black women in sport to honor peanut johnson

Peanut Johnson, a pitcher for the Indianapolis Clowns, who amassed a 33-8 record while playing in the Negro Leagues in the early '50's, will be honored this week as part of the Black Women in Sport Convention to be held in Kansas City. Peanut, known for a wicked curve she perfected after some instruction from Satchel Paige, went 11-3, 10-1, and 12-4 over a three year stretch, a record anyone would be proud to have.

Mamie "Peanut" Johnson, Rhythmic Gymnastics Olympian Wendy Hilliard, Fencer Nikki Franke, Golfer Renee Powell and Basketball great Cynthia Cooper will all be honored on Saturday, April 19th at the Legend's Ball, Kansas City Convention Center.



elsewhere:
black women in sport
scott simon interview with peanut johnson

mccain drawn into food fight

While John McGruff the Crime Dog goes about growling about Barack Obama suggesting that voters might be somewhat bitter over the current state of affairs in politics, his wife Cindy, heir to a fortune, posts recipes for passion fruit mousse, ahi tuna with Napa cabbage slaw and farfalle pasta with turkey sausage, peas and mushrooms stolen from the Food Network web site.

Doesn't much sound like lunch pail food for blue-collar workers. But the Republican tradition of lying and stealing seems awfully familiar.

mcgruff offers grits and growls to the working class

John McGruff the Crime Dog offered more of the same in a speech on his economic platform delivered at Carnegie Mellon University on Tuesday. More of the same Republican rhetoric offered for the last 7 years. Cut taxes, increase military spending, and ignore the fact that Republicans generally spend more money than the Democrats while in office, yet somehow manage to always claim they are fiscally responsible.

The only thing you can count on with a Republican administration is that when they cry fiscal responsibility, what they are really saying is 'line the pockets of the wealthy with gold'.

McCain's speech reminds me of what he said before he became the presumptive Republican nominee. "I don't know much about the economy."

Amen to that brother. Nothing could ring more true in Philadelphia nor be as cracked as the Liberty Bell. Here's just an example.

For years, Congress has been buying time, and leaving the great challenge of entitlement reform for others to deal with. And now the two contenders in the other party have even proposed enormous new federal commitments before the old commitments have been kept -- trusting that others, somewhere down the road, will handle the financing and make all the numbers come out right.

But there will come a day when the road dead-ends, and the old excuses seem even more hollow. And it won't be the politicians who bear the consequences. It will be American workers and their children who are left with worthless promises and trillion-dollar debts. We cannot let that happen. And you have my pledge: as president I will work with every member of Congress -- Republican, Democrat, and Independent -- who shares my commitment to reforming and protecting Medicare and Social Security.

John McCain apparently forgets that the Republicans controlled the White House and both arms of Congress for 6 years and did nothing about reforming Medicare and Social Security. John McCain also conveniently neglects to mention our trillion dollar war in Iraq and who, besides the taxpayers, will pay the bill for this fiasco?

tax day offers valuable prizes

candidates agree on one thing

"It was a poor choice of words."

bring on the mermaids

We forgot to celebrate last week. Warrior Ant Press, the blog, is one year old. 1 year, 415 posts, and a mermaid. We're swimming in it.











Mermaid cake by Sally Cowdin for the Reading Reptile

william kristol chokes on his logic

Reading William Kristol's supercilious op-ed piece in today's NYTimes, one is left to wonder exactly what gives with the weak-kneed attacks, the slight jabs launched from behind the safe skirts of the powerful that insinuate that Barack Obama has Marxist tendencies. We're heard these kind of attacks before, masquerading for what passes as logic among the right-wing illiterate. Illiterate in the ways, thoughts, and struggles of the working class; the Republican moneyed-class suggesting they understand the workers of American yet don't know about supermarket scanners or the effects of 3 tours of duty on the family. The right wing trot out these rumors with regularity and use code words to stir the masses into a frenzy: Muslin, madrases, and now Marx. It's mush. But never having to subsist on porridge, they wouldn't know the taste.

