Wonder how long of a commute I’d have if I lived in Delaware.  I am NOT happy about this.

It could be worse, I suppose, but doesn’t some party have to be against raising taxes?

Here’s Amy McCree from News9 in a bikini. 

I really want to know how Chaz came into posession of the picture. 

So I’m surfing the internet trying to put my Christmas list together, and I think to myself, “You know, I always wanted an Oklahoma City Blazers jersey.” 

Well, after seeing the new jerseys… not so much.  When did they change to those ugly sweaters? 

And someone please tell the Redhawks that there are a few people out there (well, at least one) who might want to shop the team store online.  I went on a minor league baseball cap spree over the summer and I cannot tell you how bummed I was that you couldn’t order Redhawks merchandise online. 

Apparently Kathy Taylor really does approve of going after gun owners instead of criminals. 

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Chicago Mayor Richard Daley
and Milwaukee Mayor Thomas Barrett had harsh words Wednesday for the Bush
administration and the gun lobby’s influence on Congress.

…

The mayors, including Tulsa, Okla., Mayor Kathy Taylor and Rockford, Ill.,
Mayor Lawrence Morrisey, spoke at Chicago police headquarters from behind a
table loaded with illegal firearms seized by police in recent months.

I’m really surprised the Tulsa media hasn’t gone after Taylor on this.  Well, maybe not surprised that the World hasn’t said anything, but I would think this would be a topic tailor-made for conservative radio hosts in Tulsa.

Saw this on Instapundit, and I was thrilled to see that it came from Dan and Angi, who used to listen to the show in Oklahoma City. 

While the story itself is pretty neat (Eskimo villages that have turned down Hugo Chavez’s offer of free heating oil), I confess I was even more thrilled to see how freaking big their son Elijah has become.  Congrats Dan and Angi!

Can’t believe it’s Labor Day weekend already.  That means the Arts Festival at OCCC(CCCCC).  That used to be my favorite back to school event when I was in high school.  When I moved back to Oklahoma City after college I went for a few years, but it gradually dropped off my radar.  Thea (of Jewelry by Thea) emailed me to let me know that she’s going to be selling her wares at the Festival.  Since Thea was the very first advertiser for this blog, I definitely want to let people know. 

So swing on by the Big Red Barn and say hi to Thea for me this weekend.  And eat an Indian Taco for me too, will ya?

Yep.  It’s back and online at http://wwwtmrcom.blogspot.com/.  Lotsa good stuff on Oklahoma politics from my buddy Mike. 

Elaine and I went over to Annapolis last night to have dinner with friends.  Since we’ve usually got the gaggle of kids with us, we don’t get out to sightsee nearly as much as I’d like.  So, despite the fact that we’ve lived here for more than two years, it was our first time in Annapolis. 

It was a beautiful night, and the harbor area was full of Midshipmen and plebes.  I saw these four plebes sitting at the end of the dock looking out onto the water and just thought it was a neat visual.  Godspeed, gentlemen. 

 (For the tech-minded, this was shot with the camera on my Treo.  Pretty good quality, especially since it was fairly dark, but I really want to invest in a real digital camera at some point). 

Sara at Geeks, Freaks, and Weirdos could use some of your support.

D.C.’s police chief, Charles Ramsey, has declared a crime emergency in the our nation’s capitol. There’ve been 14 murders in 11 days in D.C. While the homicide rate is at this point unchanged from 2005, robberies in the city are up 14% over last year.

In fact, last night on the National Mall six people were robbed in the shadow of the Washington Monument.

Thank God I don’t live in “gun free” D.C.

This would appear to be welcome news for Oklahoma’s economy.

China’s oldest carmaker plans to build an assembly plant in southern Oklahoma to help revive a historic English automotive brand — the MG.

Nanjing Automobile Corp. will locate a manufacturing facility and parts distribution center at the Ardmore Air Park, said Duke T. Hale, the company’s new president and chief executive.

Oklahoma City will be the site of the company’s global headquarters for sales, marketing and distribution outside of Asia. A new research and development facility will be housed at the University of Oklahoma in Norman.

550 new jobs won’t replace the ones lost when GM shuttered its Oklahoma City plant, but it’s a start.

Human Events Online says Oklahoma City’s the third most conservative city in the nation.

Very much a pro-oil city. According to The Almanac of American Politics, “Oil rigs were pumping crude on the grounds of the then-domeless Capitol until 1989; a derrick still stands sentinel outside the governor’s window.” Represented by GOP Rep. Ernest Istook (ACU lifetime: 94%; 2005: 96%) who says, “Oklahoma has the kind of values that the rest of the nation needs to have.”

I don’t know that being pro-oil makes you conservative. I think in Oklahoma City’s case, it’s using your natural resources to your advantage.

I think it’s fair to say that Oklahoma City’s a conservative city, but I don’t know that it’s in the top three in the country.

Quick quiz: what politician recently said the following.

