Free Republic

September 12, 2003 Schwarzenegger, Shriver Do Oprah ALISON M. ROSEN Arnold Schwarzenegger isn't faring too well with the ladies. He recently came under attack for a 1977 interview he gave to Oui magazine, wherein he admitted to engaging in group sex at a gym and receiving oral sex during bodybuilding competitions. Reuters reports that a group of feminists recently staged a demonstration outside Schwarzenegger's campaign office to protest and raise awareness about what they deem to be his "misogynist views" and "crude behavior toward women." Enter Oprah Winfrey for damage control. Winfrey, a friend of the actor turned candidate and...

This has got to be one of the cleverest E-Mails ever seen. Someone out there either has too much spare time or is deadly at Scrabble. GEORGE BUSH: When you rearrange the letters: HE BUGS GORE DORMITORY: When you rearrange the letters: DIRTY ROOM EVANGELIST: When you rearrange the letters: EVIL'S AGENT PRESBYTERIAN: When you rearrange the letters: BEST IN PRAYER DESPERATION: When you rearrange the letters: A ROPE ENDS IT THE MORSE CODE: When you rearrange the letters: HERE COME DOTS SLOT MACHINES: When you rearrange the letters: CASH LOST IN ME ANIMOSITY: When you rearrange the letters: IS...

<p>It has all the ingredients of a prime time soap opera: The state's political watchdog agency squared off against a powerful special interest. The state's top cop caught between client -- the watchdog -- and campaign contributor -- the special interest.</p>

<p>MONTEREY PARK, Calif.(AP) - Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson and actor Bruce Willis were on hand as hundreds of children got new parents Saturday in a celebration of National Adoption Day.</p> <p>The third annual nationwide event springs from a Los Angeles County program developed five years ago to attack the region's adoption backlog.</p>

From the looks of the UC Davis Mondavi Center plaza Wednesday morning, you'd have thought 'N Sync or U2 were coming to town. More than 300 students bundled up in heavy coats and sleeping bags camped outside the center's ticket office Tuesday night in the hopes of getting tickets to former President Bill Clinton's Nov. 17 talk when they became available at 10 a.m. "I got here about 5 a.m.," said UCD student Jason Hansen, as he stood at about mid-point in the line of 313 people at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. "I just really want to see him. I've heard...

<p>BERKELEY, Calif.(AP) - With a smile on his face and comfortable shoes on his feet, caffeine crusader Rick Young is campaigning the old-fashioned way, hanging up doorknob fliers for his ballot measure requiring that every cup of coffee sold in town come from beans grown and sold responsibly. "Have you heard about the Berkeley coffee initiative? What do you think?" he asks a young man passing by.</p>

<p>Abortion foes rejoiced last year when George W. Bush took office, believing they had a long-awaited ally in the White House.</p> <p>The president hasn't disappointed. In its first 18 months, the Bush administration has appointed dozens of conservative federal judges who are anti-abortion, has declared developing fetuses eligible for government-funded health insurance and Thursday rescinded support for international family planning principles that had been adopted by 179 nations.</p>

<p>Judge declares mistrial after jurors react to graphic photograph Published 12:30 a.m. PDT Friday, SAN DIEGO(AP) - A photograph of a brutally beaten grandmother affected jurors in a murder trial enough for the judge to declare a mistrial.</p> <p>One juror broke down in tears after seeing the emergency room photo of Emily McAllister, 86, with tubes taped to her nose and mouth, her face swollen and bandages on her body.</p>

<p>The information is vague and unverified, authorities caution.</p> <p>The FBI has issued a warning to local law enforcement agencies alerting them of a terrorist threat Friday against targets in Sacramento and New York City, sources said Wednesday, although officials downplayed the probability of an attack.</p>

Bill Simon on Lou Dobb's Moneyline, CNN. Look for the repeat.

<p>The days of debutantes and grand balls have faded along with fin-tail cars and beehive hairdos.</p> <p>Last month, the Carmichael Chamber of Commerce slipped off its white leather gloves and unceremoniously announced the end of the Miss Carmichael pageant.</p> <p>Instead, the chamber will hold a contest for a Carmichael Youth Ambassador, which will be open to teens of both sexes.</p>

<p>A controversial proposal to store water beneath the Mojave Desert and pump it to District of Southern California was killed Tuesday by the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.</p> <p>The MWD board voted by a slight margin to not proceed with the $150 million project by Santa Monica-based agricultural company Cadiz Inc.</p>

<p>SACRAMENTO (AP) - State officials have banned inmates from receiving pornography after a growing number of female prison guards said they find the materials offensive.</p> <p>Inmates are no longer allowed to receive pornographic magazines, along with photos, drawings and other depictions of nudity.</p>

D.A. 'Shocked;' Lesser Charges Upheld Against Knoller, Noel A San Francisco judge on Monday threw out a second-degree murder conviction against Marjorie Knoller in the 2001 dog mauling that killed a neighbor but refused to grant a new trial on involuntary manslaughter convictions against Knoller and her husband, Robert Noel. Superior Court Judge James Warren said Knoller and Noel are likely the most despised couple in San Francisco, calling the couple's conduct with their dogs "despicable." But he said that he doesn't think Knoller could have known when she took the dogs out on the day of the attack that...

<p>LAFAYETTE, Calif. (AP) - A man who successfully signed up his poodle to vote as a Republican pleaded no contest Monday to a misdemeanor fraud charge and paid a $250 fine. Donald Miller, 78, registered his poodle Barnabas three years ago to protest the voter registration process.</p>

99 Percent Of Sun To Be Obscured In Some Places A dazzling solar eclipse will be on display across the western part of the globe Monday night. Forecasters say as much as 99 percent of the sun will be obscured by the moon in parts of Canada, Mexico and Asia. One of the best viewing areas in the United States will be in San Diego, where as much as three-fourths of the sun will be hidden. Other sections of the country will get a less dramatic sight. In Chicago, only one-fifth of the sun's surface will be blocked. The Eastern...

<p>SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (AP) - Clint Eastwood was sworn in as a state parks commissioner at the beginning of the 100-year birthday celebration for Big Basin Redwood State Park, California's oldest state park. "You're all under arrest," he told the crowd as he held up his new parks commissioner badge.</p>

<p>Half a century ago, federal engineers faced a Herculean task. Farmers in the San Joaquin Valley needed more water. There was plenty in far-Northern California's Trinity River, but a 5,000-foot-high mountain range stood in the way.</p> <p>No problem. In just four years, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation ripped a pair of tunnels through the mountain, piped most of the Trinity's water into the Sacramento River and let it flow to the Delta. There, it was sucked into giant pumps and delivered to some of the nation's most prosperous farms.</p>

<p>The HMO's experts say it shouldn't pay for what it calls risky, unproven procedure. An Amador County couple whose three youngsters suffer from a fatal genetic disorder have lost the first round of their battle to obtain a costly treatment that could save two of the children.</p>

Volunteers searching Pinecrest Canyon for signs of Elizabeth Smart or her abductor Thursday evening spotted a man who scurried into the heavy brush on a steep hillside. The searchers then heard at least two gunshots, but the man had vanished. Volunteers searching Pinecrest Canyon for signs of Elizabeth Smart or her abductor Thursday evening spotted a man who scurried into the heavy brush on a steep hillside. The searchers then heard at least two gunshots, but the man had vanished. The sighting came about 40 hours after Elizabeth, 14, was taken at gunpoint from a bedroom in her Salt...