Editorial/opinion

African Americans Are Spellbound

goldfingers — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 14:17:34 -0500

Mental enslavement is the act of blindly and deceitfully maneuvering a person into servitude while that person believes he/she is thinking for him/herself. In realizing that one is mentally enslaved, one can begin to constructively take strides toward freeing their mind from the shackles and re-building a solid, intelligible, unshackled, independent mind state. Thus, if one wishes to be mentally freed, he/she must become knowledgeable—informed—and separate oneself from any associations of the brainwashing mechanism.

Ruling Against Mumia Shows: No Justice in the Capitalist Courts

Fred Bergen — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 20:22:48 -0500

March 2008

Federal Court Reaffirms Frame-Up Conviction, Orders Life Behind Bars or Racist Legal Lynching

Ruling Against Mumia Shows:
No Justice in the Capitalist Courts

What passes for journalism in Oklahoma

indy-re — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 13:53:13 -0500

Do you have trouble telling this

from this?

Was that so hard?

Apparently, it is for the major newspapers in Oklahoma.

Slander against peace activists in state newspapers --
and what to do about it

On Tuesday, March 18, a front page story in the Daily Oklahoman by Anne Kelley, "Marine won't draw penalty for flag fight", contained an unbelievable slander against antiwar activists in Oklahoma and across the country.

Here's a passage:

Potawatomi Tribal Court Denies Basic Civil Rights

Johnnie51 — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 11:00:01 -0500

Folks,

I am a member of the Citizen Potawatomi tribe in Oklahoma and also in exile here in Indiana. When my late wife and I moved from Oklahoma six years ago, we had just been arrested in tribal court, along with five others, for publishing a campaign ad on a private website. That's it. The ad, which we had no hand in publishing, pointed out that the tribal chairman, John "Rocky" Barrett, had smeared the reputation of a candidate for vice-chairman of the tribe. Although seven people were arrested and charged in tribal court for "criminal defamation of character," not a single lawyer in the entire state of Oklahoma could be found to prosecute us. Eventually, after thousands of dollars in legal fees, the charges were dropped.

I'm not willing to tailor my citizenship to the homo-haters' discomfort with the advancing recognition of LGBT equality.

bobnichols — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 11:01:39 -0600

(OKLAHOMA CITY) This Friday and Saturday, March 7th and 8th, there will be a Sexual Identity and Spirituality Conference on the campus of the University of Central Oklahoma sponsored by GATE (Gay Alliance for Tolerance and Equality), a UCO student organization, and co-sponsored by several open and affirming churches, including Church of the Open Arms, Cathedral of Hope, and Mayflower Congregational.

You can get more details at www.PFLAGokc.org .

NEED TO LEARN SOME MANNERS

Madmom — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:25:01 -0600

A family members funeral was in December 2007. Everyone knows how stressful and hearbreaking it is to lose a loved one. We all thought how nice it was going and that most of the family attended. One family member works for Pontotoc County D. Richard of Ada, OK. The ones that know him well, was wondering why he was there he isn't very family oreinted. We just let it pass and didn't think anything else about it. D. Richard escorted the cars to the grave site and we thought how thoughtful of him to do this.( It was odd , because usually it is City police IF ANY AT ALL.)At the gave site, everyone was visiting with one another some comforting others..All of sudden every one had a bewilderd look on there face. D. Richard had walked up to another family member right there at the grave site and arrested the family member, a close family member of the deceased, on 5 year old warrant.

Ice Storm Raises Issues For State Leaders

Sat, 15 Dec 2007 18:41:49 -0600

Reposted, with permission, from Okie Funk.

It has been a tough week here for sure.

Tragically, 23 deaths have been blamed on the ice storm that stunned Oklahoma this past week. At one point, more than 600,000 homes and businesses were without power, and thousands still remain in the dark.

Some Oklahomans shivered through the storm with blankets and candles while others headed to shelters. The damage to the local tree population here is incalculable. Once the thaw is complete, we will know more, but it appears the state has lost thousands of trees. Meanwhile, the state’s college students trudged through finals week under some of the worst weather conditions possible.

Overall, it appears the state’s emergency systems once again worked well during the storm, and no one can fault the utility companies in their immediate efforts to restore power. Crews came in from other states. These crews worked long hours in biting cold weather to get the job done.

But the ice storm raises at least three major issues for Oklahoma’s leaders, and the severity of this storm demand new initiatives and open-minded, intelligent thinking. Will there be discussion and action or will this recent storm quickly recede into Oklahoma weather lore?

Here are those issues:

I've heard JFK, and Mitt, you're no JFK

jamesnimmo — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 09:25:18 -0600

I've heard JFK, and Mitt, you're no JFK

Readers,

I listened today to the recording of JFK making his famous speech about the question of his religious faith. His being the first Roman Catholic presidential candidate had become a "millstone" around his campaign's neck.

I also listened to Mitt Romney make his seemingly parallel speech about his Mormonism, which has also become like a millstone around Romney's neck, or would one of Joseph Smith's golden tablets make a better comparison. And parallel is the right word as neither speech intersects even remotely.

Peace from Christian or Islam? Give me Freethought!

jamesnimmo — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 14:12:00 -0500

Peace from Christian or Islam? Give me Freethought!

(OKLAHOMA CITY) In regard to the "Islaming" of Oklahoma and the dust-up over competing religious superstitions I have to say that Islam is no more a religion of peace than Christianity is.

A semi-government Oklahoma Commission composed mainly of Islamic followers has recently tried to give decorated copies of the koran to Oklahoma's legislators. A number of them have refused their copy fearing that such a gift would dim their x-tian fervor.

Religious proselytizers that hide behind sheep's clothing, either Islamic or X-tian, in Oklahoma or any other location, are still a threat to legitimate freedom of thought.

VA Medical--Reckless Endangerment Whims

Stephen7 — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 07:53:40 -0500

Yesterday, 04 September 2007, day 7 of pneumonia symptoms and the first day after the long Labor Day weekend, I got to the Muskogee VA hospital Emergency Room. They expedited me through the blood-work labs, chest x-rays, and EKG. No doubt anywhere. This was a blazing case of pneumonia, with both lungs heavily involved. Combined with my insulin-dependent diabetes, hypertensive heart disease, and the chronic Reiter's syndrome atrial fibrillation, it represented a substantial threat to my 66-year-old life.

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Once upon a time, not too long ago, a VA-Medical-entitled veteran with pneumonia was immediately hospitalized -- for at least the days needed to settle on the best treatment for the individual case.