Mary L. G. Theroux is Senior Vice President of The Independent Institute. Having received her A.B. in economics from Stanford University, Ms. Theroux is Managing Director of Lightning Ventures, L.P., a San Francisco Bay Area investment firm, and Vice President of the C.S. Lewis Society of California.
Full Biography

I had earlier posted about the SNAFUed boondoggle also known as the Eastern span of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge (here and here), but the bad news just keeps rolling in. Yesterday it was revealed that the tower supporting the entire self-anchored suspension bridge rests on bolts that are likely to fail, causing the...
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I have written before about the amazing saga of the new span for the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, now 24 years and $6.4 billion in the making...with no end in sight. A full account of its background can be found here. The “signature design” never before built and of dubious seismic stability in one...
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A rancher* friend of ours—fancying himself a free man, self-sufficient, and disinclined to outsiders’ meddling—was stopped in airport security not too long ago, caught carrying a fancy pocketknife: the Mini Leatherman at right, in fact, a handy all-in-one tool just right for a working man. Not taking kindly to the suggestion that he give...
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The school rated “America’s Most Challenging High School” by the Washington Post is about to get an extreme makeover. With the surrounding Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) producing a drop-out rate double that for the rest of California, the American Indian Model Charter School clearly poses an embarrassment to the OUSD’s unionized teachers and...
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As we enter Christians’ Holy Week, which culminates with Easter, the day of Jesus’ resurrection and the beginning of God’s new creation, it’s an apt time to reflect on Christ’s lasting teachings. Prior to Jesus’ incarnation, God had directly communicated His Law through the Ten Commandments. Number 6 reads “Thou shalt not kill.” Of...
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Joining those mourning the passing of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela recently, Sean Penn called him “a great hero to the majority of his people.” But how would he know? The final nail was driven into the coffin of independent journalism in Venezuela last week with the forced sale of the last remaining television network...
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In the age of ceaseless parroting for “transparency,” it’s astounding to me that government do-gooders are apparently immune. The Asbury Park (NJ) Press is reporting: The Sandy relief fund chaired by New Jersey first lady Mary Pat Christie has raised more than $32 million so far. But four months after the superstorm, none of...
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The U.S. military is increasingly putting a feminine face forward in its ads and PR (for example, the bright smiling faces flanking Mrs. Obama at the Oscars). The Navy’s outreach to women proclaims: What’s it like being a woman in today’s Navy? Challenging. Exciting. Rewarding. But above all, it’s incredibly empowering. That’s because the...
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The front page of Tuesday’s “Bay Area” section of the San Francisco Chronicle features a story on the latest Field Poll results: “Support Grows for Gun Control,” reporting that a majority of California voters now “view stricter gun control laws as more important than protecting the constitutional right to own a firearm.” Four pages...
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The culmination of last night’s Oscars broadcast with a Live! feed from the White House with Mrs. Obama (hangin’ with her military BFs) marks the official recognition of the Presidency as theater: like the old Western sets, no substance required. From the very beginning, President Obama was elected based on his strong delivery of...
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