Best Sandwich in Kansas City?

I don't know for sure, but I think that a #1 spicy at Bella Napoli in Kansas City has to be at the top of the list. Italian meats, cheeses and finely chopped marinated vegetables with a vinaigrette of great olive oil and balsamic vinegar, on a crusty roll. The first time I had one, I went back five days in a row for lunch to have the same damned sandwich.

And eating it today, outdoors, with Scott, Jessica and Ken - well, that was just great.

If you can top that for a Kansas City sandwich experience, bring it on.

Race in Raytown

A while back, I did a post about Raytown, describing it as a microcosm of middle-America. That post resulted in an email correspondence with someone involved in Raytown, and she forwarded to me the following transcript of a May 9 meeting of the Raytown Charter Commission:

Ms. Wittman - I have a hard time understanding how having members of labor unions come talk to us, minority groups come talk to us, is going to have anything to do with the drafting of the Charter. I would like to add one person myself, that being the mayor of Raytown, Sue Franks. Now we know that under 4th class city government, we have a strong mayor concept. She however, my understanding, does not work as a strong mayor. And I'd like to have her come back and explain exactly how she operates her office.
Mr. Barnes - Thank you Mr. Chairman. I'd like to speak on behalf of minorities addressing the Charter Commission regarding the writing of this Charter for the city of Raytown. You've taken the time to look at the census tracks regarding Raytown, we have over 18-20% racial minorities in this community that are a vital part of this community. They're voting citizens, they're tax paying citizens, and they clearly ought to be involved and we should hear from them in this Charter process. That includes disabled people, minorities, others, veterans, anybody that would fall into those protected classes. They clearly need to be part of this. And I personally object to questions being raised regarding minorities that live here in Raytown.
Mr. Gray - Thank you Mr. Barnes.
Ms. Wittman - I'd like to add..
Mr. Gray - Ms. Wittman, I haven't recognized you yet, are there others to discuss.
Mr. Aziere - I would like to - if we're going to look at all of the angles, I'd like to consider having realtors come, also the school district, Chamber of Commerce, I mean all of these people. If we're going to unions, and we're going to go to other groups, I think these three groups have a vested interest. People who deal in real estate definitely have feeling on the value of what keeps our community together and likewise the school district because they're right in the center of our downtown. And the Chamber, you're talking about business people, well, we should include all of them, not just small but large too. When you get the Chamber involved, it allows everybody to participate, not just the small business man. So I'm going to suggest asking them also.
Mr. Gray - well like Bill Price, at Shamrock cabinets, is a pretty good size business man, but GE out here which was BHA, or Walmart, those are corporate residents in the sense that they're here a while and then they're gone.
Mr. Aziere - I don't recall using those names.
Mr. Gray - I didn't say you did. But your point is well made on broadening the group. Ideally we'd have the old town-hall meetings like in New Hampshire, and have everybody in town here to hash it out. But that's just not going to happen, there's just not that many people interested - apparently.
Mr. Aziere - I guess one point - I don't understand we came up with this list of people we were going to invite but not the entire committee was invited to make these suggestions. We just got a list of these are the people that are coming. I don't know about other people on this committee who had input, but I know that I didn't.
Ms. Wittman - I didn't.
Mr. Aziere - and there are others that didn't, so. I guess I'll make a point that in the very beginning one of the processes you mentioned what that in the last charter, that there were people who operated on the side and did their own thing. I kind of see that happening here too - this is a good example of it. So I'm kind of feeling like, you know, if you feel that way, we shouldn't have these and let's just scratch all the rest of them. We can get on with our business of writing this Charter.
Mr. Gray - I disagree with your prospective. It's been open to anybody that wants to suggest to me any kind of group testifying and give me good reason why - as the Chairman, I said that sounds reasonable and made the invitations.
Ms Darby - I'm highly disturbed that some of our Commission members are trying to shun some of our decent citizens here in Raytown regarding the minority population. I'm deeply troubled. They are a part of our city. They do deserve a voice. There was a Human Relations Commission set up. Was that just PR or do we actually believe in the diversity of this community? Is anybody, are there any city employees that are of a diverse ethnic background? Considering the population of our city I would think that we would welcome such input and I'm highly disturbed by this.
Ms. Wittman - I remember at the very beginning of our meetings that we invite Dr. Atkins, who was the Chairman of the 1996 Commission. To come to speak to us and help us avoid the pitfalls in drawing up of this Charter. That was sidestepped, and I did make that suggestion.
Mr. Gray - I don't understand any pitfalls he was going to help us avoid.
Mr. Briggs - Again, I'm concerned that some of the members of our Commission - do you not understand that this is an open and free process? Anyone can come and speak before this group. That's why we have on the agenda public comments. I think some of these suggestions that have been made - and that's all they are, suggestions, that we invite some other people. I think they are good suggestions. Because maybe we haven't heard from these people, whether it be small business or minorities, or whatever. But that doesn't exclude anyone from coming to the microphone and speaking at any given meeting that we are having.

