LA County To Change The Name Of Negrohead Mountain…

“Negrohead” Mountain Renamed In Honor of John Ballard

LOS ANGELES (AP) — County leaders on Tuesday approved a resolution asking a federal agency to rename Negrohead Mountain near Malibu in honor of a black pioneer who settled in the area in the 19th century.

The peak would be known as Ballard Mountain, after John Ballard, if the U.S. Geological Survey’s Board on Geographic Names grants the request by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors.

You're finally getting your just due my friend...though the L.A. Board of Supervisors briefly considered calling it "Afro-American Peak."

“Black history is all of our history … and this an opportunity to celebrate that,” Moorpark College history instructor Patty Colman told supervisors during a board meeting.

The switch would “honor the man, as a man, for the contributions he made,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who made the name-change motion.

The name of the mountain, at 2,031 feet the tallest in the area, originally contained a racial slur that even was found on early government topographic maps. It was changed to “negro” in the 1960s.

Other settlers are believed to have been thinking of Ballard when they named the mountain.

“It really was slander of a courageous and remarkable guy,” said Nicholas Noxon, a local resident who lobbied for the Ballard Mountain name change.

A telephone message from The Associated Press seeking comment from the Board on Geographic Names left after business hours Tuesday was not immediately returned.

According to its Web site, the USGS does not encourage geographic name changes, but among its recognized classes of name changes are “those made to eliminate particular name problems as in cases involving derogatory names.”

The Web site further states: “The Board has a firm policy prohibiting the inclusion of a word in an official geographic name considered by the Board to be derogatory to any racial, ethnic, gender, or religious group.”

After a proposal is received, all interested parties will be asked to comment, the site says. It notes that the process takes about six months.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–Yes, I believe it’s a good thing that we finally got around to erasing such an disparaging name as “Negrohead” Mountain.  But that’s just the starting point…We have several other rather insulting historical landmarks whose names we really should change.

Lets see, there’s “Wop-Top Mountain,” “Kike’s Peak,” “Wetback Way” and “Jigaboo Junction,” to name just a few outrageous examples of Southern California’s outdated points-of-interest.

And even though it’s a shame to lose all that history, it’s still the right thing to do.  Chalk that up to progress, I guess…

Let Congress Focus On Chimp Bills Instead Of Phony “Stimulus” Packages

House Votes To Ban Primates As Pets

WASHINGTON (Feb. 24, 2009) — Eight days after a chimpanzee kept as a pet attacked and critically injured a Connecticut woman, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Captive Primate Safety Act, H.R. 80, introduced by U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., and Mark Kirk, R-Ill., to stop interstate commerce in primates as pets. The bill passed by a vote of 323 to 95. The bill now moves for consideration to the U.S. Senate, where the effort to pass the legislation is being led by U.S. Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and David Vitter, R-La.

The Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society Legislative Fund expressed thanks and appreciation to Reps. Blumenauer and Kirk for introducing the bill, and to Insular Affairs, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee Chairwoman Madeleine Bordallo, D-Guam, and Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick Rahall, D-W.V., for their leadership in bringing the measure to the House floor so expeditiously.

“There is no reason for any private citizen to keep a primate as a pet, and this trade is driven by unscrupulous dealers who sell primates across state lines for thousands of dollars,” said Wayne Pacelle, president and CEO of The HSUS. “Congressional action on this animal welfare and public safety issue will complement our efforts at the state level to dry up the trade and the practice of private ownership of chimps and other primates.”

We orangutans in the U.S. House agree that private citizens cannot own chimps.

“As the tragic attack in Connecticut shows us, The Captive Primate Safety Act is necessary, common-sense legislation for the welfare of humans and animals,” said Rep. Blumenauer. “Make no mistake, this bill will protect communities and ensure the humane treatment of these animals.  The passage of this bill is long overdue; I salute The Humane Society of the United States and animal welfare advocates for their consistent dedication and I am pleased that together we were able to pass this bill.”  (Read more.)

"You can't ban me! The Democrats have promised to deliver us chimps the vote in 2012--we're a strong voting bloc. We'll march, we'll swing! You'll be sorry!"

B.S. Report–Even though this should be the job of local government, I would much rather Congress spend time voting on bills banning chimps as pets.  That gives them less time to vote more money out of our pockets for other phony causes like financial “bailouts.”

Ironically, they spent more time deliberating on a bill to ban “monkey pets” than they did a 1,200 page financial bill costing us over $800 billion of our tax dollars.  I think “Travis the Chimp” would have been a better public servant than these monkeys!

