Beginning National Gun Violence Awareness Month

Gun Violence Awareness Month: June

Today begins National Gun Violence Awareness Month and thank goodness. All across America, along with here in Kansas City, more locally, we need to be aware of and pay attention to gun violence and the shootings and killings. We need to be aware of it, certainly, but more importantly, we need to do something about it. We shouldn't normalize this. We shouldn't just say or think this is the way it is and the way it must be. No other educated, industrialized nation in the world lives like this. We shouldn't, either.

We need to see, need to know the statistics about guns and shootings and the violence in America and then we need to say "Enough!" and work to put an end to it. Here are just a few local headlines on it all.

Shooting spree shakes up 

South Kansas City neighborhood

4 children inside KC house hit by gunfire from drive-by shooter

Police investigate shooting 

at Austins Bar and Grill

KCMO drive-by shooting caught 

on personal dashcam

And the shootings and killings are all up in America, across the nation.

Shootings, homicides in Chicago 

both higher than start of violent 2016

Chicago's murder rate soars 72% in 2016; 

shootings up more than 88%

Chicago murders up in January 2017 

compared to last year

Denver's homicides hit 

a 10-year high in 2016 

Violent crime in L.A. jumps for third straight year

Mother of 3-year-old, killed in crossfire, was the ‘backbone’ of close-knit family

4-year-old boy killed in rolling Kansas City gun battle

MetroLink passengers take cover as bullets hit train in St. Clair County

12-year-old boy shot in St. Louis, rushed to hospital

'It happened again,' father says after 2nd son murdered in New Orleans

Man shot at prayer vigil in St. Claude neighborhood: New Orleans police

Recess guarded by cops after killing outside school: 'They should be able to play'

Two juveniles, ages 12 and 13, arrested 

in connection to fatal shooting

Boy, 6, found shot dead in stolen car 

on day of 1st grade graduation

Then, compare us to the rest of the world when it comes to guns and shootings and killings. It's insane.

U.S. Leads World in Mass Shootings

Compare These Gun Death Rates: 

The U.S. Is in a Different World

U.S. Has More Guns - And Gun Deaths - 

Than Any Other Country

Here's a stunner:

More Than 6 Million Americans 

Own Ten or More Guns

We have to recognize that this is no way to live. We have to recognize that America has far, far too many guns.

And what can be done? 

Like it or not, agree with it or not, Australia seemed to have led the way on this issue.

Strict gun laws ended mass shootings in Australia

Australia data shows gun controls a huge success 20 years after mass shooting

Don't get me wrong, here, either. I wish a gun/weapons ban could be passed here and that it would work but I think that ship has sailed, figuratively speaking. We have far too many weapons now in the country to make that work. We also seem to have a different, very different kind of "Wild West" mindset regarding guns no other nation has, sadly, unfortunately.

There are some good statistics on guns in America, however. Here's a big one, for me, anyway.

Fewer and Fewer Americans Own Guns

Just three percent of adults own 

half of America's guns

Fewer Americans Own Guns, 

But Those Who Do Own More Than Ever

Another:

Most Americans don't own a gun, 

and want more gun control

So what do we do? What can we do?

We have to do at least two things and those are, first, let our governmental representatives know we are against the NRA, the National Rifle Association and the weapons manufacturers having their way with our nation and our laws. We have to let them know that they can't sell all weapons, everywhere to everyone at all times. We don't need or want automatic weapons on our streets, made available to anyone and everyone that can buy them and we certainly also don't need or want armor-piercing bullets available on our streets. Neither has a place in a modern society.

Then, second, we must vote. We must vote for sanity in our gun laws. We have to vote for people who are not just blindly behind, again, the NRA and the weapons manufacturers. We can't be "all guns, all the time." That kind of thinking has gotten us more shootings and killings, per capita, than any other of the industrialized nations, far and away.

Holidays With the Chiefs!

Our own Kansas City Chiefs made a "top ten" list yesterday and in none other than the New York Times.

The 10 Most Important N.F.L. Games

It seems not only is it one of the top ten most important games left in the season but it's also going to be a big Christmas gift for all us fans. What they had to say:

There are six weeks remaining in the N.F.L. season, and more than 90 games to come. Some will be crucial, and some will be 60 minutes of garbage time. But which are which?

