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England exits the European Union

June 24, 2016, 9:26 am
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By SJ Otto
It is not a huge development for England to leave the European Common Market. But now that it has a lot depends on if other nations follow its lead. Financial markets have fallen, which may not be really that bad...and they are bound to stabilize soon. Prime Minister David Cameron, a ass jerk conservative, has resigned. No problem there.
Some of the people who wanted this to happen are really very conservative. Still, England has retaken its sovereignty. And as a secondary benefit the US government and a lot of liberal bourgeois government leaders are unhappy.
In the long run this will mean little to Europeand the world. In the short run it shook things up and set a lot of people straight.

There are a lot of countries, as Greece, that now should leave the EU. That way they can start to run their own affairs and reject all that crippling austerity measures they have been forced to endure.


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Retirement a "train wreck" for baby boomers and future generations

June 26, 2016, 10:41 am
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By SJ Otto
This week I read The Wichita Eagle'sarticle called "Challenges ahead as baby boomers begin to retire"[1]and I found a few of my own observations to the so called problem. Many people are calling the baby boomer's retirement a "train wreck." They are looking at the giant boost of retirees as compared to the past— from 65,000 to 111,000. Baby boomer is the group I mostly fit into. I will be retiring in the next 6 to 7 years and I expect the same things the past generation had. Ten years ago, the last generation went around bragging that they paid into the system and they insisted that it was workers like me who had the responsibility of paying for their retirement, even though many of us would not live long enough to see our own retirement. I'm getting on in years and I keep hearing politicians talk about forcing people to work until their 70s before they are eligible to retire at all. While it is true that many of us will live longer than the last generation we still get sick a lot. I know I do. So I need both the money and I need the health care. Also jobs are not that easy to find. I've been looking lately and they aren't handing them out like candy. The next generation may find that they not only have to work years  more before collecting Social Security and Medicare, they will also have to find jobs in a tight market. They may have to go without work OR social security and Medicare.  
I probably am old enough to avoid these problems, but if you are a lot younger, 50 or less years, better pay attention to what politicians do now. Don't wait, it will be too late—and/or when you finally get as old as me, you may be in for a very miserable surprise.
Sunday's article had written about the need for skilled workers for the future of industry and commerce. In other words companies are worried about losing some skilled workers. But they are not too worried. Automation will make some jobs obsolete. Some young people are being well schooled to take over for many of the skilled professionals leaving. Some places are stepping down some of their workers into retirement, so the skills can be retained. But not many are doing the last thing and those that are are only doing it for the highest 10 to 20 percent of skilled workers.
As for me I can't wait to retire. I have no interest in helping out the economy. That is because in this Republican Party economy workers are treated almost as bad as they were treated back at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is not surprising that companies in France are trying to imitate working conditions here. That would include attempts to make it easier to fire people (as in the US), extending a 35 hour work week to a much longer one, maybe 40 and attempts to crack down on their unions.[2]Unions and workers are rebelling in France. In the US workers just learn to put up with les and les all the time. In the US we can be fired at anytime. We can be fired for what is on our Facebook page and that has happened several times. In the last 30 years labor unions here have really taken a beating. Most have been broken. Others have found they have little actual muscle to force companies to negotiate with them. Many companies look to keep wages down and there are fewer and fewer benefits to holding a job. As an example many teachers have had so much taken from them in the State of Kansas that many have taken early retirement or left for other states. The state of Kansas keeps taking away various benefits the teachers now have. All across the country this is happing, such as in Wisconsin. It is foolish for companies to believe they can treat workers this bad and then be surprised that most older workers have no interest in working past their retirement age if they can avoid it. Why should we work for people who don't show any appreciation for what we do?     
I'm doing what I can to get ready for retirement. I have no money save up, although I have a few antiques I can sell. We paid off our house so I don't have to pay an exorbitant rent. And I have NO INTEREST in contributing to the economy past my retirement age. I feel I have contributed more than my share already and the people I worked for rarely appreciated it. I will still write my blog though.




[1]DAN VOORHIS, "Challenges ahead as baby boomers begin to retire"The Wichita Eagle, June 26, 2016, pp. 1A, 10A.
[2] See "French strikes: Does France's Workforce really have it easy?"BBC, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-36387492

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US Surpreme Court Victory for abortion rights celebrated in Wichita

June 28, 2016, 10:56 pm
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From Trust Women:
Today was one spectacular Monday for women, especially those who need abortion care. 

