KC MEDIA BLOG

Ex-Presidents on the Welfare System

2007-08-21T16:01:00.000-07:00

Congressional Research Service announced the federal subsidies requested for the coming fiscal year by ex-presidents Jimmy Carter, George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton.

Carter (who continues to be a best-selling author): $2,000 for travel
Bush and Clinton (both millionaires): $50,000 for travel.

Bush said he needed $69,000 for "equipment" and $13,000 for postage.

Clinton, who earned an estimated $10 million last year on the corporate speaking circuit, requested $79,000 for telephone service.

All three filed for the maximum presidential retirement payment of $191,000 annually.

SINBAD!!!!!!

2007-07-17T13:43:00.000-07:00

The Stiefel Theatre for the Performing Arts is about to get rocked......

Sinbad....the world's greatest comedian....is coming back to SALINA KANSAS next month!!!

His appearance in the Sunflower State was brought to our attention via an advertisement in the Pitch.

Tickets, according to that ad, were between $40-65, but according to these websites a trip to see the big guy will cost you much more. How expensive, you say? How about $95, $73, or $72 for a few of you lucky bums.

Before throwing down hundreds of dollars in ticket costs and gas money for the ride to Salina, here's a short list of Sinbad projects you may want to review in order to prepare yourself for the "experience" properly:

Star Search - Ed McMahon & FOUR STARS!

Necessary Roughness - Kathy Ireland plays the role of Nick Lowery. Enjoy.

Houseguest - Sinbad carries Phil Hartman through this film. Wait...that's the other way around.

Jingle All the Way - Governor Arnold and Governor Sinbad? We're still waiting...

Ron Paul on KMBZ Yesterday?

2007-06-16T10:30:00.000-07:00

Ron Paul shows up on on KMBZ radio less than a month after hosts Shanin and Parks declared they would censor his name from future broadcasts.

Here's the video of Paul at the Uptown Theater last night, and audio of him on KMBZ yesterday.

Shanin & Park censor Ron Paul

2007-06-15T14:39:00.000-07:00

Local radio station talk show hosts Mike Shanin and Scott Parks have decided to "censor" Ron Paul from their program.

They say that only "1500 signatures" delivered to them at their studio will get the ban lifted.

They have insinuated in the past month that his few supporters are "nuts" (and that it exists mainly on the Internet).

Here's contact info. to reach KMBZ's righteous hosts:

KMBZ
4935 Belinder Road
Westwood,KS 66205
Phone: 913-677-8998
Studio: 913-576-7798

UPDATE: Paul was in Kansas City yesterday -- he spoke at a Right to Life convention, then drew a crowd of about 350 people at an impromptu rally inside the Uptown Theater.

KC Royals & 9/11 Theories

2007-06-07T11:28:00.001-07:00

Today, with the second pick in the baseball draft, the Royals selected a high school kid named "Michael Moustakas."

He's only 18......but what's worse is........he was born on 9-11-88.

Leave it to the Royals to continue their draft day disasters by selecting the one player born on 9-11.

Enjoy...

Video Library Liquidation Begins!!!

2007-05-31T16:18:00.000-07:00

The clearing prices out of the gate are:

Video games - $5 & up
DVD - $10
VHS - $3

Look for these prices to fall in coming weeks, unless inventory is sucked dry over the weekend (which could happen).

It's interesting to note that Video Library was one of the stores named in a Star article discussing an "anti-porn campaign" being launched across Kansas City. Video Library is one of only six stores/organizations in Johnson County named on the group's hit list.

Rev. James Conard appears to be keeping his efforts on the Missouri side for the most part.

CONFIRMED: Lenexa's Video Library CLOSING

2007-05-30T12:58:00.000-07:00

Little Kcmedia.blogspot.com scoops the big shots once again..........An employee of the video store near 87th and Rosehill in Lenexa confirms Video Library is moving ahead with a liquidation of it's inventory ASAP (all titles go on sale this week).

Traffic to one of Johnson County's original viden rental stores died down considerably in the past two years as Blockbuster and Netflix's mail delivery services gained traction in the marketplace. Video Library could not deliver on a similar service to keep pace with the national competition.

Where will Johnson County now turn for older movies and brand new adult titles?????

Nevertheless, prepare for an enormous sale on a variety of titles --- film fans in KC won't see another DVD/VHS blowout like this for some time.

Lenexa's Video Library on Last Legs????

2007-05-28T14:44:00.000-07:00

Video Library -- a long-time popular video rental destination in Lenexa, Kansas has been suspiciously closed this entire Memorial Day weekend. At first, I expected some sort of annual inventory shutdown for a day or two. Now, I'm beginning to think it may be something much more, as the store sits dark for it's third consecutive day. It's now Monday and the store is still dark -- with "inventory shutdown" signs hanging on the front doors.

The store has been a fixture on 87th and Rosehill (between Pflumm and Quivira) for more than two decades. The store's gigantic selection made it a favorite over the big chain's and their often limited selection of anything beyond new releases. Video Library also stood out from it's competitors by having an extensive selection of video games, children's VHS, and adult (hardcore) titles to select from. Now, with 87th street construction making retail destinations in the area less desirable, as well as a online services from Blockbuster and Netflix gaining a foothold in the marketplace, I'm beginning to wonder if this is sign of something else...

Much of it's vaunted older film inventory is still VHS -- and I know they've been struggling to make a transition (as Blockbuster has) to a near 100% DVD catalog. In recent years, they have sold off video games to outdated systems -- freeing up some much needed space on the shelves for the newer platforms, and incoming DVD (new releases and otherwise) titles.

Calls and e-mails to the store over the weekend were not returned.

Harry Caray's take on the '85 Royals

2006-06-11T03:17:00.000-07:00

"HEY! How about this team?"

"They got a fella pitching named Black! Who happens to be white!"

"They got this guy at second base named White! Who happens to be black!"

"They got this catcher named Quirk.....the only time he sees any action is when George Brett puts in a late night phone call for him to swing by."

"Steve Balboni is a helluva player.....no question that tubby is ON THE JUICE.....he'll be the first of many....mark my words!"

"Willie Wilson may be the fastest player in baseball......he's the latest in a long line of successful 'Wilson's' in this country......like President Woodrow Wilson, Willie enjoys cocaine, and reach arounds from George Brett.

"Dick Howser is one fine manager........but from where I'm sitting that guy looks sick. Now, I'm not a doctor......seriously I'm NOT! But If I were, and if I were one that placed large wagers on people's life expectancy...which I often do......then I would say Captain Dick ain't got much longer till he reaches that finish line in the sky!"

"Darrell Porter has caught for both the Royals AND the Cardinals. Porter is one fine ballplayer.........and the only man to defeat Willie Wilson in a "Blow-off" contest.....don't confuse that with a Quirk/Brett sleepover.....different sport, kids!"

"Says here that Danny Jackson is NOT related to this 'Bo Jackson' kid they have in the minors.....well the last name is Jackson, right? Then how could they NOT be related? Sounds like another conspiracy to me!"

"Buddy Biancalana is tremendous.........unfortunately, I've seen bigger chunks of human waste....regardless, I truly believe Buddy and Ryno (Sandberg) would make a great tag team up the middle........a duo so terrfic, the WWF might want to give them a call. I hear that professional wrestling is as real as it gets."

"Anyways...back to the game....apparently the first base umpire just blew a call.......looks like the Royals have new life....that's great.....I'm all for this thing going to a game seven.....more hot
dogs for Papa Harry."

Shielding Sweeney

2006-05-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Mike Sweeney was a normal looking big league catcher in the mid 90's. His career was going nowhere (former Royals manager Tony Muser later said that the team was trying to package him together with other players in several different trade scenarios). At 25, he looked less and less like a prized prospect, and more and more like yet another bust. The organization had lost faith in his ability to be the team's catcher of the future. He was a player without a position, and a suspect bat as well.

Early in the 1999 season, Royals first basement Jeff King unexpectedly retired, and Sweeney's career took a turn for the better. It was at that time that Sweeney transformed himself into a power hitting first basemen.

From 1999-2001, Sweeney posted exceptional hitting numbers. The Royals, after trading away other talented players and letting others leave as free agents, awarded Sweeney with a 5 year, $55 million contract just prior to the 2002 season.

He has missed considerable time due to various ailments in each season that followed.

Missed Games:
2002 - 36
2003 - 54
2004 - 56
2005 - 40

It is evident that Sweeney's body has violently broken down (despite still being in his early 30's, and never having suffered a serious injury on the field). The absence of the Royal's $55 million player (year after year) has been curiously absent in the Kansas City media's reporting of the Royals woes.

Last winter, Sweeney was very optimistic about the upcoming season. There were no hints about his lingering ailments or the subject of a forced, early retirement. In January, Sweeney told the KC Star that he was offered steroids by a Royals teammate in 1999 (the time in which his offensive numbers spiked, along with those of his teammates....the Royals offense produced several team records in 1999 and 2000), but ultimately refused to take part. Former teammate, and admitted steroids user, Jeremy Giambi, was on that 1999 Royals team, which finished 64-97 despite the impressive hitting performance from Sweeney and others.

This spring, Sweeney was again at the forefront of the team's marketing campaign, as well as it's efforts to sell taxpayers on the initiative to renovate the Truman Sports Complex.

Mike Sweeney's physical deterioration

2006-05-06T22:24:00.000-07:00

Does anyone remember what Mike Sweeney looked like in the mid 90's?

He was a normal sized big league catcher.

He didn't transform into that power hitting first basemen until 1999 (sorry Jeff King).

Will anyone in this town raise the question of why Sweeney's body broke down so violently in his early 30's, despite never suffering an injury on the field?

Will his personal beliefs (which have created an impeccable, bullet-proof reputation) shield him from any future scrutiny by the local media? Is he that much of a sacred cow?

Last winter, Sweeney was very optimistic about the upcoming season. There were no hints about his lingering ailments or the subject of a forced, early retirement. Here is what Sweeney was telling the KC Star back in January when they brought up the subject of steroids:

(Early in the article, Sweeney says he was offered steroids by a Royals teammate in 1999. Jeremy Giambi, an admitted steroids user, was on that Royals team, which finished 64-97.)

"There would have been no repercussions back then," Sweeney said. "There was no testing like that. But I knew in my heart it was wrong, and I had my faith to get me through it."

Ah yes.

Once again, faith provides us with the answer.

Update:

One local media figure, who acknowledged that Sweeney's injuries make this a topic, holds the view that ("after talking to ex-teammates, on and off the record") Sweeney is clean. He also suggested that Sweeney is only moderately bigger since the Royals first called him up in 1995.

One Year Hiatus ENDS....

2006-05-05T23:20:00.000-07:00

I just needed a year off to gather my thoughts.

So sue me!

KC Media Watch is back...this time operating from the land of Lincoln (Nebraska).

I'll soon be posting a paper on the Stadium situation in Kansas City (way to go taxpayers....not).

So much to catch up on...

-B.M.

Media Thoughts for June

2005-06-01T00:34:00.000-07:00

Think of the press as a great keyboard on which the government can play. – Joseph Goebbels

Goebbels words ring true today: our mainstream media is largely defined by the wishes of the government.

The sheer size of government contributes to the press’s dependence on them as a primary source of information in the newsgathering process.

Many of Chomsky loyal followers subscribe to the view that corporate influence on media consciousness is the primary agent of corruption.

While it is no secret that media operations must ultimately meet their bottom line (sans PBS and NPR), this largely affects the sales and advertising end of the media outfit. The news room and editorial board pay little, if any attention to these details. Their focus is on content; which continues to be molded and defined first and foremost by government sources.

When the leftists decry the shortcomings of our contemporary media, they always try to find a way to fault free markets, private property, etc……These private outfits are not hiding the truth from the public. The media is being inhibited from the truth in Iraq and other foreign policy follies by government. It is our government that is so bold to make no secret of their intentions throughout the world. They have been more than upfront about their campaigns to redefine the world, and the press has acted accordingly in allowing them to slant truths with viewpoints that are conducive to their positions.

We cannot convince the left of this reality. They are convinced that the media has been hijacked by a corporate confluence hell bent on national domination. They have been blinded by their enamoration with their precious federal programs and socialist ideals. In truth, the Goebbels quote paints a much more accurate picture of the relationship that has ALWAYS existed between press and government (and thus defined our view of the country).

Instead, the left sees PBS, NPR, and other government funding for the arts as paramount in this supposed defense against the corporatization of the media. This of course plays right into the hands of politicians who will happily authorize funding into these areas, and in return be granted greater control over an institution that is vital to the health of a republic.

The left seems more preoccupied with maintaining a press that is in the good graces of government, just for the sake of preserving things that are miniscule in comparison to the on-going, never-ending war on terrorism.

Having all but abandoned their criticism of the war in Iraq, the left has refocused their criticisms on those who dare give favorable coverage to the President’s plans to privatize Social Security. This has been a disappointment for those of us who were beginning to believe the left’s criticism of the President’s Wilsonian foreign policy was in fact genuine.

There is apparently no way for the left to see the media’s primary ‘shortcomings’ as being tied to government. Even after the media gave it’s blessing for the government to go through with a fraudulent attack of Iraq. They still refuse to see the media as being historically government-friendly. Furthermore, they find a way to twist the media’s coverage of the Iraqi quagmire as being the result of these Michael Moore-esque corporate villains. Ari Fleischer and the government mouth pieces that were never questioned (while still mocked as being Pro-Bush rather than Pro-Truth), have taken a back seat to these Darth Vader CEO’s as the culprits in the press’s mistakes in believing the same old government justifications for war.

End of rant.

School House Rock Parody - Media Monopoly

2005-06-01T00:25:00.000-07:00

"Conspiracy Theory Rock" (by Robert Smigel, the man behind Triumph the Insult Comic Dog) was on Saturday Night Live during the March 14, 1998 broadcast (but edited out of reruns). It's a hilarious parody of '70's TV series, "Schoolhouse Rock."

Smigel's cartoon goes after NBC and it's parent company General Electric. GE now partially owns MSNBC (and about everything else in the world, media-related or otherwise). This guy really has some balls, check it out for yourself.

FREE WNBA Tickets Everywhere for This Weekend's Game at Municipal

2005-05-06T09:44:00.000-07:00

NBA Commissioner said that Kansas City's soon-to-be constructed Sprint Center might want to think about a WNBA franchise before it gets its hopes up about seeing Shaq, Kobe, LeBron and others from the men's game.

As if this wasn't disturbing enough, now it appears that thousands of free tickets are being passed around for this weekend's WNBA exhibition game at Municipal Auditorium.

KCMedia has received a half dozen e-mails this week from people who have access to these large ticket giveaways. One e-mail reprorted that packs of 50 tickets or more were being given away to various organizations around KC.

This practice could lead to drastically inflated attendance numbers, and thus a phony campaign to bring a WNBA team in to KC (no doubt at the taxpayer expense, again). The tenants of the Kemper Arena/American Royal Complex (Knights, Outlaws, Comets, etc.) are probably the worst when it comes to the practice of bloated attendance figures (as in outright lying rather than handing out tickets to put butts in the seats).

Looks like someone with the city's sports commission or maybe with the "Win for KC" group has taken initiative to raise attendance figures the old fashion way (no I'm not talking about free booze at the door.....although that could be another possibility). Look for this WNBA exhibition to draw a surprising number of fans....10-12,000 when it's all said and done (and expect only a third of that figure to be actual paying customers).

Greatest Business Idea, Ever?

2005-05-04T16:52:00.000-07:00

Kansas City finally has a bikini lawn service. Now if only for that downtown baseball stadium.

Family Guy Returns with a Bang

2005-05-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

The Greatest Cartoon sitcom returns with huge numbers.

Family Guy, which left Fox in 2002 but became a cult hit on Cartoon Network and DVD, posted a 5.7 rating among viewers 18-49, according to Nielsen overnights.

It placed No. 2 in its timeslot behind ABC’s formidable “Desperate Housewives.”

KC Outlaws Refuse to Leave with Grace

2005-04-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

The good folks at the Outlaws office in Kemper's basement are making one last ditched attempt to sell off team inventory before they have to evacuate their office.

$10 will get you one of the surplus bobblehead dolls of Abe Lincoln or Jesse James that wasn't handed out for free during the season.

In comparison, the Comets were handing out team bobbleheads for a buck at their final home games last weekend.

New Gardner, KS Soccer Complex

2005-04-23T20:57:00.000-07:00

Here's an early web site with information on the new indoor complex in Gardner that will enable players to simulate the outdoor game. The pictures show that there's still a long way to go before it's up and running in the fall.

Comets May be Latest (and Last) to Flee Kemper

2005-04-23T20:32:00.000-07:00

April 2005 Prediction: The Comets are done (if not for good, at least at Kemper).

Their best player, Dino Delevski, all but announced in the Star this week that he's looking to jump to the outdoor game (with the MLS or to Europe).

The MISL itself is a mess. The Comets have been inflating attendance numbers like crazy all year. Last night's game drew what appeared to be about 2,500 to Kemper, but the announced figure was closer to 4,500.

The Outlaws had a nasty habit of this same practice....and look where that got them.

It's almost as if they have Diebold counting the crowds. Which may not be entirely a stretch........after all, Diebold does have a local office in Lenexa.

With the Outlaws gone, the Knights floating around somewhere in JoCo, the Comets will be the next out. This will leave only the announced Arena Football League team as Kemper's lone, sports tenant. Head over to the site now and name the team ("Subsidies" was submitted on behalf of KC Media as a tribute to the new arena).

Only in KC....

2005-04-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

.......Can a man spit on a woman, turn and run, and become a hero/celebrity.

That's the path Michael Smith of Gladstone used to become KC's newest celeb. He spit tobacco juice at a 67-year-old woman, who just happened to be Jane Fonda. She was in town for a book signing.

Now a Fifty-four-year-old Vietnam veteran, Smith waited in line at the book shop for 90 minutes before getting the chance to spit tobacco juice into Fonda's face. He also purchased a copy of her book as required in order to stand and line and have the opportunity to get within spitting distance.

Veterans groups in Kansas City issued a statement saying that they recognize many do not like Fonda, but Smith's actions were unacceptable.

Wilmott's CSA set to Debut this Summer

2005-04-20T23:12:00.000-07:00

KU Professor Kevin Willmott's film "CSA (Confederate States of America)"
is set to be released sometime this summer around July. 

CSA is a faux documentary that looks at the United
States after the Civil War, in which the South has just
claimed victory. The film follows the Ken Burns-style
of documenting a historical event. In this case, Willmott
presents the fictional story of a British broadcast of 20th century
American history making its television debut in the Confederate
States.

(I had the chance to view a copy of the film this
last week. It does not disappoint. Willmott did a 
terrific job of putting the film together.)

The film has already received positive reviews
through it's screening at last year's Sundance
Film Festival.

C.S.A. cost about $1 million to make and was
shot over a three-year period in Lawrence and the
Kansas City, Kan., area.

"Boom Goes the Dynamite!!!!!"

2005-04-20T09:48:00.000-07:00

Poor Dave Stewart, of Metro Sports/810WHB fame, has stolen/mocked the catchphrase of the country's hottest new sportscaster: Ball State's Brian Collins.

On a brighter note, Metro Sports reported last night that Gardner, Kansas will be the home to a new indoor facility that will allow players to simulate the outdoor game.

The Metro Sports report claim the facility will open for business this fall. The original projections had it opening this month.

The project will be built on 6.79 acres at 551 New Century Parkway. Gary Hammack, who will build and own the soccer complex, told the City's Board that the facility will have one large soccer field along with two medium ones and one small field.

ESPN Nightmare Job

Getting back to the subject of Brian Collins and his now infamous telecast on Ball State's student television....

Collins is becoming an Internet legend in the same category of a Star Wars Kid (2003) or Paris Hilton (2004).

After enduring all the 'net punishment he has taken in the last month, I'd say it's time to give Collins a shot on one of those ESPN Dream Job shows.

Consequences of Glass-ball Realized

2005-04-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

The KC media, for the most part, has bought into echoing word that the current edition of the Royals is a youth movement (thus, they are shielded from traditional criticism of a product or service in the marketplace).

Let’s call the operation at Kauffman Stadium for what it is:

A franchise that’s been in a persistent, vegetative state for the last 15 years.

Yes, the Royals have so many shared qualities with the now deceased Terri Schiavo that it should disturb baseball enthusiasts: it’s hard to know if you are communicating with them at all (Pena), their mobility has been taken away (Pickering, Stairs, Harvey), and even their strongest supporters from within must rely on faith to see their optimistic point of view (Sweeney).

Those who support the Royals desire to remain in this state, ask that support them in order to keep them around. They claim that their mere existence is better than an alternative of nothing at Kauffman Stadium. Whereas, others can tell that they failed to exist at some point after the late 80’s.

Can’t we just admit that there comes a time to let things go? Can we admit that there’s no possible way of saving something that was once deeply cared about in the community?

Baseball has been made obsolete in Kansas City through the ass-backward economic structure of MLB, coupled with a decade’s worth of bad player deals. The business philosophies of David Glass have accelerated the franchise’s physical demise in the last half-decade.

Glass has exploited Royals fans the same way he has knowingly exploited Wal-Mart workers.

The exploitation of commodities in the two categories makes sense when you consider the following:

In sports/entertainment, the players assume a position akin to the role of retail consumers at Wal-Mart. Glass squeezes the talent out of the players, before letting them move on to a higher bidder. At Wal-Mart, the community’s retail dollars are squeezed by draining smaller competitors of their financial stream. This allows Glass and Wal-Mart’s financial standing to improve and expand into another community.

Glass is already hard at work masterminding a plan to dump KC taxpayers with the bill for a brand new facility. It's hard to find media opposition to such schemes, but once in a while something like this sneaks in and disrupts such efforts. It's going to take many more op-ed pieces (such as this one that appeared in the Las Vegas Review Journal) and voices in the broadcast media in order for KC not to be stuck with another Sprint Center-esque arrangement.

Speaking of the Sprint Center, Russ Johnson has finally brought the issue of stadium subsidies to the forefront of his show. This morning he spoke at length of the Outlaws leaving KC after one year, and the reality of the area's size being too small to support a new professional team. Kudos to "Team Johnson" for backing up their talk with research that continues to show the irrationality behind the campaign that saddled us with the Sprint Center.

Lee's Summit, like Overland Park, is drunk with delusions of grandeur. Missouri's version of Johnson County is proposing a facility for a minor league baseball team to operate in. City officials say minor league baseball is exactly what the area needs.

Right.

Lee's Summit and minor league baseball go together like Donald Rumsfeld and an exit strategy.

Royals Becoming Clippers of MLB (aka, a National Laughing Stock)

2005-04-18T17:28:00.000-07:00

A joke in the new movie "Fever Pitch" has Jimmy Fallon's character (a Red Sox season ticket holder) turning to the Royals for a punch line.

Fallon threatens to withhold Yankees tickets from a friend and instead allot him his unwanted Royals tickets.

It'll be a cold day in....Leawood before Hollywood green lights a picture dedicated to baseball in Kansas City.

However........

Rumors surfaced in the mid-80's about an 'independent' film project that George Brett and Jamie Quirk were putting together (bu-dum-ching).

Whiners of the Week: Richard Adler and the Kansas City Outlaws

2005-04-15T17:15:00.000-07:00

This evening, Kansas City Outlaws Team President Richard Adler went on Metro Sports to whine about Kansas City's failing to support his hockey franchise. Earlier today, the team announced it was up for sale, and, in all likelihood, on its way out of KC after only one season. The franchise's announcement came last July, putting hockey back in the KC scene for the first time since the Blades left in 2001.

Adler used Mick Schaffer and the appearance (who was at his absolute worst during the interview - no surprise to Metro Sports viewers) to talk about the limitations of Kemper Arena. He then continued his day long whining, directed mostly at Kansas Citians for not paying to see his lackluster product.

"The fans didn't support us," Richard Adler said. "We did not get the numbers to make it work or come close enough to make it work."

Let me be the first to say: WAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

Boo friggin’ hoo Richard....errr...Dick. Cry me a river........and then freeze it and use it as home ice for the next hockey team to fail at the Sprint Center.

The Outlaws office at Kemper deserves exactly what it got. The operation was rushed and sloppy from day one.

"Kansas City sports and entertainment fans never gave us the opportunity to become a part of their lives, and that is very disappointing," Adler said.

I'll tell you what's disappointing. These so-called capitalists no longer have the balls to admit their enterprise has failed. Instead, commu-capitalists like Adler in the sports-entertainment world prefer to pass the buck on to taxpayers. Rather than saying thanks to the fans that did show up, Adler has taken the day to lay a guilt trip on us. Luckily, most of KC has tax filings on their mind and not waste their time with Trick Dick's lectures on his life-long disappointments.

