Free Republic

The Navy's weighing a decision to name a cargo ship now under construction after labor activist Cesar Chavez has drawn sharp criticism from one veteran lawmaker who says that a military war hero should receive the honor instead. Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, said he understands the Navy's desire to honor Hispanic leaders, but the Navy may want to skip the politically divisive names and opt for an outstanding service member. "If this decision were about recognizing the Hispanic community's contribution to our nation, many other names come to mind, including Marine Corps Sergeant Rafael...

How fitting that a school named after our profligate, post-achievement president is shutting down thanks to fiscal mismanagement and non-achievement. R.I.P., Barack Obama Elementary School (hat tip: reader Peter): "The state fiscal monitor who oversees financial operations in the school district Thursday morning ordered the closing of the Barack H. Obama Elementary School as of July 1." .... Peter adds: “Asbury Park’s school system was taken over by the state of New Jersey a few years back (along with those of other underachieving municipalities) for gross managerial incompetence...

This Wed., March 2, the Prince William County School Board will be voting on what to name the new elementary school opening Fall 2011 on Linton Hall Road.  The naming committee came up with the lame name of "Piney Branch Elementary School" -- Ronald Reagan didn't even make the top 18 suggestions of the committee despite it having strong supporters.  I first suggested that name early last October and encouraged people to submit it to the naming committee by the Dec. 1 deadline.  Following is the message that I sent to the naming committee: Since the new elementary school on...

The U.S. Navy's Name GamePosted by Mark Thompson Sunday January 9, 2011 at 8:30 pm Prospective parents battling over the names of their unborn kids have nothing on the U.S. Navy, which is in the middle of a spat over the wisdom of naming a new ship for the late Pennsylvania congressman John Murtha. In fact, it has kicked off a bigger battle over just who, or what, should be honored with their names on the great gray hulls of the nation's warships. "It comes down to two points," says military historian James Caiella. "Who and what we are as...

Scoot over, Emma. Isabella is the new top baby name for girls. Jacob is the most popular baby name for boys, continuing an 11-year run at the top, the Social Security Administration said Friday. Emma's reign was much shorter, lasting just a year before slipping to No. 2.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) – U.S. Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus on Friday announced the selection of the USS John P. Murtha as the name of the 10th San Antonio class Amphibious Transport Dock ship, honoring the late U.S. Representative. Murtha served a distinguished 37 years in the Marine Corps and received the Bronze Star with Combat “V”, two purple hearts, and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry for his service in the Vietnam War, retiring as a colonel in 1990.

Philadelphia democrats have proposed naming the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard after the disgraced and deceased John Murtha. I. Kid. You. Not. The same John Murtha who worked closely with anti war groups in developing a 'slow bleed' strategy in order to undermine the ability of our troops to successfully engage terrorists in Iraq. The same John Murtha that accused the now exonerated Haditha Marines of murder and war crimes: [VIDEO AT SITE] Murtha has an airport named after him, let that be. It would be more meaningful to name the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard after one of Philly's fallen soldiers. This is...

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A peak previously known as Negrohead Mountain in Southern California's Santa Monica range was officially renamed Saturday in honor of a black pioneer who settled the area in the 19th Century. The 2,031-foot mountain near Malibu, the highest peak in the area, became Ballard Mountain after John Ballard, a blacksmith and former slave who bought land on the mountain in 1880. The name originally contained a vulgar racial slur that even appeared on federal maps, but it was changed to "negro" in the 1960s.

Century-Old Slur Erased From Santa Monica Mountains Maps February 20, 2010 A century-old slur was erased Saturday as authorities ceremoniously renamed a Santa Monica Mountains peak to commemorate a black pioneer who established a homestead at its base in 1880. What had long been designated on "Negrohead Mountain" on official maps is now "Ballard Mountain" in honor of John Ballard, who worked as a blacksmith and firewood vendor from his 160 acres in the Seminole Springs area. About 25 of Ballard’s descendants were among a crowd of 90 who watched as a plaque bearing the settler’s name was unveiled near...

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Organizers of a proposed charter school named after the president have rescinded the honor after the Obama Administration informed them of a long-standing White House policy disallowing the use of the president's name while he is in office. The group designing the Barack Obama Community Charter School also learned a state law prohibits naming institutions for a living person without his or her permission. The new name for the proposed K-8 is the Staten Island Community Charter School. One of the organizers, Lorna Harris of Silver Lake, said committee members are disappointed about having to change...

