State staffers endorsed a pair of grant requests from Teton County that could help fund improvements to the Jackson Hole Airport and build offices for the Jackson Hole Chamber of Commerce at the Home Ranch parking lot.

Law enforcement officers with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department say a $10,000 reward is still up for grabs for information about a poacher who killed two grizzly bear cubs Oct. 19 near Dubois.

A proposal for a statewide smoking ban, which fizzled in previous Wyoming legislative sessions, is under consideration again.

I am realizing that I am running out of time to re-run old Bush blasts.  So, here's an old favorite editorial commentary from September of '07.  Just keep shopping.

Bush + Hitler= Bull*&%#tler

“The universe is oddly hinged” say’s naturalist author Barry Lopez.  As we analyze recorded history, however, we begin to see rather predictable cultural patterns.  As nations are born and mature there are seemingly inevitable growing pains.  Different characters and times, but the mythical messages remain the same.

Hitler seized his power by channeling the hysteria of a lost and regimented population into pure, delusional hate.  An unforeseen, yet exploited, soulless by product of the Industrial Revolution.  Men built machines and became machine-like.

Bush’s empire grasped the reigns of U.S. Democracy much more subtly then Hitler.  Bush’s tactics involve fake smiles and shady handshakes with corporate feudal lords instead of military marches and fiery speeches from the pulpit.  The result, unfortunately, is the same, total control over millions of innocent people.

Hitler was able to whip up the Germans into a fearful frenzy, while Bush’s methods involve deception and secret plots that were set in motion generations ago.  All closed door deals rely on keeping the general public oppressed in their daily grind just to survive.  It’s hard to pay attention to the atrocious details of 9/11 when you’re working 2-3 jobs just to survive, and that is exactly what the Republicans want.

Collectively, as concerned citizens, we are quickly approaching a fork in the road that will decide our planet’s fate.  Will we take the least traveled path of peace and jubilee?  Utilizing existing technologies and compassion to re-integrate heaven upon earth?  

Or slide into some Mad Max-ian apocalypse fueled by a Jesus-freak “nucular” inferno that we were all warned of, while munching popcorn, sipping Pepsi in the dark, Zolofted zombies blindly gazing at our future.  

I propose we take Robert Frost’s advice.  It will make all the difference.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. In these scary economic times, it’s helpful to get together with family and friends and reflect on having everything we need, and then some. At JH Underground, we’re taking a much-deserved break in the tropics in preparation for the long, cold winter ahead. Posts may be sparse for the next week or so, but [...]

Grand Targhee and Jackson Hole Mountain Resort received good marks for their environmental practices in an annual report released Sunday by a ski industry watchdog group.

A crane hit a power line Saturday in downtown Jackson, knocking out power on the Town Square and the surrounding area during the busy noon hour.

A pair of Jackson legislators will head important committees when the state Legislature convenes for its session in January.

Psalm 126:1

“I think it is necessary to realize that we have moved from the era of civil rights to the era of human rights.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

About 10 years ago, just prior to making my initial western migration out to Jackson, WY, I had the unique opportunity of having breakfast on the back porch with a Native American Mohawk elder woman from the Mohawk tribe.  She went by the name “Betty Miracle” and looked a bit like Joel Fleischman's secretary from my favorite TV show Northern Exposure, but much warmer in nature.

Apparently, she had just flown in from Siberia with my former neighbor and old swim team coach.  He had since transformed himself into a global conservation activist stationed in the “Bark Eater” mountains of northern NY. 

Betty had been part of a trip that Dan choreographed for her to meet with native Siberians in the Lake Baikal region as part of a cultural exchange.  My friend Dan had been influential in transforming the area into a hybrid public/private park like the Adirondack State Park where he resides.  They were both returning in a flurry to the burbs of Schenectady in time for a great occasion.  Dan was to be inducted into   “Niskayuna” Highs “hall of fame” by an actual Native American.

I knew something was “up” with this unexpected visitor by an unusual electromagnetic charge that could be felt between the two of us at the breakfast table.  We were both aware of it and looked at each other with puzzled eyes that said “what's going on?” and “who are you?”.  It was definitely not a coffee buzz.  The Force was strong with this wizardly woman.

The waffles were tasty. 

