Coming up on a centennial marker

The US broke its centennial barrier for broken banks a few weeks ago, with more than 100 now taken over by the FDIC and we have more, yet, to go.

Now, Kansas City is at 98 murders and closing in on its 100th soon, most likely.

It begs the question: What is Kansas City doing to curb these senseless shootings? What are we all doing? What is our community doing?

Why does it seem we care so little?

Link to story:
http://blogs.pitch.com/plog/2009/11/killa_city_kcmo_homicide_no_98_one_dead_in_early_morning_shooting.php

Great things at the Nelson this weekend

 

This weekend, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (sounds stuffy, doesn't it?) is having an open house to celebrate the reopening of their American Indian Gallery.

I tell you, the things they're doing over there are just terrific. As I've said before, we're very lucky to have the Nelson here in town.

They redid the American Gallery (sounds like a competition--the "American Gallery" vs. the "American Indian Gallery") and the improvements were clear, obvious and wonderful.

I really look forward to this new change, this weekend. They don't seem to miss a mark when they improve over there.

And soon, next Spring, they are to reopen the Egyptian Gallery. That should brighten a grey and brown Kansas City winter, just when we need it.

So, this weekend, make sure you make it by the Nelson for the American Indian galleries Community Celebration Weekend.

While you're at it, don't forget having lunch or dinner at the Rozzelle Court--yet another way to enjoy the day at this local treasure.

Again--you may thank me later.

Link to more on the Nelson and the American Indian Gallery here:
http://www.nelson-atkins.org/art/AmericanIndian.cfm

Welcome back SOTL!

I say it again: Welcome back to State of the Line blog.

Frankly and honestly, I never knew about them while there were here and they left back in February but I see they're back.

And they look good.

I've always wanted a good blog to follow about Kansas City--one written here and about Kansas City--and I've followed a good photography blog (Hyperblogal's) but Tony's KC blog was all I could find.

And while Tony does, admittedly, do a pretty good job of keeping some things up to date, both his hating on Kansas City and those insipid, repeatedly shown pics of half-clad women kept driving me away. I felt like I was trying to keep up on and with the city by reading a blog written by a 15-year-old. (Sorry, Tony. I gave you some credit--repeatedly--for what you do but geez, get over the degrading, sexist shots, will you? I've asked several times).

So, again, welcome back SOTL! Good on ya'. Brief, concise, intelligent writing with some pics and video. I already like what I see.

If you haven't been there, go now:

http://stateoftheline.wordpress.com/

You may thank me later.

Gun laws in the US?

I've written, time and again, about our looney gun culture and our obsession with them and the shootings we end up with.

For more information on the subject, and in a rare case of re-posting, I put up the following, from Bill Mann and The Huffington Post, today:

Fort Hood Reminds Us: Our Gun Laws Are a National Disgrace

Our current lack of health insurance for all is a national disgrace. But so are our handgun laws -- or lack of them.

You'd think you might have heard a bit more about our heedless national pistolero mentality in the wall-to-wall TV coverage of the tragic shootings at Fort Hood this week. But no such luck. How many times have we seen this movie before? It's only the locations that change.

There was only scant mention in all the coverage that suspected mass murderer Nidal Hasan had bought his lethal cop-killer handgun at "Guns Galore" in nearby Killeen, Texas. How charming.

Why is it that comic Stephen Colbert seems to be the only one on national TV who regularly reminds us about this country's twisted love of handguns? (Colbert keeps his piece, "Sweetness," under his anchor desk, occasionally taking it out to smooch its barrel).

Something I've written in my newspaper columns about for years bears repeating here:

Any country with as many mentally ill people as the U.S. that allows virtually unlimited access to handguns is on a suicide mission.

Gun sickness is our most pressing national illness.

I live within sight of the Canadian border, and Americans who visit Canada are often surprised at how serious Canadian customs officials regard guns -- specifically, bringing them into relatively handgun-free Canada. Where are these people's priorities, they seem to be saying?

(Note: Canadian customs can -- and does -- turn people back at the border who have a DUI conviction. Again, different national priorities).

Canadians recognize handguns as a direct threat to civilized society, unlike here, where the NRA and the gun-toters evidently believe we're living in Tombstone, Ariz., circa 1885.

How many more mass shootings and troubled-loner gun sprees (what the New York Post calls "Slayfests") can we afford before we finally get serious about gun control? How much longer will network TV news continue to soft-peddle and play down this most basic issue?

I don't really care that much about what drove Hasan to apparently murder all those soldiers, which has been the prime focus of nonstop cable news. The fact is, he did. What I DO care about is how easy it was for him to get the means -- a lethal gun -- to do it.

Not to belabor the Canadian issue -- we Americans are, after all, the noisy, gun-toting downstairs neighbors -- but re-entering the U.S. after living in Canada for several years (which we did) was a maddening experience.

We lived a major metropolitan area, Montreal, for seven years. And even in the more disadvantaged parts of that city, you feel safe. You never feel you might get shot, either by a handgun-toting robber or a troubled loner.

Coming back into the United States you lose that peace of mind. It's like a slap in the face.

Don't believe me? Ask anyone else who's lived in a developed country in which handguns are restricted and can't be bought as easily as cigarettes.

We have millions of sick Americans who need health insurance. But there are even more of us who live in danger of being shot by an easy-to-obtain weapon. It's way past time for the media to pay attention to THIS life and death issue.
____________________

Great writing, Mr. Mann. Thank you for the logic, information and unimpassioned input.

