A little help, please

Everyone who watched the film Body of War was devastated by what they saw, but in Kansas City, it was a double shot to the gut...Tomas Young is one of our own.

He called the recruiter two days after the towers came down, and he was paralyzed by a snipers bullet five days after he arrived in Iraq, after he was sent out on a "mission" that had been poorly planned and had soldiers rolling through Sadr City in an open cargo truck. Seriously.

His real fight started when he got home, and he has been tireless in speaking out about the futility, stupidity and hubris of the war in Iraq.

Today he is fighting one of his epic battles.

Today, he is lying in a hospital bed at St. Luke's on the Plaza, fighting for his life with a blood clot in his lung. He has been drifting in and out of a coma state for a week.

Today's rally at the Nichols Fountain on the east side of the Plaza, at 47th and J.C. Nichols, 4:00-5:00 p.m., just like every Sunday for going on six years, is being dedicated to him, and the organizers will have cards for all comers to sign. The cards and well-wishes will be delivered to him immediately after todays rally.

If you are in Kansas City, try to stop by the rally and show this brave young man who was willing to have your back that you have his.

--BG

If you can't make the rally, send cards to

Tomas Young
St. Lukes Hospital
4401 Wornall
Kansas City, MO 64111

What is up with this?

These signs are still up in city buses, in spite of the fact that the Missouri Voter Suppression and Jim Talent Seat Retention Act of 2006 was struck down by the state Supreme Court. If you try to go to the website listed, you find it has been taken down by the Secretary of State's office.

These signs are misleading and should come out of the city buses immediately. Let's cut to the chase - you have a picture of a black man cheerfully holding his ID next to his face, and a message to make your vote count, take a photo ID. A lot of black people in Kansas City rely on public transit. Many of them may not have a photo ID. How many of them see those signs and do not know that the law was found to be in violation of both the State and Federal Constitutions?

How many people think they can't vote, or that their vote won't count, because these signs are still up in too many of our buses eight full months after the law was struck down?

These signs need to come down. NOW. Or else I am likely to start screaming about civil rights violations and stuff.