Further Adventures of Indigo Red

Fact Check - 2012 SOTU & Obama

2012-01-25T07:53:00.000-08:00

Not only was Obama's third SOTU a mockery of recycling, it was also short on actual facts, which in common usage means something that actually exists, reality, truth. But Obama, the lawyer probably intended "fact" as used in law - an actual or alleged event or circumstance, as distinguished from its legal effect or consequence - with an emphasis on alleged.

OBAMA: "We have subsidized oil companies for a century. That's long enough. It's time to end the taxpayer giveaways to an industry that's rarely been more profitable, and double-down on a clean energy industry that's never been more promising."
THE FACTS: This is at least Obama's third run at stripping subsidies from the oil industry. Back when fellow Democrats formed the House and Senate majorities, he sought $36.5 billion in tax increases on oil and gas companies over the next decade, but Congress largely ignored the request. He called again to end such tax breaks in last year's State of the Union speech. And he's now doing it again, despite facing a wall of opposition from Republicans who want to spur domestic oil and gas production and oppose tax increases generally.
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OBAMA: "Our health care law relies on a reformed private market, not a government program."
THE FACTS: That's only half true. About half of the more than 30 million uninsured Americans expected to gain coverage through the health care law will be enrolled in a government program. Medicaid, the federal-state program for low-income people, will be expanded starting in 2014 to cover childless adults living near the poverty line.
The other half will be enrolled in private health plans through new state-based insurance markets. But many of them will be receiving federal subsidies to make their premiums more affordable. And that's a government program, too.
Starting in 2014 most Americans will be required to carry health coverage, either through an employer, by buying their own plan, or through a government program.
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OBAMA, asking Congress to pay for construction projects: "Take the money we're no longer spending at war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building right here at home."
THE FACTS: The idea of taking war "savings" to pay for other programs is budgetary sleight of hand. For one thing, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have been largely financed through borrowing, so stopping the wars doesn't create a pool of ready cash, just less debt. And the savings appear to be based at least in part on inflated war spending estimates for future years.
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OBAMA: "Through the power of our diplomacy a world that was once divided about how to deal with Iran's nuclear program now stands as one."
THE FACTS: The world is still divided over how to deal with Iran's disputed nuclear program, and even over whether the nuclear program is a problem at all.
It is true that the U.S., Europe and other nations have agreed to apply the strictest economic sanctions yet on Iran later this year. But the global sanctions net has holes, because some of Iran's large oil trading partners won't go along. China, a major purchaser of Iran's crude, isn't part of the new sanctions and, together with Russia, stopped the United Nations from applying similarly tough penalties.
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OBAMA: "Tonight, I want to speak about how we move forward, and lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last - an economy built on American manufacturing, American energy, skills for American workers, and a renewal of American values."
THE FACTS: Economists do see manufacturing growth as a necessary component of any U.S. recovery. U.S. manufacturing output climbed 0.9 percent in December, the biggest gain since December 2010. Yet Obama's apparent vision of a nation once again propelled by manufacturing - a vision shared by many Republicans - may already have slipped into the past.
Over generations, the economy has become ever more driven by services; not since 1975 has the U.S. had a surplus in merchandise trade, which covers trade in goods, including manufactured and farm goods. About 90 percent of American workers are employed in the service sector, a profound shift in the nature of the workforce over many decades.
The overall trade deficit through the first 11 months of 2011 ran at an annual rate of nearly $600 billion, up almost 12 percent from the year before.
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OBAMA: "The Taliban's momentum has been broken, and some troops in Afghanistan have begun to come home."
THE FACTS: Obama is more sanguine about progress in Afghanistan than his own intelligence apparatus. The latest National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan warns that the Taliban will grow stronger, using fledgling talks with the U.S. to gain credibility and stall until U.S. troops leave, while continuing to fight for more territory. The classified assessment, described to The Associated Press by officials who have seen it, says the Afghan government hasn't been able to establish credibility with its people, and predicts the Taliban and warlords will largely control the countryside.
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OBAMA: "On the day I took office, our auto industry was on the verge of collapse. Some even said we should let it die. With a million jobs at stake, I refused to let that happen. In exchange for help, we demanded responsibility. We got workers and automakers to settle their differences. We got the industry to retool and restructure. Today, General Motors is back on top as the world's number one automaker. Chrysler has grown faster in the U.S. than any major car company. Ford is investing billions in U.S. plants and factories."
THE FACTS: He left out some key details. The bailout of General Motors and Chrysler began under Republican President George W. Bush. Obama picked up the ball, earmarked more money, and finished the job. But Ford never asked for a federal bailout and never got one.
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OBAMA: "We can also spur energy innovation with new incentives. The differences in this chamber may be too deep right now to pass a comprehensive plan to fight climate change. But there's no reason why Congress shouldn't at least set a clean energy standard that creates a market for innovation."
THE FACTS: With this statement, Obama was renewing a call he made last year to require 80 percent of the nation's electricity to come from clean energy sources by 2035, including nuclear, natural gas and so-called clean coal. He did not put that percentage in his speech but White House background papers show that it remains his goal.
But this Congress has yet to introduce a bill to make that goal a reality, and while legislation may be introduced this year, it is unlikely to become law with a Republican-controlled House that loathes mandates.
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OBAMA: "Right now, because of loopholes and shelters in the tax code, a quarter of all millionaires pay lower tax rates than millions of middle-class households."
THE FACTS: It's true that a minority of millionaires pay a lower tax rate than some lower-income people. On average, though, wealthy people pay taxes at a much higher rate than middle-income taxpayers.
Obama's claim comes from a Congressional Research Service report that compared federal taxes paid by people making less than $100,000 with those paid by people making more than $1 million. About 10 percent of families with incomes under $100,000 paid more than 26.5 percent in federal income, payroll and corporate taxes. And about a quarter of millionaire taxpayers paid a rate lower than that.
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OBAMA: "We can't bring back every job that's left our shores.... Tonight, my message to business leaders is simple: Ask yourselves what you can do to bring jobs back to your country, and your country will do everything we can to help you succeed."
FACT CHECK: Many of the jobs U.S. companies have created overseas won't return because they were never in the United States in the first place.
As Obama said in his speech, U.S. workers have become more productive and labor costs have fallen.
But there are powerful forces pushing the other way: Many of the overseas jobs in U.S. companies weren't transferred from the U.S. They were created in fast-growing markets in Latin America, Asia and elsewhere to serve customers in those markets. Companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index now earn more than half of their revenue from overseas.
That has fueled more job creation abroad. U.S. multinationals cut more than 800,000 jobs in the United States from 2000 to 2009, according the Commerce Department. They added 2.9 million overseas in the same period.
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OBAMA: "Anyone who tells you that America is in decline or that our influence has waned doesn't know what they're talking about ... That's not how people feel from Tokyo to Berlin; from Cape Town to Rio; where opinions of America are higher than they've been in years."
THE FACTS: Obama left out Arab and Muslim nations, where popular opinion of the U.S. appears to have gone downhill or remained unchanged after the spring 2011 reformist uprisings in the Middle East. A Pew Research Center survey in May found that in predominantly Muslim countries such as Turkey, Jordan and Pakistan, views of the U.S. were worse than a year earlier. In Pakistan, a major recipient of U.S. foreign aid that went unmentioned in Obama's speech, just 11 percent of respondents said they held a positive view of the United States.
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Associated Press writers Tom Raum, Anne Gearan, Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Martin Crutsinger, Jim Drinkard, Dina Cappiello, Erica Werner, Andrew Taylor, Christopher S. Rugaber and Stephen Ohlemacher contributed to this report.

2012 SOTU - One More Time, With Feeling

2012-01-24T22:45:00.000-08:00

Obama, the great orator, repeats himself ad nauseam.

In the End, He Went Left

2012-01-24T22:30:00.000-08:00

Obama asked after the 2012 State of the Union Address, "Which way am I going? This way or that way?"

h/t Ann Althouse

Gingrich Wins South Carolina Women, Independents, Religious

2012-01-21T22:05:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich won a majority of the Republican women's vote in South Carolina's Saturday Republican Presidential Primary. Gingrich was supposed to have an overwhelming problem with southern women who saw him as a Yankee because of his much publicized infidelities. Despite this, Gingrich garnered 36% of the female vote to Romney's 29%, 20% for Santorum, and 12% for Paul.

Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit writes,

A female reader writes that Gingrich may not have been so hurt by ex-wife Marianne’s TV interview:
Hate to say this and don’t use my name, but I watched the interview and thought
“You bitch, he cheated on his first wife with you. What the heck did you expect?”
That may explain it.

STILL MORE: Another female reader writes: “Check the dates. Marianne, the supposed women scorned, married Newt when his star was rising (1981-his second term in Congress) and divorced him at his political nadir in 2000. If Callista is the real golddigger she’s also the one who stood by her man in his politically lean decade.”

Gingrich was also said to be to far right and too radical for Independent voters. Again, the experts were wrong. Romney was the expected to be the Independent's favored candidate, but those calling themselves Very Conservative in exit polling turned out only 19% of the vote vs 48% for Gingrich. Those claiming to be Somewhat Conservative voted 41% for Gingrich and 30% for Romney. Mitt Romney only beat Gingrich among the Moderate-Liberal Independents, 34% to 31%.

The religious voters were supposed to run from Gingrich because of his serial marital peccadillo's and faith switching in favor of the religious and stable family man, Mitt Romney. For a third time, the pundits were wrong. Among the Born Again crowd, Gingrich won 44% to 22%; however, Romney got the non born-again vote 38% to 33%, but just barely.

Both the college degreed and non-college group went for Gingrich 37% to 31% and 43% to 24%. Interestingly, all income groups went for Gingrich from less than $50,000 to over $100,000.

Voters overwhelmingly believe Newt Gingrich can beat Barack Obama, is the true conservative, has the right experience although only 6% think he's of strong moral character.

The primaries and caucuses so far represent slightly less than 2% of the total Republican nominating vote. There is a statistical observation that when a subject reaches 2% approval or acceptance, the remaining 98% will fall in line. Newt Gingrich is on the slippery cusp of winning the nomination; he's proven he can win big, but he's also shown an ability to lose big.

Urinating Marines Piss Off US Officials

2012-01-13T18:26:00.000-08:00

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta was on the phone to Afghan President Karzai apologizing for the videotaped “utterly deplorable” act of four US Marines before the video had even been authenticated.

Karzai had already said the videoed event was “completely inhumane and condemnable in the strongest possible terms” and advised the U.S. military to “apply the most severe punishment to anyone found guilty in this crime” before Panetta had called him.

Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State, expressed “total dismay” over the recorded behavior, saying the “vast, vast” majority of American military personnel would not engage in such actions.

In a statement, the Marine Corps said, "While we have not yet verified the origin or authenticity of this video, the actions portrayed are not consistent with our core values and are not indicative of the character of the Marines in our corps," adding that a full investigation will be conducted.

The Taliban, the purported victimized group declared the video "shameful" and "not a human action," according to BBC News. Zabihullah Mujahid, Talib mouthpiece, told Reuters, "This is not a political process, so the video will not harm our talks and prisoner exchange because they are at the preliminary stage." On Thursday, Talib officials told The Associated Press, the goal of "peace and stability" in Afghanistan has not been derailed and they have increased their "political efforts to come to mutual understanding with the world in order to solve the current ongoing situation."

That's all very well and good - America is overboard on apologies and the Taliban is all fugettaboutit. But what really happened in the 1:25 recording that all the news outlets say is "less than a minute?" As they say, let's go to the videotape. In this case, the full, uncensored videotape.

Now that we've seen what we were supposed to see, what didn't we see? Well, we didn't see penises, we didn't see urine streams, we didn't see splashing, we didn't see dust kicked up by liquid hitting dry dirt, we didn't see the last drop shake, we didn't see difficulty in extricating penises from buttoned fly pants with gloved hands while holding weapons; we didn't see any of the normal actions of men taking a leak. There is a near universal behavior of boys and men when urinating and none of that happened here. And, I don't think it's remotely possible that any man would expose himself to global ridicule with dicks so small they cannot even be seen on the recording, especially US Marines.

Quite frankly, I don't think these guys even unbuttoned their pants, nevermind pissed on anyone or anything. They were faking the act, which is dumb enough to be discipline worthy as symbolic disrespect, but nothing actually was peed on.

Facing the Arithmetic with Bill Whittle

2012-01-06T22:45:00.000-08:00

Bill Whittle demonstrates as only he can that the United States is on an unsustainable financial and social path, asking if we, as a nation, can forge a new path saving ourselves, sans current political parties help, from the moral and fiscal ruin currently facing us.

The answer is "no" so long as Liberal Democrats are in control and Obama remains in the White House. Without them, the answer is "maybe".

Gaza is not Occupied Territory says Hamas

2012-01-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Gaza was freed from Israeli occupation in 2005 when Israel dismantled the military administration, forcibly removed all Israeli residents, withdrew every soldier, and turned over all Gazan territory previously controlled by Israel. In 2008, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that Israel had fully disengaged from Gaza no longer exercising "effective control over what occurred there.”

Mahmoud Zahar, Hamas co-founder, confirmed last Tuesday Israel no longer occupies Gaza and denying that the Gaza based Hamas would hold anti-Israel protests along with the planned protests by Fatah-controlled Palestinian Authority in the West Bank. Recognizing the obvious, Zahar said, "Against whom could we demonstrate in the Gaza Strip? When Gaza was occupied, that model was applicable." No matter what outside control Israel, Egypt, or any other entity tries to exert, Hamas rules the Gaza Strip with an unquestioned iron fist.

Jerusalem Post:

THE HAMAS statement follows growing recognition among international lawyers that the UN’s resistance to holding Palestinians responsible for territory they control is outdated.

Four-and-a-half years after seizing power in Gaza, Hamas runs its own police, courts, jails, schools, media and social services, noted Abraham Bell and Dov Shefi, two international legal experts, in a 2010 research paper for the University of San Diego law school.

Hamas regulates business activities, banks and land registries. It levies taxes, controls its own borders and even imposes a dress code. In sum, wrote Bell and Shefi, Hamas operates “a functioning and fully independent local civil government, buttressed by armed forces.”

Similarly, in an article published in the American University International Law Review, Elizabeth Samson concluded that under the Geneva Conventions and international judicial precedents, Gaza can no longer be considered occupied because Israel, despite its ability to exercise certain powers over the area, no longer exercises “effective control,” the litmus test for what qualifies as occupation.

Despite the reality on the ground, rulings by the Israel Supreme Court, public protestations by Hamas, and the recent statement by Zahar, the United Nations continues to refer to Gaza as "occupied territory", "occupied Palestinian territory, specifically the Gaza Strip", "the Occupied Palestinian Territory", and similar terminology of occupation.

This is part and parcel with the Liberal left's efforts to maintain helplessness and dependency among Palestinians by them granting maximum privileges while absolving them of all responsibility not only for their actions but their own welfare rendering the Gazan Palestinians perpetual losers.

Obama to Create 180,000 Summer Jobs

2012-01-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

Well, that's not strictly true. Obama's proposed summer jobs are really private sector "work opportunities." And of the 180,000 work opportunities, 70,000 are wage earning paid jobs leaving 110,000 work opportunists out in the unpaid work field we once called slavery.

The Hill:

President Obama on Thursday will unveil a summer-jobs initiative that the White House says is already on track to create 180,000 “work opportunities” in the private sector in 2012.

That is the number of opportunities, which includes mentoring and unpaid internships, that companies have told the administration they are willing to create. Some 70,000 jobs are paid, the White House says.
(...)
“Today’s announcement is the latest in a series of executive actions the Obama administration is taking to strengthen the economy and move the country forward because we can’t wait for Congress to act,” a White House statement reads.
(...)
Labor Secretary Hilda Solis said the “opportunities” are all new and were not jobs that would have existed anyway.

“The president has been clear that where there is gridlock with this Congress, he will act,” she said. She noted that the unemployment level among those aged 16 to 24 is 16 percent, far higher than the 10.7 percent in 2007 before the recession began.

I wonder how many of those companies willing to create work opportunities were threatened in some way in order to bribe and bamboozle voting age students to vote Obama in November by offering non-paying jobs to nowhere. I know many college students and I can't think of any who will think this is a fabulous idea they must jump at just to have something to do for the few weeks of summer break. Sounds like a dumb idea that will go nowhere fast.

Life Immitates...

2012-01-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

García Márquez.

