South Kansas City Observer

Some Existential Thoughts Provoked by Whitney Houston

2012-02-11T21:54:00.008-06:00

In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world
--Jesus Christ, as quoted by John (John 16:33b NIV)

Unless you have hidden under a rock, you are aware that singer Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel room in California Saturday afternoon. The Observer is around Ms. Houston's age--you could say we grew up together. I remember attempting to sing along with her in my first car after I graduated college--a Ford Escort. However, this post is not specifically about Ms. Houston's premature and somewhat unexpected death--it is about how it is that the landscape around you keeps changing as you get older.

Your relationship with technology changes--you've seen the changes both good and bad. You took your professional boards over 2 days with a pencil. You wrote your papers on a typewriter. You remember that if you were not home, tough luck reaching you on the phone. You remember music on large thin plastic discs. To a greater or lesser degree you've accepted the changes--even found them to be a substantial improvement. I am thankful every day for computers to write things on--so much easier for me!

The celebrities and sport stars you grew up with--the athletes, actors and singers you enjoyed over the years change--they retire, change their work, and die. You find yourself having to explain who someone is, or what they did to be famous or what their area of excellence was. You also make references that require explanation--we call them "memes" now--"Round up the usual suspects." "Make him an offer he can't refuse." "Go ahead, make my day."

To live is to change. It is almost literally "change or die." If you stop looking around you at the world and fully living in it and taking hold of the new, you will stagnate. You will stop growing a legacy. The relationship with the past is a tricky one: too much looking back, and a person can get stuck in many ways from wistful memory to regrets to roots of bitterness. Blundering on without consideration of the past also hurts; mistakes are repeated, the joys are neglected and passed over, and important content is destroyed. It is a little like a city and its old buildings: some must come down to allow for vibrancy and growth going forward, yet a city that does not treasure its physical history is not as rich as one that respects the structures of the past.

I have become more conscious lately of the fact that I may die. I am asking questions about my life--what will last, what will be of benefit to the world. As I watch the world around me change the questions become even more pointed. It is not about stuff, it is about what you do for others ongoing that will last. I pray that I have done some good for others during my life so far, and I pray that I can continue to build others up and teach others in a way that is positive.

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can.
--John Wesley, Christian evangelist, Anglican priest and founder of the Methodist Church.

Kansas City Budget Quick Thoughts

2012-02-09T17:36:00.002-06:00

I just read over Sly James' letter about the proposed budget for the city--I had a few thoughts:

When is it good-money-after-bad? When is it enough money to the poorest areas of town and maybe some more for areas that are not at the bottom of the hill? Tell me, how many people are walking in the third and fifth council districts? I see people walking all the time here in the sixth! Send some of that sidewalk money down here--we'll use the walkways. (That's just an example. Do we want to spend a lot of money on parts of the community that have slid down the hill already or do we want to work to prevent other parts of the community from sliding down the hill?)

Can we cut non-frontline people? You can not tell me with a straight face that there is not fat in middle management in every department in the city, including police and fire. Don't cut boots on the ground. Cut the assistant to the associate assistant!

The water department: please get real managers there before we give them any more money!

If I read my info right, the infrastructure work would be financed by bonds, that would increase tax burden about $55 on average. More information please: remember all the rumors? 150% property tax increase, city vehicle tax returning...are those still in play?

A lot of verbage, a lot of good intentions, a developing story.

The major's letter linked here.

Dennis Moore

2012-02-09T16:51:00.003-06:00

I was not surprised at the announcement that Dennis Moore, retired Kansas third district congressman, was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease. I am not gloating here, as Alzheimer's is no fun, a stealer of life. Dementia is like death while still living--it is a horrible thing.

But I remember thinking during the healthcare summer of 2009 that some of the statements and actions of Rep. Moore were a little odd. And his reluctance to be out in public. And his wife running for him in 2010. There was a point in time where there was a vague reference to some "threats" against him, which had an odd tone to them. He never did an unscripted appearance during that debate, even in venues usually unthreatening. It all seemed odd. When his wife decided to run my thoughts went this way: Moore still wants to play, but he can't play fully. He can work behind the scenes in controlled areas as consultant and provide experience; his wife, fully capable, can do the "up front" work that requires thinking on the fly and a strong working short term memory as well as emotional control. I kept looking at all these things clinically, and wondering, is Dennis Moore struggling with dementia?

So I wasn't surprised by the announcement. Saddened for him and his family. Dismayed. But not surprised.

Above: Photo of Dennis Moore during his recent meeting with the press, from the Kansas City Star.

Of Beauty Contests and Choppers

2012-02-07T20:36:00.004-06:00

Subtitle: Whatever I can blab about for 20 minutes.

Today Missouri is holding a non binding primary and it's just the dumbest thing ever. Missouri got played, both by the republicans and the democrats. The democratic governor could have stopped the voting charade, but didn't. The republicans could have pulled the vote, but did not. We will spend $7 million on a vote that means nothing. Shoot, we can have pollsters do that for us, that is, find out everyone's preference. In about two months, we will be going to the polls to elect school board members--could have just as easily done it then (although caucuses will be March 17 so it would have been kind of silly then too. Silly but cheaper.) I'll admit, I did not waste my time with this vote.

Kansas City's police department wants to buy a new chopper to replace the bits and pieces that make up one workable 40+ year old bird. Now, a while back a sale tax for capital improvements was voted in, and I would be interested to know if this money is new money or old money, per the ordinance language it is something called the Police Grants Fund. Is this sales tax money? If so, I am cool with that, as the chopper is a great tool for catching bad guys and KC's helicopter is very old and parts are getting hard to find. If we want a copter, and I think we do, and we have money without having to raise revenue or create new taxes, I am all for it. I think this is money well spent. The helicopter crews have not just chased bad guys but helped fire and EMS track down crashes. They are invaluable in following cars from the air, making it less dangerous to catch fleeing felons. There are a lot of money spending proposals floating around city hall. This one, if it is out of an existing fund, is a solid use of money that is already around, and an investment that will pay off in the future.

Observer photo of the current Huey police chopper and one of the crew at an event last October.

More Simple Economic Thoughts

2012-02-01T09:00:00.001-06:00

After posting I realized I had left out another point of tension and that is the effect of debt on an economy, both personal debt and government debt. Most believe that the current debt crisis was triggered by the debt incurred by real estate sales and the collapse of the complex instrumentation that grew up around those transactions. It is not the only cause, but it's an important part of the equation. Clearly, it was a bubble, and it broke dramatically. I think everyone can agree it was a bad thing for so many to be over their head in real estate debt.

However, not all agree that government debt is to be universally feared. Some feel that the debt incurred during a stimulus from the central government, along with the various types of payment programs will move the economy in a positive direction. Others strongly feel otherwise. If debt is seen as bad, needing reduction to prevent it from hurting the economy, two schools of thought show up yet again. One group says reduce taxes and the scope of government, even to the point of eliminating entire federal departments, and the economy of the private sector will grow, generating jobs, income, consuming and taxes. The other group sees tax increases, particularly on higher incomes, and unearned incomes (capital gains and such) as the way to cut the debt. These folks go back to the idea that too much cutting and austerity will keep the economy down.

I think we are dealing with unique times, and old recipes may not work. We need to look at everything and we need to compromise and talk to each other, not at each other. I also think we need to admit that much of the time during this crisis, we don't have a clue what will really work.

One other thing: I was chastised by conservatives when I suggested those receiving unemployment should be put to work on behalf of the country. I still think that if we are going to have the government cutting checks for people, they might as well get some service in return. Especially in the laboring trades; God knows there is enough infrastructure to fix. Is this a viable thought?

Ice Storm Memories

2012-01-31T20:45:00.004-06:00

Well, I was ready to join the ten years since the big ice storm fun, until I realized that I was still using film cameras and I have no idea where those photos are!

Still, I do remember. I remember setting the trash at the curb, feeling rain drops on my back and the thermometer reading 28 degrees. I knew then that we were in deep doo-doo. The next day, transformers were popping all over the neighborhood and by dinner time, the power was out. It would be out for three days, and the hardest thing about that was staying warm. The house was a cozy 45 degrees. After three days almost exactly, the power returned, courtesy of a crew from Houston. Not to everyone however; just to one side of the street. Across the street was not yet on, as well as two homes on my side. The last to be restored? Neighbor Carl, who is an electrician. He was so busy repairing other people's damaged service points that he didn't fix his own and KCP&L would not restore him until his was fixed. All told it was one week before we all were restored on our street. Aside from being cold, and one EMS call for a person who ran their portable gas fueled generator in the attached garage we all fared OK.

You could not drive anywhere, it was so icy. Tree branches were down all over. I cut up lots of fallen limbs and collected lots of branches. Thankfully I did not have to go out, and me and the cats bundled under the covers. I wished (and still do wish) that I had a wood stove.

I wonder where those photos are!

Above image from Fox4.

Simple Thoughts on Complex Economics

2012-01-26T10:30:00.000-06:00

How much can a government help to promote an economic recovery? There are two different schools of thought on the subject. Now, please note that these are simplified ways of summing up this complex topic as well as notes from one who majored in neither economics or political science. So I might be making things too simple. However, even in my limited understanding I can understand that we live in difficult, hard to fathom times.

One is that the government can provoke a recovery by spending money on different things. Unemployment payments, highway projects, government jobs--all take government money and attempt to inject it into the economy, hoping it will provoke growth. Austerity is seen as something that retards growth, making everyone reluctant to spend money on anything.

The other school of thought is that the government can't grow anything--that any spending that the government does is a net negative--at best it's neutral. It is a moving of money from one place to another and creates no new wealth, no new innovation and does not promote recovery. Government can best promote recovery by getting out of the way of the private sector as it works.

Last night's SOTU speech and the reply were just the latest salvos in this ongoing war of ideas. From the differing views of how things are now to the views of how capable the United States still is, the differences noted above were on display from President Obama and Governor Daniels. We also see this right here in our little cowtown on the river: we have the projects downtown, Power and Light, the Sprint Center for example, with heavy government investment.

We are always going to have a certain amount of the government pushing and pulling the private sector. Because humans are the way they are, a certain amount of regulation will always be needed, especially as corporations get bigger and lose their individual human identity (despite the Supremes' decision, corporations are not people) and fail to take heed of the price of being part of the society that surrounds and supports them. Yet we also know that the private sector, the person or group working on their own behalf, with their own goals and missions creates the most breakthroughs and new wealth--and is entitled to enjoy the fruits of their labors. Government can not bring that creative energy and desire--just love at the sad state of the Soviet Union when it fell--first world weapons and third world infrastructure.

We are in difficult times--we have to stop demonizing each other. It just doesn't help the cause. We need to take some difficult medicine and we have to start working towards the next breakthrough, the next frontier. Otherwise, we will suffer both here and in the world at large.

On Making Life Better for Pets In Kansas City

2012-01-25T20:53:00.003-06:00

For the fourth time ever, and the third time since the take over by a private group, this blogger visited the Kansas City Pet Project. The Observer continues to be impressed with the way the place is going. The out of date buildings and awkward topography of the location haven't changed but it's clear that a new spirit is in the place.

The very first time I visited the dog adoption area, the odor almost knocked me over. Since then, each time I have visited it has smelled reasonably clean to very clean (no place with 100 or more dogs in kennels, not all of whom get to go out as much as they should will smell perfect). The dogs, of course, are noisy, and there is not much help for that, other then keeping a ground level of activity that is positive for them. Maybe someday, when a new building is built, or this one is renovated, the bars that make the place look like doggy jail and still permit careless contact that can spread disease will go away, replaced by modern Plexiglas...

The cat area was moved from an unventilated basement to this office area even before the change and the area is far from perfect. However, the space gets some ventilation, and the cats get light and entertainment from the windows there. The area is clean, and sensible moves like moving the garbage can that held cleanings from the litter boxes out of the room keep the area from having a strong smell. It is possible to keep cats healthy here with innovation, attention to detail and discipline.

Most of the folks who are working with Kansas City Pet Project are veterans of animal work in this city. The veterinarian worked at Wayside Waifs and I recognized some faces from other animal welfare organizations. This one ingredient of being a city that cares well for animals, bringing one of the metro's largest open-admission shelters up to par, is moving smartly in the right direction.

It was good to see that the initial loss of funding to programs that helped provide services for spaying and neutering companion animals was restored by the Jackson County legislature this week. It was earlier removed in one of those penny-wise/pound foolish moves that pols are famous for. Because animal shelters and other efforts to get pets into homes are just part of a city's proper plan for animal welfare: the sheer number of animals bred must be reduced. That means an aggressive program of sterilization for many animals. That includes making sure that low income pet owners have a way of getting that done for a lower costs. That also means taking care of the strays of the city, whether it is getting them homes or TNR. People are important, but the problem of pet overpopulation is not going to go away--if anything it will get worse--if an investment in prevention is not made.

Meantime, the KCPP is a non-profit concern running the Animal Shelter at 4400 Raytown Road in Kansas City. They take contributions of cash or needed items. The shelter is open most afternoons except closed all day Mondays. Available pets are listened on Petfinder as well as accessed through the KCPP site and via Facebook.

LINKs:

KC Star: Animal welfare groups get funding after all.

Kansas City Pet Project on the web and on Facebook.

Petfinder website.

Photos by The Observer, and yes, the young couple in the picture adopted the cat they are visiting.

A Taste of Traveling

2012-01-20T14:53:00.000-06:00

Thinking of KC From Afar

2012-01-19T14:40:00.002-06:00

Good afternoon/evening everyone. I hope you are all doing well today. The South Kansas City Observer is not in south KC but traveling, and has a moment of internet time with my own computer. I have been monitoring the news from afar and my, you all have been busy.

The good news is that the shooter in the incident at the Independence Center mall has been caught. I feel good that it was not someone out to rob, or someone who went to the mall just to shoot and kill people. On the other hand, how stupid is it to resolve such a petty incident with such violence. It is as if we have all become prisoners of the game of respect. It is silly and self centered. Memo to all: the world does not revolve around you. Second memo: remember, this too shall pass. Scary too to think how many people are indeed carrying a concealed weapon, and are not trained to do so. Be careful who you talk (back) to--sometimes it is better to swallow that snappy retort, as much as it pains to.

The proposed city budget has indeed ruffled feathers as any budget that proposes cuts inevitably does. We are starting to feel the impact more sharply of the economic decline now, and like so many cities, we have to save some money somewhere. It is now that the bill of not focusing on basics will come due. While I am dismayed over cuts to police (at a time when we are dealing with issues of crime) and wonder about cuts to fire (I know some things about EMS staffing--aspects of staffing the ambulances are not pretty) I am quite perturbed over cuts to repairing our sad streets and downright annoyed at the idea of water/sewer increases. Yet there is moneys going to sports and entertainment. If we want to avoid that 150% property tax increase that was kicked around a couple weeks ago, we are going to have to cut. Let's try to get this one right and cut as much fat as possible, saving muscle and bone.

I expect to be back to regular posting real soon. Check out the Facebook box: I sometimes do links and posts there that you might find interesting. A current question has to do with the influence of what the news media reports on our opinions and emotions about crime. Go over there and add your $0.02.

Winter's Here

2012-01-12T16:47:00.004-06:00

The Winter you ordered has arrived. Please go to the pick up window and get your order. Are you all happy now? It's nasty cold and a smidgen of snow has fallen.

As to the streets and the driving, well none of it is ever good. Any time conditions change rapidly as they did over the past 24 hours, it makes it tough for street departments to take care of the roads. There were very specific spots where the roads got very slippery overnight. As to the driving? It's a problem because we don't get enough winter weather for people to get the experience needed to be good at it. In addition, most of us are like kids over summer vacation: we forget everything we learned during the previous year's classes.

The key to sane winter driving is to pay attention, leave extra time for your trip, anticipate, plan ahead and make all changes slowly. This is a really good time to stop using your phone while you drive. You will need both hands and all your attention.

The word vector is used in physics and it describes something that has both an amount and a direction. When you say that you were driving 65 mph east, you are stating a vector. In winter driving, if you make any changes to the vector value of your moving auto, it is far better to make them slowly not abruptly. So if you must turn, stop, start, slow down or speed up, those are the danger times for your traction to fail you and the laws of physics to take over. The true lesson is that most winter driving is not impossible, but because so many variables have changed, the rules are different. Drive accordingly, and you will arrive alive.

About the Kansas City Public Schools

2012-01-07T19:10:00.004-06:00

When I was growing up in New York city, with few exceptions, it was recognized that the public school system was terrible. If you had two nickels to rub together you sent your child to private or parochial school. That was just the way it was. It was something known throughout the entire city--maybe out in Staten Island they felt better about their neighborhood schools, but in the four other boroughs, Manhattan, Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, the general feeling was that the schools run by the city stunk, and you just didn't send your kid there if you could help it. It burned people to pay taxes to run the crappy schools and pay tuition to educate their own kids, but it was one of those things that was just taken as part of the package of living in New York City.

Over the past 30 years, the Kansas City schools have slowly slid into the same abyss. There are so many reasons why the schools have gone into the dumper, but gone there they have. Now, as generations of ill educated people pass by, and education is less and less valued, the schools get worse and worse. What came first? The bad schools? The bad values? What has gone on with the drug trade in our poorer neighborhoods and the lure of easy money? The flight of those who value education more?--first the White Flight driven by prejudice and ignorance, then the flight of Black families that want their kids to be well educated. It gets harder and harder to overcome the poor family/parental support that the kids bring with them to school. Expectations drop. Discipline goes away. Instead of reinforcing school rules, parents threaten the school with lawsuits and blame. All this going on in a nation that is doing less and less manual labor and more and more things that require skills. Things that require the ability to read, do math, comprehend and follow concepts and ideas--basically the skill to be able to think. Both our institutions and our values are failing us here with the result that our abilities are decreasing daily as a nation and people.

You don't have to go to college to be an innovator, but you do have to develop an intellectual curiosity about the world around you, and have some basic and fundamental skills to create something special. That starts younger then college. We are losing those youngsters. It's hurting us already. To really fix it, we have to renounce our anti-intellectual bent, our lack of value of being educated in the family, our blame passing and our lack of expectations. We can work on the institution all day long, and spend lots of money, but these are the things that really need fixing.

