May 10, 2008

On The Cover

Mental Health Woe: Wasting Time And Money

By Frosty Troy

Mental health of Oklahomans is on life support, leading the nation in the percentage of adult mentally ill, doing little to alleviate the suffering.

OK-Texas Water Sale: Time To Deal With 800-Pound Gorilla?

By Arnold Hamilton

Oklahoma is in a bind. The state has water. North Texas wants some of it. Yet neither side has been able to agree on a plan to share the bounty, despite years of off-and-on negotiating.

What’s Inside

Frosty’s Notebook: Words

By Frosty Troy

Words have become the playthings of politicians beyond numbering, zipping into the mind and flashing a dizzy variety of meaning into the mysterious circuits of our brains.

Oklahoma Is Dead Last In Tax Burden

By Scott McCredie

Where you live can make a big difference in how much you pay in taxes. So can whether you smoke and how you get to work in the morning.

Corrections Department At ‘Breaking Point’

The Department of Corrections has reached a breaking point, according to a spokesman for the Oklahoma Public Employees Association.

Brown: No Need For Corporate Welfare

A legislative hero is born! He’s Rep. Mike Brown, D-Tahlequah, whose attack on a measure informally known as the “Chesapeake Bill” resonated in the halls of the Capitol.

Reynolds Sniffs Out A Real State Stinker

The human political bloodhound has done it again. Rep. Mike Reynolds, R-OKC, has sniffed out another stinker in state government.

Public Forum

Obama Not Responsible For Wright’s Egomania

By Kenny Belford

It’s inescapable to avoid the constant rehashing of comments from Barrack Obama’s former pastor. The old clips, combined with his thirst to grab the spotlight, are dominating the media.

The New McCarthyism: Villifying Wright To Attack Obama

By Colin T. Bent

One thing I have gathered from this electoral season is that there needs to be a complete overhauling of the institution that we call the press in this country. I have witnessed a sorry media decked out with some hangers-on masquerading as journalists attempt to destroy a totally decent human being. I speak of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

Speculators Cost Americans $1 Billion A Day

By Harry C. Johnson

Attention seems to never be drawn to an egregious shortcoming of the New York Mercantile Exchange’s Crude Oil Futures Contract [the NYMEX Contract], which sets the price of crude oil in the United States, if not the world.

Books

Fred Harris’ Memoir Worth The Wait

DOES PEOPLE DO IT?
A Memoir
By Fred Harris
University of Oklahoma Press
248 pages, $24.95

By Mike Nobles

Finally, the much-anticipated memoir by Fred Harris has been published and it was worth the wait.

Observations

Taxpayers Hit

A new report shows that divorce and births to unwed mothers costs Oklahoma taxpayers $400 million a year.

Kern Blemish

It had to happen. A San Francisco-area financial services company has sourced on Oklahoma City for a major office relocation.

Sorry Politics

Venal Republicans are determined to kill one of Oklahoma’s most valuable resources – especially for taxpayers.

Flip Meet Flop

Talk about a flip-flopping politician, John McCain is a hands-down winner.

Bravo Tulsa!

Oklahoma has had the third-highest number of deployed National Guard men and women in the nation.

Crossed Fingers

The vision of a mushroom cloud rising over an American city has filled people with a sense of profound vulnerability, helped build support for the Iraq war, and has been used to justify a sharp expansion in government power – from wiretapping to waterboarding.