Extra Special Bonus Issue
Disinfotainment Today
By Michael Dare
ARNOLD UNPLUGGED
It's hasta la vista to $9 billion if the Governator is selected
by Greg Palast
Friday October 3, 2003
It's not what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to the girls a decade back that should raise an eyebrow. According to a series of memoranda our office obtained today, it's his dalliance with the boys in a hotel room just two years ago that's the real scandal.
The wannabe governor has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001, at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, he had consensual political intercourse with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay. Also frolicking with Arnold and Ken was convicted stock swindler Mike Milken.
Now, thirty-four pages of internal Enron memoranda have just come through this reporter's fax machine tell all about the tryst between Maria's husband and the corporate con men. It turns out that Schwarzenegger knowingly joined the hush-hush encounter as part of a campaign to sabotage a Davis-Bustamante plan to make Enron and other power pirates then ravaging California pay back the $9 billion in illicit profits they carried off.
Here's the story Arnold doesn't want you to hear. The biggest single threat to Ken Lay and the electricity lords is a private lawsuit filed last year under California's unique Civil Code provision 17200, the "Unfair Business Practices Act." This litigation, heading to trial now in Los Angeles, would make the power companies return the $9 billion they filched from California electricity and gas customers.
It takes real cojones to bring such a suit. Who's the plaintiff taking on the bad guys? Cruz Bustamante, Lieutenant Governor and reluctant leading candidate against Schwarzenegger.
Now follow the action. One month after Cruz brings suit, Enron's Lay calls an emergency secret meeting in L.A. of his political buck-buddies, including Arnold. Their plan, to undercut Davis (according to Enron memos) and "solve" the energy crisis -- that is, make the Bustamante legal threat go away.
How can that be done? Follow the trail with me.
While Bustamante's kicking Enron butt in court, the Davis Administration is simultaneously demanding that George Bush's energy regulators order the $9 billion refund. Don't hold your breath: Bush's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is headed by a guy proposed by Ken Lay.
But Bush's boys on the commission have a problem. The evidence against the electricity barons is rock solid: fraudulent reporting of sales transactions, megawatt "laundering," fake power delivery scheduling and straight out conspiracy (including meetings in hotel rooms).
So the Bush commissioners cook up a terrific scheme: charge the companies with conspiracy but offer them, behind closed doors, deals in which they have to pay only two cents on each dollar they filched.
Problem: the slap-on-the-wrist refunds won't sail if the Governor of California won't play along. Solution: Re-call the Governor.
New Problem: the guy most likely to replace Davis is not Mr. Musclehead, but Cruz Bustamante, even a bigger threat to the power companies than Davis. Solution: smear Cruz because -- heaven forbid! he took donations from Injuns (instead of Ken Lay).
The pay-off? Once Arnold is Governor, he blesses the sweetheart settlements with the power companies. When that happens, Bustamante's court cases are probably lost. There aren't many judges who will let a case go to trial to protect a state if that a governor has already allowed the matter to be "settled" by a regulatory agency.
So think about this. The state of California is in the hole by $8 billion for the coming year. That's chump change next to the $8 TRILLION in deficits and surplus losses planned and incurred by George Bush. Nevertheless, the $8 billion deficit is the hanging rope California's right wing is using to lynch Governor Davis.
Yet only Davis and Bustamante are taking direct action to get back the $9 billion that was vacuumed out of the state by Enron, Reliant, Dynegy, Williams Company and the other Texas bandits who squeezed the state by the bulbs.
But if Arnold is selected, it's "hasta la vista" to the $9 billion. When the electricity emperors whistle, Arnold comes -- to the Peninsula Hotel or the Governor's mansion. The he-man turns pussycat and curls up in their lap.
I asked Mr. Muscle's PR people to comment on the new Enron memos -- and his strange silence on Bustamante's suit or Davis' petition. But Arnold was too busy shaving off his Hitlerian mustache to respond.
To receive more of Greg's investigative reports click here: http://www.gregpalast.com/contact.cfm
Greg Palast is author of the New York Times bestseller, "The Best Democracy Money Can Buy" as well as "Regulation and Democracy" (with Theo MacGregor and Jerrold Oppenheim), the United Nations guide to utility deregulation. Read Palast's commentaries at www.GregPalast.com. Reprints permitted. Contact: media@gregpalast.com. The Enron memos were discovered by the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, Los Angeles, www.ConsumerWatchdog.org
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'TBH Politoons'
Thanks, again, Tim!
He's Been Busy!
