Thank you, Ewing and Muriel Kauffman

Thank you, Ewing. Thank you, Muriel. Thank you so much. We'll never forget.

We'll never forget you. We're forever grateful.

Former Kansas City Royals owner Ewing Kauffman and his wife, Muriel, before the start of a 1985, October World Series game between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals at Royals Stadium.

America's Actual Health Care Problems

The news has been breaking lately--

Employees' Share of Health Insurance 

Costs Rising

So naturally, too many people are blaming it on Obamacare. 

The fact is, the culprit and problem isn't Obamacare, the actual problem is that we still have our health care costs tied to profit and profits.  It needs to be pointed out, yet again, that NO OTHER INDUSTRIALIZED NATION IN THE WORLD does this. No other nation ties health care to profit. 

It's why we have the most expensive health care system in the world. It's how we got where we are today. To now blame Obamacare and President Obama for the health care costs rising just gives further license to these corporations to raise their rates and premiums and prices all the further. It's insane. It's how we're getting things like this:

U.S. Health Care Costs Rise Faster 

Than Inflation

We have to end our current system of health care and go to a single payer plan, once and for all.

ROYALS WIN THE 2015 WORLD SERIES!!!

To any and all Kansas City bloggers--and anyone else--who didn't believe and who thought we couldn't and/or wouldn't take it all.

Good Article on Kansas City, Charlie Parker, Count Basie and More in NYT Today

Interesting article in Sunday's New York Times about Kansas City, Charlie Parker, Count Basie, New York and a whole lot more today.

Count Basie, right, playing baseball in 1947. CreditAfro American Newspapers/Gado, via Getty Images

The Mets, the Royals and Charlie Parker, 

Linked by Autumn

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — After the Mets and the Royals had secured spots in the World Series, observers searched for connections between the teams. There seemed to be few.

But as the Series shifted from Kansas City to New York, it followed a well-trodden path, forged decades ago with the migration of some of the most influential musicians of the 20th century.

Just as Kansas City once effectively served as a feeder system of ballplayers to New York, Kansas City’s hopping nightclub scene was the fertile ground that produced some of New York’s top musical acts, and baseball was a cherished pastime for many of them....

It goes on.

...jazz, baseball, Kansas City and New York are closely intertwined in American culture.

“There was a time when everybody went to Kansas City,” said Phil Schaap, a prominent jazz historian and archivist. “Many of them eventually moved on to New York and made it there. But Kansas City, along with New York, Chicago and New Orleans, is one of the citadels of jazz. And during the swing era, all the bands had teams.”

Great stuff. Interesting article. You might want to check it out.

There's certainly more here than just our Royals to get attention from the Big Apple and world.

Fantastic Documentary

Fantastic, even important film to see.



"We're not accusing you of being illegal. We're accusing you of being immoral."


Hundreds of billions of dollars.

Watch for it.

Kids Today.... Huh

Kids today

They have it so easy.

Why, when I was a boy, we had to reach ALL THE WAY TO THE RADIO DIAL in the car, to turn up the volume or change a station. None of this fancy shmancy pushing a button on the steering wheel to turn it up or change the station.

And putting the window down?? Fuggedaboudit! We had to ROLL IT UP OR DOWN. None of this pushing a button to raise or lower it.

And clocks!

When WE switched to Daylight Savings Time, we HAD TO GO AROUND TO EACH AND EVERY CLOCK IN THE HOUSE and change the time. None of this automatically having the time change for you on these cell phones and computers.

I tell ya.

Kids today have it easy.

We get no respect.

Still Think the Republican Party Isn't Self-Destructing?

If anyone out there isn't convinced the Republican Party isn't in full-on self-destruct mode, check out these few headlines from yesterday afternoon---one day--alone. This first one knocked me out.

GOP Campaigns Will Reportedly Meet to Discuss Taking Debates Out of RNC Control

Read that again. Then think about it.

The GOP---the Republicans--are apparently going to have a meeting to discuss taking the organization and control of the presidential debates out of the control of the Republican National Committee.

Folks, that is stunning. And they can't blame it on having a token black man at the head of the RNC any more, either.

That is incredible, by itself. But there's more.

Mark Levin Trashes 'Incompetent' Reince Priebus: 'Should Be Fired!'

