Tulsa World Shows Promise

I got this letter from the Tulsa World...

Dear former tulsaworld.com subscriber,

We are pleased to announce that as of Monday, May 1 tulsaworld.com will be a free site. That means all pages of the website can be accessed for free.

Anyone will be allowed to retrieve an article for free if it has been published during the last 30 days. After 30 days, there will be a fee for archive retrievals. To view an archived article you can purchase an EZ access pass for as low as $7.50 for 10 articles or you can pay $1.95 for each article individually.

If you have any questions concerning tulsaworld.com you may contact our customer service department at 582-0921.

Thank you for your readership.

If they are going to start listening to me, then there may just be some hope for them yet...


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Tulsa World
online registration

Beyond Print

With rising costs and lower circulation, newspapers had better figure out how to survive in the online realm. In this regard, I submit that The Tulsa World is behind the curve.

Technorati Tags: Newspapers
Tulsa World
online registration

State Rep. Tibbs Encourages Leave for Victims of Violence

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Sue Tibbs is encouraging all Oklahoma employers to support employees who are victims of violence by offering unpaid leave to seek treatment.

Today the full House of Representatives passed House Resolution 1103, by Tibbs, which encourages Oklahoma businesses to adopt good business practices regarding employees who have fallen prey to acts of violence.

“We must make sure we are doing everything to help our fellow citizens who have been victims of violent crimes and abuse,” said Tibbs, R-Tulsa. “People who have been victimized by an act of violence needs time to recover and seek medical and emotional treatment. Employers should be willing to give them a leave of absence and show the support they need to recover. With such support from their company, they can return to work well on their way to being whole.”

In fiscal year 2002, the Oklahoma Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services provided help to 7,038 adults and 2,967 children through its domestic violence and sexual assault division. Of these, approximately 5,500 adults and 2,650 children received domestic violence services; 1,500 adults and 325 children received sexual assault services.

Tibbs said her resolution also encourages victims to seek the medical, legal and counseling treatment they need.

“Victims should not have to worry about losing their job when they are going through such physical and emotional turmoil. Employers should not only be their boss but their friend during these times and encourage them to get help — to see a doctor that will help them recover from the physical pain, to see a counselor that will help them through their emotional pain and to see an attorney that will help prevent them or anyone else from suffering pain,” said Tibbs. “Oklahomans need to stand up and help those who have been victimized.

Technorati Tags: Sue Tibbs
Oklahoma
HR 1103
Oklahoma House of Representatives

The Wisdom of Oprah

God, The Creator, The Universe, whatever you want to believe in, or choose not to believe in, is only interested in you becoming more of yourself.

Sweet! If that is all God is interested in then, then He must be happy with me. I’m real good at being myself.

Technorati Tags: Oprah

Zero Emails

AHHH!!! I’m finally done… Just for fun; here is what it looks like to have 29,827 emails in the deleted items folder.


Technorati Tags: Outlook
inbox

DoubleShot Responds

The DoubleShot Coffee Company has formally responded to Starbucks.
You can read the three page letter here, here and here.

Technorati Tags: DoubleShot Coffee Company
Starbucks
Tulsa

86000 Emails

It has taken me all day to delete less than half the emails created by my rogue script. I hate Outlook....

Technorati Tags: Outlook
inbox

Lens Error

Not too long ago, a commenter asked me how I liked my Nikon Coolpix S4. Until yesterday I was very pleased with it. Yesterday, when I turned it on to take a picture of the three-year-old, the display read, “Lens Error!” I’ve sent it back to Nikon. Hopefully it will be repaired under warrantee.

Technorati Tags: Nikon Coolpix S4
Nikon
Lens Error

168000 Emails

If you are responsible for a production script that runs server-side then here is a word of advice. If said script uses email to inform you of errors, and if it is possible for there to be an error inside a tight loop, then don’t have it email you once every iteration of that loop. This is of course unless you want an inbox full of emails.

Technorati Tags: perl script
sendmail
inbox
error checking

DoubleShot Date

The three-year-old and I went on a date to DoubleShot tonight. She had hot chocolate, and I had a cappuccino (I also purchased some freshly roasted Colombian coffee beans for later). We enjoyed the atmosphere and each other’s company while we drank our drinks. She decided that she wanted to tell the man behind the counter that she liked her hot chocolate.

