MAST Pension Mess: I Let Them Have It, Finally

My comment on a post from Tony's Kansas City. I just cannot believe what a flippin mess this has turned into--and it was totally predictable.

This all just makes me wanna hollar. Honestly, did we see any freaking numbers before this happened? NO WE DID NOT--we got the fine-fine hand job--and it was just as unsatisfying. So here we are, about where I thought we'd be, and I keep thinking the four least satisfying words in the English language: I told you so.

It was all about power and money. Louie Wright does not care about the former MAST employees, or even the fire fighters. He sure as hell doesn't care about the community. Louie Wright is yet another greed head pol, looking out for number 1--that would be LW.

Eventually city worker pensions are going to have to be dealt with, and it will not be pretty. People are going to lose out on money they were promised. The problem here is that MAST employees were enticed (bribed?) with promises of full pension instead of a hybrid or straight contribution system. If the city says no to the $30 million dollar plan, they will be seeing Local 42 in court. They could lose big, depending on how a judge interprets the contract and "side letters."

Don't be distracted by what individual MAST employees did with their 401K money. A "Rock and Hard Place" situation was created by the City Council caving into the fire union and the desire for power without REALLY STUDYING the idea of taking MAST on as a city endeavor by merging it into the fire department.

Reelect no one from the clowncil. No one from the current City Council is mayoral material either.

The comment is attatched to this TKC post, which has fallen off the first page and probably will not get many more reads, but my comment is the 51 st and the rest of them clearly reflect the frustration of the people (admittedly TKC readers, but still...) with all the spending by government these days. It's getting ugly out there for everyone now.

Vaccinating Kids in Missouri

The item in the paper this morning caught my eye: "Missouri's low vaccination rate leaves children vulnerable, experts say." According to the article, only 56.2 % of children 19-35 months old have their full set of vaccinations. This compares rather badly with the national average of 70.5%. Missouri's particularly poor performance may have something to do with the amount of money the state makes available for vaccinations, and the amount of people Missouri has to check records of schools and daycares to insure that kids are getting vaccinated as the law mandates. According to the article's quote from a group called Trust for America's Health, only Nevada budgeted less per state resident for public health. Missouri is 43rd in per capita public health funding from the CDC. So we are getting what we pay for. At the same time as this reduction in funding, the number of vaccinations has been increasing. I just took a look at the chart for kids 0-6 and there are eight more conditions being vaccinated for now, then back in the early 1960s when I was 0-6.

There is another factor and that is increasing "vaccination reluctance" on the part of parents to have kids vaccinated. Despite NO scientific support, the idea that vaccines cause autism has strongly taken hold in the popular thought stream. Really, to expand the idea more, the concept that vaccines cause neurological problems has taken hold extremely out of proportion to the actual occurrences. You see this latter when you start talking about flu shots for adults. Everyone remembers the "Swine Flu" fiasco of the late 1970s, and the cases of Guillian-Barre Syndrome that occurred. They were rare, but the reports of progressive paralysis and long recovery time were scary to everyone. Ever since then, vaccines have been under increasing scrutiny by everyone.

The problem with vaccine choice is that an individual's choice influences the whole so profoundly. If everyone decided that they would not vaccinate any one any more, you would see gradual increases in the communicable diseases until they were endemic--and possibly beyond the mere state of being present in the population to an epidemic proportion--beyond the expected amount so that much of the population is infected. If we just have a few people with no immunity, the disease will be confined in how many people it can infect and affect, as most will be immune. Thus a very low rate of disease. There's a tipping point somewhere, that if enough do not get vaccinated, an infectious disease can get a foothold and become endemic.

My main trouble with those who are anti-vaccine is two fold. One is that the whole enterprise takes on the look of conspiracy kookiness, with bogeymen around every corner--the doctor's in the pocket of Big Pharma, the government is hiding data, the government is in cahoots with Big Pharma (most of the conspiracy theories surround the drug companies). The second is the elitist "know better" attitude that anti-vaccine people often radiate. They sometimes act as if they are too clean and too knowledgeable to be felled by a communicable disease.

Vaccination is a risk/benefit decision at bottom. Any time we put something in the body, we run the risk of something bad happening. That risk varies, and we try to keep track of bad reactions and problems so we can stop doing things that seem too risky when compared to other things or doing nothing. It's a personal decision for each family and person to evaluate the use of vaccines for them and their family. However, it's a personal decision that can have profound effect on the entire community. If too many people decide not to vaccinate, there will be an effect on the community. People trying to decide on vaccines should talk to folks old enough to remember the times before vaccines were routinely available, or people with recall of the polio epidemic of the early 1950s.