Under Inspired

2012-01-07T18:46:00.003-06:00

The five of you who read this blog don't come here to read about how frustrated I get trying to write posts sometimes. But it has been especially hard of late. Partly because I have had trouble clearing time for internet fun and partly because the issues before us are so uninspiring.

Uninspiring is what I would call the Republican field for president. This deficient group has started the long primary voting season with the caucus in Iowa last week. Mitt Romney won that in a squeaker. The first three were Romney, Santorum and Paul. While there are aspects of each of these men that have some appeal, they each have potent defects as well. I keep looking at the Republican field and at Barack Obama and ask myself, "Really? Is this the best we got?"

Uninspiring is what I would call the leadership of Kansas City, Missouri, which seems more determined to make big splashes then solid workaday plans. It's more fun to challenge the state over the school district and make plans for buildings and trains then it is to work daily on the crime issue, patch the streets and keep water flowing to residents.

Uninspiring also is so many people who do not want to take responsibility for anything, whether it be a discreet action or a general decay. We look for someone to blame for our failures. This is natural, and a very easy trap to fall into. However, true change, the kind of change that really "takes" cannot start until we step up and tell ourselves the truth. That is the start of true reformation and revival, the start of true change.

And it is what we need now. These are special times, and they are going to need some new and special thinking.

New Year?

2012-01-03T22:03:00.004-06:00

Were you sad to see the end of 2011? Or completely ecstatic to finally see it end?

I have to say that I don't get all wrapped up in the end of the year. It is more of interest to me when the seasons of the year start and end. Christmas is a holiday with its own intrinsic value and part of a different cycle of seasons. New Year's is embedded in the first part of winter, when the days are still short and the temperatures are getting lower. Ask me how happy I am as the temperature warms in late February and March and days get longer--I am very happy at that transition.

2011 was stressful for our nation, as many became unsatisfied with our national leadership, both presidential and congressional. The economy continued to stagnate, not producing jobs, exhibiting all the signs of painful structural change ahead. Locally, we watched our homicide rate go up, rapidly outpacing most metropolitan areas. We watched as a new administration took up residence at 11th and Oak, and did not seem much better than the old one. Water pipes continued to burst. Power plays and players came and went, and it seemed that the basic services that hold a city together were being neglected. It was more fun to cut ribbons and spawn real estate development ideas.

2012? It will be dominated by the national presidential circus. As I type this, CNN is playing speechifying by Republican candidates in Iowa. The caucus there is the opening salvo in an ongoing drama of nominating an opponent for the weakened incumbent and we will hear this stuff endlessly until November. Many regard the November election as one of the most important in our nation's history. It certainly will be one of the longest campaigns leading up to that election.

Meantime, some believe that the world will end apocalyptically in 2012. We tried that road in 2011, and funny, we are still here. I suspect that we will be here in 2013. A little bruised maybe, but still here.

Happy New Year. Whoopee...

Jeff Smith, KCFD

2011-12-28T19:45:00.007-06:00

Some of you might remember an accident on Red Bridge Road, not far from KCFD station 42 involving a pumper truck on the way to a medical call. Chauffeur Jeff Smith of pumper 1, which had moved to cover 42's area, turned east from the fire station and found himself in a situation with an oncoming car. In trying to avoid a collision with the car, FF Smith attempted to go far to the right. As he did so, the pumper hit a tree, destroying its passenger compartment. FF Smith's left leg was severely injured in the impact and he eventually had to have it amputated.
Kansas City's Ingram's magazine recently honored Jeff Smith and others in their December 2011 issue. It was good to read how FF Smith is fairing. His choice was a difficult one, one he should not have had to make, but was forced to make by another person's foolish choices. Because he chose a path that increased risk for himself, lives were saved that day.

Here is the essay from Ingram's on Jeff Smith:

In 22 years with the Kansas City Fire Department, most of them as a driver, Jeff Smith had been behind the wheel of a fire truck too many times to count. Another shortage-of-breath call at a senior-living center last February had all the earmarks of another milk run—right up until a Grand Prix pulled in front of his pumper as it gathered speed on Red Bridge Road.

Smith had a choice to make, and a microsecond to make it: A head-on collision, risking certain death for driver of that car, or swerve and take his chances. He swerved. The rear wheels of his truck scaled the engine compartment of the car, causing him to lose control. The truck careened over an embankment, hit a utility pole and slammed into a tree.

A common misconception is that a loaded pumper truck is as impervious to damage as a tank. Far from it, Smith says. “If you hit something head-on, the front of the truck just breaks apart.”

And in this case, it did. What had been the interior of his cab became a collection of jagged metal and glass shards, all moving at a high speed. Smith doesn’t remember much about the impact, only the frantic cries of other crew members urging him not to try getting up.

Not until after the doctors had informed him that they couldn’t save his left leg did he learn that someone else was in that car, a 3-year-old girl. Two lives saved. One leg lost at mid-calf. Smith runs the math on that, and says it adds up.

“For a long time, I questioned whether I had enough time, and always asked myself if there was a chance to do something different,” he says. “But if I had gone even a foot to the left, there were four or five cars there, and the captain said that almost certainly there would have been a fatality. He said what happened was the best possible outcome, and I think that’s right.”

But at a price. Smith has spent nearly a year in recovery, and endures 90-minute sessions of physical therapy twice a week. He isn’t back to work yet, and isn’t entirely sure what future roles he might have at the department. Biking is probably out, softball almost assuredly, he says.

Even now, after the acclaim as a hero for his sacrifice, Smith isn’t claiming that mantle for his own.

“I don’t feel like a hero,” he says. “I did my job like I was supposed to. I can wish I had my leg back, but two people are alive because of what I did. Everyone survived, and that’s the best thing in the world.”

Links: Ingram's Magazine on line.

Accounts of the accident, linked and summarized by fire service bloggers:

STATter911 and FireTruckBlog. Take a look for the pictures alone.

Images above: Ingram's cover featuring Jeff Smith and five other heroes, Jeff Smith in Ingram's photo. Observer photo of the area of impact--note the new utility pole and damaged tree--taken a couple days after the crash. The damage is still visible today, 10 months later.

We give the fire department--and the politics that surround its administration--a lot of crap around here. We still think the whole EMS thing is a disaster. That being said, however, this is a pretty neat group of people overall and many of them are exceptional.

The Biggest Story?

2011-12-26T21:03:00.002-06:00

Topically challenged right now.

It's a lot more fun to talk about the holidays, the Chiefs, the weather or just about anything else then the current set of news headlines while hanging around the kitchen table these days.

The news media is this weird mix of holiday feel -good stories, horrid crime stories and sports headlines.

Just wondering here--what is the biggest and most important thing that is before us?

Do the folks at City Hall think the same things are important that we, the citizens, think are important?

How much does the media have to do with our priorities--that what they report is what comes to our attention--makes the most noise--and provokes us to call for action? Is what creates the noise really the most important thing?

Just wondering.

The Light Has Come

2011-12-24T06:00:00.000-06:00

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:1-14 NIV

A blessed Christmas to all from the South Kansas City Observer

The Right to Know

2011-12-23T17:13:00.002-06:00

Just a few short weeks ago I found myself being called "judgmental" in a comment forum because I stated that as much as some of us would like to know more about the particulars of the recent suicide of channel 4 weatherman Don Harman, we really do not have any right to know anything more about his death than the family decides to release. It is coming up again in the Aisha Khan case, as many feel that due to the work done to find someone that was thought to be missing and possibly in danger, the public has the right to know exactly why things happened the way they did. Again in this case, both family and authorities are being closed mouthed about the details. You might have a bit more of a case here due to the publicity given to a missing person case, but at bottom, especially since neither the family nor Aisha made the initial 911 call. There is no "right" to information here.

Let me give you an example: it's a personal one, but it makes the point. In 2004, my father passed away of sudden death. I was going to say sudden cardiac death, but truly I cannot say even that, because my mother, as his first and most immediate kin, and a competent person, refused an autopsy. (Side note: Apparently in Vermont, there is no requirement to do post mortem examination of outside of hospital, unattended or unexpected deaths. I must admit this surprised me. I believe it would have been required here in Missouri.) Now, I wanted to know, but my mother says she did not want it, and besides "dead is dead." I cannot assert any right to make that decision and obtain knowledge over my mother's wishes not to know. I do not have that right. I didn't have it then, and I don't have it now.

So anyone thinking that I judge those who want more information about the death of a public figure or about the details of an event that is not judged a crime, I do not judge. I understand your frustration. Your frustration however, does not entitle you to the information you desire.

Kitchen Table Talk: Aisha Khan

2011-12-23T16:34:00.002-06:00

Last Friday, 19 year old Aisha Khan of Olathe was reported missing. The student and newlywed left a frantic voice mail message and then was not seen since. Her books and cell phone were found sitting on a table at the KU Edwards campus. No further clues other than a witness report of seeing her walking alone near the campus were discovered. This past Wednesday evening, she reported in to law enforcement and she was deemed safe. Since then, the story, which was on blast in much of the media, including national outlets, has been toned down considerably.

It is all the talk because we all want to know all the details: why? Was she threatened by someone in her family? Did she have a fight with her husband? Did she even want to be married? There is much talk of the cultural clash between those who live family life and love in a very traditional Muslim way and the way of the open American society where love and marriage are very much based on choice. In the back of many minds is the history of "honor killings" where women are killed for being the victims of men--of men who rape and commit adultery.

People are frustrated by claims of "missing" that turn out to be cover ups for something else, or not missing at all. The original call in this case came from KU Edwards campus security. Did the rent-a-cops overreact? Was it always just some crazy family drama that would have smoothed out? Who knows--for all we know the attention may have saved Khan's life. But we will never know, because the embarrassed family will never allow the rest of the story to see the light of public day.

But we are all frustrated by crimes reported that never really occurred. And each one of these non-events creates a skepticism that bleeds out every time we hear a crime story. In fact, when the report of a car jacking/rape case that started at Ward Parkway Mall and ended at 18th and Vine came out, and more info did not immediately come forth about suspects, the lost car and so on, I started to become skeptical. Is that really the story, or is it something else?

News media does us no favors by jumping on every unusual story of crime so quickly and putting it on blast. Sometimes it is not everything it seems. Too much of this, and it will become the boy who cries wolf. And the delay caused by doubt, cynicism and skepticism could eventually cost something more than embarrassment. It could cost life and/or property.

Chain of Hope and How the City Can Mess With You

2011-12-21T10:39:00.000-06:00

I think that for the majority of us, whether we personally own or like companion animals, we desire that animals be treated humanely, without neglect or cruelty. Sometimes it is a matter of stewardship of investment, and sometimes it is just the right thing to do. Groups of people have come together to help animals, and to help other people help animals. Chain of Hope is just one of those groups. They have felt called to carry out their mission in some of our city's most difficult neighborhoods, rescuing animals from poor conditions, providing reduced cost and free vet services, providing outside shelter for animals and helping poor pet owners feed their pets.

Late last week the organization was paid a visit at its facility at 27th and Tracy by KCMO Animal Control and by KCMO Neighborhood Codes people. The two visits were not happy ones, resulting in 4 citations from Animal Control and a 15 day vacate order from Codes. They provide a perfect example of how a city can harass its citizens in an unhelpful way.

You can't have more than 4 adult animals in a residential home in KCMO; you can have as many young--less than 5 month old--baby animals as you can care for and maintain properly. AC decided that some puppies that Chain of Hope had were over 5 months--meaning that they were over the animal limit. Tickets resulted.

If you want to run a business out of a house in a residential area, you must get the approval of neighbors within a certain radius of the home. Chain of Hope was unable to do this--just one neighbor held out. (Side note: Why? In that neighborhood, you would take a chance on a new neighbor moving into that house? The chances of them being good neighbors is pretty slim. I'd take a bunch of well kept dogs over what could live there. Worse yet, the house could become vacant, which attracts animals far more annoying than dogs. Some of those animals have two feet...) They were maintaining the residential rules of keeping 4 grown animals or less, but Codes was upset because no one was "maintaining residence there." (Side note number two: Thanks stupid Code Enforcement bozo, for saying that on the public airwaves that someone is not in the house 24/7. Now, in order to maintain safety and preserve property, someone will have to be in the house 24/7. Preferably with a Concealed Carry Permit, a side arm and a big ass shot gun.)

It just seems to me that these two city departments went out of their way to be pains in the rear to Chains of Hope. In fact, to me, it served as a perfect model of how City Hall can harass you to death if they get it in their pea-pickin' thick bureaucratic skulls that they want to. I would bet that the City Codes inspector can find something wrong on the property of any this blog's readers if they really wanted to. Makes you wonder also, when people can hoard animals for years and repeatedly, and not get the sort of attention that Chain of Hope has.

Chain of Hope and AC are allies, not enemies--doesn't someone realize this? Both have roles to play to keep KCMO healthy and to assure that animals are treated humanely. This is just a bad scene here, and could have been dealt with in a much more cooperative manner.

One more question: The new group taking over the management of the Animal Shelter--are they going to have any say over how AC works--or are they going to end up fighting against this city department that is supposed to be working with them?

Two news agencies picked up the story:

KSHB: "KC Urban rescue given..."

KCTV5: "Chain of Hope in Battle to..."

Chain of Hope's web site with details of the City Hall rally noted below, and links to more details about the encounters with AC and Codes last week.

Rally today for Chain of Hope at City Hall, 12 noon.

23.6 Homicides Per 100,000 People

2011-12-20T21:43:00.000-06:00

When I saw the item last week about the general decline in violent crime in the United States during the first half of 2011, a drop that continues a trend going on about four years, I wondered why our fair city, Kansas City, MO continues to have so much trouble with violent crime and continues to have a high homicide rate per unit of population. I hate to admit it but I let the post sit in my head too long and TKC beat me to it! However, the question is still a fair one. Why, when violent crime is steady or trending down in so many places, does Kansas City struggle with it still?

Some would say the bulk of the crime occurs in only certain parts of town, but more recent headlines have brought murder, armed robbery and car jacking further south and further west. This is why we who live in other parts of Kansas City--or other parts of the metro--cannot just ignore the problem because it doesn't happen in our neighborhoods. The problem is that many of the best ideas for reducing the murder rate must come from and be implimented from within the most troubled and crime active area--Kansas City's east side . As one who does not live on the east side of Kansas City, there are simply things I cannot do. I cannot, for example, be a model of leadership for the community, trying to lead the community into a better way of thinking about itself. I cannot accept responsibility for the community's flaws or prod the community into taking responsibility for its problems nor can I make the community improve. All these types of things have to come from within that community.

However, I can ask if the police department and the city government are doing all they can to make reduction of violent crime for the whole city a priority. I can ask if my police force is doing its best police work or can they do better. I can wonder if my city government is making the reduction of violent crime part of the list of urgent things to work on in our city.

There are a lot of forces at work that can cause a murder rate to be high. Do we know which one of those forces are in play here? Are the murders drug related? Gang related? Part of a misbegotton culture of "gaining respect" that has taken over? Are people becoming violent to get the things they want--or to feed a drug habit? Are we keeping enough really bad people in prison?

I have written a lot of posts on crime on this blog and they often seem to circle back to the same point about community, taking responsibility and so forth. There are times that I am not sure that we can solve the "crime problem," only contain it. At this point, I would say that we are not even doing a very good job of containing the crime problem, and I would also say that we are not making it the priority it needs to be in our civic life. It is time for all of Kansas City to stand up and demand that it become a priority to reduce the rate of violent crime in Kansas City, Missouri.

Flashback Thursday: Council Dude Sharp

2011-12-15T05:00:00.001-06:00

The Observer will freely admit that there is a struggle with paper at our household. There is always too much of it, and some of it gets away, tucked in some out of the way place, to just sit quietly until the cleaning bug bites, or we get sick of the piles, or the cats get into it. So we have been cleaning lately, and along the way, we have found some true nuggets of recent Kansas City political history.

Today, we present one of John Sharp's campaign mailers from his first campaign for the in-district 6th city council seat.

Remember this is back in 2007, before the economic sh*t hit the fan. There was already a recognition that South Kansas City was losing its economic base.

These are great ideas and sentiments: choosing a councilperson is serious business, some maybe not-so-good reasons to vote for someone, and so on. Now, after four years of John Sharp representation of the sixth, and a bit more of three more to come, how do we all feel about Sharp--is he for us, the residents of the sixth district or is he more about John Sharp and what is good for him?

I personally have never found myself more ambivalent about a political figure than John Sharp. He is everywhere in the district--at just about every important event. I also see him at common places like McDonald's. He seems to work hard. He's passionate. I like that. BUT, his record of actually finishing the deal is lacking. He is routinely criticized for doing a bad job at MAST, and his tenure with the Hickman Mills School Board is not well regarded. However, he himself has been able to go from MAST to the School Board to the City Council. However things turn out for others, John Sharp seems to have made out OK.

That is not a point in his favor. It will be interesting to see where he goes when he completes his second and final city council term in 2015.

An Era Passed

2011-12-14T19:57:00.004-06:00

As has been previously noted here, Kansas City, Missouri emergency first responders are moving their radio communications to a new digital 700 MHz radio system. The police moved their communications in early November to the new system. Just yesterday, fire, both EMS and suppression, moved over to the new system. I hear tell that there have been a few glitches, as not only did they move to new radio hardware, they also changed software and dispatch method0logies.

That aside, there are just a few stragglers on my scanner, the way it is set up. Animal Control. The Veteran's Administration Hospital. Some of the airport. Until I can pony up the funds, or the price of 700 MHz scanners comes down some, my fun of scanner listening is over.

I am going to miss it.

