Monthly Archives: July 2017

Norovirus Hits Kansas City

Posted on by under Politics

600 Kansas Citians grew ill in mid-January 2016 when the New Theatre Restaurant in Overland Park, Kansas was hit by norovirus.

Norovirus is commonly called “food poisoning” or “stomach flu,” its symptoms being stomach pain, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting. It is often spread quickly due to improper hand washing, contaminating people, food, drinks, and surfaces.

The event garnered national media attention, from The Guardian and ABC News, for example.

On Friday, January 29, 2016 a disinfecting and decontamination company cleaned New Theatre for a massive $40,000. Stomach flu outbreaks can of course potentially cost businesses customers on top of the cleaning costs, though the New Theatre vice president for sales and marketing claims New Theatre continues to see “full houses.”

On Monday, KCTV 5 reported a Buffalo Wild Wings at 105th Street and Metcalf Avenue saw 10 sick patrons and staffers. Samples are under examination to determine if this is also norovirus; the Kansas Department of Agriculture recently cited the restaurant with 18 food safety violations. The restaurant is temporarily closed for cleaning.

Dr. Dana Hawkinson, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Kansas Hospital, says there is a possibility the two outbreaks linked.

“Certainly there’s always a possibility that there could be a link, especially since they are so close in proximity. That would be reasonable,” Hawkinson said.

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Bernie Rising

Posted on by under Politics

With New Hampshire residents poised to flock to the voting booths this Tuesday, February 9, 2016, polls show Bernie Sanders should win by a landslide.

After the near-tie in the Iowa caucus (Clinton won 49.9% to Sanders’ 49.6%), a February 3 poll by NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist showed Sanders crushing Clinton 58% to 38% among likely Democratic voters in New Hampshire.

A February 4 poll from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell/7 News showed Sanders with an even more massive lead, 63% to Clinton’s 30%.

Clinton has lost much support since last spring, when she dominated New Hampshire polls. A writer for Mother Jones suggests this draws into question the idea Sanders is only winning because the state neighbors his home state of Vermont, as does the fact that New Hampshire tends to vote for more “establishment” candidates, not progressive outsiders. In other words, his support grows due to his ideas, not home field advantage.

Sanders’ insurgent campaign made similar gains before the closest result in Iowa history (coin tosses were involved), and has now eroded Clinton’s national lead as well. Formerly up by 31 points nationally, Clinton now leads Sanders by just 2 points (44%-42%), according to a Quinnipiac poll released Friday. A margin of error makes it neck and neck.

New Hampshire’s primary on Tuesday comes after last night’s tense, heated Democratic presidential debate, during which Clinton lambasted Sanders for his “artful smear” campaign insinuating “anybody who ever took donations or speaking fees from any interest group has to be bought” and that politicians who take “donations from Wall Street,” like Barack Obama and herself, are not “progressive.”

Clinton found it “quite amusing” that Sanders would call her part of the “establishment,” because “a woman running to be the first woman president” could not be part of the establishment.

Sanders countered:

What being part of the establishment is…is in the last quarter, having a super-PAC that raised $15 million from Wall Street, that throughout one’s life raised a whole lot of money from the drug companies and other special interests. To my mind, if we do not get a handle on money in politics and the degree to which big money controls the political process in this country, nobody is going to bring about the changes that is needed in this country for the middle class and working families.

This exchange is common in the race thus far, and will likely be repeated. Sanders refuses donations from corporations and the wealthy, instead building a grassroots campaign on small donations from individuals and unions. Clinton’s top donors are big banks and corporations, and despite her challenge to critics like Sanders to “just name one” instance where money influenced her vote, her quid pro quo relationship with corporate power is so well-documented other senators talk about it openly.

Even so, Sanders raised $20 million in January, to Clinton’s $15 million.

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For the Glory of the City

Posted on by under Politics

Perhaps the news will break in The Kansas City Star some day that the Kansas City council, or a secret independent body, dispatched moles to the nation’s top magazines, newspapers, and websites.

Their mission was clear: find work in staff and editorial positions and begin a propaganda campaign. The glorification of Kansas City would lead to a mass migration of people and businesses, an economic and cultural renaissance, fame and fortune!

Hmmm, or maybe more Kansas Citians are simply finding national media jobs–completely devoid of conspiracy. Or perhaps the explanation for all this talk of Kansas City is even better. Perhaps this city, the geographic heart of America, really is that awesome.

Either way, let’s consider either how awesome Kansas City is or how well natives are peddling Kansas City propaganda. Up to you which one.

