Fort Scott, Kansas

On 5/24/05, I blogged on a book written by a Republican turned Democrat, Thomas Frank on "What's the Matter With Kansas?" Frank wrote, "no matter how far its drifted into delusion---."

Now comes breaking news from Fort Scott, Kansas; "Hundreds of volunteers have proven pennies can go a long way. Miles, in fact. Three days after the first coin was placed on the ground, the volunteers had assembled a 40 mile long chain of pennies in the parking lot of Fort Scott Middle School. It's the longest line of pennies ever assembled, eclipsing the old mark by more than five miles according to Guinness Book of World Records officials."

By gummy, I knew they could do it, especially after I learned that it costs the taxpayer 2 1/2 cents to produce one cent. I knew Kansas would find a use for pennies. I can see them dumping lunch pails full of pennies in the collection plate every Sunday.

Proves that if you want to have fun on a low cost budget, move to Kansas. Nothing like keeping the kids busy than counting pennies. Oh well, now Fort Scott, a bustling community of 8000, is back in the news again.

As the JSEB said on 7/19, in an editorial titled "Peoria Perilous for Pedestrians", "here in Peoria, such an enormous amount of time and energy would be far better spent retrofitting existing streets with sidewalks and bike lanes." They left out, "or visiting the new north branch library" probably out of embarrassment over this "pedestrian friendly" location for this library the JS deemed more important than infrastructure and public safety, which IS in an area "perilous for pedestrians".

And bikes also.

As I wrote in my "What the Matter with Kansas, you could lift parts of Kansas and set them down in some parts of middle Illinois and the Kansans' wouldn't know the difference.

I started this blog 3 days ago and when I hit my spell-check, I lost contact with the Internet. After trying time after time to connect and started calling all the places we are susposed to call for help. After several hours on the phone and a visit from our experienced technician friend, it was determined the problem was with Comcast. The earliest anyone could come out was Wednesday (tomorrow) between one and five. This evening, I turned the computer on to do my emails and hit on home and presto, I was connected. I immediately called Comcast Tech Support to cancel. After going through the process of reaching the place where I was to cancel, I was put on hold for 20 some minutes while I listened to the same stupid music over and over. I finally hung up. If the technician comes tomorrow, I may or may not be home.

I believe my wife and I have had it with Comcast but don't know who would be better.

Any recommendations?