, stripping tenure from your children's teachers, privatizing crucial government services, banning foods stamps to union families during strikes, bringing murder charges against women who get abortions, etc. And that's just some of the crazy laws that have been proposed -- and adopted -- around the U.S.
Wyoming had its share of right-wing crazies in the legislature. We were able to avoid electing a right-wing crazy as Governor -- Ron Micheli of Uinta County -- and did end up with a moderate, Matt Mead. Gov. Mead seemed upset at some of his party's legislative antics, but he also has spouted some of the same anti-Obamacare rhetoric that you see at Tea Party rallies.
What can Dems do when they are only 14 out of 90 legislators?
"We decided to go on defense," said Rep. Jim Byrd at tonight's meeting. "We could tell that the crazies were at the gates."
The crazies are almost too numerous to mention. So were their crazy bills. Even before the session ended, the Casper Star-Tribune summed it up as a total waste of time. A number of the time-wasting Republicans are from Natrona County. Kroeker, Brechtel, Gay. Something nasty in that water up there.
No so-called social issue bills were passed by this legislature. It wasn't for lack of trying. But it wasn't just the Dems who blunted the onslaught. Rep. Ken Esquibel said the House Republicans got split among its factions. Rep. Byrd: "There is a moderate Republican component. We need to support them."
These Repubs have been labeled RINOs (Republican in Name Only) by right-wingers disappointed that the social issue bills didn't pass. At least one letter to the ed in the CST has called for a concerted effort to defeat the RINOs and replace them with more right-thinking members. You will recall that Republican Cale Case publicly opposed the anti-gay marriage bill and Sue Wallis opposed the abortion notification bill. There were others.
But the main thing is to elect more Democrats. That's the goal for 2012. We'll start with Laramie County. You say it can't be done? Well, 3,800 new Democrats registered to vote in 2008. Many of them actually voted. In 2010, they either stayed home or voted Republican. The votes are out there...
Speaking of historic placemaking -- or lack of it
Maine artist Judy Taylor created the labor history mural that Gov. Paul LePage wants to remove the the state labor department building:
UPDATE: ThinkProgress reports that the Governor decided to remove the mural after receiving one anonymous. Later he admitted that it was an anonymous letter and not a fax. One anonymous fax/letter undoes years of hard work and erases a landmark? And why is the governor lying about it?
In the summer of 2007, I responded to a Call to Artists sponsored by the Maine Arts Commission. The call was to create an artwork depicting the " History of Labor in the State of Maine". After a reviewing process, I was selected to do the commission. Along the way, I met some wonderful, and dedicated people. I also got an excellent education in Maine History. Below, is the 11-panel mural that was painted on 4 x 8 sheets of specially prepared MDO board. The panels were applied to adjoining walls in the Dept. of Labor reception area. In total, the mural measures 36 feet in length, and is nearly 8 feet tall.As a public service to artists everywhere, here are the mural panels. Find the descriptions at Judy's web site.
UPDATE: ThinkProgress reports that the Governor decided to remove the mural after receiving one anonymous. Later he admitted that it was an anonymous letter and not a fax. One anonymous fax/letter undoes years of hard work and erases a landmark? And why is the governor lying about it?
Now is the time to be creative about historic placemaking in downtown Cheyenne
The project has kind of a high-and-mighty name: Downtown Cheyenne Historic Placemaking Project. And the goals are not simple:
1. Involve a wide range of people and organizations to bring different perspectives to the table
2. Reach agreement on the major issues and opportunities affecting downtown’s near-term future and means by which to address them
3. Launch new partnerships and initiatives to accelerate downtown revitalization
The first goal is not a tough one. A wide range of people with different perspectives will attend the first meeting March 31 at the Plains (see details below). There are as many visions of downtown as there are weeds on the prairie. Some of those ideas will be as hard to nail down as a tumblin' tumbleweed. Still, it’s important to hear ideas, even if they are: we don’t need no stinkin’ downtown placemaking – and what the hell is placemaking anyway?
Reaching agreement will take time. But what do we have if not time? Downtown Cheyenne has been around for almost 150 years, since those first tents sprang up along the railroad lines in the 1860s. It’s boomed during good times and almost gone bust in bad times. But not even the rampant development along Dell Range killed it. Hurt it, and emptied some of the buildings. But downtown lives on in 2011, with some renewed signs of life:
I urge all of you to get out to this meeting on Thursday, March 31, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Historic Plains Hotel. Doors open at 5:30 and the presentations and brainstorming begins at 6. An hour is not a lot of brainstorming time, but it’s a start.
FMI: 307-637-6251.
1. Involve a wide range of people and organizations to bring different perspectives to the table
2. Reach agreement on the major issues and opportunities affecting downtown’s near-term future and means by which to address them
3. Launch new partnerships and initiatives to accelerate downtown revitalization
The first goal is not a tough one. A wide range of people with different perspectives will attend the first meeting March 31 at the Plains (see details below). There are as many visions of downtown as there are weeds on the prairie. Some of those ideas will be as hard to nail down as a tumblin' tumbleweed. Still, it’s important to hear ideas, even if they are: we don’t need no stinkin’ downtown placemaking – and what the hell is placemaking anyway?
