This was the quote/photo in my last MMIP Wind River blog piece, Being A Good Person.
I was recently the subject of Holly Butler's/Civil Rights for Wind River's run down of the next Northern Arapaho General Council's meeting, and what was said about me was, well...enlightening? I didn't realize that Ms. Butler and Ms. Hodge thought they knew so much about me. Isn't it always surprising when you find out you're the subject of assumptive gossip?
Anyway, I commented on their Facebook wall in my defense, but it wasn't long before they blocked me and of course with that, the comment went away. Fortunately, I kept the comment. Here it is below:
"Respectfully...my agenda item is about the tribe being prepared for the upcoming wildfire season and disasters in general. As the Community Partnership Lead for the Red Cross, which is a global humanitarian organization, FEMA and first responders work together with Harvey Spoonhunter, who did a great job with the recent flood plain workshop with the Army Corps of Engineers. And yes, I will touch on the structures that are already in place both on the tribal and local, county/FEMA sides when it comes to emergencies and disasters. I'm not trying to take anyone's job, I have no intention of ever taking anyone's job; I already have one...and a recent event with the Red Cross has shown that many tribal members may be quite ill-prepared for a mass casualty/mass mortality event. I would appreciate it very much if folks would stop assuming things about me as if I have ulterior motives/agendas. Very slanted viewpoint about me and an important topic. And the picture with Harriet Hageman? Makes everyone assume that I support her or chummy with her. I am most certainly not. That photo was taken as a recipient of the Stars of Life award I received, and there were photos taken with all three of the legislators I had time to visit with in Washington DC, and we were discussing the critical need for ambulance services across the nation. If you are so dismissive about an important issue as emergency preparedness, perhaps you wouldn't be, should a wildfire rip through the reservation. Thank you for listening."
Their discourse continued about the whole debacle with MMIP Wind River and the misinformation that circulated about how I 'took it away' from Nicole Wagon. For the record, I did not take MMIP Wind River away from her. The facts are: Ms. Wagon and the rest of her group kicked me out of MMIP, and wrote a certified letter to me, threatening that if I didn't hand over the website and Facebook page, she would take legal action against me. She did, in fact, file a police report (which went nowhere). You can read "Regarding MMIP Wind River..."on the blog site. Additionally, Ms. Wagon did all of this during a time when I was crippled from a slip and fall accident, and was going blind in both eyes.
How soon Ms. Wagon forgets how much myself and others volunteered time to help her with her speeches, campaigns and marches. And instead of civilly approaching me with any questions or concerns, she chose to bully and threaten me. I haven't been a part of her last two marches because I'm not going to go where I am not wanted and create undue tension. It has been abundantly clear that she does not want to work with me. So, for the past two years, I have taken MMIP Wind River in the direction of pro-prevention, education, and outreach for victims and survivors of domestic violence, assault, abuse, suicide, and trafficking...the root causes of MMIP. Ms. Wagon does her thing; I do mine. As I believe what we both do is important for the MMIP cause, I am saddened that her choice to kick me out of her group still has a lasting effect on folks. I don't even know how much mudslinging has gone on behind my back, but the continuation of it publicly is enough to warrant my response.
My focus has been on community outreach and education, and ways that we can help our tribe. I have no agenda, no ulterior motives. I support Harvey Spoonhunter and desire to help him improve the existing systems for emergency management and response. I'm a volunteer for the Red Cross, and Frontier Ambulance has an awesome partnership with the Red Cross of Wyoming. I sit on the State DUI Task Force, the Suicide Prevention Task Force, and a local trafficking task force is being formed with the help of UprisingWyo. I'm happy where I am, helping people wherever and whenever I can, and have enough on my plate with all of the issues that plague both our county and tribe...why would anyone even think that I'd be vying for someone else's job? And besides, wasn't it Ms. Wagon who nominated Sunny Goggles for Tribal Chairperson...and now you slam her (Sunny) as well? And then you block me from your Facebook page because I commented in self-defense?
So, Ms. Butler, exactly who is it that "can't be trusted"? What viable reason, or what did I ever do or say that made you come to that conclusion? If CRWR were actually as 'civil' as they claim, perhaps it would have been more prudent of you to get the facts before slamming me and my character in front of your audience. Taking the higher road means you don't bully and threaten. Taking the higher road would be about not kicking someone when they're down. Taking the higher road is that you don't assume something about someone that is totally untrue. Taking the higher road would be about not spreading false narratives, misinformation, or misguided opinions in order to further smear someone in public or private! Ms. Wagon's agenda items has to do with Election Judges. If my experience with her and how she treated me re: MMIP was wrought with threats, gossip, and character slamming...how is anyone supposed to know how to make any kind of educated vote, and furthermore, even really know that what she proposes is actually in the best interests of the tribe or not?
