Arkansas vs. Missouri

I went traveling this Memorial Day weekend down south. South is hardly ever my preferred traveling destination but I made an exception this time (as on previous occasions) because it was a family reunion event I attended. I like my family so going to Arkansas to see them isn't such a bad thing.

I mentioned this to some co-workers and I was somewhat surprised by the reaction. There seems to be this persistant feelings among the Missourians I know that Arkansas is this hillbilly-filled arm-pit of the world. I've never lived in Arkansas, only visited a few times, only live in Missouri because of various personal circumstances and would prefer to live in California. Suffice it to say, I have no dog in this Arkansas vs. Missouri fight...but i DO have an opinion.

People of Missouri (the ones to put down Arkansas) should take a visit down south sometime. That state actually has a campaign encouraging people to NOT litter and to rat out anyone you see littering. Missouri could stand some of that back-water advice. That state is much cleaner than Missouri...at least the parts I've seen.

Another point, less roadkill. Missouri roadkill is terrible...right up there with the litter. I even saw a man hit a goose on the freeway one day and didn't even slow down. The bird was almost out of the road and he didn't have to swerve to miss it, all he had to do was slow down a bit. The point is, roadkill, litter are two things easily fixed by cleaning crews.

Missouri has dropped the ball on that one.

Weather, it was hot in the day but cooled off nicely at night. Kansas City can't always say that.

A point for Missouri...fewer bugs up here.

Both states have produced presidents so I guess they are even on that one.

KC Zoo

I went to the zoo this weekend..it costs $8.50 for adults but lucky me, I had free passes. That's a very good thing because I would have been rather disappointed.

The entry is always nice, near the IMAX theater, it's supposed to close so I have no idea what they will do with the space. The gift shop is pretty nice also. Going into the zoo looks great and there's plenty of parking, what more could you ask for? Oh....I don't know...MORE animals and LESS walking, no HIKING!

I worked at the zoo about 15 years ago on the pony rides. I had to walk in a big circle with kids riding ponys all day so I'm not a stranger to walking a lot. HOWEVER, the complaints I heard then are the same ones I have now. It takes 20 minutes, or longer with a kid, to hike from the Australia exhibits to the Africa exhibits. I skipped Australia this trip because I'm aware of the distance between the two. I visited the Asian exhibits and Africa. Anyone who has been there knows I'm not exaggerating about the walking, in the hot sun, and no animals to see on the way...well, a few, but not enough.

The people who created the layout of the KC Zoo still haven't figured it out...you need to see animals, more than 3-4 sleeping, during that 20 minute hike. It's supposed to be a zoo where you WILL see animals, not a nature hike where you have to FIND animals.

Negro Leagues and black/white dating

I like having lunch with co-workers. I know, what does that have to do with the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum....getting to that.

Since I was born in California, a thriving hot-bed of diversity, it's hard for me to understand racism in it's many forms. Sure it exists there but rarely do you meet a white person who is really afraid of Blacks simply because of their skin color. I've met a few people in Kansas City like that. To give credit to Kansas City, these people are usually from the middle of no-damned where.

Here's the Negro League tie in...my co-worker just visited that museum and he's a huge baseball fan. Why not sooner, like 10 years ago? Because his "mommy and daddy" taught him that the Historic 18th & Vine district in Kansas City was a dangerous and scary place to go. If you can't guess why it's because all those blacks hang out there. AAAAAGH!!!

I thought about that for a moment and it really annoyed me. This guy is about 6-feet tall and not a small farmboy either. His parents have taught him to be afraid of Blacks and for what reason. To hear him say it, they are afraid he'll become a crime victim. I have another theory.

What do po-dunk whites hate more than having their kid getting beaten or robbed by a black? Their kid bringing a Black person home as a boy or girlfriend. This guys mom and dad would crap bricks if he walked into the house with a black girl on his arm. That's the real fear.

Rolling stereotype

Today was one of the few days in my life where I wish I had a camera phone. Of course, if I did I'd probably have wrecked my car and wouldn't be blogging right now.

