KC Confidential

Here it is—and almost too late…

It’s the end of September. You’re planning on a Thanksgiving or Christmas trip—and you haven’t purchased your airline tickets yet?

What are you waiting for?

It’s not going to get any cheaper, I can assure you that!

One of the big factors coming into play this year is the absence of the Boeing 737 Max aircraft that three of America’s largest carriers had to take out of service following those two crashes.

American supposedly had planned to have about 40 Max’s flying in time for the holidays.

United expected around 30. And Southwest as the aircraft’s biggest customer? Who knows how many of their 737 Max’s are parked? The numbers could be stunning.

What does that mean for you and me?

Thousands of less available daily seats and more flight cancellations during prime travel time.

Southwest has apparently removed the planes from its schedule through January 5, 2020.

United through December 19 and American through December 3.

But those dates keep changing. Continue reading →

Toto, I don’t think we’re in Kansas anymore…

Come to think of it, we’re a long way from over the rainbow.

In the new bio-drama “JUDY” Ms. Garland has actually drifted BEHIND the rainbow.

But, when it comes to awards, Renee Zellweger should be a sure bet for landing a ‘Best Actress’ nomination.

Her portrayal of the older Judy Garland is flawless.

The movie is set about 30 years after Garland first gained global stardom in “The Wizard Of Oz”.

But, at what price?

There was the studio boss who got her hooked on pills – the personal demons that overwhelmed the child actress.

The custody battle with ex-husband, Sid Luft.

ALL while her erratic career began to nosedive in North America.

But, still there was light at the end of the tunnel. Continue reading →

Even false gods and profits come with expiration dates… 

Such may well be the case with beloved KU basketball coach Bill Self.

Self’s been living on borrowed time ever since his high profile sex scandal rocked Lawrence a handful of years back, during which he moved out of the family manse into an upscale condo across town.

Most roundball-loving locals placed the blame squarely at the feet of a former neighbor of mine, rather than Wild Bill. For which she – not Self – paid a pretty dear price.

That’s how all-important the game of basketball is in Lawrence, Kansas.

So how are prominent Lawrenceites taking the bad news regarding the NCAA violations?

Not too well…although they’re mostly being protected by local media like the Lawrence Journal World and Kansas City Star from headlines like this in USA Today:

“NCAA’s message to Bill Self: You’re a cheater and we want you out of college basketball”

Reminds me of the Star’s recent editorial hit piece on Kris Kobach in which they wished aloud that he would be “kneecapped” and left along the side of a road nobody drives down.

I digress…

Continue reading →

What are the Democrats afraid of?

This is what happens when you’ve been inside the Beltway – in the game for far too long – you get disrupted. That’s right, Trump disrupted the Democrats who were so busy studying history that they didn’t realize the country had changed.

Well, it’s changed again.

What we’ve learned is 30% of the people will vote for Trump no matter what.

There’s no way in hell you can convince them otherwise, write them off.

As far as those people in the middle, swayable, the canard is that if you make one false move they’re gonna vote Republican again. But the Democratic leaders just don’t get it. Those people voted for Trump because the Democrats weren’t servicing them. The left was beholden to the nouveau riche, those who benefited from the system and globalization. And this sector believed, unfortunately correctly, that not only did the left wing elite not care about them, they had contempt for them. So they decided to flip the script, throw over the table, anything to wake the Democrats up and hopefully generate change.

Oh boy, they got it with Trump.

And most of America doesn’t like what he’s done, but don’t ask Nancy Pelosi to do anything about it.

Now the Democrats missed their chance.

Like they have for decades, they’ve allowed the right wing to control the narrative, this time with the Mueller Report. Attorney General William Barr got out ahead and the Democrats never conceived of a viable strategy to get rid of the President.

Then, way too late, they decided they would do so, slowly, like a record company transitioning from physical to digital…better not go too fast, you might piss off some of your old partners.

But this appeal to everybody approach appeals to nobody!

You’ve got to lead. That’s what was wrong with Obama. He was so fearful of being labeled an angry African-American that he stayed calm in the face of right wing shenanigans. He didn’t call them out – he didn’t get aggressive – he just squirmed like a five year old when they stole his Supreme Court pick.

Hell, Obama could have shut down the government, done his best to bring the Republicans to their knees, but NO, you’ve just got to toss your hands in the air and then point to the other guy and say he’s bad. Hell, Bill Belichick is bad, the Patriots keep testing the rules, but the Patriots consistently win, over and over again.

Trump has handed the Democrats a gift.

He’s admitted he discussed Joe Biden with Ukraine and withheld aid. If not now, when?