(Side note to "Top of the Chain": We don't agree on this issue. You know it. I know it. I appreciate your reasonably calm writing but let's not go on about this. Let's agree to disagree. Thank you for reading, absolutely. In the meantime, several more people were shot and killed this weekend in Kansas City alone, on top of the Fort Hood slaughter and the shooting in Orlando last week).

We need to get a handle on energy speculation

I know the White House is busy, what with wars in two countries and health care reform and all that, but they'd better also be working on putting back regulation of energy speculation and speculators, too. If they don't, any economic recovery could get squelched quickly and simply, by rising prices that benefit a small group of those speculators.

There is a report out now, showing that gas is rising in price, due to the weak dollar and Hurricane Ida, in the Gulf of Mexico. (Good news there, at least--Ida was downgraded).

As long as oil speculation is left unregulated, people and businesses are going to try to make money on the rise in price.

This is crazy. I've written about this before and it's important.

The world economy is in a very weak, bad state but oil prices have been running up lately, prompting this observation:

"'In the real world, there is very little evidence that the underlying market fundamentals, both in the overall economy and more particularly in the oil market, are improving fast enough to justify these price levels,' said analysts at KBC Market Services in Britain."

And yet the price goes up because, again, there are people wanting to bid it up, to make money and these markets have been unregulated since 2000.

People and companies might buy up oil, counting on an increase in price, only to later sell it back on the market at the higher price, just for the gain. In the meantime, the airlines and energy companies and, ultimately, you and I pay higher prices just for their greed.

It's no way to run an energy market.

It's bad for individuals, rich and poor, around the world, but it's even bad for businesses.

This needs to get fixed, one day soon. We need the energy markets overseen, as they used to be, and as soon as possible.

If we don't, our economies the world over could come crashing back down--or even just be held back in any recovery--just because a small group of people want to benefit.

Here's hoping.

Link to story: http://www.kansascity.com/382/story/1557497.html

Yet another shooting spree

Yesterday it's a shooting rampage in Texas.

Today it's a shooting rampage in Orlando, Florida.

Just breaking news:

"Reports are coming in that 8 people were shot in a downtown high-rise in Orlando, Florida. The local news reports: All eight victims are trauma patients, the Fire Department said."

"Officers were dispatched to the Gateway Center office building just before noon on Friday after reports of a shooting."


"MSNBC reports that there are at least two people dead and no suspect in custody. The shootings took place on multiple floors of the office building. AP reports that the building is on lock down and surrounded."

"Police have surrounded a Florida high-rise after gun shots were reportedly fired."


To repeat: the answer to too many guns, killings and murders is not more guns.


Link to original story:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/06/gateway-center-shooting-a_n_348566.html

Not doing the Muslim faith--or Muslims--any favor

So here we go again, it seems.

One more incident, to the Western eye, of a Muslim man "going postal" in the world--this time in Fort Hood, Texas.

Any and every time some terrorist straps explosives to their body and blows themself up, whether they take anyone with them or not, if they are also Muslim, the opinion in the West is that these are desperately ignorant people.

In this case, unfortunately, US Army Major Nidal Malik Hasan went on a shooting spree here in the States--at Fort Hood, Texas, just outside San Antonio.

The result?

At least 13 killed and 31 wounded.

And as usual, it makes no sense. It just ends up being another horrible, tragic event.

And the thing is, to the people of the United States and the West, this all too frequently looks like a pattern of a lack of education (read: ignorance), religious or otherwise zeal and virtually unthinkable violence, all rolled into one.

Leaders of the Muslim faith immediately came out to say that this is not the Muslim faith, fortunately--and of course--and that's good. But for too many people, they see these senseless, murderous acts repeated again and again and both don't like the results of them, naturally, and feel as though it's an ugly, ugly pattern that gets repeated far too frequently all around the world.

How do you deal with someone who thinks violence is an answer?

And the only answer, at that?

How do you deal with someone who has been taught by his elders (because most of them are men, in fact) that if they go on a successful suicide pact and kill "the enemy", they will go straight to "heaven"? Granted, that's not the case here regarding Major Hasan but that is the case for so many of the deaths in the Middle East.

How can we deal with a suicide mentality, locally, nationally and internationally?

In the case of this Major Hasan in Texas, it appears he was mentally unstable, as information comes out but it appears, given what information we have at this moment, that it also may have been borne out of religious fervor.

I hope that's not the case.

What's true is that religious leaders all around the world need to teach their followers in peace, acceptance and tolerance--not murder, death and suicide.


Link to story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_fort_hood_shooting_suspect

Yesterday's murder in South Kansas City

Yesterday, "at approximately 4pm, KCMO Police were called to 116 St and Holiday Dr in regard to the sound of gunshots. Upon arrival a shooting victim (b/m approx. 20yrs old) was located in the street with no signs of life. He was pronounced dead a short time later."

"Witnesses state the victim was walking with another male when two black males approached on foot and shot the victim. The suspects ran north on 116 street and are possibly in a house on Longview Rd. Detectives are interviewing several witnesses in an attempt to locate the suspects."


Okay, after that reporting, it's important to say that everyone in this area, in this neighborhood, that knows anything--anything--about this situation and/or the people involved with this should report whatever they know to authorities.

And as quickly as possible.

This would not be an issue but for the controversy of "snitching."

To be clear, there really should be no such thing as "snitching." We have to report crimes--and perpetrators of those crimes--to the police, people, that's all there is to it.

It's the "order" of "law and order."