“During states of emergency, I think police need total control. They don’t need to worry who has guns and who doesn’t. If the [authorities] call for [people] to relinquish their guns, the public needs to do so.”

Chuck Schumer? Mike Bloomberg? Richard Daley?

Nope. Oklahoma State Representative Mike Shelton. The actual quote:

“During states of emergency, I think police need total control. They don’t need to worry who has guns and who doesn’t. If the governor calls for Oklahomans to relinquish their guns, the public needs to do so,”

No offense to Rep. Shelton, but during a state of emergency, the police won’t have total control. Perhaps this will refresh the Representative’s memory.

In the Carrollton neighborhood, two armed men - self-appointed sheriffs in a white pickup - confronted them. Spotting thieves who had commandeered a forklift and smashed into a Rite Aid store, the two men fired above the looters’ heads and ran them off.

A man emerged pulling a little wagon stacked with Pampers, food, water and soda. He screamed at the men with the guns.

“Who are y’all? Who are you to stop us?”

“I’m an American citizen,” was the reply. “Take your food and go.”

“I need these things,” the looter told me. “I can’t afford to get out of here. But I have to feed my family.

“Look at what I have,” he said. “These aren’t luxuries.”

Not far away, at Cooter Brown’s Bar & Grill, the weary owner stood sentry with a pal to keep the looters at bay. He had a .357 magnum, a 9-mm. handgun, a 12-gauge shotgun and no hesitation about using any of them.

“The cops are busy as it is. If more citizens took security and matters into their own hands, we won’t be in this situation,” said owner Art DePodesta, 30, as he warily scanned the street.

Or maybe this, from the old Nola.com hurricane blog.

“In Uptown, one the few areas that remained dry, a bearded man patrolled Oak Street near the boarded-up Maple Leaf Bar, a sawed-off shotgun slung over his shoulder. The owners of a hardware store sat in folding chairs, pistols at the ready.

Uptown resident Keith Williams started his own security patrol, driving around in his Ford pickup with his newly purchased handgun. Earlier in the day, Williams said he had seen the body of a gunshot victim near the corner of Leonidas and Hickory streets.

“What I want to know is why we don’t have paratroopers with machine guns on every street,” Williams said.

Like-minded Art Depodesta sat on the edge of a picnic table outside Cooter Brown’s Bar, a chrome shotgun at his side loaded with red shells.

“They broke into the Shell station across the street,” he said. “I walked over with my 12-gauge and shot a couple into the air.”

The looters scattered, but soon after, another man appeared outside the bar in a pickup truck armed with a pistol and threatened Depodesta.

“I told him, ‘Listen, I was in the Army and I will blow your ass off,’” Depodesta said. “We’ve got enough trouble with the flood.”

The man sped away.”

The idea that the police can protect you in a time of emergency is, quite frankly, nonsense. That’s not a slam on police, it’s just reality. Look at everything the New Orleans police had to deal with in the aftermath of Katrina. Was it really in the best interest of the city that they go door to door confiscating firearms from law-abiding citizens? For some residents, that was the only time they saw the police… when they came for their guns.

And then of course there is the overriding ideological argument. A state of emergency should not automatically mean a police state. Perhaps the next time a tornado sweeps through Moore (or Cordell or Woodward) we can suspend the 1st Amendment as well as the 2nd? No speaking ill of the job of people like Rep. Shelton, otherwise… well, just watch your back.

I don’t think so.

Know where your mayor was yesterday? In New York City, chumming it up with Mayor Bloomberg at the anti-gun summit.

Y’all must be so proud.

… in all the wrong places. You know, Oklahoma doesn’t need stories like this showing up everywhere.

BRAY, Okla. — A man is causing an uproar in his rural southwestern Oklahoma town by advertising that he’d like to pay for a young virgin to be his bride.

Michael Theleman, 45, said he doesn’t understand the problem and thinks he just has some wicked neighbors.

Theleman has caused an uproar in the southwestern Oklahoma town of Bray with his search for a bride. He put a sign in his yard Sunday saying he’ll pay $1,000 for a virgin bride between the ages of 12 and 24.

Why couldn’t this guy be from Arkansas?

I received this email today.

I thought I might find some mention of the Murrah building bombing anniversary on your site. I haven’t heard a peep about it outside the local news here in OK. I wonder if people are starting to forget?

I hadn’t forgotten. I’m just not sure what there is left to say.

Perhaps I should have followed Chaz’s lead.

**Update**

I want to thank the e-mailer for prompting me to write about this, even if I’m at a loss of words. I look around the blogs and there is nothing about it. Had a brief conversation with a friend a moment ago.

Me: Notice anything curiously absent from the blogs today?

Him: No, but tell me what it is.

Me: It’s the anniversary of the Murrah bombing.

Him: Really? I thought it was in May.

It’s only been eleven years, and Sara’s right. This is now an Oklahoma-only story. There’s something incredibly sad about that.

The saga of Sean Gleeson. Unbelievable story. Adorable kids.

