I just received a phone call from Mike Talboy, a Missouri Representative out of Kansas City, who in an earlier post I identified as somone who might stop the Real ID legislation from leaving committee.  He has clarified his position and is IN FULL SUPPORT OF HB 361.

Now would be the time to call and thank him:573-751-1309!

Mike, my personal apologies for the miscommunication!

Also, here is the updated link for the Springfield news article on LRP testifying in Jefferson City: http://www.news-leader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009902090350

Today I was cced on an anonymous email sent to Chris Stigall (KCMO 710am morning show here in Kansas City) that I just HAD to pass along!

enjoy:

Hello Chris,

I have so so very much to tell you, however, I’m lacking in time.  I did want to mention my thoughts on our new tyrannical trash situation in the city.  Today, of course, in the Public Safety and Neighborhood committee meeting, we heard a lovely debate on trash.  Cathy Jolly needs to understand that being a tyrant isn’t the way to get something done in this city.  She wants to scrap the “notices” and put a “violation ticket” across somebody’s door “so they can’t open their door” if they have too many trash bags out on trash day.  Not only that but, the maximum fine of $500 isn’t stiff enough for her, she wants to make having trash in your yard a “state offense”.  Go watch the meeting on kcmo.org.  Cathy Jolly is obviously letting power get to her head.

First of all, it’s been a good while since I’ve been notified of the “rules” for trash but I do remember what they are from when the city implemented the program.  Yes, I get the notices every couple months about leaf pick up but they don’t say anything about the two bag trash rule on the flyer for their normal guidelines.  I can only imagine a newcomer to KC putting their trash out on trash day and getting a “fine” of $25 posted on their front door in order to “shame” them into following KC’s trash regulations.  HEY!!  Welcome to the neighborhood, I see you got the “memo” of our two bag trash rule.  I think this city needs to send out a notice that states the rules for trash several times a year. They even stated in the Transportation and Infastructure meeting in my neighborhood that education is the key for getting people to understand the rules.  Oh wait, that’s right, Cathy Jolly left that meeting before the “education” aspect was even talked about.  (I’m talking about a neighborhood meeting at the end of January in the Hickman Mills area that I attended).

Also, what happened to people joining together to help keep up their neighborhood?  Was Obama just elected President to “bring people together?”  and to also “serve our communities as our civic duty”?  Perhaps KC should do something like Independence and have a “clean up” weekend where they put a large trash bin in neighborhoods a couple times a year and everybody pitches in and picks up their neighborhood?  Oh wait, KC needs money, screw something logical, let’s just fine people or throw them in jail for violating trash ordinances that most know nothing about.  Way to be a city, KC!

I’d love a reply from you sometime.

Hope all is well and Happy Valentine’s Day with your wife.

Sincerely,
A Concerned KC Citizen

What a busy week for the Liberty Restoration Project! After traveling to Jefferson City twice in 6 days, we are asking for your help with two resolutions and one house bill.

Please encourage your state representatives to vote YES on HR 294

(Click here to read a news story about LRP testifying on behalf of this resolution formerly known as HR 212 and here to see videos of the testimony in committee)  This bill is being discussed on the house floor and is our first opportunity to assert our 10th amendment right defended in 2009!

If your representative sits on the Committee on Privacy and Real ID (see list below), please contact them ASAP and ask them to push HCR 13 and HB361 out of committee.  These bills will only be debated on the house floor if the members decided to let them out of committee – your assistance is urgent in this matter.

Flanigan, Tom
Brown, Steve
Dugger, Tony
Grill, Jason
Kratky, Michele
Kraus, Will
Leara, Mike
Meiners, Kate
*Silvey, Ryan
*Talboy, Mike
*Viebrock, Jim

*Indicates these representative made comments revealing their potential to vote against both of these pieces of legislation – please don’t let HCR 13 and HB361 die in committee, contact them and ask them to change their tone!

Traveling to Jefferson City was a tremendous learning opportunity for the members of LRP and left us all with mixed emotions.

On the positive side:

1. Legislatures in both committees seem to understand our urgent plea to remind the federal government that its powers are LIMITED by the constitution and granted by the people, not the other way around.

2. Tuesday, during the floor debate on HR 294 , State Legislatures could be heard using the same verbage presented to them by liberty lovers while the bill was still in committee. We must never forget that the world is run by those who show up and speak up; next time will you join us?