In the meantime, Missouri should be spending just a little more money on public health. Cutting back here is penny wise and pound foolish. Prevention is always cheaper than sick care.

I blogged on the Flu/H1N1 vaccines last year--that post has some more information about how vaccines work and balancing the risk/benefit ratio for flu shots. Your link: http://southkansascityobserver.blogspot.com/2009/10/flu-ish-foolishness.html

The Observer's New Kitten

A guy who uses the WiFi at the McD's that I often go to went to leave about 17 days ago. It had been storming that day, and more was on the way. He quickly returned inside the store carrying this kitten in his hand. She was all wet on her legs and belly, and shaking. I held her against me as I chatted on FB, and then I took her home. This is the kitten about 15 days later. She's grown, her fur is soft and she is bold and funny. I investigated avenues to find her a home, but everyone has a waiting list. So she's mine, at least for now.

She needs a good name! I've tried out a few but haven't found any I really liked yet. Ideas?

KMBZ Breaks News of Potential Local 42 Lawsuit

980 KMBZ has obtained a copy of the lawsuit that IAFF Local 42 is thinking of filing against the city with regard to the MAST/KCFD pensions. There have been rumors of this coming down the pike due to the hesitation on the part of the City Council over the $30 million cost to the city of fully vesting former MAST employees. Details are still sketchy but basically local 42 is suing the city for failure to follow the contract that was negotiated in collective bargaining.

The Observer has laid eyes on and read the very contract between local 42 and the now KCFD emergency medical service workers. The contract is quite clear as to what was to occur with the pensions. This subject was desperately under examined and evaluated by those pushing for the city/KCFD take over of the ambulance service and that lack of close study is now coming home to roost.

I would be watching very closely how those who are interested in being the next mayor of this city handle themselves around this very political topic that will have consequences for years to come. It is hard to see how the City Council can avoid litigation if they choose to not finance the pensions as specified in the contract.

Big kudos to KMBZ City Hall reporter Bill Grady. Here's the link to the story, and the above picture is snipped from KMBZ's website.

Author's Note: A commenter has already noted that Yael Abouhalkah wrote up the story of the letter from Local 42's lawyer to the City Council and the mayor two days ago warning of the impending law suit. To be honest, I did think I had seen something about this previously but I wasn't sure. It's a pretty big deal for one of the city's most powerful unions to sue the city for breach of contract. It looks to me that Local 42 is looking to gradually ramp up the publicity and pressure, pressing the City Council to pass the needed ordinance to fund the pension for the former MAST employees.

Here's the link to Mr. Abouhalkah's write up: Local 42 threatens lawsuit over MAST pensions

The Observer has vigilant commenters. Added at 1730 10/8

Musings on Speech

Sometimes I do wish I had Twitter. Everything I'd want to say in 140 characters in a box on the side of the blog. Setting it up looks complicated, so I haven't--need a geek. I've used Facebook that way somewhat and you are always welcome to look at FB to see the short and snappy thoughts.

City Hall has been up to its usual stuff--a little more exciting due to the presence of some protesters exercising their free speech rights. Which brings me to the Ph*lps clan of Topeka, presently arguing before the Supreme Court about the outcome of a civil case that rewarded a military family money from the Ph*lps clan.

There is a right to privacy expected by regular citizens, that their activities will not be infringed upon by others without permission. There is the "yelling fire in a crowded theater" issue--are the Ph*lps' signs and megaphone pronouncements provocative enough to be a safety or life quality issue. Up against that is the issue of free speech. Can we restrict speech in this case and not start the slide downward that puts all speech at risk.

I hate to say it, but I want to err on the side of safeguarding speech. Laws restricting all public demonstration from private moments--distance and volume restrictions--I'm all for those. But if you are standing on public land, and you are not restricting my movements, or my ability to carry on my activities, as much as I hate your stuff, you have a right to say it. I have the concomitant right to have a group of people screening me from you and monitoring your activities.

Ignore the Ph*lps bunch. Eventually, the interbreeding will catch up with them and they'll disappear. Or a major figure in the organization will announce that they are homosexual. Then you'll know for sure that it's just a sad broken family that really needs to get some spiritual and psychological help.

(Using the * instead of an "e", hoping that these publicity hounds will not pick up this post in their Google reader.)

