Binging on Julia’s Food and Film I recently got an email from my friend, Freda Shen, in California. She suggested I watch Julia on Max. (This is not a re-run of the Julia Child film, that came out some years ago.) This is a series featuring the woes and wonders of the kitchen maven, who...
Charlie Stross wrote today about an experiment with Google's Bard AI assistant. "Tell me five fun facts about Charles Stross," he commanded it, and for the first five it did pretty well. But then he asked for five more, and then five more. And at that point Bard just went bonkers, making stuff up out ...continue reading "Tell me 15 fun facts about Kevin Drum"
ALTON - Community members gathered at Freer Auto Body to enjoy Cookies and Cocoa for Community Christmas, a United Way initiative that provides toys and essentials for families during the holiday season. Freer Auto Body is a major contributor to the United Way mission with its annual Christmas in July fundraiser. The Cookies and Cocoa event celebrates the success of the summer fundraiser and raises more money to go toward Community Christmas. “It’s our mission to make sure that kids have a nice Christmas and families that are experiencing rough times,” explained Margaret Freer, owner of Freer Auto Body. “It’s just very heartwarming to know that we are able to help. God has blessed us very much, so we try to pay it forward.” Karen Lintz, Director of the Illinois Region for the United Way of Greater St. Louis, explained that there are 116 boxes in businesses throughout the Riverbend area. Community members have been donating toys, clothing,
I got into a Twitter altercation last night with Nate Silver, and I need to get it off my chest because it's just so damn weird. Background: As you know, shortly after the pandemic started a team of researchers published an article titled "The proximal origin of SARS-CoV-2." It concluded that the COVID virus was ...continue reading "Nate Silver and I disagree about the origins of COVID"
Around 30 percent of Missouri's school districts are only in session for four days a week this year. Missouri's top educator says this recent trend is part of a domino effect.
This is a follow-up to the previous post. It shows federal taxes and spending separately for three different categories: Medicare, Social Security, and everything else. The "everything else" category includes ordinary discretionary spending, Medicaid, and other social welfare programs. Social Security includes both retirement and disability. Medicare is Medicare. Here they are: I chose the ...continue reading "Raw data: The source of the federal deficit"
In December 2017, following years of complaints about high costs and political influence in Missouri’s low-income housing tax credit program, then-Gov. Eric Greitens engineered a vote that shut it down.
It took Greitens’ resignation due to an unrelated scandal and nearly three years for the state tax credit program to be restarted. It now has a litany of new guardrails — including a project scoring system and set-asides for veterans, the chronic homeless and workforce housing — that…
Documentaries about John Lennon, Carlos Santana and Blood, Sweat and Tears all have a chance for an Oscar nomination this year. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just announced the films eligible for…
In October, the City of St. Louis made two national rankings for LBGTQ+ friendliness, but each list told a different story. One list named it among the most friendly to the queer community. The other list named St. Louis as one of the most unfriendly. We explore what’s behind that discrepancy with panelists Avi Ivaturi, peer support organizer at St. Louis Queer Support Helpline; Midwest Rainbow Research Institute Executive Director Inoru Morris; and Nick Dunne, LGBTQIA+ and Arts Liaison for the City of St. Louis.
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed the city of St. Louis’ refusal to pay refunds of the earnings tax to non-city residents who worked remotely outside the city limits violated the U.S. Constitution.
How many times did I show up at the “center” where Mom lived? Well, let’s just say that I did not keep count, but it was not often (I hated to write that). By the time I came to my senses, it was too late.
A 22-year-old man who attempted suicide in St. Louis police custody two weeks ago has now died, his family confirmed. On November 29, DeJuan Cole was in custody at the police's Central Patrol Division near Downtown West when he attempted to end his own life.
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