The U.S. Supreme Court, in its majority decision on Whole Women's Health v. Hellerstedt, said what we've argued all along. Requirements for abortion clinics and providers such as ambulatory surgery centers and hospital admitting privileges don't help women. They hinder them.

From Justice Stephen G. Breyer's majority opinion striking down parts of a Texas law: "We conclude that neither of these provisions offers medical benefits sufficient to justify the burden upon access that each imposes. Each places a substantial obstacle in the path of women seeking a previability abortion, each constitutes an undue burden on abortion access, and each violates the Federal Constitution."

Can I get an amen?


We are elated by the decision, but we won't rest until all pregnant people can easily access abortion care.

Women in Texas have driven hundreds of miles out of their way, including to our Trust Women South Wind Women's Center, to get care because of waiting lists there. Our clinic (click here to take a video tour) may look just like any other doctor's office, but countless times patients have told me how nice it is. How surprised they were that it was so pretty inside. And, unfortunately, how scared they were at first because of the terrible lies the antis had told them. 

The stigma against abortion is that intense. 

As we celebrate this day, please consider a monthly contribution and become a part of ourCircle of Trust to expand high-quality abortion access.

Monthly contributions keep our costs low and help us plan ahead for our next clinic.

Never doubt that your support makes a difference. 


Julie A. Burkhart
Founder and CEO

Trust Women
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Project Veritas, from New York, comes to Wichita to harass and smear our teachers

June 30, 2016, 9:22 am
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By SJ Otto
KAKE TV and other news organizations have covered a story by an anti-teacher's union right-wing smear group that has focused their attention on the leader of a teacher's union.
Steve Wentz, president of the United Teachers of Wichita and former teacher at Southeast, was filmed by so called journalists of the smear group Project Veritas, making damaging remarks about threatening a student with physical violence.
KAKE.com | Wichita, Kansas News, Weather, Sports


This looks bad, but union officials have said the film has been heavily edited and Project Veritas is running smear campaign. Still KAKE has followed through on the film asking teachers in the district what they think of this.  
I went to the right-wing website of Breitbart.com, which is supporting Project Veritas and found it very disturbing:

"A Project Veritas undercover investigative series revealing the corruption within teachers unions in the New York City area now turns to expose a local teachers union president in Wichita, Kansas."

Breitbart.com gave us more details on the type of harassment this groups inflicts on teachers. Here is what Breitbart.com said of Project Veritas:

"In the other videos in the Project Veritas series on teachers unions, the journalists uncover union officials who advise them on how to hide child abuse and excessive absenteeism, and admit to refusing to report teachers who abuse drugs."

This is the kind of harassment we saw from the anti-abortion groups, such as Operation Rescue,where they stalks and harasses doctors and employees of abortion clinics. But Operation Rescue believes it is saving unborn babies. What is the motivation for harassment of teachers and their union members? What horrible wrong have teachers possibly done to deserve this kind of a hate filled smear campaign? They seem to brag about wanting to get rid of teachers for using drugs, drinking and possibly other adult activities that are perfectly legal or acceptable if a teacher is not on the job, even if these things are done off the job. They have a page they call "Teacher's Union Gone Wild." They don't respect the teacher's private lives at all.
Teachers have been under attack in Kansas from their governor, Sam Brownback. He has already tried to strip the teacher's unions of any real power. He has attacked the schools as well. Some teachers already feel heat from unsatisfied student's parents on top of legislators who seem to attack their lively hood and they often complain of feeling disrespected by both. Now they have a whole new group, from New York, who seem to hate the idea the most teachers in the country have a union to defend and protect them. Such people  seem determined that no one in Americawill have job security or respect for their profession.
To treat teachers this way is repugnant. We need to oppose these hate mongers at every opportunity.