After wards, Betty and I finally connected over some interesting conversations.  What struck me the most odd was a Native prophecy she shared about the coming of the “5th World.”  She claimed that indigenous people through out Central and North America had a similar belief that we humans of Earth were ending one cycle of time and soon to begin another.  This would be the 5th stage in Earth's evolution of consciousness.  According to her, we are presently wrapping up the 4th.

In this 5th World, she said that we would do away with money and return to a modern expression of the ancient tribal sharing and barter systems.  I thought at the time that this sounded completely insane.  “Never in my lifetime would I see such a thing” was my thought as I shook my head in disbelief.

Fast forward 10 years, however, and I am now most hopeful of this unfolding of peace, equality and prosperity she foretold.  I sense we all are.  Due to some unforeseen medical issues my body has slowed significantly over the last 3 years.  My mind and soul, however, now have the time to decipher a strategy to turn this dream and reality.  It's really a matter of very tangible logistics.

Essentially, all we need to do is cooperate and share.  It's merely time to return to those lessons we learned in Kindergarten, but integrated with modern tech to make it all work.  1% profit donations from the exploding computer/web industry alone could fund the eco-topia we so desperately need if the human race is to survive.  Meek geeks at Microsoft could do the code to transparently keep it all together.  The “nuts and bolts” of this project are readily available.  “Prepare to be assimilated.” 

I sense we are actually participating in an unfolding equation.  Imagine a sine or cosine curve.  We have been in the negative side for so long, but will soon be bursting into the positive realm.  It's inevitable.  The cosmic gears must grind on.

The past decade has also brought drastic changes.  Our financial system is now in shambles.  Implosion is imminent.  Every day there is talk of the next great depression. 

Our last slyly elected game-show host single handedly sank us into an extra $4 trillion in debt.  Our current deficit is streaming past 10 trillion every day we dominate Afghanistan and Iraq with our empirical presence.  Those “weapons of mass destruction” turned into massive delusions and lies.  Starting wars is just so profitable if you're in the business of war and drool over oil revenue.  Some body call 911 for 9/11 was so obviously an inside job.  

The Business of Government

In fact, our government is now really just a marketing front for various multi-nationals corporations that use our so-called democracy to bleed away our hopes for free health care, improved schools, better wages for teachers, not to mention funding needed for more libraries, recreation centers, med clinics, and skate parks.

Our so-called “Federal” reserve bank, thanks to a shady congressional session when most we're home for the holidays, is now a privately held enterprise and has been since 1913.  It's in this banks best interest for wars to be waged for they make so much off the interest loaned to fuel Republican empirical crusades. 

If our government were in fact a corporation it would've been forced to file for bankruptcy a long, long time ago.  It's time for a forced shut down so we can reboot an upgraded version of Democracy that we all deserve.

And Now for Something Completely Different...

These are, however, very different times then 10 years ago.  Despite our financial woes, we continue to expand into an exponentially altered land scape compared to the time of the Great Depression now so frequently mentioned by our monopolized media.

We have an amazing infrastructure that has blossomed thanks ironically to the driving force of our competitive and materialistic culture.  There were no computers, internet, cell phones, video cameras, orbiting satellites, or snow boards back then.  This is a completely different technological era that has never before been witnessed on this planet.  “We the people”, gratefully, do not need to panic.  All we need to do is collaborate.  Think of a “barn raising”, but on a continental, even global level.  Or, the underground digitally advanced communities in the Matrix, but above ground.  Are you in? 

The time has never before been so ripe for using available technology to gracefully transform this world into something wonderful.  A hi-tec Eden awaits, but only if we collectively choose to “design/build” it.

There's a classic Buddhist parable that perfectly describes our current situation.  When asked what is the difference between Heaven and Hell, the Buddha opens the door to a long table, filled with a feast of decadent food.  The guests lining the table, however, all have long extended forks instead of hands.  Despite the scrumptious abundance in front of them, they go hungry and mash angrily.  “Somebodies gonna get their eye poked out” is mischievously mumbled by the wise sage as he closes the door.

Another room is then revealed across the hall to a seemingly identical scene.  In this banquet hall, however, the room is full of smiles and laughter for this group has realized that through a collaborative effort they can all take turns giving and receiving morsels of goodness amongst themselves.  It just took some patience and compassion to figure it all out.

Heaven or Hell it seems requires merely a shift of attitude to one of collective gratitude.  How many times does it say in the Bible about being like a child?  Why then has this country instead become such  a domineering bully? 

