Former Car Czar Rats Out Obama Regime…

Former Obama administration car czar Steven Rattner is coming out with a new book that depicts him swashbuckling through the financial crisis and also shows Obama as “out to get” the car companies and the administration making political decisions about how to deal with bankrupt automakers GM and Chrysler.

The Huffington Post got a leaked copy and there is plenty there that will play into this years’ elections – especially since this is the first kiss-and-tell book from the Obama team. Key points from the article and excerpts:

-When Obama was told of the plan to pay GM CEO Rick Wagoner a $7.1 million severance package after Obama ordered that he be sacked, Rattner writes: “Suddenly I felt that I was indeed in the presence of a community organizer…”

-Rattner describes presidential political adviser David Axelrod coming to car meetings armed with poll data to support the takeover and Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel identify Congressmen in whose districts large Chrysler facilities were located.

-”[Obama's economic team] veered dangerously close to having the government take control of the two most troubled banks, Bank of America and Citigroup.”

-”If his team had linked arms with the outgoing administration, as President Bush’s advisers had proposed, billions of dollars could well have been saved.”

New evidence undermines feds' case against Arizona

Despite the splash of attention from the newest lawsuit, the Justice Department's investigation of Arpaio could end badly for Holder. When the Department first informed Arpaio that a probe was under way, back in March 2009, it sent a letter saying the investigation would focus on "alleged patterns or practices of discriminatory police practices and unconstitutional searches and seizures."

But now we learn that just six months before that, in September 2008, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, known as ICE, did its own investigation of Arpaio's office -- and gave it a clean bill of health. Arpaio's lawyers recently got a copy of the ICE report through the Freedom of Information Act. ICE officials evaluated how the sheriff's office performed under a law that allows specially trained local law enforcement officers to enforce parts of federal immigration law.

The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office, which is the largest sheriff's office in the Arizona, has 189 officers who have been trained by ICE to enforce federal immigration statutes.

The report, crammed with acronyms and bureaucratese, is not light reading. But struggle through it, and the key sentence is this: "The OI and DRO supervisors consider the conduct and performance of the MCSO ... officers to be professional and meeting the requirement of the MOA."

Translated, that means officials from the Homeland Security Department's Office of Investigation (OI), along with officials from the Detention and Removal Operations office (DRO), concluded that the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (MCSO), in its handling of illegal immigrants, acted in a professional manner and complied with a memorandum of agreement (MOA) under which the government gave them the authority to enforce federal law. That agreement included a ban on racial profiling.

ICE investigators also interviewed top federal officials involved in illegal immigrant cases in Arizona. They found an "excellent" working relationship between the sheriff's office and the feds. ICE talked as well to federal prosecutors in Phoenix, who described the cases brought by Maricopa County as "high quality."

Iranian newspaper says French first lady deserves to die

A hard-line Iranian newspaper has called the French first lady a "prostitute" and recommended she be put to death for supporting a woman sentenced to death by stoning in Iran for adultery.

Under the headline "French prostitutes enter the human rights uproar," the Kayhan daily newspaper referred Saturday to Carla Bruni-Sarkozy as a "prostitute" after she released an open letter in support of Sakineh Ashtiani, 43, a mother of two whose case has drawn international attention.

Kayhan, a newspaper headed by a representative of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, reiterated those statements Tuesday, writing that, "this woman with a bad history supports an Iranian woman who has committed adultery during marriage and is an accomplice to the murder of her husband who is sentenced to death, and in fact she [Bruni-Sarkozy] also deserves death."

Iranian officials decried the newspaper's tirade. "Insulting the authorities in other countries and using inappropriate words is not approved by the Islamic Republic," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told reporters Tuesday in response to a question during his weekly briefing, according to the ministry's website.

CBP confirms two Mexican helicopter incursions in Starr County

Federal officials confirmed two Mexican military helicopter incursions took place in skies over Starr and Hidalgo County today but are asking the public not to be alarmed.

Local law enforcement officials were put on alert after a Mexican military helicopter was spotted in Alto Bonito and headed east into Hidalgo County. Sources told Action 4 News tha tthe helicopter flew from Alto Bonito and then over Sullivan City and La Joya around 1 p.m. Thursday.