Link:
http://blogs.kansascity.com/crime_scene/2009/11/1-man-shot-and-killed-in-south-kc.html

An exciting Kansas City development

 

I have to tell you, I've been so looking forward to this new Performing Arts Center here in town, I can barely wait until it opens.

When the new Bloch Gallery of Contemporary Art opened at the Nelson-Atkins Art Gallery, that was incredibly exciting itself. It's such a beautiful building, even if it is just at night. For everything from its position on the site to the same lighting at night, the views from within the gallery, the natural light inside the gallery and so much more, it's been a stunner since it opened.

Since that opening, I've looked forward to this additional addition to the Kansas City landscape. With the Moshe Safdie design--which is going to be brilliant both figuratively and literally--and what it will mean to Kansas City in terms of live art performances, it will be a huge, historic and important addition to the city and, really, the region.

We're a lucky, lucky people here in Kansas City.

(In spite of what Tony says on his blog).

(Just having fun, Tony).

I'd like to start thanking the Kauffman Foundation and all the people who have contributed to this facility we will have soon, now.

This is the year for being wrong, clearly

A few days ago, after President Obama went to Dover Air Force Base to pay his respects to 18 deceased American Soldiers coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan.

I wrote that he showed a great deal of dignity and, again, respect for the Soldiers and their families.

I also wrote that surely the Right wing, Fox "News" and Beck, Limbaugh, Hannity, etc., wouldn't dare speak out against this, that it would just be beyond the pale.

As it says above, this is my year for being wrong (you have no idea).

A quote, just now, from the Associated Press and Yahoo! News covering yesterday's Sunday morning news programs:

"Limbaugh belittled Obama's surprise, middle-of-the-night trip last week to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware to observe the return of 18 flag-covered cases holding the remains of Americans killed in Afghanistan. 'It was a photo op' designed to 'create the impression that he has all of this great concern,' he contended."

It's been a banner year for me, I'll tell you.

Link to full story:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091102/ap_on_bi_ge/us_limbaugh_obama

Not a perfect world but a lot more things going right of late

Yesterday the President signed the new "Hate Crimes" law into effect.

With him at the signing were the parents of murdered Matthew Shepard and the sister of lynched African-American James Byrd, Jr.

We've waited, as a country, for this law for so long and finally it's here.

Then, this morning, we find that that same President went, in the middle of the night last night, to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, to pay respect to 18 American soldiers who lost their lives in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars.

I know I covered this earlier today in another entry but adding the signing of this new law, on top of last evening's somber showing emphasizes still more what a big change and improvement this administration is over the previous one.

And it's far more that just trashing W yet again.

It's celebrating a much better trajectory and path, nationally, internally and internationally.

This just can't be emphasized enough, for me.

Some significant, good things are happening for the country and since they've come back-to-back, so to speak, it's worth just taking a moment to celebrate a couple of significant events.

Next thing you know, we'll be ending the Afghanistan War.

Links:
http://www.cbsnews.com/blogs/2009/10/29/politics/politicalhotsheet/entry5452143.shtml

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2009/10/president-obama-pays-respect-to-fallen-troops-at-dover-air-force-base.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Byrd,_Jr.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthew_Shepard

http://www.trib.com/news/state-and-regional/article_59e387b4-c40a-11de-a91f-001cc4c03286.html

"Dignified transfer", rightly done

President Obama went to Dover Air Force Base last night, at midnight, from what I understand, to oversee the "dignified transfer" of 18 American Soldiers bodies back into the country last evening.

The link below can take you to a story on it and pictures of it.

It's so refreshing to see our President so dignified, himself, and respectful, more importantly, for these returning soldiers and their families. It's been a long time since we've seen that, sadly.

After seeing the pictures of the President, on the tarmac, with the soldiers and coffins, saluting and paying his respects, I have to say, it gave me chills.

Unfortunately, it also brought one more thing to mind, for me, after all the good thoughts about what a right, intelligent, sympathetic, empathetic action this was.

That is, I wonder how Fox "News" or Sean Hannity or Bill O'Reilly or Glenn Beck or even Rush Limbaugh can possibly, even in their sick, partisan minds, can or would describe this as anything but a good, right, just and, yes, patriotic function that he rightly performed and with great dignity.

I hope they don't touch the subject.

Link to story and pictures:
http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/rpSlideshows?articleId=USRTXQ4KK#a=1

No "opt out" clause

The insurance companies keep doing what they can to take care of themselves--but take advantage of us.

First, we should have had the "single-payer" option with this coming health care reform so we can reduce what waste we can in paperwork, at minimum, that courses through our health care system.

There are 1300 insurance companies in the US and each one has their own forms, as we all know.

That creates untold waste in paper, time, energy and so, money.

Unfortunately, according to Matt Taibbi and Rolling Stone magazine, President Obama gave this $350 billion dollar a year savings tool away to the insurance industry and their lobbyists at the beginning of our negotiations for this reform.

That shouldn't have happened.

That wasn't in our best interests.

Second, we should have the "public option" for insurance, absolutely.

We are one of the only countries in the world that lets insurance companies make huge, ugly profits on health care insurance.

It's "blood money", for sure, let's be clear.

Government-run (yes, government-run) health insurance is the only thing that makes sense when it comes to being covered. Lots of other countries still have successful, private insurance companies and industries while, at the same time, having government-run health insurance, too. It can work. But we have to let it. (See any of the last 3 links below and/or do a Google search for "T R Reid Health Care").

We have to get the costs of health insurance down, that's all there is to it.

