Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first men to walk on the surface of Mars. Now, he’s sure he’ll be the first man to die there.
But Mark isn’t ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills–and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit–he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. But will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?
Marleah Augustine is Adult Department Librarian at the Hays Public Library.
The Martian is a book that puts the “science” in science fiction. It wins at science. However, as fiction, it falls a little flat.
It’s an impressive feat — determining what could happen, and how, on a manned mission to Mars, and the technical accuracy is mind-boggling (or maybe that’s because I’m not a rocket scientist). Weir has obviously done the research and made the science check out, but the characters are a little flat. Yes, we get that the commander liked disco — that’s about the only personalizing characteristic we get. It’s like learning that someone likes sock monkeys, so from there on out that’s all they get for birthday gifts.
It did make me wonder what I would do in Mark Watney’s situation (not make it nearly as long, that’s for sure) and what personal items I would choose to take aboard a craft destined for space (every book on my Goodreads to-read shelf, probably). And I don’t say this often, but I think The Martian will be better on the silver screen than it is on the page (let’s see if I’m right in November when it’s released).
Marleah Augustine is Adult Department Librarian at the Hays Public Library.
Chapman Rackaway is a Professor of Political Science at Fort Hays State University.
Arthur C. Clarke’s sci-fi epic “2001: A Space Odyssey” features an obsidian monolith, a single unified entity that brings change in its wake. The word monolith has been overused in Kansas lately, especially related to Sam Brownback’s takeover of state government since 2010. Last week, we saw the first cracks in monolithic government and that news promises a significantly different legislative session than expected.
With conservative super-majorities in both chambers, most expected the legislature to be at Governor Brownback’s beck and call. The Governor and his allies rallied an incredible resource base around those self-same conservative champions to elect them and may have expected monolithic loyalty. But the Governor and legislature are clearly not on the same page, and his remarks last week show that potentially deep divisions are about to emerge within the state.
Speaking to the Topeka Chamber of Commerce (the local extension of the entity that backed the conservative takeover of the legislature) the Governor opined that the tax-revision-driven budget shortfall that fueled Paul Davis’ near upset election last year was not his fault, but the legislature’s. Considering Brownback had enthusiastically called the tax plan a “shot of adrenaline to the heart” of the Kansas economy, the fact he chose to place blame on the legislature for something he had been touting as a success was shocking. When anti-tax activist Grover Norquist called Brownback’s reversal ‘detrimental’, the shock was magnified. More important, though, is it tells us there is no monolith.
Governing is a funny thing. Loyalties shift, double-crosses happen, and not just on House of Cards. The Governor may feel double-crossed by the legislature. Knowing he had a re-election fight ahead of him, in 2013 Brownback asked the legislature to extend a sales tax that was scheduled to sunset. Brownback was thinking revenues and re-election. The legislature thought extending the tax looked like the self-same tax increases they had sworn to forsake to interest groups like Norquist’s Americans for Tax Reform, who shoved “no-tax” pledges into their hands during campaign season. If Brownback had monolithic support, he simply would have reminded his legislative minions of the fealty they owed him from their resounding campaign victories and extended the tax with minimal stress. Reality did not bear that assumption out. The legislature, embodied by House Speaker Ray Merrick’s statement late last year that the state’s real problem was not one of revenue but one of spending, took significant lobbying before extending the tax.
We can expect a similar outcome this year, especially now that Brownback has publicly shown division from the legislature with massive tax increases especially on items like cigarettes and alcohol. The Governor may feel pressure to fund schools but the legislature will have other ideas. Some legislatures will line up behind the governor, but a number of Republicans will not. Thus we will see an interesting new development: the resurgence of factions in the state legislature. Describing all conservative legislators as having the same agenda is as wrong as describing the legislature and Governor having identical agendas. The monolith may bring change, but our legislature and Governor are anything but monolithic. The legislature may even decide to make some decisions that the Governor will not like at all. Factions may align on abortion, for instance, but split apart on ‘sin’ taxes, open firearms carry, or the response to the Gannon school funding decision. After all, that is their prerogative and we should not automatically expect that the governor will get everything he wants out of the 2015 session.
Chapman Rackaway is a Professor of Political Science at Fort Hays State University.
Your recent column on the Humane Society of the United States caught my eye because I grew up hunting, fishing and trapping in Kansas fields and rivers (“Just who is the Humane Society of the United States?,” 1/18). As a hunter and also a member of The HSUS, I can tell you that Steve Gilliland’s characterization of The HSUS is 100 percent wrong.