On Texting, etc. While Driving

2011-12-13T18:11:00.004-06:00

There has been a lot of talk about the accident in Missouri in August 2010 that killed two people that seemed to be caused by an inattentive driver, one who was texting and driving. Since then the National Traffic Safety Board, which investigated the accident extensively, has declared that there should be a nation wide ban on all telephone device use behind the wheel.
It is a pity that we are so stupid that we need such a big nanny state step in on this. If texters/talkers only hurt themselves, I say have at it. Run off the road, into stationary objects and whatever. Only thing is, like drunk/high drivers, these people have a way of running into the innocent, injuring them and destroying their property.
I have had to resist reacting to troll posts in comments sections on news stories and blog posts concerning this subject, because the whiff of guilt and arrogance, a lovely combination, has emanated from so many of them. Many, many people drive distracted, with slowed responses, wandering about the road in an unpredictable way.
I hate the idea of more regulation, particularly something that is not enforceable, but I can't stand distracted drivers. They are just stupid in so many ways. They think it's OK because they can get away with it. The problem is that TODAY may be the day they can't get away with it any more, and in their careless, self centeredness, they hurt someone--maybe you or me.
It's plain: If the behavior stopped or reduced in a major way, the whole conversation about regulation would go away. So how about stopping doing anything that takes away concentration from your primary task when you are behind the wheel of a car?
That primary task, by the way, is DRIVING.
There would not be a need for any rule if you paid attention to your DRIVING.
Sorry to yell, but it is just so obvious and it is sad that so many of us are so self centered and wrapped in ourselves that we don't GET IT.
Yeah, I feel strongly about this.

A Loss

2011-12-12T18:00:00.000-06:00

The Observer household has lost a member: Our wonderful LadyCat passed away a week ago today. She was 16 years old. She came to me as a stray, a momma cat who had had a litter of kittens. Everyone loved the adorable little kittens and they were all given homes by various residents and neighbors of the apartment complex in Grandview that I lived in at the time. No one wanted to adopt the mostly grown adolescent mom cat. So she came to live with me and the other cats I had at the time.

She turned out to be sweet, kind and flexible. Never one to put up much of a fuss, she accepted a move and another cat being brought into the household. More kitty personality started showing up after the move as our quarters were bigger. She shined despite health problems, presenting herself for medicine when needed without needing to be chased. She was the last of the first group of cats I owned, comforting as cat losses to age and illness came and accepting of newcomers.

My only regret is that her final acute illness came when I was away. I could not hold her, stroke her fur or talk in her ears as she slipped away.

You become one who cares for animals knowing that almost all animals do not have as long a life span as humans. You know that the day will come when your animal's life will come to an end and you will have to say good bye. Yet you accept this as part of the deal, because of all the richness you receive by having animals in your life.

Peace, my LadyCat, peace.

Tough Time To Be A Chief's Fan

2011-12-12T09:00:00.004-06:00

Todd Haley incurs a rare Unsportmanlike Conduct penalty during today's game.

Today's awful loss by the Kansas City Chiefs adds to the poor body of work for this NFL season by the team. Of KC's losses, four were horrible routs. The offense has been inconsistent at best, sometimes adequate, but most times awful, not able to move the ball, score or stay on the field. The defense has has some shining moments, but has been left out on the field too long too many times.

There are three games left on the schedule for KC and two are at home. They leave the fan a bit of a dilemma. Go to the game to demonstrate that one's fandom is true through thick and thin or stay home to demonstrate dissatisfaction with the team's performance and brain trust by voting with both feet and pocketbook.

I personally tend to err on the side of loyalty. You support your team win or lose. You are not satisfied with losing but you support your team. As a fan you do what you can to provoke improvement, whether it is calling in to the radio programs, writing to the team, or going to the game with a bag on your head. However, some feel that the Kansas City Chiefs have created a situation where the only thing that team leadership will listen to is something that will hit owner Clark Hunt in the wallet--not showing up at Arrowhead stadium. I do understand this viewpoint--and I do think the leadership of the Kansas City Chiefs has come to take fan support for granted--or at least take for granted the fact that the fans show up for the good party at the stadium.

Many of us who follow the Chiefs thoughtfully knew that this team was at best a 9-7 team. The team failed to make major changes on the offensive and defensive lines and Matt Cassel is inconsistent at best, and was terrible without offensive guru Charlie Weiss's full attention at the end of last season. Many of the worse fears came true, compounded by injuries that exposed the team's lack of depth. In addition, the season has exposed Todd Haley in many ways. Most do not think that Haley will be back next year. Many think that GM Scott Pioli is at fault for poor personnel decisions and drafts. The team's progress came to a halt this year, and in many ways regressed.

So fans have a decision to make about how they will show their support for the team the rest of the season. I will watch the games. But I expect improvement. As a long time New York Giants fan I have lived through years of sucky football and I can tell you that it is no fun at all.

Arial View

2011-12-08T22:57:00.001-06:00

The island of Manhattan, from the air. That is a lot of people in a small space!

Traveling

2011-12-07T08:06:00.002-06:00

The Observer is traveling presently.

Sounds like I missed the first snow of the season. How'd we do?

Vermont called; they would like their weather back.

Flashback Thursday, Part 2

2011-12-01T16:10:00.004-06:00

Our second group of pick ups out of the clutter pile are these beauties on funding stadium improvements. This first plays on fears that if the tax is defeated, the teams will leave. This goes right to the heart of Kansas City's occasional bout with an inferiority complex.

The 3/8 cent sales tax was paired with a vote on the construction of a rolling roof.

In this second piece, the heartstrings are pulled as well as the pursestrings. Players and mascots are pictured around town doing good deeds. (Ah, Tony G., we miss you...but you got out in the nick of time...oops, sorry. Squirrel moment.)

Who is not going to vote yes in the face of big Eric Hicks holding a cute toddler?

Here comes the big guns--a foldout flyer with four panels describing the plans for the rolling roof in detail. I would say that most people were highly skeptical of the rolling roof's practicality.

Frankly, it was just a whole lot of money to spend on something that isn't an essential service.

When I found these, especially this last one full of architect's drawings, and looked them over, I did ask myself if it would have been worth it. My answer is no at this point. There would have been benefits, but we would absolutely be in debt up to our eyeballs. Considering what the economy has done (or not done), I would say less debt is better.

While we want to be the best city we can be, it may be better to propose different ways to finance the fixing of the water and sewer system besides on the backs of paying customers rather than pie-in-the-sky development schemes.

In the end, the voting citizens of Kansas City approved the 3/8th cent sales tax for renovations to Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums, but declined the opportunity to place a rolling roof over the sports complex. The vote was a contentious one as I recall, with a healthy group of people wanting to replace Kauffman rather then renovating it, with a stadium in the downtown area. What do you think? Was our money well spent in refreshing our then 34 year old sports complex? Did we miss something by not doing the rolling roof thing?

I have to note here that the 2012 baseball all-star game is coming to KC despite the lack of a roof. Think of these things when the down town hotel proposals start rolling in.

Flashback Thursday, Part 1

2011-12-01T15:43:00.004-06:00

It's a little worse for wear, but I found this interesting campaign flyer from the democratic primary in 2008. She looks much younger in this photo on the flyer. Some of that is likely a bit of Photoshop, but it seems her service under President Obama has aged her. I do not see her as Secretary of State or anything else under him if he is reelected.

"Leadership takes more than talk" says the literature. I think we are all finding that to be true at this point. Even those politically left of center are finding the president's performance less than satisfactory. Her plans are not dramatically different from Obama's and it would have been interesting to see how she would have responded to what happened in the 2010 midterm elections or if that result would have happened at all.

The first primaries are right around the corner in early 2012. It is my opinion that this upcoming election is one of the most important in our country's history. Even with Obama's negatives, it is no shoe-in to defeat an incumbent. It would behoove us to elect someone who will be willing to work with the other side, for the greater good of our entire nation, and to stand up against those who would divide us by class or race.

On City Residency

2011-11-27T21:03:00.005-06:00

Like many (but not all) cities, Kansas City requires that employees live within the city limits. Given the size of the city, this is not as onerous a requirement as it is for some in other cities. Because Kansas City has a reasonable cost of living, a variety of neighborhoods are accessible to people who are being paid workingman's salaries by the city. Urban, suburban and exurban neighborhoods can be had. This is under discussion right now, because the city spent over $70 K investigating whether or not a municipal court judge was following the residency rule. They set up cameras, used private investigators and took quite a bit of time to check her out. They discovered that, after stopping at a house she owned within the city limits, she drove on to another home outside the city limits to stay overnight. She would repeat this on returning to work--stopping before starting her workday in the courts. After all this, it was judged that she was not violating the rule.

Where is your residence? Where you lay your head, or pay your taxes and have your car registered? For the first four and a half years or so I that I "lived" in Missouri, I was a resident of Vermont. How did I do this? I was a student. It wasn't until 1994, when I completed my studies that I became a resident of Missouri. People do this all the time, leaving cars registered in their home states, and doing the income taxes for two states while they go to school.

The city defines residence thusly: Residence is defined as the place where a person has his true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention of returning. A person satisfies the residence requirement if a portion of the lot or the parcel of land on which his residence is located is within the city limits. Link to ordinance here.

In many ways it isn't very specific. When you look at these words, you could easily say that the judge met the requirements. She had intentions, and did return regularly to the Kansas City home. It doesn't say she had to sleep there all the time, or anything else, just that she left the house and expected to return to it.

My personal problem with what happened here is two fold: one is that we spent over $70,000 investigating this judge, using some fairly invasive techniques: cameras, stake outs, private investigators. What set off this investigation in the first place? It didn't seem like a very good use of city tax money and bordered on Big Brother privacy invasion. The second is to ask are decisions with regard to residency being made consistently across the board? If a police officer, firefighter, parks or water company employee was doing something like this, what would the decision have been? There should be no difference if it is a front line worker or an executive. If you have a rule, it needs to be applied across the board, evenly, without favoritism. What is the point of having a rule if you don't enforce it correctly and uniformly?

Maybe it is time to consider dropping the city residency rule. Maybe just require that a city worker live in Missouri, or within a certain driving time from the work place rather then requiring them to live in a specific city.

Car Spotting

2011-11-22T20:16:00.002-06:00

Here is another round of interesting cars I've seen in my travels in the Kansas City metro. Believe it or not, I left some for next time!

In addition to being at least 40 years old, this extended cab Dodge has an interesting kludge.

This mid/late 1970s Dodge has a modification that may offend many purists...

This car almost needs its own post.

An AMC model--one way I can tell AMCs is the door handles--they are unique for the era.

And finally, a postal Jeep. How do I know that this CJ was used at one time by the U.S. Post Office?

Red Bridge Open

2011-11-19T21:45:00.002-06:00

I apologize for my lack of posting. A family crisis has removed a lot of extra thinking time from my days as of late. I have had a few postings to Facebook, as well as interesting links and news from what is left on my scanner. Of note to those of us in south Kansas City, the new bridge across the Blue River on Red Bridge Road is now open. There appears to be still some work to do, but travel is easy in both directions now--no more dipping down into the river valley and narrow rickety bridge. There are critics with valid points out there but there is no arguing with the lack of potholes, railroad tracks and wondering just how it is that the bridge is holding up under that big truck. So enjoy a short ride with me as we cross over the Blue using the new bridge for the first time on Friday, November 18 around 2 p.m.

On "Live Blogging"

2011-11-14T06:45:00.000-06:00

There are basically two ways to write a blog post. One is to consider your topic and what you want to say for whatever period of time in your head and then just sit down and write the post. The extreme of this method is treating the blog like a journal and literally write off the top of your head. The other is to write the erstwhile post first, before posting it using the blog format. So you might write your essay using Word or some other program, then cut and paste it into Blogger or Wordpress or whatever.

Usually, I live blog. I think about what I want to say in my head, then try to translate those ideas into words, trying to be clear, considering length etc. Sometimes a post is an expansion of a Facebook post or a comment on someone else's blog but still it is not a "second draft" of an essay. I suppose my writing would be better if I wrote drafts but it takes some of the passion out of the writing, some of the immediacy out of it. Live blogging is not always easy; posts sometimes take a l-o-n-g time to compose. Sometimes ideas just will not cooperate. The essay goes in circles. The writing just stinks. Something important ends up being unsaid.

Sometimes I do write drafts. Even with the Blogger iPhone app, it is easier to write on the note function of the phone. When this happens, it is a draft and it gets revised a bit before transfer to Blogger. Very rarely I feel that a post requires extra care; hot topic, need to fact check, like that--in that situation i might write a draft. Hazards of live blogging? Perhaps a post that isn't perfect. For example, while I was pretty happy with Saturday's post on crime, I didn't take time to get into the role of education, I didn't talk about the issue of keeping hope alive, and I wasn't completely happy with the phrase "the rest of the city needs to be protected". On the other hand I like the post for its impact as you read it.

There's a saying: the perfect is the enemy of the good. If I fret over how far from perfect my blog posts sometimes are, nothing would ever be published. That rather misses the point of writing doesn't it. It also is more stressful and much less fun.

Bloody 20 Hours Leaves Six Dead

2011-11-12T20:44:00.004-06:00

In a fairly narrow geographical area too. Kansas City's East Side. 28th Street to the south. 5400 to the east, roughly Van Brunt/Hardesty. 24th Street to the north. 2900 to the west, Benton Boulevard. One group of three, one singleton, one pair. At about 8 p.m. and 10 p.m. Friday and 6 a.m. Saturday. No names have been released, but more then likely, the victims are members of a minority ethnic group.

You know, people have different reactions to this type of news. For some, it is hardly news, as long as it is in that neighborhood, with Those People. Others are frightened that crime is running rampant. Others demand that "something be done." Still more say not enough attention is paid, and that is due to race matters.

Honestly, what can a city's government do to prevent murders? There are some things that can be done, yes: Here's a quick list: Solve open cases to avoid retribution chains, keep truly criminal people in jail, police and city leaders need to work with the neighborhood leaders to develop trust, lines of communication, use of concentrated police work such as warrant sweeps and stings, ask that leaders of Kansas City's east side begin to speak out against the potent but minority thug culture and demand better of people...

There are the larger cultural and systemic issues: Why do people in this area put up with this stuff--when such things happen in other Kansas City neighborhoods, residents are outraged. It is not tolerated. Police are not hindered in their investigation by the witness and/or victim not cooperating. Is there a perverse pride in being the neighborhood that has the most deadly violent crime? There is nothing a city government can do for this. No amount of money will improve this, and police work is reduced to working after the fact.

The status quo is hard to move--leaders that are benefiting are loathe to change. People in minority crime ridden neighborhoods are biased to not trust the police--the police don't trust the people either and in extreme cases some officers might even consider the people less smart, trustworthy, disciplined and even less human than people in other neighborhoods or of other racial groups. Everything that happens gets filtered through Black distrust and White fear.

The problem is a murder rate, even if the majority of a city is fairly free of murders, portrays a city ridden with crime that is not safe. That affects the city's reputation, which affects the marketplace for companies and people to move to Kansas City. That in turn makes tax collection smaller, which leaves the city less able to provide basic services. To raise money, the city might consider raising taxes, which again discourages economic development. A vicious cycle.

Let's start with this: solve these three crimes and begin to build relationships between police and community. Now is the time with fresh faces in the mayor's and police chief's offices to make plans and strategies, move some resources, do some new stuff. There will always likely be more murders in the east side, if for no other reason that the culture of pleasure, scorn for education and achievement, and the ready availability of quick cash through drug dealing is extremely difficult to dislodge. The good people of the east side deserve better, the rest of the city needs to be protected. Kansas City cannot afford to ignore this problem or only apply a band-aid solution. It deserves to be made a priority, even after recognizing that violent crime will not disappear. All the citizens of the city deserve better then what is happening now.

You Can Not Make This Stuff Up

2011-11-09T23:42:00.001-06:00

Is this world just falling apart? Some of the stuff that happens is just not conceivable--if you were a writer, the publishers would turn down your manuscript because it was too implausible.

Here's what I am talking about: the mayor of a midmajor American city has to take cover because someone is shooting a firearm near him. Little tent cities have popped up in US cities of all sizes all across the country--and all these little cities have city problems--when they are not having meetings. Meantime, during a debate a man who wants to be the president forgets one of the three departments he would abolish if elected. Another man who wants to be POTUS has had five women come forward accusing him of being sexually harassing towards them.
Meantime, we have earthquakes in places like Oklahoma that usually don't experience them. We have F5 tornadoes in bunches. Snow falls on October 31 and some are still without power over a week later. An earthquake and tsunami result in radioactive food and automobiles in Japan.
On the sports front we have seasons that may never happen (pro basketball) and seasons that started by a whisker (pro football). A storied coach at a university for over sixty years fails to follow up on a credible report of statutory sodomy by one of his assistants and is unceremoniously sacked at once.
Overseas, people rise up and remove long time dictators in three countries. Other countries tip towards bankruptcy as their governments fight to maintain rule. One country in Africa, Sudan, actually formally voted to split in half and form two countries where there had been just one.
Finally, would you imagine a family with 20 kids and none of them were adopted?

Like I said, you can't make this stuff up.

KCIR Deal Stinks Worse than Roadkill

2011-11-08T19:58:00.003-06:00

Snipped from the video in the KCTV report linked below.

As you may have read the Kansas City International Raceway, a small drag strip in the 8200 block of Noland Road in far south eastern Kansas City, is going to be bought by the city and converted to a park. It is a deal that has an awful stink about it in so many ways. I was completely disgusted after reading this article in the Kansas City Star and posted this on Facebook.

This is a biased incomplete article that does not ask the hard questions. The KCIR sale is a boondoggle that will cost the city money it does not have, done to keep the swells happy and insure election for Circo. It will replace a business with an empty park that will not give tax income and, in fact, will likely become a crime and dumping problem for the area. They may wake up in 10 years and realize the race track was a pretty good neighbor!

One thing I didn't cover in my indignant rant is the fact that the sale was rushed through the legislative process "recognizing an emergency." So what is the emergency? To complete the sale before any public hearing can be conducted and to make sure that no one can see the exact way the sale was completed? Notice in the article how little of the usual paper work surrounding the sale of a property is being made available. If too much time were to pass before the council approved this lovely little boondoggle, the intrusive and disinfecting rays of sunshine might be brought to bear on the process. There are games being played with the negotiations, the power of eminent domain to take something without proper compensations, the refusal to allow racing until another site is secured, and so forth. The power of government--is it being used in the interest of all the citizens, or just in the interest of a few to the detriment of the many?