And, let's be honest: That wasn't the only photo you could find of me. That was purposely selected to make it look like I was some right-winger that cozies up to Hageman. Nice try, but the fact is, those who actually know me, know that I am a moderate, neither left nor right. Doesn't make me apathetic; it just allows me to do my own thinking instead of allowing the partisan extremism affect my judgement when it comes to the truth/facts. Your portrayal and opinions of me might fall within the convenient disclaimer you post up at the beginning of your podcast, but I sure hope folks are smart enough to decide for themselves and not allow you to do their thinking for them. It only perpetuates the already deep divides that troubles our tribe.
Ms. Butler, you don't know me. There are many sides to a story. You failed to get mine. That has been the theme of the entire nation's political climate lately, and it's sad when people get sucked into it. The gridlock is real. I've met very good people and also some downright mean people in my tribe, and the division between families and relatives has always been a problem. I try not to focus too much on that (and believe me, it's tough)! But folks who criticize and smear those who are only trying to help make things better in their tribe or community just makes it that more difficult for any kind of progress to happen.
Before the sun sets on this, my (nearly) 39th year of being a mother, I had a few thoughts to share.
Both my brother and I were adopted as infants into our family; I had written the (below) tribute to my mother 26 years ago. Oh, how things change through the years! Gone are the days as a kid, where you had the freedom to ride your bike up and down Griffy Hill, to the Creamery or Woolworth's, or all over town to meet your friends. Everyone sitting down as a family for dinner is something people might not believe ever happened unless you've watched an episode of Blue Bloodsor the movie Blast from the Past. I don't even own an ironing board or typewriter anymore, and growing and maintaining a garden is a lot of work that few have time for (thank God for our farmers' markets). Health care and the advances in medicine and technology today would have been considered alien technology back in the day.
Mom Thelma died on July 30, 2005. She did her very best she could in raising my brother and I, and had so many health problems throughout her life. As a kid, you really don't know the pains that someone goes through until you've experience those pains for yourself. As an adult, I consider myself blessed to be able to live each day in appreciation of my mother's advice and wisdom (Do It Better), and..."to experience all that life has to offer, and live every day as if it were my last."
Thank you for reading, and thank you to all of the strong, wonderful, beautiful women in my life who have been like mothers to me, and have enriched and blessed my life with your guidance and wisdom.
Carol
__________________
A Tribute to my Mother
July 2010
I
barely remember the beautiful, vibrant woman in old pictures, posing
with a big smile, thick beautiful hair pinned up in a curly do. No, if I could
go back into the furthest recesses of my mind, what I remember is a hospital
visit and seeing a woman who was deathly ill, weak and fragile, who spent her
time afterwards in bed for days, weeks, months on end. I remember wigs on the bathroom counter,
the smell of balms and lotions, herbs and vitamins. I remember hearing her occasional
whimpers of pain, but did not, could not and never will fully understand the
amount and kind of pain Mom had to endure.
I remember Mrs. Tuft coming in to clean the house on Thursdays, and my sister sometimes babysitting
my brother and I. I so love my
brother—we often “...fought and quarreled and ‘served the devil", as Mom would
say. I remember my brother and I dividing up my dolls and playing make-believe
baseball games, or making Hot Wheel race car tracks all around his room. I remember that whenever we got into trouble, we’d be sent to
our rooms, but would still throw things at each other from across the hall…like
our baby beans dolls, bouncy balls, or spit wads (big ones, too). I remember
floating down the canal on inner tubes, playing Cowboys and Indians (guess who
was always the Indian, hmmm!). I remember watching my brother squirt Elmer’s
glue down a neighbor boy’s butt crack and down into his pants during one of our
neighborhood puppet shows, and Mom busting out laughing when she found out
about it (via a telephone call from the boy’s mother).
