Bookworm Room

It appears that one of the things that got dropped between the old server and the new is Bookworm’s report on her second day in London, so I’m reposting it:   We spent almost all day today at the Tower of London. It is an amazing structure, encompassing almost 1000 years of British history. We [...]

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The system problems seem to be slowly working themselves out.  If you are reading this, you are probably back to normal and in the right place.  Let the discussion re-commence.

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Hang in there.  There appears to be a problem with the system.  For those who don’t know, whenever you comment, the author of the original post gets an e-mail notification of your post.  I’ve gotten about a dozen notifications for the “Obama as centrist” post, but only 4 are appearing on my computer right now.  [...]

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 We’ve skirted this topic before in Bookworm Room, but never really plunged into it: If you could plan the GOP’s 2012 campaign against Obama, what themes and visuals would you bring into it? This assumes you have a big war chest and carte blanche regarding the many embarrassing and critical things you can bring [...]

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While still in the US, we sent online and bought Oyster Cards for the kid, giving them discounted tickets on the London metro system. As part of the purchase, we uploaded photos of our children. The tickets had to be picked up in person. Yesterday we went to Victoria Station to pick up the cards. [...]

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Headline in my morning paper yesterday: “Seeking budget middle ground.  Obama stakes out pragmatic centrist stance in push to get conservatives, liberals to agree.” One of the many reasons I think Obama will be very hard to beat in 2012 is that he has proven to be more flexible than many thought he could be [...]

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Obama once again showed the true face of a Chicago ward boss when he dangled the threat of interrupted social security and veteran benefits checks over the heads of the American people. This is thug politics. Hopefully, however, the American people will see and understand what is being done. Personally, I believe that, in true [...]

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Two days ago I made an off-the-top of my head list of positions/beliefs/values that I considered American and anti-American.  Danny and Zach rightly pointed out that many of these might more properly be considered un-American rather than anti-American.  Of course, the leadership of the Left is both.  Consider, for example, Obama’s measured insults of America’s friends [...]

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We finally got to London late last night after an epic journey that saw us traveling to Paris and Milan before finally reaching London. The price of cheap tickets is a 26 hour trip to London. We arrived in one piece, although my son’s luggage seems to have struck out for independence and vanished. So [...]

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Some random observations from my trip:   I miss the days of simply walking up to a plan and boarding. I miss the days of having a water bottle with me — from home — that I could take on board. I dislike the frenzy of ripping off jackets and shoes in security lines, while trying [...]

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God bless Zach.  He is an endless source of questions well worth asking and answering.  In comments to yesterday’s thread, he pointed out that the Left spans a spectrum from moderate to Marxist and that the Left has changed over time.  Well, yes and no.  True, there are moderates on the Left, but the strong majority of [...]

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With all the ongoing debate on this blog between a consensus view (97% of all readers) and a tiny minority of skeptics regarding whether the economy and unemployment are really bad (or not) and how well the Keynesian economic stimuli have worked (or not) and whether or not it is all GW Bush’s fault or [...]

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People who allow their dogs to do their business in other people’s yards and don’t clean up after them should be tortured for three weeks, then executed!  Just kidding.  I think.

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The first installment in Bookworm’s travelogue. Travel with my kids has already been broadening. As we ran our last minute errands this morning, I explained to my kids that they were not to contradict Mommy and Daddy if they heard us tell a lie. If we did so, I assured her, it would be for [...]

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From time to time while she is gone, Bookworm will be sending me e-mails to post in the Bookwormroom.  Here is the first: Charles de Gaulle airport is a microcosm of France:  the design is fabulous and the function disastrous. Also, my personal opinion here, but while the French men look trim and neat, the [...]

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In another thread, I asked whether there was any debate that Hollywood movies push a depraved and left-leaning, anti-American political agenda.  Rather than answer, Zach deflected the question.  I asked again.  Zach deflected again.  I suppose he could hardly deny it and didn’t want to admit it.  Anyway, it occurred to me that it would [...]

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Here I am, sneaking in one last post before I head off.  (I’ve also set the blog up for some random Open Threads.)  Over at Salon, an unabashedly liberal webzine, an article examines the dreaded possibility that Obama might be a one-term president.  I found the article a little bit confusing, as it concedes that [...]

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I will be gone from dawn ’til dusk at a major youth sports event tomorrow.  Then on Sunday I leave for an extended trip.  I am frazzled.  My brain is fried.  I don’t know if I’ll post again before I leave — but I promise to write from my trip, and DQ, Danny and (maybe) [...]

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One of life’s truisms is that, on the whole, renters don’t take care of property as well as owners do.   Why should they?  They have no investment in the structure.  If they don’t mind the aesthetics of a scuffed baseboard, stained carpet or dirty walls, it doesn’t matter.  When they leave the property, they leave [...]

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This will be my last Watcher’s Council update for a month.  Please don’t be shy about going directly to the Council’s own website while I’m away. And now for the winners: Council Winners *First place with 3 votes! Simply Jews–-The story of a fanatic or why Alice Walker is sailing to Gaza Second place with [...]

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My first inkling that something was going very wrong happened whilst I was attending a professional meeting deep in the bowels of a professional hotel. I and some other attendees were joking about how we were roaming the room, looking for active bars on our Androids and I-phones. An international attendee walked up to us [...]

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The wonderful Watchers have been at it, writing their own things and reading other people’s.  This is what I’m reading right now: Council Submissions Simply Jews – The story of a fanatic or why Alice Walker is sailing to Gaza New Zeal – Matt Taibbi: Bachmann Hitpiece Author Received Socialist Award The Noisy Room – [...]

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Obama’s disastrous administration gives film makers a lot of useful material, but it still takes talent to pull together an indictment as stunning as this one: Hat tip:  Lulu

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You’ve probably noticed that I haven’t been blogging as much the last couple of days (or even the last several days).  I’ve certainly been aware that I haven’t spent as much time writing as I would like.  The reason is simple:  packing.  We’re heading off on a month long trip, and I’m trying to get [...]

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What more can be said than this? Was anyone able to spot our alphabet soup friends in the Gaza flotilla videos?     h/t Gateway Pundit

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