Edits by Cochrane - Unfiltered 8/12/10

• Congress Blocks Obama Military Aid To Lebanon
• Tuesday’s Primaries Not Decisive
• More Crooked Politicians In LA County
• Governors Races Lean Right
• $83 billion in F-15s to Saudi Arabia.
• Mortgenthau / Reich / Geithner Legacy of Failure.
• Open War When U. S. Leaves Iraq.
• Explosions Dot Iran: Assassination Fails
• Confidence In Economy Lowest Ever
• Kerfuffle Over Obama’s New ICE Guidelines: Agents “No Confidence”
• Amending 14^th Amendment: Don’t Hold Your Breath..
• Mexican Mafia Smuggling Drugs Into LA County Jail
• Bell Higher Taxes Than Beverly Hills Real Estate
• Obama Signs $26 Billion State Aid Bill to Buy Votes.
• Islam’s Ramadan Starts Today in North America.

Dan Rostenkowski, an Illinois Democrat who was once one of the most powerful members of the U.S. House, died at his home in Wisconsin Tuesday. He was  82. In 1996, he pleaded guilty to felony corruption charges and served 15 months in prison

After disclosures that Lebanese Army and Hizbullah forces apparently used American supplied weapons to fire on Israeli troops killing a commander on August 3^rd, Congress stopped stumbling around, at least temporarily, and took a stand.

A leader in the charge to block an Obama OK’d additional $100 million more in military aid to Lebanon was California Democrat Howard Berman who represents the 28^th Distrtct centered around Panorama City. He said the Lebanese Army has come under the control of the Iranian-sponsored Hizbullah.

Obama, who has only OK’d jet and diesel fuel as military aid for Israel had pushed the increased military aid over Israel’s objections. The United States has recently sent $725 million in military and security aid to Lebanon.  The Obama administration had proposed another $100 million of such aid to Lebanon for fiscal 2011, which begins in October

Republican members of Congress have also supported a block on U.S. aid to Lebanon. House minority whip Rep. Eric Cantor (R) VA. said such assistance must not resume until Lebanon’s military ends all cooperation with Hizbullah.

“For the past few years, the U.S. and the international community looked the other way as the lines between Hizbullah and the Lebanese military and government became blurred,” Cantor said. “But the days of ignoring the LAF’s provocations against Israel and protection of Hizbullah in southern Lebanon are over.”

An ex-convict was jailed on a charge that he harassed a nurse who laughed at his plan to name his newborn after dead mob boss John Gotti. The guy allegedly told the nurse he would strangle her for laughing at him. He was charged with felony harassment and had been free awaiting trial, but on Monday, a Snohomish County Superior Court judge ordered him held on $1 million bail.

Tuesday primaries were - well - not decisive.

With Obama’s help appointed Sen. Michael Bennet won the Democratic nomination to a full term in Colorado Tuesday night, overcoming a fierce primary challenge at home and an outbreak of anti-establishment fever nationwide. Bill Clinton endorsed his opponent.

In Connecticut, former WWF Exec Linda McMahon easily won the Republican Senate primary to join the growing slate of outsider-candidates who will carry the GOP banner this fall. She spent $20 million on her campaign and has plenty more for November.

On a four-state primary night, former Rep. Nathan Deal led former Secretary of State Karen Handel narrowly in late returns in a Republican gubernatorial runoff in Georgia. The two vied for the right to take on former Democratic Gov. Roy Barnes in November.

And in Minnesota, conservative State Rep. Tom Emmer easily won the Republican nomination for governor. Four Democrats sought the opposing spot on the ballot.

In California Obama even got involved in a State Senate race endorsing a liberal  Santa Cruz Democrat against a San Luis Obispo moderate Republican for the seat vacated by now Lt. Governor Maldonado. A Democrat win virtually deadlocks the bankrupt state regardless of who is elected Governor - e-bayer Whitman or “Moonbeam” Brown.

A JetBlue flight attendant cursed out passengers, grabbed two beers, slid down the chute and took off. The pilots were furious. Those were their last two beers. This flight attendant really went crazy. The good news: terrorists are now afraid to fly. - Leno

Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon and his wife have been indicted on perjury, voter fraud and other crimes, the result of a 15-month investigation into allegations the councilman illegally claimed a Panorama City house as his residence, the District Attorney’s Office announced today.

