Free Republic

The Carnuntum ruins are part of a city of 50,000 people 28 miles (45 kilometers) east of Vienna that flourished about 1,700 years ago, a major military and trade outpost linking the far-flung Roman empire's Asian boundaries to its central and northern European lands. Mapped out by radar, the ruins of the gladiator school remain underground. Yet officials say the find rivals the famous Ludus Magnus - the largest of the gladiatorial training schools in Rome - in its structure. And they say the Austrian site is even more detailed than the well-known Roman ruin, down to the remains of...

"I swear that I am not making this up." Dave Barry

The world may have been shocked by Arnold Schwarzenegger's recent admission that he had fathered a child with a household staff member during his 25-year marriage to Maria Shriver, but actress Jane Seymour says she saw it coming. "I was not even remotely surprised," the actress told CNN during the red carpet premiere of "Love Marriage Wedding" last night. "The moment I heard it, that there was an announcement of their separation—he was obviously jumping the gun before everyone else told the world of the news."

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Oakland, Calif.-based Innovative Bank was closed by regulators Friday, marking the 48th U.S. bank failure of 2010.

Those hoping to ride the state's high-speed train next decade will have to dig much deeper into their wallets than officials originally thought, a harsh reality that will chase away millions of passengers, according to an updated business plan released Monday. The average ticket on the bullet train from San Francisco to Los Angeles is now estimated to cost about $105, or 83 percent of comparable airfare. Last year, the state said prices would be set at 50 percent of comparable airfare and predicted a ticket from San Francisco to Los Angeles would cost $55. As a result of the...

"Dear Governor: I hope you or someone will take a moment of time to read my letter here about my experiences with EDD. I know you are trying hard to get this economy corrected while also managing the multitude of problems within the state of California: the air we breathe,this flu, the ocean on our coasts, the redwoods, the homelessness, the budget, the prisons. It's a very long list..." (snip) "I turned to EDD for unemployment the first weekend after losing my job. Putting those forms online was brilliant. No waiting in lines, getting everything submitted correctly from the homey...

<p>A federal appeals court on Friday ordered a judge to reconsider her refusal to block portions of a clean-truck program at the nation's busiest port complex.</p> <p>In an opinion that dismayed environmentalists and labor leaders, the three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco ruled that U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder should grant all or part of the American Trucking Assn.'s request for an injunction halting the implementation of new rules that apply to truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.</p>

Arnold campaigning for McCain in Ohio. He did a great job!! I did do a search. If it's a duplicate, please delete. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o81VuUcwnEk)

Moments in the Sun By HOWARD FINE - 4/14/2008 Los Angeles Business Journal Staff Bonnie Reiss has always relished the idea of getting caught up in a cause larger than herself, whether it’s getting a political mentor elected or talking up the environment. She launched her political career by volunteering in Ted Kennedy’s 1980 presidential campaign. Then, after building an entertainment law practice in Los Angeles, she pioneered the use of celebrity endorsements for environmental causes. Nonetheless, the Queens, N.Y., native was stunned in early November 2003 to find herself inside the governor’s suite in Sacramento, grappling with one of...

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has refused to be drawn into Paris Hilton's jail appeal, insisting he has more pressing matters to deal with. The desperate socialite, who was sentenced to serve 45 days in jail earlier this month after violating terms of her 2006 drunk-driving arrest, has teamed up with a pal to pioneer an online petition begging the politician for a pardon. The appeal, which is addressed to Schwarzenegger, claims "the American public who support Paris are shocked, dismayed and appalled by how Paris has been the person to be used as an example that drunk driving is wrong."...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made nice with Rush Limbaugh on Wednesday, calling in to his radio program a day after dismissing the conservative host as "irrelevant." Limbaugh, who a day earlier had accused the governor of abandoning the conservative cause, treated Schwarzenegger cordially. But he pressed him on recent political moves that have angered conservatives, such as his $12 billion universal health care proposal. The two had a back-and-forth discussion over extending health care to illegal immigrants and whether the money to pay for the governor's health plan amounted to new taxes or fees. Limbaugh said the compromises...