On the not-so-positive side:

1. It appears at least one Kansas City area state representative is in serious need of an attitude adjustment. Ryan Silvey was seen arriving late to the committee meeting, repeatedly texting on his cell phone, continuously whispering with Mike Talboy during citizen testimony, and smirking/making condescending comments to his fellow Legislative peers and citizens who traveled across the state to testify.

Eight minutes into the video of Jim Guest answering questions about the Real ID (Click here ) Ryan Silvey starts asking questions – he states he is considering changing his stance on the Real ID (contact him and ask him not to) and says he thinks we are on a wild goose chase regarding the potential uses of the Real ID:

2. Jason Grill, another Kansas City area Representative was not present at the Committee on Security and Real ID meeting. His stance on this topic is currently unknown – will you contact him to find out?

Our Capitol Hill visits were definitely the highlights of the week, but LRP has been conducing other important business as well!

Weekly the Liberty Restoration Project is doing the following:

Observing City Council (watch for weekly blog updates)

Hosting an online radio program every Thursday from 7-8 on http://www.restoretherepublicradio.com (Click here to hear the Liberty Restoration Hour first podcast)

Meeting every Wednesday at 7pm at the Westport Coffee house

Are you interested in getting involved? We are currently looking for individuals to help with various research projects, reporting on the city council committee meetings, people who want to educate the public on their favorite liberty subject as a Topic Expert, help with a quarterly magazine, and much more! Email catherine@libertyrestorationproject.org for more details on how you can help!

Don’t forget to check out the Project Participation calendar for political events happening in the KC area!

In peace, love and liberty,

Catherine Bleish

executive Director

Over the past several years, the media in our nation has become more centralized, with less regard for truth, diversity, and freedom, instead placing emphasis on unification of thought. Critical thinking is no longer valued as essential to the development of a healthy mind. Instead, “go along to get along,” seems to be the phrase of the day. As fewer people have gained control of the education system, the music and film industry, and cable television stations and networks, quality has declined, prices have increased, and political correctness has taken precedence over diversity of thought and constitutional liberty. Over the next several weeks, I will focus on how the media and education system have attempted to control public opinion, providing an analysis of the effects of centralization, followed by a free individual’s call to action. Enjoy!

When you think of Kansas City, you think of a diverse, lively, upstanding community.  However, if you delve into the inner workings of Kansas City, you’ll find something more like a three ringed circus.  Granted, I’ve been paying a bit of attention to our city council for a while now because I figure that if you’re going to get to liberty, you have to hit it where it’s closest to you.  For me, that’s Kansas City’s city council.  Watching the local politicians on our very own KCCG-2 can sometimes be amusing all by itself, however, one must really step into the arena to get the full experience.  This was my witness account of my first official Kansas City city council meeting:

We did arrive a tad late, 3:20 for a meeting that was to begin at 3:00.  However,  the meeting still did not start for another 15-20 minutes.  Once the meeting did start, a couple of Council members were still not present.  Cathy Jolly couldn’t sit still.  She was constantly getting up and conversing with other council members, leaving and coming back, etc.  Beth Gottstein arrived late and proceeded to behave like a teenager wtih ADD; talking on her phone, texting, leaving and coming back.  At one point, she was late for a vote due to her being in another room and when she came back to council, she was directed by Jan Marcason on how to vote.  Melba Curls was on her phone almost more than she wasn’t and out of her seat when she was on the phone.  Terry Riley was also seen with his phone on his ear for quite a while as well.

Now, this is just the little pet peeves I had.  I don’t understand how you go to an official meeting and just wander about, chat, text, and not pay attention.  To me it seemed disrespectful and incredibly RUDE.  On top of that, it was incredibly hard to pay attention to what was going on because of all the chaos.

Now comes the whole “circus”:

I must admit that the 1st and 2nd district council members were incredibly business like and respectable.  They didn’t act like children who don’t get there way even when they were in disagreement with the Mayor.  The 3rd district ladies (outside of Melba Curls being on her phone) never really spoke up or had much input on the subject.

