Zogby poll, taken last Friday and Saturday after the WALL STREET DEBACLE had reached full boil, shows 46% support the bailout, and 46% oppose it. By Tuesday support for the so-called bailout had plummeted to 28%. By Wednesday 47% say the economy is the most important election issue. A dramatic 84% believe that other investment banks and major U.S. corporations will fail in the coming weeks and months, while just 9% said they think the problem has hit its bottom. Nearly two out of three likely voters in this survey said they blame government led by the White House, for causing this problem. Asked who is most to blame, 27% said the Bush administration, while 20% blamed Congress. By contrast, just 12% blamed investment banks - which will benefit most from this proposed bailout - and 17% blamed mortgage brokers.

Eighty-three percent of likely voters want those responsible for the unsound lending and investment practices that led to this crisis to be held criminally responsible. 46% said Obama is best-equipped to deal with the financial crisis, compared to 41% who said McCain is best suited. Another 13% said they were unsure on the question. 42% said Democrats would be better regulators than Republicans, while 25% said they think the GOP is better at regulation.

Seventy-one percents said they favor tougher mortgage lending regulations, even if it means fewer people will be able to buy a home. 82% - said that political parties, presidential candidates and candidates for the U.S. Congress should be banned from receiving financial contributions from lobbyists or other representatives from those industries that are vital to the financial and hence national security of the country.

Conversely only 20% of Americans can accurate calculate percentage rate or have any concept of how banks make money find: Proposition 4 (Notify parents before minor child can have an abortion) Yes: 48 percent No: 41 percent; Proposition 8 (Ban Homosexual marriage) Yes: 41 percent No: 55 percent; Proposition 11 (Redistricting commission) Yes: 38 percent No: 33 percent. Approval ratings include: State Legislature 21 percent approval (down five points since August); Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger 38 percent approval (same in August).

Monadnock (muh-NAD-nok) noun: An isolated hill or mountain that, having resisted erosion, rises above a plain.

September 24, 2008 ABC NEWS-WASHINGTON POST poll reported on GOOD MORNING AMERICA has Barack Obama surging well ahead of JOHN MCCAIN by 9% (52% to 43%). George Stephanopoulos commented on GMA that no presidential candidate has ever overcome such a lead since 1948.

Other major polls released today do not duplicate ABC/POST finding Rasmussen shows a 49% to 47% edge for Obama among likely voters; that each candidate is viewed favorably by 55% of likely voters, and 41% saying they will vote for Obama and won’t change their mind and 40% saying the same thing about McCain. 47% say the economy is their top voting priority.

A Zogby poll also released Wednesday have the race 47% - 44% in favor of Obama-Biden. That lead is among those who say they never go to church 47% to 34% compared to those who attend regularly who favor McCain-Palin 57% to 28%. Voters 18-29 years old narrowly favor Obama-Biden 41% to 39% while those over age 65 support McCain-Palin 61% to 30%.

The economic upheaval is clearly favoring Obama-Biden and the trend is away from McCain-Palin. A serious international incident would tip the balance quickly back.

Stephanopoulos’ remark referred to Harry Truman’s unexpected defeat of New York Governor Thomas Dewey (R) and Strom Thurmond who ran as a Dixiecrat. Dewey was ten percent in front of Truman on election eve but lost.

Barack Obama held a fundraiser last week - $28,500 a plate. For that you got gourmet food and Barbra Streisand singing. At Ralph Nader’s fundraiser last week? Double Stuf Oreos and that guy who sang “Who Let the Dogs Out.” – Leno

ranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continued his routine anti-American tirade during his visit to the United Nations in New York City Tuesday adding to his usual lecture his opinion of high finance and ranting about the current U. S. banking imbroglio blaming it on U. S. foreign military exploits.

Hundreds protested Ahmadinejad’s speech, and the U. S. delegation walked out as he prepared to speak. Before his address he told National Public Radio Iran did not wish confrontation with the U. S. or anyone but that it has to defend itself. Hanging over his visit is Iran’s continued nuclear weapon’s development program; Irans threats to destroy Israel, and Israel’s promise to prevent a nuclear armed Iran. Looming over the entire region and world is Iran’s effort at coercion by warning it will strangle oil supplies by blockading the Strait of Hormuz.