Later I took her for a drive downtown to look at the big buildings and the lights. She thought it was great. When we got home she told her mother “Mommy Mommy, Daddy took me to the coffee place and Downtown Tulsa!”


Technorati Tags: Tulsa
DoubleShot Coffee Company

Sue Tibbs Under Attack

State House District 23 Rep. Sue Tibbs is currently under attack. Tibbs is the Chairman of the Rules committee, as such she has the power to allow legislation to be heard or not heard before the Full House. At issue is SB 935, which guarantees up to 12 weeks' unpaid leave for victims of domestic violence, rape, and other acts of violence.

Tibbs will not allow this bill to move forward because in another House Committee, it received a "do not pass" recommendation. Because of this recommendation, the House rules prevent Tibbs from allowing the bill to receive a hearing.

I've talked to Rep. Rebecca Hamilton, the author of this bill, and she believes that Tibbs does have the power to push SB 935, on to the House. One of her arguments centers on what actually received the “do not pass" recommendation. The current language did not receive the recommendation but rather what is called a substitute bill. Because the actual language in SB 935 did not receive the "do not pass" recommendation, Hamilton argues Tibbs could indeed pass it along. She believes that Tibbs is caving to pressure from the State Chamber who is opposed to the bill.

Let’s address the rules first. The rules state "No other bills or resolutions having the same effect and covering the same specific subject matter shall be considered" Note "having the same effect", this clearly indicates that SB 935, in whatever form it is currently in, is dead. As such, Tibbs will not break the rules and pass this bill on. She takes her role as Chairman of the Rules Committee very seriously.

With regard to the Chamber, let me say that I don’t believe this for a second. I know Tibbs to be a very principled woman. It is my understanding that no one from the Chamber has ever approached Tibbs asking her to kill this bill. Any suggestion to the contrary is out of line.

Tibbs does not deserve this attack. The principled road is not always the easiest road to follow, but it is surely the right road. I believe that Tibbs is navigating that road with dignity and grace.

For the record, the following is Tibbs' response to these attacks, and an explanation for her principled stance. I have added some links to her letter where appropriate.

You may have recently received and automated phone call or a hand-out, making false claims about my desire to protect abused women. I share deeply your concern for women who have been victimized and I am working to strengthen laws that protect the victims of abuse. This legislative cycle I authored 5 bills to protect abuse victim.

Senate Bill 935 by Hamilton contains provisions that received a rare "do not pass" recommendation by a House committee earlier in this legislature. A "do not pass" motion is "final action" and prevents the House from considering those provisions in another bill. Rule 6.8(b) states, "No other bills or resolutions having the same effect and covering the same specific subject matter shall be considered."(emphasis added) As a result SB 935 cannot be heard this year.

As for my own efforts to protect women who are abused and other victims of violent crime, I have introduced 5 bills to expand victims' rights and increase protections. They include:

HJR 1010 Creates the Oklahoma Task Force to Stop Sexual Violence, HB 1486 Expand the definition of sexual battery, HB 1533 Increases state authority to investigate the abuse of vulnerable adults, HB 2505 Increases the power of the court to order restitution for long term health Problems for crime victims, SB 1426 Mandates "Sex Offender" be noted on the drivers license of those required to register as sex offenders.

Given my strong record defending the victims of abuse and violent crime, I am deeply offended by the vicious tactics being used by an uninformed fringe to distort my position. Please examine each of my bills for yourself at www.okhouse.gov. I think you will agree with me that these are strong steps toward protecting victims.

This week I will be introducing one additional bill. This House Resolution will urge employers to allow the victims of abuse time off from work for appointments with their doctor, attorney, councilor or minister.

SB 935 is dead for this year and by House rules cannot be resurrected. However, I am a strong advocate for victims of abuse and violent crime. Please join me in defending those who have been victimized.