A 91-year-old newlywed says she expects to spend a dozen more years with her 92-year-old spouse following their wedding at a retirement home on James Island.

According to media reports, Margaret McSpadden and retired Air Force Col. William Thomas married Wednesday at Bishop Gadsden.

Thomas is a World War II veteran and was President Dwight Eisenhower's personal pilot. He celebrates his 92nd birthday Thursday. McSpadden owned an antique store in Charleston.

The two were friends for more than 40 years. Both lost their spouses within the last two years. McSpadden moved into an apartment next to Thomas when her husband died, and the friendship became a romance.

#Occupy Free Stuff Poem

2011-12-05T20:21:00.000-08:00

OKAY - HERE'S THE PROBLEM

The folks who are getting free stuff,
Don’t like the folks who are paying for the free stuff,
Because the folks who are paying for the free stuff,
Can no longer afford to pay for both the free stuff and their own stuff.
And, The folks who are paying for the free stuff,
Want the free stuff to stop.
And the folks who are getting the free stuff,
Want even MORE free stuff on top of the free stuff they’re getting already!
Now….. The people who are forcing people to PAY for the free stuff,
Have told the people who are RECEIVING the free stuff,
That the people who are PAYING for the free stuff,
Are being mean, prejudiced and racist.
So …. the people who are GETTING the free stuff,
Have been convinced they need to HATE the people who are PAYING for the
free stuff because they are selfish.
And they are promised more free stuff if they will vote for the people who force the people who pay for the free stuff to give them even more free stuff.

coyote, Daily Caller comment

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama Kids Will Be Fine When US Fails

2011-12-01T17:43:00.000-08:00

Even when Obama's Remarks at a Private Residence in New York are in context, the last paragraph is still incredibly crass.

Our kids are going to be fine. And I always tell Malia and Sasha, look, you guys, I don't worry about you -- I mean, I worry the way parents worry -- but they’re on a path that is going to be successful, even if the country as a whole is not successful. But that’s not our vision of America. I don't want an America where my kids are living behind walls and gates, and can’t feel a part of a country that is giving everybody a shot.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama; or, The Modern Sisyphus

2011-11-30T22:38:00.000-08:00

Imagine creating a creature from disparate dead parts, bringing it to life, and, in time, that creature turns on its creator, forcing him to push more crap uphill only to have it role back down just before the summit is reached. That's pretty much the story of Obama and #Occupy and now the monster turns to bite the hand that fed it.

More than 100 Occupy Wall Street protesters marched to a Midtown hotel on Wednesday night to protest a fund-raising event for President Obama.
(...)

Demonstrators held signs that leveled some of the Occupy protest’s most pointed criticism to date of the president. “Obama is a corporate puppet,” one said. “War crimes must be stopped, no matter who does them,” read another, beside head shots of President George W. Bush and President Obama.

One man, wearing a mask of the president’s face and holding a cigar, carried a sign that read, “I sold out!”

Ben Campbell, 28, one of the march’s organizers, said he hoped to prove to skeptics of the protests that the demonstrators were political critics of equal opportunity.

“President Obama is coming to town solely to raise money from the richest of the rich,” Mr. Campbell said.

Did I request thee, Maker, from my clay
To mould me man? Did I solicit thee
From darkness to promote me? --- Paradise Lost

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Occupy Confusion

2011-11-26T23:57:00.000-08:00

h/t Moonbattery

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

UC Davis Protester Admits to Purposely Provoking Confrontation

2011-11-25T17:03:00.000-08:00

Elli Pearson, University of California, Davis sophomore studying sustainable agriculture/food systems and one of the protesters pepper sprayed by UCD Campus Police, came clean to "Democracy Now!" According to The Right Scoop, Pearson essentially said the student action blocking the retreat of the police was intentional and purposeful. As pointed out in a previous post, "The function of a civil resistance is to provoke response and we will continue to provoke..."

trscoop1 You Tube

Well we were protesting together and the riot cops came at us and we linked arms and sat down peacefully to protest their presence on our campus. And then at one point they were – we had encircled them and they were trying to leave and they were trying to clear a path. And so we sat down, linked arms and said that if they wanted to clear the path they would have to go through us. But we were on the ground, you know, heads down and all I could see was people telling me to cover my head, protect myself and put my head down. And the next thing I know we were pepper-sprayed.

Amy Goodman, the Democracy Now! talking head, asked Pearson,

Did the police say, "We’re about to pepper-spray you"?

In answer, Elli Pearson lied and contradicted the very tape Democracy Now! opened the segment with that clearly shows the police in front of the sit-downers, while tape in my previous post show police in front and behind the sit-downer line and that protesters were warned many times from the time police arrived on The Quad to moments before the spraying; if any student was not aware of the warnings, it was because they were shouting over the police so as not to hear and later claim police gave no warning. It's an old tactic akin to sticking fingers in your ears and loudly intoning, 'la-la-la-la-la-I can't hear you!'

I believe they told maybe one student, or like had some dialogue, but certainly not everyone could hear. It wasn’t like an announcement that was made. And we weren’t aware that we were going to be—I wasn’t aware I was going to be pepper-sprayed until people told me to protect myself. And then I have friends who were pepper-sprayed who said they did not know that that was happening and that that was coming. And we were actually expected—we were expecting to be shot in the back with something, because they were behind us. And we really had no idea what was going to happen.

Because I am nothing if not fair, the entire Democracy Now! interview and transcript can be seen and read here. I would point out that in the Democracy Now! blurb explaining the story just after the video, most probably the only part of the story most folks will read, makes absolutely no mention of Pearson admitting they had surrounded the police, nor saying the cops would have to go through the protesters to get out.
h/t Althouse

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Walking Through Doors Causes Forgetfulness

2011-11-22T21:20:00.000-08:00

Flash mob shoplifting is somewhat popular in many cities across the US. Last Saturday night, a 7-Eleven in Silver Spring, MD was hit by at least 70 people, mostly teenagers, who apparently had attended a nearby birthday party and stopped into the 7-Eleven for snacks and drinks. Police said not all of the teens stole goods, but have identified about 20 kids. Another flash mob in August, hit a 7-Eleven in Germantown taking items without paying.

View more videos at: http://nbcwashington.com.

Some plead poverty, others say they did it for the thrill, others claim the shop owner was mean and had it coming. Now they have a new scientific excuse - walking through doors can cause people to forget.

We’ve all experienced it: The frustration of entering a room and forgetting what we were going to do. Or get. Or find.

New research from University of Notre Dame Psychology Professor Gabriel Radvansky suggests that passing through doorways is the cause of these memory lapses.

“Entering or exiting through a doorway serves as an ‘event boundary’ in the mind, which separates episodes of activity and files them away,” Radvansky explains.

“Recalling the decision or activity that was made in a different room is difficult because it has been compartmentalized.”

Don't think only criminals catch all the breaks. Just today, I bought a 16-20 pound Thanksgiving turkey valued at $22.23 and the computer charged the special price of only $5.99 even though my total purchase did not meet the required break point of $25. Not as good a deal as shoplifting, but it was good enough for me. I guess the Safeway computer had walked through a door recently.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

The Great UC Davis Pepper Spray Incident

2011-11-21T22:32:00.000-08:00

"The function of a civil resistance is to provoke response and we will continue to provoke until they respond or change the law. They are not in control; we are." - Gandhi, the movie, 1982.

On Friday Nov. 18, University of California, Davis Campus Police, on orders from the campus president, moved in to break-up the Occupy camp site on The Quad. This followed the eviction of protesters from Mrak Hall on the 16th. In a General Assembly, Occupy voted to reconvene on The Quad within 24 hours of the eviction. While setting-up at their new digs, Campus Police warned they were violating campus regulations which would be enforced. UCD Aggie TV's Ani Ucar reports -

The pepper spraying incident has gone viral so that is the only thing people around the world know of the incident. Police brutality on peaceful demonstrators is the last thing the world sees and hears. But that's not what happened.

Part 1, in we learn: The altercation with campus police was intended as indicated by the bearded guy at :13 when he declared that "this will reflect poorly on every person from the administration that watches this happen"; that Campus Police officially warned the students and assorted they were in violation of California Penal Code 409 and to disperse three times before any action was taken; that 3 persons accosted Campus Police and were arrested long before any pepper spray was deployed.

Part 2, in which we learn: Protesters invite other students to come join the throng and surround the Campus Police; again protesters ignore another order to disperse while shouting, "Set them free" and "Whose university? Our university!" [note: UC Davis belongs to California to which student's pay money for the privilege of attending and can be revoked]; the officer-in-charge individually warns the arm-locked protesters on the walkway they will be subject to forced removal if they do not disperse and several people of the first group leaves the walkway and others take their place while the others chant "Cop off campus!" apparently ignorant these cops are the Campus Police Dept., the campus their job site; the OIC again warns the students at 12:44, the exchange ended in a bit of laughter.

Part 3, in which we learn: The protesters use the human megaphone to say, "I propose that you talk to us [ garbled and unclear] off the quad" ; again Campus Police warn the protesters they will be shot with pepper spray; sideline protesters tell the arm-locked to cover themselves knowing they are about to be sprayed with pepper.

4th Video, in which we learn the students were asked up close and personal if they knew they were about to pepper sprayed to which the protester cheerfully agreed, "Okay, just making sure, just making sure, you're shooting us for sitting here ... no, that's fine, that's fine. You're shooting me for..."; the sitting protesters cover "your eyes, cover your nose protect yourselves"; Campus Police make one last attempt to physically remove them, but meet resistance and further taunts of "Shame on you!" and a crazy woman wailing and screaming, "These are children!"

The students were warned they were in violation of California Penal Code 409. What it is and what it says:

California Penal Code Section 409:
Every person remaining present at the place of any riot, rout, or unlawful assembly, after the same has been lawfully warned to disperse, except public officers and persons assisting them in attempting to disperse the same, is guilty of a misdemeanor.

What is it that is llegal? How are riot, rout, or unlawful assembly defined?

California Penal Code Section 406:
Whenever two or more persons, assembled and acting together, make any attempt or advance toward the commission of an act which would be a riot if actually committed, such assembly is a rout.
California Penal Code Section 407:
Whenever two or more persons assemble together to do an unlawful act, or do a lawful act in a violent, boisterous, or tumultuous manner, such assembly is an unlawful assembly.
California Penal Code Section 408:
Every person who participates in any rout or unlawful assembly is guilty of a misdemeanor.

What happens to the official who does not respond?

California Penal Code Section 410
If a magistrate or officer, having notice of an unlawful or riotous assembly, mentioned in this Chapter, neglects to proceed to the place of assembly, or as near thereto as he can with safety, and to exercise the authority with which he is invested for suppressing the same and arresting the offenders, he is guilty of a misdemeanor.

The protesters got their provoked response. Whether the aftermath of public opinion is in their favor is still debatable; I have seen it go either way over the last half century, but I know it was just this kind of incident that turned public opinion to favor the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s and the anti-Vietnam War demonstrators in the early 1970s. Authorities are in a Catch-22 in these situations; if they don't respond, the demonstrators escalate until non-response is no longer possible while any response is immediately forced into violence by the demonstrators who then cry police brutality, claim peaceful assembly and that is the last thing the public sees and hears.

Update: UCD student Elli Perason admits to Democracy Now! on tape that protesters deliberately provoked police.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

John Kennedy Warned of the Television-Political Complex

2011-11-15T01:03:00.000-08:00

Paul Schutzer: Kennedy-Nixon Debate with Howard K. Smith as Moderator, Sep 26, 1960

A year before Senator John Kennedy and Vice President Richard Nixon faced off in the first televised debate on September 26, 1960, Kennedy wrote an article for the November 14, 1959 issue of TV Guide in which he contemplated the influence television would have on politics, and vice versa. He noted that years before, President Wilson had taken to the train in a cross country appeal to the nation in support of the League of Nations and suffered a stroke as a result of the strain, whereas, President Eisenhower was able to speak to millions of people about the current national labor situation in a single 15 minute TV address without having to step out of his office.

Kennedy observed television was not just a communication marvel, but one, he warned, which could create a political identity for candidates, deserved or not, irrespective of their records and opinions - the image, the brand - that would be fixed in the public's mind. "It is a medium," he wrote, "which lends itself to manipulation, exploitation and gimmicks. It can be abused by demagogs, by appeals to emotion and prejudice and ignorance.

Political campaigns can be actually taken over by the “public relations” experts, who tell the candidate not only how to use TV but what to say, what to stand for and what “kind of person” to be. Political shows, like quiz shows, can be fixed-and sometimes are."

Unlike the current White House resident who seems to revel in denigrating Americans, most recently calling them "lazy", Senator Kennedy reminded the good folks of this country, "It is in your power to perceive deception, to shut off gimmickry, to reward honesty, to demand legislation where needed. Without your approval, no TV show is worthwhile and no politician can exist."

Noting the anniversary of Mr. Kennedy's TV Guide article, Mother Board, was good enough to provide the article along with an excellent commentary that should be read, too. Here is the JFK article in full:

A Force That Has Changed The Political Scene

By Sen. John F. Kennedy
Democrat, Massachusetts

The wonders of science and technology have revolutionized the modern American political campaign. Giant electronic brains project results on the basis of carefully conducted polls. Automatic typewriters prepare thousands of personally addressed letters, individually signed by automatic pens. Jet planes make possible a coast-to-coast speaking schedule no observation-car back platform could ever meet.

Even wash-and-wear fabrics permit the wilted nonstop candidate to travel lighter, farther and faster.

But nothing compares with the revolutionary impact of television. TV has altered drastically the nature of our political campaigns, conventions, constituents, candidates and costs. Some politicians regard it with suspicion, others with pleasure. Some candidates have benefited by using it – others have been advised to avoid it. To the voter and vote-getter alike, TV offers new opportunities, new challenges and new problems.

But for better or worse-and I side with those who feel its net effect can definitely be for the better – the impact of TV on politics is tremendous. Just 40 years ago Woodrow Wilson exhausted his body and mind in an intensive cross-country tour to plead the cause of the League of Nations. Three weeks of hard travel and 40 speeches brought on a stroke before had finished “taking his case to the people” in the only way then available. Today, President Dwight Eisenhower, taking his case to the people on the labor situation, is able to reach several million in one 15-minute period without ever leaving his office.

To cite another example: The most dramatic political trial in our history was the Impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson in 1868, avidly followed by all the Nation. Newspaper accounts were decidedly partisan – those who wished to see and judge for themselves flocked to Washington by carriage and train. But even if every seat in the Senate galleries had been occupied by a different person every day for the two months of trial, no more than 3000 people could have witnessed that historic event. But In the month of May 1954, an estimated 70 million TV viewers watched part or all of the Army-McCarthy hearings.

These hearings, the Kefauver crime hearings, the McClellan rackets hearings, the conventions of 1952 and 1956-these and other “political TV spectaculars” have given the American public new ideas, new attitudes, new heroes and new villains. Less dramatic but also important have been the televised panel press conferences, the debates, interviews, campaign speeches and even the political commercials. Many new political reputations have been made on TV-and many old ones have been broken.

The searching eye of the television camera scrutinizes the candidates-and the way they are picked. Party leaders are less willing to run roughshod over the voters’ wishes and hand-pick an unknown, unappealing or unpopular in the traditional “smoke-filled room” when millions of voters are watching, comparing and remembering.

The slick or bombastic orator, pounding the table and ringing the rafters, is not as welcome in the family living room as he was in the town square or party hail. In the old days, many a seasoned politician counted among his most highly developed and useful talents his ability to dodge a reporter’s question, evade a “hot” Issue and avoid a definite stand. But today a vast viewing public is able to detect such deception and, in my opinion, willing to respect political honesty.

Honesty, vigor, compassion, intelligence – the presence or lack of these and other qualities make up what is called the candidate’s “image.” While some intellectuals and politicians may scoff at these “images” – and while they may in fact be based only on a candidate’s TV impression, ignoring his record, views and other appearances – my own conviction is that these images or impressions are likely to be uncannily correct. I think, no matter what their defenders or detractors may say, that the television public has a fairly good idea of what Dwight D. Eisenhower is really like – or Jimmy Hoffa – or John McClellan – or Vice President Nixon -or countless others.

This is why a new breed of candidates has sprung up on both the state and national levels. Republican Governors Rockefeller (New York) and Hatfield (Oregon) successfully countered the Democratic trend in 1958 with particular reliance on TV appeal. The list of fresh Democratic faces who understood – and scored on – this medium in 1958 is almost endless: including new governors such as Edmondson of Oklahoma and Patterson of Alabama, new senators such as McGee of Wyoming and Hart of Michigan, new mayors such as Gracy of Baltimore (1959)-as well as a host of others, elected or reelected in 1958 or earlier.

