An Open Letter to Senator Josh Hawley

From Senator Hawley's Facebook page today.

SENATOR JOSH HAWLEY WANTS ACTION, NOT APOLOGIES FOR WOJ F-BOMB

He posted it on his Facebook page today with this:

Hey ESPN - don’t make Adrian Wojnarowski apologize. He’s just saying what he really thinks. Call out the NBA. You know, your job

To which I resond:

Dear Senator Hawley,

Could and would you please do some real, actual work for the citizens of Missouri, Senator? Please? Actual work. Things that help us. Stop this obvious, pitiful, pathetic posturing and see to it hospitals across the state have enough personal equipment for this pandemic and/or work on improving our infratstructure, as just two easy, fast, important examples?

I can't believe we have to say this. I say again, I-70 needs improving, updating and widening, for pity's sake, from St. Louis, all across the state to Kansas City. How dare you waste time on this while we have real, actual needs. What the absolute heck. Get busy. Do actual work. Stop grandstanding. Please.

Your rant here and this issue is about an NBA TEAM.

May I point out to you, sir, that THERE IS NOT ONE NBA TEAM IN THE ENTIRE STATE OF MISSOURI?

How ironic, how hypocritical can you get, sir? Hopefully no more or worse than this.

This news broke yesterday.

Missouri again breaks record for 

most COVID-19 cases

Meanwhile, this news broke today.

California, Florida, Texas report new single day high coronavirus death tolls

These all have the potential to effect Missourians.

It's surprising you're not embarrassed by this post but that you proudly put it out there, instead. This is insane. It shows your deeply skewed, very wrong priorities or a lack of priorities at all.

Get to work. For the citizens of Missouri. Again, for pity's sake, top the grandstanding. 

Please.

It's hard to believe anyone has to even say this.

Happy Birthday, Yogi!

Yes sir and ma'am! Wishing a very happy birthday, however posthumously, to the one and only Yogi Berra!

New York Yankees player, manager and coach Yogi Berra was born on this day in 1925 in our own St. Louis, Mo., and died at age 90 in 2015 in New Jersey, 69 years to the day after his MLB debut. The son of Italian immigrants, Pietro and Paulina Berra, he dropped out of school after the eighth grade and began working to help his family.

Christened Lawrence Peter Berra, he received the nickname "Yogi" from a friend who thought he resembled a yogi from India when he sat, arms and legs crossed, while waiting to bat.

Berra-isms, some of which he never uttered, live on. Or as he put it, “I never said some of the things I said.”

They’re too good to check, so here are 10 reminders from Berra to start the day (USA Today).

"Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical."

"The future ain’t what it used to be."

"When you come to a fork in the road, take it."

"You wouldn’t have won if we’d beaten you."

"You can observe a lot by just watching."

"It ain’t over till it’s over."

""We have deep depth."

"It’s like déjà vu all over again."

"A nickel ain’t worth a dime anymore."

"All pitchers are liars or crybabies."

Most all of the above from "The Hill" today.

Link to yet more of those fantastic Yogi Berra-isms:

Yogi Berra quotes: The 50 greatest sayings from Yankees legend

Shocking Information On Coronavirus Deaths in St. Louis

I just saw this article online from Newsweek.

ALL CORONAVIRUS DEATHS IN ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI HAVE BEEN AFRICAN AMERICANS

Honestly, that is shocking.

That's one heck of an indictment of our health care system and even, honestly, our society.

These are fellow Missourians and Americans. We can't allow this now but going forward.

More:

The Coronavirus Is a Wake-Up Call for Racial Inequality. It’s Time to Change the System

COVID-19 is disproportionately killing minorities. That’s not a coincidence

An Open Letter to Missouri's Governor Mike Parson

Governor Parson,

Sir, you are not doing yourself or our state, Missourians, any favors by his not putting in place a statewide stay-at-home order for this coronavirus pandemic. Just check out a few of the headlines. So far, as you know, this has been your stance, through today.

Missouri Governor Resists Calls 

for Stay-at-Home Order

Meanwhile, major cities are doing the right thing, as we know even right here in Kansas City but others, too.

Mayor Lucas issues “Stay at Home” order for Kansas City

St. Louis Mayor and County Executive Issues Stay at Home Order

Springfield stay-at-home ordered amid coronavirus pandemic

People in Missouri's biggest cities ordered to stay home

Three Missouri jurisdictions require citizens to stay home

Heck, even counties across the state have declared stay-at-home orders.

