Trying to make sense of insanity

The last few days, Kim Jong Il--the wacko President of otherwise-starving North Korea--keeps lobbing 300 mile range missiles out of his country, inexpicably.

Really, that guy is such a wack-job. Who can explain this nutcase?

And unless you're watching the news closely--I don't think most Americans are, at least not this weekend--most don't know it's happening.

So far he's just an errant, harmless psycopath.

Let's hope he stays that way--harmless, I mean.

Then there's that other nutjob of the north--Sarah Palin.

Holy cow.

What was that all about, yesterday?

All of a sudden, Ms. "I'm really not stupid white trash" says she doesn't want to be a quitter but--love this--quits, as Governor of her state of Alaska.

Talk about inexplicable.

Now the guessing starts. Maybe you've heard some of it:

--Is she running away from some internal problem she has either with the state or somehow with her family or something? (Always a possibility, clearly).

--Is she setting herself up for a run for President in 2012? And to this I say--God, I hope so. I can't stand hearing her rambling, incoherent speeches and/or her delivery but, hey, the Republican Party will go further down in flames if she's their candidate. Fortunately, some Republicans of the far-right don't know this.

One entry on Associated Press I saw earlier today declared that yesterday's move hurt her and took her out of any possible run for the Presidency. Others certainly think the opposite, that that's just what she's gunning for.

Get this--did you see where contributions for her for that same candidacy have shot up big time in the last 24 hours, since her announcement?

I was stunned.

There really must be some wealthy, very small minority that thinks she's a good candidate for the highest office in the land (world?).

God bless those people and their money. We can all watch her go down in more flames.

I will say, if you haven't watched the 12 minute and 46 second video of that announcement on YouTube or some news channel, you should. It's vintage Palin. She hasn't changed. (Read: hasn't learned anything).

As a side, closing note, I flipped on Faux News yesterday, after Mrs. Palin's announcement, to see what BillO the Clown would say about it. I thought it would give him terrific fodder for his show.

My mistake.

BillO phoned in a pre-recorded show on the biggest Hollywood stars last evening.

Big mistake on Bill's part, I think. Instead of having a big, important show, with breaking material, Billy went on an early Independence Day weekend vacation.

Oops. He missed out and so did his true viewers.

Ah, too bad, huh?

Have a great Independence Day holiday, y'all!

Links to stories:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/07/04/nkorea.missiles/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/07/03/palin/index.html?iref=mpstoryview

Celebrating Independence Day, sure

But a successful country and system?

That seems at least questionable now.

Here we are, about to celebrate another Independence Day, here in America--the birth of our nation, our independence from tyranny and/or another foreign power dominating us and our independence to do what we wish.

This seems a particularly good time to evaluate the status of this Union and all this Independence.

And this evaluation takes the form of questions:

1) Does it seem like a successful, working system if we spend more than any other nation for health care, so much so that that same care is much more of a privilege than a right?;

2) Does it seem like this system of ours works when we're ranked 37th, internationally, in terms of mortality, on top of that expensive health care sytem?;

3) Does it seem like our system works when 46 million of us have NO health care, at all?;

4) Does a working, successful system have 25,000 deaths per year due to handguns?;

5) Does a working, successful system of any kind have its largest state in bankruptcy, which further threatens the financial security of said system?;

6) Does it make sense that we incarcerate and imprison more people than any other nation on the planet in both raw quantities and as a percentage of our population--both?;

7) Does it make sense for the "wealthiest" nation on the planet (now a questionable claim, it should be said) doesn't have mass transportation, for the betterment of the people and that same nation?;

8) Does it seem like a functioning system would have cities collapsing from the inside out (Detroit, St. Louis, Kansas City, etc.) and even one, from the outside, in (Phoenix)?;

9) Does a successful, functioning system have cities whose residents feel they must continually move out to the farthest reaches of those same cities, just so they can have less violent and more sane lives? (or so they can escape people of other color, however you want to phrase that);

10) Does a positive, successful system support--or have to--the purchase and possession of guns of all sorts for perceived "protection" and "self-preservation"?

