Batteries Suck

As a parent during the holiday season I've heard the cry for batteries too often this week. Jesus. Stop already with the batteries. Seriously, I bought like $80 in batteries to power all the crap under the tree. You have to plan battery purchases that go along with gift purchases and for one present I bought $8 worth of "D" batteries for a $20 toy. I can only hope some of these toys break or the kids get sick of them before I have buy more.


It is easy to fall on the whole "hug the world" and be green thingy when talking about the wasteful and polluting nature of batteries but that really isn't the angle I'm running at today. Of course used up batteries should be recycled.......and I know all you people in SOJOCO are doing that, right?


Batteries are ass expensive and the way kids leave things on they really don't last very long either.


Why design something to use batteries that doesn't need to be portable? Many of the things could just as easily be plugged in and you wouldn't have to worry about if the batteries are any good when they want to play with it.


Why? My theory is simple economics. I think it is a lot cheaper to put an empty battery compartment on a toy than to design it with a transformer/power supply and electrical cord. Cheap bastards.



You have to keep buying them................forever.





Optional Reading: Political and Cynical Freeflow of Jocoeveryman's mind:





Continue reading if you are bored.................................





So I envisioned some effed up liberal, socialist, tree hugger having the same epiphany on Christmas Eve and deciding there needs to be government solution to this problem. So he thinks.......


Solution 1. Ban Batteries. They are poisoning the world. Make kids play with wooden toys. Um...nope....that would mean cutting down a tree and we all know Mother Nature cries every time a tree is cut down. Crap, we need a hybrid car exemption as well. Lots of exemptions needed but that means more government to regulate it..........yes!





Solution B. Require special notice be put on toys requiring batteries. It might look something like this........."Warning: This product requires the unnecessary use of batteries due to poor design that will initially cost you 10% of the cost of the product. Estimated lifetime cost of batteries for this product is $928.54".





Solution C. Highly Tax Batteries. By taxing batteries we could get more money in the government and discourage the use of them. You could get tax credits for batteries for critical things like flashlights, emergency radios, and the rabbit. Poor people get battery vouchers.

Solution 4. Tax evil corporations that design toys with batteries that don't need them. This is a great idea in which we could make a "Battery Czar" that could force companies to redesign toys to be battery-less. Money from tax is used to pay for battery vouchers for the poor.





Solution 4A. Ban Toys. Fund a study that shows that most batteries are used in toys. Ban Toys to reduce battery use. Create special exemptions for "educational toys" and toys that don't use batteries but aren't made of wood or plastic. Create "Toy Czar" that can determine which toys need to be made and to make sure they are politically correct. No toy guns would be allowed.



Final Solution. Ban Kids. Create "Kid Czar" that determines which adults can have kids but leave remove to get rid of kids that don't love Mother Earth enough post utero.

Well anyway......Hope you all are ramping up some sweet New Year's plans.

You know that Sid the Science Kid is jacked up

My kid loves Sid the Science Kid. We watch it almost every morning. Pretty funny show. Well done for the most part........

We were watching this morning and my other older kid says, "Hey, check it out. Sid's family has a Menorah!"

First, a classic Jocoeveryman digression. When I was my kid's age growing up in SOJOCO I thought there were only 3 kinds of people: White, Black and Indian (like Native American). There were several variations of white people like Chinese people (which included all Asian people so Koreans, Japanese, Thai, etc all were Chinese) Mexicans (which included all types of Hispanics regardless if they were from the southern tip of South America or or Tijuana) and something I'd heard of called Jewish people but that I didn't think I'd ever seen except that people like Jesse Jackson and Adolf Hitler didn't really like them. All these were basically some variation of me and of course they were the best kind of people. There were black people who I knew were from Africa and from the show Roots I knew they came here as slaves. I only had like 2 or 3 at my school. You were suppose to feel sorry for them because of that slavery thing, because they lived in those shitty apartments literally on the other side of the tracks and you weren't ever, never, ever allowed to say that horrible "n" word. My grandma called them darkies even to my grandpa's best friend's face who was black. Of course there were Indians because we learned about them in school (you know how they robbed and killed nice white people traveling across the country in wagons) but mostly because Tonto was the Lone Ranger's best friend and I watched that everyday when I got home from school. Tonto was a bad ass and loyal as a good dog. One kid at my school swore he was good at sports 'cause he had a little Indian blood in him. I remember that making good sense and asking my parents if I might be so lucky to have a little Sangre del Indian running through my veins. Pretty jacked up, right?

Anyway, so I look up and not only does Sid's family have a Menorah but they also have a Christmas tree AND some Kwanzaa thing going on. I'm sure if I would have looked closer I might have seen some Mother Earth or maybe a Wicca reference there too. It was moving pretty fast. So, I'm thinking to myself.......what is Jim Henson trying to get across here? Usually the PBS, horseshoe balding, turtle neck wearing, pipe smoking, sporting the Elvis lamb chops regardless of era with patches on the elbows of the sport coat liberal type avoids any and all reference to religion. They believe that by the government not establishing a state religion it means that religion must not be mentioned at all. This was a different angle all together. What family celebrates every and all traditions? This Sid is gonna be seriously messed up when he gets older.

And really? Doesn't that just freaking sum it all up anyway? To them it isn't your faith. It is your cultural tradition. Judaism, Christianity, Santa Claus, made up African holiday, Winter Solstice Celebrations for the Earth, Druidism, Wicca..........to them all just merely traditions, myths, stories all in the same category so why not just throw them all in together? Not science. Not to be taken seriously. I guess Sid is all about science so it makes sense that throwing them all up there together to minimize them is perfect like an inside joke that they thought we wouldn't get.