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June 30, 2016, 9:22 am
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Kansas hospitals seek federal intervention to stop Medicaid cuts

July 1, 2016, 12:21 pm
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It's about time someone did something about the horrible destruction being inflicted on the State of Kansasby our thoughtlessly neglective Governor, Sam Brownback. Action needs to be taken. What Brownback is doing to this state and the medical profession is just plain criminal. He is harming both the hospitals, that the people of Kansasrely on and the poorer citizens who are presently being denied their basic healthcare needs. To deliberately let people die from medical neglect is nothing short of murder. And people in many rural parts of the state have no real alternatives if their hospitals go under. Some people may be as much as a hundred miles from the nearest hospital if these trends continue. Brownback must be stopped at all costs. -SJ Otto   

From KHI News Service:

By Jim McLean
The Kansas Hospital Association is urging federal officials to stop Gov. Sam Brownback from implementing $56.4 million in Medicaid cuts set to take effect Friday.
Brownback ordered the cuts in May to cover shortfalls in the fiscal year 2017 budget approved by the Legislature. The hospital association is asking the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to immediately intervene to stop the cuts, which include a 4 percent reduction in provider payments.
“Kansasis attempting to fund its self-inflicted budget deficit in substantial part on the backs of Medicaid patients and hospitals and other health care providers,” wrote Tom Bell, KHA president and chief executive, in a June 29 letter to Andy Slavitt, the acting administrator of CMS.

Under normal circumstances, the state would be permitted to implement the cuts before submitting a Medicaid plan amendment to CMS for approval. But Bellargues federal officials need to act quickly to prevent cuts that he and others say could limit Medicaid beneficiaries’ access to care.
For the rest click here.


Photo byKHI News ServiceFile Tom Bell, left, president and CEO of the Kansas Hospital Association, sent a letter to federal officials asking them to immediately intervene to stop $56.4 million in Medicaid cuts set to take effect Friday. 
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Happy Fourth of July—it was the creation of a new nation, for good or bad—Now it's time for fireworks

July 1, 2016, 10:35 pm
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By SJ Otto
This year, as every year,  I plan to light off fireworks and take part in a family cook out with my family. 
Pix by www.skylighterfireworks.com.

While I am a leftist, that doesn't mean I don't like or admire some of our founding fathers. I like to remind people that there are both and bad things about the USrevolution. We are talking about a revolution that concluded with the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by the Continental Congress declaring that the thirteen American colonies were to become an independent nation.
Of our founding fathers, the Republicans (anti-aristocrats at that time) included both Thomas Paine and Thomas Jefferson. They differed from George Hamilton and his Federalists who wanted to create some new kind of aristocracy.  In his later writings, Paine condemned the Federalists for trying to reverse the US revolution and what it stood for.
Thomas Paine 


Thomas Jefferson


I’ve often enjoyed reading Jefferson. His best writings were from his letters where he could write honestly about the people he had to deal with in the late 1700s, both before and after his presidency. I like the fact that he was not religious; he had an almost Epicurean view, as didPaine.I share his Epicurean beliefs. Jefferson was well educated.
I’ll never forget what he wrote comparing Hamiltonto John Adams in his letters:

“Another incident took place on the same occasion, which will further delineate Mr. Hamilton’s political principles. The room being hung around with a collection of the portraits of remarkable men, among them where those of (Francis) Bacon, (Isaac) Newtonand (John) Locke, Hamilton asked me who they were. I told him they were my trinity of the three greatest men the world had ever produced, naming them. He paused for some time: “the greatest man,” said he, “that ever lived, was Julius Caesar.” Mr. Adams was honest as a politician, as well as a man; Hamilton honest a man, but, as a politician, believing in the necessity of either force or corruption to govern men.”[1]

I would have drawn about the same conclusion about Hamilton, accept I would have been harsher on him. He seemed a bit of a dolt, to believe the Caesar was the greatest man who ever lived. Caesar was a tyrant and an imperialist. He had some good qualities, but comparing Jefferson’s favorites to Hamilton’s was like comparing a Harley Davidson Sportster to a tricycle. Hamiltonwas clueless as a revolutionary. I don’t share Jefferson’s enthusiasm for all of his theoreticians, but at least they are people with theoretical modern ideas for their time and scientific views as opposed to a political brute.
As for the judgment of Jefferson based on his 1700s writings, I can point to the writings of Antonio Gramsci in his writings on “Judgment of Past Philosophies;”

