Sully Wrote a Book

Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenburger wrote a book about his life and the landing that made him famous. Check him out on video visiting the Today show. and here with a small excerpt from the book. Note how calm his body is during the visit on the Today Show. It's quite a contrast with most people, who act like they've had a Red Bull or two. That's a man who can respond in an emergency. I read research that noted that once a person's heart rate reached 140/minute or higher their ability to reason and make decisions takes a noticeable dip. Something to consider if you are in emergency services!

He is also visiting Kansas City on October 21st. I would love to see him speak, but money's a little short around the observer's house. You, on the other hand, if you can, you should go.

Here is a link to 980 KMBZ. I imagine seats are going fast, so you better get on the stick.

The VA: An Example of Government Health Care!?!

Midtown Miscreant, one of my favorite bloggers here in the Big Town, is blogging on his adventures in the Government Health System. He goes to the Veteran's Administration Hospital, and he's blogging about it. Check it out here and here. He hasn't blogged for a while; he says in one of his posts that his appointment is at 3 p.m. I hope he was seen promptly and didn't have to spend much more time sitting in the germ pool of the waiting area than he already has. Please click the links and check him out. If he posts again on his adventures at the VA, I will link that one up too.

These Things Just Bug Me

A couple of newsy items that got my attention during the morning news and blog review, mostly in a negative way...

I am hugely tired of the weather we're having. Grey and cold, 20 degrees below the average, often drippy. Had to turn on the heat and this is at least two weeks earlier than I usually start using this much heat. Argh!

Lewis Diuguid was a good columnist when I first moved to KC two decades ago. Now, he is a one note Charley, always writing about racism and how the Black people are dragged down and how much help they need and how the world is against Black people. As stated before in this blog, racism is not a done deal in America, but it also is not the source of every evil and ill that befall Black people. Here's a link, so you can be annoyed too. Or maybe you won't be annoyed. But chances are high you'll be annoyed. Read the comments, too.

A complaint was filed against the Kansas City Police Department by the mom of a young man who got pulled over while dropping his kid sister at Martin City Elementary. KSHB has the details. I wish these things would not come to light until investigated. Then we can see the dash cam video, and hear all points of view, because the police cannot comment publicly until the investigation is complete. The complainers can blather all they want, poisoning the well. Personally, I need more details. For example, was there loud music in the car that impeded the young driver from hearing the siren? Was he texting or talking on the phone? It also concerns me that our young drivers, with the best sensory equipment are so situationally unaware when they are driving out on the road. (The general crappiness of young drivers is a subject for another rant.) Police officers will react in a predictable way to people getting out of a car at a traffic stop. For their own safety, they are ready to defend themselves. The spokesman states in the report that the officer did not draw a weapon. We will wait for the dash cam video. So here is the lesson: If you are stopped by a police officer in a patrol car, do not get out of your vehicle unless requested by the officer to do so. Keep your hands visible and wait for instruction. Cops operate on a hair trigger; they do this, because there are bad people out there who want to kill them. These bad people are not labelled, so cops operate on a basis of caution with everyone. They want to go home at night.

There, got that off my chest...

Wayside Waifs Wednesday

Here are Wednesday's Waifs for October 14th, 2009. Check them out:
Maybe it's because I'm a cat owner that I like dogs with pricked ears. Or maybe I just like the way they look, I'm not sure. But I like this fellow, Salvador, a border collie mix. Interestingly, he has a dark tongue. He is of a medium size, and won't grow much more than the 35-40 lbs he is now. He is very smart, as most herding breeds, and their mixes are. So he'll need involved owners who can put in some training and play time. He already knows some tricks that the trainers at Wayside have taught him. His pointy ears are not completely rigid; as you can tell from the photos, the cartilage at the tips is flexible and moves when he does. It is a completely cute and endearing look!

Meet Sophie. Sophie is 7 years old. Her owners moved and left her behind. Luckily she was discovered before any harm came to her. When she first came to Wayside, she was quite shy, but now she is very outgoing. She is a cuddlier, a lap cat and a conversationalist. She's a pretty patched calico tabby--note how all her color spots have striping. Wayside Waifs has a special program for seniors adopting senior animals--if you are over 60 (still young at heart!), check it out.

Wayside Waifs is located at 3901 Martha Truman Drive in Kansas City, Mo. On the web at www.waysidewaifs.org. hours: closed Monday and Tuesday. Open Wednesday thru Friday 2 pm to 8 pm. Open Sat and Sun 12 noon-6 pm.