It was bad enough that my generation practiced tornado, fire and bomb drills with the same frequency and because my church, my school, nor my parents thought it was important it wasn't until college that I learned what makes a Jewish person the same and different from me. Of course this was a little embarrassing because I learned this from a roommate who was......Jewish. I'll tell you another time how I learned what intercourse is and the definition of being a homosexual.........two different stories......I promise. Okay, so my generation from Midwestern Lilly white America started out pretty jacked up but most of us have figured it out eventually. What about Sid?

It won't be long before I have to listen to this song performed repeatedly by my kids via Wii Rock Band but think some kid on American Idol sang it first.

Besides Christmas...........FF is big this week.

This has been a big weekend around our house and not just for Christmas. I haven't seen much conversation about it but flying slightly below the radar for many of us is Fantasy Football playoffs and for my league......the Fantasy Football Super Bowl.

For years I resisted getting involved in something I viewed as really, really stupid but I finally relented and joined my buddies. After all, just the draft party alone is decent time.

For the past two years I have floundered around .500 for most of the season and then gotten hot at playoff time and have once again found myself in the Super Bowl. This freaking rocks because there is real money on the line for the winner. I mean real money like 4 digit money for the winner. A couple of my buddies take it WAY too seriously which makes it all the more funny that I'm beating them.......again cause I've only spent about 5-10 minutes a week. Just goes to show you how much luck is involved.......like if you had Peyton Manning on your team this week. He has been a mainstay stud all season and just screwed you at the most important time of the year because the coach decided to rest him. By the way, Jim Caldwell might just be the best coach you've never heard of right now in the NFL. I love that about him.

It comes down to Monday night football tonight and right now I have a slight lead over the guy I'm playing. Winner basically gets most of Christmas paid for and the loser......gets enough to go an afternoon bender at Nick and Jakes.

Okay, I know FF is kinda gay but if you keep it in perspective it really is kinda fun.......and I like winning money so wish me luck.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas. Have a great day!

Not Just Another Merry Christmas Post

All the shopping is done.............really. I had to run out last night to pick up a couple Wii controllers because we realized you need more than 2 if you want to field a full band on Christmas morning. Walmart had not a one in house! Me and several other of Santa's little helpers just stared at the empty shelf thinking thinking they might magically appear........nope.



I could feel the panic setting in as I realized I might be on a quest the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger looking for Turbo Man. It was funny how we all stood there just staring at the shelf pondering our next move.


I had list of non Christmas-y items to get as well but darted from the store. They would have to wait.


My mind was racing through the possibilities. Do I start calling around or do I just head to Target, other Walmarts, you know Kung Fu Shopping Crazy..........the likes of which I had fully avoided to this point.


As I left the parking lot I recalled that it seemed there was small video game store in the strip mall NEXT to the Walmart. I pulled in thinking that is way too easy. They are open. Either they don't sell them, are sold out, or they are double the price of a national retailer. WRONG on all accounts. As I open the door of another guy himself making the world a better place as a small business man, rather than being a self proclaimed activist, writer and statesman like someone I know, I find he not only has them but they are the same price as Walmart. No lines. No hassles. No worries.....and a very sincere thank you for the business.


I left thinking there are maybe prolly a dozen people over in Walmart about 400 yards away staring at an empty shelf. What a shame. This guy could ring about $1500 in business in 15 minutes if they only knew.


Remember my list of non-Santa items? Well, I had to go back to Walmart anyway. I quietly made a little sign. Walked back to the Wii section and to the empty shelf attaching it by jabbing it through one of the posts where Wii controllers formerly hung. A couple parents looked at me and said really? I said....yep. I don't know how many but I just bought two there a couple minutes ago. I'm not sure how long the Walmart people allowed it to stay up but maybe it helped a couple people.


It certainly reminded me............shame on me for not going to the little guy first. So many times I do but on other things I just assume and take the easy way. New Year's Resolution numero uno.


So, if you need a game, controller, anything for your game system last minute or the other 364 days of the year check out Trade N Play on State Line. Don't know if he is open today or not but I'd bet he is even if he closes early. I'm sure he would appreciate it.


So......Merry Christmas to each of you. I hope you find a chance to share some love with someone who desperately needs it right now. Peace. Yes, even you Tom. And yes, even to all you Chinese people who keep leaving comments on my blog that I can't understand. I'm apparently big in China!







I thought this was pretty funny actually.





When I get bored today I think I'll start calling stores today and asking if they have any zhu zhu pets or snuggies but I also get a kick out of calling restaurants on Feb 13th and asking with a deadpan tone if I can get a 7 pm reservation for the next night............I know I'm an idiot.




Merry Christmas everyone. Thanks for reading.

Next week I'll probably do my best of 2009 and I'm working on some content remodel ideas for 2010.

Thanks Bill!

I was trying to catch up on some of my bloggy things and was checking out Bill the Painter's Blog and read one the most useful and timely things in some time.

Thanks Bill. Pretty Freaking Sweet.

I've been having gutter issues and this looks brilliant as I've been skeptical of the other solutions.

Well done. Srsly. When I need painting and I can afford to pay someone else to do it......I'm calling this guy.

Fair Warning JOCO. I'm Axed Up!

My wife got me this new stuff called Axe.

The directions say: "Wash, Attract, Repeat."

It claimed on the label to combine shampoo and conditioner to speed up your clean AND your game. I don't think I've used conditioner since I did it by mistake in like 7th grade. I'm thinking this would be a good thing for a chubby, middle aged, white guy.

This shit rocks. Chicks won't leave me alone. Srly. Before the KU game started I flipped to see a little Carrie Underwood in rubber pants I could tell she was singing just to me. Hot.