Trendy Baby Names a Sign of Group Think? The Latest Trends in Baby Names May Annoy People in Adulthood By LAUREN COX Dec. 4, 2009— In the future, names like Dick, Jane and Mary may sound exotic to the ears of the little Emmas, Ethans and Madisons who are just starting kindergarten now. Since the 1960s, whole sets of names seem to rise and then burst in popularity bubbles faster than the stock market. Many parents are surprised to find out that the seemingly unique name they picked for their child is shared by what seems like half the kindergarten...

The females of the first family made the list of the 1,000 most popular baby names, says a new report, but the president did not. Michelle, the first lady's name, and those of her daughters, Sasha and Malia, appeared on the list released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration, The New York Times reports. Sasha, at 353rd, hasn't changed much in rank in the past few years. Malia jumped to 345th most popular baby name last year from 400th in 2007, while Michelle dropped from 94th to 103rd. Other names proved popular because of their association with celebrities. Hillary jumped...

The females of the first family made the list of the 1,000 most popular baby names, says a new report, but the president did not. Michelle, the first lady's name, and those of her daughters, Sasha and Malia, appeared on the list released Wednesday by the Social Security Administration, The New York Times reports. Sasha, at 353rd, hasn't changed much in rank in the past few years. Malia jumped to 345th most popular baby name last year from 400th in 2007, while Michelle dropped from 94th to 103rd. Other names proved popular because of their association with celebrities. Hillary jumped...

President Obama's name would grace a new Prince George's County elementary school a few miles from the White House under a proposal scheduled for a vote tonight, barely five months after he took office. If the Prince George's Board of Education approves the plan, Barack Obama Elementary School would be the first in the Washington region named after the president. The school is under construction outside the Capital Beltway in Upper Marlboro and is slated for completion by year's end. The school would not be the first in the country named after Obama. The Hempstead Union Free School District in...

The St. Paul school board voted 5-1 Tuesday night to rename one of the district's elementary schools "Barack and Michelle Obama Service Learning Elementary." The vote came after board members received intense feedback about the proposed change -- most of it negative -- from community members. Students, staff and community members at Webster Magnet Elementary voted earlier this month to change the school's name. Webster is in its first year of a service learning program, and the school wanted a new name to reflect the shift in focus. "We talk about, so often, that what we do is for the...

César Chávez Elementary School 825 Shotwell Street San Francisco, CA. 94110 Voice/TTY (415) 695-5765 Fax (415) 695-5843 Email: sch603@muse.sfusd.edu Silent Language of the Soul (©1990), mural by Juana Alicia & Susan Cervantes, welcomes diversity in our school. Full image (500 K) Si Se Puede (©1996) mural by Susan Cervantes, keeps César Chávez' s struggle for justice and dignity alive. Full image (340K) Our Mission Statement César Chávez School is a community of life-long learners, achievers and activists who support self determination. We incorporate and integrate academic skills, leadership development, and cultural awareness that is relative to the reality of our...

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- The City of Orlando is looking to get a new road in honor of the President. The city wants to rename South Mission Road, near Conroy, "Barack Obama Parkway."However, the road is only one tenth of a mile long.

A St. Paul elementary school is officially changing its name to "Barack and Michelle Obama Service Learning Elementary," pending approval of the school board. Webster Magnet Elementary is piloting a service learning program this year that the school board is supposed to officially approve later this month. The school wanted a new name to reflect its new focus, so it put the Obama name and "Webster Service Learning Elementary" on the ballot for the school community. Ballots were cast on Thursday by students, staff, and community members, and when they were counted this morning, the Obama name came out on...

Are these signs of the times or advance notices of adulation gone amok? At least two schools in these United States have, or are seriously considering, changing their names from the already established to one consisting of the name of Barack Obama. There are other schools around the country where the proposition have broached without any action to date, but two schools, one located in Portland, Oregon as reported online by KGW.com and one in Hempstead, NY reported by education-world.com are a reality. Short of catastrophically destroying the economy of this country and all its infrastructural landmarks, what has Barack...