The other big loser in all of this is Global Spectrum, the sports-entertainment firm contracted by the city to run Kemper. Global Spectrum already lost the Knights earlier this year when their shady operation moved south to Johnson County Community College. This leaves the Comets as the only full-time/seasonal tenant for the building. Their future at Kemper, and in Kansas City in general, isn't very sunny either. The team's attendance has plummeted and limited resources have prevented them from TV and radio contracts. Their advertising is extremely rare, leaving the Star and others to offer little coverage.

Sure, the Neil Smith-lead arena football team says it will move in next spring for a season or two before heading to the Sprint Center. We'll believe that when we see it.

The Outlaws legacy seems to be shaping up to be little more than a 'fly-by-night' minor league team that never connected.....with fans....or with area businesses. Seems the hockey folks at Kemper have taken an economics lesson or two from the Kansas City Knights.

A graphics company is suing the Outlaws, claiming breach of contract for failing to pay nearly $46,000. Superior Color Graphics was stiffed by Adler's regime after providing print advertising services to the start-up club.

Safe to say, a lot of these 'failure to pay...' suits could be showing up in the press to coincide with the Outlaws looking to escape the Midwest.

On the topic of Mick Schaffer again... Once this guy is asked to perform an honest interview or impersonate some sort of an objective journalist, he completely falls to pieces. That shit face grin just never lets up, and his happy-go-lucky vocal range just doesn't cut it when trying to go face-to-face with a guy whose team has just announced its closing shop. Mick is beginning to make me yearn for the days of Danielle Sargeant (which is kind of like a Royals fan growing sick of Pena and transforming into a Tony Muser apologist).

SM North Grad Hit Hollywood

2005-04-14T20:45:00.000-07:00

Hoorraaay!!! Who wasn't waiting for "SAW 2"????

Luckily, they've employed a 26-year-old SM North graduate to handle the awesome responsibility of a horror sequel.

Your painfully, regular Shawn Edwards/Blurbmeister Update:

Edwards is up to his usual tricks. His latest victim is Sahara. "SPECTACULAR" - was how he decided to whore it up for the latest Indiana Jones rip-off.

"Spectacular! Sahara is a big adventure full of major league action and clever surprises. It's Indiana Jones and James Bond rolled into one incredibly fun film to watch."

Keep checking in with the film snobs for other Edwards updates and the history his blurbing in KC.

Award for Crappiest Area Newspaper

2005-04-08T12:19:00.000-07:00

Glance through the assortment of local newspapers at your local library and you'll probably come to the same conclusion I arrived at this week -- The Kansas City Call and the Kansas City Kansan are running neck and neck for the annual "Ted Textor Award for Horrific-ness in Local Print Journalism".

Both publications have been reduced to subsidiaries of all the bland wire services we see in every other mediocre publication. It's a cornucopia of Ads, while being totally void of original content and actual reporting.

I'm giving the slight edge right now to the Kansan. Already the Kansan (owned by the Liberty Publishing Group) has managed to get its other publication shut down. The Shawnee Journal-Herald had a nice run of over 80 years in its respective community, until the current 'leadership' of the Kansan ran it into the ground. So in comes the Shawnee Dispatch (courtesy of the Lawrence-based World Company) to gobble up the market. While the Kansan publishes Tuesday through Saturday, it would probably be best to reduce it to a once or twice a week publication until the decide to start putting some decent content together on a daily basis.

The Call deserves mention as well. It's hard to distinguish the Call anymore from Church newsletters. That's about the level of news-gathering their putting into it these days. You feel sorry for the businesses that advertise with these sorry rags. But it's really all most companies can afford to do.

Abolish Government Mail Distribution...now!!!!

A classified in the Johnson County Sun states that the USPS has position openings that will pay from $17-59/hour! (The latter works out to about $123,000/yr.)

I wish I had read that wrong. With the exceptions of Baghdad and Kabul, is their anymore depressing place on earth than the government-run post office? This turkey is subsidized left and right, and bleeds money every year. They'll never be FedEx or UPS, so naturally their inviting "Green Cards" to apply and fill their offices. It's 2005 and we're still paying taxes to these assholes when any number of businesses can handle the responsibility of delivering me my junk mail. If you've ever worked in the shipping business for five minutes, you'd understand the difference between private couriers versus the first class incompetence on display at your local USPS.

We'll never be so lucky as to see this actually happen. Ashcroft and his band of terror groupies made sure that the government would be keeping tabs on all mail transactions for the next century.

KC Knights Bouncing Checks, not Basketballs

2005-04-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

Jim Clark, owner of the Knights has given subtle indications through the team's web site that his franchise is folding and/or fleeing town. Clark's minor league hoops spectacle leaves behind a legacy of bad checks and poorly run, live entertainment.....a reoccuring theme in the bottoms these days.

Athletes Gone Wild (as in NUTS)

2005-04-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

One-time successor to the George Brett baseball throne, Johnny Damon, is running neck and neck with Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick for the sports jerk of the week award.

Damon's bone-headed comments about his ex-wife, and affairs since leaving Kansas City, are out in the open thanks to his tell-all book. He's showing up on morning and late-night talk shows, where he's treated like a great guy. Meanwhile, his book (aptly including the word Idiot in the title) proves otherwise. Do a google search on Damon's name and you get a buffet of articles detailing his douche-baggedness. On a brighter note, his wife is now breaking her silence and going on the counter offensive. In one interview, she claims Damon's frequent outbursts and mood swings lead her to believe he was juicing up.

If only this comes true. I can't wait to find out that Jesus and God told Mike Sweeney to get in touch with the Balco gods and become a power hitting all-star.

As a member of the Royals, he was just another of the good young players the team decided it couldn't sign. He's still that above average player, but money, fame, and long hair apparently went to his head. His true colors are now shown him to be a Hall of Fame caliber jerk.

Speaking of other dick heads that have come through Kauffman Stadium, check out Bo Jackson's whining. He's suing a California newspaper for quoting a doctor who claims Bo's hip deteriorating as a result of using anabolic steroids. That should send a nice chilling message to the media: Don't quote anyone saying anything controversial -- You'll get sued!

No word yet on whether Jackson will involve himself in a legal fight with the medical professional who brought the claims forward (why that would not be the appropriate course of legal action puzzles me).

To top it off this week, we find Michael Vick using the name "Ron Mexico" to avoid being ID'ed at clinics during his treatment for a certain form of VD. Mexico, or Vick as his birth certificate states, is being hit with a lawsuit by a 26-year-old woman for giving her the delightful disease during an unprotected encounter in 2003 (funny how his career has gone into the crapper ever since that time).

While Vick's behavior may seem disturbing to us, it still isn't quite at the Brett/Jamie Quirk level of embarrassment. Ohhh!!

Political Correctness Alert

Sesame Street won't let the Cookie Monster enjoy his cookies anymore?!!??!@

"C" is for cookies! Not carrots! Not cucumbers!

What's next? Is Big Bird going to lose his big-ness? He'll just be another damn bird walking around high on crystal meth. I don't want a non-descript monster – we got plenty of those. Only one is a cookie fiend (at least of the monsters that have been ‘outed’). Tell PBS and KCPT (our PBS slave) to go to hell if they turn Cookie Monster into a shadow of his old, sugar-crazed self. This fructose whore is a-ok with me. Tell me how to get……..how to get the PBS bastards off his back.

Ebay bidders take a pass on Flavor Flav's Clock

2005-04-07T13:17:00.000-07:00

I'm gonna say this was NOT an actual Flavor Flav clock. $10,000 doesn't seem too much for a clock that was actaully worn by Flav. I think you could probably also net about 10 G's for any accessory modeled by one of the three Fat Boys.

The KC Version of Tommy Motola?

2005-04-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

The KC Star has found a former Lenexa resident who is now calling shots in the music industry out west. As you can tell from his story, he's no Suge Knight, but it's good to see a KC guy making waves in the entertainment biz.

KCUR Deems Itself "Phenomenal!"

2005-04-06T18:20:00.000-07:00

During their on-air pledge drive, a KCUR announcer read off a laundry list of adjectives before he landed on a title to sum up the local NPR affiliate's contribution to KC:

"KCUR is a.....cultural phenomenon!"

You know what's really phenomenal? The fact that it's 2005, and we still have government funded media.

Look, I'm a fan of KCUR, and NPR in general if only for the fact that it gives you an option that isn't sports talk or "news" talk radio. Still, NPR (like the KC Star) has never met a government program it didn't like. Who can blame'em. It's the hand that feeds.

I'd be nice to have some real news reporting going on in KC radio. All we have left is AM reports courtesy of the crusier 980. Unfortunately, that station turns into a Republican noise machine b by the afternoon.

ESPN 8 - The Ocho - Student Sportscaster Bombs

2005-04-06T12:19:00.000-07:00

This is brutally funny/embarrassing. Poor kid is going to end up in radio after this episode.

Signs of the End of Our Open Society

2005-04-06T11:40:00.000-07:00

Number of documents classified by the Executive Branch, annually:

2001: 8.7 million
2002: 11.3 million
2003: 14.2 million
2004: 15.7 million
Number of documents declassified by the Executive Branch, annually:

2001: 100 million
2002: 44 million
2003: 43 million
2004: 28 million

props to Reason Magazine

Americans Prefer Cousins Marrying over Same-Sex Couples

2005-04-06T11:36:00.000-07:00

As Kansas voted in the 'marriage' amendment yesterday (way to go folks), a Cnn.com pole was asking if states should be able to PREVENT 1ST COUSINS from HOLY MATRIMONY.

2/3's of all respondents said states SHOULD NOT prevent 1st cousins from tying the knot.

Hmmmmmm......

Inflation Effecting Royals Ticket Prices

2005-04-06T11:17:00.000-07:00

Tickets to sit at a Royals game behind the players dugout cost $27. Five years ago, these same seats cost only $18. The old GA seats in the outfield have gone from $7 to $12, parking is up to $9, and Hy-Vee doesn't hesitate to tack on the $2.50 ticketmaster surrrrr-charge either. Is the K going to still be 'family'-affordable fun in another five years? The T-Bones have got to be quietly chuckling at the spike in prices.

KC/NBA update....Milwaukee Bucks???

2005-04-01T17:24:00.000-08:00

Milwaukee Bucks owner (and U.S. Senator) Herb Kohl is serious about selling his NBA franchise. He's continuing to say that he is waiting to find a buyer who will keep the team put in Wisconsin. The selling range for the team is said to be in the neighborhood of $400 million.

Thanks, but no thanks. Kansas City hoops fans are not going to cough up $60 per ticket to watch what's left of this franchise. This is a team headed to the lottery once again, a place they're likely to be seeing a lot of in the near future. In fact, since 1987 the Bucks have had only win season of 50 wins or better. In the past three years, they've parted ways with Glenn Robinson, Ray Allen, Sam Cassell, Tim Thomas, Keith Van Horn, and Gary Payton. The team's current best player, Michael Redd, is about to bust out via free agency and cash in somewhere near Ohio (one more hint: LeBron). The career of former Big 12 standout T.J. Ford is in doubt after being diagnosed with multiple, deteriorating physical conditions. The 2003 lottery pick hasn't played in over a year.

In fact, the Bucks have no player under contract beyond the 2006-2007 season. Essentially, any buyer would be getting an expansion team by the time a move would occur.

Student Columnist gets Social Security Issue Right

2005-03-29T13:03:00.000-08:00

It takes a student publication to sometimes give us the alternative perspective not found in big, mainstream media.

UMKC's weekly student news publication, UNEWS has done what other publication in town dare not do: talk bad about social security.

Andrew Palmer, a frequent contributing columnist to UNEWS, smacks social security and government welfare upside the head in this week's column.

Kudos to Palmer the UNEWS brass for the having the gonads to go against the popular sentiments often printed about social security.

Rick Schroder's in Town! (well....Lawrence,KS)

2005-03-28T18:26:00.000-08:00

THE Rick Schroder will premier his directorial debut (“Black Cloud”) at 7 p.m. Thursday at Liberty Hall in Lawrence. Schroder will attend and take questions after the film is screened. Tickets are $7 ($5 for students). Do NOT miss this chance to demand that he reveal secrets from what went down on Silver Spoons. I was kind of hoping that Alfonso Ribeiro ("Carlton" on Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and danced in a mid-80's Michael Jackson/Pepsi commercial) would somehow be involved in this special screening and lecture. No dice....

KC Blurbmeister Strikes AGAIN!

Shawn Edwards, the Fox-TV/Kansas City Call media superstar, has issued his latest proclamation --- this time a blurb aimed at the Be Cool (the sequel to Get Shorty) bandwagon.

'The Coolest Movie of the Year!"

Meanwhile, the film was slammed by just about every respectable film critic. The Star's Robert Butler said of it: "(The film) feels forced and graceless. It's like a clumsy dancer who can't keep up with the sprightly beat being set by the band." The sequel was described by other reviews posted on rottentomatoes.com as "painful to sit through."

I thought of characterizing Edwards as a media whore......but I fear that would be offensive to actual whores.

Look at the way Edwards "interviews" entertainers when he's not drooling all over them -- here's a 'good' one from the Pitch about four years ago. It involves the third female in Destiny's Child.

Check out Filmsnobs.com and their take on the axis of evil (Hearne Christopher & Edwards) that has made every other film critic in the area come out looking like an out of touch confederate soldier. Here, they actually call him a "quote whore"....so now I feel better that I'm not the only one offending whores by labeling him with this title. Their letter on what's been going on is pretty revealing.

And finally.......

Last week, KMBZ 980 AM afternoon host Russ Johnson took Kemper Arena and Global Spectrum (facility management) to the woodshed after they had the gonads to display such a ridiculous looking 'logo' at center court during the Big 12 tournament. Johnson described the odd choice for a logo as an "alien symbol" on display to a national audience.

Details of Billionaire Bringing KC and the Star a Little Daily Competition

2005-03-28T08:33:00.000-08:00

MSN.com's 'e-zine' Slate profiles multibillionaire Phillip Anschutz. The reclusive oil tycoon has trademark the title "Examiner" for the purposes of a daily newspaper (at last count he had bought up over 70 U.S. cities).

It was reported last fall that Kansas City is one of the area's Anschutz has targeted for his army of news publications. The Slate profile describes Anschutz as a "Republican ideologue and devout Christian." There are strong indications that his potential newspapers will follow this same tone.

In a February 2004 speech, he stated that he entered the movie business because he wanted to stop "cursing the darkness" and start making family fare.

The Star hasn't had daily competition in town since the first Bush White House.

KC's Secret Santa Revealed?

2005-03-24T16:55:00.000-08:00

You think Woodward and Bernstein are sitting on top of a big secret? Sure, they deserve credit for keeping "Deep Throat" under wraps. However, there are those that still say Deep Throat isn't a real person (singular source for Watergate leads), but rather a composite of different figures that helped the Post reporters crack the cover-up and take down Nixon.

Here in Kansas City, we have our own version of Deep Throat. It involves a KC Star reporter and a secret she's been carrying for ten years.

Year after year, the Kansas City Star features the Secret Santa handing out mind-blowing amounts of cash around the city's most impoverished areas. His charitable adventures in the days leading up to Christmas often find their way into the national press.

A Star reporter and photographer are part of the Secret Santa’s entourage on this yearly adventure (in recent years they have been joined by security forces to ensure the transactions take place peacefully).

You’d figure that by 2005 the identity of this mysterious man would have been revealed by the KC blogosphere, right?

Wrong.

You mean to tell me that bloggers can take down the likes of a Dan Rather, but they can’t ID a rich, old, white guy in KC? There's only so many guys handing out bags of cash on the streets.

And it’s not like it’s an overwhelming lists of suspects! The person has to be super rich to be putting up this kind of cash. How many people in KC can afford to shell out the big bucks year after year? It's certainly no one that plays for the Royals, not with the way management cuts ties with high salaries every year.

The Secret Santa’s work has made national headlines over the last few years. Shortly before X-mas 2001, the mystery man was found handing out his trademark $100 bills around New York. USA Today documented his first trip to the Big Apple in the aftermath of 9/11. He made the rounds there for three days, and then returned back to Kansas City to continue his holiday generosity.

A year later, he made his way to Maryland. There, he retraced the path that the D.C. Sniper had followed and gave away a cool $25,000. This story reveals to us a clues in cracking the Secret Santa’s true identity:

"Call it payback to a man named Ted Horn.

Horn, now 84 and retired, was a small-town Mississippi diner owner who gave Secret Santa a hand more than 30 years ago, when he was out of a job, out of money and seemingly out of luck.

When Secret Santa finished his meal at Horn's diner, he pretended he didn't have his wallet. Horn bent down next to Secret Santa's stool, said, "I think you dropped this," and handed Secret Santa $20. Secret Santa paid the bill, gassed up his car, and sped out of town before whoever had dropped the $20 came looking for it. Only later did he realize what Horn had done for him.

"I made a vow that if I was ever in a position to help someone, I'd do it," he said.

Stamped in red on each $100 bill he gave out Thursday was "Ted Horn: 2002."

We can now be certain that Secret Santa has ties to the south, specifically Mississippi. From Secret Santa’s web site (yes, he actually has a web site which tracks the $100 bills around the country), we also learn that his time in the south had to pre-date 1979 (the year in which he made his first trip around Kansas City as the town’s Secret Santa).

The Star’s Donna McGuire was back covering Secret Santa in Dec. 2004, making it the 10th year she has shadowed him as he disperses cash (Secret Santa estimates giving away $1 million over the past 25 years).

McGuire, like Woodward and Bernstein, appears to be the gatekeeper in keeping the name of this mysterious figure under wraps. The stories she has published continue to give us clues that enable us to have an idea, if not a clear picture, of who Secret Santa is.

From her Dec. 2004 story, we learn that he is:

*a Jackson County businessman

*traveling with an “accomplice” from Miami County.

* distributed a record $100,000 (for one stop) in Las Vegas (2004) to pay tribute to a longtime friend, Charlie Meyerson, a former Las Vegas casino host who recently died at age 88 in Florida.

The next month, Secret Santa was back lending a helping hand in Kansas City by helping a Northland family avoid homelessness.

The Secret Santa keeps a number of famous friends close by to serve as “elves” on trips outside of KC. One of these friends is Dick Butkus, former NFL linebacker with the Chicago Bears. Butkus said he met the Secret Santa more than a decade ago in a casino-sponsored golf tournament.

This gives us another regional connection, this time to Las Vegas. By the looks of this article, it appears Secret Santa knows his way around Sin City (I suppose if you had that kind of money you’d have to if you didn’t spend all of your time…….giving it away. Jeez! This guy must be loaded if he’s doing both!).

This Las Vegas Tribune report on his ’04 trip describes Secret Santa as having a very distinct Southern Drawl. This leads us back to Mississippi, or at least the Deep South.

Google magic leads us to this document. We are given an even greater sense that Secret Santa is truly a Southern Gentleman. From this report we learn that he was a young, struggling salesman in Houston, Mississippi in 1971 when the incident at Ted Horn’s diner occurred. From there he took the bus to KC where he made his fortunes.

More Google magic leads us through KC historical records pertaining to the 70's and 80's. We don't find many names that stick out (particularly not of any wealthy business types that could pull this off). After a billion searches lead us back to the deceased Ewing Kauffman (and other names of "old money" who are clearly not candidates), a lead finally appears.

"Grandview businessman Del Dunmire…..In 1958 the 24-year-old bomber pilot robbed an Abilene, Kan., bank of $2,461 to pay a gambling debt.

Now outspoken in repentance, Dunmire embodied an extravagance sweeping Ronald Reagan's America -- new wealth wrapped in patriotic bunting."

Dunmire being mentioned as “new wealth” sends up a red flag. This story, of his lavish 1986 wedding, makes him a strong candidate for a number of reasons. The wedding is described as the largest in the history of Kansas City. The gambling debt also makes sense, because we have learned that Secret Santa was down on his luck and ready to rip of Horn's Mississippi diner. The gambling debt also leads us back to Las Vegas, where he visited this past X-Mas in tribute of a lost friend. Where else were big gambling debt being racked up in the 50's????

Ironically, Dunmire's family now sponsors events for the KC Crime Commission almost 50 years after his brush with the law.

Check out this mention of Dunmire from Hearne Christopher's column in January, where he quotes a handful of local figures on what they’ll be doing for the holidays. Notice Dunmire’s response:

“Eccentric millionaire Del Dunmire doesn't do Christmas gifts — with the exception of his younger children. Mainly because he's always giving people presents year-round.

“I'm a compulsive buyer,” he says. “The things I do are always so crazy.”

A Star report from last fall on their divorce proceedings notes Dunmire and his wife:

“…..have given millions to charities, anti-drug programs, law enforcement and the Kansas City Zoo.”

Dunmire’s success in business, coupled with these notations of generous giving, lead me to believe that he may be the Secret Santa.

Dunmire's never had a media-friendly property, a la Kauffman's Royals. Instead, he’s opted for more scandalous investments and real estate holdings (such as Bob Berdella’s killing grounds at 43^rd and Charlotte, which he later had demolished and donated to the Hyde Park Neighborhood Association).

McGuire was contacted, and responded only by saying that the Secret Santa wishes to remain anonymous.

Rumor of Orlando Magic Move to KC Persists...

2005-03-22T14:10:00.000-08:00

Orlando Sentinel sports columnist Mike Bianchi is keeping Kansas City hoops fans aware of the situation unfolding with the Orlando Magic and a possible move to Kansas City. Bianchi's March 18th column finds him pleading with the team’s management to ante up the big bucks and lure former Laker Phil Jackson back into coaching before the fledgling franchise heads for the Land of Oz.

Before KC hoops fans get too excited about the prospect of the Magic moving into the Sprint Center when it's ready to go in a few years -- consider the history of where the franchise has been. Might we be getting another perennial lackluster sports product (one that gives the Royals a run for their money…or lack thereof)?

After reaching the 1995 NBA Finals (where they were swept by the Houston Rockets) the Orlando Magic has experienced the following:

1. Shaq leaves for LA ('96) -- for which they received nothing in return (unless you count almost a decade of first round playoff exits and consistent .500 records).

2. The hiring of Chuck Daly ('97) -- Daly was a lame duck coach from the moment he arrived. The players (fresh off an organized ousting of Brian Hill the previous year) knew the ex-Pistons coach only had two to three years with the franchise. Daly took the team to two forgettable playoff births in as many years and then retired (again).

3. Holding on to Anfernee Hardaway too long (even if it meant losing “Lil’ Penny” as well)--By the time the Magic dumped the often injured Hardaway on the Suns in '99, all that the former All-Star could generate in return was an over-the-hill Danny Manning, Pat Garrity (the white equivalent of Sam Perkins), and a couple of draft picks.

4. Grant Hill signed to a seven year contract worth $93 million (2000) -- Hill was acquired through a sign-and-trade with his old team, the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons acquired Ben Wallace, establishing a defensive foundation for their 2004 championship squad, and unloaded an already injured Hill. Hill's contract (which runs through 2007) and health have kept the Magic from advancing beyond the first round of the playoffs. After a dreadful 2003-2004 season, the Magic drafted Dwight Howard with the #1 overall pick in the 2004 NBA draft. They said they hoped that the 18-year-old would some day supply the defensive ferociousness that Wallace supplies the Pistons.

5. The Drew Gooden experiment (2003-2004)-- Orlando gives Memphis Mike Miller (Tracy McGrady's best friend on the team) in exchange for Gooden and Gordan Giricek in 2003. The fourth pick in the 2002 draft, Gooden shows some promise in the 2003 playoffs, but then fizzles out last year leading the Magic to deal him to Cleveland in a package that lands them Tony Battie (who you’ll remember as showing great promise as a player…in the Big 12).

6. Tracy McGrady moved for nothing (2004)? ---- Look at the generous trade they made with Houston: McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to the Rockets for Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato.

Result: Mobley has already been shipped to Sacramento for Doug Christie (who is currently M.I.A., or as his bat shit crazy wife says: "not feeling well"). The 30-year-old Cato is averaging 7 points and 7 rebounds in 25 minutes per game -- typical lackluster stuff for the overpaid Iowa State seven-footer. Francis just got suspended for kicking a photographer during a game, after missing the All-Star game for the first time in four years. The undersized guard has four years/$58 million left on his deal.

Meanwhile, McGrady and Yao Ming have the Rockets at their best regular season record since 1997, when the team featured Barkley, Olajuwon, and Drexler.

Advantage: Houston.

7. Failed (Miserable) 1st round Selections (1991-Present) --- To name a few:

Brian Williams (Bison Dele), Stanley Roberts, Geert Hammink, Brooks Thompson, David Vaughn, Brian Evans, Johnny Taylor, Courtney Alexander, Jeryl Sasser, Steven Hunter, and Reece Gaines.