The Worried Shrimp
Botox For Men
Dr. Kay's
We spent $300M to find some Botox?
Reader Review
'Bend it Like Beckham'
from Mark
Another Bumpersticker
Selected Sunday Readings
from that Mad Cat, JD
In The Chaos Household
Last Night
Not a lot of sun, but still pleasant.
Darrell Hammond does a crappy ahnold. Local 3rd graders would put him to shame.
OTOH, the local 3rd graders have seen a LOT of ahnold on tv lately.
Tonight, Sunday, CBS opens the evening with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH 'Cold Case', then a FRESH
made-for-tv-movie 'Blessings'.
NBC starts the night with 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH 'American Dreams', then a FRESH 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', followed by a
FRESH 'Lyon's Den'.
ABC begins the evening with a FRESH 'America's Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH '10-8', then a FRESH 'Alias', followed by
a FRESH 'The Practice'.
The WB offers a RERUN 'Smallville', followed by a FRESH 'Charmed', then the Series Premiere of 'Tarzan'.
Faux has a RERUN 'Futurama', followed by the movie 'Vertical Limit'.
UPN has the weekly RERUN 'Enterprise', followed by 'Stargate SG-1'.
A&E has a 2-hour 'Biography' (Clint Eastwood), followed by the same 2-hour 'Biography' (Clint Eastwood).
AMC offers the movie 'Saturday Night Fever', followed again by the movie 'Saturday Night Fever', and then the movie 'The Two Jakes'.
BBC -
[6pm] 'Monarch of the Glen' - Episode 6;
[7:00 pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Blackpool;
[7:30 pm] 'Changing Rooms' - Peckham;
[8pm] 'Faking It' - Cellist Turns DJ;
[9pm] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 1;
[9:40pm] 'Coupling' - Size Matters;
[10:20pm] 'Manchild' - Episode 6;
[11pm] 'Faking It' - Cellist Turns DJ;
[12am] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 1;
[12:40am] 'Coupling' - Size Matters;
[1:20am] 'Manchild' - Episode 6;
[2am] 'Changing Rooms' - Blackpool;
2:30am] 'Changing Rooms' - Peckham;
[3am] '3 Non-Blondes' - Episode 1;
3:40am] 'Coupling' - Size Matters;
[4:20am] 'Manchild' - Episode 6;
[5am] 'Faking It' - Cellist Turns DJ; and
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Queer Eye', followed by a 2-hour 'Inside The Actor's Studio' (Clint Eastwood), then the movie 'The Professional'.
History has 'Russia: Land Of The Tsars', 'Stalin: Man Of Steel', 'Mail Call', and the Series Premiere of 'Extreme History', hosted by Roger Daltrey.
SciFi has 'Taken' (part 1 of 10), followed by 'Taken' (part 2 of 10).
TCM -
[6am] 'Life Begins For Andy Hardy' (1941);
[8am] 'Anne Of Green Gables' (1934);
[9:30am] 'MGM Parade Show #19' (1955);
[10am] 'Vogues Of 1938' (1937);
[12pm] 'BUtterfield 8' (1960);
[2pm] 'Boys' Night Out' (1962);
[4pm] 'Gigi' (1958);
[6pm] 'The Philadelphia Story' (1940);
[8pm] 'The Mummy' (1959);
[9:30pm] 'The Curse of Frankenstein' (1957);
[11pm] 'The Mysterious Doctor' (1943)
[12am] 'The Phantom of the Opera' [silent] (1925);
[2am] 'Freaks' (1932);
[3:15am] 'Mad Love' (1935); and
[4:30am] 'The Mystery Of The Wax Museum' (1933). (ALL TIMES EDT)
Native American actor and spiritual leader Saginaw Grant (R) protests remarks made by California Republican Gubernatorial candidate actor Arnold Schwarzenegger against gaming tribes, in front of City Hall in Los Angeles, October 3, 2003. Grant claims gaming tribes pay their share of taxes and Schwarzenegger is using them as a scapegoat and owes them a public apology.
Photo by Larry Downing
The Information One-Stop
Moose & Squirrel
Launch TV Ad
Angry Citizens
Angry California women's groups on Friday launched a TV ad and organized state-wide protests aimed at stopping Arnold Schwarzenegger's march toward the California governor's office, saying, "If Arnold wins, the women of California lose."
Representatives of half a dozen women's rights groups poured scorn on Schwarzenegger's blanket apology for his "playful" behavior toward women over three decades, denouncing his conduct as criminal sexual harassment.
