Elk Konnected Hand out at County Commissioners meeting on 4/25

[Ross]

Mr. Konnected President of the West Elk School Board of Education (Not School Board of Recreation),

We all know that you are reading this thread, so I would like to let you know about the mailings, at least to me,
from the school staff of notification of school board meetings Agenda.

I am on the West Elk School USD 283 mailing list and I am having trouble understanding what the staff is doing with that list.

Perhaps, Mr. Konnected School Board President you can correct, what I consider an error on the part of the School Staff.

I just received the Agenda for the May 8, 2013 Regular School Board Meeting, the envelope is postage stamped 11 May 2013 and i have received it today May 13, 2013.

An agenda that is received 5 days late is useless, don't ya think?

Is this any kind of a respectable way to treat a parent and taxpayer?

Is this a way of discouraging taxpayer and parental participation?

Now, it is my understanding that the purpose of being on the mailing list,
is to receive the Agenda a few days before the regular or special school board meetings,
so a person has an idea of what is happening at the meeting.

Isn't that why the Agenda is published to show what is going to take place?

If not why publish it?

I am wondering, if this is just an inexcusable ongoing error on the part of the school staff, or is it intentional, or if it is a standard operating procedure at the school.

I sure hope you can get this situation corrected and I can avoid taking the problem to the Kansas State School Board, I am saving the post marked envelopes and the dated notifications of School Board meetings for that purpose if necessary. And i sure hope it is not necessary.

I sure hope you can correct this problem and see to it that I receive my mailing of the Agenda days before the meeting instead of days after the meeting. I'm counting on you to get the job done Mr. Konnected School Board President.

Thank you,
Ross

[Ross]

You know I was just thinking about the NGO's here in Elk County and all the other NGO's across Kansas and the US of A.

They all seem to think they know what is best for us as individuals and what is best for our local governments and it dawns on me, if they are such great visionaries and have such great planning and programming techniques why aren't they operating on the national level.

Perhaps with their combined knowledge they could solve some real problems.
For instance the artificial making of money at the rate of $85 Billion dollars a month by the Fed, now stopping that would be a major accomplishment. This is causing each and every one of our dollars worth less each and every month.
Don't you suppose solving that problem might help our local economy? I mean instead of playing with children and manipulating young adults doing something meaningful about our country's financial situation would be far more important wouldn't it? Isn't it time for visionaries and the highly educated to do something effective?

Couldn't they help straighten out some of the other problems with all that thinking power?

Like fixing the following:

(Yea, I plagiarized the following, because I got no edumaction and I am not a member of the elite).
The Department of Justice, run by the nation's top criminal Eric Holder, runs a vicious surveillance and secret police campaign against none other than the Associated Press. When the outrageous behavior of the DoJ comes to light, Eric Holder claims, "I know nothing! Nothing!" (Same story for Obama... they knew nothing!)

The Benghazi narrative pushed by the White House is now obviously a total lie, and this lie strongly influenced the presidential debates and 2012 election. The Benghazi attack was actually a terrorist attack -- and the White House knew it! But they covered it up, lied to the public, and even stood down U.S. forces to make sure the ambassador was killed so that he couldn't spill the beans on the U.S. weapons transfers being made to terror groups in Syria.

The IRS intimidation scandal. The targeting of political enemies. Thought crimes. The IRS demands to know all your Facebook posts, the titles of the books you've recently read and even the contents of your PRAYER! The IRS then uses this information to selectively delay only the applications of non-profits that teach the Constitution, or patriotism, or are opposed to Obama. Can you say criminal corruption and total abuse of power? This is anti-American and traitorous!
Obamacare plus food stamps add up to the most jobless recovery in American history, according to a commentary by Forbes Magazine.

Louis Woodhill, a Forbes contributor who is a software entrepreneur and serves on the Leadership Council of the Club for Growth, noted the United States is now 46 months into its third job-poor recovery since 1991.

