Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Questions in Court Decision on MO Highway Patrol Driver Examiner



In Wednesday morning's KANSAS CITY (MO) STAR- reporter- former co-worker and a generally nice fellow Mark Morris wrote of a court decision to allow a Missouri Highway Patrol driver's license examiner to sue a driver that caused the examiner an injury.


Mr. Morris reports that the driver's license examiner "Patricia Ivey" suffered a "shoulder" injury when the person who was taking the driver's test- "Clara Joe Nicholson-McBride-" reportedly "slammed on the brakes" as Ms. Nicholson-McBride came upon a red traffic light.


Some of my questions are:

1. How old was Clara Joe Nicholson-McBride-

2. Was Ms. Nicholson-McBridge a previous driver's license holder- and

3. Did the driver's license examiner Ms. Ivey give any command(s) to the person she was examining prior to Ms. Nicholson-McBride slamming on the brakes?


In addition- it seems that the decision by the "three-judge panel of Missouri’s Western District Court of Appeals" that overturned a Jackson County judge's original decision that stated "the driver’s license examiner had assumed the risk of such injuries when she took the job-" opens a HUGE can of worms.

 Let's take for an example- a firefighter at a house fire is injured by a homeowner improper storage of flammable materials.

Will that firefighter be free to sue the homeowner due to that home owner's negligence?

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A Bittersweet Kansas City Primary Election




Even though more that a few of the candidates that I endorsed will advance to the Kansas City MO general election- I'm not feeling good about the turnout.



Less than 1 of 5 registered voters in this city even bothered to vote!



I'm sure those of you who DIDN'T bother have your reasons- but unless you had a recent accident and were in critical condition in a hospital I have little sympathy.



If indeed America is sliding downhill like some of us think it is- it all falls on the shoulders of those who do not bother to exercise one of their responsibilities to keep this republic- for which it stands- free.


In my Internet chatroom days- I recall my conversations with Australian friends and how they would tell me that in their country- people are actually FINED for not voting...


Maybe America has come to that crossroads as well.
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Tuesday, February 22, 2011

WARNING: Fill Your Gas Tank ... NOW

Think you've seen a gasoline price gouge lately?


You ain't seen nothing yet...


As I type this - (unregulated) speculators have driven the price of a barrel of oil up more than $5- that price that was $86-87 per barrel a few days ago has shot up to more than $95 per barrel.

And if I know the gasoline retailers as they have done too often before- that $2.99 per gallon price at many outlets here on the Missouri-side will be up a dime or more VERY soon.


So- do as your Captain has done- fill 'er up and park it if you can....
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KC-MO Primary Election Today- PLEASE Vote



It's a crisp- sunny day and I hope you will get out and vote and PLEASE encourage your family- friends and neighbors to do the same.


A list of candidates was recently posted here at CSW- and you can find them HERE.


Remember- local elections determine those issues and politicians that will most-directly affect you and your quality of life! 


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Monday, February 21, 2011

CSW BREAKING: Significant Earthquake Strikes Christchurch New Zealand



The USGS is reporting a 6.3-magnitude earthquake has struck very near one of New Zealand's largest cities- Christchurch.








The quake happened at 12:51 p.m. Tuesday New Zealand time- or 5:51 p.m. this evening Kansas City time.






Radio New Zealand reports "multiple fatalities" there- including "2 busses crushed by falling buildings."








Prayers go out to my Bearshare chat friends there- as well as all the good people of that island nation east of Australia.


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Asking For A Moment of Prayer For A Fellow Human Being This Wednesday at 7 P.M.


I must sadly confess- I do not personally know Miss Alexandra Umphenour but I know of her through my daughter.


An academically-accomplished young lady- recently Alexandra or "Alex" was riding her beloved horse when the steed suddenly suffered a massive heart attack.



The horse collapsed- throwing Alex to the ground and seriously injuring her.



Alex remains in a coma in a Wichita KS hospital and via a Facebook page set up for her- this is where her family- friends- and well-wishers need your help.


Wednesday night- February 23 at 7 p.m. Central Time is a time set aside for prayers for Miss Alex.



Please- join Ms. Rittenhouse- your Captain- and many others at that  time to say a prayer for a successful and complete recovery of Miss Alexandra Umphenour.





Thank you for YOUR time here and may God/The Great Spirit bless and keep you and yours well. 
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Sunday, February 20, 2011

No Reason For Any Human Being to Celebrate 150th Anniversary of America's Civil War


Reading a piece in the LAWRENCE (KS) JOURNAL-WORLD written by Leonard Pitts Jr. regarding this nation's 150th anniversary of The Civil War and the comments thereafter got me to thinking...


In the Final Analysis- there's not really a whole lot Americans can celebrate regarding the history of our nation- in reality- our existence is based on fraud- killing and taking.

We made deals with the Natives who already were on our lands when the white man floated over- then defaulted on those deals and/or ran those Natives off and killed them.

Land owners made deals with rulers of other countries for slave labor- and brought them here to work the land for the landowners.

When those peoples wanted to experience the very ideals this country was supposedly founded on- freedom from tyranny- oppression- etc.- many railed against that idea and the peoples that wanted it.

In short- the "haves" have ALWAYS wanted to subjugate the "have nots-" if for no other reason- to maintain their privileged standard of existence.

