Wyoming
Horses, hats and political propaganda as Wyoming prepares to vote – WyoFile
If your mailbox is anything like mine, it’s starting to fill up with gaudy campaign mailers from politicians who are trying their damnedest to channel Chris LeDoux (and we’ll tip our Stetsons when that name is mentioned) and failing miserably. It’s comical to watch these dudes and dudettes try to cowboy up just to get the voters’ attention!
I don’t own a television, but I’ll bet a dollar to a donut the same stuff is assaulting your eyeballs from the boob tube screen.
Their mailers and ads show politicians standing nervously next to a photogenic horse, forcing smiles through their fear. That’s because there isn’t enough money in the campaign budget to convince them to climb aboard a critter as big and scary as a horse. They wear a sombrero that looks like it was purchased under the stands at Frontier Days, and a brand new pearlsnap shirt with the price tag still attached.
Or they pose in front of a buck n’ rail fence in some rustic Wyoming meadow, clutching a gun with their trigger fingers outside the guard, as the director instructed. You can almost hear the photographer’s voice off-camera suggesting, “Now, try to look tough.”
What we are seeing in our mailboxes and on our screens is the classic Madison Avenue ploy of manufacturing opinion through an appeal, not to the consumer’s logic or reason, but to emotion and attachment to symbols. The American cowboy is one of the most powerful symbols in the propaganda professional’s toolbox, and he gets trotted out to work his magic every election season.
Decades ago, I worked on several Marlboro commercials as a wrangler and background model. The producer, from Leo Burnett advertising company of Chicago, told me that the image of the Marlboro Man was worth several billion dollars a year to the tobacco company, because the cowboy symbol sold cigarettes to folks in countries like Libya and North Korea who hated America but loved cowboys.
Think about that for a moment. One simple image is powerful enough to sell a carcinogenic American product to millions of people who hate America but identify with cowboys. That is the psychological power of advertising symbols.
Edward Bernays, Sigmund Freud’s nephew, is widely regarded as the godfather of modern advertising, public relations and propaganda. Bernays understood, in the early 20th century, how symbolic images and slogans could bypass critical thinking and implant a message directly into the subconscious reptilian part of the human brain, where instinct and emotion rule. When that part of our brain is stimulated, we act instead of think. We just say “ditto!”
That is precisely how political media manipulation works on us.
The political advertisements, resplendent with drugstore cowboy politicians, that bombard us every election are the direct lineal result of Bernays and the public relations/advertising/propaganda machine he created, and it has made vast fortunes and influenced our society for over a century.
The irony is that these mailers and videos never show politicians doing real cowboy stuff — like indulging in a three-fingered dip of Copenhagen, drinking Wild Turkey 101 straight from the bottle or getting bucked off into cactus and rattlesnakes. Images like that aren’t very mythological and won’t gather many votes.
But I digress. Every election season, we become lab rats in an ongoing experiment in politics and psychological manipulation, and the laboratory is our own brains. We are inundated with evocative pictures and slogans intended to short-circuit our intellects and engage our emotions. We are force-fed politicians who wrap themselves in appealing images and focus group-approved slogans that are intended to make us switch off our brains.
We confront Edward Bernays’ ditto-ism machine whenever we open our mailboxes or look at our screens. With every political advertisement, we are invited to suspend our intellects and just go along with the crowd.
A real cowboy would call bullshit on that nonsense.
So, it is critically important that we understand how and why political advertisers try so hard to make us act without thinking. Knowing the forces at work during a political campaign, and how they try to worm their message into our noggins, builds a healthy immune system that can resist manipulation by seductive but meaningless symbols.
A healthy skepticism toward political messaging is a necessary component in a functioning bullshit detector. Here endeth the lesson.
Wyoming
Wyoming officials say Meta’s 715,000-square-foot data center is responsible for contaminating its water system with a rare bacterium | Fortune
Cheyenne, Wyoming, officials say Meta’s data center construction is responsible for the contamination of part of the town’s recycled water system.
The Board of Public Utilities (BOPU) traced the presence of a bacterium discovered in its wastewater treatment facility earlier this year to Goat Systems LLC, a Meta contractor for the tech company’s in-progress 715,000-square-foot data center campus, according to recent public notices from the BOPU.
The bacterium did not enter Cheyenne’s drinking water supply and was found in systems used for irrigation purposes only. Cupriavidus gilardii is a rare organism typically found naturally in water and soil. Infections from this bacterium are extremely rare, BOPU said, but can pose a threat to elders and immunocompromised individuals directly exposed to it.
It was discovered during routine testing in February, prompting BOPU to temporarily suspend the city’s reclaimed water irrigation program and terminate Meta’s discharge privileges.
The board also announced last week it would not accept industrial wastewater discharges associated with fill-and-flush operations—which circulates, then flushes purified water to eliminate construction debris and residue—nor closed-loop cooling systems popular in data centers that circulate coolants mixed with water.
