MANHATTAN, Kan. - On Monday, March 8th President and Michelle Obama celebrated International Women's Day. They were joined by Madeline Albright (the first female US Secretary of State) to mark the progress women have made in the United States and to draw attention to the problems women still face all over the world. Madeline Albright pointed out many struggles women all over the world face and said that while some may claim these are cultural differences and should be left alone, she believes "it is criminal and we each have an obligation to stop it." Michelle Obama pointed out many accomplishments women have made. She also made it clear that this day was not just to honor the famous women who have made history, but the "quiet heroes;" the first women in board rooms, on playing fields and battle fields.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice (MAPJ) will hold their Annual Meeting and dinner on Saturday 27 March beginning with at 6:00 pm at the Holiday Inn at the Campus, 1641 Anderson Avenue in Manhattan. The MAPJ Annual Meetings are a time for the membership and progressives from the area to come together and recharge for another year. This year's keynote speaker, Sasha Abramsky, promises to challenge as well as inform those in attendance.

Sasha AbramskySasha Abramsky is a freelance journalist. His work has appeared in The Nation, The Atlantic Monthly, New York magazine, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone. Originally from England and a graduate of Oxford University, he has since adopted his mother's homeland of America and now lives in Sacramento, CA, with his wife, daughter and son. He has a master degree from Columbia University School of Journalism. In 2000 he was awarded a Soros Society, Crime and Communities Media Fellowship. He is a Senior Fellow at the New York City-based Demos think tank. Abramsky's keynote for the evening is entitled: When Progressives Flinch: The Poverty Challenge in Obama's America.

Abramsky is a well-established author. His first book, Hard Time Blues: How Politics Built a Prison Nation, was published in 2002; his second book, Conned, was published in 2006. His third book, American Furies: Crime, Punishment, and Vengeance in the Age of Mass Imprisonment, was published by Beacon Press in the spring of 2007. In 2009 he published, Breadline USA: The Hidden Scandal of American Hunger and How to Fix It by PoliPoint Press. His most recent book, Inside Obama's Brain, came out in December 2009.

"We want what's right, not what's left."

TOPEKA, Kan. - The above is the motto of a grassroots groups calling itself Adequate Yearly Funding. This group is organizing a rally to support education in Topeka on Tuesday, March 16. Everyone, educators, teachers, students, grandmothers, grandfathers, and other interested citizens, are welcome to join this rally.

Why should people rally for education? All one has to do is read the local newspaper or watch the local TV news to know what funding cuts will mean for Kansas schools and the students who attend them. According to an article in the March 7, 2010, issue of the Wichita Eagle, "Senate Republican leaders [have] outlined plans to push for $300 million in tax increases to help close a $450 million budget gap for the 2011 budget." (Parkinson cuts roads funding to fix budget) Tax-wary legislators need citizen support in order to follow through with these tax increases.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - For its March installation, Manhattan's Monthly Film Series presents Mike Ramsdell's The Anatomy of Hate; A Dialogue to Hope on Tuesday 16 March (NB: date change). Winner of the Best Political Documentary at the Philadelphia Independent Film Festival, it was also shown at the Carter Center as part of Atlanta's 2009 Docufest Independent Film Festival where it won the Audience Choice Award. The film reveals the shared narratives found in individual and collective ideologies of hate, and how we as a species, can overcome them.

For six years, Ramsdell worked with unprecedented access to some of the most venomous ideologies and violent conflicts of our time including the White Supremacist movement, Fred Phelps' brand of Christian fundamentalism as an anti-gay platform, Muslim Extremism, the Palestinian Intifada, Israeli Settlers and Soldiers, and US Forces in Iraq.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Monthly Film Series sponsored by the Manhattan Alliance for Peace and Justice, the Manhattan/Riley County League of Women Voters and private donors, brings a powerful documentary, American Casino, to the community this month that looks into the causes of the 2008 economic crisis.

The viewing will take place at 6:30 pm on Tuesday 9 February at the Manhattan Public Library Auditorium. The public is invited to attend.

"American Casino is a powerful and shocking look at the subprime lending scandal. If you want to understand how the US financial system failed and how mortgage companies ripped off the poor, see this film," commented Joseph Stiglitz, Nobel prize-winning economist.

SALINA, Kan. - For those who don't know, the "rogue" Republican, Sarah Palin, has been invited to be the keynote speaker at the Salina Area Chamber of Commerce's annual banquet on February 5.

A local coalition of people opposed to Palinism have organized a Reality Not Celebrity dinner as a counter-event to the Palin's visit to Salina. The event will take place at the Salina Country Club.

Keynote speaker for the event is George Pyle, editorial writer at The Buffalo News, Wichita State graduate and former local liberal and excellent editorial writer of the Salina Journal. Pyle is flying in from Buffalo for the event.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Saturday, January 23rd, Manhattan-Ogden NEA will host a Legislative Forum at The Little Apple Brewing Company in Westloop. The event will begin at 4:00 pm, and each legislator will have about 5 minutes to speak. Then, the discussion will be open for questions from attendees.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - The second annual Sustainability Conference will be held on the K-State campus January 29 and 30th. The conference will feature Debra Rowe, professor of energy management, renewable energy technology and psychology at Oakland Community College, as well as numerous panels representing a cross section of Kansans.

This year's conference will focus on "networking the higher education resources in Kansas," said Ben Champion, Director of Sustainability at K-State. "Last year was a wonderful conference. The information was about what people had done or were doing and the audience feedback we got was heartened to know what was going on but they wanted to know what they could do. That is what we are going to focus on at this year's conference: how people can get involved."

TOPEKA, Kan. - Join Kansas NOW on January 21, 2010 for Roe v. Wade Day at the Capitol!

Now, more than ever, it is important that we have a strong pro-choice presence in Topeka. This is the first Roe v. Wade Day event since the assassination of Dr. Tiller.

Come to the Capitol and honor him and his unfailing dedication to the women of Kansas.

Transportation is available from Kansas City and Wichita.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - My first article for the Kansas Free Press, and my last article written for 2009! Guess I better make this good. I could do an article about all the political atrocities that happened throughout this year, or prophesize the trouble coming in the next. There certainly is plenty that happened throughout the year that I could complain or even cheer about. I think instead, I will enjoy the last five hours of 2009 with a noisemaker in my hand and a smile on my face. I will leave the politics for tomorrow. May 2010 bring us health care reform (sorry couldn't resist)!