Yearly Archives: 2008

E-cycle old electronics free this weekend

David Arnett

Most people hate to throw away what once was expensive – even more so when it cost a fee to trash.  That computer, monitor, motherboard, printer, receiver, cassette deck etc. that you replaced, but can’t quite bring yourself to discard as it gathers dust can earn a discount coupon this Friday and Saturday.  A return of value at no charge.
In honor of America Recycles Day on Nov. 15, and to encourage consumers to recycle electronic devices in an environmentally sound manner, Tulsa’s Video Revolution, Sony Electronics Inc. and Waste Management Recycle America are encouraging area residents to recycle old electronics for free on Nov. 14 and 15 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The event will be held at the Video Revolution store at 7030 S. Lewis Ave. in Tulsa. As an added benefit, consumers who participate will receive a coupon valid for $100 off any Sony product over $999 purchased at Video Revolution, through Jan. 31, 2009.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 82 percent of the 2.25 million tons of old TVs, cell phones and computer products generated in the last two years ended up in landfills. By recycling old electronics products, useful materials – such as glass, plastic and metals – can be collected and re-used in the manufacture of other products.
Since their partnership began as a local trial program over a decade ago, Sony Electronics and Waste Management have collected more than 11.1 million pounds of electronics waste.  In 2007, the program went national and the companies anticipate that this E-cycle will grow exponentially as they continue events throughout the country.

Typically, people must pay for electronics to be properly collected and recycled or face fines for environmental pollution or store it forever.  As part of their ongoing efforts to help consumers recycle electronic devices safely, Sony Electronics and Waste Management are picking up the tab for this weekend’s event, where any brand of electronics will be collected for free.  Video Revolution in Tulsa is adding the extra coupon value.

Both Sony and Waste Management are signatories to the Basel Action Network’s Manufacturers’ Commitment to Responsible E-Waste Recycling. The actions signify the companies’ agreement to conduct their electronics recycling programs transparently and in accord with rigorous environmental and worker safety standards, and adhere to measures to prevent the export of hazardous e-waste to developing countries.

The event is part of Sony Electronics’ ongoing Take Back Recycling program, which provides free recycling for Sony products.

This national effort is also bringing attention to recycling e-waste and educating the public that there are alternatives to trashing electronics, and that -through recycling – natural resources can be used again and greenhouse emissions reduced in the process.  

"Sony Electronics intends to lead the industry in environmental stewardship by providing consumers with end-of-life solutions through our Take Back Recycling Program," said Mark Small, vice president of environment, safety and health for Sony Electronics.  "These special recycling events help us inform consumers that with Waste Management, Sony Electronics has established a local permanent drop-off location which they can use all year long to recycle their electronics when unplugged for the last time."

Small told Tulsa Today, “Our goal is to have a recycling location within 20 miles of 95 percent of the U.S. population.

“Every product we produce will, hopefully, be recycled at the end of its life expectancy.  Sony Electronics has set a company goal of taking a pound of outdated equipment back for every pound of new product we sell,” Small said.  “Our ultimate goal is to make this a zero cost program to both the company and to consumers by reusing materials.  Sony has put a great deal of planning, time, and effort into how we design new products so we may retrieve post purchased product materials to use again.  We are putting the full might of Sony Electronics behind this program to achieve our pound for pound goal.”

"People are seeking services to help them recycle electronic waste responsibly and economically," said Matthew Coz, vice president of Growth and Commodity Sales, Waste Management Recycle America. "We hope to collect as much recyclable material as possible through this free event. It is our way of demonstrating a shared commitment with the community, by providing outstanding customer service and environmental stewardship."
America Recycles Day, on November 15, is the only nationally recognized day dedicated to encouraging Americans to recycle and to buy recycled products.  The purpose is to promote the social, environmental and economic benefits of recycling and encourage more people to join the movement toward creating a better natural environment.
A complete list of E-cycling drop-off centers can be found at www.sony.com/recycle.
Waste Management, based in Houston, Texas, is the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services in North America. Our subsidiaries provide collection, transfer, recycling and resource recovery, and disposal services. We are also a leading developer, operator and owner of waste-to-energy and landfill gas-to-energy facilities in the United States.  Our customers include residential, commercial, industrial, and municipal customers throughout North America. To learn more information about Waste Management and WM Recycle America visit http://www.wm.com/ or http://www.thinkgreen.com/.
 