Thanks to The Upshot’s Playoff Simulator at nytimes.com, The New York Times can quantify that.

Every game counts in the standings, but some are much more likely to affect the playoffs than others. A game like the Jets at the Patriots on Christmas Eve does not look too important: The Patriots are a lock to make the postseason, and the Jets are a huge long shot. The Browns at the Steelers on Jan. 1 might turn out to matter a lot to Pittsburgh, but it will not affect Cleveland’s playoff chances, which are zero.

But a handful of games are likely to be crucial for the playoff hopes of both teams. These are the biggest games left this year, according to The Upshot’s simulator.

9. Broncos at Chiefs, Dec. 25

The Raiders, the Chiefs and the Broncos are in a dogfight for the A.F.C. West, as well as wild-card consolation prizes. Of all the games left on their schedules, this ranks as the most important, although the Chiefs at the Broncos on Dec. 4 is 11th on the list.

GO CHIEFS!

In the meantime, happy Thanksgiving to all. Here's hoping for more great wins this season.

The Super Bowl: Imagine

And/or poverty.

The biggest thing on Super Bowl Sunday

The scumbag, billionaire owners of the monopoly NFL teams pay no taxes.

Let that sink in.

Not for profit my ass.

Kudos to the Star today, on the airport

Kudos and salutations to the Kansas City Star today, for printing an article that goes against their own, earlier editorial on our airport:

Airport terminal projects don't guarantee growth

It's as some of us in town, me for one, Save KCI! another, have said, building a new airport in no way guarantees more airlines and flights. No way.

 

From the article:

 

Building a new airport terminal doesn’t guarantee that kind of success, says Steven Malanga, senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, a market-oriented public policy think tank. Malanga has written about airport expansions that didn’t live up to their promise, such as in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati.

“People are right to be suspicious because there is a tendency within the aviation bureaucracy to want to update by building, rather than reconstructing,” Malanga said. “One thing you can be sure of in the current economic environment, if you’ve seen your own air traffic shrink, it’s unlikely a new terminal will drive economic growth.”

Mike Boyd, a Denver-based aviation specialist who is not involved with KCI’s plans but is familiar with the airport, agreed that a new terminal doesn’t assure new business.

“No, it won’t bring in new airlines,” he said. “They’ve all merged or gone out of business.”

 

It's as though the Airport Authority--and anyone who wants to push a new airport on us--wants to totally disavow or ignore that we've gone through the worst economic downturn in 80 years. When that happens and virtually all, if not specifically all, businesses are hurt and experience cuts in business and so, naturally, revenue, wouldn't it follow that airlines business would also decrease? And when that is the case, as it most surely is, how does building a new airport help that? How would that help business
And when you add that downturn to the fact that, as said, above, the airlines have merged, how, exactly, would building a new airport add new service to the area?  How does that work unless, along with that new building, you somehow, magically, I don't know, create a mountain range for people to come to, also?  Or an ocean? Or something, to draw people here?

If we're talking new buildings to increase flights, the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts, downtown, is far more likely to bring in more flights than a new airport. And we already did that.

Since when do people fly into cities because of or for their airports, regardless the city? How and when does that make any sense?

Sure, a handful of architects might fly in---might---but that's not going to create the kind of sustained increase needed or desired.

The author of the article hints at what should happen when they write about what Mr. Boyd, above says need to happen:

But he is emphatic that KCI must change or continue to lose ground to its competitors.

I say again, one more time, and I'll keep saying it, we can update and innovate the current, existing buildings, I believe, and achieve all we want and need.

If we update the existing airport, we can get the single building we need for security by using most or all of Terminal B for that. Then, by creating walkways out to Terminals A and C, we can gain what's needed in gates. Along with that, we could and should install updates in HVAC and other energy updates and the drainage from the jets wash, we can gain the both environmental improvements as well as energy savings.

There would be no reason to not make improvements in appearance on the buildings, also.  With all this, we'd also gain huge cost savings over the 1,200,000,000 dollars that would otherwise be necessary for a totally new, single terminal.

Let's not throw away one diamond--the existing airport--just so we can buy yet another.

We need to stop this "Let's throw away this building and build another" mentality in the area, at least, if not the nation. This would be a great place to start.

