National Geographic: May 1959: First Color Portraits of the Heavens

Our first look inside our old National Geographic collection is this article on a break through in color photography in astronomy. Previous to this film development, the full spectrum of color would not show up on photographs taken through the newly developed super telescopes in the Palomar Observatory in California. Some historical perspective is in order: Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, and later that year they sent a dog up with a rocket capsule. The U.S. successfully launched Explorer in 1958. It would not be until 1961 that a man would orbit the earth. So these pictures were news in 1959, as humanity took its first steps towards exploring outer space.

The photo shows a supernova, with hot stars nearby.

In the paragraph with this photograph of Andromeda, Hubble is mentioned. Now we get amazing pictures from the orbiting telescope with his name on it.

On the left a photo of a "hot star", to the right a nebula that is a part of the constellation Orion's sword.

Amazing and beautiful photo. The slight blurriness of the stars is not me, but the photo. It's hard to remember that everything in space is moving very fast. The photo is of a nebula in the Milky Way.

Amazing stuff here. The photo is of dust in the constellation Cygnus.

Remember, to embiggen, click on the photo. The back button brings you back.

Let's Lighten Up A Bit

Probably begging at the table even as we speak...

Wayside Waifs had their Spring Adoptathon event this past weekend, with reduced adoption fees, special events and on location radio broadcasts, and the results were pretty darn good. 217 animals were adopted out to new homes. Bravo, and congratulations to all the new pet guardians out there!

A Pungent Question

Well, two days out from the Plaza incident (riot, wilding, melee, flash mob; pick your favorite) and a very difficult question popped into my head. Now, before we get into this, let me say that my basic "no tolerance" "apply heavy doses of law and order stat" stand has not changed. This is an incident that cannot be repeated again and again. Because that will cause the Plaza to shrivel up and die just like the Bannister Mall did. When I moved here in 1989, the Bannister Mall was a lively shopping show place. In 2007, the Mall was closed and now it is torn down. It was a victim of both real problems and rumors of real problems--the full story of Bannister Mall is itself worthy of telling at some point. Anyway, back to the question...

Does it make a difference that the kids were Black? If 1000 White kids showed up in a group, would everyone react the same?

First, let me tell you that I believe the majority of normal adults, out for dinner, shopping, a movie, etc. on the Plaza would be apprehensive if they saw a group of teens together no matter what the color. Especially male teens. Teens are unpredictable, risk taking and often quite mean to others. They are loud and often verbally intrusive and disrespectful. I don't know if it has always been this way. It may have been. It may be that this behavior is a product of the way kids are being raised these days. I don't know. As I mentioned in a previous post, the older generation always thinks the younger generation is going straight to Hell in a breadbasket.

I was thinking about the study done some years ago, about how even Black people found themselves feeling fear when around male young Blacks. Of course, Whites in the study expressed fear about being around male young Blacks. I have become conscious of this as I move around in the world, and have often had to talk myself out of being fearful around Blacks when I know that I would not fear a White person of the same demographic group.

My answer to the pungent question? Yes, it does make a difference that the kids were Black. First, I bet there was more anticipation of trouble--oh, oh, a bunch of Black kids. Second, when trouble did start, response may have swung one of two ways. Low, worrying about racial profiling and too much "force" against Blacks. High, really indeed, an over reaction to the situation, applying too many resources and "force" (the pepper spray got a few peoples' danders up). In fact, the somewhat uncoordinated appearance of the response may have been due to both these factors.

Let me quote, well, myself:

Kansas City was on the front line of the Civil War in many ways, and culturally, there are still some groups of Blacks and Whites who are still fighting both the Civil War, and the Civil Rights War of the 1950s and 1960s. Undercurrents of race run deep and strong in this town, often to our detriment...

We are segregated in almost all of our residential areas, and many of our recreational and entertainment venues. The big things like the Stadiums, Sprint Center and the casinos are probably the most integrated, and cause the least anxiety on the part of anyone going to them. But other areas make people anxious. I know I have met veterans who are nervous about the mostly Black and poor neighborhood around the KC VA Hospital. I have heard Blacks tell me they get nervous about going to Johnson County KS neighborhoods (the suburban enclave is mostly White). Blacks fear profiling and being bothered for "Doing Things While Black." Whites fear crime and attack. Because the groups mingle so little socially, fear and ignorance breed more fear and ignorance...and so on.

I don't have an answer. The problem is as old as humanity. We probably are not going to solve it right away here. Some are forecasting a "long hot summer" in Kansas City. They are not speaking meteorologically, either. I hope not, because it's just that kind of thing that will kill a city. No one with money, Black or White, will hang around so they can be in danger in their homes, workplaces and shopping areas. People will move to be safe.