WM Recycle America is a subsidiary of Waste Management and is the largest recycler in North America. WM Recycle America’s business lines include processing many types of consumer-generated recyclables and finding the best markets for the recyclable commodities produced. In its capacity of providing processing and marketing services, WM Recycle America offers a wide variety of recycling options for municipal, manufacturing, commercial and residential customers. WM Recycle America eCycling Services operates a national network of e-waste processing centers, including Minnesota’s only ISO9001 and 14001 Certified electronics processing facility. More information can be found at www.recycleamerica.com.
Headquartered in San Diego, Sony Electronics is a leading provider of audio/video electronics and information technology products for the consumer and professional markets. Operations include research and development, design, engineering, manufacturing, sales, marketing, distribution and customer service.
Sony has played a key role in the development of Blu-ray, Disc, CD, DVD and Super Audio CD technologies, among many others. The company is noted for a wide range of consumer audio-visual products, such as the BRAVIA® LCD high-definition television, Cyber-shot® digital camera, Handycam® camcorder and Walkman® personal stereo. Sony is also an innovator in the IT arena with its VAIO® personal computers; and in high-definition professional broadcast and video equipment, highlighted by the XDCAM® HD and CineAlta lines of cameras and camcorders, and the SXRD 4K digital projector. The latest news and information is available at the company’s Web site at www.sony.com/news.

Powerful quality film, but not comedy

Evan Derrick, Film Critic

Rachel Getting Married
United States, 2008
Directed By: Jonathan Demme
Written By: Jenny Lumet
Starring: Anne Hathaway, Debra Winger, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill IrwinRunning Time: 114 minutes
Rated R for language and brief sexuality
4.5 out of 5 stars

Put crassly, Rachel Getting Married is like a 2 hour episode of The Office without any of the humor. Unpleasant, uncomfortable, and even seat-squirmingly painful to watch, it is neither funny, adorable, nor particularly heartwarming. (despite what the blatantly misleading marketing campaign would have you believe) But it is the best work director Jonathan Demme has done since Silence of the Lambs as well as being, hands down, one of the best films of 2008.
 
Anne Hathaway demolishes her Princess-next-door image from the first chain smoking frame as Kym, a junkie fresh off a 9-month stint in rehab with a disposition to match her attractive “pastime.” She’s off to her sister’s wedding to spread goodwill and cheer, although bride-to-be Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) doesn’t quite see it that way. Unresolved tensions and repressed secrets come packed in Kym’s baggage, and what better time than a wedding to air out all that rotting laundry? I’ve always liked Hathaway, but I never knew she had this in her. It’s the kind of performance that irrevocably alters the trajectory of a career, like The Accused for Jodie Foster or Mullholland Dr. for Naomi Watts.

Weddings are a favorite item in Hollywood’s grabbag-’o-clichés, second only to “high concept lie a relationship must overcome” and “creepy whispering child.” Screenwriter Jenny Lumet (daughter to, yup, Sydney Lumet) uses this cliche for a foundation but builds upon it the most naturalistic, intimate, and razor-sharp portrait of familial suffering since In the Bedroom. Initially I assumed the effortless rapport between the characters was produced by Mike Leigh-style scripting, a product of improvisation rather than a screenwriter’s mind, but Jonathan Demme has stated that the majority of the script, including Kym’s stomach-churning rehearsal dinner toast, is word for word what Lumet put on the page. If that’s the case, bravo, standing ovation, encore please. It’s brilliant, nuanced work, guaranteed to net her an Oscar nom this year if not a win.

Demme compliments the in-the-moment script with fly-on-the-wall filmmaking, employing cinema vérité camerawork that can distract, (pop zooms and low-fi handycam footage being the greatest offenders) but overwhelmingly enables the audience to participate, like voyeuristic second cousins once removed, in the emotional inferno erupting on-screen. As Kym and Rachel and their parents (played by Bill Irwin and Debra Winger, heartrending performances both) nastily pick the scabs off one another’s long buried wounds, the film becomes very hard to watch. Literally. Much of the time I was curled up in my seat in the fetal position, jacket over my head, peeking out through a slit, physically squirming at the rawness on display, more horrified at the words these people would speak to one another than any blood or viscera the horror genre could ever produce.