The Internet-based public interest group MoveOn.org unveiled a provocative TV ad that will air across California on Sunday and Monday containing a now famous remark about burying a woman's face in a toilet bowl that was made by Schwarzenegger in July while promoting his latest movie "Terminator 3."
Jodie Evans, co-founder of CodePink Women for Peace, denounced what she called a "pattern of abusive and humiliating behavior has spanned three decades .... He is not qualified to represent the large percentage of women in California, specifically if he does not know the difference between 'playful' antics and sexual battery."
For more, Angry Citizens
An aerial view shows balloons and special shape balloons being inflated at Balloon Fiesta Park as spectators gather to watch in Albuquerque, N.M., Saturday, Oct. 4, 2003, on the first day of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Over 700 balloons are participating in this year's fiesta which ends Oct. 12.
Photo by Jake Schoellkopf
Buys Ad Time on Leno
Mary Carey
Porn actress and fringe gubernatorial candidate Mary Carey strips down to a string bikini in her one and only campaign TV ad, airing next Monday in Los Angeles during NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
Carey's spokesman, Steve Earnhart, said her campaign has paid $3,000 to air the 30-second spot just once on local station KNBC during one of Leno's commercial breaks.
The spot opens with Carey clad in a baggy orange outfit resembling a prison jumpsuit, which she quickly removes to reveal a skimpy bikini in a stars-and-stripes motif.
Mary Carey
MSGOP Debut
'Jesse Ventura's America'
The cameras opened on a shaved head and panned around. Then, dressed in a black suit and Jimi Hendrix T-shirt, Jesse Ventura struck into a monologue in his unmistakable baritone.
So began Ventura's long-awaited career as a talk show host Saturday night, when "Jesse Ventura's America" premiered on MSNBC. The show had been delayed several months by format changes and other pitfalls, which Ventura acknowledged in a backhanded way by thanking the network for "finally having the courage" to put him on the air.
MSNBC initially intended to air Ventura's show every weeknight. But after a few rehearsals he was relegated to Saturday night, when viewership typically is lower.
Guests included California Gov. Gray Davis and Arianna Huffington, a columnist who was a candidate in the recall election until Sept. 30. Both appeared by satellite.
'Jesse Ventura's America'
In The Kitchen With BartCop & Friends
Italy's Oscar Candidate
'I'm Not Scared'
Gabriele Salvatores' "Io non Ho Paura (I'm Not Scared)" has been selected as Italy's candidate for this year's Academy Awards.
The movie, based on Niccolo Ammaniti's popular novel and set in a small village in Sicily, tells of the relationship between a boy who's been abducted and the son of his kidnapper.
The Academy Awards jury makes its five foreign-language nominations public on Jan. 27. The Oscar ceremony is scheduled for Feb. 29 in Los Angeles.
'I'm Not Scared'
This 1931 painting by Rene Magritte entitled 'The Tempest, ' part of an exhibit at the Phillips Collection in Washington. One artist claimed to have been hatched from an egg in an eagle's nest, another is known for painting a flexible watch wrapped around a tree branch. The show of painters who were pushing the envelope in the troubled Europe of the mid-1900s opens at the Phillips Collection, Washington's first museum of modern art. Some of them came to America and helped shift the world's art capital fromParis to New York.
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Getting Own 'Walk of Fame'
Hong Kong
Nine Hong Kong movie greats of the 1960s and '70s were the first celebrities to cast handprints for a planned "Avenue of Stars" modeled after Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
They included action film stars Jimmy Wong Yue, Ti Lung and Tso Tat-wah and comedy stars Woo Fung and Michael Hui, who became famous during one of the prime periods in the 100-year history of Hong Kong's movie industry.
Others picked by the Hong Kong Film Awards Association were filmmaker Raymond Chow, director Chor Yun, "movie princess" Connie Chan Po-chu and "movie prince" Patrick Tse Yin, father of pop singer Nicholas Tse.
The Hong Kong Tourism Board has declined to identity other candidates, but likely choices include Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Tony Leung and director Wong Kar-wai.
Hong Kong
Formerly 'The Vidiot'
Hosting Weekend Book Festival
'Lump In The Bed'
First lady Laura Bush, former librarian and teacher, is playing host to the third annual National Book Festival this weekend.
Deemed "first reader of our land" by Librarian of Congress James H. Billington at a gala Friday night kicking off the festival, Mrs. Bush praised American authors for their "tales of mystery, history and heroism."