The Oakland school board has voted to change the name of a small school to Barack Obama Academy, reportedly the first middle school in the country to adopt the name of the nation's 44th president. While Obama has been in office fewer than 100 days, the 35 students at the former Alternative Learning Community public school persuaded the board Tuesday to make what they said was a historic change. -snip- The school, which opened in 2007, enrolls primarily African American and low-income students. Many of the students have had poor grades, lax attendance and suspensions in the past.

SNIP The Top Dogs project is a database of L.A. dog registrations that was launched by The Times last year, and we're quite convinced that we could spend hours examining it without ever getting bored. It's chock-full of fascinating, if trivial, insights -- for instance, the most common name-and-breed combination in L.A. is a chihuahua named Princess (there are more than 1,200 of them). A pit bull was more likely to be named Rocky (there are more than 300 of those), and a chow chow like Stewart's was often named for its ursine resemblance (more than 1,000 of them were...

How fitting is it that on the day Americans take time to reflect on the past presidents of the United States the City of Opa-Locka will honor our current leader. During a ceremony Monday a section of Perviz Avenue was renamed President Barack Obama Avenue making the city the first in the nation to name a street after the current president.

DELMAR BOULEVARD is an arterial road running through some of the poorest and richest, and most racially divided, neighbourhoods of St Louis, Missouri. Some city aldermen are now trying to rename the street after Barack Obama before he takes office.

Behind the scenes work is already underway to rename Chicago’s Midway Airport after Obama — becoming the Barack H. Obama International Airport. Apparently, there are those in the city, especially on the Olympics Committee, that want this done before October 2009, to give the IOC a little more incentive to award Chicago the 2016 games (despite the fact that here in Chicago it’s already considered a done-deal we’ll get the Olympics, and has been since November 4th). The Obamafication of Chicago begins with renaming Midway…and is partially designed to remind the IOC, in as loud a voice possible, that Chicago’s...

Kosovo decided Wednesday to name a central street of its capital Pristina after outgoing US President George W. Bush for his support of the territory's split from Serbia. Backed unanimously by Kosovo's cabinet, Prime Minister Hashim Thaci said the move was "a sign of the huge state and national respect and appreciation" for the United States' contribution to independence, declared earlier this year. Located in Pristina's downtown area, Bush Street is to be linked to the main thoroughfare named after Mother Teresa, the 1979 Nobel Peace Laureate of Albanian origin. Separately, the government pledged 5,000 euros (7,000 dollars) towards a...

A middle school in Marin City will not be renamed after President-elect Barack Obama. Sausalito Marin City School District officials nixed the idea of renaming the Martin Luther King Jr. Academy Thursday after dozens of community members voiced opposition to the idea at a meeting.

TACOMA, Wash. — A new middle school under construction in Tacoma could be named for president-elect Barack Obama. But district policy on school names requires people to be dead at least two years or to have already served a presidential term. Superintendent Art Jarvis asked the school board to alter the policy at the Dec. 11 meeting and put Obama's name in the running.

"...Nobody is asking questions because they voted for an idea. Not Barack Obama’s ideas, but their own ideas. They picked something they really wanted or really needed and decided that Barack Obama could and would do it for them. Barack Obama represents to them a utopian idea that divorces itself from reality. The Barack Obama Elementary School is just a reaffirmation of that charge. He’s done nothing, but we’ve already named a school after him..."

It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday -- effective immediately. School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.

It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama.

The first President Bush has an aircraft carrier, an airport in Houston, a turnpike north of Dallas and the George Bush Center for Intelligence (the CIA headquarters in Langley, Va.). Lincoln has a tunnel. Washington has a bridge and a state. Hoover has a dam. Madison has a Square Garden. And Reagan has close to 100 things honoring him, including a ballistic missile test site, a New Hampshire mountain and a bust at an Alabama McDonald's. So far, the current President Bush has an elementary school, a Waco-area road and highways in Ghana and Georgia (the country, not the state)....

PORTLAND -- Students are trying to get a Portland school renamed after President-elect Barack Obama. Portland Public Schools was already in the process of renaming the school currently known as “Clark K-8 at Binnsmead School” and a naming committee is working on a list of suggestions that the public will eventually vote on. But after the November election, some of the students go the idea to throw Obama’s name into the ring. A couple of people have e-mailed the school, suggesting it be named after the new American leader and Willamette Week was even reporting that students at the school...

