Puck it

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger does the ceremonial puck-drop before Game One of the NHL Stanley Cup Finals hockey game between the Anaheim Ducks and Ottawa Senators in Anaheim on Monday. Schwarzenegger and the premier of Canada's Ontario province have a wager hanging on the outcome of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Schwarzenegger, who is traveling in Canada this week, said he bet Premier Dalton McGuinty a custom-made jacket by designer Tony Nowak (who has done clothing for Schwarzenegger's bodybuilding and political careers) and a collection of California products, including various fruits and wines, that the Anaheim Ducks will best the Ottawa Senators and take home the Stanley Cup. Associated Press.

A few other things on the Web:

Order for the mayor: "Just eight days after Phil Ginsburg began his job as Mayor Gavin Newsom's chief of staff, he found himself at a hastily called news conference, looking on as his new boss apologized for having an affair with his campaign manager's wife. 'Wow," Ginsburg recalled thinking at the time, 'this wasn't in the job description.' Since taking the job in January -- and the nearly $75,000 pay cut that came with it -- Ginsburg has spent much of his time dealing with the unexpected." S.F. Chronicle.

Bullet train derailed: "Traveling in California this holiday weekend, it certainly would be convenient, even fun, to step aboard a 200-mph bullet train and zip around in quiet comfort. It definitely would beat suffering through long, inane security lines at oppressive airports — or enduring a daredevil, but dull, drive along Interstate 5 through the San Joaquin Valley. The long-dreamed-of California bullet train, however, keeps encountering difficulty leaving the station." George Skelton.

Canada trip special interests: "Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will head to Canada today for a three-day trade mission with California business leaders that will be largely financed by undisclosed private donors. ... Fifty-two business delegates will join Schwarzenegger on the trip, according to a list the Governor's Office released Friday. A third of those going represent interests that have donated to Schwarzenegger's campaigns. Sacramento Bee.

(Photo: Kevork Djansezian/AP)

California's savior

You may not know this, but Kenneth Matsumura saved California. I know this because I have just read a new nonfiction book written by Kenneth Matsumura M.D., inventor of an artificial liver.

In his self-published book, "Arnold Remade: How the Fear of His Own Recall Transformed Him & Reshaped California," Matsumura chronicles his efforts to recall the Republican governor from office. His narcissistic journey, written in the third person, claims Schwarzenegger "acceded to virtually all of the demands of the recallers."

There was a recall? I doubt Schwarzenegger could name Matsumura, who lives in Berkeley, or even remember that somebody tried to recall him in 2005 and early 2006. But Matsumura writes that his recall effort is responsible for Schwarzenegger's decision to increase the minimum wage, hire a lesbian chief of staff, sign global warming legislation, and generally become a nicer human being.

"Those who are not so cynical ... could say that when Matsumura went before the cameras and listed his grievances and told the governor about the plight of the poor, Schwarzenegger suddenly realized the Scrooge he had become," Matsumura writes abut Matsumura.

Cameras? A few on announcement day, sure. And the New York Times called, causing Matsumura to "pull off the side of the road for this important interview." Later, "a large daily in Singapore sent an email to the recall website asking for an interview."

How did Matsumura achieve this incredible feat?

"Matsumura called on his local volunteers, including a nurse midwife, the editor of the liberal weekly Common Grounds, and a staff member at Highland Hospital, to each gather 15 to 30 signatures" on a recall petition, he writes. Once that was done, he needed to collect 1 million signatures.

According to the epilogue, Matsumura ended up simply thanking his volunteers "for achieving so much without actually doing a recall." What's important, he concludes, "is that for at least a year, California enjoyed a golden era of caring for the poor, its children, and the environment."

Thanks, Kenneth Matsumura! We wouldn't have know about you without you.

Socially revolting

Billionaire Warren Buffett, who is often admiringly praised for his "homespun wisdom," informed a recent Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting that casino gambling was a "tax on ignorance" and "socially revolting."

