Bookworm Room

One of the things that profoundly changed my thinking about religion and about liberalism was contrasting the belligerent anti-religious atmosphere in Berkeley with the tolerant Christian environment I encountered in Texas.  This is not to say that all non-religious places are belligerently anti-religious, or that all Christian environments are tolerant.  However, it did teach me [...]

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I own (or, rather, the bank and I own) a nice lot here in Marin County.  I’ve got a pretty back yard with views of hills and water.  When the trees at the back of my property get too tall, I hire a reputable tree trimming company to cut them down.  That sounds perfectly reasonable, [...]

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No, my post title to the contrary, I don’t actually want to be a Democratic political operative.  Want I want to be is a speaker who can be pleasant, charming, and say nothing at all — and still get paid (at a guess) $30,000 per 90 minute speech.  I can do that.  I’m quite charming, [...]

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Victor Davis Hanson hits it out of the park with his post explaining why higher taxes are not the answer.  Some of his twelve reasons are better than others, but all are worthy of your consideration.  This is my favorite of the twelve, but I think you’ll like them all: 2) Inequality? Liberals reply that [...]

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A big issue in Marin is low income housing.  Marin liberals feel guilty that they don’t have poor people living near them.  Rather than hauling themselves into a nice slum, what they do is use legislative fiat to put poor people into the middle income neighborhoods of Marin.  (Interesting, none of these low income houses [...]

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[To keep things clear, unless I explicitly preface a statement by saying "Bob said" or "Bob pointed out," or something similar, the opinions expressed in this post are mine, and reflect my understanding of Bob Stephen's approach to governance, as well as my view about California's myriad problems.] I went to a party last night [...]

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I live in Marin County, one of the most affluent counties in America.  It is an extremely well-managed community (although budget cuts might have their effect here too).  Crime is low, streets are clean and well-maintained, and lovely flower beds and hanging pots brighten public walkways.  Our libraries are well-stocked and well-staffed, our town offices [...]

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The Marin IJ reports that almost $3,000,000 in stimulus money Americans will help the public school district in Ross, California: Ross School has won the federal stimulus fund lottery. School officials learned Friday they would receive a $2.85 million school construction bond tax credit as part of the federal stimulus bill – a credit Superintendent [...]

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The Marin IJ is running two polls today, one concerning employing illegal immigrants and the other asking whether “most Marin residents are environmental posers.”  As to the latter, with 375 votes cast, 82% of voters have answered that, yes, Marin residents are environmental posers.  I was vote number 375 in that regard. It’s a good [...]

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In Marin,  9 out of 10 bumperstickers one sees are liberal in context.  Make that 9.9 out of 10. There’s the “Endless This War” sticker; and the still popular “Somewhere in Texas a village is missing its idiot” sticker; and the saccharine, unrealistic and facile “Coexist,” with the symbols of various religions used in lieu [...]

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That the North Bay region (SF, Marin, etc.) will send a Democrat to the California Senate in November goes without saying. What’s interesting is that North Bay Democrats selected the most extremely Progressive (read: far Left) of the three people vying for that seat (Carole Migden, Joe Nation and Mark Leno). I live in an [...]

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One of Tom Lehrer’s more bizarre songs was an early ditty called “My Home Town,” in which he sang rhapsodically about all the bizarre and criminal behavior exhibited by his town’s denizens: I really have a yen To go back once again, Back to the place where no one wears a frown, To see once [...]

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The other day, I had a delightful lunch with Staff Sargeant Jason Eck, the Army’s recruiter in Marin. I wrote about it here, at Pajamas Media.

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Greenies are always encouraging people to abandon their cars and opt for alternative, group transportation, such as buses, trains, carpools, etc.  In the San Francisco Bay Area, one of those alternative forms of transportation is the ferry. Up in Marin, if they use the ferry, drivers can avoid endless traffic jams over the Golden Gate [...]

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