It didn't take long for a growing trend in youth sports to rear its ugly head here in Platte County. Parents are ruining youth baseball. A couple of weekends ago, at a tournament at Platte County's Tiffany Hills Complex, two teams of 13-year old baseball players were involved in a bench-clearing brawl. This wasn't a standard baseball fight between the competitors, this was a fight, primarily, amongst the fans and the coaches.

Before it was over, 10 cop cars were called, arrests were made, suspensions of both the fighters and the teams were made and multiple lawsuits have started making their way through the legal system. From folks I've talked with, the fight was extremely violent and lasted quite a while. Doesn't sound much like baseball to me.

I've been to many tournaments up at Tiffany Hills and they run a good operation up there. However, the feature of many of these tournaments is the over-aggressive team of superstar kids and their win at all costs parents.

Where do you draw the line? Ten cop cars would be a good place to start. Even though those tournaments are about winning, youth sports is ultimately about teaching our kids skills to deal with life. Punching Bill from accounting when he didn't get his quarterly estimates in on time isn't generally allowed once you grow up. Don't like your boss? Just F-Bomb him during the morning meeting. Or maybe that guy who took your parking spot, just take a bat to the windshield.

I'm the father of a 9-year old baseball player, and after every game, I deal with a kid who is frustrated at his own performance, the umpires, the other team and the coach. Each one of these are learning chances for me and my kid. They're chances to explain to him that sometimes life doesn't go your way. Sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you can bear down and make good things happen. And sometimes, umpires are just awful. But ultimately, it's a chance to explain that baseball isn't important in the grand scheme of things. But in many ways, it's extremely important to make these kids into folks who solve their differences and problems not with arguments and fights.

Unfortunately, idiot parents are the growing trend in youth sports. Every week, it seems, there are stories of parents fighting in the stands and coaches getting into confrontations. It seems that trend has found Platte County.

The really sad part is that both teams likely face suspension from future tournaments so the kids are really the ones who are most penalized for their knucklehead parents. Take a few extra minutes to assess your own behavior when attending your kid's sporting events. The kids you help today might be the ones in traffic, or the accounting department tomorrow.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where is known as @TheFakeNed. Reach him through his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

In last week's school board elections, Park Hill voters missed out on a chance to make history. Oh, sure, we congratulate the two new additions to the school board, Allison Wurst and Fred Sanchez, but it seems that NONE of you had enough of a sadistic sense of humor to vote for the most curious candidate to come down the pike in a while, white-power advocate Edward Stephens.

Come on, weren't you just a little curious on what would've happened had the “white culture” fan Stephens made the school board? Would he have painted all the busses white? Would he have changed the home page to all district computers to www.vanilla-love.com? Would he have rewritten all the American History curriculums to have Hitler win the war?

Chickens. All of you.

Clearly this guy has a screw loose, but I believe that sometimes the best way to expose these losers to the world is to put them in front of a microphone. Have you ever actually listened to some of these clowns talk? Stephens had the balls to say on his Twitter account, according to The Pitch, that “race was the matter.” Surely he'd have come up with some entertaining proposals. Maybe he'd have proposed making the Park Hill South Panthers the Park Hill South White Polar Bears? Oh, sure the rest of the board would vote it down, but not after we all had a good laugh.

There would've been packed houses in school board meetings as his proposals to change to white rice only in school lunches were shouted down by parents and students. Participation would've been at an all-time high as folks came from near and far to hear the racist and divisive comments of a school board member. You might've even gotten your own TLC Reality Show.

No, instead Park Hill voters went with safe, boring choices. Heck they might even be competent with ideas to better test scores and improve facilities. When has that ever brought entertainment? How can you make the newspapers with “safe” choices?
Park Hill missed out on a historic vote to make 20/20 or Dateline NBC. Oh, sure, you might've been the laughingstock for putting a man in office who didn't “want to be politically correct” and wanted all the white people to flee the district. You folks missed out on quality entertainment.

Oh sure, I might look at things a little differently. I enjoy a little bit of chaos in my politics. But did you have to vote the poor guy dead last in the election? His street cred with the rest of the sheet-wearing white supremacists is going to go in the toilet. The Grand Wizard is likely to make fun of him. Maybe he'll have to clean dishes at the next KKK picnic.

You voters are mean.

In the meantime, I guess you voters will just have to take solace knowing that you selected to improve your district by voting intelligent school board members who don’t hate minorities.

But with that kind of thinking, you won't make very much of a reality show. Instead, you’ll enjoy your higher test scores across students of all creeds and colors.

(With his tongue often firmly planted in his cheek, Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @TheFakeNed. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

It's taken me nearly 40 years, but I think I've finally figured out what a man's job is in this world.

I've spent many of these years in a state of immaturity and during that time, my guess is that the job of a man was to open pickle jars or possibly discuss farting with your friends. It might also have been to make sure the lawn is mowed, or possibly watching football from 10 a.m. on Saturday morning until 11 p.m. on Monday night.

The bulk of my time has simply been awkward attempts at finding out the role of a “man” in this world. At one point, I thought that a man's job was to clean spyware off of old peoples' computers. Is it to flip people off in traffic? Is it to buy beef jerky at the gas station? Could it be a man's job to grill steaks outside, shirtless, with a grill so hot, that the hairs on his chest begin to smoulder? Perhaps it's to be the person who buys a post-hole digger, and then immediately possesses the knowledge how to use it as if it's been uploaded by a computer from the Matrix?

No, I think that I've finally figured out that a man's job on this planet is to stop unruly people in-flight. Have you seen the videos of a recent Jet Blue flight from New York to Las Vegas where the captain of the flight went bat-crap crazy? He started running up and down the aisles of the plane screaming about a bomb being on board placed there, of course, by “Iran” and “Iraq.” Those sneaky bastards. Well, as the cell phone videos show, the Captain was subdued by several male passengers. Just like a man should do. The videos also show several other men rising and rushing to the aid of the other men. THOSE are men. Those are the men you want to model behavior around.

I guess you might also say that a man's job is to make sure you take cell phone video of the other men suppressing the bat-crap crazy man. But that's more of a secondary role.
Men are protectors. Men are providers. And let that be a lesson to any would-be pilot who's about to go koo koo for cocoa puffs... Don't do it on a flight to Vegas. There's NOTHING that will stop men from an opportunity to shoot craps and stare at boobs. (Which are also secondary roles that men have.)

If the world consisted solely of men like these, there'd be no crime. All the beef jerky would be sold and there'd be no such thing as a Kardashian on television. The seat would always be up, and Chuck Norris would be President of the United States.
For me, I can only learn from these men. I promise to abandon my attempts to accidentally put all the Katherine Heigl DVD's in the garbage. I promise to stop wearing underwear until they are so riddled with holes they lack the structural integrity to hold anything. I further promise to fumigate my favorite chair more than once a decade.
I promise to live my live more like these men of Jet Blue Flight 191 - even if that means I need to fly back and forth to Vegas once a week.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. Contact him via his web site at ramblingmorons.com)

I'm sure you're seen it by now. The pop music swelling, the doe-eyed little boy, the generic voiceover guy explaining his personal mission of taking down an evil slave trader in Uganda.