It sounds like some members of the Raytown Charter Commission don't really care to hear from "those people". If you are one of "those people", or you support "those people", then, by all means, you should try to make the meeting at 7:00 PM on May 23 at the Raytown City Hall.

Omaha

Off to Omaha in a little while. I'll be back tomorrow afternoon. I'm looking forward to cruising on the highway - northern Missouri has some pretty views. Plus, I'll have my iPod on the seat next to me, wired into a cool speaker system, so I won't get stuck listening to Rush, O'Reilly, or country music, the way I normally do when I venture into rural Missouri.

Newsweek and the Right Wing

The Newsweek story is a collage composed of unsavory pictures of American society. In case you haven't read a paper in the last couple days, Newsweek published an article including an allegation that American soldiers desecrated the Quran. At the same time, violence in Afghanistan increased, and several people were killed. Newsweek has now retracted the story. Here are a few of my thoughts on the affair.

1. I Don't Doubt the Original Story I mean, come on, are we supposed to believe that the sadistic bastards we have hired to torture suspects are going to get all warm and fuzzy about a book they don't believe in? Do you think they're going to smear menstrual blood on these guys, or sic dogs on these people or make them masturbate while wearing women's underwear on their heads, but they're going to draw the line at ripping a few pages out of a book and throwing them in a toilet? Give me a freaking break! Newsweek may or may not have had sufficient proof, but anyone who believes that our tax dollars are supporting the kind of torturers who blanch at desecrating the Quran is in need of a reality check upside the head. The Pentagon does not really deny the reality of the desecration, they just claim that their cover-up has been too successful to allow them to be caught.

2. The Article Did Not Cause the Riots Despite what the right-wingers would have you believe, the Newsweek article did not disrupt a peaceful teaparty in Afghanistan. From Think Progress, via the indispensable Eschaton, comes the point that before the Newsweek report even hit the newsstands, the Associated Press was already noting a "revived Taliban-led insurgency" and the Agence France Press said there was "an upsurge in violence by suspected Taliban rebels" which had left two U.S. Marines dead.

3. The Right Wing is Not Allowed to Complain About Faulty Information Causing Deaths Sorry. But under any sober application of the straight face test, nobody who voted for George W. Bush is allowed to criticize anybody for taking action on faulty information. It's just not going to be allowed. Violation of this rule could cause the planet to explode due to an irony overload. Let's be careful out there, you Bush supporters. And if you try to be cute with it, like the insufferable jerks who think they're being witty by saying "Newsweek Lied; People Died", you are a despicable pig.

4. This is About Intimidation, not Fact-Checking The intellectual midgets on the right are being played right now by the smarter and more insidious enemies of American freedom. Remember how a survey a little more than a year ago revealed that high school students don't understand the First Amendment and approve of the government being able to censor news? This flap plays right into the hands of those who want to restrict our freedoms. Read this insightful post if you want a more thorough consideration of how elements of the right are already using this story to swing support for censorship.

Okay, commenters, what am I missing?

New Link on the Side

So, I was out at the 75th Street Brewery, talking business with a couple friends, and then a bunch of people from my MPA program showed up. After finishing with business, then, I joined the crowd of MPA students, celebrating the graduation of a few.

One of them started chatting with me about my blog, and that was when I met the charming Andrea D, the intense energy behind I'll Say it With These Hands, a blog I've dropped by on occasion since I happened upon it looking for good writing about live music.

It's kind of funny to meet the people whose work you've admired. That's the point behind the occasional meet-ups organized by KCBloggers. The next one will be on Thursday, the 26th, at Harry's Country Club.

