Does Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species need a special introduction? At least one man, creationist Ray Comfort thinks so. On Thursday, November 19, mere days before the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's work, evangelical Christians, led by Comfort, plan to distribute more than 100,000 free copies of Charles Darwin's seminal work on the theory of evolution on college campuses.

These copies include a "special introduction" by Comfort which claims, among other things, that evolution is scientifically false and that Darwin was a misogynist racist whose ideas inspired Hitler. In addition to the 100,000 books that creationists will distribute on campuses, another 70,000 of these "special" editions have been purchased by churches and individuals for further distribution to students. According to the creationist website, livingwaters.com, "In one day, 170,000 future doctors, lawyers and politicians will freely get information about Intelligent Design (and the gospel) placed directly into their hands!"

Photograph courtesy of Melissa Carlson

This morning, the Kansas City Young Dems led a protest and rally at city hall. About 100 activists gathered to hear speeches and show solidarity for the right of Kansans to be able to be offered a public option offering of health insurance. The specific purpose of their protest was to voice their opposition to an amendment that may soon be introduced in the Kansas State Senate by Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook (R-District 10). Pilcher-Cook's amendment would allow the state legislature to prevent the public option, if passed in the U.S. Congress, from being made available to citizens of Kansas.

The Young Democrats are opposed to leaving Kansans out of the health care reform options that will pass in Washington.

U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Maryland) signaled yesterday that it is his expectation is that the actual vote on the House health care reform bill will take place by 8 p.m. today, but may possibly be delayed until next week. Hoyer said this morning that he expects this bill to pass.

For most of today, though, debate will be lively. A 4-hour debate is now underway on floor of the House. For those that don't have a C-SPAN on cable television, the debate can also be followed online here.

We are happy to congratulate the writers of the Kansas Free Press on their 1st One Month Anniversary! The Kansas Free Press launched just one month ago, on October 1st. Since that first day, the reception, readership and traffic there has been nothing short of phenomenal. KFP's 54 writers have collectively filed 121 stories. During October, the Kansas Free Press has had 271,959 "hits" and has welcomed between 365 and 5,070 unique visitors every day! That's really magnificent!

So, what is the Kansas Free Press? As it steadily grows over the coming months and years, the Kansas Free Press strives to be a trusted state-wide online newspaper, featuring both opinion and news, written by citizen journalists about people, places, politics and policies that effect Kansans. Its writers are chiefly interested in examining what the people of Kansas value most and how individuals, governments, communities and neighbors respond to those values.