First, I’m a devoted lifelong hunter and a member of the NRA: put simply, I would not support The HSUS if it were trying to ban hunting. Instead, The HSUS, like real sportsmen everywhere, opposes cruel and unfair cruel methods of taking game, but embraces members (like me) who hunt and fish in a sporting fashion. Remember, we hunters were the ones who stopped the baiting of waterfowl, jacklighting of deer, and the wanton commercial slaughter of wildlife.
Second, the source for Gilliland’s claims, Humane Watch, is not a “watchdog group.” It’s a phony nonprofit run by Richard Berman, a Washington PR guy who’s made his name taking money from special interests to attack the American Cancer Society, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and now the HSUS.
Third, the HSUS devotes the vast bulk of its resources, not a “mere fraction,” to helping animals. The HSUS runs the nation’s most effective programs to combat animal fighting, puppy mills, pet overpopulation, factory farming, and so many other large-scale abuses of animals. It is also the number one direct-care organization for animals in the nation. Number One.
That’s why I’m proud to support The HSUS.
René P. Tatro, Wilsonville, Ore., a K-State grad formerly from Moundridge
Kurt Beyers is a former newspaperman who now works for University Relations at Fort Hays State University.
I always thought that the fundamental untrustworthiness of human nature is why we need laws. Even among normally law-abiding, sensible, decent people, judgment is impaired from time to time, sometimes fatally, by emotion, by stress, chemicals, hormones, hot sun, sweltering nights, youth and any number of other things. Civilization, I thought, was the difference between the Wild West – check out the bronze plaques here and there about Hays – and modern America.
Apparently I was mistaken, and the problem with the Old West was that there was not enough guns and too much law, because now, in 2015, it’s not enough that in Kansas practically anybody over age 18 can carry a firearm openly. At least 26 Kansas senators want to give to anyone who can legally own a weapon the ability to carry it concealed. Period. If you are 18 and can buy it, you can hide it on your person and go out in public. Sen. Terry Bruce, the Senate majority leader, was quoted as saying he doesn’t think it will lead to a lot of shootings. “Most incidents, I believe, they resolve themselves with the gun being brandished.”
Brandished. The Senate majority leader said that. He is a highly-placed, elected official of the state of Kansas. I would have thought that the math is pretty simple: Human nature plus more guns equals more shooting. But brandishing, that’s not so bad, is it?
Sen. Bruce must also perceive some basic shift in human nature that is hidden to me. We can now trust the citizenry at large to go about its daily business armed and yet behave peacefully in almost all the infinite variety of possibly contentious human interaction. The speaker is obviously willing to bet on it. Our senator of the 40th District, Sen. Ralph Ostmeyer, puts so much faith in the speaker’s take on the fundamental reasonableness of humanity that he didn’t even bother to read the bill before signing on as a co-sponsor.
Well, OK. If that’s what they want to do, they certainly have the numbers to do it, so maybe the best thing is to try to make the best of it. If we think it through it a little more, maybe we can even extend the benefits out beyond the warm, fuzzy feeling of safety and warrior chic that comes from wearing a .45 into the dry cleaner’s, the drug store, Wal-Mart, The Mall – wherever.
One thing that comes to mind right away is budget savings, this being Kansas. State budget, I mean. In the great free-market, capitalist tradition of America, surely there is a way to take the increased trustworthiness of the general population, and the resulting improvement in sound judgment, and monetize it by way of tax cutting.
Take, just as a for instance, the Kansas Highway Patrol. Its budget for the current year is about $81 million. If we can trust ordinary, everyday 21st-century citizens to carry guns as they go to and fro about their daily business, surely we can trust them to be reasonable and responsible in the operation of motor vehicles. Oh, we’ll still need a few troopers to accompany the governor for the appropriate showing of pomp and ceremony, and perhaps a few for other ceremonial occasions, and some for the interstates because we don’t want such people as Missourians, Coloradoans and Texans to take advantage.
But savings in the $60 million to $70 million range might just be possible in this one area alone.
Local law enforcement savings may have to wait for a while. A certain critical mass of firearms might be necessary before you could start eliminating city and county police. Perhaps a subsidy of some sort would be a wise investment. You know the old saying: Shoot a bad guy for a citizen and the citizen is safe for a day. Give the citizen a gun, and he’s safe for a lifetime. Besides, a handgun and an initial stock of ammunition – we could give it a cool name like “Second Amendment Liberty Kit” – would be a one-time outlay. Once somebody gets a taste for shooting things, chances are good that he or she will become self-arming in perpetuity.
