Leawood, Kansas?

So a new ranking list came out last week. It was this:

2015's Best & Worst Small Cities in America

And that's all well and good and you wouldn't maybe think much about it but look what small city made the number 5 spot on the "best" list:

The best small cities in America:

1. Princeton, N.J.

2. Littleton, Colo.

3. Dublin, Ohio

4. Brookfield, Wis.

5. Leawood, Kans.

6. Southlake, Tex.

7. Westfield, Ind. 

8. Northampton, Mass.

9. Ankeny, Iowa

10. Crystal Lake, Ill

Leawood, Kansas?

Leawood freaking Kansas?

One of the best small cities in America?

For what? It's cozy, old downtown area?

Here's at least part of what the rankings were based on--

Overall Rank	City	Overall Score	‘Affordability’ Rank	‘Economic Health’ Rank	‘Education & Health’ Rank	‘Quality of Life’ Rank
1	Princeton, NJ	61.90	1144	1	7	41
2	Littleton, CO	57.62	742	331	54	28
3	Dublin, OH	57.22	171	43	112	190
4	Brookfield, WI	57.18	206	169	8	248
5	Leawood, KS	57.09	77	14	123	523

So... wait. 

Let's start right here with "affordability."

Affordable?  Leawood?  Anyone and everyone in the Kansas City metro knows Leawood is anything but affordable. It's one of the most expensive and exclusive cities in the area. I guess if you compare it to San Francisco or New York, it's affordable.

And the rest of the these rankings, above? Economic health, education and health and quality of life ratings?

Well of course they're all high numbers in Leawood! The people out there are loaded! And not just with booze.

How insane.

If you just put cities on paper, I guess you can come up with rankings and ratings totally disconnected from the actual world out here. The next area city on the list was Wildwood, Missouri (?) at number 30. Shawnee, Kansas, 54. Liberty, Missouri----131. (ouch). Lenexa, 223. Nothing to advertise about, for sure. Blue Springs?  615.  Yowza.

Side note: Also surprising, at least to me, is that all 10---all 10---cities on the "worst" list are from California.

That's got to have 10 different City Halls and Chambers of Commerce scrambling to change things, I would think.

Westport Gets National Kudos

Yahoo put this up a few days ago.

Where the Hipsters Are: the Brooklyn of Every State

And for Missouri, it's Westport, they say.



Missouri

Westport (Kansas City)

 A big thumbs-up to Cherokee Street in St. Louis for its Brooklyn-esque qualities, but Westport on the other side of the state is the spot. Westport is, first and foremost, an entertainment district. It’s where you party and eat like a king — at Port Fonda for Mexican, at Dave’s Stagecoach for the jukebox and a beer, at Kelly’s for a Guinness in a pub that’s been around forever but where the clientele has, well, shifted, and at Julep for a cocktail with an egg white in it. During the day there’s plenty to do as well, whether you want to search for an album at Mills Record Company to throw on your portable record player, grab a coffee at the 20+ year and still going Broadway Roasting, or get secondhand threads at Arizona Trading Company.

Just don't hang around late, after midnight, likely.

The Embarrassing States Of Missouri and Kansas State Legislators and Legislatures

It's difficult to see which is worse, frequently.

First, from Missouri, rather famously:

Missouri House speaker resigning after intern text messages

Kansas legislators, after slashing taxes for the wealthy and corporations and increasing them for the middle-, lower- and working-classes, hurting the state's credit rating and wiping out their budget, tries to raise some money. Once again, it would be on the backs, largely, of the lower, middle and upper classes but that should be no surprise. And even that failed.

Kansas House rejects proposed sales tax increase

Kansas needs to take care of its fiscal house and isn't, can't, it seems. 

Missouri needs to do all kinds of things, not least of which is work to get a fix for the infrastructure of the state. The highways, bridges and roads and the budgets for them need attention and fixing. The legislature is nowhere close to addressing and fixing that problem alone.

Shameful.