Okay.....here is fair warning. I've scheduled this post for close to lunch time to give me decent head start but I feel compelled to share. By the time you read this it may be too late. I've showering up this morning and hitting an extra squirt of Axe and then I'm heading out to share spread some Christmas cheer. Look out Johnson County.

Two words: Stocking Stuffer. Came with a little sample of some stuff to make my hair look messy like the kids on Disney Channel........nice. Waiting until NYE to try that.

I'm revising my Christmas list. Tony, SOB, AND Sinic are all getting a bottle. The first two to help them get laid and the for Sinic.........well to give to a guy to help her get laid.

(Really) Making America A Better Place

You've caught me in a weird combination of holiday spirit, patriotism, and orneriness. I've been thinking about some hardships I've been enduring recently with my business and it truly gave me pause for reflection I'd like to share, er I mean bore you with it.

How does someone like me make American a better place?

I adore my right to free speech. I further adore my right to free anonymous speech as a part of a rich tradition in this country but this dump of blog does little to make America better. I do the blog for selfish reasons.

I am a (very) small business man. I have put my capital at risk to grow and make this little business work and keep it going. It has been hard over the years. So what does all this really mean? For all you who are also small business owners you know. I know several small business owners read this blog (on occasion).

Like most not born to wealth, I borrowed money from banks leveraged against my personal financial worth and my good name with the idea I could provide a product to people who would benefit from it. This put my family at risk. I might make a small profit on this transaction, be a good steward of the assets and hopefully it would all increase in value as I make a living. In addition along the way I dutifully pay the bank back and they make a little money. I hire people to help me in my business and I treat them fairly and pay them fairly like I would want to be treated and they make a little money. I'll be honest that I take a little pride in knowing that either through the people I do business with or the people who work for me I know I'm helping others provide for their families. It isn't much. I know that my risk and success allows them to be successful as well. I take this responsibility seriously and they get paid before I do. I also take pride in providing a great product and service for my customers many of whom have been long term customers. Sometimes I joke that I'm a good guy but a bad business man because of the lengths I go for my customers and how on occasion I've let some of them slide on payments, etc.....especially during these tough times. I've had a couple months in a row here where the balance sheet has been negative. Customers don't deserve for you to cut corners when this is the case. Vendors and workers don't want to hear it when they need to pay their bills. You dig deeper. You do without. You make it work so you can honor your commitments. I signed my name to documents that said I was good to pay not that I was just good to pay just when things go perfectly. All this is nothing new to the loads of responsible people who own businesses.

So, as I've worked weekends and holidays to make it work and another year comes to a close I really, really reflected on my contribution, you know, seriously....to America. Loads of people out there who do what I do are what makes America a better place, right? Even in the face of a government that makes the risk more and more difficult and the profit less and less still millions of us do it everyday. It is what America is built on. I'm not special. Truly. It is incredibly common.

I take a reasonable risk in the hopes of a reasonable profit. When does it stop? When the risk is too high for the return.

I learned in college there are 2 core laws of economics.

1. Goods and Services (wealth) gravitate to those who desire them the most.

2. Individuals will cease seeking goods and services when the sanctions or risk outweigh the potential gain.

When is it not making America a better place? The President has called small bankers to the WH to ask them to start lending to people like me so I'll be able to take more risk, grow my business, hire more people, etc. What he doesn't seem to understand is why he is out of line in asking them, er threatening them to comply. These banks are private businesses that generally follow the same ideals. The government doesn't own their businesses.....yet. Let me tell you something else. The "Bailouts" they gave to the big banks were nothing short of payday loans in every sense of the word designed to keep the banks under government control, ie pay czars, in just the same way a predatory payday loan keeps the poor down everyday. I assure you Obama was furious when most all of these huge banks already paid back the money because now he loses some control over them. That is what socialists want. Control over the means of production. Let me simplify it for you. I'm sick of the government perpetuating the lie that Wall Street alone caused this problem.

1.The Government starting back with GWB complicate with guys like Barney Frank makes home ownership for all a center piece of their fiscal and welfare policy with the resultant bad policies of a softening of lending requirements and even further the mandating of riskier loans to people with poor credit and/or with worse than no money down in financing closing costs and 120% loan to value loans.

2. People default on these loans in huge numbers.

3. Banks are in trouble and Government demonizes banks for making bad loans that they told them to make.

4. Government responds by telling banks not to make risky loans and requiring higher cash reserves or risk takeover.

5. The Fed lowers the rate that banks can borrow money to 0% to bail out homeowners. You know like nothing.

6. The Government then borrows, er prints money like crazy to pay for all these stimulus, er pork programs by issuing Treasury Bills which should be renamed Your Grandkids Money Bills and pays a +/- 4% return. The banks take the free money and take the easy 4% return instead of the 6-7% return they might make on a loan to a guy like me. Wouldn't you? 4% return with low risk or 6% and risk having the government take you over by calling you insolvent.....no brainer really.

7. Banks don't see the sense in loaning money President revises history and tells them they are the problem.

8. People like me see putting down 30-40% for a loan not to be a good use of capital (or simply don't have it) and decide not to play or go out of business. Are a bunch of small business owners getting called to WH next to be told we are now the problem for not taking these loans?

Common thread throughout? Government intervention and bad policy followed by more bad policy meant to fix the previous bad policy and then crappy Chicago style politics meant to bully everyone into Savior Obama's way of thinking.

I remember when you had to have a 20% down payment to buy a home. Why and when did that change? Government intervention. Then they created some first time home buyer programs with lower down payments and they worked really well but then they went really crazy. When will we freaking learn?

Dear Mr. President: Calling a bunch of bankers up to your office and then holding a press conference and telling the world they are bad people won't fix the problem. They aren't the problem. You and socialists like you are the problem.