“The superficial criticism of subjectivism in the “Popular Study” leads into a more general question, that of the standpoint taken regarding past philosophies and philosophers. To judge the whole philosophical past as madness and folly is not only an anti-historical error, since it contains the anachronistic pretence that in the past they should have thought like today, but it is a truly genuine hangover of metaphysics, since it supposes a dogmatic thought valid at all times and in all countries, by whose standard one should judge all the past. Anti-historical method is nothing but metaphysics. The fact that philosophical systems have been suspended does not exclude the fact that they were historically valid and carried out a necessary function:
Their short-livedness should be considered from the point of view of the entire historical development and of the real dialectic; that they deserved to perish is neither a moral judgment nor sound thinking emerging from an “objective” point of view, but a dialectical-historical judgment. One can compare this with Engels’ presentation of the Hegelian proposition that “all that is rational is real and all that is real is rational”, a proposition which will be valid for the past as well.
In the Study the past is judged as “irrational” and “monstrous” and the history of philosophy becomes the historical treatment of teratology, since he starts from a metaphysical point of view. (In fact the Communist Manifesto contains the highest praise of the dying world.) If this way of judging the past is a theoretical error and a deviation from Marxism, can it have any educational significance, will it generate activity? It does not appear so, because the question would reduce itself to presuming that one is a special person simply because one was born in the present time and not in a past century. But at every time there has been a past and a present and being “up to date” is praise only for jokes.”[2]

Paine went to France to take part in the French Revolution, for which he wrote The Rights of Man.He fell out of favor of France’s first non-aristocratic leader, Maximilien Robespierre (also anti-aristocratic and considered an ally of the Republican movement). Paine remained in France until 1802, when he returned to Americaon an invitation from Thomas Jefferson, after he was elected president.
Pain condemned Napoleon Bonaparte's coup d'état, overthrowing the  French Directory,calling him "the completest charlatan that ever existed."
Today the US supports regressive feudal states such as  Saudi Arabiaand Bahrain. The US is now the closest thing to the ancientRoman Empire, controlling almost ALL of the modern world.
Today we still have a quasi democracy (actually an oligarchy). We have a president, barely elected by people. Today this country takes part in torture, drone assassinations and concentration camps, in GuantanamoBay. So there is a lot of bad baggage that this country has today.
And yet some good came out of the US Revolution, even if that revolution has far less modern significance than it had 200 years ago.
So the importance of this holiday for me is the family time, the observance of such important men as Jefferson and Paine, and knowing that history follows an important path from regressive to progressive states of government. The line is not always straight or consistent. But it is history and we can celebrate it as we want.

Something in the Air - Tom Petty





[1]Thomas Jefferson, The Life and Selected Writings of, (Modern Library Paperback), 1998, p. 558.

[2]Antonio Gramsci, The Modern Prince & other writings, (International Publishers) 2000, pp. 109-110.

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This Land Is Your Land - Woody Guthrie -Original lyrics

July 4, 2016, 6:14 am
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I love this song although they play it at a lot of patriotic shindigs. Actually the words to this original song are different and have a line about defying private property....wonderful! -SJ Otto
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4rth of July greetings and future rallies planned for Abortion Rights

July 4, 2016, 7:42 am
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From Julie Burkhart, of Trust Women:
Dr. George Tiller loved the Fourth of July, and he loved this country.

One of the most patriotic people I've ever met, Dr. Tiller was committed to ensuring reproductive freedom for women until his assassination in 2009. 

An Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinaiprofessor once called Dr. Tiller "a genuine hero who ranks alongside Susan B. Anthony and Martin Luther King Jr. in the pantheon of defenders of human liberty."

We will be thinking of Dr. Tiller's vast service, both to his country and this community, today and later this month when anti-choice groups protest women's rights outside our clinic. 



I hope you'll join us Saturday for the Repro Rally in Old Town Square, stop by the clinic for our July 15 #ShowSomeMercy Celebration and mark your calendar for a book signing July 21 by David S. Cohen, the co-author of "Living in the Crosshairs: The Untold Stories of Anti-Abortion Terrorism."

I wish you a happy and safe Fourth. 

Julie A. Burkhart
Founder and CEO
Trust Women
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It was a good 4rth of July

July 7, 2016, 12:59 am
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I love this song although they play it at a lot of patriotic shindigs. Actually the words to this original song are different and have a line about defying private property...."They put a wall up to try and stop me, and a sign painted said private property, on the back side it didn't say nothing" wonderful! I also included some fireworks from my celebration yesterday


My Brother Chris Otto with sparklers.
My Brother John Otto with a Roman candle.
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It's time to vote the bums out!!