Officials with U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations confirmed that there were two helicopter incursions -- one between 9 and 10 am. and then another at 1 p.m. Thursday. Air and Marine Operations spokesman Juan Muñoz-Torres told Action 4 News that the agency was informed about the incursions by the Mexican government. Muñoz-Torres said the public should not be alarmed by the incursions.

The Air and Marine Operations spokesman said that a long-standing agreement between the United States, Mexico and Canada allows for temporary incursions for medical or law enforcement purposes.

Rio Grande Valley residents have reported at least four Mexican helicopter incursions since March in communities along the border from Brownsville to Zapata.

Mid-East talks: Abbas and Netanyahu clear first hurdle

With the leaders at last sitting together in the same room - and speaking English - the hard work begins After the first private sessions, photographs were issued showing Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deep in conversation.

Apparently they spoke in English. No translators, the state department said, were present. The message was that face-to-face contact had started and might even work, though a year of effort lies ahead. And a lot more talk.

The next meeting is in two weeks' time. If you go by past history - and almost every Israeli and Palestinian I spoke to on a trip to the region last week did - then you will expect the talks to come to nothing.

After all, it has been almost 20 years since the first of several peace processes started. All the years of failure have turned this into a long-running Middle Eastern saga of lost hope.

Gibbs: Glenn Beck is 'ill-informed' (dc: Re-writing history, one story at a time. Does he know anything about Wright and TUCC, or is he just pretending not to?)

President Obama is a “mainstream Christian,” White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Thursday, questioning why Glenn Beck has said the president follows “liberation theology.”

“People are entitled to their own opinion, as ill-informed as it may be,” Gibbs told reporters. “But they're not entitled to their own facts.”

Gunmen kill four Israelis in West Bank , thousands "celebrate" (H/T: Zip's)

Video broadcast live on Israel TV late Tuesday showed a white Subaru station wagon standing at an angle at the side of a road, its windows shot out and its doors dotted with bullet holes. The car was flanked by army and police vehicles and dozens of soldiers.

The attackers fled and Israeli forces set up roadblocks and carried out searches to try to catch them.

About 3,000 people joined a rally in Gaza to celebrate the attack. Hamas military wing spokesman Abu Obeida was among them and told The Associated Press: "The Qassam Brigades announces its full responsibility for the heroic operation in Hebron."

DAILY CALLER: NAACP launches coalition watchdog site to ‘monitor’ Tea Party ‘racists’ (dc: Alternate title: Desperately Seeking Racists)

The NAACP partnered with Media Matters, Think Progress and New Left Media to launch teapartytracker.org, a website that will specifically publish and monitor “racism and other forms of extremism within the Tea Party movement.”

Media Matters and Think Progress representatives said their content and reporting haven’t changed and that the NAACP approached their organizations seeking only to republish select content they’ve produced. The NAACP’s new teapartytracker.org is aimed specifically at highlighting “racism” in the Tea Party.

Wow: CNN's Sanchez Hesitant to Blame Left for Discovery Channel Terrorist, Says 'Most' Think He Went 'Too Far'

The breaking news about James Lee's standoff at the educational channel's Silver Spring, Maryland dominated Sanchez's broadcast. Twenty-five minutes into the 3 pm Eastern hour, during an interview of former hostage negotiator Tom Fuentes, the anchor summarized Lee's manifesto: "He apparently wants the Discovery Channel...[to] broadcast certain commitments to save the planet...He's apparently anti-war....He's concerned about global warming, talks about Malthusian sciences, continues to come back to saving the planet." He then asked Fuentes, "So...if you get my drift, Tom, he's very concerned. He's an activist, may be very well-meaning, but he's now put himself in a situation where he, the police officers and his hostages' lives are endangered. What do you do?"

Arizona Congressman Linked to ‘Republicans Hate Latinos’ Speech

Audio from Department of Labor representative Dolores Huerta’s speech praising Venezualan dictator Hugo Chavez and saying “Republicans hate Latinos,” reveals that Huerta’s appearance seems to have been supported by Congressman Raul M. Grijalva (D-AZ). A representative from Grijalva’s office attended and “brought” Huerta to the Aprill 2006 speech, which addressed students at Tucson High Magnet School...

Huerta’s appearance garnered state and national media attention. One student, Mon-yee Fung, even appeared in front of state legislators to talk about the event, after Huerta’s comments made her uncomfortable but she was not allowed to leave. “I got up a second time and I said, ‘Really, I want to go to another class,” she told Bill O’Reilly. “I just don’t want to hear this anymore.” Her teacher responded, “No, just sit back down. Listen to this. It’s a really good speech.”