Enough.

If William Kristol were a war hero, or had a career of remarkable civic achievement or public service — then perhaps he could be excused for substituting here say for logic. But what has William Kristol accomplished that entitles him to look down on his fellow Americans and insult their intelligence?

By Mr. Krisol's logic, he's as much a Marxist as anyone else in the country, because he's read the work and by reading the work, that makes him one. God forbid we call a recession a recession, a war a war, or the current administration the worse in history.

more:
kritol vomits on reason and barfs up a Marxist tendency

all else the sea

"We are the ship; all else the sea." Rube Foster, founder of the Negro Leagues

My first research job was compiling Negro Leagues statistics from microfiche copies of the Kansas City Call. It was then that I learned that science is as well served by imagination as the fine attention to detail.

The Negro League games were a big deal within the black community, very social affairs that attracted sold-out crowds, especially with a team as good as the KC Monarchs. But the Call's coverage of the team, as were frequently other paper's coverage of teams across the nation, was somewhat limited. The stories were there, but the box scores weren't always complete. A Sunday double-header in the Negro Leagues was frequently a 9-inning game followed by a 7-inning affair. Sometimes there was a box score for the first game, but not the second. White-owned papers, such as the Kansas City Star, did not typically report on Negro League games.

Determining the winning pitcher could often be determined by reading the story line, and home runs were also frequently reported, but reconstructing a complete box scores was sometimes as much art as science. The researcher who hired me, was having people read papers in other cities and together he was trying to compile a complete set of data. It was piece work, we got paid for each game for which statistics were compiled and I didn't make much money, but it was really fun to read old newspapers about baseball games and call myself a researcher.

Memories of that brought me to the Negro Leagues Hall of Fame today to see the work of Kadir Nelson. Paintings from Nelson's most recent book, We are the Ship: The Story of the Negro Leagues have been on display at the museum since January and now that the baseball season has begun, I thought it best to see the work before it left for points beyond.

The work was grand, especially the ones where the central character loomed large in the canvas, serving as mythical creatures, like the childhood fantasy to be a professional baseball player. The work was done to illustrate a children's book and if there's anything mythical to a child, it's a great baseball player and the chance to dream that you might be one as well. Nelson also has a nice way with the adolescent children in the paintings. I think it has something to do with the perspective, frequently done at eye level, or slightly below. The heads appear to be adult size, as are the feet, and in between, the body is that of a child. It's a nice touch that shows children as being somewhere between 2 worlds and to show us that they are the mythical beings of the future.
elsewhere:
kansas city call
kadir nelson

guns, god, and being goofy

The art of politics. How to make a huge story out the most insignificant thing. My God, no your God. No, OH! my God. Thelma, bring me the big knife, err, big gun, there's something to shoot. See. I can shoot the breeze and tote the bullshit and hit a clay target with the gun on full choke. Yo!, peon, choke on this sound bite, America is for Americans.


Let's clarify something for Senators Clinton and McCain and Rush, O'Reilly, Beck, and Hannity. Middle America is bitter.

And with good reason. Stagnating wages for the last 10 years. A focus on a civil war in another country when our own seems to be falling apart at the seems. America has 1.3 trillion dollars in needed infracture improvements AT HOME that needs immediate attention. We're spent over a trillion dollars in Iraq with little political progress to show for it.

Gas prices continue in an ever-upward spiral. But worse yet, no comprehensive long-term strategy from the government on how to reduce our dependence on foreign oil, or reduce our footprint on the planet.

So yes, there's some resentment on the street. And the silver-spooned pretty-boy fly-by-night son of a son of a 4-star general and former attorney to the Walmarkians from Outer Space are going to find out the hard way. Voters, start pulling the levers, NOW!