Reaching agreement will take time. But what do we have if not time? Downtown Cheyenne has been around for almost 150 years, since those first tents sprang up along the railroad lines in the 1860s. It’s boomed during good times and almost gone bust in bad times. But not even the rampant development along Dell Range killed it. Hurt it, and emptied some of the buildings. But downtown lives on in 2011, with some renewed signs of life:
- LightsOn! Project at the Hynds Building
- Renovation of the old Greer Furniture Building
- Construction at the old Dinneen car dealership
- Two weekly farmers’ markets, with the Tuesday Market on Yellowstone moving to the Historic Depot Plaza in June (and the winter farmers’ market in the Depot)
- The Third Thursday Art Design & Dine art walk
- Harvey Deselms moving his gallery to the Historic Whipple House
- Renovation of the State Capitol grounds, which will include an expanded plaza for gatherings and protests and just hanging out. The Capitol Building, of course, is downtown’s matching bookend, the renovated Depot being the other. The plaza will be flanked by the statues of Chief Washakie and Esther Hobart Morris, the same statues that represent The Equality State in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall in D.C.
- The Great Big Hole on 16th Street/Lincolnway
- Lots of empty buildings and storefronts
- No grocery store
- No comprehensive downtown plan
- Did I mention that Great Big Hole on 16th Street?
I urge all of you to get out to this meeting on Thursday, March 31, 5:30-7 p.m. at the Historic Plains Hotel. Doors open at 5:30 and the presentations and brainstorming begins at 6. An hour is not a lot of brainstorming time, but it’s a start.
FMI: 307-637-6251.
Give me your well-fed, your disgustingly rich, all those corporate CEOs with walk-in humidors...
UPDATE: The headline should read: "Blessed are the well-fed, the disgustingly rich, corporate CEOs with walk-in humidors..." I mixed up the Emma Lazarus quotation on the Statue of Liberty with Jesus's Sermon on the Mount. Maybe I should go to church more often -- or visit NYC more often.
Help send this blogger to summer camp
Dear Friends:
I started my progressive blog, hummingbirdminds, in 2005. Those were the early days of political blogging. Hunkered down in a sod hut, I wrote my posts by candlelight, my PC powered by a coal-fired boiler.
So what are you waiting for? Help send this Wyoming blogger to Netroots Nation summer camp! Vote at http://tinyurl.com/4mspd4s.
I started my progressive blog, hummingbirdminds, in 2005. Those were the early days of political blogging. Hunkered down in a sod hut, I wrote my posts by candlelight, my PC powered by a coal-fired boiler.
We're in a new era. My PC is still powered by Wyoming coal (and will be forever, thanks to Energy Czar Ken Salazar!) but now I'm blogging in the bright light of day. I've discovered there are others like me in the far reaches of the country, places such as Zephyrhills, Florida, and Minot, N.D. There's a chance for us to gather together in mid-June in Minneapolis. We'll trade tips and learn how to better network with our peers around the country and throughout the West.
But I need your help. Netroots Nation will waive the tuition if I'm selected for a scholarship. I'll still have to ride my horse Blue to Minnesota, but we will graze together in lush garden plots across Nebraska and Iowa and Minnesota. A low-cost trip! Once in Minneapolis, Blue and I can share cheap lodgings at one of the city's many hipster hostels.
Your truly,
Michael Shay
Cheyenne, WY
Shepard Symposium features staged reading of "Beyond Brokeback" by Cody native Gregory Hinton
Cody native Gregory Hinton will return to Wyoming in April for a staged reading of his script Beyond Brokeback.
Assistant Professor John J. O'Hagan of the University of Wyoming Department of Theater and Dance will direct a one-hour staged reading of Beyond Brokeback for the 15th Annual Shepard Symposium on Social Justice on Friday, April 8, 11 a.m.-12:15 p.m. in the Union Ballroom of the University of Wyoming in Laramie.
Beyond Brokeback was adapted for the stage by Gregory Hinton from the book Beyond Brokeback: Impact of a Film written by Members of the Ultimate Brokeback Forum, a web community which formed in the aftermath of the release of the award-winning film, Brokeback Mountain. The story was written by Wyoming author Annie Proulx. It was first published in The New Yorker and was in her book Close Range: Wyoming Stories.
The Forum, comprised of people from all walks of life -- country, city, gay, straight, men, women, young, old -- received over 500,000 posts in the first year. Excerpts of essays, poetry and music inspired by the film will be presented, including the song "Meet Me on the Mountain," written by noted composer Shawn Kirchner.
Beyond Brokeback was originally performed at the Autry National Center Museum of the American West in Los Angeles on December 11, 2010, in commemoration of the 5th Anniversary of Ang Lee's seminal western film, Brokeback Mountain.
The staged reading at UW is free but registration is required.
See http://www.shepardsymposium.org/ for more details.
Presenters for the Shepard Symposium include Cherrie Moraga, John Corvino, Mary Cowhey, and A Slice of Rice, Frijoles, and Greens.
Presenters for the Shepard Symposium include Cherrie Moraga, John Corvino, Mary Cowhey, and A Slice of Rice, Frijoles, and Greens.
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