I remember the smell of a fresh Big Chief notebook, or new crayons and watercolors, and the smile on Mom’s face when I’d jump up and down
with joy in receiving them. I remember Mom creating the “school closet”, and I would
raid it often – reading, imagining, creating for hours on end. I remember
dancing like a ballerina in the living room to classical music on the record
player; when Mom came into the room, I stopped in my tracks, embarrassed. She
said, “No, keep dancing!” And she signed me up for ballet lessons. (Mrs. Eck's dance studio was the IOOF building).
I remember Mom always signing me up for the library’s summer reading program,
summer recreational classes, and the children’s musical theater. I remember
being driven to and from Mrs. Kelliher’s house or CWC for piano lessons. I
remember Mom wheeling the ugly green chair over to the pink piano, sitting in
the basement for an hour or more each day, whapping the music with an old translucent
stick, making sure I practiced my lesson correctly.
I remember Mom
dropping me off at my brother’s little league baseball games with a little money, and
I’d eat gobstoppers or Jolly Rancher sticks until my tongue turned the color of
the candy. I remember munching up my ankle in the spokes of one of the old
bikes and tracking blood into the house, up the stairs and into the bathroom. There
was a myriad of other wounds that Mom would calmly take care of with hydrogen peroxide, pink Merthiolate and plastic band-aids. I remember that we’d ride
our bikes and play outside until dusk, waiting to hear Dad’s distinct whistle
for dinnertime.
I remember Mom’s chili, casseroles, clam chowder, beef stew, baked chicken, her
elk/deer jerky, and “snowy dip”. I remember her teaching me to clean,
cook, bake, sew, iron, dry, can and freeze…planting, weeding and harvesting a
huge garden. I remember our lunch tradition of fried egg sandwiches with
mustard, or fish sandwiches from the Covered Wagon (now The Pony Espresso),
hearing the noon siren and listening to Paul Harvey on the old black radio. I
remember countless visits with Grandma and Grandpa and was always excited to
visit. I remember many “classic movie” dates with popcorn and hot carob. Mom
would circle the show times in the TV guide (especially the musicals, Mom loved
the musicals).
She loved babies – sure, she loved her children, grandchildren, even others’
children and grandchildren - but babies especially put a big smile on her face!
Mom and I loved to laugh together, find the humor in everything. She was often
curious – I remember her asking me what my cappuccino or vanilla latte tasted
like. She asked me what Mexico was like, what scuba diving was like. She was
always interested in what I was doing – my jobs, my latest writing, my own
trials and errors as a mother. It wasn’t until I was much older that I realized
how very interested she was in so much of what life had to offer—yet she gave
so much of her life and energy so that we could experience all that life had to
offer.
She was never a “Room Mom” at school, never hung out with other moms, never a
part of the PTA. She was as quiet as a church mouse at church, but had the mouth
of a sailor at home (of which the entire neighborhood could often attest). She
was mild-mannered and polite in public places (like the grocery or hardware
store, post office or bank) but also spoke her mind with irrefutable solidity
and clarity. I could only imagine what Mom was really feeling – the physical pains
she had to bear, her constant fight to simply live life, her frustrations—the
things she had to do and sacrifice just to survive another day. But I never,
ever had to question what she was thinking.
What have I learned from the woman I call my mother? I have learned to find the
strength, determination and will inside myself, even if it is against all odds
(“Where there’s a will, there’s a way, I always say.”). Mom taught me that
everything takes work to work. She taught me to invest in my talents and
abilities—to grow, build and create, and to enjoy the fruits of those labors.
She taught me not to stand around talking about doing something, but to
actually do it.
But most of all, I will remember that all Mom ever wanted for me was to be
happy. When I went through an unhappy marriage, a difficult divorce, went
through numerous court and custody battles, Mom was there for me, supported me,
encouraged me, strengthened me, loved me. None of those things had to do with
whether I was a child that came from her own womb…nor had it anything to do
with whether I was a part of a church or religion. In fact, when I had left the church
I had been raised in, she was the one member of the family I could talk to who
did not unduly judge and disparage me. She loved me, no matter what, and that
love had nothing to do with religion, differing beliefs, conditions or criteria
of “worthiness”, or what others might think. Quite the opposite; in fact…Mom
never did care about “what people think”. She was there for me, listened to me,
and did not judge me when others did. She never questioned whether I was still
a part of the family, whether the distance was physical or religious. She was
giving and loving, and was Christ-like when others weren’t. In fact, she often
came to my defense, solely with the knowledge she had by actually taking time
to sit down and talk with me to understand—never in a spirit of criticism or
debate. No, the only thing Mom ever wanted to know was whether I was
happy…because if her children were happy, that’s all she needed to know. That’s
all she ever wanted.
