Free Republic

Lawmakers are poised to make it official: No more idiots, lunatics or imbeciles -- in California's law books. Not everyone is a genius, perhaps, but pending legislation would ensure that nobody is a dunce in the eyes of the law. Assembly Bill 1640 would remove from old statutes words that are derogatory now but once were commonly used to describe people with mental disabilities. "Language matters -- and they're absolutely hurtful," said Sen. Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento. "I cringe even repeating them." The legislation, by Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa, R-Oroville, was approved unanimously last week by the Assembly Judiciary Committee. LaMalfa said...

Humboldt Creamery fined for 'over-reporting' chemical release By Jennifer Morey The Times-Standard FERNBRIDGE -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has reached a settlement with Humboldt Creamery that requires the company to pay $5,000 for allegedly over-reporting the amount of nitric acid it released into the environment in 1999 and 2000. Ironically, the actual amount of nitric acid the creamery released was ... zero pounds. That's right, zip. Zilch. Nada. But it's still being fined, simply because it reported incorrectly. That's because the nitric acid was purchased, used to clean equipment, then neutralized to convert it to a nitrate compound and...