But some good news: The LA Times has a helpful breakdown worth a moment of your time, on how you can help people (and pets!) in need right now. We've re-printed it for your convenience: ...

For whatever reason, politicians like to record themselves for reasons of "posterity." Like someday, some historian or what have you, will find the tapes and be so dazzled by the intellectual fortitude of the office debates that they’d write positively glowing reviews of their administrations. This despite the fact, it never goes well. For anybody. Your latest victim of taped recordings is our Governor who is occasionally taping himself for all the future historians out there to document his governing genius...

The LA Times reports that American Media tried to pay off the guy who shot a movie of Arnie in Brazil for Playboy, called "Carnival in Rio." In it, the head of our state government is shown dancing ("badly," says Schwarzenegger's communications director), feeding a woman a carrot, and announcing that, "You know something? After watching the [dancers] shake it, I can absolutely understand why Brazil is totally devoted to my favorite body part: the ass." You're welcome to read that quote to yourself in your best Schwarzenegger accent as many times as you like. You know -- you can even say it along with him -- the Roxie is screening "Carnival in Rio" this weekend as part of the Found Film Festival. It's not you, it's me, mumbled redistricting advocates to our governor, as they informed him that they would be breaking up with him and his special election team to start their own "Yes on 77" committee. The Yes on 77ers are worried that redistricting will get dragged down to defeat if it's associated in any way with Arnold's flagging fortunes. And dude! You know you're unpopular when People Magazine (or was it US? We get them confused sometimes.) captions a picture of you rafting with your family with "well, he's up the creek -- but at least he has a paddle." (We cannot find a link of this, but we assure you that it actually exists!) Meanwhile, the governor's dinner at the Coralands Mansion in Hillsborough last night was -- you guessed it -- picketed by union members, some of whom were wearing pig masks. Second picture from the San Mateo Daily Journal...