This has been going on for some time and I've noted and written on this before. The Right Wingers, whether in religion or Christianity or politics and government have to increasingly prove themselves the most extreme, the "furthest right/Right", the most fervent, the "closest to God."

It's disgusting. It's crazy and they "out crazy" each other doing it.

I show this next one because it shows how really awful the Republican candidates for the highest office in the nation and arguably the most powerful nation in the world really are.

Trump on Future Debates: 'Maybe Every Moderator Should Show That They Vote Republican'

And even Republicans are aware of how badly Republicans are doing and how they're handling their own campaigns for the White House.

Lindsey Graham on RNC's Handling of Debates: 'This Is Getting Pretty Bad'

This last one isn't from yesterday but it shows where we, as a nation, have been going in recent years. And thank goodness.

Fewer People Identify As Republicans Now

It's enough to give a person hope.

Entertainment Overnight -- Back in Bach

Magnificent

Just a Few of the Things We Need to Change in America

We have big and small issues in America now that certainly need addressing but if you just look at the following facts, it's obvious we have things we badly, sorely need to address and fix.

Just a few of them:

--Most expensive health care in the world

--Worst mortality rates, in spite of what we pay, out of the top 17 industrialized nations

--Spending more on defense, again, far and away, than any other nation in the world

--More people shot and killed by weapons, by a huge measure, than any other nation in the world

--Longest election seasons of any nation in the world

--More paid for those elections, by any measure, than any other nation

--Wages in the nation have stagnated for not just years but for many years and so,

--America's middle class is shrinking

--More paid to government representatives and candidates for office than any other nation since we legalized bribery and call it "campaign contributions

These 9 things alone show we have huge problems in our nation.


Oh, yeah, we have things we need to change. Absolutely. And we need to get started.

#FeeltheBern

Bernie Sanders For President

A Big Day

Yes sir, it's a big day. Besides being the day before Hallowe'en, it's also

National Candy Corn Day

and then it's also

National Frankenstein Friday

Have a good weekend and enjoy.

Entertainment Overnight -- A Republican Debate

With these people, these things seem possible.

Entertainment Overnight -- Classical Competition

Beauty on beauty.

TODAY IS WHAT DAY??

And here are some deals and freebies.

So get out there...

AND IT'S THE ROYALS!!!

To all the non-believers and haters out there!!

In Which We Give David Glass His Due

A few years ago, when the Kansas City Royals were continually losing at baseball and the owner, David Glass, was spending very little on the team and being ranked one of the 3 worst Major League Baseball owners, I and a lot of others spoke ill of Mr. Glass and his ownership and managerial skills.

That was then.

Since that time, Mr. Glass has begun spending more on the the team and putting the right people in place to make things happen, in positive ways, for those same Royals, our own Kansas City Royals.

So here we are, the 2nd time the team is in the playoffs for the World Series--and won. So Tuesday, as the entire city and state and region and heck, the nation, knows, the Kansas City Royals are World Series bound.

So here's to you, Mr. Glass. We disparaged both your spending and managerial work. It's only fitting that we now, when they're winning, honestly praise him for getting the team where they are now.

Kudos to you, Mr. Glass.

And thank you.

Now, please keep it going, long as possible.

The John Ellis Bush Presidential Candidate Theme Song

"...when everything is handed to you

It's only worth as much as the time put in

It all just seems so good the way we had it

Back before everything became automatic

Automatic"

Yeah.

That pretty much says it all right there.

On Donald Trump, Our National Politics and All of Us

Just the average statements and opinions of Donald Trump alone show it all to be an indictment, not just of his ignorance and crudeness but yes, of our political system and so many of us, honestly, who would support this man for the highest leadership position of the nation.

To Any and All Kansas City Sports Naysayers!

Suck it, haters!

Royals clinch second straight AL pennant, beat Blue Jays 4-3 to advance to World Series

Big Republican Problems Today, After Their 11 Hour Fiasco Yesterday

Republicans, today, this morning, don't just have one problem because yesterday's Benghazi interrogation/investigation/committee went badly. They have at least a few.  And they're not small.

The first is this--this poll came out just as yesterday's interrogation went down:

Poll: 3-in-4 say Benghazi panel politically motivated

Second, both Congressmen Trey Gowdy and Jim Jordan, at minimum, came across as attacking, impatient, rude people who then appeared slanted, biased, one-sided, negative and just ugly.

