Thank you for visiting the home of The Kansas Federalist, your online source for news, information and resources from the heartland, particularly the state of Kansas. This website includes a collection of articles, links, and other tidbits of information related to Kansas politics, government, business, and community news from a federalist perspective.

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Sincerely,
Sheriff (Ret.) Currie Myers
Editor & Publisher

Iran Preparing Graves for Its Enemies
Story
A senior Iranian commander on Sunday said his country would prepare 320,000 graves to accommodate its slain enemies in the event of an attack on the country. The remark was a veiled warning amid increasing tensions over Tehran's controversial nuclear activities.

Pentagon Official Warns of Israeli Attack on Iran
Story
Senior Pentagon officials are concerned that Israel could carry out an attack on Iran's nuclear facilities before the end of the year, an action that would have enormous security and economic repercussions for the United States and the rest of the world.

Liberal Congressman Hopes Terrorists ID VP Chief of Staff
Story
And the most sour note struck this Independence Day holiday was the outrageously irresponsible and un-American comments made by Congressman William Delahunt (D-Mass.) to vice presidential chief of staff David Addington in a hearing last week. Rep. Delahunt repeatedly asked Mr. Addington about the use of waterboarding when interrogating enemy combatants. Mr. Addington replied that he could not discuss interrogation techniques because, as he said, "al Qaeda may watch C-SPAN." "Right," Delahunt responded. "Well, I'm sure they are watching, and I'm glad they finally have the chance to see you, Mr. Addington." For his unconscionable expression of pleasure at the prospect of murderous al Qaeda being able to identify an American public servant, Rep. Delahunt, in the very least, owes Mr. Addington an apology. If he refuses to apologize, his colleagues in Congress should move to expel him. There is no place in Congress for a pro-al Qaeda, anti-American public official.

Harry Reid: Oil, coal 'makes us sick'
Story
'It's global warming, it's ruining our country, it's ruining our world' said Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) and Senate Majority Leader. And this is from the guy leading our US Senate. No wonder congressional approval ratings are the lowest in history.

Huge Volcanoes May Be Erupting Under Arctic Ice
Story
For the past few years, environmental activist have been sounding the siren that manmade global warming is melting the ice in the Artic. But new evidence deep beneath the Arctic ice suggests a series of underwater volcanoes have erupted in violent explosions in the past decade.

Terrorism, Insurgency, and Drugs Still Threaten America's Southern Flank
Story
The U.S. faces real challenges in a polarized Western Hemisphere that will require committing more resources and coor­dinating responses against the convergent and often overlapping realities of drugs, criminality, and terrorism. As the FARC files indicate, the enemies of democracy and freedom have deep and tenacious roots in the Western Hemisphere. In remote jungle sanctuaries, FARC leaders are constructing grand strategies for sweeping revolutionary change and are courting friends and allies in the turbulent fer­ment of radical populism. Their leaders and allies dream grandly of humanity in the abstract but are not afraid to resort to violence, terrorism, hostage taking, drug dealing, and forced recruitment of child soldiers. They are ready to fight hard and dirty. They read the press, watch the media, and are quick to seize on signs of fatigue and flagging U.S. will throughout the Americas.

A Who’s Who of 1968 radicals supports Obama
Story
Progressives for Barack Hussein Obama resembles a Who’s Who of SDS luminaries. In addition to Hayden, Rudd, and Davidson, the group includes Bob Pardun, SDS’s education secretary during the 1966–67 school year; Paul Buhle, a radical professor who has recently attempted to revive SDS; Mickey and Dick Flacks, red-diaper babies who helped craft 1962’s Port Huron Statement, a seminal New Left document; and SDS’s third president, Todd Gitlin. Age and experience have mellowed some of the SDSers in Obama’s camp. Gitlin, for instance, has evolved into a respected Ivy League professor and milquetoast liberal. But others still glory in a past that can only damage Obama’s future. The aging New Left still practices a therapeutic politics that places a higher value on feelings of personal liberation than on restrained pursuit of political aims.

