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Ron DeSantis for President
In my pre-presidential primary post, I provide a detailed explanation of the delegate allocation process for Oklahoma. As I mentioned in the same post, I am voting for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in the 2024 Oklahoma Republican Primary. A BatesLine reader asked me why the names of so many candidates...
Should conservatives celebrate OKC's big league status?
Why would any conservative celebrate regressive taxes to support billionaires who kow-tow to Chinese Communists and politically correct causes?
Election Day 2020: Notes
I voted in person yesterday at 9:35. The line was out the door, but not very far, and I slid my ballot into the scanner and was finished in 20 minutes. The other, larger precinct that votes at the same church had a line across the parking lot, but I...
Tulsa redecorates Golden Driller, begs for Tesla
It's cringe-worthy. Some persons, apparently with the permission of the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority, painted the Tesla logo on the chest of the Golden Driller, and painted the name Tesla on his belt buckle, over the word Tulsa. If that weren't bad enough, used some kind of wrap to...
Cricket in Oklahoma and Kansas
If you read my earlier entry about cricket in Australia, you're likely champing at the bit, wondering where you can see this high-scoring sport close to home. In the month of January, your best opportunity is while seated on your sofa. NBC Sports Network (channel 317/1317 on Cox Tulsa cable)...
Australia: Cricket
NOTE: The fifth day of the third test match between Australia and Pakistan began at 5:30 pm Tulsa time, Friday, January 6, 2017. You can listen online (free with registration) or watch the ball-by-ball description (no registration required) here. Australia finished its second and final innings late yesterday with a...
Rick Steves needs to tour his own country "through the back door"
For many Americans, Rick Steves is the guru of European travel, specifically of an approach to travel he calls "through the back door" -- skipping the high-priced hotels, chain restaurants, and tourist traps which insulate you in an American bubble, and instead encountering authentic local culture, staying at B&Bs, hostels,...
Australian rules football
The Tulsa Buffaloes Australian Rules Football team will play Des Moines this Saturday, September 10, 2016, at 2 p.m. at Veterans Park, 21st & Boulder Ave. The word "football" in Australia can have five different meanings, each of which corresponds to a different professionally-played sport: 1. Gridiron football -- what...
2016 Oklahoma runoff post-game analysis
David Beaudoin of the Local and Special Elections blog has added last Tuesday's Oklahoma Republican runoff results to his database and has noticed some interesting patterns and a few exceptions to patterns. The percentage of primary first-place finishers who won the runoff was 78%, a bit higher than the five-cycle...
Ted Cruz's 51% path to first-ballot nomination
UPDATED: Added a new tab to the spreadsheet to game out an alternative scenario: Cruz 45, Trump 40, Kasich 15 in remaining contests. Despite the near-sweep last night for Donald Trump, Ted Cruz still has a plausible path to arriving at the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland with enough...
Fred Thompson, RIP
Tribute image posted on Facebook by National Review I was sad to hear of the passing, on Sunday, of actor, lawyer, and former U. S. Senator Fred Thompson, who was felled by lymphoma at the age of 73. My condolences to his family and friends, with my thanks for...
Inhofe: Gas tax isn't a tax
From the Wall Street Journal's Washington Wire blog: Senate Environment and Public Works Chairman James Inhofe (R., Okla.), who just took the reins of the panel, said he is open to considering raising the gas tax as a way to help pay for the dwindling Highway Trust Fund that keeps...
Tulsa's Emerson Elementary celebrates a century Friday, May 2, 2014
Emerson Elementary School, north of downtown Tulsa at 909 N. Boston Ave, will celebrate its centennial this Friday night, May 2, 2014, from 6 to 8 pm. Dinner will be provided by Elote and music by Muskogee's Wild Card Band. There will be a silent auction to benefit the school's...
British history, county boundaries, and detached parts
Some links of interest to me and possibly no one else within a 500 mile radius: (Remember, "blog" is short for "weblog," a log of things found on the World Wide Web.) Some games for testing your knowledge of historic counties of Britain and Ireland: Historic Counties of Scotland: See...
On the George Zimmerman verdict and being a strange pedestrian
A few thoughts: I'm disheartened by the outraged reaction from my liberal friends, who are certain that justice was denied, and that a racist murderer has been set free. NBC, CNN, President Obama, and other public figures and opinionators did race relations and common sense in America a grave disservice...
Tulsa 2024 Olympics effort makes the <em>New York Times</em>
A story about Tulsan Neil Mavis's ambition to bring the 2024 Summer Olympics to Tulsa made the front page of the Monday, July 1, 2013, New York Times. Mavis was the Libertarian nominee for the 2nd Congressional District in 2000 and was the only independent candidate in the 2002 1st...
Get ready to match the stars
When Match Game '74 came out, I was sure I could remember the earlier Match Game with a theme song that sounded a bit like "Wim-Oh-Weh." (It was Bert Kaempfert's "Swingin' Safari.") Thanks to the magic of the internet, I've got confirmation of a dim early childhood memory. Here's the...
Pledges and promises
I, _____, pledge to the taxpayers of the (____ district of the) state of ______ and to the American people that I will: ONE, oppose any and all efforts to increase the marginal income tax rate for individuals and business; and TWO, oppose any net reduction or elimination of deductions...
Geoffrey Orsak: A sudden and mysterious dismissal
On Wednesday, September 12, 2012, the University of Tulsa suddenly fired President Geoffrey Orsak just 74 days after he took the post. The former SMU Dean of Engineering had been granted a leave of absence the day before to be with his father, reported to be in hospice care in...
Francis McGrath, the definition of a city manager
If you look in the AP Stylebook to find out whether to capitalize city manager*, you find his name as the example, the paradigm: "City Manager Francis McGrath." When people ask me what I think about Tulsa changing to a council-manager form of government, I think of Francis McGrath. For...
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