8. They Came and Went (*Most of these players were shipped in 2000 in an effort to remake the roster and make room for free agent signings. This resulted in the sign-and-trade acquisitions of Hill and McGrady.) --- A list of players starting or making significant contributions elsewhere in the league:

Chauncey Billups, Ron Mercer, Corey Magette, Matt Harpring, Michael Doleac, Keon Clark, Mike Miller, Gordan Giricek, Keyon Dooling, Early Boykins, and Troy Hudson.

You take away the four year period in the mid-90's ('92-'96) when the Magic enjoyed the media spotlight cast on Shaq, and what you have is the NBA's east coast equivalent of the Clippers. O’Neal was responsible for the franchise reaching 50 wins or better in the three out of four years with the team. In the nine years since he split, the team has failed to reach 45 wins, and has not gotten past the first round of the playoffs (this year's team is on pace to go roughly 39-43).

Assuming we inherit the franchise's current ownership and management (all signs point to yes!!); there is no reason to expect anything but a continuance of the shortcomings that have plagued the franchise for the past decade. A series of ill-timed free agent signings and unsuccessful drafts have caught up to the team, as it went 21-61 last year and appears to be falling short of the playoffs again this year in the .500 friendly Eastern Conference. Next year looks no better for the franchise, as they are already capped out for the 2005-2006 season.

By the time the Sprint Center is ready for action in '07 the remaining Magic players under contract will be: Steve Francis and Hedo Turkoglu (a poor man's Peja Stoijakovic). Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson's rookie contracts call for the team to pick up salary options that year. Given the Magic's history, there's no guarantee the club will extend the contracts beyond that season if the duo's production begins to exceed their price range.

Next to the Bobcats (Charlotte), Hornets (New Orleans), and Raptors (Toronto), Orlando is the least attractive NBA franchise to inherit/acquire. Twenty years after the Kings and the NBA left town for Sacramento, KC taxpayers may be asked to overpay in order just to have an incompetent franchise call cow town home.

March Madness: Dead Chiefs Player Revitalizing Downtown?

2005-03-21T22:10:00.000-08:00

I thought I was going out of my mind when I read in Sunday's KC Star that Buck Buchanan was alive and working with the city on downtown projects.

Waaaahhhhh!!!!!* (*Waaaaaaaahhhh is a trademark of Jon Stewart and The Daily Show).

Gossip Superstar Hearne Christopher quoted downtown developer Wayne Reeder as saying former Chief Buck Buchanan was responsible for landscaping operations. I figured I was the only person in the city who recalled Buck as having passed away in '92 from lung cancer.

Metro Sports aired a segment Monday night on this odd bit being included in Christopher's Sunday column. Their segment said the story had been pulled from the Star's web site.

For the PBS-like transcript, here's the crazy bit verbatim:

Green giant alert: Let's see, killer views, indoor and outdoor swimming pools — what more could a prospective upscale downtown condo buyer ask for than what The View at 600 Admiral has to offer?

Would you believe: former Chiefs star Buck Buchanan?

"Buck Buchanan's doing the landscaping on it,” says co-developer Wayne Reeder. “He's so talented. It's gorgeous what he's doing!”

You can still find the Google cache here.

The Star, nor Wayne Reeder have issued anything explaining how the strange quote/story made it into Sunday's paper.

Who is Reeder? Besides delivering Christopher the single most bat shit crazy quote of all time, he was profiled last fall by The Pitch for his on-going work for the City. The story centered on his stints in prison for $$ fraud and other convictions. Despite his criminal dealings in the past, David Martin's story shows how city officials have forgiven him for his shady past.

UPDATE ---- The Star issued a correction in Tuesday's paper saying the developer's actual name was Buck Buchan. No further explanation on how this mix-up came about.

Financial Troubles Continue to Plague Kansas City Knights

2005-03-15T16:46:00.000-08:00

The Kansas City Knights have crept back into the habit of sending out bad checks (earlier in the season players complained of this to the Kansas City Star). The Knights were eliminated from the ABA playoffs last week.

Developing...

KC Star Fixes Prices for Ticket Scalpers

2005-03-14T18:09:00.000-08:00

Friday morning, the KC Star noted that Big 12 tournament tickets were expected to jump from $35 (face value) to somewhere in the neighborhood of $100.......

Sure enough, multiple parties reported to me that they encountered hordes of tickets scalpers Friday outside of Kemper seeking nothing lower than $100. The Star had helped set the basement price in the ticket scalping market. Local news organizations have made no mention of the Star's successful foreshadowing of the ticket scalping market via the front page of their Friday paper................

The Star's Howard Richtman (author of the front page piece in question) has responded by saying:

"I talked to a couple people that were selling tickets, and they both said they thought tix would go for at least $100. Whether I feel the piece helped establish a minimum wage....I have no idea. My guess is the scalpers try to get as much as they can.”

The Big 12 tournament was said to be 'sold out' before games commenced Thursday. So why were so many empty seats seen during Thursday and Friday telecasts? Global Spectrum, who has been managing Kemper Arena for the past 16 months, promised the city a true sell out to the '05 tournament. The tickets are sold in the attendance friendly packages to enable Global Spectrum to declare the event a sellout (and at the same time assuring that the arena could still be half empty during the tournament's early games).

Bill O'Reilly - The Best Punter You've Never Seen?

2005-03-13T22:20:00.000-08:00

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann says Bill O'Reilly better stick to his day job (and night job, for that matter).

At the 2005 Super Bowl, O'Reilly penned an article on the back page for the game day program sold at the concessions and distributed to the media. It is not uncommon for the NFL to have a celebrity of some sort include a back page piece about how football has affected their life. O'Reilly took the opportunity to discuss his own football career at Marist College.

Olbermann notes how O'Reilly claims in the piece that: "I won the national punting title for my division as a senior" and concludes by saying that "I guess you could say the end zone was the beginning of the no-spin zone."

O'Reilly seems to be fudging the facts once again.

Marist College did not even have football as a varsity sport until 1978. O'Reilly graduated in 1971. What O'Reilly played on was a 'club' team (meaning players paid all their own expenses, and recording exact statistics was not exactly a high priority).

O'Reilly's statement seems to imply that he was the top...the best....the #1 punter.... in his division in the COUNTRY in 1970. This division was in fact not Division I or II NCAA athletics (not even a small college NAIA program). What Marist College participated in was the "National Club Football Association."

Still.....I think it’d be more entertaining to see O'Reilly lining up in punt formation, rather than Steve Cheeks or these other jokers the Chiefs manage to dig up. According to Marist's historical records of their 1970 club football team, O'Reilly averaged 41.4 yds/punt. Not too shabby. If Vermeil can give Kurt Warner a chance to make it in the league as a 28-year-old rookie, why can't he give a 58-year-old talk show host the same opportunity?

Quote of the Year from an "Anti-Tax" Socialist

2005-03-13T15:58:00.000-08:00

Sports radio 810am WHB's Kevin Kietzman provided what might be the first great quote of 2005 last week.

Kietzman was appearing on 1510 AM to discuss the stadium/arena issues in KC.

After being instrumental in the passage of last August's tax that will provide public funding for the construction of the downtown Sprint Center (a large size arena that hopes to lure a NBA or NHL franchise), Kietzman announced that he was in fact usually opposed to such measures.

"I'm kinda an anti-tax guy myself," Kietzman said.

For the record, Kietzman also acknowledged that local car rental companies have been entered into a bad deal via his efforts to push through the arena question on last fall's ballot.

"It sounds like a bad deal," Kietzman said after the program's host read him paperwork on the deal stating that car rental companies will be forced to pony up the money up front to fund the arena.

Local hotels are also having the Kietzman-campaigned tax forced upon them.

City officials continue to state that the Sprint Center will be up and running for the 2008 Big 12 tournament.

Congress Resuming Witch Hunts in Victimless Crimes

2005-03-10T11:49:00.000-08:00

Dems and Republicans have nothing better to do than conducting McCarthy-like witch hunts (see Steroids in Baseball) or wasting money on useless "studies" (video games, tv,....the usual "violence is hurting my kids" argument).

UK to Kansas: You are Civil Rights Hypocrites

2005-03-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

Remember that little affair going in Iraq? Supposedly, the U.S. military excursion has alienated America from the world community.

Now, I suppose people's disenchantment with America might be more specifically aimed at one geographical location (Washington D.C., Texas, California, New York, the South in general, etc.).

Usually we just think of "Mo-Kan" as flying beneath the international radar of ridicule. However, the UK's Guardian Unlimited has taken the time to remind their readership that Kansas is still home to everything that's wrong with America.

In other words: its' the home of Fred Phelps.

The Guardian points out the irony in Phelps's continued crusades against civil (gay) rights, on the same soil (Topeka) where the Supreme Court outlawed school segregation over 50 years ago. The author, Gary Younge, filed the report directly from Topeka (no word yet if he is a US-based correspondent for the publication or was on assignment here temporarily).

David Glass's Legacy: Screw the Workers & Give KC Bad Baseball

2005-03-09T14:54:00.000-08:00

The 2005 MLB season promises to introduce us to another awesome edition of David Glass's Wal-Mart Royals. While we here in Kansas City have been indoctrinated with the Glass School of Business Practices and Ethics through the Royals, Wal-Mart employees suffer a far worse fate than those MLB players unfortunate enough to be stuck in this baseball wasteland.

As if sticking it to baseball fans in Kansas City year after year wasn't enough, Glass's penny pinching ways still extends into his other business: using friends in Congress to screw Wal-Mart workers.

Glass, the company's former CEO, still is heavily involved in Wal-Mart's operations. The AP reported today that Wal-Mart is leading the charge amongst a group of retailers hell bent extending truckers workdays to 16 hours.

The bill that Wal-Mart's brass is lobbying before Congress has many other sweet incentives for the cheap skates from Arkansas. Among them: truckers will have to take an UNPAID Two-hour break during these 16 hour shifts.

Glass stepped down as Wal-Mart's CEO in January 2000, at which time he assumed the role of full-time Royals owner. The team has recorded 97 losses or more in three of the last four seasons. The over/under in Vegas right now is some around 100 losses, after the team finished 2004 with a 58-102 record.

Social (In)Security

2005-03-07T09:46:00.000-08:00

The government's web page dedicated to informing on the history and (non-)functionality of Social Security is devoting a huge chunk of cyberspace trying to rebut the argument that the program is all one big Ponzi Scheme. Check out this ridiculously clumsy piece of writing (you thought blogs were sloppy?).

It reminds you of Fox News having to tell you over and over again that they really are fair and balanced.

In 1995, Forbes wrote of this "Legal Ponzi Scheme": "If the US government were required to keep its books the way businesses are required to keep theirs, the national debt wouldn't be $5 trillion. It would be $17 trillion, an amount equal to 2½ times the nation's gross domestic product."

Politicians continue to tell us that our 'contributions' to the Social Security go directly into a 'trust fund', where it is invested in government bonds. But....Social Security has ALWAYS paid out benefits from current cash flow rather than paying benefits out of any interest the investment had accumulated. This will only be complicated as people's life expectancy continues to grow (as the Baby Boomers now begin to retire there are only two young workers (and shrinking) contributing to the system for every one retiree).

Bush's plan to 'fix' it is no better. The idea he is floating around actually involves us throwing another huge chunk of change away. Somehow this will correct the system's faults? I thought the idea was to return the money to the people who had been sustaining it all these years.

Police Academy 7: Assignment: Kansas City, Kansas

2005-03-06T19:54:00.000-08:00

Now's as good a time as ever to make the transition into a new career path: professional criminal!

The Kansas City, Kan., Police Department is reaching into the Steve Guttenberg school of law enforcement in order to handle routine police functions. The sponsored program, Volunteers in Police Service, is relatively new to the community, but not to Hollywood.

Didn't you see how this thing ends? Next think you know we have criminals running circles around Bubba Smith (or maybe in our case Tim Grunhard). I saw the Fox 4 report that gave us a glimpse of some of these new recruits. Needless to say, the females do not resemble a young Kim Cattrall.

The program is said to enable the actual police officers to spend more time tending to their primary duties. The only problem: police officers have neeeeeeeever tended to putting real criminals behind bars.

Yet this is what improvments to the public law enforcement community have come to: taking cues from B-level Hollywood film franchises. Those private security contractors in Baghdad are looking really nice right about now.

Say it Loud: Black and....in Love with Terrible Films

2005-03-04T19:14:00.000-08:00

Fox 4 movie critic and KC Call columnist Shawn Edwards has aired his 'beef' with the Kansas City Film Critics Circle in public through local Star gossip columnist Hearne Christopher.

Edwards says the KCFCC wasn't: "supporting the totality of cinema and a diverse viewpoint.” He went on to describe the group's members as "a big clique of film geeks" that "supports negativity.”

Jon Niccum, Lawrence-Journal World film editor and head of the film critics circle, has another take on Edward's "resignation": he had been suspended for not paying dues for the second straight year (a measly $20 total).

Translation: the black guy (Edwards) wanted a free pass from all these stuffy white guys (Niccum, etc.). When the old white dudes refused, Edwards played what amounts to the race card.

For those of you who haven't seen Edwards on Fox 4, you're missing out on a real treat. Edwards's spectacular reviews have even been picked up by great film sites like walmart.com. He is listed as an "NBC-TV" film critic (Yikes).

Oh, and remember how critics panned The Incredibles?

Oh wait.....that actually never happened.

The film did very well critically (and at the box office). But according to Edwards, this animated effort just doesn't "live up to it's title." (Notice in the picture posted with the aforementioned/linked column shows Edwards trying to come across like a substitute pimp rather than a Roger Ebert-type).

From what the Internet shows, Edwards has been allowed to bullshit about....well, bullshit movies for the better part of three year in Kansas City. It's unbelievable that Fox 4 and the KC Call allow him to just ramble off shit like this. Alas, that's what our mainstream media has come to.

Edwards, coupled with "Wesson-gate", shows us that the Call is not the publication it used to be (that is if it ever was a news publication of any worth, and not just an apologist for mediocre, black politicians).

You can go to the Call's archive that allows you to access a good portion of his recent 'work' for the advocacy newspaper/Emanuel Cleaver ass-kisser.

Edwards, who refers to himself in his Call columns as "Tom Cruise," (a la James Guckert/Jeff Gannon) recently praised "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" after first acknowledging that the big screen adaptation of Tyler Perry's play comes very close to "mimicking minstrel shows." From there he goes on to drool all over the film, downplaying the depictions of African-Americans.

Normally, it would be news for a film critic (let alone a black film critic) to be drooling all over a film that borders on a minstrel production? But in the today's world, media personalities like Edwards are abundant. A positive review of White Chicks or Chronicles of Riddick is just another day at the office for 'critics' like Edwards. And what a busy year it's been for him, as he tries to make time to, not just justify, but shower praise on each pathetic Hollywood release.

Vanity Fair's Tim Gray compiled a list of these puzzling zingers from Edwards over the past year:

"Barbershop 2" -- "The best comedy of the year!" (Feb. 6)
"White Chicks" -- "The funniest comedy of the year." (July 9)
"Little Black Book" -- "The best romantic comedy of the year!" (Aug. 1)
"The Chronicles of Riddick" -- "One of the best sci-fi films ever! Extraordinary! A true classic that's not to be missed! Vin Diesel is ecstatically superb*." (June 11)

(*Coincidence that Edwards kisses Diesel's ass here on the press junket? I think not.)

Ok....after reading that you may really be starting to wonder (as I am) if Edwards is on the take from film studios. Either that, or else he just loves every black and/or crappy film that the Hollywood machine churns out.

Is it too much of a stretch to imagine that he, like Eric Wesson (his co-worker at the Call), was paid to 'advocate' for black films or sub-par films by the studios suits? Edwards even brags in one of his 'columns' that he "hangs out with studio chiefs who run joints like Sony."

If this is in fact true, then we need to ask why such powerful men are hanging out with a media personality from Kansas City? I'm sure the Sony brass have nothing better to do, and no one better to court than a critic from cow town.

Needless to say, I doubt the Kansas City Film Critics Circle will be affected too negatively by Edwards's departure. As for Edwards, he can still claim being a founding member of the African American Film Critics Association, and an official juror of the Film Life Movie Awards.

For starters, the Film Life Movie Awards was established this year by TNT to give the cable network an awards show that would generate some publicity. The African American Film Critics Association is another story. This is an organization that recognized The Italian Job as one of the ten best films of 2003, and gave it's director, F. Gary Gray a Special Achievement Award. The AAFCA said Gray: "demonstrated strong growth and a solid command of the film making process with a stylish remake of the 1969 caper classic."

Luckily, there are still more than a few critics left in the world that called The Italian Job for what it was: a good, but ultimately limited, flawed action flick....that happened to be directed by a black guy.

"Deleted Scenes" (additional tidbits):

Keep surfing and you'll find plent of other gems attributed to Edwards:

"Tremendously funny. The surprise comedy of the year!" on Black Knight

"A mesmerizing conclusion to the best trilogy in cinematic history." on Matrix Revolutions

(How many professional film critics would put the Matrix trilogy up there next to the Godfather?)

*A USA TODAY study found that Edwards ranked in the top ten of all film critics that qualify as "blurbmesisters" in the national media (critics studios can go to fo preferrable quotes to sell their films on). The National Society of Film Critics equates these film critics as being little more than an extension of the advertising and publicity departments.

Whitlock Quits on the Air

2005-03-02T18:47:00.000-08:00

KC Star sports columnist Jason Whitlock has abruptly quit his sports talk radio program on 610am. This comes a day before a planned 610am event promoting the idea of pressuring the Chiefs into signing big name free agents (Ty Law and others). About a half-hour into today's show ("The Doghouse"), he left the booth and the station cut to commercial.

Whitlock, who left 810am in 2003, leaves 610am after a year and half of trailing his former station in the ratings battle. In the moments leading up to his departure, Kansas City's multi-media sports superstar complained of a lack of corporate support (from Entercom, the station's owner/managing group), and that his writing chores were talking up too much his time.

Covitz/Star Say Gooden's Found an NBA Home.....Trade Talk Suggests Otherwise

2005-03-02T00:30:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday, Randy Covitz and the Star published a sizeable feature on former Jayhawk Drew Gooden. According to Covitz’s piece, the 23-year-old Gooden, now on his 3rd team (the Cleveland Cavaliers) in as many years, has finally hit his stride in the league.

The feature comes fives days after the NBA trade deadline had come and gone (surprise, surprise). Last week, ten NBA trades were executed, involving 35 players. Since Gooden was (for once) not among those on the move, the Star finally had the green light to run this easy piece.

There's just a little bit of information the Star conviently overlooked in this piece: Gooden's job security with the Cavs is far from rock-solid. In fact, reports during the last minute trading frenzy actually sugget Gooden was close to being shipped off to his 4th employer.

Last week, as NBA player movement were taking place, Gooden's name was brought up in multiple trade proposals. Cavs GM Jim Paxson was (and still is) looking at his current personnel and trying to identify who would fit down the road with LeBron James. Paxson refused to say Gooden was untouchable as the trade deadline loomed last week (NBA Translation: he can be had for the right price). In this case, the price was shooting (of the rare, accurate variety).

The Cavs sorely need perimeter shooting to open up lanes for James (as well as Zydrunas llgauskas and his 7'3" inside game). Unfortunately, shooting is always at a premium in the NBA, and Gooden's blue collar efforts were just not enough to net the Cavs the sharpshooter they coveted (Milwaukee’s Michael Redd, who will be a free agent this summer).

So for now, the Cavs and Gooden are joined at the hip. The question isn't whether or not he'll be moved this summer, but if Covitz and the Star will publish a follow-up (Is their such thing as a feature designed to retract the sentiments generated through a previous feature?) when Gooden is uprooted from his new 'home' and begins to ‘hit his stride’ elsewhere.

*Unfortunately, Tuesday's piece did not include any 'classic' Gooden quotes, such as those he gave following his selection by Memphis in the 2002 NBA Draft.

"I didn't even know Elvis was from Memphis," said Gooden. "I thought he was from Tennessee."

"I've lived in Kansas," Gooden said. "That's about as bad as it gets." (Gooden later said that he only meant to imply that Kansas is in the middle of nowhere).

-6/27/02, KC Star

Chancellor Takes a Rest(room)

2005-03-02T00:06:00.000-08:00

UMKC's now former Chancellor Martha Gilliland has gone from living in the high rise to living in the....outhouse?

UNEWS reporter Jennifer Bhargava confirms are worst fears: Gilliland has gone from UMKC's #1 officer to having an office located where people execute a #1 (and yes, sometimes a #2, as well).

Now in her "transition" phase with the University, Gilliland has set up an office in the former outer lounge of a women's restroom, located at 4825 Troost Avenue. The office is unmarked and easy to miss according to the author.

Wait...its gets worse. Gilliland's "transition office" (a far cry from her office in the administrative building), is actually divided into two halves: one for her and one for her personal assistant. So let me get this straight...UMKC's former Chancellor isn't even allowed AN ENTIRE FORMER BATHROOM LOUNGE to function as her office? Plus, it's got to be awkward for the two of them (her and her assistant) to ever be in there at the same time with the sound of toilets flushing...and they're supposed to pretend to be hard at work? C'mon!

Well....don't feel too bad for Martha. She still draws quite a nice salary from the University as she prepares to teach classes next fall (haha). Until April 1, she will continue to earn her $255,000 yearly salary. After that, she still collects a nice $116,000 a year as a "professor."

I'm willing to bet every penny of that $116,000 that she never steps foot inside a UMKC classroom -- or any classroom for that matter. One of the boats in town needs to take an over/under on the date she'll depart Kansas City for her next cushy University position.

Yakov in KC

2005-02-28T11:13:00.000-08:00

Don't look now -- but everyones favorite Cold War comedian is heading to Kansas City. Yakov Smirnoff comes to town this week, and with it (hopefully)...the beginning of an all-out Russian invasion (and at the unbelievable low cost of $30 to boot!)

Smirnoff will do what he does best at the Unity Village on Friday (1901 N.W. Blue Parkway). Ordinarily, the former Soviet funnyman does his schtick in Branson, Missouri (aka, where talent goes to die).

Tickets can be bought at the door or in advance by calling (816) 251-3540. Buy'em up now! This one is going to be hard to pass up.

Speaking of Yakov...when will a Yakov-like entertainer emerge from Iraq? That's all were missing! We need that guy to emerge from the rubble and make fun of Saddam.

"Under former Iraqi dictatorship we faced harsh government aggression for speaking in public. Now, instead of speaking out against bloody insurgents, we stand around complaining...because we want MORE freedom! What an occupation!"

What?

They Pay 2 Play in the ABA

2005-02-24T11:50:00.000-08:00

The Star's reporting of the Kansas City Knights economic woes fails to cover one important component of the club's financial struggles. The reported inability to compensate the most talented players available to them may be causing a major shift in the Knights 'basketball philosophy.'

Translation: Potential 'investors' can now dictate who goes on the roster, and who stays. There is no exemption involving family members in this policy.

The Knights began an interesting relationship with former William Jewell point guard Pat Khoury on January 8th when the team squared off against the Colorado Storm at Hale Arena. Khoury was not listed on the team's web site (www.knightsfans.com), nor on the game notes distributed that night. Having left William Jewell a few years ago, Khoury had a brief stint with the Kansas City Steer of the NABL (now defunct?). He then ventured overseas where, like his time at William Jewell, he was not considered an elite player by any stretch of the imagination.

As 2005 rolled around, Khoury's father was seeing to it that his son would find a way onto the Knights roster. What his son could not produce in basketball talent, the elder Khoury would make up for in contributions to the area's fledgling minor league franchise.

Pat's father, Paul, is the President and Director of PB&J Restaurants. He founded the company in 1987. Prior to PB&J, he was a manager for Gilbert Robinson, Inc., another Kansas City-based restaurant operation. Paul and PB&J co-owner Bill Crooks specialize in bringing duck breast to Kansas Citians at Grand St. Café at 47th and Grand Blvd, not something most fans attending Knights games are familiar with. His son wasn't looking to reinvent Kansas City cuisine; he wanted a way into a basketball gig so he wouldn't have to look overseas for work in the hoops industry.

Khoury proposed to the Knights' brass an idea that would make sense for them and keep his son playing in the area. In exchange for covering the costs to produce Knights merchandise and provide other revenue generating materials for the team, they would reward Khoury with a few gifts. A nearly unlimited supply of season tickets for he and his family was an easy bone to throw the restaurant owner. The other condition of their arrangement was a bit more startling: Paul Khoury's son would be joining the team on a full-time basis.

On January 8th, Pat Khoury was not only in the lineup, but he was starting the game. It was something out of a 'Seniors Night' game at KU when Roy Williams would allow bench players to bask in on court glory for a few minutes as their college careers expired. Khoury registered two points during seven minutes of play as the Knights beat the seemingly disinterested Colorado squad.

