On KCUR and Jabulani Leffall

You have to hand it to KCUR.

They had a huge opening in their daily program lineup, what with the retirement of "Mr. Kansas City," Walt Bodine.

They needed someone to come in and build a program around, someone to talk about Kansas City and they selected one Jabulani Leffall.

In the first place, I don't believe anyone knew of Mr. Leffall. Not many, locally, knew his name, really, I don't think, so that's tough.

And let's be honest, he's a black man and that, with a white audience, could still, even today, be a gamble, sadly, unfortunately.

But KCUR took it.

Good for them.

It's odd about radio, isn't it?

You can't see the person but the color of the person somehow, strangely can be a consideration for why the audience listens. Or doesn't listen.

The only other radio station in town to have any programs more specifically for blacks--programs that cover minority issues, other than KMXV (93.3 FM), which is more purely music, is KKFI ((90.1 FM) and that just isn't much coverage in this city for African-American and other's issues. Let me make clear, too, I'm certainly not saying that Mr. Leffall covers black or minority issues singularly, far from it. It's just that he covers some of these issues, along with others, and not a lot of other radio stations or programs do locally.

So KCUR chose this unknown but award-winning young man and ran with it. (If you're still not that familiar with him and his work, you might go to the links below at KCUR. He's written and worked for some very big, renowned organizations, for sure).

It would be good to know the ratings of his program now, especially compared to what it was with The Walt Bodine Show.

Hopefully the ratings are about the same, at minimum. It would be terrific if those ratings were even higher.

Hopefully people are listening. He has, I think, gotten more comfortable and relaxed with the show and his own delivery, it seems. At least it seems that way to me. I can't imagine what others think.

Radioman? Others? Thoughts? Input?

Links: http://kcur.org/programs/central-standard

http://kcur.org/people/jabulani-leffall

Entertainment overnight

Listen.

Is Roy Blunt not Senator for Kansas City?

Senator Blunt has done it again.

He's having what he calls "Listening Posts" so his constituents can come by and tell him, through his staff, I believe, what's on their minds.

The only problem with this seems to be that this is the second time I'm aware of that he does them all AROUND the Kansas City area but not--never?--IN our city.

Proof? I received an email today that linked to this page, showing where these "Listening Posts" of his will be. Here's his list:

So I ask you, is the very Republican Senator Roy Blunt NOT our senator or does he just not like us or not care what we think or doesn't want to hear from us or what? Do we intimidate him? Does he not like us? Does he just assume he doesn't have enough people here he cares to listen to?

Are we the wrong color?

What is it?

Senator?

An answer?

Please?

Link: http://www.blunt.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/constituent-services?p=listening-posts-kansas-city-region

Quote of the day

“Nobody cares that Mitt Romney is rich. It’s Romney’s inability to understand the institutional advantage that he gains from the government’s tax code largesse, that’s a little offensive to people, especially considering Romney’s view on anyone else who looks to the government for things like, I don’t know, food and medicine.”
—-Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart"

Exit ramps that don't work in town

Exit ramps in the metropolitan area that are far, far overdue for reworking and updating because there are far too many cars that need to access them now:

First up--I-35 North to 635 North, especially during rush hour. It backs up for miles. Insane.

Next up--I-435 West (in Johnson County, KS--OP) to I-35 South. Another one-liner. Far backed up.

And for that matter, I-435 South to I-35 South--the same intersection. It all dumps into the same line. Crazy.

Third--I-435 South on the East side of the city, by the stadiums, to I-70 East. A famous long line either during rush hour or anywhere near a Royals baseball or Chiefs football game. Crazy lines and out-and-out dangerous, at times.

These three, at least, need updating, widening, hopefully, and improving, for safety and the good flow of traffic. It can add to productivity, too.

I'm not holding my breath.

Poor Detroit (literally and figuratively)

Thank goodness, Kansas City, we're not Detroit, Michigan, in so many ways.