The slave trader? A man named Joseph Kony. A name you'd have no reason to know until a video went viral by filmmaker Jason Russell. If you saw the video, you're not likely to forget it. I almost spent the $20 to buy one of those KONY 2012 bracelets and storm out of my suburban home to battle evildoers.

It was masterful. It was brilliant. It was compelling. It was also the latest example of how we need to be stronger at sniffing out propaganda and marketing. You think you've got a good nose for marketing BS? Hold on, while I call you on your iPhone. Or I can just chase you down in those neon-pink Nikes. Or I could just buy an ad during Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.

I know I'm getting crankier in my old age, but it's simply a condition of getting smarter. I have much less of a tolerance for fancy advertising tricks. This Kony nonsense is the latest example. Unfortunately, I smelled a rat because the video was too clean. It was too well put together. Turns out, that grass roots video cost $1.5 million dollars - nearly 1/3rd of the budget for Jason Russell's “Invisible Children” Foundation.

If I had a million dollars, I could make a viral video and then go blow $999,000 on pizza and hookers.

We need to be extremely shrewd about what information is fed to us. History is replete with examples of propagandists moving masses in one direction or the other. During World War II, it was Hitler's propaganda films that grew a nation of hate. That led to the United States' anti-Japanese propaganda posters nearly as shameful. Even Woody Woodpecker wanted us to get those Japs in the early 40's.

I say this, not to compare Jason Russell to propagandists or Hitler. But I will say that anything compelling is usually trying to get you to do something. The kicker is figuring out what they want you to do. Sure, Jason Russell wants to see Kony brought to justice, but he also wants you to send your money to his organization that sells trinkets and posters and hats.

There are rarely endeavors that are clean and pure because everyone has a sub-agenda. You just need to find one that fits your value system and be wise enough to identify the ones that don't.

No sooner had I decided to save my $20, than I saw in the news that Jason Russell had a nervous psychotic breakdown which included running up and down a public street wearing nothing but a smile. More and more reports are showing up now questioning the true motivation of the Invisible Children organization and I stand proud that the organization doesn't have my $20. Oh, sure, I may be complicit in letting a child slave trafficker walk the streets of Uganda, but I didn't give my money to a crazy person. It's a small win in my book. Just not one that I should probably be too proud of.

I'll save my cash for my trip to Namibia where I'm set to meet a rich Prince who has been having some problems with his billion dollar fortune. He sent me an e-mail, so I know it's legit.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. He can be reached via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

As I am completely out of column ideas, this seems an appropriate time to delve into the Platte County vs. Clay County debate. ROUND TWO. By now, I'm sure you know the drill. I will present five categories and then determine a winner. Last time, Platte County narrowly edged out Clay. Let's see what round 2 brings us.

CATEGORY 1 - Famous Citizens
Platte County - Famed citizens include Bill Grigsby and Hall of Fame golfer, Tom Watson.
Clay County - Football coach Gregg Williams

WINNER: Platte County
Whoops - Should've done this one a couple weeks ago before Williams was engulfed in a “pay for bounty” scandal that could end up with her permanent banning from the NFL. We'll quietly put the checkmark next to Platte and hope a 300 pound lineman doesn't go for my knees.

CATEGORY 2 - Best Golf Course
Platte County - The National and Tiffany Greens
Clay County - Hodge Park Public

WINNER: Platte County
Wow. Talk about a mismatch. I haven't ever seen the National as anyone with an annual income under $200,000 is killed if they were to ever see it, but I hear it's very nice. I have played the other two courses, and Platte absolutely destroys Clay in this area. Clay should ask for a mulligan.

CATEGORY 3 - Best High Schools
Platte County - Park Hill, Park Hill South and Platte High
Clay County - Liberty, St. Pius X and Staley

WINNER: Clay County
Wow. This might be as close to a draw as you can get and likely to draw a lof of criticism and debate (hate e-mails can go to fakened@ramblingmorons.com) but I'm going to need to give the edge to Clay County on this one. Staley is a growing powerhouse in the state and Liberty is no slouch.

CATEGORY 4 - Bars
Platte County - Platte City Pool Hall and Dirks
Clay County - Knuckleheads and River Aces

WINNER: Clay County
I can only go by sheer numbers of bars I have passed out in and there are several more in Clay than in Platte. (Although the numbers I've passed out in would surprise you.) Still no shortage of a place to get a Captain and Coke in either county.

CATEGORY 5 - Airports
Platte County - Kansas City International Airport
Clay County - Wheeler Downtown Airport and Excelsior Springs International

WINNER: Platte County
Going to have to give the edge to the airport where Air Force One flys in and out of, the one that has hosted a Space Shuttle and the airport that annoys me each and every day as 747's fly over my head. While Wheeler is quaint and Excelsior Springs gives off that “Wings” vibe, going to have to give the edge to MCI.

ROUND 2 WINNER: Platte County - Another win for the Platte. Three wins makes a streak so this is just a good run so far.
Step up your game, Clay County. Round III will start soon.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. He can be reached through his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

I found myself last week with the opportunity to be on television, which means that the next day, I started a new diet. (One person asked me if there were 30 cameras on me. Ugh.) A diet is simply attempting to train your body to accept a multitude of new habits (and stop doing bad ones) all at the same time. This isn't my first diet, this is, roughly, my 924th diet. I am the Cal Ripken of dieting. But I'm still in week one. Still feeling good. Still getting that boost of energy. And I haven't made that fateful crash trip into McDonalds yet.

This column won't be about the mechanics of a diet. They all seem to follow a similar premise, you change a bunch of terrible habits to good habits and then hope a few of them stick after a few weeks. So far, in previous diets, I have been successful in stopping to drink soda, I've stopped pouring salt on my food and I eat much less fast food, roughly once a week versus three or four times a day. (Unless McRib is back, then get out of my way.)

Have you ever made eye contact with someone at the grocery store, only to then be persecuted by a 30 minute conversation? Healthy people are like that when they know a dieter is in their midst. This article is about the “Healthy People” a.k.a. “People Who Need To Not Talk To Me While I'm Dieting.”

Now, let me make this clear, I'm not disparaging healthy people. I love you all. I should be learning these healthy habits from you. But, respectfully, I'd like to bash your heads in with a hammer. You all seem to creep out of the baseboards like a London fog once you realize that there is a dieter amongst you. You start with the “suggestions” - “Oh, well, Frank and I simply ALWAYS drink soy milk.” And you “drop by” with your no-bake gluten free hairball pie. (I don't actually know the name, I just know what it tasted like.)