After the game, word around Hale Arena was that Khoury's appearance with the team amounted to a one-time arrangement. The team passed off the occurrence as if he was the winning recipient of some sort of unofficial contest.

A week later, fans attending the Jan. 15th game against St. Louis noticed that Khoury was still suiting up. Again, he was in the starting lineup, and this time he saw significant minutes in the second half. A week later his only second half appearance was during garbage minutes, but on this night he began the third quarter in the lineup feeding the ball to the Knight's low post scorer, and former KU forward, Jeff Graves.

By this night, Khoury was listed on the team's web site and was mentioned in the game notes distributed to fans. Word was beginning to circulate that Khoury was not a temporary addition, but rather a permanent fixture to the remainder of the Knight's 2004-2005 season. The other significant change at Hale Arena was the merchandising table. Once barely stocked with team apparel, it was now overflowing with a slew of new Knights' memorabilia.

The Knights won the game as Khoury recorded another two point performance, but increased his on court minutes to twelve. Afterwards, he sped out of the Kemper Arena parking lot afterwards in a sporty silver vehicle (not exactly the kind of transportation that ABA salaries traditionally afford players).

The relationship that exists between the Knights and the Khoury family is becoming more and more common to aficionados of the local sports scene. This same kind of arrangement kept Josh Kroenke and Spencer Laurie in Missouri basketball uniforms in recent years. The two are cousins of Paige Laurie, who's father Bill, put up $25 million big ones toward the construction of the Tiger's new basketball specific arena.

Listed as a generous 6'0"by the Knights web site, it is not known whether Khoury is drawing a salary (regarding the reports of paychecks bouncing).

*February Update -- Guards Jeff Boschee and Joe Crispin have left the team to play overseas. Meanwhile, Jon Crispin has filed a lawsuit against the team over nonpayment and wrongful termination. He was released from the team in January to make room for Khoury.

Sports Expansion at UMKC?

2005-02-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

While residents protest the demolition of their homes at Twin Oaks, UMKC is fortunate to also be riding a huge publicity wave from the basketball team's moderate success over the past year.

In the midst of this struggle between good and bad karma for the University, is Athletic Director Bob Thomas. Thomas, via an e-mail sent on February 11th, made his feelings towards a new sports facility on the main campus known:

"(We are) dreaming and working to implement ways a facility under our ownership and management on our campus could further enhance the experience for our fans and the University."

Not a ringing endorsement for Municipal Auditorium, eh?

The last time UMKC attempted to construct new athletic facilities was in 1998. That ended in the infamous "UMKC Kills Our Homes" campaign. The community backlash cost the then Chancellor (Eleanor Schwartz) her job. The soccer fields and other intramural sites were never put up.

As the KC Star noted in the same article containing news of Schwartz's 'resignation', the University's Athletic Department has been running deficits ever since they made the move to NCAA division I in the late 80's. By 1996-97, the deficit had reached $1.7 million, not including an additional $1 million in athletic scholarships.

KMBC Channel 9 News-vertisements

2005-02-22T15:35:00.000-08:00

Newsflash: If you're a young, enterprising black male, then contact KMBC-TV immediately! This most likely qualifies you for an entire news segment on their highly-rated, nightly newscast!

Seriously.....Is it just me, or is the definition of news at local television stations becoming more and more suspicious?

KMBC-TV aired quite possibly the most peculiar segment ever on their Monday, Feb. 21st 10pm newscast. They devoted a nice chunk of time to a new local business using cars and a graphic design technique to advertise business logos and other persuasive messages on everything from low riders to SUV's. Check out KMBC's homepage to see how this 'wrapping' technique comes out looking.

The segment starts out innocently enough: Jim Ellsworth of Shawnee, KS used this graphic design technique of 'wrapping' a 1962 Chevy Bel Air with images that celebrated black history month (i.e. Malcolm X, Rosa Park, etc.). The kind gesture fades as the piece moves along, and we find out that Ellsworth's company is 'interested' in wrapping other vehicles (one possibility is a message in support of the troops overseas). Hmmm. You feed the news beast a little 'goodwill' bit and then you've got them in the palm of your hand.

The piece quickly transitions from cutesy, tootsey community feature on a local guy celebrating a worthy cause into a guy advertising his start-up business. Ellsworth then spouts off some nonsense implying that segregation is alive and well in the graphic art industry.

"This is a field that should not be segregated. Anyone can create and use this sort of media to broadcast your message," Ellsworth said.

He throws this in out of the blue, at which point the reporter's taped voiceover tries to wrap the segment up, but not before giving Ellsworth's ‘segregated’ business another huge plug (phone number, plus web site).

The JMI signs web site lists Ellsworth as the company's creative director and co-founder. He certainly has a creative way of turning celebrations of Black History Month into: “I’ll continue to be oppressed in this industry until you wrap you car up with these hokey-looking jpegs!”

I contacted Mr. Ellsworth Thursday to see what he implied by ‘segregation’ in his industry, as well as how exactly KMBC went about selecting his business for such an extensive news feature in the middle of their evening telecast. He did not elaborate, but did say it was a broad statement about minority exclusion from the graphic design industry.

*I've just been alerted to a blurb on the company that the LJ World ran on Feb. 5th (two and half weeks prior to the KCTV story). As you can tell, it's much more of just a photo and caption, rather than a full throttle business promotion.

Questions for Black History Month

2005-02-20T15:28:00.000-08:00

? #1 -- What happened to the days of Republican administrations working toward smaller government?

Bush's $2.57-trillion budget for 2006 will be more than a third bigger than the 2001 budget he inherited four years ago.

What happened to the philosophy of fiscal responsibility that once guided conservative thought? It’s gone and we’re stuck with two parties that both espouse big government propaganda.

? #2 -- Why is it that not a single big media outlet picked up the national ID card story?

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a sweeping set of rules that will force adults to carry federally approved electronic ID cards, including driver's licenses. It's a de facto National ID card; just another sign that privacy and individual freedoms will continue to fall into the crapper while we conduct the 'war on terrorism.'

? # 3 -- Are young Americans really so stupid to believe that it would be a good thing for the Government to give clearance to media outlets in order to publish stories?

CNN reports that many high school students believe government censorship of newspapers is needed in some instances, and that flag burning does not constitute protected free speech.

This is the first "Bush Generation" to be raised in the aftermath of 9/11. They can't read, they love MTV, and their not big fans of the 1st Amendment. The future looks bright....much like the bottom of the Pacific Ocean.

1/3 of the high school students polled said the language of the 1st Amendment goes "too far." If this was Ari Fleischer responding I could understand, but to hear from run-of-the-mill public high school students is a more than a bit disturbing.

? # 4 -- Do we live in a society where bloggers can actually be sued?

Jeff Gannon, err James Guckert, certainly thinks so. Guckert/Gannon is threatening the bloggers with litigation for stealing his livelihood. It was Gannon/Guckert, not the bloggers, who signed off on his privacy when he started selling himself for online sex.

? #5 -- Does the KC Star expect us to take it as a serious journalism publication when it runs front page stories on intelligent design?

Sweet Jesus, they've done it again. Star reporter Eddie Hall apparently had nothing better to write about. So what does he do? He goes out and gives another religious nut job the opportunity to remind us why science is evil and his one book has all the answers.

? #6 -- Will any publication advocate the decriminalization of consensual sex?

Again, not the KC Star. Instead, they run a huge page 2 piece this week on a successful prostitution sting. Naturally, author Tanyanika Samuels makes out the cops to be the good guys and the guilty parties to be evil-doers.

Way to stick up for the system Samuels! You'll fit in nicely at the Star next to Kraske and company. Who are these adults to think that they could actually get away with something like this! Additionally, she was able to glorify the heroics of these police officers. They always appreciate the good press for these WACO-like stunts. I sent this promising young journalist a letter; we'll see how the Star chooses to respond (Ordinarily, they don't).

? # 7 -- When will the fake news stop (no, I'm not talking about Fox)?

The use of video news releases (prepared by professional PR agencies) on television newscasts has been well documented since the first Gulf War. Congressional investigators are asking the feds to stop funding these efforts once again in light of other payments that could be tied back to the Bush White House. Video news releases are produced in a way that makes them indistinguishable from what is broadcast by television news organizations. In many cases, they do the job.

KC Star Columnist Barbara Shelly: Government Tool

2005-02-17T13:01:00.000-08:00

That incessant whining sound you hear at night comes from the KC Star offices. Once again, KC's only daily rag uses a columnist to drive home the 'taxes aren't so bad' message. For those of us who choose to point out the faults in these arguments, we are lectured by these giants of media excellence.

This time it's Barbara Shelly, doing the pro-tax dance. The Star loves to lay guilt trips on anyone who points out just how wasteful government spending is. If you oppose payments to billionaires so they can't improve or build new sports stadiums, then you're automatically opposed to downtown growth or else your just letting the town 'turn into another Omaha or Branson.'

This city deserves a competing daily that will point out just how much ass the Star kisses at City Hall, the Truman Sports Complex, etc.

Shelly claims the anti-tax crowd is ignoring the common good that government is meant to provide. Oh so sorry "Babs", we're just trying to remind folks how often government compounds problems when they are allowed further say on how we live our lives.

The Weekly Standard: Shills for Bush, Neocons...and Darth Vader?

2005-02-17T12:49:00.000-08:00

Sometimes these publications that coddle Bush and his buddies are just too funny. Take a look back at their online site's two years ago on their coverage of the Star Wars film: "Attack of the Clones."

In his 'review' of the Star Wars film franchise, Jonathan V. Last argues FOR the empire (Darth Vader, Boba Fett, etc.) and against the Luke Skywalker-lead rebellion! A must read in order to truly appreciate the depths these media voices will sink in order to support government (liberal or conservative).

E-mail Mr. Lust (webeditor@weeklystandard.com) and remind him what a tool he and his cronies are for supporting oppresive regimes rather those who fight for liberty and a truly free society (whether they be in a galaxy far, fary away or closer to home).

Looking for a Career Switch -- Give Fox News Radio a Shot!!

2005-02-17T12:44:00.000-08:00

Liberal rabblerouser Michael Moore shines his left-biased spotlight this month on Fox News (surprise!).

Just in case you always wanted to join up with Rupert Murdoch's media empire....now's your chance!

By the looks of the ad, it doesn't appear that the standards are very high at News Corp. these days. If you are a 'news junkie' (translation: you stare at Shep. Smith day after day) you just may have a future with the soon-to-be launched Fox News Radio.

I'm hoping to be plugged in as a News Anchor so that I can show them I know how to deliver "Fair & Balanced newscasts."

It's incredible how full of themselves they are. They even have to remind prospective employees just how fair and objective they are in order to maintain this veil of journalisitic standards.

LJWorld doing PR Work Once Again for KU

2005-02-17T11:46:00.000-08:00

Last week, the Lawrence-Journal World put together what appears to be an honest feature on the ease in which universities skew the graduation and academic records of student-athletes.

But seriously...

This is also a huge (free) PR job the LJWorld is doing for KU.

If the numbers were skewed toward KU too much (as opposed to MU), would they have taken the time to point out the flaws and the shaft that MU was receiving?

These kinds of stories aren't just generated from people in a newsroom. Someone at KU gave the LJ World a heads up on this report coming from a KC television station. LJ World kills two birds with one stone by pointing out faulty reporting on the part of the neighboring big city competitor and keeps their sports readers happy by going after the oh-so-hated Tigers.

Mike Greenwell: "I'm the 1988 AL MVP!"

2005-02-17T11:31:00.000-08:00

Former Red Sox outfielder Mike Greenwell has a hell of a case for why he should be named 1988 MLB AL MVP: he didn't use steroids, and Jose Canseco (the recipient of the award) did.

"Where's my MVP?" Greenwell told the Fort Myers News-Press. "[Canseco's] an admitted steroid user. I was clean. If they're going to start putting asterisks by things, let's put one by the MVP."

Did the award cost Greenwell millions of dollars as he claims?

Maybe so.

The real question is whether or not all of my late 80's Topps and Donruss Greenwell cards will skyrocket in value once MLB awards him with what is rightfully his. God knows, all of my B.J. Surhoff "Future Star" Topps rookie cards will never be worth a penny. But you still have to admire the wood-like frame on that '87 set.

Dodgeball Fuels Tsunami Relief Effort

2005-02-16T11:01:00.000-08:00

Ordinarily, the sight of students hurling objects at school teachers and administrators would include that of another party: the authorities.

However, law enforcement figures were nowhere to be seen at Shawnee Mission North High School on January 14^th, when students and faculty squared off in a friendly (depending on which side you speak ask) game of dodgeball. The tournament raised more than $6,000 toward the Red Cross Tsunami Relief Effort in Washington D.C. Student council members chipped in to push the grand total up to $7,000 in donations. Faculty members were impressed with just how quickly student leaders were able to organize a charity event of such magnitude, on the fly, in order to assist the victims families of the tsunamis that hit Southeast Asia in December.

“For them to come up with something like this so quick was amazing,” computer and business teacher and student council faculty advisor Cody Fothergill said. “They knew they had to do something as soon as possible in order to help the relief effort.”

“Time was essential and they passed with flying colors.”

Although the tournament included only four teams, every student was eligible to form a team and be entered into a drawing from which the final competitors were selected. To form a team, students had to raise a minimum of $100. Thirteen teams of six students and an alternate were able to successfully do so. Additional entries were given to teams for every additional $25 raised.

The entrants raised $4,351.04 alone. A crowd of 1,000 fans (who paid $2 each) was on hand to witness the unique, physical competition pitting teacher versus student.

“I was really impressed with just how organized and rule-oriented the game was,” Associate principal Jim McMullen said. “It wasn’t just throwing things at each other, it was a real game out there.”

“Everything exceeded our expectations.”

Rules for the competition were given to players prior to the tournament. Students and faculty co-existed long enough to serve as referees for the matches. Some students implied that last year’s film “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story” may or may not have provided the inspiration for the event. While Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller were not present this time around, McMullen sat alongside science teacher Steve Fluty to provide fans with live game commentary (a la ESPN 8, “The Ocho”) over the public address system. The broadcasting duo’s debut was overshadowed by a mesmerizing display of agility, speed, power, and teamwork by their colleagues.

“I’m so glad (the faculty) agreed to do something like this on short notice,” McMullen said. “It’s uncommon to move that quickly on something, but the event was good for everyone involved.”

“I’ m just glad no one got hurt,” Fothergill said. “We won, but I think some egos were bruised on the (student) side.”

The final match pitted a faculty and staff squad (the “Old School Ballas”) against a younger, more athletic student team, featuring several varsity athletes. Surprisingly, the real “seniors” on the floor were able to outwit and defeat their younger opponents. The match left the largely student crowd exhausted, after several cheers and chants failed to rally their classmates to victory. The scheduled best-of-five finals was called after the faculty took their third win in game number four.

Fothergill credits the idea and the execution of the dodgeball tournament to student council President Rachel Schulteis.

“I give the students all the credit for such a fantastic idea, but Rachel really made it all happen,” Fothergill said.

“She was terrific in putting it all together.”

Schulteis, a junior, said her initial hope for the event was to raise a number that approached $4,000. After she returned to school from winter break, she began sacrificing sleep in order to work six hours a night on her computer working to make the fundraiser a reality. Schulteis said the question now isn’t whether or not the students would be willing to participate in future dodgeball tournaments in the future for charitable causes; it’s a matter of the faculty’s desire to put themselves in a compromising position.

“The students would love to see more,” Schulteis said. “It really all depends on what will motivate the faculty to get out and defend their crown.”

In the immortal words of Torrance Shipman: Bring It On.

Cleaver Brings "Pundit Payola" to KC

2005-02-15T16:25:00.000-08:00

The issue of 'pundit payola' has finally hit Kansas City and put the town on the map!!!!

The issue first came up in Monday's KC Star via an AP report. The issue centers on none other than Kansas City golden boy Emanual Cleaver.

Will Cleaver's practice of hiring one of The Kansas City Call's reporters as a 'consultant' during his 2004 campaign come back to haunt him? Not if Steve Kraske and the Kansas City Star can help.

Cleaver doesn't apologize for bankrolling Eric Wesson, a writer and columnist with The Call (KC's African-American newspaper). Then again, the guy never has had to apologize in a town where his media apologists speak for him. The Star’s Steve Kraske (the article’s author) is no different.

Wesson said his work with Cleaver through his firm "One Goal Consultants" (a company he owns) was separate from his work at The Call. However, Editor & Publisher reported today that Wesson's editorials last fall did in fact praise Cleaver while criticizing his opponents (Democrat Jamie Metzl and Republican Jeanne Patterson). Readers of Wesson's work with The Call were unaware that he was being paid by Cleaver's campaign.

Kraske and the Star were hoping to NEVER have to address the situation. But when the Washington Post reported on the arrangement this week, the Star was forced to do something with the story.

The funny thing about Kraske's piece this morning, is that by the article's end, the reader walks away with the sense that it was just Wesson, not Cleaver and Co., who was responsible for blurring ethical boundaries. Whereas, the Wash. Post, Editor & Publisher, as well as the Pitch's reporting of the arrangement last fall, all place equal blame for the covert agreement on Cleaver's shoulders.

Would this have to do anything with the fact that Kraske worked for 2+ years at KCUR (their shows ran back-to-back on Friday afternoons)?

Kraske and the Star have never addressed the fact that he (their primary reporter of local politics) was allowed to cover Cleaver's 5th District race last fall. My contact with the Star's reader's rep. last year centered on this conflict of interest between the two radio superstars. Derek Donovan (surprise, surprise) said he did not perceive any problems with the arrangement.

The story has spread like wildfire out west in S.F., Seattle, and across the Midwest. The only question now is whether Cleaver will be as bulletproof in D.C. as he was in K.C.

According to Wesson, none of this was a conflict of interest for The Call. After all, it's an advocacy newspaper.

The Call should come forth with any other financial agreements it's workers have undertaken in the past with local politicians or policy campaigns. In a KCTV5 story last fall, The Call said it was disappointed with the story being investigated, rather than being taken back by Wesson's acceptance of money from the Cleaver campaign.

This afternoon on Russ Johnson's talk show on News Radio 980 KMBZ, Johnson spoke about Wesson's checkered past which included: "a criminal record for robbery, carjacking and other assorted crimes. He served 10 years in prison."

Who the Fuck is "Jeff Gannon"?

2005-02-11T18:42:00.000-08:00

Holy State Driven Propaganda Batman! The list of “Bush Media Whores” seems to be growing by the day.

You thought the Bush and his NeoCon pals had it easy with Rush Limbaugh, the Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and the like all serving as daily cheerleaders. Appears that it wasn't enough, and now Republican operatives planted in the White House press corps are being outed just as Armstrong Williams and other "commentators" were found to be on the take.

Talon News, which fronts as the news division of “GOPUSA” (a Republican activism web site), has announced that their Washington, DC reporter and White House Correspondent Jeff Gannon has resigned as February 8, 2005.

Robert Eberle, the wealthy Republican financier of both web sites, said he is searching for Gannon’s replacement. The identity of Gannon was a mystery to the traditional media outlets until his peculiar appearances and slanted questions at White House press conferences began to catch the attention of left-thinking Internet web bloggers.

Gannon’s identity and role in the Bush administration’s courting of journalists and talking heads (authentic or otherwise) began to unravel as January came to a close. David Brock’s “Media Matters for America” documented numerous instances in the past year when Gannon was filling his reports with words lifted directly from RNC “fact sheets” (equivalent to Ari Fleischer or Scott McClellan’s “talking points”).

Brock even called on the White House to revoke Gannon’s access to press conferences, because he was acting on behalf of a GOPUSA, a Republican PR machine, rather than an organization attempting objective journalism. His urgings culminated in Guckert's "resignation" from Talon News.

What is known is that Gannon was cleared on a day-by-day basis by White House Press Secretary McClellan, or someone close to him. He was frequently called on to toss softball questions at McClellan or the President during times of intensive scrutiny from other members of the press corps. On January 26^th, he was called during President Bush’s latest press conference. His question was later found to be lifted directly from one of Rush Limbaugh’s recent shows.

The loaded, anti-Democratic Party question, caught not only the attention of the other reporters present, but quickly sent viewers scrambling to their computer to find out who Jeff Gannon and Talon News (the name comes as a sort of right-wing response to the left-leaning Salon.com) exactly were.

Turns out that not only was Talon News not a real news organization; the “reporter” proclaiming to be Jeff Gannon was in fact James Guckert. Gannon, or Guckert, resigned immediately. Talon News erased all of his work from their web site. As did other sites that had published his material. His own site, was shut down (he leaves only a message begging for forgiveness and sympathy).

Apparently, anyone can get a White House press pass. At least, that’s what the White House would have us believe. McClellan said it was not his job to determine what constitutes a reporter. The Secret Service do regular checks on all reporters given temporary or permanent passes into the White House. Somehow (unbeknownst to McClellan and others inside the White House), a man using a phony name was given access to George Bush’s home just about every day for the past two years. Maybe it’s time for us all to call up the White House and inquire about the availability of these easy to come by press passes.

With CNN’s Wolf Blitzer today, Guckert said: “(Jeff Gannon is my) professional name. I used it because Jeff Gannon is easier to pronounce (than James Guckert) and easier to remember.”

I’ve heard of other people using “professional names.”

They’re called ACTORS.

Last Summer, Guckert's request for a permanent press pass to the White House was denied by the group that issues them to reporters. The White House itself is still mum about how he was then able to receive passes on a daily basis from someone in the White House Press Office.

Talon was not granted a congressional press credential, therefore Gannon was accessing the White House without a "hard pass," the permanent press credential that allows other White House reporters regular access. The daily press credentials that Gannon was receiving are easier to get, but must be obtained each day.

According to his bio on Talon's Web site (which has now been removed), he graduated from the prestigious “Leadership Institute Broadcast School of Journalism” -- a two-day, $50 seminar run by Morton Blackwell. Who is Morton Blackwell – the co-founder of Rev. Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority. J

Guckert’s history with RNC causes, as well as his work that’s now being erased magically in front of us, was all documented by bloggers like “World O’Crap.”

Word is already floating around that Dems will gang up and demand that Guckert and similar issues surrounding Armstrong Williams and other commentators bankrolled by the Fed. be investigated (And most recently...it appears that the Pentagon was bankrolling writers to develop military-friendly content).

Guckert’s role in the Bush Saga also involves the outing of a CIA agent. Remember that? Gannon received a classified CIA memo that named Valerie Plame as an operative within the agency. Her being outed as an undercover agent came via Jon Stewart’s favorite columnist/pundit, Bob Novak, in retaliation for her husband speaking out against the administration.

All in all, the Guckert/Gannon tale is a strange one. Well, at least it doesn't involve any gay porn web sites. Wait, ....oh crap. Not exactly Ron Jeremy, but a nice try.

Poor Event Planning Compromises Unique Opportunity for University

2005-02-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

This was the kind of exposure that companies pay millions for on Super Bowl Sunday.

On Saturday night, when Las Vegas was buzzing with speculation of what would transpire in Jacksonville, folks in Kansas City gave a local underdog a chance.

UMKC had monopolized the sports attention of the entire Metro area (on a Saturday night, no less!). Municipal Auditorium was buzzing with talk of “Missouri’s best basketball team.” The University had not seen the local spotlight (sports or otherwise) like this in the 18 years since the basketball program began a relationship with the NCAA. Through the efforts of the men’s basketball team, the University was beginning to see unparalleled, positive exposure on talk radio stations and in other media outlets. Not bad for a University most local residents have trouble identifying geographically.

When this unique opportunity came Saturday insufficient event planning harmed the University as much as the crowd of 6,500 helped its cause in the highly competitive academic and athletic community.

Those that did make it inside to witness Chicago State’s improbable victory represented an impressive sight for the University. However, scores of others were turned off by the overflow of people outside Municipal’s lobby trying to secure tickets before tip-off. Countless parties were walking and driving away a half-hour before the contest had began. This was the defining visual of the evening (Chicago State’s buzzer beater registers as a close second).

Ticket scalpers seized the chance to capitalize on the chaotic ticket sale situation. Ushers were still seating people in the minutes prior to halftime. The tremendous recent performance of the men’s basketball team was not enough to combat the disorganization on display at Municipal.

UMKC could easily find itself returning to the media's equivalent of obscurity, a state that it had been mired in for so long prior to 2005. In a year where attention on the University has concerned the ousting of its Chancellor, and anonymously published documents threatening the removal of entire academic departments, one would hope that administrative leadership will focus future efforts on understanding the importance of these opportunities.

Whether or not those who were turned away Saturday give the University a second chance, accommodations must be made at Municipal and elsewhere to ensure Saturday’s scenario is not repeated. If the University continues to leave people out in the cold, then it must be ready to face the music when the community does likewise.

