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James River Maven

  • Only One Man To Blame For Fort Hood Shootings

    Number of comments: 1
    When this maven was a wee little boy I often watched television with my mother. I remember that when a particularly nasty crime was reported on the local news she would say, “Let him not be Jewish.” You see, this was back in the 1950s when the Holocaust was still [...]
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    Posted: November 07, 2009, 10:38am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Millions And Billions And Trillions Of Jobs

    Number of comments: 0
    Reader, I know you’ve been waiting on the edge of your seat for the rest of Mr. Jobs Governor’s plans to flood Virginia with tons of new jobs. It would take many hours to discuss them all, so I’ll stick to the highlights. Okay, fasten your seat belts.

    [...]
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    Posted: November 02, 2009, 10:07am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Hundreds Of Jobs, Thousands Of Jobs

    Number of comments: 0
    The United States (as well as the rest of the world) is suffering through the worst economic contraction since the 1930’s. Millions of men and women have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Nationally, the unemployment rate has risen to 9.5%. Here, in the Commonwealth, we have [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2009, 5:52pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Virginia—A Male Dominated State?

    Number of comments: 2
    I was researching the boundaries of some of the congressional districts in the Commonwealth when I looked at the photographs of our representatives. Guess what? They are all men. And, of course, both of our U.S. Senators are men. At the state level, only about 15% of the members of [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 2:59pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Bill Bolling: Look In The Mirror

    Number of comments: 0
    Unless you don’t have a television, you must have noticed that all statewide Republic candidates are in attack mode. It’s hard to watch any show on any network (broadcast or cable) without being inundated with attack ads against Creigh Deeds, Jody Wagner and Steve Shannon. Sometimes I find it pretty [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 9:15am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Ken Cuccinelli: You Better Believe Him

    Number of comments: 1
    I am often worried about how an election will turn out. Last year at this time, because of a shortage of money, sabotage of my campaign by a supporter of one of my opponents, and a string of organizational endorsements for another opponent, I was worried that I might not [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2009, 2:25pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Biased Reporting

    Number of comments: 2
    A short time after it runs its feature on Creigh Deeds next Sunday, the Richmond Times-Dispatch will endorse Bob McDonnell for Governor, Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor, and Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General. Over the years the TD has consistently endorsed Republican candidates in major elections. I understand the policy [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2009, 9:02am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Has Bob McDonnell Changed His Stripes? Part 3

    Number of comments: 1

    Before I get to the substance of this posting, let me make one thing clear. I am not against religion. I am not against Christianity. In fact, some of my best friends are Christians. I do not object to our national or state leaders praying or reading their chosen [...]
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    Posted: October 14, 2009, 4:27pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Blame It On Jody!

    Number of comments: 0
    Three years ago I brought to your attention the Republican campaign tactic of using the “Big Lie” to try to win elections. 1 The theory is that the voters are basically stupid and that they will believe anything you say. In fact, the bigger the lie the more likely [...]
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    Posted: October 12, 2009, 11:16am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Has McDonnell Changed His Stripes? Part 2

    Number of comments: 0
    Let’s talk about Bob McDonnell’s views on the state’s role in regulating the sexual behavior of consenting adults.

    For those of you who are not lawyers: In 1965 the Supreme Court of the United States issued the landmark decision in Griswold v. Connecticut. The Court declared unconstitutional the [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 4:23pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Christian Right Poised To Rule Virginia

    Number of comments: 0
    The leaders of the Christian Right in Virginia are feeling good today. The Washington Post poll shows all of their candidates—Bob McDonnell for governor, Bill Bolling for Lieutenant Governor and Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General—with significant leads over their Democratic opponents. If they can just get through the next twenty [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 1:24pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Has McDonnell Changed His Stripes?

    Number of comments: 4

    Hopefully, the Deeds for Governor campaign will be spending more time on positive ads rather than the negative stuff that’s been keeping them distracted. However, that doesn’t mean that this maven cannot spend some of his time analyzing Bob McDonnell’s master’s thesis. Between now and the election, when the [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2009, 4:18pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • There You Go Again, Bob

    Number of comments: 7
    This maven has observed ten or eleven gubernatorial contests in Virginia. In every one of them the Republican candidate has accused the Democratic candidate of intending to raise taxes if elected. This is such a standard part of Republican campaign rhetoric that I assume it’s required by the rules of [...]
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    Posted: October 08, 2009, 8:38am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Ernesto Sampson Is A Republican, Right?