This marks the third time Buffett has gone separate ways from his friend Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. During the 2003 recall, Buffett suggested California's vaunted Proposition 13 property tax limit might need to be restructured, prompting Schwarzenegger to condescendingly rebuke Buffett, a campaign advisor, by demanding the elderly man perform 500 situps as penance. (He was joking!)

Now, as Schwarzenegger is seeking to expand casino gambling for certain California Indian tribes, Buffett said this in Omaha recently: "To quite an extent, gambling is a tax on ignorance. I find it socially revolting when the government preys on the ignorance of its citizenry. When the government makes it easy for people to take their Social Security checks and pull [slot machine] handles, it relieves taxes on those who don't fall for it. It's not government at its best."

It's amazing Buffett would offer moral advice given that he is helping prop up the genocidal regime in Sudan, where an estimated 400,000 people have been killed.

On the same day Schwarzenegger signed legislation last year requiring the state of California to divest in companies that do business in Sudan, the Republican governor met with Buffett for breakfast in San Francisco at a fundraiser.

Later, at a press conference with Dafur activists George Clooney and Don Cheadle, the governor failed to mention that Buffett is the largest individual U.S. investor in a Chinese oil conglomerate that does major business with the regime in Khartoum. Berkshire Hathaway holds 2.3 billion shares of PetroChina, or 1.3% of the foreign ownership of the oil company, which is part of the state-owned CNPC. The shares are worth about $3 billion.

Darfur activists have convinced Fidelity Investments to sell a big portion of its holdings in PetroChina. But at the same meeting in Omaha where Buffett sneered at the revolting pastime of gambling, he and other shareholders rejected a call for Berkshire Hathaway to divest in companies that are complicit in the Sudan genocide.

Buffett told Charlie Rose recently: "But the idea that a shareholder of PetroChina is going to change the Chinese government's policy, or that - that having China leave the Sudan would hurt the Sudanese government, those are very tenuous propositions."

(Photos: Stephen Morrison/EPA; David McNew/Getty Images)

Schwarzenegger: Not interested in 'Terminator 4'

Today at a breakfast organized by the California Chamber of Commerce, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger went out of his way to say he wasn't really interested in the new Terminator movie. Lately, there has been a lot of speculation that he would have a small part in the next installment.

"Terminator 4" is starting preproduction without him, after the rights to the science fiction epic were purchased by The Halcyon Company. No other film has been more closely associated with Schwarzenegger than the Terminator character - his movie career went into overdrive after the first film in 1984.

"And people ask me all the time about, 'They just announced they're going to do another Terminator movie, Terminator 4. Don't you want to do that?  Don't you miss that?' " the governor said today. "And I always tell them no, I don't miss it at all, never think about it. I love my job, I love serving the people of California, it is the greatest thing I've ever done."

Well, he hasn't exactly left the Terminator series.

Later in the speech, he repeatedly used lines from the movie: "You know, last time I was here I said to all of you that, 'I'll be back,' and so it is so nice to be back here again." And: "But you know my opinion about job killing bills. I mean, that's what we have done for the three years, is we said hasta la vista, baby, to those bills. Exactly. And that's what we're going to do the next four years, terminate those bills."

And finally, at the end: " Thank you very much, and I'll be back."

Who is Arnold Schwarzenegger?

Daily Kos, the progressive blog run by Markos Moulitsas, posted an item yesterday about how Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger was looking like a Democrat. "So it's pretty funny seeing California's neanderthal Republican Party reduced to an irrelevant sideshow as Arnold and the state's Democrats work to enact a surprisingly progressive agenda," Kos wrote.

This Arnold-is-a-Democrat analysis is about a year old, and it's the sort of lazy, primitive meme on which Schwarzenegger's political career has thrived. (I'm guilty as well of writing it, joking about it, perpetuating it, and occasionally believing it.)