Why don't they tackle real problems like:
•   Welfare
•   Unemployment
•   Poverty
•   Gangs
•   Financial Crooks
•   Political Crooks
•   When the Dollar Collapses

Why do they think they know what is good for the individual or the individual small community? When all of the above National problems are related to the community's problems?

It is my personal opinion that it is all about how much money they can rake in for themselves (that is those at the top of the NGO) as long as the NGO's are collecting taxpayer's dollars as gifts, donations or grants or commonly know as OPM (Other Peoples Money) they are good to go. And as long as they can throw out a lollipop or two and get credit for it, they are happy. Oh, let's not forget the feel good stories that may leave out a lot of facts and information. Do you think those stories lack any negatives because that would foil the goals of the NGO producing the feel good story.

I mean, doesn't the $85 Billion fabricated by the fed every month have a negative effect on these feel good stories?

Doesn't the increasing Welfare population have a negative effect on these feel good stories?

Doesn't the increasing population of poverty have a negative effect on these feel good stories?

And so on!

When can NGO's actually tackle real problems other than community rivalry which has been around as long as sibling rivalry? I thought that kind of rivalry was being competitive, you know as in sports. All you gotta do is pay a little attention to the USD 282 School Board of Sports, IMHO!

Is community rivalry, which can also be known as competitiveness a bad thing? Isn't it competitiveness that is supposed to make us grow strong? What ever happened to that concept?

What do you think?   
Isn't all that gooblety gook by NGO's simply that gooblety gook?

Anyone, know how many NGO's there are in Montgomery County or Sedgwick, County?                  Just curious!

Doesn't reality have both positives and negatives?
And aren't those positives and negatives involved in everything?

How good would your car battery work with only a positive post on it?

I do have my tin foil hat on while I am typing this, thanks to whoever gave me that idea!
LOL

Please don't believe a thing you read here, my tin foil hat has a hole in it, okay, OK!
I hope you had fun reading this.

[Bullwinkle]

 
I realize this could go to many threads, but since you brought up the welfare system, ehh.


Interesting facts that were not too well published --

So now we find out that the entire Tsarnaev family (Dad, Mom, 2 sons & 2 daughters) started receiving government assistance as soon as they set foot in our country.  As political

refugees they were entitled to settlement assistance from day one.  (Section 8 Housing, public healthcare, food stamps etc.)

Then their  stellar  older son impregnates and marries the daughter of a doctor, and this new little Muslim family receives 18 months of government assistance.  They only came off welfare after the

naive young wife started working 70 hours a week while husband Tamerlan stays home and builds bombs and plans to kill and injure the very Americans who have paid for his pathetic existence for the past 12 plus years.

A Breakdown of your and my investment into the Tsarnaev Family:

·         Section 8 housing

·         Free public healthcare

·         Food stamps and other EFT transfer payments

·         Federal Pell Grants for both sons and most likely their daughters as well.  (That is $5200.00 per year for each son or daughter who attended a college.)

·         City of Cambridge also awarded a $2500 per year scholarship to the younger son.

·         Younger son also reportedly was receiving a state college scholarship.


What did we receive for our investment:

·         Older son was arrested for domestic battery on a former girlfriend.

·         The mother was arrested last year for shoplifting $1600 in merchandise from a Lord & Taylor store.  The mother is facing immediate arrest for failure to appear regarding this matter.

·         Then of course we know that the two sons combined to kill four people (3 Americans & a Chinese exchange student), severely injure 100 plus other people, carjacked another victim and only let him live when they found out that he was not an American citizen.

·         Now we have the two pathetic parents who have returned to Russia and are claiming that their poor sons are innocent and are being framed by the same American government that allowed for their pathetic existence the past 12 plus years.

When are we going to put a stop to this madness??

Can someone explain to me how this family arrived in the United States as political refugees, meaning they are seeking protection from the Russian government, and then 3 of them are allowed to travel back and forth between the United States and Russia without any fear of Russian retribution or imprisonment?