    Number of comments: 0
    This maven is always fascinated by politics. While up in Northern Virginia last week, I was looking at the political signs and saw some for Bob McDonnell, which read “Fairfax’s Own.” Has Bob McDonnell moved without telling me? Hey, all’s fair in love, war and politics, right?

    Signs are [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 3:52pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Why Deeds Will Lose

    Number of comments: 4
    Last week I was up in the Democratic hotbed of Northern Virginia. I was talking politics with some friends and asked who they were voting for for governor. They were all voting for Creigh Deeds. I asked them why. The only answer I received was “because he’s not Bob McDonnell.” [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 12:19pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Is John O’bannon Too Conservative For The 73rd?

    Number of comments: 0
    One of the hotly contested House of Delegates races in the Richmond area is in the 73rd District, where University of Richmond professor Tom Shields is trying to unseat incumbent Republican John O’bannon. For reasons too complicated to discuss here, I attended a debate between these candidates last month. Just [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 10:56am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • A Chutzpah Award For Bill Bolling

    Number of comments: 2
    The TV ads being run by and for incumbent Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling tell of all the things Bill plans to do if he is reelected. But, wait a second. Isn’t Bill the incumbent? Why has he done none of these things during the last three and three quarter years [...]
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    Posted: October 04, 2009, 6:32pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • The World According To McDonnell

    Number of comments: 2
    The following are some quotes from Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell's masters thesis. Trusted reader, I leave it to you whether you want a person with this basic political philosophy to be the chief executive of our beloved Commonwealth.


    The modern American experience can be seen as an' [...]

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    Posted: September 09, 2009, 2:39pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • I’m Sure He’s Changed His Mind

    Number of comments: 0
    There’s been a whole lot of flak lately about Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell and his Master’s thesis at the College of Law and Government, CBN University (now called Regent University). Apparently Mr. McDonnell made some rather derogatory assertions about single mothers and working women in that thesis and some [...]
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    Posted: September 08, 2009, 10:32pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • You Just Can't Trust Him

    Number of comments: 1


    Well, I've read the release of the president's proposed speech to America's children. Clearly, we were absolutely justified in fearing this man talking to our vulnerable young 'uns. From beginning to end, the entire address is a socialist manifesto. You just have to read between the lines.

    [...]
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    Posted: September 07, 2009, 10:20pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Henry Marsh Sure Plays a Mean Game of Chess

    Number of comments: 0
    Whether you love him or hate him, one thing you have to admit. State Senator Henry Marsh is brilliant at playing chess on the political game board. For example, just this year Senator Marsh made these great moves*:

    · Pawn to King 3 (Dwight Jones from House of Delegates [...]
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    Posted: June 06, 2009, 12:29pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Carlos Brown, Where DOES He Live?

    Number of comments: 2
    Last week, I wrote about the primary race in Virginia’s 69th District for the Democratic nomination for the vacant House of Delegates seat. I mentioned that Betsy Carr and Antione Green were each my friends and were each running for the 69th District seat. I explained that because of this [...]
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    Posted: June 04, 2009, 5:59pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • OMG, Is It Doug?

    Number of comments: 0

    I’m sitting in the den, minding my own business, watching the evening news, when I see that face and I hear that voice. My blood pressure starts to rise. My mouth starts to salivate. Is this a dream? Can it be real? Yes, it is! It’s Doug Wilder on [...]
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    Posted: May 31, 2009, 1:00pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Brian, You Make Me So Mad!