NY Post Drops Liz Smith Gossip Column…It’s About Time

“Legendary” Gossip Columnist Is Dropped After 33 Years

NEW YORK (AP) – The New York Post is dropping Liz Smith‘s column this week to save money, leaving the legendary gossip columnist without a newspaper home in the city for the first time in 33 years.

“I’m very sorry that that has come to an end, and that I wasn’t valuable enough for them to keep me on,” the 86-year-old Smith said Tuesday.

I've heard some gossip around that you've been axed Ms. Smith...

Smith said the daily newspaper declined to renew her $125,000 annual contract in a letter that said, “due to economic circumstances, they were the bearer of bad news and so forth.”

Col Allan, the paper’s editor-in-chief, said: “The Post is grateful to have been able to publish Liz Smith’s legendary column for so many years. We wish her the very best for the future.”

Smith writes a syndicated newspaper column that she said is carried by 70 papers around the country. She also publishes in Daily Variety and in Parade magazine, and is part owner of a Web site. Smith says she’s also writing a novel and will never retire. (Read more.)

B.S. Report–What an odd career…I mean, I was taught when I was a boy that you should never gossip about people.  In fact, it’s a sin.  Yet, here’s a woman who dedicated much of her life to finding out the most personal, inside dirt about people…and then writing it in a newspaper!

I’m sorry, but that just doesn’t seem like an honorable living…lucrative maybe, honorable no.  Always the biggest scraps of information for these so-called “journalists” were when they would reveal sexual tidbits or some other skeletons from the closet of the rich and famous.

Maybe I’m just different…I never cared enough about the innermost personal lives of other people…at least not enough to read her column.

And to refer to her as “legendary,” I don’t quite understand that–unless by “legendary” they just mean that she’s old.  That I get.

Lazy Hikers To Be Charged For Rides Down The Hill…

Hey Mac, How About A Lift?

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – Hikers who climb to Pikes Peak’s summit but don’t feel up to walking the 12 miles back down could soon have to pay for their ride.

The Colorado Springs city council is expected to vote Tuesday on a proposal from Pikes Peak Highway officials that would charge up to $500 for each uninjured hiker who calls 911 for a ride down.

"Hi 911, I'd like you to send a limo for us please..yeah, top of Pike's Peak. Oh, and we're kind of beat..Can you bring some pizza and a 12-pack of beer? Imported preferably.

The city runs the toll road up the 14,115-foot peak, but the U.S. Forest Service owns the land.

“Some of the people just say ‘I want to get to the top of this mountain,’ and they don’t realize they have to get back down,” highway manager Jack Glavan told The (Colorado Springs) Gazette.

The likelihood of the council’s approval was not immediately known. Forest Service spokeswoman Barbara Timock said the agency is not involved in rescue operations and had no opinion on the proposal.

Some 15,000 people a year attempt to climb Pikes Peak, the second-most visited mountain in the world behind Japan’s Mount Fuji.

Under the proposal, hikers who call for a ride before highway workers have gone home would pay $100. The fee could go up to $500 when hikers call 911 after hours, and it could increase if the road has to be plowed to fetch the caller.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–Those aren’t hikers, those are bums!  I could hike like that…in fact, I probably will hike like that now that I know that there’s a ride available!  Heck, I never like the hike back down either–but it just never even occurred to me to call down for a ride…let alone calling 911!

"Yes Jeeves, we've completed our 'half-hike' and we're ready to be picked up."

Obama’s Speech…Promises, Promises

Obama Speech Tells Of A Brighter Future

WASHINGTON (AP) – President Barack Obama promised a nation shuddering in economic crisis Tuesday night that he would lead it from a dire “day of reckoning” to a brighter future, summoning politicians and public alike to shoulder responsibility for hard choices and shared sacrifice. “The time to take charge of our future is here,” Obama declared, delivering his first address to a joint session of Congress.

"Smooth" Obama...He can sell ice to eskimos.

Offering words of reassurance to an anxious nation, he declared, “Tonight I want every American to know this: We will rebuild, we will recover, and the United States of America will emerge stronger than before.”

“We are a nation that has seen promise and peril,” he said. “Now we must be that nation again.”

Cheered robustly as he entered the House chamber, Obama grinned, shook hands and kissed lawmakers and stopped for a lengthy embrace with Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, back on the bench only this week after surgery for pancreatic cancer.

