The Best Post of the Week of February 23, (Butter Week for 2020), 2020

Some weeks are busier than others, and at least in terms of posts, this was a busy one.

The best posts of the week of February 23, 2020.

February 23, 1920

Today is Clean Monday. . .

Fat Tuesday

Please NBC, cancel This Is Us

Ash Wednesday

Raid on Ruby Arizona, February 27, 1920

Michael Bloomberg on farming

The Wyoming Legislature 2020, Part Two

The History of the Retriever

Pandemic

Today is the last day of Butter Week (Maslenitsa, Мaсленица, Масниця, Масленіца) for 2020

The peace treaty in Afghanistan.

The peace treaty in Afghanistan.

 Signing the Paris Peace Accords in 1973, which allowed the US to pretend that it was leaving Vietnam with an honorable peace.

The peace deal with the Taliban, executed today, reads as follows.

Agreement for Bringing Peace to Afghanistan between the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and the United States of America February 29, 2020 which corresponds to Rajab 5, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Hoot 10, 1398 on the Hijri Solar calendar 

A comprehensive peace agreement is made of four parts: 

1. Guarantees and enforcement mechanisms that will prevent the use of the soil of Afghanistan by any group or individual against the security of the United States and its allies. 

2. Guarantees, enforcement mechanisms, and announcement of a timeline for the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Afghanistan. 

3. After the announcement of guarantees for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and timeline in the presence of international witnesses, and guarantees and the announcement in the presence of international witnesses that Afghan soil will not be used against the security of the United States and its allies, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will start intra-Afghan negotiations with Afghan sides on March 10, 2020, which corresponds to Rajab 15, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Hoot 20, 1398 on the Hijri Solar calendar. 

4. A permanent and comprehensive ceasefire will be an item on the agenda of the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations. The participants of intra-Afghan negotiations will discuss the date and modalities of a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, including joint implementation mechanisms, which will be announced along with the completion and agreement over the future political roadmap of Afghanistan. The four parts above are interrelated and each will be implemented in accordance with its own agreed timeline and agreed terms. Agreement on the first two parts paves the way for the last two parts. Following is the text of the agreement for the implementation of parts one and two of the above. Both sides agree that these two parts are interconnected. The obligations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban in this agreement apply in areas under their control until the formation of the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations. 

PART ONE 

The United States is committed to withdraw from Afghanistan all military forces of the United States, its allies, and Coalition partners, including all non-diplomatic civilian personnel, private security contractors, trainers, advisors, and supporting services personnel within fourteen (14) months following announcement of this agreement, and will take the following measures in this regard:

A. The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will take the following measures in the first one hundred thirty-five (135) days: 

1) They will reduce the number of U.S. forces in Afghanistan to eight thousand six hundred (8,600) and proportionally bring reduction in the number of its allies and Coalition forces. 

2) The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from five (5) military bases. 

B. With the commitment and action on the obligations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban in Part Two of this agreement, the United States, its allies, and the Coalition will execute the following: 

1) The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will complete withdrawal of all remaining forces from Afghanistan within the remaining nine and a half (9.5) months. 

2) The United States, its allies, and the Coalition will withdraw all their forces from remaining bases. 

C. The United States is committed to start immediately to work with all relevant sides on a plan to expeditiously release combat and political prisoners as a confidence building measure with the coordination and approval of all relevant sides. Up to five thousand (5,000) prisoners of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban and up to one thousand (1,000) prisoners of the other side will be released by March 10, 2020, the first day of intra-Afghan negotiations, which corresponds to Rajab 15, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Hoot 20, 1398 on the Hijri Solar calendar. The relevant sides have the goal of releasing all the remaining prisoners over the course of the subsequent three months. The United States commits to completing this goal. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban commits that its released prisoners will be committed to the responsibilities mentioned in this agreement so that they will not pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies. 

D. With the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, the United States will initiate an administrative review of current U.S. sanctions and the rewards list against members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban with the goal of removing these sanctions by August 27, 2020, which corresponds to Muharram 8, 1442 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Saunbola 6, 1399 on the Hijri Solar calendar. 

E. With the start of intra-Afghan negotiations, the United States will start diplomatic engagement with other members of the United Nations Security Council and Afghanistan to remove members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban from the sanctions list with the aim of achieving this objective by May 29, 2020, which corresponds to Shawwal 6, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Jawza 9, 1399 on the Hijri Solar calendar. . II F. The United States and its allies will refrain from the threat or the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Afghanistan or intervening in its domestic affairs.

PART TWO 

In conjunction with the announcement of this agreement, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will take the following steps to prevent any group or individual, including al-Qa’ida, from using the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies:

1. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will not allow any of its members, other individuals or groups, including al-Qa’ida, to use the soil of Afghanistan to threaten the security of the United States and its allies. 

2. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will send a clear message that those who pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies have no place in Afghanistan, and will instruct members of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban not to cooperate with groups or individuals threatening the security of the United States and its allies. 

3. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will prevent any group or individual in Afghanistan from threatening the security of the United States and its allies, and will prevent them from recruiting, training, and fundraising and will not host them in accordance with the commitments in this agreement. 

4. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban is committed to deal with those seeking asylum or residence in Afghanistan according to international migration law and the commitments of this agreement, so that such persons do not pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies. 

5. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban will not provide visas, passports, travel permits, or other legal documents to those who pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies to enter Afghanistan.

PART THREE 

1. The United States will request the recognition and endorsement of the United Nations Security Council for this agreement.

2. The United States and the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan which is not recognized by the United States as a state and is known as the Taliban seek positive relations with each other and expect that the relations between the United States and the new post-settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations will be positive.

3. The United States will seek economic cooperation for reconstruction with the new post settlement Afghan Islamic government as determined by the intra-Afghan dialogue and negotiations, and will not intervene in its internal affairs. Signed in Doha, Qatar on February 29, 2020, which corresponds to Rajab 5, 1441 on the Hijri Lunar calendar and Hoot 10, 1398 on the Hijri Solar calendar, in duplicate, in Pashto, Dari, and English languages, each text being equally authentic.

I'll believe that the Taliban will adhere to the terms of this agreement after we've left Afghanistan.

In other words, I don't believe that they will.

Today is the last day of Butter Week (Maslenitsa, Мaсленица, Масниця, Масленіца) for 2020

Taking A Snow Town, 1891

Butter Week?

Yes, Butter Week, or Butter Lady, Crepe Week or Cheesefare Week, or in Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian respectively;   Мaсленица, Масниця, Масленіца.

Maslenitsa, 1878.

Maslenitsa.

What is Maslenitsa?

Well, earlier this past week we discussed Clean Monday, the first full day of Great Lent for the Eastern Rite, including those who are Eastern Rite Catholics and Eastern Orthodox observing the "old Calendar" in liturgical terms.  For those in the Eastern Rite who are in the new calendar, which this past Monday would have been part of, this week was last week.  In other words, for those Eastern Rite on the old calendar, Clean Monday is this upcoming Monday and Great Lent starts tomorrow.

Maslenitsa is, therefore, sort of a week long Slavic Mardi Gras and indeed shares the connection with the same set of foods, fats, and stuff made with them.

And it was also a week long celebration, as the pre Lenten celebrations are to some extent in some Latin Rite countries.  Except, appropriate for its region, it featured traditionally a lot of winter games.

Of course, the Communists put a damper on all of this, given its religious nature, but it never went away.  And as Christianity has revived in the Slavic regions following the downfall of Communism, it's religious nature and the tradition is reviving.

Pandemic

A plague doctor wearing the special costume of such doctors at the time. The costume was thought to protect the wearer against the plague.  If it seems weirdly creepy, it's probably just about as effective as wearing a surgical mask in a public place.

Pandemic:

A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease.

World Health Organization.

An epidemic of disease, or other health condition, that occurs over a widespread area (multiple countries or continents) and usually affects a sizeable part of the population.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Pandemic refers to an epidemic that has spread over several countries or continents, usually affecting a large number of people.

U.S. Center for Disease Control.

Pandemic: An epidemic (a sudden outbreak) that becomes very widespread and affects a whole region, a continent, or the world due to a susceptible population. By definition, a true pandemic causes a high degree of mortality (death) 

By contrast:  

• An epidemic affects more than the expected number of cases of disease occurring in a community or region during a given period of time. A sudden severe outbreak within a region or a group as, for example, AIDS in Africa or AIDS in intravenous drug users. 
• An endemic is present in a community at all times but in low frequency. An endemic is continuous as in the case of malaria in some areas of the world or as with illicit drugs in some neighborhoods. 

The word "pandemic" comes from the Greek "pan-", "all" + "demos," "people or population" = "pandemos" = "all the people." A pandemic affects all (nearly all) of the people. By contrast, "epi-" means "upon." An epidemic is visited upon the people. And "en-" means "in." An endemic is in the people.

Web MD*

Is there a Coronavirus epidemic and if there is, will it become a pandemic?

It's certainly creating havoc on the world economic scale, but a lot of that is due to human reaction rather than the disease itself.  Faced with a new disease that seemed to have a high incidence of fatality, the People's Republic of China struggled to get ahead of the disease and for a time, frankly, did badly, resorting to shutting information up, the usual reaction of a Communist state to any bad news of any kind whatsoever.  After that, exhibiting massive control of the population, it managed to shut things down.

