Good Schools in the KCMSD

One of the under-appreciated facts concerning the Kansas City Metropolitan School District is that while all the controversy and anger swirls around the highest levels, there are still great teachers teaching bright students in superb schools. It's easy to forget that and focus on the negative.

I received a "tip" from the nonpareil public school parent yesterday about a couple holiday open houses that you might want to visit if you have school-age children, and don't want to send them to private school, religious school, or suburban schools.

Montessori:
The KCMO School District operates one of the largest Montessori public systems in the country! Three schools offer preschool - 6th grade and the new Cook Montessori Lab School is a training center for preschool only (age 3-4). All classrooms are fully equipped with Montessori materials, in specially designed facilities and have trained, certified teachers. Check out the Montessori method and then come see why KC leads the country in offering this wonderful opportunity.

P-K through 6th Grade:
Faxon Montessori - Tuesday 12/4, 6-8 p.m.
1320 E32nd St. 418-6525
Border Star Montessori - Tuesday, 12-11, 6-8 p.m.
6321 Wornall Road 418-5150
Holliday Montessori - Tuesday 12-11, 6-8 p.m.
7227 Jackson, 418-1950
P-K, ages 3-4
Cook Montessori Lab School - Tuesday 12-11, 6-7:30 p.m.
7302 Pennsylvania 418-1650


Lincoln College Prepatory
Middle and High School

Lincoln students scored higher than any other school in the State of Missouri on the latest assessment!

Middle School Open House, Tuesday, December 11, 2007, 6-8 p.m.
2012 East 23rd Street

High School Open House, Thursday, December 13, 2007, 6-8 p.m.
2111 Woodland

So neighbors:
If you have or know any tiny ones or middle sized ready for Middle school -- take the time to learn more about these programs! I have personal experience with all these schools and am available for more information.

Thanks!

Deleting a Comment

I receive an email whenever a comment is posted here, so I see that even long-dead threads sometimes draw comments. For an amusing example of this, see the distraught students who google "Florida'a Culture" and find my short post on "Florida's Culture of Life" about Terry Schiavo and gun control in their research for a school assignment, and take the time to profanely chide me for my lack of helpfulness.

Wednesday evening, though, I received an email notifying me that someone had commented on a post I did way back in 2004 pondering "Why do They Hate Hillary Clinton so Much?" Believe it or not, this post appears near the top of a google search for "hate Hilary", and I regularly receive inarticulate rants about how bad Hillary Clinton is. Few commenters even attempt to explain the bizarre and over-the-top hatred of her, which was the central issue of the post. The comment section has become a dumping ground for weirdos who feel the need to vent about our probable next president.

The comment I received on Wednesday, though, included a suggestion that she should be harmed. I immediately emailed the FBI and provided them with a copy of the comment. According to a comment posted yesterday by someone claiming to be the same poster, the secret service visited him for a couple hours.

I deleted the comment this morning. So, from now on, when I claim that I don't delete comments for reasons of content (except for some spam), please add a mental asterisk to my claim. I will also delete comments that I think are threatening, or that could have the Secret Service knocking at my door for displaying them. Fair enough?

Blogger Shift at Harvester's - We're Counting on You!

I spoke with the people at Harvester's yesterday, and they're looking forward to working our sedentary bodies hard. I told them they will be seeing, among a couple other helpers:

Xavier Onassis (will Galadriel Tanqueray Onassis be joining us?)

Spyder (will hubby be joining us?)

Janet (& Keith?)

M Toast

Moody Foodie (and freakishly strong son)

KC Food Guy

Eric and Michelle

Filegirl

Average Jane

Right now, counting the anonymous guests, I'm thinking we have about 15 or so, and we could really use 20. Who else is in? I promise beer, brats and good company after the shift!

If I didn't list you, email me (please) at dan@gonemild.com to let me know you're in!

This will be a great way to kick off December, helping a great cause and having fun.

Kids over 6 are welcome. Wear close-toed shoes for safety and layers of clothing for warehouse comfort!

OH, AND BRING CANNED GOODS IF YOU CAN!!

Agreeing with Grisamore on Organ Donation

Readers with a good memory may recall a high-tension series of exchanges involving Jeff Grisamore, a state representative from the Lee's Summit and Greenwood area. Through the various comments and emails exchanged with Representative Grisamore, I grew to respect him, though we are close to political polar opposites.

In today's KC Star, Representative Grisamore writes of the loss of his not-quite-one-year-old daughter five years ago, and the comfort his family gains from the knowledge that her organs and tissue are being used to research Prader-Willi Syndrome, the disease which took her life.

I admire the Grisamore family for thinking of hope for other families at the time of their daughter's death, and I agree with Representative Grisamore in his request that you consider filling out the the advance directive on the back of your driver’s license and let your family know what you want.

I'll even go a little further and strongly recommend that you download the Missouri Bar's FREE Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care and Health Care Directive, and its accompanying HIPAA form here. Don't let the lengthy name of those documents intimidate you - they are tremendously easy to fill out, and come with step-by-step instructions.

Happy Birthday, Bill

Today is William Blake's 250th birthday. He was a strange guy, prone to visions and odd behavior, but he wrote the first poem that opened up for me the multiple layers and unknowable depth of what poetry can be. He also produced wonderful and strange engravings for much of his work.

The Sick Rose

O Rose Thou Art Sick.
The invisible worm,
That flies in the night
In the howling storm:

Has found out thy bed
Of crimson joy:
And his dark secret love
Does thy life destroy.