To deal with the current crisis, deepening each day, the president said more money will be needed to rescue troubled banks beyond the $700 billion already committed last year. He said he knows that bailout billions for banks are unpopular – “I promise you, I get it,” he said – but he also insisted that was the only way to get credit moving again to households and businesses, the lifeblood of the American economy.

Along with aid for banks, he also called on Congress to move quickly on legislation to overhaul outdated regulations on the nation’s financial markets.

“I ask this Congress to join me in doing whatever proves necessary,” Obama said. “Because we cannot consign our nation to an open-ended recession.”

Thinking longer-term, Obama said in a speech lacking many specifics and devoid of initiatives that both political parties must give up favored programs while uniting behind his campaign promises to build better schools, expand health care coverage and move the nation to “greener” fuel use.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–I’ve heard the speech described as “Churchillian” by the MSNBC nut-job Chris Mathews, among other things.  It was definitely the “anointed one” at his charismatic best.

Clearly, after months of sounding nothing but dire about the state of the nation and the future prospects of our country, President Obama wanted this speech to show people that he was also optimistic about the future.

That being said, the speech was once again non-specific in how he proposes to accomplish his many aims.  Beautifully delivered, as always, but there is no money available to accomplish everything “the great one” wishes. There is Obama…and there is reality.  The two don’t seem to live in the same universe.

Apache Chief Geronimo Honored For Bravery 100 Years After His Death… ‘How’…About That!

Heap Big Honor For Geronimo!

WASHINGTON – The US House of Representatives on Monday approved by voice vote a measure honoring legendary Apache warrior Geronimo’s bravery 100 years after his death.

"Me thank Academy of 'white devils who speak with fork tongue' for heap big honor!"

The nonbinding resolution honors his life, “his extraordinary bravery, and his commitment to the defense of his homeland, his people, and Apache ways of life.”

Geronimo – known as Goyathlay in the language of his Chiricahua Apache – died in 1909 at nearly 90 years of age at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

He had been held as a prisoner of war for more than 20 years after surrendering to the US military on the understanding he would be allowed to return to his homeland and people.

The resolution also “recognizes the 100 anniversary of the death of Goyathlay as a time of reflection of his deeds on behalf of his people.”

On Febuary 17, twenty of Geronimo’s descendants filed suit in a US federal court seeking “to free Geronimo, his remains, funerary objects and spirit from 100 years of imprisonment at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the Yale University campus at New Haven, Connecticut and wherever else they may be found.”

The remains would be returned to Geronimo’s wilderness birthplace in the western United States for a true Apache burial, a key facet of the native American tribe’s culture.

B.S. Report–I don’t get it–they couldn’t honor him with a binding resolution.  Oh wait, I do get it.  Sounds like we’re about to renege on another treaty with our noble red brothers.

NY Sen. Chucky Schumer Maneuvers For Some More “Stimuli”

Don’t Leave Money On The Table Around Schumer!

Watch out Louisiana, Mississippi and South Carolina, New York and California would love those dollars you turn down from the $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

"I shall be happy to use your 'stimuli.'"

A few governors, namely Louisiana’s Bobby Jindal, South Carolina’s Mark Sanford and Mississippi’s Haley Barbour, have all said that they may turn down some of the stimulus money for their states, particularly aid aimed at bolstering unemployment benefit programs.

“We can’t pay for the benefits already in the program, but to get the stimulus money, we’ve got to increase the program’s size and scale,” Sanford said on “Fox News Sunday”.

That has some other states hard hit by the deepening recession calling for the money to be sent their way, especially New York where Wall Street has been laying off workers by the thousands.

“If any governor — Democrat or Republican — leaves stimulus money on the table, then we respectfully request that funds be distributed to New York,” the state’s two Democratic senators, Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, said in a letter to President Barack Obama on Monday.

Another New York lawmaker, Representative Anthony Weiner, plans to offer legislation that would redirect rejected stimulus funds to other states.

“If some governors decide to reject the money, 45 other states should be able to use it to create thousands of jobs. We have plenty of projects across the country that will put people to work and help achieve long term economic growth and stability,” Weiner said in a statement.

B.S. Report–I think I heard something about this situation from Dr. Walter Williams–he said, and I’ll paraphrase, that if there is going to be legalized theft, than it makes no sense for you not to participate in it.  Because, if you turn down your proceeds from that theft it does not simply go unused…it just goes to a different thief; in this case a different state.