Most of these men are comparatively young. Their youth may still be a handicap in the eyes of the older politicians – but it is definitely an asset in creating a television image people like and (most difficult of all) remember.

This is not to say that all the politicians of yesteryear would nave been failures in the Age of Television. The rugged vigor of Teddy Roosevelt, the determined sincerity of Woodrow Wilson, the quiet dignity of Lincoln and the confidence-inspiring calm of FDR-all would have been tremendously effective on TV.

Can you imagine the effect of televising FDR’s “Fireside Chats”? How different history might have been had a nationwide TV network carried Bryan’s Cross of Gold speech – or the Teapot Dome investigation – or Lincoln’s First Inaugural Address.

But political success on television is not, unfortunately, limited only to those who deserve it. It is a medium which lends itself to manipulation, exploitation and gimmicks. It can be abused by demagogs (sic), by appeals to emotion and prejudice and ignorance.

Political campaigns can be actually taken over by the “public relations” experts, who tell the candidate not only how to use TV but what to say, what to stand for and what “kind of person” to be. Political shows, like quiz shows, can be fixed-and sometimes are.

The other great problem TV presents for politics is the item of financial cost. It is no small item. In the 1956 campaign, the Republican National Committee, according to the Gore report, spent over $3,000,000 for television-and the Democratic National Committee, just under $2,800,000 on television broadcasting.

If all candidates and parties are to have equal access to this essential and decisive campaign medium, without becoming deeply obligated to the big financial contributors from the worlds of business, labor or other major lobbies, then the time has come when a solution must be found to this problem of TV costs.

This is not the place to discuss alternative remedies. But the basic point is this: Whether TV improves or worsens our political system, whether it serves the purpose of political education or deception, whether it gives us better or poorer candidates, more intelligent or more prejudiced campaigns – the answers to all this are up to you, the viewing public.

It is in your power to perceive deception, to shut off gimmickry, to reward honesty, to demand legislation where needed. Without your approval, no TV show is worthwhile and no politician can exist.

That is the way it always has been and will continue to be – and that is the way it should be.

And there is the rub - it is in our power to detect lies, reject contrivance, expose tricks, to reward honesty and decency. Can Americans still do that? Will Americans still do that?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Congress Caught Trading Stock on Insider Information

2011-11-14T00:08:00.000-08:00

Steve Kroft of CBS 60 Minutes reported (transcript) tonight that, ‎"[I]t is not illegal for member of Congress to make stock trades using inside information they learn while working on legislation" because legislators are not part of a corporation and insider trading laws only apply to corporate employees.

Big Government reveals

Former Speaker of the House–and current Minority Leader–Nancy Pelosi apparently bought $1 million to $5 million of Visa stock in one of the most sought-after and profitable initial public offerings (IPO) in American history, thwarted serious credit card reform for two years, and then watched her investment skyrocket 203%.
(...)

In early 2008, Nancy Pelosi and her real estate developer husband, Paul, were given an opportunity to buy into a Visa IPO. It was a nearly impossible feat–one that average citizens almost certainly could never achieve. The vast majority of purchase opportunities went to institutional investors, large mutual funds, or pension funds.

Despite Pelosi’s consistent railing against credit card companies, on March 18, 2008, the Pelosis bought between $1 million and $5 million (politicians do not have to report the exact amounts, only ranges) worth of Visa stock at the IPO price of $44 per share. Two days later, the stock price rocketed to $65 per share, yielding a 50% profit. The Pelosis then bought Visa twice more. By their third purchase on June 4, 2008, Visa was worth $85 per share.

From 60 Minutes,

We know that during the healthcare debate people were trading healthcare stocks. We know that during the financial crisis of 2008 they were getting out of the market before the rest of America really knew what was going on.

In mid September 2008 with the Dow Jones Industrial average still above ten thousand, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke were holding closed door briefings with congressional leaders, and privately warning them that a global financial meltdown could occur within a few days. One of those attending was Alabama Representative Spencer Bachus, then the ranking Republican member on the House Financial Services Committee and now its chairman.

These meetings were so sensitive-- that they would actually confiscate cell phones and Blackberries going into those meetings. What we know is that those meetings were held one day and literally the next day Congressman Bachus would engage in buying stock options based on apocalyptic briefings he had the day before from the Fed chairman and treasury secretary. I mean, talk about a stock tip.

While Congressman Bachus was publicly trying to keep the economy from cratering, he was privately betting that it would, buying option funds that would go up in value if the market went down. He would make a variety of trades and profited at a time when most Americans were losing their shirts.

Bachus' office released a statement saying, "that he never trades on non-public information, or financial services stock. However, his financial disclosure forms seem to indicate otherwise. Bachus made money trading General Electric stock during the crisis, and a third of GE's business is in financial services."

Speaker John Boehner's financial records show investments at political and financial advantageous moments.

During the healthcare debate of 2009, members of Congress were trading healthcare stocks, including House Minority Leader John Boehner, who led the opposition against the so-called public option, government funded insurance that would compete with private companies. Just days before the provision was finally killed off, Boehner bought health insurance stocks, all of which went up. Now speaker of the House, Congressman Boehner also declined to be interviewed, so we tracked him down at his weekly press conference.
Kroft: You made a number of trades going back to the healthcare debate. You bought some insurance stock. Did you make those trades based on non-public information?

John Boehner: I have not made any decisions on day-to-day trading activities in my account. And haven't for years. I don't-- I do not do it, haven't done it and wouldn't do it.
Later Boehner's spokesman told us that the healthcare trades were made by the speaker's financial advisor, who he only consults with about once a year.

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been particularly lucky at picking winning investments in initial IPO offerings.

"In 1993, Pelosi purchased IPO shares in a high-tech company named Gupta, watched the stock price leap 88% in 24 hours, then seized the profits by selling the stock the next day. The Pelosis did the same thing with Netscape and UUNet, resulting in a one-day doubling of their initial investment. Other fast and lucrative IPO flips included Remedy Corporation, Opal, Legato Systems, and Act Networks."

Later, in December 1999, Pelosi executed a stock purchase

"of between $250,000 and $500,000 in shares from high-tech company OnDisplay. A few months later, OnDisplay was bought by Vignette, which resulted in up to $1 million in capital gains for the Pelosis. What was unusual about the transaction is that Vignette’s IPO was underwritten by a major campaign contributor and longtime friend of Nancy Pelosi, William Hambrecht."

Then in November 2007,

"Pelosi bought $500,000 in the IPO for Quest Energy Partners before proceeding to champion the natural gas-related legislation that stood to significantly benefit the company. When Tom Brokaw asked her whether her significant personal investments in natural gas represented a conflict of interest, Pelosi shrugged off the question by hiding behind the crony capitalist’s false credo: "That’s the marketplace.""

Over the years, bills have been introduced to make insider trading as illegal for members of congress as it is for anyone else, but Congress makes the rules and they have let such bills die before they are introduced. This latest report demands that many heads should role in this scandal and a general house cleaning is in order, if not with immediate resignations and impeachments, then most certainly by popular vote in November 2012.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obamacare Headed for the Supreme Court

2011-11-13T17:00:00.000-08:00

The Supreme Court is expected to announce as early as Monday, following a closed door consideration hearing last Thursday which, if any or all, of the six challenges o the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act submitted for review. Only four justices need agree in private to move the petition to a full court hearing. If the court accepts any of the petitions, it's expected the subject will dominate the remaining months of the 2012 election cycle with the court hearing oral arguments in April and a possible decision sometime in June.

The string of appellate victories may not predict how the Supreme Court will decide the case. But some legal observers believe the recent decisions lay out a road map for preserving the law that may appeal even to some of the Supreme Court's more conservative members.

"They show that smart, principled conservatives can decide this is within the broad reach of Congress' power, even if they might think it is bad policy," said Richard Garnett, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who was a clerk to former Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist.

When the states and the National Federation of Independent Business filed suit in March 2010, they questioned whether Congress, under the guise of regulating commerce, could place an unprecedented requirement on Americans to buy health insurance starting in 2014.

The so-called individual mandate was designed to spread risk more broadly and control insurance premiums, enabling the federal government to prohibit insurers from denying coverage to patients with preexisting medical conditions, a key promise of the law. Without a mandate, some Americans might avoid buying insurance until they got sick, dramatically driving up premiums.

The insurance requirement became the focus of the litigation and initially sparked a partisan split among trial judges. But more recent rulings from appellate courts around the country have significantly muddied the liberal-conservative divide.

Only the U.S. appeals court in Atlanta has struck down the mandate, in a 2-1 decision with one Republican appointee and one Democratic appointee in the majority. They called the law "breathtaking in its expansive scope."

Two other appellate courts with prominent judges appointed by Republican presidents have categorically rejected the legal attacks on the insurance mandate.

Polls continue to show that the majority American opinion is hostile to Obamacare with 54% of likely voters in an October Rasmussen poll somewhat favoring repeal while 42% strongly favor repeal of the law as opposed to 39% somewhat opposing repeal and 27% in strong opposition. Because SCOTUS is a non-elective office, justices can consider the cases free of public and political influence - at least, that was the Founder's thinking. In real life, we are all pretty sure how Justices Kagan and Sotomayor, Justices Thomas and Kennedy will vote. There will be metaphorical blood.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

The Edification of Maria Bartiromo

2011-11-11T22:15:00.000-08:00

Newt Gingrich educated Maria Bartiromo, CNBC November 10th Republican presidential nomination debate co-host, on history and economics. He was also amused at her "funny" defense of the liberal news media.

Polls released Friday, show Newt Gingrich is now trailing only Romney for the Republican nomination.

By the numbers: Mr. Romney, 23%; Mr. Gingrich, 19%; Mr. Cain, 17%; Texas Rep. Ron Paul 10%; Texas Gov. Rick Perry, 8%, and Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, 5%. Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum got 1% apiece.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

1000 Employees to Lose Jobs to ObamaCare

2011-11-11T21:29:00.000-08:00

But, no worries - ObamaCare guarantees the newly unemployed skilled workers will have health care for life.

Stryker, the Kalamazoo-based maker of artificial hips and knees, will cut 5% of its global workforce by the end of next year to reduce costs in the face of new fees on device makers required by the U.S. health care law.

The job cuts will reduce annual pretax operating costs by more than $100 million beginning in 2013, when the medical-device excise tax is scheduled to take effect, Stryker said Thursday in a statement. Stryker had more than 20,000 employees as of Dec. 31, according to Bloomberg News data.

Stryker expects to record $85 million to $95 million of the expense in the fourth quarter of 2011.

"These actions are part of our ongoing focus on quality, innovation and cost, and position the company to continue to provide strong, consistent growth in a changing environment," CEO Stephen MacMillan said.

Sure hope the former Stryker employees won't be needing hips replaced with one of the squeaky models they themselves made. Along with having their health care saved by the very program that put them out of a job, they experience the ignominious irony of having their self-made $40,000 squeaky hips implanted.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

#OccupyAwkward

2011-11-10T01:03:00.000-08:00

(Photo by Eric Thayer/Getty Images)

Occupy Oakland deposited $20,000 in a Wells Fargo Bank just days after vandalizing a Well Fargo branch during a large downtown street demonstration. On Wednesday, 4 Nov, one Oakland Wells Fargo branch had windows smashed by what was described as mostly peaceful demonstrators.

An Occupy statement said the money only will be with Wells Fargo temporarily while they work to establish an account with a credit union or community bank. Protesters said it was the easiest way to access the money to bail out people from jail.

Ruben Pulido, a Wells Fargo spokesman, said,

the move demonstrates that Occupy Oakland recognizes the value and service the bank provides its customers.

Classic.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Scrooge Obama and the Merry Christmas Tree Tax

2011-11-08T22:47:00.000-08:00

Barack Obama Christmas Tree

For his first Christmas in the White House, Obama gave to us Mao, transvestite, gay, and Obama tree ornaments. On his third Christmas in the White House, Obama gives to us a Christmas Tree Tax. The Foundry of the Heritage Foundation says the Dept of Agriculture is imposing a 15¢ tax on all fresh Christmas trees sold by sellers of more than 500 trees/year who are then free to pass the 15¢ fee along to consumers of Christmas trees, primarily Christians presumably.

David R. Shipman, Acting Administrator of Agricultural Marketing, said the Sec. of Agriculture will appoint a Christmas Tree Promotion Board (Christmas Tree Czars?) to administer a

"program of promotion, research, evaluation, and information designed to strengthen the Christmas tree industry’s position in the marketplace; maintain and expend existing markets for Christmas trees; and to carry out programs, plans, and projects designed to provide maximum benefits to the Christmas tree industry." And the program of "information" is to include efforts to “enhance the image of Christmas trees and the Christmas tree industry in the United States."

Or as Doug Powers put it,

"The alleged point of the fee… or tax… or levy… whatever — is to stem the growth of the artificial tree industry to promote the sale of real trees (by making them a little more expensive?)"

Media Matters correctly points out that the Christmas tree lobby has been pushing to create a fresh Christmas tree marketing campaign since 2008, the final year of the Bush Administration.

USDA received a proposal for a national research and promotion program for Christmas trees from the Christmas Tree Checkoff Task Force (Task Force). The program will be financed by an assessment on Christmas trees domestic producers and importers and would be administered by a board of industry members selected by the Secretary of Agriculture (Secretary). The initial assessment rate will be $0.15 per Christmas tree domestically produced or imported into the United States and could be increased up to $0.20 per Christmas tree. The purpose of the program will be to strengthen the position of fresh cut Christmas trees in the marketplace and maintain and expand markets for Christmas trees within the United States.

So, it could have been worse - a 20¢ tax; I feel so much better. And Media Matters cites other examples of agricultural commodity Checkoffs that

include the egg, beef, pork, mushroom, milk, and honey, etc. industries. We're all familiar with the Dairy industry's ad campaigns; "Milk Does a Body Good" and "Got Milk." "Pork: the Other White Meat," "Beef: It's What's for Dinner" and "The Incredible Edible Egg" are recognizable slogans developed and funded by Checkoff programs. These four 'big guns' collect between $45 and $91.2 million in assessments annually.

Hey! Is that why the price of all those products have increased to the point of unaffordability for many millions of Americans? I used to buy a lot of eggs, beef, pork, mushrooms, milk, and honey; not so much any more. This is why I'm not an economist in government. I would have thought to increase the sale of fresh Christmas trees, one would lower the cost of the fresh trees and increase the cost of the artificial trees the fresh Christmas tree lobby is trying to destroy.

Merry Christmas from Scrooge Obama.

UPDATE: The U.S. Department of Agriculture is going to delay implementation and revisit a proposed new 15 cent fee on fresh-cut Christmas trees, sources tell ABC News.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Democrats Say They Don't Want Jobs Bill Passed

2011-11-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

Obama is keen on waving around his big stack of paper with the jumbo binder clip like a pimp with a wad of cash, but it's really only a roll of blank paper with a hundred dollar bill on the outside so folks think he's really got some. So what's the deal with the Jobs Bill?

Democratic operatives are quick to note that they never expected to pass the jobs bills through the Senate, adding that the multiple roll calls will put Republicans on the defensive and force them to explain on the 2012 campaign trail why they voted no on measures that poll well with voters.

Read the whole thing: Dems seek to fracture Senate GOP unity, by Alexander Bolton, The Hill

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

California Democrat Assemblywoman Charged With Grand Theft

2011-11-01T00:51:00.000-07:00

Alleged leather pants thief, Assemblywoman Hayashi

Mary Hayashi, the California Democrat Assemblywoman for Hayward, Oakland, Pleasanton, San Leandro, San Lorenzo, and Castro Valley and wife of former public-interest attorney Alameda Superior Court Judge Dennis Hayashi, was arrested and charged with felony grand theft.

Neiman Marcus security, reported the Sacramento Bee, stopped Assemblywoman Hayashi (D) at 12:15pm Sunday, was placed in custody by San Francisco police, and released seven hours later with bail set at $15,000 pending further proceedings November 15.

When Assemblywoman Hayashi (D) was detained, she was in possession of a shopping bag containing unpaid-for apparel including leather pants, a black skirt and a white blouse with a total value of almost $2,500.

Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez will wait for the criminal justice system to work, but he "believes that Ms. Hayashi has the same right to due process as every person in California. This is a serious matter and must be resolved through the appropriate setting of the courts." Although the arrest will not disqualify Assemblywoman Hayashi (D) from serving the public interest in the Legislature, the "repercussions could hurt her political career, however, even if she is not forced from office. For most public officials, the publicity is far worse than the penalty," said political analyst Bob Stern.

Grand theft in California carries a maximum sentance of 3 years in prison, but first time offenders get off more lightly. And with the state releasing non-violent prisoners, and the testimonial of Hayashi spokesman, Sam Singer, "She is one of the most respected members of the Assembly – a fine, upstanding citizen and a role model," she may serve no time at all, despite the videotape showing her walking past several cash registers with the merchandise in hand. Also in her favor here in Liberal California is that Democrat Assemblywoman Hayasi was born and raised in South Korea, was the first Korean-American woman elected to the state legislature, and shared her story in an obligatory immigrant to success book, "Far From Home: Shattering the Myth of the Model Minority."

And shatter the myth she did, despite voting 'yea' in 2010 on a bill to raise the California minimum threshold for prosecution of felony grand theft from $400 to $950. She should have known that $2500 is way over the limit.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Desperate Housewives Revealed as Jedi Knights

2011-10-31T14:50:00.000-07:00

ABC, Desperate Housewives, Witch's Lament, Season 8: Ep. 6

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Anonymous Unmasked

2011-10-29T15:13:00.000-07:00

Anonymous, The Mask

Anonymous, The Man (Zucotti Park)

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Lying Fat Bastard John Murtha Also Scum Sucking Criminal Prick

2011-10-25T22:20:00.000-07:00

John Murtha, Democrat dead prick Senator, used his Senate power position, and people with disabilities to make himself, his family, and his cronies wealthy. He most grievously used his USMC history to slander and libel United States Marines with murder charges during the Battle of Haditha in Iraq. Every accused Marine was exonerated and Lying Fat Bastard Murtha never apologized for ruining the lives and good names of the Marines or the Marine Corp.

Last week’s release of FBI documents finally put in writing what nobody had ever said on the record: The FBI suspected that former Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) and lobbyists close to him were running a scheme to funnel earmarks to sham companies and nonprofits to benefit the lawmaker’s friends and former staffers.

Bits and pieces of this story were kicked around for years before Murtha died in February 2010. The Los Angeles Times, Roll Call, the Washington Post and others had documented the odd appearance of earmarks for tiny defense contractors that just happened to open an office in western Pennsylvania and just happened to hire one of the lobbying firms close to Murtha and just happened to begin making campaign donations to Murtha and other Members of Congress close to him.

Reporters could do little but assemble the coincidences and couldn’t prove there was anything wrong with the bigger picture.

But it turns out the FBI was reading the stories and was very interested — interested enough that the Justice Department had opened a criminal investigation into Murtha and some of the lobbyists in his orbit, a fact that never leaked while Murtha was alive.

In part, the probe never leaked precisely because he was alive.
(...)

In a memo dated June 19, 2009, FBI field agents requested the bureau “open a full public corruption investigation” regarding KSA Consulting, the lobbying firm that employed at various times the Congressman’s longtime defense aide Carmen Scialabba and the Congressman’s brother, Robert Murtha, widely known as Kit.

The FBI field agents concluded that “the relationships between Congressman John Murtha ... and employees and partners of KSA Consulting provide for a potential Honest Services Fraud ... if Congressman Murtha influenced the awarding of contracts to KSA-controlled entities or clients, in exchange for some personal benefit to the Congressman. KSA principals may also have committed Honest Services Fraud by lobbying Murtha to direct earmarks to KSA clients who ‘passed-thru’ the funds to subcontractor firms that did little actual work and were owned by KSA principles.”

Roll Call has more of the FBI's investigation of fat bastard Murths's criminal doings that included the use of PAID - Pennsylvania Association for Individuals with Disabilities - to cover his criminal activities. The best and most appreciated public service Lying Fat Bastard John Murtha ever did was die.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Geitner: Higher Taxes Mean Weaker Growth and Longer Unemployment

2011-10-25T19:09:00.000-07:00

With 85% of Americans believing that the economy is getting worse, or will stay the same, as polled by CBS and reported by Norah O'Donnell report tonight, no one can be blamed for thinking that Liberal/Progressive Democrats in Washington don't know anything about economics. Sometimes, however, someone slips up on the socialist narrative and tells the truth - higher taxes mean fewer jobs, weaker economic growth, and increased unemployment.

That's what Treasury Secretary and tax scofflaw Tim Geitner said tonight in an interview with Norah O'Donnell.

CBS News

Between time stamps 1:07 and 1:33 -

O'Donnell: Are you convinced we've hit rock bottom? Could there be a second recession?

Geitner: I think that the strength of the economy right now depends on two things - it depends on how successful Europe is in resolving its financial crisis. But, it also depends on people in Washington. And again, if Congress does not act on these proposals in the President's Jobs Act, then taxes go up for all Americans - most Americans, they go up for most businesses, growth will be weaker, Americans will be out of work longer... [CBS seems to have edited out the end of his statement.]

Busted.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama Administration Debates Anthrax Experimentation on Children

2011-10-25T01:10:00.000-07:00

Gen. Shiro Ishii, Unit 731
The Obama administration is wrestling with the thorny question of whether scientists should inject healthy children with the anthrax vaccine to see whether the shots would safely protect them against a bioterrorism attack.

The Obama administration often reminds me of the German health system of the NAZI era when step by teeny-tiny step otherwise good and ethical people became inured to the pain and barbaric treatment of others, or the horrid experiments of Shiro Ishii's Unit 731 of the Imperial Japanese Army that infected prisoners of war with plague, cholera, anthrax, and many other pestilences to see how the diseases progressed. There should be no debate at all - this is just wrong on its face; even broaching the subject is just wrong.

In fairness and to maximize the redistribution of risk, Obama should volunteer Sasha and Malia before anyone else is asked to have their children used as guinea pigs.

The other option is to wait until an attack happens and then try to gather data from children whose parents agree to inoculate them in the face of an actual threat.

Despite all the talk and hype of anthrax attacks since 2001, there has never been an anthrax attack that has encompassed an area large enough to do any large scale damage. This is no longer an era in America when government can test dangerous materials on citizens as was done with nuclear radiation on thousands in the 20th century or the several decades that Black men were subjected to the ravages of untreated syphilis in the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male."

As a general description of what happened in US human experimentation, Wikipedia explains the experiments involved

the deliberate infection of people with deadly or debilitating diseases, exposure of people to biological and chemical weapons, human radiation experiments, injection of people with toxic and radioactive chemicals, surgical experiments, interrogation/torture experiments, tests involving mind-altering substances, and a wide variety of others. Many of these tests were performed on children, the sick, and mentally disabled individuals, often under the guise of "medical treatment". In many of the studies, a large portion of the subjects were poor racial minorities or prisoners.

If we no longer need to test cosmetics and chemicals on small animals, why do we still need to test deadly diseases on small people? We've already slipped the slippery slope with torture, what it is and isn't, who can and cannot be tortured, who can be killed by silent death from the sky and who cannot. This is a time when we must be fully cognizant of how near the bounds of decency truly are and still maintain our humanity.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

With the jawbone of an ass...

2011-10-24T18:43:00.000-07:00

Investors Business Daily

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Senate Voted to Cut Farm Subsidies

2011-10-23T01:17:00.000-07:00

Appalachian Pumpkin Patch Landscape - Walt Curlee

By a vote of 84-15, a Senate coalition of conservative Republicans wanting the federal budget cut and liberal Democrats wanting to tax millionaires, voted Friday to cut off farm subsidies to farmers already making a million dollars or more.

"Rather than taxing millionaires, the first thing we ought to do is quit giving them subsidies," said Sen. Tom Coburn, the Oklahoma Republican who offered the amendment to the massive spending bill the Senate was debating into the early morning hours Friday.

President Obama and his congressional allies have tried to impose a surtax on those with million-dollar incomes, but Republicans and a few Democrats have blocked those efforts each time, showing little stomach for tax increases.

However, another Coburn amendment to withhold federal dollars from slumlords who run dangerous public housing projects, failed 59-40.

Apparently, one Senator didn't show up for work Friday, but it's a good start anyway.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Iraq Invites U.S. Armed Forces to Leave

2011-10-21T23:02:00.000-07:00

No matter how Obama tries to spin the Iraq pull out by Christmas, it doesn't change the fact that he promised an end by June 2009, not December 2011; neither is the retreat on our terms.

President Obama’s speech formally declaring that the last 43,000 U.S. troops will leave Iraq by the end of the year was designed to mask an unpleasant truth: The troops aren’t being withdrawn because the U.S. wants them out. They’re leaving because the Iraqi government refused to let them stay.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama: You can clap. Go ahead. Please!

2011-10-20T11:54:00.000-07:00

A graying President Obama speaks at a fire station in Chesterfield County, Va. (Jay Paul / Getty Images / October 19, 2011)

Obama ended his most recent Big Black Bus Tour in at Fire Station 9 in North Chesterfield, VA., where he pitched his jobs/tax plan to about 100 people. When he got to the part of his patter where he says, "A fair shot for everybody; a fair share from everybody. That's the principle that built America," one or two people applauded.

Obama then said, "You can go ahead and clap. Go ahead, nothing wrong with it."

Pitiful, pitiful, pitiful.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama, the Numbers, and All the Right Choices

2011-10-19T21:44:00.000-07:00

Obama told ABCs Jake Tapper during an exclusive Nightline interview Oct. 18, "I guarantee it's going to be a close election because the economy is not where it wants to be and even though I believe all the choices we've made have been the right ones, we're still going through difficult circumstances."

An excellent infographic from Ace of Spades says different.

JohnnyShop flicker

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OWS Wants Economic Equality and Real Democracy -- Oh, and Free Tibet

2011-10-15T04:04:00.000-07:00

Occupy Wall Street went global early this morning and organizers hope for non-violent demonstrations in 950 cities in 85 countries, not the "more than a thousand countries" claimed by Diane Sawyer of ABC Small World Tonight News. How many cities, countries, and people will actually participate over the weekend is anyone's guess, however.

MSNBC is reporting early Saturday morn -

In Sydney, about 2,000 people, including representatives of Aboriginal groups, communists and trade unionists, protested outside the central Reserve Bank of Australia.

"I think people want real democracy," said Nick Carson, a spokesman for OccupyMelbourne.Org. "They don't want corporate influence over their politicians. They want their politicians to be accountable."

The crowd cheered a speaker who shouted, "We're sick of corporate greed! Big banks, big corporate power standing over us and taking away our rights!"
(...)

In Tokyo, where the ongoing nuclear crisis dominates public concerns, about 200 people joined the global protests Saturday.

Under the light drizzle, the participants marched outside the Tokyo Electric Power Co., which operates the tsunami-hit Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant, chanting anti-nuclear slogans, while opposing the U.S.-led Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade bloc that Japan is considering joining.

"No to nuclear power," the marchers chanted as they held up banners.
(...)

In Taiwan, over 100 people gathered at the Taipei 101 skyscraper, home to the stock exchange, chanting "we are Taiwan's 99 percent", saying economic growth had only benefited companies while middle-class salaries barely covered soaring housing, education and healthcare costs.

They found support from a top businessmen, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp Chairman Morris Chang, who told reporters in the northern city of Hsinchu that Taiwan's income gap was a serious issue.

"I've been against the gap between rich and poor," Chang said. "The wealth of the top 1 percent has increased very fast in the past 20, 30 years. 'Occupy Wall Street' is a reaction to that. We have to take the issue seriously..."

In Manila, about 100 members of various groups under the Philippine left-wing alliance, Bayan, marched on the U.S. Embassy Saturday morning to express support for the Occupy Wall Street protests in the United States and to denounce "U.S. imperialism" and U.S.-led wars and aggression.

They carried a large banner that said, "Resist imperialist plunder, state repression and wars of aggression," and another expressing "Solidarity action for Occupy Wall Street."

They also chanted "U.S. troops, out now!" in reference to the presence of hundreds of U.S. soldiers, mostly in the southern Philippines, involved in anti-terrorism training of Filipino troops. One man carried a placard saying "Genuine people's democracy lives in the streets."
(...)

In South Korea, activists began gathering on the streets of Seoul.

The Korea Herald newspaper reported that a coalition of 30 local civic groups planned to hold a two-day protest in the main financial district of Yeouido and other parts of the capital.
(...)

"The situation is the same in South Korea (as the U.S.), where the financial institutions have speculated to earn high profits in a short time, creating victims," the coalition said in a statement, the Herald reported.

The protesters want compensation for people who lost money in the banking crisis.

Seoul police warned that damaging public facilities, occupying roads and assaulting police officers would not be tolerated, the Herald said.
(...)

Protesters in London vowed to occupy the London Stock Exchange Saturday. Nights of rioting rocked the British capital in August after the fatal police shooting of a 29-year-old man.

"We have people from all walks of life joining us every day," said Spyro, one of those behind a Facebook page in London which has grown to some 12,000 followers in a few weeks.

Spyro, a 28-year-old who has a well-paid job and did not want to give his full name, summed up the main target of the global protests as "the financial system."

Rome is girding for major protests by demonstrators known as the "indignati."

Italian TV reports from Milan on Friday showed about 20 young people trying unsuccessfully to enter a building where Goldman Sachs has an office, and spraying red paint on the entrance.

In Germany, where sympathy for southern Europe's debt troubles is patchy, the financial center of Frankfurt and the European Central Bank in particular are expected to be a focus of marches called by the Real Democracy Now movement.
(...)

In Canada, protests were planned for Saturday in cities including Montreal and Vancouver. In Toronto, demonstrators plan to gather at Canada's main stock exchange.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he doubted Canadians would be as angry as their neighbors to the south as Canadian banks have not received a U.S.-type bailout.

From CNN -

United for Global Change -- the central site for the international movement -- said 951 cities in 82 countries will take part in the rallies.
(...)

In Japan, about 200 people marched through Tokyo carrying various signs, including "No More Nukes and "Free Tibet." The crowd included children jumping and skipping behind the adults.
(...)

Australian cities of Melbourne and Sydney joined rallies against "corporate greed" as protesters aligned themselves with the global movement.

"Our protests are to show our solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and also protest various problems -- from indigenous issues in this country to government problems," said Alex Gard, one of the Melbourne organizers. "We know we have it better than the protesters in the States ... but there are still problems in this country."

Organizers urged protesters to bring sleeping bags and other soft items to sleep on.
(...)

In South Korea, Arthur Fragoso rallied with a small group outside a bank in Seoul. He said his protest is a solidarity move with the Occupy movement and not a reflection of any discontent against his government.

"We are protesting mostly for economic issues worldwide," he said.
(...)

[I]n the Indonesian capital of Jakarta, about two dozen people -- some wearing masks -- gathered near the U.S. Embassy.

"We wanted to show that the American regime, its system of imperialism needs to be destroyed," said Rudi Daman, leader of the International League of Peoples' Struggle.
(...)

Protests were planned in other countries, including major cities in Kenya, South Africa, Britain, France, Russia, Mexico and Venezuela.

The impetus for protest was wearing out according to some analysts, especially in the protest's countries of origin - Greece and Spain. The austerity measures have caused despair, slashed wages and pensions, and created hundreds of thousands of unemployed, the momentum for sustained action dwindled. University of Piraeus Professor Mary Bossis told Michel Rose of Reuters, "More people agree with these protests than actually take part. ...There is anger, there is rage ... but what it takes to overturn the current situation is missing."

We can jeer and mock and analyze 'til the cows come home, but we cannot deny that people all over the world are dissatisfied with their lot and are wanting something different; what that "different" should be is still very nebulous. The one idea the disparate groups do agree upon is, "Enough is enough." The demonstrations are far flung and scant in participation, yet there is an undercurrent that may, and probably will, carry society's flotsam for a considerable time, perhaps rendering some fragile countries to tatters.

The ultimate danger inherent in any movement the wishes for revolutionary type change is that they may just end up getting what was wished for and regret it without the do-over option.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Pallywood Comes to Occupy Wall Street NYC

2011-10-15T01:29:00.000-07:00

Images of National Lawyers Guild legal observer, Ari Douglas, being run over by a New York City policeman on a scooter were splashed across the Internet late Friday morning. The Gothamist reported, "We're still trying to determine how badly he was injured, but one witness speculated that he broke his leg." For the rest of the day, the leg was broken based on this one speculation. Hours later, Gothamist updates the post to include, "some doubt has been cast on earlier reports that he was seriously injured."

