Kansas Senators in the pockets of the NRA

And Missouri's own Roy Blunt, too, of course, in spite of the fact that 91% of Americans are for background checks for mental stability and criminal history.

Light show Monday night

And yet people are against "Obamacare"

Yet more benefits and improvements:

Sunday thought

Quote of the day--on "the Lord's day"

Think about it.

Shame on you, Missouri

Missouri stands alone in keeping an innocent man incarcerated after the only witnesses against him have admitted perjury in open court at a habeas hearing. After an exhaustive review of case law across the United States, no case exists in which the only witnesses against the defendant admitted perjury in open court at a habeas hearing. Until April of 2012, there were two alleged eyewitnesses keeping Ryan in prison--Jerry Trump and Charles Erickson. Until April of 2012, Ryan had no chance of walking out of prison because of these two people.

Remarkably, Erickson and Trump took the stand in April of 2012 and admitted they lied at Ryan's trial when they implicated him in Kent Heitholt's murder. Both men subjected themselves to perjury charges by recanting. This has never happened before in an American courtroom in a habeas hearing.

Recanting witnesses may give affidavits admitting perjury but they rarely take the stand and admit perjury. This is the watershed event in Ryan Ferguson's case. There is no case in the United States where the only alleged eyewitnesses recanted in open court, the conviction has been upheld, and the person remains incarcerated.

Link:  http://justiceforryanferguson.com

Quote of the day--on America

“Your republic will be as fearfully plundered and laid waste by barbarians in the 20th century as the Roman Empire in the 5th century; with this difference, that the Huns and Vandals that ravaged the Roman Empire came from without, and that your Huns and Vandals will have been engendered within your own country, by your own institutions.”

--Thomas Macaulay, British Historian, 1857

Work to end campaign contributions.

Let's get our country back.  Back for us. Back for the people.

Link: What Are You Doing to Change the System?

On Boston, the police...and unions

The Republican dream

The BP Deepwater Horizon anniversary, April 20

Let's not forget this, either.

How appropriate, isn't it? that Earth Day is two days away?

There is no Planet B, folks, as we know.

I miss Communism

I miss Communism.

I kind of miss the "Cold War."

Back when there was the big, bad, ugly Russian Communists, we knew who our enemies were and it was "them." Now, we don't know who our enemies are as well so we attack one another. We attack fellow Americans.

It was far less Republicans vs Democrats and "Left" vs "Right."

We've stopped talking to one another, we've stopped discussing our problems and possible solutions, instead attacking one another.

Now we attack opposing political stances, gays, blacks, Hispanics, Mexicans, Muslims, you name it. All fellow Americans but we attack 'em.

It's crazy.

This is no way to run a nation.


I miss it when we were all Americans, when we were all on the same side.

We need to be far better than this, America

Already there are stories of Americans apparently, reputedly, I admit, attacking Muslims or people thought to be Muslims, because it's thought the 2 men who planted and set off the bombs in Boston this past week were Muslim:

Boston Marathon Bombing Fallout: Bangladeshi Man Beaten In Bronx For Being An 'Arab' - International Business Times

Link: http://www.ibtimes.com/boston-marathon-bombing-fallout-bangladeshi-man-beaten-bronx-being-arab-1201819

Man Beaten Outside Bronx Applebee's in Anti-Muslim Attack after Boston Bombing

Link: http://www.allmediany.com/news/8039-man-beaten-outside-bronx-applebees-in-anti-muslim-attack-after-boston-bombing

Hate Crimes Against Muslims Rising After Boston Bombings

There are so many ways we should be above this.

First, everyone is to be innocent before proven guilty. That alone should make anyone and everyone safe.

Second, violence should never be resorted to, naturally.

Third, how is it anyone could attack another on just the idea and assumption that they're some religion or ethnicity, as some kind of idea that this made any sense at all? Especially since the attacker knows the person they're attacking, in these cases, is totally and utterly innocent. They're only attacking them because they think them to be part of some religion. How do you do that? How do you justify that kind of act?

Fourth and finally, doesn't or wouldn't that make us, as Americans, or anyone who attacked others, just as bad as the original attackers? Sure, no one is killed but innocent people are attacked. It's wildly wrong.

The Robin Hood Tax and why we should get behind it

"Wall Street banks and corporations are raking in record profits while our communities continue to suffer job losses and cuts to public programs. Instead of lining the pockets of corporate fat cats, this money should go to our children’s Head Start programs, Grandma’s retirement, and fixing our broken healthcare system.

It’s time for the administration to stand with the people and TAX WALL STREET. Join us April 20 as we march to the White House and Treasury Department to demand a financial transaction tax on Wall Street trades so we can put the money toward global health needs, addressing the climate crisis, jobs, and education."
Sign up to support here:

http://www.robinhoodtax.org/get-involved

On a new airport--this bears repeating

Thanks to a article in The Kansas City Star in an "As I See It" column and to our Missouri Representative Sam Graves, we got a bit of common sense and intelligence on the idea of a new airport:

KC's airport doesn't need 'fixing'

The City Council recently gave the go-ahead to study a proposed new airport.