(Full list of KC honors here.)

 

HUFFINGTON POST

  • Named Kansas City the #1 “coolest” city in the U.S. to “visit right now.” We’re an “it” city with “hip” neighborhoods. (2014)
  • Put KC at #10 of the top cities for creatives. Called it “a creative hub to rival those in the northeast and on the West Coast,” cited 70 art galleries in the Crossroads Art District alone, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, and the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art. But we ranked below Des Moines and @&#$ing Kalamazoo. Thanks, moles. (2015)
  • Ranked KC #4 among the “most cultured cities.” That’s better. We don’t mind losing to New York. (2015)
  • Other honors over the past few years include #4 for best cities for newlyweds, #7 for college grads, and more. (2012)

 

FORBES

  • Forbes put Kansas City on its list of “Best Places for Business and Careers.” And who would know better than they? (2012)
  • Named us one of the 10 best cities to buy a home. (2012)
  • Called downtown one of America’s best. Forbes doesn’t seem to like specific rankings these days. (2011)
  • Things used to be different. #9 in “Top 10 Best Cities to Get Ahead,” #8 for commuters, #6 for couples, #16 for the outdoors, #7 for pet-friendly cities, #7 for volunteering. (2007-2009)

 

TRAVEL+LEISURE

  • Named KC #2 among “America’s Best Beer Cities.” Thank you, Boulevard. (2015)
  • Honestly, the agents at Travel + Leisure need to chill out or they’re gonna get made. Between March 3 and April 24 of 2015, they included Kansas City in “America’s Most Charming Cities,” “America’s Best Cities for Sweet Tooths,” “American’s Best Music Scenes,” “America’s Best Cities for Foodies,” and “20 Quirkiest Cities in America.” Wow.
  • Kansas City was America’s #3 favorite city. This one was by popular vote. We were voted #1 for good drivers, Christmas lights, affordability, flea markets, and BBQ. Hahaha, “good drivers.” They’ve been undercover too long. (2014)
  • #7 for coffee. #9 for picnics. (2014, 2015)

 

BUZZFEED

  • Some of what you find on Buzzfeed relating to Kansas City are “community member” posts–some random people made them, not the Buzzfeed staff. Still, the popular website is starting to take notice of the Paris of the Plains. Kansas City was included in their “29 Cities All Twentysomethings Should Pick Up and Move To” (admittedly, also determined by popular vote). Though KC was listed #1 (admittedly, they did use the phrase “in no particular order”). Still, we know why it was on top. Wink. (2015)
  • I won’t name names, but it’s clear who the mole at Buzzfeed is. He wrote “An Open Letter to Kansas City” during the Royals’ World Series run. (2014)
  • He also wrote “28 Signs You Grew Up in Kansas City.” Buzzfeed labeled it a “Top Post,” as it got over 367,000 views. (2013)
  • His name is Dan Oshinsky.

 

EXTRA AWESOMENESS

  • USA Today published Yelp’s ranking of the Nelson-Atkins as the #1 museum in the United States of America–it was the highest rated and most praised by visitors. #5 was the National World War I Museum. (2015)
  • #2 for “Up-and-Coming Downtowns” by Fortune. (2014)
  • #6 for friendliest cities by Men’s Health. (2014)
  • #8 among best burger cities by USA Today. (2012)
  • #5 among “Underrated Gay-Friendly Cities” by About.com. (2009)
  • #3 for best NFL stadiums by Fox Sports. (2006)
  • #2 for best NFL fan loyalty by American City Business Journal. Go Chiefs! (2006)

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The Racism of Dr. Seuss

Posted on by under Race Relations

In the 1920s through the 1940s, Dr. Theodor Seuss Geisel worked as a political and advertisement cartoonist, his work appearing in publications such as Life, PM, Judge, and Vanity Fair. He started writing and illustrating children’s books in 1936, but most of the popular works we know today, like The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham, weren’t created until the 1950s and 60s.

While such books are beloved, Dr. Seuss’ cartoons in the newspapers often contained vilely racist imagery. Depictions of black Americans and Africans played on white notions of black savagery, inferiority, and animalism. His drawings of the Japanese and Japanese Americans served propaganda functions important to the United States, namely presenting them as treacherous and evil to stoke support for the war effort and justify discriminatory barbarism like the illegal imprisonment of hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans in what U.S. officials called “concentration camps.”

To his credit, Dr. Seuss did change his tone over time–it is believed he looked back on his racist fear-mongering with regret. His cartoons about blacks changed first, transforming during World War II to encourage the eradication of anti-black prejudice and support for equal opportunity in the workplace, to unite the nation in its fight against racist, fascist regimes abroad.

