http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summaryThu, 28 Sep 2006 03:25:37 +0000http://stlbrianj.blogspot.comBrian J.Blogger115http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116346942366571573Tue, 14 Nov 2006 01:09:00 +00002006-11-13T19:57:03.927-06:00Tobacco tax defeat smacks hospitals: Missouri's hospitals weren't running for office last week, but they ended up among the losers. Voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have increased cigarette taxes by 80 cents a pack. Most of the money raised — about $289 million of the forecast $350 million — would have gone to Missouri's hospitals to help pay for the care of the http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/undeterred-by-will-of-citizens.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116346651735346529Tue, 14 Nov 2006 01:03:00 +00002006-11-13T19:08:37.433-06:00As the price of scrap metal has risen, bad men have begun stealing or destroying working and expensive equipment to get at the copper or aluminum within. The City of St. Louis will do something to help deter the thieves. No, not rigorous enforcement of existing laws nor increased patrols and police presence on the street. Perish the thought. The city will introduce new regulations that http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/city-of-st-louis-to-deploy-red-tape-to.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116326839191880970Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:06:00 +00002006-11-13T00:38:01.530-06:00I bought this book this year at the Carondolet Y Book Fair, I think. It's back when I thought I might write for Damn Interesting, so I purposefully sought out compendia like this that would give me inspiration for stories I could write. I never got the gig, but I do have a number of interesting books to read. It's only after I cracked this book open that the brevity coupled with the http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/book-report-spy-who-never-was-other.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116326952800172602Sat, 11 Nov 2006 18:25:00 +00002006-11-13T00:33:50.293-06:00Now I remember where I got these books; I bought them at Patten Books for a couple dollars each after I discovered how well they sold on eBay. Unfortunately, I would also later discover that the books available in bookstores tended toward the later, less salable editions. In a final stroke of ill luck, I started reading the ones I couldn't sell and found they were okay. So now I go into http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/book-report-assassin-of-gor-by-john.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116338054382720143Mon, 13 Nov 2006 01:09:00 +00002006-11-13T00:29:05.136-06:00The St. Louis Post-Dispatch profiles a veteran for Veterans' Day. Lest we think the paper might lavish some attention on an American veteran or, hell, even an ally who fought with the Americans in some war or another, don't worry: the Post-Dispatch sepia-tones an opposing soldier from World War I: On this Veterans Day, consider that rarest of veterans, Walter Heiman of University City. First, http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/all-veterans-same-to-st-louis-post.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116326736746921278Sat, 11 Nov 2006 16:48:00 +00002006-11-11T11:49:27.530-06:00Hey, it's opening weekend for Harsh Times, a movie about a violent ex-Army Ranger shooting the hell out of Los Angeles because he likes killing. Thank you for your disservice, Hollywood.http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/hollywood-salutes-veterans.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116320849630649039Sat, 11 Nov 2006 01:26:00 +00002006-11-11T10:35:39.183-06:00Well, why aren't the climate experts making that claim? Because the bad storms are happening on Saturn: NASA says its Cassini spacecraft has found a hurricane-like storm at Saturn's South Pole, nearly 5,000 miles across -- or two-thirds Earth's diameter. "It looks like a hurricane, but it doesn't behave like a hurricane," said Andrew Ingersoll, a member of Cassini's imaging team at the http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/worst-storm-season-ever-thanks-to-man.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116316017331432209Fri, 10 Nov 2006 11:50:00 +00002006-11-10T06:02:56.913-06:00In a startling turn of events, when the price of something goes up, consumers buy less of it. This holds true of labor, where the St. Louis Post-Dispatch has performed some hard-hitting post-election journalism to discover that businesses will hire fewer employees at minimum wage now that the state's citizens have ordered businesses to do so: 26 percent increase in Missouri's minimum wage to http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/startling-turn-of-events.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116307352439194857Thu, 09 Nov 2006 11:54:00 +00002006-11-09T05:58:45.213-06:00The return of the Electric Venom Snark Hunt (now called the "Carnival of Snark") looks to be a little light. No doubt next week will be more chock full of pith once everyone sees she really means it.http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/not-lot-of-snark-to-be-found.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116294996908091482Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:37:00 +00002006-11-08T14:25:57.740-06:00Town cracks down on rowdy Mizzou parties: Tired of off-campus parties that are anything but fun for nearby homeowners, officials in this university community have unanimously approved a new crackdown on rowdy party hosts -- and the hosts' landlords. The ordinances were approved Monday. They include tougher punishments for loud or rowdy social gatherings of 10 or more people and define 16 http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/ap-disses-columbia-missouri.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116295010148438327Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:39:00 +00002006-11-08T10:28:03.426-06:00Greenland ice sheet shrinking fast: NASA: The vast sheet of ice that covers Greenland is shrinking fast, but still not as fast as previous research indicated, NASA scientists said on Thursday. Greenland's low coastal regions lost 155 gigatons (41 cubic miles) of ice each year between 2003 and 2005 from excess melting and icebergs, the scientists said in a statement. Well, it's about time it http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/greenland-tourist-agriculture.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116298836689763592Wed, 08 Nov 2006 12:04:00 +00002006-11-08T06:21:18.596-06:00Preposition 1: Will Brian go to work today? Passing Household Leader: Who will run the household? Brian (Daddy): 1 Heather (Mommy): 781Jimmy Ray (Dep.): 2,548,159 In other words, more of the same.http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/election-results.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116295338545767275Wed, 08 Nov 2006 02:34:00 +00002006-11-07T20:36:25.516-06:00I voted. Now, I am going to drink a little wine and read a bit of classical literature. Because, gentle reader, this Republic will go on beyond tonight, beyond the tallies, beyond tomorrow. Regardless of what the panting pamphleteers of pixels say tonight.http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/election-update.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116294977936682928Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:31:00 +00002006-11-07T19:36:39.170-06:00Laclede asks to reduce rate: Overwhelmed by higher prices to heat their homes and fill their gas tanks over the last few years, some area residents may get a reprieve. Laclede Gas Co., which serves St. Louis and surrounding Missouri counties, has filed for a 13 percent reduction in fuel costs, reflecting lower wholesale prices for natural gas, which is used to heat most homes. Gas rates for http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/natural-gas-prices-fall-will-anyone.htmlBrian J.http://www.blogger.com/feeds/5249942/posts/summary/116294949528784899Wed, 08 Nov 2006 01:28:00 +00002006-11-07T19:31:35.293-06:00I bet this made some troops' days: Corporals John W. Wright and Lazaro A. Castillo, intelligence specialists with Headquarters Company, 1st Marine Logistics Group (Forward), and Cpl. Romel M. Estremadura, a member of the 1st MLG Personal Security Detachment, earned these bragging rights and their present rank during a special promotion ceremony here Nov. 2. Gen. Robert Magnus, Assistant http://stlbrianj.blogspot.com/2006/11/chuck-norris-in-iraq.htmlBrian J.