Matthews grills Obama Supporter
Story
Want to see a politician choke on national TV? Chris Matthews was surprised when the Obama campaigns’ own surrogates are left utterly stumped when asked to list his legislative accomplishments as a Senator.

Obama: Talks the Talk but doesn’t Walk the Walk
Story
While Democratic presidential candidate Barack Hussein Obama has vowed to make pay equity for women a top priority if elected president, an analysis of his Senate staff shows that women are outnumbered and out-paid by men. ??That is in contrast to Republican presidential candidate John McCain's Senate office, where women, for the most part, out-rank and are paid more than men.

Ad asks Obama: ‘If fatherhood begins at conception, when does life begin?’
Story
A new advertisement from the Family Research Council’s lobbying arm, FRC Action, cites Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s endorsement of fathers who “recognize that responsibility doesn’t just end at conception” to press the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee to defend his stand on abortion. Hey, Obama. If Fatherhood begins at conception then to be a father one would have to have a son or daughter at conception. Right?

Texas Man Cleared in Shooting of Possible Burglars
Story
A Texas man who shot and killed two men he suspected of burglarizing his neighbor's home cleared in the shootings Monday by a grand jury. Joe Horn, 61, shot the two men in November after he saw them crawling out the windows of a neighbor's house in the Houston suburb of Pasadena. Horn called 911 and told the dispatcher he had a shotgun and was going to kill the men. The dispatcher pleaded with him not to go outside, but Horn confronted the men with a 12-gauge shotgun and shot both in the back.

U.S. Court of Appeals affirms law calling unborn 'living human beings'
Story
The 8th District Court of Appeals ruled against Planned Parenthood and rejected an injunction against a state law requiring doctors to tell women seeking abortions that they may face serious medical conditions and will "terminate the life of a whole, separate, unique, living human being."

Selective abortion causes severe imbalance of sexes in Indian regions
Story
A new report by the British charity ActionAid indicates that unborn baby girls are being disproportionately aborted in some areas of India, while significant numbers who live until birth are being deliberately neglected and left to die. In one area in the state of Punjab, there are only 300 girls for every 1,000 boys among high cast families, the report claims.

Tiller grand jury: Changes needed in abortion laws
Story
A Kansas grand jury assigned to review allegations of illegal late-term abortions performed by George Tiller, Wichita's resident abortionist, says the law banning such procedures appears to have been written to protect a viable fetus, but under the interpretation mandated by the state Supreme Court, 'We doubt that any investigation … will yield an outcome that will provide any basis for indictment."

Presbyterians move to allow gay clergy
Story
The nation's largest Presbyterian denomination on June 27 cracked open the door to ordaining non-celibate gay and lesbian clergy.

Women taking hand gun classes in droves
Story
Women across the country are packing classes where they learn about all aspects of handgun ownership. One of the main reasons for attending these classes, they say, is to learn more about how to take charge of their own safety. A survey of women from the classes indicates that 73 percent enrolled because learning about self-protection was a prime concern for them. And over 95 percent of those women indicated that they were "likely to continue to participate in handgun shooting."

Chicago Mayor responds to US Supreme Court decision
Story
The Mayor of Chicago apparently missed his Constitutional Law class. This video is the epitomy of liberalism. Should we apply the same standard to Freedom of Speech or Freedom of Religion?

Judicial Watch Uncovers New FDA Records Detailing Ten New Deaths & 140 “Serious” Adverse Events Related to Gardasil
Story
Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released a report based on new documents obtained from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, detailing reports of adverse reactions to the vaccination for human papillomavirus (HPV), Gardasil. The adverse reactions include 10 deaths since September, 2007. (The total number of death reports is at least 18 and as many as 20.) The FDA also produced 140 “serious” reports (27 of which were categorized as “life threatening”), 10 spontaneous abortions and six cases of Guillain-Barre Syndrome – all since January 2008.

