Osama Bin Laden Dead! Cause of death? Justice.

OBSERVATION:  There is a lot that could be said about last night's announcement concerning the latest development in the war of terror, however one of our witty facebook friends said it best..

"...Osama Bin Laden- A man currently in a face-to-face dialogue with his Maker. Meeting arranged courtesy of the U.S. Military Special Forces!"


 
 
 
ANALYSIS:
 
UP:  BAHO $250
 
DOWN:

Weekend Musing...Promise Made?

Has Abdul the Arms-Dealer Become Abdul the Suicide Bomb(thrower)?

OBSERVATION:  Well apparently Abdul Hakim Shabazz's (INBR) mockingbirds are finally coming home to roost in the form of an open letter of rebuke from the Indianapolis Bar Association.  The letter was in response to Abdul's latest compost composited allegations on Judge Lou Rosenberg's handling of the Charlie White recount case. 

Indy Student (ISTUD), Indy Times (ITEM), and Paul Ogden (OGPL) have each posted on this as well.  We find it interesting how "centrist" Abdul can patently ignore the common knowledge of the dysfunctional happenings within the local GOP (from Tom John, Carl Brizzi, Ryan Vaughn to Angel Rivera and others) yet without a shred of evidence speculate on the motivations of a presiding Democrat judge and still consider himself a serious "journalist".

Apparently in the eternal quest for attention, Mr. Shabazz will do and say about anything and in this process has mistaken the reaction of those he wrongly accuses as fear or respect of his "power". All we have to say to that there is nothing farther from the truth.  We have reviewed about 40 or so emails sent to us from various readers that adds evidence to the fact that both his credibility and circle of friends are shrinking rapidly. 

We've discovered that Abdul seems to operate under the theory that "it doesn't matter if it is true, as long as it is plausible". Now this may be a standard procedure for a wishy-washy high school debutant but not for a grown man who purportedly considers himself a professional journalist.

Finally, we do question the wisdom of a guy living in Indianapolis with a law degree but no client base or practice pissing off the Indianapolis Bar Association.  Yep Mr. Shabazz you've become quite the spectacle...in the span of only a few weeks you successfully  transformed yourself from an armsdealer into a suicide bomb-thrower. Great career move.


ANALYSIS:

UP:  ITIM $160, OGPL $260, ISTUD $150

DOWN:  INBR $120,  

Indy Democrat Rivals Abdul Hakim Shabazz's Stand-Up Routine

OBSERVATION: In a post that rivals the best of April Fool's Day jokes and if fact almost had us hooked, Indy Democrat (IDEM) writes a post that rivals Abdul Hakim Shabazz's (INBR) periodic patchworked-sourced posts of alleged conversations inside the local Democratic Party. 

Indy Dem we admit it, you almost had us there. They say good satire always has an element of truth and this my friends is a classic example and worthy of a stock boost.

UP: IDEM  $180

DOWN: $130

Twenty Questions for 2011: (16-20)

OBSERVATION: Here's the final 5!:

16) Will the GOP retain leadership of the council?

17) If Mayor Greg Ballard loses his re-election who is to blame?

18) Assuming Melina Kennedy is the nominee and loses the general election, who is to blame?

19) What will be the total amount of funds raised and spent for the 2011 mayoral campaign?

20)  Do the House Democrats have the cohones to walk out again before the end of the session?

Who Will Admit To Hiring Tim Koponen?

OBSERVATIONS:  Many of you are asking yourselves right now 'who the heck in Tim Koponen'? Well prior to receiving about a dozen or so emails concerning Mitch Daniels' newest appointee's bizarre behavior we were asking the same thing. For those of you who many not know, Tim Koponen was recently hired as Director of Quality, Metrics and Statistics with the Indiana Department of Labor under Commissioner Lori A Torres. 

According to well-placed sources within state and local government, Mr. Koponen is creating quite a buzz in the hallways of the Government Center South as well as local political operatives with prognostications on his future plans.  Apparently Tim is trying to convince his listening audience that he was "personally recruited" by Governor Daniels to shake up the IDOL because of Mitch's dissatisfaction with Commissioner Torres' leadership over the last few months.  He also is quick to point out that he is being fast-tracked to be the Commissioner if things do not shape up by the end of year.

In an effort to obtain some background on Tim as well as provide some degree of objectivity we decided to take a peek at his facebook page.  We've cut and pasted a few of his responses - only because we think that he will delete them after this post becomes public.  Below are Tim's posts in italics.

..Timothy M Koponen

What always baffles me is the fact that Universal Healthcare actually is cheaper that crappy private half assed health care, but American don't want the good stuff... what about being world class and getting the best? Why do we hate being better?
Why Germany Has It So Good -- and Why America Is Going Down the Drain
www.alternet.org

April 15 at 9:56pm · Share.
Timothy M Koponen


What kind of bonuses would they have needed if we didn't cut those taxes on the rich?
Thank goodness s
LINDA KEENAN: How the Richest 1 Percent Keep Rewarding Themselves for Epic Failure
A signature feature of the shadow lobbyist era is not just a manipu...lation of public policy, but also an embrace of "failing upward". No matter the track record, the elite 1 percent seek more of the same. See More


LINDA KEENAN: How the Richest 1 Percent Keep Rewarding Themselves for Epic Failure..
April 10 at 9:54pm via Huffington Post · LINDA KEENAN: How the Ric.