Sue Tibbs
Representative, District 23, Tulsa
Room 303 A
(405) 557-7379 Office
(405) 962-7672 FAX
suetibbs@okhouse.gov

Technorati Tags: Sue Tibbs
Rebecca Hamilton
SB 935
Oklahoma
Oklahoma House of Representatives

Clorox and Brake Fluid Disappointment

Over at Unix, Music, and Politics I read that “Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.”

I had to try…for science!

The setup: Brake fluid, Clorox, a bowl, and a fire extinguisher.


Cloudy but no smoke.


It needs more stuff!


Hydrogen Peroxide made it bubble.


What about Fire?


Unfortunately I have to report that not only does brake fluid and Clorox not cause smoke and lots of it, but neither does brake fluid, Clorox, Windex, isopropyl alcohol, hydrogen peroxide and fire.


Technorati Tags: Clorox
brake fluid
smoke

Immigration and Unemployment

The current unemployment rate is 4.7% which is pretty good. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, there are 4,865,000 workers that want a job. According to the Pew Hispanic Center, there are currently 12 million illegals in our country. So let’s say that that represents around 6 million workers.

Ok, great there are 6 million of them, and 5 million of us. That's a fair trade, right? Well, it is probably impossible for the unemployment rate to get much lower than it is, and it won’t ever go down to zero. (This of course assuming that you would even want an unemployment rate that approaches zero)

McCain’s point that Americans won’t pick lettuce would have probably been better stated that Americans don’t want to pick lettuce, at least not at less than minimum wage, or less. I agree that Hispanics do jobs that we don’t want to do. If I lost my job, I’d look for an IT job or some other white-collar job. I would not try to get a janitors job, I did that in high-school and I wasn’t particularly fond of it.

I submit that our economy needs these workers. Even though there are a lot of Americans that want work, the kinds of jobs they want at the pay they are willing to accept aren’t in step with the low wage jobs currently filled by the typical illegal alien. As such, I’m inclined to support some type of tightly controlled guest worker program. What our economy doesn’t need is an influx of new immigrants, a porous boarder, and a system that supports immigrants with welfare and other government assistance. Although at this point it is rather moot, given that Senate stalled on reform.

Technorati Tags: Immigration Reform
Immigration
Unemployment

“You can't do it, my friends"

If you had any doubt that John McCain is an idiot, his comments this week that Americans couldn’t/wouldn’t pick lettuce for $50 hour for an entire season because it is too hard ought to help turn the tide.

What is he saying? Is he saying that Hispanic immigrants are somehow better suited for labor, or superior to other races in some way? He is definitely saying that Americans are lazy. So, since McCain believes that we are like the lazy French, if you will pardon my French, what a bastard!

Technorati Tags: John McCain
immigration
lettuce

Starbucks Correspondence

I called and wrote Starbucks to tell them to stop their harassment of DoubleShot Coffee Company in Tulsa. I told them that I would not purchase any of their products as long as they are threatening DoubleShot Coffee Company. The following is there response.

Dear Mr. Roemerman:

Thank you for contacting Starbucks Coffee Company.

On March 20, 2006, Starbucks Coffee Company sent a Cease and Desist letter to Doubleshot Coffee Company in Tulsa, Okla. requesting that they stop using a variation of the Starbucks DoubleShot name and trademark.

While it is always Starbucks preference and desire to resolve disputes of this nature informally, whenever possible, we will seek the assistance of the courts to protect our trademark when we are unable to resolve the matter through alternate means.

Under trademark law, companies are required to take action against infringing uses of their trademarks. Even where it may seem playful, this type of misappropriation of a company's name is both derivative and dilutive of their trademark rights.

Thank you again for taking the time to write to us.

Sincerely,
Sara G.
Customer Relations Representative

My reply...

Y'all don't own DoubleShot, your trademark is "Starbucks DoubleShot". Doubleshot is a common coffee term. I'm terribly disappointed that you would try to crush a little coffee shop in Tulsa. I am, whenever possible telling all my friends, family, and who ever will listen what you are doing. I'm telling everyone I know that they should not buy Starbucks.

I encourage you to call and write Starbucks. Tell them to stop threatening DoubleShot Coffee Company. Instead of buying your coffee from Starbucks, buy some freshly roasted coffee from DoubleShot.