I really harbor no ill will towards these people. They are only attempting to show their love and affection for this little fat guy. The problem is that they're actually part of the problem with living a more healthy lifestyle. Us fat people have simply been programmed to eat these terrible chemicals our whole lives. For whatever reason(s) these habits have been made part of our daily lives. An e-mail isn't going to fix that. It is a retraining. If you really want to help, make me a chicken breast and a salad every day for the next 60 days, deliver it to me and don't talk while I eat it. THAT is going to help with the training. Not your no-bake toe-jam granola bites.

It's not that I'm ungrateful for your suggestions and help. Well, actually, I'm not. Turns out that weaning yourself off of these chemicals and toxins makes you extremely grumpy. So it's not that I don't appreciate your help, it's just that I very well might run you down in the parking lot whilst eating my banana and broiled chicken.

The other issue is that all of you healthy people maintain your healthiness in different ways. Some just have high metabolisms, some are on gluten-free lifestyles, some go super-herbal in their efforts to maintain their weight and some do the powders and pills. The problem is that your suggestion is likely forbidden by the next guy who gives me a suggestion. One person told me to drink “Crystal Light” and then in the very next e-mail, another person says “that stuff is poison.” If you eat something as simple as a hard boiled egg, there is some guy out there who will tell you it's worse than a Big Mac. So, I'm left to figure it all out for myself whilst repressing the urge to end up on the front page of The Landmark under the police blotter.

In the meantime, if you have recipes that taste terrible but are “healthy for you,” diet suggestions that can easily be proven as unhealthy by some camp or just coupons to Casey General Store for some of that “Business of the Year” pizza (which I'm certain is calorie-free), you can send those into The Landmark and I'll make sure to give Ivan the coupons and I'll give your recipes a try. (But if they taste like glue, I might write about it.)

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter where he is known as @thefakened. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

Let me let you in on a little look behind the curtain of journalism and media. Today, we're going to teach you how to write an article when you are out of ideas.
First, you have to understand a very important principle about journalism --you can make your own news if you try hard enough. This is true whether you are a news journalist or a sports journalist.

One of the tools you must master is something I call the “nested hypothetical.” Watch as I build a premise from thin air. Here's a simple example. If you were stranded on a deserted island, AND someone dropped you a human leg from a helicopter, would you eat the human leg? You would likely answer “yes, if it was that or die of starvation, sure.” Therefore, if you are reporting this answer, you can state that the person “could be” a cannibal.

The principle is that two (or even more) unlikely scenarios would team up to present a monumentally unlikely scenario. Oh, sure it's a little bit of yellow journalism, but it really works!!

Let's try another one:

You are a presidential candidate, and you are asked the following question, “If you had a daughter who was out jogging one night, and that daughter was violently raped, and because of that assault became pregnant, would you advocate that daughter getting an abortion?”

While I'm sure the answer is legitimate and even important to the presidential process, doesn't it seem a little silly that three or four or five make believe events would happen to justify the answer? Wouldn't that seem to invalidate the entire answer?

It reminds me of the old comeback I've used a few times, and I apologize if it's offensive to anyone. “If my aunt had balls, she'd be my uncle.” Well of course s/he would. But it's so ridiculous to even speculate.

You're seeing this a lot in sports also. The recent MU/KU games caused many versions of this question to be asked, “In 5 years, if MU and KU still find themselves not playing games, would they consider playing again?” Well, you're having to establish a make-believe point in time and then a make-believe set of conditions. We can't even say if the Big 12 will be in existence. Who is to say KU might not have to take the SEC on as a lifeboat if Texas bolts to some other conference.

The whole thing seems like a waste of time. Stick to what you know. Stick to the facts.
Sure, it's less fun if you have the following premise, “Say you're an astronaut, and your partner dies in his sleep, and then your spaceship gets hit by a meteor, do you then take the cyanide capsule even though your religion bans suicide?”

These parlor tricks by shrewd investigators and reporters should be identified and snuffed out. Especially when that reporter is out of ideas.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. Reach him through his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

Let's assume for a moment that people still congregate around a water cooler to share the day's gossip and news. Have you ever been standing around the water cooler, have a wonderful conversation about the game last night, then have some dorky guy walk up and want to derail the conversation forcing everyone to walk away? Yeah, my bet is that Clay Chastain is like that.

Why do I know the name Clay Chastain? Why does EVERYONE in the Kansas City area know the name Clay Chastain? Why do we all hate the name Clay Chastain?
Chastain is a dreamer. Americans love dreamers. Steve Jobs was a dreamer. Benjamin Franklin was a dreamer. For some reason, Kansas Citians hate Clay Chastain.

It's not even that his idea is terrible. The idea is actually pretty good. Who wouldn't want to be able to go from the Airport to Olathe, or from Blue Springs over to KCK. Have you ever TRIED the Metro bus line? Or tried to park at Terminal C at KCI? Especially here in the Northland. You could build your own light rail during the time it takes between circuits of the 229 Metro Bus from the Airport to downtown. The bus system is terrible up here. I work closer to the airport and live closer to downtown. I would use a light rail. But I don't like anything with Clay Chastain's name on it.

Clay Chastain is the prototypical Ned Flanders. He's the neighbor that needs your help laying tile in his bathroom then talks about his cats for 6 hours and never offers you a beer. He's in the news again as part of a lawsuit contending that the City of Kansas City cancelled a voter-mandated sales tax earmarked to build that new Light Rail.

Chastain is a Scientologist and also an electrical engineer. It is also reported that he hit on women outside a grocery store while getting petitions for one of his ballot initiatives in 2007. In 2006, The Pitch called Chastain “misguided” and said “Misguided as he may be, Chastain taps into a sentiment that Kansas City can't keep rebuilding the Grandview Triangle.”

Should we overlook our disdain for the man, and support the idea? I'll bet Bill Gates was no life of a party when he was 18 and building his first computers in his basement. (Or stealing ideas, depending on which historian you read.) Who would've wanted to hang out with some old coot named Ben that liked to fly kites in the rain? And Steve Jobs? With all those turtlenecks? What a nerd!!

Well, perhaps long after Clay disappears (he's already moved out of KC and he's still making the newspapers) his ideas will prevail. And 30 years from now, when you can take a bullet train from KCI to the new Arrowhead Stadium at the Woodlands, you'll be riding on the Chastain 1 train.

Until then, I will likely walk away when Clay comes up to the water cooler.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. Reach him through his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

Much has been written about the (alleged) end of the world later this year in 2012. Did an ancient race predict our doom? I have a different philosophy. My take is that there will be a reckoning... but it's karma that will be doing the heavy lifting.

Let's start with recent events here in the Platte as an example. There have been some incredibly compelling and odd news events filling the pages of this paper. One set of politicians (allegedly) attempted to protest construction of a YMCA by making the construction illegal. Another set of politicians (allegedly) decided that those same streets should have golf carts running along side 18-wheelers.