Shouldn't their travel visas alone raise a red flag with the FBI, Homeland Security, and the government welfare system?  At the very least, all welfare should have been cut off when the family returned to Russia for a visit.  It is obvious they are not afraid of the Russian authorities, so they lied on their application to enter the United States as refugees.

Reporters on television keep asking where the money came from to support the Boston terrorist attack.  It seems to me our government welfare system contributed a lot of support for 12 years.  This administration needs to quit buying votes with welfare payments and get control of this situation before we inadvertently finance a bigger disaster such as 911.



Nicest place to be: in someones thoughts

Safest place to be: in someones prayers

Best place to be: in Gods Hands

God Bless You and God Bless America

[Ross]

I agree Bullwinkle that is so wrong.

And that's why I wonder why all those NGO's with their visionaries and big positive ideas can't fix it.

Is it perhaps because they have some ulterior motive they don't talk about?

I mean I'd rather they fixed the system rather than try to fix our citizens here in Kansas and Elk County.
I mean they tell us how bad some communities are and I say B. S. on that.

Oh, they could work on improving education since the Kansas State School Board says that standards are so low in order to go to college the kids have to take remedial reading so they can understand what they are reading. A lot less effort on brick and mortar for unneeded  larger buildings and la lot less effort on sports and a lot more on education.

Have a good evening Bullwinkle.

[Ross]

Opinions, Politics and My Wallet

Really, now every one has opinion even if they don't express one. Just what are those opinions based on?

Are they based on :

•   How pretty she is                       How handsome he is
•   How blonde she is                      How rich he is
•   Which political party she is        What political party he is
•   How many years someone has of art and basket weaving in college?

Or are they based on facts and whose facts are they?
Can the facts be verified from several different sources?

Take for instance Global Warming and Climate Change what's the difference and what is the same about the two titles? What is the truth related to each title? Whose truth is it?
Is it the same people that several years back said that more than a couple of eggs a week were bad for us. But those same people, today, say just the opposite. So what is really fact or fiction? Who is going to profit financially off of the so called facts?

My personal opinions are based on many things which are subject to change and sometime dependent on my mood. Why? Because, true facts are seldom available.

Fer instance:
When a high paid, educated federal employee says she did nothing wrong, but takes the fifth amendment during a hearing before a single question is asked and says that is what that amendment is for to protect ---- Give Me A Break. How do you know if answering a question will be self incriminating before the question is asked? If you have done nothing wrong how can you incriminate yourself?

Here in Elk County we have a few folks that consider themselves as Konnected.
   These Konnected folks I guess are considered middle aged or something.
I get the impression old folks don't know anything.

Across Kansas we have a few people that consider themselves as PowerUps.
     These PowerUps (a term from video games) are suppose to be 18 to 39 years old.

And in the White House and President Obama visited with illegal aliens known as DREAMers.
                   An age group of illegal aliens from 16 to 30 something.

What the heck is wrong with this picture?
How about age discrimination, doesn't that sound about right?
Oh and least we forget skirting immigration laws.

But more about them facts as far as being real or not Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda, 1933-1945 said:
"If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State."

Aren't all those feel good stories just lies when the actual facts (the negatives) that lead up to the story are left out? I also feel omission is the same thing.

If we are continually bombarded with, only discuss the positive as if the negative does not play apart in the picture, aren't we bombarded with a monstrous lie?

They don't want us (you and me) to ask questions that might actually lead to the truth do they?

My personal opinion is that this philosophy applies to Government Leaders especially ones that take the fifth amendment before even asked a single question to the lowliest NGO's across the country. It appears to me to be away of hiding their secretive agendas. Pretty simple isn't it?

If the school board keeps saying long enough that the school building designed to hold 600 children can not hold 300 children, will we believe it?