Winstead's No, Town Topic Yes

From Yahoo News yesterday:

21 Essential American Hamburgers

Town Topic on the list. What they had to say:

Town Topic — The classic “slider” has nothing to do with a burger’s diminutive size: Although the term was made famous by White Castle, sliders refer to thin patties cooked on a griddle atop (and below) shredded raw onion. As the onions cook, they release water, creating additional steam heat that helps shape the flavor of the beef — a process that Solares calls “steam griddling.” At Kansas City’s 24-hour icon Town Topic, those sliders are available as single, double, and triple burgers (with our without cheese). And though the restaurant also offers “bigger”-sized burgers, Solares calls its real-deal sliders “the most elemental of burger forms.” 2021 Broadway, Kansas City MO 64108

As I said, no Winstead's.  

And no Westport Flea Market...

Screw you, America

What the Republicans did yesterday:

$478B Infrastructure Bill Blocked by Senate GOP

Americans need jobs.

America and Americans need improved, updated infrastructure.

The American economy needs a boost.

You think the Senate Republicans would have any of that?

Oh, hell no.

Republicans don't want you to have better infrastructure, more jobs or any such economic boost.

At least, they don't want you to have any such thing while this president is in the White House or likely, until one of their own is there.

Screw you. It's political party first.  You have to wait, America

Kansas City? Weird?

Yes, Kansas City is on a list recently of the top 10 weirdest cities in the nation:

They're Weird and Proud: America’s Quirkiest Cities

Kansas City? Weird? Number 8 of 10?

What they had to say about us:

These Midwesterners may have struck readers as thrifty and no-nonsense, but that doesn’t make them dull. The city ranked highly for both its museums and its sense of history—though some of that history is distinctly outside the box. TakeThe 1950s All-Electric House, which was originally built to be a glimpse of the future (when everyone, for instance, would have electric curtain openers). Or you can explore the Arabia Steamboat Museum, where you can see a fascinating array of pre-Civil War artifacts, recovered 132 years after the boat sank in the Missouri River. The city also ranked in the top 10 for its coffee, exemplified nicely at Oddly Correct, where cream and sugar are verboten.

I ask again, weird? Kansas City?  It's Independence that has the Hair Museum.

Congratulations, Missouri!

You're not on the list!

You're not in the top (bottom) 10:

The Unhealthiest State Is...

Neighbor Tennessee?  Yep.

Oklahoma?  Yes.

Kentucky? Check.

Arkansas?  Oh, yeah.

But Missouri? In the 10 most unhealthy states?



No!

Not this year, anyway.

So, enjoy, Missourians! Celebrate!

Just don't overdo it.

The disrespect--and lies--heaped on and attributed to this president

This is the kind of character assassination President Obama gets now. It used to nearly exclusively come from the Fox Network (I refuse to call it news). These all came, on the same day, yesterday, from Yahoo "News":

Obamacare advisor apologizes for saying "stupidity of the American voter" helped law pass

Jonathan Gruber, an MIT economist and key architect of the Affordable Care Act, suggested in a recently-surfaced video clip that "the stupidity of the American voters" helped Obamacare pass. 

Obama to Unleash Deluge of New and Costly Climate Regs 

President Barack Obama is gearing up to unleash a torrent of new climate regulations in the next few months and there will be little the Republican Congress can do to stop it.

Lies, deception, fraud: Obamacare architect drops bombshell 

With the bombshell admission of the main architect of Obamacare that a series of lies were told to the American public to get the new healthcare law passed, conservatives have been vindicated. 

It's pretty unconscionable.

Most people won't read beyond the headlines and worse, far too many will just believe the most negative these headlines and clips suggest, without doing their own homework and reading more into each area.

You'd think he'd lied to the nation about weapons of mass destruction and drug us into a war or somethingg.

A lesson for the Star and for all newspapers that want to survive

From yesterday's New York Times:

USA Today Goes Viral

As USA Today's publisher, the veteran newsman Larry Kramer is hoping America's largest-circulation newspaper will thrive in a world of social media and mobile platforms.

As I've pointed out before here, The New York Times did and is doing it, Yahoo did it. Heck, most all media sources understand this is what they must do.  From what I've seen of the Star, they still don't get it. They don't pay anyone, staff or locals, to videotape little bits of local events, especially the big ones, and then post them on their website. They do "photo galleries" but that's as close as it gets. They also cover things like this instead of more specifically local events:

‘Idiot’ takes selfie during Spain’s running of the bulls

As I write this, on Monday afternoon, their website offers 7 video links from the front page. One is on jumping jacks becoming the state exercise, two are on the Royals, two are on Schlitterbahn's new ride and one is on the Chiefs.  

