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St. John's College profiles alumnus Timothy Carney
St. John's College is famous as the college that pioneered the Great Books curriculum in 1937. Still known as "The New Program," the single track takes all students through the progression of western literature, mathematics, philosophy, science, and music, through the authors and works in which the great insights of...
OCPA Fallin State of the State; Bloggers Organized for Oklahoma Taxpayers
Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin delivered her final State of the State address to the Oklahoma Legislature today. Unfortunately, she did not use the occasion to announce her resignation. Instead she endorsed a series of of tax increases that are being pushed by a group of well-funded tax-consuming entities. Jonathan Small,...
Look for the Chamber label -- then vote for someone else
It may seem counter-intuitive, but if you're a conservative, the Chamber of Commerce is not your friend. Not the U. S. Chamber of Commerce, not the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce, not the Tulsa Regional Chamber. If you're a conservative voting in the Republican primary, look to see whom the Chambers are supporting, then give your vote to some other candidate. If the Chambers are attacking a Republican candidate, she's probably worthy of your enthusiastic backing.
Roscoe Turner, RIP
Services for Roscoe Turner will be held at First Baptist Church, 4th & Cincinnati in downtown Tulsa, Monday, January 27, 2014, at 11:00 a.m., with interment at Rose Hill Cemetery. Visitation will be held at Moore's Memory Chapel, 1403 S. Peoria, from 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Saturday, January 25,...
Eagleton rates Tulsa mayor candidates
Mayoral candidates Dewey Bartlett Jr. and Kathy Taylor are "indistinguisable" with regard to policy and the candidates of choice for fans of crony capitalism, while former City Councilor Bill Christiansen "worked harder than a reasonable person would have" on behalf of his constituents and easily reaches across racial, cultural, and...
Mary Fallin: What's holding her back from bold leadership?
Here we are, the reddest state in the nation: Republican governor, overwhelmingly Republican legislature. (36-12 in the Senate, 72-29 in the House.) But instead of tightening the state's belt, as their constituents have had to do, instead of cutting tax rates significantly so that Oklahomans will be able to keep...
The Olympics: Worth it for the host city?
The Summer Olympics are over and host city London goes back to life as usual. What physical and emotional legacy will the 30th Olympiad leave behind? Photographer Joe Pack and filmmaker Gary Hustwit has been traveling to former Olympic host cities to explore that very question, in preparation for a...
"Vision for Jobs" another cynical tax grab?
Just as they did in 2003, Tulsa "leaders" are preying on anxieties about job losses to justify siphoning more of your tax dollars through county government to favored businesses. Two possibilities are being discussed to raise $340 million: Either a county-wide sales tax increase of 0.4 percent or an extension...
The anthropomorphization of the GOP
This post has been percolating in my brain for a couple of months, and the topic for even longer, but other business has prevented its completion until now. As I read conservative blogs, I see a great deal of understandable frustration with different aspects of Republican Party politics: The National...
Protect Your Voice
The Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity has launched a petition drive to ensure that citizen journalists and bloggers enjoy the same legal protections that cover traditional news media. The initiative is called "Protect Your Voice." It makes sense for a group interested in public integrity to get involved...
Roundup 2011/12/28
I got some potpourri for Christmas, so here's some potpourri for you -- an assortment of interesting articles from the last couple of weeks. Photo by Lathyrus on Flickr Warner Todd Huston: The newspaper typo that began NORAD's tradition of tracking Santa on Christmas eve in 1955. James Lileks invites...
Tulsa Election 2011: Democrat Suliburk the conservative in District 8
In the previous entry, I mentioned a candidate survey issued by OK-SAFE -- Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise. Say what you will about OK-SAFE and their views, but the group's questionnaire gets into the details of real questions facing City of Tulsa officials, and they allow candidates to respond...
Tulsa Area Republican Assembly endorses City Council candidates (UPDATED)
The Tulsa Area Republican Assembly held a candidate forum and endorsement meeting, Saturday morning, August 27, 2011. Following speeches and answers to audience questions from the candidates in attendance, TARA members voted to endorse a candidate in five of the eight Tulsa City Council Republican primaries to be held on...
RightOnline 2011: Freedom of Information and crony capitalism
A quick update before dinner: I went to two excellent presentations this afternoon: Earl Glynn of Kansas Watchdog spoke on "Freedom of Information and How to Use It Effectively." He dealt not only with the federal FOIA, but also with using state and local open records laws to research and...
On to RightOnline 2011
In just a few hours, Jamison Faught (the Muskogee Politico) and I will be on our way to Minneapolis for the 4th annual RightOnline conference. As in years past, the conference is scheduled to take place in the same city as the left-wing Netroots Nation convention. The conference is all...
How Sarah Palin busted Alaska crony capitalism
Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal describes in depth how Sarah Palin, first as an oil and gas commissioner and then as Governor, busted up an insider sweetheart deal involving a natural gas pipeline from Alaska to the lower 48. Here's the heart of the story: And so it...
Inhofe wants to boot Southwest Airlines from Love Field?
I don't get this. The Whirled reported today that Sen. Jim Inhofe has introduced a bill that would force Southwest Airlines to move from Love Field in Dallas to DFW Airport. Knowing how much the Whirled hates Sen. Inhofe, I'm sure this must be some kind of smear. I am...
City Comforts comment on <em>Kelo</em>
David Sucher of City Comforts has posted a number of interesting thoughts about the Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo v. New London. His initial reaction -- you don't need eminent domain to promote economic development: The central planning notion put forward by New London, Connecticut -- that it needs to...
Court liberals find right to crony capitalism in "emanations and penumbra" of Constitution
The U. S. Supreme Court issued its ruling today in the case of Kelo v. New London, a test of the limits of government power to use eminent domain. The Court, by a 5-4 majority, ruled in effect that there are no limits, that government may use the threat of...
Which Councilors are the grownups?
The Whirled's editorial board -- the propaganda arm of the Cockroach Caucus -- pooh-poohed the efforts of the City Council to formalize the powers granted to it by the City Charter to conduct investigations into the operations of city government. The investigatory power is one of the three critical roles...
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