If they keep saying more gymnasium space will improve education long enough, will we believe it? I think we know they simply want to build a Taj Mahal for Howard, at least that is what I see happening.

If they continue to say they are exceeding state requirements and therefore giving a good education to all school children long enough, will we believe it?

Even though the state has said they have lowered education standards so much over the years that a child going to college will have to take remedial reading to learn how to comprehend what they are reading, are we going to believe the school board is doing all they can do to improve education?

Is it all about spend, spend, spend or what?
That is where our wallets come in, unnecessary taxation!
More property taxes, is that what you want or improved education for the children?

These are just some questions for us to ponder.


Here is another feel good story:
http://www.krwa.net/news/smalltown.html

Wait a second our newspaper has as editorial about this business.
Let me review it's ceasing operations except in Labette County, what a shame.
Why did this happen, I wondered. Well the paper says economic development funds have dried up, and now it appears Quad will wither on the vine. What a shame.

But, I must ask what does "economic development funds" mean?
Where do those funds (money) come from?
Was it OPM, taxpayer's money?
Was this business dependent on (OPM) other people's money?

Are we experiencing austerity?

Don't companies like these mentioned throughout this post have the entrepreneurial ship to earn their own money and thus be able to sustain their own business?

If not how in the world can they help others, if they can't help themselves?

I may be crazy, but I'm not insane. So, if you pleas just ignore all this as B. S. and pay higher taxes.

I hope everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend. I'm expecting out of state company which I will enjoy.

Bye-bye

[Ross]

Here is a suggestion for the Konnected School Board President to really help the kids down the road to adulthood.

But first, I must ask something, hoping to receive some enlightenment.

I just visited Elk Konnected's web site and your steering committee seems to have a population decline, just like most of the rural communities throughout Kansas. Only four Steering Committee members and that includes the President of Public Squares Communities, Inc. What is happening with that, "Stay With Us As We Grow" thing?

Oh, well to a suggestion and a little info that might be useful to you and the School Board of Education members.

Instead of brick and mortar how about concentrating on educating? I, like many others learned this stuff through the school of hard knocks and studying on our own. Perhaps, if I had learned some of it in high school, I would be even better off than I am today. I have passed some of this knowledge to a few youngsters. One kid that received what he thought was a free credit card. I had him read the fine print about the 21% interest and then had to explain to him what APR meant. He was a high school graduate with no knowledge of money, what so ever. Just like me when I graduated. Here is a woman that is making a difference across the US of A.
May 28, 2013, 7:02 a.m. EDT

What this country needs is a good money lesson.
Commentary: Financial literacy must be a national priority.
By Muriel Siebert

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Americans are in dire need of financial competency.
People have to be taught about money. We need to make the U.S. Financially literate coast to coast.
I speak from experience. My father died broke after a long bout with cancer. He was a dentist and had a degree in engineering from Case Western Reserve in Cleveland Ohio. Our family moved out of our house into a one-bedroom apartment; I dropped out of college, although Western Reserve — where I was attending at the time — allowed me to continue with my courses. Though I did not obtain a college degree, I've received 20 honorary doctorates over the years.

I always knew numbers. I'd get A's without studying. Numbers talk to me. But when I went to Wall Street, women weren't paid anywhere near what men were. So I decided to start my own business. For that, I needed a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Back then, all 1,365 members of the exchange were men. But in 1967 I purchased the first seat ever sold to a woman. In 1975, I opened Muriel Siebert & Co., which became one of the nation's first discount brokerages.

After I opened my new office, every young woman fresh from college who wanted a job on Wall Street walked in. So did every widow with money. Soon it became apparent to me that none of them had any real knowledge of finance.

