City Commission special meeting

The Arkansas City City Commission will have a special meeting today at 6:30 p.m. to reaffirm its commitment to building the Medical Office Building that will go with the hospital that is being built. They will have to convene the public building commission - which is made up of city commissioners and other community members - in order to make the move.
They may look at some plans for the building. It is not likely that they will pick an architect or construction company at this point.

Gun control?

The Second Amendment provides Americans a fundamental right to bear arms that cannot be violated by state and local governments, the Supreme Court ruled Monday in a long-sought victory for gun rights advocates.

economic theory

A noted economist makes the case for spending our way out of depression. He says getting more money into the economy -- spending -- is the way out and a better policy - as opposed to belt tightening to ward off the economic crisis.
 Here is a quote
It's almost as if the financial markets understand what policy makers seemingly don't: that while long-term fiscal responsibility is important, slashing spending in the midst of a depression, which deepens that depression and paves the way for deflation, is actually self-defeating." 
Here is a link to the original article
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/28/opinion/28krugman.html?src=me&ref=general

About politics

 When Bush was in power, the democrats constantly were on the offensive. Every freakin day it was how awful he was, how we were losing our freedoms, bla bla bla ... They lost all credibility with me because they were just always attacking. it gets to where its just too much and you get tired of hearing it,.. most of it wasnt true anyway.

So now , the other side is in power. Republicans are constantly on the offensive. Every freakin day it was how awful he was, how we were losing our freedoms, bla bla bla ... They lost all credibility with me because they were just always attacking. it gets to where its just too much and you get tired of hearing it,.. most of it wasnt true anyway.

THIS is the biggest threat to america that we have ... political bickering. when will some new parties arise and show actual leadership? actual answers? ...  about all either side can say is .. well at least we are not as bad as those guys..  There  really isnt any difference in the two sides, Its just a con game to try to get you to choose sides. Its just a smokescreen to keep you from seeing how bankrupt they are..

Cowley Athletics

Cowley College athletics is ranked second nationally among junior colleges in its division, according to a release from the college. This is really a big deal, for the school to get such a high ranking. Here is the release.

    Tiger athletics finish an impressive second in NATYCAA Cup standings

Demonstrating the incredible success of Cowley College athletics, the school recently finished in a tie for second among 350 community college athletic programs in the NATYCAA (National Alliance of Two Year College Athletic Administrators) Cup standings.
The Tigers, who tied for second with Monroe (NY) Community College, finished only behind Iowa Central Community College in the standings and will be awarded $2,000 along with a trophy.
“This is a great tribute to our coaches and student athletes,” Cowley College athletic director Tom Saia said. “It also speaks highly about our athletic department that we are able to compete on a national level.”
The NATYCAA Cup program began in 2004 and recognizes excellence in two-year college athletics based on success in championship competition.
Points for the NATYCAA Cup are calculated based on each colleges finish at NJCAA Tournaments. Each first place finish is worth 20 points, second place 19, third 18, and so on. Total scores for both men’s and women’s programs are combined for their total score.
During the 2009-2010 season, Cowley College sports teams combined for nine national tournament appearances, eight conference championships, and five Region VI crowns.
Out of the nine national tournament appearances, the Tigers had six top-five finishes, including the volleyball team finishing as the national runner-up.

Landrush Museum doesn't make final cut

Winners in the 8 wonders of Kansas History were announced yesterday by the Kansas Sampler Foundation. The Landrush Museum in Arkansas City made the list of 24 finalists, but did not make the final eight. Winners were decided by online voting.

Winners were:
1930s Dust Bowl to Gas Exploration, Historic Adobe Museum , Ulysses
Boot Hill Museum/Historic Dodge City
Council Grove, Santa Fe Trail National Historic Landmark
Fort Scott National Historic Site, Fort Scott
Historic Fort Leavenworth , Leavenworth
Historic Fort Riley , Junction City
Kansas Museum of History , Topeka
Kanza Tribe & Lewis and Clark's Independence Creek, Atchison

Museum director Heather Ferguson said in an email
I am very proud to have been in the top 24 out of over 170 museums and historical sites in Kansas that were entered into the contest.  I think that everyone in Arkansas City should be honored to have made the list and that should show us all that Arkansas City has an important story to tell and we should utilize it.
See the full story on the website: www.arkcityrevived.com
See more about the wonders program at www.8wonders.org

Netherlands Trains

Id like to say I am glad to be home, but ... I really would have liked to have stayed longer. Our trip to the Netherlands was great though, really interesting as always.
It was a bit chilly, and some days were even cold. I didn't like that too much, but it was ok. The one day we went to the beaches it was very cold and windy.

I love the public transportation system, with the buses, trains, trams and all the rest. Even when it doesn't work as it should, it is still pretty cool. We hit a "perfect storm" our second day there with the public transportation system.

First of all, it was the opening day of the World Cup. The cup is being played in South Africa, but you would have thought it was in the Netherlands by the way people were acting. Imagine the World Series and Super Bowl combined and on steroids, and that is a small taste. This is a huge event in the rest of the world.