Is this poem about the loss of innocense? Is it about sexuality? Is it about corruption and secrecy? Is it about safety and pleasure? Is it about a rose?

Tired of My Missouri Plan Posts?

I've been outspoken about the right-wing attacks on the Missouri Plan. To sum up, the attacks are misguided at best, and an example of the worst spawn of right-wing partisan hardball aimed at bringing the independent judiciary under the control of party bosses at worst.

Tomorrow evening at 6:30, the Committee for County Progress will be hosting a forum on the Missouri Plan, featuring Dale Youngs providing a history of the Plan, former Missouri Supreme Court Chief Judge Chip Robertson (appointed by Ashcroft) defending the Plan and Professor Bill Eckhardt criticizing it. It will be held at Professor Eckhardt's home court, the the courtroom at the UMKC School of Law, and admission is free.

It should be a great forum - I hope that you'll consider coming out and hearing views from somebody other than me . . .

Now That Koster is Issuing Refunds . . .

Koster has announced that he "intend(s) to begin the process of returning contributions from individuals in excess of current contribution limits." Note the layers of double-speak - he can't simply return the money, cutting checks and getting them out the door. Instead, he announces that he "intends" to "begin the process." I suspect that means that he's going to keep the money in his account for as long as he can possibly draw interest. I also suspect he's the sort of double-speaking slickster who is incapable of a straightforward sentence.

While he's at it, I hope he sees fit to return the dirty money he took from Republican Rex Sinquefield through sham PACs. But I won't hold my breath.

Would You Sell Your Vote?

A survey of NYU undergraduate students shows that 20% would trade their right to vote in the next Presidential election for an iPod Touch. "66 percent said they'd forfeit their vote for a free ride to NYU. And half said they'd give up the right to vote forever for $1 million."

Ironically, these students are aware of the value of a vote. "70.5 percent said they believe that one vote can make a difference - including 70 percent of the students who said they'd give up their vote for free tuition."

At first, these numbers surprised me, but further thought on the matter puts it into a more understandable light. Over one third of voters relinquished their right to vote in the most recent Presidential election. If you were going to relinquish that right for nothing, why not pick up an iPod Touch for the lack of effort?

Student explanations of the results varied. One pointed out that none of the likely candidates closely reflected his views, anyhow. The obverse of that point was made by a young woman who observed that New York would remain a blue state without her vote. None of these students pointed to the Supreme Court's overriding the election process in 2000 as ground for their electoral nihilism, but they were mostly under 15 at the time.

Personally, I'd enjoy an iPod a lot more than I enjoyed the results of the last two presidential elections . . .

The Only Fun Thing About a Chiefs Loss

I enjoy the Chiefs, and it bothers me when they do something awful like lose to the Raiders.

That said, at some point it gets downright funny to hear Lenny Dawson get all whiny and sarcastic and petulant. His annoyance and pissiness brings its own schadenfreude, such that I half look forward to the missed blocks, dropped passes and coaching blunders, so I can hear him stew in his impotent exasperation.

Senator Chandler speaks out on Immigration

The Russian Jews are swarming to this country, and I think they are not desirable immigrants, as I think of the Hungarians and many of the Italians. . . . New York City is vitally interested in this question. The Jewish immigrants are not agriculturists. They do not go Wast. They stay in the seaboard cities. They swarm into New York City. . . . Public sentiment has not yet been strong enough to make it possible to pass a law making new exclusions. But shall we receive a whole nation of Jews as Jews, who are not desirable citizens; and if we object and argue the question, shall we be vilified by you because we even venture to use the word "Jews"?

He also argues that if the huge wave of East European Jewish immigration over the past two years continues, the United States faces epidemic disease, economic ruin and a destruction of the labor market.

It was 1893.

(Thanks to Quarantine!, by Howard Markel, Johns Hopkins University Press (1997), pp. 166-7)

Meditation on a Pile of Clothes

I wish I had written this. There is sadness and beauty and caring in our city.

Give the Republicans Their Money Back, Koster!

Even Mike Gibbons, the "other" Republican in the race for Missouri Attorney General, has agreed that contributions received in excess of the voter-approved caps ought to be returned. Chris Koster is now the only candidate in the race who refuses to comply with the law - not a good sign for an attorney general candidate.

Humorously, Koster's refusal to return hundreds of thousands of dollars from a right-wing Republican operative operating through dozens of shell PACs is based upon his belief that the system should be more transparent.

I understand that it must be challenging for Chris Koster to run as a Democrat after years of suppressing Democratic voices in the Senate and fighting against Democratic values. But returning Republican money really ought to be one of the easiest steps.

Unless he's really thinking about flip-flopping back to the Republican side, where he could be running against his weak fellow-Republican Mike Gibbons . . .

Fortunately, the Democrats have a great candidate in Jeff Harris. From all I've seen, Jeff Harris is the only Democrat who is going to seek Kansas City voters, and he's the one who can appeal to outstate voters.

LSU Loses. KU #1 for 30 hours!

I like KU fans. I'm married to one (well, she's more of a graduate than a fan).

That's why I hope from the bottom of my heart that they enjoy their brief moment atop the NCAA Football Universe.

A Website for Foodies to Play With

Foodpairing is devoted to breaking foods into their flavor components. You can use it to create substitutions, or relationships between foods. This, for example, is the foodpairing chart for strawberries:

Let me know if you get any great inspirations . . .