The latest way is in their schools. This, yesterday, from NPR:

Detroit Teachers Mull Strike Over Imposed Contract

"The existing contract for Detroit teachers was ripped up and chucked into the trash by the school district's emergency financial manager. The teachers' union is angry and making noise about a possible strike."

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

Public school teachers in Detroit have a new contract, one they didn't bargain for and didn't sign. It was imposed by the state-appointed official in charge of the district. And now, two months before the start of the school year, the teacher's union is considering going on strike.

This happened here in Kansas City, as I recall, a few years ago, under one of the Superintendents--John Covington, I believe, but would have to verify.

Anyway, there's the Detroit school district--broke, in debt--deep, deep debt and needing solutions so they tore up the old teachers contracts and want to start all over.

Wow.

The city's in trouble, financial and otherwise, and this, too, at the same time.

Then there's this:

Quinn Klinefelter (reporter, interviewer): "Decades of mismanagement and internal squabbles left Detroit schools hundreds of millions of dollars in debt. The state appointed an emergency manager to take over the finances in 2009 with the power to make sweeping changes. This year, emergency manager Roy Roberts is closing 15 schools. And with the state ending requirements that teachers be hired based on seniority, Roberts handed all 4,100 Detroit public school teachers a pink slip, told them to reapply for a job and says 800 of them will not be hired back."

That's tough.

And it stinks.

It seems to me Detroit is like this tiny, isolated country between Canada and the United States no one wants much, if anything, to do with and no one wants to help.

There's so much to this story, too. I want to be for the schools but they have to address their expenses, without doubt.

I want to be for the teacher's union because--well, just because.

I'm certainly for the teachers, sure, but cuts have to come from somewhere.

And you have to be for the kids, the students, whatever has to happen.

They have, apparently, far too many teachers and have to reduce the quantity somehow.

And you know that's not going to be pretty.

Whatever was bad about KCMO School District Superintendent John Covington's leaving us, at least he took care of the debt before it got any worse.

And before he dumped us.

Hey, at least we're not Detroit.

Link: http://www.npr.org/2012/07/16/156869052/detroit-teachers-mull-strike-over-imposed-contract

Weather questions for us

I asked earlier here, do you suppose we're going to get 3 Summer months of August?

The answer, it seems, is yes. At least we are this year.

105 degree weather 2 weeks ago, in June, and now, at the end of this week, back to 100 degrees and more, for the foreseeable future.

Not good.

So the new question now is, do you suppose this is the type Summers we'll get from now on?

Of course the answer is, we have no idea. Let's hope not. High 90 and low 100 degree temperatures for three months? Awful.

Then, on top of it, to get little or no rain?

Murder.

The second question, then, is will we be getting mild, nearly non-existent winter temperatures and little or no precipitation then, too?

And again, the answer is, we have no idea.

All we can do is hope these are both--all--flukes this year only.

Entertainment overnight

This takes me back.

Ms. Kitty Wells, may you rest in peace

I got another education today, from NPR, when they told of Kitty Wells passing and, of course, then, her history. I knew her name and knew she was a country singer but that was about it. I didn't know her music because, when younger, I swore I'd never listen to that style.

I changed. I was wrong. About country music, anyway, as some of it I enjoy.

Anyway, the thing that, to me, was most important about her and her breakthrough, was that she was the first woman to have a number one single in Country music.

Here, from the NPR story, is what is most important about Ms. Wells, to me, anyway:

"In 1952, she shattered the rules of country music with one song she recorded as a demo: 'It Wasn't God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels.'

The song made her the first woman to score a solo hit on the top of the country charts. It even crossed over to the pop charts. But it was seen as incredibly controversial. The song defended women's behavior in the face of cheating men. The country music establishment was horrified, says historian Mary Bufwack."

It immediately reminded me of the onld, famous quote:

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” ―-Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

So good on you, Kitty Wells. You spoke up. You were original and creative and had guts. You believed in yourself and loved singing and did what you wanted to do.