Woe be it the ones on the ground wanting to climb the ladder of betterment.

I find a lot of solace and re-enforcement of my soul in music- and some lyrics in one of my all-time favorite songs said it best:


"We satisfy our endless needs
 and justify our bloody deeds,
In the name of destiny
and the name of God...."

 We can re-write and whitewash our history all we want- but the truth will stain with innocents' blood and cover with the dirt of a thousand graves- every lie.

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List of KC-MO Mayorial and City Council Candidates



Here is a list of the candidates running in Tuesday's KC-MO primary election.




Those candidates in green are incumbents- those candidates in bold red are endorsed by Capt. Spaulding's World.





Kansas City Mayor

Sylvester “Sly” James

Henry Klein

Mark Funkhouser

Deb Hermann  

Mike Burke

James “Jim” Rowland


1st District At Large

Scott Wagner

Daina Kennedy

1st District
Richard F. Davis


2nd District At Large

Ed Ford

Allen Dillingham

2nd District
Russ Johnson

Robert A. Benefield

3rd District At Large

Melba Curls

Brandon Ellington

Durwin Rice

Carol J. Gatlin

3rd District

Michael Fletcher

Jermaine Reed

Sharon Sanders Brooks



4th District At Large

John Crawford

Anne McGregor

Edward Pace

Jim Glover

Annie Presley

4th District

Jan Marcason

Mona Lyne

5th District At Large

Cindy Circo

Richard “Charlie” Angel

Mahlon Davis Jr.

5th District

Kenneth T. Bacchus

W. Ruth Turner

Michael Brooks

Ron Dean Birmingham

6th District At Large

Michael R. Brown

Scott Taylor

Ricky Earl Abel

Tracy Ward

Chuck Eddy

Edward Fields

Delmira Quarles

MD Rabbi Alam

6th District

Terrence Nash

John A. Sharp

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CSW Weather: Another Record High Likely in Kansas City Today


Kansas City's record high for February 20th is 69 degrees set in 1996 and this record will likely fall by early afternoon as temperatures are expected to soar into the 70's.


The warm-up will be abruptly ended by a cold frontal passage later the Sunday afternoon or evening. 

Enjoy the warmth today- for Monday will be 30-40 degrees colder... but this cold snap will be short-lived as temperatures rebound later this week to the 60-degree mark before another storm system enters the picture Thursday or Friday.


That system may create the first significant severe weather outbreak of 2011 in the Southern Plains/Lower Mississippi Valley areas.
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Central States News: Rash of Small Earthquakes Continue in North-Central Arkansas


Dozens of small earthquakes have been occurring for about the past few months north of Little Rock and continue early Sunday.


Most of the quakes have been in the 2 to 4-magnitude range- with most centered in a small area about 40 miles north of Arkansas's capitol near the towns of Greenbrier and Guy.



One 4.1-magnitude quake struck last Wednesday evening near Greenbrier.


According to an Associated Press story- the quakes could be a swarm along an eartquake fault in the area- or could be due to man-made causes due to natural gas exploration in the area.




There is no indication the quakes are related to the larger New Madrid fault about 100 miles to the northeast- or whether this series of quakes could set off a larger quake here or on the New Madrid fault. 

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Sunday Morning Police Chases With One Serious Crash

At least 3 police pursuits have occurred early Sunday morning- one in southeastern Douglas county KS resulted in a crash with serious injuries to the driver who was being chased- but no reported injuries to other drivers.


The Douglas county crash was monitored here at CSW- but according to the LAWRENCE (KS) JOURNAL-WORLD- this was the end result of an apparently police chase from Franklin county KS..

The crash occurred around 1:36 a.m.- according to the dispatch (hard to hear because of a barely-audible Douglas County dispatcher) "on 2300 Road- north of U.S. 56" highway.

According to medical reports to K.U. Med Center where the driver was taken by helicopter- "a 24-year-old male was going 100 m.p.h. on a country road" when he lost control- "rolled the vehicle" and the driver "was ejected into a muddy farm field about 30 feet away" from his crashed vehicle.

The male didn't have any "obvious" injuries- appeared to be "intoxicated" and was in serious condition during his flight to K.U. Med Center.

No reasons were given why Franklin county was chasing the man.


Raytown police chased a "1999 Chrysler 300" on "traffic charges" at least 4 miles from their city south along Blue Ridge into Grandview MO around 1:40 a.m..

One Raytown PD car hit road spikes that had been set out for the Chrysler near U.S. 71 and struck a curb.

The officers in the car weren't hurt- but the Chrysler got away to be located later by Grandview police "at Blue Ridge where the vehicle was parked and the driver found walking.


The last heard pursuit was a little more than an hour later- around 2:45 a.m. in south KC-MO.

A South Patrol officer spotted "a highly-intoxicated" driver of a vehicle on the west outer road of U.S. 71 near Red Bridge- "striking curbs and signs" as they drove south.

That chase went south to Blue Ridge where the suspect driver turned north- then into a parking lot in the 11800 block of Blue Ridge- where the driver was stopped and arrested.
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Tornado Strikes Monroe LA With Confirmed Injuries

The tornado struck around noon on Easter Sunday. There is considerable damage repo rted in that northeastern Louisiana city of around 5000...