July 7, 2016, 7:12 pm
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By SJ Otto
It is that time again, or should I say the election season here in Kansas. We have a lot riding on this election season. it is too early to vote on our governor, but we CAN vote out all the crentinous minions of our governor, in the Kansas House and Senate. Our governor has destroyed our educational system, he has come up short for many of our services that the State of Kansas provides for. Programs for the poor have been slashed to the point of no return. And the governor and his minions have passed new laws to humiliate the poor as well as cutting back on their safety net.
His refusal to expand Medicaid has caused the closing of hospitals as well as costing poor people their lives. Many will die early in life due to a lack of health care.
All this was done to provide generous tax cuts to the State's wealthiest business people.
So it is really important to pay attention to those who are running, especially those running for re-election. One clue to all of this are the Letters to Editor of The Wichita Eagle that people write in for their favorite candidate. Here is an example of a plea for the re-election of Ty Masterson, a Republican from Andover and presently in the Kansas Senate. Writing to The Wichita Eagle, Karen Carlin Dornbush, of Wichitawrites:

"Unfortunately, the news cycle and social media echo chamber focus only on the negative headlines and controversy rather than on the many positive results that have been produced. He emphasized that the truth is out there, encouraged each of us to find it, and to find ways to share these facts with others. My research tells me that Masterson is the candidate who has and will continue to get the job done for all Kansans."
What Dornbush has not actually told us is WHAT if anything has this person done for the good of Kansas. It is apparent that Masterson is one of Brownback's minions, a rubber stamp, who has allowed our idiot governor to wreck our state. I can't imagine that this man has done anything that has made Kansasa better place to live. Let's not vote for this idiot. Send him packing---->

On the other hand William A. Bloomer, of Wichita has written in favor of David Dennis for the Sedgwick County Commission. While the writer brags that Dennis is a conservative Republican he also said:

"But in the past two years I have become very concerned about the direction the current majority of the Sedgwick County Commission is taking us. They make decisions that are pulling apart the fabric of our community, such as funding cuts and lack of support for nonprofits such as the Sedgwick County Zoo."
This indicates he is not in favor of the kind of "Brownback style destruction" that our country commissioners are carrying out. This candidate may show some promise if he is going to stop the destruction of our county infrastructure.
And Mike Hill, of Wichita, also wrote about Dennis:
" Dennis will bring a fresh perspective and new leadership to SedgwickCounty. He will listen to and work for the citizens of District 3 and not engage in far-out political haranguing that has little to do with the issues confronting SedgwickCounty."
Again we see reasons to support the Dennis campaign, even though he is conservative.
The commission vote will be on Aug. 2.
I hope to bring up more articles for voter consideration. This is an important election. We need all the votes we can get whether they are moderate Republicans or Democrats. We need to pull the rug out from under our destructive governor Brownback.

Any candidate who wants to get some publicity for themselves can contact me here at this blog, on my e-mail, ottozero2001@yahoo.com. I am eager to help any candidate who wants to work towards defanging our idiot governor. 

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Sniper latest incident in our culture of death

July 8, 2016, 11:24 am
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From Otto's War Room:
It's funny how Hollywoodmakes heroes out of our service men who act as snipers. But we don't honor such people when they turn their craft on the rest of us. Actually the man who committed last night's sniper attack is a military vet,  is 25-year-old Micah Johnson. Maybe he will get a movie that makes him out a hero for his violent deeds, when all is over. That is the pattern on a nation that glamorizes violence.
It should not surprise us that the a sniper wanted to even out the score after all the black people being killed by police. They are some awful iffy cases. We have to wonder why nothing is ever done when a civilian is killed by police. Such is the case of Freddie Gray, who suffered a fatal spinal cord injury during a “rough ride” while in the custody of the Baltimore Police Department on April 12, 2015. How does a man bound at the feet and hands, fall over and just happens to snap his spinal cord and die? We will never know. A judge let the officer go who was responsible for it.
It looks like no judge will get the chance to let off the five dead officers that have been killed by our heroic sniper. And to stop the sniper, they decided to stop talking to him and use the equivalent of a drone to BOMB him to death. Was that really necessary or did the cops just want revenge they felt was coming to them?
Either way, we live in a culture where guns and violence are worshiped like God himself. And we pay for that, with the violence that comes from such a society. This is just one more example.

Being a sniper is SOOOO sexy!!


