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Happy Birthday Governor Pacheco!
October 31 is the 170th anniversary of the birth of José Antonio Romualdo Pacheco Jr., California’s 12th governor, who is the first – and only – Latino or Hispanic to hold the office since statehood in 1850.
Born in Santa Barbara, Pacheco was also the state’s first native governor. During his time in the House of Representatives, Pacheco chaired the Committee on Private Land Claims, making him the first Hispanic to chair a standing congressional committee. Read more »
Pennies from Heaven
(Editor’s Note: This was the opening paragraph of the November Investment Outlook of William H. Gross, the managing director of PIMCO, the global investment firm. The content is unchanged but, for reading ease, the large chunk of prose has been broken into smaller, more digestable bites:)
“?Ranking right up there with the myths about Santa Claus and the tooth fairy is the legend that pennies fall from heaven. Read more »
Don’t Hear This Word Much Anymore: “Sockdolager”
Obscure in origin, although in American use by 1830, the word means “something that settles a matter,” “a decisive blow or answer.” Like a knockout punch.
A form of the word is contained in the biggest laugh line of the comedy, Our American Cousin:
“I guess I know enough to turn you inside out, you sockdologizing old man-trap.” Read more »
Sound Familiar?
“I am concerned about the uncertain and increasing tax burden created by many publicly sponsored pension systems. This particular bill goes too far when it authorizes local jurisdictions to pay 50 percent of the employees’ pension contributions and at the same time permits employees who leave the job before retirement to receive a windfall in the form of a refund of all such employer contibutions.” Read more »
Space: The Final Metaphor
Unveiling his “Twelve Point Pension Reform Plan,” Gov. Jerry Brown was asked at an Oct. 27 press conference if less generous retirement benefits necessitate larger salaries for employees. The Democratic governor acknowledged that such was the case but notrd that the salary of an employee can always be reduced in a subsequent year or that employee can be sacked. Read more »
That’s For Sure
“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry and narrow-mindedness. And many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”
–Mark Twain, Innocents Abroad Read more »
The Latest in Political Advertising:
“Fear the Moustache,” a remake of MC Hammer’s “2 Legit 2 Quit,” is a star-studded web ad touting San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee.” The San Francisco Chronicle‘s Carla Marinucci explains everything. Read more »
Hopefully Not Too Much Bunk in This History
Rep. Felix Walker represented North Carolina in Congress from 1817 through December 1823. Walker hailed from Buncombe County in the western part of the state, named for Edward Buncombe, a plantation owner and colonel in the Revolutionary Army. Asheville is the county seat.
Prior to his sojourn in Congress, Walker became friends with Daniel Boone with whom he explored Kentucky in 1774 and 1775. Read more »
State Auto Sales Up in Third Quarter Over Last Year
New vehicle registrations increased 9.4 percent versus the same period last year, according to the California New Car Dealers Association.
It’s the ninth consecutive quarterly sales increase.
The association predicts 2011 sales for the full year will be nearly 11 percent higher than 2010.
“Recession weary Californians are starting to replace worn-out cars,” said the association’s chair, Steve Snyder, who operates Gold Rush Chevrolet-Subaru in Auburn. Read more »
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