That had an impact on the world's economy as it was.  China has become the manufacturing hub, unfortunately, for the globe, relying on cheap labor and a well educated population as it does.  So the virtual closing of a region of the giant country had an immediate ripple effect on the economy of the planet.  But only a ripple.

Which is temporarily beside the point in this post.

Humans retain an interesting memory, sort of, of historic pandemics.  In our collective memories, they occur, but our memory of them is quite flawed. Almost by definition we imagine all pandemics to be real killers, and we have been worrying that Coronavirus will break out as a killer pandemic.

Here on this site we're somewhat uniquely situated as we deal with, the past two years, the 1918-19 Influenza Pandemic, which was a real killer that swept the globe to massive effect.  Millions died in that event, which had a 2.5% mortality rate.

Yes, 2.5%.

That doesn't sound that high, but a normal variant of the flu has a less than .1% mortality rate. The flu still kills thousands in the U.S. every year, but it didn't have the impact that the 1918-19 flu did.

The pandemic, however, that really remains vaguely in our memory was the Great Plague, which killed 30% to 60% of the European population and which is estimated to have reduced the human population by about 500,000,000 people globally.  Raging from 1347 to 1351, the pandemic actually trailed all the way into the 20th Century, contrary to popular understanding of it, and is actually within the vague life experience of quite a few living people.  Regions of the globe in some instances didn't recover until the 19th Century. 

Of course, we need to keep in mind a couple of things about both of these. First of all, living conditions contributed a lot to the Great Plague. It's flea borne disease, after all.  Today, the plague, which is still around, isn't nearly as deadly as we don't live in a sea of fleas.

In the 1340s, we did.

When you hear of somebody getting the plague and dying of it today, and you do if you pay careful attention, it's because they did something that put them in contact with fleas.  Hunters will occasionally get them from game, and I recall reading in a National Geographic about a rural hiker getting it just because of where he walked his dog.

In contrast, the most recent disease to clearly achieve the widespread dread level, AIDS, may or may not have ever been a pandemic, but because of its mode of transmission was actually fairly difficult to get.  The plague put the entire 14th Century human population at risk because of the way they lived and had to live.  AIDS actually only put a narrow demographic at risks due to a variety of things, all of which except for blood borne transfusions, had an element of human conduct involved to them.  I'm not cast aspersions of any kind here, but only noting the science of it.

The 1918 Flu, however, was an airborne disease that people simply couldn't avoid.  The conditions of World War One, including crowded troop conditions, massively contributed to its spread, as did the transportation of troops around the globe. But the disease itself was airborne.

So is the Coronavirus, and like the 1918 flu, it got started in crowed conditions (and in Asian conditions, like most flus do) and its being transported around the globe due to travel, the difference being that its getting around a lot quicker than the 1918 flu did.

The mortality rate of the Coronavirus isn't known yet.  Early reports in China placed it at 17%, which is massive.  If that was the rate, the globe would really be in for it as this would truthfully be an airborne disease the likes of which we haven't seen for a very long time.  More recent data, however, roughly came in at about 3%, and then 2%.  In comparison the the death rates for SARS is 9.6%, MERS 34% and the Swine Flu, which was a bad one, .02%

The disease is distinctly different than the flu in a lot of ways, which is important to note.  The flu takes a trip through ducks and pigs on its way to humans, for one thing, while the Coronavirus takes a trip through bats.  That's bad as bats have a titanic immune system and that means that the virus doesn't terminate there for that reason.

Additionally, the flu is a family of nasty diseases where as this Coronavirus is just one, COVID-19. 

Like the flu, however, people's reactions vary and apparently 81% of those who get Coronavirus get a mild form of it.  Some show hardly any reaction to it at all. That's good as chances are if you get it, it'll be mild.  It's hardest on the elderly, which is the case for the normal flu (but which was not the case for the 1918-19 flu which hit the young hardest).  And it may turn out to be that it's less deadly than it currently appears to be.  Frankly the fact that it was an unknown disease when it hit and that only the severely ill were reporting to hospitals made it initially appear worse than it was.

Having said that, even if its half as deadly as it currently appears, it'll still kill a lot of people who get infected.

And frankly, from a scientific prospective, my guess is you are going to get it. 

A recent Harvard report put the floor of the infection at 40% of the human population, and the ceiling at 60%, which is less than the 1918 flu ultimately infected.  I'd guess that to be right, no matter what.

And that does mean that this is going to impact the economy.  It'll do it only temporarily.  Taking the 1918-1919 flu as the most analogous example is difficult, however, as World War War was raging during its worst months, which made its economic impact muted; people kept fighting and kept making munitions, etc., as they had to.  Having said that, the flu did basically take the Australian Army in Europe out of the war in the fall of 1918, which was towards the war's end, and it may have had an impact on the German 1918 spring offensive.  Had the war not been raging, the economic impact would have been notable, but then if the war hadn't been raging, the flu likely wouldn't have turned into a pandemic. So it turns out that it's not a very good analogy.  Indeed, one Federal researcher who studied it concluded:**

The influenza of 1918 was short-lived and “had a permanent influence not on the collectivities but on the atoms of human society – individuals.”31 Society as a whole recovered from the 1918 influenza quickly, but individuals who were affected by the influenza had their lives changed forever. Given our highly mobile and connected society, any future influenza pandemic is likely to be more severe in its reach, and perhaps in its virulence, than the 1918 influenza despite improvements in health care over the past 90 years. Perhaps lessons learned from the past can help mitigate the severity of any future pandemic

And so, this isn't a cheery post.  My guess is that this disease,  now that the evidence is in, will get around, and it will kill quite a few.  It won't be like the Great Plague, thank goodness, but it'll be a disaster for some, and it will be a damper on the global economy until the spring.

*FWIW, the best of these definitions is the Web MD one.
**Economic Effects of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic Implications for a Modern-day Pandemic Thomas A. Garrett Assistant Vice President and Economist Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis

The History of the Retriever

A poodle in a 17th Century engraving.

An interesting Duck's Unlimited Article on the;

The History of the Retriever: A look back at the fascinating origins of the duck dog

worth taking a look at.

Of note:

What may come as a surprise to some retriever enthusiasts is the fact that the standard poodle, which originated in Germany, ranks as one of the oldest sporting dog breeds in the world. Poodles, which are both intelligent and strong swimmers, were sometimes referred to as "rough water dogs." These animals are a far cry from the miniature and toy versions that were later developed in France as pets. The French, however, were well aware of this breed's background. Poodles were called caniche in France, which translates to "duck dog." Poodles arrived in the United States late in the 19th century.

Michael Bloomberg on farming

The agrarian society lasted 3,000 years and we could teach processes. I could teach anybody, even people in this room, no offense intended, to be a farmer.  It's a process. You dig a hole, you put a seed in, you put dirt on top, add water, up comes the corn. You could learn that. Then we had 300 years of the industrial society. You put the piece of metal on the lathe, you turn the crank in the direction of the arrow and you can have a job. And we created a lot of jobs. At one point, 98 percent of the world worked in agriculture, now it's 2 percent in the United States. 

Michael Bloomberg

I'm not weighing in on the Democratic field by posting this. Frankly, I don't see any evidence, at least so far, that a single candidate in the race this year of any party knows anything whatsoever about agricutlure.  Indeed, it's depressing as everyone of them is an urbanite.  Four of this years candidates alone, Sanders, Trump, Steyer and Bloomberg, are New Yorkers from the city, and its been a really long time since New York has given us a candidate that had a personal knowledge of things rural.  None of those guys is Theodore Roosevelt.

But this comment is notably insulting. The problem is, it's probably a lot more common of view in the economic elite than we might wish to suppose.

Raid on Ruby Arizona, February 27, 1920

A small raid, which may have been simply a raid by bandits, but which is sometimes associated with Villistas, took place near Ruby Arizona.  Three Americans died in the raid, which had the attributes of a robbery.

The raid was actually on a store in Ruby which had just sold to John and Alexander Frazer.  They wer both shot and killed by the raiders.  The raiders also destroyed the telephone wires for the town's only telephone and that horses had been stolen from a local ranch.  A posse lead by Sheriff Raymond Earhart tracked the raiders, determined to be two in number, but failed to catch them.  By means that are unclear to me, they were later identified and one of them was killed in October in a gunfight in Pima County, Arizona and the other ultimately jailed for crimes in Mexico.

The Wreck of the Birkenhead

On this day in 1852 the HMS Birkenhead struck rocks off the coast of South Africa and sunk in stormy seas. The ship had 634 passengers, most of whom were soldiers in the British Army from various units. As some of those units were cavalry, it also had a cargo of horses.

One hundred soldiers drowned in the initial collision, but the remainder made it to the deck. The ship, as was common for military transports of the time, also had a small number of women and children. When it was realized the vessel was lost, the order was given to place the women and children (seven women, thirteen children) in the lifeboats. The horses were then set loose into the sea in hopes they'd swim the two miles to shore. The soldiers were ordered to stand fast as the ship sank out of fear that if they swam for life boats, which was first proposed than countermanded, they would swamp the life boats. They remained nearly silent the entire time.

The women and children survived. 113 soldiers also did, some swimming two miles over 12 hours, some clinging to wreckage, and some to the floating hull where they were picked up the next day. Many of those who went into the sea were killed by sharks. Six Royal Marines and 54 sailors also survived. Eight horses successfully swam to shore.

I note this for no particular reason other than that this tragedy occurred on this day so long ago. The soldiers were on their way to a colonial war against the Xhosa, a British effort which wouldn't draw any admiration today. Be that as it may, the sacrifice they did make in their final hours is one that a person might wonder if men today would make, and it was really heroic.