Pix by www.mooma.sh.
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Reproductive rights rally to head off anti-abortion bullies' Summer of Mercy Anniversary

July 9, 2016, 5:25 pm
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By SJ Otto
Hundreds of anti-abortion activists people plan to swoop down on Wichita next Saturday, July 16, to rally for the 25th anniversary of the Summer of Mercy. It was 25 years ago that anti-abortion bigots tried to close all three of Wichita's abortion clinics. Today there is only one clinic and it is Trust Women South Wind Women's Center. There is also a Planned Parent facility here in Wichita but no abortions are performed there.
The main organization behind this effort is Operation Save America, based in Waco, Texas. From year to year these antis seem to change their names. But as with the groups before them, the message is the same, to try and close clinics and make health care un-accessible to local area women. For that reason, several area pro-women and pro-abortion groups organized a pro-abortion; Repro Rally.
About 200 people attended the rally, which included booths and speakers.
"Defending the rights of poor people is a full-time job," said Gail Finney, a Democrat member of the Kansas House of Representatives, 84th house district.
Finney is one of the few liberal, pro-abortion and pro-women's rights representatives in the Kansas legislature.
"What ever they do, we can do better," Finney said of the anti-abortion crowd. "Because of the latest (US) Supreme Court decision this is an opportunity for us."
All through the rally speakers focused on not just defending abortion rights, but expanding them as well.
"Because of our next generation we need to stop all of this crazy right-wing silliness," Finney continued. "Our roads and schools are underfunded."  
Julie Burkhart, Founder and CEO of Trust Women, spoke of the anti-abortion crowd's first anniversary of the Summer of Mercy.
"They came back the next year to finish the job but, we stood up to them," Burkhart said. "We are in this for the very long hall. We will never give up."
She added that they have formed a god of their own, one to try and back up all the lies they tell.
"Forty-Two percent of the American Women can't be wrong," she added, pointing to statistics that tell how many women in the US support full abortion rights. "We are not going to back down. Our fabric is tight."
Also speaking was a women calling herself Melissa. She spoke of the hardships she faced after being sexually assaulted and raped.
"After my assault I quit going to school everyday," she said. "I drank more for more for months after that. I was financially unstable. I considered suicide. I battled night mares and paranoia."
She got help from the Planned Parent services.
"I wasn't just a patient I was a person," she added.

Organizations represented at this event included the FirstUnitarianUniversalChurch, Medical Students for Choice, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, Wichita Transgender Community Network and Miranda Allen supporters who were collecting signatures for her to run as an independent for US Representative in the 4rth District. Mike Pompeo, a far-right Republican presently holds that seat. The Democrat running is not pro-choice, nor is he particularly progressive.  
About 200 people came out for the Repro Rally.


Representative Gail Finney said the latest Supreme court decision is an opportunity.
Melissa spoke of hardships from being sexually assaulted. 



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Yes...we are pandering to the Democratic Party

July 11, 2016, 5:20 pm
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I don't always give in to fund raising pandering for the Democrats, but then again, it could be worse. For example it could be pandering for the Republicans. -SJ Otto

From Markos Moulitsas
Founder and Publisher, Daily Kos:

Yeah, we’re not going to pretend like we’re losing. We're going to own the truth.

Hillary is kicking Donald Trump's ass. We’re winning the race for the White House, and we’re winning big.

Republicans running for House and Senate this year can't run away from the Donald fast enough. The GOP could be in full retreat by fall, and Democrats need as few as four seats to flip the Senate and confirm a liberal Supreme Court majority, and we have nine solid pickup opportunities.

Can you chip in $1 to each of Daily Kos' endorsed candidates for Senate?

Chipping in to Democrats running for House and Senate now could be the difference between winning in November and winning big. That’s what’s at stake. That’s the difference between taking the election cycle for granted and working our asses off.

Let me explain: We have three possible outcomes:

1) President Clinton, Republican Congress

2) President Clinton, Democratic Senate, Republican House

3) Democratic trifecta

The third option is within the realm of possibility, but it’ll take A LOT of work. So stop being afraid of success, and start being confident and fighting like we own this cycle, because we do!

This year we’re not fighting for survival, we’re fighting to decimate the GOP.


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A Drone Was Used to Blow up a US Citizen Without Trial. Let That Sink In

July 13, 2016, 9:54 am
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This is worth thinking about- SJ Otto

From theAnti-Media:
(RPI) The Dallasshootings have ushered in a very new world for U.S. citizens. For the very first time, a drone has been used on U.S.soil to kill an American without trial or charges.
The suspected shooter in yesterday’s tragic killings, U.S. Army veteran Micah Xavier Johnson, was, according to police and press reports, holed up in a parking garage and would not give himself up. After hours of what police claimed were fruitless negotiations with Johnson, a weaponized robot was sent to where he was hiding and blown up, taking Johnson with it.
Get past the horror of what Johnson was accused of doing and think about that precedent for a moment. Is it not chilling?


