Congressman: Geithner Contradicted Congressional Testimony
An Arizona congressman wants to know why Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner isn’t facing tough questions over his apparent about-face on whether the U.S. would consider China’s request to abandon the dollar as the global currency, in favor of a mix of currencies. Geithner told Congress under oath Tuesday that he wouldn’t consider China’s proposal to shift away from the U.S. dollar toward a world currency -- then the following day (Wednesday) said the U.S. would “be open” to the idea. Rep. John Shadegg (R.-Ariz.) thinks the Treasury secretary's swift about face demands an explanation.

North Korea Missile Launch Imminent – Obama to do nothing!
The United States can do nothing to stop North Korea from breaking international law in the next 10 days by firing a missile that is unlikely to be shot down by the U.S. or its allies, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday. Appearing on "FOX News Sunday," Gates said North Korea "probably will" fire the missile, prompting host Chris Wallace to ask: "And there's nothing we can do about it?" The Obama administration has signaled it wants to scale back the deployment of a missile defense system that was initiated by former President George W. Bush. The White House is also talking about dropping plans for missile defense facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic. Defense experts indicate that the North Korean missile can hit Hawaii.

Russia to start Artic Military Force, Canada Responds, US Quiet
Russia is planning to create a dedicated military force to help protect its interests in the disputed Arctic region. The presidential Security Council has released a document outlining goverment policy for the Arctic that includes creating a special group of military forces. The report was released this week and reported by Russian media on Friday. Russia, the United States, Canada and other northern countries are trying to assert jurisdiction over the Arctic.

Liberal Lunacy: Government Should Compel Consumers to Use Alternative Energy
Government policy should be crafted to raise the price of carbon-emitting energy sources so consumers are compelled to choose alternative energy, House Democratic Conference Chairman John Larson (D-Conn.) told CNSNews.com on Thursday. Larson agreed that such a policy would likely result in higher electricity prices for consumers but said this is needed to protect the environment from the possible “catastrophic results” of not implementing a pro-green energy policy.

Germany, France and Spain Kill Brown/Obama New Deal Plan in Europe
GORDON BROWN’S carefully laid plans for a G20 deal on worldwide tax cuts have been scuppered by an eve-of-summit ambush by European leaders. Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, last night led the assault on the prime minister’s “global new deal” for a $2 trillion-plus fiscal stimulus to end the recession. “I will not let anyone tell me that we must spend more money,” she said. The Spanish finance minister, Pedro Solbes, also dismissed new cash being pledged at Thursday’s London summit. The assault by European Union leaders also represents a defeat for President Barack Obama, who is desperate for other big economies to copy his $800 billion stimulus plan. At least most of Europe is using common sense, unless us!

Phoenix Bishop Blasts Notre Dame’s President for Obama Invitation
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Phoenix, Ariz., sent a scorching letter Wednesday to Fr. John Jenkins, president of Notre Dame University, directly accusing Fr. Jenkins of committing an act of disobedience to the Catholic bishops of the United States by inviting pro-abortion President Barack Obama to deliver Notre Dame’s commencement address and receive an honorary law degree.

Secretary of State? Clinton asks who painted Devine Image of Mary
During her recent visit to Mexico, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made an unexpected stop at the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe and left a bouquet of white flowers “on behalf of the American people,” after asking who painted the famous image. The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe was miraculously imprinted by Mary on the tilma, or cloak, of St. Juan Diego in 1531. The image has numerous unexplainable phenomena, such as the appearance on Mary’s eyes of those present in the room when the tilma was opened and the image’s lack of decay. Msgr. Monroy, the rector of the Basilica took Mrs. Clinton to the famous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, which had been previously lowered from its usual altar for the occasion. After observing it for a while, Mrs. Clinton asked “who painted it?” to which Msgr. Monroy responded “God!” It’s amateur hour at the State Department.

Another Obama appointee on leave of absence
The acting director of the Office of Thrift Supervision has been put on leave pending a review of the agency’s role in the backdating of capital infusions by some banks, the agency said Thursday evening. The OTS, a division of the Treasury Department, has come under fire after it was revealed last year that the agency had allowed IndyMac Bancorp Inc. (IDMCQ) to backdate a May 2008 $18 million capital infusion to the first quarter. IndyMac failed a few months later, a collapse that cost the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. $10.7 billion, the costliest failure in U.S. history.

