Whither "Ruckus"?

It will be interesting to see who is on KCPT's "Ruckus" TV program this evening.

KCPT and Their Lily White "Ruckus"

For that matter, it will be interesting to watch, from now on, for racial content and inclusion.

Or exclusion, as the case may be.

Happy National Absurdity Day

Because it is.

"Basically, at the very bottom of life, which seduces us all, there is only absurdity, and more absurdity. And maybe that's what gives us our joy for living, because the only thing that can defeat absurdity is lucidity."

--Albert Camus

Entertainment Overnight -- Fantastic New Mashup

Lots and lots of old favorites here

Happy National Seafood Bisque Day!

Yes, indeed! Happy National Seafood Bisque Day!

Creamy Seafood Bisque Recipe photo by Taste of Home

What are you waiting for? Go! Enjoy!

And have a great week, y'all.

Side note: If you want to see something odd, on Google images, search "seafood bisque." Check out all the nearly endless different types they show.

Links:  Bisque (food) - Wikipedia

National Seafood Bisque Day - Punchbowl

National Seafood Bisque Day, October 19 - Food.com

National Seafood Bisque Day - The Daily Grid

RAH Food - Happy National Seafood Bisque Day!

Crock Pot Girl - Today is National Seafood Bisque Day!

National Do Something Nice Day!

Happy National Do Something Nice Day!

Now, you know what to do---get out there and...

Entertainment Overnight -- Beautiful, New Voice

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Entertainment Overnight -- Moonlight Sonata

The middle- and lower-classes in America: How we got here and why we're likely to stay (guest post)

Occasionally David Brooks, who personifies the oxymoron “conservative thinker” better than anyone I know, displays such profound ignorance that a rejoinder is necessary lest his illogic permanently pollute public debate. Such is the case with his New York Times column last Friday, arguing that we should be focusing on the “interrelated social problems of the poor” rather than on inequality, and that the two are fundamentally distinct.

Baloney.

First, when almost all the gains from growth go to the top, as they have for the last thirty years, the middle class doesn’t have the purchasing power necessary for buoyant growth.

Once the middle class has exhausted all its coping mechanisms – wives and mothers surging into paid work (as they did in the 1970s and 1980s), longer working hours (which characterized the 1990s), and deep indebtedness (2002 to 2008) – the inevitable result is fewer jobs and slow growth, as we continue to experience.

Few jobs and slow growth hit the poor especially hard because they’re the first to be fired, last to be hired, and most likely to bear the brunt of declining wages and benefits.

Second, when the middle class is stressed, it has a harder time being generous to those in need. The “interrelated social problems” of the poor presumably will require some money, but the fiscal cupboard is bare. And because the middle class is so financially insecure, it doesn’t want to, nor does it feel it can afford to, pay more in taxes.

Third, America’s shrinking middle class also hobbles upward mobility. Not only is there less money for good schools, job training, and social services, but the poor face a more difficult challenge moving upward because the income ladder is far longer than it used to be, and its middle rungs have disappeared.

Brooks also argues that we should not be talking about unequal political power, because such utterances cause divisiveness and make it harder to reach political consensus over what to do for the poor.

Hogwash. The concentration of power at the top — which flows largely from the concentration of income and wealth there — has prevented  Washington from dealing with the problems of the poor and the middle class.

To the contrary, as wealth has accumulated at the top, Washington has reduced taxes on the wealthy, expanded tax loopholes that disproportionately benefit the rich, deregulated Wall Street, and provided ever larger subsidies, bailouts, and tax breaks for large corporations. The only things that have trickled down to the middle and poor besides fewer jobs and smaller paychecks are public services that are increasingly inadequate because they’re starved for money.

Unequal political power is the endgame of widening inequality — its most noxious and nefarious consequence, and the most fundamental threat to our democracy. Big money has now all but engulfed Washington and many state capitals — drowning out the voices of average Americans, filling the campaign chests of candidates who will do their bidding, financing attacks on organized labor, and bankrolling a vast empire of right-wing think-tanks and publicists that fill the airwaves with half-truths and distortions.

