I don't condone the theft  and mutilation of 123 parking meters, but this is one criminal who won't likely get shanked in prison.   

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To me, the most amazing thing about the New York Times' admiring article on the success of the St. Petersburg Times Sunday was the fact that The Times newsroom has a staff of 360 people- and that's after a downsizing of 30 positions.  No wonder county commissioners on both sides of The Bay feel like reporters are on them like a cheap suit..

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Friends with benefits sounds like a good idea, but it might be better to sleep with the enemy. A new study details the emotional perils that befall close friends who hook up. Excerpt:

 Paradoxically, and perhaps predictably, the study suggests, these physical friendships often occlude one of the emotional arteries of real friendship, openness. Friends who could once talk about anything now have an unstated taboo topic — the relationship itself. In every conversation, there is innuendo; in every room, an elephant.

Finally, nothing degrades the environment, assaults the senses or disturbs one's "wa" quite like a leaf blower. Worse than parking meters.