Rwanda internationalists vs. Vidal's "America First"

2005-02-07T21:00:00.000-08:00

Nick Barron, editor-in-chief of UMKC’s U-News, has done his best Woodrow Wilson impression after viewing the critically acclaimed film "Hotel Rwanda." While I do not doubt that good intentions exist behind the piece, Barron’s position on American humanitarian efforts and our country’s place in the world (as a global police force) highlight the opinion held by the MAJORITY of those in power, not the silent minority he depicts within the piece.

"I can blame conservatives for wanting to isolate this country and keep it from stepping in to resolve conflicts in remote parts of the world..."

--No, it's just flat out incorrect to blame conservatives for attempts to direct the country with an agenda that includes a foreign policy of isolationism. The neo-conservatives have picked up President Wilson's torch to begin a new revolution characterized by perpetual war (inevitably, this will include the occasional token effort to find more humanitarian-based wars to become involved with).

--Isolationists have been shunned by politicians and media since the First World War and again in WWII when anti-statists like Gore Vidal argued against the William Buckley-lead groups calling for the escalation of American involvement overseas. The interventionists, or “internationalists” as Wilson supporters described themselves, have had their way for better part of the last century.

--It has never been a matter of liberal or conservative ideology preventing the US from becoming involved in foreign entanglements (i.e. Iraq) that curiously tend to spiral out of our control. Anti-statists have existed (albeit at the unpopular fringes) of both political parties. Vidal came to blows (literally) with Buckley in the 60’s on television at a time when he sensed the interventionist policies of Buckley's backers dominating Washington.

"...what is it about us Americans that makes us so passive about international problems? Why do we feel isolated in this great land of ours? What makes us so selfish with the resources and talents God has given us?"

--The founding fathers…that’s the short answer as to the Who’s and Why’s of what makes us wary toward these foreign adventures. Jefferson and his contemporaries warned against entangling alliances (NATO, UN, etc.) and attempts to extend the republic’s influence (military, cultural, economic, etc.) beyond our borders. They saw that future generations would face backlash (a la 9/11) from the deals brokered by their predecessors. Excursions, whether they are into Iraq or the Sudan, would ultimately bankrupt the country and lead to unnecessary losses of life. They spoke of a direct link that could be drawn between rising involvement in foreign matters and diminishing freedoms and liberties at home.

“…we have the brainpower, the manpower and the wealth to make a difference in our international community.”

--Brainpower? Manpower? Wealth? Where, Nick? Here?

--As to the wealth, I suppose you must be overlooking the federal deficits. Although President Reagan felt otherwise, rest assured that deficits DO matter. If an omniscient force were to wipe those debts away, then I suppose US dollars would resemble more than the monopoly currency they are slowly becoming.

--And, yes, the manpower is there the moment the President calls for the executive order to reinstate the draft. The first reference to ‘brainpower’ puzzles me even more. Is this the same intellectual capacity that justifies Americans dying in a desert while in search of fictitious weapons? I find it hard to believe that this same collection of individuals could muster the ability to solve complexities that actually exist in the world when they are so focused on those which do not.

“It is our job; it is my job and it is your job to pay attention to events in places such as Rwanda, Indonesia and Sudan.”

--While the film does produce a tremendous emotional reaction from the audience, let’s not pretend that US troops (thrown in the middle of this internal strife) would have significantly altered the region’s violent history. If anything, the body counts and the ethnic divisions would only be worse. Has Iraq not shown the concerns of the founding fathers to be valid? We cannot export democracy or racial harmony around the globe. It is as futile as aiming to stop tsunamis and other natural disasters.

--Stepping in and solving problems across the world is not the responsibility of a Republic, but it has certainly been in the interest of Empires. Since those in power have already decided that we are the latter, I expect you will get your wish in the not too distant future. On the horizon are additional opportunities for conflict in which more Americans perish and our system gets pushed to the point of collapse. Continued deficit spending, and spreading our already thin global military even further, will not lead to solutions for the problems that exist in regions like the Sudan or the Middle East. If we want to continue with Empire, then we will not be able to preserve the last remnants of the Republic.

We simply cannot have it both ways.

Other Happenings in Bizarro World

We've made it through the first month of 2005 in what has become Bizarro World. January was packed with plenty of bizarre moments to choose from. First, Fox News Live Anchorwoman Brigitte Quinn is shocked Vanity Fair's Judy Bachrach criticizes the nature of Bush's gazillion dollar inauguration. In Bizarro World, it is inappropriate for people to criticize the sitting President on the largest cable news network.

A University President cannot discuss explanations as to why women are not gaining esteemed positions in the same numbers that their male counterparts are.

Shills for the dominant political party justify their support of state-lead war mongering by spinning their own fictious tales of combat, while others are just flat out paid to stay in line.

Massive Federal Deficits are compounded by wasteful technology programs, and ambiguous firms profit mightily through overseas excursions (regardless of the threat is real or not).

The media is in cahots with the government to deliver the official party line, while slivers of the people's voices find a way to creep into the media consciousness.

Amidst it all, the sanctity of you know what it is threatened....our most noble student publications.

Take a chance...Give this a glance!!

2005-01-30T23:35:00.000-08:00

Well, my week "embedded" with the quality folks over at the Shawnee Journal-Herald was an experience. The six day circus wrapped up (officially) this weekend, allowing me to move up and on.

The time (50-plus hours) wasn't exactly well spent, but much occurred so we must get started with the good, the bad, and the ugly of what went down.

I am currently in talks with a local publishing company to sell the rights to my upcoming book on the subject: “EM-BREDDED!: 6 DAYS OF HELL INSIDE SHAWNEE’S CUT-THROAT NEWS LEADER...” :)

All in all, I cranked out 11-12 stories and 250 miles on the lonely road for the weekly rag (all but one had photos). Napoleon herself had quite a few problems with me and my work, hence my brisk relationship with the paper. Here are some excerpts from her last e-mail:

“You would be paid, if published...”

How conveninent. 50 plus hours, 250 miles, and eleven news stories later.....I am eligible to receive a grand total of $15 for the one photo I took that was published. The recently departed Johnny Carson had a joke regarding paychecks of this size. I will be sure to use it upon receiving it.

“You failed to submit stories and pictures that I could publish Wednesday.”

Bullshit. She’s responsible for continuing to publish the same old boring shit. Doesn’t she see that the paper’s buried in the ground? The Journal-Herald and it’s sister paper (the Kansas City Kansan) are on a way street straight to the bottom. No wonder people in Shawnee treat the Journal-Herald like a faith-based publication (translation: take a look at it, then trash it along with the rest of their junk mail).

“I was frantic Wednesday trying to publish a paper with no content.”

Are newspaper editors so stupid and disorganized that they do not review stories as they come in? How else do they determine how much content is needed as deadlines approach. Geez-us. Napoleon is much like another aging editor I had the displeasure of working with. These dinosaurs need to get out of the business; it’s passed them by.

“Your Fun Factory piece was found on a Web site that you posted Jan. 16. A week before
I hired you. You failed to mention this to me.”

Boo-freakin’-hoo. It’s called the Internet - look into it. It’s not a competing company. It’s all we have left that the government hasn’t gotten it’s hands on. And it’s a big reason why you’re industry is a slowly, but surely, sinking ship.

“The pictures you submitted for some of your sports stories was from the AP and NBA.”

Cleared by the NBA (Matt Freije). Suppose that’s never happened before and must have sent her into septic shock. Pictures were sent straight from the league’s web and PR folks (thanks y’all!).

You took it upon yourself to "hire" "your" writer and send him to a city council meeting, which is the most important meeting in Shawnee. You didn't ask my permission to "hire" anyone.”

I made no attempt to hire anyone. She discussed the desire to have area college students cover events because of time conflicts and staff-related hiring issues. He volunteered to cover the event for free and produce a story. I was at City Council meeting, not him. Get your friggin’ facts straight. :)

“You told me you talked to Donna Smith with Fernandez Entertainment from Hawaii for the Fun Factory story, when in fact you didn't.”

Ol’ Donna spoke from her plush Hawaii office. How the hell is she making this stuff up? Who was it that I spoke to - Bozo the Clown?

“Good luck to you, Benjamin. It looks like you might need it.”

Thanks for the not so subtle threat Chief. Funny, but I hear Atchison, KS calling for their golden child to return, while (simultaneously) the people of Shawnee praise the arrival of the Shawnee Dispatch.

Napoleon’s generation is having trouble dealing with the fact that the establishment is making one final gasp to hold on to the levers of power and control over the industry. They will run it into the ground rather than let go graciously and turn control over to a new generation of people who understand that the newspaper is dead. However, as Al Pacino told Jack Lemmon, the newspaper world is not a world of men. The ‘dinosaurs’ (as Walt Bodine once labeled them) are on the way out regardless of their feeble attempts to maintain order.

The only other item of note was in relation to the Fun Factory piece. The paper’s resident gay reporter questioned why I didn’t name employees of Oak Park Mall that came forward to discuss the Fun Factory’s closing.

How sad/ironic.

Why does it take a gay guy to lead the charge in ‘outing’ people? Whatever happened to protecting sources? Looks like the good folks at KU are more concerned about doing things by the holy (journalism) book, rather than ensuring that honest employees don’t face retribution from greasy employers, a la Oak Park Mall.

Comets Mid-Season Review

The Story of the Kansas City Comets 2004-2005 season has been an interesting one. First, Brian Soell and Nate Houser are shipped out after burning bridges with the organization. Monterrey and San Diego fold. They acquire a Miji Dejerisilo look-a-like (Justin Evans). Miji and Stefan Stokich show up to a game dressed ready for senior prom. Jamar Beasley gets an article in the Star discussing his movie watching habits. Wes Wade retires. Miji cruises the Plaza looking for ‘girls.’

God love the Royals....

Soren Petro said on his show this week that the team will end up with about $23 million from the MLB revenue sharing agreement. On top of that nice chunk of change, they get another $15-16 million from the TV/Radio contract.

So what is the Royals team payroll you ask? How about $42 million...

The Royals are sticking a measley $3-4 million on the line and expecting fans to show. This team starts to look more and more like Wal-Mart. Thanks a bunch Glass.

Bryan Busby: Weatherman or Messiah?

Bryan Busby...may...be a prophet sent from the Heavens.

Or...he may just be an average weather forecaster.

Recently, Busby teased the audience of his upcoming forecast with the following:

“Depending on your point of view....there’s more bad news in the weather forecast.”

What the hell does that mean “Buzz?” What point of view likes to see freezing rain and ball freezing temperature? Get rid of this guy and give us this guy.

License Plate of the Day

Shawnee, KS last Friday:

“Pray that President Bush Honors God’s Covenant With Israel.”

...Where to go with that. I guess it says it all and I’ll just leave it be. Fill in the blank yourself...I'll just say that it always makes me sleep better knowing that people in this country put the well being of foreign governments/countries above that of us.

Fun Factory Will Not See ‘05 in KC

2005-01-11T23:44:00.000-08:00

As 2004 faded into history, so did an era at Oak Park Mall. After 20 years, time ran out on Fun Factory at Oak Park and with it, Kansas City’s last link to the arcade gaming giant.

Fernandez Entertainment, which has owned and operated Fun Factory (www.funfactorygames.com) locations since 1977, did not renew their lease with the Mall.

The company says that the action was purely a business-based decision. With their lease up, they decided to move elsewhere, ending their relationship with Oak Park Mall.

Voices from inside the mall say nothing of the sort. Even with Oak Park Mall officials unable to comment on what spurred the transformation of the Mall's west end (candy king “Mr. Bulky's” has been relocated), those at the bottom of the totem pole feel they are certain of what transpired. Word of the almost overnight axing of Fun Factory spread like wildfire around the Mall's west end. What they saw happening would have made for a great one-liner for the California Governor.

“They had their lease terminated,” said one mall employee. “(The Mall) was sick of dealing with teenagers.”

“(The west end) has become the dead end of the mall.”

Information pertaining to Fun Factory's surprise closing is common knowledge amongst workers. The word 'termination' comes up time and time again when they discuss why Fun Factory made such a quick and unexpected exit.

Fernandez Entertainment, a Hawaiian-based company, has been in the entertainment business for over 100 years. Fun Factory has driven their business on the mainland, allowing them to remain viable in the market. As December came to a close, the Fernandez entertainment empire, a 101-year-old family business, lost its only remaining claim to not only Kansas City, but the entire Midwest region of the country.

Prior to the Oak Park Mall closing, Fernandez had also seen its Fun Factory stores at Independence Center and Metro North Mall come and go. The first Fun Factory in Kansas City, at Bannister Mall, was also eliminated long ago. Even with a number of shopping centers in the area, Fernandez Entertainment says Fun Factory is not going to be coming back to the Kansas City anytime soon.

“We’re going to explore other markets,” Donna Smith said, speaking on behalf of Fernandez Entertainment from their headquarters in Hawaii. “Areas change and we have to look at other markets where Fun Factory would be a good fit.”

Smith, nor Oak Park Mall Spokesperson Stacy Sheelk, would identify the exact nature of Fernandez Entertainment’s lease with the facility. Smith described the split as an amicable one, saying it was the sole decision of Fernandez Entertainment not to renew the lease. Neither side is willing to characterize the nature of the negotiations which might have extended the lease and allowed Fun Factory to remain at the Mall. Oak Park official directs information concerning the lease situation to Park Properties, who was directly involved in negotiating the lease on behalf of Fernandez Entertainment. Calls to their offices were not immediately returned. The only comment to come from the Park Properties office has been:

“We have no comment...it's not a story.”

Smith did indicate that many shopping centers, in general, are taking a second look at how entertainment centers venues such as Fun Factory fit into their plans.

“Oak Park Mall is a lot more upscale than it used to be,” Smith said. “Malls, in general, are becoming more apprehensive toward anything that might attract younger people.”

“Kids need a place to have fun, but many shopping malls think it’s bad for business to have anything that would keep teenagers hanging around food courts or movie theaters.”

In the past two years, Kansas City has seen public and private groups work to impose creative solutions, such as curfews, on this perceived problem in order to keep young patrons away from retail shopping districts and other entertainment centers. Westport and the Country Club Plaza both have had public fights over how to use the law to prevent teenagers from congregating by the masses on these popular sites.

In 2004, Oak Park Mall implemented a new set of “Family Hours,” designed to close up shop earlier on weekends. This was one of the more subtle policy measures (nonetheless, directly related to Fun Factory crowds according to one Mall worker) that was put in place to dissuade teenagers from using the mall as a late night center of congregation.

The Family Hours campaign follows what Smith said she believed was an image overhaul taking place at mall's like Oak Park across the country. However, she disagrees that entertainment establishments open to teenagers can fit within the framework of these more 'upscale' shopping districts.

“Our stores are environments that promote fun, fun for entire families,” Smith said. “Just because your business attracts younger people doesn’t mean that it turns the entire area into a dark parking lot for drug dealers.”

“Parents can be comfortable when their children are at Fun Factory because it’s a place for friends to gather and interact rather than just sitting at home and being by themselves.”

Jim Weaver, the Public Information Officer for the Overland Park Police, identified only seven different occasions in 2004 when his office responded to calls from in or around the Fun Factory area of the Mall. Of these seven “Police Events,” Weaver pinpointed five of them as originating from Fun Factory. The details of these criminal happening include:

*An intoxicated person making obscene gestures toward women.

*A man passing out at the arcade and banging his head on a machine (simultaneously).

*A terminated employee refusing to leave after requests from the store manager.

*A verbal dispute between an employee and customer.

*A set of car keys stolen when left unattended atop a coin machine.

Despite the growing popularity in the last two decades of home-based video game consoles(Xbox, PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, etc.), the popularity of Fun Factory has not diminished. Fernandez Entertainment sank significant time and energy into keeping Fun Factory at the cutting edge of the market, which brought the Overland Park location resources it needed to remain competitive with Sony and Nintendo. Fun Factory pioneered the merchandise centers that are now seen at modern day arcades. This allowed patrons to redeem tickets for unique prizes in the same fashion that carnival prizes are awarded. The fun factory atmosphere was lifted straight from the Fernandez family’s background in outdoor amusement parks.

“We have always tried to bring that carnival environment to our stores,” Smith said. “We always try to build our brand in stores that can capture that same kind of excitement.”

The Kansas City Star, like other local media outlets that enjoy enormous advertising relationships with the Mall, has not made any mention of the Fun Factory’s closing. On Christmas Eve, a story involving counterfeit money circulating at the Mall made headlines in morning papers and during nightly newscasts. The case, which brought with it the wrath of the U.S. Secret Service, stayed in the news cycle through the holiday week. The media was fixated on the fact that Mall police had tracked down the teenage offenders while riding Segway transporters. The implications of Fun Factory's exit garnered no coverage.

By Christmas Eve, Fun Factory was cleaning out the store's inventory instead of enjoying the biggest window of opportunity in the calendar year for retailers. Inventory was being boxed up in hopes of being redistributed to other stores still in operation (the closest remaining Fun Factory is at the Universal Mall in Warren, Michigan, which confirmed the purchase of a handful of machines from the Oak Park Mall location). One now former employee said that he found it hard to believe that Oak Park Mall would not extend Fun Factory’s lease.

“It doesn’t add up if they say it was because of money,” he said. “The store was always making money. It’s obvious to me why the lease wasn’t renewed.”

“Why were we the only store in the mall with security cameras set up outside. That tells me what they thought of this place.”

The security came as he refers to sit above Mr. Bulky’s, the popular confection store next to where Fun Factory was located. Mr. Bulky’s, another staple of the Mall’s west end, also provides a product consumed in great quantities by the teenage crowd. It too has moved out of the west end, but has managed to find a new home on the lower level of the Mall. It will be reopened this winter under the name “Sweets.” Oak Park Mall officials declined to say if there were any added security concerns attributed to Fun Factory’s operation.

Whether or not the move was more about politics and image construction than economics, what is certain is that the arcade gaming market in Kansas City is all but disappeared in shopping districts. Bowling alleys, and a few miniature golf courses still provide a sanctuary for the modern day gamer looking to get out of their parents' basement. However, it doesn’t appear likely that indoor shopping mall or outdoor shopping strips have any desire at this time to maintain a relationship with companies that provide the kind of video game entertainment environment that the Fernandez family has brought to Kansas City and other towns around the lower forty-eight states.

“We’ve been in business over 100 years here in Hawaii, so our brand will never be the same here as it is on the mainland,” Smith said. “People here have grown up with Fernandez, so they know us and know they can count on us to deliver fun.”

“Fun is what we will continue to find ways to bring people.”

Tsuanmi vs. War - Race in American Reporting

2005-01-05T13:44:00.000-08:00

After being flooded (no pun intended) with images day after day from this disaster -- it's beginning to debunk the media's line concerning why images from Iraq and Afghanistan are held away from the public. We hear again and again that the wars in the middle east must be covered and handled with a certain and unique level of sensitivity. Me thinks the whole thing reaffirms the systemic racism that permeates throughout American culture.

They have been all too eager to bring us the grisly photos and video in this natural disaster. We have a clear cut example of how one standard is applied to reporting on tragedy involving Americans, and another one is applied to foreigners (and I think we could create a sub-group here as well -- one for white foreigners and one for non-white foreigners. Tragedy that strikes non-white foreigners is easier to 'report' because there is an assumed lack of sophistication amongst this group -- such that they supposedly get themselves into these situations).

Sundvold Back in KC

One of the biggest mysteries during my UMKC tenure was seeing the 'Roos fire Bob Sundvold in 2000 after a successful, winning season. He's back now as the head coach of the Kansas City Knights (he even almost had Robbie Graves back taking jump shots on baskets and swings at teammates and/or opponents). It's a shame that no one has ever cracked the mystery as to why he was fired and replaced by a stop gap coach for one year before Zvosec was brought. He too could be on the hot seat after a dreadful start. They finally got on the board with a win against IUPUI.

Fired...But not out of a Job....UMKC Logic

2004-12-13T11:25:00.000-08:00

UMKC Chancellor Martha Gilliland will being doing OK even without her current position on campus. Martha will receive about $125,000 in "compensation" next spring. She was making only $175,000 when she was hired, but that number had inflated to $255,000 by this year.

Next year, she'll also start collecting on a six figure salary from her new gig as a tenured professor in the University's School of Computing and Engineering. She hasn't been in the classroom in 15 years. She is "expected" to teach by the fall semester (August 2005). If I were still a student on the Volker campus, I'd be making plans with my academic advisors to find a way to get into that ONE class that she'll be overseeing. If you're a TA for that class, get ready to work your ass off for her...she may be their in body, but she'll never have to 'teach' another day in her life.

Still Tackling Streakers?......Why???

What purpose does this serve? What's the crime? "Nudity" - that's a crime that deserves physical punishment? It's 2005 - let's end the brutal practice of smothering naked people.

Story of the Year

In August, Bush and Kerry's campaigns just happened to be both rolling through Iowa at the same time. On August 4th, criminals robbed three separate banks in Iowa City while both candidates were holding political events. Police indicated that the massive security presence requested by the campaigns for the two men, may have been responsible for the 'free for all' that opened up and gave the novice bank robbers an early X-Mas present.

X-Mas X-odus from Kemper

2004-12-12T21:49:00.000-08:00

People located in the West Bottoms are whispering about the growing likelihood of an Overland Park Arena. It's moving fairly quickly, and could be the final nail for Kemper Arena. Overland Park is in a race with Olathe to be the first Johnson County city with a facility. Whoever gets off the ground first will win the race and loser will shelf their plans.

The Knights, the Comets and a yet to be named hockey team (not the Outlaws, but a NEW minor league team) would ALL call the arena home by 2006 or 2007.Outlaws' games are drawing crowds under 1,000 for some home dates (despite the bloated figures being printed in the media).

The pending home schedule for the Knights does not look much better. Local sports television station '38 the Spot' brought on Jeff Boschee and Jeff Graves, two of the team's newest players. The entire segment was dedicated not to the Knights, but to their alma mater.At Hale Arena this year, the Knights have brought in Gates BBQ to cook up food on site. The relationship with Gates will not only keep fans fed, but also help generate a smell that they hope will cover the manure stench that occupies Hale Arena.

The downtown "Sprint" Arena is looking more and more like a crock everyday. The two hopeful tenants, the NHL and the NBA, are looking to be less and less attractive by the minute. The NHL remains consumed in a labor dispute, and the NBA is in a serious (yet unpublicized) attendance slump.The people that sold us on the downtown arena apparently have a short memory when it comes to these two leagues. Yes, both the NBA and NHL were here at one time. And yes, both left because of insufficient gate receipts. Yet, they told us they would be willing to come back. The NBA has enough problems with bringing fans to the games. They will not open a new can of worms in Kansas City.

Their franchises in Charlotte and New Orleans (both bigger markets than Kansas City) have attendances that have the league whispering about contraction. The league (currently consisting of 30 teams), was once thought to expanded into Mexico and elsewhere overseas. Toronto, the last of the two Canadian experiments will fold if and when Vince Carter is dealt, as attendances at Raptors games are also plummeting.

What will the new arena house if the NBA and NHL don't come to play and the Kemper tenants head for Overland Park? What will all of those taxes paid for? An empty building and someone's political gain…..

All human beings should try to learn before they die what they are running from, and to, and why. — James Thurber

Quotes of the Week + One Small UMKC update

2004-12-06T15:38:00.000-08:00

Kemper Arena is playing with fire by asking players to perform on top of ice. The Comets (Major League Indoor Soccer) will continue to play home games on a surface that rests atop of the ice used for Outlaws (United Hockey League) games. No blatant disaster to report…so far.

Will another teacher going to jail for sleeping with a student? You’re really going to send this woman to jail? What is her crime, again? Please.

And somebody tell McCain and his buddies that they cannot legislate mandatory drug testing on Americans.

Since his campaign for the Presidency in 2000, Senator John McCain has shown a repeated pattern of need for the glare of the national media spotlight…

The Senator from Arizona conviently pops up whenever an issue registers on the screen of national media outlets.

The always popular McCain is eager to please the moral crusaders (Bill Bennett, Bill O'Reilly, etc.) – even at the risk of upholding civil liberties or ensuring his constituents a life free of daily government interference…

McCain’s newest campaign involves Major League Baseball. Upset with the way the nature of their operating procedures – he has thrust himself once again into the spotlight to project a strong opposition to the current state of America’s pastime.

And now for some quotes…

*”One of the big worry's I have about an all-out race war is whether or not we'll be able to ensure that each group is proportionately represented within the context of the actual fighting.....” –JustinGoggles 12/1/04

(Justin, your thoughts are always appreciated.)

*Sgt. Russel Slay's last words to his 5-year-old son:

On Nov. 9th Marine Staff Sgt. Russel Slay wrote a letter to his family. In it the 28-year-old, anticipating death, said his goodbyes to his young children. To his 5-year-old son Walker, he offered advice that he hoped would position the boy to enjoy a longer, less risky life.