Now, as a mother and grandmother, I have felt the weight of the years upon me.
I have gone through my own battles, struggles and sacrifices for my own
children. I get so busy and absorbed in life’s struggles, stresses and worries
that I often forget to ask myself if I am happy. There were so many times where
I would reach for the phone to call Mom, wanting to hear her voice – talk with
her, laugh with her, cry with her, talk about life, the kids, the latest – joke
and tease Dad now and then. But all I really needed to hear her ask me was:
“Are you happy?” If I wasn’t, we’d talk about it. If I was, we would joy in it.
Mom was truly a person who lived every single day as if it were her last. And
one day, it was. And though the physical distance might still exist between us,
there’s not a day goes by that is not in some way influenced by the woman I
call my mother. She is alive in my heart and in my memories…a part of her is in
everything I do. She is alive in the lessons and wisdom I’ve tried to impart to
my own children.
Most of all, she is alive because I know she still loves me, no matter what. I
feel that kind of love only a mother can give, and can only hope that I too can
give of my own time and energy as Mom did – to be strong and determined,
against all odds. To laugh, be curious, to travel, to watch, taste, smell and
feel…to enjoy. To speak my mind with irrefutable solidity, and not care what
others think.
To experience all that life has to offer, and live every day as if it were my
last.
“To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven…”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
Carol Harper
July 2010
-----
Here's the recipe for "Snowy Dip" (I think it's better than ranch dip). It's typed on a card in my mother's recipe box that my brother gave me after her death. I treasure that recipe box!
There is a project I am a part of with our local American Legion Auxiliary that surrounds the reading of the Declaration of Independence. I had a moment today to read it, from beginning to end, and was pondering on this amazing, historical document created by America's Founding Fathers.
Perhaps the most intriguing to me were all of the facts they had laid out about the "King of Britain" and I pondered over my Sunday coffee thinking: If the Founding Fathers of this nation were alive today, what would they say after 250 years "...in the Course of human events..."? What would they think? Would they be proud or ashamed of what has happened to this country where they had pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor?
I'll just let you read it for yourselves. You decide where we are today...and perhaps, how we should move forward in the next 250 years.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States
of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one
people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another,
and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to
which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to
the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which
impel them to the separation.
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable
Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That
to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their
just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of
Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to
alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation
on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall
seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will
dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and
transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are
more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves
by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of
abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to
reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to
throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future
security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is
now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of
Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of
repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the
establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let
Facts be submitted to a candid world.
He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and
necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate
and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent
should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend
to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation
of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of
Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable
to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places
unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public
Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his
measures.
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for
opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions,
to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of
Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the
State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from
without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these
States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners;
refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the
conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by
refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the
tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent
hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies
without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and
superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a
jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws;
giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for
any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial
by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended
offences.
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a
neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and
enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit
instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most
valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring
themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of
his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our
towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign
Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already
begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the
most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on
the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of
their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has
endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian
Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all
ages, sexes and conditions.
In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned
for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered
only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act
which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.
Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish
brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their
legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded
them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have
appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by
the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would
inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been
deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore,
acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as
we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.
We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States
of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of
the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by
Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare,
That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent
States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and
that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is
and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States,
they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish
Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of
right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the
protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives,
our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
On June 7, 1776, Richard
Henry Lee brought what came to be called the Lee Resolution before the
Continental Congress. This resolution stated “these United Colonies are, and of
right ought to be, free and independent states …” Congress debated independence
for several days. The Committee of Five — John Adams, Benjamin
Franklin, Roger Sherman,
Robert R. Livingston, and Thomas
Jefferson — was given the job of drafting a formal Declaration of
Independence. They gave the task of writing the document to Jefferson.
Writing the Declaration of Independence
The Declaration contained 3 sections: a general statement
of natural rights theory and the purpose of government; a list of grievances
against the British King; and the declaration of independence from England.
More than 20 years later, the Second, Third, Fourth, and Sixth Amendments to
the Constitution would contain prohibitions against the government to prevent
the same forms of tyranny as were listed as grievances. Jefferson’s writing was
influenced by George Mason’s Virginia
Declaration of Rights, as well as by his study of natural rights theory and the
writings of John Locke, including Two Treatises of Government. Franklin and
Adams edited Jefferson’s draft, and the final document was presented to
Congress about two weeks later.