While Fung came forward, there are many more who didn’t. But since Huerta was “brought” by the Congressman’s office, and since a representative was present, impressionable students may have given her statement’s more weight. They gave her a rousing applause at the end.

Yet, since the speech, Grijalva continues to be an adamant supporter of Huerta. On August 13 he attended her 80th birthday party and praised her as “the biggest missed opportunity for this nation we’ve ever seen.” And while he loves Huerta “to death,” he thinks “the rest of America is missing an opportunity to understand and to believe in a person that is much bigger than the rest of us.”

The “missed opportunity” does not keep her political leanings a secret. She is an honorary chair of the Democratic Socialists of America and after praising dictator Chavez in 2006 for his policies in Venezuela, she asked, “why can’t we do that here in the United States?”

What could go wrong? ‘American Taliban’ Traitor John Walker Lindh Asks Judge to Issue Order Allowing Muslims in His Cell Block to Pray Together

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – American-born Taliban fighter John Walker Lindh and another Muslim inmate have asked a judge to order a federal prison to allow them and other Muslims in their highly restricted cell block to pray as a group, in accordance with their beliefs.

Time wonders how Obama lost his mojo

A sense of disappointment, bordering on betrayal, has been growing across the country, especially in moderate states like Indiana, where people now openly say they didn’t quite understand the President they voted for in 2008. The fear most often expressed is that Obama is taking the country somewhere they don’t want to go. “We bought what he said. He offered a lot of hope,” says Fred Ferlic, an Obama voter and orthopedic surgeon in South Bend who has since soured on his choice. Ferlic talks about the messy compromises in health care reform, his sense of an inhospitable business climate and the growth of government spending under Obama. “He’s trying to Europeanize us, and the Europeans are going the other way,” continues Ferlic, a former Democratic campaign donor who plans to vote Republican this year. “The entire American spirit is being broken.”

FOX Sports: Racers brave rapids on sex dolls (Just FYI: Big picture at the link, if you want to avoid that at work.)

Hurling yourself down river rapids can be a scary thing. That must be why a group of Russian thrill seekers bring along a stalwart companion when they do it — an inflatable sex doll.

Vladislav Pavlenko, riding “Vanilla Pelotki,” held off more than 450 fellow competitors to win the 2010 Bubble Baba Challenge on Saturday, according to the website for the St. Petersburg Times of Russia.

Mayor Bloomberg Is Apparently Being Floated As Tim Geithner's Replacement

Apparently New York's Mayor Bloomberg was on the short list to be named Secretary Treasurer back in 2008, and now the White House is revisiting the idea.

Asked about last weekend's four-hour golf game with President Obama on Martha's Vineyard, Bloomberg told reporters yesterday, "The economy was the main subject, other than discussing golf."

Now there are whispers that the president went even further and sounded out Bloomberg about whether he would join his foundering economic team as treasury secretary, replacing prime blame-target Timothy Geithner.

State of emergency declared in North Carolina

Governor Bev Perdue has declared a State of Emergency for North Carolina in anticipation of Hurricane Earl's arrival. The declaration calls for all state and local governments to cooperate in the North Carolina Emergency Operations Plan.

In a news conference Wednesday, Gov. Perdue urged people to be prepared for the storm and reassured residents that help is standing by.

"We have pre-positioned supplies and personnel along the coast," said Gov. Perdue. "We have both the Red Cross and the National Guard on standby. This state believes it's better to be safe than sorry, and that's what North Carolina traditionally does because we believe in being ready. Safety is always the barometer for North Carolina and how we treat any weather event. I really am asking on behalf of the state and all of these EMS personnel in North Carolina to pay attention to these warnings, and once again to realize that just because we think it may just brush the coast, none of us have any kind of certainty about that."

EU keen to strike deal with Muammar Gaddafi on immigration

The European Union is keen to strike a pact with Muammar Gaddafi to stem the flow of immigrants across the Mediterranean, officials said today, after the Libyan leader put a price tag of €5bn (£4.1bn) a year on the deal.

"There is great scope to develop cooperation with Libya on migration," said Matthew Newman, a commission spokesman. Other officials said three negotiating sessions were expected by the end of the year between Brussels and Tripoli as well as the staging of a summit of EU and African leaders in Libya in November.

