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LOS ANGELES - California receives millions of dollars in tax revenue when movies are filmed in the state, but about 60 percent of all productions last year were shot elsewhere, according to a study to be released Monday. The state, for example, loses more than $10 million when a $70 million movie is made outside the state, and $3 million for a 12-episode drama, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. said. Sponsored by labor and industry groups, the 20-page showed that 236 features, or about 40 percent of all productions, were shot partially or exclusively in the state last...

LOS ANGELES - Congressional Republicans are hoping yet again to split the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers nine Western states and has issued some rulings to the dismay of conservatives. The Republicans say a breakup is the best way to reduce the circuit's caseload. Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., plans this week to introduce a bill to split the circuit into three parts. Rep. Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, has already introduced legislation this year that would create at least one, if not two, new appellate courts for the area, which includes Arizona. "The situation is continuing to get worse...

LOS ANGELES -- Back east, well-placed Democrats have agreed that the party's 2008 nomination is all wrapped up better than three years in advance. They say that the prize is Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's for the asking, and that she is sure to ask. But here on the left coast, I found surprising and substantial Democratic opposition to going with the former first lady. Both the Hollywood glitterati and the more mundane politicians of Los Angeles are looking elsewhere. They have seen plenty of Sen. Clinton over the last dozen years, and they don't particularly like what they've seen. Two...

DEMOCRATIC WALLWEED Judging by where Democratic National Committee chairman Howard Dean has spent the last few days, he almost certainly attempted to get invited to Sen. Hillary Clinton's and Sen. Harry Reid's fundraising events in Los Angeles. According to DNC sources, Dean intentionally planned a West Coast swing around the dates Clinton and Reid had circled for their events. On Sunday, Dean was in Seattle, a quick shot down the Left Coast to Los Angeles, with plans to fly to San Francisco for events Monday. Before Seattle, Dean spent time with Democratic donors in Montana. There is an increasing whiff...

Anyone who’s lived in the United States over the past few decades knows what Fonda’s life’s been about — sexual liberation, the anti-war movement, health and nutrition, the entrepreneurial spirit, feminism, etc. — because our own lives have been about those issues. In an eerie way that urges us to consider how deeply celebrities reflect and affect our culture, Jane Fonda’s life has mirrored America’s life. Especially the lives of American women. Still, there are a few surprises in her book that will catch you off-guard. For example, it’s pretty obvious from page one that Fonda’s no bimbo actress. She’s...

Stay home, you pathetic whining maggots By Ian Robinson -- Calgary Sun In the wake of the U.S. presidential election -- in which I cheerfully took a Sun assistant city editor, who figured Senator John Kerry couldn't lose, for $10 (a quick pause to gloat here) Americans disenchanted with President George W. Bush's re-election romp back into the White House, continue to deluge the Canadian immigration website. How anybody can be unhappy with the president's re-election is beyond me. Bush has my admiration in no small part because he manages to simultaneously annoy France and Germany, not to mention those...

Rather than star quarterback Donovan McNabb or any other members of the Eagles, it seemed natural that the often-tacky Terrell Owens was the player who once again managed to find the gutter. Out here on the Left Coast, we observed the Owens act for six seasons with the San Francisco 49ers. He openly feuded with coaches, teammates, and opponents. Owens' end zone antics such as the Sharpie incident became legendary. And embarrassing to anybody who believes athletes should be held to a higher standard! After the 2003 season, the self-centered and disruptive Owens had to go. With his talent, the...

When I titled my book “Conservatives Are From Mars, Liberals Are From San Francisco,” I could just as easily have pointed out that liberals are from Hollywood. It really is a different planet from the one most of us live on. To begin with, it is populated with high school drop-outs and drama majors making millions of dollars a year, convinced they should decide how the rest of us think, live and vote. What you must never forget about these pampered pets is that the first lesson they learned in acting class was to get in touch with their feelings....

Sherry Lansing, the soon-to-be-retired Paramount studio honcho and friend of Sen. John Kerry, is said to be "depressed." Actress Sharon Stone, who stumped for Mr. Kerry in Wisconsin, reportedly was "traveling" yesterday. It wasn't clear whether the "Basic Instinct" star had fled the country, as she had hinted that she might do if the Democratic nominee lost. There were tears and tribulations. Long sighs and short tempers. Shock and bawl. For a rich and powerful demographic used to getting its way, Hollywood was downbeat yesterday as President Bush — more heinous than a mid-February release date to so many celebrities...

Arriving home from the hospital after being treated for a heart attack, 84-year-old Carol Barnes inched up the steps into her Sunset District home and headed straight for her absentee ballot. "She said, 'That ... Bush, I can't allow him to be president again,' " said her son, Bo Barnes. " 'I want to vote for Kerry to make the world safe.' " Too exhausted to do more than cast votes for president and two propositions, the widow of an Army major signed the ballot and told her son they'd complete the rest later. Three days later, on Oct. 17,...

I don't want to completely stick my neck out on this, because when you hope something is true, it clouds your judgemenet (as Dan Rather has found out!)But it appears to me that tickets are available at all the gigs for the "swing states" pro-Kerry/anti-Bush tour. Curiously, New York and New York have not been added to this "swing states" tour. Odd. Now, this is not 1980, but it seems even the Springsteen shows still have tickets available. A bad sign for the left?