    Number of comments: 0
    They’re back. Just when this political junkie had gotten used to seeing real “commercial” commercials on the tube, the political ads are back. Republican Bob McDonnell has been running these ads setting out his background, record and philosophy and has dubbed himself the “jobs governor.” Democratic Creigh Deeds tells us [...]
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    Posted: May 30, 2009, 1:27pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Jody Is The One

    Number of comments: 0
    As I said the other day, the person is more important than the issues in most elections. This is especially true in the primary race for Lieutenant Governor between Jody Wagner and Mike Signer. You and I both know, trusted reader, that the Lieutenant Governor of Virginia does almost nothing. [...]
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    Posted: May 26, 2009, 11:43am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • No Liberty At Liberty

    Number of comments: 0
    It didn’t shock me too much to read that Liberty University has banished young Democrats from its Lynchburg campus. Liberty is a private institution so it need not concern itself with such Un-Liberty type stuff as the First Amendment. And, let’s face it, Liberty’s founder, the late Jerry Falwell, did [...]
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    Posted: May 23, 2009, 4:37pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Our Next Delegate in the 69th

    Number of comments: 0
    When I decided to run for the School Board last year I sought the advice of my state delegate Frank Hall. After talking for a while, Frank gave me this one great piece of advice—elections do not turn on issues, they turn on personalities. If people like you they will [...]
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    Posted: May 23, 2009, 4:10pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Five Bucks Well Spent

    Number of comments: 0
    I must admit that this maven is not a theater critic. Nonetheless, I cannot recommend strongly enough that you lay down five dollars to see “No More Raisins, No More Almonds” playing this weekend at the Virginia Holocaust Museum. This play, written by a survivor of the Nazi Holocaust and [...]
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    Posted: April 30, 2009, 2:43pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • The Dwight & Yvonne Ad Agency

    Number of comments: 1
    Kudos to Mayor Dwight Jones and School Superintendent Yvonne Brandon on their plan to market Richmond Public Schools to parents in River City. If I were not the modest maven I am, I would be crowing that finally somebody is listening to me. For many months I have been trying [...]
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    Posted: April 10, 2009, 11:41pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Hard Times? Schools Get Shafted—Again

    Number of comments: 1
    This one will be short and easy to understand.

    Our pro-education mayor has submitted a proposed 2010-2011 fiscal plan that further reduces the share of Richmond’s general fund expenditures for Richmond Public Schools. The pie-chart on page 45 of the mayor’s proposal indicates that RPS will receive 24.34 percent [...]
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    Posted: April 01, 2009, 12:33pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Who Owns Virginia?

    Number of comments: 1
    While we’re talking money, it would be nice to know who supplies all that cash that our state politicians survive on. The best place to find that information is the Virginia Public Action Project . When you get to the main site, go to "donors" and click on contributions [...]
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    Posted: March 05, 2009, 4:45pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • TGIO—Thank Goodness It’s Over

    Number of comments: 0
    The 2009 session of the Commonwealth’s General Assembly is over. The guys and gals representing us in Richmond did a few good things and a few bad things in the two months they spent working in our fair city. Mostly though, it was much ado about nothing. Yet our senators [...]
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    Posted: March 03, 2009, 10:07am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Who’s On The Side Of The Kids? (Not Again!)

    Number of comments: 0
    Well, it’s February and the Richmond School Board is going through its annual budget evaluation. For those of you who remember, it was about this time last year that this maven found the performance of the school board in formulating a budget to be somewhat lacking. I criticized the board [...]
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    Posted: February 04, 2009, 10:47am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Who Slipped Up, Mr. President?

    Number of comments: 1
    A funny thing happened to Tom Daschle on his way to being the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Apparently, much to everyone’s surprise, staffers on the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, & Pensions actually checked out Mr. Daschle’s background and discovered that he owed beau coup bucks to [...]
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    Posted: February 04, 2009, 9:31am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Superintendent Selection Process Redux

    Number of comments: 0
    After my posting yesterday, I received an e-mail from a member of the School Board stating,

    Since the seating of the new board, we had 2 public meetings where we talked about the search process. Because no one from the media attended the first, we made sure to do [...]
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    Posted: January 28, 2009, 11:27pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Government In The Dark

    Number of comments: 1
    For those of you who thought you were voting for change in November, you need to rethink. Richmond still has both a City Council and a School Board that think they may carry out their functions in secret. Today the board appointed Dr. Yvonne Brandon as our new School Superintendent [...]
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    Posted: January 27, 2009, 11:36pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • So Help Me Dog

    Number of comments: 0

    Okay, I’ll admit it. It probably is not as easy as it looks. For one thing, you gotta be careful to use the President Elect’s name rather than your own. It would not do for Barack Obama to start his oath with “I, John Roberts.” And then, there was [...]
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    Posted: January 22, 2009, 4:25pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • How Guilty Should I Feel?