Manage some reasonable regulation to keep the playing field safe and level and then get out of the way and let me and others like me really "make America a better place". It isn't just a goofy campaign slogan from a guy who has been running for Congress since 2005.

Brevity and other changes come to the blog in 2010.

My Child is a Hoot

As we drove around this amazingly decorated city on the precipitous of the annual celebration of our Savior's birth from a girl who apparently only God found hot my kid articulated a theory to us. As in, "Dad, I've figured out why some people don't decorate their house for Christmas". Against my better judgement I ask, "Really, why??"

Inside of any residence not wildly decorated with lights and craziness to the likes only Clark Griswald would be proud must reside............

.............Jewish people.

Record was performance enhanced!

I watched with amazement again as the Chiefs received publicity for the wrong reasons. Jerome Harrison became the new cocktail party trivia question for years to come by surpassing the incredible Jim Brown's single game Brown's rushing record. Brown was as gracious in congratulating Jerome (and nothing against the kid, he did what he was supposed to do) as he was awesome as a player. No shock there. Congrats to the kid. Hope he enjoys his day in the sun.

My guess is Harrison will not even be in the league in a three years but running all over the Chiefs last Sunday will keep his name alive in NFL junkie circles and trivia contests for decades.

Seriously though........in this age of tainted home run records and asterisks annotated accomplishments should we.........and more importantly the Browns.....really, really consider this their record?

This record was performance enhanced by miserable talent. Really. If the Browns were playing Emporia State or Baker.....or even KU for that matter would we really take the record seriously? No way. Playing the Little Sisters of the Blind results in a no joy win. (with all apologies to the all Little Sisters and people who are Blind and of course the Little Sisters of the Blind.....)

So I say throw it back. Don't count it. Strike it. Records set against the Chiefs shouldn't count. Jim Brown would have run for 500 yards against that defense.

As a postscript don't hear me saying Todd Haley is accountable for this debacle. Again, this isn't underachieving play and while the coaching isn't Hall of Fame quality and borders on desperation week in and week out this is lack of talent. To steal and manipulate an unofficial quote from our coach......Scott Pioli could pull most any beer drinking Season Ticket Holder out of the stands and coach a team to 3 victories (if he had the talent of Indy, New Orleans, or Minnesota). Talent trumps. Period. We. have. little. of. it. By the way, I enjoyed my black out Sunday very much. I love the Chiefs, I really do but I needed a break and the only way I won't watch is if I'm forced to not watch.

Don't forget it. Same is true in life as in sports. Rarely does poor talent win. Forget about the Rudy's of the world......they are far and few between.

Governor Nixon disses Big 12 and proves he doesn't get it.

First, I've been a little crazy at my real work that people pay me to do (you know besides being an activist, writer, and statesman) so I apologize for being a little AWOL. It has been driving me crazy because there have been so many topics I wanted to write about but just no time to do them right.........and as you know I'm not a "throw up a picture and a clever comment" kinda blogger. You might even say I'm a bit wordy.....I'm working on that.

I don't do it on purpose but sometimes I hit on something early and then a few weeks later it becomes a bigger story. It falls under the "even a blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then" category. I've linked to it in case you missed it.

So anyway a little while back I wrote about a throw away line in the KC Star from a writer about Missouri moving to the Big 10. I recall some of the comments where like...."who cares" which is usually right when pondering Missouri but since then the story has evolved.

If you are following it there were some other stories about it including a big one about the Big 10 themselves moving the topic of adding another school back onto their agenda which of course caused all kinds of interest from Missouri folk.

Fast forward to the Gov and his comments that fall right into line with exactly what I was saying all along.......that people from Missouri are stupidly disconnected and don't understand the issue.....beginning with their dumbass governor.

So while the Big Ten has some higher ranked schools it make him look like a total idiot when he says he'd rather be in a conference with Northwestern than Oklahoma State. This is about money.

And then this morning the story was picked up locally.

To wit......dear Governor. That was my point exactly in my previous post. You don't get it. The Big 10 is more like Oklahoma State than Northwestern. Northwestern is a great school with an enrollment about one third to one quarter, okay even one fifth that of their Big 10 (or Big 12) counterparts. The truth is Northwestern doesn't really fit in with the Big 10 but they like beating up on the smart kids on the North side of Chicago every now and again. Northwestern is little more than our Baylor. Each conference is full of huge state schools and one private school.

Oh and a big by the way......Oklahoma State is a world respected college for Mechanical Engineering (Jay, that's where the oil guys go) and Architecture as well as a top center for Information Assurance for the National Security Agency (that basically means military intelligence....ironic eh Jay?) They also boast one of the highest numbers of Truman Scholars in the nation with 15 and 6 out of the last 7 years.

Missouri, on the other hand according to Wikipedia, is known for having the country's first school of Journalism (which means they train the biased assholes we see on MSNBC) and for being one of only 6 schools to have a law, veterinary, agriculture, engineering, and medical schools...no mention of how they rank? I understand most rankings put Missouri ahead of good ole Oklahoma State but if you want to play US News & World Report Ranking game well......the Big Ten would be better off considering that Kansas AND Iowa State both outrank Mizzou.

Besides pointing out the stupidity of Jay Nixon the bigger question is (I guess) will they or won't they go if asked? Really, I don't care but be clear about this, Governor Nixon, that the decision isn't about academics......almost any 4 year state school with a huge enrollment will do......but rather about the television market share they can grab and hence the money they can extract. Period.

I'm horrible at predictions (other than Dennis Moore not running again) but I'd have to say IF they expand they will quietly ask Notre Dame first and after they stupidly say no they will pick between Rutgers and Missouri. And if I were them with all bias aside....I'd try for Rutgers. Huge New Jersey/New York TV audience from a school that is athletically on the upswing right, has a huge enrollment AND is better ranked academically that Mizzou. We'll see.