Only Rich College Kids Should Have Sex

Yes, that is actually what some on the right are arguing, in the context of a federal law change which is drastically increasing the cost of contraceptive pills on college campuses and in community health centers.

Do you think I'm ripping things out of context and forcing strained conclusions based on sincere moral positions? i can't blame you - it sounds absurd, doesn't it? But here's the headline and the first couple paragraphs:

If You Can't Afford The Pill, You Can't Afford A Baby

And if you can't afford a baby, you should not be sexually active.

But young sluts on college campus are instead angry that their promiscuity is no longer being subsidized.

Happy Thanksgiving, friends. Personally, I'm grateful I don't see the world through right-wing eyes.

I Won't Admit I'm Wrong, but "They" Might be Right

The other night, I was running between meetings, and zipped over to Oak, along the Nelson. Normally, I cruise down Rockhill, and roll my eyes at the brightly-lit Butler buildings, astounded at the gutsy sales job that convinced the Trustees of that august institution to disrupt the sight lines and stateliness of the property that history had bestowed, until they took it away from us.

But, Monday night, I swung over to Oak on my way south, and, even though I was running late for my meeting, what I saw made me stop. More than that, it made me circle the block, do a U-turn on Oak (middle-aged white men in sedans can get away with all kinds of traffic maneuvers denied to the less-privileged). I had seen the Standing Figures (Thirty), by Magdalena Abakanowicz, silhouetted against the glowing buildings, and it was breathtaking. I had also seen one of the shuttlecocks, by Claes Oldenburg & Coosje van Bruggen.

Wow. Simply wow.

These are interesting, perhaps even arresting, sculptures by day. This blogger does a fine job of capturing these sculptures in their daytime lives.

Night-time redefines them entirely. The silhouette effect from Oak transforms them into something wildly different. These are terrible photos that I tried to take - but it doesn't capture the essence at all. When I got out of my car and tried to position myself between the sculptures and the Butler buildings, a security light activated and altered the effect radically - kind of turned it inside out.

I was late for my meeting, but it was worth it. I saw art I already liked, but I saw it in a literally new light.

Over-Estimating Influence

The Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association has spoken. Will Musharaff listen?

According to esteemed KC Star legal scribe and King of Deadpan Delivery Dan Margolies,

Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association President Charley German has endorsed the American Bar Association’s protest of the suspension of the Constitution and the imposition of emergency rule in Pakistan.

In a letter to ABA President William H. Neukom, German wrote that the KCMBA condemned the attack on the rule of law in that country by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf.

“It is an intolerable series of events — suspension of the Constitution, disbanding the courts, detaining the judges, and arresting lawyers who are protesting these illegal actions,” German wrote. “We join in your call on President Musharraf to restore judicial independence in Pakistan, to heed the rulings of the courts, and to free lawyers and judges who have been illegally detained.”

Thank you, KCMBA, for issuing this brave letter and taking on the work that simply must be accomplished by a small group of local, Kansas City lawyers. Now that Musharaff knows the opinion of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, we can expect to see some real changes over there.

A Partisan Decision? A Cleansing of the Record?

One of the rhetorical tricks used by the partisans who want to ruin the Missouri Plan is to challenge those who support it to find a partisan decision by a non-Missouri Plan judge. Of course, in Missouri, those decisions are made by circuit courts, whose decisions don't get published, so it's a bit of a false challenge, but they're kind of desperate for arguments, so they use what they can.

In responding to a comment I probably should have ignored, though, I recalled that Jeff Roe had claimed that his attacks are causing judges to alter their opinions. I went in search of the article, but I couldn't find it. It appears to have been deleted - perhaps a way of clearing out an inconvenient acknowledgment that partisan politics should stay clear of the bench?

Fortunately for those of us concerned about the courts more than about wedge issues, google cache provides the smoking gun:

September 19, 2007
Is Conservative Criticism Correcting the Courts?

Two recent court decisions out of Jefferson City give The Source hope…but not much comfort…that our state justice system may be coming around. The decisions, both by Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan, upheld legislative action and a maintained a strict reading of the state’s constitution. Callahan, who had offered more liberal interpretations of the constitution in the past, used sound judgment in limiting the court’s role in setting policy.

In the first decision Callahan used the constitution’s precise language and recent legislative history to rule that Missouri’s schools were receiving adequate and fair funding. In the second ruling regarding MOHELA funds, Callahan again used legislative intent as a basis for his ruling saying that not allowing the legislature to decide where public funds could be directed would be “novel”.

The Source would note that it is not the result of the decisions which gives us hope, but how the decisions were made. Callahan, bucking recent trends, recognized the power of the legislature to write law and recognized the limits on the court to re-write it.

Unfortunately, Callahan’s decisions could be overturned by judges at a higher level who have not yet learned the lesson Callahan seems to have learned. Given the recent controversy surrounding judicial nominations, The Source has to wonder if political favor, and not the Missouri Constitution, will ultimately win the day.

Blogger Good Deed Day - December 1 at Harvester's

I've been getting a good group of emails and comments from people planning on starting December with a good deed. Bloggers, commenters and even lurkers are welcome to come and work the 1-4 shift at Harvester's Volunteer Outreach Center, 3801 Topping Avenue, right off Van Brunt on the east side of Kansas City. We'll probably wind up sorting canned goods or something of the sort - it'll be good exercise and a good way of helping out those who need a hand during the Holiday season. Kids over 6 are welcome. Wear close-toed shoes, and layers of clothing, since the cool warehouse will warm up as we work. Bring canned goods, too, if you can!