The entire thing just reeks of the politics of privilege. Houses of the rich and connected were built long after the raceway was there. It's a bit like building near the airport and complaining about airplanes taking off. It has been promised to the rich and connected that the drag strip would be "taken care of." Now, when the city is pinched for funds on every front, it is going to buy land and try to make it a park. Just what happens when it costs more than they anticipated to make the land a park. Does that now open up the way to a private developer coming in to "save the day"? Could that be the ultimate goal? City acquires land, then discovers it can't afford to do anything with it; looks for "White Knight" to rescue them?

If it actually does become park land, can the city afford to maintain and police it? I am not sure if it is in East Patrol or South Patrol but either way, how many many minutes will it take for an officer to respond to a crime there? There are some pretty nasty sex businesses not far from there; some of that will no doubt move to the erstwhile park. I would not be surprised to see dumping of construction junk and other garbage become a big problem too.

Of course, those "with a need for speed" will find other outlets for their need. Some might go to Topeka. Some may not go that far...

As I said before, the swells might wake up in 5-10 years and discover that the race track was a pretty good neighbor after all.

Links:

I like this post from Tony; it contains images of ordinance fact sheets that contain no concrete facts. (Where have we seen that before--I see that former MAST person raising their hand!)

Here is the Kansas City Star article that got me going today. Read the comments (if they are still there; the Star has an annoying habit of making comments go away. I actually copied the comments onto my computer.)

A statement from one of the KCIR principles describing the rock-and-hard-place the business investors and owners found themselves in.

A nice story from KCTV done in September 2011 on KCIR and its racing series for the common man. The video is cool.

On Restoration

2011-11-07T20:55:00.000-06:00

The Roman Catholic Church is rightly excoriated on a regular basis for not facing the issue of clergy who sexually abuse children. Instead of reporting such criminal behavior to the authorities promptly and without hesitation, they tend to try and take care of it "in house." Part of this is probably the desire to prevent bad things from leaking out and tainting the name of the church, but part of this is probably a product of the desire to create redemption--a desire that is dyed in the fabric of the Christian faith.

Christianity says that the sinful person can be forgiven, and further, becomes a different and better person. That is a fundamental part of the faith. There is also the recognition that even when a person is forgiven and becomes a Christian, there is still a possibility that that person will commit a sin or make a mistake. When that happens, the wayward believer needs to repeat the confession and turn away from the action that is wrong and has offended both the father God and his fellow human beings.

When such a person is in leadership or in a position of power, such as being a priest or pastor, what to do with them becomes an issue for the church. The desire is to restore the person fully to what they were before after they confess and deal with their sin, which includes a commitment to change their behavior. However, there must be a consideration for the seriousness of the actions and for safety of those around the leader.

The Roman Catholic Church has erred on the side of screening errant priests from the secular world's penalties for their actions, and trying to hide these priests by sticking them in less public settings or moving them around a lot. It looks more like cover-up than real concern for the priest's spiritual state or relationship with God. I am sure that if you asked the hierarchy what they were doing, they would say that they were looking to give the priest a new chance to return to his previous state in the spirit of the restorative nature of the Christian faith. To the world, it looks like deliberate ignorance and cover up, and rightly, the church looks bad in the eyes of the world.

I am a Christian. I believe wholeheartedly in the power of God to change people through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. However, the church--and I mean any Christian church no matter how convinced they are the only genuine church of Jesus Christ--must err on the side of transparency and accountability both for themselves and for the wayward leaders. No where is it portrayed that the church is to be perfect as it lives out the faith in the world. It is charged, however, to be different from the world. That means being different when there is sin in the ranks. The main way that the church can be visibly different than the world is by the way Christian treat both fellow Christians and those who do not believe. It is not an act of Christian love to ignore the obvious wrong doing and its resulting harm to others.

First, the care and well being of the victim must be first. Now, that does not mean that the church tolerates dysfunctional anger, lust for blood or vengeance by the victim. It does mean that the church treats the victim with respect, starts by believing the victim's story, and when needed makes amends to the victim when and if the story proves true. In dealing with the perpetrator, the church works transparently. Obedience to the civil authority of the law, such as obligatory reporting, turning in evidence, and making witnesses and suspects available to me is mandatory. It is not a matter of being mean or punishing the miscreant priest or pastor, it is a matter of holding them strictly accountable for their actions. They must be removed from any position that involves contact with the public, especially the victim population (kids, men, etc) right away. It does not fly in the face of the Christian ideal of restoration to be quick and decisive in action against sinning leaders. In fact, it may help such a person come to their senses by not cushioning them from the consequences of their actions. The hope would be that they would realize quickly the error of their ways and seek forgiveness and turn away from their sinful ways. That is the start of the path for healing for the sinful leader.

Once a priest or pastor or minister has committed to stopping their sinful action--they have made a commitment not to contact children or seduce women or dip their hands in the offering plate--what then should the church do with them? Should they be permitted back in the same ministerial environment in which they fell and did wrong before? If I was in charge, my answer would be "No" in most circumstances. Find another ministry, or vocation not in the church. Even then, the repentant leader's life must be like an open book, totally transparent and open to inspection at any time. The idea must be that we love you, and we accept you, but we care enough about you to demand that you do what you say that you will do, that is, you will stop hurting others.

All of this to be done with gentleness and love, but wisdom. Jesus advised his disciples to be as shrewd and wise as serpents but as gentle and harmless as doves. That advice is just as valid today as it was in Jesus's day.

Fall Back Tonight

2011-11-05T20:06:00.003-05:00

Adjustment time for all, including cat meal time...

It seems as if the time change gets later and later now and we spend more month in Daylight Savings Time. I am getting sick of it being so dark in the morning. So even though it may mean some adjustment, I am happy to see the time change coming. It comes Sunday morning at 2 a.m., so don't forget to turn clocks back one hour before you go to bed. If you forget, you will be one hour early to everything tomorrow!

Babies, Critters, Racers and Stuff: Late Night Musings

2011-11-04T00:22:00.001-05:00

So I have been a bit busy lately and have been neglecting the long form of late. If you follow me on Facebook you've been getting links of interest and small bits of commentary--I hope you enjoyed those.
I am working on some interesting stuff. Very soon I will have some excerpts from an interesting book titled "The Price of Civilization" by Jeffrey Sachs on the economy to post. With regard to the issues of the. Roman Catholic church I have some thoughts on the balance of Christian forgiveness, restoration and the stewardship and responsibility of keeping children safe in the church.
If you will notice there has been no real news that gets us any closer to finding Lisa Irwin. All we've had is more circus and more strange behavior from her parents along with more publicity seeking from lawyers and activists.
Animal issues have been in the news: a way has been made to give the new operators of the KCMO animal shelter funds to get started on improving conditions at the 30+ year old facility and give the strays of KC a better chance to live, and be healthy and have a chance at finding new owners. The zoo is news as voters--all five of you--will be deciding on a sales tax to support the attraction. I was considering voting yes on this--until I realized it did not sunset. A tax for a specific thing needs a closing date. As much as I think the zoo is a worthwhile thing for a city of our size to have, it may not be something we are destined to do very well--it has been a struggle all the 20+ years I've lived in the metro.
Finally, the city is trying--and appears to have succeeded in buying the Kansas City international Raceway. There is a lot of blow back on this however, and while I doubt the talk of conflict of interest, favoritism and spendthrift ways will stop the sale, it will be interesting to watch. Meantime, this weekend KCIR will be hosting races and timed runs on both Saturday and Sunday. When the strip closes, and especially if no new site for a drag strip is developed, expect more drag racing on Missouri 150 between highway 71 and State Line Road, and on 135th street west of Leawood.
What do you all think of OWS? They've lost support since the 20 somethings among them whined about college loans, more allegations of crime in the camps have come to light, and fire and other vandalism was committed in Oakland. OWS may try to make the incident involving an unfortunate driver in Oakland a "Kent State moment". Whether that "he said/they said" incident can carry that weight is yet to be seen. If you found yourself in that situation, through no fault of your own, what would you do when a mob started banging on the hood and windows of your car? Do you really think you can wait for some sort of rescue?
That is all for now. Over and out. 10-42. Priority 10. We're done.
Posted via Blogger for iPhone.

Baby Lisa Missing One Month

2011-10-31T19:42:00.003-05:00

It will be 28 days later this night, Tuesday, November 1 at 4 a.m. that then 10 month old Lisa Irwin was reported missing from her crib by her father. Since then we have had searches of the house, woods, abandoned properties nearby, lakes and cisterns. We've had more lawyer drama then you can imagine, with lawyers from New York and Kansas City. A publicity seeking private investigator came, then went, then came back again.

Baby Lisa's parents, Deborah Bradley and Jeremy Irwin have frequently left investigators, press and public alike scratching their heads in puzzlement over their behavior. They have become very reclusive now, after embracing national press over local media. They have not been out every day, looking for their daughter. They have not made themselves especially available to the Kansas City Police Department. They did indeed retain counsel.

A multitude of people have come forward hoping to help in the case in lieu of the child's family being deeply involved. They range from the poor man from Colorado who lost his child in a similar case to families of victims who were killed after being abducted to so-called community crime activists and editorialists/bloggers. Some are honestly trying to help, others are seeking publicity or other benefits for themselves. An occasional opinionator has tried to make racial hay out of the sad situation: they may or may not have a good point and be saying something worth considering but their timing is horrible; no one wants to hear it while a baby is missing.

And yes, bottom line, a baby is still missing. Have you looked at a 10-11 month old lately? They can't do very much for themselves at all. It has come down to this: unless baby Lisa has been abducted by someone wanting a baby or is being concealed by her extended family somewhere, it is not likely she is alive. The family, especially mom Deborah, continue to do things that cast suspicion in their direction. Someone knows more then they are telling.

Where's baby Lisa?

Replay: C.S. Lewis

2011-10-30T22:49:00.002-05:00

Way back in August 2009 I posted this excerpt from C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity with regard to health care. I think it is time to post it again, this time while we are considering the Occupy-ers and all the issues surrounding our economy. What is the position of the conscientious Christian? Lewis gives us some food for thought here in this bit from the classic book.

The first thing to get clear about Christian morality between man and man is that in this department, Christ did not come to preach any brand new morality. The Golden Rule of the New Testament (Do as you would be done by) is a summing up of what everyone, at bottom, had always known to be right....

...The second thing to get clear is that Christianity has not, and does not profess to have, a detailed political programme for applying 'Do as you would be done by; to a particular society at a particular moment...

....All the same, the New Testament, without going into details, gives us a pretty clear hint of what a fully Christian society would be like. Perhaps it gives us more than we can take. It tells us that here are to be no passengers or parasites: if a man does not work, he ought not to eat. Everyone is to work with his own hands, and what is more, every one's work is to produce something good: there will be no manufacture of silly luxuries and then of sillier advertisements to persuade us to buy them. And there is to be no 'swank' or 'side', no putting on airs. To that extent a Christian society would be what we call Leftist. On the other hand, it is always insisting on obedience--obedience (and outward marks of respect) from all of us to properly appointed magistrates, form children to parents, and (I'm afraid this is going to be very unpopular) from wives to husbands. Thirdly, it is to be a cheerful society: full of singing and rejoicing, and regarding worry or anxiety as wrong. Courtesy is one of the Christian virtues; and the New Testament hates what it calls 'busybodies.'

If there was such a society in existence and you or I visited it, I think we should come away with a curious impression. We should feel that its economic life was very socialistic and, in that sense 'advanced', but that its family life and its code of manners were rather old fashioned...Each of us would like some bits of it, but I'm afraid very few of us would like the whole thing. That is just what one would expect if Christianity is the total plan for the human machine. We have all departed from that total plan in different ways, and each of us wants to make out that his own modification of the original plan is the plan itself: You will find this again and again about anything that is really Christian: everyone is attracted by bits of it and wants to pick out those bits and leave the rest....

...Charity--giving to the poor--is an essential part of Christian morality: in the frightening parable of the sheep and the goats it seems to be the point on which everything turns. Some people nowadays say that charity ought to be unnecessary and that instead of giving to the poor we ought to be producing a society in which there were no poor to give to. They may be quite right in saying that we ought to produce this kind of society. But if anyone thinks that, as a consequence, you can stop giving in the meantime, then he has parted company with all Christian morality...

And now, before I end, I am going to venture on a guess as to how this section has affected any who have read it. My guess is that there are some Leftist people among them who are very angry that it has not gone further in that direction, and some people of an opposite sort who are angry because they think it has gone much too far...

...A Christian society is not going to arrive until most of us really want it: and we are not going to want it until we become fully Christian. I may repeat 'Do as you would be done by' till I am black in the face, but I cannot really carry it out till I love my neighbour as myself: and I cannot learn to love my neighbour as myself till I learn to love God: and I cannot learn to love God except by learning to obey Him. And so, as I warned you, we are driven on to something more inward--driven on from social matters to religious matters. For the longest way round is the shortest way home.

Say It Isn't So!

2011-10-26T19:38:00.007-05:00

I was reading the Kansas City police chief's blog today; there was a press release concerning the new dispatch center and all its nifty new features: upgraded consoles for calltakers and dispatchers, a new video system which allows dispatchers to see live feed through KC SCOUT Traffic Cameras, security cameras set up throughout the city, weather reports, news broadcasts and more so dispatchers can better support officers in the field. Then there was this note: "The 911 Call Center has been undergoing renovations for nearly a year. The upgrades have been to accommodate the new city-wide radio system, which is set to go live Nov. 9."

The federally mandated shift to the 700 megahertz range? The frequency spectrum that requires a $300 scanner to hear?

Say it ain't so!

If you are on Twitter, and have an interest in the workings of the police department, they are going to post all dispatches of officers on Twitter between 1100 and 1200 tomorrow, Thursday October 27. KCPD on Twitter: @kcpolice or www.twitter.com/kcpolice

Baby Lisa Still Missing

2011-10-24T21:13:00.001-05:00

It will be three weeks missing come 0400 Tuesday October 25 for now 11 month old Lisa Irwin. There have been tips and searches, interviews, media appearances, police statements and video tapes during the past week. The parents of baby Lisa put in an appearance at a prayer vigil for the first time but otherwise have taken a much lower profile. The lawyers have taken the lead now although the distrust and distance from both local media and the KCPD has continued.
We don't know what KCPD is holding close to the vest in terms of evidence but nothing that has dribbled out is very compelling. A review of a search warrant application revealed that a dog trained to detect human remains had a hit in the house. There was an extensive search after that. Several people reported seeing a man walking in the neighborhood around the time of Lisa's disappearance and a man shows up in the background of a video tape of a nearby store.
If the parents are involved, they have done a good job covering their tracks. If they are the only ones involved it is likely Lisa has died. If they sold or gave the baby away, introducing another party, it is possible that Lisa is alive.
Is it possible we may never know what happened to Lisa? We don't know what all the PD has in terms of evidence and information but it seems to me that someone is going to have to crack for us to know for sure.

City Council Districts: Race Matters and Community Building

2011-10-24T06:23:00.004-05:00

With the decision Thursday (pending the rubber stamp from the city council) to draw the new city council district lines as portrayed in the approved Map 1-R following the Voter's Rights Act of 1965 as it is interpreted (requiring 60% of a district to be a minority group) has assured us of a Balkanized city politic and the propagation of the politics of race. Now the temptation of leaders will be to enrich their race first-- including their own selves--and not put the city of Kansas City first.

A cornerstone of the civil rights movement, the voters rights act did good things. It struck down such discriminatory acts as poll taxes, literacy tests and voter intimidation. Somewhere, however, an idea was picked up that it was only possible that a minority voter could only be represented by someone who looked like that minority voter. Also, somehow, it came to be accepted that candidates of color could only win in districts engineered to have a supra-majority of voters of color.

To me this is a victim mentality that needs to be rejected--Blacks are not good enough to run for elected office without the head start of engineered and gerrymandered voting districts? If I were a person of color seeking elected office, I would take that as an insult and a challenge at this point in time. While prejudice and narrow thinking is certainly still present in the majority group, outright discrimination is becoming rarer and rarer. If anything is keeping the Black community down, it is failure to concentrate on the content of character over the color of skin.

Are Black people happy with the quality of their leadership? Are they satisfied with the old guard that sees the Black community as deficient, victimized and needing more, more, more--not to mention the power and financial benefits that these "leaders" accumulate for themselves--rather than seeing the Black community as strong, self sufficient and competent? What has that victim mentality meant for the moral fabric of the Black community?

Before the removal of that slice of the 6th district, the ethnic balance of the entire district was close to 50/50. All is not cookies and milk--the groups are not completely evenly distributed as the district reflects the same east-west divide as is present further north--but the communities were tied together enough to be able to work together. Hickman Mills schools are a good example: the merger of the high schools has been completed without complication and the school district will hit 13 of 14 requirements for full accreditation. This has been done with a lot of work by people of all backgrounds and races. Coalitions have been built from east to west and vice versa with regard to citizens associations for development and assistance. The identity of community was more important than the identity of race for the most part.

It will become more and difficult to govern this city--and this nation--if the politics of racial and ethnic identity become more and more prominent and dominate the exchange of ideas. How many Kansas Citys are there? Two? Three? The answer to that question should be that there is only one (1) Kansas City.

Blogger's note: I've been sitting with this post since Saturday considering whether or not to publish it. I asked questions: Was it naive to think that Blacks had a level playing field? Was it unfair to call out parts of the Black community for playing the victim so they could get goodies and power? Was it wrong to question the quality of leadership in the Black community? Were I to post this as a melanin deficient White person would I just earn scorn and the label of racist (which is the farthest from the truth)?

Well, Louie Diuguid's op-Ed on "The Help" that ended with a whiny group of paragraphs of how Blacks are victims coupled with TKC's post poopooing the neighborhood citizen concerns about redistricting and now I am ready to post this. Until we stop splitting ourselves up to a bunch of identity groups and start thinking more on the order of putting our various talents together for the greater good, we will struggle to solve the many problems that face us. We as humans will always be more comfortable with people like ourselves. If we are smart we realize however that we are not "better" or "worse" than any other group, just different, and that the best way to work together is to not major on differences but on human commonality. As we do this, we get to know one another, removing stereotypes and boogymen along the way. To me, the way it appears that this redistricting will be done is a step in the wrong direction; a step that will serve to further isolate Blacks, Whites and others from each other, generating fear and resentment and making it harder to solve problems and govern this city.