Soldier an' Sailor Too, by Kipling. 

To take your chance in the thick of a rush, with firing all about,Is nothing so bad when you've cover to 'and, an' leave an' likin' to shout;But to stand an' be still to the Birken'ead drill is a damn tough bullet to chew,An' they done it, the Jollies -- 'Er Majesty's Jollies -- soldier an' sailor too!Their work was done when it 'adn't begun; they was younger nor me an' you;Their choice it was plain between drownin' in 'eaps an' bein' mopped by the screw,So they stood an' was still to the Birken'ead drill, soldier an' sailor too

Ash Wednesday

Today is Ash Wednesday for those churches that follow the Catholic Latin Rite's liturgical calendar, which includes a fair number of Protestant churches.

Ash Wednesday is the beginning of Lent for Western Christians, Lent being the (approximately) forty day long penitential season preceding Easter.  Great Lent, the Eastern Christian seasons, precedes Ash Wednesday and commences on Clean Monday for Eastern Christians on the new calendar, but not on the old calendar which has, of course, which departs from the calendar we're otherwise familiar with.   The day is named for the Catholic practice, which is observed by at least some Anglicans and Lutherans as well, of placing ashes on the foreheads of those who come to the Ash Wednesday service, with the reminder being made that from ashes you were made, and from ashes you will return.*

For Latin Rite Catholics, Ash Wednesday is a day of fast and abstinence.  I.e, they eat only one full meal on this day and it can't include meat, which under Latin Rite Catholic rules does not include fish.  For Eastern Christians a much stricter Lenten fast and abstinence set of rules applies.  This sacrifice serves the purpose of being penitential in nature.

It also serves to really set Catholics apart, as fasting and abstinence are the rage in the west now, but for purely secular purposes, not all of which square with science or good dietary practices.

For the members of the Apostolic faiths, Lent also serves as a time in which for penitential reasons they usually "give up" something.  A lot of people have a really superficial understanding of this, assuming that Catholic "give up" desert or chocolate or something, and in fact quite a few people do something like that. Indeed, as an adult I've been surprised by how many Catholics (usually men) give up drinking alcohol, which means that frequent consumption of alcohol is pretty common society wide in a way that we probably underestimate.

Indeed, just recently, on that, I was asked by an exuberant Catholic Midwestern expat, who seemingly has no boundaries at all, on what I was "giving up" for Lent. This was the week prior to Ash Wednesday at which time I wasn't particularly focused on it myself.  The same fellow asked at least one Protestant what she was giving up, with that Protestant being a member of one of the American millennialism religions, to receive a totally baffled reply.  Indeed, I'm sure they don't celebrate Lent at all, so the question was odd.  Anyhow, he was giving up alcohol and asked if I'd like to join him, to which I absent mindedly said sure.  Later he was wondering if I thought it would be tough, which I'm sure it won't be at all and I'll have to find something else to mark Lent really.  But that sort of "giving up" line of thinking is very common.

In a lot of Catholic cultures the Lenten penitential observations have traditionally been much stronger, which helps explain Mardi Gras as we just discussed.  Even well after the Latin Rite rules were very much relaxed, in many Catholic areas, including Catholic areas of the United States, people engaged in much more extensive penitential observations with the "giving up chocolate" type thing really sort of an introduction to the practice.  In Louisiana, without going into it too deeply, there was traditionally a big spike in births nine to ten months after Easter, which reflected a very widespread serious observation among Catholic couples as to their penitential practice, for example.

Some of that is really coming back, which reflects an interesting trend towards a deeper understanding of their faiths by members of the Apostolic faiths and even a return of Lenten traditions in some Protestant ones.  During the full "Spirit of Vatican Two" era there was a lot of attention devoted to not giving anything up but rather to work on some spiritual need.  I.e, be self reflective and work on what that lead you to.  At the same time, the misuse of the word "fasting" became very common, with there being advice, even from the clergy, to fast from things other than food or drink.  You can't really fast from sinful behavior, or from narcissism, for example.  You can't even "fast" from the Internet, although "giving it up" for Lent might be a darned good idea (one that I really ought to consider, probably).

A lot of that is now passing and there's been a real return to more traditional observations of Lent, including fasting but also forms of dedicated worship and observation.

Which brings me to the next thing about "giving up".  One feature of this season is that many Apostolic Christians, as it is the season of repentance, have used the season to break bad conduct when there's support, spiritual and temporal, for doing it.  People with alcohol problems will use it to break them, smokers will quit smoking during Lent so they can quit smoking.  And sometimes people with serious attachments to sin take it head on during Lent, with some people I've known even announcing the renouncement of what are very serious sins from a Christian purpose over Lent in the hopes of breaking from the permanently. And many who do that, succeed at doing that.

Which in turn takes us to our final observation.  This season, which is lead by the Apostolic faiths but which is observed by at least some of the Protestants as well, tend to turn the self indulgent retained Puritan abstinence on its head.  I've noted this before, but North American and the Northern Europe may have strayed enormously from Calvinist influence in terms of faith, but not in terms of the concept that public suffering is really necessary.  That retained concept explains in large part the real focus in these lands, as opposed to others, in "giving up" something for no real purpose other than the sense it must be done.  People give up all sorts of things that Apostolic Christians around the world give up for forty some days, and often on a declared permanent basis (they fail at it more often than not), with it being notable that the purely secular nature of that makes it shallow from the onset.  Indeed, plenty of people who will spend Lent scoffing at Catholics for Lent will spend part of the season or all of it on some no carb, or no meat, or whatever, diet, for no real reason other than a constructed one. Suffering, in many instances, is the ultimate goal of those efforts, but suffering without something to redeem it.

For Apostolic Christians, all fasts are followed by feasts, and that's something to remember.

_________________________________________________________________________________

*I don't think this is a practice in the East and its not a requirement for Catholics, something that in fact even confuses some Catholics.  Ash Wednesday is widely observed by Catholics and the placing of the ashes isn't restricted to Catholics.  Perhaps for that reason quite a few Catholics assume it is a Holy Day of Obligation.

One thing of note here is that Ash Wednesday also serves to point out to everyone who is a Catholic, as if a person has ashes on their head, they're probably Catholic, although not necessarily.  By the same token, if you are known to be a Catholic and don't make it to Ash Wednesday you'll tend to get comments about it.

Please NBC, cancel This Is Us

Yeah, so its a Congressman from Tarpon Springs, Florida with a giant sponge (on February 25, 1920). So what, it's a million times more interesting than This Is Us.

NBC is involved in a Communist, Fascist, Anarchist, Monarchist conspiracy to bring down Western society through a fit of hyper sappiness slopped about the landscape through the abomination of the television show This Is Us.

That ain't us. That isn't anybody, except in the fevered cavernous mind of some screenwriters at NBC.  No real person could stand this collection of saps in the real world.  They need a quick kick in the rear and an rendition to Aleppo.

Why can't somebody make them stop.

Fat Tuesday

Bear guiding.  A Polish Shrove Tuesday tradition.  No, I don't understand it.

Yesterday I marked Clean Monday.

Today is Fat Tuesday, or Mardi Gras.

The day marks the day before Ash Wednesday on the liturgical calendar of the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church.  Like the other major day noted in the United States, setting aside Christmas and Easter, which derives from the Catholic liturgical calendar, St. Patrick's Day, the day is celebrated widely in the US by folks who have no idea whatsoever what it marks.

The day is called "Fat" Tuesday, or Mardi Gras, in French as it marked the day when people in Louisiana, French speaking Catholics, attempted to use up excess fats in their household that would otherwise go to waste during the Lenten season.  The Lenten Fast in the Latin Rite is much less strict than it once was, so this isn't a problem today, but the tradition of having a big pre Lenten celebration remains.  In its original form, it was a major Franco North American celebration, but wasn't the sort of weird event its devolved into, featuring topless women and beads and the like.  Indeed, quite the opposite is true.  It had a religious nature to it.

This is also true in many other predominantly Catholic countries around the globe.  In Spanish and Portuguese speaking countries the day is also widely celebrated, with the use of a term which actually very closely approximates Mardi Gras or the use of the term Carnival, which means "to put away meat", derived from Latin.  Carnival is celebrated in some Catholic European cultures under that name as well, including southern Germany.  Germans also call the day Fastnachtsdienstag, Faschingsdienstag, Karnevaldienstag and Veilschendienstag.  The day is marked by a partial day off from school as well as parades and the observance of some distinctly odd German customs.

In English speaking countries where, outside of Ireland, the Reformation took them out of the Catholic world in the 1500s, the tradition none the less remains, reflecting how strong the Catholic customs were even where Protestantism came in.  Shrove Tuesday is widely observed in Anglican circles. "Shrove" in this context derives from an Old English word for "absolve", and it reflected the day which people reflected on their lives and resolved to work on them over Lent.  Lent is still a penitential season in the Anglican Communion, but has been much less observed than in the Apostolic faiths where its a major seasons.  Having said that, at least by observation, there seem to be a revival of Lenten observation in Anglican circules.

In English speaking countries today is also Pancake Tuesday or Pancake Day for the same reason that French speaking countries call it Mardi Gras.  Pancakes are made with fat and flour and there was an effort to use up fat by making big pancake breakfasts on this day.

