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Yes, there are Californians not named Tom McClintock who are worried about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's move from budget-cutter to government-enabler. Such as the grumps from the formerly Schwarzenthusiastic Reason Foundation, who have taken to use the G-D word, by which I mean Gray Davis: Fiscal conservatives are facing the sad truth that the governor they supported has actually increased state spending more than the governor they ousted. Since Schwarzenegger assumed office, general fund spending has increased by an astonishing 31 percent. As Sen. Tom McClintock reports, Schwarzenegger's annual rate of spending increase has been 7.9% compared with Davis' 7.1%. ......

THE Eiffel Tower's lights will be turned off for five minutes on Friday as part of a campaign to save energy and draw attention to the plight of the planet. The agency that manages the Paris landmark said today that it will be joining a campaign to draw attention to "sustainable development and the preservation of the planet" with the five-minute blackout at 5.55am AEDT. The campaign called Five Minutes of Respite for the Planet is being held as world experts meet in Paris to thrash out a report on global warming. The Eiffel Tower has recently changed its lighting...

News on local Fox News Channel 11 reports a power outtage affecting LAX. More as announced.

Israel bombs two transformers, cuts power to Tyre

Rep. Patrick Kennedy crashed his car near the Capitol early Thursday, and a police official said he appeared intoxicated. Kennedy said he had had no alcohol before the accident. Kennedy, D-R.I., addressed the issue after a spate of news reports. "I was involved in a traffic accident last night at First and C Street SE near the U.S. Capitol," Kennedy said in a written statement released by his office. "I consumed no alcohol prior to the incident. I will fully cooperate with the Capitol Police in whatever investigation they choose to undertake." Kennedy appeared to be intoxicated when he crashed...

Nearly five years after blackouts rolled across California, electricity surged back toward the spotlight Monday when the last of eight voter initiatives qualified for November's special election. Like the claims and counterclaims that wracked the state during the 2000-2001 energy crisis, nothing about the electricity initiative is likely to be simple. Sell It Yourself Despite the convenient labels, California never really deregulated electricity when the state Legislature changed the ground rules of the once-monopoly business in 1996. Now, the ballot measure wouldn't really re-regulate, although the consumer group promoting it likes to call it a "re-regulation and blackout avoidance" initiative....

SAN FRANCISCO - Former Gov. Gray Davis now admits he was unprepared for the 2000-2001 energy crisis that sent electricity bills soaring, brought rolling blackouts, and ultimately helped bring an early end to his political career. Davis was recalled by voters in an unprecedented move, and replaced by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in October 2003, a year after Davis had won a second term.The former Democratic governor said he erred by buying power at inflated rates during the height of the crisis, but said he acted because he "wasn't willing to risk" sustained blackouts."Did it turn out to be a mistake?...

HARRISBURG, PA.-PRNewswire/ Each Memorial Day, ceremonies across the country echo with the sound of a plaintive bugle call, played to honor those who died in America's wars. The call is "Taps" and it dates back to the American Civil War. "There are some heart-warming myths about 'Taps,'" warns George Hicks, the executive director of the National Civil War Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. The Museum, which opened in 2001, has 65,000 square feet of exhibit space that tells the story of the entire conflict, without sectional bias. The Museum's exhibit about Civil War music includes six battered and tarnished bugles that...

Ramallah - Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is suffering from a potentially fatal blood disorder which will require more tests outside the West Bank to determine the cause, one of the doctors treating him said Thursday. "His blood cells which should normally destroy microbes are currently destroying blood platelets," the doctor said on condition of anonymity. The disorder could have been triggered "by an inflammation caused by a virus, a cancer or blood poisoning," he told reporters. The supplemtary tests could not be conducted in Arafat's West Bank headquarters where he is currently being treated, he added. "The doctors think that...

MIDI - WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS I am not nuts…I'm really sane I am the Gov…so don't you complain Simon is leading…I don't know how We'd better pull some dirty tricks and do it now Don't you people understand I kept the lights on for you I know the big surplus…that, I blew I kept the lights on…I kept the lights on Don't call me crazy, 'cause I kept the lights on…for you all Contracts were bad…that I must hide Keep stupid voters…with me on my side I am not melting…oh, no, not me I'll pull a rabbit from...