Will at Wise Bread provides the lowdown:
Why does the US military spend more money than the rest of the world combined? Here's one explanation.Boeing received more government contract dollars (military or otherwise) last year than any other company. According to official records, we paid Boeing $12 billion dollars in the first two quarters alone.However, only 5.1% of the contract dollars were won through full and open competition.
An important message for OKC residents from Batch at the Peace House.
Should ALL Oklahoma City residents pay a SALES TAX to expand the Ford Center, benefitting the wealthy owners of the Seattle Supersonics basketball team, when only a FEW Oklahoma City residents have the ticket price or an interest in NBA-level basketball in Oklahoma City? NO !!!
(This expensive expansion will drive up the price of ALL events held at the Ford Center. Thanks, but, no thanks.)EMAIL all City Council Members IMMEDIATELY (and call Monday) to protest this outrageous tax-everyone-to-benefit-a-few plan.
(City Council will address the TAX this Tuesday, Jan 1, 2008, deciding whether to have a “vote of the people” to extend the MAPS TAX to fund expanding the new Ford Center.)TELEPHONE: EMAIL: NAME:
405-297-2424 mayor@okc.gov Mayor Mick Cornett
405-297-2404 ward1@okc.gov Ward 1, Gary Marrs
405-297-2402 ward2@okc.gov Ward 2, Sam Bowman
405-297-2404 ward3@okc.gov Ward 3, Larry McAtee
405-297-2402 ward4@okc.gov Ward 4, Pete White
405-297-2569 ward5@okc.gov Ward 5, Brian Walters
405-297-2402 ward6@okc.gov Ward 6, Ann Simank
405-297-2569 ward7@okc.gov Ward 7, Skip Kelly
405-297-2404 ward8@okc.gov Ward 8, Patrick RyanNathaniel Batchelder The Peace House
www.PeaceHouseOK.org
Woke up to the news on TV of Bhutto's assassination in Pakistan, and trying to get some useful information about it is a major undertaking.
The mainstream news outlets, as usual, give little context, and basically mouth the government's statements. And I tend to beware when I hear George W. Bush or any of his many mouthpieces opine about who is and isn't a proponent of “democracy.”
I found a pretty helpful and concise (most helpful due to its conciseness) statement from AJ on Americablog:
In terms of policy implications, this is reflective of a massive US foreign policy blunder, in that the Bush administration, in a monumentally stupid move, shoved Bhutto down the throat of Musharraf (and the rest of Pakistan) as a savior, despite her lack of broad popular support and general reputation as corrupt. In making someone who didn't necessarily have the ability to deliver the savior for democracy in Pakistan, we simultaneously set up our own policy to fail and offered Musharraf a return to (or continued) total power in the event that our little power-sharing arrangement didn't work. We also — though not only us — painted a big fat target on her back. Really a debacle all the way around.
And before you jump to conclusions about getting news and analysis from blogs, note that AJ is not spouting hot air (like most of the “pundits” on TV):
- AJ in DC
is a former Department of Defense civilian Intelligence Officer who was decorated for his recent civilian service in Iraq. He is an Iraq expert, and an authority on Iran, democratization, nation-building, Middle East politics, intelligence, and national security matters. He is a consultant on these and other political subjects, and writes on AMERICAblog about defense issues.
Spencer Ackerman at TPM Muckraker has a bit more thorough context, which I recommend you read, but it all can be wrapped up in a pretty small sound bite after all — just not the one you'll hear on the TV:
… U.S. strategy is “in tatters.
Follow the evolving story about the assassination and its implications at TPM, which has a stable of fine reporters.
Meanwhile, Booman has a list of the range of media coverage that includes Fox Noise, Times of India and Hindustan Times (with the first rush of conspiracy theories).
I'm kind of obsessed with naming things. Perfecting lists. I spend way too much time doing this, and not enough filling in the rest of the story.
But it does mean I really appreciate things that are well named. And a list of good names? On a blog to boot? Heaven!
P.S. The blog is really good too. Much better than this one, so go there. Now. Shoo!
During at least three visits to Coburn's office, Winkler said, his staff never informed her that the senator had any objections to the bill and never revealed he would use Senate procedures to derail it.
“I feel deceived, really,” Winkler said in a telephone interview.
It isn't surprising that the good doctor blocks even health care bills. What's surprising is that I have to read this story about a woman from Yukon, which is just outside OKC, in the Tulsa paper. Oh, wait, no it's not…
And finally, in the Some Cities Never Learn Department:
This site welcomes visitors to add their comments to posts. (Later on, we'll be adding message boards that will foster even more interactive discussion.)
This basic tutorial for web/blog newbies will address how to track and read comments. Joining the discussion and writing comments will be discussed later.
Reading comments
If readers have commented on a post, those comments will be published on the full-post page, below the original post.
You can tell whether a post has comments or not when you are reading the excerpt on the front page (or other pages where posts are listed with short excerpts, like monthly archives), because the text of the comment link below the excerpt will change:
That might be confusing, but if you see (from the text of the link as described above) that comments have been made to a post, you can just click on “Read more”, which will take you to the full-post page, where you can read the full post, then continue on to the comments.
When bypassing the post and going directly to comments comes in handy, is if you have already read the post (and maybe commented on it yourself) and want to read the new comments that have been made since your last visit to the site.
Tips for following recent comments:
So, as soon as someone comments on post, that post jumps to the top of the recent activity list, ahead of other posts published more recently, but without any commenting.
Participate in the discussion — making comments
This will be added soon.