On June 29, 2008, the commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Ali Mohammed Jafari, stated that if Iran were attacked by Israel or the United States, it would seal off the Strait of Hormuz, thereby wreaking havoc in oil markets.

On July 8, 2008, Ali Shirazi, a mid-level clerical aide to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted by the student news agency ISNA as saying to Revolutionary Guards, “The Zionist regime is pressuring White House officials to attack Iran. If they commit such a stupidity, Tel Aviv and U.S. shipping in the Persian Gulf will be Iran’s first targets and they will be burned.”

In July dozens of US and foreign navys’ ships conducted Operation Brimstone practicing in littoral operations to keep the Strait open.

The movement to overturn a California State Supreme Court ruling that allows same sex marriage is gaining momentum. Proposition 8 supporters have raised nearly 18 million dollars to date, putting them ahead of opponents by about five and half million dollars, according to the “Los Angeles Times.” If passed, Prop 8 would amend the state’s constitution to define marriage as between a man and a woman. In 2000, another initiative was passed that banned gay marriage. The recent state Supreme Court ruling overturned that, thus setting the stage for Prop 8. A September 18 Field Poll found 55% oppose banning homosexual marriage in California.

n January 23, 1980 President Jimmy Carter decreed that any effort to close the Persian Gulf would be an attack on America’s vital national interest and repelled by all means including military force. Practically that means any effort to close the Strait of Hormuz. The strait is the only sea route for Persian Gulf oil at its narrowest is 21 miles (34 km) wide bounded on the north by Iran and south by Oman Sea traffic move along two 3 mile wide lanes. There was a series of naval stand-offs between Iranian speedboats and US warships in the Strait of Hormuz occurred in December 2007 and January 2008.

The most serious incident was on 18 April 1988, the U.S. Navy waged a one-day battle against Iranian forces in and around the strait. The battle, dubbed Operation Praying Mantis by the U.S. side, was launched in retaliation for the 14 April mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58). U.S. forces sank two Iranian warships, Joshan and as many as six armed speedboats in the engagement.

Richard Burke, a retired high school counselor and golf coach from Flint, found a 4.68-carat white diamond at the Crater of Diamonds State Park in Murfreesboro. He named the diamond “Sweet Caroline,” after his wife Carol and their favorite song by Neil Diamond. The couple had been in Colorado panning for gold and hunting for fossils and then drove 950 miles to Murfreesboro to dig at Crater of Diamonds and found the diamond. It is the 612^th diamond found laying around at the park. Crater of Diamonds State Park, is the only diamond-producing site in the world open to the public.

ecent AP-Yahoo News poll found that 18 percent of likely voters are up for grabs _ undecided or willing to change their minds - little more than five weeks before Americans choose between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. A large chunk of these voters say they are hurting on a personal level from the country’s economic woes, and, like everyone else, they say the economy is the top issue. Most haven’t decided who would best solve their problems as president; neither candidate has an advantage on handling the economy. Simply put: Most of these voters are looking for a better life and a leader to help make it happen, and most haven’t found what they seek in Obama or McCain.

Shoal (shol, rhymes with hole) noun: 1. A shallow area in a body of water. 2. A sandbank or sandbar in the bed of a body of water, constituting a navigation hazard.

ran’s top leadership is at odds about whether or not to attack Israel between late 2008 and 2009. Western intelligence sources say Iran has been preparing militarily while debating the feasibility of an offensive against Israel and Gulf Cooperation Council states.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been clamoring for a war option should Israel and the United States continue preparations for a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

”Ahmadinejad has been arguing that Iran has never enjoyed such favorable conditions for an attack,” a senior intelligence source said according to a report from London. “The Iranian assessment is that the European Union is dependent on foreign energy notably Russia’s natural gas, the Arabs have retreated into submission, Iraq could be annexed, Turkey is paralyzed and Israel is weak. The only threat is [U.S. President George] Bush.”

