Obama only at 32% Strong Approval Rating
The Rasmussen Reports daily Presidential Tracking Poll for Sunday shows that 32% of the nation's voters now Strongly Approve of the way that Barack Obama is performing his role as President. Thirty-four percent (34%) Strongly Disapprove giving Obama a Presidential Approval Index rating of -2. That’s the President’s lowest rating to date and the first time the Presidential Approval Index has fallen below zero for Obama

Defiance: Protesters clash with Iranian police
Clashes between protesters and Iranian security forces heightened today as police reportedly beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied in defiance of Iran's Islamist government. Unconfirmed reports put the death toll as high as 150 on the seventh day of post-election protests. Foreign journalists in Tehran, meanwhile, have been banned from reporting from the streets or attending mass rallies the past few days, prompting news agencies to appeal to Iranians to pass on information.

A Tale of Two Medias: One Mainstream the other Independent!
Here are some Twitter messages I saw today from Change for Iran, a pro-Mousavi Iranian student, and Mark Knoller, CBS News White House Correspondent. The Iranian student reports live about deaths and arrest that he is witnessing as at the same time, the CBS correspondent reports live as Obama eats ice cream with his girls.

Fannie, Freddie Caused Financial Crisis But Obama’s Will Not Regulate
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two government-run mortgage giants, are absent from the Obama administration’s sweeping new financial regulations, despite the fundamental role played by both organizations in the financial system’s collapse.

Solving the CA Budget: Governator Looking to Flat Tax and More Private Prisons
The state spends $49,000 per prison inmate, or 50% more per criminal than the average state. "Other states have privately run correctional facilities," notes Mr. Schwarzenegger. "Why not California?" Good question. Yes, a very good question. Interestingly enough, there are several private prisons in the Golden State. The GEO Group operates four prisons for California's DOC and one federal prison. Cornell operates four state prisons, four federal prisons, and seven city jails in California. CCA operates a Federal BOP has a facility in California City and an INS facility in San Diego.

Minnesota Congresswomen vows not to complete Census
Republican Rep. Michele Bachmann says she's so worried that information from next year's national census will be abused that she will refuse to fill out anything more than the number of people in her household. In an interview Wednesday morning with The Washington Times "America's Morning News," Mrs. Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, said the questions have become "very intricate, very personal" and she also fears ACORN, the community organizing group that came under fire for its voter registration efforts last year, will be part of the Census Bureau's door-to-door information collection efforts.

Tennessee goes after Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood in Tennessee appears to be losing its special treatment and possibly $1 million in Title X family planning funds as the state legislature, following the release of an undercover video exposing the abortion business's practices, is changing directions. Live Action Films said in the Memphis video the Planned Parenthood nurse "coaches Lila Rose, posing as a 14-year-old girl, to lie to a judge about the age of her reportedly 31-year-old boyfriend in order to get a secret abortion and hide the statutory rape from her parents."

Cardinal O’Malley: No abortions at Catholic hospitals
Cardinal Sean O’Malley has said Caritas Christi Health Care, which operates six hospitals in Massachusetts, will neither perform abortions nor make referrals for patients seeking abortions. O’Malley issued the statement after Catholic activists criticized the decision to enter into a partnership with a secular health care company to provide insurance to low-income Massachusetts residents.

Obama radicalized at early age in Hawaii
While Obama's membership as an adult in the controversial Trinity United Church of Christ has received widespread media attention, almost nothing has been reported about his Sunday school attendance at First Unitarian, a far-left activist church that may have helped provide the president's initial political education. First Unitarian, a member of the Unitarian Universalist denomination, served as a sanctuary for draft dodgers and was strongly tied to the Students for a Democratic Society, or SDS, during the time Weatherman radical Bill Ayers was a leader in that organization. The Weathermen was an offshoot of the SDS.

Congressman's Islamic pilgrimage paid by group tied to terrorism
It seems the office of Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn., is not too eager to respond to questions about reports his Islamic hajj pilgrimage to Mecca this past winter was paid for by a U.S. group tied to Muslim extremists whose institutional material has promoted terrorism. The hajj is the largest annual pilgrimage in the world. The fifth pillar of Islam requires every able-bodied Muslim to travel to Mecca at least once in their life in a demonstration of solidarity with fellow Muslims and in an act of individual submission to Allah.

