The 11-year-old son of medical marijuana advocate Shona Banda spoke out in his Kansas classroom to correct his teacher's misinformation about pot; then the state of Kansas raided his house and took him away from his mother. Read the rest

Under Kansas Senate Bill 56, which passed 26-14 this week, school teachers who give students "harmful material" can be criminally prosecuted. Read the rest

The company that says that the gubmint should stay out of its business and let it destroy Net Neutrality also says the government should clobber Kansas towns with no broadband who have the audacity to run their own networks. Read the rest

To combat the virtually nonexistent crime of voter fraud, 21,000 Kansans (including veterans) who registered as voters will be turned away from the polls, have their votes registered as "provisional." Read the rest

Brian writes, "The Mayday PAC is thinking of supporting the Independent candidate Greg Orman, who is running for Senate in Kansas against a lone Republican opponent. (The Democratic candidate withdrew); but we're only going to if we can raise $200k by midnight Monday." Read the rest

GOP governor Sam Brownback's "experiment" in tax/spending cuts produced a $300M budget deficit; they're selling off a massive lot of sex toys and porn seized from a company that wouldn't pay its tax-bills. Read the rest

Edward Snowden is speaking at SXSW on Monday at an event that I'm also part of.Rep Mike Pompeo (R-KS), who sits on the House Intelligence Committee (and on whose watch the abuses that Snowden has detailed occurred) has demanded that his appearance be cancelled. Pompeo says that Snowden lacks credibility in the area of "privacy, surveillance, and online monitoring." Pompeo demonstrably lacks credibility in the area of the First Amendment. Read the rest

The Kansas Board of Regents has adopted a new police that makes it a firing offense to use social media if you communicate sentiments that are "contrary to the best interests of the University." The policy applies to tenured faculty as well as non-tenured plebs. (via Hacker News) Read the rest

At the Wall Street Journal, Eric Simmons writes about the psychology of March Madness, which is really the psychology of relationships and the deep emotional bonds underlying communities and tribes. When you cheer on the Wichita State Shockers in the Final Four, what you're really doing is introducing other people (and other groups) into your definition of self. Read the rest

Not happy with the election of Pope Francis (who looks either like Grumpy Cat or a Muppet, depending on the photo)? Then, perhaps, you can throw in your lot with Pope Michael I, who has ruled an offshoot, unofficial branch of the Catholic Church (which may, or may not, consist mostly of himself and his mother) from his living room in Delia, Kansas since 1990. Read the rest

Boontdustie sez, "Topeka, Kansas craigslist - A man built entire 'Cowboy Town' in backyard and is now looking to sell it all for $20,000. Complete with bank, saloon and livery stable... Awesome pics included."

The Bank is currently being used as a garden tool shed. Makes a great place for the mower, some deck chairs, rakes, shovels, hoes, hoses, baskets etc. Bank has two windows on either side of the door. Door has a window with a roller shade. It is approximately 7' 6" wide x 6' 2" long x 7' tall ceiling. Has a flat roof behind realistic-looking front facade that is 11' tall.

The Livery Stable (some call this a barn) is a two-story building that is perfectly sized for use as a chicken house. The Livery stable has an upstairs hay loft with a tin roof, a loft door and two side windows. You can easily stack 6-8 bales of straw in the loft. Downstairs has a dutch-door entry with a separate set-in screen for ventilation. There is one window beside the door that also has a rabbit-screen for ventilation. There is a ladder attached to the wall to access the loft from the inside. We currently have our flock of 10 laying hens housed in this Livery stable. On the outside wall, there is a "chicken door" with a levered closure that slides up and down to keep the chickens secure from predators at night. This stable structure is approximately 14' high x 57" deep x 6' wide.