A cop, on the other hand, requires ongoing expenditures for salary, health care and pension, not to mention ammunition, targets for practice, cars, etc. There’s just no end to the expense.
And how about this: If your everyday man or woman on the street is to be trusted to casually carry the tools of death, subject only to his or her own judgment at any given moment of stress, then surely highly educated, responsible professionals such as doctors, pharmacists, lawyers, nurses, morticians and psychiatrists don’t need all the expensive watchdog and licensing machinery currently required just for the practice of their professions. The institutions that gave them their training wouldn’t graduate them if they weren’t qualified, right? See, millions and millions more in savings, and I bet our Legislature, full as it is of common-sensical, no nonsense, righteous red-state folks, can come up with a lot more. It’s kind of a point of pride with most of them.
The key thing here is that with enough tax savings and enough guns, we can pretty quickly get to the point where Kansas is just like Texas. A certain kind of nit-picky elite might point out that Kansas has only a fraction of Texas’ oil reserves, fracking or no fracking, and they might harp on the fact that Kansas has not a single mile of coast, and therefore does not have a single port city or beach resort, whereas Texas has Houston, Galveston, Corpus Christi, Texas City, Padre Island, Brownsville, Port Aransas, Matagorda Bay and many other lesser centers of international commerce and tourist trade.
But, let’s not forget what’s important here: zero income tax and an astronomical per capita quantity of guns. If you’ve got that, who needs all that other stuff?
Kurt Beyers is a former newspaperman who now works for University Relations at Fort Hays State University.
Gene Policinski is senior vice president of the First Amendment Center
This “just in”: Indiana Governor Mike Pence said Thursday he has terminated development of a state-run, state-funded news operation called “JustIn” which reportedly would have published stories based on state-written news releases about state programs, policies and government officials.
State planning documents reported earlier by the Indianapolis Star said the operation would have reshaped news releases written by state communications directors and published them as news stories on its website — targeting distribution not just to its own audience, but to smaller news outlets likely to run the material as-is, according to one report.
Pence killed the project after critics slammed the approach — one calling the state-funded news outlet “Pravda on the Prairie,” alluding to the Soviet-era propaganda enterprise.
Stories from “JustIn” would have included “straightforward news to lighter features, including personality profiles,” according to a state information sheet quoted earlier in the week by the Star. Those state-salaried public relations staffers who wrote the original releases, along with representatives of Gov. Pence, would oversee the entire show.
The governor took pains in his termination announcement to reassure critics the effort was intended as little more than a remodeled version of the state’s “calendar and happenings” listings. To be fair, many states have departments, particularly in the agricultural area, that produce “news” in print, broadcast and online formats, including some material ready to be published, aired or posted.
But the Indianapolis newspaper said that its reporters found state documents announcing Pence’s project was intended to serve as a “news outlet in its own right” and that it would function “as a voice of the State of Indiana’s executive branch.”
The U.S. government funds a news operation called Voice of America. But even though VOA strives to objectively present news about the United States to a world audience, it operates under a federal law banning it from directing its content at the very nation it represents. Ironically, when VOA was established post-WWII, it was GOP lawmakers who feared government funds would be spent to indoctrinate American voters to particular viewpoints.
The now-defunct-before-launch project is worth remembering mostly as one very visible step beyond the now-common candidate practice of circumventing the news media via the Web.
It is more than a decade since presidential candidates ranging from John McCain to Barack Obama found blogs, online messaging and such a hugely effective tool in taking shaped messages directly to potential donors and to voters when compared to news interviews, press conferences and news reports of speeches and public appearances.
But there should remain the healthy skepticism that a state-funded, state-directed “news” outlet with ties to political figures and government bureaucrats ever would be able to tell all sides of any story.
Here’s where journalistic critics rush in with claims that such an PR operation would be no less biased or faulty than traditional or new media journalists. Really? Suspicion of the motives and performance of journalists is as old as the nation itself. But the Founders still thought it necessary to create a First Amendment provision guaranteeing a free and independent press to serve as a watchdog on government.
Government-funded news media likely just means writing another taxpayer “check” with no “balance” and creating more of “lapdog” than “watchdog.” No Ministry of Information revealed “Watergate.” No government-run PR department ever produced those searing CBS’ “60 Minutes” interviews with squirming public officials about wasted funds and pointless programs.