Ahmadinejad is said to be opposed by a group led by former Iranian President Hashemi Rafsanjani. The sources said Rafsanjani has warned that Iran must consider a suspension of its uranium enrichment program to prevent a massive Israeli and U.S. air strike.

“Rafsanjani has not argued for surrender,” another intelligence source said. “His argument is that Iran should conduct a tactical withdrawal until the United States pulls out from Iraq. Then, Iran could resume its nuclear weapons program and threaten the region.”

The sources said the Iranian leadership could resolve the debate in late 2008. They said Iranian supreme leader Ali Khamenei has been monitoring the nation’s combat readiness, tested in a series of massive military exercises.

“Over the next few weeks, the Iranian leadership could reach a determination whether Teheran would be ready for a total war,” the source said.

Yesterday Ahmadinejad said at the U. N. that the U. S. is ruled by Zionist murderers, and again threatened Israel’s existence. The U. N. called his vile rhetoric not helpful.

John McCain has asked Warren Buffet to organize voter fraud SWAT teams. ACORN, which Obama was a lawyer for is accused of Voter fraud in a score of states.

10-year old South Carolina fourth grader has been suspended because when his pencil sharpener broke and he was caught using the tiny razor blade to sharpen a pencil. His teacher called the Sheriff saying the youngster had a “weapon.” The responding deputy noted the “weapon” was a tiny metal razor blade from one of those little plastic pencil sharpeners; that the boy had no “criminal intent”; was well-behaved with no record of problems the public school apparatchik had kicked into full song and kicked this boy out.

The defecation hit the impeller as HYPOCRISY SPRANG INTO ACTION.  folks ranted that the whole thing was something from the southern end of a northbound horse. The school “lawyered” up and went into full spin mode emailing and sending letters to complainants, parents, community and local media explaining that the junior John Dillinger “had an exposed blade which created a dangerous setting for the student and other children.”

Admittedly the whole thing was a tempest in a teapot between boneheaded bureaucrats and bewildered citizens and not worth mentioning except as a symptom that America’s PUBLIK EDUKATHUN is hemorrhaging draining away the next generation’s and nation’s future. Such abject foolishness and expense siphons away money and energy prostituting education to something contrary and less worthy with every clock tick.

A rat bit the nose of a sleeping firefighter in Glenn Falls, New York sending him to the hospital for a tetanus shot and the city into a snit and exterminators into frantic action. The rat had not been found.

he 1951 movie “When Worlds Collide” was made real recently, US astronomers said Tuesday, announcing for the first time evidence of such a catastrophic collision has been seen by scientists. Astronomers from UCLA and CALTECH said the crash involved two planets orbiting a star in the Aries constellation some 300 light years away. One light year is about 5,878,625,373,183.61 (trillion) miles.

“It’s as if Earth and Venus collided with each other,” said Benjamin Zuckerman, UCLA professor of physics and astronomy.

The prospect of Earth suffering an apocalyptic collision with another planet or asteroid has been fodder for science-fiction writers and film-makers ever since Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer’s 1933 novel “When Worlds Collide” that became the 1951 movie.

Collisions have occurred in our solar system’s past. Many astronomers believe our moon was formed from the grazing collision of two planetary embryos, the young Earth and a body about the size of Mars, a crash that created tremendous debris, some of which condensed to form the moon and some of which went into orbit around the young sun. The likelihood of such a collision in our solar system  is calculated as possible, but not probable, in the next billion years.

So, don’t lay awake worrying about it.

A 34-year old West Virginia man who police said loudly passed gas and fanned it toward a patrolman has been charged with battery on a police officer. He was also arrested for drunk driving and reportedly had been eating boiled cabbage.

