A MAST Reminder

Why the fate of MAST is important to suburban Kansas City communities: Mutual Aid. Example: MAST assists the local fire department at floor collapse in Grandview in September. (photo Kansas City Star)

New Blog Feature

Way down on the left side, under the Blog Archive list is a weather sticker from the website www.wunderground.com. It gives the current temperature and a pictorial representation of conditions (clear, cloudy etc.)for Kansas City. If you click on it, you will go to the weather website which is just full of weather geek-y stuff. Enjoy!

Why So Serious? Friday Funny, Stat!

This got me started on www.icanhascheezburger.com

Still haven't mastered that sizing problem...top says, "No! U go chek! Manual sez" and the bottom says, "Self-Kleening"

Still funny :D

UPDATE: sizing problem fixed, you can see the whole picture now! :)

Crime, Race and Spirit

I know we are all probably sick to death of talking about race, crime and news coverage here in Kansas City, but here is a viewpoint I found while cruising around on CNN earlier today. It's from Ruben Navarrette Jr., a syndicated columnist and commentator for CNN:


SAN DIEGO, California (CNN) -- Those of us in the U.S. can be so smug about what we think we know about why some teenagers turn into bloodthirsty predators -- even when it turns out that we don't know much.
Frankly, we might know more if we didn't jump to conclusions and let our prejudices get in the way.
After the videotaped beating death of Derrion Albert, a 16-year-old African-American honors student in Chicago, Illinois, I criticized President Obama for avoiding public comment about the tragedy and thus blowing the opportunity to have the first African-American president address the issue of black-on-black crime.
Instead, the White House dispatched Education Secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder to Chicago to stand in for the president. Even that gesture further enraged the local African-American community when the Cabinet secretaries -- in a boneheaded move -- convened their meetings with local officials not on the South Side where the beating took place but downtown at the Four Seasons Hotel.
But, even as I blasted the Obama administration, I would never have dreamed of criticizing the entire black community, its value or its culture. However, others did that freely.
During an interview on a conservative radio talk show, I was informed by the host that the problem was rap music and how it had coarsened the culture in the black community. Many readers pinned the blame on the breakdown of the black family as brought on by the advent of the welfare state or the mean streets of the inner city. You get the gist.
I wonder what these folks will say now that four white teenagers in the small town of Mont Vernon, New Hampshire, are accused of a horrific home invasion that left a mother dead and her daughter hospitalized. Prosecutors say the youths randomly picked a home to burglarize and -- armed with a machete, knife and other weapons -- planned to kill anyone who was home.
The ghastly episode occurred early Sunday morning. Christopher Gribble, 19, Steven Spader, 17, William Marks, 18, and Quinn Glover, 17, allegedly stormed into the home of 42-year-old nurse Kimberly Cates, whose husband was away on business.
Prosecutors say that Gribble, armed with a knife, and Spader, wielding a machete, attacked and killed Cates in her bed. Then they attacked her 11-year-old daughter, Jaime, and cut her throat. Miraculously, the girl survived and, after hours of surgery, remains in stable condition.
Both Gribble and Spader face charges of first-degree murder, attempted murder and conspiracy to murder. Marks and Glover, who were also armed during the break-in, face counts of burglary and armed robbery, but they aren't charged with murder. Still, prosecutors are leaving open the possibility of charging Marks and Glover as accomplices to murder.
They should do so. They also should seek life sentences for Spader and Gribble, and show them as much mercy as they showed their victims. Our society has no use for these creeps.
Meanwhile, local townspeople are shocked.
Spader was described in media accounts as living in "an upscale area" of town while Gribble was reportedly studying to be a Mormon missionary. One has to ask the same question many people were so quick to ask after the Chicago beating: Who raised these savages, and how do we strip them of their license to parent?
In an interview with NBC News, Marks' father came across as utterly clueless. James Marks recalled how he had seen his son with Spader, who was showing off a knife, but he said the weapon looked like a toy, so he didn't tell anyone. He assured a reporter that his son didn't intend to commit murder. "I know my son," he said. "I don't think he went there to kill."
Great. Not to kill. Just to rob? To assault? To wound? That father should be very proud.
The rest of us should be questioning our assumptions. Meredith Vieira, co-anchor of NBC's "Today Show," discussed the tragedy with some local townspeople. What made the story even more frightening, Vieira said, is that "in a small town like this, these things aren't supposed to happen."
You're half right, Meredith. This kind of barbarism isn't supposed to happen anywhere -- not in small towns, or big cities, not in the suburbs or the inner city, not anywhere.
And yet it seems to be happening more often than we think -- and in more places than we realize. A recent study by the Department of Justice found that 60 percent of children had been exposed to violence in the past year, and nearly half of them had been assaulted at least once. That is not the mark of a civilized society.
We think we know so much about what causes young people to turn into monsters. But our conclusions go out the window when we discover that evil lives next door.