Obama Closes Doors on Openness
As a senator, Barack Obama denounced the Bush administration for holding "secret energy meetings" with oil executives at the White House. But last week public-interest groups were dismayed when his own administration rejected a Freedom of Information Act request for Secret Service logs showing the identities of coal executives who had visited the White House to discuss Obama's "clean coal" policies. One reason: the disclosure of such records might impinge on privileged "presidential communications." The refusal, approved by White House counsel Greg Craig's office, is the latest in a series of cases in which Obama officials have opted against public disclosure. Since Obama pledged on his first day in office to usher in a "new era" of openness, "nothing has changed," says David -Sobel, a lawyer who litigates FOIA cases. "For a president who said he was going to bring unprecedented transparency to government, you would certainly expect more than the recycling of old Bush secrecy policies."

Obama Disbands Presidential Bioethics Council for their Bioethics
A Presidential bioethics council formed to provide advice on bioethical issues such as cloning and embryonic stem cell research was disbanded without warning by President Obama last week. The move came after 10 of 18 members of the commission publicly criticized Obama’s decision earlier this year to overturn a Bush-era edict and encourage more embryonic stem cell research.

Head of Pro-Abortion Women's Group NOW to Resign as National President
Kim Gandy, the president of the pro-abortion women's group NOW plans to resign later this week. The organization has been criticized during Gandy's 22-year tenure as a leader within the organization for misrepresenting women by promoting abortion. Wendy Wright, the president of Concerned Women for America, responded, “Kim Gandy followed NOW’s long tradition of claiming to speak on behalf of all women as they advocate for policies that only some women (and non-manly men) demand.” Polls find that NOW is out of step with women on abortion. A late April 2009 Pew Poll found five percent fewer women favor legal abortions now than in a similar August 2008 poll. Wright concluded, "Kim carried NOW's banner of radical feminism, but hands it off to a successor who will have to choose how to approach this new era in which women reject the label of 'feminist' and the majority of Americans are pro-life."

Palin Criticizes Obama Stance on Abortion
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, speaking at anti-abortion group's dinner, criticized President Barack Obama for supporting abortion rights and challenged the idea that unplanned pregnancies are a nuisance that can be solved by abortion.

PBS national board bans Mass for Shut-ins
The members of PBS’ national board have voted to ban any new religious programming from their affiliate stations, citing both concerns about “public trust” and a 25-year-old rule that has never been rigorously enforced. Anticipation of the vote already resulted in one station canceling its Mass for Shut-Ins.

Shocker: New Obama appointee has a tax problem
President Obama’s choice as chief of protocol for the State Department, a position that carries the status of an ambassadorship, did not file tax returns for 2005 and 2006, errors she corrected last November. The nominee, Capricia Penavic Marshall, has placed blame for the problem on the Postal Service and on miscommunication between her husband and their accountant.

Video: Sotomayor explains how men subconsciously discriminate
Interesting but relatively unsurprising clip of Sonia Sotomayor explaining in 1986 the difficulties women face in male-dominated professions, such as the law, as Sotomayor claimed on Good Morning America.

Obama and the slobbering love affair of the media
Obama gets standing ovation at the Correspondence Dinner as he speaks the slobbering love affair with the media continues. The fact is he speaks the truth even when laughing about it with his liberal drive-by buddies.

Barack Obama, superhero!
A tipster sent this in frustration over yet another example of new-media Obama hagiography, but this is less a salute to The One than a grand goof on his Messianism and the outsized ambitions of agenda.

Chubby people live longest
Health experts have long warned of the risk of obesity, but a new Japanese study warns that being very skinny is even more dangerous, and that slightly chubby people live longer. People who are a little overweight at age 40 live six to seven years longer than very thin people, whose average life expectancy was shorter by some five years than that of obese people, the study found. "We found skinny people run the highest risk," said Shinichi Kuriyama, an associate professor at Tohoku University's Graduate School of Medicine who worked on the long-term study of middle-aged and elderly people.

"Mary, Did You Know?" By Mark Lowry
Mark Lowry sings his signature and most popular "serious song" with David Phelps and Guy Penrod helping him out in the background towards the end.