FUTURE SOUNDTRACK FOR AMERICA Barsuk Records is set to release a fundraising CD compilation, titled future soundtrack for america, a joint project with MoveOn.org and Music For America, on August 10th. The compilation will include R.E.M.'s "The Final Straw (MoveOn mix)." McSweeney's Publishing is also releasing a book with similar fundraising goals that will include a copy of the CD; the future dictionary of america features contributions from an astounding group of almost 200 writers, from Paul Auster to Michael Chabon to Jonathan Franzen to Joyce Carol Oates to Kurt Vonnegut to Wendy Wasserstein. One hundred percent of the proceeds...

WASHINGTON — Barack Obama, the U.S. Senate candidate from Chicago who has become the Democratic Party's latest rising star, is drawing enough support from the entertainment industry to put on his own variety show. From comedian Chris Rock to singer Barbra Streisand to musician Herbert Hancock, entertainers have written out checks of $1,000 or $2,000 to help the 42-year-old Illinois state senator win the seat being vacated by retiring GOP Sen. Peter Fitzgerald. Film directors Rob Reiner ("The American President") and Edward Zwick ("The Last Samurai" and "Courage Under Fire") both contributed in the past three months, according to Obama's...

John Kerry raised about $5 million for his campaign at a couple of events in Los Angeles on Thursday night, the second of which featured performances by Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond, Billy Crystal and Willie Nelson. Amongst those who contributed in order to attend: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck, Jamie Foxx, Ben Stiller and Robert DeNiro. Crystal "joked" about President Bush, according to multiple media accounts, "I realize that 9/11 is also his SAT scores." The New York Times touted how "the much-heralded highlight was the Barbra Streisand-Neil Diamond reunion duet, 'You Don't Bring Me Flowers,' which they had not performed...

Out on the Left Coast, Democrat foes of the Second Amendment want to ban gun shows from a taxpayer-owned property but keep allowing a porn expo. "Foreplay got the nod over gunplay Wednesday by state senators deciding what types of shows to allow at the Cow Palace," the San Francisco Chronicle reported today. California Sen. Jackie Speier is having a cow over firearms shows at the Cow Palace in suburban Daly City. Democrats defeated attempts by Republicans to amend Speier's bill to ban the annual Exotic Erotic Ball as well. Exotic Erotic Ball, which touts itself as "the world's wildest...

Could there really be a no-pinko zone on the Left Coast? Yes, thanks to those who actually know what they're talking about. "Memories of the Red Menace may be fading in much of America, but they are very much alive in Orange County's Little Saigon," the Los Angeles Times reported. "In a gesture that says a lot about the uncompromising anger that many Vietnamese emigres feel toward the regime they fled, leaders want to declare a no-Communist zone." Officials in Garden Grove and Westminster, home to many escapees from Vietnam, want to ban visits by officials from Hanoi. The Times...

.........Supervisors such as Sandoval, Aaron Peskin and Jake McGoldrick also are facing re-election in November and know that full-out opposition from an increasingly popular mayor would make their races a lot tougher. Many of the city's progressive leaders don't know what to make of Newsom's populist leanings. They aren't sure whether he is operating from principle or politics when he repeats many of their own lines. "The fear is that (Newsom is) building up some credibility on the progressive side, and then in a year or so the hammer will come down on groups like us,'' said Ted Gullicksen, executive...

According to my COM101 class notes, to win a libel suit, one must generally prove six things of the defendant: 1. Identity of the person damaged 2. Publication of the material 3. That the published material was actually defaming 4. Falseity of the defaming material 5. Fault: if the plantiff is a public figure, he/she must prove actual malice: either a) knowingly lying, OR b) reckless disregard for the truth; if the plantiff does not hold any sort of public or celebrity status, he/she must merely prove negligence 6. That the material in some way caused injury or harm to...

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN NOV 30, 2003 20:42:05 ET XXXXX HOLLYWOOD DEMS GATHER FOR 'HATE BUSH' MEETING AT HILTON **Exclusive** Top Hollywood activists and intellectuals are planning to gather this week in Beverly Hills for an event billed as "Hate Bush,' the DRUDGE REPORT has learned! Laurie David [wife of SEINFELD creator Larry David] has sent out invites to the planned Tuesday evening meeting at the Hilton with the bold heading: "Hate Bush 12/2 - Event" The message reads: "This is the most important meeting you can attend to prevent the advancement of the current extremist right wing...

In an unlikely attempt to gain star backing for a slow-burning campaign, the Democratic presidential candidate, General Wesley Clark, is spending late nights talking politics with Madonna and wooing sympathetic supergroups such as The Eagles, with whom he recently shared the stage during a rendition of Hotel California. Gen Clark, who had a cerebral and somewhat austere reputation during his military career, has spent much of the past month seeking out the late-night company of west coast rock stars, screen idols and movie producers. While his rivals preach to the worthy but unglamorous residents of early-voting Iowa and New Hampshire,...