Apostasy: NY Times Outsources Internet Hosting and Services
Story
Reciting the outsourcing mantra is a required ritual for any self-respecting Democrat office seeker this cycle. Obama and Clinton both took up the battle cry in the primaries to rally big labor bosses and agitate the rank and file. Assisted by their allies in the drive-by media like the New York Times and NBC News, the candidate's rhetoric was reinforced with strategically placed stories to amplify the propaganda. For observers interested in exposing media hipocrisy, the announcement that the New York Times is outsourcing their internet operations to an India Newspaper is a most delicious nugget.

City offers taxpayer-funded trips home to 'reunite' foreign thugs with families
Story
San Francisco is now providing free, taxpayer-funded plane tickets home for illegal aliens – with an open invitation to visit again. City juvenile probation officers are shielding Honduran crack cocaine dealers from federal deportation and citing San Francisco's sanctuary status as justification for its policy, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello said he was "flabbergasted that the taxpayers' money was being spent for the purpose of ferrying detainees home.

Democratic Party official accused in satanic rape, kidnap
Story
A Democratic Party official and her husband are facing charges in connection with alleged satanic rituals involving the kidnap, rape and starvation of another couple in North Carolina. Joy Johnson, 30, a vice-chairwoman of the Durham County Democratic Party and vice chairwoman of the Young Democrats, made an appearance in court yesterday after she and her spouse, Joseph Craig, were arrested Friday.

Another Democrat chief arrested in satanic torture
Story
Diana Palmer, the first vice-chairwoman of the Durham County Democratic Party, joins her political colleague Joy Johnson, the third vice-chairwoman of the party, and Johnson's spouse, Joseph Craig, in facing charges.

Hospital video shows no one helped dying woman
Story
A shocking video shows a woman dying on the floor in the psych ward at Kings County Hospital, while people around her, including a security guard, did nothing to help. After an hour, another mental patient finally got the attention of the indifferent hospital workers, according to the tape, obtained by the Daily News.

Singer subs 'black anthem' for 'Star Spangled Banner
Story
A singer who was to perform the "Star Spangled Banner" at the presentation of liberal Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper's State of the City address yesterday substituted the "Black National Anthem" without notifying anyone, because she says as a black, she just doesn't feel American.

Christianity and the History of Freedom
Story
For Americans the Fourth of July marks national independence, but the holiday has become symbolic of a more universal cause: human liberty. The development of human freedom, in theory and in practice, is in large measure the story of Christianity. Christianity’s impact on civilization has occupied some of history’s greatest minds, who have both reflected and influenced their respective zeitgeists. Augustine defended the followers of Christ against the accusation that they were to blame for the decline of the Roman Empire; fourteen centuries later British historian Edward Gibbon revived the charge, giving voice to his age’s skepticism toward revealed religion.

Over 1,000 Troops in Iraq to Re-enlist in Independence Day Ceremony
Story
More than 1,100 service members stationed in Iraq will celebrate the nation’s birthday tomorrow by re-enlisting, the senior enlisted leader for Multinational Force Iraq said today. Army Command Sgt. Maj. Marvin L. Hill said 1,157 soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines will re-enlist at the Al Faw Palace at Camp Victory, in Baghdad. This may be the largest re-enlistment ceremony since the all-volunteer force began in 1973, Hill said via phone from Baghdad. ??This is becoming an annual blockbuster event for the command. Last year, 588 service members re-enlisted.

Forces in Iraq Kill Enemy Fighters, Detain Suspects, Find Weapons
Story
Coalition forces in Iraq killed enemy fighters, detained terrorism suspects and found illegal weapons stockpiles in operations over the last three days, military officials reported. Coalition forces conducted operations spanning central and northwestern Iraq today, killing two enemy fighters and detaining eight suspected terrorists while targeting al-Qaida networks. In Mosul, coalition forces netted an alleged terrorist leader and a suspected associate. The alleged leader is believed to oversee kidnappings, assassinations and extortion operations in the city, officials said.