This all started with the Thanksgiving kangaroo, and has escalated with reports of serial killers and human skulls found in backyards. One thing is clear, there are some incredibly odd events going on here in Platte County.

But the greatest (allegedly) news event in the history of published print might be the tale of Chris Durbin, 20, of Platte City. This fella might be karma's first casualty in the efforts to take back the night from stupid (allegedly) criminals.

Karma is a Buddhist philosophy defined by dictionary.com as “action, seen as bringing upon one self inevitable results, good or bad, either in this life or in a reincarnation.”

Translation: Do bad things, get bad things done to you.

The center of this karmic reckoning has likely already started, right here, in Platte County.

The story, as I'm sure you've read right here in the Landmark, is as old as time. Who hasn't heard of the arsonist who goes on an arson spree (allegedly). This arsonist is just running around setting cars on fire willy nilly (allegedly). Not a care in the world, just doing his best arsoning (allegedly.) When he gets to his TWELFTH car to arson-up, he climbs in the car, begins his arsoning and goes to grab the handle of the car which didn't work. The arsonist died from arsoning inside the car (allegedly). Arsoned.

Stupid people and criminals beware. Karma is on the loose, and it's looking for you. If you are a corrupt politician, karma will find you. Possibly with a visit from the intrepid Landmark reporters. If you are beating your wife, karma will find you, perhaps in the form of a steroided out woman to beat the crap out of you. If you are a robber, perhaps you come home to find that YOUR house has been vandalized. If you enjoy lighting crap on fire, perhaps you die of lighting crap on fire. Allegedly.

Karma isn't just a stripper in Fort Lauderdale. It's a real and tangible thing. It's here in Platte County... And it's looking for its next victim.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

This year marks the final scheduled time that the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas play each other in collegiate sports.

Let that sink in a little bit. That sentence doesn't look right on paper. It's like the participle is dangling, or something. That can't be right, can it?

Well, for the time being, the two schools will focus on playing within their conferences. Missouri, with it's new inclusion into the Southeastern Conference (SEC) has abandoned the MU/KU rivalry, or so many Kansas fans will tell you. Missouri fans will say that Kansas is too chicken to find a way to play the game.

This also seems a lot like the fights I get into with my wife. We know we're mad at each other, but we don't really know why. Oh, sure, most fans will tell you that the rivalry started around the Civil War. But it was also a series of “Jayhawking Raids” into Missouri and “Quantrill's Raid” into Kansas that led to savage murders of residents in both states in 1861.

The reverberations of those raids are rooted deeply into the fiber of being a Missourian or a Kansan. Hatred was likely also a contributing factor in a signature fight between MU and KU during a basketball game in 1961.

Jump back to 1960, when the result of a football game between the two schools was reversed. KU originally won the game in which both teams were nationally ranked, and MU was undefeated at that point in the season. Kansas fullback Burt Coan let the Jayhawks to a 23-7 victory. Coan was ruled ineligible by the Big Eight Conference because of illegal recruiting, so the game was given to Missouri. The game is recorded as a win by both universities in their official records to this day.

The hatred was still fresh when the basketball teams met in early 1961 and the game was littered with technical fouls. According to an account in the Columbia Tribune, Missouri Freshman Basketball Coach Norm Stewart said what happened next was “the whole series of events building up.”

A hard foul of Kansas forward Wayne Hightower led him to swing at Missouri guard Charlie Henke in the face. This touched off a brawl of epic proportions which was broadcast live on ABC national television.

The reporter was the venerable Jack Buck whose call included the quote “Brother, they are really slugging in there.” The fight was violent and extended, lasting several minutes. When order was restored, both Hightower and Henke had been ejected and police officers had lined the court.

The fight left both teams with black eyes, but it did inspire the struggling Tigers to rally and beat the Jayhawks 79-76 in a stunning upset at Brewer Fieldhouse in Columbia.
The event, even 50 years later, still evokes emotion about those “Chickenhawks” or those “Missouri slavers.”

But the rivalry endured. Sure, the emotions are still raw, but the games were still played. And they meant more than just a typical regular season game. To end it would mean stopping something that needs to naturally play out. I hope both universities can find a way to keep playing these games. Because these games NEED to be played. This rivalry needs to continue.

For most, we don't really know WHY we hate each other, but we do know that we MUST keep hating each other.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. Reach him through his web site at ramblingmorons.com)

I know that there are some outstanding columnists on this page that do a much better job talking about politics, but I'm going to give it a try this week. Let me first tell you that I know about as much about politics as my wife does about the Olympic beach volleyball team. My voting record has been all over the board in Presidential elections. I think I voted for Reagan, Perot, Bush 43 and Obama, which I think qualifies me as an illegal alien.

I guess I just go with the flow, listen to a few speeches and go with my instinct.

However, I'm confident that my vote doesn't count and that I'll hate whomever I voted for 20 minutes after he takes the Oath of Office. Except Reagan. I liked that guy.

So, that brings me to this year. I think it's down to Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich. Although it easily could be Charlie Brown and Katie Holmes. And it now seems like Romney is the odds-on-favorite to win the Republican nomination. I'm not for or against either one of these guys, I'm simply...ambivalent. They both seem like absolute d-bags. I know that's not why you're supposed to vote for someone. You're supposed to vote on the issues.You're supposed to vote on the choice of smaller or larger government. You're supposed to vote for or against a strong national defense. You're supposed to vote for or against an economic recovery.

Other than those who are following the race very closely, can anyone tell me which one is better at any of those? Would Obama be the better choice? Katie Holmes? She did some very good work on Dawson's Creek.

I see Landmark columnist Brian Kubicki calling Obama a “Marxist” and Landmark columnist Chris Stigall pontificating on the glory of conservatism. But have either of the two parties really done anything? Has government gotten so far detached from the common man, that no election can really improve our environment? It only seems to be taking more things away from us, and filling the television with a lot of yelling.

Politics needs to be made more like the March Madness basketball tournament. Where you have a clear beginning, middle and end. You start, are challenged to solve the country's problems, and then if you don't make enough progress, you “lose” and move along. Survive and advance. Maybe folks would be motivated to make the country better if they couldn't come back next year. For now, it just seems that the goal is to confuse the voter into voting for whomever is glossy enough to move on. Kind of like American Idol. Or one of the Housewife shows.

In sports there is a saying, “leave it all on the floor.” Politics isn't sports, it's show business. And I'm not in the mood for that movie... Unless Katie Holmes is in it.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @thefakened. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

The buzz around town the past week has been about the soul-crushing working conditions for our NFL Franchise, the Kansas City Chiefs. Kent Babb, from the Kansas City Star wrote a scathing article outlining a workplace environment where employees were fearful having of their conversations monitored as well an environment where people weren't comfortable associating with members in other departments and just about the entire plot to the movie “Horrible Bosses.”

