No subject

[Brian Kelsay]

I believe that Tom Pendergast was honorable in that he built some
lasting public structures and roads and whatever else.  It is
unfortunate however that he used the methods that he did to get us where
we are today.   I think that if Pendergast were here today in KC and he
thought he could still make money
building roads and have light rail also, it would be a done deal.
Enough people would fear for their jobs that they would vote the way
Boss Tom wanted them to even though they didn't understand.   The main
difference between Pendergast of yesteryear and the power brokers of
today is that everyone knew that Boss Tom held power.  He didn't hide
himself.   You didn't know what cards he held, but you knew he had 'em.
And like you said, if we didn't have guys like him pulling the strings,
this place would still be a mud puddle in the middle of the map, to some
extent.   He did have vision.   I wish you could light a fire under some
of the people of this town to move forward.   They are a little too much
"wait and see".
I don't want to get off on a rant here:
 Maybe Microsoft is like Tom Pendergast.   While users and corporations
were playing wait and see on personal computers, networking and the
internet Microsoft and Bill Gates pulled them forward, while always
managing to make a buck at it.   Really, I'm kind of surprised that the
Svengali-like personage of Steve Jobs isn't the guy who made it to
richest-man-in-the-world status.  But then again, he did pit the two
halves of his company against one another to see who came out on top.
He should have just let the natural migration from one platform to
another occur in its own time, but that's another story entirely.  My
point?   It's great that we have arrived where we are in 2001 with
better and faster roads and computers, BUT I don't have to agree or
condone the methods used to get us there.   At any point I can diverge
and give M$ the extended middle finger.   What I need to do this is
knowledge.  Knowledge of something different.   Linux freely offers what
Microsoft tries to sell you.  Linux' embracing of open standards fly in
the face of the proprietary lock in of M$ and their cash cow products.
Its OK to make a buck off of people when giving them what they want or
think they need.  (Insert PT Barnum quote)  The part I have a problem
with is the embracing and extending and stepping all over little
companies and stealing their ideas and ACTING like it is your OWN!!!!!

I may have to enteract with Windows systems and use them at work or
repair them but I don't have to like it.   Then again I could be wrong.

Night,
Brian Kelsay

"Don Erickson" <derick at shark.zeni.net> wrote in message
news:200108270115.f7R1F7i7002343 at shark.zeni.net...
> In article <008901c12d74$b30fd4e0$0200a8c0 at home.com> you write:
> >I wonder if this Prendergast guy is related to Thomas Pendergast of
> >Kansas City political fame.   "Government just needs to keep its
hands
> >out of the concrete business.  You want roads and sewers?  Well just
> >tell us where you want them and we'll take care of the rest.  Oh, and
> >leave a blank check on the way out will ya?"
>
> Most Jackson county roads through the '20s were dirt or gravel.
> Pendergast concrete pulled Jackson County out of the mud.  Much of the
> current road surface of Chrysler in Independence from south of 23rd
street
> up to the square (for example) is Pendergast concrete laid down in
1934.
> That is the surface you are still driving on today.  Kansas City's
City
> Hall was built using Pendergast concrete.  It looks like it's holding
up
> pretty well compared to many of it's contemporaries.
>
> Look at the ridiculous scams pulled around here today and they make
Tom
> Pendergast look like an exemplary businessman.  Do you really think
that
> the community didn't get their money's worth?
>
> Harry Truman traveled back to Kansas City from Washington D.C. to
attend
> Tom Pendergast's funeral when Truman was a US Senator.  Almost no one
else
> attended.  Truman considered Pendergast a man of his word, so I think
it's
> at least possible that this was true.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> -Don
> --