This isn't to say I don't think Missouri has a gripe about Bowls they haven't been selected to play in the past 3 years. They do.

*****************************************************************************

Here is just a little background if you are bored this week.

If you are interested here is a little history on the Big Ten. You'll see Northwestern is the only private school and has an enrollment of about 8,000. Do you think they are going offer reciprocal agreements with Missouri? Please.

Here is info on the Big 12. Again, if you look at the schools, the enrollments they look remarkably similar to the Big 10 except the Big 12 was smart enough to understand that 11 is a prime number and kept the number of schools even. Score one point for the Big 12.

Here a history of the Southwest Conference. Do you think there was a reason Houston, Rice or SMU weren't offered spots in the new Big 12? Think about it Jay.

Just a quick program note. I don't check my jocoeveryman@hotmail.com account even close to daily so please understand if I don't get back to you right away. Especially to a certain someone out there: if you don't want me to send you email then you might stop sending them to me.....after all I'm only hitting the "reply button".

Thanks for reading.

Breaking News! Breaking News!

Don’t you just love all the amazingly good advice you see on the local news?

Like:

When driving in slick conditions you need to leave more room between you and car in front of you and slow down. Brillant.

And other stuff like health stuff:

You can keep your immune system up and be generally more healthy if you make sure you eat fruits and vegetables……and if you can’t do that maybe try a multivitamin. I think I even caught Harry Smith rolling his eyes at that report this morning. Duh.

And excellent reporting from hardware stores:

I’m standing at XYZ Hardware store and they are telling us they are getting a run on shovels and rock salt. Back to you.

With all that great help what is my mother going to do with all her free time???

I will say that the weather people pretty much got it right this time so that was impressive. Katie Horner has changed her look a little but I can’t figure out quite what she did. All I know is she looks better. Hair, weight, makeup……can’t put my finger on it.

How about Frank and Buck?

I can’t be happy about Whitey Herzog getting elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame because it only continues to remind me that two other people who were more important to baseball are still on the outside.

Whitey was a fine baseball man in his day with some really good years in Kansas City and some great ones in St. Louis. Fine. Not greatness in my mind. I don’t even want to debate if he should be in or not.

All it does however is sadly remind me that two people I absolutely think should be in and aren’t are Frank White and Buck O’Neil.

Frank White was the best defensive second baseman of his era. 8 Gold Gloves and 1 more stolen from him. He was a 5 time all star and won the Silver Slugger in 1986 for being the best offensive player at his position that year. It isn’t without debate among baseball people who will say he didn’t hit well enough to be in the HOF. I say it is a shame if the HOF is so much about offense and if we can induct great hitters who weren’t great with the leather then why shouldn’t it be the other way around? Clearly, defense doesn’t get any respect at the HOF. How is Frank White all that different than let’s say Ozzie Smith? First, I understand Ozzie played a different position but I would have preferred to have Frank White at the plate any day to Ozzie. It is a crime Frank White is not in the Hall of Fame. I’m not a stat geek so maybe I’m missing something. He is within the range of total hits of other second basemen already in the HOF but his batting average would be the lowest. Of course, Tigers fans have a similar and credible beef about Sweet Lou Whitaker as well. Second base just doesn’t get much respect. Maybe they can put them in the HOF fame together.

Buck O’Neil, while not displaying the kind of numbers as a player that would merit entry, should have been enshrined simply for his magnificent contributions to the game. He was the first black coach in the major leagues for the Cubs. More importantly to me, he kept the historical flame of the Negro leagues alive when nobody else cared. He graciously and patiently kept the faith for decades until public interest and Ken Burns found him. Without him, the sad but rich history would have been lost forever and it has made the game richer for all who play it and watch it. I say sad but really when you talked to Buck it was never sad or about being the voice of victim. I’m proud to say I met him several times.

Today’s KC Star article also reports that Ewing Kauffman came up short. I love the Kauffman family for what they brought to Kansas City but I can’t in good faith say that as an owner of a baseball team he did anything that merits entry into the Hall of Fame. Funny but firing Whitey only to see him go over to St. Louis and succeed should be enough to keep Mr. K out. It seems silly to me to put people like this in the Hall when people like Frank White and Buck O’Neil aren’t.

Many of us have kicked and screamed over Buck’s not getting in but I rarely hear the outrage over Frank White’s not being in the HOF. While now it is much more difficult because he has fallen off the ballot perhaps people, the Veteran's Committee, can make it happen before Frank dies too.

Tigers to the Big Ten?

It is usually one little tiny thing that gets my interest and makes me think. It usually isn’t the big headline. Today was just like that. I am drinking my coffee and reading the paper trying to understand the Big 12 Bowl scenario for this year when the sentence that will pass by most sticks in my head.

The chatter has been that Missouri would get snubbed by the Insight Bowl and go to a lesser bowl in favor of Iowa State who has a reputation of traveling well. In fact, they did. Mizzou to the Texas Bowl in Houston and Iowa State gets the Insight Bowl.

I get all that. I get that, yes, they have been snubbed for the past few years and the one that really hurt was when rival and my alma mater, Kansas got the BCS Orange Bowl even though Missouri beat them. I would be pissed off too except that for the many reasons the Texas Bowl is better for them, ie National TV versus the NFL network, in the middle of their recruiting sweet spot, and a place where their fans can drive to see the game. I get it. It hurts to not be wanted, again.

I was reading with some interest as Mizzou officials were selecting their words carefully to not insult their hosts at the Texas Bowl as they expressed their displeasure with the selection process and that the Big 12 allows the Bowls to pick whomever they wish. Truly, their rancor is as much with the Big 12 as with any Bowl that overlooked them.

