Bookworm Room

I’ve noted before that San Francisco (consistent with Democratic-run cities and states everywhere) is terribly cash-strapped.  But politics will always trump practicality.  Exactly one month ago, despite the fact that the school district is pretty much broke, the Board of Education voted, not just to cut education programs quite drastically, but also to put into [...]

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Two days ago, I brought to your attention the fact that the San Francisco School Board — despite facing a $113 million dollar budget shortfall over the next two years, despite its admission that it will be cutting summer school and academic programs, and despite the fact that there has not been a sudden outbreak [...]

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[UPDATE:  The school board stopped mulling and decided to act.]
Last week, I wrote a long, ruminative post questioning how far a democracy must go to protect its minorities.  Stepping in, right on cue, the San Francisco School District, which is facing a disastrous budget shortfall, is considering a huge expansion in a program aimed and [...]

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My views on abortion have changed mightily over the years.  The selfish, immature side of me still longs for a pro-choice label, but the mature, moral side of me has concluded that, subject to a few exceptions, pro-Life is the way to go.  I won’t expand on that right now, but you can see more [...]

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I am distrustful of television, since it often creates a false reality.  When the Loma Prieta earthquake hit San Francisco in 1989, I was out of town.  The images shown on CNN made it look as if the whole city was in ruins.  I was terrified about what had happened to my family and friends.  [...]

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Years ago, when I first became aware of the blogosphere, I noticed a single huge dividing line between Progressive and conservative political writers:  the former have dirty mouths.  Their blogs are filled with references to human waste and human sexual acts, all spelled out in the crudest terms.  Interestingly enough, I see that at home [...]

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Here’s a great video from 1940, highlighting some of the wonders of the City of San Francisco as it once was:
I have a few comments:
[UPDATE:  Welcome, Instapundit readers!  Now that you've seen SF as it once was, you may find interesting my post about SF as it now is.  In it, after describing the City [...]

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A quick, and personal, history of San Francisco’s decline from the 1960s to the present
I was born and grew up in San Francisco.  My very earliest memories of the City just predate the advent of the hippies.  At that time, the City was a solid amalgam of working class people, middle class people, and a [...]

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I don’t know if it’s a local, state or federal tax, but when I go into a restaurant that provides both eat-in and take-out services, I always order take-out, regardless of whether I plan to sit at one of their tables or hit the road.  Why?  Because the government imposes a tax on food that’s [...]

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You know how, every holiday season, there’s that one weekend that is the busiest weekend of the whole year?  That’s my weekend.  We attended a show last night in the City, my son has a concert today in the City, we have a business dinner tonight on the Peninsula, tomorrow my son has another performance [...]

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Liberals are very gung-ho for a health care bill that will see the government take over 1/6 of the American economy, that will dramatically raise taxes, that will (if all goes according to plan) destroy private sector insurance, that will force Americans to “buy” insurance or pay a penalty, that will force all Americans to [...]

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It wasn’t a huge turn-out, but it was an imaginative, committed, informed turn-out — and that, in the long run, will matter a great deal.  Check out The City Square for photographs of yesterday’s “Sick-In” in San Francisco protesting PelosiCare.

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To protest against the Healthcare Bill, instead of a 60s sit-in, Bay Area Patriots will be having a
“SICK-IN”
We are sick to death of being ignored;
We are sick to death over what the Health Care bill will do to us and our children;
We are sick to death having this govt intrude on our G-d given liberties;
This [...]

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You know that Zombie’s photoessays are amongst the best, partly because s/he is incredibly talented and partially because the Bay Area offers to much material.  Here’s Zombie’s photo essay on the best signs at the protest in San Francisco last week when Obama came and hid in a fancy hotel, speaking only to a very [...]

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The news coverage about protests against Barack Obama during his visit to October 15 San Francisco visit was a bit lethargic.  It’s just not as much fun, I guess, when the protesters aren’t bad-mouthing Bush or pretending to be waterboarded.  However, I can offer you two offsets to that colorless coverage:  A great article from [...]

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I happen to know, because I gave notice here at this blog and because I’m in touch with the organizers, that large numbers of conservatives and independents were planning on protesting Barack Obama’s appearance in San Francisco.  I also know, again because I noted it here, that Obama was afraid to show his face in [...]

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If you’re ticked off about the Senate Committee vote on health care on Tuesday, and worried about what’s coming up next,
TELL THAT TO PRESIDENT OBAMA!!
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Powell across from Westin St. Francis, San Francisco
Around 5:00 pm
Bring signs but, please, keep them focused on the issue, which is that the health care plan is a [...]

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Earlier this year, San Joaquin County was horribly shaken when 8-year old Sandra Cantu was kidnapped and murdered.  It was even more shaken when it turned out that the murdering rapist was a woman.  The San Joaquin County prosecutor’s office today announced that it would seek the death penalty against Melissa Huckaby, the woman charged [...]

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Truly, I never thought I’d see the day, but the San Francisco Chronicle has three common sense articles today that discuss lies, Lefties and San Franciscans turning against their former loves.
The first article is one by a Chron Staff Writer speaking in very derogatory terms about the outrageous City budget — both its silly Leftist [...]

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AUGUST 14th SAN FRANCISCO TEA PARTY
HEALTHCARE PROTEST!!!
DATE:
Friday, August 14th
TIME:
1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Show up and leave when you want/can.
WHERE:
Meet at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. Directions, parking, maps are all available at http://www.embarcaderocenter.com/ec/about/directions.html#maps. For additional parking: http://www.parkingquest.com/~kenq/cgi-bin/i.cgi?L=n18r01&B=FN
PLANS:
A “Mock Town Hall Meeting.” Since the Speaker won’t come to us and [...]

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Conservatives have spent years railing at the liberal propensity to by-pass the legislative process and head straight for the courts.  It turns out, though, that there are situations in which liberals prefer to avoid the court all together — and will take legislative action to try to avoid it.  Those situations arise when a decades [...]

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When the San Francisco School Board voted to do away with the district’s JROTC program, program supporters (unsurprisingly, perhaps because of the military elements of JROTC) fought back.  And they won!

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Despite the fact that it is a voluntary organization, that the costs to the school system are minimal, and that the kids who join it do well in school and are exemplary citizens, San Francisco’s hostility to the JROTC knows no bounds, and the school system has done its best to destroy the organization.  One [...]

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Last year, I blogged repeatedly about the gross debauchery that characterized San Francisco’s Bay to Breaker’s race, a race run through public streets and ending up in ostensibly family-friendly Golden Gate Park.  Apparently I wasn’t the only one who was shocked and disgusted.  This year, both the City and the race’s sponsors are banning beer [...]

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Civil disobedience, San Francisco style:  The police are in on it too.  No surprise, of course.  Many of these are the same police who voluntarily, or under orders, turn a blind eye to the public nudity, sexual activity, and urination that accompanies, not only fetish festivals such as Up Your Alley or the Folsom Street [...]

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