The critical story in his article centers around Scott Pioli, Chiefs general manager, calling an all-staff meeting to berate his office staff about a candy bar wrapper lying in a stairwell for weeks.

Part of me is very empathetic to these employees. Working for a jerk just makes you feel awful from the time you get out of bed until the time you drink yourself to sleep that night. But the more cynical side of me (which is the majority side) did do a bit of an eyeroll about the complaining. These “disgruntled” employees didn't go to their HR Department, nor did they file any sort of legal complaint. They went to the newspaper with the beef. That doesn't lessen the charges, but as my Dad always used to tell me, “there's usually another side to that story, and then there's the third side... the truth.”

The Chiefs are about as likely to release that other side of the story as I am likely to sprout wings and fly down Tom Watson Parkway. But this just seems to me like people not liking their boss.

Well, get in line.

Wasn't it Webster’s that said the definition of a “job” is “place where you are ordered by a person you don't like to do a job that you'd rather not do?” The antonym would be “play.”

Oh sure, there are some people, say astronauts or ice cream van drivers, that probably never have a day where their boss gives them crap about their quarterly report being in on time. But, then again, they could die in space or die of a diabetic coma. So there is that. It goes with the job.

So Scott Pioli is a crotch as a boss. Big deal. Going to the newspaper to complain ranks fifth in a list of “Ways to complain.”

1. Talk to your boss about it.
2. Talk to your HR department about it.
3. Talk to your spouse or boyfriend/girlfriend/therapist/dog/dog's therapist about it.
4. Journal your feelings whilst sitting in a bubble bath listening to John Tesh. (Hey, don't judge me.)
5. Talk to the newspaper about it.

Now, I know this might concern my boss, Mr. Ivan Foley, Editor of the Platte County Landmark. (Who, for the record, is NOT a horrible boss. Mostly because I know he is reading this.) So, let's make a deal, if you DO have a boss you don't like, skip 1-4 and just contact Ivan at ivan@plattecountylandmark.com.

Bosses are horrible. All bosses are. It's what they teach at Boss School. The sign of integrity is how to deal with it. Like a man? Or like a tattle tale?

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @fakenedyost. Reach him through his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

I get a haircut once a month. A few years ago, I decided to try one of those “barbershops just for men” with the TVs on the wall and the girls in the short shorts.

My first experience at that place, as I recall, was nothing short of legendary. I was escorted by a buxom blonde in a tight t-shirt to a chair where I got a haircut and shoulder rub. Then I was taken to a dark room in the back where I received something called a “scalp massage.” I don't think I'd ever had one before but I remember several things about that single experience: the experience was incredible, the experience was borderline erotic and the experience took a long amount of time.

I was sold. I was a customer. For life.

Over the course of the next several months, I continued to frequent that barbershop. And I continued to enjoy the “full service” experience that they give. But a couple of things began to break down. The hair stylists got a little less buxom. The clothing got a little more conservative. The quality of the haircut was a little more inconsistent. And the scalp massage got shorter, much less “appealing” and shorter.

One day, I went in there and noticed a 3-ring binder open to a page outlining to a stylist “how” to conduct the scalp massage. It outlined exactly how long it should take and what method should be done. I asked the girl styling my hair and she said they all had to study it and had to take tests on it.

I continued to be a customer of that shop for several more years, quietly hoping to have the same experience that I had my first time. It never happened.

Then, a couple of months ago, I noticed that a new barbershop opened just around the corner from my house. It also a nice reception area with lots of TVs and stylists in tight t-shirts and short shorts. The name on the front of the store was different, but it was clear that they were directly competing with the other barbershop, that had now clearly become a national chain.

So, I gave it a shot. The price was exactly the same and I expected the same quality of haircut I had grown to know, with the same half-hearted level of effort. I got the same haircut. I got the same shoulder rub and then I went to a darkly lit room for my scalp massage. What I experienced was even better than the best massage I got at the other place. I was in heaven. I was sold. I was a customer. For life. I think at one point I might've actually asked the girl to marry me.

Now, should I look at this as a glass half-full moment? Or should I look at it like a peak of service that will eventually deteriorate as the corporation looks to streamline, time-study and make their service more consistent?

One thing is for sure, you'll never forget your first time...

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he goes by @FakeNedYost. Reach him through his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

From time to time (when I'm out of any good ideas, for instance), I will be looking at the “other” Border War here in the Kansas City area. No, I'm not referring to the centuries-old battle between Kansas and Missouri. No, I'm not even referring to the skirmishes between Kansas City and Overland Park. I am, of course, leaving it all in the Northland as we look at which is the better county -- Platte or Clay.

As I live in one and work in the other, I feel this qualifies me as the perfect arbiter between the two counties. I will take five issues per round and then determine a winner for the round.

For now... here is the scorecard for Round 1

Category 1 - Breaking News
Clay County: The suspected arson of the Liberty Hills Country Club
Platte County: Fire truck crashes. Two of them.
WINNER: Platte County
Any five year old boy would agree that the simple choice is crashing fire trucks. I mean, it's friggin' firetrucks... CRASHING. Plus, we had a wild kangaroo as our kicker. (Pardon the pun.)

Category 2 - Shopping Districts
Clay County: The mess of retail and big box shopping at Highway 152 and I-35
Platte County: Zona Rosa
WINNER: Platte County
Whoever designed that mass of humanity at 152 and I-35 should be forced to drive a car full of screaming tweens up and down 152 all day for a week from one end of Buffalo Wild Wings all the way to William Jewell and then back. For weeks.

Category 3 - Business of the Year
Clay County: I have no idea what the Liberty Business of the Year was. I can only assume it was Target gauging off of how much my wife has spent there.
Platte County: Casey's General Store
WINNER: Even before this week's news that a Casey's employee allegedly was involved in a murder, the correct answer was “Not the county with a city that named a gas station its Business of the Year.” Checkmark for Clay County.

Category 4 - Quaint, Off the Beaten Path Town
Clay County: Excelsior Springs
Platte County: Parkville
WINNER: Clay County -- This was a close one. but I'm going to have to go with E-Town by a nose. Simply because of Wabash BBQ. The rest of the town smells like a moist cat.

Category 5 - Old-Time, Small Town Local Newspapers
Clay County: The Excelsior Springs Standard
Platte County: The Platte County Landmark
WINNER: Platte County -- Are you kidding me?
The Landmark beats the Standard in depth, breadth, weight of columnists and number of open bar Christmas parties. And we are winning the war against unnecessary cliches. Plus, my Daddy didn't raise no dummy. I know where my bread is buttered. And it is what it is.

The winner of Round 1... Platte County by a score of 3-2.

But this is just the beginning. Check this space in the future for more in the COMBAT OF THE COUNTIES.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @FakeNedYost. Reach him through his website, ramblingmorons.com)

Near the border of the counties of Clay and Platte along Highway 152 sits an ordinary old schoolhouse. From the highway, it looks like any other normal school building with the exception of a small, colorful baseball field near the highway. And “normal” is just how they want you to see it.