What the Democrats don’t realize is no one wants to vote for a pussy.

Pussies are pissed on. Continue reading →

In June of 1967, I was a fourteen year old, living with my parents in Overland Park…

We were watching the Kansas City Athletics baseball team on television one Friday evening when someone called from the Leawood Police Department.  My dad answered and I could hear him tell the caller, “No, that’s not possible, he’s been here all evening.”  After he hung up he explained that a woman had reported me to the police, saying I’d just vandalized her house in Leawood

Naturally I was very upset when I heard this.

I asked my father to call the police on Monday to see who was responsible for falsely accusing me.  When he got home Dad told me that the person who called was not a police officer, but a member of the “police auxiliary, who comes in sometimes to help out.”

In other words, I never found out who made these allegations, either on the part of the police or the alleged victim.

Fast forward eight years to 1975.

I was in law school by then.  My twin brothers, age 16, were in high school and still living at home when two Overland Park police officers showed up unannounced at our house.  They told my father and brothers that they were there to question them about an armed robbery that occurred at a convenience store.  My father bit his tongue but then explained that the allegations couldn’t be true because my brothers were with him on a business trip in Houston on the date of the robbery and he had eyewitnesses who could prove it. The police got up and left and that was the last we heard of the incident.

As frustrating as these events were-largely because we never knew who was behind these false accusations-there is another situation that is even more frightening. That is when an innocent person is “set up” for a crime, i.e. tricked into unwittingly breaking the law so they can be criminally charged.

The classic example for me is when a high school classmate would send people tabs of LSD in the mail, with a cute little note; “Congratulations, by receiving this hallucinogenic drug, you’ve just committed a Felony. Ha! Ha!”

Another instance dates from the 90’s, when an opposing lawyer in a legal case sent a witness to talk to me wearing a concealed recording device.  The witness then offered to testify in return for a bribe.  Fortunately, I did not take the bait and later was able to go back against the crooked lawyer.

The Anglo/American common law tradition frowns on the use of police spies and agents provocateur. There is a long and dishonorable tradition of governments misusing such operatives to frame political enemies.  Joseph Conrad’s classic spy novel, “The Secret Agent” is about such a scheme, set in 19^th century London, where fear of “anarchists” led to all kinds of questionable tactics by the authorities.

The Reichstag fire in Germany and the Oklahoma City bombing are other examples of where people who previously lacked the capacity or intent to commit terrorist acts were likely induced to act by government agents, in order to discredit the regime’s opponents.

This is exactly what is happening now with the Deep State and its war on the Trump administration. Continue reading →

It was boring…

The whole world tuned in…

And then the whole world tuned out.

This is why Roger Ailes succeeded – he knew it was all about showbiz, and the only person on stage who seemed to know this was Julian Castro.

Yes, he was the big winner of the night, even though he called out Joe Biden and was half-wrong. You see Castro came to win. A back of the pack softie, Castro demonstrated his fighting spirit – he stood up to Biden – laughed and rolled his eyes when somebody said something he thought was stupid or irrelevant. Now we know who Castro is. He certainly replaced Kamala Harris on the leaderboard.

Never pay heed to the analysts.

By attacking Trump and nobody (else) on stage, Harris took herself right out of the picture. She seemed like she really didn’t want to be there, like a prosecutor on Friday who wants to wrap up and get out of court. She’s toast.

As are the rest of the seven dwarves, other than the aforementioned Castro.

Beto O’Rourke, he even said some good stuff, but who cares? He was last year’s flavor, now – he’s just another young guy trying to make a name for himself.

Klobuchar? A strict mother who was pissed with the shenanigans, who kept telling us she knew better and to trust her, that she could bring the whole country together…huh? Forget plans, just meet me in the middle.

Cory Booker? Okay, you’ve been there and done that, but what have you done for us lately? You didn’t solve the problems in Newark and now you want us to give you the keys to the Oval Office because? I can’t figure out a reason why.

And Andrew Yang, who triumphed by speaking English as opposed to political-speak, blew his whole candidacy by turning it into a game show.

Yup, he was gonna give a grand to ten families every month…and then let’s see what happens? Everybody else laughed. And when he said he knew about doctors because he was Asian, implying that the profession was filled with Asians, he demonstrated that he’s living in a bubble, that he doesn’t know the rules, that there are certain things you can’t say, but he did! Over.

Mayor Pete? He said some good things, he appeared wise, he regained some luster, but not enough to recover from the police problems in his hometown.

