GREAT BEND, Kan. - Life can get boring if you are afraid of having character. Raising a little hell can keep your spirit in check with your mind. Experience breeds character.

Wall Street protests have been going on for several weeks. Scanning the pictures and crowds, I see many young people. Could it be the next generation is turning off their Facebook and getting involved? So much for tune in, turn on and drop out.

Many of these young people involved went to College with the expectation of a decent job. After they graduated they found they were taking jobs much below their pay grade with a looming college debt, waiting to fall atop them. Sixty-five percent of college grads have college debt when they graduate. Many of my friends depend on the good pay their parents make to help them make ends meet.

WICHITA, Kan. - I was at work when my mother called me to tell me that someone had shot Dr. Tiller. That call momentarily paralyzed me with a peculiar shock. I knew this tragedy was a possibility, but I never fathomed it would become a reality. As I put down the phone, my young co-worker asked what was wrong. I told her the horrifying news about George Tiller. She asked me who he was, and I told her that he was the abortion doctor in Wichita.

Thugs! Parasites! Bloodsuckers! Mediocre slackers! Class warfare against the rich!

WICHITA, Kan. - It's in the air everywhere -- unionized public workers are the cause of all the ills of the world, if not the universe. All those once trusted public servants, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, social workers, prison guards, health care providers, cafeteria workers, among others, have now become Public Enemy #1. Public sector workers, people who go to work every week day and sometimes at night and on weekends, are now, according to anecdotal reports, earning out-sized salaries and ruining our economy with their demands. They're taking taxpayer money (otherwise known as salaries) and using it to support corrupt unions. Wisconsin governor Scott Walker and 18 Wisconsin senate Republicans think so poorly of unionized state workers that they voted to end collective bargaining rights. Is this opprobrium against public workers spreading throughout the country?

GREAT BEND, Kan. - Can we finally have a discussion about violence in America? Can we have a conversation without people shouting and grabbing their guns?

Discussing violence is a social taboo, when in reality it is a conversation we need to have. Let's not waste anymore time.

Compared with 168 other countries America has the highest prison population. Compared with 32 other countries America has the highest homicide rate (by fire arm).

Most of us are aware of the Bobo Doll experiment in the 1960's...

SHAWNEE, Kan. - A few years ago, on a liberal blog that I frequented at the time, I met an interesting fellow from Kansas. He told me about a Kansas blog for progressives that he had started and suggested that I check it out. At the time I remember thinking, "Wow! A progressive blog in Kansas? That's great news!"

The fellow's nom de plume was Iggy Donnelly. I was intrigued by the name alone. So I checked out the blog, Prairie Populists and Progressives and found both a home on the web, and friends. Iggy and most of the other bloggers on PP&P hail from the Wichita area. To find progressives living in Wichita was amazing. If I felt like a Martian living on Pluto, imagine how they must feel, I thought.

As a transplant from the east coast, I had never thought of Kansas as my home. Home had always been back east in Philadelphia, although it had been decades since I lived there. I had never felt a sense of belonging in Kansas, mainly because of the prevailing political and religious leanings.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - For some people, it's easy to give up on the younger generations. Honestly, after working with the "at risk" teenage population, I can see why people don't like to stick around for that proverbial long haul. It's difficult to love a kid through their rage and pain, or to consistently provide for someone else's kid when that child fails to show any sign of gratitude. In fact, some of the kids will do everything they can think of to show you that they don't need your help.

They don't want to be classified as "needy," but they will take everything that you can give while they call you every name in the book (and they will even invent some names that you've never before heard). Obviously, walking away from these kids is the easy thing to do. However, I simply do not accept it as the right thing to do. Neither does a local chapter of a national organization. The Kansas City chapter of Stand Up For Kids has proven time and again that they aren't afraid to do what's right by these children.

MANHATTAN, Kan. - Manhattan's Monthly Film Series is please to announce that Kevin Willmott, Junction City native and professor of film at the University of Kansas, will be on hand to moderate the screening of his most recent film, The Only Good Indian, when it is screened on Tuesday July 6th, 6:30 pm, at the Manhattan Public Library Auditorium.

The Only Good Indian was written and produced by Thomas L. Carmody and stars J. Kenneth Campbell, Wes Studi, and newcomer Winter Fox Frank.

Set in Kansas during the early 1900s, a teenage Native American boy (played by Winter Fox Frank) is taken from his family and forced to attend a distant Indian "training" school to assimilate into White society. When he escapes to return to his family, Sam Franklin (played by Wes Studi), a bounty hunter of Cherokee descent, is hired to find and return him to the institution. Franklin, a former Indian scout for the U. S. Army, has renounced his Native heritage and has adopted the White Man's way of life, believing it's the only way for Indians to survive. Along the way, a tragic incident spurs Franklin's longtime nemesis, the famous "Indian Fighter" Sheriff Henry McCoy (played by J. Kenneth Campbell), to pursue both Franklin and the boy.

GREAT BEND, Kan. - In my 25 years of practicing law, the most unforgettable lawyer I ever met was Kerry Granger. A whole collage of words and phrases come to mind: colorful, champion of the little guy, eccentric, idealistic, flew by the seat of his pants, a dreamer.

When Granger was found dead of natural causes in his home Saturday afternoon, the Hutchinson News ran a front page "above the fold" story: "Popular Area Lawyer Found Dead in Home." Most lawyers pass away with little publicity, but, as Arthur Miller once wrote, "attention, attention, must finally be paid to such a man" as Kerry Granger.

YOCEMENTO, Kan. - A storm was brewing in the north, but there was nothing but peace and good cheer around our kitchen table last Thursday evening. My family and I had the privilege of hosting Nola Ochs and her great-granddaughter Janae Ochs for dinner.

I took an Old Testament class with Nola in the fall of 2006, where we first met. It was her first semester as an on-campus student. On the first day of class, we went around and introduced ourselves with a brief bit about why we were taking the class. Nola said that she was interested in the Bible. She tagged on at the end that she was 94.

There were no gasps or applause from the class; instead there were a few indulgent smiles. How quaint that this elderly woman wants to better understand the history of the Bible. Most likely the professor will go easy on her. After all, she's 94 years old. But we soon found out that Nola Ochs was no shrinking violet. She spoke up with thoughtful, relevant remarks, wrote papers and took exams.

On April 1st, the Kansas Free Press (KFP) celebrated its 6-month anniversary. With gratitude for the Kansans who nobly commit their time and talents to citizen journalism, we are celebrating our recent half-year anniversary by proudly showcasing each of our own KFP writers.

WICHITA, Kan. - In this profile, we are honored to introduce KFP correspondent, Claudean McKellips. She has taught at the high school and college level since 1997. Helping students find their voice in reading, writing and thinking brings Claudean the greatest joy. She has found her niche in the public alternative and charter schools where it is still possible to escape canned curriculum and some aspects of NCLB. Claudean is especially interested in leveling the playing field for first-generation college students.