A Word That Deserves a Revival: “Sinworm”

A vile, sinful creature

— Samuel Johnson’s Dictionary of the English Language, 1755    Read more »

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California Unemployment Inches Up in July — Better Than Last Year, Though

California’s unemployment rate increased to 12 percent in July, according to data released August 19 by the California Employment Development Department.

Non-farm jobs increased by 4,500 during the month. Through July, the state has added 116,000 jobs in 2011.

The U.S. unemployment rate fell to 9.1 percent in July.

July’s state unemployment rate is .2 percent higher than June but .4 percent lower than July 2010’s rate of 12.4 percent.    Read more »

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Certainly One Way to Look at It…

“I’ve never had a problem with drugs. I’ve had problems with the police.”

–Keith Richards

(And palm trees, as one subscriber aptly notes.)    Read more »

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Comes Now the Scarlet PSG

Paid collectors of signatures to place measures on the California ballot would be required to wear badges (Queue Treasure of the Sierra Madre) under  a bill sent by the Legislature to Gov. Jerry Brown on August 18.

The measure — SB 448 by Sen. Mark DeSaulnier — is aimed at helping “address serious abuses of the initiative process by giving the public critical information they need when signing a petition,” according to the Concord Democrat.    Read more »

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A Brief Overview of the Deficiencies of Monarchies as a System of Governance    Read more »

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Today’s Latin Lesson is Two Desirable Qualities in Politics

Animus Et Prudentia

“Courage and Discretion”    Read more »

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Temperance, Methodists, Compton and Richland Farms

Compton is the second oldest city in Los Angeles County.*

It is named after Griffith Dickenson Compton, a Methodist minister who led a group of 30 pioneers to the area in 1867.

(At left, with his wife.)

Previously, Compton – population 96,455 in 2010 – was part of the 75,000-acre Rancho San Pedro, which was deeded in 1784  by the Spanish crown to Juan Jose Dominguez, a soldier.    Read more »

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Do Self-Checkout Stands Make It Easier for Minors To Buy Alcohol?

Despite lockout mechanisms that require proof of ID for all alcohol purchases, self-service supermarket checkout stands make it easier for minors to buy booze.

Therefore, all sales of alcohol must occur only at traditionally staffed checkout stands.

That’s the logic and policy change in AB 183 by Assemblywoman Fiona Ma, a San Francisco Democrat.    Read more »

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Where Tarzana Gets It’s Name

The land comprising today’s Tarzana in the San Fernando Valley was originally part of the San Fernando Mission, consecrated in 1797.

One hundred years later, the area was a large wheat farm.

In 1909, Gen. Harrison Gray Otis entered the picture. The founder and publisher of the Los Angeles Times, Otis was an investor in the Los Angeles Suburban Homes Company, which had purchased the land around present-day Tarzana.    Read more »

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Twenty Working Days Left in the Legislative Session But Plenty of Time for Fundraisers

There are 98 fundraisers scheduled for the remainder of the legislative session, which begins August 15.

That’s 98 — so far.

Critics say lawmakers are shamelessly shaking down well-heeled interest groups at a time when the fate of legislation those groups care about depend on the votes of the contribution-soliciting politicians.    Read more »

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