Lefty actor and Rosie O’Donnell look-alike Ed Asner is now “a 9/11 conspiracy theorist,” the New York Post reports. At a Los Angeles event marking the anniversary of the terrorist attacks, the “Lou Grant” star dozed off as the speaker before him spoke at great length. Then Asner took the podium and told the gathering, “Americans will eat any [bleep] you give them, and somehow are allergic to the truth that can be had if they’d only try.” Asner and O’Donnell hew to a conspiracy theory that the Worl Trade Centers were demolished by pre-planted explosives (by some dark government agency- I presume) and the whole 9-11 thing was a fallacy.

ive Alaskan Republican lawmakers filed suit last week to force the abuse-of-power investigation of ALASKA Gov. and VP nominee Sarah Palin (R) to be pushed back until after the presidential election in November. The group contends that the investigation has become too politicized to be conducted fairly. ■ Although current polls show that CALIFORNIA voters are roaring mad at lawmakers and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), an overwhelming majority are still opposed to a recent union led effort to recall the governor from office. ■ Floyd Brown was back in Santa Barbara last week signing his book “Unmasking Obama” an exhaustive analysis of Barack Obama. ■ A CALIFORNIA court allows a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of a Golden State law granting in-state tuition to illegal immigrants to move forward. A group of out-of-state students challenged the law in 2005, contending that they were being charged higher tuition and fees than undocumented immigrants. A lower court dismissed the suit.

Someone once said that a lie will go around the world while the truth is pulling on its boots. So it was last week in FLORIDA, where a government employee unintentionally started a statewide panic over a supposed gas shortage caused by Hurricane Ike. As the Tallahassee Democrat reports, the worker e-mailed her family members and friends warning of a potentially massive spike in gas prices resulting from the alleged shortfall. Those folks naturally began forwarding it to their friends, who sent it to their friends, etc. Soon, hordes of motorists were on a mad dash to gobble up every drop they could carry, sending state officials and Gov. Charlie Crist rushing to assure the public that they had hundreds of millions of gallons in reserve and there was no cause for worry. Right. Anxious Floridians went through three days supply in just a few hours. Chalk one up for trust in government.

n a strange incident hundreds of state and federal officers raided the 15-acre Tony Alamo Christian Ministries compound at tiny Fouke, Ark. in a new bizarre chapter of a convoluted saga Saturday involving child-abuse and pornography. A prosecutor said an arrest warrant was likely. The ministry leader and convicted tax evader Tony Alamo, 73, claimed in a telephone interview the raid was part of a federal push to legalize same-sex marriage while outlawing polygamy, and denied allegations of child abuse or child pornography.

Born Bernie LaZar Hoffman near Joplin, Missouri to Jewish-Romanian parents he moved to Hollywood and following an unsuccessful music career under the names Marcus Abad and Mark Hoffman he married Susan in 1966. They changed changed their names to Tony and Susan Alamo and became street preachers along Hollywood’s Sunset Strip then founded a nominally “fundamentalist” organization currently known as Tony Alamo Christian Ministries. The pair founded a commune near Saugus, Calif. Susan Alamo died of cancer in 1982 and Alamo claimed she would be resurrected and kept her body on display for six months while followers prayed. As far as is now known she has not been resurrected. Tony has remarried.

In 1985 Alamo decided the Pope and then-president Ronald Reagan were Anti-Christs. “Did you know that the Pope and Ronald Reagan are a couple of Anti-Christ Devils and that they are selling us all down the drain?” he asked in a tract entitled Genocide.

In 1988, after a raid near Santa Ana, Calif., three boys whose mothers were Alamo followers were placed in the custody of their fathers. Justin Miller, then 11, told police that Alamo directed four men to strike him 140 times with a wooden paddle as punishment for minor offenses. Alamo was later charged with child abuse but prosecutors dropped the charge, citing a lack of evidence.

Alamo who had had legal scrapes on weapons charges was convicted of tax-related charges in 1994 after the IRS said he owed the government $7.9 million. He served four years in prison. Prosecutors in the tax case said Alamo was a flight risk and a polygamist who preyed on married women and girls in his congregation.