Yet at the same time, he was creating cartoons featuring Japanese monsters you see. He wrote to readers that complained:

Right now, when the Japs are planting their hatchets in our skulls, it seems like a hell of a time for us to smile and warble: “Brothers!” It is a rather flabby battlecry. If we want to win, we’ve got to kill Japs… We can get palsy-walsy afterward with those that are left.

Dr. Seuss visited Japan in 1953 to study the effects of the war on Japanese children, an experience that changed him. He dedicated Horton Hears a Who! to Mitsugi Nakamura, a university dean he befriended there. Horton and books like The Sneetches are widely viewed today as apologies for past racist sentiments and artwork.

One example of his early anti-black racism were ads for Flit, a bug spray. Dr. Seuss’ drawings of Africans strongly resembled apes, a popular comparison of that era–not to mention earlier and later ones.

Another example was a cartoon playing on popular American figures of speech. The setting is a store. Shoppers are looking to buy things one would never buy: a needle for a haystack, a fly for your ointment, a wrench to throw in your machine to make it stop. In the final panel, with their massive red lips, are “n—–s for your woodpile” (a saying that meant something seemed suspicious, likely derived from escaped slaves hiding at Underground Railroad locations). A white sales clerk shows off his black merchandise to a white buyer.

During World War II, the Japanese were widely considered racially inferior, unintelligent, treacherous, savage, and murderous. The majority of the American populace, media, and governmental bodies characterized them as mad dogs, yellow monkeys, cockroaches, vipers, and vermin. Dr. Seuss did his part to feed the bigotry and fear, portraying the Japanese as monsters, as pig-nosed, squinty-eyed, devilish little fiends. Dr. Seuss’ “Japs” were an infestation of street cats, large insects, or terrorists waiting for word from Tokyo to begin blowing up Americans.

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Successes of U.S. Government Planning

Posted on by under Socialism

We often hear that, from the schools to the mail, the government cannot be trusted to successfully run anything. The prevailing attitude seems to be that government initiatives fail because it is the nature of government initiatives to fail.

While there are many government efforts that need to be purged of corruption and inefficiency, this attitude ignores how successfully the U.S. and other advanced nations have used indicative planning, the hiring of citizens or corporations, to help achieve their goals. Indicative planning means investing tax dollars in specific industries. When government projects are successfully funded and run by skilled people, the results can be astounding.

For example, Ralph Nader writes in The Seventeen Solutions, “Few people know that much of the modern pharmaceutical, aerospace, biotechnology, agronomy, computer, containerization, and detection industries flow from R&D [government research and development], enabled and funded by the taxpayer.” The government poured money into these industries, contracting with companies, universities, organizations, and individuals to research, design, and build for them everything from computer systems to drugs to cruise missiles. Today, we lead the world in these fields.

Does anyone find it a coincidence that our nation spends more money on its military than any other and has the most powerful and advanced bombs, planes, tanks, and ships? Is it coincidence that poorly-funded urban public school districts struggle while well-funded suburban public school districts thrive? Could it be that government-run projects can actually be quite successful if prioritized?

The truth is most advanced capitalist governments plan, investing in key industries (such as computers, pharmaceuticals, energy, or weapons) and infrastructure development (highways, roads, bridges, dams, public transportation). This is accomplished by “working with, rather than against, the private sector.” Governments use a carrot (such as subsidies) and stick (regulations) approach to achieve their goals.

During the Great Depression, President Roosevelt’s Works Progress Administration, Civil Works Administration, and Civilian Conservation Corps hired some 15.5 million people to build roads, bridges, schools, hospitals, museums, and zoos; to garden, plant trees, fight fires, reseed land, save wildlife, and sew; to undertake art, music, drama, education, writing, and literacy projects. Similar federal initiatives have occurred since, such as the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act of the 1970s, which employed 750,000 people by 1978. In countless other programs, like the Public Works Administration of the 1930s, the U.S. government indirectly created jobs by paying businesses to tackle huge projects. Construction of the Interstate Highway System in the 1950s and 60s entailed the federal government funding the states, which either expanded their public workforces or contracted with private companies.

Economist Ha-Joon Chang writes, “Planning in certain forms is not incompatible with capitalism and may even promote capitalist development very well.” Free-market ideologues are misguided in thinking any planning whatsoever slows economic growth. Even bureaucratic central planning can be “successful,” meaning accomplishing what the planners intended. Planning worked well in the first stages of Soviet industrialization, “where the main task was to produce a relatively small number of key products in large quantities (steel, tractors, wheat, potatoes, etc.)” and unemployment was eliminated.