IT IS NOTHING less than a scandal that 90% of the seats in Congress and the California Legislature are not competitive. It is also why Democrats, who have long championed a level playing field in elections as an important progressive goal, should be leading the call for an end to the "incumbent protection racket." Democrats strongly supported the concept of "one person, one vote" established in 1962 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Baker vs. Carr, a ruling that also required equal representation in all legislative bodies in order to reflect the interests and wishes of the people in a...

SACRAMENTO - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Wednesday that he will veto a bill seeking to allow gay marriages in California. Schwarzenegger said the legislation, given final approval Tuesday by lawmakers, would conflict with the intent of voters when they approved Proposition 22. That measure was put on the ballot in 2000 to prevent California from recognizing same-sex marriages performed elsewhere. "We cannot have a system where the people vote and the Legislature derails that vote," the governor's press secretary, Margita Thompson, said in a statement. "Out of respect for the will of the people, the governor will veto (the bill)."...

California Democrats lashed out at Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger during their annual convention Saturday, vowing to block his administration's agenda in an extraordinary reversal of good will toward the celebrity governor. Schwarzenegger, whose push for controversial government reforms has enraged labor unions and other traditionally Democratic constituencies, came under withering attack as speaker after speaker chastised his leadership abilities. "The governor has declared war on the state of California," Assemblywoman Judy Chu said. "He declared war on us and I declare war on him." Some in the convention hall held signs reading "Stop Arnold's Arrogance!" while others carried bobblehead dolls depicting...

Blogger angst NBC's Tom Brokaw signs off the air tonight after 21 years as anchorman, and will be replaced tomorrow by correspondent Brian Williams. Both have opinions about Internet bloggers — whose dogged pursuit of CBS' Dan Rather helped expose his use of forged documents in a "60 Minutes" story that questioned President Bush's National Guard service. Mr. Brokaw is not threatened by bloggers. --snip-- Mr. Williams — who called himself a "big NASCAR freak, a 'gear-head,' " in an NBC interview yesterday — is even less receptive. Bloggers are "on an equal footing with someone in a bathroom with...

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - Two days after the Democrats took at drubbing at the polls across the country, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger referred to leaders of the state's majority party as "losers." At a Thursday news conference, the Republican governor who branded Democrats "girlie men" during a budget fight last year was asked whether he would listen to tax-increase proposals from Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata or other Democratic leaders. "Why would I listen to losers?" Schwarzenegger asked. "Let's be honest." As soon as he made that remark, however, he tried to suggest he was referring not to Democrats themselves,...

Democrat John Kerry's lead over President Bush has narrowed to seven points among likely California voters . . .The nonpartisan poll showed that the Democratic ticket of Kerry and John Edwards has support from 49 percent of likely voters, while Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are favored by 42 percent. Nine percent are undecided. Kerry's advantage over Bush has diminished from a peak in May, when he held a lead of 15 points over the president. "It's not a toss-up, but it's now single digits for Kerry," said Mark DiCamillo, director of the Field Poll. DiCamillo said the presidential...

By TIM MOLLOY, Associated Press Writer LOS ANGELES - A spokesman for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (news - web sites) said Sunday that the governor would not apologize for calling lawmakers "girlie men," despite criticisms from Democrats that the remark was sexist and homophobic. Schwarzenegger dished out the insult at a rally Saturday as he claimed Democrats were delaying the budget by catering to special interests. "If they don't have the guts to come up here in front of you and say, 'I don't want to represent you, I want to represent those special interests, the unions, the trial lawyers ......

That's what it says now. Discuss amongst yourselves...

This Arnold Schwarzenegger thing, it's bulls--t. For real. It's sickening, deplorable, unjust. Governor Gray Davis won the general election less than a year ago. He won the election less than a year ago. Why is he out of office? He didn't do anything. He did nothing wrong. Why did they impeach him? A rich Republican from San Diego, Darrell Issa, he started the campaign to get enough signatures, two million, to hold a recall election. Issa, for one, is a criminal, and two, he paid people commision to get their signatures. These guys are sofa kings. Sofa king dirty. Who...

http://www.poisonskin.com/pocketproducts/pocketArnold/pArnold2.asp Ahnold speaks !!!!