Photo: A protester is pinned down by an NYPD scooter during an Occupy Wall Street march Friday. Joe Marino for News

Here's the video OWS claims to show Douglas' leg being run over:

YouTube

Pretty damning stuff of police brutality, if this is all there is. Zainab Akbar, another legal observer for the lawyers guild verifies the video images, "He was observing the protest and he was run over by a police motorcycle. His leg was stuck under the bike, and he kicked his leg to get the bike off his leg, and then the police attacked him and shoved him into the ground and put a night stick against the back of his neck." Douglas was arrested and taken to Bellvue Hospital for treatment of his injuries that Paul Browne, NYPD spokesman explained were scratches to the observers face suffered when he resisted arrest and "he faked everything else."

There's another video view that shows a different story that has many other people saying an Oscar is coming Douglas' way for his great soccer style Pallywood pratfall.

OWS_PoliceScooter from The Local East Village on Vimeo.

Joe Marino, Daily News photographer, witnessed the event and his statement backs the police. "The bike definitely hit him," Marino said adding that the scooter cop did not roll over Douglas' leg. Marino continued, "I saw him sticking his legs under the bike to make it appear he was run over."

Two stories each backed by video evidence, but which is true? Or, are both videos portraying the truth? From the Vimeo video we can see these images:

The first screen capture at 23 secs shows both of Ari Douglas' feet next to the scooter's front wheel.

The second capture also at 23 secs shows Douglas' feet next to the front wheel and parallel to the scooter and policeman with neither foot under the bike.

The third at 25 secs shows the front scooter wheel has moved passed Douglas' feet.

In photo four, 26 secs, we can see Douglas on his right side completely clear of the scooter with the officers leg extended, left foot off the foot rest.

Also at 26 secs, the fifth shot shows Douglas drawing his right foot up toward the officers leg which is planted on the pavement. At this point, Douglas is completely free of the scooter's rear tire. The red arrow points to area that Douoglas' right leg finally ends up behind the officer's leg. See Marino's photo at the top of this post that shows the individuals' legs cross positions relative to one another.

The last shot, from the You Tube video at 17 secs, shows Douglas' right leg apparently with the scooter's rear wheel on his right leg. How did it get there?

As the previous images show, Douglas was parallel to the bike and completely free of any bike entanglement. In the end he is 90 degrees to the bike with the rear wheel apparently on top of his right leg. My own interpretation accords with the statement of Daily News photographer, Joe Marino, when he says that Douglas deliberately stuck his leg under the scooter so that it would appear he was run over in an act of police brutality. However, the crucial moment and the images that could dispel all doubt is obscured by the all the media image hounds blocking the view.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

One Way

2011-10-13T21:37:00.000-07:00

Simple image juxtaposition can create powerful editorials.

Drudge Report Oct 13, 2011 9:00pm

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Fast and Furious Arsenal Found

2011-10-09T21:43:00.000-07:00

Been wondering what Fast and Furious Operation Gunrunner guns look like? The weapons in the photo were found last April in the home of a Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico.

Reporting from Washington— High-powered assault weapons illegally purchased under the ATF's Fast and Furious program in Phoenix ended up in a home belonging to the purported top Sinaloa cartel enforcer in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, whose organization was terrorizing that city with the worst violence in the Mexican drug wars.

In all, 100 assault weapons acquired under Fast and Furious were transported 350 miles from Phoenix to El Paso, making that West Texas city a central hub for gun traffickers. Forty of the weapons made it across the border and into the arsenal of Jose Antonio Torres Marrufo, a feared cartel leader in Ciudad Juarez, according to federal court records and trace documents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Notice the enlarged fake dollar bill above the bookcase in the center; the portrait is that of Obama in college smoking weed.

Read more: LA Times

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Obama Fact Check Fail

2011-10-06T21:49:00.000-07:00

Barack Hussein Obama, former ice cream scooper for Baskins Robbins, spoke for about an hour this morning at a press conference/seminar telling Congress (i.e., Republicans) to put up or shut up, arguing once again there is nothing in his jobs bill that both Democrats and Republicans haven't supported in the past, explain their opposition, yadda, yadda, yadda. The Associated Press described the affair as "quick-moving" that "dodged some facts and left some evidence in the dust."

OBAMA: "If it turns out that there are Republicans who are opposed to this bill, they need to explain to me, but more importantly to their constituencies and the American people, why they're opposed, and what would they do."

THE FACTS: While Republicans might not be campaigning on their opposition to Obama's plan, they've hardly kept their objections a secret.

In a memorandum to House Republicans Sept. 16, House Speaker John Boehner and members of the GOP leadership said they could find common ground with Obama on the extension of certain business tax breaks, waiving a payment withholding provision for federal contractors, incentives for hiring veterans, and job training measures in connection with unemployment insurance.

They objected to new spending on public works programs, suggesting instead that Congress and the president work out those priorities in a highway spending bill. And they raised concerns about Obama's payroll tax cuts for workers and small businesses, arguing that the benefits of a one-year tax cut would be short-lived. The memo also pointed out that reducing payroll taxes, which pay for Social Security, temporarily forces Social Security to tap the government's general fund. And it opposed additional spending to prevent layoffs of teachers, police officers and other public workers.

OBAMA: "Every idea that we've put forward are ones that traditionally have been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike."

THE FACTS: Obama proposes to pay for his jobs bill by raising taxes, something traditionally opposed by Republicans and, in the form Obama proposed it, even some Democrats. Senate Democrats were so allergic to Obama's approach, which relied largely on limiting deductions that can be taken by individuals making over $200,000 a year and couples making more than $250,000, that they're eliminating it and replacing it with a new tax on millionaires.

In claiming bipartisan support for the components of his proposal, the president appears to be referring just to what the plan would do, not how it's paid for, but that's a crucial distinction he doesn't make.

Some of tax-cutting proposals offered by Obama have received significant Republican support in the past. But some of the new spending he proposes has received only nominal Republican backing. Evidence of bipartisanship provided by the White House includes legislation last year that provided $10 billion to prevent teacher layoffs. It won the support of only two Republican senators — Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins, both of Maine and among the most moderate Republicans in Congress. Another example cited by the White House was proposal last year to offer tax breaks to businesses that hire new workers — it passed the House 217-201 with six Republican votes.

OBAMA: "The answer we're getting right now is: Well, we're going to roll back all these Obama regulations... Does anybody really think that that is going to create jobs right now and meet the challenges of a global economy?"

THE FACTS: Well, yes, some think it will. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce last month submitted a jobs proposal to Obama that included a call to ease regulations on businesses. It specifically called for streamlining environmental reviews on major construction projects and to delay the issuance of some potentially burdensome regulations until the economy and employment have improved. In the letter, Chamber President Thomas Donohue also called on Congress to pass legislation that would require congressional approval of major regulations. The chamber did not indicate how many jobs such regulatory changes could create, but it said: "Immediate regulatory relief is required in order to begin moving $1 trillion-$2 trillion in accumulated private capital off of the sidelines and into business expansion."

OBAMA: "We can either keep taxes exactly as they are for millionaires and billionaires, with loopholes that lead them to have lower tax rates, in some cases, than plumbers and teachers, or we can put teachers and construction workers and veterans back on the job."

THE FACTS: True, "in some cases" wealthy people can exploit loopholes to make their tax rate lower than for people of middle or low income. In recent rhetoric, Obama had suggested it was commonplace for rich people to pay lower rates than others, a claim not supported by IRS statistics. But on Thursday, Obama accurately stated that it only happens sometimes.

In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above $1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the IRS. Yet that was less than 1 percent of returns with incomes above $1 million. On average, taxpayers who made $1 million or more paid 24.4 percent of their income in federal income taxes; those making $100,000 to $125,000 paid 9.9 percent; those making $50,000 to $60,000 paid 6.3 percent. The White House argues that when payroll taxes — paid only on the first $106,800 of wages — are factored in, more middle class workers wind up with a higher tax rate than millionaires.

OBAMA: "China has been very aggressive in gaming the trading system to its advantage and to the disadvantage of other countries, particularly the United States. .... And currency manipulation is one example of it, or at least intervening in the currency markets in ways that have led their currency to be valued lower than the market would normally dictate. And that makes their exports cheaper and that makes our exports to them more expensive."

THE FACTS: While Obama complained about China's efforts to keeps its currency undervalued to gain trade advantages, his administration has repeatedly refused to brand China as a currency manipulator in a report that the Treasury Department is required to send to Congress twice a year.

Such a designation would trigger negotiations between the two countries and could ultimately lead to U.S. trade sanctions against China.

The administration has been reluctant to brand China a currency manipulator, as have past administrations, because the United States depends on China to buy U.S. Treasury securities to help finance America's budget deficits. China owns $1.17 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, making it the largest foreign holder of Treasury debt.

Baskin Robbins ended Dollar Scoop Tuesday this past summer. Wonder if the decision had anything to do with the bad to worse economy developed since January 2009?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Perry's Dumb Idea -- Use U.S. Troops in Mexico to Kill Drug Lords

2011-10-02T20:41:00.000-07:00

Rick Perry says he is open to sending U.S. troops into Mexico to help battle the drug cartels that have been armed by the Obama Administration through the ATF Fast and Furious gunwalking program. Speaking at the home the of New Hampshire Republican gubernatorial candidate Ovide Lamontagne, the Texas governor and Republican presidential candidate suggested the Mexican situation is similar to that of Columbia where American troops were deployed to combat drug cartels and train the Colombian army.

Whereas Columbia requested U.S. troop involvement, Mexico has been opposed to American troops on its soil at least since the Mexican-American War in 1846. Actually, Mexico has never favored U.S. troops on Mexican soil although they apparently have no problem with Mexican troops on U.S. soil.

Perry said Saturday, "The way that we were able to stop the drug cartels in Colombia was with a coordinated effort. ...It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off of our border and to destroy their networks. ...I don’t know all the scenarios that are out there but I think it is very important that we work with them, to keep that country from failing."

As per political tradition, a spokesman clarified that Perry simply meant he is open to all options to cooperate with Mexico.

Much like Obamacare requires the coersive legal force, Perry's suggestion to use American coercive military force in Mexico is about as smart as sack of severed heads.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

AQ Yemen Jihadi Truck Club

2011-10-02T00:57:00.000-07:00

A guy claiming to be a Yemeni jihadi posted at the al-Qaida linked al-Fida' forum that Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan were, in fact, killed. The posting was translated by SITE Intelligence Group and published by Bill Roggio at Long War Journal with an emphasis on the death confirmation. I, of course, saw something else.

May Allah bless you my noble brothers. The news is true. We say, may Allah have mercy on our sheikh and our beloved, Anwar al-Awlaki, who was killed this morning in the area between al-Jawf and Marib in a Hilux 2005 vehicle, along with six people accompanying him.

Hilux 2005 vehicle! Who knew jihadis were not only murdering terrorist scumbag losers, but also gearheads?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Michelle Obama Does Target

2011-09-30T12:14:00.000-07:00

Michelle Obama, wearing a disguise, went shopping at a Target store in Alexandria, Va., Thursday, proving she is just like the rest of us - she carries her bags while pushing an empty cart.

The outing has been portrayed as a princess/pauper shopping trip and only the cashier recognized the First Lady. Didn't anyone notice AP photographer Charles Dharapak following her around snapping pictures? Where was Target security to protect this anonymous woman from the weird guy with the camera?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Awlaki and Khan Dead, Dead, Dead

2011-09-30T09:52:00.000-07:00

Only weeks after the dastardly attacks of 9/11, Anwar al-Awlaki attended a luncheon at the Pentagon. Yemeni officials reported today the bill was delivered by Hellfire missile from an American CIA drone; Anwar al-Awlaki is dead. Along with him in hell is loser Samir Khan, the co-editor/writer of "Inspire" webzine, the slick terrorist web publication which recruited more losers to the terrorist cause with articles like "Making a bomb in the kitchen of your mom."

Jawa Report has much more on both losers and greater coverage of the breaking news as they've been following Awlaki and Khan since the start. Khan even threatened the life of Jawa's beloved Rusty who writes, "The really personal news here would be that Samir Khan is dead. As long time readers know, Samir and I have had personal disputes over the years. It was Samir, then blogging as Inshallahshaheed, who threatened to kill my family. He even made this nice little graphic to go along with the threat."

Michelle Malkin writes in a rare defense of the Obama administration, "Obama’s far left flank will be unhappy if the mission to kill Awlaki, an American citizen, was successful. They will again decry such drone strikes against American citizens as unprecedented and lawless.

On this, I will come to Obama’s defense.

Awlaki’s membership and leadership in al Qaeda is undisputed.

We are at war.

The Supreme Court set the precedent for Obama’s and our military’s actions in 1942."

Of all the idiotic, boneheaded ideas and actions pursued by Barack Obama, the use of drones, Hellfire missiles, and death from the skies to the bad guys is not one of them. Obama stepped-up the use of drone missile attacks begun by the Bush Administration.

Speaking at Admiral Mullens' retirement ceremony, Obama said, "The death of Awlaki is a major blow to Al Qaeda's most active operational affiliate," Obama said Friday. "He took the lead in planning and directing efforts to murder innocent Americans ... and he repeatedly called on individuals in the United States and around the globe to kill innocent men, women and children to advance a murderous agenda."

He said the strike is "further proof that Al Qaeda and its affiliates will find no safe haven anywhere in the world."

Doin' a heckuva job, Barry!

Now watch for Obama to take full credit for killing Awlaki and Khan like he did the killing of bin Ladin and make it a campaign issue.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama Favored Basketball Over Ethics

2011-09-30T09:41:00.000-07:00

Barack Obama told students of Benjamin Banneker Academic High School during his third annual "Back to School" speech about his experience in the 8th grade. It sounded, however, like his nearly three years as the head of the Executive branch of the U.S. government -

"I did not love every class I took. I wasn’t always paying attention the way I should have. I remember when I was in 8th grade I had to take a class called ethics. Now, ethics is about right and wrong, but if you’d ask me what my favorite subject was back in 8th grade, it was basketball. I don’t think ethics would have made it on the list."

Seems not much has changed.

CNS News has video.

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Pullet Surprise for PETA from NYT

2011-09-30T01:25:00.000-07:00

This photo of a seductively lounging raw chicken carcass that ran in the New York Times food section has run afoul of the the animal rights group, PETA. The story, Chicken’s Attraction Is Truly Skin Deep, says there are "white-meat people and there are dark-meat people; there are those who swear by the drumstick, thigh or breast" may be racist and misogynistic, but certainly not necrophilic as PETA claims. The NYT story is actually about the the "skin people. They are the ones who cannot help themselves around roast or fried chicken, ripping off the crispiest bits of skin before the bird makes it to the table."

The photo created quite a buzz on Twitter where one tweeter said the photo was "magnificent." Or was that about the chicken? Another said it was "sexy as hell." Still not sure - photo or chicken. Whichever, the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals did not agree. Ingris Newkirk, PETA founder and president, told The Atlantic Wire, "When I saw it I just couldn't believe that an editor of The New York Times would find it acceptable. ...It's downright offensive, not just to people who care about animals but almost to everyone. It's a plucked, beheaded, young chicken in a young pose."

The Gray Lady's photo editor, Tina Loit, saw the photo differently saying, "Once he propped it up, it became a completely different vibe. The chicken had attitude." The photographer, Tony Cenicola explained his artistic choice, "My original concept was sort of a languid nude." Newkirk remained adamant, "It's necrophilia. It's not amusing. It's just ghastly and sickly. It's not fitting for The New York Times." I'm guessing she said this without the barest hint of irony.

PETA, well versed in the use of sexual enticement in their own risque ads using nearly nude photos of starlets captioned with "I'd rather be naked than wear fur" that have been running for several years and now is launching their own porn site featuring XXX stars like Sacramento's own Sasha Grey and Jenna Jameson, who's not known for her political activism, but once confessed in 2007 to supporting Hillary Clinton's bid for the presidency, "The Clinton administration was the best years for the adult industry and I wish that Clinton would run again. I would love to have him back in office. I would love to have Al Gore in office."