At the Friday event, Mrs. Bush recited a poem she said resident Bush greeted her with when she returned recently from France, where President Jacques Chirac had kissed her hand twice. It read in part:
"Roses are red/ Violets are blue/ Oh my, lump in the bed/ How I've missed you."
"Roses are redder/ Bluer am I/ Seeing you kissed by that charming French guy."
'Lump In The Bed'
Library of Congress
A Chinese tourist walks past a natural rock formation inside the one-kilometre-deep limestone Yaolin Cave in Tonglu county, some 96 kilometres (60 miles) from Hangzhou in China's western Zhejiang province October 3, 2003. Many Chinese are enjoying their week-long National Day holiday by travelling and visiting tourist spots around the country to celebrate the 54th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China.
Photo by Claro Cortes IV
To Test APEC Summit Food
Mice
Thailand is going to use mice to test food for poison before it is served to resident Bush and 20 other Asia Pacific leaders at a regional summit in Bangkok this month, a top health official said on Friday.
Department of Medical Sciences chief Somsong Rugpao said samples of dishes served during the October 20-21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit would be injected into mice.
"We'll have a result within a minute. If it's safe, we'll tell the waiters to start serving," he told Reuters.
Mice
Send The Bill To The GOP
Visit From Bush?
Starved for cash and faced with political fund-raising visits by resident Bush -- with the usual demands for security, crowd control and street closings -- a few cities are starting to tally up their expenses and send a bill to Republican organizers.
These costs add up: Having played host to Bush twice and to Vice President Dick Cheney once, for fund-raisers, the city of Portland, Ore., wants $145,000 in reimbursement, mostly for police overtime.
Cities shouldn't have to swallow the expense of political fund-raisers, as opposed to official appearances by the commander-in-chief, said Scott Farris, a spokesman for Portland Mayor Vera Katz.
for the rest, Visit From Bush?
In Memory
William Steig
William Steig, a prolific illustrator for The New Yorker known as the "King of Cartoons" for his award-winning, best-selling children's books including "Shrek," has died. He was 95.
Steig died of natural causes of Friday night at his home in the Back Bay section of Boston, said his agent, Holly McGhee.
His 1990 book about a green monster, "Shrek!," was made into the hit film that in 2002 became the first winner of an Oscar in the new category of best animated feature.
In a 1997 Boston Globe interview, he said he had helped the filmmakers on the script. "I gave them some ideas, because the book takes 10 minutes to read, and the movie's going to be 70 minutes," he said. "I wrote out a bunch of suggestions; thinking of ideas for a movie is fun."
He sold his first cartoon to New Yorker editor Harold Ross in 1930 and was hired as a staff cartoonist. The magazine was still publishing his work more than 70 years later.
He had produced more than 1,600 drawings as well as 117 covers for the magazine. A prolific author, he also wrote more than 30 children's books, inducing Newsweek to dub him the "King of Cartoons."
His cartoon style evolved from the straightforward worldly children he called "Small Fry" in the 1930s to the expressionist drawings of his later years that illuminated a word or phrase.
In the latter, clowns and princes and lovers came to life from Steig's imagination. It was a pastoral place "where you hear plenty of laughter and only an occasional shriek of pain," Lillian Ross once wrote.
He told the Globe he loved Rembrandt and Picasso and was "nuts about van Gogh." And he said his own drawings have a light, feathery line "because I'm having fun."
Steig did not begin writing children's books until he was 60. His third effort, "Sylvester and the Magic Pebble," was rewarded with the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1970.
Other notable children's books included "Roland, the Minstrel Pig," "Amos and Boris," "Dominic," "Abel's Island," "The Amazing Bone," "Caleb and Kate," "Doctor De Soto" and "Wizzil."
Steig was born Nov. 14, 1907, in New York, the son of a house painter and a seamstress. He began cartooning for his high school newspaper, attended City College and the National Academy of Design.
In the '30s he became fascinated with Freud and psychoanalysis, and his 1942 book "The Lonely Ones" was hailed for its symbolic drawings of human neuroses. It stayed in print for 25 years.
Steig, who was married four times, was survived by his wife, Jeanne, two daughters and a son.
William Steig
William Steig home page
The first Komodo dragon ever hatched in Canada is shown in this undated handout photo in Toronto, October 1, 2003. The 184 gm, 47 cm long baby was born on August 27th, 2003 and had been carefully nurtured in the Zoo's Animal Health Center incubator for the 240 day hatching period. The sex, as yet unknown, will be determined by blood tests.
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'The Osbournes'
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