If you want to participate, we have room for more volunteers. Just email me at dan@gonemild.com, or comment here. If you've previously said you'll come, but now you can't, let me know that, too, so I can give them an accurate count.

After the shift, we'll have a party, and I'll serve my new Vanilla Porter.

Missouri Plan - Retention Elections Work

One of the common arguments employed by the people who would scrap our model system for choosing judges is that the retention elections are ineffective. Judges typically garner over 60% of the vote in favor of retention, even though, they argue, that the typical voter could not identify any of the judges on the ballot. The votes are therefore meaningless and uninformed.

Of course, this argument ignores the fact that bad judges have lost their retention elections.

Even if you ignore the true facts and accept the flawed premises, though, the argument is invalid. Here's why:

1. High retention rates reflect high general satisfaction with the judicial branch in Missouri. Even accepting that the voters might not know all the names on the ballot, the Missouri bench is one of the strongest in the nation, with a well-earned reputation of producing logical, well-reasoned handling of difficult cases. When judges are doing their jobs well, there's no reason a typical voter would or should know their names. If judges were making crazy, "activist" rulings, we would hear about them. In the case of judges, no news is good news. If a judge winds up a celebrity, and his or her name is on the mind of typical voters, that reflects trouble.

2. Voters receive good, solid information on judges - the fact that it does not penetrate their minds to the extent that they remember all their names doesn't mean they are not casting informed votes. The Bar Associations aggressively distribute survey information about the judges - information compiled from attorneys who have appeared in front of them (roughly half of whom have lost!), and jurors who have served in their courts. This information is incredibly helpful. It's also almost always very positive, and we all know how dull good news is. But if there were a judge listed with atrocious approval ratings, you can bet people would remember the name!

3. The fact that our judges get overwhelming approval doesn't mean our voters are dumb - it means that our judges are good!

People like Jeff Roe want to take the Missouri Plan away from those of us who are pleased with our judicial branch. They will try to fool us with illegitimate arguments and false "truths". As shown here, though, even when you accept their claims as truthful, their logic does not hold up. The Missouri Plan has resulted in a bench that Missourians overwhelmingly approve of. Would you really rather trade that in for a bench that is as popular as our legislature, or Governor Blunt?

Alex, I'll take the Missouri Plan for 20 Million Dollars

Blog CCP has an important post up about a Michigan Supreme Court judge appearing at a Republican fundraising breakfast seeking his share of the twenty million dollars that insiders are expecting to spend on a partisan election campaign for his seat.

Here in Missouri, our Supreme Court judges don't have to ask lawyers, insurance companies and corporations for millions of dollars. Instead, they are chosen by the Governor from a group of three nominated by a bipartisan panel of attorneys and non-attorneys. It's a system that has worked so effectively that voters consistently choose to retain those judges.

Let's keep our way.

Animal Cruelty or Public Service?

I feed the birds in my back yard, and I often find cats sitting beneath the feeders. Why do cat owners believe that they should be able to let their murderous little pests roam my yard?

Personally, I wouldn't go as far as this guy, but I wouldn't vote to convict, either.

Kansas City's Icon? - A Pint-Sized Version of Charleston

Yesterday, the Missouri Department of Transportaton unveiled the immodestly named kcICON project - the replacement of the Paseo Bridge. The Kansas City Star gushes with uncritical enthusiasm about the design of the bridge, to be named the Christopher S. Bond Missouri River bridge:

As much as the Golden Gate Bridge sets San Francisco apart or New York is linked with the Brooklyn Bridge, there is hope that a new Paseo Bridge will do the same for Kansas City. On Wednesday, some were practically giddy over the design of the new bridge, which has a tower about as tall as Liberty Memorial.

“I loved it. It was more than what I had imagined,” said Sheila Tracy, president of the Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Others said the design was groundbreaking for Kansas City, maybe even revolutionary.

Whoa, there, people, hold your horses.

It looks like a fine bridge, and I approve of naming it for Kit Bond - he has certainly brought back six lanes worth of pork to Kansas City, and has thereby earned the honor.

But the Golden Gate Bridge? The Brooklyn Bridge? Groundbreaking? Revolutionary?

Fortunately, one of Kansas City's best blogs, BlogKC, is both more informed and less gullible than the Kansas City Star. BlogKC provides information about the Cooper River Bridge in Charleston, South Carolina in its blog post covering the announcement.

The Cooper River Bridge has two diamond-shaped towers, as opposed to the Bond Bridge's one, and both of them are almost double the size of Kansas City's "bold" "icon". It has 8 lanes to our 6. It has a bicycle and pedestrian lane - ours won't.

Let me be clear - this looks like a perfectly adequate bridge. But I'm not ready to accept that Kansas City's icon should be a mini-me of Charleston's.

Has Privacy Become Outdated?

One of the most frightening trends of government in general and the Bush Administration in particular has been the erosion of privacy. Privacy, in a post 9/11 world, is viewed by some as a frivolous and risky luxury with little legitimate use.

Indeed, unless you're a terrorist or some lesser criminal, why is privacy in your communication or personal space even necessary? If your most provocative statement of the day is a phone call to your spouse discussing what to microwave for dinner, who really cares if the NSA is listening in? And if they claim have to listen in on your grocery list conversations to prevent crazy people from flying into buildings, then a patriot will agree to speak clearly into the microphone, right? If the government needs to rummage through my boxer shorts to make sure my neighbor isn't hiding a nuclear device in in his underwear drawer, that's just the way it has to be.