The presidential debates scheduled to begin this Friday night could be more significant than usual. That’s especially true since 21% of voters say they are either uncommitted or could change their mind before voting, and polls released this weekend have the race within 1%..

he next time you see a photograph of Russian Prime Minister he may be wearing an eye patch after Hungary stuck its finger in his eye. The Hungarian parliament voted unanimously in favor of the ratification of the NATO accession protocols of Albania and Croatia in Budapest on Monday September 15^th.

It is of primary interest that the Balkan countries integrate into NATO and the European Union,” Foreign Minister Kinga Goncz said after Hungary became the first NATO member to ratify the accession documents. Goncz underlined Hungary’s role in the preparation of the two countries for NATO membership.

In July, the 26 countries of the North Atlantic Council signed the accession protocols of Albania and Croatia. Following the ratification by the 26 parliaments, the two Balkan countries will join the alliance at its next summit in April next year.

Russia stridently opposes its former vassal states or even their neighboring countries from joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Its recent attack on Georgia has convinced many that their best defense against a newly prowling former Soviet bear is to join in mutual defense pacts like NATO.

NATO is headquartered in Brussels has 26 member nations all pledged to safeguard the freedom of its members by political and military means. Hungary’s action further irritates Russia already agitated over U. S. agreements with Poland and the Czech Republic to place anti-missile radar and missiles there.

Limpet (LIM-pit) noun: 1. Any of various low conical-shelled marine mollusks that adhere tightly to rocks. 2. One that clings stubbornly. From Middle English lempet, from Latin lampreda (lamprey).

constitutional amendment that would ban homosexual marriage in California has lost support during the past two months and now trails by a 17-point margin. Just 38 percent of likely voters back Proposition 8 while 55 percent say they will vote against the Nov. 4 ballot measure, according to a new Field Poll. In July, the measure trailed by nine points. The vote is split on partisan and geography with Democrats and those living on the coast overwhelmingly opposing the ban.

Not a good sign: I swung by my bank today to make a withdrawal — it’s now a nail salon.- Leno

Friday Newsmax article reports Former President Clinton complimented Sarah Palin’s political skills Thursday, but wouldn’t be drawn on whether his wife Hillary could run for the White House in 2012. ( Rest Assured she will if at all possible. ) Clinton said he didn’t agree with Republican vice presidential pick Palin on politics, but warned fellow Democrats not to underestimate her calling her “…an instinctively effective candidate and with a compelling story.”

“I get why she’s done so well,” Clinton said. “It’s a mistake to underestimate her. She’s got good intuitive skills. They’re significant.” Clinton said he thought McCain, a Vietnam War hero and veteran lawmaker, was a “great man” and that the Nov. 4 election would be close, but he predicted Democratic Sen. Barack Obama would emerge the winner.

The stock market was up 400 points today, or as the Democrats call it - terrible news. – Leno

zipy Livni has evidently has just become head of Israel’s Kadima party (pending finalization of the most narrow election results as voter refuted polling results) and has a chance, at least, to form a moderate government that will pursue the Palistinian peace process.

Tzipy Livni - Tzipora Malka “Tzipi” Livni (Hebrew: ציפורה מלכּה “ציפי” לבני‎) was born  July 8,1958 in Tel Aviv, Israel. She served as a lieutenant in the Israel Defense Force and worked for the Mossad intelligence organization for almost two years, acting as a “house sitter” for a safe house in Paris. She resigned in August 1983 to marry and finish her law studies. She graduated from the Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law, and practiced public and commercial law for ten years. She lives in Tel Aviv with her husband and their two children.

She was elected to the Knesset (Israeli Parliament) in 1999. After the Likud assumed power in 2001, Livni was appointed Minister of Regional Cooperation, and then was Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Minister of Immigrant Absorption and Minister of Housing and Construction. On  October 1, 2005, she was appointed Minister of Justice after several months acting in that position and then served as Foreign Minister. On 4 May 2006, Livni became Deputy Prime Minister and retained the position of Foreign Minister, while resigning her post as Minister of Justice.