Champions of a free and independent press certainly should demand that journalists to do a better job each day of keeping an eye on government. And — in Indiana and elsewhere — we ought to rejoice that “JustIn” was just as quickly “JustOut.”
Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Washington-based Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the Institute’s First Amendment Center. [email protected]
John Richard Schrock is a professor at Emporia State University.
“Daddy. Is he a weasel?” My daughter asked this question many decades ago as she was sitting on the floor watching television and eating her cereal. The cartoons were over and she was watching an early morning show interviewing some politician.
“Why do you think he is a weasel?” I asked.
“He said ‘mistakes were made.’ You said that’s what weasels do,” she replied.
Meanwhile, the guy on TV chattered on, dodging the questions and explaining how everything was someone else’s fault.
“Yes, sweetie, he’s a weasel.”
Unfortunately, our weasel population has grown in the last forty years. You can spot them by their weasel words. They spout a vocabulary designed to be unclear, to confuse, to mislead, to cover-up, and to make them look good when they are not.
And today’s weasel word is “enhance.”
“Enhance” was always in our vocabulary. There are flavor-enhancers that improve taste. And some colors subtly improve the appearance of a room or art or clothing. But about 20 years ago, enhance began to be used as a substitute for improve, increase, or anything else supposedly positive.
I first saw the dark side of “enhance” while reading a “research” article on salmon. When salmon encounter dams, they cannot migrate up to their spawning grounds. So, we provide fish ladders, little stairstep waterfalls, that help them climb over the dam. The title of this research article claimed that a new design of fish ladder “enhanced” this salmon migration. So naturally I expected the data table to show an increase in the number of fish that made it upstream. It didn’t! Well, maybe there was some other factor that improved the fish’s survival, such as: fewer made it upstream but they were healthier. But they weren’t.
The title of the article was simply incorrect. The new fish ladder didn’t work as well as the old design. But since “enhance” is so ambiguous, it gave the impression of being positive when there was no evidence for it.
Except for judgements about flavors and colors, “enhance” should never be used. If the test is something measured, then the words “increase” or “improve” work quite well. Otherwise it is just a way to make something neutral or bad seem good. Enhance is usually a lie.
But “enhance” is often found in those mission and vision statements that some companies and most schools love to advertise. Whether they succeed or fail at their job, they can always claim to “enhance” since they do not have to actually increase or improve anything. Indeed, it is hard to read through a copy of Education Week, the weekly newspaper of record on K-12 education, without finding “enhance” on nearly every page and especially in the advertisements.
As editor for the Kansas Biology Teacher journal, I scan and list the biology and education research for our classroom teachers for each year. When there is an important claim in the title or abstract, I check the data they provide. In most science research, the title matches the data. But in over two-thirds of education papers, the research done to support some new methodology has negative data showing it does not work—but yet the author claims that it should have worked anyway. And I can rely on “enhance” being in the title. That explains why every failed education reform has plenty of initial research “proving” it would work.
But the most egregious use of “enhanced” occurred just last December when the C.I.A. released its report on torture as so-called “enhanced interrogation.” That exposed a boatload of legal and political weasels who went through a tedious and distorted logic to explain why enhanced interrogation was not torture.
But Senator John McCain clearly explained that if it was torture when done to us, it was torture when we did it to others. That Golden Rule is even obvious to little kids sitting in front of the television.
As you may know, I have attended more than 60 work sessions and meetings to get a feel for what goes on at city hall on the behalf of our citizens.
I see some things I very much like and appreciate but, at the same time, have witnessed some things that myself and a number of other taxpayers I know very much disagree with. I have conferred with a number of citizens including other business owners with employees, working citizens and some of the city staff and have come to the conclusion that there could be better representation on some matters, particularly the spending of our hard-earned tax dollars.
I think I can bring sensible input from a business owner stand point to the table. As a local business owner since 1987 and currently employing eight others besides myself, I feel I have a very good understanding of how to make things work, shop for the best prices on necessary expenditures and how to prioritize needs on limited budgets. As Benjamin Franklin once said, “Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a large ship.”
My goal is to help push forward the “Strong Towns” philosophy on any new developments in our city. This is something relatively new to our city but was brought forth at a meeting by our city manager Toby Dougherty (thank you, Toby) and I think if we can apply this thought process to our city planning moving forward we may be able to minimize the inevitable tax and service increases to maintain our current infrastructure. I would also work to get citizens more involved in local government, we very much need their input.