DoubleShot Coffee Company
Starbucks
Tulsa

Reagan Tree Update

Last year I told you about my Reagan tree, how I was excited to see that it had emerged from its wintry slumber. It is pure coincidence that one year to the date I again noticed the first signs of life in my Reagan tree. It has again awoken, complete with nascent leaf buds. This year, of course, I have a camera and so I’ll share my excitement with you.



Technorati Tags: Shumard Oak
Reagan
Reagan Tree
Spring

Dianthus update

A little over a year ago, I planted some Dianthus in my front yard. I was too lazy to pick them this winter which turned out to be a good thing; they came back.





Technorati Tags: Dianthus Picotee
Dianthus
Flowers

Senate Stalls Immigration Reform

The Senate recently voted to end debate on Senate bill 2454, the Securing America's Borders Act. Along with 61 other Senators, Senator Inhofe voted against this motion.

I called the Senator’s office to ask why he was not supporting this bill. His aide told me that Senator would only vote for an immigration bill if it passed a three-pronged litmus test.

The bill must:

• secure the border strongly,
  
• not create a guest worker program, and
  
• not provide for amnesty.

Apparently, Inhofe felt that the bill was not strong enough on border security; hence it failed the first test, hence he voted against it.

Technorati Tags: S.2454
Immigration Reform
Senate
Jim Inhofe
Securing America's Borders Act

Template Problems

I just accidentally erased half my blogger template and saved the changes. OOPS! Unfortunately I did not have a recent back up of my template. Fortunately, Google does a good job of caching my site. So I was able to retrieve most of what was lost or missing from them.

I’ve put it back almost the way it was. I’ll fix the rest of it later. I’m sorry for the inconvenience

Technorati Tags: blogger
blogger templates
google

The Wikipedia birthday meme

1. Type in your birthday (minus the year) in the search bar at Wikipedia.org
2. List three interesting facts, two births, and one death that happened on your birthday.

1613 - The Globe Theatre in London, England burns to the ground.
1850 - Coal is discovered on Vancouver Island.
1995 - The NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis docks with the Russian Mir space station for the first time.


Born 1944 - Sean O'Malley, current Archbishop of Boston
Born 1944 - Gary Busey, American actor

Died 69 - Saint Peter, Apostle and First Bishop of Rome

(via Dustbury)


Technorati Tags: memes
birthday
Wikipedia

Farewell Councilors

Last Thursday was the last council meeting for Councilors Mautino and Medlock. Both received awards for their service. Mautino received his award from Councilor Henderson. During Mautino’s speech he said, “I got back more than I gave.” A remarkable statement from the hardest working and most selfless councilor District 6 and perhaps Tulsa has ever seen. Counselor Turner presented Medlock with his award. Medlock spoke of friendship and the amazing experience of representing his district.

Both men will be missed terribly; they served their districts and the city with honor and distinction, their replacements have large shoes to fill.


Good luck gentlemen, thank you for your service.

Technorati Tags: Chris Medlock
Jim Mautino
Jack Henderson
Roscoe Turner
Tulsa
Tulsa City Council

A New Link

I’ve added a new link on the sidebar that I’d like to bring to your attention. The Voice of Tulsa is a new forum where you can sound off about Tulsa. Check it out! Don’t be afraid to participate; if you aren’t sure about the whole idea of forums, take the time to poke around a little. Even if you never post to it, I promise that The Voice of Tulsa will be a great resource.

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The Voice of Tulsa

Support DoubleShot Coffee Company

Perhaps you have heard about Starbucks’ obnoxious behavior toward local Tulsa coffee shop, DoubleShot. Because they have a nasty cold coffee drink called Starbucks Doubleshot, they feel like they now own this common coffee term. They have threatened legal action if DoubleShot does not change their name. Well, I for one will not be buying any more Starbucks products.

Tonight, my wife, kids and I went to DoubleShot and enjoyed superb coffee and chocolate milk (click here for pics). I highly recommend that you try DoubleShot, while stickin' it to the man; you can also enjoy an excellent cup of Joe.