Former DC Mayor owes $277,000 in Back Taxes
Federal authorities say current D.C. Council member and former DC Mayor Marion Barry failed to pay more than $277,000 in back taxes and are continuing to ask that the former mayor's probation be revoked, according to court documents.

The Camel’s Nose is in the Tent
Barack Obama is conducting his own affirmative action program to get more Muslims in the White House. J. Saleh Williams, program coordinator for the Congressional Muslim Staffers Association, sifted through more than 300 names as part of the search. "It was mostly under the radar," Williams said. "We thought it would put (the president) in a precarious position. We didn't know how closely he wanted to appear to be working with the Muslim American community."

City Council Moves City money After Councilmember laid off from same bank!
City Councilwoman Linda Bartz was laid off from her job as vice president and bank manager at Riverside National Bank Feb. 27 after 10 ½ years on the job. Four days later, city Finance Director Marcia Dedert withdrew $24.7 million of the city’s money from Riverside and moved portions of the money into accounts at Bank of America and Florida Safe, a local government investment pool. Dedert said she moved the money because Bartz was no longer with the bank and because she could get a better interest rate somewhere else.

Anglican Bishop resigns to become defender of persecuted Christians
Dr Michael Nazir-Ali is only 59 and could have stayed for another decade in his post, one of the most senior in the Church, but has chosen instead to devote the rest of his career to working in communities where Christians are in a minority. The Bishop indicated that the Church of England is not defending Christians enough and is likely to be involved in the Middle East and Pakistan to work with Muslim converts to Christianity in Britain.

North Dakota Floods/Where’s Obama and the Media?
The bloated Red River briefly breached a dike early Sunday, pouring water into a school campus and the mayor called it a "wakeup call" for a city that needs to be vigilant for weaknesses in levees that could give way at any time. Where’s Obama and where is the US government? Oh yeah, because its North Dakota and they handle problems locally. Only in liberal New Orleans is this a story!

Obama Finds Bush Already 'Greened' White House
President Barack Obama will find out two things as he studies how to make the White House more environmentally friendly: No. 1: It's already been done. No. 2: It needs to be done again. It was Earth Day 1993 when President Bill Clinton launched his ambitious "greening the White House" project. That effort saved more than $1.4 million in its first six years, largely from improvements in lighting, heating, air conditioning, insulation, water sprinklers and other measures. During George W. Bush's two terms, workers installed three solar systems, including a thermal setup on the pool cabana that heats water for the pool and showers, and photovoltaic panels atop a maintenance shed that supplement the mansion's electrical supply. Bush also made a big push to recycle office paper, although the overall go-green effort lost momentum during his tenure, according to many outside observers.

Kansas Ethics Commission Fines an Unelected Citizen! First Amendment in Chaos
Van Meteren’s Petition for Judicial Review was filed by attorney Caleb Stegall in Shawnee County District Court, and gave these reasons for the Court to overrule the $7500 fine imposed by the Ethics Commission in February: The fine by the Ethics Commission violated his guarantee of free speech contained in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States, and his rights to due process under the Fifth and Fourteen Amendments to the Constitution had been violated. Stegall in a telephone interview today said the Ethics Commission’s action would have a “chilling effect” on free speech especially given their arbitrary enforcement. Stegall said freedom-loving people everywhere should be concerned by such a loss of freedom. Stegall indicated a remedy would be sought first in Kansas District Court, but would not rule out an appeal in Federal Court. The Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission (GEC) is charged with administering, interpreting and enforcing the Campaign Finance Act, which establish the publics right to information about the financial affairs of Kansas' public officials, lobbyists and candidates for office. Where is their authority to fine a citizen? This is more than alarming!

Tiller Case Far from Over!
The Kansas State Board of Healing Arts continues to move forward with a disciplinary petition the Board filed against George R. Tiller, M.D., Wichita, in December 2008. The petition filed includes 11 counts, alleging violations of the Healing Arts Act. Violations alleged include performing an abortion on a fetus that was viable without having a documented referral from another physician not legally or financially affiliated with him; unprofessional or dishonorable conduct or professional incompetency; and commitment of acts likely to deceive, defraud or harm the public. A pre-hearing conference will be scheduled which will then be followed by a hearing with a presiding officer. No dates have been scheduled at this time. Following the hearing, the presiding officer will issue an initial order. That initial order will then be reviewed by the Board of Healing Arts, who will then issue a final order regarding whether or not to take disciplinary action against Dr. Tiller. Disciplinary action could include revocation, suspension, fines or other limitations.