St. Charles County issues stay-at-home order

Jefferson County issues stay at home order through April

Interactive map shows which Missouri counties have stay-at-home orders

Famously, our neighbors to the West were able to do this, wisely.

Kansas Governor Laura Kelly establishes statewide Stay at Home Order
Some current statistics on us, on Missouri just now with this virus. Pointing out the reason for concern and why this action needs to be taken.

More than 900 people test positive for COVID-19 in Missouri

Missouri tops 1,000 COVID-19 cases, 13 total deaths

Missouri coronavirus cases spike; unclear if it's a hot spot

Some leaders across the nation have taken to the media and social media to chastise others who won't put these into effect.

California governor urges state leaders to issue stay-at-home orders: 'What are you waiting for?'

Even St. Louis is trying to either figure out your stance or explain it. And it, too, doesn't reflect well on you.

Gov. Mike Parson's Pathetic Non-Response to Crisis Exposes Cultural Divide

Here's just some statistics for the nation, breaking today from The Hill:

U.S. death toll tops 5,000:

• More than 1,000 Americans died of the coronavirus yesterday, moving the total American deaths from the virus to more than 5,100. https://bit.ly/39AYhZT
• In the New York City metropolitan area alone: More than 1,374 people have died. The states total deaths have totaled at least 1,941, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D). https://bit.ly/3aDWZ1o
• There are more than 217,000 cases in the United States. https://cnn.it/2UAgW3y

And these two.

More than 1,000 in US die in a single day from coronavirus, doubling the worst daily death toll of the flu

US coronavirus deaths top 5,000, 

with 1,000 in one day

Additionally, there is data showing the benefits of these stay at home orders.

Social distancing works. The earlier the better, California and Washington data show.

Meanwhile, Missourians and groups of Missourians are asking you, sir to do just this, put in a stay-at-home order.

Local clergy ask Parson to issue stay-at-home order

This could be a reason or one of the reasons you aren't issuing this statewide stay order. 

Parson faces unrest among Missouri conservatives as he heads into 2020

You know, we know, you need the hard support of all his Republican and Right Wing, very conservative base and you maybe want to follow this President's lead, perhaps.

But here's the thing. Here's why these stay-at-home orders are needed just now and so important.

Do the math: Stay-at-home orders will save lives

Stay-at-home orders are not absurd. 

They will save lives

Physical distancing is vital to 

change coronavirus math

Ironically, this op/ed writer says stay at home orders are the best way to save, yes, the economy.

Opinion: Stay-at-home is the best chance to save our economy

Sure, it's tough, very tough on the economy and business.

But what, ultimately, is more important?

Business or our lives?

So we implore you, Governor Parsons. please issue a statewide stay-at-home order at least through April 24 or the end of April. At least. It's the right thing to do. Heck, even Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis did it, yesterday. Even he saw the importance of it.

Please sir. Do this. Do the right thing. And soon as possible. Today would be great. These are tough times. This is a tough situation. We, the citizens of Missouri, need this.

Sincerely,

Lots of Missouri citizens, all across the state, including and maybe especially the medical community of our state

Link:

White House: 100,000 to 240,000 Will Die From Coronavirus

Reason to Celebrate, Kansas City!

Kansas City, nearly unbelievably to me, anyway, given the coverage of our shootings and killings, didn't make an ugly list recently.

Murder map: Deadliest U.S. cities

Herewith, some highlights--

• Wichita, Kansas, 58. Stunningly tied here with MIAMI, FLORIDA.
• Topeka, tied at the 50 spot with Columbus, OH.
• Dallas 49. Houston, 47.
• Tulsa at 30, tied with Fort Wayne, IN.
• Oakland, CA at 27.
• Atlanta, GA 23.
• Peoria, IL 18.
• Little Rock, AR, 17.
• Chicago, 16.
• Washington, DC at 10.
• Memphis, 6.
• New Orleans at 4.
• Detroit at 3. Not the worst.

St. Louis, Missouri at the number one worst spot of deadliest cities in the nation.

Even little old Springfield is there at number 61.

But no Kansas City.

Yahoo.

One for a win.

I'll take it. We'll take it, for sure.

Worst Run Cities and Missouri Takes a Hit

There's another one of those "Best in America" and "Worst in America" lists out on the interwebs this week and once again, Missouri takes a hit. Here you go.

