"A female solider in Iraq is more likely to be attacked by a fellow soldier than killed by military fire," declared a piece on rape in the US military in the Guardian last December. As if the details of ensuing isolation, lack of psychological support and risk of homelessness weren't enough, one travesty was left out: unless life is at risk, military medical insurance does not fund abortion for women who are left pregnant after such attacks. Period.

Even if a woman can afford to pay for her own termination, military hospitals are currently outlawed from performing the procedure. The March Act, proposed by senators Kirsten Gillibrand, Barbara Boxer, Jeanne Shaheen, Patty Murray and Frank Lautenberg, seeks to change that. Endorsed by the Department of Defence, and given its appeal to patriotism as much as its pinpointing of this grievous human rights violation, can this be the law to finally persuade America's anti-choicers of the compassionate abortion argument? Or will it merely be the exception that proves the rule?

Much of the current legislative restriction on civilian abortion in the US relates to the 1976 Hyde amendment, which declared that federal funding should not cover abortion (initially relating to services offered by the low-income healthcare provider Medicaid), except in cases of rape, incest or where the life of the mother was at risk. Its relevance was alarmingly renewed in March 2010 when Barack Obama signed an executive order reiterating that protection of federal funds to save the $940bn healthcare bill.




http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/28/women-raped-us-military-abortions

Source: Kansas City Star

Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback took a grand gamble Tuesday with a monumental tax plan that he hopes will spur an economic revival and not an unparalleled budget crisis that leaves state services in ruins.

While it wasn’t the plan Brownback quite wanted, the bill he signed Tuesday slashes state income taxes by roughly $3.7 billion over five years, with state fiscal analysts projecting budget deficits reaching $2.5 billion in 2018.

It’s described by one lawmaker as the “worst tax bill” to come out of the statehouse. Brownback, in contrast, saw it as a chance for the state to remake its business climate.

“We’re going to move this forward and make it work and take care of our fundamental services,” said Brownback, whose original plan for cutting taxes did more to pay for itself.

Plenty of skeptics believe that the governor’s approach will decimate state services. They point to forecasts showing that the tax plan will drown Topeka in billions of dollars in red ink.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/22/3622893/brownback-signs-tax-cuts-that.html

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I don't live in Kansas but I work in Kansas and therefore pay Kansas state taxes. I feel sorry for all people who will lose out on much needed services while the Koch brothers will have more money to spend on elections.

BALTIMORE (AP) — I'll Have Another waited a little longer to catch Bodemeister in the stretch this time, and now that he's done it twice in a row it's time for a Triple Crown try in the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.


With a breathtaking closing rush, the smooth-striding colt won the Preakness Stakes by a neck at Pimlico Race Course on a sunny Saturday, a dramatic finish that topped his win two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby.


The race unfolded the same way as the Derby, with the speedy Bodemeister moving to the lead under Mike Smith, with I'll Have Another hanging back in fourth in the 11-horse field. The early fractions were slower than the Derby, but when it came time for Bodemeister to hang on, I'll Have Another found another gear under young jockey Mario Gutierrez and ran down trainer Bob Baffert's horse in the shadow of the wire.


"We're thinking Triple Crown, baby," an elated trainer Doug O'Neill said. "He's a special horse. We'll see how he comes out of it, and if he comes out of it in good shape, we're heading to New York, baby."




http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/article/I-ll-Have-Another-wins-Preakness-Triple-try-next-3571311.php

Source: Kansas City Star

TOPEKA -- A bill that would ban the use of foreign legal codes in Kansas courts — broadly written but particularly aimed at Islamic “Sharia” law — is on its way to the governor.

The 33-3 Senate vote came after a long and at times emotional debate Friday.

Opponents, including two senators who signed the committee report to bring the bill to the Senate floor, called it intolerant and unnecessary.

Proponents fired back that the bill would protect the U.S. and Kansas constitutions and prevent the use of foreign law to take away fundamental rights enjoyed in American courts.

Sen. Tim Owens, an Overland Park Republican who is the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, apologized for putting the Senate in the position of having to vote on the bill, which passed the House 120-0 earlier in the week.


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/11/3607044/kansas-lawmakers-pass-bill-that.html#storylink=cpy

Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/11/3607044/kansas-lawmakers-pass-bill-that.html

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This really pisses me off. I don't live in Kansas, but I started working in Kansas so I am paying Kansas state taxes. Is Missouri any better? I think so - at least Emanuel Cleaver is my rep (the satan sandwich guy), and at least my Governor is a Dem (last name Nixon though). Shit I dunnno.

Source: Kansas City Star

TOPEKA, KAN. -- Secretary of State Kris Kobach conceded Thursday that Kansas won't require first-time voters to provide proof of their U.S. citizenship ahead of this year's elections because the Senate's top leader effectively killed the proposal.

Kobach, who pushed the proposal, declared it dead after Senate President Steve Morris assigned the legislation to a hostile committee. The House passed the bill Wednesday, and Kobach had hoped Morris would bypass a committee review, making an up-or-down vote possible in the Senate to determine whether the bill went to Gov. Sam Brownback.

Kansas has a proof-of-citizenship rule for people registering to vote for the first time, but it doesn't take effect until Jan. 1, 2013. Kobach wanted the rule in place June 15, which he said would be in time for the normal surge of registrations before a presidential election.

Critics of the rule believe it will suppress voter turnout, particularly among poor, minority and elderly voters and college students.



Read more: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/05/10/3606011/kobach-concedes-kan-voter-citizenship.html

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Kris Kobach is on my top ten list of Republicans I loathe.