The governor continues his tour of China, and yesterday
gave a motivational speech at Qinghua University in Beijing.
"Schwarzenegger began his address by describing his first efforts at bodybuilding while a young man in Austria. He said that after one intense workout he was so tired he fell off his bicycle while riding home, his legs limp like noodles. He was unable to comb his hair, but '
I soon learned that pain meant progress.'"
Last Tuesday must be the start of something big...
"'If I could change my body I could also change anything else I wanted,' the governor said. 'I could change my habits, my intelligence, my attitude, my future, my life.... I think that lesson applies to people and to countries. You can change. China can change.'"
The governor and action star
Jackie Chan are hitting the airwaves this week in China with an
ad discouraging piracy.
"'
Thankfully, there are no television ads from California nurses and teachers running over here,' said one Team Arnold insider accompanying the overseas delegation. '
They love him.'"
Again, Chinese
love Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The trip
isn't providing much post-election time together for the governor and First Lady
Maria Shriver, writes Gary Delsohn in the Bee. While the guv talks trade, Shriver has been attending forums on domestic violence and promoting the Special Olympics.
"In China, Schwarzenegger and Shriver are traveling largely separate paths - much as they did during this year's special election campaign.
"Even Schwarzenegger admitted that his wife was not very interested in his China agenda."
"'My agenda is not geared around women's equality or anything like that,' he said. 'It's more about trade. This is not going to interest her to talk about intellectual-property protection. It's not going to interest her to talk about selling more wine. That's not her thing. ...'"
Dan Walters looks into whether a trip to China is becoming
standard fare for Republican politicians struggling in the polls.
"
It's no wonder that President Bush and Govs. Schwarzenegger and [Minnesota Governor Tim] Pawlenty are traipsing through China this week. These days, the Chinese are much friendlier than their own voters."
Senate Majority Leader
Don Perata is riding the wave caused by the governor's willingness to consider a large bond to
revive his infrastructure bond proposal.
"The latest version includes:
* $2.5 billion to improve the state's ports and trade corridors.
* $1.2 billion for flood protection.
* $2.3 billion for transportation projects that were delayed when the state used gas-tax money for other purposes.
* $1 billion for high-speed rail."
"Meanwhile, [Senate Republican Leader
Dick] Ackerman opposes the high-speed rail component in SB 1024. And Ackerman said flood protection should be paid for through a revenue bond - one in which landowners in flood zones pay a fee to help upgrade levees.
"'How much more bond indebtedness can we take on?' Ackerman said. '
You can't put everything on a general obligation bond. We're already near our max.'"
In June 2006 news, two Used-to-bes endorsed one Wanna-be as
Tom Daschle and
Richard Gephardt announced their endorsement of
Steve Westly for governor. The all-important
Walter Mondale nod is still up for grabs.
The Chronicle's Pulitzer bid continues with their
investigation of administrative staff salaries at the UC system. And shockingly,
Jackie Speier has jumped right into the middle of it.
"'What we see here is a lack of transparency, a lack of candor and a sense of entitlement that really troubles me,' said state Sen. Jackie Speier, D-Hillsborough, who sits on the Senate Education Committee. 'There are gross inequities that need to be addressed.
If we need to have another hearing on this issue, we will do that.'"
Speaking of hearings, the Legislative Analyst Office will give its briefing on the state's budget outlook this morning.
For anyone who loves good sport, and Democratic mud wrestling,
set those calendars for Monday, Nov. 21. The main event will be
Speier vs. John Garamendi at the Senate Insurance Committee's oversight hearing of the Dept. of Insurance. Garamendi and Speier are running against each other for Lt. Gov next year, and it's always fun when these two get together.
The LA Times reports that former Democratic aide
John Stevens "has testified that
he molested two boys more than 30 years ago while working at a Los Angeles-area YMCA."
"The admission from John Robert Stevens — a former high-ranking advisor to Gov.
Gray Davis and Assembly speakers
Antonio Villaraigosa, Herb Wesson and
Fabian Nuñez — came in a lawsuit accusing the YMCA of Metropolitan Los Angeles of failing to protect two brothers from Stevens' abuse."
Utilizing a new state law allowing limited breed-specific restrictions, San Francisco "unanimously approved a set of ordinances Tuesday
requiring the neutering or spaying of an estimated 7,000 pit bull terriers and pit bull mixes in the city," writes Charlie Goodyear in the Chron.
Anyone who is doubtful that labor and business groups can heal the wounds of the special election need only to look to the story of
Tina Marie Stebbins. Stebbins, who lives in San Bernardino, says she
plans to marry the man who shot her in the groin and then held her hostage in his family's garage for six days."
And it looks like the saga of
the late domino-tipping sparrow is not over. Animal rights groups say they want prosecutions for the people who ordered the demise of the sparrow, who knocked over hundreds of dominoes being arranged for a televised domino demonstration.
"'That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes. More than 100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting them up,' said Endemol spokesman Jeroen van Waardenberg. He said
the company was considering some kind of memorial or mention for the dead bird during the television broadcast Friday."
We'll be sure to link to the video...