Evil is beyond race. Evil is present in all races of humanity. Evil is...evil. Evil is sin: deliberate disobedience to God. Evil is among us everyday. Sometimes, I think we are under the delusion that we can "fix" evil. We can't. Sometimes we can help people with some of the conditions that create crime: give them a job, help them get off drugs, teach conflict resolution, among other measures. Make good things and actions better options for people. But we cannot fix sin. We cannot fix humanity's proclivity towards sin and evil. However, things are not hopeless. First, all the things I noted above that can be done are all under the grace of God--one theological term for it is "common grace". It's the continued favor that God gives all humanity to be able to do good even in the face of original sin. The other is the complete remedy for a sin sick world: the grace and forgiveness through the cross of Jesus Christ. Sometimes, the Holy Spirit is the only thing that will turn a person from doing sin and evil to doing good, that will free them from the bonds of sin.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus: "Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." (Ephesians 6:10-12 NIV. I encourage you to read the rest of the paragraph through verse 18)
We would do well to remember that in some situations, there is more to it than meets the eye. When we cannot find ready explanation for evil deeds, the explanation is spiritual. To come against that, we need spiritual tools, mainly the love, grace, power and forgiveness of God's Holy Spirit.

On Barack Obama's Prize

My first reaction to the news that President Barack Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize was, "For what?" And when I found out that nominations for the prize need to be in by February 1, I realized that he had been nominated with less than one month of service as the president. His campaign impressed people abroad as well as at home. I would wager that his nomination was done as something of a lark and there was little expectation he would win. Even the White House staff was unprepared, many still being in bed at the time of the announcement.


Michael Binyon, a commentator of The Times UK has the best editorial I have read or heard thus far. (A tip of the hat to Scott Parks on KMBZ). I quote a portion of the essay below:

The award of this year’s Nobel peace prize to President Obama will be met with widespread incredulity, consternation in many capitals and probably deep embarrassment by the President himself.
Rarely has an award had such an obvious political and partisan intent. It was clearly seen by the Norwegian Nobel committee as a way of expressing European gratitude for an end to the Bush Administration, approval for the election of America’s first black president and hope that Washington will honour its promise to re-engage with the world.
Instead, the prize risks looking preposterous in its claims, patronising in its intentions and demeaning in its attempt to build up a man who has barely begun his period in office, let alone achieved any tangible outcome for peace.
The pretext for the prize was Mr Obama’s decision to “strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples”. Many people will point out that, while the President has indeed promised to “reset” relations with Russia and offer a fresh start to relations with the Muslim world, there is little so far to show for his fine words.
East-West relations are little better than they were six months ago, and any change is probably due largely to the global economic downturn; and America’s vaunted determination to re-engage with the Muslim world has failed to make any concrete progress towards ending the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
There is a further irony in offering a peace prize to a president whose principal preoccupation at the moment is when and how to expand the war in Afghanistan.
The spectacle of Mr Obama mounting the podium in Oslo to accept a prize that once went to Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi and Mother Theresa would be all the more absurd if it follows a White House decision to send up to 40,000 more US troops to Afghanistan. However just such a war may be deemed in Western eyes, Muslims would not be the only group to complain that peace is hardly compatible with an escalation in hostilities.

In addition, I want to share with you this from the comment section of The Times UK:
I made bold the names for the compare and contrast.