Next, what the media thinks and ends up saying will also make a difference. Last evening, reporter Carl Bernstein, of the Watergate Woodward/Bernstein crew, said last evening on CNN that this investigation of Benghazi today has become as abusive as Joe McCarthy and his McCarthy hearings, all those decades ago.

Fourth, the fact that this interrogation of former Secretary Clinton took 11 full hours yesterday will, I think, hurt the Republicans, since no new material was covered, factually. In fact, Congressman Gowdy said nothing new came from this 11 hours of interrogation, once it was over. All that and nothing new. If that doesn't spell waste of time and energy and, worst of all, money, nothing does.

Then there is the point I made here last evening---

According to PBS NewsHour last evening, there have been 22 individual hearings on Benghazi. For a sharp comparison, there were 21 hearings on the 9/11 tragedy. That's a lot of wasted time. And worse, money. Our government tax money.

Then there's this, for anyone who might think or say this isn't a political witch hunt:

Finally, this may be the most damaging, for the Republicans, of all, out of yesterday's hearings. Instead of hurting Secretary Clinton---

Fox's Ed Henry: Clinton "Did Look Presidential, She Did Look In Command Today, Just Like She Did At That Last Debate"

Besides finding nothing new and instead of hurting former Secretary Clinton/candidate Clinton, it likely, apparently helped, even strengthened her.

Ironically, even wonderfully, the Republicans were nearly immediately being pilloried in the media even during the hearings, let alone after, for this Benghazi grilling, ongoing and ugly as it is.

Followed, this week by last week's inability to even come up with a Speaker of the House quickly and easily, it's obvious, very obvious, the Republican Party is in worse shape internally and externally, both, than they ever imagined possible.

2016 looks better and better, doesn't it?

This Very Wasteful Republican Congress

Check this out.

According to PBS NewsHour this evening, there have been 22 individual hearings on Benghazi.

For a sharp comparison, there were 21 hearings on the 9/11 tragedy.

They also held more than 50 attempts to overturn Obamacare.

I'm glad this Republican Congress has its priorities straight and that they're not wasting time and tax money.

How long are we going to put up with this hugely wasteful, very political nonsense, America?

Links:  Where the Benghazi Committee Went Wrong

Republicans still trying and failing to break Hillary Clinton on Benghazi

The Truth About the Democratic Candidates for President 2016

The fact is, the truth is, of the Democratic candidates for president this go 'round, for 2016, there is Bernie Sanders....    and then there is everybody else.

Senator Sanders has been fighting for most of America---the middle-, lower- and working-classes---for years and speaking up for and about us.

Everyone else in their campaigns just try to mouth more of the same things, just weaker. The best examples of this is in the front-runner, to date, Hillary Clinton, followed closely--in talking points only, not popularity--by Martin O'Malley.

Whenever I hear one of these candidates talking about supporting the middle class and fighting the wealthy gaining any more money, all I can hear is the essence of what Senator Sanders has been talking about for years and with far more conviction and original ideas.

Entertainment Overnight -- America

Blues. With the incomparable Keb Mo.  Backstage at the White House.


America, the beautiful.

What We Didn't Hear At the Democratic Debate

Check out what MSNBC cut out of the Democratic Debate a few weeks ago.



Senator Sanders, talking about the poor job the media is doing and that we're falling into oligarchy.

Imagine that.

An Extremely Worthwhile, Educational Eleven Minutes

Following is eleven minutes and 9 seconds of rather important information,  I think, that unfortunately, most Americans won't see.

Please enjoy.



And what are we going to do about it? All of it?

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!

The US and Where the Republican Party Wants to Take Us (Guest Post)

Great questions--and facts--on our United States today, from one Wayne Stiles  out on Facebook earlier.

Since when did it become acceptable in this country to toss the weakest of us overboard?

There is a political party dedicated to castrating the poorest among us.

It started out by refusing to extend unemployment benefits at a time when we were hemorrhaging 800,000 jobs a month.

Then it was cutting off food stamps to these same families. Taking food off the tables of the hungriest and poorest families.

Then the GOP showed how truly despicable they were.

Laws were passed to keep people from feeding the homeless. People were being arrested for feeding homeless families.

Laws passed to make it illegal to sleep ANYWHERE outside. Homeless people were being arrested.

Then the GOP sank to its lowest depths.

It began cutting off help to our veterans and seniors.