--Robert Reich,  American political economist, professor, author, and political commentator

Original post here:  

Robert Reich (David Brooks' Utter Ignorance About Inequality)

Heads up, skywatchers

...and lovers of nature.



This Thursday evening.

Thanks to Donna and her JUST ME blog for the "heads up."

Entertainment overnight

Quite a voice.  And I mean that in two different ways:



Thanks to Donna Allen Wood for introducing me to Floyd Red Crow Westerman

Links:  Floyd Red Crow Westerman - Wikipedia

Floyd 'Red Crow' Westerman - IMDb

Questions of the day

1)  Where is midtown miscreant?

2)  When will he be back?

3)  WILL he be back?

4)  Is he okay?  (We assume he is. Naturally, we hope he is).

Inquiring minds want to know.



Midtown?

You out there, buddy?

KC Gazette blog brought back, updated

I got word today:

Kansas City Gazette

New blog (to me) in town

Here it is:

Dodge's Motorcycle Adventures

And he's on YouTube, too:

 

New Blog Website (www.dodgerider.net) - YouTube

 

I was walking into the Quik Trip at I-35 and Lamar today and this guy with a matching motorcycle helmet and jacket was walking out. The jacket and helmt were both bright, bright yellow and that would have made me notice but what really got me was that he clearly had a camera on the side of his helmet.

 

I went on to the register and made my brief, quick purchase, all the while thinking about this guy with a camera on the side of his head. I'd kept my eye on him and saw he was still in the parking lot. I had to go ask him about it.

 

In a short conversation, he told me he liked to videotape his rides and did it frequently. He also told me he had a blog--that mentioned above--he also had, as well as his videos on YouTube.

 

I had to check it out.

Entertainment overnight

Happy birthday to a local, fellow blogger

A very happy birthday wish to "Just Me" blogger, Donna.

I hope it's a great one for you, filled with family, friends, great food and some terrific memories.

Enjoy.

On the whole "Win an iPad!" thing

If one more organization promises me that I "...could win an Apple iPad" if I simply take their survey, I'm going to choke somebody.

I'm so old...

"Ooh, ooh! Francis! I smell donuts! Let's frisk him!"



I know what this show was, I know who these people are (were) and I know how this would have sounded, coming from the actor.

THAT old.

Things I learned in the last two weeks

--What vetch is;

--What crown vetch is;

--What elderberry bushes look like;

--How beautiful the purple bloom, the flower, is on crown vetch;

--That this weed, crown vetch, fortunately pulls away from the host plant, in this case, elderberry bushes, very easily;

--That elderberry bushes are native to our area (or so I'm told);

--That elderberry bushes and very hearty plants and can take a lot of abuse;

--What a "tractor cruise" is and why people go on them;

--Where the Kansas City, Missouri dump site for yard waste is;

--That is you're from Kansas City, Missouri, you can get great, free mulch at their dump site;

--That straw and hay, in the sunlight, really to shine like gold in the sunlight;

--That after working all day on a farm and being totally wiped out, you can do it again the next day;

--That a bad back doesn't have to keep you from being able to work, even on a farm, working on hay bales;

--What's it like to work with hay and straw, and for hours;

--That if you have a choice of working with two different pitchforks, you make sure you don't get the one with the shorter tines (well, unless you want to slough off and not really work much);

--What a sandpiper's egg looks like (stunningly beautiful and simple);

--That a sandpiper mother will work hard--and for a long time--to protect her egg.

Among other things, no doubt.

Have a great, safe, holiday weekend, y'all.

I'm concerned

We haven't heard from The Crustybastard or Damnitkage in 4 weeks.

To Kim, Brent, Frank (you, too, Frank?) and that other Kevin Evans on Facebook

They say it's your birthday... it's my birthday too, yeah...