The ongoing annual increases are eating us alive--both businesses and citizens--you and me, out here in the real world.

Six to 8 to 13 percent increases (mine, this very minute, is an 8 to 13 percent increase option I have, depending on which deductible rate I accept), are devouring our economies. This inflation is unworkable, not just unacceptable.

And now we have the spineless, cowering Congress, kowtowing further for and to the insurance industry by throwing this ridiculous "opt out" clause in our negotiations.

The thought is, sure, if you must have this awful reform we don't want, then let's throw in the good-sounding "opt-out" idea, so if whole states don't want to go down this government-insurance way, they can choose to "opt out".

Except what it does is further guarantee insurance agencies their increases, at least for a few years, while strapping all the rest of us to ever-higher costs.

It's insane.

The insurance industry and their lobbyists are throwing millions of dollars at our representatives in an effort to get what they want and stiff the American public.

Don't fall for it, folks.

"Opt-out" is not in our best interests.

Far from it.

Now, today, Joe Lieberman says he will filibuster to keep the "public option" out of this bill.

(Bang head here)

Links:
http://www.rollingstone.com/nationalaffairs/index.php/2009/08/19/matt-taibbi-on-health-care-reform-sick-and-wrong/

http://www.rollingstone.com/videos/video/29735557
/matt_taibbi_on_healthcare_sick_and_wrong

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114209669

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=112172939

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/21/AR2009082101778.html

http://fora.tv/2009/09/14/TR_Reid_The_Healing_of_America

More good things from this White House

Notice came yesterday from the US House of Representatives that a new agency is finally being created to "regulate home loans, credit cards, savings accounts and other financial services."

The agency is to be called the Consumer Financial Protection Agency.

Let's hope it has some teeth and can do its job and do it well.

It's unfortunate, I think, that we need this additional function in our government and yet another new agency but I think it's important we do, indeed have it.

If we learned anything from the last couple of years, it's what can happen when business isn't regulated so out-and-out theft doesn't occur under the heading of "business as usual."

Considering what's happened to our banking, mortgage and credit sectors and what literally thousands of unscrupulous lenders did, first to their clients and then, ultimately, to our economy, what with our banking and credit crisis and collapse, it seems incredible anyone could voice any complaint about it.

But the bankers and business sector is, let there be no doubt.

The thing is, we need to get the banking and insurance (and all other corporations and their lobbyists and money) out of our government.

And the only way to do that is to have true, complete, bold, in-your-face campaign finance reform, with the corporations thrown out of both the process and ultimate legislative product.

But the American people, sadly, don't connect those dots.

Until that happens, until we all truly revolt for this result, it will remain more of the same, regardless of the political party in power.

There are two things about this, though, that are worth noting--one a question, the other an observation:

First, it would be good to know if this important work couldn't be done within an existing agency, like Commerce or something, so we don't create yet another bureaucracy that ends up living for it's own success.

Second, unfortunately, it's not a sure thing that this consumer protection agency will be created. Bankers and their money being what they are--and our government being how it is, subject to yet more lobbyist's money, etc.--this may not get out of Congress. It's too early to tell.

Sure, we're doing somewhat better now, as citizens and consumers, with this Administration and political party, compared to the previous one but we won't have that true, complete reform unless and until we all push mightily for said campaign finance reform.

That's the only thing that will finally get all the ugly money out of our government that is corrupting the officials, the process and the ultimate legislation.

God, I miss Molly Ivins.

Link:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FINANCIAL_OVERHAUL?SITE=TXMCA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_SHRINKING_FINANCIAL_OVERHAUL_ANALYSIS?SITE=TXMCA&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Terrific, entertaining, even important new read

Looking for a terrific read?

You want to be educated?

You want to be entertained and laugh?

You want to have a book you can recommend to others, when you're done with it, most likely?

Go to this link and read the excerpt NPR put on their website this morning by Tracy Morgan from his new book "I am the New Black."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=114009203

Here's a brief excerpt of the excerpt:

"Let me make one thing clear right now: I'm not writing this for your sympathy, and I don't feel like any kind of hero. I'm not God's gift, but my life wasn't dumb luck either. As you'll see, I made a series of choices — some bad, most good — that led me here. I don't want your praise, but I do want to be an example. Not the kind of example the principal suspends for throwing food at the teacher or the cops arrest in front of his friends for spray painting eat my ass on the school. I want to be an example of a guy who made something of himself out of nothing. A guy who overcame the odds of a tough childhood, who worked hard, who didn't let his surroundings get the best of him and lead him to jail or the graveyard. Where I ended up — being a comedian, a TV star, and a movie actor — might be unique but my story is not. When a child is born, it's born with a heart of gold, but the way of this world can turn that heart cold. I'm still a good person and I thank God for that — He's working with me on it."

I think it could go a long way to being required reading for the KCMO School District for teens but, much more than that, for anyone in a tough situation. It looks to be funny, informative, educational, inspirational and helpful, all at once.

Food for thought.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

An education and warning

I hope you--and lots of people, nationwide--watched the "Frontline" special on PBS last evening named "The Warning."

It was about how our unregulated markets were allowed to be created, first, but then, further, how they were allowed to propagate, complete with rules that allowed out-and-out fraud and manipulation of the markets, with the thought that completely, utterly free markets were important and good and that they could and would regulate themselves.

They did and, because of the lack of regulation, they also collapsed.

Last evening's one-hour report told of one woman's attempt to regulate the quantity of trades--so we know how much or our economy was tied up in it--as well as regulating, again, possible manipulation and fraud.