Veterans committing suicide at a rate of 200,000 a year. Seniors deciding whether to eat or pay bills. Denying healthcare to them all.

But the worst atrocity is while doing this, the GOP is taking that money and giving it away wholesale to the wealthiest.

Do we change this or not?

The Possible Incredibility of Our American Presidency

Sure, I'd prefer Senator Sanders to win not just the Democratic nomination but presidency but.....

but think of this.

If the first black President the Democrats gave the United States was followed by the first female president...

Who then also gave us the first Hispanic vice president....

Clinton-Castro Appearance in San Antonio

But think about it. Think about this 2016 presidential race. 

It looks very like a Democrat will win the whole thing.

When you look at the Republican candidates, it seems clear their candidates are, honestly, far too extreme, at the very least, to be elected, if not just downright.....   well.....  dumb.  Honestly. Legitimately.

So, truth be told, again, we're going to go from the first black president to either the first female...

Or the first, oldest, Jewish president in the nation's history.

Fantastic times, ladies and gentlemen.

Fantastic times.

Most People Don't Recognize the Bizarro Election World We've Stepped Into

I don't think most Americans recognize how truly unprecedented and even, honestly, bizarre a world we've entered now, this go 'round with our 2016 presidential election cycle. And it's this headline, last evening, that brought it home to me:

It Looks Like Jeb Bush is About To 

Drop Out

Mind you, it's speculation but between John Ellis' popularity--and lack of it--and so, the corresponding lack of money (see headline, below), it does at least look bad for him, if not politically fatal.  This is from none other than what should be his own people, the Wall Street Journal, last evening:

Jeb Bush Has $10.3 Million on Hand, as Fundraising Slowed

I won't get into the details of his money, any reader can do that on their own. The fact is, if, in this mish-mash of Republican candidates, the "chosen one" of the big money Republicans and traditionalists not only can't make it but is over-run by the likes of the very misogynist and racist Donald Trump and the extremely simplistic, even empty Dr. Ben Carson, well, folks, it means very, very bad things for this nation.

Mind you, it should be clear from this writer and blogger and blog that the last thing I'd personally or politically want is for a Republican of the last 30 years, at least, to win any presidential--or even Congressional--race in our country. But the fact is, if more middle-of-the-road, mainstream---however dumbed-down---John Ellis Bush can't make it in a campaign with the likes of his competition, it bodes badly, very badly for the race itself but for the nation at large. 

Again, from last evening, look at what his toughest competition are doing in the last 24 hours:

Trump, Carson threaten to boycott next GOP debate

Yes. They're running to be president of the United States yet they're threatening to boycott the only debates the party has scheduled. Check that out:

(CNN) Republican front-runners Donald Trump and Ben Carson are threatening to pull out of the next Republican primary debate if the hosts don't agree to their demands.

In a letter to CNBC, which is hosting the next debate, the two candidates said they would not participate in the Oct. 28 debate "if it is longer than 120 minutes including commercials and does not include opening and closing statements."

Facebook political/social satirist Kona Lowell  said it very well last evening:

So Trump and Carson demand that the next debate last only two hours. Fine. Let's analyze this. That's 120 minutes. There are 13 candidates. That means each candidate would get 9.2 minutes. Subtract time for commercials. Include an opening/closing statement for each candidate. That leaves just enough time for Trump to call someone a loser and Carson to compare lowering student loan debt to the Holocaust.

And unfortunately, in America, things are ranked, and often won, simply by how much money one has. With our Citizens United rules from the Supreme Court and very legal campaign contributions--what would be, in the rest of the world, bribes--government representatives win and lose, live and die by how much money they take in.

So John Ellis has 10.3 million dollars on hand.

Very scary Ted Cruz has 13.5 million.

Kooky Ben Carson has nearly the same as John Ellis at 11 million.

Everyone else in this money race is an "also ran" and so, irrelevant.

I'm telling you, folks, this Republican presidential race for 2016 was bad and is getting worse and worse all the time. John Ellis Bush was more of a moderate who tried to be extreme Right Wing, by voice only, in order to get votes and win.

That Donald Trump and Ben Carson are leading the pack, leading this field of candidates both in money and popularity should scare anyone who knows what's good for most all of America, and so, the entire nation.

Link: Who's winning the 2016 GOP money race?

On Guns

Then and now.

Entertainment Overnight -- Singin' In the Rain