Faye,

Here's the letter I plan on mailing on Monday.

I always stop at their booth at the Kansas State Fair and talk with them and have deep compassion for their cause.

Anyway:

Kansans for Life

Christine,

I am responding to your letter dated April 22, 2008 in regard to the Questionnaire from Kansans for Life.

Before I address your letter and questionnaire I want to let you know how disappointed I was when I never received a reply from an e-mail I sent you on May 25, 2007 requesting for information about your PAC so I could include you in my Political Ethics Class that I was offering. I also made the attempt to e-mail you a second time in October 2007. The e-mail software that I was using keeps track of what the recipient did with the e-mail; opened, deleted, marked for spam, etc. I believe your PAC was one that showed “Not Opened” at the time I stopped using the Constant Contact Trial software.

Sadly, my third attempt in e-mailing you did not work. That is why you are receiving my letter hard copy.

In reading your letter you state that if your questionnaire is not returned to you by May 16 you will consider me as a negative respondent. My question to you is if you are meaning the 16th being the date the letter was stamped or does this mean that you must have it in hand whereby if I call you on that date you can assure me that you do, in fact, have it on file? In either way I will send it with a return receipt to guarantee that your office received it. Your letter puzzled me, as an acknowledgement was not on the envelope meaning that you have no idea if I received it or not.

I would advise you on two things that would make me feel better. First, open your e-mail regardless who sent it to you. Second, the next time you mail something to me that has an ultimatum in it to ensure that I received it so I could choose to respond or not.

I don’t know if you are aware of the Internet sites that call themselves “watch-dog” websites. I google my name occasionally to see who has done what with my name. In one situation where they stated that I did not respond I had no prior knowledge of it. When I went to enter my information the site lost my information and, again, stated that I did not respond when, in fact, I did. I e-mailed their contact person stating that the information that I spent a day answering vanished. I did receive a reply from this company stating that they were not going to be REALLY be up and running until after the primary and to get back in touch with them after that time. In the meantime the web page says “no response”.

Situations that I mentioned above are one of the reasons we, as candidates, get bad marks. Since this is the first time for me to run for public office I find it fascinating what is considered to be standard operating procedures.

In my campaign plan to attack my opponent, Representative Clark Shultz of District 73, by using such type of information on not being attentive to questionnaires that have repeatedly gone with no response I now have no other recourse but to shred everything I have in my strategy plan in this area, which was going to be an integral part of my campaign.

I believe that I should contact the Kansas Government Ethics commission and discuss this topic with Carol to see what kind of grievance procedure a candidate, such as myself, can do to resolve situations like this.

After I have discussed this issue with Ethics I will let you know their ruling or should I have them contact you directly?

If you have any questions please feel free to contact me at 620.755.5267 or by e-mail at RandallcRandall@yahoo.com.

I am looking forward to meeting you in person on May 13. Perhaps we can do lunch and chat?

Sincerely,

Randy Conyers
Candidate for House of Representatives, District 73.

WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/RANDYCONYERS

Choice

In every thing you do in your life there is a decision to be made. Your mind must choose to do something or not. Choice can be described as True or False.

You have a situation before you where a decision must be made before you can continue life’s journey. Choice is binary. It is either Yes or No, It can also be described as On or Off. If you cannot make that decision it is void or null. You cannot continue until a decision is made. Some will call this free will.

Every individual has been given free will. It is something that has been given to you by grace and you own it. Free will can only be taken away from you if you give it away.

To function you must be pro-choice. If you cannot make a choice you will remain in a state where you are void. Having the desire to function when you are in a null state means you cannot think for yourself. All you can do is be a follower. An individual right is not in your mind-set. You do not understand it because you have never personally experienced it before.

What I have stated above is nature’s law. It is built in to you. It just may be dormant inside you. However, it is part of your basic instinct.

In today’s society religion and politics are mingled. Our forefathers had made the decision to separate religion from politics, which promotes individual rights to choose. Society is change as the law of nature is change.

The best illustration of free will is abortion. You are either for it or against it. If you cannot make a decision on this issue you are in that realm of being void on the subject.