Livni escaped virtually unscathed from the massive wave of public criticism that followed the Second Lebanon War, She had led the quest for a diplomatic solution, though UN Secuirty Council Resolution 1701, obtained about a month of fighting, was not much different from the offer made by the Lebanese in the first week of the war. Critics of the resolution, which has allowed massive rearming of the Hezbollah blame Livni for that.

Pre-election opinion surveys predicted that Livni enjoyed a safe lead over rival Transportation Minister and former Defense Minister and IDF Chief of Staff, Shaul Mofaz, and exit polls seemed to confirm a decisive victory. All those polls were wrong and Livni won by less than 1%. If Livni succeeds in forming a new government, she will be Israel’s second female Prime Minister, after Golda Meir (1898-1983).

Livni faces two choices: a.) try to form a coalition government or b.) go to national elections. She’ll likely at least try the former but it is uncertain she can accomplish it in a meaningful way. Embattled Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said he’ll resign if Livni can form a new government, and only if – Israeli’s are tired of Olmert’s legal troubles and that give Livni an edge. If an election is held the Likud party led by Benjamin Netanyahu and its potential right-wing coalition partners would likely win a majority based on opinion surveys.

Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (Persian: محمود احمدی‌نژاد, mæhmu-d-e æhmædi-neʒɑd tried to throw sand in the gears again saying that Israel would not survive. Next week Ahmadinejad will speak at the United Nation’s General Assembly in New York City while pro-Jewish forces protest. About the only thing Israeli’s agree on is that Iran can not be allowed to build a nuclear bomb that it appears closer than ever to doing.

That seems to be the theme: In a speech today, Joe Biden said that paying higher taxes is patriotic. The Republican strategy on Joe Biden? Let him keep talking. - Leno

he head of the Knights of Columbus has sent an open letter to Democratic vice presidential candidate Senator Joe Biden (D) Delaware, urging him to follow his conscience as a Catholic and work to ban abortions. The letter is also published in USA/Today and several other large newspapers. The letter almost certainly sets up a confrontation between Biden and Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin who is adamantly pro-life. There letter says in part:

“I write to you today as a fellow Catholic layman, on a subject that has become a major topic of concern in this year’s presidential campaign…

“Senator Obama stressed your Catholic identity repeatedly when he introduced you as his running mate, and so your statements carry considerable weight, whether they are correct or not. You now have a unique responsibility when you make public statements about Catholic teaching.

“On NBC’s ‘Meet the Press,’ you appealed to the 13th Century writings of St. Thomas Aquinas to cast doubt on the consistent teaching of the Catholic Church on abortion.

“There are several problems with this.

“First, Aquinas obviously had only a medieval understanding of biology, and thus could only speculate about how an unborn child develops in the womb. I doubt that there is any other area of public policy where you would appeal to a 13th Century knowledge of biology as the basis for modern law.

“Second, Aquinas’ theological view is in any case entirely consistent with the long history of Catholic Church teaching in this area, holding that abortion is a grave sin to be avoided at any time during pregnancy.

“This teaching … was reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which described abortion as ‘an unspeakable crime’ and held that the right to life must be protected from the ‘moment of conception…’”

“While you voted for the ban on partial birth abortions, your unconditional support for [Roe v. Wade] is a de facto endorsement of permitting all other late term abortions.”

Biden recently departed from the party line and said that as a Catholic, he believes life begins at conception, although he said of abortion-rights advocates in his party: “They believe in their faith and they believe in human life, and they have differing views as to when life … begins.”

But Supreme Knight Anderson chastises Biden for not acting to oppose abortion, saying in his letter: “Your unwillingness to bring your Catholic moral views into the public policy arena on this issue alone is troubling…

“You have a choice: you can listen to your conscience and work to secure the rights of the unborn to share in the fruits of our hard-won liberty, or you can choose to turn your back on them.

“On behalf of the 1.28 million members of the Knights of Columbus and their families in the United States, I appeal to you, as a Catholic who acknowledges that life begins at conception, to resolve to protect this unalienable right.”

The abortion issue could prove to be a major factor among Catholics in the upcoming election, as evidenced by their increased support for the Republican ticket following the selection of anti-abortion candidate Sarah Palin as John McCain’s running mate.