All these things apply to us, here in the United States, right now.

Does it seem like this all works?

Can we stop kidding ourselves?

I pose a question for you today:

If you're "middle class" in America, but you live better than 90% of the people on the planet, is the term "middle class" accurate?

To wit, say you're living in a $200,000.00 house out in a former corn field with a bunch of other suburbanites, you travel the 1/2 hour in to your job in the city each day with all the other travelers, your house is what? 3,000 square feet, it has a lawn sprinkler system, it's either brand new or looks it, the household income is, again, what? $125,000.00 to $150,000.00 per year (I'm trying to shoot low here and stay well under that magic $200,000.00/year range), you go on regular, dependable vacations, you have a late-model automobile, etc., etc.

You get the picture, I think.

This, in America, is considered solidly "middle class". There are lots of people for whom this is an accurate description of their social and financial status.

And, again, it's WAY over 80% of America's population, in terms of wealth and status and, I believe, much more than 90% of the world's population's status and financial situation.

So could we stop kidding ourselves, just to feel good?

It's decidedly NOT "middle class."

Get your gasoline NOW

Is it a big deal?

Maybe not, but I can tell you, if you need gasoline and want to save money on it today, you should go get it right now.

This morning, gasoline was $2.35/gallon here in Independence.

Last night, in the overnight markets, oil went up $3.00 per barrel. From what the news said, this is an 8-month high. Apparently Nigerian refineries were attacked yesterday or some such, at minimum.

Usually always, when there is an international jump in the price like this, the price you and I pay at the pump goes up immediately, as you may know, even though this same gasoline was bought and paid for long before these markets, of course.

So expect the price to jump shortly, if not today. (I'm betting on today).

Besides, it's Summer now.

And it's the holiday, 4th of July weekend.

A guy's gotta make a buck, right?

What should have happened

I read in The New York Times today that now, even "good guys" (their term) like the AARP are ending contributions to their 401(k)'s, in an effort to cut costs.

This drives me crazy.

Years ago, there used to be pensions because, as we all know, people age and need something to retire on in their later, aged years.

Pretty complicated huh? (read sarcasm)

It was only fair and intelligent, for pity's sake.

We work at jobs for decades and, in return, it just made sense that responsible companies would put a bit of money aside--yes, from profits--for each employee so two things would develop.

First, the good employee would be rewarded for good work and encouraged to stay with the company. (We used to reward lonevity at firms).

Secondly, at the end of those decades of work, the associate would have money to take care of themselves in their old age.

But that was thousands of years ago, it seems.

Companies decided long ago that those pesky, "expensive" pensions were costs that had to be cut so they were, bit by bit, done away with.

That was bad enough.

At the time, the Federal Government should have stepped in, I believe, and required companies to maintain the pensions. It was good, too, for the country, so people had these saved nest eggs and could live on them in later life.

But naturally not.

Fortunately, someone came up with a 2nd-best idea and that was to start these 401(k)'s. The companies would get a tax deduction and the employee could contribute to them and voila'! While not as good for the employee as the pension, since half of it was usually paid for by the employee, at least there would be, again, something for that same employee to retire on.

But again, the ugly, voracious, self-eating "free markets" and capitalism come along, seeing a pot of money, one that it also views as an "unnecessary cost" and does away with it.

So now, in 2009 America, the worker--the old "salt of the Earth" we used to celebrate--is totally and completely, with the exception of the pittance of Social Security, alone and on his/her own. And that's assuming Social Security will survive, which most people assume it won't.

If you are one of the lucky few who have been able to keep a job, through good times and bad, and also been prescient and disciplined enough and able to save all your working career, you're okay.

Maybe.

Probably.

Possibly

If you stay lucky.

If, on the other hand, you've ever been let go from a job or had some expensive health care or other problem or just plainly weren't lucky and thrifty and extremely disciplined, all--you're screwed.

