It's a love and hate relationship!

Talk radio is a radio format that has discussion about issues. Most of these radio talk shows are hosted by a single individual, unless your Shanin & Parks, and often feature interviews with a number of different guests. Talk radio is also known for listener participation by airing live conversations between the host and listeners who call on by phone to the show. Sometimes the callers get to talk to the guest in studio. There is conservative talk, hot talk, progressive talk and sports talk.

I love the talk about issues and view points. I hate the mean spirit that it sometimes fosters. I hate that some talk show hosts think that they are always right and everyone else is wrong. I love when a caller calls in and the talk show host cuts them down or vice verse. I love talk shows that allow both points of views to be expressed. I hate it when a talk so host has someone on that they disagree with and continually cut them off not allowing them to finish their point. I like to listen to conservative talk radio for several reasons. It makes me laugh, I may agree sometimes, but not all of the time and the topics are hot.

I listen to Tony from Tony's Kansas City this past week on KMBZ Live with Darla Jaye. I really don't know why Tony even bothers going on her show. Tony holds his own pretty good, even though I suspect that he never sees any of the emails, tweets, or texts supporting him.

This is funny now, I don't care who you are!

This headline in the Kansas City Star made me laugh because I do have a dirty mind sometimes. Ok, most of the time, I just don't share!

Wood leads All-Olathe girls bowling team

Local polka band packs up its accordion for good

A one-a and a two-a... Come on now, who doesn't love Lawrence Welk and a good polka, except it's not Lawrence packing up the accordian. I grew up around polka. As a catholic, there were polka masses, polka weddings and other celebrations surrounding polka music. Oh yeah and the Big Joe Polka Show. Makes me laugh just to think about it. I remember that I had this album of three nuns singing polka music including In heaven there is no beer. I can't tell you how many dumb ass records i have liked but this one here has to take the cake! The Transcendental Sisters of Saint Francis. Ah....good times in a small town in Western Kansas.  

After 25 years, polka band packs up its accordion for good - KansasCity.com

Walter Cronkite - Sunday Hero

Walter Cronkite was born in Saint Joseph, Missouri, November 4, 1916, and was the son of Helen Lena and Dr. Walter Leland Cronkite, a dentist. Walter Cronkite was best known as anchor of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite and his key phrase and the end of each newscast, "And that's the way it is" for Sunday, March 27, 2011. He is often referred to as the most trusted man in America. 

Cronkite is remembered also for giving the nation the breaking news that that President Kennedy had died and showed a little emotion on national television after saying it and then regaining his composure to move to on report and help the nation mourn for a dead president. History has also remembered him for his covering of the Vietnam War and the possibility of changing the mind of the U.S. Government to get out. Other things that are considered outstanding in broadcast history was his reporting of World War II, the Nuremberg Trials, the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, Republicans and the Watergate scandal that embarrassed a nation, the Iran Hostage Crisis, and the American Space Program.

He is one of my heroes because he gave me the sense that it was important to know what was going on in the nation and the world and that what happened in the world would affect me in one way or another. Positive or negative. My interest in what goes on in the political world can also be attributed to him because of his way that he explained how the process worked or maybe doesn't work. I wonder what he would say about what is going on now with our country and the political crisis we have now. I also want to note that because of him, I have always been interested in the news, journalism and broadcasting. That is why I majored in it, for a while at least in college. On a lighter note, I also enjoyed saying his last name when I was just a child. It rolled off my tongue.

In Memoriam - Geraldine Ferraro

August 26, 1935 – March 26, 2011

Golden Ghetto Power!

Johnson County Sun reports: RETAIL SALES UP IN THE COUNTY

The holiday season helped push Johnson County’s 2010 retail sales figures ahead of the data posted in 2009 by 2.4 %. The unemployment rate for Johnson County in January was 6.7 %, down from the 7.2 % mark for the same month in 2010. The lowest unemployment rate for January in the past 5 years was 4 % in 2008. The unemployment rate for the nation is 9.1 %. For Kansas it is 6.4%.

Wednesday evening barbecue

I had an awesome time last evening when I went out to dinner with a great  guy and friend. The Jack Stack Barbecue in the freight house district still continues to be a great dinning experience in Kansas City. The exposed brick, the cool chandeliers, the windows the provide awesome views of Union Station and the crossroads district and of course the yummy food and professional staff.

I am not a rib kind of guy, but I decided to go outside my comfort zone and do the baby back ribs. I normally will get the burnt ends. The baby back ribs were so tender and good. A must have for me always is the potato salad and the cheesy corn. The nice thing about the baby back ribs is that they came with two onion rings. It was awesome! I can see why Jack Stack Barbecue is a Kansas City tradition.

GOP proposes denying food assistance

GOP proposes denying food assistance to family members of striking workers

News Radio 98.1 FM and 980 am?

Soon you will be able to hear my favorite news and talk radio station in Kansas City on the FM dial! (I don't think they call it that any more but I'm old school!) I wonder what Shanin & Parks and Darla Jaye will sound like in the FM world? KMBZ will simulcast on 98.1 FM starting next Wednesday. It will be the same KMBZ as you know it, just bigger and better. Starting at 2:00pm Wednesday KMBZ will be broadcasting simultaneously on 980 AM, where KMBZ been for decades, like Mike Shanin, as well as 98.1 FM. http://www.kmbz.com/

Man Barricaded In Mission Home

Police: Man Barricaded In Mission Home - Kansas City News Story - KMBC Kansas City

Just another nice spring day here in Mission, Kansas!

