News, Etc.

To mark her declaration of independence, Maria Shriver has decided to terminate the Terminator marriage.

She put up with Arnold for 25 years officially, and some years before that.
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I doubt nursing is any better, but this person at least tells the truth about education.

It is supposed to be about helping children, but in fact it is anything BUT.

It's all about kissing ass, and playing stupid games to make idiots higher up the ladder look good. A lot like private industry, yet it is much, much worse because of the extreme power imbalance between teachers and administrators.

Etc., Etc.

Nevada's unemployment rate may now be "only" 12.5 percent, but that's mostly because some 44,000 people, including yours truly, have left the state.
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Arnold Schwarzenegger could look at starring in his own reality television series, given how mesy his personal life has been of late.

The "other woman," at least the one currently in the eye of the storm, is one Mildred Patricia Baena, a rather nondescript type of woman.

Apparently wife Maria Shriver confronted her.

I am sure there will be a lot more. Stay tuned.
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Arne Duncan sticks his nose in local matters. Of course the person tapped to be superintendent is another loser of the Eli Broad type.

Etc. and News

When you've bed your maid, you lie with her.

I am sure all those rumors about him harassing women are true.

What gets me is the incident happened over a decade ago:

Shriver's statement Tuesday was noteworthy in tone. Although the couple announced their separation last week in a joint missive that made no mention of a cause for the split, this statement came from Shriver alone and pointedly set her and her children apart from Schwarzenegger.

The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January. To protect their privacy, the Los Angeles Times is not publishing the former staffer's name or that of her child.

Schwarzenegger's acknowledgement came as the former governor, who left office in January, has been trying to rebuild his movie career and craft a new public-policy role. In recent months, he has maintained a high public profile, meeting with world dignitaries, attending a White House summit on immigration and working on assorted entertainment deals.

That's the end of those ambitions, unless Newt gets elected president.
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A dictatorship in Idaho? It couldn't happen there, could it?

The state superintendent of instruction is making threats against any educator who dares to work against him politically. The threats include license suspension and revocation.

"Luna" is short for lunatic.
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News, Etc.

It's goodbye and good riddance to another former actor turned politician.
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Miscellaneous Articles

The WSWS takes a dim look at a government panel's breast cancer recommendations, even though there have been serious questions raised about mammograms for years.

This isn't any kind of conspiracy against women; besides, women who want them can still get them. This recommendation was based on a cost-benefit analysis.

Of course the panel recommended women with family histories of the disease should get mammograms just as they always have.
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So what does health care reform REALLY mean?
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A federal judge has just ordered compensation in the case of a gay couple denied spousal benefits.
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The governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, will not be running for governor again. Of course this is no surprise.
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The euthanization of Oreo, the abused pit bull mentioned on this blog last week, has created a huge uproar, for many people believe the ASPCA didn't want to bother with the long process of rehabilitation.

The dog was euthanized only a little over three months after her legs were broken by her abusing owner having thrown her out the window.

If California Goes,

will the nation follow? One can certainly blame the disastrous Proposition 13 of 1978 for the mess. Taxes can't be raised at all without a supermajority, which is completely anti-democratic.

Moreover, while Democrats run the state legislature, there are enough Republicans there to block any meaningful reform.

Peter Schrag wrote a book over ten years ago, Paradise Lost, which foretold the disaster California would find itself in. Proposition 13 was at the core of the state's problems then, and it continues to be a ruinous piece of legislation now.

We can't just shrug California's economic mess off; the state has one of the largest economies in the entire world.

Krugman may be hitting it on the head when he wonders whether California's insanity as reflected by the Republican Party will go national:

But that presumes that we’ll be able, as a political matter, to act responsibly. The example of California shows that this is by no means guaranteed. And the political problems that have plagued California for years are now increasingly apparent at a national level.

To be blunt: recent events suggest that the Republican Party has been driven mad by lack of power. The few remaining moderates have been defeated, have fled, or are being driven out. What’s left is a party whose national committee has just passed a resolution solemnly declaring that Democrats are “dedicated to restructuring American society along socialist ideals,” and released a video comparing Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to Pussy Galore.

And that party still has 40 senators.

So will America follow California into ungovernability? Well, California has some special weaknesses that aren’t shared by the federal government. In particular, tax increases at the federal level don’t require a two-thirds majority, and can in some cases bypass the filibuster. So acting responsibly should be easier in Washington than in Sacramento.

But the California precedent still has me rattled. Who would have thought that America’s largest state, a state whose economy is larger than that of all but a few nations, could so easily become a banana republic?

California Scheming

California's economy is in a mess, and now it seems the governor is plotting to send out "warning" pink slips to as many as 20,000 employees unless he gets his way on a compromise budget.
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California Politics

Governor Schwarzenegger gave his State of the State address, which you can see here.

He is certainly no dumber than the idiot we Nevadans are stuck with.

Damn

It appears Schwarzenegger and the legislature will reach a budget deal.

California Politics

Arnold decides to take on his most difficult role, budget cutter, and possibly risk getting recalled himself.
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The Booming Economy

It's time for some WSWS commentary about the plunging GDP.
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Verizon is demanding job and benefit cuts.
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Unemployment is at the highest level in four years.
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Governor Schwarzenegger threw a hissy fit and decided to slash workers' pay and cut 10,000 part-time and seasonal government jobs.
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California Politics

It appears even Arnold's wife's pet project isn't immune to the effects of the budget cuts.

Oh, to be a fly on the wall in that household.

Hypotheticals

Of course it's all hypothetical (I bet you didn't think I could use a big word like that) Governor Schwarzenegger would consider an "energy czar" post in an Obama administration.

We can all engage in fantasies, just like Obama is doing with his presidential bid, but that doesn't mean those fantasies will come true.

California Politics.

Arnold takes a meat cleaver to the state budget.
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California Politics.

It looks like Arnold is taking an ax to the state budget.

As the World Turns.

Entertainer Donovan Leitch is still stuck in a time warp, I'm afraid.
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Blame firefighting shortages for the southern California wildfire disaster.
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Questions arise over a vehicle crash which involved 59 Belgian horses, including 14 who were killed:

Fisch said horse enthusiasts from northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin are mobilizing to try to keep the horses from continuing on their journey, which Fisch suspects will end in a slaughterhouse.

She said most of the animals were just 1 or 2 years old.

She said the trailer was not designed for horses, and the large draft horses inside this one would have had to duck their heads in the cramped quarters of the double-deck trailer.

"They were wedged in like sardines," said Fisch, who stayed at the crash until it was cleared about 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

"At least seven were removed alive and had to be put down," Fisch said. "They would literally come out flopping over on their side—if not dead, in terrible shock. So exhausted, and so stressed."

Fisch praised the veterinarians and horse lovers, as well as the Newport Township firefighters, who worked long hours saving the trapped horses.

"This was just sweaty, dangerous, back-breaking work," she said. "We're all sore from pulling and pulling, trying to get these animals up out of the trailer."

I suspect the surviving horses will not be slaughtered.
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Dr. Arnold says marijuana is not a drug.
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California Politics.

After such promising beginnings, the relationship between Arnold and the state GOP has deteriorated.

I don't know why he simply doesn't ditch the party; he has little in common with them anymore.

Masherama.

For days I have been meaning to mention the fact California Republicans have less and less use for Arnold as the days go by. This time, of course, is regarding his skepticism over the scheme by the fascists to screw over California by not having winner-take-all electoral votes.

It's nothing more than cheating.

Masherama.

Arnold profits from nonprofit subsidies for travel expenses.

And "they" talk about John Edwards living large.
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