A few highlights from the Lambert Airport Outreach Meeting by FLY314 Privatization Working Group

Tonight (October 29, 2019), I traveled to the Carpenter Branch Library in South St. Louis to attend an event known as the “Airport Outreach Meeting by Fly314 Privatization Consultants.” I prefer to think of this group as the “Acolytes of Ayn Rand," people who think that private for-profit is always superior to government. I spoke up several times tonight. Some of my comments can be heard on the attached video and other comments will be on KWMU Radio tomorrow. My overriding fear is that when the "Working Group" actually comes up with a detailed proposal, its allies in the Board of Aldermen will declare an emergency session and force a vote before anyone has a chance to read and absorb the legislation. This is standard operating procedure in many publicly unpopular cases like this, where the citizens have nothing to gain. Hence, my cross-examination of the consultants, which you can hear on the attached two-minute recording, along with the non-answers. When I pressed them for assurances that the Board Members would have ample time to discuss the ultimate detailed piece of legislation with their constituents before any vote, one presenter stated that my question was “unfair.” On this recording (which I made on my iPhone) you’ll first hear the claim that the group has been “transparent.” We heard that claim a lot tonight. Next, you’ll hear another presenter telling the citizens that they should RIGHT NOW be speaking to their representative on the Board of Aldermen about the airport deal. Never mind that there isn’t yet any deal and never mind that members of the Board of Aldermen do not have any meaningful information to discuss with their constituents.

Continue ReadingA few highlights from the Lambert Airport Outreach Meeting by FLY314 Privatization Working Group

Photographing the St. Louis Central Branch Library

Today, I brought my camera to the refurbished City Library in downtown St. Louis. Such an exquisite building. I noticed quite a few homeless people sitting in the Great Hall. Many of them were just sitting quietly, and only a few were reading. When a guard passed by I commented, "It seems like a lot of folks are here because it's warm in here." He paused, then said, "The thing about those homeless people . . . [pause], is that [pause] many of them are really good at using the computers." He took me around the corner and showed me that none of the computer terminals were empty, and it seemed as though many of them were being used by homeless people.

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I brought a tripod to take HDR photos today. This building is extraordinary. IMG_0760_1_2_tonemapped Library HDR

IMG_0611_2_3_fused Library hdr Lightroom

  IMG_0641_2_3_fused Library HDR IMG_0742_3_4_fused Library HDR

Continue ReadingPhotographing the St. Louis Central Branch Library

Technical aspects of protesting and taxing Catholic Church position against gay marriage

In Early November, a Maine ballot measure defeated a law legalizing gay marriage. It is clear that the Catholic Church, acting through 45 dioceses around the country, contributed substantial money to defeat gay marriage in Maine. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the St. Louis Archdiocese contributed $10,000. cathedral-welcome-sign Here in St. Louis, protesters have made themselves visible in a way that would likely irritate many Catholics and (see the comments to this article). The protesters have repeatedly stationed themselves prominently in front of the St. Louis Cathedral before, during and after the noontime Mass, in order to protest the $10,000 payment by the St. Louis Diocese to defeat gay marriage in Maine. Some of the St. Louis protesters have claimed that they were harassed by the police. See the following video they published. I fully support gay marriage. And even though I don't believe in a Divine Jesus, I can't imagine Jesus, who purportedly opened up his heart to criminals and whores, taking active steps to keep gays from getting married. In my opinion, the Catholic Church, which has severely crippled its own moral authority, has acted out of bigotry in opposing gay marriage. On the other hand, I also think that the protesters need to be careful to pick their battles. If you click the title to go to the full post, you'll can view a gallery of a dozen photos I took while participating in the protest of 12-20-09, the day after I originally wrote this post. The temperature as a brisk 25 degrees. [more . . .]

Continue ReadingTechnical aspects of protesting and taxing Catholic Church position against gay marriage

Naked Bike Ride (St. Louis) 2009: to protest dependency on oil and to celebrate our bodies

Last year, I reported on the 2008 Naked Bike Ride in St. Louis, the first ever in my home town. The official purposes are twofold: to protest dependency on oil and to celebrate our bodies. It's also a blast riding through town without having to worry about motor vehicles and without having to wonder what one's fellow travelers look like naked (or almost naked). cool-waving-shot This year's St. Louis Naked Bike Ride occurred tonight, with perfect temperatures for not wearing much of anything or not wearing anything at all. I'd make a wild guess and say that there were about 1,000 bike riders tonight, 70% of them male. I'd also guess that about 20 of them were riding completely naked. I saw people from 16 to 70 years of age. Lots of camaraderie--the riders were warning each other of potholes and other road hazards. I only saw a few spills--luckily, those falls involved people with some clothing to protect them. total-nakedness The genius of this event's marketing is that every local media outlet was out there reporting on the event. Imagine having a clothed bike ride to protest oil dependency. You would probably only have the attention of a few eccentric bloggers like me. Speaking of which, I was there tonight (wearing boxers), riding a course that was modified (shortened to about 7 miles) at the last minute, apparently to avoid the outflow of a huge crowd from a Cardinal Baseball game downtown. We wouldn't want those people to be embarrassed were we to ride by and see them dropping exorbitant amounts to amuse themselves--$50 for tickets and $7 for hot dogs. Not while we--the naked and almost naked riders--were out there protesting oil and admiring and celebrating each others' nakedness, all for free. I would like to point out that the aim of this bicycle ride to celebrate our bodies is not a trivial issue. Refusing to celebrate the human body is closely related to our refusal to consider that humans are animals. These two dyfunctions are the cause of constant needless and useless human suffering. See this earlier post on terror management theory and this post on the dysfunction that stems from our failure to accept that humans are animals.

Continue ReadingNaked Bike Ride (St. Louis) 2009: to protest dependency on oil and to celebrate our bodies

What is St. Louis like?

People from my town of St. Louis are going ape-shit thinking that the national spotlight will come to our city along with the All-Star Game. It's really sounding like mega-insecurity to me. If you're really proud of your city, then be proud. You shouldn't need some sports announcer to say a few nice things about one's tourist attractions between pitches in order to feel validated. And if that sports announcer's opinion is so important, let's make sure that he takes a tour of our decaying city schools before the baseball game so that he can give the national sports audience an informed opinion or two on that, between pitches. And, really, what's more important if you had to choose between having first rate tourist attractions and a first rate school system? But my ambivalence leads to an important question. What is St. Louis really like? I've lived here all my life, and there is much to like about our city (as well as many things that need much improvement). Rather than write my own lengthy description of St. Louis, I'm going to refer you to this well-written balanced account by Alan Soloman of the Philadelphia Inquirer. What should we be thinking about St. Louis as the All-Star Game approaches? Here's Soloman's ominous opening, although his article eventually veers to many of the positive aspects of my river city.

The Gateway Arch, symbol of the place, and the museum beneath it represent the nation at its swaggering best, symbols of a Western expansion that would define us in so many ways. That we're talking about St. Louis - a city that's seen its share of rough times and that, like the country, isn't exactly in swagger mode right now - in a way adds particular power and poignancy to this year's celebration.

For another angle on how St. Louis is doing, check out this article in The Riverfront Times, where the author asks whether the recent efforts to beautify St. Louis amount to "putting lipstick on a pig."

Continue ReadingWhat is St. Louis like?