Outside the Capitol now. A crowd is starting to gather. Definitely larger than the previous ones I've seen.

Signs spotted so far:

'Knucklehead Gordon's
'Legislature must convene, fix election fraud.'
'Masks don't work.'
One counter protestor on the corner.
It's started.

Clem: "we are here because we love our freedom, and because the man in that building is a tyrant."

Several hundred people here. Shouts of 'RINO' in the crowd. A few rifles on display.
"Only legislators can make law," he said. Said there was no public input on the health orders.
In the last three minutes, Clem has urged people to sue the state, refuse to wear masks unless they are high risk.

Said we are governed by the rule of law, not science. A chorus of "herd immunity" at one point.
Now Sen. Anthony Bouchard is up to push the malarial drug hydrochloroquine as a cure to COVID. Clem called Gov. Mark Gordon a "tyrant" for not using it.
The crowd has kept growing. A few more counter protestors dispersed throughout the crowd.
Bouchard saying his daughter was treated for sepsis using hydrochloroquine. Says he believes COVID-19 is the same thing, though this is unsubstantiated. Called Gordon a "criminal" for not allowing it.
"We've had 430 people die," he said, if not for early treatment with this unproven drug. "Murderer," a man behind me said.

Lots of scattered criticism of Barrasso, Cheney.
Says the media will ignore studies from places like Bulgaria addressing this and their relation to SARS, continue to stress these claims are unproven.
Giving a message to the "fake media." Told us to look at a book by a doctor named Randy Cron.

I assume this guy. "Q&A: Rheumatologist Dr. Randy Cron on COVID-19 and the cytokine storm | Rheumatology Network" https://t.co/19OlXohZP2
Now calling on the state health officer to be fired or resign, and to replace them with doctors in Wyoming apparently treating patients with hydrochloroquine. Said the above article is the only thing killing people.
Several conservative politicians up front: Hutchings, McKeown, Baker, Laursen.
"Are we going to vote for Gordon in two years?" Clem asks.

Crowd responds loudly: "No!"
One man is citing unspecified YouTube videos as evidence of a $4 cure for COVID-19 you can buy at Bomgaars.

No medical people have spoken yet. Anthony Bouchard is a realtor.
Sen. Lynn Hutchings cited several quotes from the founding fathers. Saying we need to take "personal responsibility" to decide their own healthcare decisions. Said parents should decide if their kids should wear masks, to applause.
Also called on all restaurants to reopen fully, ask for masks if they want to.

Says healthy people shouldn't be quarantined.
Added the governor may not be doing what they want him to, but to stop calling him names.
Tense moment as police step between a speaker. Some yelled about a fire at Terry Bison Ranch, vandalism of a sidewalk. "You covered it up!" A man yelled.

One woman yelling over and over. "No socialism!!!"
There is a small pile of masks on the ground in front of the podium, didn't see what happened.
The speaker (didn't catch his name) calls this a "media fuelled" crisis. Said that our rights should not come at the cost of an illegal power grab.
They were burning the masks.

"They don't like us burning masks, but they love trampling on our freedoms," Clem said.

Said that the crowd will now march outside of Gordon's office. Encourages people to burn their masks. One woman: "I don't have one to burn."
Wyoming GOP director Kathy Russell is here to "observe." Now addressing the hundreds of people here. Chairman Frank Eathorne here too.

Says it's "encouraging" to see. "You are awake."
Said that if people feel inspired to do something, to "do it."

"Do not underestimate what you know." Tells people to learn more about their county health board and the legislative process. Says all of the bills are there "to overwhelm."
Clem called the crowd a "bunch of knuckleheads" in light of Gordon's comments on people who don't wear masks.

It's become a rallying cry today. Said the governor hates seeing a divided Wyoming, but "he divided it."

Some yelled, "traitor."
Via @AndrewGraham88, some officers with helmets, wooden clubs, zip ties, staged inside the capitol doors. Not exactly riot gear, but different than the officers staged outside.
Darin Smith, who ran against Cheney for House in 2016, called the election "stolen." Adds more people died last year than this.

Not true. https://t.co/KyHArnJ6BZ
Clem said we should call Kristi Noem and ask if she could give "one of her testicles to our governor."
Jacob Dalby, a Gillette resident, circulating this petition. Said (in a distanced interview) he has not worn a mask this whole time.

Since Dec. 8, he's gathered roughly 1,000 signatures.
One woman called for a prospective replacement for Governor, whether Clem, Hageman, Bouchard.

Asked Bouchard, standing nearby, if he'd run. He paused, "a lot of people have been asking me."
Clem thanking the counter protestors for "exercising their right to free speech."
"The governor is killing Wyoming," Clem says to cheers. The crowd is loving this. He's fired up.