Technorati Tags: DoubleShot Coffee Company
Starbucks
Tulsa

To Sprinkle or Not to Sprinkle [update]

I'm happy to report a positive development in the issue of fire prevention in high-rise apartments. At last night’s Council meeting, the council unanimously voted to approve an amendment to Title 14 (Fire Prevention Code) that would exempt residential high-rise buildings from the requirement to be equipped with sprinklers.

Several homeowners and building owners from the Sophian Plaza and the Liberty Towers showed up to show their support for the amendment. Before this amendment, sprinklers would have had to have been retrofitted in all high-rise apartment buildings by 2010. Many spoke of this requirement as a dark cloud that loomed over their heads.

Tom Baker deserves credit and thanks for bringing this issue back to the table before the end of this council. It was nice to see one of the last official acts of this council be one that protected neighborhood interests.


Technorati Tags: Tulsa
fire code
Sophian Plaza
Liberty Towers
Tulsa City Council

Terrible Lie

WHOOOO! I’m so psyched about the next 4 years under Mayor-Elect Taylor. She is going to “make life better”. Some of you who know me know that I’m not the most attractive man; I’m fat and balding. I expect that with in a few months I’ll shed those pounds and grow a head of hair that will put Greg Jennings to shame.

Also, you may or may not know that I drive an old Ford Ranger. Ask Bobby Holt about my truck, he has had to bail me out of a few car problems. I expect that I’ll get a shiny new car once my wages go up.

I’m so excited at all the possibilities. But what is really great about the whole thing is I’m not alone. ALL OUR LIVES ARE GOING TO BE BETTER! Can you feel it? Hells yeah!

Dollar Thrifty employees that will lose your job in 3-5 months, your old boss is going to make your life better, expect to get new jobs! But this is not just jobs, flat abs, and beautiful flowing hair; the days of casino crime, home invasions, and getting shot while buying a taco are over!

This is a new day people, breathe the free a…Wh…what? That was just campaign rhetoric? DAMMIT! You mean I’m going to have to stare at this ugly mug in the mirror and drive the same crappy truck, for the next 4 years? Oh well,

Technorati Tags: Tulsa
Kathy Taylor
campaign rhetoric

7th at 2 past 7:00

I was the 7th to cast my ballot this morning. At 7:02 there was already a steady stream of folks behind me. The Tulsa County Election Board predicted that the turnout will be higher than normal and I'd have to agree. It appears as if turnout will be very respectable today.

For the record, I voted for LaFortune, Willis, Mautino, and FOR all 6 questions.

Technorati Tags: Tulsa
Tulsa City Elections 2006
Jim Mautino
Bill LaFortune
Michael Willis
voter turnout

$200 for Sign Placement?

Michael Bates has recently reported that the $200 that Phil Wood gave the Troyer campaign was primarily to recruit the Troyer Campaign to the place Phil Wood signs. Wood told Bates, “I contributed the $200 to encourage distribution of my signs since the 'sign crew' is primarily my wife Emily and me.”

If I may, like to offer my firsthand observation. I just spent 4 hours driving all over District 6 putting out signs for Mautino. I saw a lot of Troyer signs but I can’t recall seeing even one Wood sign. I saw a few Willis signs, but no Wood signs.

So if it is true that Wood was just buying a little sign placement, then I’d say he got screwed…

Technorati Tags: Tulsa
Tulsa City Elections 2006
Jim Mautino
Dennis Troyer
Phil Wood
Michael Willis

Put It All Together...

...for some pre-election fun.

Click here for a puzzle.


Technorati Tags: Tulsa
Tulsa City Elections 2006
Tulsa Mayoral Race
Kathy Taylor

Questions for Willis

I've not heard much about Michael Willis who is running for City Auditor. So I decided to ask him a few questions via email.

What qualifications do you have that would make you a good auditor?

Beyond educational and previous experience at city hall, I believe my qualifications are several. Number one, I am a good communicator. I take my work and my committment to public service very seriously. I have the ability to make well informed, but quick and determined decisions. I am very familiar with the City's financial framework and I feel that I have a lot of energy to work on new innovative ideas for better government. I am a good manager and a good leader.

Do you have any auditing experience?