Which leaves us with the three real candidates…Joe, Bernie and Elizabeth. Continue reading →

Kevin Kietzman

How quickly we forget…

Just a few months back, WHB sports yakker Kevin Kietzman was a force to be reckoned with here in the Cowtown.

By many accounts, Kietzman wasn’t exactly the world’s nicest guy.

Quite the opposite some would say.

The flip side of that equation:

Kietzman pulled few, if any punches, and practically single handedly morphed local sports talk radio from homer talk, with faint hearted criticism of the Royals, Chiefs and KU, to when-did-you stop-beating-your-wife journalism.

He was rude, crude and skeptical – arguably to a fault.

Yet because of his stellar ratings and star power Kietzman appeared bullet proof.

Or so it seemed.

Until he reached critical mass by bringing down the wrath of the Chiefs, KU and their legion of supporters. And then foolishly took on both embattled Kansas basketball coach Bill Self and Chiefs coach Andy  Reid.

Might as well toss in the Kansas City Royals, because if nothing else, Kietzman was an equal opportunity offender.

And so it was, that in one fell swoop, Kietzman’s cruel criticism of Reid’s tragic family circumstances landed him on death row. Then just like that he was gone, baby, gone.

Possibly for all time, according to several sources, including some of KC’s top radio heavy hitters who now say they wouldn’t touch Kietzman at any price.

Shades of Fox News heavyweight Bill O’Reilly who sank like a bowling ball after Fox cut him loose.

How bad is it?

Continue reading →

There’s gotta be a way for Kevin Kietzman to make an honest buck…

Continue reading →

I discovered it in the New Yorker…

Every day I do back exercises – takes about half an hour – and while I do them I struggle to read my iPhone. Otherwise I’m bored; I don’t want to waste time.

It’s at this time that I go through the round of my news apps.

I’m especially hooked on the WaPo and the London Times, because I don’t get these in print. The paper is better in print. Oh, there’s less news, and it’s late, but you find stories you missed, that round out your view of the world.

To be honest, I’m checking the news apps all day long – I’m addicted- in a good way. It’s not FOMO, it’s just that I dig it. Now you can feel like a participant, you’re always up to date, ready to play. Of course this leaves you as the information source for your friends, you end up a lecture series, which is not satisfying.

But every once in a while there’s a subject I’ve got to broach.

Like the Popeyes chicken sandwich.

I’ve never eaten there.

I guess I got turned off when Kentucky Fried Chicken went off the rails. When the skin came detached from the meat. You’ve got to know, once upon a time KFC was the new thing. My father would buy a bucket, along with that dynamite cole slaw, and take it to us at the beach after work. I can still taste it. KFC was a staple, there was always a bucket at the Labor Day picnic (along with ears of corn drenched in salt water and cooked over a charcoal grill).

Now when I moved to L.A., there was Pioneer Chicken, all over the place, and it was really bad. Some people still testify about the failed chain, but there are people who reminisce about Swanson’s TV Dinners too.

My local fast food chain of choice was the All American Burger.

Ate tons of those. But then they went by the wayside and I got wary of all that fried food, fast food and…

Then I read an article about the Popeyes chicken sandwich.

Now for a while there, Jack In The Box had a killer chicken sandwich. Then there was Carl’s Jr.’s (why “Jr.”?, I always wondered that) barbequed chicken sandwich, which was actually a piece of chicken – but the former was fried and I lost my taste for the latter, and yes, I’ve had Gus’s. But to tell you the truth, I want to live, I’m watching my heart.

Now it’s taking everything in my power to not drive to Popeyes.

So if you’re a New Yorker person, a couple of years back they released a new app, NYerToday, that features specialized content each and every day.

Now the truth is the New Yorker has very little virality, it’s mostly an echo chamber.

Oh, occasionally they break news, or deliver insight, a la the recent Al Franken article, that spreads, but that’s rare. I never hear anybody talking about the articles in NYerToday, and to tell you the truth, oftentimes they’re written from an intellectual spot high above the real world and are out of touch with the essence of life. But this article in NYerToday intrigued me, it was entitled: “Popeyes Chicken Sandwich Is Here To Save America” Continue reading →

The battle lines are being drawn…

It’s the conflict over program content during a period when Netflix is about to face major competition from Disney’s new streaming service, as well as Comcast and Warner Media.

Who’s going to blink first?

The current chess game is this fall’s planned digital streaming Netflix release of director Martin Scorsese’s highly anticipated organized crime drama, ‘THE IRISHMAN,’ co-starring Robert DeNiro, Joe Pesci and Al Pacino.

Will the reportedly $159 million, Netflix produced film be available at your local multiplex? That seems to be the sticking point right now.