    Number of comments: 1
    "What is good for General Motors is good for America" - GM Chairman and CEO, Charlie Wilson, 1955

    Reader, the maveness and I make the last payment on our car number one this month. As is our usual practice when this happens, we are retiring car number two, moving [...]
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    Posted: January 09, 2009, 3:28pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Politics And Money In The Old Dominion 1.5

    Number of comments: 0
    Loyal reader, did you see the story in the Metro section of the Washington Post on New Year’s Day? It says that, although money can’t buy you love, it can buy you endorsements if you want to run for state or local office in Virginia. 1

    It [...]
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    Posted: January 05, 2009, 5:26pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Time To Shake Things Up 1

    Number of comments: 1
    Recently I had an e-mail exchange with Jonathan Mallard, my fellow also-ran in the Fourth District school board race. Jonathan had asked me what I thought of his analysis of the Request for Procurement (RFP) for renovations to make Fox Elementary School compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act. You [...]
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    Posted: January 05, 2009, 5:26pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Politics And Money In The Old Dominion 1.0

    Number of comments: 1
    Last week I expressed my astonishment and misgivings about Seventh District Representative Eric Cantor raising $4.5 million in “campaign” contributions during the last election cycle. Fund-raising at this level is obviously for a lot more than just running for re-election. But money is not just a Republican thing. Just this [...]
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    Posted: January 05, 2009, 12:56pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Race-Based Politics? In Richmond?

    Number of comments: 2
    In his January 1 TD column, Michael Paul Williams had this to say about Douglas Wilder’s mayorship:

    “Wilder gets props for changing the arc of Richmond history by ushering in a new era of civic democracy. In doing so, he aided Richmond in its maturation beyond race-based politics.” [...]
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    Posted: January 04, 2009, 8:14pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Happy New Year Mister Mayor

    Number of comments: 3
    In his January 1 piece TD columnist Michael Paul Williams pointed out the change that the end of Douglas Wilder’s term as mayor will have on the jobs of reporters and molders of public opinion here in Richmond. In Williams’ words:

    “L. Douglas Wilder's departure from the mayor's suite [...]
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    Posted: January 03, 2009, 11:42pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Dems Heading For A Big Fall?

    Number of comments: 1
    Surely, ‘twas a great victory! For the first time in more than forty years, a Democratic presidential candidate, Barack Obama, won Virginia’s electors, capturing more than 52% of the vote. Democrat Mark Warner won the U.S. Senate seat by an overwhelming landslide. Democratic candidates won previously Republican House of Representatives [...]
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    Posted: December 30, 2008, 10:22pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Cantor Raised How Much?

    Number of comments: 0
    Reading my Times-Dispatch on Saturday, I was drawn to the lead story in the Metro section, “Cantor to keep donated money.” The gist of the story was that Seventh District Representative Eric Cantor was not going to return $2,300 in campaign contributions he received from Robert I. Toussie. If you [...]
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    Posted: December 30, 2008, 2:24pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Merry Christmas Etiquette

    Number of comments: 3

    Tuesday night I went to the ABC store to purchase a bottle of brandy. After the financial transaction was complete the sales clerk wished me a “Merry Christmas.” Instantly I was caught in the dilemma that every non-Christian in this country faces every December. I certainly appreciate that the [...]
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    Posted: December 25, 2008, 11:23am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • Be Of Good Cheer!

    Number of comments: 0
    After reading through the Times-Dispatch this morning I am feeling real good about this holiday season. Of course, the lead article about Circuit City’s continuing plunge was a bit of a downer. But you can’t just look at the big headlines. You have to read and analyze and then synthesize [...]
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    Posted: December 23, 2008, 12:21pm EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • I’m Back!

    Number of comments: 2
    It’s been at least six weeks since this maven last spoke to you. During that time the world has changed a great deal:

    1- Barak Obama was elected our next president winning a majority of the popular vote and a decisive margin in the Electoral College;

    2- The [...]
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    Posted: December 12, 2008, 11:58am EST
    by Bert Berlin

  • What This Campaign Is Really About

    Number of comments: 1

    Now, that we are down to the last five days in the School Board race, this maven is thinking again about how I got here in the first place.