Saying that Schwarzenegger (pictured with Republican Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman signing a global warming agreement) was enacting a largely progressive agenda went a little too far for Kos' regulars. In dozens of comments, readers meandered around the subject for awhile and then let loose:

"Some "Green" governor - he is stealing billions from mass transit to balance the budget and pay off his credit card bonds he passed 2 years ago. It's going to take a ton of money away from much needed improvements in LA, Sf and around the USA. Arnold also gave all his consultants and staff big raises, while cutting money for the poorest of the poor. THIS is progressive? Arnold will say anything and do anything to stay in power. One minute he's an anti tax crusader, then a hardcore right wing Republican, now a faux Democrat. It does not matter. [Snip.]

"once again, kos proves that he's clueless   on california politics. stop just repeateing the insider dish your friends hand out and read the goddamned papers a bit more closely. that 'democrat' schwarzeneggar

1. vetoed universal health care.
2. vetoed marriage equality
3. is trying to kill electricfied high speed rail
4. demagogued on immigrants, and praised the fascist minutemen
5. supported parental notification, twice.
6. jacked up college tuition over and over again, and even turned students admitted to the UC away instead of increasing funding a couple of years back
7. campaigned for bush and other national republicans" [Snip.]

And so forth. One Kos diarist even did a poll. The result: Not a Democrat.

(Photo: Douglas C. Pizac/AP)

Great is the new fantastic, and all those things

The place: Concord, California, "town hall" meeting on the state budget
The time: 10 a.m., Tuesday
The speaker: Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

"Well, thank you very much, this is really great. This is better than 'The Tonight Show.' I like that, it's really great. ... It's really great to be here today, and I want to thank also the Concord Chamber of Commerce for helping us put this whole thing together. They have been really great and enthusiastic, and I know we have a lot of members here of the Chamber. I also want to thank the Mayor, Mark Peterson, for his great participation and his great leadership here. And I also want to thank the AARP and also the California PTA for helping us pull this together. They have been really great, great supporters.

"But let me just say that it is great for me to be here today, and it is wonderful to be your governor. I'm having a great time with this job ... but I'm having a great time. ... Just recently, for instance, we have done something very great, and that is to reform the prison system. ... Our health care, as you know, is really in a disastrous situation.  We have very bright doctors, we have great technology, we have all of those things, but the system itself is broken. 

"So this is why I wanted to go out and talk to the people, to just show to them that yes, the state is doing great, but there are a lot of great challenges that are still ahead of us, and we all have to work together to make this happen. ... But anyway, I just wanted to go and say it is great to have you all here. We're going to do a question-and-answer session, because what's important is that I hear directly from you.

"We have great hospitals, we have great technology. ... I want to know why is it that this school here has, for instance, a great graduation rate, a high graduation rate, and the other school doesn't. All of those things. ... Of course people are screaming and saying, 'You cut into my program,' or 'You didn't give me the increase that I deserve,' and all of those things. We have made great progress, may I remind you. ...

"So as you can see, there was someone there telling us that we were great, but we have to be disciplined, you have to do the work. ... No one is there saying, 'You're great, you're going to make it, you're a winner.' So what they do is, they join a family, the gang family, so they have someone telling them, 'You're great, but now you have to go and do this and that,' and do something really bad."

(Photo: Rich Pedroncelli/AP)

A Swede indeed

Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeld is scheduled for meeting tomorrow with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to discuss climate change.

How Schwarzenegger rumor spread

There are now dozens and dozens of stories on the Internet reporting that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger "will appear" in the next Terminator trilogy and act as executive producer. The rights to the science fiction epic were purchased by The Halcyon Company, but no decision has been made about using Schwarzenegger's archival images in the movie and certainly nothing has been decided about him doing a cameo in "Terminator 4."

The original story is false, including a fake name - Annabelle Gross, who was passed off as a Schwarzenegger representative - and fabricated quotes attributed to a co-founder of The Halcyon Company.

Just for fun, I tried to track down how this rumor was started. A spokesman for Halcyon, former L.A. Times editor Mark Saylor, also spent yesterday trying to quash the rumor. Clint Morris with Moviehole.net, which used the report, also investigated and pulled the story when he discovered it was false.