Bloggus Interruptus

2011-10-23T00:03:00.001-05:00

Hi folks. I hope you all are having a fab Saturday night. In SKC Observer news, the power adapter to The Observer's laptop has developed a fatal short. So blogging will be via iPhone and public computers until a replacement is secured. Like I said over on Facebook, treat your laptop power cord with great love and respect as they are expensive to replace.
I hope to continue to post regularly during this time, but posts may have a few more typos and not read as smooth. In addition, there will be fewer photos.
Thank you for your patience and for your readership.

Don't Play With Fire!

2011-10-22T23:41:00.003-05:00

Folks, there have been quite a few fires lately--not just spectacular blazes in abandoned buildings but fires in occupied houses and apartments. Be safe out there. If you choose to smoke (I have no idea why but it's a mostly free country), take care to make sure your butts are out and your matches and lighters are out of reach of kids. Be careful cooking--don't leave the stovetop unattended. Watch overloading electrical outlets with lots of stuff. Don't put cords under carpets where they can fray.

You know all this stuff but we all get lax. We say oh, fIres are something that happen to the family down the road or on the other side of town. Be smart.

Finally, because accidents do happen, be sure your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors are working. The time change back to standard time is coming up and that is a perfect time to change the batteries in your detectors.

Links:

http://groucho-karl-marx.blogspot.com/2011/10/two-injured-in-kc-mo-2-alarm-apartment.html

http://www.kctv5.com/story/15784598/firefighters-on-both-sides-of-the-state-line-kept-busy

Late Night Redistricting Ramblings...

2011-10-20T00:15:00.002-05:00

I went to the Southern Communities Coalition meeting tonight. As you might expect, it was a meeting of folks who rejected the Map 1-R redistricting solutions; who saw the map that lopped of the top half of the 6th district west clear to Holmes and sent the north west border clear up to 59th street in spots. South KC residents saw both loss--to the 5th of commercial and civic resources--and threat--from the wishes of the richer and more highly connected Waldo/Brookside area. To many it felt as if the 6th was paying the price for the failings of the 5th and 3rd districts--the districts losing population to both other KCMO areas and other cities in the metro due to high crime and other quality of life issues.

You can't think about redistricting without ending up thinking about race matters and we did end up talking after more explicitly afterwards. I hope to share more later, and some photos taken at the meetings, as well as the "community map."
The citizen's committee meets tomorrow at 3:30 at City Hall to issue its decision. It would be nice for the committee to do the people of south KC the courtesy of passing on the "community map" on to the council as well as the so-called "done deal" map 1-R. We may still end up being sliced up pretty well but at least they will have heard us scream.

Posted using Blogger for iPhone.

Map proposed by a group of 6th district citizens. Other maps can be found in this earlier post.

City Council Redistricting Public Hearing

2011-10-19T16:56:00.011-05:00

City council districts in Kansas City must follow two guidelines: one, they must be about equal in population; in other words around one sixth of the total population of the city--in 2010, this is about 76,000 people. Two, they must not violate the 1965 Voting Rights Act. This seems to involve meeting a percentage of a minority population in the district, around 60%. If there are less than 60% of a minority group, they are denied "One man one vote" in the eyes of this 30 year old law.
The 6th district is not completely integrated--more people of color live on the east side than on the west side--but it is probably one of the most integrated areas of Kansas City. The background of the west is White and of the east is Black but there are contrasting dots liberally sprinkled throughout. The Voting Rights Act does violence to the 6th district, in combination with the depopulation of the 5th and 3rd. It means that people must be removed to the 5th district to fill it up enough to fit the city charter, and they have to be certain people to fit the federal act. Ironically it serves to turn the 6th district whiter, by filching population mainly from the east side.
I am bothered by this: Drawing the district lines following the rules will have the irony of increasing segregation, not lessening it. Each district becomes more and more of whatever--more Black, more White, and eventually, more hispanic. Is this progress?

A new map was produced by citizens from the 6th district--it may never see the light of day as it may not be "legal"--it still needed to be vetted by the city's legal department. Like map 5 it tries to lessen the damage done to the 6th district, and many of those speaking against map 1 asked that the other map(s) if legal be presented to the full City Council along with map 1.

There wasn't a whole lot of passion during this meeting. Much of the passion had been displayed at the October 10 meeting. One man stood and stated boldly that such manipulations of district lines would not be necessary if the 3rd and 5th were not losing population--due to crime. Get the crime under control, and people would find that they could live there. When one speaker accused the people who authored Map 5 of bringing an "illegal" map, tempers flared up a bit over that accusation. It was rather a dramatic moment when speaker Clinton Adams compared the state of the Bannister Mall area to that of the Blue Ridge Mall--saying 5th district representation can't do any worse than the current 6th district representation. Ouch--a sharp jab at John Sharp! Carol Coe may be old and busted, but she still has an amazing voice and the speaking gift. She tells the group that the sixth district is "not a protected voting rights community." Yet, as many of the speakers who supported Map 1, states "We are all one Kansas City."

It is precisely the fact that the 6th district is more integrated than most of Kansas City that causes it not to be protected by the Voting Rights Act. Isn't it ironic that a law designed to prevent exclusion and discrimination ends up isolating people from each other further. Perhaps it is time to look at some of the provisions of this law, and see if they still are valuable today.

You Agitating My Dots?

2011-10-19T16:18:00.002-05:00

So I am getting ready to blog about redistricting (which is important, but dry as dust) in a little bit and I was looking again at the post I made about the ambulance and I focused on the remark about GPS tracking and my squirrelly little brain remembered this television commercial:

Cracks me up every time--"You agitatin' my dots?"

Redistricting Meeting

2011-10-18T18:18:00.003-05:00

The Observer is currently sitting at the Redistricting meeting. It actually has been reasonably mellow to this point but we are getting a few fireworks over the legality of a new map. Carol Coe was also worth a few quotes. There will be more later. The Observer is trying to grasp the actual practical statues of the Voting Rights Act which looms large in this room.

Baby Lisa Update

2011-10-17T19:32:00.004-05:00

What this has turned into is a freaking circus, that's what.

Really that is all that needs to be said, along with the fact that the police have continued pursuing whatever leads and clues have come up and still have pretty much bupkis, nada, nothing and Lisa Irwin is still missing--it will be 2 weeks missing at 0400 Tuesday morning.

We have two imported attention seeking clowns and one locally produced one trying to make names for themselves at the expense of Lisa and to the exploitation of her somewhat hapless family. One was self appointed private investigator "Wild Bill" Stanton and the other is defense lawyer Joe Tacopina. (Doesn't that name just beg to be made fun of?) who were imported from New York. The other is some guy named Washington, who frankly I don't want kyping this blog post, who occasionally does some good work, but can't stand it that his name is not out there all the time. Some have also wanted to make racial hay out of this case, and others want to know how come all missing persons don't get the police attention that has come to baby Lisa. Some of those comparisons are fair questions and others are apple/oranges comparisons but my problem is that this is not the time to fight over that. 10 month old babies are pretty helpless, and two weeks out, I am not liking the scenarios playing out in my head: either Lisa Irwin is dead or she is in the hands of an abductor.

Some of the investigatory developments were that the neighborhood drunk/handyman "Jersey" was arrested and is in jail on unrelated warrants, searches of creeks, woods and empty/abandoned houses turned up nothing related to the case and Lisa's mother changed her story--she told national media that she had been drinking that Monday evening and described herself as "drunk" and then also stated that the last time she saw Lisa was at 6:40 p.m. Monday evening. Video from a nearby store showed mom--and a man later identified as a brother (I also saw brother-in-law as ID for the man) shopping, buying baby stuff and boxed wine so at least where she got the booze is not a mystery.

$100,000 is out there for someone if there is any information to pass on, but as time passes, the family looks more and more like the culprit, either via accident or murder. The fancy pants New York lawyer has told them to be quiet, no more interviews, so both the adults and two boys, who are old enough to tells stories, have been placed out of reach of both media and law enforcement reach. If they crack now, it will be in private and in the company of counsel.

Meantime, we are still missing a 11 month old girl. If you know something: 816-474-8477 or online at www.kccrimestoppers.com

City Council Redistricting...Again

2011-10-16T21:41:00.006-05:00

Due to that funny glitch in the city charter, the city council is going through the redistricting process again. Usually the fussing is over the 3rd, 4th and 5th districts with regard to ethnic composition and representation. However, the 2010 census demonstrated without a doubt that north of the river had gained enough population to shove both the first and second council districts north of the river in their entirety. That made it easier to map out the third and fourth in a way that satisfied the concerns of those who feel strongly about ethic issues and elections/candidates. That leaves the fifth and sixth districts.

These are the two maps that are currently being considered by the committee that was formed with regard to redistricting. The bottom one is the one that every body loves--except for the sixth district. You can see that it radically changes the borders of the sixth, running the fifth all the way down to interstates 435/470 east of Holmes Road and runs the western part of the district--the little slice of Kansas City up through Waldo up to about 63rd Street--removing it from the fourth. If you look at it closer, it takes all that potential commercial property on Bannister Road and gives it to the fifth district. It also does quite a bit of violence to the Hickman Mills school district. Councilman John Sharp in particular was very critical of this map. The meeting held October 10 at Baptiste generated quite a large crowd for such a meeting and a second proposed map--the first of the two above.

Now, there is one more city sponsored meeting, October 18th, and a meeting sponsored by the Southern Communities Coalition October 19th. It will be interesting if south Kansas City residents venture to 32nd and Wayne for the October 18th meeting and remember to come out for the SCC meeting the next day.

It is an unfortunate thing that we still feel it necessary to gerrymander by race and class, and that somehow, everyone has bought the idea that we can only be represented by those who look like us. If districts were drawn with just population numbers, geography and neighborhoods in mind, we would not start tearing up neighborhood identities so we can favor certain ethnic identities. There is no easy answer for this, but this map does serve to disrupt the southland's neighborhoods and commercial areas in a way that has the potential to really hurt the area.

LINKS

City webpage with links to maps and charts

Kansas City Star news article and editorial

Jackson County Advocate account of October 10th meeting

Stay tuned, there will be more...

Ambulance Tour

2011-10-12T21:21:00.003-05:00

Station 28 was able to bring their ambulance to the recent Red Bridge Shopping Center party, and I took advantage to shoot some photos of the equipment. There have been some good changes in the 30 years since The Observer was doing prehospital EMS. A few things we wished for back in the day have been developed and incorporated into ambulances today.

Now most people will not need an ambulance ride, but if you do, or a relative of yours does, take this small tour around and see what it's like in there. A little bumpy, but not too scary.

So this is your basic Advanced Life Support ambulance. This usually is about all most people see of ambulances. That is a good thing--most folks manage to make it through most of their lives without needing a ride in an ambulance.

Here, a quick glace in the back--what you might see if you were passing by an accident scene or if the neighbors had to call for some reason.

Let's go inside shall we? If we were riding along, we might have a seat here. Back in the 1980s we called this the squad bench and it had no seat belts. Now you get a seat, and five point restraints.
If you are the patient, likely you will ride here, on the cot, facing the rear of the ambulance. Usually you will get to sit up some. Back in the day, it was common for the cot to sit flush against the wall but now it is mounted closer to the middle. There is actually room enough to stand over there now. The heart monitor is right there easy to attach to the patient and easy for the medic to see. The walls are lined with cabinets storing all kinds of supplies, More supplies are kept in compartments outside.

This area, at the patient's head, is the paramedic's care headquarters. Radio equipment is readily at hand to talk to dispatch, medical control and the destination hospital. Neither seat here is far from the patient, and medics can move quickly to take care of changes in patient condition.

Peering through the passage way into the driver's compartment, we see the Computer Aided Dispatch computer. You probably can't see it, but a map was up on the screen. Many CADs can send along quite a bit of information about a call, and Kansas City ambulances have had satellite tracking and GPS for several years.

As well as the computer, the front features buttons for the lights and siren and more radio equipment. It also has all the usual items you would find in any truck.

So, that what the inside of that noisy white box looks like. I hope you enjoyed your tour, and maybe even saw something new. It is my wish that none of my readers ever need to take a closer or longer look--unless you make EMS a career of course.

What Is Under the Street?

2011-10-11T19:51:00.007-05:00

Most of south Kansas City is about fifty years old. Consequently, all the hidden city infrastructure is about fifty years old. Some of it is starting to wear out. I was out and about in one of our neighborhoods when I noticed a big hole. Being both curious and nosy, I went to check it out. The fire hydrants are being replaced--here's the new hydrant and connection.

In order to connect this together, a hole is required, to get at the water main concealed under the street and lawn (and yucca plant). Some preparatory work had already been done but a new hole was needed. Digging the hole reveals the hidden utilities, labeled for your convenience.The electric, phone and cable lines in this neighborhood are above ground and run in between everyone's back yards. The sewer main is on the other side of the street. So we have here the sewer line to the nearby house, the water main with the line for the fire plug and the gas line. It amazes me that the gas line is only 18-24 inches below the surface. You really do need to "call before you dig"!

I imagine this work will draw to a close before long, the shiny new fire hydrant installed, the hole filled, and the street and lawn repaired. We never notice this stuff until it breaks or needs replacing--life will just go on here on this block, people having water running in the house, the waste flushed away, and free flowing natural gas for heating and cooking.

Now this here is important stuff, not some of that other stuff our politicians like to fuss about.

Lost Baby Lisa

2011-10-10T19:29:00.002-05:00

At 0400 hours Tuesday morning or thereabouts, it will be exactly one week since 10 month old Lisa Irwin was found not to be in her crib or in her home. The case, which has had lots of drama but not much in the way of solid leads, has attracted national attention. Of course, it has also been on local media blast, and suddenly there are about 600,000 amateur detectives on the case. (Population of KC metro approximately 2 million. Figuring many are children, and others don't give a damn, I speculated that about a third of the metro is trying to figure out this situation.)

The book of police work says look first at the family, for most of the time, it is the family, or someone affiliated with the family, that has taken or harmed the child. Abduction by a complete stranger is very uncommon. So the family has been looked at quite thoroughly, including a gambit where the police used the media to put pressure on the family and the story they are telling. Every little thing of the Bradley-Irwin family's day is under scrutiny--why did the dad working a late shift, not have a cell phone with him, why didn't mom wake up sometime during the night sometime between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m. to check on her daughter, how could someone come in and not wake mom or the two school aged children up while taking the baby--you get the idea. In addition, every little eye glance and facial expression of the parents in public appearances is studied. Some feel that the parents are being considered guilty of the crime of hurting their daughter in some way before all the facts are in. Others feel that in light of the unlikely event of a stranger abduction it is the right position to put a lot of attention on the parents and to be suspicious of them.

This is such a painful and inconceivable situation--I am not a parent and yet I find it painful to think about. If one or both of the parents know the real story and know where the child is, and whether or not she is safe, and is acting when in public, that is a scary person to think that they might know that Lisa is dead or in the hands of another. If the parents are not in on any plots surrounding the baby, imagine the grief of not knowing if she is dead or alive, and if alive, if she is in the hands of someone who will care for her, or someone who will hurt her for some sick reason. If abducted so that some other family can have a little girl to raise, to think she could be growing up somewhere, hitting all those milestones that kids hit in some household somewhere else in the world...that is almost as hard to stomach as having to know that she was killed. The only consolation for a loving parent is that if she is alive, she is hopefully enjoying some of the sweet things of life.

One week, just a short time, and yet, a long time. Is it possible that a 10 month old, still very dependent on caring adults for her needs, is still alive after almost 7 full days away from her family? And who knows something useful--will the case crack when someone who knows the family or the parents themselves spill the beans, or will it be a tip given to the PD or FBI that will provide the clue that solves the crime? Or will it come to a head when someone, somewhere, finds a little body...

Occupy Kansas City

2011-10-08T20:24:00.003-05:00

I saw this car in my neck of the woods on Thursday. Notice that there is no spell checker on the paint writers that are sold for glass windows...

I do love my freedom of speech--to me it is one of the things that makes our country great--freedom of speech and worship.

With freedom comes responsibility. We all have that--to not be disruptive for no good reason, to not yell fire in a crowd, to respect others as we express our views.

The protests remind me of the campus protests in the mid 1980s over South African investment. At the University of Vermont protesters build a shanty town--three or four small shacks--on the university green. They stayed there, even through a typical Vermont winter. However, a difference was those protests were very focused on one goal--divestiture by the university. These protests are "leaderless" and do not have very specific objectives. In that way, they remind me a little of the Tea Party.

Like the Tea Party, however, that may be a weakness, leaving the movement indecisive, prone to take over by the most extreme and radical voices, and take over for other goals by the establishment. Also, one has to ask exactly how real the grass roots are--remember how the Koch brothers were portrayed as being behind the Tea Party. Is George Soros, or someone like him standing behind the Occupy Wall Street gang?

My, we live in interesting times.

On Watching Local Government

2011-10-05T21:04:00.004-05:00

I was thinking the other day about local political figures and how uninspiring they are and how bored I get reading about their travails. My eyes glaze over when photos of Mike Sanders or Jason Kander appear in the news media or on blogs . Even the machinations of the mayor and city council don't put a grip on my interest; the doings at 12th and Oak often seems unimaginative and boring or frustrating, out of touch and, well, backward and dumb.

The irony here is that it is local members of government that can do things that impact me personally. It wasn't Barack Obama who decided to merge the ambulance service into the fire department or put the majority of the cost for the sewer repair on the backs of water service customers. It's the local yokels who decided to continue giving money to an ineffective crime prevention group or make a curfew for young people (not all the ideas are bad you know.)