The 24-count felony indictment was returned late Friday by the Grand Jury. It was unsealed this week when Alarcon, 56, and his wife, Flora Montes De Oca Alarcon, surrendered and were arraigned before Superior Court Judge Peter Espinoza. The District Attorney’s office requested bail set at $45,000 for Alarcon and $20,000 for his wife.

The Public Integrity Division launched an investigation after receiving a written complaint that the councilman was living at a residence outside his district.

As most members of Congress head home to make the case for their reelection, 16% of U.S. voters rate the overall performance of Congress as good or excellent. That’s the highest it’s been since last September — (56%) still give Congress poor marks for how it’s doing its job. But that’s down from a high of 71% in February.

Voters will elect governors in 37 states this November. Nineteen of those governorships are now held by Democrats, while Republicans sit in the governor’s chair in 18 of the states.

Democrats solidly ahead in three states, with three more leaning their way. Republicans are running strongly in 14 states, and four more are leaning GOP. Thirteen states are currently viewed as Toss-Ups, including California, Florida, Illinois and Ohio.

Tuesday it was 104 degrees near Moscow and minus 104 degrees at the Russian base in Antarctica. That must be global something or other.

Obama is selling $83 billion of weapons mostly F-15 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. The F-15 are said not to include some of the longest range weapons technology.

Israel is expressing a little angst over the deal.

A week ago Obama approved $2 billion in jet and diesel fuels to Israel - the only ‘military’ aid he has approved to the Jewish state. Other Arab states and Turkey , now an Israeli adversary, have received 12 times as much. The new weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, although not direct aid but a sale, raises that ratio even more.

Ensuring Saudi Arabia can defend itself as the U.S. leaves Iraq seems wise. The Saudis have signaled cooperation with Israel in an attack on Iran. In addition it keeps the Saudis out of Russian and Chinese arms bizarre.

The scales have certainly tipped.

Patricia Neal, 84, an Academy Award-winning actress you may recall her in 1963 movie HUD opposite Paul Newman. She became a widely admired symbol of courage after recovering from three strokes at her career peak in the mid-1960s. She died at home of lung cancer Sunday.

Henry Morgenthau, Jr. (1891 - 1967) was the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury during the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He played a major role in designing and financing the New Deal.

On the eve of World War II he infamously said “We have tried spending money. We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work.”

Lawrence Kudlow ominously said in the past week that, “With the disappointingly soft jobs report for July, and a faltering recovery overall, is Team Obama getting ready for some sort of new, liberal-left, Keynesian, big-bang stimulus package? Will they be desperate to “do something”?

He says, “With the announcement this week that Council of Economic Advisers chair Christy Romer will leave the White House to go back to teach at Berkeley, it looks like the center of economic gravity will shift leftward inside the West Wing.”

There is talk of an “August Surprise” and House Speaker Pelosi has crafted a blueprint for Democrats to campaign on (previously described); ultra liberal Robert Reich is even suggesting a new Work progress administration (WPA) - by the way WPA build more outhouses than anything else in fact the feds printed a how-to book on brick “s**t houses.”

When the argument is made “imagine how bad it would have been with out $787 billion in stimulus” Republican should argue imagine how good things would be if those monies had been invested wisely on lower corporate tax rates, including full cash expensing for businesses. This is time for GOP candidates to get ahead of the power curve.

The bottom line? Panic over this stalled economy may be setting in.

Regardless expect a frantic lameduck session of Congress to jam through political earmarks and more spending after the November election results - especially is the GOP takes back the House.

Forty-three percent (43%) Strongly Disapprove of the job Obama is doing as President according to a Rasmussen poll. The Gallup poll puts his job approval at a record low of 41%. Rasmussen polls only likely voters while Gallup polls among all adults whether voters or not.

Mideast sources are predicting open warfare in Iraq. Spurred by the power vacuum in Baghdad, Iraq’s Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish leaders are set to leap into inter-communal warfare with regional fallout after Aug. 31 when the US pulls the bulk of its combat troops out as President Barack has promised.

The US and its Transitional Force will not be able to stand aloof - especially if assigned the role of UN peacekeepers.

Iran is covertly sponsoring Hizbullah forces inside Iraq girding tp fill the vacuum left by Obama’s withdrawal.