The board classified the incident as “significant non-compliance with federal pretreatment regulations.”
“Over the past two months, BOPU staff have undertaken significant remediation efforts, including draining and disinfecting the entire reuse water system and Prairie View Pond to eliminate any remaining bacterial presence,” one notice said.
Cheyenne’s BOPU declined Fortune’s request for comment and said it will hold a press conference in the next week with additional details on the situation.
A Meta spokesperson told Fortune the company is supporting Fortis, its general contractor, in its efforts to resolve the problem, and that Fortis began testing its own water through a third-party environmental specialist, who found no traces of the bacterium.
“When the board shared that it found a substance in the city’s wastewater—not public drinking water—Fortis immediately stopped discharging industrial wastewater and began hauling it offsite,” a spokesperson said in a statement. “Meta is committed to being a good neighbor in Cheyenne, including through the protection of local water resources, and will continue encouraging collaboration between Fortis and the board until this situation is resolved.”
Pollutants from data center construction and operations are part of the mounting anxieties Americans have around the exploding growth of AI infrastructure around the country. A recent Gallup poll found about 70% of Americans somewhat or strongly oppose the construction of data centers in their local area. While half of respondents cited environmental concerns, such as excess water usage and deforestation, 16% of respondents cited pollutants, including air and water contamination, among reasons for their opposition.
Meta announced the construction of the Cheyenne data center in July 2024, saying it would be the company’s 21st data center in the U.S. and 25th globally. According to the company, Cheyenne provided access to infrastructure and energy and had a large talent pool from which to recruit.
Meta projected that the $800 million investment would sustain more than 1,000 construction jobs at the height of the build and support 100 jobs once completed. The campus is one of 27 data centers in Cheyenne and 31 in Wyoming. By comparison, Northern Virginia has the most data centers in the country, with about 550.
The tech company, for its part, previously said it would allocate resources toward the energy grid and water-cleanup efforts, including working with Black Hills Energy and the Laramie County Conservation District to restore Crow Creek, which recharges the state’s Ogallala Aquifer.
“Meta wants to be a positive contributor in communities like Cheyenne,” the company’s announcement said. “And that includes investing in the energy grid and supporting local water restoration projects.”
Wyoming
Fourth Annual Wyoming Firearms & Outdoor Recreation Expo, Wyoming Governor’s Match returning to Casper July 18, 19
CASPER, Wyo. — The Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation recently announced that the community is invited to a series of events happening on July 18 and 19.
The weekend will feature the Wyoming Governor’s Match, as well as the Firearms & Outdoor Recreation Expo.
A release from the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation says that the 10th Annual Wyoming Governor’s Match, hosted in partnership with the Casper Shooter’s Club, will run July 18–19 at the Stuckenhoff Shooters Complex, 10 minutes outside of Casper.
The event will bring together spectators, shooting sports organizers and elected officials to interact with more than 360 competitive shooters from across the country.
Eye protection is required for spectators, and ear protection is highly recommended.
Additionally, on Saturday, July 18, the fourth annual Wyoming Firearms & Outdoor Recreation Expo is taking place at David Street Station from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The expo is free and open to the public, and it will feature exhibitor booths, a legislative panel and family-friendly activities. It will also feature local food and drink vendors, including WY Knot Pretzel Co., The Dog House and Kuver’s BBQ.
Expo attendees will be able to explore products and gear and will be able to witness demonstrations by the following Wyoming-based brands and organizations:
- 3C Guiding LLC
- 9×19 Fabrication
- ACG
- Adventure Ready RV Solutions
- Cutting Edge Tactics and Training
- Diamond R Saddlery
- DVL Custom Lures
- FEROX
- Freedom Tactical Firearms
- Guardian Warrior Solutions
- Gunwerks
- High Carbon Mercantile
- Kimber Tracks Big Game Recovery/Rocky Mountain Big Game Recovery
- Lucid Optics
- Maven Optics
- MOD Outfitters
- National Wild Turkey Federation
- Red, White and Blued
- Ridgeline Customs LLC
- Rocky Mountain Discount Sports
- Scouting America
- Sheridan Fly Rod Co.
- Thunder Beast Arms
- Wilkinson Tactical
- Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality
- Wyoming Game & Fish Department
- Wyoming Gun Company
- Wyoming Motorcycle Trials Association
- Wyoming Patriots
The release notes that from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., the Wyoming Office of Outdoor Recreation will facilitate an Outdoor Recreation Legislative Panel on the lawn of David Street Station. The panel discussion is also free and open to the public and will offer legislators and elected officials an opportunity to discuss the importance of growing and sustaining the outdoor recreation and shooting sports industry.
To RSVP or learn more about the Wyoming Firearms & Outdoor Recreation Expo, visit wyorec.info/Expo2026.
To register or learn more about the Wyoming Governor’s Match, visit wyorec.info/GovMatch2026.
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