Steven Forsythe wrote:
Morgan Tsvangirai: Fights to assure the human rights of all Zimbabweans by running for President and fighting massive injustices and fraud perpetrated largely on Zimbabwe's black population. Fights Mugabe's racist policies and genocidal actions taken against Zimbabwe's white population.
Barack Obama: Bails out Chrysler and GM in order to assure union votes. Starts a trade dispute with China, thus rewarding union workers in the US. Reverses his pledge on raising $50 billion over 5 years to address AIDS in developing countries (largely in Africa) and instead proposes a 2% increase in PEPFAR. Forces US economy into massive debt and fails to reduce unemployment.
Morgan Tsvangirai: Forms the MDC to confront Robert Mugabe; wins an election, is imprisoned, tortured, beaten and nearly killed. Wife is killed in a suspicious car accident. Fellow MDC candidates are maimed, imprisoned, tortured and killed. Election is subsequently stolen from him; plunging Zimbabwe into chaos. Mugabe is forced to agree to letting Tsvangirai become Prime Minister.
Barack Obama: Raises $573 million (twice as much as his opponent) and is anointed President. Fails to meet campaign pledge to withdraw troops from Iraq in 16 months and instead increases troops in Afghanistan. American deaths in Afghanistan in 2009 are greater than in any previous year. Obama's fellow democrats accuse anyone who opposes the President as being a "racist". Children in public schools are forced to sing Obama's praises. Congress gives Obama right to turn off the Internet.
Morgan Tsvangirai: Congratulates Obama on winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
Barack Obama: Wins Nobel Peace Prize for his many accomplishments during the two weeks between becoming President and being nominated for the Peace Prize. "Humbly" accepts prize for his many accomplishments in promoting worldwide peace. No mention of Tsvangirai.

(For those not informed, Robert Mugabe is the worst dictator in the world, he steals for himself from his people in Zimbabwe. He is clearly the world leader everyone would love to see drop dead tomorrow.)

Not racist, just disappointed in the further politicization of the Nobel Prize, and its continued descent into irrelevance.

Dr. Martin Luther King is among past worthy winners of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wayside Waifs Wednesday

Meet Cooper, enthusiastic, energetic lab/something mix. This shot makes it look like the something might be Doberman Pincer but he's smaller than that. Young male dog with lots of energy. Needs training to be a good canine citizen.

Meet Wiley the cat, adult orange tabby and white male, handsome and sociable.

Wayside Waifs is at 3901 Martha Truman Drive in Kansas City. Hours are Wed-Fri 2 pm to 8 pm; Sat-Sun 12 noon to 6 pm. Check out their web site http://www.waysidewaifs.org/. Vote on celeb pet videos there and check out Wayside's own You Tube vids, too.

UPDATE: Cooper was adopted at the time of the post--oops--but good! However, this nifty looking Husky mix named Keith Urban is still available. Isn't he cool looking?

More Race Matters

What an interesting 24 hours with regard to racial matters and thinkings on race in the blogosphere here in the Big Town. Midtown Miscreant and TKC both with provocative interesting posts today. And me, with what turned into a lengthy complicated post on Alonzo Washington and race. As I read it now, it's complete and it's not. There is so much to this topic. It definitely isn't dead. Only dumb white people think the racial issue is dead.

Conservatives, don't stick your heads in the sand. This is an issue that belongs to you too. We (generally, I am a conservative in my outlook) look like complete idiots when we tell Black people to get over the issue of race and racism. That is why there are so few Black conservatives, and why they are not respected in the Black community. I had a very sensible Black lady say to me not too long ago, " I don't understand how any Black person could be a conservative." Conservatives, we should be ready to offer the Black community an alternative to the ways of big government. Government hand outs, regulation and promises kill the inspiration and desire to grow and change--kill the soul. But conservatives so often look like loonies who don't have a clue--especially when they talk about race.

There will be more on this, I can guarantee it.

