Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger retreated Thursday from his ambitious plan to convert the state pension system to private accounts, part of his sweeping agenda for change in state government.

The initiative would have stripped public employees of death and disability benefits, according to an analysis by state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer.

You read that right, Arnold wanted to take away death and disability benefits …

From The Orange County Register, hardly a leftie hotbed

Where’s Arnold? The man who crushed cars to the cheers of crowds, glad-handed his way through family diners and waved to swarming supporters at shopping malls is fading from view.

Over the past few months, protesters opposed to Schwarzenegger’s public employee pensions and school funding proposals have begun to dog his every move. And over the past few weeks, he’s gone from lingering in crowds as he makes his way through front doors to using side doors where there are no protesters.

Arnold, who does not play well with others, is discovering the realities of politics. His popularity has plummented, and with this major political defeat, the protests against his noxious policies should and will increase. Good.

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How could I make up a story like this?

Written April 22, 2003

Bush’s blood lust, his repeated commitment to Christian beliefs, and his constant references to “evil doers,” in the eyes of many devout Catholic leaders, bear all the hallmarks of the one warned about in the Book of Revelations - the anti-Christ. People close to the Pope claim that amid these concerns, the Pontiff wishes he was younger and in better health to confront the possibility that Bush may represent the person prophesized in Revelations.

According to journalists close to the Vatican, the Pope and his closest advisers are also concerned that the ultimate acts of evil - the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon - were known in advance by senior Bush administration officials. By permitting the attacks to take their course, there is a perception within the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy that a coup d’etat was implemented, one that gave Bush and his leadership near-dictatorial powers to carry out their agenda.

Well, there could be other anti-Christs too.

Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who will say the funeral Mass for Pope John Paul II in St. Peter’s Square on Friday, was one of his closest collaborators and for now has become perhaps the leading force in the Roman Catholic Church.

And who is Ratzinger?

Ratzinger moved to John Paul’s side as his doctrinal watchdog in 1981 and was said to have regular access to him. The cardinal was selected then by the pope to lead the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which, in other more dangerous times for people accused of heresy, was called the Inquisition.

And this seems a deliberate insult.

Bernard Law given prominent funeral role

The move angers victims’ advocates in the U.S. sexual abuse scandal, over which the former Boston archbishop resigned.

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Get used to high gas prices, U.S. says

Here in LA, prices are $2.49-2.59 for self-serve regular.

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