*By the way, I have no idea what to classify this as. “Local” used to mean Oklahoma-based stories. I’ve been in the D.C. area for two years now. Is “Local” now D.C.? Sigh. These are the things that keep me up at night… which means my life is a heckuva lot more boring than Sean Gleeson’s.

Eddie Sutton might be back next year?

Color me one OSU fan who’s not excited about this. I understand the desire for redemption, or to go out in another way, but this is as good a time as any to make that coaching change.

In the comments below, Steve says WKY’s flipped formats to Spanish music. If so, I’m pretty disappointed. It was always kind of fun (and incredibly difficult) to play Program Director in my head to imagine how to make WKY successful.

The problem WKY had was it tried to be all local from the get-go, allowing KOKC (then KOMA-AM) and KEBC to grab the syndicated shows that KTOK didn’t air. Let’s face it, it’s tough enough to be competitive when you’re going against the juggernauts of Rush, Hannity, and McCarville (and believe me, McCarville was a juggernaut in the ratings). The thing is, now KTOK doesn’t have McCarville. Sure, you’ve still got to deal with Rush and Hannity, but the situation for WKY (and KOKC) has improved a bit over a few weeks ago.

So what would I have done differently? This is just my personal preference, but I would have scrapped Brad Copeland and let Mike Steely do his own show. I would have tried to get syndicated programming in the afternoons , and would have gone local in the evenings.

Most importantly, I would have pushed for KWTV and the Oklahoman to be true partners. I would have had Mark Shannon on KWTV talking politics at every opportunity. I would have had Ron Black in the op/ed pages of the Oklahoman once a week.

I guess we’ll never know if that would have worked for WKY. I’m thinking even if all of those things had happened, WKY would still run 2nd to KTOK. But I’ll bet they would have pulled more than a 1.0 share.

I wish all the WKY guys the best and hope they land on their feet in a good situation soon.

Okay, so I’m not a Texas fan. I won’t be jumping on any bandwagons. I’ll still root for the Sooners against Texas, and my Cowboys against everyone else in the Big 12. But wow, what a game last night. Vince Young looked amazing. LenDale White looked better than Reggie Bush. And Matt (Pretty Boy) Leinert looked average. What a great end to the college football season.

Let’s just hope the Cowboys and Sooners can rebound from their below average seasons next year.

Just wanted to give a pat on the back to the volunteer firefighters who’ve been dealing with the grassfires in Oklahoma. It’s a dangerous and thankless job, but I’m glad they’re doing it.

Somehow I knew Dustbury would have this story, and as usual… I was right. GM is closing 9 plants across the nation, including Oklahoma City’s plant. SUV’s aren’t really profitable these days, and a new plant is coming online in Lansing in the next few months.

Still, it looks like Oklahoma City will be the first plant to get the axe. As of this writing, the Oklahoman only has an AP story up, so I’m not sure of the total number of jobs lost in the Oklahoma City area. This story from five years ago indicates it would be about 3,400, but that’s just the employees of the plant itself. There will, unfortunately, be ancillary losses as well.

News from Oklahoma is sometimes slow to make it to D.C., so I just read about this today.

Tasha Henderson got tired of her 14-year-old daughter’s poor grades, her chronic lateness to class and her talking back to her teachers, so she decided to teach the girl a lesson.

She made Coretha stand at a busy Oklahoma City intersection Nov. 4 with a cardboard sign that read: “I don’t do my homework and I act up in school, so my parents are preparing me for my future. Will work for food.”

“This may not work. I’m not a professional,” said Henderson, a 34-year-old mother of three. “But I felt I owed it to my child to at least try.”

In fact, Henderson has seen a turnaround in her daughter’s behavior in the past week and a half. But the punishment prompted letters and calls to talk radio from people either praising the woman or blasting her for publicly humiliating her daughter.

“The parents of that girl need more education than she does if they can’t see that the worst scenario in this case is to kill their daughter psychologically,” Suzanne Ball said in a letter to The Oklahoman.

Marvin Lyle, 52, said in an interview: “I don’t see anything wrong with it. I see the other extreme where parents don’t care what the kids do, and at least she wants to help her kid.”

I have no problem with this. I wouldn’t even call it punishment. I would call it a reality check. What do you think?

Well, my guy in Virginia lost. It’s a shame too. I have a feeling a lot of folks are going to be suffering from buyers remorse in a few months.

But was this a referendum on the President? I don’t think so. The Lt. Governor and Attorney General are both going to be Republican (or at least it appears so… only about 5000 votes seperate the two AG candidates as I write this). And it looks like both of those candidates will get more raw votes than Jerry Kilgore. That indicates that this race was about Jerry Kilgore and Tim Kaine, not President Bush.

In retrospect, those death penalty commercials I thought were brutal but effective might have just been seen as brutal. This was a pretty negative campaign, and the polls all indicated a majority of voters held Kilgore more responsible than Kaine for that.

I won’t lie. I’m disappointed, and not really looking forward to the next four years in the Commonwealth.

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