The Senate has confirmed Elena Kagan for the Supreme Court. She now has a job for life. Just like Lindsay Lohan’s probation officer - Leno

A massive explosion killed at least five workers at the giant Pardis petrochemicals complex in southern Iran Wednesday, August 4, at around 12:30 - just about the time an explosive device was hurled at Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as his heavily secured armored convoy drove through the northern Iranian city of Hamadan. This is reported by Iranian sources.

Ahmadinejad was unhurt although some of his bodyguards and bystanders were certainly injured. He made straight for Hamadan’s central stadium and began delivering a speech that was broadcast live by state television.

Assaluyeh, the site of the Pardis complex, is situated at the opposite end of Iran, on its southern Persian Gulf coast not far from the Bushehr nuclear reactor. Iranian officials admit that large sections of the complex were destroyed but attributed the blast to a ruptured gas pipe. Intelligence sources report that the plant was hit by five explosive devices. It was new, personally inaugurated on July 28 by President Ahmadinejad, who described it as a miracle of Iranian hi-tech.

Iranian spokesman were also trying to play down the attempt on the president’s life by a bomber present in the large audience surrounding his convoy. At first they reported that the target was the journalists’ minivan riding in his convoy. But their security services made haste to put the Hamadan and Pardis attacks together for a joint investigation. They suspect some enemy antagonist may have sought to prove it can simultaneously strike at two major targets in opposite ends of the country and get close to the president and also the Bushehr reactor.

Assaluyeh the town is a particularly sensitive place, because it is the hub of the Pars Special Energy Economic Zone whose industries are fueled by the natural gas piped in from the giant South Pars field.

Three days before the petrochemical complex was inaugurated, there was another mysterious explosion at a second energy plant, this one located on Kharg Island.
Iran’s security chiefs are beginning to suspect that one or more groups of covert saboteurs are at large on Iran’s coast opposite the Strait of Hormuz and are gunning for the strategic industries and facilities located there.

Hamadan’s population is incidentally purely Iranian Shiite with none of the ethnic or religious minorities persecuted by the regime. It was built at Biblical Shushan, the burial sites of Queen Esther and Mordecai, several hundreds kilometers west of Tehran.

A Finnish guy died after spending 6 minutes in a 230 degree spa. Reportedly this was during a spa competition obviously not at a Mensa convention.

Following release of last Friday’s government report on unemployment and job creation, consumer and investor confidence has fallen to the lowest level of 2010. Just 21% of adults nationwide now believe the economy is getting better. That’s down from 30% on Friday morning. The number who believe the economy is getting worse is now up to 54%.

Looked at on a month-by-month basis, consumer confidence increased on four of the first five months in 2010 and held steady in the fifth. However, it has fallen in the past two months, June and July.

President Obama traveled to Texas Monday, but while Obama delivered remarks on education and attends Democratic fundraisers in Austin and Dallas, Democratic candidate Bill White, the former mayor of Houston, got as far away as he could campaigning in other parts of the state.

New Obama administration guidelines telling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents to focus on apprehending terrorists and criminals has many of ICE’s rank-and-file agents wondering who then is responsible for tracking down and detaining the millions of other illegal border-crossers and fugitive aliens now in the country.

The new guidelines are outlined in a June 29 memo from Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads the agency, to all ICE employees regarding the apprehension, detention and removal of illegal immigrants, noting that the agency “only has resources to remove approximately 400,000 aliens per year, less than 4 percent of the estimated illegal-alien population in the United States.”

The agency’s fiscal 2010 budget for detention and removal operations is $2.55 billion - you do the math.

More than a dozen veteran ICE agents told The Washington Times in the past week that the carefully worded memo had field agents wondering whether they would be detaining illegal border-crossers in the future and whether those apprehended by other law enforcement agencies would be turned over to ICE for eventual deportation.

Obama has bragged that 400,000 illegals have been apprehended and deported. That amounts to many thousands of dollars per deportation, Radical critics say put a bounty on illegals, and they will be gone overnight. Less radical views say this is a politically motivated travesty.

The union that represents rank-and-file field ICE agents has unanimously passed a “vote of no confidence” for the agency’s leadership, saying ICE has “abandoned” its core mission of protecting the public to support a political agenda favoring amnesty.

The National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council of the American Federation of Government Employees, which represents 7,000 ICE agents and employees, voted 259-0 for a resolution saying there was “growing dissatisfaction and concern” over the leadership of Assistant Secretary John Morton, who heads ICE, and Phyllis Coven, assistant director for the agency’s office of detention policy and planning.