Kansas Governor Bankrupting State
Story
State government collected $61 million less than anticipated in taxes during its recently ended 2008 fiscal year, a shortfall that could create budget headaches. The state has been eating up its treasury reserves so that it can sustain court-mandated increases in aid to public schools and spending for ongoing programs. The Department of Labor reported a slight job growth in the number of non-farm jobs over 2007, however much of that growth has been in government hiring.

Socialism and big government expand in Kansas
Story
The Kansas Supreme Court is dominated by liberal Democrats with three of its seven members having been appointed by Governor Sebelius. That is how the constitution gets re-written without the voters deciding. There has never been a statewide vote by Kansans authorizing a change in the Kansas Constitution to authorize state-owned casinos. In fact, there has never been any vote on casinos. The Kansas Constitution has a provision against gambling that goes back to territorial days.

Shawnee Faces $2Million Deficit
Story
Faced with rising expenses and stationary revenue, the city of Shawnee is looking for ways to cut $2 million from its 2009 budget. “Living Within Our Means” is one of this year’s strategic budget goals. Shawnee has increased expenses because of climbing fuel costs and rising construction and street improvement expenses. Sales tax revenue is flat and the city’s assessed value has increased only slightly, City Manager Carol Gonzales said.

County Going Broke but Library Expands and Renovates
Story
Libraries across Johnson County, including one at Johnson County Community College, have plans to add branches or renovate or expand existing facilities to improve service and accommodate growing numbers of patrons. The $5.6 million project calls for an 8,000-square-foot addition to the east side of the building and renovation of the interior. “Green” materials will be used for the addition. Lauffer said architects plan to obtain LEED certification — which will verify the building is environmentally friendly through independent third-party verification — as long as the estimates remain within the project budget. Plans are in the works for a renovation and addition to the Billington Library at Johnson County Community College. The project would include a $20 million addition and a $15 million renovation. Jim Freed, director of facility planning, said work will not begin until the plans are complete and approved by the Board of Trustees. “The Billington Library is the next big project on the horizon,” Freed said. The proposal calls for a 100,000-square-foot expansion with a bridge connecting the library to the Regnier Center. Freed said, “It looks like a $35 million project that will be completed over the course of three to four years.”

Fiscal Chaos in City Government
Story
Cities across Johnson County are adding and renovating parks to accommodate the growing population of young soccer players. A $35 million soccer complex is under construction at 135th and Switzer streets in Overland Park, including $12.9 million bid to install synthetic turf on the 12 fields. The city had budgeted $14.6 million. Nearly 1.2 million square feet of turf will be installed. In Lenexa a 3/8 -cent sales tax for parks and civic facilities for the next 20 years was approved May 27 by Lenexa residents. Sales tax will rise to 7.9 percent starting Oct. 1 and is expected to generate $84 million throughout the life of the tax.

Kansas Blog Roundup for July 3, 2008
Story
Even with a holiday-shortened week, there was quite a bit of activity in Kansas blogs. Wichita Liberty provides an overall summary of the Kansas Blogosphere.

Ben Hodge announces for State Senate District 8
Story
State government should not spend more money than the amount it collects through taxes. Over-spending is a bi-partisan problem, and Kansas’ debt is at record levels. It is irresponsible for state lawmakers to pass large amounts of debt on to future generations of Kansans. I support a constitutional amendment requiring a 60% majority of the legislature to approve any tax increase. I support a balanced budget amendment requiring a 60% legislative majority to approve any deficit spending (increasing the state debt).