The irony is that the whole concept of race is biologically unsupported. DNA differences are tiny. It's really about culture differences, fed by isolation from one another and ignorance about each other, which breeds fear.

I had a painful revelation today. It is easier to talk to my White neighbors then my Black neighbors. I am racially awake and aware of these things, and yet, here I am. Ouch.

Plaza Wilding: Links

Thanks to Crime Scene KC for the link to me in his blog post on the events at the Plaza this weekend. You can see the post here. Here's a new post from today.

Tony forgot to label today's posts (Labeling is a new thing for Tony) so here and here are more Tony posts on the event, including Mayor Funkhouser's less than inspiring response to the situation.

Mo Rage, who is way more liberal than I am but still has a good blog that you should read, has multiple postings. I'll start you with the one where he notes he may be the only news oriented blogger (I love this!) that actually lives on the Plaza. Here's a link to all of Mo Rage's Plaza related posts. Be patient with his site; sometimes it takes a minute to load.

There is more, more, out there if you are interested. I'll end with the often annoying, yet always thought provoking Radioman Kansas City's take on things today. Here's a link to all his posts labeled "racism, racists and PC." Be patient with his site; sometimes it takes a minute to load.

Nip it in the bud, I say.

I know, I know, real bloggers don't get all excited when they are linked by someone else...changing the title now.::blush::

Tuesday, April 13th: A couple of more links for you. WNBT--Will Not Be Televised has an interesting take--language warning! Midtown Miscreant popped in with a strong word as well. Enjoy.

Plaza Wilding: Some Comments From the People

Fault the internet all you want for its proclivity for snark, irony and the ad hominum attack but where else can you get some first hand reporting and commentary from people who are closer to a situation then you are? I have just started wandering through the newsie comment sections and have found some good stuff.

A quick update on the event itself: it appears that there was substantial planning, especially on the part of students from two high schools, Westport and Raytown South, but other schools may also be involved. The participants were almost all under 18. Here is a comment, from the KSHB site, of a witness/victim:

I was there that night from 7:30 to 10:30 and it was ridiculous. It started out alright our group of girls having a blast laughing, taking pictures and shopping everything that the plaza is about. Having all the teens around was very annoying, many were rude, obnoxious, even cat calling but we turned the other cheek and kept walking. Until around 9:30 we were by the big fountain posing for a pic when a large group of guys comes running up behind us and a child probably 12 charges us tackling one of my friends in to the nasty fountain water(phone, and purse in hand)and what happens he merely gets cheer from his group and they race off towards the plaza. Once we were sure she was okay, we made our way to the police. As we got closer we find that pure chaos has erupted- fights, purse snatching, running in the streets. The police were doing the best they could but the second they stopped the problem children on one end of the plaza it would start up on the other end. After talking to the police we no longer wanted to stay in the plaza fearing for our safety. But trying to leave was easier said than done- for with all the flocks of kids and traffic jams. At one point I was in the left turn lane at a light and as I am about to turn, hundreds of kids are stampeding around my car and all thru the street they are lucky that no one was hit. In our car all of us were hacking and coughing from the pepper spray. It was a horrific night that we will not soon forget. I just hope that the situation is taken care of and this can be stopped because I don’t know if I will be returning to the plaza till it is.

Another eyewitness chimes in, from yesterdays Kansas City Star article:

justjane wrote on 4/11/2010 10:52:58 AM:

Yes this is a race issue, isn't it okay to call it what it is as long as we're not being racist while we're doing it? There is a distinction. All of the media reports I've read have felt it necessary not to mention this; some reporters go as far to say that these kids weren't even doing anything, and the cops showed up for fun! Imagine, dozens of police on almost every corner and paddy wagons to boot! I was there last night. I regularly walk to the Plaza, and last night I went to meet up with some friends. I should have turned back when I saw the police lights and helicopter circling. Here are the things I saw: A large mob (probably about 70) of African-American teenagers running and screaming down the street. I thought someone had been shot. By St. John, one teenager was being held down while 2 dozen or so kids watched some boys beat the lights out of him. I nearly became entangled with this crowd and had to run across the street to get away. This is the SECOND WEEKEND IN A ROW this has happened. And if anyone can remember, this is not the first time in history Kansas City has had race riots. What's the full story here? Someone want to interview these kids? Someone want to track down how they are organizing this flash mob? Is there a reporter left in KC who isn't too scared to dig around or are we really just going to interview other Star employees (which is rather unethical journalism) to put together a story where the lead is so buried, it's non-existent?