Much of the film’s effectiveness is due to Demme and Lumet’s stubborn unwillingness to choose sides. Your sympathies arc back and forth between parties, each character endearing themselves to you before provoking anger minutes later. Kym’s passive aggressive assaults initially disgust before a regret-tinged confession in an AA meeting frames her insecurities in an entirely new light; others go through a similar metamorphosis. Film, by its very nature, requires you to form judgments, but unlike the majority of cinema that spoon feeds you ready-made conclusions, Rachel Getting Married constantly forces you to reevaluate. Like The Wire, nothing is simple and, more often than not, things will end badly.

“Enjoy” is not the right word to apply to Rachel Getting Married; “endure” might be more appropriate. But this is powerful, compelling cinema from craftsmen working at the top of their game. It’s a career redefiner for one woman and a career starter for another, and this critic, for one, is eager to see what they do next.

About the author:
Evan Derrick loves movies, loves talking about movies, and even makes them from time to time. In addition to being the founder and senior editor for MovieZeal.com, he is also a member of the Oklahoma Film Critics Circle and a father of two beautiful children. He can be reached for comment or complaint at evan@moviezeal.com.

The Wayne Brady album

Luke Harrington

A Long Time Coming
Wayne Brady, 2008
Peak Records
Running Time: 43:49
3.5 out of 5 stars

It’s one of those things that makes perfect sense when you hear it, but still somehow catches you off guard: Wayne Brady recorded an album.

Yes, that Wayne Brady. The man you probably know from countless television shows, including the improv comedy program Whose Line is It Anyway?, his very own talk show The Wayne Brady Show, and his game show Don’t Forget the Lyrics!—not to mention some particularly memorable appearances on Comedy Central’s Chappelle’s Show. Aside from that, his career has tended toward doing some of the more thankless jobs in show business; including numerous voices on cartoon programs and hosting some bargain-basement pop culture documentaries on late-night cable.

Those of us who have followed his career have long been wondering why he’s continued to “slum it,” metaphorically speaking, when he’s clearly so multitalented. On Whose Line and everywhere else, he’s proven that he’s enormously adept as an actor, a comedian, and—yes—a singer (any Whose Line fan remembers his song performances fondly—for his voice as much as his sense of humor).

So a vocal album seems like almost a no-brainer. The question, though, is why now?

Not surprisingly, he’s wanted to do it a long time. In fact, his label’s press release goes to great pains to share his struggles with its creation. “The songs never came, the inspiration never happened,” he says. “Now in hindsight, I think about what my grandmother used to tell me: to just wait and as soon as it’s supposed to happen it will happen. I’m a very impatient person. I didn’t understand that. I love to sing. Why can’t I come up with my own album?”

Appropriately, the album he’s finally created is titled A Long Time Coming, which is both a summary of the work itself and quote from Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come,” a song which he covers on the album (it also happens to be one of its best cuts, with impassioned gospel blues influences, swelling strings, and tinkling piano). It was released September 16th on the Peak label, a label known primarily for contemporary jazz. This actually turns out to be a good fit—A Long Time Coming isn’t a jazz album (it’s decidedly R&B), but it has a lot more adult contemporary to it than it does urban flava. In other words, don’t expect to see a lot of high school students jamming to the sounds of “Ordinary” (the album’s lead single).

Of course, this is part of the record’s charm. Brady’s vast knowledge of pop culture would have been wasted on up-to-the-minute trendy sounds, and the use of (mostly) live instruments instead of programming is a welcome change from what you usually hear on contemporary urban radio. Every song features some memorable instrumentals from guitars, pianos, or orchestras; combined with Brady’s phenomenal vocals (which effortlessly move from bluesy to soulful to contemplative—Brady even pulls off a little bit of rap on a couple of cuts), it makes for a record with a “timeless” sound that could have been recorded anywhere from 1970 on.

Unfortunately, this also works against it somewhat. While most of the arrangements are well done and the musicianship is impeccable, the songs themselves turn out to disappointingly generic. Brady sings declarations of love (“I Ain’t Movin’ ”), paeans to sex (“F.W.B.”—which, by the way, stands for “Friends with Benefits”), angry breakup songs (“Beautiful Ugly”) and inane comparisons between women and fruit (“Sweetest Berry”), all without blinking or deviating at all from the beaten R&B path. (Also typical of the genre, each song is credited to six or more writers—does it really take that many people to come up with a single song? Can anyone explain that?)