For the rest click here.
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Day after day...I watch the news...and get a head ache

July 15, 2016, 11:55 am
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By SJ Otto
Day after day, I turn on my TV to see the early morning news. It is mostly Good Morning America(ABC) and it is more about celebrities than anything else. They have the latest boy band, or woman singer, or some woman that decided her voice was great so she video taped her singing the Star Spangle Bannerat the Lincoln Memorial and it went viral (a phrase I'm beginning to get sick of). An instant celebrity, easy as can be.
But what about actual news. It's there. buried beneath the next "Dances with the Stars" winners and other useless crap. Who gets blown up in a terrorist attack, who gets bombed in the middle east and who is ahead in the elections is only a small detail of the day.

I get a head ache watching that stuff. I can turn to other stations but they are just barely any different. So every station I watch in the morning gives me a head ache and I barely get any real news. I do learn about the latest air headed celebrities that I have no real interest in knowing anything about. Maybe if I were 13 again I would like this kind of news...but I'm not.

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Wichita's Pro-choice members meet and mingle at Trust Women

July 16, 2016, 3:55 pm
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By SJ Otto

We are standing up to the anti-abortion fanatics. Here many of Wichita's pro-abortion people met at the Trust Women South Wind Women's Center clinic on East Kellogg. Here many of Wichita's pro-choice crowd mingle and talk the hours away this last Friday for the Show Me the Mercy Celebration.


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Anti-abortion group gears up for a week of harassment: gets plenty of coverage in local newspaper

July 17, 2016, 4:17 pm
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By SJ Otto
It's hard to say how much news coverage Operation Save America deserves for their  week long attempts at disrupting Wichita's only abortion clinic, Trust Women South Wind Women's Center with their so called “Summer of Justice.” But The Wichita Eaglehas given them generous coverage.
They deserve some coverage for making waves in Wichita, but not out right promotional information. The Wichita Eagle has given out a lot of information for those who want to attend these events, such as which churches supporters can go to and the times to go to them. One part of the article I strongly disagree with is about a man to came to these church and political leaders to get off drugs.
As someone who has written on the subject of drug abuse and treatment I strongly oppose the idea of just joining up with one of these fundamentalist religions as a way to get off of drug use. The Wichita Eagle has such a story in their article under "Prayer vigil, church rally kick off week of anti-abortion activism in Wichita." In it a man has ended a 12 month treatment program after doing only 10 months. Church leaders from Operation Save America took him in, calling him a prodigal son, under the sub-heading "Prodigal sons welcome." I'm sure the church leaders told him to just turn to god and join their religion. Now he doesn't think he needs the treatment so he can join their political cause and spend all of his time obsessed with his new religion and that new religion will magically free him from the drugs.
There are two problems with that. One is that he is just trading one dangerous and reckless obsession for another. He won't be healthier, because if he gets away from that religion and those people for any length of time, he will relapse right away.[1] It is not a cure, it is a substitution for the addiction he had. Second, he will be taking up a destructive political path, selected by these leaders and base on THEIR interpretation of the Bible. The path is not chosen out of a sincere belief in the cause, but simply a way to stay off drugs. That kind of roping in addicts is just not ethical.
Overall, Operation Save America is extremely anti-tolerant of other people's religions.
One of their activist, Ante Pavkovic, a North Carolina pastor, was arrested some time back for disrupting a Hindu prayer in the U.S. Senate. The group's members have also burned Qurans and flags they deemed as representing homosexuals. From their own website:

The question has been asked, “Have you burned the Quran?  The answer is yes.  But not the Quran alone....

....In 2004, we added the homosexual flag and the Quran as we saw the rise of Islam, the normalization of homosexuality, and the continued shedding of innocent blood through abortion as a sign of the judgment of Almighty God upon a nation who had ignored His warnings.  Today, September 11, we remember the horrific moment that thousands of innocents died and blood ran through our streets.  We also need to remember that on that same day, more innocent blood was shed through abortion than as a result of the terrorist attack in NYC.  God hates the shedding of innocent blood and it brings His judgment upon a nation.