Thank you for all that.

Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/07/16/156869670/kitty-wells-pioneering-country-singer-dies

On this day...

On this date in 1945, the first atomic bomb was successfully tested near Alamogordo, New Mexico.

In case you've never seen and read this letter

Text of ex-slave's letter to his former master (on Yahoo! News last evening):

The famed letter written by an ex-slave in response to his former master's request that he return to the plantation, soon after the end of the Civil War. Different versions of the letter bear various spellings of the writer's name.

Dayton, Ohio,August 7, 1865

To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson, Big Spring, Tennessee

Sir:

I got your letter, and was glad to find that you had not forgotten Jourdon, and that you wanted me to come back and live with you again, promising to do better for me than anybody else can. I have often felt uneasy about you. I thought the Yankees would have hung you long before this, for harboring Rebs they found at your house. I suppose they never heard about your going to Colonel Martin's to kill the Union soldier that was left by his company in their stable.

Although you shot at me twice before I left you, I did not want to hear of your being hurt, and am glad you are still living. It would do me good to go back to the dear old home again, and see Miss Mary and Miss Martha and Allen, Esther, Green, and Lee. Give my love to them all, and tell them I hope we will meet in the better world, if not in this. I would have gone back to see you all when I was working in the Nashville Hospital, but one of the neighbors told me that Henry intended to shoot me if he ever got a chance.

I want to know particularly what the good chance is you propose to give me. I am doing tolerably well here. I get twenty-five dollars a month, with victuals and clothing; have a comfortable home for Mandy — the folks call her Mrs. Anderson — and the children — Milly, Jane, and Grundy — go to school and are learning well. The teacher says Grundy has a head for a preacher. They go to Sunday school, and Mandy and me attend church regularly. We are kindly treated.

Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. Now if you will write and say what wages you will give me, I will be better able to decide whether it would be to my advantage to move back again.

As to my freedom, which you say I can have, there is nothing to be gained on that score, as I got my free papers in 1864 from the Provost-Marshal-General of the Department of Nashville. Mandy says she would be afraid to go back without some proof that you were disposed to treat us justly and kindly; and we have concluded to test your sincerity by asking you to send us our wages for the time we served you. This will make us forget and forgive old scores, and rely on your justice and friendship in the future. I served you faithfully for thirty-two years, and Mandy twenty years. At twenty-five dollars a month for me, and two dollars a week for Mandy, our earnings would amount to eleven thousand six hundred and eighty dollars. Add to this the interest for the time our wages have been kept back, and deduct what you paid for our clothing, and three doctor's visits to me, and pulling a tooth for Mandy, and the balance will show what we are in justice entitled to.

Please send the money by Adams's Express, in care of V. Winters, Esq., Dayton, Ohio. If you fail to pay us for faithful labors in the past, we can have little faith in your promises in the future. We trust the good Maker has opened your eyes to the wrongs which you and your fathers have done to me and my fathers, in making us toil for you for generations without recompense. Here I draw my wages every Saturday night; but in Tennessee there was never any pay-day for the negroes any more than for the horses and cows. Surely there will be a day of reckoning for those who defraud the laborer of his hire.

In answering this letter, please state if there would be any safety for my Milly and Jane, who are now grown up, and both good-looking girls. You know how it was with poor Matilda and Catherine. I would rather stay here and starve — and die, if it come to that — than have my girls brought to shame by the violence and wickedness of their young masters. You will also please state if there has been any schools opened for the colored children in your neighborhood. The great desire of my life now is to give my children an education, and have them form virtuous habits.

Say howdy to George Carter, and thank him for taking the pistol from you when you were shooting at me.

