Kansas: In the news today

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

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

House Republicans: Wrong on so many issues

President Obama is meeting today with House Republicans, in an effort to set a tone for the next Congressional session, in hopes we can get good things done for the country.

As I so frequently say, here's hoping.

We know "The Party of No" wants to block this president on issue after issue so, as Mitch McConnell said, they can do their best to "assure that he's a one-term president," country be damned.

What's striking is how so very clearly wrong these House Republicans are on issue after issue.

Three quick examples:

First is the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.  Naturally, the Republicans want to at least slow down ridding ourselves of this mistake, if not just keep the policy, however wrong it is.

The military's own internal survey came out, also today, and shows the conclusion that "overturning the law known as 'don't ask, don't tell' might cause some disruption at first but would not create any widespread or long-lasting problems."


Thank you.  We knew that.  Let's move on.


The second item the Republicans are absolutely wrong and off base on is keeping the Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy.  Quoting Robert Reich,  political economist, professor, author, and political commentator:  "The top don't need the cuts, don't deserve them, and won't spend the windfall (and thereby stimulate the economy).  Besides which, extending the tax cuts for the wealthy--those making $250,000.00 or more per year, adds to the debt to the tune of 700 billion dollars.  That's all.  (Note that that's 3/4 of one trillion dollars, folks.  Not "chump change.")

Finally, the one issue where the Repubs are clearly so out of step with the country, even the world, and progess is the nuclear treaty proposed for us and Russia that's pending right now.

This has been worked on for years.  And it's been worked on by Republicans, Republican presidents and Republican administrations.  They're all on record as saying it's good for the US, it's good for the Russians and it's good, in fact, for the world.

But no go, say the Republicans.  They just can't have this president be successful, no matter what.  They came to that conclusion long, long ago and they're sticking with it.

Again, country be damned.

These guys need to come up with things that are good for this country and get working on them.  You'd think they'd agree.

Here's a thought:  how about working on a jobs program?

Links:  http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_obama_congress
http://www.truth-out.org/robert-reich-national-fiscal-hypocrisy-week65508
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101130/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_gays_in_military
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/10/AR2010111003708.html

Forget about reducing our defense spending

I've written here before about how much we--the US--spends on defense and our military and how ridiculously high it is and how it's bankrupting us. I held out hope that we could reduce that amount. There was even that one post I had, written by a military officer, telling of both why and how we could and should reduce our defense spending. Great stuff, that one. But now, word out today shows that China has a new missile that could be problematic for us: Chinese missile could shift Pacific power balance U.S. naval planners are scrambling to deal with what analysts say is a game-changing weapon being developed by China — an unprecedented carrier-killing missile called the Dong Feng 21D that could be launched from land with enough accuracy to penetrate the defenses of even the most advanced moving aircraft carrier at a distance of more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles). With this development, unless it turned out to be false--which I doubt seriously will happen--no president will be able to propose that we cut defense spending, even if it could be logically, statistically proven that we'd still be safe. It seems we are doomed to spend ourselves into oblivion and debt, just as the Russians did, leading to their collapse. I'm not suggesting this will happen any time soon but that's not to say it can't or won't eventually happen, in a decade or two. Heaven knows we're good at spending. Side note: I want to also mention that this article I've linked to, above, is loaded, I believe, with new and important information about the defense of our carrier ships and our place in the world. It's a good and important read and I didn't/couldn't cover all the issues it raises here. It's worth the quick read. Have a great weekend, y'all.