Worst-run cities in America

To start, neighbor Topeka is on the list at 48.

The bad news? Kansas City, Missouri is on the list. The good news? It’s in the bottom half at 42

KCK, however, is in the top half and very nearly in the top 10 at 13.

And side note, once again, they show a picture of KCMO when trying to represent the cities.

Makes one wonder about the scale they use.

Anyway, other rather comparable notables from here in the Midwest:

Indianapolis #46
Nashville 43
KCMO 42
Wichita 38
Tulsa 34
Ft Smith and Little Rock, 30 & 29, respectively
Chicago 25
Memphis 9
Toledo 8
Gary IN 7
Flint MI 5

But dang.

St. Louis.

What a ranking. 

Check this out.

2nd worst in the nation at number 2 for worst run city. 

 Ow.

Worst----Detroit. Not a shock.

The flip side?

Best-run cities in America

Las Vegas 47
Washington DC 46
Denver 44
Minneapolis 40
Des Moines 39
St Paul 37
Cedar Rapids 23

New York 16

Lincoln NE 14

Number one belongs to Huntington Beach, CA, which is outrageously unfair. Mountains, ocean, beaches, great weather, all that and well run, too.

Disgusting.

One of Missouri's Biggest Cities Takes a Hit

An article hit the interwebs early yesterday.

These 5 Cities Have Lost Half or More of Their Populations Since 1950

And sure, I figured Buffalo, New York might be on there.

And Pittsburgh.

And Cleveland.

And very likely Detroit, and maybe it at number one.

But check out what major American city was, in fact, in the number one spot on this list and has lost half or more than half of its population since 1950

What the report had to say--

1. St. Louis

> Decline from 1950 decade peak: -64.7%
> 1950 population: 856,796
> 2018 population: 302,838

With a population of 856,796, St. Louis was the eighth largest city in the country in 1950. The city’s population has steadily declined since then to just over 300,000 in 2018, ranking as only the 64th largest city in the United States. Like other cities with long-term population declines, adverse socioeconomic conditions are prevalent in parts of St. Louis. East St. Louis, for example, is far and away the most dangerous city in Illinois and one of the most dangerous cities in the United States. Also, one in four people living in St. Louis live in poverty, well above the national poverty rate of 14.6%.

While St. Louis may not be booming, certain aspects of the city do show signs of renewed prosperity. Relatively high immigration from Asia has helped offset some of the out-migration. The city’s sports teams, the Cardinals and the Blues, do very well, which can help support population and economic growth. And, plenty of universities and large companies still operate and thrive in the city.

That’s depressing.

And sure, it's not Kansas City but hey, it's Missouri. It still hurts.

Look What Missouri City is 2nd Worst in the Nation for Property Crime

There's an article out today on MSN ranking the cities with the highest and lowest rates of property crime.

20 Cities With the Highest and Lowest Rates 

of Property Crime

And a Missouri city is in the 2nd to worst spot on it.

And it's not St. Louis.

And it's not Kansas City.

It is, however the "Queen City of the Ozarks."

2. Springfield, Mo.

Population: 168,307
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 74.88

So much for the stereotype of Midwest towns as safe, sleepy places. In Springfield, the property crime rate is more than eight times higher than of the city with the lowest property crime rate.

Springfield, unfortunately, isn’t alone in the neighborhood, if it can make them feel any better. Not that far away Little Rock, Arkansas is 4th worst in the nation.

4. Little Rock, Ark.

Population: 198,800
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 63.23

Most of the cities with high property crime rates aren’t necessarily prone to violent crime. However, Little Rock is the exception. Reviews.org says its analysis found the Arkansas capital would be a contender for a spot on a top-10 list of violent crime as well.

What’s truly odd is the city is in the number one slot.

1. Salt Lake City, Utah

Population: 193,918
Property crimes per 1,000 people: 75.4

Can you believe it? Salt Lake City, capital of Utah and home of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka the Mormon Church), has the highest property crime rate in the country according to Reviews.org. There were 75.4 property crimes per 1,000 residents in 2016.

I thought those Mormons were law-abiding and had everything under control out West. Clearly wrong here.

The great news?

Kansas City is nowhere on the list.

Have a great weekend, y'all.