If the script of Star Wars so perfectly aligns then where are the Jedi?  Even Dick Cheney chuckles about his mythic role as Darth Vader in this classic unfolding saga of good versus evil.  In time, we'll peel his  mask off and see Bin Laden's smiling face.  Then we'll send him off to the farms we'll create where prisoners grow us free organic food, meditate, learn tai chi and practice yoga. 

Let My People Go Surfing

Based on my observations over the past 10 years, it is clear that despite a lack of fork-like hands, we are clearly living in an unnecessary “Hell”.  It is critical that we all realize that this reality we were born into is ripe for sweeping change.  Heaven on earth awaits us if we let go of our mindless ways and begin living mindfully.  We can craft it at coffee shops on our laptops.  In fact, we all ready are.  The world wide web is weaving us all together in a way that continues to boggle the mind and heart.

If we can send remote controlled go-carts to Mars, then surely we can learn to share and support each other.  We don't need more jobs, we just need to cooperate, “work smarter not harder”, so that the human race can regroup and remember how to be human.  Many of us are realizing that we've been here before.

My friends children spontaneously share stories of past lives while munching on Cheerios.  There are hunter/gatherers deep in the souls of all of us that long to reconnect with the Earth and each other.  The modern tribe is gathering at surf spots and bouldering areas around the globe.  

Haven't the majority of us all suffered enough enough stress and anxiety?  Isn't it time for jubilee to erupt?  A seemingly “crazy” indigenous prophecy is suddenly looking like a wonderful possibility and plausible reality.  Lets “flip” this infrastructure and transform the “next great depression” into an explosion of abundance for all.  No reason why free health care centers built of bamboo can't also hand out free, digitally precise, eco-surfboards as preventative medicine.  Why die and go to heaven when, just to be safe, we choose to create it here and now?

Only consciousness is required to for this foreshadowed “5th World” to gracefully shed its light upon us all.  I am ready when you are.
 

We’ve all been suffering from election fatigue. But imagine you’re state legislative candidate Jim Roscoe, and after eight months of tireless campaigning, knocking on just about every door in a district nearly the size of Connecticut, you’re sentenced to two more weeks. I’m going to throw a Brett Favre pass downfield here for all those who [...]

    State Representative Keith Gingery of Jackson Hole was appointed as the new Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Wyoming House of Representatives on Saturday.  The Republicans of the Wyoming Legislature gathered in Casper on Saturday to elect their leadership.  Rep. Colin Simpson of Cody was elected as the Speaker-Elect, Ed Buchanan was elected as the Majority Floor Leader-Elect, Rep. Frank Philp was elected as the Speaker Pro Tem - Elect, and Lorraine Quarberg was elected as the Majority Whip - Elect.  All of these positions will be formally voted upon by the full legislature on the first day of the legislative session.  But that vote is more of a formallity.    After the election process, the new leadership team met to consider chairmanships and committee assignments.  The Wyoming Legislature operates primarily through the committee process, so the choice of chairs and committee assignments is a heavily anticipated announcement.  The Wyoming House of Representatives and the Wyoming Senate respectively operate through 7 standing committees that are the same committees in the house and the senate.    Representative Keith Gingery of Jackson is entering into his 3rd two year term in the Wyoming House of Representatives and has served for the past term on the Judiciary Committee.  The present chairman of Judiciary is Ed Buchanan of Torrington that was elected on Saturday to Majority Floor Leader-Elect.  His election to majority floor leader opened up the position of the Judiciary Chairmanship.   Rep. Gingery stated "I am very excited about the appointment by Speaker-Elect Simpson and will be working hard in the next month prior to the upcoming session to make sure that the committee is ready to hit the ground running.  The Judiciary Committee has quite a few new members and I will be working with them to make sure that they are comfortable with their understandings of how our committee operates.  The Judiciary is seen as a hard working committee that works the details of bills, so that when they appear on the floor of the house, they are ready for prime time.  I hope to continue with that tradition.  The Judiciary Committee meets more than the other committees and usually handles a larger workload of bills and I am sure that this session will be no exception."  

tram-formation.com

Do you recognize this photo from Thai Me Up?

In preparation for the '99/'00 snow riding season, a bunch of dudes teamed up on a house in Far East Jackson.  We shared a land line.  There were 5-7 of us, depending on migratory patterns. 