This week TKF will focus on Pork Barrel Spending:

Taxpayer's Guide to the Stimulus
Reason Foundation’s Taxpayer’s Guide to the Stimulus breaks down each section of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to explain just how all that money is being spent, who is spending it, and what the whole stimulus means in layman's terms.

After Losing $20 Million in Equipment, Federal Health-Care Agency Won $500 Million Earmark in Stimulus
The $787 billion stimulus bill that President Obama signed in February awarded the Indian Health Service with an earmark for $500 million in new funding, including $85 million specifically set aside for “health information technology activities,” even though a Government Accountability Office audit released the previous June concluded that mismanagement of the IHS had allowed $15.8 million worth of equipment to be lost or stolen between 2004 and 2007. The IHS had so many pieces of IT equipment—10 per employee at its headquarters—that some new computers it purchased were stored away unused. “IHS’s ineffective management over IT equipment has also led to wasteful spending,” said GAO. “Our analysis of IHS records indicates that there are approximately 10 pieces of IT equipment for every one employee at HIS headquarters. “We also found numerous pieces of recent-model equipment at IHS headquarters, including 25 brand new computers—with a combined value of about $30,000—that were not issued to any employees and were collecting dust in a store room,” said GAO. “The lost or stolen property and waste we detected at IHS can be attributed to the agency’s weak internal control environment and its ineffective implementation of numerous property policies.”

2009 Pig Awards
Citizen’s Against Government Waste (CAGW) provides their 2009 Pig Book Summary. Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) wins this year King of Pork Price.

Protest by NOW prompts Wichita pro-lifers to move memorial service
Pro-lifers in Wichita, Kansas were planning to hold a memorial and prayer service today at the clinic where George Tiller performed 70,000 abortions. Facing the prospect of a counter demonstration by the National Organization for Women (NOW), the service was moved to maintain a respectful atmosphere.

Congresses “Greenhouse” bill draws local criticism
State Republican legislators are demonstrating their opposition to a piece of Democrat-endorsed federal legislation aimed at combating climate change by regulating "greenhouse gas" emissions. The American Clean Energy and Security Act, better known as the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill, has a goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by the year 2020 and place caps on energy usage. A group of Kansas legislators is joining 185 other political leaders in opposing the legislation, including Sen. Tim Huelskamp, a Fowler Republican and congressional candidate; Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook, R-Shawnee; Rep Sharon Schwartz, R-Washington; Rep Don Myers, R-Derby; and Rep Marc Rhoades, R-Newton.

Election Tuesday will fill Roeland Park City Council seat
A political newcomer, a Roeland Park native and two former elected officials will face off in next week’s Roeland Park special City Council Ward 4 election. Vying for the position are former mayor Steve Petrehn and former Ward 1 Council member Debbi Schraeder, as well as Marek Gliniecki, a 30-year Roeland Park resident, and Adrian O’Hara, a city and political newcomer. The election will take place on Tuesday.

Kansas unemployment rate reachest high level in 26 years
The state unemployment rate jumped to 6.9 percent in May, which is the highest it has been in more than 26 years, the Kansas Department of Labor reported Friday. The last time the Kansas jobless rate was this high was in March 1983 at 7.1 percent.

JOCO Wasting $50,000 on deer solution at Shawnee Mission Park!
Johnson County park officials said they don’t know exactly how much it will cost to kill more than 500 deer in Shawnee Mission Park this fall. They did say this week that all they have in the budget is $50,000, and they hope that is enough to do the job. Three board members — George Schlagel, James Azeltine and Nancy Wallerstein — sought more details of the deer reduction plan before voting unanimously Wednesday to use sharpshooters and archers to cull the current overpopulation of deer in the 3.5 square mile greater park area. Michael Meadors, park district director, said many of those details haven’t been worked out, including a detailed cost estimate or how the shooting areas would be set up. He did point out several areas where money will have to be spent. Training law enforcement officers to “harvest” the deer will cost money. Meadors also pointed out that consultants will need to be hired to advise park officials on the best and safest arrangement of the baited kill zones. Meadors said the cost of processing the meat ranges from as little as $15 per deer to as high as $68. Training cops, hiring consultants, processing the meat? How about letting local bow hunters hunt the deer and charge them a $50 Hunting Fee? Instead of spending $50 grand, the project will make $10 Grand!