I wonder if it is because we see them up close sometimes. We know about their kid with the behavior problem, we see them in the grocery store or McDonald's. They are all too human to us--they don't look like they could think their way out of a soggy paper bag. Yet, they seem also distant, like they are living on another planet. They don't know us, they know other equally powerful and important people. They know the rich and locally famous. They make deals and make money we can only dream of.

It is hard paying good attention to local politics. All politics is local, yet local problems and issues are set in the context of what is happening in the region, state, country or even world. Local politicians are something like the proverbial blind man, feeling the tail of an elephant and pronouncing it a rope. Yet they can pull on the elephant's tail and make things happen that affect the local citizens. So yeah, we need to pay attention to City Hall, even when there are one hundred things that look more interesting.

Ford Transit

2011-10-05T06:13:00.006-05:00

At left, a picture of Ford's full size Transit, currently on sale only in Europe and below a Transit Connect, available now in the US.

It's killing me not to have posted since Saturday! I hope to get to the computer later today. I do have ideas to blog about but on the mean time take a look at a photo of the vehicle that will be built at the Ford plant. It is a bigger version of the Transit Connect van that Ford has been offering for around two years now. The Connect is just a little bit longer than a PT Cruiser(stepped it off myself) so it is truly a small van. The Transit will be a full size truck, meant for the commercial market mainly. It will be interesting to see how this compares to Econoline vans and the full size Mercedes Sprinter. The Sprinter, badged variously as a Dodge, Freightliner and now Mercedes, has not been a hit with Americans since its introduction in the mid 2000s. It looks top heavy and clunky. It will be interesting to see if Ford avoids this appearance in the big version of the Transit.

Boring bloggy tech note: going to try and post the pic and text using the iPhone--not sure how it will turn out!

How it turned out was that I had to fix it. It should be better now. Photos: Car and Driver, and by The Observer.

Gone Pink

2011-10-01T19:18:00.002-05:00

Every year the macho National Football League breaks out the pink to encourage everyone to be aware of breast cancer. In honor of that all the blogs in the South Kansas City Observer Syndicate also put on some pink flourishes. It's a small thing but if it encourages one person to consider cancer prevention measures, it is well worth the small amount of time.

In addition, I would tell every one to take some of the simple measures that can detect all kinds of cancer, not just breast cancer. Prostate exams, skin exams, and colonoscopies are just a few of the simple tests that will help catch cancer before it can take hold. Ask your doctor what an appropriate screening schedule is for you, as each person has unique genetic and environmental risks and strengths.

I think the pink looks great with the teal--check out how the Jacksonville Jaguars look these next weeks...

South KC Drivers Fail

2011-09-28T20:17:00.004-05:00

The above snipped from a Google satellite view, is a traffic circle, or roundabout, in south Kansas City. It is at the junction of the entrance to the shopping area at 133rd and State Line Road and Inverness Drive. Inverness goes between 135th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard. It is something of a shortcut if you are coing to the Wal-Mart or Lowes from the north and/or east. Traffic circles like this one are used to slow traffic down and permit turns without making everyone stop all the time. Customarily they show yield signs as you approach them, and you do not need to stop unless someone is already in the circle, making their way towards you. Today, I had errands at this Wal-Mart and other businesses in the area. When I came to the traffic circle, I noticed something different.

Stop signs. Stop signs? Yes, stop signs, in each direction. Northbound on Inverness. Southbound on Inverness. Proceeding eastbound from the shopping area. Why? Putting stop signs here sort of negates the building of a traffic circle/roundabout thingy.

Now, the presence of these stop signs could mean that the police determined that there was too much volume to use the traffic circle method of control. In a similar vein, the PD could have decided that there were too many crashes at the location. The cynic might suggest that stop signs increased the revenue potential of the intersection by making it easier to find violations to write tickets for.

As one who learned to drive in a different area, I can tell you that KC metro drivers are not the brightest bulbs in the box. And I have seen drivers struggle with traffic circles as they become more numerous around the metro. The appearance of stop signs at this intersection is a bit of an indication of driver failure to me--that KC drivers could not handle the decision making and attention required by a traffic circle.

Bring back Driver's Ed!

Stop Giving Ground

2011-09-27T04:45:00.000-05:00

Retreat Not The Answer

I just finished reading a blog post and comments that talk about increasing fights and problems in the Power and Light district. It was discouraging that so many feel it is going to get worse there with bad behavior and most people won't go resulting in the failure and abandonment of the project. Near the end of the comment thread one person called out everyone for being negative. The response: we call it as we see it.

I got to thinking: we just can't keep giving ground to the shitheels of the world. If the decent person's response to crap is completely dedicated to running away from it, nothing will ever get done. It is like not ever taking the trash out of your house, then moving because every room has trash in it. "We call it as we see it" is the same as saying, "Well there's trash in here".

The thing is standing firm and acting proactively has to be done before it gets really bad. There's a point where only the brave, crazy, called or broke will go or end up in a bad neighborhood. Normal people won't put up with it. It is like when the trash gets deep enough, it is too difficult to do the work and everyone just throws up their hands. So the time to stand up is *before* it gets really bad.

So as to the P & L District: press Cordish to reevaluate the reduction in security--the company made the reduction to save money but they lose money by losing business due to increased thuggish and drunken behavior not properly dealt with--stupid. Write them, tell them stories and let them know they are pennywise/pound foolish. Do we really have to give P & L to the thug element? If we do what is next? The Plaza? Zona Rosa? Independence Center? It has to stop somewhere. We can't keep running. The nasty people of the world are trying to take the world from the decent people and seem to be succeeding while the decent people debate the "decent" response. The time for retreat and discussion has to come to an end. It is time for decent people to make a stand and hold the ground with power--power of all kinds from the rule of law strictly enforced to law abiding citizens carrying concealed weapons to the spiritual community asserting itself. It is time to stand up--in fact it is past time--we have lost a lot by retreating and taking flight and it is time for it to stop.

Time For A News Vacation?

2011-09-23T17:05:00.004-05:00

I was chatting with a friend who mentioned the contrast between the peaceful state of her home with the windows all open and the noisy, messy outside world. It made me wonder if it was time for a news fast. Much of the news is depressing and it is hard to feel stable and at peace. Sometimes, I do believe you have to take a break. so here are some non-news items for your consideration:

Puppies! A pile of puppies in a corner at Wayside Waifs await new homes. Mastiff crosses--they will be big.

Funny stuff--America's Funniest Videos--some guy in the Netherlands has put together over 100 hours of pratfalls.

George Carlin, on losing stuff.

Music also, is good for getting grounded again...people's tastes are so varied, I don't know exactly what to post. How about the latest from contemporary Christian artist Steven Curtis Chapman? Catchy tune, and lyrics that are timely reminders for Christ followers...

The weather is supposed to be really nice this weekend--get out and enjoy the sun! You will improve your mood and make oodles of healthy Vitamin D.

It will all still be there whenever you decide to come back...

Obama Time

2011-09-20T22:06:00.006-05:00

Monday, President Barack Obama gave a short speech. He was late. I made this note on Facebook.

It is a small thing in the end but it is something that decreases trust and hurts credibility: Obama always being late--if you say that you are speaking at 0930 and you come out at 0956...that is just not cool. Obama needs to stop being on "Obama time" and rejoin the rest of us on regular time.

I want to go a little further; tardiness is not tolerated in the regular work place at all. If you are late on a repeated basis, most jobs will at least counsel you, if not release you all together. It is disrespectful to those you work with, those who are your customers, and yourself. It reflects a lack of care, consideration and planning that does indeed reflect badly on you. When you are late, you are saying a multitude of things most of which are not good; Disorganization, not having your act together, arrogance and self centeredness, for starters. I know that KMBZ has been inconvenienced by the president's lateness several times; just about all of his daytime speeches end up on "Obama time."

So President Obama, be a man of your word. When you say 9:30 a.m., show up at 9:30 a.m. It means that you are ready, willing and able to competently do your work. That is a standard that the majority of us in your audience have to fulfill daily.

A Crapload of Crap

2011-09-20T16:52:00.001-05:00

Wow have we been riding the crap train in Kansas City--and nationally--these last few days newswise. Not one but two (2) incidents of multiple homicide in KCMO--three victims each--over the past few days. Also killings in the Golden Ghetto of JoCo KS. KCMSD losing accreditation. Our big college conference is falling apart-- yes the Big 12 whose championships we often host, who provides the scaffolding for our regional college rivalries--is in serious trouble. Oh yes, our professional sport teams continue to stink, even with the small rays of hope surrounding the Royals.

Nationally we have continued news of a poor economy with the most disheartening being the increasing poverty rate, decreasing middle class and concentration of more wealth among fewer people to the detriment of all-- yes it is a detriment if all the rich do is sit on their money or practice the godless philosophy of Ayn Rand. Politicians and economists are only guessing at what might actually help create the jobs we so desperately need, what would free up private enterprises to decide to hire people. I believe we are in a period of creating an entirely new economic order--doesn't this adjustment period stink? We seriously have to readjust our sights from an economy based on consuming and consumerism to one more inclined to being self sufficient and as self contained as possible, to serving one another, and to feeding into (rather then taking advantage of) hot economies in other parts of the world. There are going to be some hard choices to make, and a lot is against us,

So how is your week so far?

Small Anniversary Coming Up

2011-09-17T20:26:00.005-05:00

One year ago September 23, 2010, a small slightly fluffy kitten joined The Observer's household. She was found by a friend of mine--more accurately she found him--when she approached him in a rainy McD's parking lot. She was the size of his hand at the time, slightly rumpled and damp from the rain. She let him collect her, and he presented her to me, knowing I liked cats. I really didn't have plans to acquire a new cat, but I took her, well, because it was 11 at night, and the radar was showing more storms coming.

Photo taken September 24, 2010; the day after the SmallFry, stranded in a McDonald's parking lot, was rescued from thunderstorms. Yes, those are GirlCat death rays in the background.

I called around to see if there was someone who could help me get her to a good home. Everyone had wait lists/no resources yada yada and so there was no help. I didn't name her for several weeks because I was hoping not to get attached, plus, well, I was not coming up with much for names at the time. After about 3 weeks, I figured I better give her a better name than SmallFry and so she got a proper name.

She is a cute cat. She's never gotten very big--she is easily the smallest of my cats. She guards her food with fierce sounding growls, leading me to believe that she lived in a household with many cats, or with dogs. In fact, that growl is something of a trademark. She growls when displeased, rather than meowing. It is funny to hear this mean sounding noise coming from this smidgen of a cat.

I didn't plan on having another cat, but I am glad I was able to get this little one off the street. She is one smart observant little cookie, playful and athletic. A lot of fun and a blessing--a happy one year anniversary.

SmallFry today, pictured outside on the stoop during some supervised outside time.

Musings on Race and Race Relations

2011-09-16T22:04:00.002-05:00

Back on August 24 the Shanin and Parks radio program asked about the state of race relations in America and if they had gotten better since the election of Barack Obama--or if they had gotten worse. I considered the question, and after a bit poked out this note on my iPhone:

Race relations in a nut shell:
Whites don't trust Blacks not to ruin stuff.
Blacks don't trust Whites not to screw them over.
Both races have really long memories.

To put it positively:
Whites assume that Blacks will ruin stuff.
Blacks assume that Whites will screw them over.
Both groups point to history as their guide.

I let this sit there in my notes for these weeks, one to see how well it aged and two, to see if indeed this is the way it seemed things play out. And I see it, I really do. I would only add one more thing: The expectations often become self fulfilling prophecy. A few people react with the assumptions, and next thing you have group think, and yes! What was expected happened.

We will never be "post racism" in this country, any more than we are "post classicism" here. What we can be and what the country can offer is a playing field that will allow a person to change their situation. We are not India, where your situation is completely dictated by where, when and to whom you are born. People of lower classes and minority races can make great things of themselves in this country. However, we will never move past race if it is flung out as an answer to failure or used to blame or used to get something for nothing.

The issue of racism in the United States is an extremely complex topic that has many facets and many things that keep it from being resolved easily. However, that does not relieve the individual from caring and thinking on the issue. In addition I would say this: it is much harder to maintain certain opinions of people of other races once you have drawn people of different racial backgrounds into your own circle of friends. It is then that you see that they are human, with strengths and weaknesses, just like you.

Oh there is more, so much more, but this is a start. Have to start somewhere.

Story Telling Time: Lost and Found

2011-09-15T17:11:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, I decided to take a short walk. A spontaneous decision, no plan, just a quick walk around the block, about a fourth of a mile. Off I went...but first talked to the guys painting the house two doors down about spray painters...

Then...walked down my street, turned the corner, walked down that street, turned another corner, started walking down that street. Looking around, checking out the scenery. Something caught my eye lying in the curb area at the foot of a driveway. I went over to look. Keys--someone's keys. Two car keys, branded Pontiac, a carabiner, a purple tag. I considered what to do with them for a few moments. I ended up laying them down again, thinking I would come back. Started down the street again, stopped to read the signs on a vacant house (the dreaded foreclosure triad...) and continued. Greeted an enthusiastic Husky dog, petted and admired him, then continued down the street. As I looked ahead, I could see a young couple walking around a car, occasionally poking at the windows. Could it be? The car was a...Pontiac! Are you kidding me?!

I stopped: "Are you missing some keys for a Pontiac? I found some up the street..." She looks up, startled. "I went for a walk a couple days ago--they've been missing since. I drove around and looked yesterday, didn't see anything. Did they have purple on them?" "Yes, a purple tag. I laid them back down cause I wasn't sure what I was going to do. They are right there in front of the house with the signs on it." We walked back to the house in question. I bent down and scooped up the wayward keys, held them up. "Are they...?" "Oh yes! Wow!" We walked back to the Pontiac and she opened it up. I continued on, amazed at the timing. Not just that I spontaneously decided to take a walk...What if...no painters two doors down...no foreclosed house to get nosy about...no dog to stop and visit with...?

Today, I found someone's cell phone in the bathroom at the library. Unfortunately I had to turn it in at the desk...

Pontiac photo for illustration...not the exact car in question.

Just a Little Chiefs Analysis...

2011-09-13T20:32:00.004-05:00

One of three TD passes the Chiefs allowed Sunday...

The Chiefs were really bad on Sunday, yes they were, and many many words have been spoken, written and typed over the past couple days about the game. Here is my take:
1. You are never as good as your best game and as bad as your worse game. This team may not be very good, but they are not as bad as they looked on Sunday.
2. The needs that were not addressed in the off season are still there. Offense and defensive lines are bad and did not get better.
3. As much as we would like to lay a lot of blame at the feet of the coach and the players, I am beginning to question the general manager instead. Scott Pioli has some work to do. He has some explaining to do, but he doesn't 'splain so I will just settle for him to fix this mess.
We didn't draft to need, and we didn't spend the money we have. That is not the way to build a winner. When draft time and "silly season" come around the Chiefs need to be smarter. Small market teams cannot afford stupidity.
4. Clark Hunt, quit trying to run the team on a shoe string. A winning team will make money for you. If you are hoping to be just good enough to generate hope, the hope that keeps people going to the stadium in large numbers, and not take the actions that lead to the next level of performance, then I do hope that those inclined to go to the stadium piss on your expensive tickets and ridiculous parking fee and not go.
When I moved to Kansas City, the Chiefs were just getting good under Carl Peterson. The city really came together over the team and it was like a college atmosphere. That good will has been drained away over the past 10 years or so of losing and seeming not to know how to stop losing. Good organizations are willing to do what it takes to stop losing--that includes taking some reasonable chances and not being afraid to spend money.

9/11: That Moment

2011-09-11T07:30:00.000-05:00

It was just another call, routine for any fire department in any city, on a day that looked much like the days before...

There are places you expect to hear the roar of jet engines overhead. In this city, certain wind patterns and runway assignments will take planes right over the economy parking area. You will hear the roar of engines and not think anything of it--you are at the airport, you should hear planes up close and personal. You do not expect to hear that sound standing in the streets of lower Manhattan...

The video is a chunk of the documentary 9/11 by two French filmmakers and an FDNY firefighter. The point where life changes starts at the 7:15 mark--0846 eastern time September 11, 2001.

Lower Manhattan, 1972/73

2011-09-10T21:44:00.003-05:00

Taken from the Statue of Liberty ferry, on a cloudy, windy late fall or early spring day. If you enlarge by clicking on the picture, you will see a building skeleton to the right of the Trade Center--it is either 7 World Trade or the Deutsche Bank building.

I always thought that lower Manhattan would look, more or less like this, for my lifetime...

Belton August Cruise Pics

2011-09-09T23:09:00.002-05:00

I always take in the great Belton cruise at least once during the cruise season...and take plenty of photos. Today, we celebrate fins!
Oh, Christine. Christine?

Here is a nice looking Ford...

...with some bad interior decorating. I would have to cover this up on a long drive!

Everyone have a great weekend. And don't feel guilty if you remember where you were on September 11, 2001 and post it on your Facebook page, Everyone remembers differently, if you know what I mean. Cynics need not apply today.

Debbie Wasserman Schulz More Evasive Than Jamaal Charles

2011-09-06T21:02:00.004-05:00

This right here is why politicians are not well regarded and also why I would make a terrible politician.

DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz absolutely refuses to answer any question about the speech that James Hoffa gave in Detroit on Labor Day where Mr. Hoffa used some inflammatory language. She slides instead into some boilerplate answer about working on jobs (I am wondering if she might even be reading the answer off cue cards, especially in the first 45 seconds or so as she is seemingly unable to leave her eyes in one place.), and totally evades the question. When further pressed, she starts talking about the Tea Party's language.

Look, if you don't want to answer a given question, just say so. To evade, evade, evade, and ad hominium attack, just makes you look either stupid or duplicitous or both. There is a point where she says she would like to answer the question (1:53). One wonders how she might have answered the question about Hoffa if she could have talked straight. Maybe she would have said something like, "Jeez, that Hoffa is such a frigging buffoon. I told the President not to be near this union thug, that he would embarrass us. I hate being right." or the opposite, "We love it, I thought Hoffa rocks, he said what we are all thinking. " It doesn't matter which way it would fall, since we would never hear such straightforward honesty from a sitting politician.