The beginning of a new year is the time to make resolutions to accomplish things that are important to us. Popular resolutions include things like losing weight, exercising, and improving finances.
You don’t have to radically change your habits or deny yourself some of your favorite treats to trim calories and save money. Try some of these suggestions:
1. Eat less when you eat out. Americans eat out more than ever before. You can save money and calories by watching portion sizes. Choose smaller size menu items or share a full-sized meal with a friend. Wash it down with water or milk, both which are usually cost-savers, or choose the smallest size non-sugary beverage.
2. Do it yourself to spend less. When you buy carry-out meals or prepared foods at the grocery store, you’re paying for labor as well as ingredients. The same is true for partially-prepared items like bagged greens or chopped items from a salad bar. That salad-bar salad will cost nearly $5.00 a pound, but if you do the work yourself, a salad of lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers will cost less than $1 per serving, according to the USDA. The same holds true for cooking a whole chicken and slicing your own meat versus buying deli or frozen cooked chicken slices for fajitas or salads. By cooking yourself, you can also control the amount of fat and sodium that go into your foods.
3. Buy packaged foods at discount stores. Life is too short to settle for wilted lettuce just because it costs less at “Joe’s Cheap Eats” than a fresh head at “Gail’s Gourmet Grub.” But things like ketchup, peanut butter and canned green beans usually taste about the same no matter where you buy them. So shop at a bargain store for foods in bottles, boxes and cans. If you can save 50 cents on a item you buy each week, at the end of the year you’ll have saved $26 just by buying that item at the cheaper location. If you save a similar amount on 20 items that you purchase weekly, your savings will add up to around $520 a year. That’s money in the bank!
4. Compare unit prices. Check the information on supermarket shelf tags for the cost of the food per ounce, pound or package. Then choose the package size that gives you the biggest bang for the buck. However, don’t assume that a larger package is always a better deal. The Federal Trade Commission says that canned tuna, canned coffee, frozen orange juice, ketchup and peanut butter are often costlier in larger containers.
5. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables. What weight loss plan tells you to eat MORE of anything? Here’s some good news! Fruits and vegetables are virtual diet “freebies” — low in fat while packed with vitamins, minerals, anti-oxidants and fiber. Hate that hungry “diet” feeling? When you fill up on fruits and vegetables, you’ll feel full and satisfied while holding the line on excess calories and fat.
When choosing fruits and vegetables, remember that all forms count — so look for best buys on fresh, frozen, canned, dried or 100 percent juice products.
Choose less-expensive store brands of canned fruits and vegetables, or buy them at a bargain store as mentioned above. Dress up canned carrots with a dash of basil or sprinkle a few sliced almonds or dried cranberries into canned green beans for a flavor your family will love.
Purchase fresh produce in season for the best prices. For example, winter citrus fruits are in plentiful supply right now, so prices are low on oranges and grapefruits. Watch for bargains on potatoes and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, berries and greens in the spring, melons and peaches in the summer, and apples, pumpkins and squash in the fall.
If you can spend less and still eat well, why not cut your food bill and free up cash for other priorities, such as savings or debt reduction? The US Department of Agriculture calculates that a family of four with two children under age 12 can spend as little as $150 a week on groceries and still meet government nutrition guidelines (July 2014 prices.) That’s nearly $2,000 a year less than what the typical family of four actually spends. Start now to eat well and save!
For more information on strategies to eat better while spending less, contact the Ellis County Extension Office at 785-628-9430 or explore one of my favorite online resources: the Spend Smart Eat Right website from Iowa State Extension. Check it out at www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsavings.
Linda K. Beech is Ellis County Extension Agent, Family and Consumer Sciences.
When plans are laid in advance, it is surprising how often circumstances fit in with them.
That said, Kansas farmers and ranchers who are a part of Farm Bureau, have singled out key issues they believe are crucial to ensure they will be able to operate their farms and ranches.
These issues include meeting agriculture’s long and short-term labor needs; protecting farmers’ abilities to use biotech plant varieties and other innovative technologies; opposing expansion of federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act; and advancing legislation that reforms the Endangered Species Act.
Farmers and ranchers understand the importance of clean water. They often live on the land they work. In many cases their water resources are on or near their property.
For generations, agricultural producers have embraced new technology related to conservation and frequently those moves also enhance the performance of their businesses. They believe in state-led, practical programs that are more in sync with their particular regions of the country.