Joy Bourdess announces for Kansas House District 22
Story
History has shown us that the lower the tax burden is on our hardworking Kansans, the more prosperous our state. High property, sales and income taxes pose a difficult burden on senior citizens and others on fixed incomes when they increase on a regular basis. As a legislator I will support policies that reduce sales and income taxes and place reasonable limits on appraisal rates. Requiring a “super majority” to raise taxes provides an additional and vital means of protection for the wallets of Kansas taxpayers. Kansas House District 22 is defined by W 75th street to the North, W 87th street to the South, and Switzer to the West, Nall to the East.

Shawnee County DA stands silent amidst lenient Sentencing of Child Rapist
Story
As part of a May plea agreement with a 75-year-old man accused of having sex with a 6-year-old and a 7-year-old, Shawnee County District Attorney Robert Hecht agreed that the state would “stand silent at sentencing” - even though the judge who was assigned the case is notorious for handing out light sentences for sex crimes involving children.

Topeka city budget proposal includes property tax hike
Story
A 9 percent rise in the city’s property tax rate might sound like a sizable increase, but that amount could be short of Topeka’s budget needs if the local economy sours. The city administration outlined to the Topeka City Council this evening a budget containing a proposed 2.9-mill increase in the property tax rate.

Lawrence School District wants more money for outdoor athletics
Story
Lawrence school district leaders are seeking more input on planned upgrades to high school outdoor athletics facilities. More taxes for non-educational services.

Budget Problems for Douglas County
Story/a>
Some serious financial belt-tightening is ahead for Douglas County leaders as they start work on the 2009 budget. If the county maintains the same level of services it is providing in 2008; adds no employees but gives workers a 1 percent cost-of-living pay increase; and provides funding for an industrial park, the county’s share of the mill levy would increase 5.75 mills, County Administrator Craig Weinaug said.

Kansas Ethics Commission ignores missing $25,000 payment by PAC?
Story
Why are missing, large money transfers between a Kansas PAC and a federal 527 PAC from 2006 ignored by the Kansas Governmental Ethics Commission? Are a missing $25,000 transfer and two $15,625 transfers big enough to trigger the need for an “errors and omissions” notification, and the need for an updated PAC report? The Ethics Commission has known about these omissions since August 2007 but has taken no action. A review of the IRS 8872s filed by the Young Democrats of America shows three large transfers between the ProKanDo PAC and the YDA’s 527 PAC in June and July 2006.

Check Local Crime Stats With New Web Site
Story
If you're worried about crime in your neighborhood, there's a new way to find out what's going on. It's a Web site that Kansas City police are calling a great new tool for residents and officers. CrimeReports.com provides neighborhood crime data in near real time. The service allows anyone to receive automatic daily, weekly or monthly e-mail alerts when crime happens near any location users choose.

In Memoriam: Lt. David Dillon, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office
Story
Lt. David Dillon, a veteran of the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office who taught many area schoolchildren through the D.A.R.E. program, is remembered as a caring person and dedicated worker after his death in a bicycle-vehicle accident Saturday morning. Dillon was 44. TKF – Goodbye my brother, save a place for me in Heaven!

St Agnes Parish to Sponsor Reception for Crossroads Walk for Life
Story
Crossroads was founded in 1994 by Steve Sanborn, a student at Franciscan University of Steubenville (Ohio) as a response to the Holy Father's call to take an active role in the pro-life movement in order to establish a Culture of Life. An integral part of Crossroads is our yearly pilgrimage across the United States. Each summer, young adults walk from San Francisco and Los Angeles, California to Washington, D.C. witnessing to the dignity and sanctity of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death. During our pilgrimage across the United States, we strive always to join our efforts, prayers and small sacrifices with the sufferings of Christ Crucified for the sake of the innocent. Part of the mission of our walk is to speak to the survivors of abortion — the youth of America. St Agnes Catholic Church at 53rd and Mission Road will sponsor a reception for the Crossroad Walkers on July 12th at 1PM at their parish.

