Musings from Brian J. Noggle
Wednesday, October 12, 2005
 
She's Got A Point
And I said, "What about Breakfast at Tiffany's?"
She said, "We never even watched that film.
And you don't recall, I said I hate Katherine Hepburn."
And I said, "Well, it was someone else then."


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:52 PM   2 comments
 
Legality Obstacle to Overcome for Law Enforcement
Another municipality says "Lights, Camera, Revenue!" Or it would, if it can only overcome a couple of obstacles:
    The St. Peters project has two big obstacles - its cost and the possibility that tickets generated by the system could be thrown out of court.
Good to know law enforcement works as hard to circumvent the law as lawbreakers.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:46 PM   0 comments
 
America Works Best When We Say Union Yes, Unless You're Union Worker
Lohr dispute heats up as strikers lose jobs:
    A labor dispute at St. Louis city beer wholesaler Lohr Distributing Co. has turned uglier after Lohr told strikers that they've lost their jobs to permanent replacement workers.

    The move complicates any settlement with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, which represents the drivers. They've been on strike for nearly five months.
Maybe a couple more instances like this will help fatcat union leaders remember that their slush funds are fatter when they manage to keep their union members employed, and perhaps some concessions might be necessary in that effort. A good job is a good job, and apparently Lohr like Northwest Airlines before it, didn't have any trouble filling those jobs for lesser terms.


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:13 PM   0 comments
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
 
The Value of Proofreading
Angels leave Colon off ALCS roster


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:38 PM   0 comments
 
American Airlines Extorts, Wheedles
It was bad enough I had to suffer through the American Airlines CEO's column in the September in-flight house organ, but now the company has commissioned a study to indicate that if it loses its government-enforced monopoly in Dallas, everyone will pay:
    A push by Southwest Airlines to increase flights from Dallas Love Field could trigger a reduction of service by American Airlines to Lambert Field and a number of smaller cities in Missouri and Illinois, according to a study made public on Monday.

    The study labeled Lambert as at "moderate risk" to lose a small number of American flights.

    However, Gerard Slay, deputy director at Lambert, said he doesn't expect any impact, describing the study's discussion of St. Louis as a "what-if scenario."

    American commissioned the study by Eclat Consulting Inc., an aviation-consulting firm in Reston, Va., in what has become a bruising battle over a federal law that limits direct flights by Southwest from Love Field to most of the country.
Here's how American will put the hurt on our particular region:
    If American's hub at Dallas/Fort Worth were to shrink, however, there would be fewer connecting flights, resulting in reduced service to smaller communities that rely on the airline's extensive network as their link to the world.

    Such a development, the study said, would hurt towns such as Kirksville, Mo., and Quincy, Ill. These towns rely on federally subsidized service provided by American affiliates that fly under the banner of AmericanConnection, the Eclat study said.

    "Hub degradation would take place, making marginal routes unprofitable," said Eclat's president, William S. Swelbar. "Inevitably, those routes would be eliminated."

    Of the 11 daily flights between Lambert Field and Dallas/Fort Worth, five could be lost, Swelbar said. While three of those five flights could be shifted to Love Field, travelers would see a reduction in the number of connection flights, he said.
So that's the loss of a government-enforced monopoly, increased competition, and a reduction in government-subsidized flights? American The impartial third party Eclat presents this as a nightmare scenario, but to me it looks like a dream come true. Now if the bloated, incapable-of-adapting carrier collapses before sucking off any more government "loans" and without pushing its employee liabilities off on taxpayers, I will awaken disappointed.

UPDATE As Mr. Hill notes in the comments, the threat or promise has been heard elsewhere. Google News helps prove the "reduced flights" extortion has been targeted to: Flood the zone, AA, flood the zone.


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:23 PM   2 comments
 
St. Louis Blues Answers Its Questions
With the departure over the last seasons (and particularly this last year) of its offensive players, many sports fans wondered where the Blues would get goals this year.

Tonight they answered the question.

In games against Chicago.

Well, that's not much of an answer since it only restates the obvious.


- posted by Brian J. @ 9:39 PM   0 comments
 
Urban Planning Yields Its Fruit
When "team of architects, urban designers and engineers charged with making the city's downtown shoreline more than just the space underneath the Gateway Arch" get together to spend the public's money, you know the result is going to be absurd:
    "The theme of the design is really to put the people in contact with the river," said Diana Balmori, a New York-based landscape artist who led the design project. "As much contact as possible."