In another sign of America's glee at the election of Barack Obama to the White House, newborns all over the United States are being named after the president-elect. The maternity ward at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood, Florida -- a key battleground state in which Obama soundly beat his Republican rival John McCain -- proudly staked claim to bringing the first American baby Obama into the world. "Sanjae Obama Fisher, baby boy, was born at 7:58 pm on election day," around three hours before Obama was declared the winner, a spokeswoman for the hospital said. "Mom and Dad voted early...

Decontee Williams was so excited by Barack Obama's victory on Tuesday night that she started jumping up and down — and went into labor. Twelve hours later, Barack Jeilah was born at Phoenix Baptist Hospital to Williams and Prince Jeilah. The baby was 8 pounds 9 ounces and had a full head of hair. "I love Barack Obama, and I love the name," said Williams, 31, who came to the United States as a refugee from Liberia in 2003. "In Africa, we call it a blessing. That is a good name." In the last week, Barack, Obama, Michelle, Malia and...

Decontee Williams was so excited by Barack Obama’s victory on Tuesday night that she started jumping up and down — and went into labor. Twelve hours later, Barack Jeilah was born at Phoenix Baptist Hospital to Ms. Williams and Prince Jeilah. The baby was 8 pounds 9 ounces and had a full head of hair.

In our quest to discover the origins of names belonging to Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) contenders, we discovered a diamond mine, picked up some basketball lingo, learned Indonesian, and found out "What brown can do for us" (to slightly modify a line from a popular television ad). Here are the stories behind the names of a few runners going into this year’s first Saturday in May. Anak Nakal (Victory Gallop-Misk) is an Indonesian phrase meaning "mischevious child," owner Kassem Masri of Four Roses Thoroughbreds said. "He was a bad boy," Masri said. "But he's not anymore."...

Past studies showed that children with odd names got worse grades and were less popular than other classmates in elementary school. In college they were more likely to flunk out or become "psychoneurotic." Prospective bosses spurned their résumés. And they were overrepresented among emotionally disturbed children and psychiatric patients, says the New York Times. However, recent evidence does not support these ideas, says Michael Sherrod and Matthew Rayback, authors of, "Bad Baby Names." They point out people with names like Ima Nut, Hysteria Johnson, Please Cope, Nice Deal and Wrath Gordon actually enjoy how there names make them stand out....

Whitewood, S.D. (AP) -- If the Rev. David Baer has his way, the Whitewood City Council will change the name of one of the northern Black Hills town's streets. Hooker Street doesn't quite lend itself to a family atmosphere and is offensive to some residents in the town of about 800 people, according to Baer. It's actually named after a Union general from the Civil War, . . .

A name is more than a combination of letters. It represents an identity, a belief and, ultimately, a prophecy. So it should be no surprise that Nathan B. Forrest High School in Jacksonville is failing. The school, named for a Confederate army general and prominent Ku Klux Klan participant, is not performing to the academic standard set by the state's educational authorities.

The two Bristols were joined by one boulevard on Saturday when two historic downtown streets were united as one, traversing both states as Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. About 60 Bristolians gathered on the misty, gray morning at Frederick Douglass High School, the only school for blacks in Bristol Virginia until integration in 1965, and marched via Martin Luther King Boulevard to its intersection of State Street, where a ceremony celebrated naming the street after the slain civil rights leader. Another group walked from Vance Middle School on the Tennessee portion of the boulevard. "We come to celebrate and commemorate...

A conservative think tank gives Minnesota a frowny face for turning away from presidential school names, but officials say it has nothing to do with a lack of patriotism. Is Minnesota unpatriotic for not naming schools after presidents? Chaska school board member Rod Franks doesn't think so. "One of the longest active military groups serving in Iraq is from Minnesota," Franks said this week. In a seven-state analysis released last week by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, Minnesota got a dishonorable mention over the declining use of president's names for schools. "In Minnesota, the naming of schools after...

The names that school boards give to public schools can both reflect and shape civic values. It is increasingly rare for public schools to be named after presidents—or people, in general—and increasingly common to name schools after natural features. This shift from naming schools after people worthy of emulation to naming schools after hills, trees, or animals raises questions about the civic mission of public education and the role that school names may play in that civic mission. After analyzing trends in public school names in seven states, representing 20 percent of all public school students, we obtained the following...