Rush Limbaugh and the NFL

When I first heard that Rush Limbaugh was interested in being a part of a group that was going to put a bid in on buying the St. Louis Rams, I thought that it was a very positive thing. Rush is a big sports fan, especially football, and he would be good energy for an organization that needs some good energy. The Rams are having a season as sad and long as the Chiefs season, and have not been able to regain their footing since "The Greatest Show on Turf" was dismantled. But then came along the controversies, like thunderstorms on a hot summer day. The first storm was two NFL players stating they would not play for him. Then the Race Pimps, Sharpton and Jackson show up. Now, there are a fair number of people saying that Rush is bad for the NFL and should not be allowed to participate in ownership of a team. Now, the National Football League is a privately owned organization, and they do have say as to who they allow to own a team. Rush Limbaugh is a free citizen of the United States and may do anything with his time, effort and money he wants as long as it does not violate the laws of the land. So, all these people calling for any kind of government interference are way out of line. If you hear that, it's nonsense, and don't pay any more attention to the person saying it. Now, there are people with concerns that Rush Limbaugh is prejudiced against Black people. They are using various statements that he has made over the years to prove this. First of all, one of the statements is of dubious origin, the one where Rush supposedly says positive things about slavery. I'm not going to go into all that here, Rush deals with it nicely on his show. Then there is his statement about Donovan McNabb, the Black man who is the quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. He basically used McNabb, who at that time was not playing well, as a negative example of "Affirmative Action", that McNabb's race was causing people to hold back on critical assessment of his performance. ESPN fired Limbaugh for this statement of truth. Today, Limbaugh played a clip of Mercury Morris, a retired Black football player, stating that Rush was only saying what everyone else was thinking. Most recently, Limbaugh compared football to the fights between the Bloods and the Crips. Now, seriously. Football as a war is an old metaphor--in fact a lot of football lingo is very warlike. He could have just as easily said football was like the US and the Nazis in WWII. Maybe, it wasn't the most sensitive selection of warlike sides to chose. Would have it been better if he included the Latin Kings, or the Aryan Brotherhood?

I think that if Rush Limbaugh passes muster with other owners and the commissioner of the NFL, he should be allowed to participate as an NFL owner. If players don't wish to play for the Rams if he is part of the ownership, it will only hurt them, not Rush. There are quite a few players who I would bet don't really care about the political views of the person who signs their check. Also, many players do have a love for the game, and appreciate any opportunity to play. Rush does opinion for a living. He will say things that annoy people pretty frequently. Does that disqualify him from participating in life? So, I still think Rush Limbaugh as an NFL owner, especially in St. Louis, very close to his boyhood home, is a positive thing.

One more thing: If Rush Limbaugh doesn't like Black people, and has a negative perception of Black people, why would he want to get in to an organization in which the majority of its employees and participants are Black?

Photo credit: www.nfl.com.

Oh, Deer

There has been much to-do about the deer herd in Shawnee Mission Park and making it smaller, since it is having a negative impact on the park. Some organization called The Bite Club has emerged to protest the deer culling.

Now, I enter into this with fear and trembling: people involved on both sides have felt threatened and unsafe. Alonzo Washington has a email stalker who has introduced himself/herself into the situation. So feelings run high. Which is pretty typical for the upper middle class suburban folk who inhabit most of Johnson County. Most of them don't hunt, have never hunted, have never fired a gun, and just don't understand. The state I regard as my roots, Vermont, has had strategic extensions of hunting season and doe seasons to keep the deer herd at the correct size for years. All Vermonters, including my animal loving non-hunting parents understood this. You see, my parents would fit right in in Johnson County, culturally and by education and income. But they always understood: there is finite space, so for the health of the deer and the environment, the herd needs to be kept at a certain size. It really benefits the deer for there not to be too many of them. And it keeps the environment from being stripped by hungry deer herds. Not to mention fewer vehicle-deer encounters, which always end badly for the deer and often badly for the vehicle. So The Bite Club has understandable but misguided concerns about the culling of the deer herd. I say let the culling begin--the deer will be healthier in the long run and there will be venison for the homeless and poor. Also deer meat makes great jerky...

Meanwhile Back at Arrowhead

Chiefs dressed as the Dallas Texans this past Sunday, and the Cowboys dressed in their throwback unis (note not white but blue). The Chiefs actually had some nice moments yesterday, including some timely defensive play and a terrific two minute drive in the fourth quarter to tie the game and send it into OT. But missed tackles cost plenty...

especially this one, which allowed the receiver, to run 60 yards for the winning TD. (Kansas City Star photo)

It's gonna be a long year...

The Denver Broncos Throwback Uniforms

Unless you are a total non-sports fan, and/or have been living under a rock, you know that as a way to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the founding of the American Football League, the NFL has been having the original AFL teams dress in the uniform of their first year of operation. So during the year, we have had the Chiefs (Texans), Titans (Oilers), Chargers, Raiders, Bills, Patriots, Jets (Titans) and Broncos dressing in throwback unis (For more information on uniforms in general check out the Uni Watch Blog--also for more pics of the throwbacks.)

We have always known the Broncos as dressing in some combo of blue and orange, but when they first started they wore brown and yellow. With vertical striped socks. They were a site to behold--check out the pictures.

The original AFL refs wore these red striped shirts instead of black stripes. The ref is still the "white hat" but the other officials are "red hats" instead of "black hats". In this picture, we have the ref and another official talking with the Denver coaches. I think Champ Bailey does not like the way the conversation is going! (photo from nfl.com)
Those throwback Patriots unis are really nice--I wish they were their regular unis. The only bad news in all this: The Broncos won in OT to go 5-0 for the season, thus making Bronco fans even more annoying than usual. (photo from nfl.com)