Missouri drops warnings over 'militia' members
Colonel James Keathley, Superintendent of the MSHP said the militia report was "created by a MIAC employee, reviewed by the MIAC director, and sent immediately to law enforcement agencies across Missouri. The militia report was never reviewed by me or by the Director of Public Safety, John Britt, at any point prior to its issuance. Had that report been reviewed by either my office or by leaders of the Department of Public Safety, it would never have been released to law enforcement agencies," wrote Keathley. The report simply "does not meet" the needed standard for "intelligence," he said. "For that reason, I have ordered the MIAC to permanently cease distribution of the militia report. Further, I am creating a new process for oversight of reports drafted by the MIAC that will require leaders of the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Department of Public Safety to review the content of these reports before they are shared with law enforcement. My office will also undertake a review of the origin of the report by MIAC," he ordered. "Police were instructed to look for Americans who were concerned about unemployment, taxes, illegal immigration, gangs, border security, abortion, high costs of living, gun restrictions, FEMA, the IRS, The Federal Reserve, and the North American Union/SPP/North American Community. The 'Missouri Documents' also said potential domestic terrorists might like gun shows, short wave radios, combat movies, movies with white male heroes and Tom Clancey Novels.

Abortionist Tiller cleared of criminal charges
A jury in his hometown of Wichita, Kan., has cleared abortionist George Tiller of charges that he used a financially linked employee to independently verify the necessity of late-term abortions.

Sebelius signs baby sonograms bill!
Avoiding one final clash with abortion opponents, Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius on Friday signed into law legislation giving women the right to see a fetal sonogram before an abortion. Women won’t be forced to view the sonogram, but abortion clinics will have to offer them the option of viewing it or listening to a fetal heart monitor before the procedure. The new law also requires the state to make and distribute pamphlets and a video about abortion and fetal development. And it requires clinics to post signs telling patients that coerced abortions are illegal. Thank you Governor!

Missouri man guilty in state trooper's murder
Lance Shockley could face the death penalty after being found guilty Friday of first-degree murder in the death of a Missouri state trooper. The jury deliberated three hours before returning the verdict, finding that Shockley, 32, of Van Buren, killed patrol Sgt. Carl Dewayne Graham Jr. outside of Graham's Van Buren home on March 20, 2005.

Lenexa bank robbed; one person shot
One person was shot during a robbery this morning at the Credit Union of Johnson County in Lenexa, authorities said. The robbery occurred about 9:30 a.m. at the Lenexa branch, 13001 W. 95th St., west of Interstate 35, a Lenexa dispatcher said.

Many homeowners cry foul over their latest tax appraisals
This might be the year that your money pit of a house finally provides you with some relief from the taxman. With the economy wobbling and home values in many neighborhoods falling, many homeowners are crying foul over their latest property tax appraisal. As a result, county tax offices are expecting a heavier load of appeals this spring. Nationally, as much as 60 percent of America’s taxable home and business property may be assessed too high, estimates Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, a Washington, D.C., advocacy group working for lower taxes.

KC Council makes deep cuts, approves $1.3 billion budget
After months of wrangling, the Kansas City Council voted Thursday to solve the worst budget shortfall in decades with layoffs, wage freezes and cuts affecting nearly every department. The council voted 12-1 in favor of a $1.3 billion spending plan that despite the shortfall strives to maintain basic services such as trash collection, property code enforcement, animal control, weed cutting and snow removal.

Jackson County courts explore cost-cutting measures
Jackson County, MO court officials said Friday there is a “significant chance” that staffing levels will have to be reduced. The approximately 800 court employees are a mixture of state-paid and county-paid workers. Some open positions already have been frozen, officials said. Employees were informed in a memo Friday that court management is exploring a number of possible cost-saving measures short of layoffs, which they described as a last resort.