RAAD is born – not the long-range missile that Hezbollah is firing at Israel, but a Lebanese baby boy whose mother wants to honor the Shiite militant group's showdown with the Jewish state. After a difficult Caesarean delivery, Kawkab al-Akli gave birth to a boy at the Labib medical hospital in the southern coastal city of Sidon, her husband Mohammed al-Khaled told AFP. "We had sought refuge at a school in Sidon after running away from our village of Marwahine in the south because a lot of people were killed in Israeli attacks," he said. "This morning, my wife gave...

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- The fast-attack submarine USS Norfolk (SSN 714) returned home to friends and family in Norfolk, Va., May 7 after a successful six-month deployment as part of the USS Nassau (LHA 4) Expeditionary Strike Group (ESG). Norfolk played a crucial role as the only submarine assigned to the ESG. Norfolk brought stealth, endurance, mobility, agility and persistence while executing multimission tasking in direct support of the global war on terrorism. “I’m blessed to have a crew filled with tremendously talented Sailors,” said Cmdr. Scott Adams, Norfolk’s commanding officer. “Their performance throughout the deployment was nothing short of...

The Gemara in Berachos teaches "shma garim," that a name foretells a person's destiny. It teaches us that a name has a person's future stored in it. Thus by studying names we see the hand of Hashem - for seeing the events ahead of time in a person's name precludes any element of chance. So, for example, Hevel's name, which means "vanity" - and is quite an unusual choice for parents to make - actually prophesied his dying in vain at the hands of his brother. Similarly "Noach" has the same letters as "chein," prophesying the fact that that he...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, Lt. Gov. James Aiona, and Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Gary Roughead joined past and current crew members of USS Honolulu (SSN 718) to bid farewell to the nuclear-powered attack submarine at a ceremony April 15, at Naval Station Pearl Harbor. Keynote speaker, U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Jonathan Greenert, who commanded Honolulu from 1991 to 1993, said the submarine performed exceptionally well throughout its career. “She was consistently the most reliable ship in the squadron, whatever squadron she was in," he said. "Her complex systems always worked well…even the anchor...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (NNS) -- Hawaii Sen. Daniel Inouye, Lt. Gov. James Aiona, and U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Gary Roughead will join past and current crew members of USS Honolulu (SSN 718) to bid farewell to the nuclear-powered attack submarine at a ceremony April 15 at 10 a.m. at the submarine piers of Naval Station Pearl Harbor. U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Jonathan Greenert, who commanded Honolulu from 1991 to 1993, will be the keynote speaker. SSN 718, which has served as Honolulu’s namesake for the last two decades, is scheduled to depart for its final deployment to...

With less than a week left to suggest names for two new elementary schools in Colorado Springs School District 11, a national group is making a pitch for residents to name one of the schools for the late President Reagan. The goal of the Ronald Reagan Legacy Project is to have schools and other facilities named after the 40th president, whom it credits with ending the Cold War and turning the economy around in the 1980s, said Grover Norquist, chairman of the project and president of Americans for Tax Reform. John F. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr., each have...

Bosses at a Stockholm hospital have asked a nurse called Jesus to change his name, after concerns that it might cause confusion among patients. According to Jesus, an auxiliary nurse at Huddinge hospital, his superiors were worried that patients told "Jesus will be coming soon ," might get the wrong idea. "If they thought that Jesus was coming they might believe that they were already dead," the nurse told The Local. Jesus, who will now use his middle name Manuel, said he didn't have a problem with the change. "I understand why they wanted me to use my middle name,"...

Los Angeles has renamed a public school after Johnnie Cochran, the late criminal defense lawyer who helped clear "Trial of the Century" murder defendant O.J. Simpson. School district officials voted unanimously for the name change Tuesday, saying Cochran, who attended the former Mt. Vernon Middle School as a boy, was an "extraordinary, superb lawyer with movie-star celebrity status." But the sister of Simpson's ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson, whom the former star football player and actor was charged with stabbing and slashing to death, said she was stunned by the move. "It's in bad taste," Denise Brown told Reuters. "Yeah, he...