In 1977, I received an unexpected call from Albany: then-Governor Hugh Carey asked me to serve as banking superintendent for the State of New York. Though the offer was untimely for me, New York City is the nation's financial capital. I put my brokerage firm in a blind trust and took the job.
Over the next five years I got an even broader look at how many people lack the most basic financial information. A parade of panicked teenagers would stream into our consumer services office, their credit maxed out, on the brink of bankruptcy, confused and scared, hoping for help.
One young man with a part-time job brought in his paycheck and complained some of his money had been "stolen." No one had taught him about taxes. These kids didn't understand that by charging last night's dinner on a credit card and paying the minimum balance, they would be paying for that meal for years. I was horrified that these youngsters were financially finished before they started.

When I was growing up in Cleveland, children were taught how to save. We got saving stamps from a vending machine, put them in a passbook and took them to a bank. That kind of discipline doesn't exist these days — at home or in schools.

In the late 1990s I met with then-chancellor of New York City's Board of Education, Rudy Crew, and worked out a program to teach high school students the fundamentals of personal finance.

It took a while, but the course — Siebert's Personal Finance Program: Taking Control of Your Financial Future — went into New York City public high schools for seniors in 2004 and was expanded to middle schools in 2010. The program teaches teenagers the mechanics of debit cards, credit cards, prepaid cards and loans in core sections: Money & Income; Budgeting & Planning; Banks & Banking; Credit & Bankruptcy; Saving & Investing, and Protecting Your Assets/Insurance.

The program is being taught in New York City schools with follow-up testing. At Benjamin Cardozo, a large, highly ranked public high school in Queens, senior class has scored an average of 94 for the last eight years. Teachers there tell me the kids are more interested in personal finance and money more than anything else they study. They want to know about interest rates; how not to get into debt with credit cards, what makes a high- and low credit score. How can they pay for college?

Besides New York, my program is taught in schools in nine other states including North Carolina, Florida and New Jersey. The Muriel F. Siebert Foundation finances the Siebert financial literacy program for the schools.

Moreover, three states, including New Jersey, require at least a one semester course devoted to personal finance. Nineteen other states, including New York, incorporate personal finance instruction into other areas, such as economics.

Financial literacy can be mandated at a local board of education level. The State of New Jersey mandates financial literacy as a requirement for high school graduation.

I will keep pushing for personal finance education to be a graduation requirement in every state. Financial literacy can change lives — and change the nation.

Muriel Siebert is the founder and chairwoman of Muriel Siebert & Co.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-this-country-needs-is-a-good-money-lesson-2013-05-28?siteid=nwhpf

And something that might be new to you and perhaps useful to you and the school board members.

E-Mail From: Education Week
Date: 5/29/2013 1:24:32 AM
Higher Entry Bar, Better Teachers?
As more states address the preparation of new teachers, both lawmakers and nongovernmental organizations are trying to increase admission requirements. Working from the idea that the more academically capable candidates are, the more likely they will be better teachers, states are proposing a higher GPA for entry, tougher basic-skills tests, and a new floor for accreditation. In this webinar, a policy expert will provide an overview of states' current admission requirements and outline proposals now on the table, and an official from a North Carolina university will discuss the implications for his programs and for the teacher education field at large.

Guests:
•   Sandi Jacobs, vice president and managing director for state policy, National Council on Teacher Quality
•   Michael J. Maher, assistant dean for professional education, North Carolina State University

This webinar will be moderated by Stephen Sawchuk, assistant editor for Education Week.

Underwriting for this webinar is made possible by a grant from the Joyce Foundation.
Register now for this free live webinar. https://vts.inxpo.com/scripts/Server.nxp

I hope you find some of this helpful in your jobs as members of the School Board of Education.

Have a great and safe day. And keep an eye on the horizon!