Notes, Facts, Recent Developments On This Presidential Administration

The following are just some of the most recent developments emanating from this Presidential Administration. Source: Wake Up To Politics

--The Senate Intelligence Committee concluded in a bipartisan report that Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election to help Donald Trump and hurt Hillary Clinton.

--The Senate Judiciary Committee released more than 2,500 of pages of testimony and documents related to the 2016 Trump Tower meeting between top Trump campaign officials (Donald Trump Jr., Jared Kushner, and Paul Manafort) and Russians. Trump Jr. told the panel that he had been expecting the Russians to provide "potential information about an opponent" in the meeting, which was set up after he received an email promising dirt on Hillary Clinton as part of "Russia and its government's support for Mr. Trump."

So with that, right there, the Trump family, the Trump campaign to have Donald J Trump, was willing to turn to a self-sworn enemy of the United States in order for him to become President.

If that's not treason, ladies and gentlemen, nothing else is.

--In a new financial disclosure form, President Trump formally acknowledged reimbursing his longtime lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, for an October 2016 $130,000 payment to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels.

Proving the President did, in fact, lie when he said, publicly, on the record, on Air Force One, that he had no knowledge of any payment to Stormy Daniels.

--The Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) detailing payments Michael Cohen received from AT&T, pharmaceutical company Novartis, and a firm tied to a Russian oligarch were leaked by a law enforcement official who became considered after other reports went missing, the official told the New Yorker. 

But wait.  It gets better.

The official said that two reports documenting even larger transactions flowing into Cohen's accounts suddenly disappeared from the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FINCEN) database, a rare occurrence, driving him to leak the third report.

A summary of the last year of the investigation of this President and his election campaign:

In the past year, Mueller has...brought 75 criminal charges against 19 people — including President Trump's former national security adviser, former campaign chairman, and two other former campaign aides — and three companies, racking up five guilty pleas and one sentence, according to CNN.

Additionally and finally here, for today, from the last 24 hours:

Trump on immigrants: 'These aren't people. 

These are animals.'

In Rebuke of Trump, 

Tillerson Says Lies 

Are a Threat to Democracy

Fascinating, Even Surprising, Fantastic Information From “Most Violent Cities” List

There is an article just out today with fascinating statistics from the FBI on crime in the US, in our cities and which of them have the most violent crime per 100,000 residents.

FBI data reveals some of the most violent cities in nearly every state

There are some surprises on it, at least to me.

Little old Topeka, Kansas is on the list at number 32 with 29.2 violent crimes per 10,000 residents

Omaha, too, is at number 30 on the list with 31.4 violent crimes per 10,000 residents

Minneapolis is on the list at number 12 w/ 23.7 violent crimes per 10,000 people.

Tulsa at number 14 with 50.9 violent crimes per 10,000 residents.

Little Rock, Arkansas on the list at a scary, depressing #4 w/ 87.4 violent crimes per 10,000.

Our own St. Louis, however, is on the list and at a depressing #3 w/ 91.5 violent crimes per 10,000.

Memphis hit #2 and poor Baltimore, Maryland is at number 1 with 98.6 violent crimes per 10,000.

But here’s the kicker, Kansas City.


We aren’t on the list.


We aren’t even on the list.


Not Kansas City, Missouri.

Not Kansas City, Kansas.

Neither one.

It gets better, too.

We're not in the top 20 worst.

Not in the top 10.

Not the top 5.

Nothing.

So kudos to you, Kansas City. Great on you, great on us.

Don’t let some blogger in his mother’s basement scare you, folks, with ALL CAPITOL LETTERS and yellow journalism tactics.

We’re not going to Hell in any handbasket.

In Case You Don't Understand Why Athletes Are Taking a Knee

Local columnist Jenee Osterheldt put it better than just about anyone today in our own Kansas City Star.

Another black man dead, 

another white cop free

I wondered if he knew riding a bicycle without a light could get you killed. Not by traffic, but by the police.

Did Patrick Harmon know that his black skin was something to be feared? Surely it’s something he’d learned in his short 50 years.

Is that why Harmon ran away when, on Aug. 13, the cops went to arrest him in Salt Lake City? They said he threatened them. The video shows him complying. They said he had a knife; one officer said it was “the scariest situation he had ever been in.” But Harmon looked like he was crying. Then he was fleeing for his life. Then he was dead. Less than two months later, the courts ruled the killing was justified.

