Voice For Liberty

Month: May 2009

  • Kansas legislative roundup

    Highlights of session summarized (Tim Carpenter, Topeka Capital-Journal)

  • Articles of Interest

    Wichita school funding, Wichita city property, Kansas campaigns, Great Depression, No Child Left Behind.

  • Kansas City charter school succeeds in urban environment

    USD 259, the Wichita public school district, doesn’t want them. The Kansas National Education Association (KNEA) — the teachers union — doesn’t want them either. But where they’re able to exist, charter schools usually do a good job. They often excel. And where they don’t do a good job, they usually go out of business.

  • Wichita geophysicist to speak on climate change, politics

    Dennis Hedke is a professional geophysicist who will offer some insight into the Earth’s climate change and its relation to the political climate. This will be a Powerpoint presentation and should be very informative. Dennis is wading into the fray on the issue of climate change in an attempt to inform the public as to…

  • I’ll help you with technology

    I hate to see activists struggle with technology. Whether it’s creating and managing a blog, using Facebook or Twitter, or just using computers and the Internet effectively, I’d like to help.

  • Rebranding the green message

    The New York Times wrote a story about it, but it doesn’t seem to be gaining much traction. The article, published last Saturday, is titled Seeking to Save the Planet, With a Thesaurus. It tells of a memo accidentally sent to news media. Written by ecoAmerica, an “environmental marketing and messaging firm,” the memo describes…

  • Final budget legislation still fails to provide long-term budget solutions for Kansas

    Here’s a message from Americans For Prosperity — Kansas that, I believe, accurately assesses the current legislative session — now nearly over — and also the past few sessions. AFP State Director Derrick Sontag doesn’t mention the inflow of federal stimulus funds which took a lot of pressure off the legislature. That stimulus money isn’t…

  • Neodymium illustrates a consequence

    Our technology and economy is so complex and interdependent that it’s often impossible to predict the effect of one thing on another. Sometimes things done with the best of intentions — driving hybrid cars and building wind turbines, for example — have unintended consequences.

  • KNEA call for action overstates case, misleads Kansans

    Today’s edition of Under the Dome Today contains a call for action. This newsletter is the update of legislative action provided by KNEA, the Kansas National Education Association. For those of you who might think that an organization with such a lofty name is dedicated to the betterment of the education of Kansas schoolchildren, I…

  • At Wichita city council, citizens are frustrated

    Yesterday’s meeting of the Wichita City Council provided a lesson in how frustrating it can be for citizens to interact with city government. You might even have to endure a slight insult from our mayor.

  • For Kansas senate leadership, state jobs most important

    Over the past year, private sector employment in Kansas declined by 1.9%. At the same time, public sector employment — these are government employees at all levels — increased by 1.9%. (Indicators of the Kansas Economy) That’s not a wise move for Kansas — increasing the size of government at the expense of business.

  • Going green can cost too much green

    “For two years, the city of Durango, Colo., bought electricity for all its government buildings from wind farms. The City Council ended that program this year, reverting to electricity derived from coal-burning plants and saving the cash-strapped city about $45,000.” It’s becoming evident that all across the world, people are beginning to realize that “green”…