There was one little line that got my attention. It always cracks me up. It comes up from time to time and frankly I think it is quite laughable. The suggestion is usually officially subtle and less subtle from fans of Mizzou. They threaten or suggest that they might leave and go the Big Ten.

They like to put forward notions they really don’t understand.

1. The Big Ten is the better conference.
2. They really fit in better with the Big Ten academically.
3. The Big Ten wants them.

They think it is sorta like they are stuck at the kid’s table and the Big Ten is the adults table. I think it is more like they are wanting to take their Barbie dolls and go home.

The oft repeated notion which at first I thought was a quote from a Missouri official but really was just a baiting question from KC Star writer Mike DeArmond to John Junker regarding Missouri’s prospects of a future bid to the Insight Bowl, “…..Perhaps as a member of the Big Ten, or some conference that does not have a record of letting Missouri fall in bowl bidding?”

It makes me laugh because people in the know will say the truth is that lots of schools fit academically. Missouri thinks they are saying that Missouri is a better academic school than many of their partners in the Big 12 which really isn’t the case. In other words, they are superior academically to the rest of the Big 12. What they are saying Jr. Missouri Einsteins is that they fit as well as lots of other Midwestern State Schools. It has also been written that Nebraska, Iowa State and even Texas fit academically with the Big Ten. I’m not sure we think of any of those schools, or Kansas for that matter, as defacto members of the Ivy League. In fact, it is often speculated that it was the Big Ten’s talk of wanting to add Kansas AND Missouri that created energy toward the formation of the Big 12 in 1993.

I’m not going to debate which conference is better. They are both really good conferences with good rivalries and a great history of athletics and a probably slightly better than average academics. Of course I'm partial to the Big 12. Actually I liked the old Big 8 best.

Does the Big Ten want them? Well, the Big Ten, or is it 11….or is it 12 if you count the University of Chicago does want and need to add a 12th school that competes in major athletics. In short they want to be like the Big 12. It is about money and reach. They want to capture a larger television audience so they can get more money. Really, that is the beginning and ending of who fits. Missouri brings them St. Louis and some Kansas City viewers. Nebraska brings them a smaller but more loyal viewer but really isn’t a likely match. There isn’ t much competition for the Nebraska viewer so you get most of them. If Iowa State offered anything in television numbers I think they would already be in. Then you get schools like Rutgers and Louisville that have been on the rise and have a lot to offer as well. Would the Big Ten like a piece of the New York, New Jersey television markets? I’d like to think they might. So why the talk about Missouri? They, among several, fit financially, geographically and they are probably willing but ironically…..again are second choice already.

This all leads me to the one we all know makes the most sense to join. Notre Dame. Only the Irish are too proud to see it. Sure, right now they have broadcast revenues that they don’t have to share that are huge but we’ve all seen where the Irish football program has been heading the past few years and they have just fired another coach. Basketball hasn’t been much for sometime either. Notre Dame will always have a silly loyal following from countless numbers of people who couldn’t even dream of going to school there but live and die by it like they did. However, nobody wants to see a loser and these idiots don’t just expect to win they expect National Championships. I think it isn’t a stretch to say unless they modify their admissions for the student athlete their best days are behind them and someday, probably soon, they will wish the Big Ten would consider them.

While I’m at it……conferences are too big anyway. We shouldn’t be expanding them. Eight is a great number for football. They should all have to play each other every year. Simple.

By the way, we will end this football season with two undefeated teams and an outside chance at three if Cincinnati can beat Florida and no playoff to know who really is best. Incredibly sad.

A BIG thank you

Over Thanksgiving I was telling someone very close to me that I really had no idea how many people read the blog. I have to admit that while I joke that I don't think anybody reads I was indeed a little curious if anybody read. I seriously thought maybe a few dozen people checked it on a frequent basis.

She suggested I put a hit counter on this site which at first I really didn't want to do but I thought you know I could put it up for a little while just to see and always take it down.

You can start them at any number you want so I could have started it at let's say 15,235 or something like that but I started it at a number I could remember......101.

It hit over 1200 today which means I've had over 1000 visits just since Thanksgiving. I am a little amazed but mostly I just want to tell people thanks for reading. Really, it is humbling that people think that anything I write is interesting.....or maybe they come to see the trainwreck. I started this blog really simply because I like to write and I thought if I had a blog it would force me to write on a regular basis and hopefully I'd get better at it.

Also, I've received a few emails and comments on the Dennis Moore countdown timer. I just thought I'd share that there is loads of free html code out there like that one if you ever want anything like that. Just google what you want and put html in the search line.......like "countdown timer html free". I found a few but settled on that one.

Hope everyone has a good weekend.

Do you enjoy Michelle Malkin?

I really haven't been reading her blog a ton though I certainly should. It is really good. I was checking it out and it is a really good post about debunking a health-scare story in the New York Times by Nick Kristof. It is really good writing. She is a nationally known conservative blogger who I'm sure has lots of enemies because of her work. She isn't tough to look at either. She is also incredibly smart. Impressive.





I thought it was impressive if you look at her post that she uses Kristof's own words to hold him accountable in her story and she pasted the actual front from of Mr. Kristof's blog right into her own blog as a part of her critique.





You should read yesterday's work by Michelle. It is really good. I'm gonna start reading her on a regular basis. By the way......while I knew she was out because I've seen her on Fox I clicked on her blog because it was on Sinic's blogroll......even though I'm not listed on hers :-) so I wanted to give credit to Sinic.





I'm really slammed tonight. Drinking a little vino (some bottle I spent at least $50 on, probably more) now but I'll have to admit I didn't really drink this week other than that. So, no best and worst this week. You are on your own.