LOS ANGELES — "The election was actually simple," political analyst Tony Quinn wrote me. "People did not like Gov. Davis." He is right, and he is wrong. Sean Walsh of Governor-Elect Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign last night noted a preordained outcome, that Gray Davis was, at the outset, toast. Consider that the recall was always ahead; indeed, it peaked when Arnold announced. Back then, a recall election would have netted 63 percent "Yes," more than yesterday's 54 percent. From the outset, many of us misunderstood this recall and thought it would intrude on a risk-averse electorate. It now appears the burden...

     Arnold Schwarzenegger is no conservative, but the liberal media are smearing him as if he were. The same broadcast networks that flinched when faced with credible charges that Democratic darling Bill Clinton actually raped a woman during his 1978 Arkansas gubernatorial campaign are scrambling to give free airtime to women who charge Schwarzenegger with unwanted groping.     “I don’t remember all the details of Juanita Broaddrick,” CBS anchor Dan Rather told FNC’s Bill O’Reilly in 2001 about the woman who alleged Clinton raped her, “but I will say that — and you can castigate me if you like — when...

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - Women's groups and religious leaders worked feverishly Friday to galvanize opposition to Arnold Schwarzenegger after he acknowledged treating women badly and responded to reports that he told an interviewer he admired Adolf Hitler. A coalition of women's groups met at the Feminist Majority offices here to unveil an anti-Schwarzenegger ad campaign and introduce a former TV network intern who said the gubernatorial candidate groped her when she showed him around a sound stage 25 years ago. She was one of several women — including radio psychologist Dr. Joy Browne — to come forward Friday with new...

LOS ANGELES — The League of Women Voters is a familiar political-debate sponsor. Its seemingly moderate president moderates. And there are always the inevitably fair questions: Where do you stand on a woman's right to choose? Do you support gun control to protect children against drive-by shootings? Typically, public TV and public radio stations carry the boring debate; the ratings are low. Most voters judge the debate only by news clips and sound bites. Last night's debate was different. The California Association of Broadcasters sponsored it. Its president, Stan Statham, is a former state assemblyman. (Fortunately, Statham didn't ask about...

<p>In a long and very interesting poll pubished today by the California Chamber of Commerce, (which has endorsed Arnold, and bits have been excerpted to the media) Uberroth backers were asked who they would support if he withdrew.</p> <p>This is what they said: Schwarzenegger 34%, McClintock 21%, Bustamante 23%.</p>

Will Schwarzenegger terminate the GOP? Posted: September 9, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com The candidacy of Arnold Schwarzenegger to become the next governor of California appears to be heading toward victory. But Republican elephants would be wise to consider that if they allow this RINO (Republican In Name Only) to win, he may also be responsible for permanently terminating their precious GOP. What has apparently evaded the thinking of conservative pundits all over America is the long-term impact of Schwarzenegger on the Republican Party's national platform. In particular, there has been an ongoing battle for many years inside...

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Does movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger have a problem with women? Although Schwarzenegger's run for governor of California has excited many voters tired of conventional politicians such Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites), some are complaining the actor's past statements and behavior toward women cast doubts about his character. In the latest distraction from Schwarzenegger's official message of a "people's revolution" to retake Sacramento in an Oct. 7 recall vote, a group of women announced they would picket the former bodybuilder's campaign headquarters on Friday to protest what they call his misogynist views and crude behavior...

California Democratic Party leaders yesterday blasted the Taco Bell restaurant chain for a sales promotion that counts sales of different menu items as votes in a mock California recall election. Last week the Mexican-style fast food chain launched the campaign, urging Californians to “put their vote where their mouth is.” Taco Bell restaurants statewide are tallying each purchase of a crunchy beef taco as a “vote” for Republican challenger Arnold Schwarzenegger and each purchase of a chicken soft taco as a “vote” for not recalling Gov. Gray Davis. In the first week of the unofficial poll, “votes” for any of...

Schwarzenegger's reputation, meanwhile--which I've heard from one reliable source, one eyewitness ultra-reliable source, and one unreliable Premiere article-- is this: He bullies people "below the line." That is, he bullies the technicians, costumers, etc. who aren't billboardable talents. Is it to get his way? No--he's the star and he's going to get his way anyway. It's from an ugly sense of pleasure in others' discomfort. ... Will this unpleasant character trait come out in the campaign? Schwarzenegger may learn, as Howell Raines learned, that it's harder to get away with being a bigshot prick than it used to be. ... On the...