I have not worked in the Auditor's office before, so I have never audited a city government. However, the great thing about the auditor's office in Tulsa is that there is a 12 person staff consisting of a variety of different disciplines. There are several CPA's, a couple certified internal auditors and a certified fraud examiner. So, in terms of the "bean counting" as some people say it, I am not very experienced. However, I know that under my direction the staff will provide excellent information and reporting regarding traditional financial auditing. The thing that I bring to the table is a committment and knowledge of performance measuring and auditing. I believe this is something that has been missing for about 18 years. I'm not sure what business you are in, but I'm sure you audit or measure the performance of your organization and make changes based on the results. The auditor should be doing that and working hand in hand with the mayor and council to find solutions that create efficiencies within the financial framework.

Why do you think it is time for Phil Wood to be replaced?

This is why I want to replace Mr. Wood. I don't believe he is interested in either performance auditing/measuring or rocking the boat if something comes up wrong. For four years I have worked at city hall and only in the past two weeks have I seen him do anything to really question what is going on at city hall. That's why we elect and auditor... to be the independent watchdog for the citizens.

You work in the Mayor's Office. In that stead, you surely have formed some opinions about city government. What areas of the city need attention? Where would Auditor Willis focus his attention the first day of office?

The funny thing about working in the Mayor's office has been that I better understand the political ramifications and facets of managing the city. I believe that no matter who the Mayor is or who makes up the city council, those ten officials will always put around 80% of their time into managing or making policy regarding the top three or so issues at city hall. Of course, right now those are crime, economic development and streets. I really don't think those change much. So, I believe it is important for the city auditor to not only make recommendations about procedural or policy changes, but specifically pay close attention to the departments at the city that are not so glamorous like Parks, Equipment Management, Human Resources, Finance and so on. So from me, you will see a major focus on those areas as well.

On my first day, I will begin by meeting with the staff. I plan to reorganize at least part of the staff to work on performance related issues and also focus on information dispersal to the public. My first project is to try to save some money by changing the way we handle the motor pool. We have a huge pool of vehicles... about 1700, I think, but specifically we have 7 or so vehicles that are available to anyone to use.. kind of a rental arrangement, but most of the time all or most of the vehicles are not being used. I see no reason in the city spending capital dollars to buy vehicles that are scarcely used. We should use operating dollars and set up an agreement with a rental car provider to have several cars "on deck" for use or on demand, so we can use those capital dollars for infrastructure improvements to things like streets, sidewalks, water lines and such.

I’d like to thank Mr. Willis for answering my questions.If you would like to find out more about Michael Willis, you can checkout his website.

Technorati Tags: Tulsa City Elections 2006
Michael Willis
City Auditor

Raising Happy Children?

In our Sunday school class we often read articles and critically analyze them from a Christian perspective. This Sunday we read this article titled What Makes a Happy Child? - Ten things that you can do to raise a happy person.

Now I really don’t have any disagreements with the 10 things that this article suggests. In fact I agree with most of them. It was the introduction, however, that gave me pause.

Ask any expectant or new mother about her aspirations for her baby and almost invariably she will say something along the lines of "I just want my child to be happy."

As grown-ups, of course, we know that happiness is often elusive. And a sunny disposition may have as much to do with nature (the genetic hand we've been dealt) as with nurture (external circumstances). Even where the latter is concerned, experts are far more certain about what is not relevant (such as money) than what is. What happy people do have in common, say researchers who have studied the subject, are certain key characteristics, including a good sense of optimism, close family ties, good friends, a gift for empathizing with others, and the conviction that their life has meaning.

So what’s wrong with that Steven? Don’t you want your children to be happy? Well, yeah, I guess, it’s just that happiness is not the most important thing in life. While reading this article, the sage words of Bowden McElroy rang in the back of my mind.

Begin with the end in mind. The goal, when raising children, is NOT to have a precious 2-year-old, or a precocious fifth-grader, or a model teenager. The end goal is to raise independent, fully functioning, adults who love Christ with all their heart, soul, and mind.

If I understand what he is saying then happiness is also not the goal when raising children. If however I raise my children to be centered in Christ, to be responsible independent adults, then their joy will be in the Lord, the meaning for their life will not be to strive for happiness, but to strive to serve Him.

Technorati Tags: parenting
Bowden McElroy