    Her design certainly provides that - any more contact with the river would require a snorkel.

    The vision is to have the riverfront extend into the river itself onto two groups of floating islands that reach into the water like a pair of giant butterfly wings. The islands, which would be connected by floating bridges, would feature walking paths, bike trails and even a swimming pool that would be converted to an ice skating rink in the winter.

    Purple, green, red and yellow lights could illuminate the islands, with both island groups shaped in a curve mimicking the Arch. Eero Saarinen's monument would then be literally and figuratively reflected in the river.

    The hope, Balmori says, is to bring people back to the river that played a defining role in shaping what St. Louis is today.

    Balmoni said that whenever people find themselves surrounded by water, it's "magical."
Of course, the defining role the river played and the contact people had was industrial and logistical. Loading barges, unloading barges, and acting as a hub for agricultural and manufactured goods as they came into or left the middle of the country.

But urban planners who concoct revitalization plans around entertainment venues, sports teams, and shimmering parks on the hill might not know why these things continue to fail to revitalize urban centers. Perhaps they instinctively create money-wastrels that will fail, as their continued struggle against urban decay does keep the money flowing into the teams, the commissions, and the districts from which they draw their own paychecks.

You want to revitalize downtown St. Louis? Remove onerous restrictions on business, reduce taxation, and rebuild the infrastructure. You know, smooth streets, better fire and police and fire protection, and the other things only government can provide. But the governors, too, know that they don't get as many contributions from individual citizens as they do from the unelected Elect, nor do they receive luxury boxes and buffets for schools that maintain accreditation without a revolving door of administrators.


- posted by Brian J. @ 9:16 PM   0 comments
Monday, October 10, 2005
 
Because Heather Didn't Have Any Work She Needed To Do Today
StuffOnMyCat.com


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:12 PM   0 comments
 
The Man Is A Punchline
Jesse Jackson:
    Jackson said President Bush's chief political strategist, Karl Rove, is overseeing reconstruction of the Gulf Coast, and that he and others in the White House are using Katrina to push their political agenda. He said black, Democratic-leaning voters have been radically dislocated and are being kept in "permanent exile."

    "Karl Rove is a political reconstructionist" who wants to "change the character" of Louisiana politics from the mayor's office to its congressional representation.
As if the Rove machine would try a simple diaspora when they could turn the dial to tsunami or earthquake and kill all Democrats in Louisiana.


- posted by Brian J. @ 9:14 PM   0 comments
 
When High School Spanish Fails You
Sure, I offended the leader of the client's parent company. But I thought surely the feminine version of CEO was CEA.

Who wouldn't?

UPDATE: Also, note that neither are actually pronounced like see-oh or see-ah. You have been warned.

- posted by Brian J. @ 6:33 PM   0 comments
Sunday, October 09, 2005
 
Remiss
He Who Is Not To Be Named Because He Got A Job And Doesn't Want To Get Googled is blogging again.

Maybe he never stopped and I am just late to the party.


- posted by Brian J. @ 10:02 PM   0 comments
 
Too Much Information Alert
But if you must know, gentle reader:

You are Marilyn Monroe!
You're Marilyn Monroe!

What Classic Pin-Up Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla


(Link seen on Suburban Blight.)


- posted by Brian J. @ 7:26 PM   1 comments
 
What I Want For Christmas: A Lead Carrying Case For My Cellular Phone
Missouri: State Spies on Drivers Through Cell Phones:
    The Missouri Department of Transportation will spend $3 million annually on a program to monitor the movements of individuals on highways via their cell phones -- without their knowledge or consent.

    Delcan NET, a Canadian company, developed the system which triangulates the location of each driver by monitoring the signal sent from the cell phone as it is handed off from one cell tower to the next. Each phone is uniquely identified and the information is compared with a highway map to record on what road each motorist is traveling at any given time. The system also records the speed of each vehicle, opening up another potential ticketing technology.
I don't know how trustworthy of a source this is, but apparently Radley Balko believes it. Even if this story isn't true, it's only a matter of time.

Makes the picture below more appropriate, no?


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:55 PM   1 comments
 
My First Trip to New York, Short Version, Chapter 4
Here's a photo you never see anywhere else, a MfBJN exclusive:

Statue of Liberty


I understand that the view was much better before former Attorney General John Ashcroft forced the park services to put the robe on.


- posted by Brian J. @ 6:37 PM   1 comments
To say Noggle, one first must be able to say the "Nah."