We must certainly take PETA seriously now that they have the heavy hitter intellects of porn supporting them and their cause to stamp out the abusive treatment of animals living and dead, so long as the animals are not human.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

New DPRK PR Poster

2011-09-25T21:08:00.000-07:00

Democratic People's Republic of Korea (N. Korea) released two new posters "to help more splendidly spruce up Pyongyang and hasten the harvest this year" and, according to The Daily Caller, to confuse the apparently starving citizenry about the forthcoming poor autumn harvest.

This poster is captioned, "Let us all go for harvesting!"

Here's what the poster says to me:

North Korea, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
North Korea, Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.

We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine, North Korea!
North Korea D.P.R.K.

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Amendment 2.1

2011-09-24T20:15:00.000-07:00

The right of the people to keep and arm bears, shall not be infringed.

Victim in Mont. grizzly attack was shot

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Maybe E Doesn't =mc2

2011-09-22T22:32:00.000-07:00

Physics smart guys working in Switzerland, think they may have witnessed a neutrino particle travelling faster than light speed and are asking for verification from other smart folks around the world. There have been indications of such behavior for more than 10 yrs, but no consistant direct measurements have been made. Or maybe, when the neutrino was observed breaking the speed limit, it wasn't really travelling faster than light because we knew the location of the neutrino. Damn you, Heisenberg! And your little principle, too!

Anyway, if any of my smart friends see something going faster than light, please call CERN, as the cops have nothing fast enough to catch whatever it was. Of course, all this is predicated on the belief that photons (light) are the fastest particle/wave thingies in the universe in the first place and the speed does not vary with time or space and that may be incorrect, in which case, all those science books have to be rewritten because according to Einstein's (Albert, not the parrot) 1905 Special Theory of Relativity — the famous E = mc2 equation — that just doesn't happen. Or maybe it does. If the observed particles used an Einstein-Rosin Bridge then the sub-luminal particle could travel faster than light without violating the local speed law, unless the Einstein-Rosin Bridge is on Obama's list of dilapidated bridges in need of repair from which Speaker Boehner and evil Congressional Republicans are withholding funds.

It's just a theory and it's all relative anyway.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Last Request of a Navy SEAL

2011-09-20T20:36:00.000-07:00

Petty Officer 1st Class Christopher Campbell, a Navy SEAL, was an incredible man who lost his life in the August 6th helicopter crash that took the lives of so many American service members.

We were incredibly honored and touched to learn that Chris' final wish sought to continue serving his country by helping wounded warriors and veterans. Hand-written on Chris' will was a note saying that if he died in combat, he wanted attention to focus on his wounded brothers and sisters, rather than himself.

Chris' ultimate hope was that 100,000 individuals would donate to Wounded Warrior Project in his name. Chris' family has taken up his mission, and are rallying the country to help make his dream come true as a testament to his memory. Please help them achieve his goal by donating today in Chris' name, even if it's just $1.

Wounded Warrior Project

Once upon a time in America, nearly every citizen would know someone who was fighting in a war. Today, few know someone in war. And even if they do, they may not know it, especially if the warrior is Special Forces. Such was the case with Chris Campbell. I met Chris several years ago at my nieces wedding, he was a best friend of the groom and Chris was acting as a groomsman. Though there was beer and wine and our encounter was brief, I remember him.

Chris was not a large man as we may imagine a Navy SEAL would be, but he was nonetheless impressive in his tux. He was willing to do the hard work of war and he did it well. He and 29 other Americans died August 6, 2011 in Wardak province, Afghanistan when the C-47 Chinook helicopter transporting them was destroyed by a Taliban RPG. For a brief moment, I held his hand in mine. For a brief moment, I was connected to a life greater than mine.

This is more than a patriotic request, it's personal. Please give to the Wounded Warrior Project.

France Bans Muslim Street Prayer

2011-09-15T22:03:00.000-07:00

It's about friggen time!

The Australian reports,

MUSLIMS will be banned from praying outdoors in France from today in the latest move by officials to remove Islam from the public sphere.

The ban, announced by the government yesterday, infuriated French Muslim leaders, one of whom accused President Sarkozy's government of treating them like cattle.

They say that Muslims, who pray outdoors only because of a lack of space in mosques in France, feel stigmatised.

But Claude Gueant, the Interior Minister, said that the sight of hundreds of people gathering in the streets of Paris and other cities for Friday prayers was "shocking".

It comes after laws to prohibit pupils from wearing headscarves in schools and women from wearing the niqab, the full Muslim veil, in public.

Mr Gueant described outlawing street prayers as the latest brick in the wall that is shoring up the secular nature of the French state. He said that he had nothing against Islam, but wanted it out of the public eye.

"Street prayers must stop because they hurt the feelings of many of our compatriots who are shocked by the occupation of the public space for a religious practice," he said.

Tundra Tabloids adds,

France’s Interior Minister, Claude Gueant, in an interview published today by the daily Le Figaro, which noted that ”use of force” against those not complying with the regulation had not been ruled out.

The minister underscored that a ”convention” had been signed with Muslim associations so that a former barracks could be used as a place of prayer.

Goutte d'Or district imam Mohamed Salah Hamza said/ warned,

"We are not cattle. Our demands have not entirely been satisfied. ... I am in an uncomfortable position and I am afraid there will be a climate of anarchy."

But France had best be prepared for more street violence, burning cars, and attacks on innocent French citizens starting Friday, the Muslim sabbath, because that's what Muslim folk do.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama's SSN Fails E-Verify

2011-09-14T19:53:00.000-07:00

Private citizen Linda Jordan entered Barack H. Obama's Social Security Number into "Self Check" on the E-Verify website August 17, 2011. Reported at WND, the name and the number fail and were flagged by E-Verify, United States government, as likely fraudulent.

YouTube

Data submitted:

Name: Obama Barack H.
DOB: August 4, 1961
SSN: 042-68-4425

The reasons given by U.S. government E-Verfy system:

SSN does not match. The Social Security Number (SSN) entered in Self Check is valid, but the name and/or date of birth entered do not match SSA records.

SSN is invalid. The Social Security Number (SSN) entered in Self Check is not a valid number.

SSA unable to confirm U.S. Citizenship. Cannot confirm that the employee is elegible to work because the SSA records do not show that the SSN Holder is a U.S. Citizen.

SSA record does not verify, Other reason. SSA found a discrepancy in the record.

SSA unable to process data. SSA found a discrepancy in other data in the data.

h/t Moonbattery

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Amercan Jobs, Act II

2011-09-14T17:55:00.000-07:00

No Democrat filed Obama’s jobs bill after it was presented to Congress, so Rep Gohmert(R-TX) wrote his own "American Jobs Act" and filed it as HR 2911. It's two pages long and can be read right now.

Gohmert American Jobs Act

Warner Todd Huston at Publius Forum, Incompetence: Obama Even Loses the Name of His Jobs Bill, writes

Here is the thing, either Obama was never serious about this so-called jobs bill in the first place and never intended to submit it, or he is one of the most inept politicians in presidential history.

If Obama were an effective president Rep. Gohmert would never have been able to appropriate Obama’s bill name for his own. If Obama was effective he’d have crafted his jobs bill, delivered his speech that night, and lined up at least one Democrat, if not the whole Democrat Party, to introduce his bill the very next morning after the speech.

But Obama did no such thing. Not only was there no bill when he delivered the speech, even this many days after the speech the bill has never been introduced in the House of Representatives where such bills might begin the legislative process.

That means that there was no bill called the “American Jobs Act of 2011″ in the House, so Rep. Gohmert was under no compulsion not to use it as a name for his own bill.

Of course, it is also possible that President Obama never intended to submit any bill named the “American Jobs Act of 2011″ in the first place. It is possible he never wanted such a bill debated for real because all he was doing was using it as a political ploy for his reelection campaign.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Nice Job If You Can Get It Or You Can Sue

2011-09-13T22:39:00.000-07:00

Obama can't be seriously accused of being unimaginative. Investors Business Daily says that buried deep within his American Jobs Act, the unemployed will be a protected class with the right to sue any employer that does not hire the unemployed job seeker.

Obama has shoved a provision into his jobs bill that would make it illegal for companies to discriminate against the unemployed, opening the door to a flood of costly, needless and ultimately job-killing legal actions.

As Charles Lane, an editorial writer at the Washington Post put it, this will "probably destroy jobs in a misguided effort to save them," adding that "plaintiffs' lawyers are no doubt dreaming up new ways to wield this new cause of action — make that class action — every time a company turns someone down for a job."

For the unemployed and desperate job seeker, this looks like a good idea. In reality, it's a good reason to remain an unemployed job seeker with a lawyer on retainer. In this job market, odds are greater a vulnerable employer will be found before a viable job.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Fast and Loose: Obama Releases American Jobs Bill

2011-09-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

The Obama White House released the long awaited American Jobs Bill that Congress must pass - right now. Without subterfuge, bias, or explanatory preface, here is the bill as presented on the White House Blog:

On Thursday September 8, President Obama presented the American Jobs Act in an address to Congress. The purpose of the American Jobs Act is simple: put more people back to work and put more money in the pockets of working Americans. We've created some fact sheets you can download that explain what the President is asking Congress to do, and what the Jobs Act will mean for you.

Download the highlights of the Jobs Act

Read the complete overview of the Jobs Act

That's it? Highlights? Overview? To paraphrase Pres. George H.W. Bush, "Where's the bill?"

And remember, Obama told us the bill is,

"Fully Paid for as Part of the President’s Long-Term Deficit Reduction Plan.

To ensure that the American Jobs Act is fully paid for, the President will call on the Joint Committee to come up with additional deficit reduction necessary to pay for the Act ..."

If it's fully funded, why is the President calling on the Joint Committee to come up with more money to pay for it?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Ten Years After

2011-09-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

Islam and 19 Muslims did this.

It wasn't Presbyterians or Quakers or Methodists or Catholics who attacked America and the West ten years ago on September 11th. It wasn't Hindus or Buddhists or Jains or Wiccans. It wasn't Shinto or Judaism or Atheism that inspired the attackers to drive three airliners filled with fuel and innocent people into buildings filled with more innocent people.

One plane filled with passengers resisted in a most insolent manner - they fought back. But more insulting to Islam and the murdering Muslims - they voted before acting. For love of God and country, they voted.

The attackers were Muslims. The inspirational dogma was Islam. Islam and Muslims attacked America just as they have been attacking the West for more than 1400 years. Islamism isn't a perversion of religion; Islam is a religion of perversion.

Islam is losing, Muslims are losers and have been since the pervert Mohammad had his first delusion in that desert cave. In another ten years, Islam will still be losing and Muslims will still be losers.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

I Became My Mother Today

2011-09-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

Years ago, when there were only three television networks and PBS and the remote control was one of the kids in the room, a commercial aired that reviewed history while panning from the top of a redwood tree to the bottom. It showed the time of Moses crossing the Red Sea, the American Revolution, the Civil War, and then an announcer said, "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a special news bulletin. The Japanese have bombed Pearl Harbor, Hawaii."

My mother, who had lived through the Great Depression and had heard the radio reports on December 7th, was lying on her bed reading when the commercial aired. She heard the announcement and cried out, "Oh, no! Not again!" My brother, sisters, and I started laughing because it was just a commercial and it was thirty years or more after the fact. Mom was very angry and no doubt embarrassed at being upset that the memories were brought up so unexpectedly.

Many times over the passing years, I've thought of that moment with amusement knowing I would never have such a moment. After all, I have always been far too aware of history and current events for my mind to fool me that a rerun as an original event. Until today.

The last few days, authorities have been investigating an "unconfirmed credible threat" to the nation possibly involving car or truck bombs, and maybe even a dirty nuclear bomb targeting New York City or Washington, D.C. I've not paid too much attention because an "unconfirmed credible threat" doesn't strike me as very definite. This afternoon, I turned on the television that was tuned to FOX from the previous night and was confronted with the sight of frantic Capital police yelling for panicked people to run from the buildings, quickly clear the area, there are reports of secondary bombs.

"Oh no! Not again!"

That was actually my second reaction after I recovered from the sudden rush of panic inducing chemicals to my brain. After several moments, less than a minute, I realized the "news report" was part of the FOX channel documentary programming for the 9/11 Ten Year Anniversary. I recalled my mother's reaction so many years ago and felt foolish for having laughed at her. The Japanese had attacked us once and history often rhymes with itself years later. We were at war in Vietnam then; we are at war with Islamists now. In both of our experiences, a repeat attack is not beyond imagining. The only difference is that today, the threat from Islam and Muslims is still very real, so real that authorities are right now searching for three Muslims, two of whom are reputed American citizens, who are suspected of attempting to plant vehicle dirty bombs in major cities to kill more people than we've ever experienced on home soil. I am hoping the reports are only paranoia, but paranoia doesn't mean the threat isn't real.

And old memories, well, they come back as a reality all their own. My mother was transformed by an act of savagery in her time; I have been molded by an act of savagery in my time. It's not so far fetched to expect savages to continue acting like savages. Islamism is not a perversion of religion; Islam is a religion of perversion. I am offended to be told to never forget 9/11. I cannot, I will not, forget 9/11. Just as my mother's generation cannot forgive and forget what was done to them, neither can I forgive Islam for 9/11 and what it has done to me.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

"Have We All Gone Mad?"

2011-09-10T00:54:00.000-07:00

Oskar Freysinger, Swiss MP, is loud, agitated, routinely uses poetry and metaphors to explain his views. Mostly, he's clear as a church bell.

blogspotKitmanTV

TRANSCRIPT:
Europe is an idea
a cultural landscape, an intellectual space shaped by history
Europe is the cradle of the modern constitutional democracy,
the treasure-house of human rights, of freedom of opinion and expression.
Or at least it use to be that, until recently.
This has increasingly been put into danger
as our political elite bend their necks before a certain religious dogma
which is completely alien to our intellectual history, our values and rule of law.
This dogma is gnawing away at the pillars of our system of laws,
wherever it is granted the space to do so
This dogma demands total obedience from its followers.
"They should never integrate into our system of values"
That would be "treason" to them and is even be punishable by death.
They are supposed to conquer and subdue our western world.
Not with tanks, rockets or riflemen.
Something they could never accomplish, anyway.
Not through brutal revolt.
No, Islam is in no hurry. It has an eternity.
A long process of demoralization and slow motion occupation
of our weakened child-poor society is foreseen.
The Islamic doctrine is intended to creep into our everyday life bit by bit
and make Fortress Europe crumble from within.
Just think of how the Serbs lost Kosovo.
Through demographic development and the help of NATO,
which aided the founding of the first Islamic state on European soil.
What a suicidal undertaking.
What an ominous sign.
The Islamic dogma is now imposing itself everywhere.
In Turkey, the Islamists are gradually occupying all judicial and army posts,
in order to obliterate the heritage of Kemal Atatürk.
Lebanon will become an Islamic state in the next decades.
The Arab Spring is on the point of being taken over by the Islamists.
In Iraq, Egypt and Pakistan, the last Christian communities are facing extinction.
And what are we doing?
We are allowing this violent doctrine in
to subvert our rule of law, wholly unhindered in our cultural ghettos.
Have we gone mad?!
Now is the time to stand up!
Come on!
We just shrug our shoulders when girls are forced into marriage
and integrated Muslims are pressured and threatened.
And we look the other way, as the women are beaten
and whole city districts taken over.
We think we can soften the power-lusting "holy warriors" with social benefits
We think we can buy our way to peace of mind!
What lunacy!
The prophet´s beard is not for fondling!
Fanatics cannot be bought.
Germany should know this, more so than any other country in the world.
My dear friends in the audience, we are not fighting against people
we are fighting FOR people!
We are fighting against a dogma that despises all humanity
and wants to push us back into barbarity.
We will not easily give up the freedom,
for which we have fought so hard over the centuries.
Dear Berliners, here I stand.
I cannot do otherwise!
Because no one in Europe will stand up
even for the very pillar of our civilization, our rule of law, our humanity
The transcendental, unconditional "Love thy neighbor",
THAT is the pillar!

h/t Blazing Cat Fur

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Atta

2011-09-09T20:33:00.000-07:00

The phrase "banality of evil" has itself become banal and does not quite describe Mohammed Atta as an NPR story labels him. Banal means "so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring." That was not Atta, the murderer-terrorist-Muslim-hijacker-pilot of American Airlines Flight 11 who crashed the plane into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on Sept 11, 2001.

Terry McDermott, author of Perfect Soldiers, a biography of the 9/11 killers, wrote:

"... Atta hated to eat. He found it boring. He used to boil a bag of potatoes, mash them up, and leave a mound on a plate in the refrigerator. When he was hungry, he would simply grab a spoon and take a chunk out of his potato mountain."