There are momentary glimpses of what could have been, though. The aforementioned “A Change is Gonna Come” is three minutes of pure bliss. There’s a cover of the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” that’s pretty fun (even if it pales in comparison to Michael Buble’s inspired swing version). Even “Ordinary” (Brady’s assurance of his love that he’s fine with everyday life with her) is somewhat insightful. The real standout of the album, though, is “Back in the Day,” which boasts the chorus “I’ve loved you since Thundercats / Thundercats / Thundercats / Oh / Back in the day playing music videos / Tried to get a Jheri curl, Mama said no / That’s how long I’ve loved you.” I wouldn’t hesitate to say that 1980’s nostalgia is getting old (all irony intended), but it’s so unexpected in an R&B song that it works—and works well. This is really the only song that shows any of the quirk of Brady’s comedy, and while it’s not laugh-out-loud funny (which is almost certainly a good thing), it possesses a degree of personality that’s somewhat lacking in the rest of the album.

But despite its weaknesses, A Long Time Coming is still an accomplishment of an album, and one that Brady can certainly be proud of. Hopefully it will lead the entertainment business to take greater notice of this talented and versatile artist.

About the author:

A graduate of the University of Nebraska, Luke Harrington currently resides in Tulsa and works in the aerospace industry–but, at any given moment, would probably rather be reviewing movies and music.  In his spare time, he’s off playing blues piano, pretending to be Assistant Editor for MovieZeal.com, or reviewing the many musical events in Northeastern Oklahoma for Tulsa Today.

America the beautiful, a Republican review

Joan Swirsky

“The sun will come out tomorrow,” Little Orphan Annie sang in “Annie,” the long-running Broadway classic.

Editorial:  Well, on the morning of November 5, the sun wasn’t shining for over 55-million Americans, including me, who voted for a McCain-Palin administration. But the sun was blazing in another way for the historic election of Barack Obama as the first person-of-color to be elected President of the United States.

For those who witnessed, as I did, the violent racial strife of the 1960s, the assassinations of the most ardent advocates of minority civil rights, and also the redemptive messages and effective actions of Martin Luther King, Jr., a Republican, it is stunning to realize that, not 40 years after blacks were being murdered for aspiring to equality, a person-of-color has been elected to the highest office in the world.

And for those of us lucky enough to have also witnessed men walking on the moon, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the invention of the Internet, President-elect Obama’s election is yet another affirmation of the exceptionalism of America – its limitless opportunities, God-given freedoms, bountiful generosity, and the essential optimism and decency of its citizens.

For nearly two years, our electorate has watched and listened as the candidates presented their versions of the American Dream, explained or rationalized their past and current associations, and defended their stupefying verbal gaffes.

Like other conservatives, the American Dream I prefer is about small government, low taxes, a free-market economy, domestic-energy independence, a judiciary that strictly interprets the Constitution, and value for the life of the unborn. But the American electorate – besieged by a shaky economy and entranced by a charismatic “change” agent who stood for none of these values – strangely opted for a candidate who touts big government, high-taxes, strict curbs on domestic drilling (and the destruction of the coal industry), leftwing Supreme Court justices in the mold of Ginsburg and Stewart, and a remarkable distain for the value of in-utero infants.

It almost makes you believe that the people who voted for Obama have been living in an alternative universe.  After all, under the first six years of President Bush’s stewardship, the economy soared to heights previously unknown, consumer confidence was at an all-time high, unemployment levels were unprecedentedly low, and the affordability of both gas and food was never a topic of conversation. But from the minute Democrats gained control of Congress in 2006, the downward spiral began:
·  Consumer confidence plummeted.
·  The cost of regular gasoline soared.
·  Unemployment escalated by 10%.
·  Households saw $2.3 trillion in equity value evaporate through stock and mutual fund losses.
·  Home equity dropped by trillions of dollars and untold numbers of homes are in foreclosure.
·  Food prices skyrocketed over 30% in 1 year.

In spite of this, our electorate selected a man who promises a trillion dollars in new spending and draconian tax hikes on the most productive members of our society. His election inspired plenty of dancing in the street – both here and overseas – but the stock market reacted by taking the greatest plunge in history after a presidential election. It’s going to take a whole lot of “hope” to get us out of this Democrat-created mess!