The Elders – The Greatest Irish Rock Band Ever!
Story
Take a group of Kansas City musicians with a passion for Celtic music, an Irishman with a love of all things American, and you get a cross-pollination of elements that is high octane and progressive, yet rooted in tradition. What they have come to discover is something unaffected by fads, trends and the giant maw of mind-numbing commercialism. Since forming in 1998, The Elders have brought their musical mix of amped-up roots rock, powerful vocals, blazing instrumentals and top-notch songwriting to festivals, pubs and theaters across the United States and Ireland.

About the Federalist Papers
http://thomas.loc.gov/home/histdox/abt_fedpapers.html

“There are more instances of the abridgment of the freedom of the people by gradual and silent encroachments of those in power than by violent and sudden usurpations.” —James Madison, President of the United States and Federalist

- Frank Miller, author of Batman Novels and Sin City

Program began April 1.
July 1st update – 14 pounds lost!

Sgt. Beauford T. Anderson, US Army – CMH Winner
Rank and organization: Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, 381st Infantry, 96th Infantry Division. Place and date: Okinawa, 13 April 1945. Entered service at: Soldiers Grove, Wis. Birth: Eagle, Wis. G.O. No.: 63, 27 June 1946. Citation: He displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. When a powerfully conducted predawn Japanese counterattack struck his unit's flank, he ordered his men to take cover in an old tomb, and then, armed only with a carbine, faced the onslaught alone. After emptying 1 magazine at pointblank range into the screaming attackers, he seized an enemy mortar dud and threw it back among the charging Japs, killing several as it burst. Securing a box of mortar shells, he extracted the safety pins, banged the bases upon a rock to arm them and proceeded alternately to hurl shells and fire his piece among the fanatical foe, finally forcing them to withdraw. Despite the protests of his comrades, and bleeding profusely from a severe shrapnel wound, he made his way to his company commander to report the action. T/Sgt. Anderson's intrepid conduct in the face of overwhelming odds accounted for 25 enemy killed and several machineguns and knee mortars destroyed, thus single-handedly removing a serious threat to the company's flank.

Chapter 14, Verse 22

24: Now Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came.
25: So the other disciples told him, "We have seen the Lord." But he said to them, "Unless I see in his hands the print of the nails, and place my finger in the mark of the nails, and place my hand in his side, I will not believe."
26: Eight days later, his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. The doors were shut, but Jesus came and stood among them, and said, "Peace be with you."
27: Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side; do not be faithless, but believing."
28: Thomas answered him, "My Lord and my God!"
29: Jesus said to him, "Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe."

Assimilation is the Key to American Prosperity

Recently in Denver, at the liberal Mayor John Hickenlooper's annual State of the City address, singer Rene Marie was to perform the national anthem. Instead, she performed the song "Lift Ev'ry Voice and Sing," which is also known as the black national anthem.

This issue crushes my heart, especially during the week of Independence Day. The larger picture is that liberalism has caused our country to become a country of individuals opposed to a country of American’s united in strength through our individualism. This is more a discussion about assimilation. Do you believe in this country? Do we as American citizens have a special role to play, or is this just a country of people with grievances?

President Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt saw this issue during the mass Irish and German immigration into America in his day. Here are his great words of wisdom:

"In the first place we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the man's becoming in very fact an American, and nothing but an American. There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile...We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language...and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."

As a result of Teddy’s leadership, our great nation welcomed legal immigration into our country and in tern, new immigrants assimilated into American society. They did this without giving up their past history and love for their own family’s heritage. They assimilated and we prospered as a nation. We are the best in the world in product and service and as a result, we have become a world power.

We have now become a country of individuals, not willing to assimilate. Not willing to unite into one system in strength. I am German, Irish, Scottish and Cherokee Indian. But most importantly, I am an American. And proud of it!

It seems that everyone wants to ride in the wagon and no one wants to pull it anymore. It’s time for the silent majority to let their voices be heard before it’s too late.

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