The story was reported by a Schwarzenegger fan who goes by the name of ABking. This Arnold super-fan now says he passed along false information that he collected from other people. In an email exchange, he writes:

"Hi Robert,

"This is ABking, known on the internet as the BIGGEST Schwarzenegger and Stallone fan. The rumor regarding Arnie starring in the new TERMINATOR Trilogy got out of hand after I reported it to Movie Hole.

"I was passed along this info from someone from the INTERNET MOVIE DATA BASE who claimed they got there info from an upcoming issue of ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY magazine.

"Next time I'll be sure to check my sources before this happens again. I appologize to Governor Schwarzeneggers camp, Clint at MovieHole ... and the guys at The Halcyon Company.

"ABking"

ABking is a frequent contributor to a site called The Arnold Fans, which is devoted to every detail imaginable about the governor's movie career and beyond. ("Warren E. Motts discusses Arnold's M47 Tank!") For some contributors, I have to believe there is tremendous pressure to perpetuate the dream that Schwarzenegger is returning to Hollywood. It's easy to believe Schwarzenegger wants to be executive producer of the next "Terminator" trilogy, and I won't be surprised if he gets involved.

(UPDATE: The item appears to have been taken, indeed, from IMDB. Here is the original posting (free registration required) from four days ago from someone named "rjsinverts" on the site's message board. That item was taken whole, and passed around without verification.)

Randy Jennings, who runs The Arnold Fans site, posted a notice saying he thought the information was legitimate because he was told it came from Entertainment Weekly. But then:

"A few hours later, when I was told by our staff member that he received this news from a Stallone fansite, I had a bad hunch this story was fabricated and we pulled the story immediately. Apparently an Arnold/Sly super-fan made up the Entertainment Weekly source and the whole scoop. Although our misleading story was only online for a few hours before it was pulled, it had already been picked up by major entertainment sites."

(Photos: MGM Home Entertainment)

Fake Schwarzenegger story on "Terminator 4"

Does Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger have a new spokeswoman?

Hollywood websites have been using a quote from a woman named "Annabelle Gross," described as a "Schwarzenegger rep." Her first appearance came a few days ago on a website called Moviehole.net, which apparently is run out of Australia and Hollywood.

Spokeswoman Gross is quoted as hinting that the governor would have further involvement in the Terminator movie series. "He's signed on as Executive Producer for all three pictures, and we are in talks for further appearance licenseing," Ms. Gross says.

The headline on the item reads: "Arnold to appear in next three Terminator movies." That item has now been picked up by more than a dozen other websites and newspapers around the world.

The problem is, Annabelle Gross is an invention. "Totally false story. Nobody knows who this woman is and there's been no agreement like this regarding Schwarzenegger role in future Terminators," said Adam Mendelsohn, the governor's communications director. I can't find a single quote from "Annabelle Gross" before the May 10 posting.

The rights to the "Terminator" series have been sold to The Halcyon Company, and a new movie is expected by 2009. The new producers said they expect "Terminator 4" to be the first in another trilogy based on the apocalyptic science fiction blockbuster that made Schwarzenegger a bona fide movie star in 1984.

(UPDATE: The item, which is spreading throughout the Internet today, also includes a quote from Halcyon co-founder Derek Anderson: "We'll be using computer altered stock images of Arnold. That way we can span his entire career, from the frightening '80s era Terminator to the ice cool T2 version."

But Mark Saylor, spokesman for the company, said this quote was completely fabricated. Anderson never said it. And no decision has been made about using Schwarzenegger's image in the new films, Saylor said. Moviehole.net has since removed the item from its website and asked the writer of the item to explain.)

False sightings and rumors about Schwarzenegger show up all the time - almost always about his movie career. But I've never seen someone fabricate an on-the-record source. I find it shocking that something on the Internet could be inaccurate.

Smoking like Schwarzenegger

Sometimes a cigar is not just a cigar. It's a P.G.