Nearly every country with a Christian heritage, except perhaps those in North American, have a celebration on this day with a strong regional, national and Christian aspect to them, including those nations who followed Luther into the Reformation. The Icelanders, for example, feast today with salted fish and meats.  It's interesting how widespread this custom is, and in some ways makes the American celebration of it seem a bit poor in comparison, outside of those areas of the Louisiana and Texas where the locals are celebrating it for real.

As a final note, why would people be so focused, as part of this, in using up the household fats and meat?

Well, before refrigeration, and with a stricter fast in place, those things weren't going to last until after Easter.

Today In Wyoming's History: February 25, 1920

Today In Wyoming's History: February 25:

February 25

1920  Woodrow Wilson signed the Minerals Leasing Act of 1920. This act created the modern system of leasing Federal oil and gas  and coal interests, which previously had been subject to claim under the Mining Law of 1872.  

 Grass Creek Wyoming, 1916

The extent to which this revolutionized the oil, gas and coal industries in economic terms can hardly be overestimated.  Prior to 1920, these fossil fuels could be exploited via a simple mining claim, and the land itself could be patented after the claim was "proved up."  The 1920 act ended this practice as to these resources (the 1872 Act continues on for other minerals, in a very modified form, to the present day).  The leasing system meant that the resources never left the public domain in absolute terns, and the payment of the lease was a huge economic boon to the state and Federal government.

February 25, 1920. The Mineral Leasing Act becomes law

The Casper Daily Tribune was exactly correct, the measure built the way for the oil industry in Wyoming.

Prior to the Oil Leasing Act oil prospects were located, where the Federal government owned the resource, though the Mining Law of 1872.  The act changed the location system to the benefit of both production companies and the Federal government by allowing the resource to be leased through the much simpler leasing system.  Ultimately, this benefited the state through allowing this simpler system to be utilized and by allowing non appropriated lands to remain solidly in the Federal domain, as the Mining Law of 1872 allowed lands to be patented and become private through location.

This is, of course, still the system that's used today.

Elsewhere, the American mission to Russia was coming home, including the Red Cross mission, from which a party of nurses arrived in San Francisco.

Ten of the Red Cross women workers with the A.R.C. Commission to Siberia waving their greetings to their homeland as the transport "Sherman" docked in San Francisco Harbor February 25, 1920.

Today is Clean Monday. . .

in those Eastern Rite Churches that are part of the Catholic Church in predominantly Latin Rite countries.  For Eastern Rite Churches that use the old calendar and for the Orthodox Clean Monday is on March 2, a week from today.

Clean Monday is the first day of  Great Lent in the East (although technically it actually starts the Sunday prior) and marks the beginning of the Lenten Fast, which is much broader in the East than the West.  Shellfish are the traditional entre, as they're an exception, and darned near the only one, to the prohibition on meat in the Eastern fast.

It's also a day of celebration and a public holiday in quite a few Orthodox nations and features the flying of kites, as its the traditional first day of spring in those cultures.

Don't get a celebration on a day commencing a long fast?  Well, its a fast with a purpose, not because of dietary fad or some public agony virtue signaling effort.  And ultimately, although it'll be forty days later, it'll be followed by a feast.

February 24, 1920. An ominous day in history.

If you read the text on the sidebar describing the purpose of this blog, it provides:

All of this is still true, but the focus of the blog has changed somewhat. It now focuses on the era from 1890 to 1920 in general, rather than on the law and lawyers specifically, although that may be far from obvious. It's also become the location where we comment on anything we feel moved to comment on.

So these "today on" type threads that appear here now are on the edge of the time period we focus on here. . .which isn't to say that we don't post on other things.  What we don't intend for the blog to become is a daily "100 years ago" blog, and observant readers might have noticed that the posts here have in fact slowed down and there are less of that very type.

Having said that, we still catch the centennial of some things, and today we note something that was ominous indeed.  The German Workers Party, the Deutsche Arbeiter Partei, changed its name and its platform.

The DAP was a right wing German party that was a little over one year old.  It was in the extreme right and was already Anti Semitic.  Adolph Hitler had been sent to spy on it as a spy for the German Army, and had ended up joining it.  Hitler proved to be by far the most dynamic person in the small organization.

On this day the infant party announced its platform at a festival at the Hofbrauhaus, the Royal Brewery, in Munich to an audience of 2,000 people.  It's platform wasn't novel but was a collection of ideas that were in current circulation in right wing circles in Germany with a selection of ones that were current in Socialist parties at the time.  Indeed, on the same day, reflecting its initial somewhat blended view of far right and far left, it changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party, which in acronym form was NSDAP, which Germans shortened to "Nazi" party, using the world Nationalsozialistische for the contraction.

The twenty five points were read by Adolph Hilter to the crowd, and were:

1. We demand the union of all Germans to form the Greater Germany on the basis of the people's right to self-determination enjoyed by the nations.
2. We demand equality of rights for the German people in its dealings with other nations; and abolition of the peace treaties of Versailles and St. Germain.
3. We demand land and territory for the sustenance of our people and colonization for our superfluous population.
4. None but members of the nation may be citizens of the state. None but those of German blood, whatever their creed may be. No Jew, therefore, may be a member of the nation.
5. Whoever has no citizenship is to be able to live in Germany only as a guest and must be regarded as being subject to foreign laws.
6. The right of voting on the state's government and legislation is to be enjoyed by the citizen of the state alone. We demand therefore that all official appointments, of whatever kind, shall be granted to citizens of the state alone. We oppose the corrupting custom of parliament of filling posts merely with a view to party considerations, and without reference to character or capability.
7. We demand that the state be charged first with providing the opportunity for a livelihood and way of life for the citizens. If it is impossible to nourish the total population of the State, then the members of foreign nations (non-citizens) must be excluded from the Reich.
8. All immigration of non-Germans must be prevented. We demand that all non-Germans, who have immigrated to Germany since 2 August 1914, be required immediately to leave the Reich.
9. All citizens of the state shall be equal as regards rights and obligations.
10. The first obligation of every citizen must be to productively work mentally or physically. The activity of individual may not clash with the interests of the whole, but must proceed within the framework of the whole for the benefit for the general good. We demand therefore:
11. Abolition of unearned incomes. Breaking of debt-slavery.
12. In consideration of the monstrous sacrifice of life and property that each war demands of the people, personal enrichment due to a war must be regarded as a crime against the nation. Therefore, we demand ruthless confiscation of all war profits.
13. We demand nationalization of all businesses which have been up to the present formed into companies (trusts).
14. We demand that the profits from wholesale trade shall be shared out.
15. We demand an expansion on a large scale of old age welfare.
16. We demand the creation of a healthy middle class and its conservation, immediate communalization of the great warehouses and their being leased at low cost to small firms, the utmost consideration of all small firms in contracts with the State, county or municipality.
17. We demand a land reform suitable to our needs, provision of a law for the free expropriation of land for the purposes of public utility, abolition of taxes on land and prevention of all speculation in land.
18. We demand struggle without consideration against those whose activity is injurious to the general interest. Common national criminals, usurers, profiteers and so forth are to be punished with death, without consideration of confession or race.
19. We demand substitution of a German common law in place of the Roman Law serving a materialistic world-order.
20. The state is to be responsible for a fundamental reconstruction of our whole national education program, to enable every capable and industrious German to obtain higher education and subsequently introduction into leading positions. The plans of instruction of all educational institutions are to conform with the experiences of practical life. The comprehension of the concept of the state must be striven for by the school as early as the beginning of understanding. We demand the education at the expense of the state of outstanding intellectually gifted children of poor parents without consideration of position or profession.
21. The state is to care for the elevating national health by protecting the mother and child, by outlawing child-labor, by the encouragement of physical fitness, by means of the legal establishment of a gymnastic and sport obligation, by the utmost support of all organizations concerned with the physical instruction of the young.
22. We demand abolition of the mercenary troops and formation of a national army.
23. We demand legal opposition to known lies and their promulgation through the press. In order to enable the provision of a German press, we demand, that:

    a. All writers and employees of the newspapers appearing in the German language be members of the race;

    b. Non-German newspapers be required to have the express permission of the state to be published. They may not be printed in the German language;

    c. Non-Germans are forbidden by law any financial interest in German publications or any influence on them and as punishment for violations the closing of such a publication as well as the immediate expulsion from the Reich of the non-German concerned. Publications which are counter to the general good are to be forbidden. We demand legal prosecution of artistic and literary forms which exert a destructive influence on our national life and the closure of organizations opposing the above made demands.

24. We demand freedom of religion for all religious denominations within the state so long as they do not endanger its existence or oppose the moral senses of the Germanic race. The Party as such advocates the standpoint of a positive Christianity without binding itself confessionally to any one denomination. It combats the Jewish-materialistic spirit within and around us and is convinced that a lasting recovery of our nation can only succeed from within on the framework: "The good of the community before the good of the individual".
25. For the execution of all of this we demand the formation of a strong central power in the Reich. Unlimited authority of the central parliament over the whole Reich and its organizations in general. The forming of state and profession chambers for the execution of the laws made by the Reich within the various states of the confederation. The leaders of the Party promise, if necessary by sacrificing their own lives, to support by the execution of the points set forth above without consideration.

On the same day the party adopted new symbols.

In later years some Germans would claim that they were unaware of Nazi goals to expand German territories or that the party would be homicidal towards the Jews, but all the basic information was there right from the onset.

February 23, 1920

February 23, 1920. The death of Maj. Gen. LeRoy Springs Lyon.

You've likely never heard of  him, and for that matter, I hadn't either.