    Why am I running?

    · I am running for the children of Richmond. Although Richmond Public Schools has [...]
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    Posted: October 30, 2008, 2:29pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Too Inexperienced

    Number of comments: 0
    Fellow Americans. Troubled times lay before us. Our nation will be challenged like it never has before. Can we afford to have a man in the White House who has not been tested in crisis? This is no time for on the job training. The man from Illinois is too [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2008, 10:16pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Patrick Henry Volunteers Needed

    Number of comments: 0
    Now that the Patrick Henry charter school contract has been approved by the school board, volunteers are needed to make the school a reality. On Saturday, November 8, at 11:00 AM (lasting no later than 2:00 PM) a volunteer rally will be held at the school, 3411 Semmes Avenue (at [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2008, 1:36pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Good “Religious” Hate

    Number of comments: 1
    Well, the maven did something stupid. I responded to a hate message about Senator Obama and now I am being overwhelmed with all kinds of nastiness in my email. The original message, mailed to a whole bunch of addressees, used a letter from a Christian missionary in Africa that spoke [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2008, 12:22pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • I Guess They Think We’re Stupid

    Number of comments: 0
    One of Republican Jim Gilmore’s TV ads accuses Mark Warner of lying. The ad says “he promised not to raise taxes but he raised taxes” or something like that. Well, this maven has read the Constitution and laws of Virginia and I know that in this Commonwealth the governor has [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2008, 8:22am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Hey, I’m A Democrat

    Number of comments: 2
    Thursday night, the Richmond City Democratic Committee endorsed this maven for the school board seat in the city’s fourth district. This brings me full circle to my early days of being a Democratic precinct captain in Brooklyn, USA. I don’t know if I hold the record for the political career [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2008, 1:03pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • No Clue

    Number of comments: 0
    Thursday was the day from hell for this school board candidate. I went to meet the voters at an Oktoberfest at a local retirement residence, then went to a PTA meeting at one of our elementary schools, and ended up at the final candidates’ debate of the campaign. Also scheduled [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2008, 7:36am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Chutzpah Squared

    Number of comments: 0
    It has been many months since the maven has issued a chutzpah award. It is often difficult to find someone whose statements or positions are so outrageous and so full of gall that they merit the word chutzpah. But, the time has come for another award. Today the maven’s chutzpah [...]
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    Posted: October 25, 2008, 11:39pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Fear And Loathing In The Extreme

    Number of comments: 1
    I was behind a pickup truck as I turned from Huguenot Road onto Buford Road last week. The truck stopped at a traffic light and I pulled up behind it. On the back window was a large sign that read “Be Afraid” at the top. Then there was a drawing [...]
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    Posted: October 25, 2008, 10:07am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Lonely At The Side Of The Road

    Number of comments: 1
    Just to let you know, I have been running a pretty bare bones campaign for the school board. Not being a long-time resident of Richmond, it has been pretty hard for me to find people who want to contribute to my campaign. So, at the beginning of the summer I [...]
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    Posted: October 24, 2008, 10:47pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Lies, Fear and Smear, Two Years Later

    Number of comments: 1
    Two years ago, in one of my first posts as the James River Maven, I said:

    Lies, Fear and Smear
    The Democrats want to lose in Iraq. The Democrats want to raise taxes. The Democrats want to destroy marriage. The Democrats are in favor of pornography. If the Democrats [...]
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    Posted: October 22, 2008, 8:59am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • What I said to the Dems

    Number of comments: 0
    On Thursday night, the Richmond Democratic Committee is scheduled to endorse candidates for the otherwise non-partisan city elections on November 4. I am hoping that, unlike the other groups that have endorsed candidates in the fourth district school board race, the Democratic Committee will base its decision on who will [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2008, 9:30am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • From Outside The Box

    Number of comments: 0

    It is becoming more and more apparent to this maven that 2009-10 will be a lean year for Richmond Public Schools. Our beloved Commonwealth is suffering from a severe shortage of revenues and I expect that our city too will be facing shortfalls. So RPS is going to have [...]
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    Posted: October 16, 2008, 1:29pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Sounding the Alarm, Again

