Let's Keep A Good Thought!

At first glance this story wouldn't seem to fit into my Kansas chronicles, but you may recall how we went over this ground regarding the KC Metro area.  Yes?  Soooo, a news item about Research Medical Center on the Missouri side of the state line will be fair play.  What happened?  Most of you might know, but in a nutshell, a gay man was refused the right to stay with his sick partner as he was not recognized by the hospital as family.  He wound up getting arrested, and slapped with a restraining order.  He also had to face the wrath of his partner's family --- charming!

The event brings to mind, in a round about way, a brief moment I shared with a very kind and helpful Apple employee.  I had called the "help line" for general assistance.  We got to chatting --- not at all unusual for me.  I tend to ask where the technicians are located and warn them I am a little old lady from Kansas --- "their worst nightmare!"  I think it only fair that they know what they have on their hands.  Well, nothing stopped this kiddo from full Apple enthusiasm.  Eventually, he told me that he and his partner were about to move to Kansas and he was so excited!!!  Really?!  Yes!  He actually said he was so excited to be moving to Kansas! By this point, we were best friends. I knew he knew he had sailed into safe harbor talking to me, but I also believed that talking to me was the sum total of his knowledge of what lay ahead. Yikes!  Should I tell him about Fred Phelps?   Should I tell him about Gov. Brownback and the legislature?  Should I tell him not to confuse "The Yellow Brick Road" with "The Rainbow Pride" flag?  I just listened to those beautiful plans of his, wished him and his partner all the very best, and never stopped thinking about him.  Please, let's keep a good thought that both he and his partner made a good transition, and more importantly, have remained healthy -- without the need for hospitalization.

Rise Up Kansas - Rise Up! No Fight Is Too Mean Spirited!

Look out North Dakota we are just a mere signature away.  Any second now, and it will all be ours ---heh, heh, heh!  Our state legislature passed a bill Fri. night that hopes to be the most ridiculous anti-abortion law known to mankind.  We start with life begins at fertilization and go on to cover blocking tax breaks for abortion providers, and ------- well, you can fill in the blanks.  It ain't hard.  Senate count - - 28 to 10, and House count 90 to 30.  Now it is off  for the signature of "Sam the Man," otherwise known as the not so "secret Koch brother!" We will be up and running with this priceless conservative "small government" piece of irony by July.  Keep on plugging Kansas.  We might not always be first, but we have the will to claw our way to the front once again  in a clearly idiotic and hurtful fight.   Life can be harsh on the prairie.

RIP, Kansas

I am reprinting, in its entirety, the obituary that ran in the Hutchinson newspaper (and online) this week for the death of Kansas:

KANSAS 1861-2013

TOPEKA - The Great State of Kansas passed away on March 31, 2013, after a long and difficult battle with extremism that became markedly more aggressive in 2010. The struggle left the state so weakened it could no longer fight against the relentless attacks by the fatal disease.

Kansas was born on Jan. 29, 1861.

The state is preceded in death by fair taxation, good highways, strong education, family farms, a good public parks and wildlife system, open government, neighborliness and belief in helping each other out, freely elected public servants, and political moderation.

Kansas is survived by widespread poverty, low-wage jobs, high property taxes, pollution, poorly educated children, outmigration and rural depopulation, foreign land and farm ownership, lobbyist-funded legislators, chronic mistreatment of the disabled, a maniacal hatred of government and children who dream of living anywhere else.

During its early years, Kansas played a pivotal role in the Civil War by staking out a strong progressive stand against slavery. Despite repeated raids from border ruffians, Kansas held firm to the belief of free men and free soil.

Throughout its life, Kansas often aligned with leading progressive causes. William Allen White, one of the state's most notable residents, once wrote that "if it's going to happen, it happens first in Kansas." That once was true. Kansas was the first state to ban the Ku Klux Klan, and the first to elect women to public office - one as mayor and another as sheriff.

It was the birthplace of the populist movement, rising as farmers and ordinary people grew weary of the Gilded Age politics of the late 1800s and early 1900s that favored investment interests over those of landowners and laborers.

Kansas was a leader in public education, with one-room school houses dotting the plains. A full 12 years before it was a national concern, Kansas established child labor laws that restricted employment of children in potentially dangerous industries.

In the 1950s, Kansas laid the path to civil rights for African-Americans with the historic Brown vs. Board of Education case - the first in the country to rule against a policy of segregation in public schools.

Despite its compassionate nature, Kansas proved to be a state teeming with inventiveness, ingenuity, determination and a savvy sense of business.