Recent, ongoing federal initiatives, such as the Waters of the U.S. rule, would give the federal government almost unlimited power to dictate farming practices and impose complex and costly permitting schemes, regardless of need. Most Kansas farmers and ranchers are against such far-reaching overreach by the federal government.
The need for agricultural labor reform remains clear. Farmers and ranchers need access to a legal, stable and reliable labor supply. America can either import our labor or import our food.
Kansas ag producers understand the difficulty of passing meaningful immigration reform that addresses the agricultural labor crisis and border issues. They also understand this must be done.
Farmers and ranchers continue to support biotechnology as a tool that will yield great benefits for agriculture, consumers and the environment. U.S. agriculture has always adhered to the principal of providing the safest food possible.
Many embrace biotechnology as a way to increase environmental stewardship while farming more efficiently and effectively. Future innovation in this area will open up a whole new level of possibility.
Addressing reform of Endangered Species Act regulations, ag producers understand the need to live in harmony with wildlife, especially those preventable extinction. Still the record of the Endangered Species Act is less than stellar. The ESA must be reformed to protect endangered species while allowing farmers and ranchers to use their land for food production.
Other issues Kansas farmers and ranchers will be working on include efforts to enhance international trade opportunities, business tax reform, farm bill implementation, the overall farm economy and energy availability and affordability.
President Obama’s recent State of the Union address held out a glimmer of hope that he and the Republican Congress might still work together. His words were reassuring, yet recent history has been anything but.
So many good things can be accomplished in this country of ours if leaders of both parties would work together. To succeed for the good of this country and its people we must remember politics is the art of compromise.
Farmers and ranchers in Kansas and across this nation acknowledge and support President Obama’s efforts to normalize trade and other relations with Cuba. Cuba remains off-limits to almost all American trade – a self-imposed tactic that has repeatedly failed to secure reforms.
American agriculture needs the same access to Cuban markets that so many other countries enjoy. Easing trade financing restrictions will go a long way toward providing access to Cuba’s 11 million consumers.
Farmers and ranchers are also encouraged by the president’s strong support for Trade Promotion Authority. This would give Congress the responsibility to vote yes or no on foreign-trade treaties without deal-killing amendments. Congress must pass bi-partisan TPA legislation to strengthen U.S. negotiating positions in future trade agreements.
Finally, tax laws must protect family farms – tax policies that do not punish capital-intensive businesses like farms and ranches, and do not hinder sons and daughters from following the agricultural legacy of their parents.
America must continue to move forward. Working to bring these agricultural issues to fruition will go a long way to make this happen.
John Schlageck, a Hoxie native, is a leading commentator on agriculture and rural Kansas.
While we’re waiting for Gov. Sam Brownback to decide just what he wants to do with property tax authority for school districts, there are some less fractious bills being introduced by Kansas legislators as they near the deadline for bills that they thought up themselves.
We have until Feb. 11 for those individually sponsored bills to be introduced, and they are starting to trickle in. Like the measure that someone should have thought of years ago, or some that probably…well, you wonder what was going on when they were thought of at all, let alone introduced into the Legislature.
Take a pretty bright idea, thought up by Republican Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, of Palco, whose district is mostly two-lane highways.
The bill: It allows you to you to exceed the speed limit on a two-lane highway with a speed limit of at least 50 mph, by 10 mph while passing a slower vehicle. Apparently Couture-Lovelady isn’t the only one who has been trapped behind a cruise-controlled car doing a solid 63 mph in a 65 mph zone, and wondering whether you can pass it without getting in trouble…or staying in that opposite-traffic lane for longer than you want.
Rep. Travis Couture-Lovelady, R-Palco
That brief 10 mph exemption from the speed limit gets you past the slower car quickly. Not a bad idea.
But then someone thought up—and we believe it was Secretary of State Kris Kobach—a straight-ticket ballot for general election voters. The concept? It’s quick and convenient for voters who would otherwise spend time sorting out candidates of one party or another, voting for all of their favorite party’s candidates, and then rechecking to make sure he/she didn’t miss one somewhere along the way.
For those straight-ticket voters, the party choices would be Republican, Democratic and Libertarian and well, we’re figuring that they would save enough time that some might just leave the kids in their car seats while the parents go inside the voting place to perform their duties as citizens. Might take less time than running into the convenience store to pick up a carton of milk…
Another of those ideas by someone elected to the House of Representatives is to prevent cities and counties from passing any regulations on sales, ownership, storage, carrying or taxing of guns or ammo. Oh, and if your city or county has any of those regulations, well, they disappear on July 1. Not sure whether that means you could buy a gun and that carton of milk from that convenience store on election day while your child is still strapped into the car seat while you straight-ticket voted or not, but that might be something we learn during hearings.