LOS ANGELES — Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon will run the first radio ads directly attacking GOP front-runner Arnold Schwarzenegger by focusing on the issue his economic advisor raised by suggesting Californians might need to pay higher property taxes. The radio spots have been cut and may begin airing on California talk radio stations as early as Sunday night, Simon spokesman K.B. Forbes told Fox News early Sunday. Forbes would not say how much the campaign spent on the radio adds or which stations would carry them, but did say the anti-Schwarzenegger spots would run "on major talk radio stations...

GOVERNOR TAX: ARNOLD TELLS ADVISERS HE WILL NOT RULE OUT HIGHER RATES Movie tough guy Arnold Schwarzenegger has confided to advisers that he will not rule out raising taxes in California if he is elected governor, top sources tell the DRUDGE REPORT. The tax issue was raised last week during a meeting between Schwarzenegger and his senior campaign staff. MORE "Look, Arnold will not, cannot say, 'Read my lips, no new taxes,'" a well-placed source explained from Los Angeles. "Our first priority will be to get the state back in to top fiscal condition, and everyone knows it takes revenue...

According to at least one poll, Bustamante is now ahead of Schwarzenegger in the California race. Blogger Calblog reckons that this may even overstate Arnold’s support, as, judging by some recent developments, the Terminator seems intent on alienating the G.O.P. base. Who’s to blame? Calblog has a theory: “Since Shriver assumed a central role, the campaign ... has allowed Warren Buffet and Rob Lowe to associate themselves with the campaign. Now I would expect the Republican operatives in the campaign to know that Republicans dislike Lowe and Buffet. These are things that Republicans just know. No one has to tell...

LOS ANGELES - Arnold Schwarzenegger announced Thursday that former U.S. Secretary of State George P. Shultz will co-chair an Economic Recovery Council for his gubernatorial campaign. It was the second major announcement in two days for the actor. On Wednesday, the campaign said billionaire investor Warren Buffett (news - web sites) would be a financial adviser. Buffett and Shultz will be joint co-chairs of the economic council. The appointments of Buffett, a Democrat, and Republican Shultz reflect the campaign's attempt to assemble a diverse and bipartisan team. The campaign will soon have an economic summit, Schwarzenegger told reporters in brief...

<p>What's a candidate to do?</p> <p>California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger hasn't even put together his talking points, and his official Web site isn't complete yet.</p> <p>But the merchandising mavens are already closing in, peddling unofficial T-shirts, stickers and other goodies emblazoned with the actor's name, face and famous lines.</p>

<p>NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - California gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday billionaire financial guru Warren Buffett has joined his campaign as an adviser.</p> <p>Buffett, influential chairman of the financial firm Berkshire Hathaway Inc., will serve as senior financial and economic advisor to Schwarzenegger, a Republican seeking to replace Democratic Governor Gray Davis, who is blamed by Republicans for the state running an enormous budget deficit.</p>

If anything, Arnold Schwarzenegger's plunge into California politics could turn into a booster rocket for former Vermont governor Howard Dean's presidential campaign. In what looks like a breakaway lead, Dean is ahead in both New Hampshire and Iowa, and is buoyed by an imaginative Internet-based fundraising drive across 89 different websites. Another Seabiscuit? Too early to tell, but looking stronger every day. His nearest contender, opportunistic Massachusetts senator John Kerry, is fading and needs to dig into his wife's ketchup money to stay in the running. Professional pols of both parties are afraid of Schwarzenegger because, like Jesse Ventura, he...

Ok, McClintock bots: I'm fed up with you torpedoing the chances for a Republican to be elected Governor of California. Don't you realize that you're screwing up supporting a long-shot like Tom McClintock??? Don't you realize you'd be handing this recall to the Dems in a silver platter??? These are my reasons why, if I lived in CA, I'd support Arnold: 1) The chances of a hardcore conservative Republican being elected governor of California are slim to none: Might as well wait for a Green Party governor in Utah. 2) You could accuse me of compromising, but it's better a...

(CNSNews.com) - Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger -- rumored to be out of the race to replace California Governor Gray Davis -- instead announced he's running, all right. The 56-year-old star of the "Terminator" movies made the surprise announcement Wednesday on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." "The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing," Schwarzenegger said. "The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He's failing them terribly. And this is why he needs to be recalled. And this is why I'm going to run for governor of California." California's Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante also said on...

