League of Women Voters of Kentucky Excludes Drew Curtis From Kentucky Governor Debate

The evening of October 25th 2015 on the campus of Eastern Kentucky University featured an event where Democratic Candidate Jack Conway and Republican Candidate Matt Bevin squared off on stage in a debate for Kentucky Governor general election.  The only problem is that Drew Curtis, fark.com creator, and independent candidate was not allowed on stage even though he is a legal candidate for office and will appear on the ballot November 3rd when the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky will elect their next Governor among other offices up for grabs.  The organization that arranged this debate was none other than the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.  The watch dog group that is supposed to watch out for unfair voting practices and champion fairness in democratic elections chose to exclude Drew Curtis on the basis that he did not achieve a polling threshold of 10% prior to the debate.  This of course is questionable considering a poll conducted from October 14th-15th by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates showed that Drew Curtis polled at 11%.  Below is the link from that poll.

http://www.mattbevin.com/survey?utm_campaign=poll_tied&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mb4kentucky

However this is a moot argument considering that this debate was held on public property funded by the state and has a responsibility of being fair, non-partisan, and applicable to all election laws.  Excluding a candidate that has followed the KRS to the letter to appear on the ballot based on arbitrary "Debate/Forum" policies set by a non-profit organization is abhorrent to a fair Democratic election.  Below is a letter that I have sent to both of my representatives in Frankfort.

"I am a constituent from Estill County, Kentucky.  I am writing you today to request that you consider the attached email below.  As a concerned citizen of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, I am coming to you to ask that you work with your colleagues in Frankfort to draft and pass legislation regarding the fairness of not only ballot access for third party candidates, but fairness in public debates.  Currently for some offices, the KRS mandates that third party candidates acquire five thousand signatures in order to appear on ballots.  Republican and Democrat candidates only require two signatures.  This is a very discriminatory law that must be rectified.  The substance of my writing you today however has to do with the October 25th Kentucky Governor debate that was held on Eastern Kentucky University's campus.  This was a debate organized by the League of Women Voters of Kentucky.  This Debate only had the Democratic Candidate Jack Conway and Republican Candidate Matt Bevin.  The debate excluded Independent candidate Drew Curtis on the grounds that their "Debate/Forum policy" required that a candidate poll at least 10%.  In a poll conducted by Fabrizio, Lee & Associates conducted on October 14th-15th showed that Drew Curtis polled at 11%.

http://www.mattbevin.com/survey?utm_campaign=poll_tied&utm_medium=email&utm_source=mb4kentucky

However, I find that to be a moot point considering that the debate for the state's highest office  was held on PUBLIC property that operates on PUBLIC funding through the state.  I am asking that you champion my concerns in Frankfort to ensure a more fair Democratic election process.  I am asking that the KRS be amended to prohibit such arbitrary exclusionary rules from being executed by organizations arranging public debates because the citizens of the Commonwealth of Kentucky deserve to hear each candidate that legally appears on the ballot. I would be more than happy to meet with you to discuss this matter further.

Thank You,
Virgil Edwards"

Would you join me in demanding a more fair democratic voting process for all including third party candidates so that we can finally bring an end to the two party paradigm that continues to produce debt, waste, and usurpation of rights and wealth from WE THE PEOPLE?

#EKU Allowing Terrorists to Get What They Want By Closing Campus

Back in February, EKU discovered a threat written on a bathroom stall door and their response was to allow all students and faculty to miss on that particular day if they felt unsafe being on campus.  I said it back then that all this response would lead to is encouraging further terrorist threats in the future.  Fast forward to October 5th 2015....This was discovered on a bathroom wall in the Powell building on EKU's campus.

When this was announced to students on Monday October 5th, all I could remember was thinking back to February and how EKU's response led to a marked decrease of students on campus on the day the threat was supposed to be carried out.  I couldnt believe the response then and I didnt think it would get worse...I WAS WRONG...

Today October 7th... Students were greeted with announcements that EKU was closing all campuses today starting at 10:00 AM and to be closed October 8th and 9th.  The following is an announcement from EKU President Michael Benson.

"Dear Campus Community:

When you choose to learn or work at this university, you become part of the EKU family.  This week I have asked each of you to look out for each other and work together following a disturbing threat of violence on our campus.  My sincere thanks for the solidarity you have demonstrated, and the genuine care and concern many of you have expressed for your fellow Colonels.

To allow law enforcement to conduct a thorough investigation of the continuing threat and ensure the safety of our campus community, classes at all EKU campuses were canceled today beginning at 10:00 am; and the University will be closed Thursday, October 8 – Friday, October 9.  We will resume full campus operations following Fall Break on Wednesday, October 14.

As we make this adjustment to our operations, I ask for your continued patience and cooperation.  I ask employees to complete the workday today to prepare for providing essential campus services the remainder of the week. More information will be forthcoming on employee responsibilities and assignments.

Our primary goals in assessing this situation are limiting any safety risks and avoiding disruption to learning and teaching. While we are confident the responding team of law enforcement agencies has kept a watchful eye over our community and is diligently investigating the threat, it has become clear this incident continues to be unsettling to a number of our students, faculty and staff.

Understandably, this modification to our academic schedule will raise many questions.  In addition to our regular communications, we will continue to post updates on campus services and events athttp://police.eku.edu/public-safety-alert-updates.

We must continue to look out for each other and strive to create and maintain a safe environment where faculty can teach, staff can serve, and students can learn.

Thank you for your continued diligence.  As with challenges in the past, this one will be met and we will move forward – together – in the coming weeks and months.

Yours sincerely,


Michael Benson"

What is particularly disturbing about all of this is the fact that Students over the age of 21 are prohibited from conceal carrying on campus even though they possess Kentucky's CCDW permit.  Also they cancel classes but they have chosen not to cancel other events going on campus like the Football game on October 8th.  Of course it should be noted that this entire week is mid-term week with most students having exams.  What is also of note is that EKU is on fall break October 12th and 13th next week..  This announcement today effectively gives students a fall break from October 7th to October 13th..

This response will be seen to the Terrorist that wrote the threat as a sign of victory for themselves and a sign of weakness on the part of EKU.  This will undoubtedly fuel future events like this perhaps allowing those that write the threats to become even more bold and more threatening.. Maybe EKU will respond with calling off an entire week of classes next time.  But one thing is for certain, Students are getting the shaft with this ordeal, academically, constitutionally, and financially as these incidents have caused tens of thousands of dollars to be spent responding to the threats which students no doubt will be made to pay for in the future,

****** UPDATE*******
EKU's Football game originally at home on Thursday has been moved to Georgetown....
Center For the Arts Events have been cancelled.....  

This Fat Man says It is NOT Ok to be Morbidly Obese!

I just want to say up front that I don't aim to offend with what I'm going to say..

This is me...This is my body...I am not proud of it, nor am I ashamed...

You will not see me making disparaging comments or putting up a front about how others should just keep their mouth shut about how big I am...

I will not be this big for very much longer...after December 15th, I will be on a path to dropping this weight in a fairly short amount of time...

I do this not because of what others say or think...but because I know I'm not healthy now and no one in a similar shape is...

I want to live longer than I would now...I want to be able to do more than I do now...

I will not say its okay to be in the shape that I am now...just thought I would share because I've seen far too much on social media about how morbid obesity should be accepted and I find it to be ridiculous to encourage people to not be a healthier person.