Anyway, while driving home a car passed me and I would have to only describe this as a rolling stereotype. It was a black man driving a Mazda Miata with the freedom colors on a personalized license plate that read "stolen."

Why do I see things like that in Kansas City?

cats!

Cats are my favorite animal. They are so independent and stealthy. People call them sneaky and say they hate them. I think those people have too much time on their hands. Why devote any amount of hate to a species? I don't like bugs but I don't hate them.

I went a cat show recently. Those cats are beautiful and well taken care of but cat people are different than dog people in a particular way. Cat shows allow house cats to compete. They don't all have to be purebred. Dog people don't do that.

Ultimately, if you are good to animals (no matter what kind) you are probably a good person in some kind of way.

What's the deal???

There is something I've noticed since moving here. What is the deal with some Kansans and Missourians hating California? I don't get it. If I say something good about California, they have to say something bad. I think it's an inferiority complex but would love to hear from a native who has a better perspective on the issue. I'm obviously biased on this.

Esmie Tseng

Most people outside the KC metro area have no idea who Esmie Tseng is and probably don't care. But that's not a reason to ignore a growing problem in our country. That problem is selective sympathy for particular children being charged as adults.

Esmie stabbed her mother to death after alleged years of abuse. Facts in the case are...Esmie admits to the stabbing, her mom most likely did abuse her, her father did not pay for a lawyer (she had the public defender), she was given 8+ years in adult jail where she will most likely be horribly abused and receive no mental therapy.

I've heard a lot of sympathy for this girl Esmie but very little for other youths charged as adults. In fact, I've heard the opposite...Esmie was abused, yet still a good student, those other kids are just horrible preditors who deserve long jail time. How do you have it both ways? Esmie kept her grades up so that makes her an overall good kid? An abused kid who is flunking out is a preditor?

I would recommend people watch the documentary "Juvies" before throwing the book at every kid who screws up.

I know someone who did a lot of illegal things as a youth...ran away, drank, drugged, broke laws or rules...that same person now professes to NOT want to "reward" illegal behavior and believes -most- youths charged as adults deserve it. That person is a lost cause, others, I highly recommend that documentary.

The Governator!

I lived in California when Ah-nold was elected. The re-call was not our highest moment in political history, but the Governator won fair and square. He's Republican but at least he had the sense to marry a Democrat.

That said, from where I sit here in Missouri, I think he has done an OK job. He seems to listen, unlike Mr. Bush. Of course, Californias had the sense to NOT pass his inititatives.

However, on the issue of immigration, maybe the Reds should listen. After all, Arnold is a Republican himself and he is living in a state directly impacted by illegal immigration...or all those damned Mexicans. He says building a fence would take us back to the stone age.

It's kind of a stupid idea, really. If fences worked so well, why didn't the Chinese keep that wall?

At the pump...

I hope people can see that the offer of $100 to off-set the cost of gas is total BS. It is an obvious ploy to get Americans to say, hey, give me the money while ignoring the cost for the pitiful payout.

WE get $100, big oil gets billions. Who is stupid enough to buy that? Not to mention taking the money means drilling in Alaska wilderness. I hope people can see the obvious ploy to distract us from real issues with a little bit of money.

On top of all that...people whine about $3 a gallon now. When Californians were paying that people said, "That's there..." We have to get rid of the NIMBY attitude. Now, we all are getting it...and not even really getting the total hit.

In other countries, our prices would be a bargain. Americans need to wake up and realize that our prices for gas, even at $3 a gallon, are quite low.

Driving in KC area

I am beginning to truly believe that most drivers around here (from Kansas and Missouri) are really rude. Try getting on I-435 and watch how many people speed up to keep you from getting in front of them. Conversely, if you slow to let someone in, they are hesitant to take the offer. Probably because they know they would never offer you the same. WEIRD!!!