Cool Kansas City Photography

Mike McMullen does awesome work - his landscapes are spectacular, and his photographs of architecture and design are at least as good. I'm proud to own four of his works. The fact that he is one of the nicest people I know makes his work extra-special to me.

I haven't met Brandon Baker, but I'm very much impressed with his portraits (check out PR_001, PR_009 and PR_012), and his work covering musicians is outstanding. His photograph of The Architects conveys the grittiness of the music and makes you wish you made the concert.

Republicans Shame Even A Republican

It has been well-established that Missouri Senator Chris Koster is a legislative roundheels, willing to sell out even his view of human life for enough corporate dollars. What kind of rotten swill, then, must it take to make even Chris Koster gag while feeding at the corporate trough?

The insurance industry and other corporate interests have been staging "Fear Factor: the Legislative Edition" in Jefferson City, and their episode on Monday made Chris Koster break down so badly that he let slip the truth about the Republican agenda.

“There is a sense in this building that if an interest group brings four really bad ideas to the table, we are obligated to pass at least one of them because they are our friends,” Koster said.

In a nutshell, the Republicans were planning on specifically exempting insurance companies from having to provide documents that could be used to prove that they have been cheating Missourians.

Why in the world the Republicans would try to help insurance companies get away with hurting the Misssouri voters who elected them? I have no answer for this question - if you're interested, I'd suggest calling Senator Loudon, the sponsor of this sell-out, at (573) 751-9763 and asking him.

As for Chris Koster, it's nice to see that there may be a shred of dignity and conscience underneath all that shallow self-promotion and naked ambition. I'd hate to think that his sudden burst of courage comes from the fact that he recently went to work for a well-known trial attorney. He couldn't be that much of a prostitute, could he?

Kansas City Pays Too Much for its Judges

Kansas City's municipal judges - the drudge workers of the local judiciary - are now paid more than Missouri's Supreme Court judges. With an annual 4 percent raise, which took effect May 1, Municipal Court judges now make almost $129,000 a year. Compare that to Circuit Court judges (the ones who handle civil lawsuits and serious crimes) at $108,000, Appellate Court judges (the smart judges who handle appeals) at $115,000, or state Supreme Court judges, who make $123,000 a year.

This is insane.

Kansas City judges are on a gravy train. Out in the real world, these are not attorneys who would be making good money. If they went looking for a real job, they might bring in $75,000, if they doubled their work hours and gave up their cushy benefits. (It's possible that a couple of them could get higher-paying jobs, but, as a group, this is not a highly-employable bunch.)

I don't really begrudge the judges wanting to be vasty overpaid for what they are worth. I have sat in their courtrooms and watched them face a long docket of rude people lying to them. I do, however, have a huge problem with our City Councilmembers wasting our tax money by giving them whatever they want.

Freedom of Judeo-Christian Religion

The Fourth Circuit has okayed a county's requirement that prayers used to open county meetings be made to a divinity that is "consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition," (link is to a .pdf file of the opinion - the quotation is on page 5) in rejecting a Wiccan's attempt to get added to the list of people invited to lead such prayers.

Where are we going, and why are we in this handbasket?

Elvis Costello

I've been a huge fan of Elvis Costello since I started college. Armed Forces and My Aim is True were part of the new wave, and it was all part of the excitement of freshman year in college. For a kid from the Midwest who thought that Bob Seger, REO Speedwagon, Head East and Billy Joel were the pinnacle of contemporary music, Elvis Costello was a totally new thing. Smart, interesting, exciting new music. At a time when I was falling in love and living away from home for the first time, it was like musical adrenaline.

But I've never seen a live show of Elvis Costello.

I was supposed to see him Tuesday night - front row, balcony seats. But he cancelled, due to a throat infection. He'll come back in August.

Sigh. Isn't that what maturity is all about - delayed gratification?

Hang in there, readers

I promise, I have to much to post about. Good Italian food, interesting social events, further illegal developments in the lives of my children, Republican hypocrisy, Elvis Costello, bookshelves, Mark Helprin, beer, and much, much more. But I'm wrapping up a 6 hour semester and still landing on my feet in a new job, so please cut me a little slack. Just this once. It's 10:33, and I have a 20 page paper due tomorrow, and I'm on page 12 . . .