    Number of comments: 1
    This maven has been talking for a long time about the failure of Richmond Public Schools to gain the confidence of middle class parents and how this failure is the major cause of the bleeding of our middle class to the counties. For example, An Open Letter to Doug [...]
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    Posted: October 07, 2008, 1:08pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Speaking of Endorsements

    Number of comments: 1
    Let’s get this straight. I am upset that I did not get the endorsement of the REA, or the Crusade for Voters or the Coalition for a Greater Richmond. If they had endorsed me, I would be a lot closer to winning this election. And don’t forget that those endorsements [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2008, 5:01pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • No City For Old Men

    Number of comments: 0
    This maven is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of Richmond. I simply cannot get any respect. (R-E-S-P-E-C-T, for you Aretha fans.) As I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, the Richmond Education Association, our local teacher’s union, did not endorse me for election to the School Board. That is after I [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2008, 4:44pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Dwight Seizes An Endorsement

    Number of comments: 1

    With total disregard for parliamentary procedure, Roberts Rules, the unity of the party in this crucial election year and just plain fairness, Delegate Dwight Jones got himself the endorsement of the Richmond Democratic Committee last night. In a night filled with excitement, yelling, frustration and amazing coolness by committee [...]
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    Posted: September 26, 2008, 11:27am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • 700 Billion Tax Hike To Pay For Bailout

    Number of comments: 1
    Let’s just say, hypothetically of course, that the Republicans were fiscally responsible, rather than the borrow and spenders that they are. Let’s also say, as hard as it is to believe, that they just wouldn’t allow the government to spend money it didn’t have. If that were true, than President [...]
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    Posted: September 24, 2008, 8:53am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • International Baccalaureate Revisited

    Number of comments: 1
    Wednesday night, at a District Four school board candidate forum, this maven and one of my opponents, John Lloyd, disagreed on how to define the International Baccalaureate (IB) program. Part of John’s platform is to increase the number of IB schools in Richmond. Although John, like me, is deeply committed [...]
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    Posted: September 12, 2008, 1:55pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • REA Rejects Maven

    Number of comments: 1
    The local teachers union—the Richmond Education Association—has chosen not to endorse the maven in the school board election this year. Who did they choose? Well, I bet it was either John Lloyd, or Jonathan Mallard, or Adria Graham Scott. The REA will make their choice public next week.

    [...]
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    Posted: September 12, 2008, 8:54am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Please Sir, Can I Have Some More—Vouchers, That Is

    Number of comments: 4
    After reading Republican Delegate Chris Saxman’s OpEd in the August 11 Times-Dispatch , I am a changed man. Delegate Saxman’s concern for the poor children trapped in a system of failing government schools is so genuine that I need to rethink my attitude. Up until now I had thought that [...]
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    Posted: August 11, 2008, 10:26pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Public Education Under Attack

    Number of comments: 6
    The Richmond Times-Dispatch would not publish this letter I wrote. They said it was too long. Well, I figure that I know a place to publish it where being too long is never a consideration. Here it is, beloved reader.

    Editor
    RTD

    I must take issue with your [...]
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    Posted: July 30, 2008, 7:42am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Maven On The Air

    Number of comments: 0

    Tonight I am announcing that the maven’s super, hi-tech, beautiful, spanking new, you’ve-got-to-see-it-to-believe-it campaign website is up and walking. For those of you who are curious, go see it at bertberlin.com.

    However, because of the shocking nature of the website I make this disclaimer:

    1- [...]
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    Posted: July 29, 2008, 7:48pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Middle Class Obsession Revisited

    Number of comments: 2
    Well, the maven was in too much of a hurry yesterday. I left out one more important reason why we need to attract more Richmond parents to enroll their children in our neighborhood schools. That reason is money.

    As I said back in March,

    The City of [...]
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    Posted: July 20, 2008, 2:36pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Am I Obsessed With Middle Class Parents?