Why I could never be a pol--I'd either answer the question straight or tell you straight that I had absolutely no intention of answering that question no matter how many times it was asked!

First Family Church: Caught in Sin

2011-09-05T23:04:00.001-05:00

The First Family Church, at one time one of the fastest growing churches in the Kansas City area, has had its building foreclosed on and is having to leave. The church was staggered by the revelation of some questionable stewardship in 2007 and between the reduction of income that was the result of decreased attendance and the economic factors, the church became unable to meet its obligations on its large building and campus in southern Overland Park, KS. FFC was/is a non-denominational church. Its ministry revolved around one Jerry Johnston, its dynamic pastor. Pastor Johnston was a dynamic preacher and he attracted people to the church to hear him.

Accountability for churches and their leaders has to be first rate. Mishandling money is stealing from both God and people. Transparency is the best policy. To me, FFC always was a church that could be at risk for problems. It was a church that centered on one person, it was an independent church, so it was not accountable to a denominational structure, and it practiced both nepotism and opaque accounting, so it was hard for people to see what was going on. I have always gone to churches that are part of a denominational structure, (The Methodist Church calls it a connection--a good name I think.) and I believe it is a good thing for the most part.

A church leadership that plays games with money, whose leaders live a life of luxury, is a leadership and a church that will fall. Such things will be exposed. Sound financial stewardship and integrity are essential to a church's witness. People, being people, will put leaders up onpedestals and instead of worshiping God will worship a leader--essentially making an idol. A charismatic leader without accountability runs the substantial risk of his group drifting from church to cult as the leader begins to feel himself as powerful and important as God Himself.

When churches and leaders fail and fall like FFC has, it hurts the ministry of all Christian churches. A trust is broken. Yet another barrier is erected between non-believers and the story of Jesus Christ and the restoration of Humanity to fellowship with God. Every precaution must be taken to keep the church from straying into risky and possibly sinful practices, and when sin is found, it must be ruthlessly confronted and stopped. This is the only way.

Seriously, it must break God's heart when His church commits sins.

Visit this site, www.thenewdaychurchkc.com for history of FFC's troubles.

Labor Day

2011-09-04T22:24:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow Labor Day will be celebrated. Some places celebrate it with vigor--New York Labor Day parades are among the biggest of the year--and some quietly. It is a good time to take stock of where are we in the world of labor these days?

In the early days of the industrial revolution, workers were frequently abused with long hours and poor working conditions. Workers in mines, steel plants, and textile mills fought for their right to organize and negotiate as a group with management. It was often a violent confrontation, with workers striking and making production a challenge and management fighting back, sometimes violently, sometimes with the threat of retaliation and job loss. At the same time, the press of the day began to expose industrial conditions. Between the pressure from organized workers and exposes from journos, the government began to step in with work rules. The landscape of work changed. The change washed into new industries such as the automobile plant, not always peacefully, as workers tried to deal with the new world of the assembly line. Somewhere along the road public employees became unionized. Frankly, my history is a little fuzzy on the whens and whys, but they did. You would think the government would treat workers well enough to avoid unions, but evidently not. Either that or they wanted the same goodies as the private sector workers.

Now here we are about 100 years later. Many of the industries that had bloody worker/management battles are greatly shrunken from their early and mid 20th century glory. Unions are on the wane, the need for them questioned. Yet the American worker is not experiencing great prosperity. Instead of a stable middle class living, workers are having to bounce from job to job as industries contract due to technology or shifting work to foreign lands with fewer regulations and a non-union workforce. Private corporations seem to have become dedicated only to creating wealth for large stock holders and the bosses. The sense of the greater good seems to have been lost somewhere along the road to profit and doing it cheaper.

Now we have employers writing their help wanteds to include "no unemployed need apply" and everyone is expected to be perfect in their "soft skills". Unemployed workers are discouraged, their self esteem lowered, their hope savaged. We lament that we don't make anything anymore. Many lay the fault for that at the feet of the union, saying union greed and rules made American labor too expensive and bound up in red tape. We ourselves also may have hurt ourselves in seeking bargains--turning our backs on American goods as they became more expensive and of poorer quality than comparable goods from overseas. Once companies realized that they could save money and still compete, it was all but over for large parts of the American industrial base.

I see this paradox today: unions did good, but then seemed to hurt the very industries and companies that caused them to flourish. However, it seems the American worker is hurting too, with hiring so slow, and done on an employer's tightly constrained playing field; employed workers doing much more work now, often saddled with mandatory overtime and constricted vacations--things that we took for granted. Real pay for the majority of workers has not kept up with inflation over the past couple of decades. Corporations get bigger and more multinational, less responsive to local concerns. It seems as if workers need to gain more power somehow, so that they are not just seen as cogs in the machine, their "soft skills" insuring that they will not make trouble, their fear of losing everything keeping them quiet in their places.

I can hear people saying that companies were not created to provide jobs, they were created to show profits for their owners. I hear people when they talk about how our free enterprise capitalist system has created so much innovation. Yet what I see now is a system out of balance, tilted towards the benefit of management and stock holders, not workers and customers. It is not any more morally right than 18 hour days and child labor.

I have to wonder, with such conditions, if people looking for a soft place to land have begun looking towards the government more and more. Whether it is that unionized government job, unemployment payments or disability status, people are looking for a soft place to land. More and more, that is not seen as something that comes out as a product of the free market system. I do not believe that is a good thing.

I don't have an answer, and there is a lot of noise and screaming coming from both the left and right, demonizing someone or another--corporations, the government, yada yada. Meantime, I think on the parable of the Good Samaritan and the instruction to love the neighbor as oneself and to be neighborly is to do acts of mercy.

And a happy Labor Day to you too.

Something Else Not Allowed on Planes

2011-09-01T16:26:00.004-05:00

It is time for a funny story or a ridiculous one, depending on your point of view.

I have friends who went off for a conference in California a few weeks ago. Like all conferences, it was fun and inspiring and chock full of good ideas to take home. As part of the conference, the attendees were given little souvenir gigaws, some of which illustrated concepts that were discussed. One of the souvenirs was a little wood baseball bat, similar to the ones you can get at the ball park. Similar to these I found at the Bargain Factory in Grandview the other day. Now, some folks had to leave early before all the events were concluded. They packed up all their personals, including their souvenir bats and headed off to the airport.

I bet you know where this is going.

Word began filtering back to the conference site: pack your little bats
in your checked bag, or send them home by post or carrier. Because they seemed to be not allowed on the plane. When I heard this tale, I just burst out laughing. There is no end to the TSA and the stories it generates. Now, I suppose that the little bats could be used as weapons or to conceal a weapon, but it seemed a bit foolish to ban them. The x-ray machine would penetrate the wood, and the explosives detector would sense flammables assuming the TSA was using them correctly. Unless you are a ninja, they are really too small to do much harm in and of themselves.

In the ten years since 9/11, what is one of the things that has changed the most? Traveling by air.

Next for KCMSD: A School Board that Disappears

2011-08-30T20:38:00.005-05:00

You might recall that we had a lot of drama last week over the resignation of the superintendent of the KCMSD, John Covington, who resigned to, as it turns out, take a really sweet paying gig up in the Detroit, Michigan area. We all felt a little played, especially those who really stood up for Mr. Covington. I still think that he did something that had to be done--something that was going to be painful and could cost a person a lot of support. When people gave that support, only to have him bail in such a sudden way, I think they felt betrayed. People supported the plan to close schools at some cost to themselves as well, as they were threatening the grifter gravy train that the school district had become.

In addition, a rift in the school board was exposed. Frankly, unless you are a close follower of the goings on at the school board the fact that we all know who these people are is a bad thing. I don't even live in the district and I can name three KCMSD board members without even trying. I think I can only name one Hickman Mills school board member right off the top of my head. I can name the superintendent without even thinking hard--and that is the way it should be. The administration's head is the face of the schools to the community.

So tonight, after meeting together so much their spouses/S.O.s must have been wondering, the KCMSD board found an "interim" superintendent. They will now look for a new one. Also Airick West will step down as board president. I don't know who the lucky soul will be to take that mantel, but I am hoping it is neither Arthur Benson, or Duane Kelly.

KCMSD needs a superintendent who is committed for the long haul, and the contract they offer needs to have disincentives to leaving early. I don't know who is in-house but start there. As much as I would hate to see thriving districts in the metro lose talent, the next place would be to consider a district in the KC metro. Only look outside if none of the above pan out for a candidate. Then the superintendent needs to be the only face of the KCMSD. Names like West, Kelly and Benson should fade into anonymity. It is not a good thing when the school board makes the news for anything other than the operational decisions that it is responsible for under the structure of the district.

The Mayor's Son...

2011-08-30T20:26:00.002-05:00

...is in trouble again. This time, he is alleged to have committed assault against a Lee's Summitt woman. It all happened in Westport Wednesday, August 24th at about 0135--also known as 1:35 a.m.--also known as an hour at which most of what happens is not good.

The story is a little bit of a he-said-she-said, so I will link the police report and let that speak for itself.

So--is the mayor responsible? No. Is Kyle acting like a sh*theel on a repeated basis? Yes. Does it appear --this is a conclusion made just from noting Kyle's public actions--that Kyle James has a drinking problem in the sense that when he drinks he and his life are out of control? Yes. Should Kyle James be evaluated for needing some rehab for his drinking problem or at the very least have a mental health assessment? Sounds like a good idea to me! Does Kyle James need to be in off the streets before 2400--midnight? You betcha.

A curfew for Kyle! What's good for the masses is good for the scion!

Sell Crazy Someplace Else

2011-08-29T23:09:00.002-05:00

Here, have a movie clip...

We are all stocked up here...

A Few Thoughts Early Monday Morning

2011-08-29T00:56:00.003-05:00

What a news week we just had--an amazing new chapter written in the story of FUBAR that is the Kansas City Mo school district, a much hyped storm that rained more than anything, a surprise eastern earthquake and more.

I have to say that the thing that has dismayed me more than anything is the apparent incompetence of our government. Individually, the people at City Hall or in Washington, DC might be smart and able but when they get together it seems they can't find their way out of a paper bag.

Just a few thoughts early on a Monday morning.

Wayside Waifs Visit, August 19, 2011

2011-08-25T16:50:00.002-05:00

I took myself--and the iPhone--to Wayside Waifs last Friday. It is so much fun to see all the animals that are ready for adoption, and to see the youngsters as well. Here are some of the photographic results of that visit. Pictured animals may already have been adopted (yay!) so check at www.waysidewaifs.org for the most current listing of available pets.

There were several black kitties ready for adoption of all ages, from young to mature.

Beautiful odd-eyed cat--gorgeous black and white markings.

A pile of kittens, one of two piles there that day. Lots of kittens still available at the shelter.

Believe it or not, this beautiful dog was found as a stray, and tended to by a concerned family until there was room at the shelter for her to stay.

These are dachshunds, incredibly-- I have never seen wiener dogs colored this way. I saw them up later and they looked every bit of the doxy!

Lord only knows what breeds have mixed together here but the results are very appealing.

Me, take me!

Wayside Waifs is in south Kansas City at 3901 Martha Truman Road. On the web at www.waysidewaifs.org. Open 2-8 weekdays except Monday and Tuesday, 12-6 weekends. Call 816-761-8151 for more info.

The State Needs to Take Over the KCMSD

2011-08-24T21:05:00.003-05:00

Well, here we go again. Another superintendent has resigned from the Kansas City Missouri School District. That makes like 25 since I moved here in 1989--more or less.

It is time for the state to take this district over.

Now, I know that strictly speaking, the KCMSD does not involved south Kansas City. Kids living south of 85th street (more or less) go to a mixture of schools--Lee's Summit, Raytown, Hickman Mills, Grandview and Center. They all have their own problems but none is in the rotten condition and carries the rotten history of the KCMSD. However, since schools and how good they are is an integral part of quality of life--part of the equation when considering where to live--we do have to concern ourselves with the state of the KCMSD.

Many people have gotten rich off of all the money poured into the KCMSD. The deseg money, the endless money to run the place--how much of it really went to benefit the kids?

John Covington, love him or hate him, got the district to take the tough medicine of contracting. His plan certainly wasn't perfect--the Southwest school was a disaster and the past year's test scores were not at all good--but the contracting had to be done to eliminate the excess capacity we cannot afford to keep. Now it is time to take the next step: remove the influence of those looking to collect some of the bucks floating around the district and make the place accountable for their actions. State management would also give time for considerations on other changes in the district, such as splitting it into two or more pieces.

KCMO leadership has tried and failed at running this district--let the state of Missouri take a try at it.

A Computer Problem

2011-08-23T20:45:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the lack of posting. I have a computer problem with my laptop which is making posting unpleasant if it requires the typing of more than a few words.

My keyboard is messed up. Multiple keys are not working. To name them, it's the h, g, ', backspace and escape keys. And occasionally a shift key doesn't actually shift.

I have a portable keyboard, and there is the onscreen keyboard but both have drawbacks and are just not as pleasant or easy to use as the regular keyboard.

I have no idea if it is a hardware problem or a software problem. If there are geeks reading this, any ideas would be accepted.

(Getting a new computer is not among the options.)

The Show Going On Is the Right Thing

2011-08-20T19:58:00.004-05:00

Pilot Bryan Jensen and his plane. (www.beastairshows.com)

Stunt and Delta jetliner pilot Bryan Jensen died today at the Kansas City Air Show when something went wrong during his routine. Because of where his plane landed--on the airfield between runways--the remainder of the show was canceled. However, plans are for the show to go on tomorrow.

That is the right thing to do.

Flying for humankind is an unnatural thing. The force exerted by earth's mass on objects near the planet's surface is a strong one. Gravity keeps us ground bound and only force and physics with a dollop of human skill enables us to get off the ground for even a brief time. Stuff goes wrong and when it does, it is usually a very bad thing.

Mr. Jensen clearly loved to fly. He started at 13, and by 16, when most of us were just happy to be able to drive cars, he had flown three different kinds of aircraft. At this time in his life, Mr. Jensen was flying 747s for pay after starting in commercial aviation at age 23 and has been doing aerobatics for 15 years.

The last thing this man would wish is that the air show fold up its tent for the year. He would want the celebration of humankind's ability to escape gravity for just a moment to continue.

Deepest condolences to Mr. Jensen's family and close friends who are no doubt stunned at his sudden death.

And may tomorrow dawn clear, crisp and calm--a perfect day for flying.

News link: KSHB...

Red Bridge Getting There

2011-08-18T16:14:00.004-05:00

The iPhone is much harder to use one handed--like when driving--to shoot photos, but even from this shot we can see that the new Red Bridge bridge is rapidly getting close to completion. The road bed is just about done on the bridge; main work will be on the approaching roadway now. West of the bridge is starting to take shape--west bound traffic is now on new roadbed and fire station 28 has a new apron.

So we'll how the work goes from here--the hot weather did slow work for a few days but it being dry helped to keep things ongoing. The bridge is scheduled to open in the fall.

Second Bloggy Anniversary!!!

2011-08-17T21:51:00.004-05:00

Another interesting year...

Well it is another year passing--two years ago today this little modest blog was started just for fun and games. A few on line musings about life, the news and whatever else attracted my attention. If along the way a few people read it, well that was cool too.

The MAST merger took it in a direction that was not anticipated, but that was OK. It continues to be a topic of great interest to me and is certainly not done yet!

The blog began to get noticed here and there in the larger world. Now that is OK, but not a goal. We are not here to break news (although we might due to just being there when something newsworthy happens) but just to offer nice fresh opinion. I am, to borrow from John Mellencamp, "still hayseed enough to go, 'Hey wow, they just mentioned me here or there.'" Sticking to my roots means I don't care if I go a little while without being linked some place or another. It is about me in many ways--what interests me or makes me go "Wow!" or "That ain't right." or "How cool is this?"

So on to year three, more twists and turns to come. To everyone along for the ride, thanks for reading and I hope you continue to come along.

Oh, and thanks to all who friended the page on Facebook. I think 25 is the threshold for the short url, but I am not sure!

Tony Gets Sued--Yes, It Is Chilling

2011-08-17T20:16:00.004-05:00

Well, good evening.

Big news in the blogging world, Tony of Tony's Kansas City, is being sued by IAFF Local 42 boss Louie Wright for two posts: One in August of 2009 and the second for linking to a You Tube video that is critical of the KCFD/MAST merger in May 2011.

Here are some links:

The Pitch did an article and let Tony know that he was being sued...

Tony's post this afternoon...

And this evening before his appearance with Darla...

Direct link to the court document...

From The Star's Midwest Democracy Project blog...

This might a link to the video...or not. I might just make you go to You Tube yourself and search...oh, 42truth...the video might have criminal in the title...or not. You didn't hear it here.

Now, I never posted this video myself on this blog, but I did FB it for sure on my personal page and me and friends had a chuckle. Apparently, Mr. Wright does not like the image of him with bars in front of his face..As to the post, I just looked at it and I think the offending paragraph is the one that contains an allegation that Mr. Wright was involved with hinky business surrounding FF and Local 42 donations to the United Way.

(I am listening to Darla and Nick Wright, Louie's son, is on defending his daddy...)

Any way this will require being followed for sure. I need to think on some of the legal issues, such as the issue of reposting You Tube vids.

A couple of things I wrote on Facebook--because I am lazy and don't want to write them again!

I dont know about the video, but that post about Louie and the United Way--if you dont have ready for a criminal court proof, I am not sure you can say stuff like that. That was the stuff Nick Wright was reading to Tony on Darla's show--amazing radio!

I have to say I would not post stuff like that. I might and it off to someone in MSM or law enforcement to look at if I really thought there was some possible criminal activity going on.

you have to be careful. Opinion is one thing but allegations of wrong doing is another.

Antique and Classic Cars Abound on KC Roads

2011-08-16T20:50:00.005-05:00

Kansas City is wonderful for seeing old and/or unique automobiles. You can, if you keep your eyes open, see unique vehicles around town just about every day. I am not above taking a picture of your unique or antique car if I see it on the street or in the mall parking lot. I think that KC with its heritage of manufacturing and engineering, and its extensive highway network has an appreciation for rolling automotive history. Also our lack of sea air, relatively mild and short winters and long drives help cars live longer.