Obama has endorsed California Assemblyman John Laird (D) Santa Cruz in his race against SLO Republican Sam Blakeslee for the State’s 15^th District Senate seat. The seat is vacant after Abel Maldonado (R) Santa Maria resigned it to be Lt. Governor. Obama’s endorsement will lift Laird in the north but hurt him in the more conservative south. The 458,000 voters are split 34% Republican, 40% Democrat. Blakeslee outpolled Laird by 7% in the June primary.

At least 60,000 babies ever year are added to the households of an estimated 1.5 million illegal immigrants in Texas alone, according to The Dallas Morning News.

The paper suggests that the move to press for changes to the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, preventing automatic citizenship for babies born to illegal immigrants, could have special resonance in Texas.

The paper reports that Parkland Memorial Hospital delivers more of those babies than any other hospital in the state. Last year at Parkland, 11,071 babies were born to women who were noncitizens, about 74 percent of total deliveries. Most of these women are believed to be in the country illegally.

There are essentially two ways spelled out in the Constitution for how to propose an amendment. One has never been used.

The first method is for a bill to pass both houses of the legislature, by a two-thirds majority in each. Once the bill has passed both houses, it goes on to the states. This is the route taken by all current amendments. Because of some long outstanding amendments, such as the 27th, Congress will normally put a time limit (typically seven years) for the bill to be approved as an amendment

The second method prescribed is for a Constitutional Convention to be called by two-thirds of the legislatures of the States, and for that Convention to propose one or more amendments. These amendments are then sent to the states to be approved by three-fourths of the legislatures or conventions. This route has never been taken, and there is discussion in political science circles about just how such a convention would be convened, and what kind of changes it would bring about.

The Constitution, then, spells out four paths for an amendment:

• Proposal by convention of states, ratification by state conventions (never used)
• Proposal by convention of states, ratification by state legislatures (never used)
• Proposal by Congress, ratification by state conventions (used once)
• Proposal by Congress, ratification by state legislatures (used all other times)

Given current temperment and make up of Congress it is unthinkable that changing the 14^th amendment will get very far.

The core question is how would the estimated 12 million mostly Hispanic, illegal immigrants vote if granted citizenship?

In the history of the United States, ethnicity, religion, and immigration have played an important role in how political participation and party preferences are constituted. The new immigrants from Mexico and Latin America are no exception. However, combining religious affiliation with political party preferences, it turns out that these recent immigrants cannot be put into neat camps of Republican and Democratic voters. The fact that most Latinos are Roman Catholic and place an emphasis on family values, does not mean that they are politically passive and therefore vote Republican. At the same time even though it is true that the Democratic party has a stronghold among Latino Catholics, there is a growing flock of former Roman Catholics converting to Catholic Charismatic or Protestant Evangelical Christianity, faith traditions that are usually identified with Republicans.

But, it is likely, even probable that 3 of 4 would support the liberal Democratic party.

Obama knows that as do all Democrats. So walking the immigration line is critically important. A recent leaker memo seems to show a way Obama could gratn amnesty and citizenship by Executive order.

Moraine (muh-RAYN) noun: An accumulation of boulders, gravel, or other debris carried and deposited by a glacier. Etymology from French moraine, from Savoy dialect morena (mound).  Usage: “Professor Shulmeister’s team believes a large landslide dumped a huge volume of rock on top of the glacier, causing it to advance and, when the advance stopped, the moraine was created.”

Last week a now fired L.A. County sheriff’s deputy was sentenced to four years in prison for smuggling drugs into the LA County jail where he worked.

The sentencing underscores the scope of the LA Sheriff’s Department’s struggles to keep drugs out of the nation’s largest county jail system.

Earlier this year, another Sheriff’s Deputy admitted that she had smuggled heroin in a toothpaste container into a jail.

She said she was given the drugs by her then-boyfriend, a former inmate she had met while working at the North County Correctional Facility in Castaic. She explained that she carried the drugs into the jail in her backpack and then delivered the heroin inside a bedroll to an inmate.

Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges against her, saying that they did not have enough evidence to corroborate her statement at a trial. She has been relieved of duty with pay pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

In March, a federal grand jury indicted an employee of a private company that delivers food to the jails for allegedly smuggling more than 100 grams of heroin into the North County Correctional Facility.