Why do you need privacy, anyhow, unless you're doing something wrong?

Indeed, the freshly-sworn-in man who is second in command of National Security, Donald Kerr argues that in today's technological world, notions of privacy are somewhat outmoded, and we should not impose our "one size fits all" ideas on people who are willing to waive their privacy. Here's a transcipt of his entire speech (.pdf), and here's the part that has me upset:

And we’ve started to bring down those walls as we require information sharing between intelligence, Homeland Security, and Defense agencies, and law enforcement. Some have grown uneasy. People are asking, just what is it they’re sharing?

And that leads you directly into the concern for privacy. Too often, privacy has been equated with anonymity; and it’s an idea that is deeply rooted in American culture. The Long (sic, unless he's talking about some dirty movie) Ranger wore a mask but Tonto didn’t seem to need one even though he did the dirty work for free. You’d think he would probably need one even more. But in our interconnected and wireless world, anonymity – or the appearance of anonymity – is quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Anonymity results from a lack of identifying features. Nowadays, when so much correlated data is collected and available – and I’m just talking about profiles on MySpace, Facebook, YouTube here – the set of identifiable features has grown beyond where most of us can comprehend. We need to move beyond the construct that equates anonymity with privacy and focus more on how we can protect essential privacy in this interconnected environment.

Protecting anonymity isn’t a fight that can be won. Anyone that’s typed in their name on Google understands that. Instead, privacy, I would offer, is a system of laws, rules, and customs with an infrastructure of Inspectors General, oversight committees, and privacy boards on which our intelligence community commitment is based and measured. And it is that framework that we need to grow and nourish and adjust as our cultures change.

I think people here, at least people close to my age, recognize that those two generations younger than we are have a very different idea of what is essential privacy, what they would wish to protect about their lives and affairs. And so, it’s not for us to inflict one size fits all. It’s a need to have it be adjustable to the needs of local societies as they evolve in our country. Eventually, we can only hope that people’s perceptions – in Hollywood and elsewhere – will catch up.

Our job now is to engage in a productive debate, which focuses on privacy as a component of appropriate levels of security and public safety. This is work that the Office of the DNI has started to do, and must continue and make a high priority. This careful balance we need to strike, however, is nothing new. With the advent of telephones, we entered a new frontier that required careful balancing between safety and privacy. We faced this challenge again at the end of the ’70s in the aftermath of the Church-Pike Hearings. And now, in the era of new technologies, we have to work to continue to keep that balance, to earn that trust, and re-earn it every day through our actions. But we also have to be willing to reopen the laws and regulations that were based on technologies that existed 1978 and adjust them to the realities of 2007 and 2008.

Privacy, in this guy's view, is merely "a component of appropriate levels of security and public safety." Privacy "is a system of laws, rules, and customs with an infrastructure of Inspectors General, oversight committees, and privacy boards on which our intelligence community commitment is based and measured."

Those quotations are not my fevered reinterpretation of some right-wing whacko blogger - those are actual words from the Deputy Director of National Intelligence! In a nutshell, he's arguing that if you use a credit card to buy something from Amazon, you won't mind if the government examines your financial records. If you use the internet to google symptoms, you won't mind if the government checks out your medical records.

So, while we undervalue the right to privacy, and question its value to good people, the government is questioning whether it even exists any more. Please take a second, though, and remember three primary reasons we need the Fourth Amendment.

First, we know the government will ultimately abuse the power we grant it. Second, the police, FBI, NSA and other security agents are too stupid to get it right. Third, and most important, we don't want anybody messing with us. America has a deep-seated, defiant sense of independence from its government, and will not long suffer being treated like subjects of a superior power.

This Could be Me

This is an old audio clip of a prank played on a young woman by someone posing as mechanic. When getting my headlight fluid topped off, should I go with the halogen or stick with the regular?

Blogger Appreciation: My Spyderweb

The virtual world is normally distinct from the real one, with relatively little crossover. Most people in each world are unaware of our existence in the other. Meeting a fellow blogger is a strange experience, because I know so much more about aspects of their lives than I normally would know when meeting a stranger. Similarly, realizing that a blogger you've been reading is actually someone you know is also odd. The wall between the real and virtual world is rarely breached.

Spyder, the voice behind My Spyderweb, is a rare individual I know well on both sides of the wall. We are former coworkers, and she claims that I am the one to blame for getting her into blogging. I told her of my blog, and I suppose she figured that if I can do it, anybody can.

While respecting her privacy, let me tell you a little about Spyder in the real world, for those who don't know her. She is, as you'd guess from reading her blog, outspoken, well-informed, and funny as all get-out. You might not gather from her blog, though, that she's very religious in the best sense - not judgmental, not imposing, but in a modest and quietly inspirational way. I can't imagine her wagging her finger at anyone. I know that one of her favorite quotations comes from Teilhard de Chardin - "Joy is the infallible sign of the presence of God."

Her blog reflects her joyous side. Right now, you can find a picture of her spider tattoo, lewd commentary on her spam folder, and pictures of a bird she helped rescue. Traditional piety is notably absent, but a good time is always near.