**********************************************************

And just a little housekeeping: I do moderate the comments on the blog but I have made it practice to rarely reject them. If I think you are just the same person putting up a bunch of anonymous comments especially to make it look like you have lots of support on an issue I can kinda figure that out....not always.......but I probably won't post them if I don't think it adds to the blog. I've clearly demonstrated I'm pretty cool about putting up comments where people don't agree with me.

Everybody is getting sued.

Okay, I was just gonna let it all go. Really, hopefully this is it but I read some stuff on the Internet that I thought was incredibly interesting. Now, not everything you read on the Internet is true but in my opinion this looks pretty legit and well, it certainly creates a pattern of behavior that is tough to overlook.



I'm going to do Mr. Scherer a favor and spare you all the amazing emails I've received in the past two days but I'll just say that if you check out these links it looks familiar.



While clearly I didn't know this history when I first commented on the Scherer letter posted on JOCO SOB's blog as a guest post........all I can say is in my opinion my instincts were right on the money.


I'm not writing this stuff.....just linking you to his own words.......unless somebody else is using his blogger account and I guess that is possible.


First, unless I got it wrong it and there is more than one Tom Scherer it appears as if in 2005 Mr. Scherer filed for US Congress opposing Dennis Moore-Pelosi in the Democratic primary according to this at the Kansas Democratic Party website. (never thought I'd link to that site)The comments are interesting as people there are reporting their interaction with him. There aren't any direct quotes from him but it is interesting. At that point they call him a Progressive that they like and are trying to push to run for a State Senate.....as a Democrat. I'll admit I'm stumped on this one. I thought he was a fiscal conservative and a Republican.


In July 2006 there is an AMAZING exchange between Mr. Scherer and members of Blue Tide Rising that really reminds me of some correspondence I've seen before. It started with them supposedly quoting him but I can't verify the quotes. You'll have to scroll down to July 11, 2006 to see where it starts. However, the fireworks on the comments section is AWESOME political theater. It runs 22 comments deep and a good many of them appear to be authored by Mr. Scherer as he threatens legal action against them. They were much more aggressive than I was in questioning his academic and scholarly pursuits. I look like a kitten compared to these people. It really is must read stuff. Keep in mind this was back to 2006.


On a blog called Kansas Republican Politics, a blog to rally moderate Republicans, I found a very interesting post from a guy named Jacob Atwell on August 2, 2008. Before Mr. Atwell's comments Mr. Scherer posts several comments on the site but those aren't really that interesting. Here is the link. The interesting comment is where he makes the same threats to Mr. Atwell that he makes to me about a $5 purchase on ebay. Check it out. Weird coincidence.







I'm purposefully not providing a bunch of further commentary on this because I've just worn it out and I have a feeling everyone else is weary of it as well. I'm sorry about that. If interested, you can just click the links. I couldn't make it up if I wanted.





LAST SECOND UPDATE: Just a few minutes ago, really just before I was going to post this I get copied on an email along with every media person, blogger, all Republicans in the free world, THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES, and a local mental health advocate (seriously) from Mr. Scherer where he lashes out at tons of people and you guessed it..........threatens to take the Johnson County Republican Party Head Quarters to court. He also promises a huge bloodletting and he "wants to be the chainsaw butcher". I'll spare you the rant but there are plenty of copies out there as of tonight. I'll admit it is really a pretty strong distribution list......so at least I got that out of it!

Truthfully, I guess I get a little worked up when people threaten me and I guess it is just my character to fight back. I need to work on that I guess. I had to waste my precious time today and forward his email to one of my attorneys just to make sure that Jocoeveryman the Village Idiot didn't actually screw up.

Like I said at the beginning you never know what is true or not on the Internet. You'll have to decide for yourself but any research I've done here a typical 7th grader could have done.

Jig is up.

It is my sincere unqualified belief this man is obsessed with being a Congressional Candidate and with playing lawyer.

How come when I close my eyes I keep seeing Dwight Schrute from Dunder when I think of this whole thing???

I'm pretty slammed today so I'll keep it brief.

Sometimes it is worth reviewing. I'm sure there are tons of great essays and writings on the subject all over the internet.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

Mr Scherer Responds Angrily To My Post

So, today, I guess I am the lucky bastard not SOB. Mr Scherer, the better candidate for your U.S. Congress, sent me some really fun and interesting comments about my post yesterday. I approved and posted them but I couldn’t just hope people found them buried in the comments section of my blog so I am providing them compiled and completely unedited (typos included) for your reading at the end.

I appreciate the fact that he took time to respond to my questions about his resume and background. I’m sure after you read his comments you’ll feel SO much more comfortable. I know for me it was very uh, er, helpful.

His first complaint is that I’ve infringed on his copyright by using the banner from his blog. Fair enough. While I don’t know for sure I’ll concede the point. I’ll admit that it was a little frustrating trying to find an actual picture of the man on the Internet to use. You would think a candidate would have had some coverage along the way? For that I’ll apologize and I've taken it down. I hope Mr. Scherer will accept my apology. I try to admit if I've made a mistake.

To begin, well, I love people who jump to absolutes like because I commented on what he writes as his resume and ask questions about it (like the Democratic candidate wouldn’t??) that I presume to be an expert on him and everything. For Mr.Scherer if I question or comment on something = being an expert on it.

I love how he takes me to task for writing by blog under a pen name but that he seems to think it is okay for JOCO SOB because "SOB might actually helo this metro area reduce violence by rasing awareness". Writing anonymously is an important tradition in American political discourse. The Federalist Papers were written under the name “Publius” and rebutted under the name “The Federal Farmer”. Of course I’m not nearly as important as those guys but the 1995 Supreme Court ruling in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission reads:

“Protections for anonymous speech are vital to democratic discourse. Allowing
dissenters to shield their identities frees them to express critical, minority
views . . . Anonymity is a shield from the tyranny of the majority. . . . It
thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights, and of the First
Amendment in particular: to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation . . .
at the hand of an intolerant society.”