"This is just the first step," he said. "I am not content until he gets rid of all these restrictions."
"We'll see if he berates this crowd once again," he said.

Said if he chides people for these demonstrations, standing up for their rights, then "He is unworthy of that office, he should resign."
Urges people to sue the state themselves if they don't like it.
Calls on people to practice civil disobedience, pressure local officials, but also to "vote with their dollars," and respect private property rights.

Lots of love for Kristi Noem in this crowd. "We're not China, folks."
One man to Clem, a "business owner" in Upton, urges the "masked bandits" on the steps (the cops) to "see what happens" if they try to close his business.
The chants have started.
They are now outside the governor's office. "One term governor."
Caught up with Rep. Dan Laursen earlier. "Is Scott running for something?"

He laughs. "Seems like it."
The young folks started chanting "big gov sucks."
Another man with a trumpet
The event is over. Clem is surrounded. They loved him.

More from Society

This is a piece I've been thinking about for a long time. One of the most dominant policy ideas in Washington is that policy should, always and everywhere, move parents into paid labor. But what if that's wrong?

My reporting here convinced me that there's no large effect in either direction on labor force participation from child allowances. Canada has a bigger one than either Romney or Biden are considering, and more labor force participation among women.

But what if that wasn't true?

Forcing parents into low-wage, often exploitative, jobs by threatening them and their children with poverty may be counted as a success by some policymakers, but it’s a sign of a society that doesn’t value the most essential forms of labor.

The problem is in the very language we use. If I left my job as a New York Times columnist to care for my 2-year-old son, I’d be described as leaving the labor force. But as much as I adore him, there is no doubt I’d be working harder. I wouldn't have stopped working!

I tried to render conservative objections here fairly. I appreciate that @swinshi talked with me, and I'm sorry I couldn't include everything he said. I'll say I believe I used his strongest arguments, not more speculative ones, in the piece.

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॥ॐ॥
अस्य श्री गायत्री ध्यान श्लोक:
(gAyatri dhyAna shlOka)
• This shloka to meditate personified form of वेदमाता गायत्री was given by Bhagwaan Brahma to Sage yAgnavalkya (याज्ञवल्क्य).

• 14th shloka of गायत्री कवचम् which is taken from वशिष्ठ संहिता, goes as follows..


• मुक्ता-विद्रुम-हेम-नील धवलच्छायैर्मुखस्त्रीक्षणै:।
muktA vidruma hEma nIla dhavalachhAyaiH mukhaistrlkShaNaiH.

• युक्तामिन्दुकला-निबद्धमुकुटां तत्वार्थवर्णात्मिकाम्॥
yuktAmindukalA nibaddha makutAm tatvArtha varNAtmikam.

• गायत्रीं वरदाभयाङ्कुश कशां शुभ्रं कपालं गदाम्।
gAyatrIm vardAbhayANkusha kashAm shubhram kapAlam gadAm.

• शंखं चक्रमथारविन्दयुगलं हस्तैर्वहन्ती भजै॥
shankham chakramathArvinda yugalam hastairvahantIm bhajE.

This shloka describes the form of वेदमाता गायत्री.

• It says, "She has five faces which shine with the colours of a Pearl 'मुक्ता', Coral 'विद्रुम', Gold 'हेम्', Sapphire 'नील्', & a Diamond 'धवलम्'.

• These five faces are symbolic of the five primordial elements called पञ्चमहाभूत:' which makes up the entire existence.

• These are the elements of SPACE, FIRE, WIND, EARTH & WATER.

• All these five faces shine with three eyes 'त्रिक्षणै:'.
First thread of the year because I have time during MCO. As requested, a thread on the gods and spirits of Malay folk religion. Some are indigenous, some are of Indian origin, some have Islamic


Before I begin, it might be worth explaining the Malay conception of the spirit world. At its deepest level, Malay religious belief is animist. All living beings and even certain objects are said to have a soul. Natural phenomena are either controlled by or personified as spirits

Although these beings had to be respected, not all of them were powerful enough to be considered gods. Offerings would be made to the spirits that had greater influence on human life. Spells and incantations would invoke their


Two known examples of such elemental spirits that had god-like status are Raja Angin (king of the wind) and Mambang Tali Arus (spirit of river currents). There were undoubtedly many more which have been lost to time

Contact with ancient India brought the influence of Hinduism and Buddhism to SEA. What we now call Hinduism similarly developed in India out of native animism and the more formal Vedic tradition. This can be seen in the multitude of sacred animals and location-specific Hindu gods