That's it.

They need to become a multi-media site and source of local, state and regional events and people or they will surely be left in a dust heap. 

And sooner, rather than later.

See for yourself:    Kansas City Star

Local man's lawsuit against David Glass and his Royals hits the interwebs

It's one thing for this story to once again hit the local Star, it's quite another to go out on Yahoo!:

Fan injured by hot dog suing Kan. City Royals

And here, too:

Why injured fan's lawsuit may stand a chance

The story:

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) -- If it had been a foul ball or broken bat that struck John Coomer in the eye as he watched a Kansas City Royals game, the courts likely wouldn't force the team to pay for his surgeries and suffering.

But because it was a hot dog thrown by the team mascot - behind the back, no less - he just may have a case.

The Missouri Supreme Court is weighing whether the ''baseball rule'' - a legal standard that protects teams from being sued over fan injuries caused by events on the field, court or rink - should also apply to injuries caused by mascots or the other personnel that teams employ to engage fans. Because the case could set a legal precedent, it could change how teams in other cities and sports approach interacting with fans at their games.

Coomer, of Overland Park, Kan., says he was injured at a September 2009 Royals game when the team's lion mascot, Sluggerrr, threw a 4-ounce, foil-wrapped wiener into the stands that struck his eye. He had to have two surgeries - one to repair a detached retina and the other to remove a cataract that developed and implant an artificial lens. Coomer's vision is worse now than before he was hurt and he has paid roughly $4,800 in medical costs, said his attorney, Robert Tormohlen.

But the fact is, Sluggerr didn't "throw" the hot dog, folks.  At the time this happened, Sluggerr was shooting these things from a cannon, of sorts. Unfortunately for Mr. Coomer--and Sluggerr and the team, frankly--it hit him in eye.

The thing is, I know John Coomer. John Coomer is a friend of mine. And I happen to know he originally merely asked the team to pay for his surgery and medical bills.

Mr. Glass and the team said no, solidly.

It was only then that Mr. C. then had to file suit, merely to cover the costs of said medical bills.

I'd have thought--and most people would, I think--that the team and virtually any other company would merely pay the bills, likely out of their insurance coverage, do the right thing, mark it up to good PR and call it a day.

Not the skin flint that David Glass is, apparently, sadly.

So now, not only has it gone to court but it's now going to the Missouri State Supreme Court.

Pitiful.

It just doesn't seem as though a few thousand dollars, to cover some medical bills for a fan who was injured at the stadium, by the team mascot, would much to ask or expect, given the millions upon millions the team makes each and every year, from all the other fans.

Shameful.

It's bad enough they don't win enough baseball, enough years, down through time.

They also have to first injure and then punish their own fans in the stands.

Ewing Kauffman must surely be--once again--spinning in his grave.

Great advice today out of Columbia, MO for someone in the country

From the news today on what is likely, today, the biggest story in the office, coast to coast:

Big winners share lessons, risks of Powerball win

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/big-winners-share-lessons-risks-powerball-win-081059542.html

I heard this afternoon that the lottery says 133,000 tickets are being sold nationally every minute.

Here's hoping someone or some group wins this tonight so it doesn't get any bigger.

The bigger it gets, the more likely it is to screw someone up, big time.

Good luck to the buyers of tickets out there.

Dear God, About that Powerball...

Dear God,

If you're up there (and surely it seems you're not), and if you really do intervene in people's lives down here (again, seems highly, highly unlikely), please, please make sure someone or, better yet, some big group of people who are very responsible and level-headed and intelligent and beneficent eventually wins this big Powerball lottery jackpot prize.

In the first place, it could do a great deal of good for a great number of people all across the nation and even the world, if done right.

In the second place, on the flip side, it could really, really screw up someone's life--or people's lives--if the person who wins it couldn't handle it and we've seen plenty of that in the past.

Just sayin', Lord.

If you're there, please make this make sense.

Amen.

Link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/millions-chase-record-500m-powerball-175725660.html

Likely the quote of the night last night

And it was probably the quote of the night because, first, it was fun, and second, because someone from this administration finally, finally called out the Republican candidates for the highest office in the land for at least one of the misrepresentations of the truth (read: lies) that they've been telling.