From your old servant,

Jourdon Anderson

5 "Obamacare" Myths

From The New York Times yesterday, because it's important to get out there:

1--OBAMACARE IS A JOB-KILLER

2--OBAMACARE IS A FEDERAL TAKEOVER OF HEALTH INSURANCE

3--THE UNFETTERED MARKETPLACE IS A BETTER SOLUTION

4--LEAVE IT TO THE STATES. THEY’LL FIX IT

5--OBAMACARE IS A LOSER. RUN AGAINST IT, RUN FROM IT, BUT FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE DON’T RUN ON IT

There are other "Obamacare myths", to be sure, but these are some big ones, some real beauties. It's a good place to start.

Read the column here: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/16/opinion/keller-five-obamacare-myths.html?pagewanted=2&_r=2&hpw

KS Biosciences Lab still supported by Feds

News out this morning says the Feds support--still support--the biosciences lab going in out at Manhattan, even if it is scaled down:

Fed. panel supports Kan. biosecurity lab project

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A government-backed committee of the National Research Council issued a report Friday saying the United States would have adequate biosecurity protections even if plans for a proposed $1.14 billion lab in Kansas are scaled back.

The study was prepared by a subcommittee formed this spring to look at three options for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility that is to be built in Manhattan near the Kansas State University campus. The report was in response to tighter federal revenues and budget controls that are forcing agencies to rethink spending priorities.

DHS asked the National Research Council to review the threats of foreign animal disease, the capabilities needed to address such threats and analyze options for building the lab as proposed or scaling back the size and scope. A third option included keeping the current research lab at Plum Island, N.Y.

While the committee found that the need for a lab hadn't changed since the project was first proposed in 2006, it did find that DHS had two options for completing the goal of developing the capabilities with a laboratory designed specifically to respond to a biosecurity threat. However, the report concluded that both options had drawbacks.

So rest assured, Kansas--apparently you're still going to get your lab and the money and jobs, even if it isn't as big as once promised and hoped.

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/fed-panel-supports-kan-biosecurity-lab-project-170920861.html

Quote of the day

While I am loathe to quote Brigham Young, I thoroughly agree with this one:

“You educate a man; you educate a man. You educate a woman; you educate a generation.” ―-Brigham Young

Mitt Romney, hopefully going down

More of the hypocritical, too-frequently-caught-lying Mitt "Mittens" Romney.

Entertainment overnight

Facebook research out of the University of Missouri

Posted yesterday on Yahoo! News:

What Your Facebook Page Says About Your Personality

If you think you're keeping any secrets on Facebook, think again. It's not just what you post on the social networking site, but how you post it that reveals what kind of person you are.

That's the contention of researchers at the University of Missouri who have developed a new scale that judges people's personality based on how they use the popular social media site.

The scale reveals that those who like high-risk activity tend to update their status, upload photos and interact with friends frequently. While conversely, those who are more reserved tend to merely scroll through Facebook's "news feed," and don't upload photos or actively engage with their friends.

Missouri doctoral student Heather Shoenberger developed the scale after surveying people about their use of Facebook and having them take a personality test.

Those who leaned toward high-risk activities were labeled as "appetitive," with those who were more reserved in their activities labeled as "aversive." While both personality types use Facebook frequently, Shoenberger found significant differences in how each uses the social media site.

"If you're highly "appetitive" or lean toward high-risk activities, you're more likely to want to engage with media that are more exciting, whereas those who are higher in the "aversive" trait tend to enjoy safer and more predictable media experiences," Shoenberger said.

The scale could help advertisers target online audiences easier, according to Shoenberger.

"I believe this could really help advertisers and certain types of media groups target potential customers with particular ads on social media sites," Shoenberger said. "Identifying these individuals using the motivation activation measure can give advertisers an advantage over their competitors and bring some order to online advertising."

For example, she says companies that want to target consumers for a high-risk activity should try to determine who is active on Facebook and frequently posting pictures and updating their status.

The study was recently presented at the International Communication Association Conference in Phoenix.

So, Facebook users, if you're interested, check it out. If not a Facebook user, you may just want to know what our state university is up to, at least in one department and example.