Bachmann says she is in I say she should get out!

ABC NEWS - "I'm in for 2012 in that I want to be a part of the conversation in making sure that President Obama only serves one term, not two, because I want to make sure that we get someone who's going to be making the country work again. That's what I'm in for," Bachmann said.
"But I haven't made a decision yet to announce, obviously, if I'm a candidate or not, but I'm in for the conversation."

This is how dumb this women is! In New Hampshire earlier this month she misplaced one of the seminal moments in American history: the battle of Lexington and Concord and the "shot heard round the world" that began the Revolutionary War. She told a group of school children that the 1775 battles took place in New Hampshire, when in fact they happened in Massachusetts.  earlier this year Bachmann -- whose reverence for the nation's founding fathers and love of the Constitution define her politics -- told an Iowa crowd that the founders had "worked tirelessly until slavery was no more."

She and the other "leaders of our nation" need to focus on passing a budget instead of worrying about running for president or going on vacation! She really needs to prove herself first like learning the history of the United States!

In Memoriam - Elizabeth Taylor

                                 February 27, 1932 – March 23, 2011

Money hungry fat cats!

KCP&L and the parent company Great Plains Energy provide me with electric to my domicile. I don't have gas and water is paid. I live in the dark most of the time and kept the electric heat at the lowest setting that I could. I live in a very tiny 1 bedroom apartment. They like to trick you into a false sense of security with their budget billing ideas. My budget bill was $41 a month. Today I found out that it is now $91 a month. A $50 increase! It was a shock! Oh yeah, let's not forget that they asked the Kansas for a rate increase. They didn't get what they asked for but got a little one. So the rate increase plus my increase usage caused a huge increase in my electric bill. I have no choice but to pay it.

Out with the Funky in with the Sly

And now the new Mayor of Kansas City, MO.

No more bare feet at city hall. No more national TV interviews giving the city a bad name. No more lawsuits. No more discrimination. We won't have anything to talk about then or will we?

VOTE vote VoTe vOtE

              Hey, remember to get out vote Tuesday (Tomorrow) (Today)!

Charle's Angels return to TV!

Charlie’s Angels Coming Back to TV as ABC Series!

This is actually a pretty awesome development! I would beg my mom to let me stay up late to watch The Angles fight crime!

Lawmakers reward staff with end-of-year bonuses - FederalTimes.com

Lawmakers reward staff with end-of-year bonuses - FederalTimes.com

Oh yeah, they want to cut spending in Washington but give out bonuses. Federal employees didn't get bonuses!

Justin Dart - Sunday Hero

My Sunday Hero, Justin Whitlock Dart, Jr.

I had the honor once to me Mr. Dart while I was advocating for people with disabilities in Washington, D.C. with ADAPT.

Justin Dart was born August 29, 1930 and left us in the summer of 2002 (June 22, 2002). He was an American activist and advocate for people with disabilities. He helped to pas the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD). He traveled across the country to educate and gather information to help pass the ADA.

Dart came from a wealthy Chicago family. His father, Justin Whitlock Dart, Sr., was President of Dart Industries. Dart contracted polio in 1948 before entering the University of Houston, where he earned undergraduate degrees in history and education in 1954; however, the university refused to give him a teaching certificate because of his disability. The university is now home to the Justin Dart, Jr. Center for Students with Disabilities, a facility designed for students who have any type of temporary or permanent health impairment, physical limitation, psychiatric disorder, or learning disability.

During his time at the University of Houston, which was then segregated, Dart organized the first student group to oppose racism. After graduating, Dart was a successful entrepreneur who founded three Japanese corporations, but in 1967 he gave up the corporate life to devote himself to the rights of people with disabilities, working in Texas and Washington, D.C. as a member of various state and federal disability commissions.

Special thanks to Wikipedia, where the content of this information is coming from to write Sunday Hero for Kansas City Metro Blog. Description above from the Wikipedia article Justin Dart, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors here. Community Pages are not affiliated with, or endorsed by, anyone associated with the topic.

Time Warner Cable screws with channel lineup!

Kansas City Star: Time Warner Cable to mega-shuffle its channel lineup

The Easter Bunny is going to be bring changes to your Time Warner Cable channel line up in April. It doesn't sound like it's going to be a good Friday in many homes in the Kansas City area! They are calling it epic. I say "What the hell"? Why??

Every customer will get a new lineup card mailed to them. So, watch for it and don’t-throw-this-away or your screwed!

Does this mean spring is here?

While driving down Metcalf at 75th Street, it was raining and had been raining for quite sometime. This where is all started...started to hail. Yes, pea sized hail! My first thought was, "Oh crap" but then I realized that is was not going to get any bigger and that pea sized hail was not going to ruin my '04 Toyota Avalon. I laughed and thought to myself, is this really the first sign of spring? Dam, I sure hope so!