Spyder is also the spark plug behind most of the blog meet-ups. Tonight, at her urging, some of us will be gathering at McCoy's Public House for $2 pints and good company. It's a good opportunity to connect with the human being that exists behind the web personality. I'm grateful for Spyder the web personality, and for Spyder the person. I find joy in both, as would Teilhard de Chardin.

How to Be a Bad Commenter

As I've often mentioned, this site has attracted some of the most insightful, persuasive, and informed commenters to be found on the Internet. Les, Travelingal, Jim, XO and several others have added depth, perspective and correction when I've needed it.

What a bunch of slow-learning boneheads! That's not how you're supposed to comment on a blog! Get with the program!

To help my somewhat backward commenting friends catch up to the state of the commenting art, here are 5 simple rules that will help you participate at the level being propagated elsewhere:

1. Use ad hominem attacks, you moron! Attack, attack, attack. There is no technique to be found that rivals the simplicity and elegance of the ad hominem attack. Elaborate, painstakingly wrought masterpieces of logic and evidence crumble into dust when you point out that the author is a "douchebag" or a "retard". And it's universal - it can be used in any argument at any time on any topic against any author. Best of all, it lowers the tone of an argument to a level where we all feel a little more comfortable. Thinking is a pain in the neck, and research is out of the question for a busy commenter, but namecalling is always within reach.

2. Make stuff up! It is much harder to disprove a falsehood than it is to make one up. Use this flaw in the marketplace of ideas to your advantage. On the national stage, this device has been mastered by economists and Republicans to a breathtaking extent. 87.9 percent of economic statistics are made up on the spot. Hillary stiffed a waitress in Iowa. John Kerry claimed he invented the internet. Who cares about the truth when you can make up better stories? Locally, Mainstream is probably the best practitioner of this tactic - study and learn from a master.

3. Logic is meant to be twisted, so make a few pretzels! Make outlandish connections and leaps, and don't fear the chasm of ridiculousness. You're a commenter, so rules of logic don't need to apply to you, and there are no negative consequences at all. Say, for example, that I put a post up arguing that Priest Holmes should have been given more carries. While there are many potential responses to this (remember, ad hominem and make stuff up so far!), a logic bender will point out that I don't care about Darfur, because I think that all black men ought to be made to carry footballs for my entertainment. A clever application of this technique will have the original author responding to arguments about African militia without even realizing how he got there. This technique is by far the most entertaining to observe when effectively used.

4. Demand Research. Bloggers make staggering sums of money off of your readership, so you should make them work for it. If I point out that the Iraq war is costing us vast sums of money, a proper user of this technique would respond along the lines of "Show me how much new money was spent on tracer rounds for rifles used by the 21st battalion during the seige of Camelville between March and June of 2006. And then compare that to the population of the United States as projected in 2012." This is similar to making stuff up, but it makes the original author look like he or she knows less than you do.

5. Never, ever, under any circumstances, admit that you were wrong. The problem with each of the above techniques is that they can be refuted if the original writer is determined and industrious. Every now and then, you will so frustrate a writer that he or she will go ahead and put in the effort to prove you wrong. The secret in such a case is to never give the writer the satisfaction of acknowledging you're wrong. Instead, simply disappear, change the subject, or toss in a final ad hominem. Remember, you're an anonymous or pseudonymous commenter - you have no need to defend your dignity or integrity. Just move onto the next thread, employ the same techniques, and perform the same service of dumbing down and distracting the conversation. Rational, informed discourse is the enemy, and you are well-armed to defeat it.

Claire McCaskill - Bad to Worst?

Finally, George W. Bush has done something sooo far beyond the pale, sooo ridiculously irresponsible, sooo wrecklessly wrong-headed that even Kit Bond voted to over-ride his veto. It's the first time since Bush has been in office that Bond has stood up to one of Bush's vetoes.

Bush's veto was on a bill to help restore the Everglades. To help rebuild the levees in New Orleans. To protect Missourians from deadly, costly floods. The Senate voted 79-14 to over-ride this unacceptable veto. The vast majority of Republicans voted to rebuke Bush.

McCaskill was one of only 14 Senators to vote in favor of Bush.

Seriously. What is her problem? Not even Jim Talent would gone so far.

Coincidentally, I received an invitation to donate to her PAC this week. Yeah, right. Not even if she gives me one of her WWJTD (What Would Jim Talent Do?) bracelets.

Tony Makes a Claim. Blogosphere Believes It. Again.

Cue Roger Daltry . . .

A local joke blog with a penchant for making stuff up about the Mayor (daughter in a towel) and other organizations (La Raza is coming) is now making assertions without evidence. Yawn. Blogs who were fooled before are making silly assumptions and demands based upon the probably-false "story". Snicker.

If that's what you're looking for here, or for a spirited game of "what if", you're going to be disappointed.

What Did You Try at Lunch Today?

The Noodle Shop on 59th near Holmes is a blogger favorite. Today, I visited the wonderfully friendly shop with two friends who had never been there before, and we enjoyed a healthy, (relatively) inexpensive and amusingly loud meal, loudness provided by the three incredibly cute and excited children at the table next to ours. My bang-bang chicken with some bizarre type of pickle mixed in was utterly superb.

After lunch, I saw the chef cutting open something that looked like a vegetal hedgehog. Overcoming my usual bashfulness, I shouted a question about what the heck the thing was, and learned that they were dissecting a Durian, the infamous Asian fruit famous for a taste and odor beloved by Asians and loathed by Westerners. The chef challenged me to take a bite, and my curiosity overcame my olfactory glands.