Links: http://news.yahoo.com/facebook-page-says-personality-100406443.html

Heard today on the Penn State scandal

"If they play football come September at Penn State, something's wrong." --Bob Costas, NBC sports reporter, writer, speaking today to David Gregory on "Meet the Press"

The Mitt Romney election campaign, at present

Question of the day

"Why is the response to economic crisis not more serious?"

Link to original article, well worth reading: http://blogs.reuters.com/anatole-kaletsky/2012/07/12/why-is-the-response-to-economic-crisis-not-more-serious/

(Sunday) Quote of the day

“One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eyes.” --Antoine de Saint-Exupéry



Side note: One does not see clearly with the emotions. The two should not be confused.

Entertainment overnight

In case you either don't recognize him or think he looks familiar, the singer is an actor on the comedy TV series "30 Rock" on NBC.

Joke of the day

"Romney proves with a little hard work and a little luck, even a multimillionaire white guy from Harvard can succeed in this country." —Jay Leno from "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno"

The Republican Party may be for you!

How bad do banks have to get before we regulate them better?

First there was the 2008 financial, financial implosion of the banks that took place, nearly bringing down not just the nation's but nearly the world's economies, both, simultaneously.

Next we got Countrywide Financial cheating people out of millions or billions of dollars on their home mortgages with president, CEO and owner Angelo Mozilo getting away nearly scot-free.

Next up, we more recently had the Barclays Bank manipulation of the Libor interest rates, to our detriment and their benefit.

Fourth, we very recently--this past week--had Wells Fargo getting fined 175 million dollars for putting the financial screws to Blacks and Hispanics across the country.

Fifth, next, "Visa, MasterCard and major banks agreed to pay retailers at least $6 billion to settle a long-running lawsuit that alleged the card issuers conspired to fix the fees that stores pay to accept credit cards." Sick. We're being used and thrown to the dogs.

Now, we have JP Morgan saying yesterday that they lost not just 2 billion dollars but at least nearly 6 billion dollars--it may climb higher, they said--because they didn't have the proper people and procedures in place to protect their clients, themselves and the nation from this big a fleecing and scandal.

At what point do we recognize that we need to regulate banks better and more thoroughly?

Will it be when they collapse, completely?

Is that what it has to take?

Will we then have learned our lessons?

Do we have to wait that long?

Links: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/sep/22/morganstanley.goldmansachs

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1877351_1877350_1877339,00.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/9398723/Barclays-manipulated-Libor-submissions-to-fit-in-with-the-crowd.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/09/elizabeth-magner-new-orleans-wells-fargo_n_1412412.html

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/jpmorgan-reports-second-quarter-profit-of-5-billion-down-9/

http://www.iwatchnews.org/2012/07/13/9579/visa-mastercard-6b-settlement-over-card-fees?utm_source=iwatchnews&utm_medium=web&utm_campaign=rss

And happy 150th birthday to Gustav Klimt

Happy 100th birthday, Woody Guthrie!

Yes sir--a very happy centennial birthday in absentia to the one and only Mr. Woody Guthrie.

Would that we had you now.



Yours are very large shoes to fill, indeed.

Entertainment overnight

Now, the joke of the day

''During a speech in Ohio, Joe Biden criticized Republicans for not understanding the middle class. In response, Mitt Romney was like, 'That's ridiculous. Some of my best friends' gardeners are middle class.'' —Jimmy Fallon from his show "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon"

Quote of the day

"In the Romney candidacy, the Republican party has found the apotheosis of the fact that it now represents solely the super-rich." --Robin Wells, writer for the Guardian, UK (England)

Even the British can see, from far across "the pond", that the Republican candidate for our presidency is by the rich, of the rich and for the rich, nearly solely.

Pathetic.

That he has a chance at winning is downright scary.


Keep cool, y'all and have a great weekend. Think good thoughts, in spite of everything else.

Link to original article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jul/12/mitt-romney-offer-government-billionaires