“Observant Catholics are returning to the Republican fold now that Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has joined the GOP ticket,” The Christian Science Monitor observed, adding that “Catholics are an important subset in presidential elections.”

Excerpted, edited and added to from an artIcle by NEWSMAX Friday, September 19, 2008

Virgil Richardson fondly remembered the .30-caliber M1 Garand rifle he carried during his time as a soldier during the Korean War – he could still recite its serial numbers. His son went online and found the rifle at a Kentucky gun dealer, bought it and gave it to Dad for his 79^th birthday. Seven million were made and this one stayed in Korea until sold worldwide as surplus in the 1980s so the odds of finding the exact rifle were nil.

all Street’s maelstrom appears to have shifted the electorate toward Obama and away from Congressional Democrats according to a Rasmussen Poll released Saturday morning. Obama-Biden now leads McCain-Palin 48%-47% for first time since the GOP convention. Obama now leads in states with 193 Electoral College votes while McCain is ahead in states with 189 Electoral College votes. When “leaners” are included, it’s Obama 259, McCain 247. Four states continue to be toss-ups including: New Mexico (5); Colorado (9); Nevada (5) and Virginia (13) - all went Republican in 2004.

Confidence in Congress sags with 44% of voters choosing their district’s Democratic candidate, while 38% would choose the Republican candidate. One month ago the Congressional margin was 47% to 34% in favor of the Democrat candidate. The once almost certain Democrat surge in both the Senate and House has been cut to the point where achieving a veto proof majority is statistically erased.

The parties are neck-and-neck among unaffiliated voters, with the Democrats earning support from 33% and the GOP from 31%. Among men, the GOP has a 43% to 40% advantage. Among women, the Democrats lead 48% to 34%.

Democrats have a 63% to 19% lead among voters who characterize themselves as pro-choice on the issue of abortion, while Republicans lead 64% to 21% among voters who are pro-life.

The GOP leads 47% to 38% among voters who shop at Wal-Mart several times a month, while the Democrats lead 56% to 27% among those who rarely or never shop there. The parties are nearly tied among voters who occasionally shop at the super store. In part that’s because Wal-Mart stores tend to be located in more exurban areas where Republicans cluster.

Rasmussen Reports tracking data also shows just 23% of voters believe the nation is heading in the right direction, while 73% think the country has gotten off on the wrong track.

The first Presidential debate is Friday, September 26^th pitting McCain against Obama for the first time.

California passed a budget that looks more like a swindle than a serious spending plan. With unemployment approaching 8 percent, deficit spending – even with smoke and mirrors accounting – approaching $20 billion; legal citizens fleeing the state in record numbers and illegals flooding across the border the State is increasingly looking and acting third worldly. About the only good news is things are so bad in California even the infiltration of illegals has slowed.

ussia, China and Germany refuse to countenance tougher sanctions against Iran notwithstanding the International Atomic Energy Agency’s report from Vienna that its inspections of suspect activities and covert projects were stalled by Tehran’s non-cooperation.

They rejected US intelligence data backing up the IAEA report and tell the international community that the US and Israel were furnished with more intelligence confirming Iran’s covert nuclear projects and the clandestine partnership between Tehran, Damascus and Pyongyang. Last week the IAEA gave a closed door briefing to its 35 members nations that Iran was retrofitting it Shehab missiles to carry nuclear warheads. The Shehab-3, a medium-range, liquid-propellant, road-mobile ballistic missile, generally believed to have a range of around 1300km or 808 miles — allowing Israel to be hit from a mid-southern Iran launch point.

The action raises the likelihood that Israel will have to act to destroy Iran’s nuclear weapons production capabilities.

Israel is still rumbling, and others have taken note of Democrat VP nominee Joe Biden’s comment that Israel will have to accept a nuclear armed Iran as indicative of coming U. S. policy were Obama elected.

At the same time Israeli military and naval commanders were taken by surprise by Rear Adm. Andrei Baranov’s disclosure that 10 Russian warships are already anchored at the Syrian port of Tartus.