It hurts when you have to watch something you love get placed on the chopping block. Granted, it’s difficult to actually love a federal agency, but I grew up idolizing the people who work in it. When I was young, I’d visit one of its facilities at least once a month, and it never once got old. So, when President Obama decided to axe NASA’s next manned spaceflight program, Project Constellation, the kid in me, the one that could find his way around NASA’s Johnson Space Center practically blindfolded, just wanted to sit down and sob for a while.
There is a legend in southern McPherson County, which needs to be told to each generation of the souls who dwell there, “and everywhere.”
I will have to admit that as certain as I think we need universal health care reform, it doesn’t look likely it will get done this time. The election of Republican U.S. Senator Scott Brown from Massachusetts, who is opposed to universal health care reform, may be the “nail in the coffin.”
There is a big falderal over the closed-door sessions to work out a compromise over the health care reform bill. Republicans and other pundits, including U.S. Representative Jerry Moran, are all over this with criticism of the process.
Why do maps fascinate us so much? Perhaps because they give us a new way of looking at our world. Maybe because they allow us to experience the thrill of travels and new discoveries. If we study old maps, we see a world of the past, where the forces of history have changed borders,
It has been suggested that we begin holding Obama accountable (When is it Obama’s fault 1/13/10). On Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2010, President Barack Obama will have been in office one full year. As the leader of our country, he should be held accountable for the events, good and ill, of the past 12 months.
Unless you've been visiting another planet, you know that Massachusetts just held a special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Ted Kennedy. And, unless you've been watching CNN or MSNBC, you know that the outcome of that election is a pretty big deal.
The gavel dropped for the first time in Topeka last week, marking the opening of the 2010 legislative session. It’s always an exciting time. Regardless of the challenges facing the state, the new session always begins with fresh perspectives—and in many cases, new ideas from friends and neighbors back home.
George Orwell, in his essay “Politics and the English Language” wrote, “Political language - and with variations this is true of all political parties, from conservatives to anarchists - is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”
It really was cold last week! Once again I realized that I was simply too old for the cold. I, too, longed for some of that “global warming thingie” (1/13/10) when the garage thermometer hovered around minus four degrees. Most of us humans aren’t built for such frigid air.
Every time an elected official says something astonishingly stupid, one of my favorite games begins. It’s called, “Not as bad as...”
Central Kansas, early January - as of this writing, Kansans are bracing for yet another Arctic blast - the third in as many weeks. It's been days since we've seen any significant melting, or seen the sun for that matter. The weatherman has said repeatedly this will be the coldest winter in 25 years. It seems we've entered perma-winter mode.
In Jim Boyer’s most recent editorial about terrorism and the Christmas flight 253 incident over Detroit, he states that the root cause of this incident was because the previous administration did a poor job in carrying out the law of the land.
Perhaps, as William Hazlitt wrote, "words are the only things that last forever." For in the early 21st century, what should excite the public other than a new movie about a character first written in 1887? S
The most recent attempt by a terrorist to blow up a plane on its approach to Detroit airport is a good example of how our previous administration did its job in carrying out the law of the land. And, this is an area they claim great expertise in.
I’d like to extend a hearty thank you to the Department of Homeland Security and, specifically, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for proving, once again, that more money and bureaucracy does not equal a reasonable fix to a problem.