The 4th, 5th, and 6th district side of the room acted like stubborn, bratty kids who weren’t getting their way in the sandbox.  Huffing and puffing, sighing and moaning and completely indignate towards the Mayor.  I suppose if we want the City Council to seem like the American Idol rejects, look to those districts and that is what you get with their playing to the camera and acting over the top when they didn’t get their way.  Most of the bickering was from the 4th, 5th, and 6th districts and the Mayor.  However, I must say that while I don’t completely agree with the Mayor, he behaved incredibly well as opposed to the throwing of baby fits from the upper district side of the room.  I would say that they were the 3 ringed side of the circus.

Now, I understand the Mayor’s position, he was going to “settle” the lawsuit but he wasn’t going to give up the fight over the new ordinance.  He claims the ordinance is unconstitutional and under this wonderful Country of ours, we must uphold the Constitution. I commend Mayor Funkhouser as he swore to an oath when going into office that he would do just that.  The City Council is concerned with money, power, and attention.  I for one, believe that the Constitution is something that is VITALLY important to hold onto (what’s left of it these days) therefore, on the ordinance, I have to sway my vote in the way of the Mayor on this one.  Let them take it to a judge and find out if that ordinance is Constitutional or not.  End of story.

It’s apparent that there is tension within the City Council.  I do believe that Mayor Funkhouser has been singled out in this case.  The behavior displayed today from those that were completely adamant against Funkhouser was childish and choleric.  He offered to settle the lawsuit but bring the ordinance back for further review, the City Council said no.  Somebody’s going to have to give or take in this case, I just wonder who it’s going to be.

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Propaganda, Persuasion, and Paradigms

National Freedom Day and Communication as a Patriot

by Kevin L. Kobe

Kansas City, MO | 02.01.2009

This was supposed to be a blog about the street action that Liberty Restoration Project had over the past weekend. We spent two days handing out constitutions, fliers, and “Freedom to Fascism” DVDs on the main corners in the Westport area of Kansas City. However, It is very difficult for me to describe an experience in terms that will provide someone with enlightened ways to view the world around them. A day handing out materials is not very unique, and I think the more important thing to examine are the unique details of a particular event.

The last time I’d done flier handouts, I found myself in two arguments. One was from a self-described liberal, who asked what my issue was. When I replied “I want to see the government return to the Constitution.” His response was: “Even the part about Promoting General Welfare?” I didn’t have much time to really discuss things with him, but he did mention how he felt the need for the income tax and the Federal Reserve Bank as tools of taking care of fellow citizens who suffer. I got distracted by someone else who ran up and asked me things, and he took off. I wish I could have had more time to engage him in discussion, because he was receptive.

The second person who argued with me was a self-described conservative. (I use the adjective self-described, because I do not believe in the left-right paradigm, and I find flaws in the overall terms in relation to the details and descriptions in what the two sides actually believe.) She had stopped and wanted me to wait for her to read along and answer questions for me. She immediately questioned my position as a “Free-Market Conservative” because of the language of the flier was pointing out the absurdities in centralized business. Before she threw the materials back at me and into my box of fliers, she made the comment “You call yourself a Capitalist, and yet you are against the banking structure?” and then she stormed off….

So here we have both sides of the left-right paradigm both turning off the freedom message at the exact moment that the superiority of the central bank is questioned. Now, the role of the central bank and taxable wages are outlined in the Communist Manifesto, which is widely viewed as very opposite to our form of a Republic.

But, I’ve digressed. This column, again, is supposed to be about this more recent street action. Reception of the public, is always viewed as critical to the freedom movement. This is why I’ve focused so much on the examples above. Over the past weekend, however, I focused much of the theme of the day on the holiday. National Freedom Day. I quickly saw what that term does to people. Everyone wants to participate in freedom.

“Happy National Freedom Day, Would you like to celebrate with a free pocket constitution or a movie about the income tax?” How many people do you think would say “no” to that question? Actually, more people than I thought did refuse a constitution.

Most of the street action I’ve done so far has been handing out constitutions, and the people who say “no” usually give one of a few different responses. “I have it memorized” “I already have one” “I’m a foreigner”

And then there is my favorite….which I’ve gotten this response from both people who do not want one, and from people who accept one with gratitude. “I’m a Teacher.” I assume those who don’t want one, wish to make me think that because they are a teacher, they know enough about the constitution and do not need a pocket version. Those who do take one, seem to be honestly interested in the fliers and other materials I hand out with the constitutions, and act so encouraging, that I wonder if they ever talk about freedom with their students.