So now, here we are in 2009 after two collapses in our markets and where are we?

After seeing it, I had to ask: How could you not come to the conclusion that we are in very much the same place, without having learned any lessons?

Goldman Sachs and Citigroup and all these people are still in power, the bonuses are still being paid out, there were no penalties, we still allow fraud and manipulation in commodity futures, we still don't regulate the trillions of dollars in hedge funds, etc.

It's hard to be optimistic about either what happened in the 1990's and its collapse, the recent collapse, now, in the 2000's and into the future.

If you didn't see "The Warning", you need to.

Links: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/warning/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/25/AR2009052502108.html
http://blogs.reuters.com/rolfe-winkler/2009/10/20/brooksley-born-on-frontline-tuesday/

The Kansas City Star and good work

You can say what you will about the Kansas City Star and I'll admit, the coverage and newspaper isn't what it used to be, for sure, but this weekend, with the story yesterday--Saturday, Oct. 17--on "concierge medicine" and today, Sunday, 18th on money going through Jefferson City and also about Rod Jetton, they really made up for themselves.

Two fantastic, important, well-written stories that told us where we are and what's going on in our society, locally, regionally and even nationally.

They were important stories and articles. It was good coverage.

To those who didn't read them, you need to, in an effort to know what's going on in our society--to know what's right and what's wrong.

That, and the small article today about the Kansas City, Missouri School District Superintendent John Covington and what he plans.

I can come to no other conclusion but that it was good, intelligent and, again, important coverage that shouldn't be missed.

You can't expect anything more from a local newspaper.

Links:
http://www.kansascity.com/637/story/1513951.html
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/1514294.html
http://www.kansascity.com/healthyquestions/story/1513257.html

Let's call it what it is: Wealthcare

Let's not call what we have in America "health care" any longer. Let's be honest.

It's "wealthcare"--health care for anyone and everyone with money.

That's what we have and it's getting worse.

There is a terrific, front-page article in The Kansas City Star today that shouldn't be overlooked, partly because the Star can't do that many insightful articles any more, what with their much-reduced staff but also because it gives great, cutting-edge information on yet another new wrinkle in our health care system.

It's called "concierge medicine" and if you assume that, because it has a French name it's more expensive, you'd be correct.

It works like this: You pay, say, $1,000.00 up front, PER MONTH--that already puts most of us out of this option--then approximately $125.00 more per month. For that you get virtually unlimited access to your own personal family physician.

Want to see him or her that day? Sure.

Need to see him or her that evening? No problem.

For that much money, it shouldn't be a surprise.

Get this--the doctors still recommend you carry insurance, on top of these costs, of course, to cover "hospital visits and specialist's care."

Sure, it's terrific, personal coverage but at what a cost. Holy cow.

Understandably, as it says in the article, doctors are going crazy with our current system of health care because it pays them for procedures. This means that, the busier they are, the more they get paid so the more their practice gets paid.

Let me repeat a familiar refrain: This is no way to run a health care system.

It's crazy.

It's paying the doctors to just fix problems after the fact, instead of helping us all stay healthy ahead of time.

But as long as we keep going back in and paying our insurance premiums, and the doctors work like little rats in a cage and the clinics and hospitals keep their costs down--by denying care, frequently, and minimizing treatments and reducing the amount of time a patient sees a doctor and the amount of time we're actually healing in the hospital--then the system works great.

Except not at all.

This is another, gross extension of this crazy system that's been created here in the US since the 60's, when corporations have taken over health care.

All they see and want is money and profits and the more and bigger, the better.

This makes health care even more a matter of good health for the wealthy and little or nothing for the middle- and lower-classes.

It provides further proof that our system is grossly broken.

We need both the single-payer option so there is only one form for all care--instead of the 1300 different forms there are now, one for each insurance company in the country--and we need the "public option" for health insurance to keep costs for coverage much lower.

At best, with the proposals now going through Congress, we may get the public option. Hopefully, it won't be too watered-down as to be meaningless.

Push for reform, folks.

We need it badly and it will help all of us.

Just not the insurance companies.

Then go read this article in The Kansas City Star, if you haven't already. You need to know what's going on.


Link to original story: http://www.kansascity.com/746/story/1513257.html

Article on "Wealthcare" from The New Republic:
http://www.tnr.com/article/books-and-arts/wealthcare-0

And go here, to The New Republic, for a large selection of articles on our current health care status: http://www.tnr.com/blogs/the-treatment

The importance of this acknowledgement can not and should not be overlooked

A quote from far-right-wing Pat Buchanan from The McGlaughlin Group, earlier this evening:

"The Iraq War was a war of intervention, it was a war of choice, it was an unnecessary war."


The admission of this is such a blatant indictment of the George W. Bush Administration, it should not be overlooked or under-considered.

But it will be.

This makes me nearly weep for the over 4,000 soldiers, their families, friends and loved ones who lost their lives in this admittedly big mistake called the Second Iraq War.

It's hard to not think we're blowing a ton of money

President Obama signed a bill was today to send $7.5 billion dollars to Pakistan in aid.

Seven and a half billion.

Yowza.

And maybe it's a good idea but you'd have to have a lot more information to know this is the right thing to do than what the lay person on the street has, for sure.

Pakistan is one poor country and it's so full of needs. It's particularly difficult to think this money will be well-used when a report from The Guardian UK reports that "Up to 70% of US Aid to Pakistan is 'misspent'". (See link, below).