So we are at the Bass Pro in Olathe for the MOPAR show. However, not just Chrysler products are on parade. Saw this beautiful Caddy convertible drive by...

...and this little red sports car. Anyone recognize its make and model?

On the way to church one Sunday I spotted this full size H1 or "Hummer". This is the second time I have seen an H1 on 135th Street near State Line and the other one was different. I wonder if an H1 collector lives nearby? This is the civilian version of the "Humvee" or High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV which is where Humvee comes from--thanks Wikipedia) .

You could probably put this little Citroen truck in the H1 and have room left over! I spotted this interesting vehicle in the parking lot at Ward Parkway Mall.

Love those cute little headlights! See the PT Cruiser behind it? The PT is actually a little bit bigger--the camera angle makes it hard to tell.

And finally this unrestored beauty pulled up near me at the Best Buy at 115th and Metcalf in Overland Park. 1973 Oldsmobile convertible with under 100,000 miles on it.

So you don't have to be going to a car show to see interesting cars. Just keep your eyes open, and if you have a camera in your phone, keep it close at hand. Here in the Kansas City metro, you will not be disappointed.

This Blogger Is Irked

2011-08-16T14:30:00.003-05:00

If you visit my Facebook page you will see that I am not in a very good mood. I'll admit that I am choosing to be annoyed at the news, and I will also note here that I am annoyed with myself. On the eve of the second anniversary of the first post of this blog, I am thinking about what directions this blog has taken and what direction it should take. We will talk more about that tomorrow, on the anniversary proper, but suffice it to say here that while news will always be a major focus, it is not the only focus, that we are also about having fun, and noticing neat stuff, and photos and funny stuff around Kansas City and the world.

I am an information hound, a person who is always looking around, trying to see this difficult, interesting, funny, sorry, amazing, God-created and sin-stained, crazy world for what it is--all those things and more. Sometimes I am amazed. Sometimes I am angered. Sometimes I am moved to tears. Sometimes I am stunned into silence, other times I am moved to rant.

We will never be hard core politics around here. We will not be completely consistent all the time. The only thing that will be consistent is the slightly right leaning/slightly libertarian/Christian/cares about people and the world point of view that will usually be demonstrated.

And oh yeah, we love scenery, old cars, dogs and cats and talking about the weather.

And "like" the Facebook page--that way I can have a nifty short url for it--yes, ending with a shameless plug!

Plaza Flash Mobs--Just Say No to Lawbreakers

2011-08-16T14:18:00.003-05:00

There has been gallons (OK, quarts) of ink and millions (OK trillions) of megabits of words on the situation with the mobs of young people ruining everyone's good time--and business in the Country Club Plaza. Meantime our mayor is pissing around, thinking about whether or not he wants a curfew or what. Generally pessimism is reigning as to whether or not this can be turned around and made better.

Let's start with this: A decision to enforce every single law on the books available and applicable to disorderly mobs in the Plaza regardless of their age or color. Let's follow that up with holding those in charge of minors accountable for the actions of their children. (I almost typed something really intemperate--I do try to keep a Christian tone around here...) This waffling around talking about a possible curfew helps absolutely no one and causes people to think that City Hall has not got an effing clue as to what they are doing.

I'm sorry but let's poop or get off the pot--trying to avoid offending people is helping no one and doing nothing.

Guest Post: chuck on "...African American heart of darkness."

2011-08-15T10:00:00.000-05:00

chuck with a small "c" is one of Tony's most prolific and faithful commenters on matters of crime and race. To be honest, I was looking forward to his posts in response to this incident. Here is just one of them--beware, it is pungent!

chuck said...

As reasonable Americans re consider the value of Plessy V Ferguson, it is way past time, to seek insight, guidance and sit at the feet of more evolved and realistic Oracles.

Its time to look at this African American heart of darkness and teh concomitant violence that rides into our cities and destroys, like black locusts everything in its path and resolve to rake for that heart, and stake that heart dead.

Stand by for sickening, sychophantic, superscillious shit from the 4th estate nationally, and the Kansas City Star locally which will place blame on, no "Nite Hoops", or "White Racism", or "disadvantaged youth" and pay homage and seek comments from African American community leaders, who have no more hope of stemming this tide of violence than our mayor did last night as he was trampled underneath the atavistic, chaotic mob of animals who are emblematic of a growing racial African American antipathy.

Listen for the usual calls for communication and understanding in the face of incessant violence, stupidity and high crime. Endure the 2nd partying of the blame, and exculpatory paens to 60 years old civil rights struggles which are galactically removed and have nothing to do with the African American murder, rape and theft that is tacitly condoned by our politicians, law makers and media every day.

African American mobs all across the nation commit hate crimes on a weekly basis, while individual African Americans inflict hate crimes on white people hourly. This African American penchant for wanton violence and lawlessness drives whites from cities, and leaves burnt out, "Thunderdome" neighborhoods which are ruled by feral thugs and crooked politicians.

As the African American undertow, reaches yet more suburban neighborhoods, whites flee and reconstitute new barbicans to repel the barbarians. Outside the walls, howling for more tribute in the form of misdirected and pernicious social engineering laws and programs to support African American dystopia, the increasing crescendo of chaos is matched by the 4th estate's calls for more Rainbow Down A Rat Hole cash for the very scum they refuse to report honestly on to the very folks they purport to inform.

Here is more bad news.

This ungovernable, uneducatable, unrepentant mob of "Dissadvantaged Youth" is beyond help of any kind. Their parents their grandparents and the horde of coming "baby mammas", and "baby daddys" will fill our streets with ignorant, violent thugs whose skills will consist of texting, cell phone use, 2nd grade rhymes and an evermore sophisticated ability for mayhem. Trillions have been squandered on programs designed to promote and elevate African Americans into jobs and positions that they are under qualified for, and compensate them unfairly at the expense of the rest of the populace.

The results of these efforts, are seen in our fair city last night, and in all major cities throughout the nation on a regualr basis.

There is one thing, one concept, one path to a solution of these problems.

Bloody constraint.

These animals, and animals they are, are modestly qualified to dress tehmselves and feed themselves (On your dime).

End the war on drugs and clear out the prisons to make room for violent offenders.

Incarcerate early and often, for extended periods of time, those violent offenders and leave them there to rot.

End social programs that encourage a lack of personal responsibility and reward a lack of accomplishment.

Its ok if people starve in the streets. We, as a nation, can no longer afford to prop up a phony black middle class, or their misanthropic, violent offspring.

Aquire a conceal and carry permit.

Shoot to kill.

8/14/11 9:49 AM

Guest Post: "...piss poor parenting is to blame."

2011-08-15T08:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a great TKC comment--one of 200+ received by TKC's post on yesterday's events at the Plaza.

ChrisN...thanks for being a voice of reason. Unfortunately, piss poor parenting is to blame. Violence and crime committed by young Black teens has been a problem on the east side for quite some time. Now that the problem is crossing Troost and entering our a"Gem" of an attraction we are starting to dialogue about a solution.

Let's be clear. The answer is not to throw up a berlin wall to keep people out of the plaza or to create a militaristic type police presence that reminds us of the gestapo. Now that we are talking let's look at redirecting the traffic where mature young people can engage in mature fun. Is there an area on the Plaza that young people could be steered to that could provide musical entertainment and the like. Creating walls will create a more intense drive to break through it. The opposition from the East will meet greater opposition from the KCPD and the administration of justice and injustice will divide our city even more.

Second, create an intervention program for the parents of unruly youth. Haul the parents in and hold them accountable for their children's piss poor behavior. It should be educational and punitive. Give the parent strategies, a timeline to implement, and have a form of measuring success. Have some penalties in place. Bottom line, raise your child to respect authority and obey the laws of the land or the police will handle him as a criminal, lock him up, and lock you up with him. If we are assisting you already then its not a far stretch to have the two of you together in a place where you can be observed and hopefully realize the errors of your ways.

As a member of the Black Community and resident of the East Side, get these so called Black Leaders in a room, lock the door, and don't let them come out until they have a true action plan to affect real community engagement and change. Time out for photo ops with the Mayor, holding vigils, driving around in air conditioned cars and all the reactionary and pointless activities that produce nothing. Hold the leadership accountable ie. Pastors, NAACP, SCLC, Freedom, Organization Leaders, Fraternities, Sororities, SCLC, etc. Fuck the dinners and fundraisers and giving out awards considering the state we are in. The most pressing Civil Rights, Equal Rights struggle facing the Black Community is the right of Parents to effectively raise our children.

Finally, I am embarrassed at the behavior of our Black youth and it gives racist assholes a little false ammunition to shoot blanks. But here is the real tragedy, policies are being created and will be created locally and nationally because Black people are considered incapable of responsibility due to the errant behavior of some Black Parents and their children. That too is unacceptable and should be discouraged. So even the racist bastards spewing gross venom under the guise of free speech need to be publicly flogged. I am one Black Man that is not opposed to publicly embarrassing the parent to get their shit right.

8/14/11 9:06 AM

Now What To Do About The Plaza?

2011-08-14T21:09:00.005-05:00

Wow, just wow.

So the mayor and alleged community leaders had a meeting rally thingy at the Plaza last night and before they had even left there was a shooting that left three minors with non life threatening wounds. According to news reports the mayor was near enough to hear shots and see blood, and was pushed down to the ground by his security detail.

I have to admit I am almost burned out on the issue of mob violence/urban violence/Black on Black violence etc etc because it keeps coming back to the same group of issues. Please note that these are important questions, not necessarily the opinions of this blogger.

1. Parental responsibility or lack thereof. Kids as welfare payments and the way to earn a living.

2. Entitlements and multigenerational use of them; broken families with little stable structure. Values of life and property and civility not being imparted to young people by parents that may have never learned them well themselves.

3. The non-PC unspoken question that sits underneath many opinions: Are Black people inherently more violent than other people groups--or inferior in some other way?

4. Education, seen as almost every other people groups who came to America as the way out of the ghetto and poverty, has been a failure among Black people. Without a doubt the schools have been of poor quality but much of the thug Black culture has rejected education as valuable, and this actually has seeped into the culture at large.

5. Lack of people being held accountable for their actions--from the participants in the mob violence and melees to the parent/guardian of participants, particularly the minors to law enforcement and politicians using issues as political levers.

6. As one TKC commenter asked, what would have been the police actions if the groups or mobs had been majority White instead of Black? Would the laws already on the books (disorderly conduct, assault, MIP, traffic laws, littering etc.) been enforced with vigor with a White mob but were not because the mob was mostly Black and law officers feared lawsuits accusing them of racism?

7. As a Christian believer, I have to ask the question: Where is the church and the testimony of the power of God? Have the church's pastors and leaders been taken in by the siren song of connection to political power and government dollars and left behind the offensive preaching of the offensive Gospel of Jesus Christ?

On a practical point we must save our Country Club Plaza and that means uncompromising enforcement of the laws on the books. Make parents accountable for the actions of their minor children with fines and jail. Put mobbing hooligans in jail. I have not changed my view on this from the last time this happened.

There were so many great comments on Tony's Kansas City. Don't be surprised if one or two of them pop up on here as guest posts.

Yob?

2011-08-12T19:52:00.002-05:00

I kept seeing this word while reading coverage of the riots in the Daily Mail and other British news outlets---what is this "yob"?

I mean we all know that the Brits speak English just like we do--except not so much. So, to the interwebs for info on "yob." I discovered that the word was coined in the 1700s--an era that had a lot of violent moments. The reverse of "boy," it is indicating that the male in question is exactly the opposite of a normal good boy. Thus generally, yobs are male. However, thug and hooligan are easy synonyms and can be applied to both sexes. A variation on the word I saw was "yobbo" which is similar and generally used in Australia. There it also acquires the sense of what we call "white trash" here in the USA.

A look at the Urban Dictionary reveals that the Brits have coined lots of terms for the thug element among them.

On Riots and Other Mob Violence: Two More Interesting Links

2011-08-12T19:11:00.003-05:00

There has been a lot of commentary written about the recent (and somewhat underreported in the US) riots in Britain. Here are links to two interesting items. Have to give a tip of the hat to Limbaugh for mentioning and/or quoting from these two interesting essays.

This post is a partner with the previous post with the two mayors. The events of past days have made me wonder if there has been a fundamental change in the moral character of people today. On the other hand my Bible tells me that without God, humankind is trapped in a cycle of evil and civil decay...

First we have Max Hastings at the UK Daily Mail talking about how the culture of entitlement played an extensive part in the behavior and choices of the British rioters. By the way, the Daily Mail did a very nice job of covering the riots.

Next we have former DOJ lawyer J Christian Adams on how mob action comes to work against the very moral foundation of our society.

The Daily Mail reveals that not all rioters were down and out or at society's edges--so-called "good people"will yield to the temptation of obtaining something for nothing, doing things because everyone else is doing it, or acting on emotions of envy, jealousy and anger if they do not have a strong moral foundation.

Mayor Bloomberg and Mayor Nutter

2011-08-10T21:54:00.004-05:00

Two mayors...

Mayors of two major American cities had some interesting things to say over the past few days. Mayor Michael Nutter of Philadelphia took much of the Black community to task for the violence that seems to have become such a big part of its life and culture.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg surprises this listener by accurately describing the business and employment killing environment that the actions of our federal government has created. While sounding like a text book liberal in describing how the spend thrift plan of the fed "saved" the economy in 2008-09, Bloomberg sounds as conservative as anyone in his description of what has made everyone risk adverse.

Enjoy the videos--they are a refreshing change from so much of what we hear.

Adventures in Telecom Land...

2011-08-07T20:24:00.004-05:00

I am trying to figure out which new phone to get. My contract is up and I am ready for a new one.

There are no deals anymore is the first thing I discovered. No "free" or heavily rebated phones, especially Smart Phones. Just about everything will require about $100. Ick.

I like my Blackberry pretty well, but BB is not offering much new through my carrier, Verizon. That leaves Android type phones and iPhone.

If anyone has a word of wisdom, feel free to comment. I am very curious about iPhone's method of photo storage since the cell phone camera is often an important part of my blogging and iPhone uses cloud storage rather than a disk.

I have to say that iPhone looks fabulous and the 5 mega pix camera looks awesome.

Mayor James' Son

2011-08-05T21:31:00.006-05:00

Well, we are talking about the mayor's son tonight on the front porch.

Mayor James' 22 year old son Kyle caused a disturbance in the Power and Light District last Saturday night. Young James appeared to be intoxicated, tried to "eat-and-run," was verbally abusive to police and worst of all pulled out the "Do you know who I am?" card.

Guess what Kyle? Your days of being an anonymous drunken idiot are over. Your dad is The Mayor of Kansas City! Your actions will affect your dad the mayor for no other reason as to get people to wondering about his ability to manage the city if he can't manage his family. Go get some help with your binge drinking problem. I hear Valley Hope has good programs.

I do not hold the mayor responsible for Kyle's actions. The boy is an adult. I am dismayed that he did not force his son to face more of the consequences of his actions. Many times the kids of successful parents suffer for the parents' success. They don't get a lot of time and attention from their parents and they often suffer from conditional love and overblown expectations from the family. Sometimes they start looking for attention, even if it is just the bad kind. Then the parents rush in to prevent their baby from failing and falling, and to care for their own reputation.

Mr. Mayor, put your boy firmly on his own two feet. Help him to realize that these are his own bad choices and only he, Kyle, can change them into better choices.

And remind him that you love him just because he is your son.

Photo of Sly James during the campaign last March by The Observer.

Links: Kansas City Star, and the police report (caution: crude language!)

Update: Kyle James made a public apology this evening before a reporter for the Kansas City Star and a TV reporter.

Apparently it is not the first time young Kyle has acted like an ass downtown. He appears to have a problem; I hope he figures out that he is out of control and gets help. Link to the Star's article here and the TV report here.

Which Do You Prefer--Winter or Summer?

2011-08-03T19:40:00.006-05:00

Do you prefer this...

The challenge has been made--after a record breaking summer day exactly six months after the area experienced blizzard conditions and record cold. February 2, 2011 was one for te record books. So the question came up--winter or summer? I decided to break it down.

Summer

Advantages:

More light during the 24 hour period--easier to get energized.

Most Seasonal Affective Disorder relates to light--more light, less SAD.

You don't have to put on a bunch of stuff to go outside.

Except for rainy days, driving is generally safer.

It takes almost no time to get going in the morning.

There is more to do outside.

Disadvantages:
When it is really hot, there is only so much you can take off or do to get cooled down while staying in the weather.
Activity makes you hotter and more uncomfortable.
Really hot weather is life threatening.
The general discomfort of feeling hot and sweaty.
Needing to be more mindful of your body and what you eat and drink then you usually are.
Allergies and bugs--more of both!
Too warm and humid (especially humid) saps energy and will.
The interior of your car gets wicked hot!

Sun burn

...or this?

Winter:

Advantages:

Fewer allergies and bugs

Can be easier to stay warm then get cooled down.

Being active helps you get more comfortable, rather than making you more uncomfortable.

More options for heating--gas, electric, wood, etc. then cooling--anyone know of a way of cooling that doesn't involve electricity?

Disadvantages:

Dark!--less light during the 24 hour days.

Increased risk of SAD--depression--for that reason.

You have to put a bunch of stuff on to go outside.

Tendency to hibernate inside and not do anything due to it being cold and dark.

Snow and ice make for risky driving when they show up.

Having to warm up the car, and if caught by ice or snow, clean it off before going anywhere.

Really cold weather is life threatening (although you can get hypothermia if the temp is in the 40s).
Cold car seats.

Frost bite

And the winner is...? San Diego! Seriously, this stuff goes with living in an area with four seasons. The best way is to make peace with what is going on--it will change soon anyway. Besides it always gives us something to talk and complain about.

Funny Sign

2011-08-02T18:50:00.003-05:00

Honestly, I don't know what to blog about today.

I did get a laugh yesterday from this sign at the gas station. I love slightly self deprecating low key humor and word play like this.

Brother was it hot today! Broke records at KCI and all over. 108 at the Lee's Summit airport. That's hot!