------
On July 2, 1776, the Continental Congress voted to
declare independence from England. Congress made several changes to Jefferson’s
draft, including removing references condemning slavery. On July 4, 1776 the
Declaration of Independence was adopted. John Hancock,
President of the Continental Congress, signed it that day. The rest of the
Congress signed two months later. By affixing their names to the document, the
signers courageously pledged to each other their “lives … fortunes … and sacred
honor.”
Georgia
Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George Walton
North Carolina
William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, John Penn
South Carolina
Edward Rutledge, Thomas Heyward, Jr., Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton
Massachusetts
John Hancock, Samuel Adams, John Adams, Robert Treat Paine, Elbridge Gerry
Maryland
Samuel Chase, William Paca, Thomas Stone, Charles Carroll of Carrollton
Virginia
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison, Thomas
Nelson, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Braxton
Pennsylvania
Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer,
James Smith, George Taylor, James Wilson, George Ross
Delaware
Caesar Rodney, George Read, Thomas McKean
New York
William Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, Lewis Morris
New Jersey
Richard Stockton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, Abraham Clark
New Hampshire
Josiah Bartlett, William Whipple
Rhode Island: Stephen Hopkins, William Ellery
Connecticut
Roger Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Williams, Oliver Wolcott
Disclaimer: I am not writing this piece as a representative of Frontier Ambulance or any of the previous companies I've served with in the EMS industry. These are my own opinions, insights, perspectives, and views through my own experiences as a citizen of Fremont County, Wyoming.
Well, Fremont County folks...let's try this again! Another committee dealing with the ambulance service has been formed, and they are still serious about both provider and public input. Plus, we've finally heard a squeak from the county, as Mike Jones has stepped up to the plate as the new FCAG rep. Thanks, Mike. I hope you can be effective and bring forth some decisiveness in your new role.
As I read through, from beginning to end, Cowboy State Daily's piece on Shoshoni's ambulance "service", my first thought was...I get it. Shoshoni is a small remote town; it's 30 minutes away from the nearest (current) Riverton hospital...less by flight or if our current EMS can ground pound it. There are places out on the WRIR that can sometimes take longer, especially at night.
So I figure, if the town of Shoshoni can make it work, more power to them. However, possessing one BLS ambulance versus a fleet of ALS ambulances is like the difference between a TV dinner and a steak dinner with all the fixins. But does Shoshoni really get to decide what they 'secede' from, including dispatch and town-county borders? So many questions, so little time.
My next thought was...as I appreciate what SPD Chief Chris Konija is trying to do and achieve, law enforcement is law enforcement, not EMS. As it is true that all first responders work together when they arrive on-scene, there are so many factors at play where the best thing to do is to let everyone do their "thing"...let dispatch do their thing, let law enforcement do their thing, let fire do their thing, let EMS do their thing, let the Coroner's office do their thing. We all do the "thing", then go back to our agency silos until the next call rings out. All of our first responders in the areas and municipalities of Fremont County have worked together for many, many years, and it was a very good system when EMS was county-run. But in my opinion, now would be a terrible time to divide up into municipalities when there are so many unforeseen issues, costs, and scenarios that can greatly affect the flow of these critical operations and impede success.
However, now is the perfect time...in fact, it's now past time...for the public and our EMS providers to get involved and have a voice. When I gave a presentation to the JCFKS at their initial meeting on (ironically) September 11, I had hoped that it would kick off those beginning steps in bringing some elements and information on our EMS operations, and spur some awareness and actions of urgency on the issue. The JCFKS did, in fact, do this. The meetings were open to the public, in person and via Zoom, and progress reports were given. As I said in my previous blog piece, the committee did an excellent job on their final report to FCAG.
Presently, I can't help but feel like we're going three steps forward, two steps back. I gave my presentation back in September! I know that's how things fly at the speed of government, but when something as critical as public health and safety, the public and all government leaders...municipal and county...should be alert and awake at their wheels and particularly wary about what they decide will slip through the cracks, or table for later discussion. Critical services such as EMS should not be one of them, especially when the fiscal year ends on June 30th. That's in a little over two months, folks.