So that news today comes on top of word from President Obama and the White House that they plan to give every senior citizen in the country $250.00 as part of the stimulus plans.

Forget the fact that the cost of living dropped in the last year 2 points, in effect giving the seniors additional money, now we're throwing money at them, too.

NPR reported that this is likely to "buy votes" of this very important voting lobby.

The cost for that little give away?

13 more billion dollars.

Yi.

At what point do we stop?

At what point to we quit borrowing from future generation's finances?

I'm a liberal to the core, socially, but I think this is all just way too much and that we need to rein in spending and drawn down the outlays from the treasury.

Links:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20091015/pl_nm/us_pakistan_aid_usa
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/feb/27/pakistan.usa
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113805482&ft=1&f=1003

Someone please make him go away

Dear God, Clay Chastain has reared his ugly head yet again.

Holy cow.

What is it with this guy?

Can he not just go away?

Clearly this is the only town that will give him the attention he wants and clings to so dearly.

I think, if it weren't for the Kansas City Star and maybe local TV news stations, he might truly go away.

But here he comes again.

We need light rail, as a city and I'm all for it and it makes so much sense, even if gasoline is hovering a little over $2.00 per gallon but, geez, Clay Chastain?

It's clearly all about himself and not the rail.

Give us a break, Clay.

Go home.

Enjoy life.

Heck, get a life.

Get a hobby.

Do something but let Kansas City be Kansas City, right or wrong.

Give us a freaking break.

Take your ego and go home.

Permanently, this time.


Link:
http://www.kansascity.com/news/breaking_news/story/1508431.html

Growing yet more governmnet

I thought I'd never quote Ronald Reagan but here goes: "There they go again."

Have you read or heard where President Obama wants to create yet another new governmnet agency--this time to oversee regulation of banks and the loans they create and offer?

Are you kidding me?

At what point will we stop growing government and its agencies and spending?

Here's a thought--between the FDIC, the Federal Reserve, the Commerce Department and the Consumer Protection Agency--all of which already exist, thank you very much-- couldn't one of those groups handle these functions, Mr. President?

Must we create yet another agency to do this work?

This reminds me of just after 9/11 when then-President George W. Bush created a new agency--"Homeland Security"--when it seems that the question should have been asked whether or not the FBI and/or the CIA or some other agency could not or should not have been able to handle these functions.

Not only did it seem as though one or another already-existing agencies could have handled these functions, without creating a new and, in my mind, wasteful agency but, once created, it wasted, it is reported, billions of dollars.

Three quick examples:

--After spending more than $4.5 billion on screening devices to monitor the nation's ports, borders, airports, mail and air, the federal government is moving to replace or alter much of the antiterrorism equipment, concluding that it is ineffective, unreliable or too expensive to operate.

--In its effort to create a virtual shield around America, the Department of Homeland Security now plans to spend billions of dollars more. Although some changes are being made because of technology that has emerged in the last couple of years, many of them are planned because devices currently in use have done little to improve the nation's security, according to a review of agency documents and interviews with federal officials and outside experts.

--The contract to hire airport passenger screeners grew to $741 million from $104 million in less than a year. The screeners are failing to detect weapons at roughly the same rate as shortly after the attacks.

Heck, the wasteful spending at the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was so bad so quickly that our own government did a report on its waste. (See 2nd link, below).

This whole recent example of the DHS being created when, I contend, it likely didn't need to be created anyway and then went off on a mulit-billion dollar wasteful spending blitz, shows precisely what I'm speaking of.

We create agencies we shoudn't and that we don't need AND THEN they go off wasting millions and billions of dollars of tax money.

Can someone say "stop!" please? Or how about "Don't!"?

So, again, I'm asking, cannot SOMEONE at the Commerce Department, the FDIC and/or the Federal Reserve possibly do these oversight jobs we need done--admittedly--of the banks so we, the consumers, don't get ripped-off WITHOUT creating yet another money-gobbling government agency?

PLEASE?

(And keep in mind--this is from a liberal, folks. A fiscally-conservative, socially-liberal liberal).

Link:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091009/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_obama_consumers_6
http://oversight.house.gov/Documents/20060727092939-29369.pdf
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2005/06/billions_wasted_1.html

Like Vietnam, we need to get out

I've been reading several articles in the last few days about Afghanistan and the Afghanistan war the previous administration got us into.

It seems everyone is talking, lately, about our status there now and what, exactly, we should be doing in the short- and long-term.

I think if we consider a few basic statistics and some raw, hard data about Afghanistan that we can see the only sensible thing to do is, as I said above, treat it like Vietnam and get the hell out and as soon as possible.

The following information comes from Frank Rich's article in The New York Times today:

--"the number of Qaeda insurgents there has dwindled to fewer than 100, according to the president’s national security adviser, Gen. James Jones";

--"American intelligence officials now say that 'there are few, if any, links between Taliban commanders in Afghanistan today and senior Al Qaeda members'”;

--"we will never build a functioning state in a country where there has never been one";

--we cannot "score a victory against the world’s dispersed, stateless terrorists by getting bogged down in a hellish landscape that contains few of them", describing Afghanistan;

--"The Congressional Research Service estimates that the war was running $2.6 billion a month in Pentagon expenses alone even before Obama added 20,000 troops this year";

--"The existing Afghan “army” is small, illiterate, impoverished and as factionalized as the government;"