In a highly theatrical visit to Italy this week, Gaddafi warned that Europe would turn "black" unless it was more rigorous in turning back immigrants. Libya is a key transit point for illegal migration from Africa to Europe. The Libyan leader said the bill for sealing the crossing routes would be at least €5bn a year.

While the commission in Brussels said that much could be achieved with Libya "for lesser amounts than that named by Colonel Gaddafi", Franco Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, supported the Libyan leader. He said European government chiefs would discuss the proposed migration pact at the Tripoli summit.

Environmentalists stunned by failures of key measures in Legislature

Activists expected big gains, but a ban on plastic grocery bags, another on a chemical used in baby bottles and a bid to boost alternative energy fell short in the face of heavy industry opposition.

Reporting from Sacramento — Environmentalists were counting on big gains in Sacramento this summer, with a governor eager to burnish his green credentials in his final months in office. But by the time the legislative session ended at midnight Tuesday, those hopes had fizzled.

Activists had worked for passage of such pioneering measures as a ban on plastic grocery bags and expanded use of the sun, wind and other renewable resources to power California homes and businesses.

But the bold proposals they saw as a springboard to nationwide environmental efforts collapsed in the face of aggressive industry opposition that included intensive lobbying, television advertising and even mail to voters.

"We're in shock," said Mark Gold, president of the nonprofit Heal the Bay, which had helped lead a large coalition of activists, retailers and unions crusading for the bag ban.

Deval Patrick on Beck rally: “It’s a free country. I wish it weren’t.”

And you thought that a libtalker declaring a public space too sacred for God would be the dumbest quote from the Left on the Restoring Honor rally hosted by Glenn Beck.

Michael Graham from Boston’s WTKK posts a clip of Governor Deval Patrick responding to a question about the rally by noting first that it’s a free country — and then that he’s not terribly happy about that, either...

Video at link.

Judge blocks motion to dismiss lawsuit against deepwater drilling ban

A federal judge on Wednesday denied a motion by the Obama administration to dismiss a lawsuit that aims to block a government-imposed moratorium on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

A six-month moratorium was first issued by Interior Secretary Ken Salazar in May after the April 20 explosion of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon that killed 11 people and triggered one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history.

A group of companies that provide boats and equipment to the offshore drilling industry filed a lawsuit claiming the government has no evidence that existing operations pose a threat to the Gulf and asked the court to declare the moratorium invalid and unenforceable.

U.S. District Court Judge Martin Feldman agreed and overturned the ban in June. Feldman's ruling was upheld on appeal. A second drilling ban -- set to expire in November -- was issued in July after the injunction was issued.

In the motion to dismiss the suit, the government argued the case should be thrown out because "the first moratorium has been revoked and superseded by a new, second moratorium," adding that the plaintiffs "have only challenged the May 28 moratorium and that directive has been rescinded and lacks any present legal effect."

BREAKING: Armed Man With Bomb Takes at Least One Hostage in Discovery Channel Building

A little down? This will put you in a good mood. Trust me.

Okay, now for the news: Hurricane Warning Issued for North Carolina as Earl Barrels Toward East Coast

The National Hurricane Center said Earl, a powerful Category 3 hurricane, could make landfall on the Carolinas as early as Thursday. The center also issued a hurricane watch for Delaware.

Authorities also gave mandatory evacuation orders for all visitors of two North Carolina vacation islands earlier Wednesday, warning that the storm's force could bring high waves to popular coastal communities.

Vanity Fair On Sarah Palin: She Has A Terrible Temper, Is A Bad Tipper (dc: Bad tipper? BAD TIPPER?? Well, that's it then! // Honestly - why do they hate her so much?)

Two years after entering the nation’s klieg lights Sarah Palin is the subject of a detailed and sometimes scathing profile in next month’s Vanity Fair. The portrait that emerges is one of a willful, often-paranoid, sometimes vengeful woman with a terrible temper and a knack for folksy soundbites, who knows her strengths, saw her moment in the spotlight and has grabbed onto it with both hands. Or as Vanity Fair’s Michael Joseph Gross puts it “anywhere you peel back the skin of Sarah Palin’s life, a sad and moldering strangeness lies beneath.”