My wife noticed another common thread of responses…The Cynical Response. It often comes from those who know that we have a problem with the constitution, but don’t seem to want to do a whole lot about it. The Cynical Response is intended to be a joke, one that is both intended to relate to our cause, and insult our intelligence in just a few phrases. “Which Constitution is that?? The new one or the old one?” So then we try to mention something about the United States of America, 1787 and founding fathers etc. and the reply is…. “Good Luck, that thing doesn’t exist any more” as they snicker and leave.

On Saturday, we ran into a few fellow patriot types, who engaged us in a discussion. They quickly became rallied into an excited frenzy seeing us out there, and started feeling insulted when members of the public did not wish to take a constitution.

Sunday was a pretty slow day, Bryon Huber wound up being the only person in the group who really got into a discussion on relevant topics. I’m hoping that the reason for a day with no conflicting paradigms, was that the kind of people who would be hanging out in Westport on National Freedom Day a.k.a. Super Bowl Sunday, are the kind of people who will accept information and paradigms as opposed to looking for a fight.

Which brings me to the holiday. Many people have never heard of National Freedom Day. I must admit, that I’d never consciously known about it before 2009. Apparently, National Freedom Day was created by President Harry S. Truman. There was a movement at the time to create a holiday to celebrate the freedom of former slaves. President Truman took the idea one step further and created a holiday to celebrate the freedom of everyone under our form of government. National Freedom Day may be over, however, my hope is that anyone reading this will take that spirit to heart deep into this 21^st century.

So often the centralization I spoke of earlier, masquerades as real choice and competition. It is my opinion that true free market capitalism must incorporate some sort of competition or it becomes almost monopolistic. Monopolies are one step away from having one national business in a sector, and once a market is nationalized, it is said to be communist/socialist and slowly our “freedom” is losing out to “the way things are done.”

You see standardization can free a society, by allowing the people to be on the same page, or standardization can enslave a society by allowing those at the top to control exactly how a particular product can be used.

Please think about your freedom of choice when it comes to what is important in your life. Don’t be buffaloed or fooled into false choices. Keep your eyes open for future opportunities to join us in our street action. Visit http://www.libertyrestorationproject.org/ and http://www.meetup.com/libertyrestorationproject and to sign up and stay informed on when we do hit the streets, and how to access our information for you to print and hand out.

We’re all familiar with the popular herbicide, “Roundup,” and its commercials, promising swift and efficient deliverance from weed problems. “The World According To Monsanto,” is a documentary about the makers of Roundup, a company called Monsanto corporation. The initial problem was that Roundup, being applied to herbs to reduce weeds, was killing off the herbs. So the makers of Roundup, in conjunction with the FDA (read “federal government”) began genetically modifying herbs to be resistant to the application of Roundup. These genetically modified plants, and the chemicals used in the Roundup application, eventually made their way into the food supply. Many of these chemicals have been linked to the development and spread of certain cancers.

Many of Monsanto’s officials are former employees of the Federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA). A few employees of the FDA are former officials with Monsanto. The federal government has forced people to apply Roundup to their crops and genetically engineer these crops to withstand such application. Furthermore, the federal government has neglected its oversight of Monsanto corporation, allowing untested herbicides to be sold to an unsuspecting public, and allowing Monsanto to advertise Roundup as being biodegradable, when in fact, the herbicide was not biodegradable. As a result, this herbicide, together with genetically modified vegetables and milk, has made its way into the food supply.

So what is the solution here? Do we want more action by a corrupt government when we have sufficient evidence to show that the government has placed the interest of this corporation above public safety? Do “we the people” have a chance against a corporation that has gained a corner on the food market, with the wink and nod of the federal government? Growing and consuming a large proportion of our foods organically may be one solution to this complex issue.

For more information, watch, “The World According To Monsanto,” online at http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=105.

Ok, here is the concept, on behalf of the Liberty Restoration Project based in Kansas City, we are releasing a proposal for fund-raising for our End The Fed rally in Kansas City on 4/25. Our notion is this, starting today, will you save your pocket change for us? Pocket change is a product of the US Mint, NOT the FED, and to show that we are establishing ourselves against FIAT money, we want to collect change.