Cessna, Beech and Stearman helped establish Kansas as a center of the aviation industry. Coleman launched an international company from Wichita that became a household name. Pizza Hut and White Castle - two iconic eateries - both got their start in Kansas, and the man who helped establish the American automobile industry called Kansas home.

Kansas' history is filled with vibrant, dynamic people. Settlers who claimed land once described as a desert and turned it into the world's garden; immigrants who came by the train-load and brought with them the hard winter wheat that germinated the state's prosperity. Throughout the years, Kansans endured drought, grasshopper plagues, depression and fierce weather, yet its people worked to hold tight to their land and the belief that there was goodness in Kansas. In spite of those hardships, the state produced world-renowned artists, writers, inventors, business leaders, astronauts, even a president.

Kansas was a strong-willed state whose hands were calloused enough to turn up the hardest sod and tender enough to calm a crying child.

Despite its strength and vitality, Kansas couldn't survive the influences of outside political machines that sought to use this fertile ground and its people as a test plot for an ambitious political experiment.

The elections of 2010 and 2012 brought the poisoned pill that would bring about Kansas' untimely end. The first election seated a governor who tossed aside Kansas' storied history and replaced it with a vision of his own design. In 2012, record setting campaign contributions from out-of-state donors financed the defeat of those moderate Republicans who had spent the last of their political careers keeping Kansas alive.

One by one, the things Kansas had spent a lifetime building were dismantled, until the state was rendered as empty and uninviting as it had been in those early days when the first settlers eyed its endless expanse.

Along the way, the state's defenders - the farmer, the laborer, the property owner and the shop keeper - stood mute and passive, hoping for a day when the state would spark back to life, as it had always done before.

They remained silent too long.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be sent to the Kansas Chamber of Commerce, the Kansas Policy Institute, or Americans for Prosperity all in care of Gov. Sam Brownback, Office of the Governor, Capital 300 SW 10th Ave. Ste 241S, Topeka, KS 66612-1590. 

Jason Probst is news editor at The Hutchinson News. Email: jprobst@hutchnews.com.

Kansa Is Simply Exhausting!

"Oh, what fresh hell is this?" Dorothy Parker once famously asked.   And you might well ask, too, if you have been paying close attention to the news out of Kansas this week.   I received an email yesterday asking me this very question with a link that informed me that there is a Kansas bill which calls for HIV positive people to be quarantined!  Of course you have to understand that Kansas is feeling a might under rated right now.  They are being shoved out of what they think is their rightful place as the most backward and bigoted state. You know, North Dakota is passing their amazing idiotic abortion bill so that they can jump ahead of Mississippi. An abortion bill that will never pass a court challenge, but is great for making North Dakota sound mean spirited and hateful.  They want to have the most draconian law, and you've got to get up early to concoct that puppy!  So poor Kansas is just plain bummed that they are not getting the same stunned press. What happened?  Isn't that our stock and trade?  Think creationism.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, to quote Cody Patton, "We live in a very conservative state and I'm afraid there are still many people, especially  in rural Kansas, that have inadequate education and understanding concerning HIV/AIDS."

Cody is the Executive Director of a sexual health charity - Positive Directions. He explains how the legislators are corrupting and confusing a 1988 law that was put in place for firefighters and para medics who had to get a court order to test for infectious diseases if they had been exposed.  In today's world you only have to be slightly literate to untangle the old thinking, and then you have to be purposefully up to no good to write a new law showing a desire for discrimination.  Now, we are back in business, North Dakota.  Look out here we come!!!

Lawmakers in both houses of the legislature are working hard to get back in the news with this new way of showing everyone their ignorance, and if all goes well, Kansas will top the "ARE YOU F#*KING KIDDING ME?" list once again!

The World's Best Story, And It Comes From Kansas

If you want to cheer for the rest of the month about something from Kansas .......and, who doesn't? Follow the story on gawker.com by Sam Eifling.

Aaron Jackson, or, as I like to call him ------ OZ: THE GREAT AND POWERFUL ------ did the most wonderful thing.  He bought a house across the street from the hated Westboro Baptist Church  compound - yes, compound ---- their property is that big and is more than a church.  It covers a substantial amount of land. This would mean Mr. Jackson had a pretty good shot at finding a house for sale  across the street from the god awful place known as WBC, which without the "B" would be just what it is  ----- a "WC!"

Now the house has been painted the glorious, colors of the gay pride flag. Fred Phelps and his dreadful crew will be able to look upon this wonderful house forever more.

