All the facts of his life are on Wikipedia, good and bad. Many headlines and bi-lines deal with the sad and the sordid from the death of his brothers, “Bobby” and “Jack” to his involvement in the Chappaquiddick tragedy. But take those away and you still have one of the most influential politicians of his time. He truly was a Lion of the Senate. Many of the 300 plus bill he put forward were enacted into law. He was Chairman of and served on some of the most important influential Committees in the U.S. Senate. He was its second most senior member and the third longest serving member of all time.

From the cradle to the grave he was groomed for high office and although he was unsuccessful in his bid for his party’s nomination as Presidential Candidate in a political sense he never failed his party or the people. He was one of the few politician to grow stronger the more time passed. He was a man of great vision and principle. His support and endorsement of the presidential candidacy of Barak Obama, was pivotal in getting him elected.

In a letter/email to his supporters the President said that he “and Michelle were heartbroken to learn this morning of the death of (his) dear friend”.

He went on to say “In the United States Senate, I can think of no one who engendered greater respect or affection from members of both sides of the aisle. His seriousness of purpose was perpetually matched by humility, warmth and good cheer. He battled passionately on the Senate floor for the causes that he held dear and yet still maintained warm friendships across party lines. And that’s one reason he became not only one of the greatest senators of our time, but one of the most accomplished Americans ever to serve our democracy….Today, our country mourns. We say goodbye to a friend and a true leader who challenged us all to live out our noblest values. And we give thanks for his memory, which inspires us still“.

The body of Ted Kennedy will lie in repose at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston Mass. A procession on Friday, August 28, will travel from the library to the Mission Church in Boston, where a funeral mass will be held. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery near the graves of his brothers.

A Political Giant is not an inappropriate description. He was respected by friend and foe alike. The world of American politics will be much the poorer for his passing.

A.L.

National Politics Insider

LOS ANGELES. August 23, 2009. It was the final game of the season for the Cubs in L.A. and Dempster was in the driving seat. The question was would he be able to drive handfuls of unhitable pitches at the inform Dodgers whose machine appears to be headed towards the play off.

The first innings was a scoreless situation which the Cubs had the better of. They got two men on but D Lee grounded into a double play and next up Ramirez popped out. Ethier doubled for the Dodgers but Dempster got three out before they could score.

In the 2nd Jake Fox homer’d to give the early lead to the Cubs and when it was the Dodgers turn Aramis Ramirez erred.  As a result Kemp got to 2nd base. Abreu then singled to get the RBI and it was the same Kemp who got in for the score. Ouch! I hate it when walks or errors score. When the 2nd ended it was tied at 1-1.

The stalemate continued thru the 3rd, 4th and 5th.

In the 6th Aramis made amends for the error and hit a nice triple off a Billingsley pitch. Fukudome drove out a double (28) to get Aramis home. Jake Fox then singled to get Fukudome home. Fourth up Fontenot reached on a fielders choice but Fox was out. Koyie Hill then grounded into a double play. The Cubs at bat over. It was 3-1 for the Cubs. The measure of the pitching battle was that at this point the Cubs had 9 hits and the Dodgers only 3.

The Dodgers 6th at bat saw Ex-Cub Pierre, who was pinching for Billingsley, get a single. The news came thru that the St Louis were 5 runs to the good in San Diego in the 6th. Who cares! Not much the Cubs could do about that. They had to concentrate on their own game. And they did. Fontenot took a flying dive to stop a solidly hit Furcal ground ball and in the prone position tossed to Theriot to tagged out Pierre and then have a real shot at the double play but he wasn‘t successful. Ethier then grounded into a double play. End of 6th. Cubs still to the good 3-1.

I had a great feeling. Are the Cubs giving up on the season? No way!

McDonald replaced Billingsley to pitch the 7th. Theriot got a single but the Cubs didn’t add to the score.

Dempster, who had pitched 83 pitches, was left in the game by “The Guru” Lou. Twelve pitches later he had the three Dodgers up to bat out.