The complex is the Challenger Athletic Complex and it stands as one of the crown jewels of the area that nobody knows about.

It is here at the Challenger complex that special needs kids, kids in wheelchairs and other kids with mobility problems get an opportunity to play sports and compete with all the support they need. The facility is run by the YMCA and according to their website is the first of its kind in the nation. It is designed to “see able-bodied children playing on fields right next to those kids who are challenged with special needs.”

The complex is funded through local donations and has become one of the charities supported by the Kansas City Royals. This weekend, the Royals will be putting on a major charity event called “Challenge Your Fashion” to help raise money for the complex. The event features current and former Royals in a “fashion show.” As these fellas are used to only wearing uniforms, workout clothes and cleats, it's quite a show when they are dressed to the 9's. The event is also designed to be a great way to interact and party with our Boys in Blue. (And boys in very nice suits...) My wife is extremely excited to attend. I can only assume it's because she loves spending time with me and has nothing to do with the chance to see chiseled, muscular, professional athletes wearing their Sunday best.

Sports is a great tool to help the hearts and souls of children and just because a kid has limitations, that shouldn't be a barrier to participating. Scott Hallier, one of the coordinators of the charity event, and who also has a child in the program, says the opportunity to play sports is both “rare and rewarding.” Those kids will build the same life skills an able-bodied kid learns in team sports including teamwork and self-confidence.

The complex features a state-of-the-art baseball and soccer field. Its future plans include a football field and two grass baseball diamonds. The idea is to assimilate those with special needs with more able-bodied competitors.

All right here in the Northland.

Their yearly fundraiser is the best chance to help these kids. If you have an opportunity and the means, please come out to the Challenge Your Fashion event at the Midland, Saturday, Jan. 14. You can order tickets from challengeyourfashion.com. If you can't make it, please find a way to support and grow the YMCA's efforts to help these great kids and an amazing Northland charity.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @FakeNedYost. Reach him through his website, ramblingmorons.com)

The City of Parkville passed what could be the greatest ordinance in the history of city governments... ANYWHERE.

Starting on March 31, 2012 you will be able to drive golf karts on city streets in Parkville. This means, that for a $50 registration fee, you can take your golf kart from Hy-Vee on 64th street all the way to English Landing. Granted, it might take you a week and a half.

Life is supposed to be fun. Living in a town such as Parkville needs to be more enjoyable - why not mix in a golf kart? Who doesn't like driving around in a golf kart?
I applaud the Parkville Aldermen for this out-of-the-box thinking and could suggest a few more ordinances to help with making Parkville one of the more progressive cities in the Midwest:

•Mayoral decree that it's Golf Kart, not Golf Cart. Misspellings will result in a $500 fine and possible imprisonment.

•If you're going to add golf karts to public streets, the logical extension of this is to allow golf kart girls. Let's say you're driving your golf kart from Riss Lake over to All-Star Pizza and you're like, “I'm awfully thirsty and could use a $3 bag of Doritos.” And, BOOM! Up drives the golf kart girl who sells you a $5 Bud Light. Mmmm. Refreshing!
•Since Noland Road is commonly referred to as “The Miracle Mile” where you can buy just about every make and model of cars, how about we make a stretch of River Road the “Mildly Amazing Mile” where you can buy every model of golf karts, segueways and mopeds.

•Wyandotte County in Kansas, by all accounts, was saved by the construction of the Kansas Speedway. I nominate English Landing Park (when it's not underwater) as the future home for the Parkville Kartway - home to the National Golf Kart Racing Association circuit. (It's a real thing, Google it.) Imagine Golf Karts from all over converging on our little Parkville to make outstanding YouTube videos for decades to come.

•The $50 fee would be waved for the best personalized golf kart license plate - can't you just see that fella from Linden Park getting a nice surprise that his “FORE PLAY” or “TO 19TH” tag was given a break.

•The golf kart phenomenon should be a big hit with Park University. That campus is deceptively big and I know that when I was in college, being able to sleep in that extra five minutes would've been huge. Beware students - don't get any ideas about using a golf kart as your DD when tipping them back at Stone Canyon - you can still get a DUI... even in a Golf Kart.

•Finally, as you know, golf karts are terribly underpowered and Parkville is extremely hilly. The city government will need to flatten out certain areas of town. I would recommend starting with 15th hole at The National #2. But that's just because I don't like walking up hills.

I am excited about a new Golf Kart-friendly future for Parkville. And pardon me for suggesting the town's new slogan, but I think I've got it... You can't drive to Par without Parkville.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he can be found spewing opinions under the name @fakenedyost)

There's only one thing left to do in the Holiday Season, and that's hit the gym. Surely, you've noticed that the Christmas Lexus commercials have now changed into ads for 24-hour fitness and Weight Watchers.

If November is all about Thanksgiving, December about Christmas, then January is all about dieting. In fact, according to CNBC, in 2010, the “weight loss industry” is a $55 billion (with a B) dollar industry. And 68% of all Americans are clinically “overweight.”
The means that advertising for gyms increases in January and folks are guilted into visiting the gym for a few weeks out of the year until the ads go away. My gym is the Platte County South YMCA in Parkville. It is an amazing facility. It is clean, comfortable, brightly lit and could challenge any Overland Park gym in terms of quality.

And I do my best to be a patron all year long--while that isn't always reflected in my waistline. However, in January, it turns into a mass of humanity. EVERYONE wants to be at the gym in January. I simply say, “Welcome!” Oh. And get off my stationary bike.
So, I figured, since this is the season of giving, that a Gym Primer is in order for those of you who only seem to attend the gym out of guilt for overeating at Christmas dinner.

Feel free to cut this out and bring it along to the gym with you while you're blocking my walking path...

GYM ETIQUETTE - The unwritten rules at a gym.

•Clean off your sweat when you're done with the equipment. Seriously, nobody wants to take a bath in the shallow end of your DNA pool.

•Standard “mall parking spot” rules apply for equipment. Possession is 9/10ths of the law.

•Two-piece leotards are out. So are ankle warmers. This ain't Flashdance. Run over to Dick's sporting goods and buy yourself some gym clothes from the 21st Century

•Your water bottle shouldn't hold more than 64 ounces of liquid. If you need wheels to carry it, it's probably too big of a water bottle.

•Most of the equipment now comes equipped with televisions. This is fantastic and helps you maintain motivation to work out. This does NOT mean that you get to watch all 7 seasons of LOST taking up hours on the elliptical machine. Limit yourself to an hour at most.

•Admiring yourself in the mirror for more than five seconds just makes you look weird.

•Keep your grunting in the free weight area to a low growl. Nobody wants to work out next to Chewbacca.