It's not them, it's us - Feingold decries 'systematic' effort to 'destroy' Obama (dc: Obama isn't responsible for the impression people have of him, apparently. And oh, Senator Feingold - have you ever noticed how Republicans are treated by the left?)

"A conscious decision was made by certain groups to destroy this presidency the minute it started," Feingold said in a question-and-answer session with The New York Times published Tuesday evening.

"People say it was the healthcare bill — no, it wasn’t. I go to every county every year and hold a town meeting," he added. "Within days of the president being sworn in, I had people showing up at my town meeting with hats on, with tea bags coming out, saying this is going to be socialism."

And by the way: Typically, Kathleen Parker Finds It Ridiculous That Beck or Palin Can Complain About Media Bias

Washington Post columnist and incoming CNN prime-time talk-show host Kathleen Parker is still auditioning for liberal-media accolades. In Wednesday's Post she offered another shovel of her frenzied distaste for prayer and G-O-D talk in public as she dismissed the Glenn Beck rally, especially the notion that Beck or Sarah Palin could blame the news media for hostility and bias.

Convicted teacher's rehire prompts protests at Morton school (Washington state)

MORTON, Wash. -- A Morton teacher who won his job back after a conviction for inappropriately touching girls called in sick Monday as some parents demonstrated outside on the first day of school.

A judge ruled Morton Junior/Senior High School teacher Michael Moulton is allowed to return to the classroom, even though he was convicted of 4th degree assault and fired from the school district.

Moulton served 20 days in jail for inappropriately touching female students in 2008. But a judge ruled he can get his job back because he served his time.

Some parents are furious.

Of course: MSNBC’s Dynamic-Trio of D-baggery Outraged Obama Gave Begrudging Credit to Bush During Iraq Speech (dc: I wouldn't call what Obama said about Bush "credit", but to quote Murray Slaughter: When a donkey flies, you don't blame him for not staying up that long.)

Obama’s tepid credit to Bush was too much for Olberdouche, Tingles, Maddow to handle. (Video at link.)

Barak: Israel ready to divide Jerusalem (H/T: Zip's)

JERUSALEM, Sept. 1 (UPI) -- In the framework of a peace deal with the Palestinians, Israel is willing to partition Jerusalem, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said.

In an interview with Haaretz newspaper Wednesday, Barak said while the gaps remain wide and are of a "fundamental nature," he believes there is a real chance to achieve peace with the Palestinians, based on a two-state solution and the division of Jerusalem.

Via Zip's: Dutch prosecutors say Pepto-taping Yemenis freed

Al-Soofi and al-Murisi missed flights to Washington Dulles International Airport from Chicago, and United Airlines then booked them on the same flight to Amsterdam, a U.S. government official said. The men were sitting near each other on the flight, but not together.

Al-Soofi also raised suspicions in the United States on Sunday because he was carrying $7,000 in cash. An inspection of his checked luggage uncovered a cell phone taped to a small bottle, multiple cell phones and watches taped together, and a knife and box cutter, according to a U.S. official who had been briefed on the investigation.

None of the checked items violated U.S. security rules, so authorities allowed al-Soofi to fly. But his bags later were transferred to another flight and were not on the flight to Amsterdam, Dutch prosecutors said.

Al-Soofi and al-Murisi changed their travel plans at the last minute and took a direct flight to Amsterdam, raising suspicion among U.S. officials.

Capitol Hill panel discusses Americans’ misunderstanding of Islam

The lone woman on the panel, Dr. Azizan Al- Hibri, said that Islamaphobia is not a new phenomenon in America. She explained that in her research of the Founding Fathers, she read multiple instances in which there were explicit examples of anti-Muslim views and activities by America’s founders.

Al-Hibri stressed, however, that Muslims are hardly the only minority group that have been demonized in America. She went on to catalogue various groups throughout American history that had been marginalized. “So in some ways I want Muslims to know we are not being singled out one way or the other,” she said.

Good grief. Where to start with that one? I think I need to watch the dancing dog again.

France Mounts Defense of Its Deportation of Roma

France, which has been sharply criticized for deporting hundreds of Roma, defended its actions on Tuesday and accused Romania of not doing enough to integrate members of its Roma minority.

The continuing public defense came as two French ministers met here with European officials who are examining whether France’s deportation policies violated European Union rules.

