Associated Press          sc         Mexico cartels go from drugs to full-scale mafias    Cd. Hidalgo, Mich., Mex. -- Shopkeepers in this pine-covered mountain region easily recite the list of "protection" fees they pay to La Familia drug cartel to stay in business: 100 pesos a month for a stall in a street market, 30,000 pesos for an auto dealership or construction-supply firm...

Associated Press     Mexico replaces customs staff, revamps borders    Mexico has replaced all 700 of its customs inspectors with agents newly trained to detect contraband, from guns and drugs to TVs and other big-ticket appliances smuggled to avoid import duties. -- The shake-up — part of a broader effort to root out corruption and improve vigilance at Mexican ports with new technology — doubled the size of Mexico's customs inspection force...

Arizona Republic -- Phoenix      Many deported felons just sneak back across border    The goal of the U.S. government's expanding program to rid the country of foreign-born criminals is clear: Find illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes and deport them so they no longer pose a threat to the public. -- The government has successfully deported hundreds of thousands of foreign-born criminals in recent years...

Bo Chapman -- The International Forecaster      This so called recovery is going nowhere     The Fed’s Wall Street bubble, as we forecast in January, will need at least $2 trillion more in 2010, if the economy is to just stay on an even keel. The massive debt liquidation particularly in banking, Wall Street and in insurance demands many more trillions of dollars. $23.4 trillion is not going to be enough...

San Antonio Express-News      Amnesty timetable gives Latino pause    ..."Reform is a priority in the Latino community," said San Antonian Rosa Rosales, national president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "I would strongly urge that Latino organizations push the issue that we need comprehensive immigration reform now." -- Obama “"s not going to forget the immigrant community," she added...

Infowars -- Austin, Texas           sc      Constitutional patriots hold townhall meeting in senator's absence    She couldn’t come, but they pretended she was there, saying her absence wouldn’t silence their opinions about health care reform. -- So, at Saturday’s “mock” town hall meeting, leaders of the local Constitutional Patriots hung an enlarged photo of Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., and announced plans to send a video of all speakers’ questions and comments to her office...

James Simpson -- American Thinker -- Bellevue, Wash.      Manufactured healthcare crisis    These are perilous times. Last November's election of Barack Obama and a filibuster-proof majority of Democrats in both houses allowed a virulent cabal to capture our nation's seat of power. As with the Democrat takeover of Congress in 2006, it was a disaster of epic proportions. With one shocking, enormous, blatantly partisan, self-serving and destructive proposal following on the heels of another... [See NWO Treason Watch]

Marietta (Ga.) Daily Journal     Usual suspects toss tantrum over 287 (g), 'profiling' red herring    Congregants from the Latino church community chanted outside the Gwinnett County Jail on Saturday during a prayer rally blasting the deportation program they call harsh and unfair. -- "It's our job as ministers to be here today to say we're not going to tolerate this persecution anymore," said the Rev. Miguel Rivera, a national immigration rights activist...

Myrtle Beach (SC) Sun News      Obama puts "reform" [read: amnesty] on the back burner    President Obama is wrong to postpone immigration reform. And his own immigration policy is causing concern and dismay among many of those who supported his election. -- At the recent North American summit in Mexico, Obama said that immigration reform would have to wait in line behind health care and the economy...

San Francisco Chronicle     Victims' family loses round in sanctuary suit    The family of a father and two sons who were gunned down on a San Francisco street last year has failed to convince a federal judge that the city violated the victims' constitutional rights by shielding their alleged murderer from deportation... [See Crime Watch & Sanctuary Watch]

Associated Press      Family of murdered Texas teen sues Clackamas County    Oregon City, Ore. -- The family of a murdered Texas girl has sued Clackamas County, saying authorities knew her killer was in the country illegally but failed to report him. -- The Oregonian reports the estate of Dani Countryman is seeking $3.5 million in damages in a lawsuit filed in Clackamas County Circuit Court... [See Crime Watch]

WorldNetDaily.com        'Obamacare:' What does the Constitution have to say?    Is a federal government takeover of the health care system constitutional? -- Some argue that under the Constitution, Congress is not authorized to regulate or subsidize health care. -- Michael Boldin, founder of The Tenth Amendment Center, told WND that if citizens want to understand whether health care is constitutional, they must first understand the function of the Constitution... [See Obama Watch]

Anthony G. Martin -- The Examiner      Obama launches frontal attack on conservative talk radio     We knew this was coming. We told you it would happen as far back as last year during the campaign. -- It is now official. Barack Obama has launched a full, frontal attack on conservative talk radio, and he is doing it without re-implementing 'the Fairness Doctrine.' -- But first, a bit of background.... [See Free Speech Watch]

George Stephanopoulos -- ABC News     Specter: Town Hall meetings 'not really representative of America'    Democratic Senator Arlen Specter said in an interview on "This Week" that he supports Americans right to organize, but warned that recent town hall ruckus from critics of the Democrats' health care proposals are not representative of the public's view on the issue...

Infowars -- Austin, Texas     Former Ambassador Alan Keyes on the Alex Jones Show    Alan Keyes discuses the Obama presidency with Alex Jones on his August 14 show. Keyes tells it like it is about Obama and his cronies. Five segments at about 11 minutes each.

San Jose Mercury News      Newsom touts illegals' "rights" in speech    Gubernatorial candidate and San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom on Friday staked out liberal ground on immigration and budget cuts in a speech to hundreds of union workers at Stanford University. -- "Do I support a driver's license for everybody? The answer is yes," Newsom said to a burst of applause from members of SEIU United Service Workers West... [See Sanctuary Watch]

Associated Press      California wildfire started by Mexican pot growers' campfire    Investigators have found that a week-old wildfire burning in the Los Padres National Forest was started by a cooking fire set by marijuana growers. -- Santa Barbara County Sheriff's officials said in a news release Saturday that its narcotics unit and U.S. Forest Service special agents found that the camp where the fire started was part of a drug organization run by Mexican nationals... [See Crime Watch]

Eagle Forum      Town Hall Meetings: Keep an eye on your representatives    Register for Eagle Forum Town Hall meeting alerts so you will always know when your Congressman and Senators are holding an event.

Joseph Farah -- WorldNetDaily.com     No time for Constitution    Barack Obama's mouthpiece, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs, says his boss doesn't have any time to waste on questions about his constitutional eligibility for the highest office in the land. -- He's got too many important things to do – like taking away your right to choose the doctor of your choice and seek the kind of medical care you and your doctor believe is appropriate...