That is not lacking in originality. Nor is it obvious. The choice of potatoes may be boring, but not the fact of the choice. What it is, is just plain odd, strange, and weird.

McDermott further writes:

"He was a strange fellow, by almost any measure. ...He wasn't pleasant in almost any setting. It's almost surprising he had any friends at all."
(...)

"Atta was, above all, dutiful. He was a fellow who would do what he was told," McDermott says. "He was a capable guy, and he was bright, but he just had no initiative of his own."

Above all, Mohammed Atta was Muslim.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Read This Post Right Away

2011-09-09T11:15:00.000-07:00

Pass this jobs bill, and we can put people to work. Pass this jobs bill, and thousands of teachers in every state will go back to work. Pass this job bill, and we'll cure cancer, sprout wings, and fly. National Journal

Check out the Speaker's desk top. It goes down just like Obama's approvals.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama Expresses Essential American Truth

2011-09-09T00:09:00.000-07:00

"Yes, we are rugged individualists." Obama, Sept 8, 2011.

SF Gate

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

See the President's Address Here

2011-09-08T12:36:00.000-07:00

The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20500

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Sec of Labor Supports American Auto Industry, Buys Canadian

2011-09-01T00:40:00.000-07:00

Hilda Solis, Secretary of Labor for Barack Obama, traded in her big black limousine for a more environmentally friendly car, one that shows her support for the American auto worker. There's only one problem. The crossover SUV Chevrolet Equinox is Canadian built and assembled from Canadian parts.

US News & World Reports says Sec. Solis attended a media breakfast Aug. 31 hosted by the Christian Science Monitor. When asked why she bought he Chevy, Solis explained

"she was inspired to buy the Chevy because of the pride she saw in American auto workers during trips to U.S. car and truck plants. She said that she was wowed by "the pride that they take making our automobiles here in America."

US taxpayers spent $85.3 billion on auto company bailouts and when her office was notified that her "American-made" car was really Canadian, Labor spokeshole Carl Fillichio said,

"Modern automobile manufacturing is a global industry and General Motors is a company whose reach extends far beyond the boundaries of the United States. Cars assembled here in the U.S. are made from globally sourced parts, just as cars assembled in other countries utilize parts made in America. Not only is the Equinox the second fastest selling SUV in America—a good sign for the overall health of the U.S. auto industry—66 percent of its parts were made in America. That’s up from about 50 percent just a few years ago."

I'm feeling better about 2012 everyday.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

California Nanny State and Babysitters, Too

2011-08-31T18:11:00.000-07:00

The bonehead Democrat majority California legislature is about to pass another stupid, job killing, life sucking bill into law. Senator Doug LaMalfa, CA-4th Dist (my guy), writes in the The Union.Com that California parents are going to be happy with the proposed law requiring them to pay min wage and workers' comp bennies to date night babysitters.

How will parents react when they find out they will be expected to provide workers' compensation benefits, rest and meal breaks and paid vacation time for…babysitters? Dinner and a movie night may soon become much more complicated.

Assembly Bill 889 (authored by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco, will require these protections for all “domestic employees,” including nannies, housekeepers and caregivers.

The bill has already passed the Assembly and is quickly moving through the Senate with blanket support from the Democrat members that control both houses of the Legislature – and without the support of a single Republican member. Assuming the bill will easily clear its last couple of legislative hurdles, AB 889 will soon be on its way to the Governor's desk.

Under AB 889, household “employers” (aka “parents”) who hire a babysitter on a Friday night will be legally obligated to pay at least minimum wage to any sitter over the age of 18 (unless it is a family member), provide a substitute caregiver every two hours to cover rest and meal breaks, in addition to workers' compensation coverage, overtime pay, and a meticulously calculated timecard/paycheck.

Failure to abide by any of these provisions may result in a legal cause of action against the employer including cumulative penalties, attorneys' fees, legal costs and expenses associated with hiring expert witnesses, an unprecedented measure of legal recourse provided no other class of workers – from agricultural laborers to garment manufacturers. (On the bright side, language requiring an hour of paid vacation time for every 30 hours worked was amended out of the bill in the Senate.)

Unfortunately, the unreasonable costs and risks contained in this bill will discourage folks from hiring housekeepers, nannies and babysitters and increase the use of institutionalized care rather than allowing children, the sick or elderly to be cared for in their homes. I can't help but wonder if that is the goal of AB 889 – a terrible bill that needs to be stopped.

Maybe this will start the slow awakening of the California somnambulant voters and we'll stop returning these idiots to Sacramento. I won't, however, be holding my breath.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama Faked Bus Tour

2011-08-30T11:30:00.000-07:00

Obama didn't write his own books and now he doesn't attend his own magic bus tour. JEEZ! Talk about your ghost rider in the sky.

Obama flew AF-1 to each stop behind a C-17 carrying the Big Black Bus to the next airstrip where both were deplaned.

Obama then boarded the Big Black Bus to ride a mile or two so the little people could see him using little people transportation.

LiveLeak via Pat Dollard, The War Starts Here; via AJ Strata, The Strata-Sphere; via Bookworm, Bookworm Room

An AP reporter said that Obama might have ridden these expensive buses only one mile at each stop. Therefore, it wasn’t really a “BUS TOUR”! Obamaspent most of the “BUS TOUR” on an airplane traveling between stops. Itlooks like Obama has scammed the American people again........with the help of the liberal media. It’s no damn telling just how much this “show” cost the American taxpayer.
OBAMA’S HYPOCRISY KNOWS NO BOUNDS !!!
"Greyhound 1".... Secret Service Buys Two New $1.1 Million Buses For Three-Day Trip…
President Barack Obama (C) walks to his bus as he arrives in Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, Minnesota, August 15, 2011, where he is to begin his three-day bus tour in the Midwest centering on ways to grow the economy.
He FLYS into an airport somewhere in the midwest, hops into a brand new 1.1 Million $ bus, paid for by you and me, for a “bus tour” ‘around the midwest’, and after an hour or so, gets driven back to the airport for ANOTHER FLIGHT, lands at another airport where another 1.1 Million $ brand new black bus is waiting for him… and repeats all that until his midwest bus‘tour’ is done?? Oh yes......and THEN he leaves on a 12 day vacation to Martha's Vineyard.......to REST UP from this campaign bus tour!
And don't forget........those brand new shiny black buses aren’t DRIVEN to the location where they meet Obama. Those buses are loaded up on one or more C-17s. Then, they are flown to the destination ahead of AirForce- AND!.......this is REPEATED FOR EVERY CAMPAIGN STOP. On this 'bus tour', the Prez will lecture the 'little people' on how they need to live within their means and cut-back! Remember when very recently Obama told that family man to GO BUY A HYBRID VAN when he said he couldn’t afford to fill up his truck???? Obama's 'carbon footprint' must be as large as most cities by now.

This was billed as a meet the people bus trip, not a campaign trip. You and I paid for this.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Promises, Promises, and More Promises

2011-08-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

I'm reminded of "The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!"

Det. Lt. Frank Drebin: Wilma, I promise you; whatever scum did this, not one man on this force will rest one minute until he's behind bars. Now, let's grab a bite to eat.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

John Kennedy is Dead

2011-08-25T16:50:00.000-07:00

The woman at the :30 mark says, "So, I'm asking the script be flipped and asking what the country can do for me and the people in this room and this nation" in a clear & knowing reference to JFK's inaugural, "And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

But, Maxine Waters said the tea party could go to hell; she'd like to help get them there, too. Isn't that more important than some educated peasant who should know better saying John Kennedy and his high sounding plea for a better America, a better world, a better citizenry can go to hell, wanting to know what's in it for me? Where's mine?

I guess in a political-points-by-stupid-sound-bite world, it is more important. Nevermind, the clear tectonic shift in the simple statement by that simple peasant. John Kennedy is dead. Get over it.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Maxine Waters Says TEA Party Can Go Straight to Hell

2011-08-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

She said it and followed that by saying she'd like to get them there. Now, even bona fide idiots say Maxine Waters is an idiot so her comment is a bit of rhetorical fluff. Besides, we're all going straight to hell with Obama driving the Big Black Bus.

The more important comment comes at the very beginning of the video clip from a woman echoing the brave words spoken by President John F. Kennedy(D) in his 1961 inaugural address,

"And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country."

The woman illustrates once again how perverted the ideals of the Democrats have become when she says,

"So, I'm asking the script be flipped and asking what the country can do for me and the people in this room and this nation."

Waters' comments begin at 1:55 in the video from the ABC News affiliate in Los Angeles, KABC.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

British PM Threatens Rioters with Purple Rain

2011-08-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

"Don't make me send in the artist formerly known as Prince!"

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Breaking News From 71 B.C.

2011-08-12T00:44:00.000-07:00

Rome police arrested a Colosseum gladiator gang.

Italian police have arrested 20 gladiator impersonators in an undercover sting aimed at ending a violent racket operating around Rome's most famous tourist sites, Italian press reported on Thursday.

When police asked their names, each suspect declared, "I am Spartacus!"

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Creepy Man Cuffs Himself to Rebuffing Woman

2011-08-12T00:29:00.000-07:00

As a child, his parents had to tie a pork chop around his neck just to get the dog to play with him.

Lovestruck weirdo Jason Dean, 24, allegedly handcuffed the 18-year-old woman Monday night in the parking lot of the fast food joint in Ringgold, according to a police report. The teenager was freed after other Taco Bell workers convinced Dean, pictured in the mug shot at right, to release her.

The victim, cops reported, had repeatedly rebuffed Dean’s advances over the past month and even had her work shift changed to avoid her creepy would-be suitor.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

DARPA Stealth Hypersonic Glider Lost

2011-08-12T00:07:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES — An unmanned hypersonic glider developed for U.S. defense research into super-fast global strike capability was launched atop a rocket early Thursday but contact was lost after the experimental craft began flying on its own, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency said.

It's a stealth aircraft, isn't losing contact the whole point?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Rick Perry Announces He Will Announce Presidential Bid

2011-08-11T23:51:00.000-07:00

Texas Governor Rick Perry will

"... make his intentions very clear on Saturday," Miner said, adding, "it's true" that he will say he is running for president.

Isn't announcing you're going to announce you're running for president pretty much the same as actually announcing you're going to run for president?

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Illinois Too Poor to Bury Indigent Poor

2011-08-11T23:36:00.000-07:00

This is a major blow to Chicago politics where burial establishes permanent residency for voting.

The state of Illinois has reached a new level of broke. Come Monday, it won't have enough cash to bury its indigent dead.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

President Orders Insurance Companies Provide Free Contraceptives

2011-08-01T18:38:00.000-07:00

While we were distracted by the debt limit story, Obama decreed that health care companies will provide all women in the U.S. with copay free birth control.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Health insurance plans must cover birth control as preventive care for women, with no copays, the Obama administration said Monday in a decision with far-reaching implications for health care as well as social mores.

Woody Allen had a thought on the subject:

A case of the right hand not knowing what the Leftist hand is doing.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Congress to Seal Debt Ceiling Deal

2011-07-31T21:04:00.000-07:00

Congressional leaders have come up with a plan requiring a short-term debt extension of the $14.3 trillion debt ceiling, something that was unacceptable a few hours ago. Obama said he would sign the extension only if it was good for days, not weeks (remember Libya?).

Betsy's Page has the particulars and an interesting take by John Podhoretz.

* $2.8 trillion in deficit reduction with $1 trillion locked in through discretionary spending caps over 10 years and the remainder determined by a so-called "Super Committee."
* The Super Committee must report precise deficit-reduction proposals by Thanksgiving.
* The Super Committee would have to propose $1.8 trillion in spending cuts to achieve that amount of deficit reduction over 10 years.
* If the Super Committee fails, Congress must send a balanced-budget amendment to the states for ratification. If that doesn't happen, across-the-board spending cuts would go into effect and could touch Medicare and defense spending.
* No net new tax revenue would be part of the special committee's deliberations.

I have two questions: 1) Do the Super Committee members have to wear tights? 2) Why do the lyrics of Simon and Garfunkel's The Boxer sound so appropriate?

I have squandered my resistance
For a pocket full of mumbles such are promises
All lies and jests
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
And disregards the rest

But wait! Reuters and Yahoo has more!

* The deal would allow President Barack Obama to raise the debt ceiling in three steps. Congress would get a chance to register its disapproval on two of these, but would not be able to block them unless it musters a two-thirds vote in both the House and the Senate -- an unlikely prospect.
* It envisions spending cuts of roughly $2.4 trillion over 10 years, which Congress would approve in two steps -- an initial $917 billion when the deal passes Congress and another $1.5 trillion by the end of the year.
* The first group of spending cuts would apply to the discretionary programs that Congress approves annually, covering everything from the military to food inspection.
* Those programs would be capped each year for 10 years. The caps would be relatively modest at first to avoid stifling the shaky economy -- spending for the fiscal year that begins October 1 would be only $6 billion below the current level of $1.049 trillion. The caps would have a greater impact in later years, when it is hoped that the economy will have recovered.
* Some $350 billion of the $917 billion total would come from defense and other security programs which now account for more than half of all discretionary spending. Republicans are resisting this idea and it is one of the few areas of dispute left.
* Automatic across-the-board spending cuts would kick in if Congress does not observe the caps in coming years.
* A 12-member congressional committee, made up equally of Republicans and Democrats from each chamber, would be tasked with finding a further $1.5 trillion in budget savings.
* That committee could find savings from an overhaul of the tax code and restructuring benefit programs like Medicare -- the politically risky decisions that lawmakers have not been able to agree on so far.
* The committee would have to complete its work by November 23. Congress would have an up-or-down vote, with no modifications, on the committee's recommendations by December 23.
* If the committee cannot agree on at least $1.2 trillion in savings, or Congress rejects its findings, automatic spending cuts totaling that amount would kick in starting in 2013.
* Those cuts would fall equally on domestic and military programs. Medicare would face automatic cuts as well, but Social Security, Medicaid, federal employee pay, and benefits for veterans and the poor would be exempt.
* The plan also calls for both the House and the Senate to vote on a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution by the end of the year. It is not likely to receive the two-thirds vote in each chamber needed for passage, but its inclusion will make it easier for conservatives to back the overall deal.

AH-HA! So, Congress gives the President control over debt limit increases, can only register its disapproval, and can't actually do anything without a nearly impossible two-thirds vote in both houses of congress. That's pretty much how Congress abdicated its war declaration power to the President. Meanwhile, spending cuts are only 'envisioned' for sometime over the next ten years. Again, "a pocket full of mumbles such are promises."

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Born Identity: Kids of Foreign Diplomats Granted U.S. Citizenship at Birth

2011-07-21T02:53:00.000-07:00

The citizenship clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution has been a matter of debate ever since it was proposed just after the Civil War. The 14th was intended to ensure automatic United States citizenship to all former slaves with all the rights and privileges as all other citizens.

Today the debate generally surrounds children illegally brought to the U.S. by their parents before the children were old enough to understand the situation and consent to illicit transport. On one count, however, everyone has been in agreement - the children of foreign diplomats who are born in American hospitals or anywhere on US soil are not "subject to the jurisdiction" of the United States and are therefore not to be granted U.S. citizenship.

However, because of lose enforcement of the principle, newborns of foreign diplomats are being automatically granted US citizenship and Social Security Numbers by hospital employees who are not required to inquire into the citizenship status of the partents.

But even that low standard is not being met according to the new Center for Immigration Studies report.

A lack of direction -- intentionally or unintentionally -- from the U.S. Congress has resulted in children born to foreign diplomats on U.S. soil receiving U.S. birth certificates and Social Security numbers – effectively becoming U.S. citizens – despite the limiting language within the Citizenship Clause of the 14th Amendment.

The CIS report also found:

Despite Congress's clear intent, the current application of the Citizenship Clause is so lax that the United States has a de facto universal birthright citizenship policy that denies U.S. citizenship by birth to no one.

There is no federal requirement that hospitals ask new parents if they are foreign diplomatic staff. The same birth certificates are issued to all newborns.

The State Department is currently rewriting guidelines on birthright citizenship, signaling a possibly significant departure from current 14th Amendment jurisprudence. The agency claims that children born to foreign diplomats are "entitled to birth certificates."

The Social Security Administration (SSA) recognizes that children of foreign diplomats are not eligible to receive SSNs, but there is no mechanism to prevent such issuance.