And that property tax issue? Whether by scrapping the state’s admittedly complicated but constitutional—though under-funded—school finance formula Brownback intends to alter the property tax authority of school districts?
Well, it’s still being worked out. Practically, the amount of state funding alone for local school districts isn’t enough to operate the schools and teach the kids, but there’s growing understanding that the plan will at least maintain property tax authority for local school boards.
How much local taxing authority? And how the proceeds from those local taxes can be used? How much authority are local boards going to get to make up for the reduction in state money with local property taxes?
And, will any additional local property tax increases trigger politically dangerous-at-the-ballot-box reaction either at the local or state legislative level, possibly derailing for some that convenience of straight-ticket voting?
No word yet.
Syndicated by Hawver News Co. of Topeka, Martin Hawver is publisher of Hawver’s Capitol Report. To learn more about this nonpartisan statewide political news service, visit www.hawvernews.com.
“Mortdecai” is an abysmal, unadulterated train wreck. This is easily the worst movie I have seen since “Tammy,” and I daresay that it is second only to “The Watch” for the unholy crown of “Worst Film I Have Ever Reviewed.”
Johnny Depp is utterly and irredeemably ludicrous as the title character Charlie Mortdecai. There was never any intent for smart humor here. This was intended to be stupid funny and it fails miserably. Depp is plenty idiotic, but I only needed one hand to count the number of times he was even remotely close to amusing. The rest of the principal cast, consisting of Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor and Paul Bettany – strong, respected actors all – each try to salvage this disaster, and each is forcefully written and directed into the ground.
Director David Koepp has had respectable success in the past, as the director of “Premium Rush” and “Secret Window” and has collaborated some truly wonderful projects as a screenwriter; however, his approach to Mortdecai either accomplishes none of its intended goals, or was simply listless. Far more sinful is writer Eric Aronson, whom I had never heard of. After researching his filmography on IMDB.com, I discovered that his only other writing credit was for a 2001 film titled “On the Line” which stared Lass Bass and Joey Fatone from the boy band ’N Sync. I haven’t seen it, but it is really not hard to imagine how much of a train wreck that piece was.
I really have no idea why Johnny Depp, one of the great character actors of our time, would sign up for this heap. At best, this was a paycheck movie for all involved that will likely cost the studio dearly because I really don’t think they’re going to make it up in ticket sales. Perhaps here is the silver lining – I can’t remember any high school play I’ve attended in my life that was worse than “Mortdecai.” Therefore, anyone reading this who has ever starred in a high school play, congratulations, you have upstaged Johnny Depp.
I drove back a craggy rutted lane that follows a mostly-dry creek bed into a pasture dotted with big overgrown cedars. The creek bed winds around through the pasture like a long slithering snake and is lined the whole way with thick prickly locust trees and bent-over willows, making for a rather unfriendly pasture but excellent bobcat habitat.
The pasture borders an alfalfa field on one side, and the fence separating the two forms and “L” shape, and the lane where I was driving turns and follows that fence around the front of the pasture. At the corner where the fence and lane turn, a nice big male bobcat awaited me in a cage trap placed there.
In trapping, nothing is more important than placing traps at just the right locations where you know from tracks, etc. that critters are traveling. I knew from experience that the lane along the creek was a favorite travel route of bobcats. I catch one at that same place most years, so a trap there stood a good chance of connecting. But when trapping bobcats, there are also some other things you can do to turn the odds in your favor.
Bobcat cage trap
Bobcats are nothing more than oversized, wild housecats and behave much the same. If needing to describe bobcats in one word, that word would be finicky. What grabs and holds their attention today might not garner a second glance from them tomorrow, so the more different looks and smells you can give them the better. I use a variety of smells at each trap. A dab of sweet smelling lure placed just above the trap, a different skunky smelling lure high on a post or tree limb where it will be picked up and carried by the wind, and a spray of bobcat urine nearby are some ways I do that.
Cats’ are known to hunt with their eyes a little more than coyotes, so the more intriguing things you can give them to look at the better. If using a foothold trap, I will dig a big obnoxious looking hole then put a piece of fur, a rabbit carcass or a tuft of feathers down deep in the hole to make them wonder what’s there. When using a cage trap, I’ll wire a rabbit, duck or goose carcass in the very front of the cage as though they were hiding there.