"Be studious, stay in school and stay away from the military," he wrote. "I mean it."

Well said.

*Quote of the Week for me and the other 12 NBA fans in KC:-Charles Barkley: “Reggie Theus...half man…half make-up.”

*I’m using tons of blankets these nights when I sleep. It’s not that it’s really that cold outside, but for some reason I’m still feeling a 'draft.' :0

*4 MORE YEARS! 4 MORE YEARS! :(

*”Terrorism is the war of the poor, and war is the terrorism of the rich.” – Pat Buchannan, “Where the Right Went Wrong.”

UMKC Yearly Sports Update

That stat line for 'Roo's standout, all-star, gold medal olympian guard Mark Huppe is shaping up quite nicely through three games:

FG's = 5-17
3P's = 5-17
FT's = 0-0

A winning formula everytime: zero 2 point shots, as few free throws as possible, and a three point percentage equal to Ken Griffey Jr.'s career batting average. This guy has a real chance of being the only player in the history of Division I to NEVER attempt a two point field goal. I may need to actually watch a UMKC game to see whether or not he is glued to the three point line. Let’s hope ‘the streak’ continues and he is able to go down in the books as one of the greatest 22-year-old juniors to grace college basketball.

The other thing you have to love about UMKC Basketball is Carlton Aaron. A 25-year-old starting center who looks like Shaq and plays like Tractor Traylor (reminiscent of some of the great Arkansas big men of the early 90's):

UMKC: The More Things Change....

2004-12-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

Well, The UMKC folks did a great job of burying Chancellor Gilliland’s “resignation” late last Friday (Classic, textbook PR work). The bad news is that Martha isn’t stepping down, as much as she is stepping aside. She will remain at UMKC as a TENURED faculty member. Her previous salary ($255,000) will take a hit, but she’ll continue to have a cushy position with the likelihood of continuing influence on the administration. We still haven’t heard whether or not she’ll have to teach a class (and if so, when?). What will be her publishing responsibilities? My money says zero.

It’s obvious that UM President Elson Floyd told Martha to be out by the end of the week. Sometime in the middle of the week she started working out a resignation packages that would serve as her golden parachute. Five years ago, then Chancellor Eleanor Schwartz received a similar sweet deal when ‘resigning’ after the neighborhood fiasco. The University paid her quiet nicely to essentially 'stay away' from campus.

In the days leading up to her resignation, news articles labeled UMKC as one of the most anonymous Universities in the country. In a way, I can’t really argue that. Despite this fear of not being visible at a national level, the new Chancellor would do the campus well to make sweeping changes to the athletics department. The all-out elimination of these wasteful NCAA Division I programs would relieve the University of a burden that’s been nothing but trouble since they converted from NAIA athletics over 15 years ago. They have been a drain on the University; a large commuter campus which has little need for the traditional pep and school spirit that collegiate athletics offers.

The KC Star’s different articles on the situation this weekend all included commentary from Golden Boy and UMKC Student Government President Geoff Gerling. He, like those before him, must feel on top of the world. His adoration for his administrative supervisors makes its way into the media on a regular basis. Three years from now he'll be right alongside his predecessors, yearning for the days of bureaucratic approval.

This ousting of a the Chancellor will most likely not serve as an agent of major change on the campus. The Star indicated that student leaders on campus (aside from Gerling) were furious about the decision. However, this notion of 'student leaders' at UMKC is very deceiving. Student apathy enables the same old recycled bunch to remain in position of leadership on the Volker Campus. These titles are often bestowed upon individuals of very little skill or talent. If you were to review the recent history of 'student leaders' on the campus you would find a host of names in SGA, APC, and other supposed student controlled bodies who would not be allowed to operate a fast food establishment....much less an administrative body elsewhere.

In actuality, a simple survey would demonstrate that the 'Roos student body doesn't even know who the Chancellor is/was, much less being able to describe the circumstances that lead to her demise.

Their has been a lot of attention paid to the fact that Martha was supported heavily by 'civic' and 'community' leaders. This is a kind way of indicating that she has the approval of the KC business elite. She has worked extensively to gain favor with them - She's been in favor with them ever since she began doing her best to transition UMKC towards a more corporate-oriented model of efficiency.

The "administrators" stand behind her for the same reason I don't call the cops on anyone in my neighborhood causing disturbance......because you tend to resist the urge to burn bridges when you know you will continue to be in close proximity to that party....

Other 'Roo News:

Four years after I talked to Angela Elam and others in the 'Comm. Studies Club' about getting something going on the web that would facilitate textbook trading (sans the University Bookstore), they've finally got something. Students could take the initiative to transform the textbook system on campus (with or without the aid of their 'student leaders').

Nipples of KU

2004-12-02T20:52:00.000-08:00

The money-makers affiliated with KU are at it again with the 2005 edition of the nationally-acclaimed calendar, "The Women of KU." Topeka-based radio station WIBW is distributing the calendar. The publication is becoming well-known nationwide as a stunning piece of art that continues to be miles away from any sort of professional swimwear exhibition and just nipples away from Hustler.

Shout (Talk) Radio in KC

AM Radio is not shy about being the home of ultra-right wing discourse. While 980AM and other stations rely on syndicated voices to fill their conservative airwaves, one local station has got the home grown talent to push the big boys. 1140AM KCXL features a wide variety of nuts jobs. One AM female personality will regularly rail against foreigners who "refuse to learn OUR language. It makes me sick!"

It's almost 2005, Captain Nutso. The country is and will never be populated by clones of Ward and June Cleaver. Get over yourself! Would it really kill YOU and your offspring to live in a world of Spanish speaking neighbors?

"It's not fair! We're losing the country! Wahhh!"

If we (white people) are losing the country...then who's winning?

Black people? Really? Have you seen Troost lately?

Hispanics? Yeah, I'm sure you're real envious of all the great blue collar jobs they accept and perform so are kids don't have to.

Gays? Of course...the damn queers again! C'mon...a few of got married...Jesus appears cool with it. Let it go for Christ's sake.

Also of note on 1140 is Alex Jones, a syndicated radio personality. Jones is making a living off of his EXTREME paranoia of government, focusing in on opposition to the war, the events of 9-11 and more. He's even found a niche on the 'net as well.

PLEEEASE STAY OUT OF THE SUDAN MESS!!!

Sudan has always been plagued by civil unrest - In fact, the country's history has been one continuous civil war.

The American public believes that all these countries need in order to solve their problems is (surprise, surprise)...help from US!!!

Supporters of US (military) action in the Sudan continue to highlight the country’s Christian minority and how they are being oppressed at the very least and at the very worst being massacred.

We're only going to get ourselves and the Sudanese into trouble if we continue to believe that we can march into a foreign land and make living conditions better for cultures we share nothing in common with. Vietnam should have served as a pretty good history lesson for those who believe we can insert American into the civil wars of other nations and not end up paying a huge price.

Sudan is (surprise!) a country that sits on a bed of oil. Why is this particular resource always near by when we go looking to ‘eliminate evil’ or ‘make the world safer democracy’???

While the press is focused on the situation unfolding in the oil-rich Sudan, much more immediate carnage is taking place in the neighboring Congo. The body count from its civil war is thought to have topped 3 million; a much more serious tragedy than what is occurring in Sudan.

On top of everything else going on in the world, do people truly believe we can afford to commit Americans in yet another foreign land? What was that whole bit about having nothing but a 'volunteer' army in the candidates' stump speeches leading up to the election? The feds are already predicting that a US presence in the Sudan will cost taxpayers upwards of $300 million. I wish..more like (Dr. Evil voice) "Three Hundred...Billion Dollars....Mawaahaha!!!"

At a time when we just saw Congress raise the debt ceiling, it appears that they are very much willing to authorize the President to take action with a blank check. To hell with all of them (minus Ron Paul).

Finally...

Chicago...be warned when you moved. They're watching.

That's the last straw. There is now, officially, no reason to visit Chicago. First Harry Carry dies...then Jordan retires...now they're spying on their own citizens. The Patriot Act (just like the NBA) is FAN-tastic! Unlike the NBA, the Patriot Act has yet to find John Tesh to pen them a catchy new slogan and theme song.

No Fan of Condi...

2004-11-23T12:49:00.000-08:00

A radio disc jockey is under attack for referring to Condi Rice (among other things) as the Bush Administration's "Aunt Jemima."

Why isn't the real outrage aimed at the people who continue to profit off of a product that bears such an image? When was the last time these companies gave a reasonable answer as to why they continue these century old practices of profitting off of African-American stereotypes?

Uncle Ben's Rice, Mrs. Butterworth, Aunt Jemima Syrup and the Cream of Wheat Chef are advertising images that go back over 100 years.

Is this radio personality being punishment simply for making comments that could potentially force these companies to answer this question?

UBL's Offers Motive - Media Refuses to Report Israeli Link

2004-10-31T20:59:00.000-08:00

While the media and the two Presidential hopefuls tried to offer their ridiculous takes on Bin Laden's new video, there was a clear message embedded within the most recent performance from the world's most notorius criminal: "when you started intervening in our affairs - you made yourselves targets."

Bin Laden revealed his simple rationale for ordering the attack on the United States: the one-sided support (arms and aid) for Israel in their occupation of the Palestinians land. This was not news to those of us who from the beginning did not buy into the "they hate us because of our freedoms" bullshit argument. The politicians and the mainstream media will stick to this 'motive' for the 9/11 attacks. Only fringe political publications and web sites have had the courage to document the U.S. actions in the Middle East (particularly in regards to Israel) and how it layed the foundation for anti-American attitudes in the Muslim world.

9/11 was a direct result of what many, such as Pat Buchannan, have called the 'amen corner' in the U.S. that consistently prioritizes Israelis above Americans. One local sports figure was discussing with me the history of his athletic career and the locations around the world it had taken him. Born and raised in Canada, he was puzzled how Americans are unaware of the relationship that exists between Israel and the U.S. government.

"Everyone else around the world sees the U.S. as the bronze...and Israel as their brains."

When the media and our esteemed politicians began to analyze the Bin Laden tape, the references he repeatedly made to Israel were only mentioned toward the tail end, if at all.
The focus was of course how this affects Tuesday's election - big freakin' deal. The 800 lb. elephant remains Israel. Here we have a mass murder revealing his motive for the horrific attacks and everyone's ignoring him.

The simple solution to alleviate our problems, as Bin Laden alludes to, is to begin a position of neutrality in the Middle East, and elsewhere in the world. Discontinue the billions of dollar in military aid that goes directly into the demolition of Palestinian neighborhoods and killing of civilians.

Of course this will NEVER happen. Our "support" (i.e. missiles, helicopters, nukes, et al.) will continue on end. This galvanizes the Muslim world against us, creating perpetual guerilla war against our troops around the world, and opening the door to further attacks within our homeland.

Media in Cahots - Where's the Outrage Now?

2004-10-23T23:00:00.000-07:00

Would the KC Star allow someone from Cerner to come aboard in the next two weeks and begin reporting on the Congressional race between Cleaver and Patterson?

Of course not.

That might compromise the paper's inherent, 'objective' nature.

Steve Kraske and Emanuel Cleaver working at the same local radio station (KCUR 89.3 FM), but it does not occur to anyone within the Star's offices that it might not be in the paper's best interest to continue to allow Mr. Kraske to 'report' on Mr. Cleaver's progress in this political race?

This is a wonderful case study on the effects of convergence and the consolidation of media ownership. The public, the truth, and our democracy win when media outlets compete rather than schmoozing and cozying up to one another.

If the Star did not devote the rest of its resources to hiring men to cover football games, they might have some options at their disposal to remedy this situation.

"Oh-BOMB-Uh" Becomes Democratic Golden Boy

2004-10-23T16:56:00.000-07:00

Would someone tell the media to stop equating the modern day John Kerry with his anti-war tendencies of thirty years ago?

Kerry's 2nd in command and soon-to-be Illinois Golden Boy, Barack Obama, has got his party firmly in line with the War Chest in Washington. Obama announced this week that 'surgical strikes' against Iran were necessary.

And the Anybody But Bush-Michael Moore crowd is just eating it up...What a bunch of spineless, war-mongering, socialists this bunch has become. Kudos to Matt and Trey for sticking it to this worthless bunch.

In 10 days we'll be deciding between a man who went charging into war, and another who prefers a pace closer to a brisk job before letting the bombs drop. One is a 'tax and spend' bureaucrat, the other and 'spend and tax cut' politician...beautiful.

Inevitably, we end up broke AND dead with either of their 'middle of the road' ideologies behind the wheel of power.

I encourage you to consider alternatives to these two monstrosities. Badnarik (Libertarian) and Nader (Independent) both are committed to pulling us out of this deadly foreign policy approach, and to ridding us of the disastrous deficit. Granted, one candidate is 'far right' and other is 'far left', but both are reasonable alternatives to the status quo of the D.C. establishment.

Obama, Kerry, Bush, McCain...and the rest of these wanna-be 'moderate' men are one in the same. They refuse to support liberty, the Bill of Rights, the Constitution, etc.

FUCK THE POLICE

When a Boston cop killed a UMASS student during the city's post game celebration, the city's mayor called for prohibition.

Here's a crazy thought...why not hold the cops accountable for once? When they kill someone, punish them instead of using it as a means of suspending the rights of the people?

Nah. That's not the way our system works.....but anyway. I say fuck'em.

-Benj.Mac.

Wanna "Think Big" in KC? Just Extort the Taxpayers...

2004-10-09T19:59:00.000-07:00

The Kansas City politicians and media are once again ready to shove another initiative down the taxpayers’ throats. Taxpayers, including those who could care less about sports, are going to pay and pay as local sports owners demand more and more tax subsidies, rather than showing gratitude to the people that driving ticket sales, advertising revenues, and merchandising.

Thirty years ago, New York City taxpayers were told that renovating Yankee Stadium would only cost $26 million. As is the case with government spending, the project would end up costing more than $100 million. Two decades later, Yankee Stadium renovations weren't good enough for owner George Steinbrenner, who threatened to leave unless the city conned the taxpayers into building him a new ballpark (a classic threat to bully uninformed sports fans). In a move that further helps to eliminate the myth that Republicans work to decrease the size of government, then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said that it would be in the city's interest to launch a $1 billion project for a downtown Yankees stadium.

More recently in Oakland, Raiders owner Al Davis won a $34.2 million verdict against the city stadium authority for failing to deliver on its promise of sold-out games. Down the road in San Diego, the Chargers want a new stadium eight years after the city renovated the current one. These are the welfare queens that President Reagan should have been singling out.
Like their east and West Coast counterparts, the facilities of the Royals and Chiefs are no longer the cash cows that poor Lamar Hunt and David Glass want. Their political allies behind this latest campaign are offering the usual justifications for supporting these massive, welfare projects: city prestige, business development, and new jobs. Make no mistake, publicly funded stadiums come down to money; money that goes to directly to the pockets of wealthy sports owners.

The "pay us off or leave" threats you will hear coming from the Truman Sports Complex until Election Day will help give the appearance that these sports facilities constitute some sort of 21st century social need. The fact that professional athletics were once an private enterprise during the first half of the 20th century is beyond grasp of the local sports reporter. Sports facilities were being successfully built and operated through private investments as late as the 1980’s. In 1987, Joe Robbe, owner of the Miami Dolphins, constructed his own new stadium.

If one were to rely solely on the words of talk radio in Kansas City, you would be convinced that subsidies are the only way to create and maintain sports facilities for professional teams. The city’s print publications have done an equally effective job of spreading the message for socialist driven sports stadiums. The voice of reason (opposition) rarely if ever rears its head within this debate.

In February, the Kansas City Star was happy to relay the sentiments of Kansas City Councilman John Fairfield, who urged us to fund a downtown arena ASAP by way of a taxpayer initiative. With all his talk of revitalizing downtown, Fairfield's emotional pleas fail to mention any kind of economic research that could back his claims. Fairfield points to funding a downtown arena as a historical catalyst for downtown revitalization. Hasn't our KC Council men looked down I - 70? What has a downtown sports dome done for St. Louis? Well, for starters the St. Louis Jones Dome where the Rams play is costing taxpayers $720 million over 30 years. What has it done for downtown St. Louis development: NOTHING! The St. Louis Centre mall next door is a failure, and the city of St. Louis is trying to sell the rest of the convention center in a leaseback deal to try to make enough money to balance the city's budget for just one year...WHAT A DEAL!

Like St. Louis, tax subsidized facilities in downtown KC will produce little in return for taxpayers. The reason is simple: these facilities don't operate year round - only for the seasons the teams play in them.

KC Star Columnist Yael T. Abouhalkah took up the cause by reminding us that we should be setting aside little Timmy’s college fund for a downtown arena, not to mention being in desperate need of another BI-state tax (“BI-State II: The Reckoning!). Yael must have forgotten what a great success the first bi-state tax has yielded. Those screams you hear from mid-town come from Union Station, which is already (surprise!) wanting more tax money! Who would’ve thought that the magic of Science City couldn’t support itself?

And finally, Johnson County Sun Chairman Steve Rose lectured Johnson County-ites on the importance of bi-state II, and fattening the wallets of David “Put ‘em on the” Glass, and Lamar “Chicken” Hunt.

Buried in a small corner of a recent edition of the KC Star Sports section was the most recent study of publicly funded sports facilities. Once again, researchers at the University of Dayton concluded what other academics and independent researchers have found for the past decade: public subsidies for sports stadiums are unnecessary.

The study found that teams building stadiums on public funds between 1989 and 2001 would probably recover all or nearly all of the cost of construction if the facilties were built with private money.

The economic rationale to subsidize these sports facilities always ends up equating new stadiums with new jobs for local residents. This notion has been shown through studies to be incorrect. Regardless, the media continues to echo this argument. In reality, sports have little effect on regional economies. The facilities fail to attract significant new tourist dollars or new industries. The vast majority of spending comes from local residents, which merely diverts spending from other leisure activities. As economists have consistently shown, economic growth will be minimal. Most stadium employees work only part-time and at very low wages.

Five years ago, then Governor of Minnesota Jesse Ventura, told the owners of the city's two major sports franchises that taxpayers should not be spending money on new stadiums. Ventura was criticized for asking wealthy, private businessman to start acting like capitalists and not beggars in need of large government handouts.

American media devotes so much attention to sports because so many people are fans, even if they do not actually attend games or buy sports-related merchandise. As these media practitioners happily spread the message of fear through Kansas City of “becoming another Omaha”, their comfy jobs in the local sports media become that much more secure.

Truth is, neither the media nor the political elite are much interested in the overall economic impact on the city. What is at stake is political gain, ratings and advertising rates, and the franchise owners’ desire to subsidize their businesses. The public never benefits.

Refusing to pay these subsidies may result in the loss of a city's professional sports franchises. But if the only way to prevent a team from moving means shoveling corporate welfare into the hands of billionaires, then I say good riddance. These people make extortion into an art form. It’s not worth it to be held hostage by them.

Using Sports to Avoid a Career of Political, Economic, or Social Change...

2004-10-07T20:22:00.000-07:00

I recently encountered a ticket salesman for a local sports team that told me of attending a "sports marketing academy" this year. The "camp", as he described it, ran for two weeks and more or less functioned as a job placement service.

The cost?

$3500!

Is this the going rate of elaboratedly named temp. agencies? Of course not.

For just $3500, he was now selling tickets for a minor league sports team. He indicated that even these seemingly ordinary sales jobs were in high demand. He was just one of the many men at this sports marketing seminar that were hoping to land any kind of job in the sports entertainment industry.

I am in the same age bracket of this generation of males that are retreating to a career of sinecures in the sports industry to avoid being challenged with positions that require political, economic, or social responsibility. Jobs in the sports industry provide these recent college graduates with a safe sinecure that allows them to put to use their lifelong exposure to sports and mass media messages.

It's sad, but obvious that my generation of fellow males have never had their ideas and beliefs challenged. They were never asked to argue for any political or social philosophy; they've never had to take a stance on a economic platform. Sports is the only arena they're comfortable debating in. They are unable to supply criticism to theories and campaigns that focus on anything but bats, balls, pucks, or pigskins.

As if the modern internship experience wasn't humiliating enough, now entertainment corporations are making these expensive seminars part of the pre-requisite for getting your foot in the door.

Jason Whitlock: "Keep Salaries of Public Officials Locked Away'!"

2004-10-06T20:30:00.000-07:00

Kansas City Star columnist Jason Whitlock did what every good 'sports journalist' ought to be doing: defending KU Athletic Director Lou Perkins in his fight to keep his salary information out of the hands of the Lawrence press.

On his daily, sports talk radio show, Whitlock described the efforts of the Lawrence Journal World newspaper to make Perkins disclose his salary information as "dangerous."

The real danger is when media practitioners such as Whitlock fail to recognize that the press must always be willing and able to press governments suits for information, even when it means burning a bridge or two.

Thankfully, Whitlock took the cowardly route which keeps him in good graces with Perkins and the Athletics Department at KU.

City still Reeling from Rodman's No-Show

2004-10-05T21:19:00.000-07:00

(Originally UN-published February 1st, 2004)

"We communicated to our fans and to the press that we had a commitment from Dennis Rodman and the Long Beach Jam that he was going to be here. He elected not to come. We don't control Dennis Rodman."
-Jim Clark, owner of the Kansas City Knights, after a sellout crowd was duped by the Knights' marketing effort (Kansas City Star).

4,800 Kansas Citians ventured into the freezing cold on Friday, January 30th to fill the bleachers of Hale Arena. Their mission was simple: catch Dennis Rodman in what will likely be his farewell tour as a professional basketball player. The gates were jam packed. People were squashed up against one another trying to get inside the gymnasium and, simultaneously, escape the icy chills outside. The Kansas City Knights organization and their ticket takers were obviously unprepared and unfamiliar with such crowds. They could not get people inside quick enough. The fervor in the lobby outside the arena only added to the build-up. People had dusted off their old Rodman jerseys and were wearing them as if the Chicago Bulls were still in the middle of their championship days that ended almost six years ago.

On Thursday, a Knights representative informed me via telephone that tickets for the game were selling like hotcakes, and a sellout was definitely on their radar. The man confirmed to me that: “Dennis Rodman will be here, they (the Long Beach Jam) just arrived in town today.” At the time I didn’t notice that he made no mention, let alone confirmation, of the “Worm” taking the court. The Knights had been advertising the game all week as if it was the second coming. This wasn’t being billed as the Long Beach Jam versus the Kansas City Knights, this was Kansas City’s chance to see a 42-year-old man make one last, desperate attempt to climb back into a league that he had played himself out of four years ago. Such an event transcends sports entertainment.

The Kansas City Star appeared to seal the deal: an article previewing the game that frequently alluded to the fact that Rodman was going to be at the game. Between the week long advertising campaign, the Kansas City Star article, and the word of the Knights representative the day before, everything seemed to be running smoothly for Rodman’s arrival. There was an unusual buzz in the parking lots for a sub zero night in January. When I got into the building it was as if entering the place to be on this night in town. It was a party atmosphere in the lobby of Hale Arena. People were crowding the ticket window still trying to get last minute seats. The place was filled with kids and pre-high school teenagers that had convinced their parents to drag them out to a relatively unappealing section of town, in the dead of winter, and pay for tickets, parking, and concessions.

This was the only chance most of these kids were ever going to have to see a Dennis Rodman-like superstar come to town. I thought back to when the Chicago Bulls traveled to Lawrence in 1997, and a measly preseason game against the Seattle Supersonics filled Allen Field house to the rafters like it was the NBA Finals. People in Kansas City love basketball, even if they have to commute to Lawrence (Can we please stop calling the Jayhawks a “collegiate” team? ).

Everything seemed to be falling into place. If Rodman was not going to be on hand the Knights would have surely used one of their numerous opportunities to inform the fans. The deception continued up to the ticket gate. Fans made their way into the seating area and found their assigned seat. Then, what seemed like the voice of God beckoned over the public address: “Dennis Rodman will not be here…….” That’s all the fans needed. Everything else that followed seemed irrelevant.

The word of God it wasn’t. It was Knights owner Jim Clark on the PA system announcing that Rodman wasn’t in town. The fans initially stayed quiet. Maybe they weren’t as disgusted, or maybe they were still just too numb still from the frigid walk from the parking lot. Either way, the news did not draw a loud, emotional reaction. The majority of the fans remained quite, polite, and tried to enjoy the game. The lack of Dennis Rodman meant the crowd could now do one of two things: turn back toward the ice and wind, or watch a group of basketball players that most had never heard of. Naturally, the crowd, still reeling from the shock of being duped, was in no mood to turn around and venture back into the freezing temperatures and darkness of the ‘bottoms.”