I've been in a lot of trainings this past year, and between EMS and the Red Cross, I've become very scenario-based in my trains of thought and logic. A scenario where there is an absence of EMS services in this county would rapidly lead to a public emergency crisis, and we just cannot continue to put bandaids on gaping wounds any longer. Solutions need to be made and implemented now and fast. No more dinking around and dropping the ball. No more armchair politics via social media. No more apathy; no more coming to the table with complaints that are absent of ideas, suggestions or solutions.
But first, you have to actually show up at the table! I highly encourage you to attend these upcoming meetings (see below). If you can't make it in person, you can get the Zoom link and join in while you're eating your lunch. I've provided the information below, so there are no excuses that the public hasn't been informed or included. Now, being interested is a whole other roll of Kerlix, but whether or not you've been a patient in the back of an ambulance, the emergency scenarios and traumas that happen are very real...and reality strikes quite often.
YOU can be a part of saving lives in Fremont County, too!
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Joint Committee on Funding Key Services and the Regional Ambulance Service Evaluation Committee will hold recurring joint meeting sessions each Wednesday from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The meetings will be held at the following location:
Wind River Transportation Authority Facility
2554 Airport Road
Riverton, Wyoming 82501
The meetings will also be accessible to the public by virtual means through the attached Zoom link.
These recurring joint meetings will be held each Wednesday unless otherwise canceled or amended by proper public notice.
As most of you know (from the shares on my Facebook wall), I followed the 2,300-mile Walk for Peace by the Monks of the Vipassana Bhavana Center in Texas . I loved the messages of finding inner peace, compassion and non-violence. I am not a Buddhist, but I am a believer in Light, Life, Love and Truth. And as a believer in these, I have learned (and am continually learning) discernment between Light and darkness, Life and death, Love and hate, Truth and falsehoods. The latter of the two opposites...hate and falsehoods...have revealed much about the present state of the world.
Unfortunately, their walk was not without controvesy and opposition. I was surprised to see a certain brand of resistance from Christians that the monks had encountered along the way. I'm reminded of the story in Mark 9, how Jesus clearly defined how we should respond. His disciples said that they say saw someone driving out demons in his name, and "we told him to stop, because he was not one of us."
"Do not stop him," Jesus said. "For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us." (Mark 9:38-40)
In my opinion, the monks certainly did do a miracle in bringing millions of people together for one purpose: Peace. I was thinking of a "John the Baptist"-type in proclaiming "Prepare the way of the Lord." (Matthew 3) for the baptisms of water and fire (and what a fire season it's going to be this year!) I contemplated the attitudes towards the Buddhist monks from these 'Christians' who obviously hadn't learned the second of Jesus' new commandments: "Love your neighbor as yourself." And who is my neighbor? (Luke 10: 29-37)
‘Thesepeopledraw near to Me with their mouth,
And honor Me with their lips,
But their heart is far from Me.
9
And in vain they worship Me,
Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
Matthew 15: 8-9
Doing it wrong.
This same born Prince of Peace cleansed the temple, overthrowing tables and driving out merchants who had made it into a "den of thieves", a busy marketplace to buy and sell. Well, that's not very peaceful, is it? But Jesus' anger was a catalyst for fighting the battle against greed and gluttony. His Seven Woes to the Pharisees was a battle against hypocrisy and injustice. His parables and teachings...oil in lamps, wise and foolish builders, the fig tree, the wheat and the tares...were words of warning.
Today, there are corporatized mega churches and religions that have (over) capitalized on their memberships with tithes, offerings and donations...building huge worship centers with coffee shops and bookstores, ornate cathedrals and temples adorned with gold...while the homeless and jobless still suffer. (Matthew 23:4) There are preachers and podcasters on the Internet and social media that make thousands/millions while the destitute still die and are dying. There are pharmaceutical companies and snake oil scams that bank on addiction rather than actual healing. So easy for them to profit off of the naive, ignorant, and desperate, all for one thing: Control.
But Jesus didn't tell us to build idols, statues and temples. He didn't tell us to invest in the stock market, 'buy low and sell high'. He didn't form a church like some conditional "members only" club, or to go out and preach for profit. He didn't tell us to take a pill or shoot up some heroin to "feel better". He didn't tell us to divide up by political persuasions and go to war with each other, or because someone or some other country has something the other doesn't have.