Granted, there were other good to great quotes, too, and some of them really nailed inconsistencies in the opposing side but this was, as I said, both fun and sorely needed.

Good on you, Joe.

Go get 'em.

More here: http://news.yahoo.com/photos/elections-best-quotes-of-the-vice-presidential-debate-1350008240-slideshow/best-quotes-of-the-vp-debate-photo-1350010769.html

Proof: Why we need unions

Sure, I know the zeitgeist is against unions but the NFL's lockout and attempted breaking of the referees just now by the NFL owners, rich, selfish greedheads that they are, proves, yet again, the need we working-class stiffs have for unions and for organizing:

NFL gives into public pressure and does right thing by bringing back regular officials

The uber-wealthy, disgustingly rich owners wanted to pocket yet more cash, on the backs of the working stiffs--the refs, in this case--and fortunately, it blew up in their faces.

Good for us.

The thing is, it's as I said on my Facebook page, when we stand together, it's not that we win, it's that we don't lose.

Any middle- or lower-class person who isn't solidly pro-union defies logic and good, strong common sense, to me. Without unions, it's us, singularly, against the corporation and/or the wealthy.

And if that's the case, when it's them vs. us alone, we'll lose.

Every time.

This, then, this next headline and story is why this is all pertinent to all of us now, too:

Mitt Romney: Free Speech Is for Billionaires, Not School-Teachers

At an educational forum this week, Mitt Romney called for restricting teachers' unions from participating in the political process.

What does a plutocracy look like? How about a leveraged buy-out artist who used his family connections – and gamed the tax code – to amass a $378 million fortune, and whose campaign is almost entirely financed by deep-pocketed conservative sugar-daddies, saying that while money equals Constitutionally-protected free speech for his own donors, there should be limits on political spending by teachers making $75,000 per year.

This is why we can't afford to lose any further ground to these people.

The NFL referees' strike is an excellent example of what this election in November is all about, folks.

Links: http://sports.yahoo.com/news/nfl--nfl-gives-into-public-pressure-and-does-right-thing-by-bringing-back-regular-officials.html

http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/mitt-romney-free-speech-billionaires-not-school-teachers

St. Lou on "America's Most Amazing 4th of July Fireworks Displays"

Yahoo! News today shows St. Louis as having one of the best Independence Day celebrations in the nation, for what it's worth. What they say:

"On July 4, St. Louis kicks off a three-day-long "America's Biggest Birthday Party" with an evening of fireworks over the city's iconic arch."

It wouldn't be too late to get over there, then, and enjoy it. (Be aware of the huge crowds, it should be noted).

Another thought--while not one of the "most amazing" in the nation, Jefferson City also does a big display over the Capitol building, high on that bluff, overlooking the Missouri River. I've heard it's beautiful, too.

Regardless, happy Fourth. Be safe. Enjoy.

Link: file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/XPAdult/My%20Documents/st%20lou.html#crsl=%252Fphotos%252Famericas-most-amazing-4th-july-slideshow%252F-photo-2419856-183600055.html

Kansas: In the news today

Yes, the State of Kansas is in the news in two different ways today. First, it seems there is a gentleman in Denver who bought a Kansas missile silo just North of Salina and he's turning it into end-of-the-world, doomsday condominiums--for the wealthy. They're expensive.

The second story today out of Kansas comes from covering wacky museums. They mention and show the Barbed Wire Museum out in LaCrosse. Apparently, however, they just didn't have enough space in their article to cover Leila's Hair Museum out in Independence (Missouri). Darn shame, that. Someone mentioned in the comments, too, that they should have noted the Prairie Dog Museum out in Scott, Kansas. Oh, yeah. Links to stories: http://news.yahoo.com/doomsday-shelters-line-kansas-missile-silo-035247086.html; http://travel.yahoo.com/ideas/america-s-wackiest-museums.html?page=8

I think we can officially say the "auto bailout" officially worked now

Breaking news today: GM posts its highest profit ever: $7.6 billion GM earns its highest profit ever in 2011 with $7.6 billion; overseas losses cut 4Q profit So can we now, officially end the conversations and questions about the need, sense and logic of having "bailed out"--or invested in--GM, Detroit, Chrysler and the American auto workers? Please. Sure, we didn't want to do it and we didn't want to need to do it but the fact is, if we hadn't bailed them out, we would have lost that industry, for the most part, almost completely. Link to original story: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gQQyKL1zj8FAOWVfwO1Et4tc1VOA?docId=7878364211444f549d5c2356de1fdce9