Here is a terrific series of comments from the Kansas City Star's news article today.

wilsonswifey66 wrote on 4/12/2010 12:25:08 PM:

This is why, we as black people are not welcome anywhere. When all that outcry of "foul" came upon the Sprint Center and its rules, I said to myself, "good for them!" I don't blame them for not wanting us anywhere their property. Instead of acting like civilized human beings, we act like a bunch of wild, ignorant animals and then as you can see from this story, we pass this ignorance right on to our children. Then we want to cry racism and blame white people for our problems. Assume responsibility for yourselves and your children. Stop the vicious cycle of stupidity and ignorance and start parenting your children and start acting like grown ups - instead of useless leeches on our society. Absolutely disgusting and shameful!

wilsonswifey66 wrote on 4/12/2010 12:39:31 PM:

These are the same people (MY people, I acknowledge shamefully) that have destroyed and continue to destroy our neighborhoods. Walk through my neighborhood and see the homes with trash in the front and back yards, broken, unreplaced blinds, children hanging out all hours of the day, parents blasting music and t.v.'s all night long, yards strewn with empty beer cans or liquor bottles...yet, this doesn't outrage us. We are quick to cry racism and cry that white people have done this to us...done what?? What white person told you to spend over $300 in clothes, nails and hair while your children's education is non-existent? What white person told you to keep your house and yard so nasty? What white person told you that it's okay to stay home and live off of government assistance?? While we are so busy pointing one finger at someone, remember we'll always have 3 fingers pointing right back at us. Take responsibility for yourselves. We're so busy looking for a handout that we have no idea how to be self-sufficient and we are teaching our children the same insanity.

Our fearless and intrepid Black lady poster responded to another commenter thusly:

wilsonswifey66 wrote on 4/12/2010 12:47:00 PM:

az2ks, I posted my comment again because you obviously didn't read it thoroughly the first time. I happened to agree with the Sprint Center - read it again..this time slowly and try receiving, instead of being so quick to post...

"This is why, we as black people are not welcome anywhere. When all that outcry of "foul" came upon the Sprint Center and its rules, I said to myself, "good for them!" (SEE, THIS IS THE PART WHERE I'M AGREEING WITH THE SPRINT CENTER) I don't blame them for not wanting us anywhere their property. Instead of acting like civilized human beings, we act like a bunch of wild, ignorant animals and then as you can see from this story, we pass this ignorance right on to our children. Then we want to cry racism and blame white people for our problems. (THIS IS THE PART WHERE I STATE MY PEOPLE ARE QUICK TO CRY RACISM OR BLAME WHITE PEOPLE FOR PROBLEMS WE CREATED OURSELVES..DID YOU SEE THAT?) Assume responsibility for yourselves and your children. Stop the vicious cycle of stupidity and ignorance and start parenting your children and start acting like grown ups - instead of useless leeches on our society. Absolutely disgusting and shameful!" (BY DISGUSTING AND SHAMEFUL, I'M REFERRING TO THE ACTIONS OF THE DESTRUCTIVE TEENS)

If you need anymore help understanding what you read, just let me know. Thanks.

Another excellent comment, along the same lines, from yesterday's Star:

smartbrother wrote on 4/11/2010 11:33:01 AM:

This is my last comment on this article, and it's not addressed to the racists who post here. It's for anyone who's black and can understand. If you open your eyes, you can see what's going on here. A picture is being painted. Those of us who have influence in the black community cannot just cluck our tongues and shake our heads and dismiss what's happening to our youth. People are being misled to believe that all of us are criminals, and are being pushed toward acting against us, and when they do, they won't take time to see who's thugging and who isn't, so just because you're not in the ghetto doesn't mean the problem isn't yours. We need to look out for our own lost youth before others start figuring that since we murder each other they might as well murder us too.

I still believe that even though the "why" issues are important, the first thing is to protect this economically and image important part of our city. We do need to ponder, however, how it is we are raising our kids of all races (see this Dr. Laura blog post about the situation in South Hadley, MA for more stuff that makes you wonder about the next generations), and what they are growing up to be.

Was That The Plaza Last Night?

Well, I did this and that yesterday: some cleaning, some computer work, some visiting. I went home, and as I was relaxing around 2330 last night, I turned on the scanner last night to see if anything bad was happening in The Big Town last night. It quickly became apparent from the activity on the police channels that this was not an ordinary Saturday night on the Country Club Plaza. The police chopper was up, and the police were rounding up rowdies that apparently had been on the Plaza (official web site) since 2200, making trouble. They were mostly underage (18) teens, in clumps, fighting, threatening cars and so forth. Thankfully, after enforcement of the midnight curfew, things returned to more normal, but not before one person was badly injured in an assault, and others were terrified and made to feel unsafe.