Rather, I'm posting this item on Gen. Springs as he's interesting example of a World War One vintage U.S. senior officer whose military career was cut short by his premature death at age 53.

He entered the Army upon his graduation from West Point in 1891 and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the cavalry, and assiged to the 7th Cavalry.  He was a scout, early on.

In 1898 he made the unusual choice to switch branches, something rarely done in the U.S. Army at the time, and went to Coastal Artillery School.  After graduating from the school, he was assigned as an aid to Gen. Royal T. Frank, and continued on in that role during the Spanish American War.  Following the war, he was transferred to the 2nd Artillery Regiment, in effect yet another branch switch from Coastal Artillery to Field Artillery, and commanded it in the field in Cuba from 1899 to 1900.  He later served in the Philippine Insurrection and in the Canal Zone before retunring ot the U.S in 1915, where he commanded Camp Bowie.  During the Great War he was in command of the 31st Division at first and then the 90th Division.

Like most brevetted generals, following the war the Major General returned to his permanent rank of Colonel and was assigned to command the Field Artillery Basic School which was located, at that time, in Camp Taylor, Kentucky.

His wife Harriet, whom he married in 1903, was ten years his junior and outlived him by forty-one years.

The 2020 Wyoming Legislature

Goes into session, today.

February 10, 2020

The State of the State Address was delivered to the Legislature by Governor Gordon.

2020  Governor Gordon delivered his 2020 State of the State Address.  It stated:

President Perkins, Speaker Harshman, and Members of the 65th Legislature thank you for your welcome. To the people of Wyoming here and those watching at home, good morning. 

I also want to welcome: Secretary of State Ed Buchanan, Auditor Kristi Racines, Treasurer Curt Meier, and Superintendent Jillian Balow. 

It is a distinct honor to serve with these individuals. Together we have addressed many tough issues this year, always crafting sensible, workable solutions to even the most complex challenges facing some of our state's communities large and small. Thank you for your work. 

We are honored this morning with the presence of our Supreme Court: Chief Justice Davis, and Justices Koutz, Fox, Boomgaarden, and Gray. Thank you for your wise consideration of perplexing issues, and for your thoughtful administration of the law. 

I am really pleased to have Lee Spoonhunter, Chairman of the Northern Arapaho Business Council with us today. And although, unfortunately, travel conditions prevented Karen Snyder, Vice-chair of the Eastern Shoshone Business Council, from being here. Please join me in recognizing them both. 

We are friends, and I have enjoyed building our relationships this year and I look forward to the progress we will make in the year ahead. Our peoples and our governments deserve our best efforts. Thank you also to Secretary of State Buchanan and his team for his partnership with both tribes to advance a good proposal so that Tribal IDs can be used for voter registration. 

I could not be more pleased to welcome Captain Scott Koenig to the Chamber. Captain Koenig is a Wyoming native who along with 29 other soldiers recently returned from Afghanistan. He and the other members of 3rd Platoon of Charlie Company left last January on a challenging mission  to provide 24-hour aeromedical evacuation coverage in Helmand Province. Captain Koening welcome home to Wyoming ---- and know that we are so proud of the talented and brave members of your team. I want to congratulate you for receiving the Air Medal and a Combat Action Badge. 

Adjutant General Greg Porter could not be here today. Taking his place is Command Sergeant Major Harold Pafford. I want to thank him for his leadership and many years of service. As the General says, our Guard is “the sword and the shield. Our nation is lethal fighting force when and the folks who keep our homes safe from fire, flood, and other catastrophes 

A little story here: General Porter, Command Sergeant Major Pafford and I accompanied the First Lady to enjoy Thanksgiving with our men and women in uniform overseas. Jennie grew up in a military family and knows well that any deployment is not easy. Not easy because our Army and Air Guard members are away from those that they love and those that love them. Please join me in saluting our men and women and their families for being the sword and the shield. 

Let us keep in our thoughts all members of our military serving overseas and at home. We thank you and all those many veterans who have defended our nation. 

You know I am especially proud of Jennie and clearly, I married above my station. As First Lady, she established the nationally recognized Wyoming Hunger Initiative. It is so important to so many kids in our state, and true to form, she has done i extraordinary efforts of so many working around the state to address food insecurity. She is making this happen while keeping our ranch running, supporting our family, and loving every moment of being a grandmother to Everett. My equal in every way -- she is the epitome of a Wyoming woman: accomplished, strong, versatile, independent, caring, talented, warm and a lover of the great outdoors. Jennie, my respect for you is absolute. And my love for you is boundless. 

Let us respect all Wyoming women by working every day to live up to our motto: We are the Equality State. 

Thank you, Sarah and Spencer for being here. Your son, our grandson, represents the future generations of our state. Everett is not here today, but his other grandparents, Mark and Shelly Fagin are, Everett is busy studying for an Ag Econ degree with his toy tractor, horses, cows, chickens, sheep, and pigs. 

Finally, on behalf of the citizens of Wyoming I want to sincerely thank the members of the 65th Legislature of the state of Wyoming for your willingness to serve, and your commitment to our great state. These are not easy times and there will be hard choices to make, but I enjoy our work together. I respect and value your thoughts as we face our common future. I ask all of the guests here to join me in applauding our State Legislature. 

Before moving on to the progress we have made and issues we face, I want to offer a few thoughts on this magnificent building. To quote you, Mr. Speaker, from Statehood Day this summer, "Look around you. Take in this place. Take a moment to appreciate it and the history that has happened here." 

A lot has happened over the past year, culminating on December 10th, when we honored Wyoming's heritage as the first government to recognize a woman's vote. 

Before I recognize the good men and women who worked to bring this effort to fruition, I want to present to you Mr. President and to you Mr. Speaker, the first flags that flew over your chambers. 

Just to let you know how this came about, we could not fly either flag last July on Statehood Day because the hardware was broken. The consultants projected it would cost thousands of dollars to repair because the scaffolding had been removed, In fact, it did not look like we would be able to fly flags today. However, Tommy Ojeda and his phenomenal crew landed on a way to fix them for around $300 all in. That is the dedication and ingenuity of our state workforce. 

Let me recognize the members of the original Capitol Oversight Committee, some of whom are here today: Senators Eli Bebout, Chris Rothfuss, Jayne Mockler, Phil Nicholas, Tony Ross, Representatives Kermit Brown, Rosie Berger, Tim Stubson, Mary Throne, Pete Illoway and especially, Governor Mead. Thank you all for your dedication to this effort. 

Mr. David Hart of MOCA Systems must also be thanked for his work in getting this project on track and keeping the Oversight Committee in line. 

Lastly, I hope you will join me in thanking the craftsmen and women whose care is evident everywhere you look in this building. 

So now to the business at hand. 

Today, I am proud to report that Wyoming's economy and the state is strong. 

More people are finding a better future in our state. Our population has grown. Unemployment is down and is at the lowest rate since 2008; gross domestic product is increasing; and personal income is up. Despite some obvious challenges this year, our economy remains strong. 

We are strong thanks to our people. We are strong because we have planned well for challenging times. We are strong because of our industries: energy, tourism, agriculture, and the emerging sectors of knowledge-based business and manufacturing. I am confident we will remain strong by aggressively engaging our future and seizing our opportunities. 

Thanks to the wisdom of our forebears, some in this very room, and the leadership of an extraordinary group of Governors and Treasurers, including Treasurer Meier; Wyoming finds itself in an enviable place amongst our peers. We have savings. This means we have time, not a lot of time, but time to make thoughtful decisions about our future and our budget. 

The budget I presented to you, which the Joint Appropriations Committee passed, was intended to trigger a serious conversation about our future, ways to diversify our economy, and ways to strengthen our state. Wyoming will always depend on our traditional industries but it must also take advantage of new opportunities. 

My budget charts a fiscally stable path. It keeps ongoing spending flat, giving our state time to think about the services we need to provide, and what we can do without. 

This budget took the advice of the Legislature and funded education in an undiminished capacity. In doing so, we will have to spend from our savings. The valve on education funding is stuck open and will require further consideration by this body as to whether that plumbing will hold up over time. 

This is the year we recalibrate Wyoming's funding model. Accordingly, I recommend that this year we carefully consider Superintendent Balow's suggestion to review Wyoming's “Basket of Goods." The basket is what Wyoming mandates to be taught in school. It was crafted before Wyoming schools had access to the internet. We owe it to our kids, and our state, to offer a 21st century, world-class education. 

My budget proposes curbs on capital construction. I did so noting that we are already engaged in several expansive and expensive projects: the State Hospital, the Life Resource Center, the UW Science Facility, the Skilled Nursing Facility, the Wyoming State Penitentiary, and the Casper State Office Building to name a few.

Given that we cannot afford to pay the people we need to staff these new buildings, it makes little sense to continue to build as aggressively as we have when times were more flush. 

In keeping with this administration's desire for transparency. I want to commend Auditor Racines and her office for bringing unprecedented transparency to the State's checkbook with the WyOpen website. My office has also set up a website, Wyoming Sense. It illustrates ing process in a transparent way. Now anyone in Wyoming can easily see what is being budgeted and how it is being spent. 

It may come as something of a surprise, but state government is actually smaller now than it was a decade ago. There are fewer state employees who are being asked to do more with less. They have capably responded by leveraging technology to implement better ways to provide the services our citizens need, 

To further these efforts, I have endorsed strategic investments in new technology and advanced cybersecurity. We cannot afford to fall further behind in this critical area. 