--"Afghanistan is not Iraq. It is poorer, even larger and more populous, more fragmented and less historically susceptible to foreign intervention." Thinking that we've had "success" in Iraq is virtually completely unsupportable in my view and many others and even if you do think we've been "successful", the war and difficulties we face in Afghanistan are far more vast and troubling than Iraq;

This is the big one, for me:

--"Gen. David Petraeus stipulates that real counterinsurgency requires 20 to 25 troops for each thousand residents. That comes out, conservatively, to 640,000 troops for Afghanistan (population, 32 million). Some 535,000 American troops couldn’t achieve a successful counterinsurgency in South Vietnam, which had half Afghanistan’s population and just over a quarter of its land area";

This all, for me, brings up the following questions which Mr. Rich wrote of today:

--Why are we dealing and working with Hamid Karzai who is known to be part of greedy, corrupt and graft-laden government that is benefitting mightily from overseeing this country, which is in such a mess? and

--Why are we doing anything but writing scenarios to get out of Afghanistan as quickly, safely and intelligently as possible, given even these few facts, above, other than to "save face" for America?

--Are we too proud to do the right thing for our soldiers and our country?

The Soviets had to do it--and did--and somehow survived. If it's the right thing--in this case, withdrawing from Afghanistan, you just do it, eventually.


Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/11/opinion/11rich.html?th&emc=th

Addendum:
http://www.alternet.org/blogs/video/143097/the_human_cost_of_war%3A_the_images_the_corporate_media_doesn%27t_want_you_to_see/

General McChrystal on Afghanistan

A direct quote:

"We could do good things in Afghanistan for the next 100 years and fail because we're doing a lot of good things and it just doesn't add up to success."

Questions we need to ask, as a country, about Afghanistian:

If there was, originally, a good reason for us to be in Afghanistan, the question has to be asked why we are still there, all these 8 years later and what our plans are for the future?

What is/are the goal(s)?

Do we have a/any goal(s)?

If we are to "win" this war, how will we know when we did?

At what point is the cost in people and materiel simply not worth what we expend?

More later today.

What the heck?

How would you like to have had press secretary Robert Gibbs' job this morning?

How would you like to be the one with the job of calling your boss--the President of the United States--to tell him the Press just informed you he was being given the Nobel Peace Prize?

Yowza.

I think both of them must have had the same first response. That is, "Are you kidding?"

I mean, I'm a big fan and long-time supporter of this President and a lot of his efforts, especially in view of the previous office-holder, but this President has only been in office 9 months.

And he's considering escalating the war in Afghanistan right now, keep in mind.

But apparently President Obama is such a refreshing change from President George W. Bush and his policies that so much of what he's done and is doing is so supportive and positive and fresh for the world that this group thought he needed to be rewarded for his work to date.

It must be a giddy day at the White House.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_nobel_peace

For a good, brief read, go here for the text of the Nobel citation for the President:
http://www.reuters.com/article/GCA-BarackObama/idUSTRE5981RA20091009?virtualBrandChannel=11604

Two updates:

Apparently the White House has notified the Nobel organization that President Obama will go in person to receive the award. This will be a great time for him to make a moving speech, imploring nations to work together.

And the harping and criticism from the Republican Party has already begun.

Sad. Really sad.

Link:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/10/09/obamas-nobel-prize-inspir_n_315167.html

Why is virtually no significant media outlet covering what is possibly one of the biggest stories of the decade?

Did you hear this?

There was a brief mention of Russia, China and Saudi Arabia discussing dumping the US dollar as the currency the value oil is pegged to.

Here's the entry from NPR:

"-- The Independent -- Arab States, China, Russia, Japan And France Are Discussing Not Using Dollar For Oil Trading: "In the most profound financial change in recent Middle East history, Gulf Arabs are planning -- along with China, Russia, Japan and France -- to end dollar dealings for oil, moving instead to a basket of currencies including the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan, the euro, gold and a new, unified currency planned for nations in the Gulf Co-operation Council, including Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, Kuwait and Qatar. ... The plans, confirmed to The Independent by both Gulf Arab and Chinese banking sources in Hong Kong, may help to explain the sudden rise in gold prices, but it also augurs an extraordinary transition from dollar markets within nine years."

It was just a rumor and the reputed participants denied the rumor.

At first.

But in the article I show the first link to at the bottom of this entry, supposedly this conversation did, in fact, go on by OPEC members and it was broadcast, to the shock of reporters.

And it was November, 2007.

So this is the 2nd time this has been publicly considered, apparently.

If this should go forward, folks, the change for us in the US would be extremely far-reaching, in all likelihood.

Here's the way The Independent described it:

"In a graphic illustration of the new world order, Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading."

"The decline of American economic power linked to the current global recession was implicitly acknowledged by the World Bank president Robert Zoellick. "One of the legacies of this crisis may be a recognition of changed economic power relations," he said in Istanbul ahead of meetings this week of the IMF and World Bank. But it is China's extraordinary new financial power – along with past anger among oil-producing and oil-consuming nations at America's power to interfere in the international financial system – which has prompted the latest discussions involving the Gulf states."

I don't think the American public is paying attention, either, or knows this kind of thing might be being considered and what it might possibly mean to the nation--and themselves.

It wuold likely knock America down, financially--and considerably.

Pay attention, people.

We'd better be watching what's going on in the rest of the world.

Finally.


Link:
http://tpzoo.wordpress.com/2007/11/19/opec-leaders-debate-ditching-the-dollar-during-private-talks-which-were-mistakenly-televised-to-reporters/
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2009/10/afghanistan_pakistan_mcchrysta.html

This is the most complete and important article to read, of these three:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/the-demise-of-the-dollar-1798175.html

Then again, Mish Sedlock thinks it's balderdash:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/10/ridiculous-hype-over-secret-oil.html

Who is the "war monger", anyway?