Well, Knock Me Over with a Feather

I do not have the Internet at my house at this time, nor do I have a wireless dodad for my laptop so I can surf anywhere. I visit the Interwebs three ways: Via WiFi hotspots, using public computers, and on my Blackberry Pearl (a flip Blackberry). I tell you this because if I was anywhere but relaxing on my bed, reading the morning's news and blog postings on the Blackberry, I would have fallen over and hurt myself when I saw what I saw this a.m. on Alonzo Washington's MySpace page. There under an entry basically thankful for the support was one of my very first blog entries on this here blog, when I wrote about the blog war that had broke out between Alonzo and Bovine Comedy. I was absolutely blown away, first that someone was reading my little blog (Thank you, thank you!!) and second, that they would show it to Alonzo.

I used to think differently about Alonzo, but I have a whole new view. It ties in with my view on racism in this country, which is a complex topic and I have a complex view. During the course of my over education, I had opportunities to take anthropology classes. I see the race issue as more of a cultural issue, as well as an ignorance issue. People fear what looks different, what sounds different and is new or unknown to them. The amount of DNA that accounts for the difference in the way humans look is tiny! Right now, as I blog on a public computer, next to me is a Black teen. Our differences are small in DNA but large in appearance.

Racism, alas, is not dead in the United States. It's much less a problem than it used to be, and it is much less institutionalized in laws than it used to be. But it is still a problem. It is my neighbor, planning to find a private high school for his daughter to attend rather than sending her to Ruskin. He is making this choice not because of academics, but "It's too dark over there, if you know what I mean. (Wink, wink)" Oh, I wanted to hit him in the head so bad!! It's the difference in news coverage between a murder of a white person (particularly women) in a white neighborhood and the murder of a black person in a black neighborhood. Both are tragic losses to our community--especially the murder of a young person under 21 (what potential is wasted--you never know what people will grow up to be and do.). As long as there are people who think one group is inferior and defective in some way, and make judgements of individuals based exclusively on the outward appearance, there will be racism.

I don't believe in race and culture as an excuse. I'm right there with Bill Cosby, crying out for the Black community to reject the thug culture, to see education and achievement as good things, to have babies in intact families with mommies and daddies. Culture is not an unchangeable monolith. Culture is people, and people as a group can decide what is important to them. In fact, my own culture of pale, melanin deficient people has changed many views over the course of time.

All this to get to Alonzo Washington. Here is the punch line: Alonzo Washington cares passionately for this community. He cares that people are getting hurt and killed in this community. He sees the lack of effective leadership and action in the community with regard to homicide, especially in the Black community. He cries out for that community to reach out for help, to police themselves through giving tips and making changes in their lives. I know that when Alonzo has appeared on much of the MSM, he has appeared to make race an issue. It is one of many underlying issues to the crime problem, and we as a community are sticking our heads in the sand if we think otherwise. It can be overblown. And it can be seen by white folks as trying to deflect personal responsibility--people saying, "If everyone didn't discriminate against us, we wouldn't be like this."And when Black people pull this card out over and over, it just hurts them and their cause. However, to remove race as an issue; to say, "OK, we're done with that", well that is just as wrong.

Alonzo is not a race pimp like Sharpton or Jackson. Alonzo is here all the time. Alonzo is blogging, teaching, YouTubing. He does his comic books. He and his family live right here in the metro. He does not run in, do a quick presser, and run out. He is here. He is respected by the Black community. I respect him, due to his hard work, his commitment and his obvious love for people. Alonzo is bold, outspoken, up in your face. Alonzo is not afraid to tell you what he has done and what he does. That presentation strikes many Whites as bragging, which is not encouraged in the White culture. But it is no more offensive than Jared Allen's sack celebrations on the football field. Last I looked, Jared was White. And we loved him here and they love him in Minnesota. Alonzo's not perfect (none of us are)--sometimes, like all of us, he makes mistakes, says the wrong thing, steps on toes; but you have to look at the whole picture. Did Jared Allen's sacks mean less because he did a goofy dance afterward?

We have a murder problem in this city--in this nation. Too many of our young people are murdered, usually for stupid crap. Our young people don't know how to solve conflict. We need all hands on deck to teach people new ways to solve conflict. Those hands include people of different styles and races, that might make us uncomfortable as we see them work. That includes Alonzo Washington, who dare I say it, might be the man God picked out for the job of helping to change the people of this town to a better people who care for each other, to become people who, to quote the bumper sticker, "Turn to each other, not on each other."

God Bless you Alonzo, you are in my prayers.