That said, if the Supreme Court decides that Mr. Obama meets the Constitutional mandate of being a legal citizen of the United States – an issue that has still not been resolved – I wish him good health, as well as wisdom and strength, in the daunting tasks that lie ahead of him.
If The Supreme Court Decides…?

At this point, Supreme Court Justice David Souter’s Clerk informed Philip J. Berg, the lawyer who brought the case against Obama, that his petition for an injunction to stay the November 4th election was denied, but the Clerk also required the defendants to respond to the Writ of Certiorari (which requires the concurrence of four Justices) by December 1. At that time, Mr. Obama must present to the Court an authentic birth certificate, after which Mr. Berg will respond.

If Obama fails to do that, it is sure to inspire the skepticism of the Justices, who are unaccustomed to being defied. They will have to decide what to do about a president-elect who refuses to prove his natural-born citizenship.

“I can see a unanimous Court (en banc) decertifying the election if Obama refuses to produce his birth certificate,” says Raymond S. Kraft, an attorney and writer. “They cannot do otherwise without abandoning all credibility as guardians of the Constitution. Even the most liberal justices, however loathe they may to do this, still consider themselves guardians of the Constitution. The Court is very jealous of its power – even over presidents, even over presidents-elect.”

Also remember that on December 13, the Electoral College meets to casts its votes. If it has been determined that Mr. Obama is an illegal alien and therefore ineligible to become President of the United States, the Electors will be duty-bound to honor the Constitution.

Giving Credit

Mr. Obama’s victory on November 4 has been attributed not only to his own personality and message of “change” and “hope,” but also to a highly efficient ground operation, an uncritical – indeed fawning – leftwing media, and the ability to raise a staggering $650 million (much of it from foreign sources, the names of whom have still not been reported). Also unreported, but a crucial part of his success, has been the heroic work done – historically – by Republicans.

It was a Republican, Abraham Lincoln, who sacrificed everything – including his life – to fight a Civil War that ended slavery.

As documented by Diane Alden for Newsmax.com:
·  During the Civil War, Republicans planned the most significant amendments ever to our Constitution and enacted – despite fierce opposition from the Democrats –  the 13th Amendment to ban slavery, the 14th Amendment to protect all Americans regardless of the color of their skin, and the 15th Amendment to extend voting rights to African-Americans. 

·  "Every man that wanted the privilege of whipping another man to make him work for nothing, and pay him with lashes on his naked back, was a Democrat. Every man that raised bloodhounds to pursue human beings was a Democrat. Every man that cursed Abraham Lincoln because he issued the Emancipation Proclamation was a Democrat," wrote Robert Ingersoll in 1876.

·  For its first 80 years, the Republican Party was the only one to provide a home for African-Americans. Until well into the 20th century, every African-American member of Congress was a Republican. The same was true for nearly all state legislators and other elected officials.
 
·  In 1888, Republican Senator Aaron Sargent introduced the "Susan B. Anthony" Amendment to the Constitution, according women of all races the right to vote. Strong Democrat opposition to what would become the 19th Amendment delayed ratification until 1920.

But that’s ancient history, you say. Okay, how about the 20th century?

·  In the 26 major civil rights votes after 1933, a majority of Democrats opposed civil rights legislation in over 80 percent of their votes, while the Republican majority favored civil rights in over 96 percent of the votes. See here and here.

·  When President John F. Kennedy was a senator from Massachusetts, he could have voted for the 1957 Civil Rights Act pushed by Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson, but he didn’t. This Act only passed with the help of Republicans. After JFK was elected president, he failed to suggest any new civil rights proposals in 1961 or 1962.

·  In 1963, Kennedy decided to act on the 1964 Civil Rights Act, but faced a filibuster by southern Democrats. Republicans favored the bill, which would have failed without their votes.

·  Hubert Humphrey, a member of Congress when Democrats held both houses of Congress, admitted that, “without the leadership and help of Republicans,” legislative efforts “would have been watered down or failed because of obstinate Democrats – i.e., the Dixiecrats.”

·  The fact that Democrats are quick to take credit for the Civil Rights Act and for the civil rights movement itself is both phony and a self-absorbed vanity,” Alden says.

·  The Republican Leader in the Senate, Everett Dirksen (R-IL), wrote the 1960 Civil Rights Act, and was the person most responsible for defeating the Democrat filibuster against the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  The 1964 Civil Rights Act passed the House of Representatives with 80% Republican support but only 61% of Democrats. 