As I have written in this paper before, I am a fan of the current three-terminal design, as are the majority of Kansas Citians.
  A recent poll found that 70 percent of local residents favor keeping KCI as is.

The fact of the matter is, it’s a convenient and accessible airport for visitors and residents alike and it has been ranked among the top five airports in the country on a consistent basis by J.D. Power and Associates, including as the highest-rated medium-size airport.

There are a number of reasons to maintain the current KCI, from the ease of use for customers to the effectiveness of the multi-checkpoint security screening.

But the biggest reason may be the price tag of building a new airport.

The current estimate, which may still rise, is $1.2 billion. In the last decade and a half, $250 million has already gone into renovating the current airport.

That investment — equal to more than one-fifth of the cost of building a new airport — will have gone to waste with a new terminal.

It appears the city is planning to pursue federal funding for part of the project, and that inevitably means some Washington bureaucrats who don’t appreciate how we feel about the convenience of the current layout will attach strings to that money. Federal funding would also only cover a fraction of the cost of constructing the new airport.

The remainder would likely come from bonds, which the public would need to approve.

Those proposing a new terminal suggest that taxpayers won’t be stuck with the bill for the portion that Washington doesn’t cover, and that citizens will be completely immune from debt associated with the project.

But the bonds would be paid back through ticket prices, higher fees, and taxing the food and drink you buy at the airport. So if you use KCI, you’ll be paying more anyway.

The Federal Aviation Administration requires airports to file a new master plan every 10 years, and as the result of legislation I got passed last year, they must take customer convenience into account when planning for the future.

We’re just five years away from a new master plan, and at that time we can assess how best to move forward.

Even if the one-terminal proposal were approved this year, it is highly unlikely the new airport would be up and running in that time frame anyway. Additionally, the city’s Aviation Department has already made clear its intention to close Terminal A later this year.

This will help the airport save costs, particularly on security and baggage handling.

It may also be the answer to improving KCI, rather than building an entirely new terminal.

Let’s see what the coming years bring before rushing to build a costly new facility that won’t guarantee the same comforts we enjoy now.

Washington is full of people willing to spend millions of dollars to fix something that isn’t broken or to dismantle something convenient and practical. We can’t let Kansas City join them.

The fact is, besides being expensive, at a minimum cost of $1.2 billion dollars, it would also be environmentally irresponsible, throwing away, as it would be, at least 3 buildings, in essence.

My big question is, why is no one proposing updating and innovating the existing group of buildings? It makes no sense not to. Clearly it's not falling down. None of the buildings are. Heck, they haven't been there that long.

Let's do updated, extremely efficient heating and cooling and modernize that so there are cost efficiencies and savings there. Let's add some solar energy possibly. The advancements with that technology lately has been great. We should at least look into it. It makes too much sense.

It seems the Airport Authority got this "jones" for a new airport and they want to shove it down our throats, as though it's the only option.

And as though it's either cheap, wise or someone else will pay for it.

I say and propose again, some architect or architects need to look into making the existing terminal B the main, unloading, security terminal and then having walkways out to terminals A and C, for our gates. Problems and issues likely solved, I think. Then we don't have to tear down the existing and still have plenty of gates.

Link to original article: http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/16/4185642/kcs-airport-doesnt-need-fixing.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy  

Other links:   http://www.savekci.com/congressman-sam-graves-adds-a-rational-voice-to-the-conversation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+SaveKCI+(SAVE+KCI+!)  

Join the cause here:   http://www.savekci.com

 https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/SaveKCI?fref=ts

Quote of the day--on the poor

Quote of the day--on good and evil

"All evil and all injustice should repel you and inspire you to create a world where it cannot occur in darkness. Be both a witness and a bright light that can be cast on these acts of cruelty. This applies to everyone, and it is the only way the world will change. The power resides within us."

--Tennessee Williams (1982)

Great questions

Is this the country we want? Is this the people we want to be?

A Liberal's dream

It may only be one evening and one night's entertainment but check it out:

Our black, "Liberal" president, first.

And he gives us this:

In Performance at the White House: Memphis Soul

 

It's on PBS, of course.

 

Then, it's followed by this on the same channel:

 

THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE - PBS

 

And it's by none other than Ken Burns.

 

Entertainment. The Blues. History. Education.

 

Mmmmm.

KC Gazette blog brought back, updated

I got word today:

Kansas City Gazette

Boston: In tribute

Quote of the day--on good vs evil

Quote of the day--on life, living and attitude

On America, bombs, guns and tragedies

Face it. Let's face it, America has had it.

We've had it with tragedies.

We've had it with innocents being killed. And hurt. And maimed.

We've had it with Tuscon, Arizonas and Aurora, Colorados and Oklahoma City, Oklahomas and Newtown, Connecticuts and now, with Boston, Massachussetts.

We're reaching the ends of our ropes of patience, I think. We've had it with senseless, cowardly and/or insane attacks on innocents of whatever source and by whatever tool.

Doesn't that seem true?

This isn't emotionalism, either, far from it.