Did Harmon know the next time Chiefs’ cornerback Marcus Peters sits during the national anthem to protest oppression and brutality, he’d be one of the brutalized?

Did Harmon know that we are not this country’s people? Did he know that black men in 2017 account for more than a quarter of police killings of unarmed people and only 6 percent of the population? Did he know that black Americans are 2.5 times more likely to be shot and killed by the police?



And they get away with it. Ask Jason Stockley. He killed Anthony Lamar Smith, 24, in St. Louis and claimed he had a gun. But the gun found only bore Stockley’s DNA. Stockley said he was scared but as he chased Smith’s car, he can be heard saying, “We’re going to kill this, mother**”, don’t you know?”

We know, Jason. And you got away with it. Just like the cops who got away with the killings of Philando Castile, Eric Garner, Tamir Rice and I could keep listing names but we’d run out of space.

The judge overseeing Stockley’s case said it would have been an anomaly if Smith did not have a gun. A judicial validation of white fear.

White fear says he shouldn’t have been running. That if you just comply you’ll survive. Because it worked out great for Castile, who was pulled over while driving in Minnesota and was shot seven times.

White fear says if you just stay in your place and stand for the anthem and salute the flag instead of protest brutality and oppression, that everything will be fine.

White fear says All Lives Matter and act like #BlackLivesMatter is a hate group. And act like it’s completely normal for St. Louis police to shout “Whose Streets? Our Streets!” Because controlling a city has been confused with protecting its people.

In Kansas City, the Chiefs organization says it has found no evidence that anyone called Washington Redskins’ Terrelle Pryor a n----- at Arrowhead, as if their own Peters hasn’t been threatened with racial slurs and violence since he started sitting during the anthem.

Did they think not a single Chiefs fan could be involved? (See: Confederate flags flying at Arrowhead Stadium’s parking lot.) Maybe they did. Just like Chad Dearth of KC Trends Motorsports believed rallying local businesses to refuse service to Peters carried no oppressive subtext. But, you know, he says he didn’t know Peters was protesting brutality. Okay.

It’s not a stretch to believe that Pryor was responding to racism. But it is telling that he was expected to apologize for flipping the bird at a racial slur. Just like lawyers must prove beyond the shadow of a doubt a cop wasn’t acting out of fear, but the assumption of a black threat comes naturally. They’ll pay out settlements like masters paid for slaves but to convict a killer of a black person would require recognizing our humanity.

But this is a country where President Donald Trump will call a black man a son of a bitch for protesting but won’t call a white mass murderer a terrorist. Brutality and oppression are why the athletes kneel, sit or raise a fist.

Like James Baldwin said: “I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”

Because:

America loves its guns more than its people.

America loves its flag and its anthem more than its people.

America loves its police more than its people.

America loves its people as long as queer people, immigrant people and people of color aren’t its people.

Divided St. Louis, Divided Kansas City, Divided America

This New Yorker Magazine cover ran in December, 2014.

It's still so tragically true, of course, and so very still true of our own city and of too much of America.

We need to get and be and stay better than this.

We tell ourselves we are.

The Idiocy of Missouri's New "Guns Everywhere" Law

Here it is.

An Accidental Shooting in a Missouri 

Supermarket Shows Risks of New Law

Fortunately, thank goodness, the gun-toting pea brain only shot himself. This time.

So way to go, Missouri. Good on you, right? Making "guns everywhere" not just an option or possibility but a likelihood.

You Right Wing, Republican dolts.

Tom Waits was right, of course.

"We are monkeys with money and guns."

Links:

Man toting loaded gun accidentally shoots himself in U. City grocery

Man accidentally shoots self while at grocery store

Carrying a gun increases risk of getting shot and killed 

Good guy with a gun myth: Guns increase the risk of homicide

Study: Guns in home increase suicide, homicide risk

Republican State Senator From My Hometown Making Us Proud

Yes sir, St. Joseph's own Republican Representative Rob Schaaf, no less, is asking questions and trying to hold our very Republican Governor, Eric Greitens, to task for what he said and claimed and challenged during the now-Governor's campaign for that job.