“REAL CHANGE” will go toward funding our ETF rally weekend in Kansas City, and it will be action packed, including Breakfast/ book signing with a Patriotic mover and shaker, Rally (including shuttle), a Concert night featuring liberty minded bands, educational seminars from our “Topic-Expert” program featuring such topics as food-storage and growth, to 2nd Amendment rights. We want our weekend to be a total experience and want to make it memerable beyond belief.

With that in mind, who is willing to pledge aid to our cause? I know times are tough, and we hate asking for donations, but without donations we cannot provide such powerful products. We will be taking collections weekly at our LRP meetings on Wednesdays, or you can save it until the big day!

If you choose to pledge aid to us, please message me your contact information and I will send you information regarding either pickup of coins, or how you can transfer it into FIAT and digitally transfer it to our fund.

Thanks a TON, and keep up the good fight!!!

Bryon,
bryon@libertyrestorationproject.org
www. libertyrestorationproject. org

-By: Bryon Huber

Welcome my friends, to a historical time in the history of one of the greatest countries ever founded. We come together in a time of celebration to welcome the 44^th President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. A campaign that was centered on a single word, “Change.” This idea of change from an era of disgrace and deceit was a welcomed concept to most Americans; in fact, there weren’t many people that approved of the George W. Bush era. It didn’t take very long on Election Day for a winner to be declared, and it appeared as though the world rejoiced, Barack Obama would soon be our new president. He quickly ushered in a massive group to form his cabinet to deal with arguably one of the worst times to be entering into a presidency. Now that the Inauguration is official and we don’t need to call him President-Elect Obama, his judgment has begun.

The focus of this article is to discuss the revolutionary change that echo through the heart of our president and members of his cabinet. One would compare President Obama to Abraham Lincoln, or even JFK, and a resounding speech rings true to our new president. It was a speech that changed the world, and read “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” President Obama has a very similar concept that he just hasn’t spoken enough about, and it’s mostly outlined on his www.change.gov website entitled “America Serves”. This plan covers volunteers offering their pledges to aid classrooms, healthcare, clean-energy, and veteran services. The plan even offers up a potential to earn $4,000 toward college.

This plan just has revitalization all over it, and even though this is the 4^th revision of this plan (the first 3 were criticized for including words like “mandatory”, and “required”), we all know and believe in our president well enough to know that he would never “make” us do anything against our wills. Especially not to “serve” in a compulsory service plan, right? I guess if I think about it, we are one of the few countries that don’t host a compulsory civil service, so I thought I would look into what we are missing out on, and I was impressed! There are roughly 28 large countries that have civil services in place, and some have had these plans since the 19^th century. Included in this list but not limited to are; Brazil, China, Egypt, Finland, Germany, Greece, Iran, Mexico, and Russia.

Being a typical unaware American has once again proven to be a flaw, and I must admit, I was a bit startled to find out how far behind other countries we were. For example, Israel seems to have the most direct format of service, 3 years for men, and 2 years for women, mandatory. There are a few exceptions to the rule, but for the most part almost all of Israel mandates that their countrymen earn the privilege of being Israel citizens, and they are flexing the muscle of conscription as we speak! South Korea is not very forgiving though, it’s either you serve a little over 2 years or you spend it in prison. Mexico selects their servicemen from a lottery type system that is also color-coded, similar to the USA’s Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 (our only peacetime conscription).

So why are we so far behind? What holds us back from knowing what it means to be a true American? Chief of Staff, Rham Emanuel said it best during an interview that “Citizenship is not an entitlement program; it comes with responsibilities” speaking about his co-authored book “The Plan” which details his belief that Americans need to serve in order to earn their citizenship. Well don’t worry too much because Secretary of Defense Robert Gates already has the “plan” underway after it was determined that we do not have adequate military support in case of “domestic disaster’s” or homeland defense. Don’t worry about whether or not this violates the 13^th Amendment (also known as the “Emancipation Proclamation”), because if it was, our government wouldn’t do it, right!?

Let’s take a moment and realize just how lucky we are to live in such a country that isn’t concerned with agenda’s that take away civil liberties, or show udder disregard toward the document that set our country free. I am proud to be an American, I am happy to do what I can to make this country the best I can, and most directly, I look forward to doing my part by breeding more children for our government, so they can earn the right to be proud Americans. It’s not an entitlement program people!