Missouri bill would let drug felons leaving prison qualify for food stamps
The General Assembly is considering whether to modify a ban prohibiting anyone with a felony drug conviction from receiving federally funded food stamps. The restriction, put in place as a “get tough on crime” provision in the 1996 welfare reform program, allows states to adjust the ban or opt out of it. Sen. Yvonne Wilson, a Kansas City Democrat who is sponsoring the legislation, said opening food stamp eligibility to more than 15,000 Missourians with drug convictions is a matter of economic justice for the ex-offenders. “Let the government concentrate on taking care of people who can’t take care of themselves and who are playing by the rules,” said Sen. Luann Ridgeway, a Smithville Republican. “Let the private sector handle this.”

A Better Fairway
City of Fairway residents have had enough of their local mayor and have started their own website to inform the citizens of abuses of power.

“As we embrace the American dream and the freedoms it represents, we must also ensure that those who wish to enjoy those freedoms become a part of our society and learn to speak our language.”

– Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana

From Proverbs 16:1
“All the ways of a man may be pure in his own eyes, but it is the LORD who proves the spirit.”

Gospel according to John 12:20-33 20 Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks.
21 So these came to Philip, who was from Beth-sa'ida in Galilee, and said to him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."
22 Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew went with Philip and they told Jesus.
23 And Jesus answered them, "The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
25 He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If any one serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there shall my servant be also; if any one serves me, the Father will honor him.
27 "Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? `Father, save me from this hour'? No, for this purpose I have come to this hour.
28 Father, glorify thy name." Then a voice came from heaven, "I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again."
29 The crowd standing by heard it and said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to him."
30 Jesus answered, "This voice has come for your sake, not for mine.
31 Now is the judgment of this world, now shall the ruler of this world be cast out;
32 and I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself."
33 He said this to show by what death he was to die.

JCCC leadership openly hostile to Kansas laws, citizens

JCCC should change it's theme from "Learning comes first" to "Learning comes first for everybody but the administration and the board." Or perhaps, "Taxpayers come last."

Right now at JCCC, what exists is leadership that refuses to learn a proper interpretation of the Kansas Open Meetings Act (KOMA), even when it is clear to most people outside the college that the elected board leadership members have little clue about how to appropriately follow the open meetings law.

The Gardner News recently wrote a good summary of the recent rigidness by JCCC President Terry Calaway, Board Chair Shirley Brown-VanArsdale, and Board Vice Chair Lynn Mitchelson. It has been over a week since the original publication date of Wednesday, March 18, 2009; I mention that because there are statements made by Calaway and Brown-VanArsdale that most public officials would be embarrassed to admit, and there has been no effort to retraction or correct. During the board meeting on Thursday, March 26, Brown-VanArsdale even said that the particular article is well-written.

You can find the article on The Gardner News' Web site, or on my Web site. What the JCCC board chair and president state, with regard to their understanding of KOMA, is absolutely unacceptable for any local government: the idea that open meetings laws only apply to verbal statements.

I will quote the article (the bold editing is mine):

Board of Trustees Chairperson Shirley Brown VanArsdale said the board followed the open meetings statutes, and the list, which was presented as part of college president Terry Calaway's evaluation, was not discussed during the closed segment of the meeting. "There was no discussion on the budget," Brown VanArsdale said.

Later:

"We're very careful about discussion in executive session," Calaway said. "We have an exceptionally experienced board, most particularly our chair and vice chair. They truly understand the (KOMA) criteria. We're very careful about it, which was why there wasn't any discussion about this material."

In other words: We know that we're not supposed to talk about the budget in a closed session, so that's why we choose to only distribute type-written budget information. Rather than being careful that we're adhering to the intent of KOMA, we are willing to bend the law, as long as we are confident in winning a hypothetical KOMA-related lawsuit.

This is embarrassing for these board members and for the JCCC administration. For citizens and taxpayers, it is offensive. Unfortunately, it is not entirely surprising, as the entire JCCC leadership team openly showed their ignorance of KOMA in December.

Just a few months ago, a majority of the JCCC Board violated KOMA.

In November, The Kansas City Star published a letter from me stating the budget reality at JCCC: a majority of board members were willing to increase taxes. Well, some of the other board members were frustrated that I exposed this truth to the public, and so they issued their own letter to The Star on November 10, stating two incompatible ideas:

That my statement was unfair (that they were willing to consider raise taxes).
Yet: "Whether or not the trustees decide to raise the mill levy for 2009-2010 has not yet been determined."