Huge gun news from the courts yesterday

This will upset some folks:

Court Finds No Right to Conceal a Firearm

Said another way:

Court Rules There Is No Right to Carry a Concealed Weapon

 

From The New York Times  and Associated Press (AP), last evening:

 

DENVER (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that permits allowing people to carry concealed weapons are not protected by the Second Amendment.

      

The ruling by the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit was issued Friday in a case involving a Washington State resident, Gray Peterson.

      

A federal judge in 2011 tossed out Mr. Peterson’s lawsuit filed against Denver and Colorado’s Department of Public Safety. He claimed that being denied a concealed-weapons permit because he was not a Colorado resident violated his Second Amendment rights to bear firearms.

      

According to gun rights groups, Colorado is one of about two dozen states that do not honor concealed weapons permits from Washington State.

      

Colorado recognizes weapons permits issued by other states, but only for states that recognize Colorado permits. Washington State does not recognize Colorado permits.

      

The Colorado attorney general’s office was “gratified that the 10th Circuit Court has upheld Colorado state law,” a spokeswoman, Carolyn Tyler, said.

 

There will be some heads exploding in the nation today, I expect.

 

Watch for a big statement, with lots of hoopla, from the NRA and Fox "News."

 

I can hear it now, can't you?

 

"THEY'RE COMING FOR OUR GUNS!"

 

Man it gets so tiresome.

The Kansas City weather forecast of the future?

I saw this weather prediction a few days ago:

Climate contradiction: Less snow, more blizzards

It seems appropriate for us, at least today.  We'll see how it plays out, of course.

Why do we trash the Chiefs and Clark Hunt but not David Glass and his Royals?

Today, in The Kansas City Star, there are articles, of course, about today's last football game of the season for our Kansas City Chiefs, telling of how, likely, we're going to be beaten--and beaten badly--by the Denver Broncos on their turf, literally. There is also an article summarizing this season, just finishing, as well as looking forward to next year's football.

And it's rough.

It's rough, as it kind of should be, on Clark Hunt and the Chiefs, both, since their season of this game has been so dismal.

That's understandable.

But what gets me is why and how we all seem to be so tough on this football team and this owner and all connected with it but that we seem to give our Major League Baseball team, our own Kansas City Royals, and their owner, David "I'm a Greedy Miser" Glass, a pass. We take it so easy on him and his team, it seems.

Maybe it's because the Chiefs season is so brief or maybe because the seats cost so much. Maybe it's one of those things.

But whatever the reason, with the exception of one Joseph Accurso who wisely and fairly started and created his whole "No More Glass" and a few local sports commentators (like Jack Harry, see link below), it seems Mr. Glass and his team take some shots but, by and large, he (Mr. Glass) and the Royals didn't take near the verbal and printed beating in the city that the Chiefs and Clark Hunt are now.

And the thing is, I think Clark Hunt and the team management are far more invested financially, personally and professionally and take the season with far more commitment than "Mr.Greed", David Glass. I think it's far more one of contrast than similarities, between these two owners.

I say, come next Spring--and it's just around the corner--let's get, be and stay far tougher on Mr. Glass and the team to win and to get that same team of ours deeper into the season as a winning team so we get far closer to a pennant race than we have been in years, if not decades.

Here's hoping.

Links:  http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/29/3986692/signs-of-trouble-appeared-early.html

 http://no-more-glass.com/

http://www.kshb.com/dpp/sports/jacks_smack/jack-support-no-more-glasscoms-efforts-to-get-rid-of-david-glass

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/extramustard/hotclicks/08/10/vanderbilt-coach-james-franklin-surprises-walk-on-marc-panu-chanel-spencer/index.html?eref=sihp&sct=hp_bf1_a3

On that debate last night, Part II

It's nearly unbelievable President Obama didn't come out fighting in the debate last evening in Denver.

At least twice, former Liberal Massachusetts Governor, now uber-conservative Republican Mitt Romney brought up his lie that this administration was going to take $716 billion from Medicare and put it on the Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare").

It's a known, proven lie and the President let him get away with it at least two times. (For more on the $716 billion lie, see the 2nd link, below).

What is that about?

He needed to go after Romney and this point, at least briefly, and show it was not only untrue but that it will save the US many more millions in our health care spending.