·  In the Senate, 82% of Republicans supported the bill compared to 69% of Democrats.

·  Similarly, the 1965 Voting Rights Act was supported in Congress by a higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats. Democrats vigorously opposed Republican efforts to protect the civil rights of African-Americans, from Reconstruction until well into the 20th century.  In much of the country, racist Democrats virtually destroyed the Republican Party, which did not become a force in those areas until President Reagan’s message of freedom and equality prevailed in the 1980s. Today, the Republican Party continues its historical commitment to civil rights at home and around the world.

·  In 2004, [America celebrated] the 150th anniversary of the GOP as well as the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education – a watershed of the modern-day civil rights movement.  In May 1954, former Republican Governor and GOP vice presidential candidate Earl Warren, appointed Chief Justice by Republican President Eisenhower, wrote this landmark decision declaring that "separate but equal" is inherently unconstitutional. To help enforce this principle, the Eisenhower administration drafted the 1957 Civil Rights Act and guided it to passage over a Democrat filibuster.

The Four S’s

In Why Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican, Frances Rice, Chairman of the National Black Republican Association, tells us that, “in that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S’s: Slavery, Secession, Segregation and now Socialism.”


Rice continues:
·  It was the Democrats who fought to keep blacks in slavery and passed the discriminatory Black Codes and Jim Crow laws.

·  The Democrats started the Ku Klux Klan to lynch and terrorize blacks.

·  The Democrats fought to prevent the passage of every civil rights law beginning with the civil rights laws of the 1860’s, and continuing with the civil rights laws of the 1950’s and 1960’s.
 
It was Republican President Dwight Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools.
·  Much is made of Democrat President Harry Truman’s issuing an Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military. Not mentioned is the fact that it was President Eisenhower who actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military.
 
President Kennedy was opposed to the 1963 March on Washington by Dr. King that was organized by A. Phillip Randolph who was a black Republican.
·  President Kennedy, through his brother Attorney General Robert Kennedy, had Dr. King wiretapped and investigated by the FBI on suspicion of being a Communist in order to undermine Dr. King.

·  In 1968, after riots broke out in Tennessee where a teenager was killed, Democrat Senator Robert Byrd, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, called Dr. King a "trouble-maker" who starts trouble, but runs like a coward after trouble is ignited. A few weeks later, Dr. King returned to Memphis and was assassinated on April 4, 1968.

·  Although affirmative action now has been turned by the Democrats into an unfair quota system, affirmative action was begun by Nixon to counter the harm caused to blacks when Democrat President Woodrow Wilson in 1912 kicked all of the blacks out of federal government jobs.

It was Republicans who founded the historically Black Colleges and Universities.
·  Critics of Republican Senator Barry Goldwater who ran for president against Democrat President Lyndon Johnson in 1964, ignore the fact that Goldwater wanted to force the Democrats in the South to stop passing discriminatory laws and thus end the need to continuously enact federal civil rights legislation.
 
President Johnson, in his 4,500-word State of the Union Address delivered on January 4, 1965, mentioned scores of topics for federal action, but only thirty five words were devoted to civil rights. He did not mention one word about voting rights.Then in 1967, showing his anger with Dr. King’s protest against the Viet Nam War, President Johnson referred to Dr. King as "that Nigger preacher."

·  Contrary to the false assertions by Democrats, the racist "Dixiecrats" did not all migrate to the Republican Party. "Dixiecrats" declared that they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than vote for a Republican because the Republican Party was known as the party for blacks. Today, some of those "Dixiecrats" continue their political careers as Democrats, including Democrat Senator Robert Byrd who is well known for having been a "Kleagle" in the Ku Klux Klan.

·  Republican Senator Strom Thurmond defended blacks against lynching and the discriminatory poll taxes imposed on blacks by Democrats. If Senator Byrd and Senator Thurmond were alive during the Civil War, and Byrd had his way, Thurmond would have been lynched.

“Today,” Rice says, “Democrats, in pursuit of their socialist agenda, are fighting to keep blacks poor, angry and voting for Democrats.” In 2004, they blocked passage of a bill to renew the 1996 welfare reform law that was pushed by Republicans and vetoed twice by President Bill Clinton before he finally signed it. They are opposed to school-choice opportunity scholarships that would help black children get out of failing schools, and they blocked Social Security reform, even though blacks on average lose $10,000 in the current system because of a shorter life expectancy than whites (72.2 years for blacks vs. 77.5 years for whites).
 