[Diane Amberg]

None of the above! There was a time when credit cards were not handed out willy nilly to anyone who could spell their name. One had to qualify to get a credit card! My parents had charge accounts at one gas station and several stores, but there was no credit card.They sent the bill to my parents every month and it had to be paid every month. There was no running interest.
I think I was about 30 before I ever got a real credit card.(I paid by cash or check.) By then I had a good bank account and a reliable job.
Daddy finally got a master card to get money from the ATM when he was about 60. He had a Sears,  Acme and drug store card. That's about it.
My parents taught me about real life money and how it all worked. We had simple and compound interest in high school, but not much more than that. Now the banks WANT people to screw it up and get into debt so they can keep collecting the interest for many,many years. People no longer pay attention to the real, total cost of something. They just check to see if they can handle the monthly payment....and the bank folks and real estate people will be glad to show you how, even if one eventually pays three or four times more than they would have. Not smart.

[Ross]

So what exactly is your point?
Please clarify?
Do you or do you not believe they should teach personal fiancé in school in Elk County?

[Ross]

Something, I posted under General Announcements and Announcements I feel it belongs over here as well.
It was an excellent County Commissioners meeting IMHO.

I sure hope this is accurate information.

I was just informed there is a Special County Commissioners Meeting Today at 12:30 pm.

Supposedly it is about paving the road to the Grenola Grave Yard and it seems that our Konnected Kounty Kommissioner told the Grenola Community that the County would pave the road all the way through town.

And this is the issue to be ironed out at 12:30 pm today.

It might be interesting to hear the facts first hand at this special meeting, I will be trying to attend. Hope to see you there

.[/size]

I made it to the meeting and it was an interesting meeting it seems there is some misunderstandings about the road where it enters the city limits of Grenola. As I understand it Grenola thinks half of the road inside the city limits is owned by the county. Which would mean the county/city line would run down the center of the road.

And while the paving crew is out there paving the county road from the city limits to the graveyard Grenola would like to have the remainder of the road paved. They would pay for their side of the road and want the county to pay to do the other side of the road.

Only problem is there doesn't appear to be any clear cut lines on the map.

While County Commissioners Ritz and Hebb concentrated on trying to find clear and definite information and wanting to do the right thing, I had a different perception of what Konnected Kounty Kommissioner Liebau was pushing.

It was let's do this and now. Could it perhaps have anything to do with his son living on the road? Just asking?

County Commissioners Ritz called the county attorney and left a message for him when he did not answer. Apparently the man was in court. He called someone that was knowledgeable of roads and got help from court house employees going through everything they could to try to verify who was responsible for what part of the road.

After two hours they finally closed the meeting with no resolution. There will apparently be more study into the situation.

Another thing pointed out was this was not in the budget, however Konnected Kounty Kommissioner Liebau suggested we have contingency money. I don't believe this would be the purpose of contingency money which would in my opinion only lead to hasty decisions and possibly wrong decisions

In my opinion County Commissioners Ritz and Hebb were exactly right.
As Commissioners Ritz said and I am not quoting word for word, you can't just rush into this and do the wrong thing. If you pave it and find out it is the cities job, then every one else will want the county to pave a road for them. And on top of that you then have the responsibility of maintaining it.

I do feel compelled to commend the Mayor of Grenola on his patience, co-operation and his assistance and understanding of the situation. 

Job well done Mr. Mayor.


Oh, I learned from a member of the audience that our Konnected Ekonomic Development has written a letter quitting her job.
And the amazing thing about that is Just as soon or very shortly after the letter is received a second letter comes in.
From who? I don't know!
For what?

The Economic Development Position. I'm thinking , Huh?

Is it perhaps another Konnected person that can't wait for the Commissioners to even decide if they are going to refill the position?

A person that could not wait for the County to Advertise the position?

I'm asking myself does Elk County need to pay another person to fill the position that has given us absolutely nothing for the salary?

I am hoping that the County Commissioners choose to discontinue throwing away our tax dollars.

And IMHO there is absolutely nothing complicated about economic development.

[Ross]

Sarcasm On.

Can I have the job of Economic Development for Elk County?
I believe I can show up 4 hours a day and do nothing.
Oh, I could even telecommute on stormy days or if I don't feel like coming in.

Please consider me for the position.
Thank you.

Sarcasm Off