We must also recognize the value of our workforce. We are losing some of our most skilled, productive, and knowledgeable employees because we do not pay competitively. On top of that, we should remember that we had to increase both employee health insurance and retirement contributions, which effectively reduced their take-home pay. 

Let me sum up this problem: It is a vicious cycle. We continually need to train new employees, who then become better candidates for positions in other states with better pay scales. This is unacceptably expensive, and it is costly. We should be thinking about keeping the people who know what to do and how to do it. 

While I understand Wyoming's reluctance to offer permanent salary increases in this revenue climate, I have proposed a one-time bonus aimed at recognizing and retaining talent. If we truly want to reduce government, we can only do it with motivated people who know how to do their jobs. 

Rarely has the importance of good employees been more evident than on July 1st last year when Blackjewel unexpectedly closed down operations at two of Wyoming's largest coal mines. 

While other states with Blackjewel operations vibrated ineffectively, Wyoming sprang into action. The dedicated, talented, and knowledgeable team at DEQ came in to support mine employees and immediately set about stabilizing the mines. Other agencies started working with our miners to find them jobs, provide them earned benefits, and renegotiate mortgage schedules. Things could have been worse, and they were elsewhere in coal country. 

Before moving on, I want to highlight some other important and dedicated public employees: The ones who keep us safe; our first responders. 

This past year several Highway Patrol Troopers were injured. Trooper Jaime Wingard is here with us today. In October, she was investigating a crash on 1-25 outside of Wheatland, when she was struck from behind by a semi-truck, tearing her seat loose and totaling her car. Thankfully, she was wearing her seatbelt and was not significantly harmed. 

It is a stark reminder that our first responders, troopers, firefighters, EMTs, and law enforcement folks put their lives on the line every day. 

Trooper Wingard, for you and on behalf of all law enforcement and first responders please accept our esteem and appreciation. By all means, be careful out there. 

By now Wyoming citizens know too well how a myopic national political attitude to vilify fossil fuels has affected our energy industry. Twenty-eight states have enacted either renewable energy standards or low-carbon policies. These are targeted at the industries that have helped raise our standard of living, built our schools, funded public infrastructure, and made us the premier economy in the world. We produce energy better, more safely, and with more attention to the environment than anywhere else on the planet, and yet our industries are still discriminated against, maligned, and decried as dead. 

Well, not on my watch! Know this -- Wyoming will always advocate for our industries, whether it be to protect against unconstitutional restraint of trade, or in their endeavors to deliver cleaner, more dependable, more affordable, and safer energy to our nation. 

In the galley is Rob Piippo, the mine manager at Kemmerer Mine. Rob represents the dedicated men and women who go to work every day to see that people, mostly outside of Wyoming, can cool and heat their homes, and that the lights come on when they hit the switch. 

I remember the day Rob showed me the mine's pink haul truck, a tribute to women miners and a statement to stand up to breast cancer. Your community, your mine, the people who work there are the heart and soul of Wyoming. Rob, please know that we respect the work you and your fellow miners do every day, and that this Governor will always have your back. 

The problem we face is not burning coal. The problem is that we have not recognized or seized the opportunities to burn it cleaner, to use its byproducts more beneficially, or to remember its role as our country's most reliable source of electricity for over a hundred years.

We in Wyoming are leading the way. Our University, the Integrated Test Center, and the carbon valley in Northeast Wyoming are just parts of this singular effort. However, we must do more. That is why my administration has taken this fight to the Supreme Court. 

Oregon, California, and Washington have each sought to extend the reach of environmental regulations well beyond their borders, to blockade interior states like Wyoming their rightful access to coastal ports. These actions are a blatant unconstitutional restraint of trade. 

A few weeks ago, Montana joined us in bringing an original complaint before the Supreme Court to challenge Washington State's arbitrary action against the Millennium Bulk Coal Terminal. The vehicle is the Millenium Port, but the issue is an arbitrary and capricious discrimination against a useful commodity. It represents a direct threat to our products and Wyoming's way of life. I will defend our state. 

Thank you, Attorney General Hill and your staff for your meticulous work in crafting a strong original brief before our nation's highest court.

On the national stage, I continue to work with our exceptional federal delegation Congresswoman Cheney, Senator Barrasso and especially the yeoman service of retiring Senator Mike Enzi. 

Together we are advocating for legislative and regulatory reform of Section 401 of the Clean Water Act. In November, I traveled to Washington DC to support Senator John Barrasso's bill that does just that. State water quality regulation should be about water quality within one's own boundaries, not used as a weapon by one state to impose its will on another. 

I also have provided resources to the Public Service Commission to closely examine the assumptions made by various utilities' Integrated Resource Plans. Changes in them can impact hundreds of our jobs. It is our duty to verify that the proposed early closures of coal-burning units are truly warranted and economical, and not just philosophical or political. Wyoming genuinely welcomes renewable resources like wind and solar. However, we will not recklessly abandon our most abundant and reliable energy source just because it is unpopular with some people. 

Today, I challenge all of us to work together to make sure that the next carbon capture and sequestration facility is built here in Wyoming. I ask for your support of legislation requiring all new electric generation capacity produced in Wyoming to be reliable, consistent, and that a reasonable portion of it be net carbon negative. In doing so, Wyoming will demonstrate what no other state has had the courage to do: we will require true CO2 sequestration, not just some artificial notion that wind and solar can cure climate change all by themselves. 

I have asked you to add one million dollars for coal market augmentation and preservation. This appropriation will be used to defend our energy industry, to sustain the revenues energy provides for our state, and to support local communities' future planning. 

I urge your support of a $25 million investment to establish the Energy Commercialization Program. This program will provide a coordinated approach to supporting research to speed along technologies that advance zero or net-negative carbon uses for coal and other fossil fuels. I cannot be more emphatic. Time is of the essence. We must act now to prevent coalmines from closing

Last year, Campbell and Converse Counties were rocked by multiple bankruptcies; one in particular came as a shock. Thankfully, there are people in Wyoming who embody the Code of the West. In the gallery is Dan Baker. When his employer abruptly shut down coalmines and sent workers home without pay or notice, Dan and others responded. 

They worked tirelessly to make sure the mines were kept safe, secure and free from hazards so his fellow employees would have a workplace to return to at the end of the legal wrangling in bankruptcy court. Today that mine is up and running again. Dan would you stand so that we can recognize you. 

As the Blackjewel bankruptcy shows, counties are at risk and should not be left holding an empty bag. Consequently, I am supporting proposed legislation to change ad-valorem tax payments to a monthly basis. I realize this presents a seismic shift to our already financially strapped industries. The transition must allow long-term, dependable industries sufficient time to adjust. Wyoming is a patient place and we appreciate our industry; but we all pay our debts and expect others to as well. 

Coal is not the only Wyoming industry under stress. I note with particular urgency the state of our natural gas industry. Today, only two rigs are drilling for natural gas in Wyoming. That is the lowest number in the last 20 years. We have seen bankruptcies and halts in production in this industry too, with equally devastating consequences for local communities. Estimates of natural gas revenue continue to spiral down. I seek the Legislature's support in crafting a temporary, price-based reduction in severance taxes for those most in need. 

Wyoming is exceptional when it comes to energy and minerals.-.-- We remain the nation's leader in coal, uranium, and trona. We are eighth in oil and gas production. Even with today's challenges, Wyoming coal supplies 11 percent of the Nation's electricity. In fact, Wyoming is 

third in overall energy production. With the addition of wind and solar, we are broadening the portfolio of energy we provide to the nation. 

Wyoming is known for our natural resources and our public lands. It can be interesting when your largest landholder is the federal government. Our state's relationship with the feds has ebbed and flowed over the years, but thanks to President Trump, right now our relationship is strong and cooperative. With initiatives like Shared Stewardship, I commit to do my part to keep it that way. We will work with our federal partners to make sure that the 48 percent of our lands within Wyoming managed by the federal government continue to be accessible for all uses. 

Wyoming cares about our natural resources. We love our mountains, our streams, our open spaces, our Red Desert and National Parks. We love to hunt and fish, to climb and bike, to bird and just sit out and take in the night sky. Over the past year, we made significant strides in addressing the challenges and obstacles facing Wyoming's lands, wildlife, and waters. 

In October, I launched the Invasive Species Initiative. We are establishing better ways to combat the spread of invasive species across our state. Invasives are a universal challenge, not just one that affects our farms and ranches. They infect our public lands and waterways and thus impact our wildlife, fire dynamics, tourist operations and even more. It is imperative we meet this challenge head-on. 

Wyoming is the first state in the nation to tackle the important matter of preserving unique wildlife corridors. National Geographic recently recognized Arthur Middleton and Joe Riis for tracing big game migration routes. Their work shows how crucial these corridors are to preserving these iconic populations. 

As we have seen in Jonah, developing an oil and gas play is complex. Regulations are important, but they can also impede development. There is a balance to be struck, one that respects landowners' private rights and maintains Wyoming's wildlife and resources. My Big Game Migration Corridor Advisory Group did just that. 

Marissa Taylor is a rancher and a mom from Uinta County. As a member of the group, she devoted many days this year listening to and working with other citizens from counties, industry, wildlife and recreation interests searching for a sustainable approach to migration corridors. Marissa would you please stand to be recognized. 

What the group crafted was a recommendation that provides a practical way to identify, designate, and protect a few migration routes without offending private property rights. Based on their work, and my own travels throughout the state talking to affected stakeholders on all sides, I have drafted an Executive Order to implement their recommendations. 