•Shower Etiquette-These are very important. It's important to understand where you should and should not walk around in the nude. Shower area? Sure. Air drying yourself on the changing bench? No thanks. Seriously, if we wanted to see the wildlife, we'd have gone to the zoo.

For those of us who try to go to the gym regularly, we do take solace in the fact that by about Jan. 21, we get our gym back. Plus the owners are happy that all those folks just wrote fat checks for new equipment that they will use twice. Welcome! We'll see you next New Year!

(Chris Kamler is active on that thing known as Twitter, where he goes by the name of @fakenedyost)

The construction trucks have started to move away, the final stones are being put into the “City Of” sign, it even looks like they ran a street sweeper in the Red X parking lot. There's a new sense of civic pride and the hottest town in the Kansas City Region seems to be... Riverside? Seriously? Yes. Riverside.

True. It seems like Riverside has started to put some big changes in play. Gone are the dusty abandoned lots. Gone are the potholes that welcomed you along Highway 9. The Riverside Red X is still there, but it looks like they might've mopped the floors recently. No, that's not Mr. Clean you're smelling, that's the smell of civic pride. Although, civic pride has more of a minty, wintergreen smell.

Sure you can still get a slab of pork, a 12-pack of PBR and a folding lawn chair at the Red X for $10. Sure, you can still get fireworks year round at close to a dozen retailers within the city limits. Sure, that QuikTrip is oddly large for a community of 3,000. But it is undeniable that Riverside is on the rise.

Riverside turns 60 years old this year and they have challenged their citizens to “Do Good” with works of good deeds and charity. The City's Facebook page (yes, they have a Facebook page - and it's even updated!) tells story after story of feeding the hungry, green energy ideas for your home and even pictures of this month's Christmas Tree lighting.

I had a chance to talk with Riverside Mayor Kathy Rose via e-mail and I asked her what she felt the greatest improvements to Riverside have been in the past several years: “The biggest improvements to our community recently have been related to infrastructure: work on our existing streets, sidewalks and curbs; opening new roads and bridges including Cliffview Bridge by City Hall, Argosy Casino Parkway, and Horizons Parkway; adding new trails throughout town and upgrading our parks; and opening the Welcome Plaza in the center of town,” Rose said.

They have also upgraded their town slogan, which I can only assume, used to be “The Town At The End of Vivion Road.” The slogan is now “Upstream from Ordinary,” which is MUCH better. The Corner Cafe is still there. So is the big Red X. But an old scary gas station has been replaced by a hand-crafted stone wall with a waterfall welcoming people to the New and Improved Riverside, Missouri.

Riverside is no longer considered somewhere you pass through on the way to Parkville. Riverside is home to the Argosy Casino, which continually comes in as one of the most profitable casinos in Missouri. It also helps the town afford some much needed infrastructure upgrades. Riverside is also nestled in the shadow of the affluent Briarcliff West community.

The city should be proud of the progress it has made. Even the mayor is getting into the spirit of the resurgence of Riverside. Mayor Kathy Rose, as reported in The Landmark, dawned a cheerleader outfit to take her civic pride into the Parkville Board of Aldermen's chambers last month to pay off a challenge to Parkville's mayor. She does seem to have a good sense of humor and in her conversation with me, also mentioned that she is a shopper at Riverside Red X, “you can buy everything there!” And she is also a big fan of the biscuits and gravy at Corner Cafe. (Who isn't?)

When I asked her what she was most proud of as a lifelong Riversideian (?) Riversider (?) Riversidearian (!), Mayor Rose pointed to the Horizons development area which is the gateway to Briarcliff West and North Kansas City. The development complex is poised to “not only make us a great place to live, but a major player in the metropolitan region.”

With that leadership and direction, Riverside should continue to see growth in the upcoming years. . .Just make sure you keep the shelves stocked at the Red X.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he goes by the name @fakenedyost. Follow him today, thank us later)

There's usually nothing good about a hushed conversation in the hallway. Last week proved to be consistent with that rule.

“I heard he killed himself.”

Then another hushed conversation... “He had been depressed for a long time.”

Then a couple of Facebook posts... “He was in a mood. So sad.”

A few tweets then popped by my screen... “My friend was depressed.” “I had a friend who killed herself.” “#RIP”

So, that was last week.

I don't pretend to be an expert on mental health or depression or suicide. I get my knowledge like most of us do, from Google. And here's what the Internet says about depression (from Washington University School of Medicine):

*Of the estimated 17.5 million Americans who are affected by some form of depression, 9.2 million have major or clinical depression

*Two-thirds of people suffering from depression do not seek necessary treatment

*80% of all people with clinical depression who have received treatment significantly improve their lives

*The economic cost of depression is estimated at $30.4 billion a year

*Women experience depression about twice as often as men

*By the year 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that depression will be the number two cause of "lost years of healthy life" worldwide

*According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), suicide was the ninth leading cause of death in the United States in 1996.

We've all got times in our lives where we're grumpy or down or even depressed. The absolute worst solution to that is to unsubscribe from life. For those of you who might have considered that solution, or those of you who have considered considering that solution--just know that it's a terrible idea. It leaves the rest of us to hold hushed conversations in the hallways and makes the rest of us depressed about depression.

Let me offer up another suggestion. Call someone. Anyone. What you tell that person isn't as important as telling that person something. You can tell them that you're down.

You can tell them that you're depressed. You can use big words or you can use small words. You can tell them you're suicidal or that you've considered checking out. You can blame it on the Chiefs or Christmas or your wife or your dog. Just start the conversation. Don't leave it all in your head. Your head is a bad place for depressed thoughts to rattle around.

If you can do that, then you're strong enough to have a second conversation, and then maybe a third. But you have to start with a first. You can even turn to the Internet for help. Then maybe you can talk to a professional. Then maybe you can wake up and start feeling better. But you have to start. Don't take the easy way out. It's not easy for the rest of us.

I'm sure all the standard cliches apply, but just know this... Everyone goes through some sort of drama, depression or pain in their lives. The courageous don't take the chicken way out and work through it.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @FakeNedYost. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

A man sits at a window, then takes out a sheet of paper and begins to scribble some notes and doodles a couple of graphs. The title at the top of the page reads “Homelessness Solutions.” He completes his thoughts, then sets that sheet of paper on a stack of other papers with titles like “Budget Fix” and “Social Security Saved.” He gently binds them all together, puts them into a manila envelope and mails them to his Congressman in Washington. The envelope is received, and opened by a volunteer and then is thrown into a pile with dozens of other manilla envelopes containing letters with phrases like “End for Hunger” and “Peace in the Middle East.” The Congressman will never see them because he is currently holding a press conference to defend a recent report that he was sexually involved with his secretary five years ago - which came as a bit of a shock to his wife of 10 years. That press conference will be carried around the world by major networks.