Murderer Was Career Burglar

I'll admit I am completely disgusted with this, and find myself thinking thoughts like, "I want the oxygen back that this man has breathed for 20 years."

Antonio Grandison, 20, was a one man crime wave over two years primarily in South KC. The confessed murderer took police on a tour of the Ruskin neighborhood in which he pointed out six homes he had broken into over the past months. The suspect stated to the police that he believed he had broken into over 50 homes in a two year period. Grandison became a murderer when he was caught in a house he was burglarizing for the second time by the home owner. He resorted to violence to get away.

Would that home owner--Nick Dutcher--still be alive today if the police took property crime more seriously? Actually did some work at trying to solve these crimes? My guess is yes because this dude probably made mistakes along the way. I doubt he was the cat burglar.

The reason we have this suspect is that he was careless enough to leave one of his finger prints on Mr. Dutcher's Ford Escape. I would wager that somewhere along the way, he was careless enough to leave his finger prints on a surface in a home he broke into. He might even have left blood or other body fluids around, since he often broke in by violent means by breaking a door or window. He further demonstated his potential carelessness by picking up and disturbing the urns holding loved ones' ashes in two homes, including Mr. Dutcher's--his mother was one whose ashes were disturbed and actually spilled outside by the suspect.

Oh, and as a P.S. his father lives in Ruskin Heights, the area of Nick Dutcher's home. Yo, dude. Did you know your son was a parasite, sucking off the fruits of the labors of your neighbors? If I was a close neighbor of yours, I'd be pissed at you right now. In fact, even though I am not a close neighbor, I am pissed at you. I'm pretty sure your spawn stole the fruits of my neighbors' labor too.

Burglary is a major quality of life issue to me. If a person can't leave their home with a reasonable expectation of returning and finding it intact, that person may find a way to move to a safer place. You had this guy running around for two years essentially supporting himself by breaking into homes, stealing things that others had worked for, and selling them to others for money. I am hard pressed to think of anyone acting lower. He lived by stealing, and then stole the ultimate possession--someone's life. He needs to go away for a long long time. And the Kansas City Police Department needs to realign some priorities--maybe a little less time on traffic issues and drunk driving check points and a little more time on these intrusive property crimes.

Also, I would like to know. Who is buying the TVs, laptops, game cassettes and consoles, and guns that this schmuck and others like him are stealing?

Because Nick Dutcher's blood is on your hands too!

I flat refuse to put this guy's picture on the post. He doesn't deserve it. If you want to see it, check the links.

News links: KMBC: Accused Killer confesses to 50 plus burglaries...KSHB: Nine burglary and theft charges... and Criminologist: Burglars don't usually murder...

Gone Pink

If the NFL can do it, The Observer can do it! For the month of October we'll have a touch or two of pink on the blog in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month. I've been touched by breast cancer among my friends as I am sure you have as well. Remind all the ladies in your life to get checked out on a regular basis!

P.S. Nice win by the Jacksonville Jaguars over the Indianapolis Colts, but now the Colts are all mad and will likely take it out on our Chiefs. :(

Photo from www.nfl.com

If You Could Learn to Do Anything, What Would You Learn to Do?

There are two things that I would love to try and see if I had any talent for. I love music. I love singing, and God in His grace gave me a decent ear, a decent voice and a workable sense of rhythm. I don't play any instruments though. I would love to be able to play the acoustic or electric guitar, but given the lack of coordination I exhibit on the typing keyboard, and the fact I struggled with it as a grade schooler tells me guitar might be out of reach. However, I am athletically coordinated, and maybe that might make me suitable for the drums. I would LOVE to learn to play the drums!!!

Doesn't that just look like so MUCH FUN!!

Now, I'm an alto in my singing voice, occasionally I get to sing melody with lower soprano parts but generally I'm singing harmony. Harmony is that thing that no one thinks about but adds so much to a musical number, no matter what the genre or type of music. Bass guitar is a harmony piece in most tunes, (although Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al" has a bass part to die for!). Bass guitar is not as complex as rhythm or lead guitar and I might be able to master it. I would LOVE to try!

The bass player is always "too cool for school"!

So that is my musical "bucket list". I don't know if it will even happen, but if you're in the Kansas City area and you see someone in a PT Cruiser playing air drums or the air bass guitar, it might just be me.

The photos are actually "snips" from this Jared Anderson video of his song "Inside"

Don't remember the Paul Simon tune? Here's a link to the live version. The studio version is pretty awesome too, featuring Chevy Chase.