#kansas
Kathleen Sebelius
Kathleen Sebelius was born in 1948 in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 2002, Sebelius was elected governor of Kansas, a post she held until 2009 when she was appointed Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. As HHS Secretary, she oversaw a $1 trillion budget and 90,000 employees in 50 countries. During this time, she worked to implement the Affordable Care Act.
People sunbathe and boat on reservoir water in Red Rock Canyon in Kansas, April 1952.Photograph by Jack Fletcher, National Geographic
Post link
Riddle of the Prairie Bride, by Kathryn Reiss. First of all, I think that “riddle” wasn’t the best word to use for the title. It sounds more like they were just trying to come up with synonyms for “mystery,” but there weren’t really any riddles involved.
There’s a lot of talk about Henry Clay that did not sound accurate to me.
Spoiler that I’m not sure is also a TW: there’s catfishing but it’s not entirely, as the communications were from the genuine person. The end result was pretending to be that person. But at the same time, the two women were supposedly good friends, but the pretend one couldn’t remember important information that she should have known.
Ida Kate blames her friend for filling her head with outrageous accusations, but it was really Ida Kate who came up with them in the first place.
Goodreads star rating: 3/5
Four Girl Scouts of Troop 15 in Emporia, Kansas Making Schoolbag with Supplies for “Schoolmates Overseas” in France.
If you would like to donate school supplies to needy children, check out Operation Backpack andBack-to-School Brigade.
Post link
In manhattan ks with nothing to do and no entertainment
Kansas’ Anti-Gay Segregation Bill Is an Abomination
By Mark Joseph Stern
On Tuesday, the Kansas House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a measure designed to bring anti-gay segregation—under the guise of “religious liberty”—to the already deep-red state. The bill, written out of fear that the state may soon face an Oklahoma-style gay marriage ruling, will now easily pass the Republican Senate and be signed into law by the Republican governor. The result will mark Kansas as the first state, though certainly not the last, to legalize segregation of gay and straight people in virtually every arena of life.
If that sounds overblown, consider the bill itself. When passed, the new law will allow any individual, group, or private business to refuse to serve gay couples if “it would be contrary to their sincerely held religious beliefs.” Private employers can continue to fire gay employees on account of their sexuality. Stores may deny gay couples goods and services because they are gay. Hotels can eject gay couples or deny them entry in the first place. Businesses that provide public accommodations—movie theaters, restaurants—can turn away gay couples at the door. And if a gay couple sues for discrimination, they won’t just lose; they’ll be forced to pay their opponent’s attorney’s fees. As I’ve noted before, anti-gay businesses might as well put out signs alerting gay people that their business isn’t welcome.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to barring all anti-discrimination lawsuits against private employers, the new law permits government employees to deny service to gays in the name of “religious liberty.” This is nothing new, but the sweep of Kansas’ statute is breathtaking. Any government employee is given explicit permission to discriminate against gay couples—not just county clerks and DMV employees, but literally anyone who works for the state of Kansas. If a gay couple calls the police, an officer may refuse to help them if interacting with a gay couple violates his religious principles. State hospitals can turn away gay couples at the door and deny them treatment with impunity. Gay couples can be banned from public parks, public pools, anything that operates under the aegis of the Kansas state government.
It gets worse. The law’s advocates claim that it applies only to gay couples—but there’s no clear limiting principle in the text of the bill that would keep it from applying to gay individuals as well. A catch-all clause allows businesses and bureaucrats to discriminate against gay people so long as this discrimination is somehow “related to, or related to the celebration of, any marriage, domestic partnership, civil union or similar arrangement.” (Emphases mine.) This subtle loophole is really just a blank check to discriminate: As long as an individual believes that his service is somehow linked to a gay union of any form, he can legally refuse his services. And since anyone who denies gays service is completely shielded from any charges, no one will ever have to prove that their particular form of discrimination fell within the four corners of the law.
Supporting the bill on the House floor, Republican state Rep. Charles Macheers proclaimed that “discrimination is horrible. It’s hurtful. … It has no place in civilized society, and that’s precisely why we’re moving this bill.” The latter claim is absurd, of course—this bill is an explicit effort to make gay people’s lives miserable—but the former is absolutely true. Discrimination is hurtful and horrible, and it will also soon be codified into Kansas law, as other red states look on (and follow suit). Homophobes are nothing if not savvy, and while the judiciary dukes out the gay marriage issue, the shrewdest bigots have already moved on to the next battle. There might still be time to prevent such discrimination in bluer states. But in dark-red places like Kansas, anti-gay segregation is the new reality.
Post link