I will respect your decision even though my choice is the opposite of yours. We both have the right of choice, to exercise your free will.

It is my opinion, as society is a natural law of change, that I advocate for Pro-Choice on abortion. In my mindset I cannot comprehend being told what to do as illustrated as Pro-Life. Pro-Life is so distorted and is a contradiction, best illustrated in the Kansas Republican Platform. They say they are pro-life, as in religion, but they are also say they are for individual rights in their politics. Remember that religion and politics are mingled in our society.

Let’s discuss abortion from the law of nature. One of female gender has growing inside her, in time, is a fetus when she has a fertilized egg. Its gestation time varies by what part of nature it is. In human females it takes 9 months for the fetus to develop before it can be born. It is directly connected to its caretaker. During gestation such things as limbs grow and organs are developed. They have kidneys that are functioning; they have motor skills that they developing, they have a heart that is beating. Everything in the gestation process is at work. It is a fully functioning fetus, which is in humans, the unborn young from the end of the eighth week after conception to the moment of birth, as distinguished from the earlier embryo.

The one who made the decision that a beating heart constitutes a child was one who does not understand gestation. Yet take that same person into a museum that displays, in jars, the development stages of a fetus for all to see and learn from. In his mindset would it not be true that, in fact, actual dead babies are on display for all to see. How morbid is that?

Aborting is Termination of pregnancy and expulsion of an embryo or of a fetus. It is not yet a living young.

A baby is not a baby until the following events occur The emergence and separation of offspring from the body of the mother and given the breath of life. Now you have a baby.

What the mother does before her fetus becomes a baby is her individual right. It is not society’s decision. It is her decision.

How can it be perceived any differently? Because you have a choice to make. With what I have stated above has your decision to believe what I have said to be true or false? It is your choice. It is your free will.

After I filed for office and declared myself a Democrat I don’t have enough paper to make a hard copy of everything that I have been called in my district. Letting people vent is good for their soul. It does, however, concern me when their first words out of their mouth call me a baby killer and that I don’t believe in the Bible. It makes me wonder how many more incorrect choices this person has made in their lifetime.

As a final comment in this essay I must state that I am ordained and was an assistant pastor for three years. I have three grown sons in their 20’s and one grandson who turned one on tax day. In each case their mother made the decision to let the fetus fully develop and have it be born. They had made their individual right to choose. In my belief system it does not matter if I say these words from behind the pulpit on Sunday morning or stand behind a podium as a candidate for a public office.

While reading the McPherson Newspaper I was so pleased to see the Opinion section having Jerry Moran talking about the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) program.

I agree with Congressman Moran. I made comment on NCLB on my “get to know Randy Conyers” DVD. My comments were loaded on the Internet YouTube.com site back in February under Education Part 1 & 2.

Both Congressman Moran and myself express our concern on Teaching By Test rather than giving the student the opportunity to excel. Being a previous teacher I know much on this subject. If my intent, as an educator, is to produce top scores all I have to do is teach what is on the test. It is very tempting to do. It will help with funding for my school, it will let your community perceive that you have educational excellence and give your child a false sense of self-esteem. What kind of education is that for your child?

I personally know of a teacher who made the decision to teach by test. Large corporations were notified that there is a class ready to graduate with the highest test scores in the history of the school. The scores made everyone have much joy. Student placement would be in high paying jobs. Corporations wanted to have extensive interviews with these students. Not a single student was offered a job. The Metropolitan Life Insurance Company followed up with the school. They wanted to have a personal investigation. They desperately needed employees. Their hopes were high. The finding was the students were taught what was on the school’s test.

Congressman Moran states he will strive for improvements. “We must make sure we do not take the joy out of teachers teaching and students learning.” I have the name for this. Student Training on Gaining Excellence Reform. The acronym, ironically, is Stronger.

Jerry Moran stated it this way. “Strong schools are the foundation for strong communities, which ultimately make for a better Kansas. I would like to sponsor a house bill, which will be known as STRONGER.