Harman writes, “For 30 years Stalinist methods produced more rapid rates of economic growth than those experienced anywhere else in the world—except perhaps Japan.”[1] Russia saw success advancing militarily, unsurprising considering the vast resources and manpower wasted on such efforts. One of the most backward, rural nations on earth became a superpower in a very short period of time through central planning. In fact, the Soviet model was based on the war economies of Germany, Britain, the U.S., and others, whose governments planned virtually all economic activity during World War II. Doing so was crucial to the Allied victory.

In the early 1950s, the Chinese copied Stalinist methods, controlling all resources and workers, and from 1954-1957 had a growth rate of 12% a year—in 1958-1959 it was nearly 30%.[2] It is not that bureaucratically planning the economy is impossible; it’s that State power is too dangerous. Authoritarian bureaucracy wiped out human freedoms, oppressed foreign peoples, slaughtered armies of innocent people, and bred widespread poverty. Had the planners aimed to eradicate disease, hunger, and homelessness, they could have done so. But money spent on nuclear bombs and space programs cannot be spent on food and homes. The Cuban government knew that it could not hope to compete with the United States militarily, so its central planners had the resources to pour into health care. Today, Cuba has high-quality universal health care and is a global leader in biochemical and pharmaceutical research.[3]

Indicative planning has also been quite successful in other nations. The world’s rich nations did not grow rich despite planning, but in many ways because of it. France overtook Britain as Europe’s second most powerful industrial nation by promoting investment and technological innovation in the 1950s and 60s. Finland, Norway, and Austria used careful indicative planning to boost their economies between 1950 and 1970. In the 1950s through the 80s, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan followed suit.[4]

Large U.S. government investment in research and development gave us a technological lead internationally in military and tech fields; we invest more in R&D than most other capitalist nations, making us one of the most planned on earth. Capitalist economies have greatly benefited from government planning in certain sectors when goals are clear, simple, and contracted voluntarily.

Nader writes in The Seventeen Solutions of a powerful instance of planning in action:

One telling example comes out of the Vietnam War, when the second cause of hospitalization for U.S. soldiers was malaria. The Department of Defense could not interest the drug companies in doing research to develop more effective pharmaceuticals against this debilitating disease; there simply wasn’t much profit in such an effort. So the Pentagon started what in effect was its own drug company at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital. With minuscule budgets, officers with PhDs and MDs went to work on the problem. Their productivity was remarkable, their results published in peer-reviewed scientific journals. By 2000, three of the four most widely used antimalarial drugs used in the world had come out of this Pentagon unit, along with other important, clinically-tested medicines.

Investment and planning spark innovation and build up private industries. The government demands, the market supplies. With an appropriate social goal, committed and qualified experts, and (sometimes even minuscule) funds, the U.S. produced medicines that saved lives. In the same way, the government funded a group of scientists and engineers to construct an atom bomb to destroy lives during the Manhattan Project; the goal was planned and executed in brilliant and terrifying fashion.

In an interview with The Atlantic, Bill Gates called the free market “in general inept” when it comes to developing clean energy because “energy moves very slowly.”

For energy as a whole, the incentive to invest is quite limited, because unlike digital products—where you get very rapid adoption and so, within the period that your trade secret stays secret or your patent gives you a 20-year exclusive, you can reap incredible returns—almost everything that’s been invented in energy was invented more than 20 years before it got scaled usage. So if you go back to various energy innovators, actually, they didn’t do that well financially. The rewards to society of these energy advances—not much of that is captured by the individual innovator, because it’s a very conservative market.

Thus it is useful for the government to step in and spur development through indicative planning. Gates said since “there’s no fortune to be made…without a substantial carbon tax, there’s no incentive for innovators or plant buyers to switch” to clean energy. He recommended “tripling” “government-funded energy R&D.” “Since World War II, U.S.-government R&D has defined the state of the art in almost every area” of energy development, and “the overall record for the United States on government R&D is very, very good”; here Gates cites the Manhattan Project, pharmaceutical research, cancer research, Internet and computer chip technology, and so on.[5]

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Notes

[1] Harman, People’s History of the World, 560

[2] Harman, People’s History of the World, 573

[3] Imagine, 185-186

[4] Ha-Joong Chang, 23 Things They Don’t Tell You About Capitalism

[5] http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/11/we-need-an-energy-miracle/407881/