Find out what the cost of guns, god, and being goofy has on you by visiting the National Priorities Project. They have an interactive feature that allows you to enter a component of the war budget and it will calculate the costs for a given community, state, congressional district. And show the cost of this madness that you, as an American taxpayer share.

For example, below are other items that could have been purchased with the amount proposed to be spent on the 2009 Federal budget for the so-called missile defense system.

5,406 People with Health Care OR
12,569 Homes with Renewable Electricity OR
368 Public Safety Officers OR
268 Music and Arts Teachers OR
1,970 Scholarships for University Students OR
2 New Elementary Schools OR
145 Affordable Housing Units OR
5,194 Children with Health Care OR
2,135 Head Start Places for Children OR
286 Elementary School Teachers OR
230 Port Container Inspectors
elsewhere:
changing our national priorities

papal visit stirs sales of red hats

The Pope is coming, the Pope is coming! To America.
Those who don't know may want to bone up on the proper protocol for dressing the pope for every occassion (Yes, there are manuals on the subject). Lest we give away the baby in the basket, let's just say that dressing usually begins with a very large hat.

On a more personal note, if you are lucky enough to see the pope, the best thing you can do is wave. The pope is likely to wave back.

Sales of glass coffins may also increase in the wake of the Pope Benedict's visit.

elsewhere:
how to dress like the pope

doping witness to name big names

In an upcoming trial about the widespread nature of doping in America, a chief witness is expected to name the following as major dopes:
George Bush
Dick "the Dick" Cheney
General "we'll know when it's time" Petraus
John "McGruff the Crime Dog" McCain.
And many more to follow.

Who knew? Well everybody.

the reversible ron paul landscape

Additional things to do with Ron Paul signs left by the side of the road.
This is a reversible sign. We've transformed the front, informed by the landscape just outside of Denver, a place I hope to be come August, into a mountainous terrain. This is where the only hopeful convention action will be during the summer.

The Republican convention, to be held this year in Minneapolis, will have all the drama of lunchtime at the geriatric center. The best you can hope for, is that at some point, a food fight erupts in the cafeteria or that Cheney's heart has to be re-started during one of his speeches - and he carries on without missing a line. The Republican view of the environment has been as just another product to be bought and sold - pretty much they way they view everything else.

Images: top: front of Reversible Ron Paul Landscape.
middle: Denver International Airport
bottom: back of Reversible Ron Paul Landscape
Reversible Ron Paul Landscape, acrylic on found object, 2008, m.o.i., 12" x 24"
elsewhere:
m.o.i: road side shelter for libertarians
m.o.i.: ron paul enters the twilight zone
m.o.i.: belief change
m.o.i.: the caucus badge

anne-sophie mutter: visual reviews of aural entertainment

Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter with pianist Lambert Orkis. The Violin Sonatas. Folly Theater, April 11th, 2008. Full house.

bush to stay the course

El Presidento Bush announced yesterday that we need to stay the course, remain ever vigilant, let things work themselves out with regards to the Iraqi situation. He could had said that many of the stated goals of the Surge, and his mission in Iraq, had failed, chiefly the most important one, to stabilize the region and bring peace and democracy into play but he didn't. Because, as his friend McGruff the Crime Dog likes to say, "not on my watch".

Blind arrogance will always be an impediment to any meaningful solution.

dolly parton joins post-punk revival

Hey there. Ho. Y'all. Let's git.

First we had the Ramones. Then we had Dolly. Or was Dolly first? They both laid down the law. And they both love eagles.

benson to school board

Arthur Benson II, who fought desegregation in the Kansas City School District all the way to the Supreme Court and LOST (but first he WON in the lower courts), has been elected to the school board. Benson, who ran as a write-in candidate after no one filed for the spot, was convinced by his friends to run. Apparently Arthur's myspace page has a few friends. 379 to be exact, which is the number needed to win this election.