A 40-year-old woman was allegedly part of a drug ring whose members communicated in code using jail telephones. She was arrested and posted $15,000 bail. Another defendant, the operation’s drug supplier, also oversaw other criminal activities for a Los Angeles street gang and the Mexican Mafia, a notorious prison gang, according to court records. The woman supplier and several other defendants accused in the scheme have pleaded not guilty.

In June, a 48 Beverly Hills lawyer, was charged with trying to smuggle 14.25 grams of heroin to inmates in a courthouse lockup. He is jailed pending $190,000 bail. If convicted, he faces up to five years in state prison, he could also lose his law license. He has been disciplined once before.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have posted a fourth straight quarterly loss of an astonishing $6 billion  in the last quarter. The pair of quasi-private corporations have lost $66 million a day.

A rumor that Obama will announce an ‘August surprise’ and order the pair, who insure and “own” most home mortgages to cancel the debt of home owners who are underwater - behind in payments –  costing other taxpayers $800 Million.

That would be as tone deaf as sending your wife a daughter on a $75,000 per day taxpayer paid Europeam vacation, and who would do that?

Previously comatose City of Bell residents have been paying the second highest property taxes in Los Angeles County as part-time elected officials and top city staff we’re paid some of the highest salaries for the type of job in the country.

The LA Times finds Bell residents pay nearly 150% as much as those in such affluent enclaves as Beverly Hills and Palos Verdes Estates and Manhattan Beach, and significantly higher than just about everywhere else in Los Angeles County, The city of Industry is the only municipality with a higher property tax.

Bell is a small 2.5 square-mile town of 39,000 people, who are mostly immigrants. In 2008, the per-capita income was $24,800, with more than 25% of residents living below poverty level.

Pollster John Zogby warns time is “running out” for Democrats to escape the beating that most political analysts expect them to receive in the looming midterm elections.

In an exclusive Newsmax.TV interview, Zogby cited his firm’s recent survey showing Republicans holding a 46 to 38 percent lead when voters are asked which party’s candidates they are more likely to support in November.

And a whopping 60 percent of voters now say the nation is on the wrong track, according to that Zogby International poll.

Pelosi ordered Congress back to pass the so-called “jobs bill” and Obama immediately signed it. The urgency was clearly helping Democrats stay in office by rushing home to pass out checks on borrowed money to buys local votes. Los Angeles County is expecting more than $60 million from Washington to fund health services for the poor after President Obama signed into law the $26.1-billion state aid measure.

The funds will prevent further cuts in health and mental healthcare services for patients on Medi-Cal, the government insurance program for the poor, and will support in-home care for the frail and elderly.

The Department of Health Services, which runs the county public hospital system, will receive $22 million, while the Department of Public Social Services, which manages the in-home care program for the elderly, will receive $26 million. The Department of Mental Health will receive more than $12 million.

Many state and county officials across the nation were hoping for the additional federal dollars, which passed the U.S. House of Representatives earlier Tuesday and was quickly signed into law by Obama.

State and local governments began receiving extra federal money to fund healthcare services for the poor after the U.S. Congress approved in 2009 the $787-billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a stimulus package aimed at preventing the nation from falling deeper into recession.

Tuesday’s action extends the additional federal dollars to flow for the first six months of 2011, which is expected to be the last installment of extra financial aid from Washington. The federal aid, however, will be lower than what was given in 2009 and 2010.

Rasmussen reports that 46% strongly disapprove of the job Obama is doing while 26% strongly approve. At the same time favorable main stream media reports have increased to 55%.

Ramadan in 2010 will start on Wednesday, the 11th of August and will continue for 30 days until Thursday, the 9th of September. Based on sightability of the crescent moon in North America, in 2010 Ramadan will start here a day later - on Thursday, the 12th of August.

Ramadan is always on the same day of the Islamic calendar, the date on the Gregorian calendar varies from year to year, since the Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar and the Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar. This difference means Ramadan moves in the Gregorian calendar approximately 11 days every year. The date of Ramadan may also vary from country to country depending on whether the moon has been sighted or not.

Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking and sexual activities from dawn until sunset. Fasting is intended to teach Muslims about patience, humility and spirituality and is a time for Muslims to fast for the sake of God (Arabic: الله‎, trans: Allah) and to offer more prayer than usual. During Ramadan, Muslims ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance and help in refraining from everyday evils, and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deeds.

Differences between a lunar and solar calendar are perhaps the most minor of the many difference between Islam and Judeo-Chirstianity.