My Executive Order provides opportunities for area working groups, county commissioners and others informed by science to provide on-the-ground tailored recommendations to preserve vital migration routes for two species- mule deer and antelope. It is absolutely not a land grab or a way to create hundreds of routes, or even the "spaghetti map" that some are falsely claiming, The order simply establishes a way to designate a handful ----- single digits — of corridors to protect our state's great treasures: our wildlife, our hunting, and our opportunity to enjoy the outdoors. 

Speaking of local solutions. Let me tell you about why I am so proud to have grown up in agriculture. I believe it is the backbone of our state. We will continue to work to expand markets and support this industry across a range of topics. But there is one issue, which really came into focus this year. Early on the morning of July 17th, right as the summer was beginning to heat up, an alarm went off indicating that the Goshen Irrigation Fort Laramie Gering Canal had lost all of its water. Goshen Irrigation Canal Tunnel Number 2 had collapsed, shutting off the flow to 110 thousand acres of critical farmland. The water then backed up and blew out the canal bank. As Senator Steinmetz will tell you it was a big hole the kind you can see from outer space! 

Rob Posten, District Manager is here with us today to represent the board of the Goshen Irrigation District. Now, Rob is a Wyoming guy and he asked me to recognize other GID staff ---- Linda Keeran, Andrea Janes, and Kevin Strecker, who faced that daunting challenge. But I want to ask Rob to rise so we may recognize him and the Goshen Irrigation District for their determination and perseverance. With the help of many others, including state agencies and our friends in Nebraska, these folks got water flowing again before summer's end. 

The GID tunnel failure highlights a larger, systematic vulnerability facing our state's aging irrigation infrastructure. I personally worked with the Select Water Committee on a solution to this problem. Under the leadership of Chairmen Hicks and Laursen, The Committee passed a good bill. It is a first step. Let's keep it targeted to irrigation. 

I want to ensure that we are doing everything we can to grow the second most significant source of income to our state. Tourism and outdoor recreation in Wyoming represents an enormous opportunity to grow our economy. It is a sector which employs more people and returns substantial sales tax revenue. The revenue comes mostly from outside our state.

Whether it is skijoring at the Sundance Winter Carnival this month; skiing in the Tetons or at Hogadon; ice climbing in Cody; snowmobiling in the Bighorns; a ranch vacation in Saratoga; bird watching on the Cokeville Meadows; mountain biking at Curt Gowdy or Johnny Behind the Rocks; enjoying The Daddy of 'Em All right here in Cheyenne, or a rodeo almost anywhere in Wyoming; fishing the Wedding of the Waters or on Glendo; or water skiing on the Gorge or Alcova; Wyoming has a bit of something for everyone.

Think about what we can do with Hot Springs State Park. Now there is a new military museum in Dubois opening in May. I could go on, but you get the idea. Wyoming is a marvelous place where you can still get on a river, climb a mountain, or simply enjoy a quiet evening on the plains. I applaud our tourism industry and I support its proposal for a lodging tax that would help Wyoming compete with our neighboring states. 

Over the last year, we have spoken extensively about education, and I have had the pleasure of engaging with the educational community about a variety of issues. I want to recognize Dane Weaver, a passionate teacher of 7th through 12th grade social studies. He lives in a little town at the base of Tensleep Canyon just over the hill from where I grew up. Please join me in congratulating him as Wyoming's Teacher of the Year, and in expressing our appreciation for all teachers in Wyoming 

I would like to ask Dr. Neil Theobold, acting president of UW, to stand so that we can recognize our university. It is a tremendous and enduring institution. 

Just two weeks ago, I sat down with Neil and the presidents of our community colleges, which are so important to our state. Over lunch, we began a discussion about how to better organize Wyoming's post-secondary educational opportunities to be more economic and better able to deliver education where it is needed. I left the meeting excited about our opportunities.

My adninistration has helped to secure additional financial resources for the year ahead to strategize, evaluate and improve our early-education, K-12 and post-secondary systems. 

We are hearing good things around the state about the strides we are making in workforce development. In particular, the Wyoming Works program and the efforts of the Educational Attainment Executive Council, which has aggressive goals to increase the number of people in Wyoming earning post-secondary certificates and degrees.

Through the collaborative efforts of the K-12 education sector, community colleges, UW and industry, we can equip our students with the necessary skills to ensure their success and improve Wyoming's economic health. This is really good news.

We have a window of opportunity in this recalibration year to critically, and in good faith, discuss what we need to teach, and how we can sustainably fund our education system. I am committed to working with you to find a solution. This is something we simply cannot afford to put off. This train has arrived and the people of Wyoming know it. Let us not miss it. 

My administration is also dedicated to improving access and lowering the cost of healthcare, including prescription drugs. Notably, we need to improve mental health care through innovative approaches, and coordinating agency policies for a more seamless delivery of services. 

One area of focus is on the prevention of suicide. This issue struck close to home when I heard from classmates of my own kids who have struggled with these dark thoughts. Too many of our residents are suffering -- and sadly, far too many are acting on it. 

I have supported funding to launch an in-state suicide hotline. This is just a start. We need to work with providers and leverage all of our state resources to do a better job of attending to those in need.

My administration is also working on ways to support families and individuals who have been exposed to adversity and trauma. Together we can create a healthier Wyoming where our citizens have quality services for generations to come. 

Our state is strong. Wyoming truly was forged out of the West by entrepreneurs; it is our history and it must be our future. I am anxious to see our state once again become the model of where anyone can create wealth from their own enterprise, grit, and work ethic. 

We are supporting our existing industries by revamping the Business Council. It now has a new mission and a new CEO, Josh Dorrell, who just took up the reins. He will be coming to your town soon. His entrepreneurial, private sector experience and deep understanding of Wyoming will be invaluable in helping to support existing businesses, grow new ones, and attract whole new enterprises to our state.

Finally, to end where I began — with this building. A significant percentage of the 65th Legislature has never served in this capitol. So, I want to take just a moment to remember what it was to be here before the construction project began. 

When I arrived as Treasurer in 2012, this place was full of people and energy. Visitors from all over the state and the world wandering the halls, and marveling not so much at the architecture, but at the fact you could walk into this building and be greeted by, and have a conversation with, the Governor, Secretary of State, Treasurer, Auditor, or a member of the Legislature. This does not happen anywhere else. Over and over again that is what I heard was the real charm of this place. It was a working Capitol "The People's House." It is the way government should be; accessible.

When the session started, legislators would often stop by my office to discuss legislation, or what they hoped to accomplish during the session. The coffee pot was always on. Good work came from the camaraderie that was the hallmark of this Capitol. 

This restored building provides the opportunity to continue that culture. There is great history in these walls, but it is not a museum. There is the promise of progress and moments ahead as defining as the passage of our Constitution and the recognition of universal suffrage. Like past generations in this building, we too have a rendezvous with destiny. However, like past generations it can only be done if we work together. 

I encourage you to take some time to welcome and engage visitors. This is the people's house and home to our government. Let's visit one another regularly. My office will always have the coffee on and sometimes-awesome sweet rolls. Let's fill these halls with the energy and optimism that have always defined Wyoming.

God Bles ou God Bless Wyoming And God bless the United States of Aer

January 10, 2020

________________________________________________________________________________

The bill proposing to expand Medicaid in Wyoming died on the first day of the session.

January 11, 2020

________________________________________________________________________________

On bills in budget sessions its important to keep in mind that they require 2/3s of their respective bodies in order to be introduced. So a bill may have simple majority support, but still lack sufficient support to be introduced.  This is supposed to serve to keep only the most important bills in the legislature during budget years.

With that in mind, we turn to some bills.

Electric Chair.  Wyoming uses lethal injection.

A bill to repeal Wyoming's death penalty failed.  It had majority support in the House, where it was introduced, but it fell just short of 2/3s support.

Coming soon to a swanky gaming parlour near you?

A bill to establish a gaming commission in Wyoming gaming commission was introduced. The commission would regulate gambling in Wyoming.  A similar bill was introduced last session and failed, but at that time the Tribes opposed it, which they no longer do in this revised fashion.  It'll be interesting to see where this goes as some fear that it will lead to widespread legalized gambling in the state, which is also what some people hope it will do.

Studio photo, circa 1910s, portraying young woman answer "yes" to a marriage proposal.  Chances are most proposals involving teenagers aren't quite so romantic.

The bill to outlaw "child marriages" failed, with several early supports changing to opponents of the bill.  This really doesn't seem to amount to an emergency really, so that it failed in a budget year isn't surprising.  An interesting argument that somebody made was that the bill interfered with the role of parents in teenage marital decisions, which might be true but which seems like an odd argument.

Sometimes you don't have three days.

A bill to ban gun free zones failed. At the same time, a bill to introduce a three day waiting period to purchase handguns also failed.

February 13, 2020

_________________________________________________________________________________

Keeping in mind that early votes are simply on whether or not bills should be introduced for consideration, rather than votes on the bills themselves, it's been a busy week at the legislature, with a lot more bills failing to secure introduction, which is proper in the abstract given that its a budget year, than being introduced.

With that, a few bills.

Former Parco Hotel in Sinclair Wyoming.

A proposed state lodging tax, which has secured support of the hotel industry, has been introduced.  The thought behind the proposal is to make the state's Office of Tourism self sufficient through the tax.

A bill to prevent government buy backs of firearms also secured introduction.

There are no such efforts in Wyoming and never has been. The bills proponents, when asked about this, indicated that they were being proactive and looking forward towards a day when this might occur and seeking to prevent it.