At the start of the 8th Ramirez. A. got a single for the Cubs. Fukudome was out at left field. Fox singled but Aramis was out. Hong Chih Kuo replaced McDonald and got the final Cub of the inning out. It remained 3-1.

When Dempster gave a walk to at the start of the Dodgers 8th Lou took his customary slow stroll out to the mound to pat Dempster in a manly way on the rear end to say job well done. He made a couple of fielding changes and brought Grabow in to finish the 8th. But Grabow gave Abreu a walk. Two on. Loretta grounded into a force out.

Then the Cubs got the breaks that have been a long time coming. Fontenot got Abreu out at 2nd base. It looked a close call. I’m not complaining. Next up Hudson hit a ball out just over 2nd base. It bounced and Martin got in to score. But the score didn’t count. Wally Bell, the 3rd base umpire was calling time out just before the ball was pitched. Good call although the home fans were unhappy. The replay will prove them wrong. Bell was waiving his hands in the air before the ball was pitched.

Castro, who was a pinch runner for Loretta, and Hudson were out on the next double play. The Cubs were 2 runs to the good at 3-1.

Although they didn’t score in the 9th the Cubs Koyie Hill did get a double. But I think that was because they were anxious to get to the Dodgers and Carlos Marmol closed out the game with a ground out and two strike outs. Nice! No sweep here! Who says the Cubs are throwing in the towel on the season?

A.L.

Chicago Baseball Insider

If the Cubs were ever going to stand a chance of taking the game it would necessitate more than just Lilly‘s pitching. The Cubs Offence was going to have to get some runs too. But as it turned out it was the Dodgers pitcher who got the batting back up.

The Dodgers scored in the 2nd and the 4th. Matt Kemp got the first homer and Casey Blake got the second. Lilly did well as games go except for the two homers. He only left another three men on bases in his 6 innings pitched with 80 pitches and 55 strikes.

It was still 2-0 for the Dodgers when Heilman came into the game in the bottom of the 7th to pitch for the Cubs. The Cubs had their own chances leaving men on bases nine times with five hits and five walks. But they were unable to capitalize.

A swarm of bees took residence in the park during the latter half of the game which caused a distraction for some of the fans to the amusement of others. Then in the 8th with Cubs runners on 2nd and 3rd Broxton, in to pitch instead of the Dodgers starter Haeger, put a ball in the dirt and it went by the catcher. But for the fact that it hit the leg of the Home Plate umpire the likelihood is that at least one run would have got in. Isn’t that life. Don’t the successful always get the breaks? And it was a real break for the Dodgers because they eventually got out of the 8th with their 2 run lead intact. Sherrill came in to close for the Dodgers and gave the home fans a scare when Soto got a single and he then gave Soriano a walk. Baker and Fox were the two already out. Theriot who was pinched in for Fuld ran it all the way to a full count. But the 7th pitch was grounded out and the game was over.

It was more than just a routine loss for the Cubs because the St Louis Cardinals won to take an eight game lead in the Standing. The eight ball that the Cubs are behind… it is now as large as the moon. That is what the Cubs now have to aim for.

A.L.

Chicago Baseball Insider

Home building expectations have been buoyed by the success of the first-time home buyer tax credit that expires Nov. 30, 2009.  Concerned Chairman Joe Robson of NAHB wonders whether there will be enough momentum to keep us moving toward a recovery, in light of  the severe credit crunch for housing production loans and inappropriate appraisal practices that are scuttling a quarter of all new-home sales.  Unless Congress and the Administration focus on housing there is concern that the current sales may well be short lived.  S&S Builders in Yorba Linda California report that they have a waiting list for condominiums in the 500K range.

Jewel Kreider

Yorba Linda Real Estate Insider

July marked the l3th month that sales topped the year-earlier total and with 3,128 houses and condo’s changing hands, it has marked the biggest month since March 2007 according to Data Quick.

