News opinion 2008-07-11 Andanh.com

Air Force Tanker — Bring it home Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:00 EST
Thanks to the Department of Defense's decision Wednesday to rebid a $35 billion air refueler contract, there's never been a better time to promote Topeka to the aviation industry.

Letter: Embrace this gift Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:00 EST
I'm responding to the letter by Rick Wooten on July 5: The public is a lot more intelligent than he might give them credit for, but nice try at demonizing Barack Obama.

Letter: A tribute, indeed Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:00 EST
I wanted to express my gratitude to the Topeka City Council for changing the regulations allowing the sale and detonation of fireworks within the city limits. Since this change, we no longer have to leave our home to experience the fireworks. We can thrill to M80s and cherry bombs rattling our windows and the sonic booms of enormous rockets exploding in the street near our home one after another until the wee hours of the morning, leaving a sickening yellow green haze in the air that is a real treat to breathe.

Letter: Find what you seek Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:00 EST
Reading about the Topeka Visioning Project reminds me of the old story about the man who was journeying to a city to make a new home. As he approached the city, he came upon an old man sitting by the side of the road. He stopped and asked the old man, "What kind of people live in this city?" The old man replied by asking, "What kind of people live in the city from which you came?" "Oh, they are a bad lot," replied the traveler. "They lie and cheat and are unfriendly and coldhearted."

Letter: No time for amateur Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:00 EST
Youth of America unite.

Letter: Real insight Fri, 11 Jul 2008 02:27:00 EST
The series of stories reflecting the life of Bob Owen touched me deeply. James Carlson has written a masterpiece with so much emotion and compassion. I expect that he will receive award-winning recognition by his peers and others for his outstanding literature.

PAUL CHESSER: ADVOCATES BEHIND CLIMATE PANEL Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:39 CDT

Imagine that former Republican Gov. Bill Graves created and appointed members of an "objective" commission to study school choice, but the panel would be managed by a conservative-funded, limited-government nonprofit organization from out of state that disavowed its advocacy origins on the issue.

This group would run the commission process, provide the research, run the Web site and set the meeting agenda. No input from voucher opponents (teachers' unions) would be allowed (because there is "consensus" that vouchers work).

How would this be perceived? Outrage would leap from newspaper editorial pages, teachers' unions would organize mass protests, and liberal legislators would demand an investigation.

And they would be justified in doing so. It's wrong for an advocacy group, funded by like-minded activist benefactors, to so completely control an "objective" commission to create state policy -- on any issue.

Yet that is the reality with the Kansas Energy and Environmental Policy advisory group, created and populated by Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, and the group's management team, the Center for Climate Strategies.

TOM TEEPEN: FLIP, FLOPS AND 'OOPS' BY CANDIDATES ON IRAQ Fri, 11 Jul 2008 01:39 CDT

The military and political winds are slewing around so wildly these days on Iraq that both Barack Obama and John McCain have been sent chasing after their own hats.

Obama built his primary election success in major part by emphasizing his commitment to a phased U.S. withdrawal over 16 months.

The continuing and apparently accelerating decline in violence in Iraq -- with exceptions duly noted -- has pressed Obama back to a caveat that was part of his position from the start but little mentioned by the candidate or the media when he was working his party's base.

With the candidate now acknowledging that he would take into account as president the changing circumstances in Iraq -- the necessary position of any would-be commander in chief -- Obama is getting slimed as a sellout by his own party's Iraq-centric left and mocked by Republicans as a flip-flopper.

Awkward as all that may be at the moment for Obama, pity more John McCain.

Chinese Dir