Above, out-of-reach on a tree limb or bush I’ll hang a goose wing from a piece of fishing line so it will twirl and flap in the breeze. I’ve heard of trappers hanging all sorts of things to get their attention, including CD’s which will flash in the sunlight or moonlight as they spin. I collect down stuffing from old feather pillows and as a finishing touch I’ll toss a handful of it into a nearby cedar tree or bush. To any critter passing near, that sticks out like wearing white socks with black pants, or like white tape on the broken nose piece of your glasses.
When I first started trapping in Kansas, catching a bobcat seemed as impossible as catching a marlin from Kannapolis Lake. With a little advice from other experienced trappers, lots of time spent in the woods and a few of the above tricks I now catch a few each season….Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!
Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].
In 1983, President Ronald Reagan stood before the press and television cameras at the White House and held up a report titled A Nation at Risk. Eighteen months in the making and written by members of the National Commission on Excellence in Education at the behest of Secretary of Education, the report examined the quality of education in the United States—and the findings were atrocious . The commission found few signs of encouragement about the American education system. Test scores were rapidly declining, low teaching salaries and poor teacher training programs were leading to a high turnover rate among educators, and other industrialized countries were threatening to outpace America’s technological superiority. The report provided mounds of statistical evidence —23 million American adults were functionally illiterate; the average achievement for high school students on standardized tests was lower than before the launch of Sputnik in 1957; and only one-fifth of 17-year old students had the ability to write a persuasive essay.
Thirty-two years later, Kansas Governor Sam Brownback aims to roll back the clock. Today in Kansas, only one-fifth of 4 year olds have access to public pre-school. But before we get to that, last week Gov. Brownback delivered both the State of the State address and his budget. The speech blamed Public Education for budget woes, which is a lie, but he went further and pointed to prior Republican legislatures as crooks who conspired to make the “at risk” weightings too complicated and confusing in the hope to abuse tax dollars. There seems to be no one he won’t throw under the proverbial bus on the quest to income tax elimination.
The Governor’s budget essentially rewrites history, or more accurately erases history. School districts are left wondering how the “block grant” will be allocated to each of the nearly 300 districts. Everything since the 1983 Nation at Risk report tells us that students who demonstrate risk factors ranging from poverty to health to geography require significantly more time, talent, and treasure to close the achievement gap with their peers. This budget denies those facts. Gov. Brownback believes that those facts and their subsequent measuring formula for fund allocation are too complicated and confusing.
If Kansas doesn’t live up to its constitution and isn’t held accountable for not doing so, then the bedrock of democracy is cracked. Thomas Jefferson said “An educated citizenry is a vital requisite for our survival as a free people”. All across the world people fear what they don’t understand. Simply because Gov. Brownback does not understand how the at-risk weighting formula works does not mean that it must be destroyed. Fortunately, it is education that rectifies the unknown and diminishes fear.
Under the new budget, each school district is facing unnecessary multi-million dollar cuts for at least the next 2 years. The rest of the country is investing in education, especially early education and Kansas is putting itself at risk. Gov. Brownback has taken none of the steps prescribed by the Federal Court that ruled he is already violating current constitutional law. Retention and recruitment of quality educators is more difficult than ever in this self-inflicted cannibalization of our education system. The future of Kansas is at risk.
Early Education is vital to that future. Pre-K for all 4 year olds is the national standard now. According to the Kansas Department of Education, Kansas is not meeting that standard, only one-fifth of Kansas 4 year olds have access to state funded public school. The evidence regarding early education is overwhelming. Kansas Department of Education report shows at least 7-10% return on investment for every dollar invested in school readiness preparation of our nearly 40,000 Kansas 4 year olds. If all 4 year olds were to be grouped together they would constitute a population comparable to the city of Hutchinson. Age 4 also corresponds with the highest potential for learning to happen. Young families are struggling to pay the exorbitant cost of private pre-school. It costs over $600 a month for pre-school in Manhattan, but only $600 a year for fees at the Public High School. The immediate effects of young families seeing upwards of $7,000 in their pockets from child care savings a year coupled with the 7-10% long term return on investment for the child’s early education is staggering when you take that multiplied by 40,000. No other issue does more to drive long-term economic development for businesses than a well-educated workforce. Public Education in Kansas is a constitutional priority, it is the fruit of the Kansans before us, and no other governor has done more to put that sacred trust at risk.
Aaron Estabrook, Board of Education, USD 383 Manhattan-Ogden