Median sales price for the county is $420,000 for the month.  This is down 8.9 percent from a year ago and 35 percent below June 2007’s peak of $645,000.

Jewel Kreider.

Yorba Linda Real Estate Insider

According to court documents, HART, a former student at Nicholls State University, admitted that on November 5, 2008, admitted that he created a fictitious name and used the photograph of a white supremacist to communicated a threat. He then purported to be a person outraged by the election of President Barack Obama when he used a “Facebook” account on a computer in Poplarville, Mississippi to transmit a threat to an African American student at Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana indicating he wanted to kill African American individuals because of the election of the President.

Upon sentencing, HART faces a maximum term of imprisonment of five (5) years, a fine of $250,0000 and three (3) years of supervised release following imprisonment. Sentencing has been scheduled for November 18, 2009.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marvin Opotowsky and Peter M. Thomson.

Hashmi, 20,of the city’s far north side, is scheduled to be arraigned at 10 a.m. on Aug. 19 before Judge Milton Shadur in U.S. District Court. He was charged in an indictment returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury.

“We take very seriously any allegation of terrorism activity and we will aggressively investigate every lead. But, while we want to encourage people to report genuinely suspicious activity, we also will seek to prosecute anyone who deliberately provides false information that diverts agents and resources from other important matters,” Mr. Grant said.

According to the indictment, on July 28, Hashmi first lied to FBI agents when he told them that he had been approached the day before by an individual who asked him whether he carried a firearm and was proficient with firearms; asked him his opinion about “homegrown jihad” in the United States; suggested that he join in “God’s military;” and asked him whether he was familiar with downtown Chicago. Hashmi allegedly knew that the individual had made no such statements.

The next day, on July 29, Hashmi allegedly lied again to agents to when he told them that a second individual had approached him and said that in a few minutes Hashmi would find something near the trash cans in the alley behind his home. Again, Hashmi allegedly knew that this individual had made no such statements. Hashmi allegedly made additional false statements the same day when he provided FBI agents with a fabricated letter, purportedly prepared by another individual and directed to Hashmi, which contained the following statements:

• “[Y]ou are the exact person we have been looking for.”
• “Our job here is to carry out ‘the mission’ of giving the nonbelievers what they deserve.”
• “You seem to have the drive it will take to inflict damage to where it will hurt most. This is your calling to Jihad my brother. You have a key roles in our Operation.”
• “We … do not have much time till our operation in completed.”
• “We will be in touch with you soon.”

All of the information that Hashmi provided to agents was exhaustively probed by the Chicago Joint Terrorism Task Force, which later determined that it was all a hoax, officials said.

If convicted, each count of making false statements carries a maximum penalty of eight years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The Court, however, would determine the appropriate sentence to be imposed under the advisory United States Sentencing Guidelines.

The government is being represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Krickbaum.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

GM disclosed in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday that it would register 2.5 billion common and 1 billion preferred shares in preparation for the public sale. Its executives and the government have said they expect the sale sometime in 2010, but no date has been disclosed.

Spokeswoman Julie Gibson said the company is merely authorizing 3.5 billion shares but likely would not sell that high of a number in an initial public offering. It is common practice, she said, for companies to register more shares than they issue.

Current GM stakeholders include the U.S. government, which now owns 61 percent of the Detroit Company. So far GM has received $50 billion in U.S. government aid, some of which is to be repaid with the stock sale.

GM emerged from bankruptcy court on July 10 after a lightning-quick 40-day stay, cleansed of much of its debt and burdensome contracts. Its good assets were sold to a new company.

Just before it filed for bankruptcy protection, GM had about 611 million shares outstanding, but those shares stayed with the old GM, which now is mainly a collection of debt as well as closed plants and bad assets waiting to be liquidated.

The company also disclosed Friday that it would not report second-quarter earnings this year, but it will disclose its performance for the three- and nine-month periods before Sept. 30. Those reports will come after the third quarter closes, and the company says they will not comply with general U.S. accounting principles.