Further, Mr. Scherer defends hiding the identity of Jane Doe as an “important campaign team member” because she works for the feds and he states that working on a campaign is a violation of the law in her position (maybe referring to the Hatch Act). It seems in some federal positions it is permitted and in others it isn't. If she is permitted then she doesn't need to be a Jane Doe. If she isn't permitted then she is breaking the law and Mr Scherer is a party to that. If that is the case do we really want somebody who violates our laws, or allows their people to violate the law representing us in Washington? I guess the laws don't apply to him. Oh, wait, maybe that does make him ready to be our Congressman. At a minimum if he really cared about her would he allow her to put her career in jeopardy for his political gain? Sad. If he is dismissive of this law which laws would he not care about in the future? At any rate, I have my own reasons, mostly for creative freedom, that I chose to write under the pen name Jocoeveryman. I guess it is okay for some to be anonymous and not others.

Mr. Scherer makes defense of his using JOCO SOB’s blog as a mode for getting information out (I guess as opposed to mine??)by complimenting the quality of SOB’s blog. Sir, I concur. SOB has a quite excellent blog and I’ve written on several occasions I believe he is Johnson County’s best blogger, hands down and enjoys a huge readership. I’m happy for him not jealous. SOB and I have different goals for our blogs. I try, not always successfully, to keep the focus of my blog on Johnson County or at least write from a Johnson County perspective. I’m glad he “ges your respect”. He deserves it. What I meant by him being lucky to get that email is lucky like being the first reporter to a car wreck. It was meant as sarcasm. I'll admit perhaps poorly written but intended as sarcasm none the less.

I appreciate Mr. Scherer addressing some of the “errors” in my post. I’m glad he clarified his work experience and named some of the Fortune 50 companies for which he provided “consulting”. I can’t figure out why he wouldn’t have just named them in his blog to begin with since he seems to go and on and on about everything else at incredible length. Funny, how so many old, forcefully, er, I mean, semi retired white guys run around calling themselves consultants. Just an observation I've noticed. I'm sure Mr. Scherer's work will be completely examined if he is the Republican nominee and it will turn out he did important and meaningful work for those Fortune 50 companies.

I love how Mr. Scherer expects me to know all this stuff about his personal life. I think they were fair questions and certainly questions that would be asked if he were nominated. His angry responses to a blogger are so telling to how he would respond under pressure. Poorly. All I can say about law school and the suit against Merck as well as Harvard and the VA is it seems to this voter like such a victim’s mentality. Winners find ways past obstacles. I love the quote by Randy Pausch when he said,

“Brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep
us out. The brick walls are there to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want something badly enough. They are there to keep out the other people.”

Clearly, he didn’t want to go to Harvard that badly and he didn’t want to be a lawyer that badly. How badly does he want to be my Congressman from the 3rd District? Losers make excuses.

Finally, crap, I hate these really long posts because I know what Mr. Scherer still has to learn is that nobody reads them when they are too long. Again, sorry. Mr Scherer, I would welcome you to provide any comment you want on my rants either by comment on the blog or by sending me an email. Yes, they are rants. Rants are appropriate for a blogger, not for a person who wants to be my Congressman. The anger and rage is apparent in his writing.

Sir, I said it before and I’ll say it again. You seem to be well intentioned, a true conservative, a patriot, and a man who honorably served our country. I respect that. You are also, in my opinion, out of your league running for Congress. It is just my opinion but that is what I do on my blog....offer opinions. The couple dozen people who read this blog can read your words and decide for themselves.

Now, for the words of Thomas Scherer in response to yesterday's post:

Sir, you are infringing on my copyrighted web site.Please provide me where I
gave you permission to take my property (web site graphics, photo) and why that
taking is not a violation of federal/state law allowing me to seek relief/remedy
for that infringement?Tom Scherer, the better candidate for your U.S.
Congress,


Finally sir, since you appear to be an expert
knowing more about me, than I do, why do you hide and not give your real name or
contact information?Are you afraid to reveal your identity? In regard to your
blog, I have read it. I could have sent you a post, but hardly anyone reads your
blog because it not worth reading.Whereas I have respect for the dark satire on
JOCOB's site related to his posts on making others aware of violence in the
metro area. By making us aware, SOB might actually helo this metro area reduce
violence by rasing awareness. He ges my respect. You do
not.


Now let me address some of your errors. I never
stated I worked as a consultant for one Fortune 50 Company. I worked for
several. GE, Sprint, American Airlines for starters. Does that help?Second, Jane
Doe is working for the federal government. Because of that position, she cannot
be named because of her job position which prevents them from being associated
with any political campaign. Since you are an expert on everything, you should
know that. Third, as you correctly note, I completed one year of law school.
While at law school, I was given a prescribed medication (statin) that was done
in error. I almost died from it. Hence, why I filed suit against Merck and got
judicial review by the United States Supreme Court in 2007. I am sure you knew
that also since you are such an expert on everything. I was invited by Harvard
to attend Harvard in 2006. The VA refused to pay for my attending Harvard,
despite me being eligble under Chapter 31 of Title 38. I am sure you aware of
that also.Finally, since you are wiser than all of us, when are filing for
United States Congress?

Thanks for your opinion. If you specific
answers, you can always call me. Or I if you give your contact info, I can
address some of your own rants and speculation. My number is 403 8584. Since you
are a fan now, call me.

Tom Scherer