Illegal Immigration

I have purposely avoided this subject until I came to a clear and decisive opinion. There is a lot of rhetoric floating about about Mexicans (call it what it is, no one complains about other illegals, only the Mexican ones). They come here, take our jobs and are a burden on society and don't pay taxes.

Illegal immigrants pay taxes, they pay sales tax everytime they buy something. What they don't pay is payroll taxes...hmmmm, wonder why? Because employers hire illegals and don't put them on the payroll. You know what that means? Some one out there is cooking their books, probably listing wages for illegals as some sort of loss and basically commiting tax fraud. Who is really breaking the law here?

OK, both are. Who do we blame? Illegal MEXICAN immigrants. I have to say this, if they weren't being hired by people commiting tax fraud, they wouldn't come here. These people aren't getting fake social security numbers to appeal legal to their employers. The employers know they are illegal and pay them in cash. There is no paper trail on these people and we yell and scream about them. The employers are criminals too...bigger ones in my opinion because they are getting richer while pointing a finger of blame at illegals.

What next?

After a long weekend, and I mean very long, I wake this morning and thought I'd gone through some bizzare time warp. What do I hear on my morning news but reports that our fantastic leader is considering bombing Iran. WHAT THE F***???

It's a given that Iran has been naughty but where do we get the right to bomb people for that. Reverse the situation and we should be bombed off the face of the planet. America's hands aren't clean in the world.

The part that really blows me away is the logic, and I use the term loosely, of what the expected results are from this bombing campaign. Supposedly, the Iranians will suddenly fear the big bad America and get rid of the naughty government and replace it with a Democracy. The clouds will part and all will be right with the world, all from one bomb. Hmmmmm...isn't that's what was supposed to happen in Iraq?

*Default Republican answer* "It was a good thing to get rid of Saddam. The world is a safer place without him in power."

Well, not so sure about that statement. Saddam isn't Mother Theresa but is Iran better without him. I think our campaign has killed as many as he did and now they are headed straight into civil war.

These hawkish tactics are just not wise. Since the Bush Administration doesn't seem to get it, I'll spell it out...you should never fight a war on two fronts, let alone three. If they can't figure that out, maybe I should send them a copy of my Age of Empires game. I learned that basic fact of war playing that game.

Palm Sunday

Today is Palm Sunday and many Christians are recognizing this day by going to church.

Religion is a curious thing. I have always thought that. It moves people in many ways and unfortunately has been used to control people.

Today I am pondering how many church leaders are preaching something knowledgeable and worthy to be heard and how many are blathering on and on about him/herself.

Conservative talk

I have been listening to conservative talk radio lately. It's a morbid fascination.

I wouldn't care about these shows at all - Hannity, Limbaugh and so on - if several conservatives didn't take what they say as gospel. I mean, it's clearly biased. Liberals can be biased also but here in the "heartland" all you get is conservative shows.

Basically, my issue is simple, the whole world is talking about Bush leaking critical information that could have led to the death of a person literally on the front lines fighting the war on terror. On conservative talk radio they are fixated on McKinney not apologizing for hitting a security guard. What twits!

Let's get things started...

Just posting this to get the ball rolling.

I thought of the name of my blog one day while just watching the news. I live in Missouri and it voted for Bush in the last election. I lived in California at the time and definately voted for Kerry. I really don't understand why Bush was so popular and now that I live around people who actually love him I'm more confused. However, living among these people has taught me a few things. One, they aren't all crazy, that's an easy out. Just call people crazy and that settles the argument and confusion.

If you look beyond the differences then maybe you'll see why they are the way they are. I've met some staunch Republicans and have gone a personal mission to figure them out. Not so I can change their minds, I don't really care if they agree with me or not, but just to understand the growing divide in our nation.

I figure I'll write about Kansas City, friends, family and whatever comes into my mind but definately politics...hence the blog name, "Blue Girl in a Red State." However, if Bush keeps rubbing people the wrong way I may have to change the blog name...maybe "Blue Girl in a Purple State."