<p>The recall of Gov. Gray Davis is heading for a fall election. "It'll be covered like a mini-presidential race," says GOP consultant Joe Shumate -- and watched like a thriller movie. Part of the reason will be Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, his campaign advisers believe, will be running -- or starring, to put it in Hollywood idiom, in a political sequel to his "Total Recall."</p>

<p>I don't know if Arnold Schwarzenegger will run for governor. But I do know this: Our standard-order politicians are dreaming if they think they are going to blow him away.</p> <p>I'm not surprised that the general public sees Schwarzenegger, so far, as little more than a Hollywood celebrity. But the political class should know better. This is a man of substance with accomplishments in charity and business that would make him a very formidable candidate for the state's highest office, even if his lack of political experience makes it difficult to guess what kind of governor he would ultimately be.</p>

The lousiest Hollywood actors always did make good Republicans, writes Rod Liddle. The Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger is apparently contemplating running for political office. To students of the correlation between acting ability and political sympathy among thespians, it will come as no surprise that Arnie is a Republican. The rule is almost - although not quite - inviolable. In general, the worse you are as an actor, the more right-wing your politics will be. There is a formidable rollcall of guileless, wooden dunderheads on Hollywood's right. Charlton Heston, surely one of the worst actors alive, is not merely a Republican...

Before the California campaign can possibly begin, the results are obvious. Arnold Schwarzenegger has not formally declared for the recall election of Governor Gray Davis, because the election has not been scheduled, because the total signatures have not been filed and haven't been fully counted. All those tumblers will click into place, and Ah-nold will win that election. Sounds like I'm going pretty far out on a limb. But every step is intensely factual and logical. Here's why: On Monday, 7 July, 2003, the supporters of a recall election against Governor Davis will file the balance of 1.1 million signatures,...

Republicans in California indicated to White House staffers during President Bush's recent fundraising swing that they expect the recall of Governor Grey Davis to be successful and that actor Arnold Schwarzenegger will step in and challenge for the position.Schwarznegger probably wont be alone. Rep. Dan Issa has pumped some of his own money into the recall funding and has talked about challenging Davis. [who has already smeared Issa in planted stories]There also continue to be rumblings among some state party loyalists that NSA Advisor Condi Rice should not be overlooked. But it appears that Rice's timing may be off. She...

BURBANK, Calif. - Arnold Schwarzenegger (news) refuses to terminate rumors of a run for governor while promoting his latest movie, joking that: "You haven't seen special effects like this since the California state budget." Schwarzenegger's advisers have said he will decide whether to run after the July 2 release of his movie and only if it becomes clear that an effort under way to recall Gov. Gray Davis (news - web sites) will qualify for the ballot. If voters decide to oust Davis, they would also have to choose a successor. Schwarzenegger, taping "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (news...

The California Governors team from the past two elections is working on stratgy to fight the recall petition movement and has hired fundraisers.Seven months after he won re-election in what could have been the final race of his career, Gov. Grey Davis is mounting yet another statewide campaign-this time to crush a drive by Republicans to recall him from office.First, the Davis committee is trying to stymie the local CA congressmans petition drive.To do that, it has hired crews to circulate its own petition, essentially a stack of paper that makes a public statement against the recall but has no...

<p>The new chairman of the two-house budget committee that will negotiate a legislative budget plan has some unique tools to try to twist arms during his year's talks: burgundy and brie.</p> <p>Sen. Wes Chesbro, D-Arcata, whose home district includes wine-producing Napa and Sonoma counties, has been hosting Wednesday night wine-and-cheese parties to try to "get to know people," as he prepares for his role as legislative budget steward, said spokeswoman Darby Kernan.</p>

California Rpeublicans dont want movie star Arnold Schwarznegger to wait until 2006 to run for office. They want him to make his political screen test earlier. And given the dismal performance of rookie Bill Simon, some Republicans would prefer to see the Austrian Oak show his political mettle--and ture colors--too, before seeking the highest in-state office. So some GOPers are pushing Schwarznegger advisors to run their boy against Barbara Boxer in 2004 for the U.S. Senate.Besides providing a look at how the action star would hold up under the political spotlight, it would also resolve a bigger problem: the GOP...