Children of diplomats who receive U.S. birth certificates and SSNs have greater rights and protections than the average U.S. citizen because they can enjoy all of the benefits of U.S. citizenship but also can invoke diplomatic immunity if they break a law. A lack of direction from Congress has created what one might consider a "super citizen" who is above the law.

In order to end the practice of granting automatic U.S. citizenship to children of foreign diplomats, Congress could author regulations requiring declaration of parental diplomatic status on birth certificate request forms. As an alternative, Congress could require parents to have SSNs before a U.S. birth certificate or SSN is issued to a newborn. While this latter proposal might create better results and be more easily administered, it would have the effect of ending automatic birthright citizenship not just for children of diplomats, but also for children of illegal aliens and temporary aliens – an outcome that is more aligned with the intended scope of the 14th Amendment than the outcome created by current practices.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Fake Canadians to be Stripped of Citizenship

2011-07-20T21:28:00.000-07:00

Canada is about to track down and deport 1800 people who fraudulently obtained citizenship. The suspects who used human smugglers or illegal immigration consultants, or posed as refugees were identified by Vancouver federal immigration investigators and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

Minister Jason Kenney told reporters, "For those who simply touch down and try to get a Canadian passport as a ... passport of convenience, who don't pay our taxes but who do consume our social benefits, I think that's dishonorable." That's quaint, but totally understandable and I agree.

Border jumpers will be notified and have the right of appeal which can delay deportation for years. However, Conservatives introduced legislation last year to speed the expulsion of illegals. Since Canada's 1867 founding, only 67 people have been stripped of citizenship. The current revocation unprecedented and should serve as an example to their southern neighbor, Baja Canada.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Disgruntled CEOs Abound

2011-07-20T08:14:00.000-07:00

Steve Wynn ragged on Obama the other day. He was, however, not the only CEO who has called out the thug antics of Obama. Investor's Business Daily has a few more:

• 3M's George Buckley, who blasted Obama last February as anti-business. "We know what his instincts are," Buckley said. "We've got a real choice between manufacturing in Canada or Mexico — which tends to be more pro-business — and America," he told the Financial Times.
• Boeing's Jim McNerney, who in the Wall Street Journal last May called Obama's handpicked National Labor Relations Board's suit against his company a "fundamental assault on the capitalist principles that have sustained America's competitiveness since it became the world's largest economy nearly 140 years ago."
• Intel's Paul Otellini, who told CNET last August that the U.S. legal environment has become so hostile to business that there is likely to be "an inevitable erosion and shift of wealth, much like we're seeing today in Europe — this is the bitter truth."
• Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus, who observed to radio host Hugh Hewitt last month that Obama "never had to make payroll," that "nobody has ever created a job in this administration" and that the president is "surrounded by college professors."
• GE's Jeffrey Immelt, one of Obama's biggest supporters, who hit out at the president last year. "Business did not like the U.S. president and the president did not like business," the FT reported him saying. "People are in a really bad mood. We have to become an industrial powerhouse again, but you don't do this when government and entrepreneurs are not in sync."
• Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett, another Obama backer, who blasted Obama's bank tax in January 2010 as a "guilt tax," once called Obama's carbon tax idea "regressive" and this month denounced Obama's obsession with corporate jets.
These aren't the only ones. CEOs of battered oil companies like Chevron and Exxon Mobil, media companies like Fox News and Forbes, and business groups like the Chamber of Commerce have also spoken out. When the creators of jobs and wealth are saying the same thing, isn't it time for the White House to listen up?

I would prefer the White House to continue ignoring the CEO smart guys. It is time for Obama supporters to listen up and realize they've been conned.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Green Vehicles of Salinas Crashes

2011-07-19T15:16:00.000-07:00

Local government subsidized Green Vehicles notified the California city of Salinas they had closed up shop yesterday. Salinas had an initial investment of $300,000 in the start-up that promised to create 70 jobs in the area. Even after an infusion of another $200,000, Green Vehicles folded almost before any cars were produced.

KSBW has the whole story that is reminiscent of another car company of the last century. In the late 1930's, Germany had backed an automobile maker that was going to build a car for the common people, the volk. So certain of initial success, management deducted money from each employee's paycheck and put it toward the purchase of one of the new cars. Unfortunately, an international misunderstanding we now call World War Two cropped-up. The company made only two cars before transferring manufacturing to the NAZI party to produce war material. After the war, Volkswagen Beetle became one of the most popular and successful cars ever produced with the VW van becoming part of the non-conformist American hippie conformal uniform.

Whether we like or hate the idea of alternative energy/green cars, they will be produced eventually. Green Vehicles was a first attempt for one man and he will try again. Let's hope that next time he does so with private financing and customers in hand, not with promises and a fistful taxpayer dollars.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

DOJ Charge Two with Conspiracy to Act as Unregistered Agents for Pakistan

2011-07-19T12:16:00.000-07:00

NBC's Pete Williams (yeah, I know! NBC!) reports this morning the FBI has arrested an American-Pakistani as an

agent of Pakistan's official state intelligence service, accusing him of making thousands of dollars in political contributions in the United States without disclosing his connections to the Pakistani government.

Syed Ghulam Fai will appear in federal court this afternoon in Alexandria, Virginia. He's not charged with being a spy. But he is charged with being an unregistered agent or lobbyist of the Pakistani government.

According to the Dept of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, another Am-Pak man is also charged in the unregistered agent conspiracy.

Two individuals have been charged with participating in a long-term conspiracy to act as agents of the Pakistani government in the United States without disclosing their affiliation with the Pakistani government as required by law.
(...)
Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, 62, a U.S. citizen and resident of Fairfax, Va., and Zaheer Ahmad, 63, a U.S. citizen and resident of Pakistan, are charged in a one-count criminal complaint in the Eastern District of Virginia. The complaint alleges that the defendants have conspired to: 1) act as an agent of a foreign principal without registering with the Attorney General in violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA); and 2) falsify, conceal, and cover up material facts they had a duty to disclose in matters within the jurisdiction of Executive Branch agencies of the U.S. government.
Fai was arrested this morning. Ahmad remains at large and is believed to be in Pakistan. Both face a potential sentence of five years in prison if convicted.
(...)
“Mr. Fai is accused of a decades-long scheme with one purpose – to hide Pakistan’s involvement behind his efforts to influence the U.S. government’s position on Kashmir,” said U.S. Attorney MacBride. “His handlers in Pakistan allegedly funneled millions through the Kashmir Center to contribute to U.S. elected officials, fund high-profile conferences, and pay for other efforts that promoted the Kashmiri cause to decision-makers in Washington.”
(...)
According to an affidavit filed in support of the criminal complaint, Fai serves as the director of the Kashmiri American Council (KAC), a non-governmental organization located in Washington, D.C., that was founded in 1990 and also goes by the name “Kashmir Center.” The KAC describes itself in educational materials as a “not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of knowledge in the United States about the struggle of the Kashmiri people for self-determination.”
The affidavit alleges that, although the KAC held itself out to be a Kashmiri organization run by Kashmiris and financed by Americans, the KAC is one of three “Kashmir Centers” that are actually run by elements of the Pakistani government, including Pakistan’s military intelligence service, the Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI). The two other Kashmir Centers are in London, England, and Brussels, Belgium.
According to the affidavit, a confidential witness told investigators that he participated in a scheme to obscure the origin of money transferred by Pakistan’s ISI to Fai to use as a lobbyist for the KAC in furtherance of Pakistani government interests. The witness explained that the money was transferred to Fai through Ahmad, an American living in Pakistan. A second confidential witness told investigators that the ISI created the KAC to propagandize on behalf of the government of Pakistan with the goal of uniting Kashmir. This witness said ISI’s sponsorship and control of KAC were secret and that ISI had been directing Fai’s activities for the past 25 years.

Let's be clear - both individuals are American citizens and have every right to make donations to any American political organization and individual they so choose. They do not have the right, however, to act as agents of a foreign entity without declaration.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Steve Wynn Rips Obama

2011-07-19T10:53:00.000-07:00

Obama is "responsible for this fear in America."

Wynn Resorts CEO, Steve Wynn, bluntly said what many Americans, and businesses people around the world, are thinking about Obama and the current business climate change during a Wynn Resorts conference call Monday. Here are the most damning comments from Wynn:

There are a host of opportunities for expansion in Las Vegas, a host of opportunities to create tens of thousands of jobs in Las Vegas. I know that I could do 10,000 more myself and according to the Chamber of Commerce and the Visitors Convention Bureau, if we hired 10,000 employees, it would create another 20,000 additional jobs for a grand total of 30,000. I believe in Las Vegas. I think its best days are ahead of it. But I'm afraid to do anything in the current political environment in the United States. You watch television and see what's going on on this debt ceiling issue. And what I consider to be a total lack of leadership from the President and nothing's going to get fixed until the President himself steps up and wrangles both parties in Congress. But everybody is so political, so focused on holding their job for the next year that the discussion in Washington is nauseating.

And I'm saying it bluntly, that this administration is the greatest wet blanket to business, and progress and job creation in my lifetime. And I can prove it and I could spend the next 3 hours giving you examples of all of us in this market place that are frightened to death about all the new regulations, our healthcare costs escalate, regulations coming from left and right. A President that seems, that keeps using that word redistribution. Well, my customers and the companies that provide the vitality for the hospitality and restaurant industry, in the United States of America, they are frightened of this administration.And it makes you slow down and not invest your money. Everybody complains about how much money is on the side in America.

You bet and until we change the tempo and the conversation from Washington, it's not going to change. And those of us who have business opportunities and the capital to do it are going to sit in fear of the President. And a lot of people don't want to say that. They'll say, God, don't be attacking Obama. Well, this is Obama's deal and it's Obama that's responsible for this fear in America.

The guy keeps making speeches about redistribution and maybe we ought to do something to businesses that don't invest, their holding too much money. We haven't heard that kind of talk except from pure socialists. Everybody's afraid of the government and there's no need soft peddling it, it's the truth. It is the truth. And that's true of Democratic businessman and Republican businessman, and I am a Democratic businessman and I support Harry Reid. I support Democrats and Republicans. And I'm telling you that the business community in this country is frightened to death of the weird political philosophy of the President of the United States. And until he's gone, everybody's going to be sitting on their thumbs. Real Clear Politics

Wynn has previous called out Obama and the fawning media last April in an interview with Neil Cavuto on FOX Business so I guess Wynn Resorts will not be getting an ObamaCare waiver anytime soon.

Read the full conference call here.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Good Lord, I Have A Bald Spot!

2011-07-18T23:34:00.000-07:00

This is me, in the Hawaiian shirt, with sisters and cousin at our family summer picnic in Lincoln, CA, July 3.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Jane Fonda Says She Never Did Anything to Hurt Her Country

2011-07-16T20:29:00.000-07:00

Vietnam War era protest activist, Academy Award winning actress, and elderly narcissist Jane Fonda was angered when the shopping channel QVC cancelled her appearance to hawk her new book. Fonda issued a statement on her blog blaming "well funded and organized political extremist groups" that interfered with her ability to make a buck. She went on in her statement to say:

"Bottom line, this has gone on far too long, this spreading of lies about me! None of it is true. NONE OF IT! I love my country. I have never done anything to hurt my country or the men and women who have fought and continue to fight for us. I do not understand what the far right stands to gain by continuing with these myths. In this case, they denied a lot of people the chance to hear about a book that can help make life better, easier and more fulfilling. I am deeply grateful for all of the support I have been getting since this happened, including from my Vietnam Veterans friends." CNS

As an elderly narcissist, she may have forgotten, or was hoping we had forgotten, the 1972 photo-op in which she was caught sitting on an anti-aircraft gun during a visit to North Vietnam, earning her the nickname "Hanoi Jane." She later claimed in her autobiography that she was tricked into sitting at the AA gun by the inscrutable Vietnamese.

Fonda also made ten radio broadcasts during that trip to N. Vietnam in which she denounced as war criminals American political and military leaders. In an act that could have mitigated her actions, Fonda visited Americans held in POW prisons around Hanoi and returned to the US with messages for their families. However, when torture reports of American prisoners by the North Vietnamese began to circulate after POWs were repatriated, Fonda called the POWs "hypocrites and liars". Hanoi Jane went on, "These were not men who had been tortured. These were not men who had been starved. These were not men who had been brainwashed."

In a 1973 interview with The New York Times, speaking about torture by the N.V., Fonda said, "I'm quite sure that there were incidents of torture ... but the pilots who were saying it was the policy of the Vietnamese and that it was systematic, I believe that's a lie" and that the POWs were "military careerists and professional killers" who are "trying to make themselves look self-righteous, but they are war criminals according to the law."

It's hard to imagine, though, that Jane Fonda would protest any company with "VC" in the name. And, she peed in the pond, hence the title, "On Golden Pond."

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Life Imitates Mo'Toons

2011-07-14T21:11:00.000-07:00

Scores, if not hundreds, of people (Muslims) died in the protests over the Danish newspaper publication what came to be known as Mo'toons . There was one cartoon in particular that tickled the ire of the practitioners of the Religion of Peace.

A SUICIDE attacker who appears to have concealed his explosives inside a turban killed a senior cleric and at least four other people yesterday at a funeral service for the assassinated brother of the Afghan president. The Scotsman

I could say I'm all broken up over this, but I was no where near the turban bomb.

h/t Lucianne

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama is the New Nixon

2011-07-10T23:41:00.000-07:00

Brit Hume of FOX News used the n-word on Sunday. Somebody's got some splaining to do.

h/t Crack Emcee

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Attempted Suicide Ends in Death

2011-07-06T19:07:00.000-07:00

Egyptian diplomat, Ayman Mohammed Fayed, attempted to kill himself in London by jumping from the top floor of the embassy. Apparently, he changed his mind, tried to get back in through a window, slipped and fell to the pavement landing with a "bang" according to witnesses.

The Daily Mail says "the incident occurred just before violence broke out in Egypt, leading to the resignation of president Hosni Mubarak."

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Independence Day 2011

2011-07-04T10:13:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th!

Photo: Becky Dukeshire, 2011

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Obama at Ft. Drum Declares Fallen Hero Alive

2011-06-23T21:39:00.000-07:00

This man is the biggest horse's ass to occupy the Oval Office. Obama spoke to the 10th Mountain Division at Ft Drum today without his teleprompter.

First time I saw 10th Mountain Division, you guys were in southern Iraq. When I went back to visit Afghanistan, you guys were the first ones there. I had the great honor of seeing some of you because a comrade of yours, Jared Monti, was the first person who was able to award the Medal of Honor to who actually came back and wasn’t receiving it posthumously.

You Tube

Sergeant First Class Jared C. Monti was killed in action in Afghanistan, June 21, 2006. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously, September 17, 2009. Obama handed the framed medal to his parents, Paul and Janet Monti who were comforted by the Obamas in the Oval Office following the ceremony.

Obama can't say he didn't know, didn't remember, or blame it on TOTUS. He was there in September when he personally awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor posthumously to Jared Monti and presented the medal to his parents.

ARMY.mil video and text

Disgraceful. Absolutely disgraceful.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Permits Issued for AK Oil Drilling, Road Building Blocked

2011-06-17T16:20:00.000-07:00

Last May, Obama promised to open more areas to oil drilling off the Alaskan north coast by American oil companies. For years, the area has been off limits over environmental concerns and American companies have yet to begin operations in those newly opened fields of the National Petroleum Reserve even though the Italian oil company, Eni, began drilling in January 2011 and spilled 60 gallons of crude only 10 days after start of operations.

U.S. operations, reports The New York Times, have yet to get underway after obtaining all the necessary drilling permits. According to Mike Pool, deputy director of the Bureau of Land Management, "I think we have everything in place and we have demonstrated that over time. We currently have all the regulations and the authorities we need." So what's holding them up?

House Natural Resources Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash) explained after a trip to NPR-A with Gov. Sean Parnell(R-AK), "Producing oil and natural gas in the NPR-A is pointless if there's no way to get it out of there. The real problem is the federal government's blocking and delaying of permits for necessary roads, bridges and pipelines needed to transport the energy out of the NPR-A."

Like the old Ford Motor Company joke that you can have your car in any color as long as it's black, the Obama administration is telling US oil companies they can drill all the oil they want, but they can't build roads to get to the oil fields. There's always a catch.

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.

Michelle Obama is Shovel Ready

2011-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

Oh, my!

The life of Indigo Red is full of adventure. Tune in next time for the Further Adventures of Indigo Red.