Too many Americans, frankly, down through the decades, have fallen into this last group, especially given the current financial crisis striking the US.

And that's why the US Federal Government should have held up expectations of its corporations, so we could further strengthened the entire society and for the long term.

Instead, all that corporate money just fattens the wallets of a select few lucky, conniving, shrewd, manipulative corporate titans who end up with hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars. All the while the middle class shrinks and people start doing without important basics like health care, insurance, food, in some cases, and more.

I'm sure some free market capitalist, Republican, conservative, right-winger would defend this barbaric, unbalanced, unfair, inadequate and, really, broken system.

I sure can't.

Link to story: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/27/your-money/401ks-and-similar-plans/27money.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=Et+tu%2C+AARP%3F&st=nyt

Are we nearly numb to murders?

I got a copy of The Kansas City Star yesterday and read with near-disbelief from the "Public Safety" column of one 17-year-old man who was charged with a shooting death this past Sunday of another young man. Then, additionally, police are looking, for the person who shot and killed another young man of 22 years age "about 12:15 am Wednesday."

Added to that, online, I read a local blogger (Tony's KC Blog) with this headline: "3-year-old Shot, Killed and Found in Front Yard in KCK Quadruple Homicide."

It seems someone killed 3 adults and a child this past Monday in Kansas City, Kansas.

I'm struck by two things in these 3 articles: First, the columns brevity each time, even though they're homicides and second, the cavalier tone of the writing in all of them.

It seems the entire metropolitan area of Kansas City is extremely relaxed and accepting of homicides when it involves people of color.

It sure was shocking to me, the deaths themselves, the coverage of them and the city's reaction to them.

I guess this is who and what we've become?


Links to stories:
http://www.kansascity.com/115/story/1276063.html
http://www.tonyskansascity.com/2009/06/3-year-old-shot-killed-and-found-in.html
http://www.kmbc.com/news/19842729/detail.html
http://www.kansascitykansan.com/news/x135724968/Monday-murder-victims-identified

Four insanities, to me, anyway

The reason I started this blog was because, during the George W. Bush administration, there were such crazy, insane things being proposed and even, too frequently, passed into law that I couldn't take it. This blog was a catharsis for me, to state what was wrong.

So today, in that vein, I'd like to point out four more things, going on now, that I believe strongly have no basis in logic or intelligence.

1) There is a woman in the Bush administration--Nancy de Parle--who heads up President Obama's health care inititative to change our system who made $2.3 million in the last year or so, from those same health care corporations.

This is insane.

That woman--any person--who is from the health care industry should not be in charge of changing the system.

She will not, in fact, change it. Not enough, anyway. Not the way we need. Not to benefit us, the users of health care in the United States. She's too invested in its maintenance.

2) Quote from The New York Times today: "The Supreme Court ruled Monday that the Clean Water Act does not prevent the Army Corps of Engineers from allowing mining waste to be dumped into rivers, streams and other waters."

Insanity.

This is so insane it makes me angry. I have to not think about this, it makes me so angry.

People will regret that corporations were allowed to do this--to dump mining waste into rivers, streams and other waters. It will be regretted and sooner, not later.

3) The Obama Administration is continuing to imprison people at Guantanamo Bay without charging them with any crimes, with no evidence of any wrong-doing and, on top of both those things, indefinitely.

As The Times says today--Bob Herbert, to be specific--this is not who we ever were. It's not who we should be.

4) Finally, Citigroup, which has done so horribly, business-wise, in the last year to two years (so much so that comic, satirist Bill Maher calls it "ShittyGroup") that it had to accept billions of dollars in tax money from you and me through the Federal Government is now planning to increase its pay to its employees--some by as much as 50%--because it can't hand out juicy bonuses (in your and my tax moneys) to those same employees.

So Citigroup has been a horribly-run business, it wanted to hand out bonuses, it can't so it's going to do an end-around and just hand out pay raises instead.