The United Nations and immigrant advocacy groups have criticized France for breaking up camps of Roma migrants and returning them to Romania and Bulgaria, but the European Commission, which polices member states’ compliance with European laws, has so far refused to pass judgment.

European officials have also met with Romanian officials, who have raised concerns about the expulsions. The European Commission is expected to produce a preliminary report on the issue within two days.

On Tuesday, French officials again said the policy conforms to French and European laws, and is not discriminatory, but part of a crackdown against crime.

“No collective expulsions were undertaken,” Eric Besson, the French minister for Immigration and Integration, said at a news conference on Tuesday. He added that European law had been respected “scrupulously” and that deportations were in line with European rules allowing for the free circulation of citizens within the 27-nation bloc.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski concedes in GOP primary

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski has conceded defeat to upstart Tea Party favorite Joe Miller after a day of counting ballots in their razor-thin Republican primary, the Associated Press reports.

The AP said Murkowski was behind Miller, a lawyer and Gulf War veteran, by 1,630 votes on Tuesday night. She had been behind by 1,668 votes after last week's primary.

Murkowski, a member of the Senate GOP leadership, is the seventh member of Congress to be turned out of office so far in a primary season notable for its anti-establishment tilt.

Murkowski, a former state legislator, was first appointed to the Senate in 2002 by her father, Frank, when he was Alaska's governor. She was seeking her second full term in the Senate, where her dad also served.

"We all know that this has been a long week, a terribly long week," she said at her campaign headquarters. While there are still outstanding absentee and other ballots to count, Murkowski conceded: "I don't see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor."

Miller caught the political world by surprise with his challenge to Murkowski, who was better known and better funded. He was backed by former Alaska governor Sarah Palin, a favorite of the small-government Tea Party movement, who has her own history with the Murkowski family. Palin defeated Frank Murkowski for governor in 2006.

Gloom for Democrats as they look to November

The Gallup organization dropped a bomb on the political world this week. In shorthand, the pollsters said Monday that if the midterm elections were held now, Republicans would take control of the House - and probably by a comfortable margin.

For decades, Gallup has asked voters the following question: "If the elections for Congress were being held today, which party's candidate would you vote for in your congressional district?"

This week's survey produced the largest lead for the Republicans in the history of asking that question: 51 percent to 41 percent. Ninety-six percent of Republicans said they would vote for the GOP candidate, while 88 percent of Democrats said they would support the Democrat. Independents, who helped power Democratic victories in 2006 and 2008, split 48 percent to 31 percent for Republicans.

Black Caucus Foundation chair denounces Eddie Bernice Johnson, 'self-dealing' in scholarships

The lawmaker who chairs the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation issued a scathing denunciation Tuesday of Dallas Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson, referring to "self-dealing," a shortage of integrity, and "unethical behavior" as he vowed to prevent further violations of scholarship rules.

"Neither the Foundation nor the Congressional Black Caucus will allow unethical behavior in the awarding of scholarships or any programs that are designed to benefit the community," said Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J. "There will be no self-dealing or nepotism in the awarding of college scholarships."

From 2005 to 2009, Johnson awarded 23 scholarships worth an estimated $25,000 to four of her relatives and two children of a top aide, using funds provided by the foundation.

None of the students qualified for the scholarship because none lived or studied in a congressional district represented by a caucus member. Their relationships to Johnson, a nine-term Democrat, and her staffer, district director Rod Givens, also made them ineligible.

Tech stocks sink as investors' worries of slowdown grow

Technology stocks are landing somewhere they haven't been in some time: on the sell list. Serious second-guessing of rosy predictions for the economy and tech stocks in 2010 has turned one of the hottest sectors earlier this year into one of the worst.

While much was made about how bad August was for the broad market, things were particularly harsh for technology stocks. The tech sector of the Standard & Poor's 500 is down 11.5% this year, making it the worst of the 10 sectors. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite is off 6.8% for 2010, lagging behind the 4.0% and 5.9% declines by the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500, respectively.

Tech stocks are a big reason for what was an August that investors would rather forget. The S&P 500 fell 4.7% for the month, making it the worst August since 2001, says S&P.

Roughly $700 billion in paper wealth was erased during the month, according to the broad Wilshire 5000 index.

"Investors are taking tech down a notch as these companies are affected the most in a slowdown," says Michael Sadoff at Sadoff Investment Management.

And last night some robot on TV gave some kind of speech about something.