We need people to care about our schools, who are willing to devote the time to work on this issue. Arthur will do this. For years the board has suffered from infighting, neglect, and harping that's turned the Superintendent's position into a revolving door of inaction and inefficiency. Time to stop and get constructive with the solutions.

elsewhere:
benson profile
supreme vacate kcmo school district ruling

torch kidnapped by authorities

The Olympic Torch relay just keeps getting more bizarre by the day. Wednesday, in San Francisco, the torch was briefly held captive in a warehouse, then forced into a van and taken to an undisclosed location so that an impromptu ceremony could be held celebrating its arrival and departure from San Francisco. The subterfuge was done to keep protesters from disrupting the torch relay, who are protesting for among other things, a more transparent, less authoritarian government. It's not exactly clear why our government, the United States, is being complicit in such actions, except that hiding its actions from the public seems to be one of the current administration's modus operandi.

The Olympic torch movement, despite its 1936 origins as a celebration of the strengths of the National Socialist German Wokers Party in fascist Germany, seems today to have become more a celebration of its corporate sponsors - and less an acknowledgement of the spirit and hope of international amateur athletics. S'nuff said.

pinochle is for fun!

Now that Hillary Clinton has professed her love for the game of pinochle you may want to refresh your memory of RULES of the game, just in case they change mid-stream.

Example. If you're feeling ambitious you might just want to:
------------Shoot the Moon

The Winner of the bid may at his/her option declare that they intend to "Shoot the Moon". This declaration must be made after all melds have been counted and BEFORE the first card of the hand is led during play.

With such fun, who can resist?

elsewhere:
single deck pinochle rules
Image: the Meld

petraus admonishes war lords to chill out

General Petraus appeared on Capitol Hill yesterday trying to convince Presidential candidates that the Olympic torch can remain safe despite growing reactions around the world and at home that the current practices to protect it aren't working, haven't worked, and won't worked.

Petraus' assessment of the situation can best be described by this quote, "the 3 trillion dollar bottle of champagne has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator". Later, he suggested that a new mascot might be just the ticket to stabilize the surge.

In that end, the Bush Administration has acquired the rights to a giant floating ice cube man, that once installed above the green zone will surely convince all the warring factions in Iraq to chill out for good. Why didn't we think of this before?

more things to do with ron paul signs left by the side of the road

Shelter #2, from the series: Things to do with Ron Paul Signs Left by the Side of the Road. Original dimensions 24' x 36'; current dimensions 24' x 6' x 36' installed. Acrylic on found objects. 2008, m.o.i.

The interstate seems to be a prime focus of the rogue Ron Paul sign. One is left to wonder what the penultimate expression of signage might be if Mr. Paul were to gain the nomination. Would there just be no limit to the signs, would thousands line the roadways like flags during a holiday? Would those opposed to the clutter, have to sue the perpetrators proving we've suffered an economic loss before such actions would be deemed inappropriate?

I was also thinking about the housing crisis while making this piece. Owning your own home has been part of the decreed American Dream for some years, but is that changing? Perhaps Americans are tiring of owning their own home. If you work all the time, or worse yet, if both partners work all the time, and you both have a heavy commute, and you travel frequently, or God forbid, there's the combination of all those factors, maybe owning your own home isn't the right approach. Who has time for all the yard work? What if you get upside on your mortgage? And is this the best use of your time? your money?

The original sign had all the appearances of being slapped together by a construction worker after a long day of listening to right-wing airwave nuts rant about individual rights over societal rights. The support frame was screwed together with rough-in screws and the base was made from two small dish tubs with a small amount of leftover concrete to serve as weight. Whoever made the sign didn't do a good job of calculating the weight needed to keep it upright and they made no effort to rectify their mistake.

The sign appeared one morning by the freeway along my commute and by the afternoon winds had blown it over. After a couple of weeks of seeing it laying in the ditch, I decided it's original purpose was due for reinvention.

elsewhere:

m.o.i.: ron paul enters the twilight zone
m.o.i.: belief change
m.o.i.: the caucus badge