Now, we have an area in KC called Westport, that routinely attracts police attention on Friday and Saturday nights. The police have planned out Westport; they know where the trouble areas are and work to remove potential problems. Even so, I have personally heard the action around murders that have taken place in Westport live on my scanner. But gathering crowds in the Plaza area are new--and disturbing to most Kansas Citians. The Plaza is one of our most well known area, a place that draws out of towners and tourists, a place where commerce is usually freely done, and thus a place of serious economic importance to our town.

Before we go on, let me give you some links: The Kansas City Star whose simple article has over 312 comments. KMBC, whose report features some "you are there" home video that looks plenty scary. Tony of TKC actually caught the first wave of this with reporting on last week's similar but smaller episode, and whose 2200 4/10 blog post has 125 comments. KSHB has some more reporting and video.

Because most of the teens in question are Black, and the Plaza is considered a White area, this event has become racially charged. There may be some racial issues involved: Kansas City was on the front line of the Civil War in many ways, and culturally, there are still some groups of Blacks and Whites who are still fighting both the Civil War, and the Civil Rights War of the 1950s and 1960s. Undercurrents of race run deep and strong in this town, often to our detriment as seen by the debris of the KCMO School District.

To deal with this though, we must keep race out of the discussion. This is a law and order issue. Underaged persons came together, whether spontaneously, or by organization by social media, to intentionally be disruptive and break the law. We cannot defang the police force by forcing racial worries on them. Then we will see non-action, "depolicing", the KCPD handcuffed by rules of engagement that keep them from dealing with the miscreants in the forceful manner that they must be dealt with, period. Youngsters under the midnight curfew age are held until parents get them, then there are fines, court dates, the whole shebang. For adults, as many charges as can be thought of, and they get to sit in jail until bailed out. Repeat until the word is out that acting the fool in the Plaza will get you thrown in jail. First, deal with the problem. Discussions about class warfare, race warfare, entitlement mentalities, crappy absent/abusive/addicted parents, and what to do with bored teenagers are all very interesting, and may eventually be productive of something, but they will not solve the problem of one of our primary and premiere areas of town being harassed and held hostage by a bunch of thugs. Only forceful uncompromising enforcement of law and order will.

It's Spring--My ADD Has Kicked In

Oh, it is so pretty outside today! There's a mild breeze, it's about 70, and not a cloud in the sky! There's about 16 things I could be doing, including some important things, like finishing up the yearly report to the IRS. There's the yard, the car, the house, all needing spring cleaning. There's some blogging to do. There's employment related things to do. Do, do, do! So many things my head might explode. So, what happens? Not much of anything--typical! I did wander over to Wayside Waifs to see how things were going with the adoptathon. It was busy, and they'd adopted out quite a few animals, mostly dogs.

See what I mean? Just gorgeous out. So bright it hurts.

The National Geographics are catching some of this sunshine today, to freshen them up a bit. I am looking forward to digging into them and sharing things on the blog. Someone likes to leave old mags at the library; some late 1980s car mags turned up today.

This sort of bloggy prattle could go on, but I'm going to stop now, fold up my computer tent and go home and do something useful. Or, I might just find my golf clubs and see if I can still hit the little dimpled ball at all. Ya never know what could happen. I'll see what catches my wandering attention.

Parting cute dog shot: I think they are Chihuahua/Sitzu mixes.

A Peek Inside Some Old National Geographics

They are the staple of garage sales, attics and thrift stores everywhere: the old National Geographic magazine. Someone dropped off some at our library today, mostly 1958-1961 and some mid 1960s. I pursued through them and snagged about 10 or so to look at. Oh, is there so much goodness here! I am only going to give you a taste, though. I want to see if I can disassemble the bindings so that content on the inside can be photographed better.

The bunch--mostly 1959 and 1960--with a 1968 and 1951 mixed in. You might remember that the ads were always in the beginning and the end of the magazine. We'll start with some of those.
American Telephone and Telegraph was a big advertiser as was Detroit.
Anyone remember Columbia Record Club? It was their fifth anniversary. It's not just the delivery system--music sure has changed too.
Camera companies were also big advertisers in National Geographic. Here a two page spread from Eastman Kodak Company--movie cameras and projectors, and still cameras of various degrees of difficulty. No "Instamatic" yet.

Oh, there's some nifty content I'm looking forward to showing: Early 1950s New England, St. Bernards, 1968 Afghanistan, Nixon in the Soviet Union...

Remember, if you click on the photo, it will show up bigger on your monitor. Use the back button to return to the blog entry!