What followed was a peculiar mix of sloppy basketball and entertainment-related activities that left much to be desired. Even during the game, rap music blared over the speakers. Each song contained a clever use of editing techniques to supposedly make the songs “clean” for the consumption of children in the audience. A Rodman look alike contest was held that basically encouraged children to reach back into the country’s rich tradition of performers sporting black face to entertain the predominately all-white crowd. There were great consolation prizes at the door, such as a Rodman poster handed out to us by the always classy female representatives from Hooters. These were also the same lovely ladies placing “I love Hooters” stickers on everyone, people of all ages, as they entered the arena. Oh, but the Rodman-less fun didn’t stop there. The game itself was also a barrel of laughs.

Thank goodness for the depressing weather outside, which was enough to keep the near capacity crowd inside Hale for the duration of the game. I hope the Knights aren’t naïve enough to believe that people were staying to watch a display of basketball greatness that included three air balled free throws by Knights center Paul Shirley. The “exciting ABA action” (as Mr. Clark would say) didn’t stop there as Knights forward Derek Grimm resorted to tackling a Long Beach player to prevent a lay-up. For further comedic relief, fans were treated to the sight of two Knights players colliding in mid-air as they attempted to both snag the ball in mid air to complete an alley-oop. Funny, but I was lead to believe the circus wasn’t coming to town for another couple week. Maybe the Monster truck rally being held simultaneously next door at Kemper Arena was somehow rubbing off on the players.

The first place Long Beach Jam won the game 113-105, as the Knights dropped their third straight game. But make no mistake about it: the Knights players only lost the game, while the Knights organization may have lost many potential, future customers.

What were the Knights thinking? The approach they chose ensured them of cashing in on the “Rodmania” currently engulfing the ABA. I realize that the Knights would have lost out on some much needed revenue by being up front with the public. However, I can’t help but feel the organization has slightly discredited itself in the long run. That is, if they intend to be around for the long haul. Judging by the total stoppage of play in league last year, the ABA does not appear to be in the position to build long term report within the community. In the highly competitive sports entertainment industry, they’re living day-to-day looking for the next quick fix to save the league, which was floundering before it even got off the ground in 2000. This only translates into more Rodman-esque debacles as they search for the next available dollar to stay afloat in their cut-throat industry. The reality is that live entertainment cannot afford such sacrifices to cultivate a relationship within the community.

The Kansas City Star did a yeoman’s job on Saturday morning of relaying the official (Knight’s) version of what happened Friday night, especially the peachy atmosphere that continued in Hale Arena sans Rodman. David Boyce, the author of the article, seemed all too willing to let the Knights have a free pass on this one. Maybe Mr. Boyce was genuinely under the impression that kids dragged their parents out to Hale Arena to watch Paul Shirley’s parade of air balls from the free throw stripe.

What the Knights must do now is accept the consequences of their gaff and expect a backlash that manifests itself in the form of microscopic crowds filling the oversized storage garage that is known as Hale Arena for the remainder of the season. The night could go a long way in sealing the Knights coffin in Kansas City. The free exposure to their product they gained was the absolute worst way in which this could have occurred. Any talking PR head can tell you this.

The Knights had countless opportunities and means to prepare the fans for this scenario. It was well known in ABA circles that Rodman was nursing injuries and had been missing games for the better part of two weeks prior to his no show in Kansas City. Those kids must feel like they were just “punk’ed” at the expense of Rodman, the Knights Organization, and the ABA itself. The only question now is whether or not the whole episode was being taped by Ashton Kutcher to be shown at a later date on MTV. I truly hope the Knights can rebound from this blunder, yet they seem to truly underestimate what transpired. There are far too many entertainment choices at are disposal to keep giving the Knights second chances.

With a new season on the horizon, we'll see if they've learned their lesson from this debacle.

In Case You Missed What They've Been Missing...

2004-09-24T19:59:00.000-07:00

The Kansas City T-Bones put togteher a very successful 2004 season in Kansas City, Kansas this summer. Unfortunately, much of the City still fails to see what an attractive entertainment option the T-Bones are. The team's plays in a classically designed minor league park. The experience for the fan is as rewarding, if not more so, than a trip out to see the lowly Royals stumble through another dreadful year.

The question becomes why exactly have the T-Bones continue to be relegated to the back pages of publications, and cut out of nightly news broadcasts. The answer lies in the advertising accounts of these media companies that the Royals and Chiefs continue to fill year after year.

The coverage has nothing to do with newsworthiness, but instead we find a direct correlation between a company's commitment to advertise with these publicity vehicles and the regularity of stories focusing on their exploits.

Bring in the Clowns!

2004-09-12T01:04:00.000-07:00

The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus just rolled into town. You know what that means...

$10 for COTTON CANDY!

I was just as shocked as you.

There was a time in this city, specifically in Kemper Arena when Cotton Candy cost you a measly $1.75. What a bargain we had. The joy of late 80's indoor soccer, combined with relatively cheap cotton candy, was something none of us could have expected taking for granted.

The $10 Cotton Candy was one of the many highlights from this weekend's circus festivities. Leave it up to Ringling Bros. and Co. to still boost that they are the: "Greatest Show on Earth."

C'mon!

Competition in the marketplace has gotten a bit stiff over the years to continue to echo this slogan with a straight face.

Identity of Royals' Playboy Connection Revealed!

In October 2002, Playboy's playmate of the month Teri Harrison mentioned that she had lived in Kansas City the previous summer. She admitted to being involved with an unnamed Royals player. After conversations with two different sources within the local sports media, my investigation has led to one suspect: Mark Quinn.

Quinn first saw extensive action with the Royals in 2000. A year later he was seeing a different kind of extensive action with Ms. Harrison. His surge as a rookie didn't last long. Over the next two years, his play continued to go down hill. The Royals released him in the spring of '03 and he has been unable to secure a Major League job ever since. Quinn was never one to count on to take a pitch (he rarely, if ever, drew a base on balls), but it appears that (at least for a time) he was in very elite company at the Playboy mansion.

TV Recomendation

For all Baseball fans (especially those of the 80's era), I suggest you take a glance at your TV Guide to find a repeat of the ESPN production of "Utilityman." Randy and Jason Sklar, hosts of the ESPN Classic series "Cheap Seats" and die-hard St. Louis Cardinals fans, are on a mission. Their mission is simple: to see former Cardinal Jose Oquendo enshrined forever among baseball's greatest players at Cooperstown. The Sklar brothers' journey to a number of cities to compile any kind of viable research they can find to support the hall of fame induction of a mediocre ball player like Oquendo provides many humorous encounters along the way.

The Sklar Brothers, while not especially funny at times during their ESPN Classic program, "The Cheap Seats," do manage to put together one of the all-time classic baseball films. It is to baseball, what "This is Spinal Tap" was to rock'n'roll.

Former Chief Takes Firm Stand Against Prostitution

Don't you love the nuggets of wisdom we are inundated with from professional athletes? At least one radio station in KC is still scratching its head after one such athlete went off script and started spouting off on former teammates.

Sports radio 810am WHB went dead silent this past week when former Chief player Mark Collins revealed that former New York Giants teammate Dave Meggett had a 'real problem with prostitutes.'

The statement drew what seemed to be a five minute span of dead air. Those that were in the booth with Collins quickly worked to change the subject.

For all of us who depended on Dave Meggett in our Tecmo Football seasons, the remarks were a tremendous blow. Several ex-Tecmo Football fans are already furious, vowing to substitute Meggett out of the classic Nintendo game the next time they play.

More Moore Musings

Michael Moore has taken a page from Creed and promised that his latest successful docu-drama will become his sacrifice. What he is sacrificing, I'm not exactly sure (I suppose he is assuming he already has the Oscar wrapped up for 'best documentary'? Please...) Moore is allowing his film to be aired on public television in the weeks leading up to the November election. Of course, Moore still denies that the film is meant to work as an endorsement of Kerry.

Moore, who now lives in Manhattan, still claims to make his home in Michigan. Like Bill O'Reilly, Moore continues to perpetuate this myth to maintain his self perception of being a populist voice.

What Moore is now is the Democrats' version of a hatchet man ("A kindler, gentler..."). Just as Bob Dole personified the role for Nixon and the Republicans 30 years ago, Moore has done the kind of behind the scenes 'consulting' work that a Karl Rove-type performs for the GOP.

The fact that Moore went to the RNC as a columnist for USA Today continues to puzzle me. What was he expecting to accomplish? It was great publicity for USA today, but the more he creates these publicity events for himself the better it gets for Bush and friends. He's too far gone to realize that the strongest points of his film were those that maintained separation between the filmmaker and the material.

Moore and Mel Gibson are both under the believe that what they are doing is the work of the Gospel...

Developing...

The campaign to ensure Calvin Pickering a spot on the Kansas City Royals 2005 opening day roster is in its' early stages. The "Stick-with-Pick" movement should be gaining momentum in the coming months...

Paleo-Conservatives Dying Off in D.C.

2004-09-06T21:55:00.000-07:00

Michael Moore is one of the most provocative entertainers of our time. His books and films have garnered him quite an impressive following.

You will never mistake Moore for a historian or a qualified political analyst. This summer, a summer of stump speeches for his new best friend (Kerry), he reiterated the sentiments of liberal think tanks in describing Washington D.C. as a place of two parties: a 'far-right' party and a party leaning to the right. President Bush was also brandished as our most 'far-right' President we've ever had.

Yikes.

I shake my head every time I hear people like Moore regurgitate these lines.

To call George W. Bush one of the most conservative or 'far-right' Presidents in our nation's history is the work of: flat out lies, ignorance, or a blind desire to see four years of Kerry/Edwards. With Moore, I'm willing to believe all three are responsible for his inept sense of the country. The two parties that sit atop Capitol Hill are hardly representing the interests of classical conservative thinkers.

Our political system is dominated by one party with two wings, rather than two parties. These 'wings' do not lean right as Moore and his buddies say. These parties, and their President, have killed off traditional conservatives and replaced it with a new kind of liberalism that dominates our political system.

Our contemporary politics is left leaning, if not FAR-left leaning. We've entered into a new political era, dominated by big government. Look at what's happened to the country over the last four years:

*Repeated instances of poor government planning (a result of too MUCH government, rather than not enough)

*A failure to hold any government officials accountable for their mistakes

*A Congress that has responds to a crisis by throwing more taxpayer money at the problem

*Government attempts to distribute prescription drugs

*Control of charities (religious) through the welfare system

*Making private schools dependent on federal vouchers

Tell me which of these presidents - George W. Bush or Bill Clinton -was in office when these things were occurring the last four years? Who was it that signed the ban on assault weapons, oversaw an increase in deficit spending, increased budgets for virtually every domestic program, and signed into law a massive increase in federal government regulation of political speech?

These events all coincided with the first term of George W. Bush, a "Republican" President.

Bill Clinton and George W. Bush are much more alike than anyone is comfortable admitting. Their visions for the country have involved keeping the country on a path to empire (granted Bush has seemingly accelerated efforts more effectively), a concept that is rooted in the so-called peace-wielding politics of the "left" or "progressive movement."

Like these disastrous, big government policies, the roots of American imperialism is buried in left-wing politicians, not the traditional conservative ideology that it is has been attributed to. It's no secret that big government politics at home will lead to big government thinking abroad. Vietnam, the creation of liberals in the establishment like LBJ, JFK, RFK, and others, was merely an extension of LBJ's domestic agenda ('The Great Society').

Today's (supposed) anti-war, liberal activists fail to see anything but a League of Nations-like solution to 'ending' our military involvement in Iraq or Afghanistan. The isolationist impulses demonstrated by our founding fathers has, for them, no place in contemporary discussions of U.S. foreign policy.

Isolationists realized that America should not be concerning itself with every ethnic dispute or tribal war going on in the world, and they certainly didn't want any part of the United Nations and their various "peacekeeping" efforts (so many of which seem to end up with these "peacekeepers" wielding M-16s at those they are trying to 'free' or 'aid'). This silent majority is detested by the Democrats and Republicans for daring to question the work of the establishment.

Many efforts to dissolve our civil liberties, such as compulsory military training, emerged from the progressive movement, not conservative think tanks. Theodore Roosevelt (Clinton’s favorite Republican President) endorsed conscription, Wilsonianism wanted an advanced form of national service, and LBJ got a real kick out of sending young men to do the emperor's bidding in a jungle.

Neoconservatives, like the Wilsonians before them, make the case for empire in the Middle East in the name of American security. In reality, there is an inverse relationship between our security and extending American hegemony in the Middle East. The Wilsonian agenda of the left-wing thinkers advocated global democracy, just as today's 'right-wing' dominated government advocates that policy to serve American security interests. In the last decade, we've seen the so-called 'conservatives' of the Republican Party issue no objection to Clinton’s intervention in the Balkans.

Liberal thought shares much more in common with these 'far-right ideologues' than has been discussed. The real ideological divide is not between liberals and conservatives. The only line of separation is the one dividing those supporting the bipartisan War Party, from the few remaining noninterventionists. It's sometimes difficult to locate this true conservative thought; luckily, there are still those who remain skeptical of all business the state involves itself in.

The country will not be saved by liberal activism, much less the Democratic Party. The hope lies in those old-time Republicans who are fed up with the Bush agenda of more government, deficit spending, perpetual war, and never ending nation building. Such cracks are already starting to take shape, despite not being highlighted at the Party's convention last week.

Factoid of the (Labor) Day

If you Google "9/11" or "9-11" - your first hit is this.

Thank Goodness! Who doesn't want to hear Moore tell us how 9-11 was all the result of Bush and Cheney's ties to the oil industry, business dealings with the Saudis, not enough government in place, or the government's secret need to protect the Bin Laden family. Moore's Web site, like his film, doesn't want to explore the real issues that would give us an idea of what lead up to 9-11. The Web site and his recent "documentary" fail to make any mention of American's atrocious dealings with Israel - a crime in itself - opting to instead to inundate us with information about Haliburton, Cheney, and other corporate conspiracies.

Way to go, Mikey. You skim over issues when they conflict with your buddy's bid to win the White House by capturing the votes of clueless Americans.

To Those About to Slip N Slide...I Salute You!!!

2004-09-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

A group of University of Kansas students have successfully put together one of the most unique clubs in school history: the first ever Slide 'n' Slide club. Looking to capitalize on student desires to recapture the thrill of activities they participated in years gone by, the club offers members a chance to once again enjoy backyard water sports.

Sophomore and club president, Libby McConnell, says she and her friends were fed up with participating in more rigorous and demanding sports clubs at KU. Because they wanted to stay active on campus, in January the group came to the conclusion that the University may have a place for an organization dedicated to the Slip 'n' Slide.

"We came to the conclusion of, "Slip 'n' sliding? Why not," McConnell said. "We started this club (joking around), and we're really surprised that the Center for Campus Life has approved us as an official club."

The KU campus and Lawrence community have responded with extremely positive for the new club. Some people are amazed that the University has officially recognized such a unique sports club. McConnell and the club's other officers have written up a proposal for funding that was presented before the school's Student Senate. The Senators agreed to fund the club $431. The only catch was that the club's vice-president, sophomore Liz Newman, was asked to sing the Slip 'n' Slide theme song (which she did successfully, according to the Student Senators).

Already, the club has purchased $250 worth of supplies: Slip 'n' Slides, water hoses, sprinklers and beach towels. The club will receive another $431 next semester.

"A handful of people just look at us like we're crazy, but we don't want people like that in our club anyway," McConnell said. "We're really relaxed and laid back, an excuse for people to get together and have fun."

Attempts to secure sponsorship from Slip 'n' Slide's commercial distributor and creator (Wham-O!) have so far been unsuccessful. McConnell suspects that the product's creators would not want to endorse a group of people that exceed the weight and height requirement warnings on the packaging of the product. Warnings for the toy urge people only five to 12 in age, less than five feet tall, and less than 110 pounds, to use Slip 'n' Slide. The club's officers dismiss the warnings as being overly cautious and even ridiculous.

The club has already developed a Web site that details the group's mission, as well as allows students to get involved with the organization. For hardcore Slip 'n' Slide fans, there is also links to buy merchandise through the club. These items range from a Slip 'n' Slide T-shirt, to swimwear that can be worn while sliding.

"We definitely incorporate Slip 'n' Sliding into everything we do," McConnell said. "It's much more interesting to say you're in the slip and slide club as opposed to just in a group of friends. It gives a name and provides a fun conversation topic."

The club is also aspiring to secure loftier goals. Club member Tommy Bobo will try to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World this fall when he tries to set the world record for the longest Slip 'n' Slide run. The North Augusta, S.C., junior plans to build his own 300-foot slide out of high-density plastic sheeting and slide down Mount Oread (a famous, lengthy slope on the hilly campus).

Bobo's attempt will pay homage to the University's celebrity daredevil, Dan Wessell. In 1973, Wessell or, "The Great Wessellini," attempted to fly over Memorial Stadium in a home-built airplane, and a year later tried to skateboard over Potter Lake in a Plexiglas bubble. While Wessell was unsuccessful in both attempts, Bobo is still in the process of working out what he hopes will be a much more memorable stunt. All he needs now is to figure out how to get enough water up the hill to campus.

For now, the group is happy to have made their mark on campus this year. With summer being a time when students in Lawrence leave to head back home for a few months, the group says it will be reinvigorated to get things rolling in the fall after tasting success in their first event in May.

"Our kickoff party on May 1st went really, really well," McConnell said. "We had a lot of people show up, a definite success, especially for the first ever meeting."

The Daily (Kerry) Show Needs a Hiatus ASAP

2004-09-03T21:55:00.000-07:00

Jon Stewart took over the Daily Show in 1999 from then host Craig Kilborn. With Kilborn, the show lacked any thread of political edginess. That all changed when Stewart and his crew (Stephen Colbert, Lewis Black, etc.) came aboard. For two years, the show sustained a relatively modest following. After 9/11 the show hit its stride, holding nothing back against the government, criticizing efforts to pull the country into war, and highlighting the usual shortcoming of "real" American news media outlets.

The show, while at times hilarious, was always walking a tight rope. Gradually, the show deteriorated sometime over the last year as the election issues started making their way into the daily news cycle. It became increasingly clear that Stewart, while still applying heat to conservative leaning guests on the show, was content to lob softballs to the Clinton's, Kerry's, and Al Franken's of the world.

Stewart's interviews have always been the weakest part of the program. Eliminating this segment in favor of more tongue in cheek commentary from Black or more 'news' packages from Colbert and company would be a huge boost to the show. That will unfortunately not happen. The show was put on cruise control sometime this summer with a destination set for the November election.

For the next two months it will continue to experience decline. The only hope is that the election will pass and Stewart will snap out of funk. His propensity to reduce himself to a shill for Kerry and the DNC is not surprising. Bill Mahr, a self-described LIBERTARIAN (ha!), has also used his HBO show to pump up the democratic base.

Naturally, the essential element of these shows (comedy) has been compromised to accommodate the campaign messages of the Kerry camp. Unlike Kerry, I still see a glimmer of hope in Stewart. His only real crime is playing the role of government apologist, something that every other liberal or conservative ideologue resorts to when it becomes convenient.

Cheney Puts (Grand Ole') Party before Family

If Robert Stack was still with us, he'd be my first choice in heading up an investigation into one of the Republican convention's biggest unsolved mysteries. Mary Cheney, the now infamous 'gay' daughter of Dick and Lynne Cheney was curiously absent from the stage when it came time for the Vice President to conclude his speech and be joined by his family.

The family patriarch paused for about a minute with the remaining members of his family before hurrying backstage. One can't help but wonder if this relatively short pose for the camera was due in part to feelings of guilt the Vice President was experiencing. Nevertheless, he sent a clear message to the Republican 'base.'

By not insisting on having Mary and her partner Heather join him on stage, Cheney did little to reinforce the message of the Republicans as being the political party of family values. Once again, we see a politician willing to shove his family aside for the benefit of his political cronies.

No one is asking why exactly Mary Cheney was not there on stage with her family. My only guess is that she could possibly be detained (as I type) as a prisoner in Kansas. Only time, or Attorney General Kline, will be able to tell us for sure.

What is for certain is that this campaign (based whole heartedly on the Republican agenda) is creating the circumstances for the utmost amount of torment for her as she tries to maintain a normal life.

So Long to our Right to Protest.....

2004-09-01T23:49:00.000-07:00

The media has (not surprisingly) dropped the ball once again. Protestors have flooded New York, as they did in Boston, and the mainstream media haven't blinked an eye.

They're sitting and waiting, hoping for violence to break out and blood to shed, before they will agree to get out and do some real reporting. For those that traveled to first Boston and now New York to express their dissenting views, they were welcomed by an all out police state that quickly escorted them to the nearest cage (or 'free speech zone').

The August 26, 2004 New York Daily News headline read: ANARCHY, INC. The message is quite representative of the way the media has tried to frame protestors at the DNC and RNC as belonging to an out of control, criminal cult. In times of war, this sort of thing is to be expected. The anti-war movement is painted by the media as being unstable, irrational, and uncompromising. These depictions inevitably further the disconnect between those showing unwavering support to Bush's agenda, versus those who see opposition to it as the only way to bring Americans home from overseas.

The only 'coverage' of these protest demonstrations that we do see occurs when police target a small group of "unruly" protestors. The estimates of the crowd that we were given at the beginning of the week were proven to largely a fabrication. Police on the ground threw out numbers like 90-100,000, while 'unofficial' estimates said 200-400,000 was a more accurate number.

The protests, along with the record amounts of donations to the Bush and Kerry campaigns, are the two biggest stories (Iraq withstanding) of this election. These things are buried in the underground media, while big media turns their attention towards analysis of Jenna and Barbara Bush's address to the delegates and the next juicy book to be published from a Capitol Hill intern.

Republicans Oppose Moore's Presence with Schoolyard Bullying Tactics

Michael Moore is being called a lot of things this week as he attends the RNC as a guest columnist for USA Today. Republicans say the filmmaker is a traitor, a liar, and even...fat?

Chants of 'fat pig' have greeted Moore on the floor of Madison Square Garden, reminding us all too well that it is still acceptable to use such slurs in public against those they disdain.

The Republicans are behaving exactly like the schoolyard bullies they are by falling back on socially acceptable slurs that once tormented them and their fellow classmates. Kudos to the GOP for always raising the level of discourse in the country (currently it rests at a notch above Andrew Dice Clay, but about two below Pauly Shore).

It's All About the Benjamins Bay-Bee!

CNN had a very interesting link posted on their site earlier this week. Now, I'm kicking myself for losing it. The chart illustrated who was donating what to each candidate. It gave a good sense of how companies like Time Warner are sure to play both sides of the field by handing out big sums to Kerry and Bush. Enron remains Bush's number one supporter, while candidates like Al Sharpton relied on...I kid you not...Don King Enterprises to fund their fledgling campaigns. God, I wish I hadn't lost this link.

Phil Kline and the Anti-Gay Agenda in Topeka

Phil Kline is starting to become a local celebrity. Pitch Weekly did a huge feature recently on his tenure as Kansas Attorney General. The recent library incident in Lawrence is what people really took notice of (deservedly so), but the really remarkable thing Kline has managed to do involves keeping gay people in prison for.....being gay. Yes, Kline has managed to remind us that he does not condone homosexuality at every turn of the job.

Under Kansas law, sex involving someone under 16 is illegal. The state's "Romeo and Juliet" statute lessens penalties if one partner is under 19 and the other is within four years of that age. Knowing that the statute, as written, applies to heterosexual couples only, Kline has utilized it to keep gay men like Matthew Limon jailed. Kline makes it seem as though Limon poses a threat to the institution of marriage. When the ACLU got involved with the case, Kline revealed to the Lawrence Journal World their real motives as being to protect "...all people, no matter their sexual orientation...from discrimination" (A shocking revelation that only government officials can usually provide).

Not only does the ACLU echo this sentiment, but we read these little references about equality sprinkled into other documents you might have heard of...The Bill of Rights? Ring a bell? The U.S. Constitution? That one also makes a small mention of this concept.

Kline said that freeing Limon and allowing him to lead a homosexual life (away from the prison) would then lead to the legalization of gay marriages (stay with me)-- as well as marriages with multiple partners, incestuous marriages, bestiality, pedophilia, and much more.

What this case really represents is the state's last gasp to incarcerate young gay and lesbian people for living a life that they see as being morally inconsistent with the views of the establishment.

Even the Vice-President showed us that we all can acknowledge (just once in a while!) the need for equal protection under the law. The Vice President's words speak clearly to the kind of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that you are determined to deny to people you disdain:

"With respect to the question of relationships my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People . . . ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."

Would Phil Kline have prosecuted Mary Cheney (daughter of Dick and Lynne) if he had knowledge that she (at the age of 18) was having (in the words of her father) 'any kind of relationship [that she wanted] to' have with a younger female? Thank goodness for a few of these 'activist judges', who for all of their above the law-type behavior at least have the decency to protect our privacy in our bedroom, despite the desire government to keep their eyes on all of us.