Florida Cosmetology Bans Fish Pedicure…I Didn’t Even Know Fish Had Toes…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — A trendy pedicure that lets fish nibble dead skin from the feet has been nipped in the bud by Florida regulators.

The Florida Board of Cosmetology has banned the procedure, even before it was known to be offered anywhere in the state. The board said salons had been inquiring about its legality and decided to issue the decision before it became a problem.

The treatment is popular in Asia and has spread to some U.S. cities. A client sticks feet, hands or other body parts in a bowl or pool, and the small fish chow down on soft decaying skin.

Texas, Washington, Massachusetts and New Hampshire have also outlawed the practice. A spokeswoman for the Florida board says there’s concern because there’s no way to disinfect a pool of fish in between uses.

He Must Be The World’s Greatest Salesman…Obama To Make Case For More Spending Tonight!

"Follow me to the slaughterhouse, my sheep!"

Obama Speaks To Joint Session Of Congress On Spending

WASHINGTON – Barreling ahead on a mammoth agenda, Barack Obama is ready to offer a detailed sketch of the first year of his presidency, casting the nation’s bleeding economy as a tangle of tough, neglected problems.

In a prime-time speech to Congress and millions watching at home, Obama will make his case Tuesday that much more has to be done to turn around the economy — a message he knows he must explain.

"Look at me... 'Stimulus' is working... 'Stimulus' is working...It's working...It's working."

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Tuesday that Obama will provide more details about his financial stability plan and measures to help the economy while delivering “a sober assessment about where we are and the challenges we face.”

“He’ll say we’re on the right path to meeting these challenges, and there are better days ahead,” Gibbs said.

Obama approaches this moment riding a strong, upbeat sentiment among the public. Overall, 68 percent of people approve of his job performance, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll finds. A New York Times/CBS News polls finds that more than three-quarters of those surveyed were optimistic about the next four years with Obama in charge, and similar majorities said they were confident in his ability to make the right decisions about the economy.

Still, the president faces steep challenges. The nation is nearly dizzy keeping up with what’s emerged from Washington during Obama’s first weeks as president, from a staggering $787 billion stimulus plan to a revamped bailout for the financial sector to a rescue plan for struggling homeowners.

And investors are dour. Wall Street took another pounding Monday, with the Dow Jones industrial average tumbling to its lowest close since 1997.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–The man is a mad, but brilliant “evil” genius.  He’s like Lex Luthor or “The Joker.”  He’s so smooth, he says nothing so artfully, and he’s so genuinely likable that you just want to believe him.

But don’t!  Everything he is offering is just old-style Socialism.  It’s been tried many times before and it has failed every time.  It’s not even fair to call this “Keynesian” spending because Keynes would have never approved such a disorganized, “scatter-gun” approach to spending.

So tonight, when you’re watching the magician weave his spell of magical words…look deeper, challenge yourself to process the “actual” meanings of his words.  You will see that, alas, the emperor has no clothes. The man doesn’t know what he’s doing…he really doesn’t have a clue.

Thanks For Dropping By, Come Again…LA Sheriff Could Free 4,000 Inmates Due To Budget Cuts

Economic Crisis May Force Release of 4,000 Inmates

LOS ANGELES — The head of the nation’s largest sheriff’s department is warning that nearly 4,000 jail inmates might be released early and about 600 deputy and professional positions could be eliminated to meet budget cuts.

Owing to the economic crisis, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department faces a $71 million cut to its $2.5 billion budget in the coming fiscal year.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca told The Associated Press on Monday it looks as if he’ll have to close two jails and eliminate the positions of the staff at those facilities.

"Let me in, Let me in!" Sorry fella, you can't come in, the jail's closed!

“There’s no way around me cutting $71 million out of the budget that won’t affect having to close a jail or two,” Baca said. “I have to start cutting.”

Baca hasn’t finalized plans, but said he was looking at closing two of the county’s 10 jail facilities: the old central jail, which houses about 2,300 inmates; and part of another facility in Castaic in the north of the county that houses about 1,500 inmates. Violent offenders from the closed jails would be housed in other facilities.

Closing those facilities would eliminate positions for about 400 of the department’s 10,000 deputies and another 200 or so civilian jobs would be lost too. The job cuts would come primarily through a hiring freeze.

Of the inmates that would be released early, Baca said he’d first look to nonviolent offenders who are awaiting trial.  (Read more.)

B.S. Report–I guess if you’re a criminal these are the golden years!

"You can't arrest me, look what I have!"