    Number of comments: 0
    My baby son—thirty years old, six foot four inches tall—is acting as my Jiminy Cricket. He told me that he thinks my concentration on attracting middle class parents to RPS as a key issue in the school board campaign goes against my commitment to social and economic justice. He thinks [...]
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    Posted: July 19, 2008, 1:01pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Neighborhood Schools: TheThree Ps

    Number of comments: 1
    The first time I wrote to School Board Chair George Braxton I said,

    In the years I have lived in Richmond, I have noticed a very strange demographic pattern. About half the people in my neighborhood are empty-nesters like my wife and me. Most of the rest of my [...]
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    Posted: July 18, 2008, 4:58pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Broadening the Debate

    Number of comments: 1

    My younger son, who is sojourning in Richmond this summer while he tries to make some career decisions, e-mailed me and said he thought my post yesterday was too negative. He thinks I might have insulted my fellow Richmonders by suggesting we are still thinking in 20th Century terms. [...]
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    Posted: July 17, 2008, 3:18pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Welcome to Richmond . . .

    Number of comments: 1
    I was at my first candidate forum last night. (It would make no sense to call it a debate because there was very little debating going on). It was a very strange format, since all the candidates on the ballot (write-ins were not invited) from all nine city districts were [...]
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    Posted: July 16, 2008, 9:33am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Does Anybody See What I See?

    Number of comments: 1
    My political advisers tell me I write too much. Now, I ask all of you who have been reading me for years, have you even known this maven to use excess verbiage?

    In any event, they tell me I can’t use any of my beautiful prose in my campaign [...]
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    Posted: July 14, 2008, 9:29am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Maven Out of Race

    Number of comments: 2
    In a move that shook Virginia politics to its very core, the James River Maven, AKA Bert Berlin, has withdrawn his name from consideration as the Virginia running mate for presumptive Democratic nominee Barak Obama. In a secret letter, the maven informed Obama that “under no circumstances” would he accept [...]
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    Posted: July 09, 2008, 9:00am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Boy, Was I Wrong

    Number of comments: 1
    Thanks to Dan for catching me in a significant mistake. In my previous post I suggested that school board members make $1000 per week. That should have been per month. Hell, if Richmond actually paid its school board reps $50,000 per year, I would be ranting and raving about money [...]
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    Posted: July 03, 2008, 11:49am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Fear and Loathing, 2008

    Number of comments: 9
    (With great appreciation to the late Hunter S. Thompson and his book “Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ’72.”)

    Reader, the conversion from blogger to politician is not easy. There are some important things to learn. Just this week I learned the important lesson that if you don’t [...]
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    Posted: July 02, 2008, 10:14pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Has Anyone Seen The Maven?

    Number of comments: 2
    Okay, let’s get this straight. Despite the rumors circulating in the neighborhood, this maven has not been abducted by an alien spaceship. I am not hurdling through space toward a distant galaxy where (depending on which version you believe) 1- I will be tortured and vivisected and eaten for dinner [...]
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    Posted: June 13, 2008, 12:12pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • A Brazen, Bold-Faced Attempt to Part You From Your Money!

    Number of comments: 2
    Having analyzed the issue for a while, I have concluded that this maven needs to spend at least twenty thousand dollars to get elected to the Richmond school board. I was told that it costs about five thousand just to send a mailing to every household in the fourth district. [...]
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    Posted: May 30, 2008, 12:46pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • School Issues: The Children (Part A)

    Number of comments: 7
    One of the girls I tutor, Squaisha, is making real progress in school (in part, I hope, because I’m her friend). Then, about two weeks ago, just a month before the SOLs, she was not in school. Her teacher told me that she was out because she hadn’t received her [...]
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    Posted: May 22, 2008, 9:50pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • School Issues: The Players*

    Number of comments: 11
    The dispute over whether the Richmond School Board should approve the establishment of a public charter school in the old Patrick Henry building has revealed the schism that exists among the players in the Richmond Public School Game. According to today’s TD, Richmond set to vote on charter school, [...]
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    Posted: May 19, 2008, 5:03pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Why I am Running for the School Board

    Number of comments: 0

    [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 18, 2008, 9:57pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Is the Press the Enemy?

    Number of comments: 2
    In his book “Hardball” (wouldn’t that make a great name for a TV talk show?) CNN commentator Chris Matthews gives advice to politicians. He titles one chapter in the book “The Press is the Enemy.” In it he explains that politicians must be wary of the press because their objectives [...]
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    Posted: May 17, 2008, 1:00pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • The Next Superintendent

    Number of comments: 1

    Saturday, will be the second of four meetings the school board is holding to get citizen input on the search for our next Superintendent of Schools. So, I’ve been thinking about the kind of person we need to lead Richmond Public Schools. I think I know what I would [...]
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    Posted: May 17, 2008, 8:24am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Mayor Wilder

    Number of comments: 0
    Mayor Wilder has finally seen the pink slip I sent him1 and has announced that he will give up City Hall at the end of his term. On the Times-Dispatch website there were tons of emails from readers either condemning Mr. Wilder or praising him. This maven will not [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 16, 2008, 3:52pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Pick Me! Pick Me!