I would like less insanity in the world. All our worlds.

Links to related stories:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/politics/wire/sns-ap-us-health-czar-boards,1,5907802.story
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/us/23alaska.html?scp=1&sq=&st=nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/23/opinion/23herbert.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=&st=nyt
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/24/business/24citigroup.html?scp=1&sq=Citigroup%20has%20a%20plan%20to%20fatten%20salaries&st=cse

I wonder how long this is going to take

From Summer June 09

Apparently, over the weekend, a water main blew on Southwest Trafficway at 39th Terrace, between 39th Street and Westport Road. For those of us who travel this, we know it all too well.

They were busy shutting off the water when it happened but check out this picture Monday evening and now, again, Tuesday evening.

Plate over hole?

Check.

Barricades?

Check.

Warning cones?

Check.

Big electric sign to get people over, to one last open lane?

Check.

City crews working on it so the street gets open quickly since it's a major thoroughfare?

Oh, heck no.

So as one writer on Tony's KC blog wrote today, "we have cool sports stadiums for losers, a train station but no trains, a war memorial that loses millions and a hip new downtown entertainment district that will probably last another year or two. Who cares about streets, bridges and sewers? The real estate crowd need to unload some more downtown lofts before KC files bankruptcy."

I'd add that we also have a City Council and Mayor who want to hand over 20.5 million dollars to a developer--on the front-end of the project--to develop a 30-acre eyesore in the worst real estate market in 70 years, since the Great Depression, when we don't need more commercial or retail sites, but we don't have good streets or sewers and other infrastructure.

But I digress.

The question is, how long 'til this little mess is cleaned up on the Trafficway?

Don't hold your breath.

20,500,000 dollars we don't have

Here's another outrageous situation, straight from the halls of city government in Kansas City, Missouri. Another conversation I can't believe we have to have at all.

Our Mayor and some on the City Council want to give--up front--$20.5 million dollars to one developer (the Block Company) in hopes they will develop 30 acres of land on 63rd Street, the becoming-infamous "Citadel Project."

Think about this.

If someone you knew came up to your door and said they would fix your roof for $8,000.00 and would do a bang-up job and you both agreed to it but then they threw in the caveat that you had to give them all the money up front, would you do it?

And the answer, of course, is "Hell, no!"

Right. Exactly.

So here we have this sweetheart deal to give 20 and one half million dollars to this developer in hopes they'll fix up this dysfunctional eyesore.

That's all crazy enough but then it's also not been competitively bid.

I would have thought that non-competed boondoggles would have gone out with "W", Dick Cheney and that whole administration.

This is insane, people, and no way to run a government or a city.

Put all that lunacy on top of the fact that this is the worst real estate market in the last 70 years that has left loads of commercial and retail space open all over the area and it goes to further prove this is exactly the wrong, bone-headed, giveaway deal at the worst possible time since the Great Depression, no exaggeration.

And then there's the fact that Kansas City doesn't even have 20 and one-half million dollars to hand out for this project, anyway. (Banging head against wall).

And the people of Kansas City aren't raising hell.

And now for something completely different

I was listening, as I do every morning, to KCUR 89.3 FM radio, they were speaking with the EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson about the area.

Frank Morris was talking to her specifically about Brush Creek and how raw sewage goes right into it.

What?

Are we a Third-World country or what?

Why is there raw sewage in Brush Creek in Kansas City, Missouri--the middle of the city--in 2009?

How was this ever started?

When was it begun?

Why hasn't this been discontinued since the Clean Waters Act of 1970, 1971 or after the amendments of 1977?

Why do we have raw sewage in the middle of this city still, to this date? It makes no sense. It's irresponsible. It's inexcusable. It's unhealthy, for goodness sake.

Let's do try to get some Federal "green" money, to get this situation taken care of.

Besides having a place that's one we can be proud of, it's the right, decent and clean thing for us to do. It's good for us and for freshwater plants and animals, too.

I can hardly believe we have to have this conversation.