You'll never see a press conference about the man who wrote the letter. You'll never see his quirky campaign commercial outlining his ideas. You'll never have a bumper sticker with his name on it, or a button for your lapel. You'll never even hear about this man, because he is in a wheelchair. This makes him ineligible, by today's standards, to participate as a representative in our government. He joins a field of non-candidates that include those who have been convicted of a crime, have ever taken drugs in their life; those who haven't been faithful to their spouses; those who are gay and those who have ever lied on their taxes. That's just the stuff we know about.

You hear it in every campaign ad, which will be flooding our radios, TV's and newspapers for the next year. “The Government is broken.” <Insert Your Candidate's Name Here> Is the right message to send Washington.

That is, until, someone digs something up about him or her. That one time at the Christmas party where he smooched his secretary. Or that time she got pulled over with that dime bag. Bye bye candidacy. Most importantly, bye bye ideas.

We need to begin accepting that people are imperfect. People make mistakes all the time. I've made six just while typing this article. Does one mistake (or even many mistakes) by someone wanting to serve their country invalidate any ideas they might bring to the table?

Are we too busy looking for the perfect Boy Scout and have tossed aside thousands of Cub Scouts or Brownies? The latest casualty seems to be Republican Presidential candidate, Herman Cain, who allegedly had some wandering hands - so we should completely discount his theories on economic policy. Add him as the latest in a list that includes John Edwards, Rudy Guiliani, Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee. And those are the ones just kicked out of Presidential elections by the public.

Sure, character does matter, and to some degree, appearance matters. It matters a great deal to many. You don't want somebody hopped up on drugs with access to State secrets, or someone to die in office because of a medical condition. But does that discount their ideas completely? There's been some pretty great Rock 'N Roll made by druggies and the like. We all seem to keep buying their music. Can't the same go for politics?

It is commonly assumed that a polio-stricken Franklin Roosevelt could have never achieved the presidency in the age of television. What would've happened to Bill Clinton or Ronald Reagan in the age of the Internet and Citizen Media?

With the dawn of the Blog and Twitter age, I think this might be a good time to start listening to people's ideas and just assume everybody has a skeleton in their closet. Start with the idea they bring to the table and work backwards from there. Maybe more things would get fixed instead of us starting with trying to blow each other up digging up dirt.

It just seems to me that we need to focus more on the ideas and solutions these people have to problems and less on their own personal demons. Maybe that's terribly idealistic, but how has the old way worked for us so far?

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @FakeNedYost. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

There's been a recent buzz surrounding both Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium that either or both stadiums may have their naming rights sold to corporations. The prevailing rumors are that Google might buy rights to Arrowhead and Arvest Bank might buy rights to Kauffman Stadium.

Is taking money to name an inanimate object really such a bad deal? Sure, we've got an emotional connection to “The K” or “Camaro-head,” but if we suddenly started calling our coffee maker “Mr. Jigglewarts” instead of “Mr. Coffee,” so what? It still makes coffee, right?

If the extra several million dollars a year for naming rights can help bring these two teams - both steeped in decades-long runs of futility - that extra starting pitcher, or a quarterback who stops throwing to the other team, isn't that ultimately good for Kansas City?

Mr. Kauffman reportedly never even wanted the stadium named after him upon his passing in the first place.

Reaction of both fan bases has been mainly negative.

A man called “Caughtstealin32” on the website Yahoo! Sports said: “As a Royals fan, one thing I appreciate is how Kauffman stadium and the Royals have NOT sold out to some lousy bank who skims money off people who can hardly afford to go to games anymore these days.”

The website ArrowheadAddict.com summed up their thoughts of a potential “Google Stadium," Home of the Chiefs in one word: “Terrible.”

Then you've got folks like my Dad, who insists that it will always be called “Royals Stadium.”

Have you SEEN our pitching staff? You're telling me seeing 90 wins at Arvest Stadium is less important than seeing 100 losses at Kauffman Stadium? I say sell out, take the money and run. I'll get over the emotional loss.

I guess it's hard for people to get over the sheer enormity of what a name is worth. Arrowhead's rumored deal is for $6 million a year while Kauffman Stadium's is worth $3-4 million and massive exposure for the rights holder during the 2012 All-Star Game year.

It's okay to get jealous. But these owners have the right to sell those names and we can only hope it will help produce a winner on the field. This is where being a fan means we have to hold our breath and hope.

Over 65% of all professional teams play in stadiums who have sold their naming rights - starting way back with Wrigley Field and including such notable names as Minute Maid Park (Houston), Tropicana Field (Tampa), US Cellular Field (Chicago), O.Co Coliseum (Oakland) and, my personal favorite, Enron Field (Houston).

If you were in the same circumstance, my bet is that you'd react identically and just take the lumps of being called a “sellout.”

I can almost guarantee you that if some generous Platte Countian wrote a big enough check to our esteemed leader and editor-in-chief, Ivan Foley, you'd be sitting in your easy chair reading the Taco Bell / Applebee's / QuikTrip Landmark right now.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @FakeNedYost. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)

Earlier this month, the Platte City Board of Aldermen named Casey's General Store the city's business of the year. I can wait while you soak that in.

I enjoy the goods and services provided by Casey's as much as as the next guy. I am a HUGE fan of their late night pizza, for instance. But really? A gas station? Your Business of the Year? Who else was nominated? A lemonade stand? Taco Bell?

Let's set aside for a moment that the cost of gasoline is at its highest than at any other time in history, and let's also set aside that Casey's is a nationally-based chain. Let's instead focus on what kind of message this send to outsiders.

You named a company that sells SlimJim's your Business of the Year. Is that all you got, Platte City? You mean to tell me there's not a furniture store that didn't sell a few extra couches this past year? Or a bookkeeper that posted a profit for the first time? A quick google search of “Platte City Businesses” turns up plenty of locally-based businesses.

Casey's General Stores, Inc. is a publicly traded company based in Iowa that made $6.1 billion last year in revenue selling doughnuts and diesel. They're also reportedly being pursued by 7-Eleven for a corporate buyout. So, look forward to next year's “Best Business” award to be delivered in a Slurpee cup.

According to the Platte County Economic Council, the “average household income is expected to reach $89,691 by 2015.”

Is spotlighting a store where you can get a can of motor oil, a pizza AND pack of Marlboro's really the image you want as your first impression? When future businesses ask the Chamber of Commerce "what businesses most define Platte City?" Your reply will be, "The place that has 32 oz Mountain Dew on sale for 69 cents."

Wouldn't you want to select a Platte City-based business? Maybe one that could stand as a crown jewel of what Platte City stands for? With all due respect to Casey's, who always sells me my sixer of Miller Light with a smile, I think the aldermen could do better to spotlight the industries and businesses in our community.

In order to compete with neighboring cities, you must spotlight what makes your town unique, not another cookie cutter gas station.

(Chris Kamler is active on Twitter, where he is known as @FakeNedYost. Reach him via his web site, ramblingmorons.com)