Again, this is stuff that experienced web users don't need to read. But I know from talking to regular people 
that all the unfamiliar stuff on a web page can be really confusing.
Don't worry, newbies, we were all like you once upon a time.
The front page's center column contains the main content — the feature stories. But usually only the first few hundred words of those posts are displayed on the front page. To finish reading, click the “Read more” link under the excerpt, and you get the post in its entirety.
Also below the post is the date/time stamp of the entry, and a link to the comments <!–(click here for more info about the discussion feature)–>.
If you want to do more that just read what's on the front page, there are several ways to drill down to particular content, including a direct search (using keywords or phrases), monthly archives, and categories. (Note: the latter two methods are under construction.)
Another way to navigate is to use the links in the menus in the header and footer of each page. Some of these links, like “Photos”, “Calendar”", “Library” take you to collections of specialized content, or reference documents. These are updated regularly, but may not be put on the front page with the blog-style posts. You can just visit those pages via the links, if and when you need that kind of info. For more details about what I put in these sections of the site, please read the appropriate page in the About section.
Many sites, including this one, have a “site” map that outlines all the content, presenting it in a tree-like format to help understand the site structure, thus (hopefully) making it easier to find what you are looking for.
Click for the Peace Arena site map.
Clicking the logo at the top of each page, or the “Home” link at the very bottom, will always take you back to the front page, the entrance to the site (where the web address points).
Blog basics – If you aren't familiar with blogs and how they are structured, this introduction might help you get your bearings.
Since I have some friends that are not (yet) blog readers, or even real web savvy, and I want to entice them to visit and hopefully enjoy the experience, I thought I'd gather together some basic tips about using this site.
If you don't fit into this category, you will want to skip this tutorial, unless you run into some difficulty, which will no doubt be the fault of the software (Drupal) or the technical shenanigans of the management.
Below are links to pages that explain how to find things on the site, add your own comments to a post, or deal with technical difficulties.
If after reading this, you still have questions, drop me an email (you can use this contact form) and I'll do my best to answer.
May the true meaning of the day on which you celebrate the birth of Jesus be manifest in your life and in the world.
Love. Joy. Peace.
(and even the atheists said “Amen!”)
Today on the front page of the Sunday Oklahoma there was a profile of Wayne Coyne of the “neo-psychedelic” band The Flaming Lips, which has a worldwide cult following, but until about two years ago, was virtually unknown, and certainly unappreciated, in Oklahoma.
Recognizing and honoring Coyne and the Lips has now become a symbol of hipness for the Oklahoma City business community, and imagining the meetings where those discussions took place just cracks me up.
Unless you've been living in a cave this past year, you know that the city renamed an alley in Bricktown “Flaming Lips Alley” and apparently half the Chamber went into cardiac arrest over it. I've never heard the band, since I'm not into music, but I enjoyed watching the ultra-straight TV reporters try to cover this news story.
Anyway, all this new-found warm fuzziness for creative diversity is just lovely, but I'll believe it when Coyne's new BFFs start giving a crap about the artists in their midst who haven't yet sold a few million records or whose paintings have political overtones.
Which brings me to an article in the El Reno paper today, about two women working to revive an arts council in Canadian County. (Link not yet available, the paper posts the Sunday content to their web site on Monday or Tuesday.)
They are still in the idea phase of this, and I support their cause. It would be great to have more creative programs and events in this area, because we aren't all into football or horses or church.
But they are talking about the positive economic impact of bringing in the artists, and that's when my skin starts to crawl. I'm just a little leery, because I've kind of seen this movie before.
Here's how it goes:
Small urban areas get the idea that making their community into an artists' Mecca will spark the economy (that's always the first thing they want). And they are all gung ho on this plan, up until real artists show up and, well, start acting like artists. Wanting freedom of expression and stuff.
Here's how the movie frequently goes:
When the artists start creating challenging art, i.e. dealing with religion, politics, injustice, etc. in their work, the community leaders have a hissy fit because they “had no idea that this is what artists would do” (which is true, they have no idea what artists “do”) and pull their financial support. The artists move on, one by one, and pretty soon, the town's art-themed urban renewal project is forgotten.
Most small towns just don't have the political sophistication to manage any kind of art endeavor capable of transforming its economy in any significant way, because before you can transform an economy that way, you have to transform the culture. No small community I've ever been in has allowed that to happen.
Now, if you really want the epic version of the movie, the one I played a bit part in, here's what happens:
Once the artists have alarmed the community leaders and/or church ladies, then the “Sunday painters” show up and sell their souls services to the local chamber, to replace the “bad” artists.
But in the final reel, the artists decide to have an kick ass exhibit to give voice to their anger. The local media has a field day when the cops show up to close the show because an art gallery dared to hang a nude, and/or visually convey discomfort about the war (whichever one we're fighting at the moment).
Then the artists go back to the city and continue their struggle for honesty and self-expression.
THE END.
Now, it's possible that Oklahoma City is going to pull this off. Its population is large enough, and growing diverse culturally and politically. It's a slow process, and some pockets of OKC are getting there. But there's a 100th monkey element to it to — a tipping point when things change dramatically. Whether that point will occur here depends on a lot of independently volatile factors. Art develops alongside politics, education, etc.
I don't have enough history in this area, nor am I involved in the artistic community, like I was when in Florida, so I'm in no position to predict anything, but I wouldn't rule it out. It would be great if it did. But it still won't happen with out full-out battles over the art, which I'm telling you, is political kerosene.