GM PRESS  RELEASE: 2009-08-07

GM Statement Regarding the Filing of General Motors Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K

General Motors Company (GM) today filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) a Form 8-K with details on a number of matters that have occurred since the new company launched on July 10, 2009 as well as a comprehensive review of the business. GM agreed to provide this qualitative, non-financial information as part of its understanding with the SEC regarding the company’s filing requirements and those of Motors Liquidation Company (formerly General Motors Corporation), which sold substantially all of its assets to GM.

Some of the information filed today includes:

• information on ownership structure, corporate governance, directors and executive officers and previously disclosed compensation details for 2008 and 2009 as filed with the SEC by Motors Liquidation Company under the name General Motors Corporation on March 5, 2009 and for 2009 by GM on July 16, 2009
• description of securities and warrants
• significant operational and financial agreements and related exhibits
• risk factors and regulatory issues that may affect GM’s operations

“Today’s disclosures are consistent with our commitment to remain transparent and to keep the public informed of our progress,” said Fritz Henderson, GM president and CEO.

Although GM is a private company and not subject to the same filing requirements as publicly held companies under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the company will continue to file certain information with the SEC about material business matters as well as provide certain disclosures about the company’s financial status and key indicators of the company’s progress.

Upon the completion of the third quarter 2009 and finalization of GM’s accounting records, the new company will file a Form 8-K with quarterly information for the three- and nine-month periods ending September 30, 2009. The financial and related information will be consistent with information used by management to assess operating results for the period but will not comply with GAAP, as it will not incorporate “fresh start” accounting and other adjustments related to the recently concluded 363 sale.

In 2010 GM plans to file a fully compliant Form 10 to register its common stock under Section 12 of the Exchange Act, as well as fully compliant Forms 10-Q and 10-K, including GAAP compliant financials, for the periods ending September 30, 2009 and December 31, 2009 respectively.

# # #

GM strives to ensure that all of the information contained in a press release is accurate at the time it is issued.

Spokeswoman Renee Rashid-Merem said GM won’t file the second-quarter earnings because of the extensive work still needed to set up the books for the new company. The new company also needs to finish accounting changes made necessary by selling its good assets to the new company.

The accident happened in a rural area near the small town of Dinuba at the intersection of Avenue 424 and Road 120, a spokeswoman for the California Highway Patrol said. She also said the suspect inside the car was wanted for carjacking, but it was not immediately clear if the car they were driving was the stolen car or at what time the police chase began.

Besides the driver, two other people were also inside the car. At 2.45 p.m. local time, the chased car broadsided a second car which was carrying an unknown number of people, but at least four of them, and possibly five, were said to be children.

The four children on the second car, all who were under the age of 12, were confirmed dead on scene, the spokeswoman said. All three persons in the chased car, three adults, were also killed.

The California Highway Patrol will investigate the accident.

CINCINNATI. August 8, 2009.  A passenger died after riding the Firehawk roller coaster at Kings Island in Mason, Ohio on Saturday afternoon.

Kings Island is a large theme park located in the city of Mason, which is northeast of Cincinnati.

At around 3.30 p.m. local time, the roller coaster arrived in its station after completing its normal cycle. Ride operators then noticed an adult male passenger who appeared to be having trouble breathing and the park’s EMS staff was called and responded immediately. The passenger was immediately transported to Bethesda North Hospital, according to park spokesman Don Helbig.

“We’ve learned that unfortunately the guest passed away this evening,” Helbig said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the family at this difficult time and all of us at Kings Island are deeply saddened.”

According to Helbig, the ride was operating normally when the incident happened and he said there is no reason to believe the roller coaster ride played a role in his passing. His cause of death is not yet known.

Kings Island has voluntarily closed the ride and has notified the state of Ohio who will perform a re-inspection of the ride on Sunday morning as a precaution.

Firehawk was opened in 2007 after it was moved from Six Flags Worlds of Adventure in Aurora, Ohio.