According to a recent story in the New York Times, Netflix is currently discussing the possibilities with at least two major theater circuits. The hang-up: The theaters insist on the right to show the film exclusively for approximately 90 days before it is made available for simultaneous streaming.

An impasse?

We’ll have to wait and see. Hopefully it will work itself out better than when ‘ROMA’ faced a similar stand off and received a very limited theatrical playoff—which didn’t help it in the Oscar race.

(Note: For Oscar eligibility and consideration a film must have a minimum of a seven day engagement in an L.A. based theater.) Continue reading →

We’ve seen this movie before…

It’s depressing, instructional  – and unfortunately – inevitable.

In Tiananmen Square, the world saw a single, solitary man, defy the might of the Chi-Com Imperium in front of a tank.  Soon after 10,000 Chinese patriots were slaughtered in pursuit of the things we take for granted – constitutional protections, under a Democratically elected government.  Free speech, the right to bear arms – how differently might these protests have gone down if the populace was armed? – and the protections against illegal search and seizure.

However many American dogs are in this fight, but will their barks be heard?

No American blood will be spent. 

It is what it is, and that is how it must be. We cannot assist or provide arms to these rebels. The stakes are too high.

So we will watch and wait… and hope. Continue reading →

So what’s in a title?

It can be a lot when it comes to lesser-known and/or independent movies.

Take this week’s new feel-good, comedic drama called ‘THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON‘.

When I mention the title to people, the results I’ve been getting are—well, frankly blank stares.

That’s a shame because the film is really quite good.

Of course, the title doesn’t do much for it—UNLESS YOU’VE SEEN IT!

Get the picture?

Let me just say that the movie has already opened in a handful of major markets and has scored an impressive 97% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes—and deservedly so! Continue reading →

Be prepared…

The very first line in “GOOD BOYS” contains an F-Bomb delivered by a 12 year old. Also be prepared for 90 minutes of funny dialogue coming from an angst-ridden trio of young boys trying to fit into the present day moment.

But while many moviegoers will want to compare the comedy to 2007’s hilarious “SUPERBAD,” the “GOOD BOYS'” focus is more on tween complications of growing up.

Both films were produced by the comedy partnership of Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg.

“GOOD BOYS” is a day in the lives of three tight-as-a-knot, pre-teen best buddies who would do anything for each other—and in any situation.

But with a so-called ‘kissing party’ coming up neither Max, Lucas nor Thor know anything about the art of lip-locking.

Panic anyone? Continue reading →

There are so many lessons here…

1. Conventional wisdom is oftentimes ignorance. All movements start from the bottom up, and most pundits don’t recognize it – they’re too busy hanging in the club. This is how it always happens in music and how it will happen again. And one thing we know for sure, radio will not be in the lead.

All phenomena start online, that’s where this year’s biggest hit, Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road” started – not even on YouTube or Spotify, but TikTok. Platforms change the sound. It’s McLuhan in action. And on streaming services shorter and more pays better than long and less. “Old Town Road” is not even two minutes long. And when it’s done you repeat it, not only embedding it in your brain, but causing Lil Nas X to make more money.

You’ve got to adjust to the new paradigm, the old one is never coming back.

2. You start off the radar. Especially today, when it’s so hard to get noticed. Traction happens way down the line. You’ve got to pay your dues and invest.

3. Warren enacted an all out ground game in Iowa. Knowing that it would pay dividends later.

Your marketing plan today is long instead of short. If the total effect is now, you’re losing. People want to be invested, they want to come on along the way, they want to spread the word, they want to own it. So when you carpet bomb, people notice and then they move on, there’s little sticking power. And, you’ve got to spend money to make money/have an impact. In the previous decade great was good enough. In other words, if your work was great, people found it and you. But not today, there’s too much in the channel, you’ve got to work it. The key is to establish a base audience, that you can depend on, that will keep your career alive.

4. People always say you’ve got not chance until you do.

5. The biggest media outlets are always the last to know. TV is too busy talking to itself and newspapers/print think about their audience first, they’ve got giant blind spots.

6. Sincerity triumphs. As does credibility. People have to believe in you. You create this bond when they see you. It’s all about personal interaction. Want to have a career? Go on the road and cement the bond, a hit single is not enough.

7. Everybody wants to get behind momentum, excitement, once you start to break through, you’re a phenomenon, you get the attention.

8. You don’t know who is gonna win until you play the game. Joe Biden was a shoo-in until he was not. History repeats, can you say Muskie, can you say Jeb Bush? Continue reading →

The sighs of relief reached the decibel level of the 1812 overture…

That after the news that pervy business tycoon Jeffrey Epstein hung a loss on the American public and a win for the slimy politicians and swells who populate the corridors of power the world over.

