Way over half a million march in LA »
LA Times

Sweatshop U Sends Students to Jail »
Police arrested ten students at the University of California-Riverside for participating in a non-violent civil disobedience demanding that their university adopt a policy ensuring that university apparel and uniforms are produced in factories in which workers are represented by a democratic union and earn a living wage.

KTLA-5 and KABC-7:
not really into truth
Fake TV News:
Widespread and Undisclosed »
NY TImes
• Get the facts behind this story - click here
• Still under the illusion of impartiality in the media? - click here and watch Chris Mathews sell his future to the criminal Tom DeLay ... absolutely stunning, caught on tape.

NPJ member flipped off a lot!
Peace Pied Piper »
LA Weekly
You may have even honked once or twice, or maybe you’re one of the many who have flipped him off. Stephen K. Sharp once got flipped off 19 times in one night.

More than half a million people march in Los Angeles against proposed bill that would felonize illegal aliens for existing »
Max Blumenthal / Huffington Post

Pathologically sloppy under-reporters at CBS 2 describe the crowd as tens of thousands!

Arnold's 'Very Special' Election »
Steve Lopez / LA Times
He said he didn't need anyone's money ... he vowed to get the special interests out of Sacramento ... (now) Schwarzenegger has busted all fundraising records, leading the charge in a runaway cash derby. He has forced an unnecessary election he'd love most voters to avoid in hopes that a small group of conservative zealots will win the day. And to put a ribbon on it all, the Terminator has chickened out of face-to-face debates with opponents ... I'm not sure it's possible to be more hypocritical or insulting than that.

Taxpayer group asks Schwarzenegger to return insurance donation »
AP
A government watchdog group is calling on Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign to return a $105,000 donation from the insurance industry that came the same day he vetoed a bill the group opposed.

Girlynator
Gov Creates then Fills Pothole for Staged Photo Op »
SF Chronicle
Fake event kept secret until last minute to evade protesters - who's the girly man now?

Terror Personified:
Gold Star Families for Peace, Raging Grannies and CodePink
California National Guard program raises spying concern »
San Jose Mercury News
California's National Guard has quietly set up a special intelligence unit that has been given ``broad authority'' to monitor, analyze and distribute information on potential terrorist threats, the Mercury News has learned.

Although Guard officials said the new unit would not collect information on American citizens, top National Guard officials have already been involved in tracking at least one recent Mother's Day anti-war rally organized by families of slain American soldiers, according to e-mails obtained by the Mercury News.

Conflict of Integrity
Arnold's part-time job:
Governor »
Richard Reeves
This is what California got for spending millions upon millions of dollars a year and a half ago to impeach a boring governor because he seemed to think the most important part of his job was political fund-raising. Forget that and the side deals, too: Schwarzenegger has raised more political money, more than $50 million, than the deposed Gray Davis could ever have dreamed of collecting.

Schwarzenegger to be Paid $8 Million by Fitness Magazines »
LA Times
The publications rely heavily on advertising for dietary supplements. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have regulated their use.

Barbara Boxer Interview »
The Progressive
On Iraq: It’s a nightmare. We don’t understand the insurgency. It’s very deep, it’s very broad. We have no plan for success. And we need one. Bush said we’re there as long as necessary, and that is a message to the insurgents that we’re permanent occupiers. That just fuels the insurgency.

On rights: I know on the contraceptive issue, 70 percent of the country agrees with me. Will that stop my opponents? No. Because they are so radical. They chip away and chip away.

California voters do not favor Schwarzenegger re-election »
AP / SF Chronicle

A Schwarzenegger Republican »
Warren Beatty
Although I've never known Arnold very well, I've always liked him. When he went from body building into the movies and said in interviews he'd like to do it like Clint Eastwood does it and like Warren Beatty does it, of course that's pretty much all you have to say to have me eating out of your hand.

But now that he's a politician, I say, why not rise to the higher levels of that calling, rather than denigrate your fellow politicians, calling them "stooges" and "girly men" and "losers."

see also:
Bulworth takes on the Terminator »

Arnold Meets His Match »
The American Prospect
Schwarzenegger's approval ratings have plunged 20 points -- to 40 percent -- in the wake of his singularly reckless attack on the pensions and working conditions of the state's nurses, police officers, firefighters and teachers. Republicans must now even confront the possibility that a Democrat could unseat the Great Orange Hope next year. (Somehow, the governor has retained his metallic glow -- the word "tan" doesn't really describe it -- during the wettest year California has known in a century.)

Governator Making a Quiet Retreat »
LA Times
The broad policy changes that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveiled with a flourish in his State of the State speech in January have foundered amid a series of missteps, compromises and clashes with a well-organized opposition.

Wasn't Gray Davis recalled over
excessive fundraising issues ...
the answer is yes - click here

Thousands Protest at Governor's Benefit »
Noisy demonstrators armed with signs and outrage once again greeted Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger -- this time at San Francisco's Ritz-Carlton Hotel -- at a Tuesday evening fund-raiser expected to raise more than $100, 000 for his proposed ballot measures.

... The special interest label Schwarzenegger has pinned on his opponents has infuriated nurses, teachers and other public employees.

"It's a sign of (Schwarzenegger's) autocratic nature,'' said DeMoro of the nurses' union. "Everyone who has a contrary opinion is suddenly a special interest.''

AP Photo/Paul Sakuma

Organizers of the rally Tuesday night outside San Francisco's Ritz- Carlton Hotel represented groups with different complaints about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to change the way government operates in California. Here's a rundown:

Nurses: Upset at governor's efforts to stop increased staffing at California hospitals. Schwarzenegger says he blocked the lower nurse-to- patient ratios because the change would be too costly to hospitals and would force cuts such as the closure of emergency rooms. A judge overturned the governor's decision, forcing hospitals as of last month to hire enough nurses to meet the lower nurse-to-patient ratio.

Teachers: Opposed to governor's plan to make it tougher for teachers to get tenure, to require pay raises to be only merit-based and to change the funding guarantee for California schools. Schwarzenegger touts the proposals as essential to shake up schools and improve education.

Firefighters and police: Worried the governor's initiatives would limit pension and end death benefits. Schwarzenegger says the changes to public sector pensions are needed to ensure the programs are financially sound well into the future.

Labor unions: Concerned about proposed changes in public employee pensions and about the governor's support for efforts to limit union fund- raising. Schwarzenegger has lashed out at unions as special interests and says he is trying to curtail their political power.

Seniors, community groups and social justice organizations: Unhappy at governor's embrace of big business groups at his fund-raisers and possible cuts to social programs.

Three Strikes

Foul Justice: After 10 years, critics of Three Strikes may get another chance »
By Vince Beiser (L.A. Weekly)
... But then his son died of leukemia, and Baldwin slipped back into the grip of a cocaine addiction. In short order, he was arrested on drug charges.

“He did something wrong, and he deserved punishment,” says Brazell, a slight 21-year-old with pale-blue eyes and blond hair pulled back in a bun. “He should have got five or six years.”

Instead, Baldwin was sentenced last January to 25 years to life in prison — another petty criminal caught in the sweeping net of California’s “Three Strikes” law.
read on »

see also - F.A.C.T.S. »
Families to Amend California's Three Strikes

neighborsforpeaceandjustice.org