And here's a link to donate to support the powerful message of the "Equality House" on Aaron Jackson's website Planting Peace:

http://www.plantingpeace.org/equality.htm

from the website: 

"For too long, the Westboro Baptist Church has been targeting the LGBTQ community with messages of hate and discrimination. Often, protesting American soldiers’ funerals and organizations that support equality. This faction preaches extremism in our communities and directly targets our youth. To combat their messages of hate and to support equality and anti-bullying initiatives in schools and in our community, Planting Peace has established the Equality House in Topeka, KS. 

Located directly across from the Westboro Baptist Church, the House is a symbol of equality, peace, and positive change. The house, which is painted the colors of the Pride flag, will serve as the resource center for all Planting Peace equality and anti-bullying initiatives and will stand as a visual reminder of our commitment, as global citizens, to equality for all. 

We invite you to support our movement and encourage you to donate today to these equality and anti-bullying initiatives. "

Muskets!

I swore I wouldn't do another blog on the gun issue.  It is just that Kansas won't let go of that bone - so to speak, and now they are about to consider the merits of guns in schools.  You know, let teachers arm themselves to the teeth, and trust the fact that they know how to handle weapons while under stress, or even trust the fact that the person who trained them had a brain cell working and knew anything about protecting children during mayhem in a school setting.  High five, Kansas!  How does one get the attention of the gun crowd in Kansas?  The answer is to say, "The Second Amendment" as loudly as possible, followed by the old NRA cheer.  This is all old territory.  But, my god, "guns in schools" makes the following seem sane.......

Even though it might seem a tad silly, really it isn't any sillier than maintaing the belief that the Constitution should be interpreted exactly as it was written and ratified in the 1700s.  If that is your belief, (I'm looking at you Justice Scalia,) God Bless, but then you should advance that thinking by collecting all modern day armament and issuing each family a musket.  There!  Done!  If you don't believe 100% in"the musket theory" then you don't believe in the 2nd amendment as it was written and as Justice Scalia wants us to interpret the Constitution.  If it is not a living document, then we should break out the muskets.  Get rid of all the automatic killing machines.  Really, its not all bad, you know. This will keep the NRA perking right along with their real job --- fronting for the arms manufacturers.  Have you any idea how many muskets will have to be made? Win, win!

It Was A Movie For God's Sakes!

Just to get things started, we must keep in mind that when Jimmy Stewart needed to relieve himself he simply left the set and ---- did so.   He probably had his make - up touched up and then it was, "roll cameras," or what ever they say.   I start with that observation just to keep things in perspective.  Yes, there is something to be admired if someone tries to filibuster in the way the system was devised.  It is basically an attention grabber.  Rand,  it can be said of you without fear of contradiction, you are an "ace # 1" attention grabber.  Let us proceed.

I think the filibuster must be a young person's game - judging purely by bladder control abilities. Many people would be ruled out just on that "talent" alone.  (Strom Thurmond who was born old must have somehow rigged the system.  I don't want to speculate.  It just seems like something Strom would do in oh so many ways!)

Now if you give due credit for standing and rambling for 12 - 13 hours to a person who has been rambling on for all his young life  - well then - high five Sen. Paul.  Also, if you want to credit him with resurrecting the intended way to filibuster - showing off to his colleagues how to get attention for spewing cr-p for hours on end, then accolades again to Sen. Paul.  I just want to stop here and make reference to my title --- that performance by Mr. Jimmy Stewart was just for a movie for god's sakes. It was a MOVIE ---- which might be why the Mr. Smith character made far more sense, and was far more noble than Rand Paul.

What was young Paul raving about? It seems he wanted an answer to a question that had already been answered - so he rephrased the question, or asked a "newish" but kinda of same question adding a word or two ----- oh lord,  he just wanted a venue to carry on about some of the most insane things that have ever been put in to the Congressional Record.  It was an homage to the Black Helicopter crowd, and of course, Hitler made a cameo appearance --- all of which was set in every  terror inducing scenario that has ever crossed a fifth grader's mind.  Sen. Paul  does not deal in facts.  His world of fantasy is very rich indeed, and I believe it is good that he came forward so that we now know that we should keep a close eye on him.

Remember back when we discussed the image of Alice's Unbirthday Party as an image for The Tea Party?  While Sen. Paul says he is not a Tea Partier, he could certainly sit comfortably at Alice's crazy table waiting for Hollywood to call for the remake -----------