Ozzie grooms himself after a snack. What a great kitty cat. We have had him for 12 years now! 

Ozwaldo P. Suggins III 

We had our first green beans from the garden today. They were delicious. 

They are blooming quite nicely now that we moved the plant to the North side of the house. 

Here comes the cucumbers. Thanks Ethel. 

Cock-a-doodle-doo! 

The Weathermen

I think I have blogged about this subject before. I'm too lazy to check on it. But it must have been at least a month or so ago. Anyway, its a real chigger.

Tulsa has way too many weathermen, oops! PC is weatherpersons. Please, please take me back to the days when weather only consumed 5 minutes of local news and they entertained us with Lee and Lionel or Gusty! I can remember when only Don Woods was a meteorologist. Anyone could give a weather forecast, especially here in T-Town. It was subject to change anyway, so who needs an expert?

KOTV seems to be the biggest culprit. They just picked up Travis Meyer, a long-time weather anchor for channel 8 KTUL. Now KOTV has innumerable forecasters, stormchasers, live video feeds, doppler radar, and clout. They can bust into programming at the drop of a hat, pre-empting popular shows, presidential addresses, NBA finals, all under the umbrella of "keeping us safe"!

I swear to you that this past week the broke into the NBA final game to tell us of a storm that looked severe. They went to a live video feed that was totally dark! You could see nothing. And they left it there for several minutes. Then someone noticed and panned the camera down to a streetlight, and then we could see that it was raining! Surprise! It is raining in Tulsa, OK!

Too many people, too much emphasis, too much technology! GIVE US A BREAK!

When the civil defense sirens go off, then tell us what's happening and show us the radar. In the meantime, fire the weather staff, hire some more investigative balanced journalists, and get an artist to draw us a Gusty-like character and make us all feel just a bit better about ourselves and our situation.

Where Did the Good Humor Man Go?

I can still hear the jingle of the Good Humor ice cream truck going by my house growing up in Tulsa. At least in my mind. Those were idyllic times for me. No, we didn't have much money, but we were a close family with love and guidance and trust. My favorite was the banana popcicle and then to go to our backyard where my folks would be sitting on lawn chairs under the shade of two big trees. My sister and I would throw sticks and stuff into the air and watch the fruit bats swoop down at them. Such a simple yet lasting impression in my mind.

At that time Tulsa had great public schools, strong local churches and caring neighborhoods. People still trusted their government. It was a government of, by and for the people. But that was 40 years ago.....

Now there is extreme cynicism from the citizens about our local government. It probably goes for the State and Federal government as well, but lately its focused on local government. But we elected these people! And they are our fellow citizens. Why is there such a spirit of distrust and cynicism? To see what I mean, see this link on the Tulsa Zoo Controversy.

Now I can't lay this at the feet of just one or two things. That would be naive. But let's look at one cause (self-centeredness,)flying under the multiple banners of tolerance, diversity and multiculturalism. No one would argue that these are good qualities for individuals to have up to a point. This has resulted in part in a lack of willingness to work together for our common good. Instead, government has had to focus on satisfying the self-centered wishes of the people demanding tolerance and diversity. Government is now not looking to the common good but the good of a few groups who at their core are selfish. This lack of focus on legitimate government responsibilities (public safety, economic development, infrastructure) has further polarized the majority of constituants. Most simply have dropped out altogether, washing their hands of the situation. We see this with such low voter turn out in elections. This has set up and perpetuated the "good ole boy" network that now has controlled our city for decades. A few would like to see this change.

We have lost the spirit of cooperation for our common good that even our parents generation demonstrated in the 20's and 40's. People who survived the Great Depression had a can-do attitude and even in the midst of poverty and despair looked out for the needs of others. There is such a difference between you demanding your needs and you demonstrating how to meet someone else's needs.

I fear we are in a delusional period in our nations history. The foundation stones have been removed one by one and now the house is about to fall down. There may still be time to right the wrongs but our current government lacks the will to even keep us safe with a price of policital expediency (I'm speaking of illegal immigration). How cynical it is for our Federal government on the one hand to create a new Federal agency for Homeland Security, significantly increasing the size of government, yet unwilling to defend us from the relentless onslaught of illegals entering through our borders.

Now, my neighborhood is silent. There is no ice cream truck that goes by with that familiar jingle. Now I hear silence. Its the silence of selfish resentment by the multiculturalists and the silence of apathy and indifference by the cynic.

The Smiles of Friendship...we've known each other for years but moving away has not changed our friendship. The two guys here are native Tulsans. One a Hale Ranger and the other an Edison Eagle (Green Weenie). 

At twilight our faces glow from the sun drenched day. 

Chandler follow up

Chandler's dad showed me a letter yesterday from the organization that handled his organ donations. It was so so encouraging!

So far Chandler's death and the decision of his parents to donate his organs have resulted in extended physical life for three people. One is a middle aged woman. One is a middle aged man. And the last is a baby boy. All are doing well after their transplants. One of the people is a Vet, which struck a cord with the parents, since Chandler loved animals of all types.

I've Seen This Before

Today we learn that our beloved City Commission can't even get an ethics policy passed. So sad! It's only a three page document that has been developed with bi-partisan support over the past months. It should not have been a surprise to anyone and should have passed without a hitch. But it did not pass.

It would seem that the stated objection to passing it is that by enacting the policy, many members of boards and committees would have to resign as they are in a conflict of interest. Well now, isn't that just what an ethics policy should be about, rooting out conflicts of interet?

How are the City Counselors serving the interest of Tulsans by continuing with the status quo, knowing full well that there are many people in a conflict of interest?

It would seem that the Commission will argue any point at any time. I think they would disagree with the fact that the sky is blue! :)

I have served on a contentious board, and can tell you first hand that it is no fun at all! I lost a lot of sleep and in the end accomplished very little. Any initiative I advanced was cut down. Sometimes agenda tactics were used. One time the President started the meeting a couple of minutes early, knowing I had to get to the meeting in the suburbs from my job downtown. In that short time, about a third of the agenda was "covered". I swear, I got there only about 4 minutes late!

But Tulsa's Commission antics are completely out of hand. Two of the nine members are now up for recall, not due to any impropriety, but to disagreement with past voting. Whatever happened to waiting for the next election? A petition drive to recall four more members and the Mayor of Tulsa is underway. Where has the civility gone? I am afraid the genie is now out of the bottle. Who knows where this will end up? Will the good citizens of T-Town in essence form a new direction for our city?

Is this where relative truth has taken us? If your truth is as good as mine, then who is right? Through the banners of multiculturalism, tolerance and diversity, we have purged our American culture from its historical roots and a belief in a higher absolute Truth. It has evolved into this quagmire and has turned my hometown of Tulsa Oklahoma into a banana republic, controlled by powerful special interests, who are only concerned with enriching themselves and perpetuating their power. Like Machiavelli, they care not for who stands in their way, how they obtain it, or the best way to keep their power. They will say and do ANYTHING to stay in control.

This is not the way our city should be! Good citizens and fellow Tulsans, now is the time to stand up and take control of our town. After sorting out this Commission mess, the best place to begin is with public education.

That's enough for now. I am feeling energized to keep on blogging.