Rather than having a system called NCLB I propose STRONGER. Going from no child left behind to a system that will allow every student to excel, to have joy in teaching, to have joy in learning is the mindset I strive for.

This is one of the reasons that I am running for the House of Representatives for McPherson, Lindsborg, Galva and Canton.

This is Randy Conyers for a STRONGER Kansas.

I have to stop and reflect. Everything I'm doing in public service is for my sons and grandson. I'm trying to give back after I lost everything and could not function for a few years.

My oldest who is 27 is at an all inclusive resort in Mexico tonight. This is his 3rd time there. Then he will come back home and work a few days. I say a few days because I just found out he will be taking another trip to Vegas. I think he's done with his ski trips for the year.

My middle son who is 26 showed me his new purchase and is going to let me have it to drive in the ASD parade. A black chevy Avalance that has every optional available plus after-market products that gives it a uniqueness and looks like no other truck does. His business life is doing well. Well enough that purchasing gas is not a problem.

My youngest son who is 24 enjoys playing poker. It's recreational fun for him. I can't believe he plays in the WPT. After his first WPT in Vegas I talked with him about it. He just didn't have the cards and was not accustomed to playing under the bright TV lights. What was more fun for him was meeting the players he knew from watching them play on TV. The actual money is not the focus as he will have his good days and bad days.

If you are reading this blog you might perceive these young men just doing what you are doing or perhaps you think of them as rich kids or just plain spoiled. I don't know your thoughts about them just by describing what they are doing. What I can tell you is that the only way that they could go to college was taking out student loans. I simply didn't have enough money. The two youngest are graduates of Wichita State. The oldest is a graduate of going through life.

Let's see if I can sum this up.

The oldest had some bad jobs that were not acceptable. The only way he could find a good job was experiencing the bad ones. When he found his ninch in life he saw a possibility and went for it. Going on all these trips are the result of working hard that are rewards from the company he works for. When he works he works hard. When he plays, he plays.

The middle son is always looking for an opportunity. When he sees a good deal he turns it into a great deal. The truck is a result of good business sense.

The youngest son makes double payments on his loans to keep from paying interest. He despises paying interest and will make double payments on his SUV and school loans. He knows the value of a dollar and takes care of himself financially. It has nothing to do with his gambling. Gambling doesn't pay bills. What he knows is that he has to take risks to win. If he is losing he has to weigh the costs. Does he cut his losses short and get out now or does he continue to put more money in to the pot?

In reading this blog back to myself I see why they have the things they have and do what they do at their young age. I guess I wasn't that bad of a father after all, as long as you don't listen to their mother.

After reflecting I'm sure when they're my age the statement will be:

Everything I'm doing in public service is for my sons and grandson.

I can finally go to sleep knowing life in their 20's is going just fine.

Good night

When you say the word Change one's mindset automatically thinks of something new that comes to be, something old that passes away, and something that stays the same throughout. What a powerful word!

Change is the law of life. If you only look to the past or present, I call that Education grades K-12, you are certain to miss the future. Most of us have a desire within us to see and experience the future.

That's what we are searching for.

Leadership Drives for change and improvement; does not accept the status quo.

It is in your nature to be an explorer. In you is a desire to look for what is to come, which is the future. That searching is called Change.

Saying the word change will automatically start doing what I have said above. It is as if this word is a trigger because it is the law of life.

I was in the computer software business for 32 years. I was a designer, a software engineer. It was my job to use computers to change what you think and how you do things, changing of your belief system. I was changing what people were doing in their workplace. Changing their mindset. I can summarize what I did for an occupation. I changed things. I was using the law of life.

In this paragraph I am going to talk about something I should never talk about in text. But I will go out on a limb and do it. Most people know about Jesus Christ. Some know him so well that they use his name all of the time while they are talking. For some people they use it even more when they are upset or angry, not advisable but they do. He repeatedly used a word over and over again. He would tell people to Repent, Repent, Repent. Why? Because of what the word meant to the people. Change your ways, Change the way you think, Change the way you live.

With everything I have said in this blog, CHANGE.