Free Republic

A year after leaving the California governor's office and becoming tabloid fodder for fathering a boy with his family's housekeeper and splitting with his wife, Maria Shriver, the 65-year old former bodybuilder will star in no less than three Hollywood movies over the next 12 months. None are likely to win Schwarzenegger an Oscar. Indeed, the movies, and Schwarzenegger's own fee, are low-budget compared with his global blockbusters of yore. But studio executives are betting that overseas fans especially will once again respond to a personality whose 24 films generated worldwide ticket sales of $3.9 billion, according to boxoffice.com. "He...

Actually, I would appreciate if people didn’t remake anything. Some originality would be nice.  While, I would appreciate no remakes, this goes double for ones with Arnold Schwarzenegger.It as actually quite interesting how many of Arnold’s films were science fiction or fantasy based.  It is also interesting how every remake of one of them is a complete flop.  The latest edition of Total Recall going to the remake scrap-heap is prime example.  Great CGI, No originality and No Arnold equals epic fail.  It seems the original which was recently called ‘cheesy’ by some critic did far better at the box office than the new one which...

SAN FRANCISCO – Gov. Jerry Brown railed Thursday against politicians who doubt climate change, calling them "political lemmings" and the chief obstacle in the fight against global warming. "The main thing we have to deal with in climate change is the skepticism, the denial and the cult-like behavior of the political lemmings that would take us over the cliff," the Democratic governor said at a high-profile conference on climate change at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. At a conference that included Brown's predecessor, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Brown said climate change has...

The California Supreme Court ruled Thursday morning that proponents of Proposition 8 — the voter initiative in 2008 that amended the state constitution to say “only marriage between a man and a woman” is valid in California — have legal standing to defend the measure in court. That means the matter can proceed to the Ninth District Court of Appeals for a ruling on the merits of the measure. The legal question before the Supreme Court was procedural and unrelated to the substantive question of the constitutional validity of Prop. 8. It only assessed whether proponents of the measure can...

Three wealthy Californians have launched a new effort aimed at helping elect state legislators who demonstrate the "courage" to tackle major issues facing the Golden State. "Govern for California" is backed by Democrat David Crane, who worked as an advisor to former GOP Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Republican investor Ron Conway, and Greg Penner, a WalMart Board of Directors member who is registered decline-to-state. The group has created a website website to educate voters about the importance and actions of the state's 120 legislators, arguing that the Golden State's governance woes "will never turn around unless the good people of California...

Um, hardy har? Arnold Schwarzenegger recycled an old gag T-shirt while exercising in Santa Monica on Sunday. As the photo (originally at TMZ) shows, the former California governor and actor, 64, donned a shirt that read "I survived Maria" on the back; on the front of the shirt the dates "2007-2010" appear, but "2007" is crossed out, replaced with "1977.

LOS ANGELES (KTLA) -- Arnold Schwarzenegger appears to be using his wardrobe to send a message to estranged wife Maria Shriver. The former governor recently donned a t-shirt that read, "I survived Maria." Schwarzenegger was spotted wearing the shirt during a bike ride Sunday in Santa Monica. The garment was designed by Shriver's staff as a joke and given to Schwarzenegger last November during a farewell party for his staff, TMZ is reporting. The shirt, which originally had the dates 2007-2010 printed on the bottom, was altered to list the dates 1977-2010. Schwarzenegger and Shriver began dating in 1977. The...

Now that the tabloid feeding frenzy has abated somewhat, it's time for a cooler look at the furor over former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's fathering a child by one of his household workers. A few pundits have tried to make the connection between his marital betrayal and his failings as governor, but one has nothing to do with the other. Illicit sex involving political figures is nothing new and, as we know now, was rampant even among the nation's founders. More recently, we have seen scandals involving Bill Clinton, Eliot Spitzer, Strom Thurmond, Mark Sanford and John Edwards, to name but...

The alleged mother of Arnold Schwarzenegger's lovechild has been named by a U.S. website. Mildred Baena, 50, is said to have fallen pregnant with her son, who is now aged around 14, while working for the former California governor and his wife as a housekeeper. Photos posted online by Baena show her and a young boy. She also claims on a social networking site to be 'single' and dating or searching for a 'serious relationship'. Baena also describes herself as a 'proud parent'. A joint investigation by RadarOnline and Star magazine in the U.S. led to the naming of the...

