Happy Birthday to a Man Whose Humor And Compassion Moved a Nation — Still Funny After All These Years

November 4 is the 132nd anniversary of the birth of Will Rogers, the lariat-twirling cowboy poet and humorist.

Vaudeville star, actor, syndicated columnist, radio personality, stand-up comic and humanitarian, Rogers was an American original.

His folksy political humor is as funny – and true – today as it was 80 years ago.    Read more »

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Pull!

Assemblyman Tim Donnelly, a Hesperia Repoublican, founded the largest Minuteman chapter in California in 2005, his official biography says. He “answered the call of his country and joined the fight to secure our borders,” is how the bio puts it.

Donnelly was a strong opponent of the so-called “Dream Act,” a largely symbolic measure signed by Gov.    Read more »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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 »

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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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Separated At Birth?

They’re Never Seen in the Same Room Together! *****    Read more »

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Of Vetoes, Free Speech and Funeral Picketing

 One of the benefits of Gov. Jerry Brown’s self-penned veto messages is that they open small windows into his personality.

In one such missive, the Democratic governor expresses regret that he can’t sign a bill making it a misdemeanor to picket funerals within one hour before the funeral begins and one hour after it concludes.    Read more »

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