Great article right now on the childish Kansas Governor Brownback

I love this. Kansas Governor Sam "I'm a baby" Brownback is getting national coverage now for "tattling"--their word--on the student from Shawnee Mission High School who tweeted about him from school earlier this week: Kansas governor tattles on teen's rude tweet "The governor of Kansas faced an online trashing Friday for tattling on a teenaged girl who sent out a critical tweet during a visit to the state capitol." A huge irony in it, to me, is that Brownback "said I had created this huge controversy and everyone was up in arms about it... and now he had to do damage control." The fact is, if the Guv hadn't said or done anything about this, the story wouldn't have the "legs" it does today--no one would be writing or talking about it, the git. Unfortunately, according to the article, the school's administrators are going to waste yet more time on this Monday, too, when school reopens. Check out this quote from a spokesperson for the school: "Students may express their personal beliefs, views, and opinions, as long as they do so appropriately and in accordance with school policies." That's like saying students can say anything they want and have free speech in America--or Kansas--as long as they don't say certain things, as long as they are censored. All I can say now is, enjoy your ignominious fame, Sam, you short-sighted, free-speech-hating old Scrooge. Besides hating the arts, we now know you for hating the First Amendment of the Constitution, too. You gave this young lady and student, as well as your constituents quite an education on all these issues and how you stand on them now, huh? You pea-brain. Links: http://news.yahoo.com/kansas-governor-tattles-teens-rude-tweet-232036307.html: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/11/26/1039899/-Gov-Sam-Brownbacks-staff-demands-apology-from-high-school-girl-who-correctly-noted-that-he-sucks?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29; If you'd like to support the student--on Facebook--go here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Emma-Sullivan/143932555713090

Them's some great headlines

Back to back this morning on Yahoo! News:

• Lindsay Lohan's dad arrested in West Hollywood
• Paris Hilton prosecutor arrested for buying cocaine

That said, try not to laugh too hard at other people's foibles.

Have a great day, y'all and GO VOTE!

Too much bad news out lately

First, number one:  

Japan quake loaded stress on fault closer to Tokyo

By ROBIN McDOWELL, Associated Press

JAKARTA, Indonesia – The recent monster quake that hit northeastern Japan altered the earth's surface, geologists say, loading stress onto a different segment of the fault line much closer to Tokyo.

Oh, great.  Just what those people need, right?

And then, number two is this:

Growing evangelical clout shaping debate

By MIKE GLOVER, Associated Press

DES MOINES, Iowa – Republican presidential candidates take note: the clout of social and religious conservatives is growing in politically crucial Iowa. And these activists are driving the debate here toward cultural issues — and away from the economy — just as the GOP sets out to find an opponent for President Barack Obama.

"They've gotten more involved in the party," said Norm Pawlewski, a lobbyist for the Iowa Faith and Freedom Coalition. "I've seen a change in the kind of people who are volunteering — and not only volunteering but working."

With Obama's re-election race looming next year, this constituency — made up heavily of evangelical Christians — is intent on playing a major role in choosing the winner of next year's Iowa GOP caucuses. It's seeking a repeat of 2008 when it coalesced around the underfunded former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to give the Southern Baptist minister a surprise first place finish.

Somebody shoot me.

That's all we need is more polarizing, far Right and religious extremists helping to shape an election in this country.  As I said earlier, the last thing this or any country needs is two extreme political parties--one far left and the other far right--tearing at each other and their country, trying to gain "control".

I repeat--somebody shoot me.

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110321/ap_on_sc/as_japan_s_fault_line;_ylt=AkTX5hPuaa1feUyzTEKfj7dh24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTM3NTZhbDU2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzIxL2FzX2phcGFuX3NfZmF1bHRfbGluZQRjY29kZQNnbXByZGUEY3BvcwMxMARwb3MDMTAEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yaWVzBHNsawNqYXBhbnF1YWtlbG8-

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_iowa_s_evangelicals

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