When a visionary dies, it instantly puts the realization of the dream at risk. To the credit of the board members, volunteers and film fans involved in the Tallgrass Film Festival, the third annual event showed no sign of faltering over the weekend, attracting a sizable audience as it honored late founder Timothy Gruver with the Ad Astra Award. The next challenge is to keep the festival that Gruver built growing in donations and recognition. The weekend suggested the event’s future looks bright.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
President Bush didn’t look too far for a replacement for Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan, naming White House economic adviser Ben Bernanke to the post Monday, effective early next year. Wall Street’s first impression reaction of the Harvard and MIT grad was reassuring — a rise in stock prices. So was Greenspan’s statement calling Bernanke a "distinguished appointment." Especially given that Greenspan has served 18 years under four presidents, Bush’s judgment in picking the 51-year-old Bernanke likely will matter long after the president is back at the ranch.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, said on NBC’s "Meet the Press" Sunday that she hoped if special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald brings indictments in the CIA leak case, it would be for "a crime and not some perjury technicality where they couldn’t indict on the crime and so they go to something just to show that their two years of investigation was not a waste of time and taxpayer dollars." Funny, that’s not what she and other Republicans said during the Ken Starr investigation of President Clinton. Perjury is a serious crime, regardless of whether it’s committed by Republicans or Democrats.
Posted by Rhonda Holman
Congratulations to Eleanor Kennedy who won this week’s cartoon caption contest. Ms. Kennedy’s entry, "Are you going to tell the kids, or am I?" was sent in by, well, her kid. Kathleen Kennedy emailed the entry to us, letting us know that she was submitting it on behalf of her 82-year-old mom, Eleanor. Among the best of the also-rans, in a contest with heavier-than-normal turnout, were these: From Mike Pizzuto of Wichita, came "It says ‘This page intentionally left blank.’ " Carolyn Schmidt sent "Maybe a million monkeys ona million typewriters should be given a shot at this…" Grant Vance from Wichita submitted "Sorry, guys, but we’ll have to find another state to hold our family reunion in!" From Jay York of Wichita came "Calm down, Grandpa; it’s just a theory." Kathy Deane’s caption was "Well, fellas, according to this, it’s unclear where you came from, but I think you’ll still be able to run for office!"
Wichitan Michael Cate sent "Is it Intelligent Design’ or just more monkey business?" Retired biology teacher from Medicine Lodge, Karry England, had this to say: "I don’t think we are in Kansas anymore, Bozo!" From Wichita, Shane Rasco sent "Thank God you guys haven’t evolved enough to comprehend the unintelligent design of Kansas law." John Pilla’s caption was "The flatter-than-a-pancake standard has replaced you guys." Gerard Rodriguez said "I don’t care how impeccable your credentials are, Corkins has the job!" From Karen Wallace of Wichita: "Ah, my paid consultants have arrived."
Special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald obviously runs a tight, disciplined ship, because the leaks coming out of his investigation of the Valerie Plame affair are next to zero. With the investigation over, the national media don’t really have a clue whether he’s going to simply close up shop and go home or actually hand down indictments. Lots of speculation.
Maybe it’s not true that secrets can’t be kept in Washington, D.C.
The media have been reduced to speculating wildly about outward signs, such as Fitzgerald saying he will hold a press conference to announce findings in Washington, not Chicago (hmm — indictments?), to the fact that his team set up a Web page on the Justice Department site (aha — that could only mean indictments!).
Whatever the outcome, it should be coming this week. Shouldn’t it? Stay tuned. . . .
Posted by Randy Scholfield
The 2005 Nobel Prize in Literature recently went to Harold Pinter, the British playwright who in recent years has been best known as a vocal critic of the Bush administration and the Iraq war.
Pinter might be deserving (although critics generally agree that in recent decades his work has been mediocre at best), but once again, the choice and timing support those who say the Swedish Academy picks are predictably political and left-leaning.
That argument aside, the Nobel Prize for literature has always seemed overhyped and suspect to me. The Nobel committee often fails to recognize true giants. Surely you can’t argue that Pinter and Pearl S. Buck (another winner) are greater writers than, say, Borges or Nabokov (neither of whom won).
Posted by Randy Scholfield
National test data released last week could add weight to Kansas State Board of Education chairman Steve Abrams’ argument for Kansas to pull out of the federal No Child Left Behind Act.
Math scores were up slightly among fourth- and eighth-graders. But reading scores didn’t improve for fourth-graders and went down for eighth-graders.
It appears that maybe no child is getting ahead.
Posted by Melissa Cooley
It’s too early to know whether Florida’s plan to limit Medicaid spending and benefits — approved last week by the Bush administration — will be successful, and what all the societal cost might be. Under the plan, Florida will pay monthly premiums on behalf of Medicaid beneficiaries to private insurers, and it will set a ceiling on spending. But states must find ways to curb Medicaid costs, as a Kansas legislative committee has been working to do this fall. Medicaid is the biggest budget challenge facing states, and its growth rate is unsustainable.
Posted by Phillip Brownlee