The problem, fwiw, with this sort of logic is that if Wyoming reaches that point, it's also likely that at that point or soon thereafter, there'd be sufficient support in the legislature to repeal this bill.  Bills designed to prevent a actions on social policy tend to forget that they're actually always addressed in their own era, unless they're addressed by the Courts.  For that reason, bills addressing them are not likely to be long term effective.

A bill to restrict what power companies could use to generate electrical sales in Wyoming, which was aimed at renewable generation, failed to secure introduction.

An effort to revive Medicaid expansion failed, with that effort accordingly having failed twice this week.

The bill to restrict Federalization of the National Guard, which was likely unconstitutional, failed to secure introduction.  Sen. Rand Paul, late in the news for reading the name of the "whisstle blower" during the impeachment proceedings, flew out to Cheyenne to support the bill, to no avail.

The bill to tax out of state companies that budget for state income taxes elsewhere and built it into their prices failed for the second time in two years.

_________________________________________________________________________________

February 18, 2020

The bill to put Wyoming on permanent daylight savings time, which would basically operate to put us on daylight savings time in the summer and Central Time in the winter, has advanced.

The bill would only become operable once, or rather if, four surrounding states also passed identical acts, which isn't going to happen.

I really dislike the time change, but I can't quite figure out why, if this is going to be addressed, the time simply isn't kept at natural time.  I.e., Mountain Standard Time, without daylight savings time, all year long.

In other legislative news, the Governor announced yesterday that the State is in negotiations to purchase 1,000,000 surface acres of the UP checkerboard and 4,000,000 acres of mineral rights now owned by Occidental Petroleum.  The State needs the legislature to authorize this in order to carry forward with it.  That would certainly be a major investment in the state in lands that have been hard to access, but it was noted by the Tribune that a bill also pending to ease land swapping with private owners, which I haven't studied, might be able to address that.

_________________________________________________________________________________

February 21, 2020

House Bill 209, the voter cross over bill, has been introduced.

HOUSE BILL NO. HB0209

Change in party affiliation.

Sponsored by: Representative(s) Blackburn, Clem, Edwards, Gray, Hallinan, Jennings, Laursen, Lindholm, Miller, Piiparinen, Stith, Styvar and Washut and Senator(s) Biteman, Driskill and Steinmetz

A BILL

for

AN ACT relating to elections; revising provisions relating to political party affiliation changes by electors; and providing for an effective date.

Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:

Section 1.  W.S. 22‑5‑212 and 22‑5‑214 are amended to read:

22‑5‑212.  When declaration of party affiliation required.

An elector requesting a major party ballot must declare his party affiliation, or sign an application for change of affiliation in accordance with W.S. 22‑5‑214, before he may receive a party ballot. An elector may vote only the nonpartisan ballot and if so, is not required to declare his party affiliation. Requesting a partisan primary election ballot constitutes a declaration of party affiliation. A change in declaration of party affiliation shall conform to W.S. 22‑5‑214 and be entered on the poll list by the election judge.

22‑5‑214.  Change in party affiliation.

(a)  An elector may change his party affiliation, except as otherwise specified in subsection (b) of this section, by completing an application signed before a notarial officer or election official and filing it with the county clerk not less than fourteen (14) days before the primary election or at the polls on the day of the primary or general election, or when requesting an absentee ballot.

(b)  An elector may change his party affiliation from one (1) major political party to another major political party by completing an application signed before a notarial officer or election official, and filing it with the county clerk not less than fourteen (14) days before the primary election or at the polls on the day of the primary or general election., or when requesting an absentee ballot.

Section 2.  This act is effective July 1, 2020.

This bill is substantially modified from the last time it was considered by the Legislature.  Heavily supported by the Republican Party, the prior bill sought to prevent changes in party affiliation far in advance of the primary election, this one only stretches back two weeks.

This bill is the result of a belief in some quarters of the state's GOP that Governor Mark Gordon was the party's nominee rather than Foster Friess as Democrats crossed over in order to vote for somebody less right wing than Friess.  The University of Wyoming has looked at this ad concluded its not true, but the belief persists anyhow.

This in turn reflects a real divide in the GOP itself which has had some extremely bitter infighting the past two years as the old party and new party fight it out at the county level.  The Wyoming GOP has traditionally been fairly middle of the road but at the county level its received an influx of activists who are much more to the right, including some who are now in the legislature.

The amended bill reflects the party's strong desire to pass this legislation and the influence of the less hardcore members of the party.  Two weeks will likely be regarded by most people, except perhaps Wyoming's courts, as a reasonable restriction.  If tested by a court however, that's much less certain.

Having a two party system isn't a written function of our government and the bigger question is why political parties get to use public resources to sort out who will be their candidates at all.  Good arguments exist for prohibiting that, and frankly a legal test of the system in Wyoming mind find that political party primaries don't square with our law at all.  Even if that's not the case, passing a bill restricting the electorate from declaring itself to be one thing or another is a restriction on the election process and it might not stand.  All of this points to the fact that perhaps parties should just choose their candidates in conventions or, if we're going to have a primary election, that it be party free and just winnow the fall choice down to the two top vote getters, whomever they are.

Such an overhaul of the system isn't going to happen and my prediction is that this bill will pass, it'll be tested in the court, and there it will fail.

For which, if it occurs, the GOP probably ought to be grateful.  If large numbers of Democrats, and Wyoming doesn't even have large numbers of Democrats, crossed into the GOP in the last general election or in 2016, they're probably still there.  By and large, most people who switch parties aren't hardcore politicos.  Once they switch, they likely forget about it and just stay there.  And if they're motivated enough to move in the first place, they'll make the two weeks and stay there.

Which goes back to the fact that some commentators have been worried that Wyoming's Republican Party won't easily survive having become as dominant as it is.  It's under a lot of stress at any rate as an insurgent minority on the hard right, some of which has financial backing from outside entities, has been struggling with the traditional middle.  With so few Democrats running for anything (and with old traditional middle of the road Democrats like Eli Bebout now long term Republicans), an influx of what Democrats remain, and for that matter an influx of independents, who practically have nowhere else to go to vote in primaries that are for all intents and purposes the general election, may mean that the GOP becomes less of what its right wing wants due to its own success.

_________________________________________________________________________________

February 22, 2020

A pair of amendments have been introduced to the budget to study oversight at the University of Wyoming following the Nichols incident.

The most remarkable thing about these bills is that they have enormous support.  One was introduced by a Democrat and has gained support all the way from the far right.  Another one has support from one of the rare fairly left leaning legislators and a bunch of right wing ones.

This means, absent a Gubernatorial veto, this will become part of the budget.

This puts me in a rare position as frankly the governance of the university, of which I'm a two time graduate, doesn't appear to have been going in a poor direction recently.  As noted earlier, I didn't follow the Nichols matter much but I frankly don't feel her being released is emblematic of a crisis.  I am concerned about excessive legislative involvement in the university's governance which would inevitably turn political pretty quickly.

_________________________________________________________________________________

February 23, 2020

Governor Gordon's request to buy the UP checkerboard from Occidental Petroleum is running into some opposition, some from quarters we'd expect, and some from surprising quarters.

For those not familiar with it, the UP checkerboard is a vast swath of land of about 1,000,000 acres which the Union Pacific was given by the Federal Government as an inducement to build the Transcontinental Railroad.  The original thought was that the UP could help recoup its costs of construction by selling the land to settlers, but it quickly became apparent that the land contained valuable minerals which the UP determined to keep, for which it can't be blamed.  Some of the land was sold, however.

The checkerboard has been a public lands access headache for years as it effectively means that for a long stretch of ground every other landlocked public section that remains is inaccessible, to the degree that is enforced or can be enforced.  Indeed, it's a common belief among Wyomingites that you can simply step over the corner and never be trespassing, which isn't really correct.

Anyhow, the land recently belonged to Anadarko Petroleum which sold it to Occidental Petroleum, which now wants to sell it to Wyoming along with 4,000,000 mineral acres, some of which is located in neighboring states.

This seems like a real opportunity and its hard to understand how very many people would be opposed to it, but some opposition is forming.  One group that was predictable are groups very closely associated with some agricultural interests which basically like the checkerboard system as it is, as it doesn't really impact them.  The fear is that the state would start swapping lands to block up public lands and effectively end the system, although the fear shouldn't be as great as it is. That would occur, but it wouldn't affect access to non Occidental lands as much as some might initially suppose because, after all, they're still non Occidental lands.

Other opposition just seem to be to the fact that this is a big move.  A columnist in the Tribune who is urging the state to slow down compared it to the U.S. purchase of Alaska, which is in fact a really ironic comment in that that purchase had loads of opposition and is now universally viewed as a great thing to have done. Indeed, by and large Seward's critics are now looked upon as foolish, so if this example is cited, it should be cited as one that should urge us to push forward.

Others are just unclear.  Former Congressional candidate Rod Miller, who ran on protecting the public lands, has a column urging the state to slow down just because.

Slowing down in matters like this isn't really an option.  Chances are, in the modern world (we'll see what things are like after November),  that the lands are actually capable of being purchased by private investors, just not ones located in Wyoming.  A Bill Gates or Michael Bloomberg, for example, could easily buy the land up simply as a sort of investment and then turn it to uses that squared with their world outlook, which is unlikely to be the same as ours.  1,000,000 acres is a lot of land, but not so much that its outside the reach of some.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Related Threads:

The 2020 Wyoming Legislative Session. The early committee efforts.