The whole country was covered with Orange - the national teams colors - posters everywhere, decorations everywhere. And just about everyone had the day off it seems.

We picked a fine day to take a train trip. We got a day pass for the trains and decided to go to a town 100 miles away, and stop at small towns on the way back. We did not know that this town had a major World Cup event scheduled. The stadium - which holds 50,000 for soccer - had set up huge screen TV's and had invited the whole country to come watch, and to attend concerts and associated parties throughout the day. The whole country didn't show up, but it seemed like it. There were thousands of people lined up at the stadium. Our train was crowded, and trains full of people were dropping them off every 20 minutes or so.

We went on about our tourist activities once we negotiated through the mobs headed for the stadium. We took a bus out to a "living museum" where history was on display. I must admit I was underwhelmed. The historical actors were all off - no doubt watching the world cup - so the living history wasnt doing much living.

We took a bus out there, and it was a 45 minute ride. We failed to ask the ticket seller how long the bus ride was or how far the place was. The bus stopped about every block and made many twists and turns. After we got there we met someone who explained to us that the road went straight from there to the city center and was just less than a mile away. So we didn't bother with the bus trip back, and walked 15 minutes back to the train station.

You learn as you go.

People were great though. Most people speak English and are happy to give directions and or advice, and help you figure out the maps and public transportation system.

Then it got worse. The buses were running at least 2 hours late. But The Netherlands had won its World Cup game and everyone was happy and out celebrating in the streets. Many were intoxicated, but they were still a decent crowd.
Someone had jumped in front of the train earlier in the day and that had stopped the trains for a few hours. We were never certain if it was a suicide, or whether it was one event or several events.

So we waited about two hours for the train - and by that time there were thousands of other people also waiting for the train. When they did get rolling we missed a couple chances to get on. The first one had changed platforms and we realized it too late. The second time we were unable to get through the crowd that was forcing itself onto the trains. Finally, we got on the third train, and had to stand in the aisle.

So we got home very late and very tired. The trains didnt go as they should have, but I thought it was a fun experience anyway. Like our son - Eric - says, the trains are designed to work, and when they don't they really don't.

Other days the trains worked just fine and were always on time. We found out that sometimes they come a few minutes early.

They don't always check for tickets. I guess its a money saving measure, but, they only check for tickets at random. You never know when they will check. You buy your ticket and get on and ride. No one checks when you get on. It would be really easy to get on the wrong train.

Also getting from platform to platform is not always easy. You have to go downstairs and back up another set of stairs to get to a different platform.

You could get on and ride without a ticket, but you never know when they will be checking. If you get caught without a ticket it is a heavy fine, so most Netherlands people don't take the risk.

So thats the deal with trains. The downside is you have to go when the trains go, and you have to make other arrangements to go other places.

Lots of walking. A lot of people walk and ride bicycles there. Not very many fat people.

More tomorrow.

Home again

Greetings everyone
Ive been gone about a week. Somehow I did not want to tell anyone where I was going or even that I was gone. Call me paranoid, Just seemed that there was no reason to let any criminally minded person know that no one was home for over a week at my house.

Our son got his PHD in computer science at a university in Delft, The Netherlands. his defense of his thesis was last week, and he was then given the degree. The defense was really interesting to watch. He stood before a group of scientists and answered some tough questions about his thesis, and it was done in English so that was nice. So we went for that. English is the language of business and science for most of the world.

We went to various towns in the Netherlands - i was informed that Holland is just one province and not the name of the country - sort of like saying ArkansSAW City. We also went to Brussells in Belgium. Was rather chilly much of the week, which can happen at anytime of the summer that far north.

I will post some pictures and some more commentary about the trip later on. Now we are seriously broke, So ill have to kick the freelance writing into overdrive.

Some bible studies: Entering God's Rest

Here is a link to some bible studies about entering Gods rest, The Sabbath rest,.
These are published on another site. I would appreciate your going there. You can discuss the articles here or leave a comment there.

http://www.brighthub.com/society/religion-spirituality/articles/73199.aspx

I too will be taking a bit of a sabbath myself. Ill be gone again, about a week.

City worksession meeting

big -12 doomed ?

The Texas blogger, orangebloods.com, is reporting the demise of the Big 12.
Speculaton has been rampant in recent days about realignment of the major conferences. Orangebloods says Nebraska is set to go to the Big 10, and that the Pac 10 is set to offer several big 12 schools invitations. That includes Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, as well as Texas and some others.
It should all come to a head Friday.
Here is the story

http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1092612

Does anyone care about this?
I just cant imagine Okie State being in the same conference with UCLA, Oregon State and all that.
Its all about the money of course, but they might be killing the goose that laid the golden egg, making conferences pretty much meaningless.

Rumor in the east has it that the SEC is after Florida State and Virginia Tech, and maybe Texas.

open forum

Whats on yer mind?

PrairieFest

What about PrairieFest
more bands tomorrow.
comments?