I mean, how many people do you know who’ve been murdered, committed suicide or died under “mysterious circumstances”?

I knew two people who were murdered and a few who committed suicide – and I’ll be 70 next year.

(This does not count people I knew who went to Vietnam.)

However, if you’re Bill and Hillary Clinton that list is legion.

Get too close to the Clinton fire and you will burn.

Of course, I’m NOT accusing the Clinton family of ANYTHING.

That said, if you’re friends with the Clinton’s, best that your life insurance is paid in full. Continue reading →

So you’re looking forward to Melissa McCarthy’s latest flick…

After all, it looks like a lot of action and fun. Like maybe another ‘Girls Buddy’ movie reminiscent of 2006’s “GHOSTBUSTERS”?

Well, take it from me – it’s NOT!

“THE KITCHEN” instead is a gangster crime thriller based on DC Comics Vertigo series and takes full advantage of its strong R rating….if you get my drift. (i.e. ‘Rated R for violence, language throughout and some sexual content.’)

“Lock your F******G doors!”

The setting here is New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood circa 1978 where Irish mob wives Melissa McCarthy, Elisabeth Moss and Tiffany Haddish’s husbands have been incarcerated for crimes committed.

Now what? Continue reading →

It’s like clockwork…

Every time the Kansas City Chiefs snag an experienced, star the town goes crazy.

I probably don’t need to remind many of you of what went down years ago when the Chiefs got what was left of superstar QB Joe Montana – the underwear signings, covered-up-by-the-cops late night antics, etc.

There’s something about the scent of a Super Bowl that’s catnip for local football freaks.

Nothing else really much matters.

Does the name Tyreek Hill ring any bells?

Even part timer Steve DeBerg set off an explosive chain reaction in the 1990s that filled Arrowhead for two playoff seasons.

I also remember Craig Glazer of Stanford’s in Westport talking about what a party animal DeBerg was and describing him being passed out in a window overlooking Westport Road at the front of the club. Continue reading →

That’s right, I’m just back from my 1st actual vacation in more than four years…

I know, I know – by the standards of mainstream blogging, column writing and things such as that, I’ve been on vacation following my divorce in 2015.

That said, as some of you know, I have a full time job now working with BMW and Volkswagen, so it’s not like I’m holed up in my mother’s basement, writing for free and trying to prove to the world that I matter.

Been there – done that.

These days I’m taking as much time as a halfway “normal” working life allows to try and provide as much in the way of news, opinion and general stupidity as I can.

So yeah, while less in not more, remember that line about “half a loaf”? Continue reading →

Every day, a new left wing trope – no wonder Republicans are laughing…

To progressives, Obama was a disappointment. He was a centrist in an era of tribalism, one could even call it extremism. On his watch, Democrats lost tons of governorships and state legislatures. Sure, he’s a dignified man. Sure, he’s an African-American.

BUT THAT’S NOT ENOUGH!

Lionizing Obama is like saying the Backstreet Boys are inviolate, can’t be criticized, because the era they triumphed in was good financially. Hell, let’s add in ‘N Sync while we’re at it. Didn’t they sell in excess of two million CDs in a week? That’s right, let’s go back to not only CDs, but Nickelodeon, Hummers, all the “great” stuff that existed at the turn of the century.

Meanwhile, cars don’t come with CD players and the younger generation streams.  Think they’ll get excited about their parents’ music? I DON’T THINK SO!

Nothing is off the table.

Hell, look, at the Republicans, our tweeter-in-chief. He blasts everybody, and it’s working for him. It’s hilarious to watch the Democrats react to everything he says and make no progress.

Better to attack Trump’s financials, demonstrate in front of his faux (as in name-licensed) buildings every day, or TAKE ACTION!

That’s what California did, by passing a law that candidates in primaries must show their tax returns.

The right is FREAKING OUT over this! You want your enemy freaking out, not chuckling.

Meanwhile, Trump reverses seemingly every Obama advancement.

It’s like giving credit to a general who took territory and then his successors lost it, because they were not prepared well enough.

And Obama was Jackie Robinson, someone who broke up the white hegemony, but Jackie had to be calm and collected, he couldn’t fit the stereotype of the angry black man, and neither could Barack.

Meanwhile, the stars in Obama’s vaunted NBA are completely the opposite, they run the game, and they stand  up to racist acts all the damn time…AND THE PUBLIC LOVES THEM FOR IT!

But in the Democratic party, you must be a mouse. Continue reading →