It's why, even though today was bombs in Boston, this will effect American's attitudes toward what we want for our nation. That's one more reason the time may have come, begun with Newtown, finally, to do something about, yes, mental health background checks but also background checks for criminal history and then closing the gun show loopholes and waiting periods for weapons purchases and finally, a true, strong but simple ban on assault weapons.

Weapons of war don't belong in societies.

"It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence."   --Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cowardice of the worst and most vile

By now, you've likely heard that 2 bombs went off in Boston, Massachussetts today at the finish line of the Boston Marathon.

The people who did this, for whatever bizarre excuse (they'd say reason), there is not only no excuse for this but it must be said that whoever did it are cowards of the first order.

How anyone, anywhere, could do this to civilians, innocent civilians, whether in Boston or Afghanistan or Iraq or any spot on the planet, it's unconscionable and has no place not only in a civilized society but on the planet, period.

This makes us all citizens of the world. This should unite us all. Acts like these make enemies of the perpetrators to all the rest of the world.

I don't believe in hell, personally, but if I did, I would be of the opinion that the darkest, hottest place there would be reserved for the instigators.

Truly, whoever did this is of the lowest life form.

I also don't believe in capital punishment but this is one of those times and events that comes close to changing my mind.

Link:  Two explosions at Boston Marathon: reports

Quote of the day--on taxes

Quote of the day--on people, life and living

"The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn, like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"

--Jack Kerouac, "On the Road"

Quote of the day--on guns

“Gun ownership has dramatically dropped over the last 20 years, so now it’s about selling a larger number of more expensive weapons to a smaller number of customers. The N.R.A., doing the bidding of the industry, ratchets up paranoia about government so that those people will go out and buy more guns.” 

--Senator Chris Murphy, Connecticut from his article in The New York Times  today:  Chris Murphy's Crucible

Kansas getting all kinds of bad press

Poor Kansas.

It used to be this great, enlightened, progressive place of ideas and hope for the working man and the middle- and lower-classes.

No longer, as we know.

Ever since the extreme Right Wingers and "conservatives" of the Republican Party took over first the statehouse and then, more recently, sadly, the Governor's office, it's gone to heck in a handbasket.

And it's one thing to be in a bad way financially and socially and regarding, say, women's rights and women's reproductive rights and other issues in private, but when the whole world starts looking at you, for whatever reason, critically, well, it just hurts that much more to be going to heck so publicly.

Proof?

Well, first, there's this article:

What's Wrong with Kansas' Tax Reform?

It's from the GOVERNING online magazine.

They point out the following:

According to finance experts from the left and right, it's the worst reform measure passed by a state in the last two years.

Check out just the first paragraph only, mind you:

At a recent Urban Institute forum, two policy analysts who follow state and local finances were asked a simple question: What's the worst and best tax bill a state passed this past year? Without hesitation, both Nick Johnson, an economist with the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Joseph Henchman, a lawyer with the right-leaning Tax Foundation, gave the same answer. Kansas, they said, was the worst.

That's how bad it's gotten in Kansas.  And the world is taking note.

Not that that's not bad enough, there's also this one from Bloomberg news this week, no less:

Kansas's Self-Destruct Button: A Bill to Outlaw Sustainability

They write:

Kansas, I love your sense of humor.

It seems like every time the Sunflower State pops up in my news feed, it’s for something like this: House Bill No. 2366, a proposed law that would make it illegal to use “public funds to promote or implement sustainable development.”

Kansas, the place where I spent my formative years skipping school to go fishing in farm ponds, is populated with thoughtful stewards of the nation’s breadbasket. It also has a habit of turning reason on its head. The state famously dropped evolution from its educational curriculum in 1999, along with the age of the Earth and the history of the universe, for good measure.

Now the state’s “Committee on Energy and Environment” is proposing a law that would prohibit spending on anything that won’t set Kansas on a course to self-destruction. House Bill No. 2366 would ban all state and municipal funds for anything related to “sustainable development,” which it defines as: “development in which resource use aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come."

There are more but I'll leave it at that for now.

It's just all so sad and unfortunate and unnecessary.

And it only helps the corporations and the wealthy.

And, of course, the Koch brothers.

The strange--really strange--priorities of the Right Wing

The latest on the airport

Yesterday, the City Council downtown voted to go forward with a study on a new, single-terminal airport for Kansas City and the region.

That's the bad news.

Here's the good news:

Three councilmen voted against it--John Sharp, Scott Taylor and Scott Wagner. To them I say kudos and thank you.

More good news, really: "Mayor Sly James admitted he is not completely sold on the current proposal" according to KSHB 41 News.

I'm thinking that, with good information gotten to the Mayor and the will of the people to not throw away our existing facility for all the reasons available--financial, environmental, practicality on so many levels and sheer fondness for and appreciation of the existing airport--I think he can be shown this new single-terminal airport idea is a poor one that should itself be abandoned.

I think the City Council can--and will--be shown and convinced this walking away from our existing airport and building a new, single and very expensive terminal, expensive in so many ways, is a patently bad idea, effort and investment.

Here's hoping.

Link to story:  City council approves single-terminal plan at Kansas City