So this Schwarzenegger spalpeen was born more than 10 years ago, and Maria never had a clue? Arnold apparently took good care of his offspring, at least monetarily, but Maria didn’t catch on. That’s showing her (female) Kennedy roots all right. Paging Rose Kennedy. Just look the other way, like Michael Kennedy with the babysitter. Or Jack with Fiddle and Faddle and Judith Campbell Exner. Or Bobby with Marilyn Monroe . . . Obviously, Schwarzenegger had to overcome any number of handicaps to become a soldier in the Kennedy Crime Family. He’s an Austrian and, much more damning, he’s a...

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after the former governor revealed he had fathered a child with a member of their household staff, The Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. The couple announced in a joint statement May 9 that they had separated after 25 years of marriage. The Times reported Tuesday that Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this year after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the child is his. "After leaving the governor's office I told my wife about this event, which occurred over a decade ago," Schwarzenegger said in a statement issued...

Arnold Schwarzenegger, Maria Shriver split over baby he fathered with member of household staff By Michael Sheridan DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER Tuesday, May 17th 2011, 5:57 AM Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced their split in early May after having been together for 25 years. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver announced their split in early May after having been together for 25 years. The marriage between Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver was terminated because he fathered a child with a member of his household staff, it was revealed Tuesday. The former Governor of California and his wife announced their separation...

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his wife, Maria Shriver, separated after she learned he had fathered a child more than a decade ago — before his first run for office — with a longtime member of their household staff. Shriver moved out of the family's Brentwood mansion earlier this year, after Schwarzenegger acknowledged the paternity. The staff member worked for the family for 20 years, retiring in January.

"Unfortunately, partisan politics has immobilized Washington," New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg told Time magazine in 2007. Bloomberg, according to Michael Grunwald's cover story, was the diminutive half of a dynamic duo revolutionizing American politics. The other partner: California's then still shiny governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger. Together, they were "The New Action Heroes" who, according to Grunwald, were "doing big things that Washington has failed to do." The article was mostly a clever way to slap George W. Bush. But there are still important lessons to be learned, particularly as the Big Apple remains immobilized not from partisan politics but by...

The name of Sen. Jenny Oropeza, who died last night, will remain on the Nov. 2 ballot as a candidate for re-election to the 28th Senate District, election officials said this morning The 53-year-old Long Beach Democrat died 12 days before the election. Her name is already on the ballot -- some of which have already been cast by absentee voters -- and state law prevents calling a special election to fill a vacant office within 68 days of an election. Oropeza was expected to win re-election in the district, where Democrats have a 20-plus point registration advantage.... If Oropeza...

Democratic Sen. Jenny Oropeza has died following a prolonged illness. She was 53. Oropeza had been largely absent from the Senate since her office announced in May that she had been diagnosed with a blood clot in her abdomen. The Long Beach Democrat, first elected to the Senate in 2006, had battled liver cancer and a tumor during her time in the Assembly. Her own battle with cancer inspired her to become a champion of cancer prevention in the Legislature.

"I endorse Gov @charliecristfl for Senate. Great leader, works with both parties, and our country needs someone like him in DC right now."

Arnold Schwarzengger inspected the foundations of Russia’s planned Silicon Valley on Monday, and heaped praise on everything from the ruling tandem to the president’s driving. In return he was jokingly invited to take up the role of Moscow mayor when his gubernatorial term ends early next year as Dmitry Medvedev kept up the old pals patter perfected on his trip to California this summer.

Forget a war victory over Georgia or the reset with the Obama administration. The greatest foreign policy coup Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has pulled off in his nearly three years in power has been the rapprochement between Russia and… California. For the Kremlin’s closest ally abroad is neither Obama nor Hugo Chavez, but Arnold Schwarzenegger. Dima made friends with Arnie back in June, when he stopped by California looking for tips on his pet project - recreating the Silicon Valley outside Moscow at a place called Skolkovo. Now Schwarzenegger is in Moscow for a return visit to lecture about the...

SHANGHAI — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is engaging in a little window-shopping of China's new high-speed train lines while peddling Californian exports and tourism in the world's second-largest economy. His own state budget $19 billion in the red, Schwarzenegger says he is hoping for some "creative financing" from Asia to help lower costs and get California's proposed high-speed rail lines up and running. Industry experts say cash-rich China may be best placed to help with funding, and less risk averse than others whose banks are still recovering from the financial crisis. That could prove a key competitive advantage as it goes...