Cessna furloughs to begin Monday; 800 workers get layoff notices
Most Cessna workers begin a four-week furlough on Monday. Some areas aren't affected, such as the service center, parts, technical support and sales, said Cessna spokesman Doug Oliver. But "for the most part, it's a general companywide four-week furlough," Oliver said. As announced last week, Cessna also distributed 60-day notices this morning -- part of the latest round of layoffs. Last week, Cessna told employees it would reduce its work force by another 1,300 people.

Moving Kansas schools from monopoly to a free-choice future
Kansas spent more than $5.6 billion on K-12 education in the last school year. That's a great deal of money to spend in a state with a very small population of taxpayers. State and local tax collections provided 93 percent of that money, but state law offers no way for taxpayers to direct even a penny of it to a school of choice — unless that school is run by the government. They can choose to send their child to a private school, but they’re going to pay the state either way. For families living on a tight budget, that’s no choice at all. No vouchers. No tax credits. No real choice.

“Training law enforcement officers to “harvest” the deer will cost money.”

Michael Meadors, JOCO Parks Director

From Proverbs 16:15
How much better to acquire wisdom than gold! To acquire understanding is more desirable than silver.

Gospel according to St. Mark 4:35-40

35 And he saith to them that day, when evening was come: Let us pass over to the other side. 36 And sending away the multitude, they take him even as he was in the ship: and there were other ships with him. 37 And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that the ship was filled. 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, sleeping upon apillow; and they awake him, and say to him: Master, doth it not concernthee that we perish? 39 And rising up, he rebuked the wind, and said to the sea: Peace, be still. And the wind ceased: and there was made a great calm. 40 And he said to them: Why are you fearful? have you not faithyet? ?41And they feared exceedingly: and they said one to another: Who isthis (thinkest thou) that both wind and sea obey him?

When Will the American Apology Tour End?

President Obama travels the world and apologizes on behalf of Americans who he sees as the oppressors.

Last week a bipartisan resolution passed by the U.S. Senate and co-sponsored by our own Senator Sam Brownback, whom I have great respect for, provides an apology for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans. The measure comes as the nation celebrates Juneteenth, the oldest nationally celebrated commemoration of the end of slavery. The other co-sponsor was Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). The resolution states, “numerous states and even corporations such as J.P. Morgan and Aetna have apologized for their role in slavery and Jim Crow. But slavery and Jim Crow, and their continuing consequences are not the historical baggage of one state, one region, or one company. They are an enduring national shame,” said Senator Harkin.

There has been a continued apology tour that started in 1988 when Congress apologized for the internment of Japanese Americans held during WWII. In 1993, Congress apologized to native Hawaiians for overthrowing their king. In 2005, the Senate apologized for its failure to enact anti-lynching legislation. Last year, the Senate adopted as part of the Indian Health Bill an amendment apologizing to Native Americans.

In my own family history my Scots-Irish Ancestors were forced-worked on the American railroad system and at the end of the day they were not allowed in an “American” restaurant to eat. Why? Because they spoke funny, were foreign, and were Catholic. Remember 1862 song, "No Irish Need Apply?”

What about my German blood? During WWII, the US Government interned at least 11,000 persons of German ancestry. The Japanese Americans got an apology but not my German-American ancestors.

My Catholic ancestors owned 200 acres of land in Maryland, which was very close to the current US Capitol and had their land seized by the Puritan Commonwealth Government in a Catholic Purge. In addition, they could no longer practice their religion and priests had to hide in order to offer Mass. The purge was so bad that my ancestors fled to Kentucky to start anew. I realize that this occurred prior to the formation of the United States but where is my British Apology?

My Cherokee Indian Ancestors were enslaved and arrested and forced marched out of their homeland of Kentucky.

While apologies and forgiveness is necessary to cleanse the soul, it is time to move forward.

I claim no excuse for the person that I have become. I am thankful for the sacrifices of my ancestors so that I can live in the free United States of America. Those ancestors lived and died so that I might succeed. Soldiers of every race and denomination fought and died for this country so that I could have freedom.

I am a Scots-Irish, German, Cherokee Indian, Catholic American. And I am proud of my family, my heritage and my beloved Country. On behalf of my ancestors I ask for no apology from my government!