There is a fascinating new study of the former Soviet Union's population out right now, that shows its population is decreasing, and strongly, by the millions.

I heard of it this morning on NPR but after doing the most rudimentary search on the internet, I found--quickly and easily--that this has been going on for some time.

I'll get into some data in a second but what this means is, I think, that we can and should stop "fighting the last war"--the Cold War--and start thinking in new, intelligent, positive, current-moment ways. If we did and do, I think it's painfully obvious we can--and again, should--decrease our military budgets and spending.

After all, it's the military budgets of the former Soviet Union that was, in part, to blame for its collapse, if we'll remember.

That data:

"Russia's population has fallen by 6.6 million since 1993, despite the influx of millions of immigrants, according to a U.N. report released last year, and by 2025 the country could lose a further 11 million people."

"Recent Kremlin efforts to reward women for having more babies have caused a surge in the birth rate, the U.N. has said, but won't make much difference in the long term."

"Population levels in many developed countries have stagnated and are expected to fall by 2025, but Russia's population, currently around 142 million, has been in retreat since 1992. Russia's mortality rate is among the highest in the developed world, with average life expectancy for males at barely 60 years."

"For reasons that are not fully understood, Russians suffer very high levels of cardiovascular disease. But most experts blame the country's overall high death rate on alcohol. Drinking has been linked to everything from liver disease to Russia's high number of murders, suicides and fatal accidents."

Oh, and here's a beauty. Does the following sound familiar, ladies and gentlemen?

"The U.N. has also urged Russia to overhaul the health system to provide more efficient care..."

It surely sounds as though we have a lot more in common with these people--our former enemies--than we think.

The fact is, I think we could and should work with these people, yes, for the betterment of their country for peaceful, humanitarian goals and put little American flags on everything we do.

If we would tie ourselves in their minds to bettering their country, they would see us in a new, positive light.

The additional fact is, our country grossly overspends our GNP and GDP on military hardware.

It's obscene.

It's stupid.

The military industrial machine has taken over our government and our country and we need to wean ourselves off this section of our production.

The US, folks, spends $623 billion per year (as of FY08) on our military budget.

The entire rest of the world spends $500 billion.

Is this not insanity?

Who, exactly, is the "war monger" here?

The number 2 position is China, sure, and as of what must be the latest, most accurate data--FY04--they spent $65 billion.

$65 billion vs. our $623 billion.

You know what this means?

This means China is far more able to spend on infrastructure and on business and--here's a novel idea--their people than we are because they aren't filling warehouses with guns and bombs.

Who do you think will be better able to succeed, financially, in this scenario? The country stockpiling weapons or the nation bettering their country?

Let me suggest we get a heck of a lot more rational and merely cut the military budget in half--down to a mere $300 billion dollars--and put the balance into oh, I don't know, how about health care and schools and roads?

And while we're at it, could we look into finally get out of Germany and Italy, too?

Doesn't that seem to make a heck of a lot more sense than the insanity we're perpetrating now?

Link to stories:
http://www.voanews.com/english/archive/2006-03/2006-03-08-voa62.cfm
http://geography.about.com/od/obtainpopulationdata/a/russiapop.htm
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113490614
http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/spending.htm

Here's an idea for taxation and corporations

Question and proposal: Why don't we have a minimum 10% tax on all businesses in the United States, regardless of deductions?

It could and should serve as a minimum requirement for working, living and benefitting from being in this country and having exposure to its markets.

100 failed banks next week?

Three more banks failed Friday evening, making the total number of failed banks this year here in the US right at 98.

So, any bets on 2 more going down next Friday evening so it comes to an even 100 (or more?).

I'm thinking it's a pretty sad, unfortunate, expensive, unnecessary inevitability.

I hope not but I'd bet on it.

And I try to only bet on "sure things".

But the real question is, where is the bottom? At what point will the bank failures stop?

And no one can even begin to guess at that answer.

Link: http://www.propublica.org/ion/bailout/item/bank-failures-at-98-ytd

Terrific, even important, art exhibits in town right now

 

It turns out, this is really quite an art weekend for Kansas City.

Last evening was "1st Friday" in the Crossroads area, of course and while that's behind us, two exhibits are available right now, very different from one another, that are "can't miss" exhibits.

The Kemper Gallery of Contemporary Art has an exhibit of pieces by Wyeth family members--N.C., Andrew, James and Henriette--that is a knockout. Thanks to the Kemper family, of course, for both the gallery itself and now for several of these artworks, you can enjoy quite a range of talent and style.

Then, at Union Station, you can see a terrific display of Andy Warhol originals.

They're being shown as part of a Bank of America sponsorship and tour of the country. It's inexpensive, at only $12.00 per person and it doesn't take 2 or 3 hours to see.

I would recommend you go down at 2 or 3 in the afternoon, though. When we arrived, at about 1:30 pm, we had to pay $5.00 to park. My immediate, knee-jerk reaction was to dislike it. But then I got to thinking about supporting Union Station and this type touring exhibit and I thought it made sense and was fair. However, when we came back to the car an hour later, the barricades and money-takers were gone. It made no sense. We were back to feeling taken advantage of again. Oh, well.

One last note, I've put some pictures up from Union Station and our tour at my photography blog: www.kcphotogblog.blogspot.com.

Have a great weekend, y'all.