That doesn't make any sense, but my colleagues had the right to reply, and it didn't bother me that they did. In fact, I wish that more debate of all kinds would took place at JCCC before major decisions -- and taxation should not be considered a small issue -- were made.

But here's where they erred: four trustees -- including Chair VanArsdale and Vice Chair Mitchelson -- signed that letter published by The Star. They can't do that.

In signing the letter, four trustees agreed to the policy discussion that takes place within the content of the letter. The Kansas Open Meetings Act requires that policy discussion around budgetary issues -- and, even more importantly, agreement on such discussion -- take place during an open meeting. The law allows only up to 3 of 6 trustees to meet alone and discuss policy; a "meeting" must not necessarily occur in person (phones, Emails, etc., also apply). Once that fourth board member agreed to be a co-author of the letter, a violation of KOMA took place.

After The Star published the others' letter (in reply to my initial letter), I intentionally chose -- for the sake of the "collegiality" theme that everybody talks about in government colleges -- not to make the KOMA violation a public issue. Privately, I did tell a couple of trustees about it. I talked with the president, and I found out this: the trustees didn't actually author the letter. Rather, President Calaway allowed one of JCCC's employees to write the letter for Chair Brown-VanArsdale and Vice Chair Mitchelson.

That strikes me as odd, for two reasons:

The topic was a very, very general topic: taxation. Why the need for assistance in writing the letter?

Is this appropriate? While it's subjective, isn't this a political debate -- should a college employee be writing this? The board does not have individual staff (as do many state and federal elected officials), and so should JCCC be employing a person whose job description includes "general political letter writer"?

I chose to leave the who-wrote-the-letter debate for another time. But I did want to bring closure to the KOMA issue surrounding the knowledge that four trustees issued an agreed-upon statement as a result of a private (rather than public) meeting.

I asked our college attorney about this. I will note that that not once in 40 years -- certainly not during the decade-long tenure of the exceptionally experience board chair and vice chair -- has JCCC's legal counsel been required to submit a competitive bid for services at JCCC. With my full support, that will change in the next year.

The college attorney took an unneeded amount of time to answer my request -- I will assume he was attempting to avoid answering through Email as to minimize the embarrassment of those on the board with whom he has developed close friendships. But he did eventually reply. And he confirmed my suspicion: JCCC board members had committed a "technical violation" of KOMA. If you ask the administration and board leadership, they will attempt to emphasize the "technical" in the "violation." They will likely tell you that it is almost irrelevant, given that they meant well and that the end product (the letter) was intended to be made public.

Now, to be fair, is the December 2008 KOMA violation, in the long scheme of things, THAT big of a deal? As a one-time occurrence, one could certainly argue "no, it is not a big deal." Of course, one could argue that it is troubling that KOMA did not enter the minds of a veteran college president and four board members -- the president frequently talks of the "exceptionally experienced board, most particularly our chair and vice chair." What is most concerning is the prominent mentality guiding JCCC's leadership: don't ask questions. Even easy questions. And when somebody raises a possible mistake, don't admit anything, but rather go on the attack - at the "accuser," at the press, even at employees. It was made clear in recent years that almost never did Brown-VanArsdale and Mitchelson question the former administration, or the costly process by which the former president was investigated.

Now, they choose not to ask questions with regard to open meetings laws. The most recent KOMA-related "issue" should have been a non-issue. To review -- Budget information, in my opinion and in the opinion of the attorney for the Kansas Press Association, should not have been shared during a closed meeting, even when the budget information just barely related to an employee evaluation. I decided to share the information at the request of a reporter, and JCCC leadership -- rather than "agreeing to disagree" or deciding "let's just move on" -- began behaving as if it were a private company in full "protect number one" mode. JCCC is not a private company, and we are obligated to show respect to the taxpayers.

While the past few weeks have been in many ways unfortunate, they have also been helpful: the events have clearly demonstrated to the public that JCCC's leadership thinks far too highly of itself and far too little of the taxpayers. As such, JCCC's actions should be questioned at every opportunity by Johnson County taxpayers.