    Number of comments: 0
    Well, treasured reader, I found out that I will have an opponent in my school board race. So it is time to explain why the voters of the fourth district should vote for me rather than “the other guy.”

    1- I have life experience. I have raised three children, [...]
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    Posted: May 16, 2008, 11:15am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Americas Disease

    Number of comments: 1
    I was particularly upset to read the article in Tuesday’s Washington Post, Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause. It seems that people campaigning for Senator Obama throughout our fair land have been experiencing some really nasty racist sentiment. They have been greeted with “raw racism and hostility”. They [...]
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    Posted: May 15, 2008, 11:24am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Lets Talk IB

    Number of comments: 1
    Yesterday’s Times-Dispatch article about International Baccalaureate programs in the Richmond area (A world of satisfaction ) was enlightening but it only looks at a part of the picture. It looks at IB only as an honors program for gifted children and therefore misses what is best about IB.

    [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 14, 2008, 11:30pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Richmonds Edifice Complex

    Number of comments: 2
    I am a product of a public elementary, junior high and high school education. My elementary school, called by the picturesque name Public School 219, had a building that was about thirty years old. It was not air conditioned and we attended school through the last week in June. I [...]
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    Posted: May 14, 2008, 10:25am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Pussycat, Pussycat, Where Have You Been?

    Number of comments: 0
    Trusted reader, if you know the next line to the above nursery rhyme you know where the maveness and me were for the last ten days. I know that I haven’t written anything during those days and I apologize. I was in a state of radio silence.

    Although ostensibly [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: May 12, 2008, 4:46pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Reverend Wright Conspiracy?

    I am not one of those conspiracy freaks. I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald killed President Kennedy. I believe that United States astronauts actually walked on the moon. I believe that it was al Qaeda, not the CIA, that attacked the World Trade Center in 2001. However, there is something [...]
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    Posted: April 30, 2008, 10:07pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Can Too!

    As I walked past the neighborhood playground yesterday I heard some toddlers arguing about whether this maven had the right stuff to be a politician. One child kept saying “Can not, can not,” while the other insisted “Can too, can too.” So, to solve this argument, let me issue the [...]
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    Posted: April 30, 2008, 8:23am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • School Issues: The Playing Field

    Number of comments: 1

    In 1986, the Nobel Prize for Economics was awarded to James M. Buchanan, Jr., of George Mason University, for his theory that in the public sector actors make decisions based on their perception of their own best interests. In other words when you and I go to the polls [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 29, 2008, 2:38pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • The Buck Stops Nowhere!


    As I was surfing through the channels on my trusty Comcast cable last night I suddenly came upon the session of the Richmond City Council. Since there were commercials on the other channels any way, I decided to watch for a while. When it became too unbearable to watch, [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 29, 2008, 1:41pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Please Help Me Here

    Number of comments: 2
    Although I have lived in Virginia more than two-thirds of my life, and when people ask me where I’m from I’m proud to say I’m from Virginia, I am still disabled by the early years I spent in Yankee-land. So, there are times when I just can’t understand what I [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 28, 2008, 9:53am EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Eric Canter a Fiscal Conservative?No Way


    Well, the letter in this morning’s TD entitled “Cantor Speaks Truth to Big Spenders,” does not merit the Maven’s most wonderful letter of the day award. But I do need to respond to it. The writer discusses the philosophical differences between representatives Eric Cantor and Jim Moran “and [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 25, 2008, 12:02pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin

  • Blues for Our Times

    When I was driving to the store earlier today to do some shopping, the low fuel light on my dashboard lit up. I stopped at WAWA and filled up the tank at $3.47 per gallon. (I no longer shudder at $50 fill-ups). On the way back from the store the [...]
     | Rate | Archive
    Posted: April 24, 2008, 4:25pm EDT
    by Bert Berlin
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