It is hard to understand why this group is not treated as a terrorist organization, as with certain Muslim groups. They are a fanatic groups, they are intolerant of other people's religions and sometimes these groups endorse violence against abortion doctors and clinic workers.

[1] Steve Otto, War on Drugs/ War on People, (Ide House, Las Colinas) 1995, pp. 181- 182.

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Day after day watching the Republican National Convention

July 20, 2016, 6:51 am
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By SJ Otto
Once again we are treated by our dream team news people to the glowing positive Republican National Convention (NRC). It is bad enough we have a phoney democracy— a two party system, where the parties are only marginally different. But some news outlets treat the players as if they are rock stars at a concert. There is no real honest analysis of these people or their party (Republican). Most of what I see is nothing new. Donald Trump is now the official candidate—go figure!? His wife doesn't write her own speeches and who ever did, stole parts of it from Michelle Obama. Not much of that is real news. There is virtually no coverage of the protesters out side. That would be the real news. That would be where the surprises are.






The real news- NewsChannel 5 reports live inside RNC protest march- Tara Molina



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'Gerrymandering On Steroids': How Republicans Stacked The Nation's Statehouses

July 21, 2016, 5:41 am
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No one will be surprised to hear that I don't like Republicans. I have notices for years that the Republican Party is getting good at winning elections. A good example is here in Kansaswhere most of the major Republican incumbent candidates were losing in the polls. Yet they won the election and that includes re-electing the most unpopular governor in the history of Kansas. Some of their tricks we know about, such as thenew voting lawsthat discriminate against minorities. Othersare more of a secret. This latest article opens a whole new explanation of how and why the Republican Party never seems to lose. It isn't just politics— its also dirty tricks. This is one of the worst I have seen yet. That party has circumvented democracy to the point of making it out to be nothing more than a joke. What amazes me are all the comments after this article where conservatives defend what their party has done. For example:
"How  2 days ago
Oh please. Democrats do the EXACT SAME THING when they are in control!
Republicans generally do better in midterm elections because Democrats are too lazy to vote in the midterm years (or maybe they aren't aware there is a midterm election, or the van with the free lunch never picked them up for early voting)."
This is not only undemocratic it is paaathetic! -SJ Otto

From WBUR:
It was never a secret. In 2010, the conservative political strategist Karl Rovetook to the Wall Street Journal and laid out a plan to win majorities in state legislatures across the country.
"He who controls redistricting can control Congress," read the subhead to Rove's column.
The plan, which its architects dubbed REDMAP for Redistricting Majority Project, hinged on the fact that states redraw their electoral maps every 10 years according to new Census data. REDMAP targeted states where just a few statehouse seats could shift the balance to Republican control in the crucial Census year of 2010.
That plan worked spectacularly. It's why today Republicans have a majority in nearly two-thirds of the country's state legislative chambers. And it's why in 2012 Democratic statehouse candidates won 51 percent of the vote in Pennsylvania, which voted for Barack Obama in the presidential election, yet those candidates ended up with only 28 percent of the seats in the legislature.
Here & Now's Robin Young learns how this happened from David Daley, editor-in-chief of Salon and the author of "Ratf**ked: The True Story Behind the Secret Plan to Steal America's Democracy."

Interview Highlights: David Daley

On what gerrymandering means:
"Gerrymandering is the word that put us all to sleep in eighth grade civics class, but it is the most important factor in the building blocks of our democracy, which is how the lines are drawn in our legislative districts. Politicians on both sides do it in order to get revenge on an enemy, maybe steal a seat here and there where they didn't deserve it. Gerrymandering changes in 2010. What the Republicans hit upon is a brilliant new plan to put gerrymandering on steroids, and build themselves a voter-proof firewall and it holds up in 2012, as you said."
On what the Red Map Project was:
“The Democrats cleaned the Republicans clocks in 2008. Republicans get depressed. One day, Chris Jankowski is reading a story in the New York Times, and he realizes, wait: 2010 is a zero year. My party is on the out now, but historically the party on the out does better in midterm elections, and Jankowski is a state government guy. He runs something called the Republican State Leadership Committee, so he understands how redistricting works at the state level. What he also understands is that there are 18 state legislative chambers in the country that the margin of control is so close that it's four votes or fewer. So he says, "Hey, it wouldn't cost me a whole lot of money to try to flip four or five legislative districts in these states.' So they go into Pennsylvania.”

or the rest click here.




Pix by ofpoliticsandmen.org.
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