Bait-and-switch 

Some of the article:

When Eric Greitens was seeking the Republican nomination for governor last year, he claimed to support transparency in the funding of political campaigns. He said in one interview, “What I’ve found is that the most important thing is that there’s transparency around the money,” continuing, “I’ve been very proud to tell people, ‘I’m stepping forward, and you can see every single one of our donors, because we are proud of our donors and we are proud of the campaign that we are running.’ ”

Since that time, Greitens has turned his back on transparency, accepting millions of dollars from undisclosed donors and now disavowing donor disclosure altogether. With this reversal, he has betrayed the Republican Party and the people of Missouri. His new stance threatens the integrity of our republic.

It's a great article, I think, and even important. Any and every voting age Missourian would do well to  read it so they know what's going on in our state and what should likely change.

Horrible List Kansas City Makes

I saw this new list yesterday and yes, unfortunately, Kansas City is on it.

50 Worst American Cities to Live In 

- 24/7 Wall St.

We're 49 out of 50, sure, but still, we're on it.

Dangit.

49. Kansas City

Population: 151,261
Median home value: $87,600
Poverty rate: 22.2%
Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 16.3%

While low property values can help make homeownership a reality for financially insecure individuals, cheap housing is more often indicative of a weak economy and poor living conditions -- and this appears to be the case in Kansas City. The typical home in the city is worth just $87,600, far less than the $194,500 national median home value.

Relative to the size of its population, Kansas City has very few amenities and attractions that might enrich the lives of residents. There are fewer bars, libraries, recreational centers, museums, and hotels per capita in Kansas City than there are in the U.S. as a whole. There are just 120 restaurants per 100,000 Kansas City residents, among the fewest food establishments per capita of any U.S. city.

Ow. Really. That hurts, just being on the list.

But it could be worse. 

We could be Little Rock Arkansas at number 26 or Fort Smith, also Arkansas, at 24.

Missouri wasn’t done there, either, unfortunately. Springfield hit a very high number 12, nearly making the top 10 worst cities to live in.  Wow.

12. Springfield, Missouri

Population: 166,798
Median home value: $113,500
Poverty rate: 24.1%
Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 28.0%

Few cities have a greater crime problem than Springfield, Missouri. The city’s annual violent crime rate of 1,356 incidents per 100,000 residents is more than three times the national violent crime rate of 373 per 100,000. Springfield’s property crime rate, at 7,795 incidents per 100,000 people, is also over three times the national property crime rate and the third highest of the 551 cities reviewed.

High crime in a city often coincides with high poverty in a somewhat circular cause and effect. Springfield’s poverty rate of 24.1% is nearly 10 percentage points greater than the national poverty rate.

Not done there, St. Louis does, in fact, break that top ten, even making the top 5 worst cities.

4. St. Louis

Population: 315,685
Median home value: $130,800
Poverty rate: 24.9%
Pct. with at least a bachelor’s degree: 34.7%

St. Louis is representative of the economic decline that afflicted many large industrial cities over the latter part of the 20th century. Decades of manufacturing decline, white flight, and exclusionary zoning in St. Louis have led to some of the worst urban decay, racial segregation, and income inequality of any major city today. Some 24.9% of St. Louis residents live in poverty, far more than the 14.7% national figure. St. Louis has struggled with a high crime rate since the 1960s and today has the highest violent crime rate of any U.S. city. There were 1,817 violent crimes reported per 100,000 St. Louis residents in 2015, nearly five times the national rate.

Many of the economic problems in St. Louis are tied to the city’s rapid population decline. The city’s population is less than half of what it was during its 1950 peak of 860,000 people, and it continues to decline today. While the U.S. population grew 11.5% over the last 10 years, the number of residents in St. Louis fell 5.4%.

We have to do better, folks.

On This Day, July 2, 1917---Missouri and National History

Just some of the state and national history our society seems to go out of the way to NOT teach us.

The 1917 East St. Louis race riots

This photo ran in the St. Louis Star on July 3, 1917 with the caption: “Where the charred bodies of eight negroes burned in their homes at Eighth Street and Broadway were found today.” The bodies of some Black victims were buried in a common grave, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Others were thrown into Cahokia Creek which ran between downtown and the riverfront railyards. (Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Bowen Archives).

Blacks in East St. Louis were beginning to come in from the Southern United States and were taking jobs, yes, at lower wages, from Union members. The white Union members would have nothing of it.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch did a fantastic series of articles on this important time and group of events.