Really, it was pretty good. Maybe I'm more Asian than I look. It was kind of a sweet, vanilla, custardy kind of thing. I wouldn't put it up near Honeycrisp apples, but it was pretty good.

By the way, you don't get to try bizarre, fun things like a durian if you go to fast food chain restaurants for lunch. Vote for restaurant diversity with your dollars.

Almost Enough Reason to go to Lenexa

Rimann Liquors is having a beer and cheese tasting! Here's a cut and paste from their email newsletter:

Thursday November 15, 2007
6:00 - 8:00 PM
CRAFT BEER & ARTISANAL CHEESE TASTING

A tasting event for Beer Lovers! There is more to life than wine and cheese and we're going to prove it with our first ever Craft Beer & Artisanal Cheese Tasting. Join us at The Complete Garage in The Country Hill Center ... just a few doors west of Rimann Liquors of Lenexa.

Wayne Zetzman is opening the doors of The Complete Garage for us as we taste an assortment of hand-crafted beers paired with a selection of cheeses personally chosen for us by the Cheese Man himself, Mr. Pony Myer of Paris Brothers Importers and our friends at GreenAcres Market. To complement the assortment of bottled beers picked for the evening, Regarding Kitchens will be demonstrating a Viking home-model draft beer dispenser.

In addition to beer, cheese, appetizers and terrific door prizes, there will be plenty of beer experts on hand including a lot of familiar faces from Rimann Liquors of Lenexa and Prairie Village and special guests Mike Kerr of Worldwide Wine & Spirits and home-brewing specialists Jackie and Alberta Rager of Bacchus & Barleycorn of Shawnee. Bring your questions and your tastebuds for a fun evening of tasty brews.

Please RSVP by Email to rsvp@rimannliquors.com
or call 913-492-1604.

If you've ever had Chimay cheese with Chimay Blue, you'll understand that beer and cheese belong together. Heck, Velveeta and Schlitz make a pretty good combo, too!

Is David Martin a Fair Journalist? Guess Again . . .

A few months ago, David Martin of the Pitch got scooped by the Wall Street Journal. In his embarrassment at having an out-of-town paper get a story he had missed, he decided that the story wasn't true, and wrote an article attacking the credibility of a City Councilwoman, based entirely on his unproven guesswork.

Once again, we are getting a dose of Martin's guesswork when he fails to get to the bottom of a story. According to Martin, the City Planning and Development Department allowed bidders to look at each other's qualifications before they came in for interviews on a feasibility study regarding improving the bridges over the southern edge of the downtown loop. This is apparently unusual, though, frankly, it sounds like a good idea to me. Who's going to do a better job of reference checking than a competitor? And shouldn't the submitted qualifications of someone seeking a million tax dollars be a public record?

Brushing aside most journalists' preference for openness in government transactions, though, Martin sets out to avenge this breach of back-room secrecy and find out who dared to seek this information.

But he failed. He couldn't get anyone to tell him who did it - at least not on the record.

So he accuses HNTB without proof.

Again with the guesswork instead of journalism? Martin tells us twice that it was HNTB who requested the review, but nowhere does Martin explain what leads to that conclusion. Everyone who knows anything refuses comment.

Since speculation is part of the game in Martin's version of journalism (Martinism might be a better word, since it's not really a version of what I consider journalism), I'm guessing that someone told Martin off the record that it was HNTB. I'm guessing he failed to get anyone to go on record with it. I'm guessing he dislikes someone at HNTB for God-knows what reason.

I'm guessing that David Martin was frustrated because he couldn't prove that HNTB had done anything wrong. I'm guessing he was angry enough that he wrote a story calling the company names, but utterly failing to introduce proof.

I'm guessing other journalists would have stayed on the story and uncovered proof, or simply not written it up.

Unlike Martin, though, I'm not going to present my guesswork as fact. Unlike Martin, I won't put my credibility on the line by writing something like "Well, I can tell you it was HNTB." Because, unless he or she has the proof, a journalist really shouldn't tell you anything. I'm just a blogger, but even I know "that's just weak."

Blogger Seems to Be Back

It's kind of disturbing that some techie at blogger headquarters did not get around to fixing the problems until AFTER the election. I'm pretty sure my considerable influence would have changed the result in the School District election. It's good to know that everyone knew the correct way to vote on the Sales Tax extension, even without access to my advice.

More seriously, I'm happy with the results, even though I voted against the School District Secession. Turnout was embarrassingly low, though, allowing us political junkies to have a disproportionate voice.

99 Bottles of Beer on the Blog - St. Bridget's Robust Porter

It's a cold election evening in Kansas City, and I won't be heading out to the watch party, so it's a fine evening to try a new porter. This time it's Saint Bridget's Robust Porter, by the Great Divide Brewing Company of Denver.

God, I love a good porter, and this is a great one. Tell you what - stop reading this, go out, buy a six pack of this stuff, and come back and taste along with me.

On pouring, you see a rich, almost viscous dark brown. The aroma is chocolate and coffee. The body is full, but not syrupy. The flavor is a beer version of a great chocolate mocha malt. The aftertaste, though, is dry with a pleasant kiss of hop flavor.

Porters got their start in England in the 18th Century, and some believe that the name comes from the burly men who worked as porters in London and appreciated a rich, nourishing beer. Originally, porters were blended from brown ale and whatever else was on tap. Soon, though, the brewers began creating vast quantities of beer brewed with the smoky brown malt available at the time. In 1814, a vat of porter burst in London, killing 8 people and destroying several houses.

