Since we've been in New York, we've noticed that as soon as we say that we are from LA - people suddenly talk slower to us. Use smaller words. In some instances - like in the case of the elderly - talk louder.

Now we've figured out why: Jonah Goldberg is a columnist at our hometown newspaper.

It's not Paris Hilton that makes us all look like half-witted morons - it's our 'public intellectual' Jonah.

His column today is titled "The Church of Green."

At its core, environmentalism is a kind of nature worship. It's a holistic ideology, shot through with religious sentiment.

The irony here is that his premise is recycled from the renewable resource of Ann Coulter and her book Godless: The Church of Liberalism that was released on the apropos date of 06/06/06.