The Obama campaign must now take on the theme Alice Cooper so eloquently put it, years ago:



Links: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/10/03/3847023/romney-obama-spar-over-domestic.html

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/10/04/1139914/-Romney-s-big-Medicare-lie-takes-center-stage-in-debate

Mitt Romney, the "Karma Chameleon"

If we learned anything this year, with the presidential campaign, we know that Mitt Romney is the "chameleon candidate." He's made it extremely clear that he has and will say virtually anything his immediate audience wants to hear, in order to be elected.



The lyrics of the song seem as though they come straight from Mittens himself:

"I'm a man without conviction..."

This, to me, is, by far, the most dangerous thing about Mitt Romney's campaign.

Think about it.

The precedent his election would set for this nation and for political campaigns in the future could be huge.

We're all familiar with the fact that Jimmy Carter's campaign set for all future campaigns was that people would have to start early, at least 2 years bfore the campaign.

Now, with Romney, even though we have video of him from years back, as well as more recently, saying he's both for and against various policies, time and again, repeatedly, people are still taking him seriously as a viable candidate.

Is this really the kind of candidates and campaigns we want to lead our states or the nation?

Surely not.

The big thing for the nation is that he--Romney--is still a successful, viable presidential candidate that could, possibly, win the White House this Fall, even with his shape-shifting and chameleon-like abilities.

Seriously, that is scary. It's crazy.

In the past, expressing different opinions, for and against the same issues would be enough to kill a campaign, Amazingly, frustratingly, nearly inconceivably, it hasn't destroyed Romney's campaign yet. Quite the opposite, it's still working.

The big, over-arching message, should Romney win, given his campaign, is that this squishiness of his, this shape-shifting on issues, day to day, works and that other candidates should use it.

This guy just cannot, cannot possibly win the White House.

A breakdown of tonight's presidential debate

From MAD Magazine:

(Click on picture for bigger, easier viewing)

KC: big in the advertising biz

Kevin Fullerton wrote a pretty good column over at the American Advertising Federation this week on the size and power of the Kansas City advertising market. We're 4 times bigger than St. Louis' market and 20 times that of Denver's, for starters. Lots of awards, etc. You might want to check it out. Who knew? Link: http://aafkc.com/news/we’re-kansas-city-damn-it

More good Kansas City news

US News & World Report has an article out right now on the "25 Worst Cities for Young People"--AND KANSAS CITY AIN'T ON IT. Take that, Kansas City haters. Denver? Yep. Portland, Milwaukee, Louisville, Columbus--all on it but we aren't. See? Things can always be worse. Link: http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2011/10/20/worst-cities-for-young-people-from-seattle-to-cincinnati-photos.html

KC No. 25 (of 26) of cities with most same-sex couples

News out today tells of the Williams Institute's ranking of the cities in America with the most same-sex couples and, as said above, Kansas City ranks 25th out of 26. St. Louis is number 11 and Minneapolis is number 4. Just sayin', as the saying goes. You can probably guess who's in the number one spot. Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/26/same-sex-couples-williams-institute-national-data_n_938166.html#s340532&title=Minneapolis_MN

An American soldier's take on the Iraq War and the US

"My initial reaction was disgust.  And then sickness.  And shame.  Because I, I felt kind of embarassed for myself.  It's almost living your whole life in a lie.  Like you're lying to yourself and you're being lied to.  And you feel like you're, you're being sheltered from everything that is real.  So I, I got, I got frustrated and I got pissed and I got bitter and the more that I got bitter and the more that I learned, I should say the more I learned and the more I experienced in the Army, the more bitter I became and the more angry and frustrated I became with growing up in a family that wanted to shelter me from reality, a society that wanted to shelter me from reality, a government that wanted to shelter me from the disgusting, immoral and illegal things that they do.

Now I know what I want to do with the rest of my life.  You know, I want to focus on making sure that another kid doesn't make the same mistake as me.  I don't want our country and our government and our Congress to be sending kids off to war to fight and die for oil or economic colonialism and military bases around the world.  And I feel it is my duty no matter what I do with my life, no matter what my job is, what my career is.  I feel it is my duty to constantly, constantly work to change that.

I do have hope.  I mean, I have hope, um, in the people of this country.  I don't have hope in the government."

--Jared Hood, Denver, Colorado

Links:  http://jonorlandophoto.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/ivaw21.mov
https://www.ivaw.org/