Timothy M Koponen via James McGrath

Maybe he did....


My Take: Jesus would believe in evolution and so should you
religion.blogs.cnn.com
Editor's Note: Karl W. Giberson, Ph.D., is vice president of The BioLogos Foundation and is the author or coauthor of seven books, including The Language of Science and Faith. By Karl W. Giberson, Special to CNN Jesus once famously said, “I am the Truth...


April 10 at 5:53pm · Share

Timothy M Koponen

The best is that she's home schooling her kids LOL. Hope they're not my students

What Does Bachmann's Grasp Of History Mean For The Children?
Over the weekend, supposed Presidential candidate Michele Bachmann ...made some news after she mistook the state of New Hampshire as the location of the Battles... See More  Germans have six weeks of federally mandated vacation, free university tuition, and nursing care. Why the US pales in comparison...

What Does Bachmann's Grasp Of History Mean For The Children?..

March 15 at 12:31am via Huffington Post · What Does Bachmann's Gras.

As you can see we imagine Tim's comments have Governor Mitch Daniels' political advisers scrambling right now to clean up this guy's public rants. With the economy of someone who obviously likes to hear himself speak without consequences, he has systematically undercut the Governor's message on tax policy (we assume the Governor will endorse tax cuts for all) and Obamacare as he touts the perfection of Germany's Universal Health Care.


Of course it wouldn't be complete embarrassment for the Governor without mocking social conservatives with his offhand comments on Jesus Christ supporting evolution. Finally, as a former professor he couldn't pass up a chance to insult the Teaparty darling Congresswoman Bachmann. Not bad for two months work. Of course this add credibility to our sources' claims that Mr. Koponen possess an uncanny lack of political common sense and the rare ability to piss off people every time he opens his mouth to speak.

For those who think that we are nitpicking, please keep in mind that social media is the new 'open mike' for the next Presidential election. History shows that many a candidate have had their political aspirations crippled or even derailed when one of their employees catches a case of diarrhea of the mouth.

We are curious to know that in light of the Governor's all but announced bid for the White House, did anyone bother to check out this guy before he was hired?

We bet Mr. Earl Goode, The Governor's Chief of Staff may be having second thoughts on this pick.

From our vantage point, it seems like loose cannon Tim Koponen is more of a benefit for President Obama than the Governor. But only time will tell.


ANALYSIS:


UP:

DOWN: MDAN $150, AiHi $100, TKOP $50

Twenty Questions for 2011: (11-15)

OBSERVATIONS: Here's the next 5 (better late than never).

11) Will Sam Carson stay in the mayoral race if he loses the primary?

12) Will Jocelyn Tande Adante get more than 100 votes in the primary?

13) How long (in months) will Emmis president Jeff Semulyan stomach Carl Brizzi's on-air antics?

14) Who will be the first GOP candidate to throw their hat in the ring for the CD7 in 2012?

15) Who of those named will be the nominee?

Twenty Questions for 2011: (6-10)

OBSERVATIONS: Here's the next five:

6)  Will a deal be struck to keep CD 7 boundaries the same and if so, who were the deal makers who will make it happen?

7) Will Secretary of State Charlie White be indicted?

8) How many times will Mayor Ballard say "No Question About It" in his first debate?

9) Who will be former Prosecutor Carl Brizzi's first "political makeover" client?

10) How motivated is Baker and Daniels to support one of their own and will it hurt them in 2013 if candidate Melina Kennedy falls short?

Twenty Questions for 2011: (1-5)

OBSERVATIONS: Taking a suggestion from one of our readers we're asking the first five of the top twenty provocative (and a bit irreverent) questions for 2011. 

1) What percentage of the GOP decision-makers wish they had a mulligan on their 2010 Secretary of State pick?

2) Will the Democratic Party accept "Sherron Franklin II" the sequel?

3) Is Indy ready for a female mayor?

4)  Will "independent-minded" Abdul Hakim Shabazz play the same role in this year's mayoral election (that of an anti-incumbent) as he did in 2007?

5) Will Democratic At-large candidate Joanne Sanders use her patented "only vote for me" strategy to insure her primary victory?

I'm Back...And Cancer Free!

Sorry for the long absence readers it has been a long time since I (we) have posted. As you may have figured out by now, I had some health issues that took all of my attention and energy to overcome. The rest of the the team didn't want to continue without me so we decided to temporarily suspend postings.  We also decided that it was best not to offer a reason so that if things didn't go as we hoped we would have more options at our disposal and my privacy could be maintained for my family.

Fortunately things worked out well.  While I may not be posting as often as I've done in the past, I'm going to do my very best to keep you updated with the latest info on the winners and losers in the world of politics.

I can't wait to get started! Damn, its good to be back!!