If the phone rang and someone asked for "Josh", the following question was then "CJ" for Cosmic Josh or Y2J for Joshua Kristal.  It was Joshua Kristal, whose stellar photos are just a click away, who created my nick name which I've been unable to shake.  When the UFOs showed up a few years later over the suburban skies of Schenectady, however, it pretty much sealed the deal.

Please check out his:  Why'Om-ing Series...

They are gritty and beautiful.  You will not be disappointed.

Here's his home page.  This guy gets around, from Kathmandu to your local comic book convention.  Always capturing those surreal visual gems that would normally go unnoticed, until now... 

 

That Grace Potter and the Nocturnals are an ass-kicking band has been well documented here and here. In advance of Friday’s show at the Pink Garter Theater, we’ve decided to showcase the softer side of this whiskey-drinking rocker who brings to mind Janis Joplin. This is “Apologies,” a radio-friendly ballad from the group’s latest album, This [...]

"And with your soul always green, you'll grow into a tall tree..." -Rumi

I've always been fascinated by graffiti.  My karmic sensibility, however, has always interfered with defacing private property.  This is why I was mildly amused when a late night urban folk artist begin lurking about E. Jackson with rolls of blue painter tape sometime around 2005.  Fingers were pointed at various local derelicts and creative deviants. 

The emerging story that eventually surfaced at the Brew Pub finally has revealed the truth behind this new expression of politically correct street art.  Apparently, it's actually being fueled by a roving team of enlightened skate/snow/surf art geeks that have been recently "sponsored" by a significant and recently inherited trust fund.  Their goal is to create a universal symbol of peace.  it's apparently a call for "global one-ness", or something like that.

Clearly, these new age fruitcakes must be stopped!

Unfortunately, the stars are spreading.  Apparently a "copy cat" syndrome is in effect.  Blue tape stars and art have been spotted not only in E. Jackson, but are popping up in cities like Brooklyn, San Freekdisco, Portland, OR(of course), San Diego and now in Europe and Asia as well.

An email account has been set up to track this mutating art experiment.  Please send photos of sightings with location coordinates to:  imaginebluestar@yahoo.com

 Your time and consideration are greatly appreciated.  Keep calm and carry on.

I became a hunter this fall. That may sound strange to some of you, coming from someone who practices catch-and-release with spiders in the house. But I’ve found that one of the things that makes it easier to pass a winter in Jackson is eating meat, and what better way is there to obtain a [...]

One of the provisions of the economic bailout bill that Congress passed last month was completely unrelated to the bailout bill, it was the mental health parity act.  A bill that involves the budget has to start over in the House of Representatives.  The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act had already passed the House and had recently arrived in the Senate.  So in order to do the bailout bill quickly, they tacked the bailout bill onto the Mental Health Parity Bill.  (In Wyoming, our legisltative rules do not allow for this kind of "tacking" on). 

 The Mental Health Parity Act goes into effect on January 1, 2010 and will require all employers with 51 or more employees that provide health insurance to offer mental health coverage at the same levels as the physical health provisions.  The employer will not be required to offer the mental health benefits, but requires parity.  Thus whatever is provided for physical health must be at the same level for mental health.

 An example is that in many health care plans, the most you can spend in inpatient treatment is usually capped at 15 days.  Now the insurance will have to cover at the same rate as an inpatient physical health issue.  I had a constituent who had a son that suddenly started showing signs of schizophrenia.  They placed him in a psychiatric hospital, but the insurance would only cover the first 15 days.  It takes longer than 15 days to correctly diagnose schizophrenia and to come up with a game plan of meds to control the symptoms. 

The Wyoming Legislature had tried a Mental Health Parity Bill a few times in the past (including two years ago by the committee I co-chair, the Select Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse), without success.  Now the Feds have made it law, so the state will not need to deal with this subject. 

The Wyoming Water Development Commission director told Sublette County irrigators Friday that smaller projects, not a main-stem dam on the Green River, are the solution to water woes they might have.

A Jackson resident's appeal of a proposed exploratory gold mine in the Gros Ventre drainage was successful after Forest Service officials found insufficient documentation on the project.

Secretary of State Max Maxfield has outlined the procedures for the revote in one precinct of Lincoln County to decide who will represent state House District 22.