I hope to live a long time. But, when my time is up, I hope it's due to a burst vat of Saint Bridget's Robust Porter.

Blogger is Uncooperative

If you're reading this, blogger must be showing the latest updates, but, so far, it's been an uncooperative pain in the neck. Some days, I'm not sure this free software is worth the price . . .

Vote Yes on Question 1, and No on Question 2

I received a robocall from someone spreading lies about Question 1 - claiming that it would raise taxes and go toward debt. It would take some sort of lame joke blog to not support it.

On Question 2, I've acknowledged my own doubts, but Vic Callahan has driven me to vote against it, with his lies.

Even if you disagree, please go out and vote.

Jeff Harris Shot a Man in Reno Just to Watch Him Die

The shocking truth comes out. I still like the guy.


(Thanks to The Columbia Tribune's Politics Blog for the tip.)

Blogger Get-Together @ Harvesters

Lots of good response to the thought of having the next blogger get-together involve working a shift at Harvesters, sorting cans or doing whatever task they set before us. I have talked to the people at Harvesters, and they are eager to host us on Saturday, December 1. We should arrive at 1:00 p.m., wearing close-toed shoes, and we'll be finished by 4:00, at which time everyone is invited over to my house for brats, pizza, or whatever seems easy and popular. Yes, of course, homebrew will be served - probably a Vanilla Porter that I brewed last weekend.

If you've already RSVP'ed, let me know if the specific time has caused you to change plans. If you haven't RSVP'ed, but want to start off December with a good deed, then either post your response here or email me at Dan@gonemild.com. This will be a lot of fun, and accomplish some good at the same time. It looks like we have 20-25 people coming so far . . .

How Should I Vote on School Secession?

Believe it or not, I don't have a fully formed opinion on how to vote on the secession of portions of the Kansas City Metropolitan School District. At the moment, I'm leaning against it, but I would welcome input from those with better rationales than my own.

Here's why I'm leaning against it. First off, the effort smacks of racism and segregationist thought. Why is it only the white schools that are the subject of this effort? If the Independence School District is so wonderful and high-achieving, why aren't we discussing merging the KCMSD into it?

Second, I think Victor Callahan is a pandering idiot. The legislation he shoved through the General Assembly is a horribly sloppy botched effort, raising far more questions than it resolves. The only thing it really, truly accomplishes is establishing Victor Callahan's bona fides as a hero of the redneck vote. His legislation doesn't provide any guidance as to how this secession will be accomplished, or who will pay for the land acquisition, or any of the particulars of how this complicated transaction will work out. Victor Callahan was far more interested in pandering to the racist segregationists than anything else.

Third, the Kansas City Metropolitan School District Board opposes the move, and, since I helped elect them, I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

Okay, there are three reasons I'm leaning toward voting against the secession.

Did you notice what's missing?

None of my reasons is built upon what's best for the children of Kansas City. Ideally, that would be my starting and finishing point, but I really don't know what is best here. Would the KCMSD do better with a smaller scope? Would the decline in diversity damage the district further?

So, commenters, I welcome your thoughtful input. I'm leaning toward voting against it, but I'm not pleased with my rationale. Help me.

A Note About the Author

In the past week or so, a joke website and a political website, as well as some commenters here and elsewhere have drawn some flawed conclusions about who I represent when I write this blog. I really can't blame people for wanting to imagine that my writing represents some broader process that originates in the Mayor's office, or at a candidate's strategy session, or anywhere more interesting than the easy chair in my living room, but, alas, the truth is far more boring than the fiction.

If I decide to write a piece responding to a question posed by Steve Kraske, it's not some coded message from anyone else. If I criticize Chris Koster, it's not because another candidate has told me to.

I don't get paid to do this blog, and no politician has ever told me what to write, or even asked me to write something. I have NEVER "cleared" anything I have written with a politician.

Attempts to burden any politician, local, state or federal, with my opinions are a foolish misunderstanding of the way things work.

Why Koster Needs to Take Tainted Money from Rich Republicans

At first I thought maybe Chris Koster had made a foolish mistake by taking $100,000 from a right wing Republican millionaire - and it certainly damaged his attempts to try to portray himself as a Democrat. But he's going to need every nickel he can scrape together if he wants to try to overcome clever gigs like this one: Koster the Imposter.

That, and the next Missouri Attorney General, Jeff Harris, picked up a huge labor endorsement today. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees got on board with Jeff Harris - and I bet that Koster the Imposter is wishing he were back on the Republican side of the ticket.

Anti-Smoking and Pat Gray

I am 100% in favor of a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, but I can't jump onto the "Breathe Easy, KC" bandwagon. I completely support their goal, but the thought of sending checks directly to Pat Gray at Northstar Marketing just kind of creeps me out.

Why is it that a feel-good, pro-health, anti-stink issue like a smoking ban hasn't lined up a far more positive front person than a backroom political consultant? Why can't we imagine that our money will go to support a cute grandmother who has emphysema, or a little boy who has lost his father due to lung cancer, or even just some celebrity who, likes me, wants to be able to enjoy a good beer in a bar without someone stinking up the joint?

"Breathe Easy, KC" has a wholesome, community-based, grassroots mission. Its first order of business ought to be to get Pat Gray as far from the spotlight as possible.

And that advice comes free - no need to send me a check.