No, the King of kings told us what the kingdom of heaven was actually like! Jesus simply asked us to believe and follow Him. He told us to love each other, give to the needy, care for the poor and sick, be good Samaritans. He told us to beware of hypocrisy, of false prophets, of wolves in sheep's clothing. He told us that our dishes should be clean on the inside as well as the outside. He taught us to be discerning...wise as serpents and harmless as doves (Matthew 10). So if you or your congregation is doing all that, you're doing it right! And even if you aren't a believer in Christ, the tenets of Light, Life, Love and Truth are common threads that God has joined us all together as human beings on this planet Earth.
My daughter and her husband were recently married in a little small town church in the heart of Riverton, with just family and loved ones surrounding them. It was a beautiful wedding (and yes, the mother of the bride did cry!) It wasn't a big fanfare...no 200-person guest list, no elaborately flowered arches, no bridesmaids/grooms, no swans with ribbons on their necks gliding across a pond, no string quartet, no tiered cake or chareuterie tables, no band or DJ. It wasn't in a temple or cathedral. Just a simple wedding with the sun streaming through stained-glass windows as they pledged their vows and love for each other. In my opinion, they did it right!
"What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate."
Matthew 19:6
Still doing it wrong...
Historically speaking, the industrialization of America was a domino that set off a chain of destruction. It brought inhumane working conditions, long hour days, child labor, poverty wages, unplanned urbanization, disease, pollution. It also brought about a time of opportunistic greed, setting the stage for what would bring out the worst in us. The push West murdered millions of Natives, slaughtered bison and wildlife, and defaced mountains, hills, and landscapes. Instead of looking up to the skies for the ultimate Source of life and balance, we've polluted the skies and keep running on age-old gerbil wheels that generate millions for those who don't really know or care about who or what they use and abuse.
"But that's the way we've always done it!" Well-known as one of the most dangerous phrases in the business world, I am astounded that we continue to have those in positions of authority when it comes to the business of war, and they still don't get it. War hasn't never been about peace, it's about conquest. And there never has been world peace; just the constant disturbing of it. There have been over 2,000 killed and over 26,500 injured since this U.S./Israel versus Iran war began, and I hear people just keep on complacently saying:, "Well, that's just the way war is." No sh**, Sherlock! Aren't we sick of this historical global cycle of abuse? Aren't we tired of the repetition of war? But that is what we've repeatedly chosen, regardless of the warnings.
The 'spirit' of antichrist has been thousands and thousands of years in the making. I had AI help me with its definition: "According to the Bible, the Antichrist is a future, end-times figure--often identified as the "the beast" in Revelation--who will rise to global power, oppose Jesus Christ, and persecute believers. He is characterized as a "man of lawlessness" or false messiah who demands worship. The term also refers to a spirit or anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ."
There have been many antichrists in history who have been revered, cheered and worshipped. But none as huge as this last century's antichristic Beasts of political and religious corporatization surrounded by their own beasts who do their will and persecute believers of Light, Life, Love and Truth...all trying to separate what God has joined together from the beginning.
But shouldn't we have be doing what Jesus taught us to do, instead of cheering on yet another antichrist? Shouldn't we have been lighting our lamps, be in prayer, awaiting instructions, and preparing ourselves for the battles against the evils unseen? Then again, there are those who might celebrate the accomplishment of circular prophecy ("Jesus is coming, yay!") But then, just whose side are we on? Just who or what are we voting for and worshipping now? Perhaps we'll all be surprised when the time comes for the separation of the wheat and tares.
“Not everyone who says to Me,‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he whodoes the will of My Father in heaven.Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have wenot prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’Andthen I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you;depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ (Matthew 27: 21-23)
The Prince of Peace
Every Holy Week and Eastertime, I'm reminded of how Jesus told us that there is tribulation in this world, but that we should "be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). It's always been one of my top favorite scriptures; comforting words as I press forward, long after Easter Sunday has passed. Believe me, I know it can be difficult to be a 'freaking ray of sunshine' as we go back to that daily grind on those rickety gerbil wheels, or having to deal with all the drama, chaos, bottlenecks and roadblocks that seem to have this annoying way of distracting us from that inner peace we yearn for. Sometimes I think there's just not enough coffee in the world!
But those yearnings for peace and those personal walks continue forward and onward, and who better than the Prince of Peace, the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, the Light of the World...to lead the Way...to guide us with the Truth revealed through simple stories and parables...and a Life exemplifying how Love will always be the impetus that saves the world.
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Worth the read:
Matthew 5-7, The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 23
Deuteronomy 30
I put this article on my Facebook wall. A very good read...
