Oklahoma still grand
It infuriated me to read a tweet during the May 31 storm outbreak by a national journalist who said, “It’s definitely time to abandon any plans you might have had to retire to Oklahoma City.” Perhaps it was particularly tasteless as we (friends, neighbors and strangers, including a 2-year-old child and a boxer with gas) were hunkered down in my underground shelter. Everyone has assaults. It’s all violence and it’s all terrible. Tornadoes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, fires, gang violence, domestic violence, drug abuse, porn addiction, human trafficking, rape, greed, murder — you name the horror, it assaults our homes.
Here’s the question: Is where you live a place filled with people who stand up to these assaults together with love, compassion, other-centeredness and generosity? In 24 years as an Oklahoma City Realtor, I’ve only had one family that moved to Oklahoma that didn’t love it.
Most made job changes to stay because they made the best friends they’ve ever had. A traumatized transplant to Oklahoma City piled into my storm shelter and said, “This would never happen where I come from. People would say ‘Too bad for you!’ ”
In Oklahoma, we say, “Too bad for us!”
CHECK OUT DUKE
School boards looking at creating storm shelters for their children should tour the facility in Duke. All the classrooms are underground. Only the gymnasium and administrative offices are above ground. This not only provides protection for the students but keeps their attention in the class. This facility is also large enough to provide shelter for many citizens of this small community of about 450.
IRS ACTIONS MAKE SENSE
John Latta (Your Views, May 31) missed the point in the targeting of conservative groups by the IRS. While the IRS may have blundered in its methods, Latta equates flagging the words “tea party” with “African-American” and other racial groups. He equates “Constitution” with religions, teachers and unions. The tea party and most constitutional groups are political organizations. While a racial minority or a religion may have political issues they care about, they aren’t, on the face of them, political.
If you’re looking for groups applying for 501(c)(4) status that are violating the regulations against political activity as their primary purpose, it makes sense to look at groups that are mainly organized around political principles.
THE LARGER PICTURE
In a “supremely” boneheaded decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has decided that it’s acceptable for police to collect DNA from a suspect without consent. So in their view, the forcible collection of DNA doesn’t constitute an illegal search and seizure. Yes, in the particular case the court ruled on, the guy turned out to be a rapist. But the larger picture is that the court has ruled that your genetic information isn’t private and your DNA isn’t your property. The implications of this are astounding and wide-ranging.
THE GREEN IDIOCY
Regarding “Europe provides example of cap and trade’s failings” (Washington Examiner, May 31): Obviously the green idiocy that the liberals and environmentalists are trying to get the whole world to accept won’t work unless the socialists in power are successful at keeping the world in recession. Most real conservatives knew it wouldn’t work a long time ago. Electricity needs to be around 40 to 45 cents/kwh for windmills to be viable without huge tax giveaways.
Meanwhile, this country is closing coalgenerating plants just as fast as natural gas plants can be built because the EPA requirement for additional coal emission scrubbing capability makes these plants economically unfeasible. What will this do to electricity rates after we get our cars and trucks converted to natural gas? Make them skyrocket, of course!
And President Obama won’t let us drill when he surely knows that gasoline prices will skyrocket even more when the economy ever recovers. European mediocrity, here we come! And since we aren’t going to have the money, who’s going to rescue Europe from the next despot who conquers them?