People in Kansas that find themselves in Mary Cheney's circumstance will never be able to marry the person they love thanks to these policies. At the very least, Cheney's recent admission gives us hope that he and others in similar positions of power might see the light. I am mailing Kline these questions and eagerly awaiting for the day when his office in Topeka sends me on of those wonderful standard responses that our tax dollars pay for. If I'm lucky, someone from his staffer will write me back with an explanation about why exactly we lock these people up.

The following is a copy of the letter I mailed to Kline's offices (I will post his response at a later date):

Mr. Kline:

Vice President Cheney acknowledged last week that he hopes to see us view his daughter, Mary, just as we see our other friends, neighbors, and co-workers: equally. Mr. Cheney painted quite a clear picture of the kind of life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness that he hopes to extend to every American. He articulated why this must be an unalienable right, and not just a token gesture of courtesy.

"With respect to the question of relationships my general view is that freedom means freedom for everyone. People . . . ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."

The concept and ideas behind those words ring just as true today as they did when the founding fathers incorporated them into the Bill of Rights and in our Constitution. Clearly, our Vice President expects his daughter (as well as other men and women like her that are involved in same sex relationships) to have the same laws and standards that heterosexuals are judged by applied to her as well.

Unfortunately, people in Mary Cheney’s situation seem more likely to end up in a court of law, facing legal woes, rather than be recognized as a fellow American who is capable of making significant contributions to our society. Her only crime appears to be one of attempting to pursue a life of liberty and happiness, not unlike the very principles that have defined our union throughout its existence.

As we move forward, it is my hope that our great state will continue to be recognized by the ways in which we provide all of our fellow citizens with the liberties and freedoms that constitute who we are as one nation, and make it the greatest country on earth.

The Return of Bob "Hatchet Man" Dole

2004-08-31T23:55:00.000-07:00

The late 90's and early part of the new millennium brought us a kindler, gentler version of Bob Dole, the former U.S. Senator from right here in Kansas. After his loss to Clinton in '96, Dole made an almost overnight transformation that shed his image as the nation's grouchy old grandfather. He started making the rounds on SNL, David Letterman, and more recently the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. The parade of this new Bob Dole through our television sets was almost enough to make us forget his true legacy as the hatchet man for Nixon and Republican Party.

Dole said Sunday that Kerry should apologize for his testimony thirty years ago to Congress about alleged atrocities during the Vietnam War. Dole, like many other Americans, still holds a grudge against those of us who would prefer to see the truth told about Vietnam, however uncomfortable that may be.

Dole was selected as Ford's running mate in '76 based primarily on his reputation he built under Nixon as the guy willing to do the dirty work. If Nixon needed someone to threaten those pesky protestors setup outside 1600 Pennsylvania, Dole was never hesitant to do so.

I'm no fan of Kerry and the Democrats, but for God's sake the guy volunteered (like Dole) for service at a time when he could have ran and hid (a la Bush, Clinton, etc.). These self-righteous Republicans are now mocking him and every other American out there that have been in the line of fire. Their contempt for Kerry's courage of one kind on the battlefield, and then again before the Congress, shows just how narrow and close-minded their definition of 'patriotism' has become. Bush still has time to distance himself from the behavior of the GOP on the convention floor, as he appears to be doing by issuing a condemnation of the 527 groups.

Anyone Feeling a Draft?

The closer we get to the election, the more it becomes apparent that Bush and Kerry both have their eyes set on increasing the size of U.S. forces overseas. The problem is that neither man has given us an idea of how they will go about accomplishing it. The media has failed to press either man on just how much of an necessity conscription is in order to accomplish this military growth spurt.

If you happen to be a male, age 18-25 (such as I), and you don't hear anything about this subject before the election, then go ahead and start packing for a desert vacation. Iran, Sudan, and Korea are all on the radar (not to mention those small expeditions in Iraq and Afghanistan), and Kerry and Bush are working towards fulfilling Woodrow Wilson's vision of America's place in the world.

As Ayn Rand said, the military draft is the worst of all violations of individual rights. It negates our fundamental right (to life) in order to provide the blood (war) of life that the state feeds off of. It tells us that our lives belong to the state, and that at any moment we can be sacrificed to uphold the establishment's power.

Of course, none of this sort of philosophical opposition to reopening a military draft is going to be discussed. Does the media not see this inevitability on the political horizon? Of course they see it, but they are (just as they were in the 60's) too afraid to approach this juggernaut. It's a no-win situation in an era when questioning the system amounts to criminal behavior. No one in the media wants to be labeled by the Rupert Murdoch wing of the media as being unpatriotic or even treasonous.

3rd party candidates such as Nader and Libertarian Michael Badnarik have both made strong cases against the draft. I'm not holding my breath for either of them being included in the televised debates to dicuss them, but their voices could still be the saving graces in getting the issue to the forefront before it's too late in November. Compulsory military service has shown to be a foolish and unwise step to take in a free and democratic society, too bad that the big media doesn't have the cojones to speak up and remind the politicians.

Tomorrow...Signs that you're losing the First Amendment and becoming a Police State.

Local Media Refuses to Televise the Nader Revolution in Kansas City

2004-08-31T14:09:00.000-07:00

*Note - The following is based on Ralph Nader's visit last Thursday (Aug. 27th) to a downtown Kansas City, KS hotel.

Labor rights icon Eugene Debs said of voting: "It is better to vote for what you want, and not get it, than to vote for what you don't want-and get it."

Democrats around Kansas City were banking on potential voters ignoring Debs's message, and therefore ignoring Ralph Nader when the independent presidential candidate visited town this week.

On Thursday, August 26, a handful of media members and almost two dozen supporters gathered inside the conference room of a Kansas City, Kansas hotel to hear the former Green Party superstar candidate speak. Ironically, just three days earlier this same city was responsible for filling up a stadium (approximately 79,000 in paid attendance) to watch an exhibition football game. The population's passion and devotion to their favorite sports teams is something Nader fears will, unfortunately, never translate into the political theatre.

"I always wonder what would happen to the country if people cared about voting as much as they worry about their favorite sports teams," Nader said. "With sports, the people seem very much able to cut through the bullshit rhetoric of players and coaches and demand a certain level of high performance from these people."

"When they see these people performing poorly on the field, they hold them accountable. Why can't we treat politicians the same way? Imagine if they were scrutinized like these players and coaches! What would happen to the country?"

This barely publicized press conference and campaign speech resulted in a near empty room greeting the man who finished third in the popular vote in 2000. The KC Star and the LJ World did small, token write-ups of the event, but that was the only thing people saw or heard reported.

The sight of Nader attempting to rally support in such modest surroundings also served as a reminder of just how far his 2004 campaign is from recapturing the kind of energy and passion he aroused just four short years ago. Then, large venues, like the Madison Square in New York City, were sold out for his appearances. Now, he faces an uphill battle against a multitude of forces that begin and end with a mainstream media that he often chastises for going through the same old motions, a rut that he feels all but ensures the perpetuation of the two party ideology in American politics.

"I always try to challenge reporters to refrain from asking me the same old questions," Nader said. "There is a clear disconnect between the press and the campaigns of third party candidates. Are they of the mind set that the two parties already own the voters? They never seem to be able to make the connections about what's going on."

"If they could just look at the stories they have in front of them they'd see what I'm seeing: that we're losing control of the country. Still, in their finest moments the press is capable of great things."

According to Nader, the country's fall from grace is directly related to the ability of the two major political parties to manipulate every facet of American life, while any opposition is quashed from the debate, much less public office. The multi-party system Nader envisions to remedy the situation, is something that is difficult to make a reality.

The Republicans ("a wholly owned subsidiary of giant corporations") and the Democrats ("a decaying party that will never be accused of having a smart strategy") have ensured what Nader calls the worst kinds of politicians emerging form the pack and heading to Washington. For now, Nader is focusing his attention on the Democrats, whose dirty tricks have forced him to get tough on many of the more progressive, liberal politicians that he shares ideological agreements with.

"There are millions of unregistered African-Americans who historically vote up to 90% of the time with the Democratic ticket," Nader said. "Even Jesse Jackson talked to me about this problem recently."

"If the Democrats really cared about this campaign, why would they not be out registering African-American voters? Instead they're busy harassing me and the people trying to gather signatures to get me on the ballot."

Though largely unreported, Democrats have been quite overt in launching operations across the country to interfere with the Nader/Camejo campaign. Only a handful of news snippets have made their way into the media documenting the Democrats work. Nader speaks candidly about discussions he's had with some of the very Democrats that have interfered with and violated his constitutionally guaranteed right to run for president. A handful of young men in the crowd have their own stories of encounters with these Democratic goons. While volunteering to collect signatures to help Nader gain access to state ballots, some have also managed to collect horror stories of physical threats and various forms of strong-arm intimidation tactics.

"I was expecting to go to Montana and Wyoming to collect the signatures that the laws require for ballot access," 20-year-old Jon Matthew said. "I was harassed and assaulted in some instances. I was fondled as well as choked by police officers. I was jailed. Wherever we went to gather signatures we we're met by security or police who would throw us out and tell us we had to leave areas of public property."

The bloody and bruised lips Matthew bears tells part of the story about his trip north to assist the candidate he stands behind. Michael Bittinger, Kansas Coordinator for Nader/Camejo 2004 and resident of Rush Limbaugh's favorite left-leaning town, noted the lack of KU Campus Greens that would've stormed an event like this four years ago. Bittinger pushed Nader merchandise and memorabilia from the fundraising booth setup outside the conference room. Attendees were offered a chance to purchase one of Nader's books, including his newly released work, "The Good Fight." Despite rumors of rampant Republican donations to his campaign, Nader is using the new book as a vital tool in his fundraising efforts ("When you give to my campaign, you should get something back," Nader said).

The merchandise booth confirmed just how much of a shoe string operation Nader was running these days. Still, supporters wielding their student ID's lined up to buy the autographed books. With no Secret Service in place (Nader is accompanied on the campaign trail with only one other associate), Jameson and Jonathan Piedimonte of Independence lined up with copies of the new book and told stories of their initial experiences as supporters of a third party candidate.

"I try to talk to older people, but they just seem stuck in the rut of supporting everything the two party system does," 18-year-old Jonathan said. "They just respond with the same old arguments against Nader and against Bush. They really seem like they've given up."

Jonathan's older brother, Jameson, echoed the sentiments. After spending time at the Country Club Plaza trying to gather signatures for the Missouri ballot petition, he too had a tough time finding any rebuttals that didn't revolve around the "Anybody But Bush" mind set.

"The Democrats you talk with can be really nasty," 21-year-old Jameson said. "I've already had my share of confrontations with security guards. A lot of areas feel they are private property (when they're not) and you have no rights, meaning I'm breaking the law."

Nader himself has fielded calls and letters from volunteers in the field who have had the misfortune of coming across the forces of the Democratic Party itself. One 58-year-old woman in Arizona volunteering for the campaign reported being monitored from her home. This kind of spying and intimidating threats (in person and over the phone) are what Nader sees as developing into a mini-Watergate scenario for the Democrats unless Kerry takes a stand against the "dirty tricks" being endorsed by the very leadership of the DNC.

"Every time [Democratic National Chairman] Terry McAuliffe sees me he asks me to drop out [of the race]," Nader said. "The next time I see him and he asks that question I'm going to ask him when John Kerry is going to withdraw."

"They really think that their problem is me or that they're not raising enough money to get their guy on TV. The fact of the matter is that [Kerry] is just another 'Me Too! Republican'."

Despite the Democrats' best efforts, Nader's small, grassroots volunteer task force has been successful in gathering enough signatures to get his ticket on the ballot in more than forty states (a figure still fluctuating because the Democrats will be contesting the signatures in court up until the election). In Kansas, the Nader/Carmejo ticket will be representing the Reform Party, a party that has endorsed Ross Perot and Patrick Buchanan in years past.

"The Reform party, like Kansas, has deep populist roots." They see what's happening to the environment, and where the WTO and the amount of power corporations are taking this country," Nader said. "We certainly have disagreements with certain social issues, but they're very strong on a number of the big issues that we've identified."

While Buchanan and Perot exhibited more traditional conservative tendencies, the Kansas Reform Party's push for a notoriously left leaning consumer advocate reveals their priorities for the upcoming election. Nader expects other conservatives disenfranchised with the Bush Administration's handling of the economy, Iraq, and other foreign policy issues to support his candidacy despite the disagreements they may have with other elements of his progressive politics. Nader sees a much less united Republican party than what is portrayed by the mainstream media.

Recently, he aligned with Texas U.S. Representative Ron Paul (an elected Republican, but a self-described Libertarian) to help get a bill to Congress that will legalize industrial hemp. Hard-line conservative and Editor of The American Conservative Magazine, Patrick Buchanan even offered Nader praise for his stance on the war and foreign policy during an interview between the two in June.

"Conservatives are furious with Bush's deficits, with their tax dollars going to corporate welfare; all of which undermines the market and wastes their money," Nader said. "Polls conducted with those who voted for me in 2000 indicate that up to 25% of them would have voted for Bush if I hadn't run. Another 40% say they would not have voted at all. I'm looking to appeal to those independents, liberal republicans, and conservatives again."

"Conservatives are upset about the way the WTO and NAFTA are threatening our sovereignty. They see jobs being shipped overseas to a Communist regime in China. This is depressing wages here at home and preventing workers from unionizing."

Nader's solution is an immediate withdrawal from entangling trade alliances like NAFTA and the WTO. Furthermore, he is calling for a repeal of the 1947 Taft/Hartley Act, which he says only leads to reoccurring 'Wal-Mart scenarios', and a lack of strong unions for workers.

Kansas drew his spotlight when discussing the corporate welfare state he sees the major parties refusing to discuss. Farm subsidies that are leveled against farmers here in Kansas were pinpointed as a major aspect of corporate welfare that he aims to eliminate. Again, he expects that the anti-trust laws will be effective in breaking up these companies, which have been redefining the ability of rural farmers to take their goods to market.

"The farm subsidies allow the agri-business community to make farmers into supplicants; selling their products well below market value," Nader said. "It's a state of peonage and the farmers are becoming the serfs."

Nader remains confident that he will speak with voters in all 50 states prior to the election. Kerry and Bush began conceding states to one another years ago, forfeiting the need to make stops in entire sections of the country. Earlier in August, a midnight gathering at the local Amtrak station in Lawrence was all that prevented the Kerry/Edwards campaign train from speeding through Kansas without taking the time to speak with any of the thousands of Jayhawks that had gathered on the Friday night. Edwards returned the next day to say a few words, but Kerry managed to slip through and push on to Colorado where the Democrats saw electoral votes up for grab.

"There are people who will continue to say I shouldn't visit swing states, but I say we have a responsibility to visit the areas of the country where we've seen the most passion for our ticket," Nader said. "I just got back from Hawaii and Alaska. They were furious that the other guys never bother to venture out there and speak with the voters."

In order to eliminate the fears of his candidacy running counter to the 'Anybody but Bush' campaign mounted by Kerry supporters, Nader has proposed support for the instant run-off system. This election system is already in place in cities like San Francisco. Under instant runoff elections, voters would rank their choices among a field of multiple candidates (allowing a voter to assign a '1' to Nader and a '2' to Kerry, or vice versa). If no candidate can secure a majority of the votes, elections officials would then take into account the secondary choices of voters to determine a winner. Nader sees a number of positive and humorous effects resulting from a conversion to this system.

"Under the instant run-off system, we'd be also be able to vote for 'none of the above'," Nader said. "Wouldn't that be great? To be able to vote 'no' to the whole system?"

Under the instant run-off, a majority vote of 'no confidence' in the candidates listed would result in a new election in 30 days, at which time only new, alternate candidates would be allowed on the ballot.

"Imagine how humiliated they would be when they have to tell their family that they were defeated by 'none of the above'," Nader said.

Nader's efforts to create a more direct democracy that would allow people to give the whole system the symbolic middle finger do not end there. He even is strongly considering a push to eliminate the Electoral College. The College, criticized by Democrats four years ago for failing to authenticate Gore's win of the popular vote, would be eliminated in a Nader White House to allow for a more direct democracy and the creation of a true multi-party system in government.

The behind the scenes requests from the Democratic Party leadership have not been the only propositions made to Nader. Earlier this month, he became the target of a humorous (albeit pathetic) plea from Michael Moore in front of a television audience. While appearing on HBO's Real Time with Bill Mahr, Moore went as far as to getting on his knees (along with Mahr, the show's emcee) to beg Nader to reconsider his candidacy. Nader smiled and assured the two men that they were in fact the ones who had been duped into believing in a candidate that offered nothing new from President Bush's agenda. First and foremost on Nader's mind are the hundreds of thousand American troops in Iraq.

"Kerry is taking a 'me too' attitude about Iraq," Nader said. "This is the major issue in this election, and he has said nothing different from what Bush has done."

Despite polls showing close to half of all Americans favoring the return of troops from Iraq, Nader stands alone as the only candidate speaking out on a withdrawal plan. Nader promises to have the troops out of the country and back home within six months. He also vowed to oppose the construction of permanent military bases in the country.

"The plan that I've outlined on my Web site is the only plan to withdraw American military and corporate forces and give the people of Iraq true sovereignty," Nader said. "Then, the Iraqis will have their country back, and they will no longer be the target of international terrorists."

"We have 14 [military] bases going up in Iraq. Kerry and Bush have no plan to achieve an 'end game', meanwhile we're bleeding troops and billions of taxpayer dollars."

The lack of an alternative for the future of Iraq highlights the deficiencies of the Democratic Party for Nader. With the televised Presidential debates approaching (something Nader is still fighting an uphill battle to gain access to), the laundry list of issues that Bush and Kerry are on record as agreeing upon is staggering (and very much reminiscent of what happened in the debates between Gore and Bush). The two have said little to distinguish themselves from one another on questions regarding U.S. foreign policy and the war in Iraq, the Patriot Act, the bloated military budget (which Nader promises to slash and still position it to maintain an impenetrable domestic defense), healthcare, the environment, fossil fuel dependency, and workers' rights.

"The democrats just don't understand that people want to see contrast when they go to vote," Nader said. "Their real problem isn't raising enough money or whatever happens to my campaign. They just lack a message."

Just a few miles east from where he was speaking in Kansas City, Kansas, is the 'Show Me State' of Missouri, which represents one of Nader's biggest challenges. With Missouri playing a crucial role in deciding the presidency in the last century, the Democrats have invested in a long legal fight to challenge the authenticity of the 12,000 plus signatures gathered for the state ballot (the Democrats are fighting successfully to get close to 3,000 of those signatures voided from the petition). The courts are openly cooperating with efforts to kill off independent candidates.

The opposition forces mount by the day for Nader. The Anti-Defamation League berated him for having the courage to speak out on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict in a way that did not show undying support for the U.S. position. Hints of anti-Semitism were inevitably charged, but when Nader called the group to task for failing to recognize Palestinians and Israelis working together toward a peaceful solution, they went silent.

The pressure being applied on him to pack up and go home has done little to alter his resolve. He spent the entire morning speaking with a small, but dedicated group of citizens who refuse to turn away on his cause. At seventy-years-old, his stump speech was still coming across by way of a razor sharp delivery. Being continually ignored by the media has clearly kept a chip on his shoulder, a quality that seemingly endears him to the hordes of young voters that make up his audiences. He's made a pact with them that he isn't about to break.

"Thomas Jefferson said that our system may need a revolution every 50 years to keep it updated," Nader said. "If the founding fathers would come back and see what the country looks like now, they'd be amazed at how little we've evolved." "If I were to drop out I would be betraying the support and sweat of all those who've believed in us and believe that there's a place in Washington for progressive politics. I'm not dropping out. That's not going to happen...not now...not on October 30th...never."

Issue Swiftly Disappearing

2004-08-30T17:15:00.000-07:00

SwiftGate

The swift boat issue and the way the media is engulfed by it - is really starting to make me sick. Let's face it, Kerry was involved in the same kind of brutal, murderous behavior that many others were in Vietnam. An Ohio paper - The Toledo Blade - did an award winning series on some of the atrocities that happened.

Kerry, for some reason, has become a viable 'anti' war candidate. Realistically, he has even more hawkish tendencies than the sitting president. His Wilsonian like views on world alliances and on-going, never ending conflict against ideas have not been reported, much less emphasized, by the media. At least Bush finally came out today and spilled the beans on what everyone knew was a war with no end.

Buchanan, Nader, et al. have been part of the small contingent that has articulated (not in the mainstream press) the opposition to nation building, and an isolationist policy that would create a true defense of American soil, minus the entangling alliances (i.e. Israel, NATO, UN, etc.).

‘Stick with the Devil you know’

Bush may be the better of the two, specifically because his repeated blunders have put a relative restraint on his military conquests. Whereas Kerry, may have a ‘clean slate’ in the eyes of the establishment, one that may allow him to put us into another Iraq situation elsewhere in the world (i.e. Iran, Korea, Sudan). Sudan is the most likely answer because the conflict is seen as the most ‘humanitarian’ war right now (one that even the Michael Moore crowd would eat up), which differs very little from the wars Clinton justified with little resistance from the press.

Job-less Recovery

I, like many other recent journalism and communications degree graduates my age, have had different media and writing related jobs on the eastern side of Kansas (all of them of the temporary, part-time variety with no capacity to transform into future, full-time employment).

The concentration of media ownership in the state of Kansas (when I say Kansas I always refer to the eastern border of the state - where about 99% of the state's population resides) is creating a uniquely, negative situation for would be workers. The World Company alone controls newspaper (LJ World, De Soto Explorer, Eudora News, etc.), cable (Sunflower), telephone, internet connections, local television news and programming (Lawrence), and coordinates a multitude of media services with the University (kusports.com, etc.). They've even produced a number of hugely successful calendars featuring KU coeds ("Girls of KU" will google you to these sophisticated products). They have effectively shut out any media competition from this college town.

Print publications, not just in Lawrence but in the greater Kansas City area in general, are awful about compensating reporters with a livable wage. A handful of my contemporaries have been forced to work substantial hours for blue collar operations on the side of their media jobs just to make ends meet. I have been able in some instances (unfortunately) to gather greater fees as a freelance writer/photographer than people my age receive for standard 40 hour work weeks in Topeka or Lawrence (You can’t even consider asking for a traditional salary or benefits at these operations).

Other indications from recent job interviews have furthered my belief that the economic climate for workers in this industry is going nowhere but straight to the bottom (not to be mistaken with ‘the bottoms’ by Kemper Arena in KC). Over the past year, I have perfected the art of the ‘return interview’ or what some might call the ‘runner-up candidate.’ A copywriter position at a Kansas City based yearbook publishing company, along with a media relations (PR) post at UMKC, were both recent examples of this phenomenon. While finishing second place in both instances (…apparently there’s no silver medal awarded anymore? So much for the Olympic spirit this time of year, eh?), what really disturbed me was the fact that both positions (entry-level by all accounts) were ultimately filled with vastly experienced practitioners of their respective industries. It’s a puzzling catch-22. I cannot match the level of experience of these alternative candidates, while my available options (continuing with hourly positions that pay less than the workers at fast food establishments) remain less than appealing.

More Great News for UMKC

A former UMKC student - Jonas Hughes – is running uncontested at this point for a Missouri House Congressional seat. Here's the kicker: this seven year UMKC student apparently did not know that he had NOT graduated last year, something he told the KC Star earlier this summer. This information came out prior to the election, nonetheless, he edged out the more experienced democratic challenger. He was jobless, much like many fellow UMKC grads and non-grads, so at least he has a government position for the next two years. We probably won't hear more about this story until another 'alleged' UMKC graduate pops up to run in opposition.

After seeing the 'dorm' my brother has at Nebraska, coupled with the new, modern looking structure at UMKC, I begin to wonder if a four year stay at UMKC wouldn't have been a lot more pleasant if such living accommodations had been around. There's still over a hundred poor souls in that dump on 5050 Cherry St.

Royals Break Out New 1/2 Week Legend

Sheesh, you'd think that Calvin Pickering's hot streak could have lasted at least a week. Alas, that is the reality of Royals fans: the only bright spot of the season lasted a grand total of three days. In that time, Pickering homered twice, tripled, and drove in a total of 11 runs. An offensive performance to make him a shoe-in for spring training next year, right? Wrong. After 72 hours, pitchers figured out that the 6'5", 270 lb. slugger couldn't reach the low, outside strike. To make matters worse, he has a tendency still to go for the high cheese. All of this won't help the soon-to-be 28 year old rookie in his quest to become an everyday big league player. There's always a reason why players like Pickering, Phil Hiatt, Bob Hamelin, Joe Vitiello, Sal Fasano, or Ozzie Canseco earn the title of 'minor league legend'.

Tomorrow... My visit with Ralph Nader.