Archive editorial: 'The East St. Louis Murders'

Archive article: 'Several hundred Negroes brought across river'

Editor's Note: East St. Louis riot coverage

Archive article: 'Several hundred Negroes brought across river'

Bell that warned of approaching white mobs 

amid East St. Louis riots

Keep in mind, too, this East St. Louis event, this massacre, this slaughter, was far from the only one in our nation's history. Here are two more, anyway.

The Chicago Race Riot of 1919

Tulsa Race Riot (1921)

Keeping in mind, too, that the national disgrace that was the "Trail of Tears", where we displaced thousands of Native Americans, from East to Oklahoma, also went through Southern Missouri. In fact, it went right through what is now downtown Springfield. 

Trail of Tears - Native American History

I know that, as I went through grade school and high school, at no point during those years was it taught this history, that this abomination went through the Southern part of our state, Missouri.

So yes, let's know our national history.

All of it.

Maybe especially now, this time of year, around our Independence Day when we only remember how good and great we are.

"Small Government", Republican, Right Wing Governor Goes After State's Women

Here we go again.

Yet one more Right Winger, another Republican who runs and ran on the promise of "small government" and lower spending but what's he do?

Stacey Newman: Estimated $160,000 being spent on Governor's  special anti-abortion session

A bit from the article:

UP TO DAY SIX - GOVERNOR'S SPECIAL SESSION ON ABORTION 

 
$20,000 per day of your taxpayer dollars in order to a) repeal the St. Louis City reproductive anti-discrimination ordinance (how on earth does that affect any other community?) and b) pass more unconstitutional restrictions on abortion providers.

So, first, he wants to legislate still further on and about women and women's reproductive rights. It's typical very Right Wing behavior, certainly, but that doesn't make it any less repulsive or hypocritical. 

"Small government"? Governor Greitens wants it so small it reaches into Missouri's womens' and couples' private, reproductive lives. That's how "small" they want their government.

And never forget, never forget, the procedure they're wasting all this time and energy and our tax money on is a very legal one. It's been legal since 1973, famously.

Someone needs to remind this guy and all his fellow Republicans of what has now become a cliche' seen all over the internet and that is that Roe v Wade wasn't the start of abortions in America. 

It was the end of women dying by them.

Meanwhile, I-70 is an ignored mess that needs updating and modernizing and repairing and hopefully, one day soon, maybe widening so we're all safer out there and maybe we can do more business, more commerce and more pleasure travel, thereby creating more jobs, too.

You think maybe they could work on that or one of the other many and very important issues before the state?

Here's hoping.

Links:

Missouri governor calls special session on abortion 

Greitens uses religion, women as political tools

Missouri Teen Hits the Political Big Time

There is a pretty terrific article about what seems to be a very bright, hard-working teenager in St. Louis today in the New York Times.

Homework? First I Need to Get to the Bottom of This Comey Story

It seems this 15 year old from St. Louis has been writing away about national politics now for years. From his website:

Gabe Fleisher is an eighth grader from University City, Missouri, with a passion for politics and history, as well as for informing and engaging people in the news.

What he does, according to that same site:

"At Wake Up to Politics, the daily goal for the past five years has been the same - to inform readers with the most non-partisan and comprehensive yet understandable version of the news that really matters."

"That goal is put into a daily political newsletter, sent out around 8:00 AM every weekday morning. Every day, Wake Up To Politics strives to give you a look at the day's news that matters - and a glimpse into what our leaders are doing. That includes news on the President, Congress, the courts, elections, history, a daily trivia question, and more."

He's been writing since he was 8 years old and has some huge names in the nation and media, following him and his output. People like:

Gene B. Sperling, contributing editor at The Atlantic; the MSNBC anchor Steve Kornacki; Major Garrett, chief White House correspondent for CBS News; the “Daily Show” correspondent Roy Wood Jr. (who on Twitter called Wake Up “one of the best political newsletters to hit my inbox”); the author Mark Halperin; and Jim VandeHei, the founder of Axios and a founder of Politico — as well as reporters for The New York Times, The Washington Post and USA Today, many of whom are among Gabe’s nearly 5,000 Twitter followers. (Twitter’s chief executive, Jack Dorsey, is also a follower.)
Incredible kid, it seems.

Could be a great link to have and keep up with for you, on politics.

Links:

Wake Up To Politics

Wake Up To Politics - Home | Facebook

U. City's Gabe Fleisher Continues To 'Wake Up To Politics

Missouri 6th-grader builds following

University City fourth-grader is political junkie

Local teen informing thousands with political newsletter