“Democrats have been running our inner-cities for the past 30-40 years,” Rice adds, “and blacks are still complaining about the same problems. Over $7 trillion dollars has been spent on poverty programs…with little, if any, impact on poverty.”

These are facts – you know those pesky little things that liberals abhor. But in spite of the Democrats’ historical racism, their abominable record in serving the needs of the black community, and their obvious inability to handle our economy, there’s a new Democrat in town, once again promising the moon.

Will The Sun Come Out Tomorrow?

Mark Alexander, the publisher of www.patriotpost.us, quotes George Washington, who said: "We should never despair. Our situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times."

Alexander, ala FDR, calls the election of Barack Obama “a date which will live in infamy … Liberals have elected a Socialist with deep ties to cultural and ethnocentric radicalism, and his executive and legislative agenda pose a greater threat to American liberty than that of any president in the history of our great republic.

“Obama has twice taken an oath to "support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic" and to "bear true faith and allegiance to the same." He has never honored that oath, and, based on his policy proposals and objectives, he has no intention to honor it after again reciting that oath on 20 January 2009. Obama seeks to, in his own words, "break free from the essential constraints that were placed by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution."

My perspective is not so bleak. We still have an influential conservative media, a growing number of exciting conservative stars on the political horizon, and an electorate that voted in huge numbers for a Republican candidate who was outspent by multimillions, shamefully savaged by a biased media, and distrusted by many of his fellow Party members. We won’t make that mistake again! And we won’t make the mistake of not reminding the electorate just how contributory we Republicans have been in fighting the Democrats to bring about true racial justice in our country.

Until and unless the socialists among us take away our rights, my country will always be America the Beautiful to me.

About the author:
Joan Swirsky (http://www.joanswirsky.com/) is a New York-based journalist and author who can be reached at joansharon@aol.com.

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Review

Tracy L. Crain

Monday, 10 November 2008
Edit Note:  Tulsans may learn a great deal from other cities with different forms of city government.  Tulsa Today began a series of reports on local governments within the region with the Little Rock review and continued with Mobile, Alabama then Lawrence, Kansas then Dallas, Texas and now how our sister metropolitan city in Oklahoma deals with the ongoing challenges of urban administration and progress.

Trends, like horses, are easier to ride in the direction they are going.
– John Naisbitt

Rebranding a product can be difficult. Rebranding a city is an even greater challenge, but it’s something that Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett hopes to accomplish during his term.

“There is a difference between someone saying I have to live in Oklahoma City or I get to live in Oklahoma City,” Cornett said. “We want them to see this city as a great place to live because it is. We lack traffic congestion in our city, have clean air as well as ample fresh water in areas where jobs can be created and those are great selling points.”

Cornett hopes to make those points more visible through a number of different marketing initiatives.  The idea is to create a city where people want to be,” he said.

Oklahoma City Municipal Structure

Elected halfway into his predecessor’s term, Cornett is in his fifth year as mayor, where he serves in a council manager form of government.

“It’s non-partisan,” he says. “It’s comprised of eight council people and a mayor, and the mayor presides over council meetings and nominates individuals for a total of 33 boards.”

He says the best thing about this system is that it allows him to hire experts at running day to day operations and provides the opportunity for a mayor and council members to focus on the “direction, vision, and policies for the city manager and the rest of the staff.”

Along with offering appointment authority, it’s the type of system that removes the mayor and council from personnel decisions.

“It might surprise people to know that we are not to be involved in those issues. When a new police chief is named, we are informed by the city manager and are not allowed to be involved.”

In this system, what the city manager hires and who the mayor appoints are kept separate. Cornett describes the greatest challenge in this system as preventing a block on votes or the act of trading votes among council people.

“In the past, we had a council where people were divided in teams and they voted in concert. Our system today is an honest and straight forward system and does not have voting clicks. That provides a refreshing point of view,” he said.

Cornett, who had a significant career in journalism covering sports, always thought he would do something in this field.

“I envisioned it much later in my career, but the time table switched from sports to news and I ended up covering city hall. I started my own business following that and again switched priorities. I decided then that I wanted to be on the city council and I ran against a two time incumbent and won,” he said. “There was no long term plan to the mayor’s office. It just turned out like it has.”

Cornett conducts his business from a beautiful historic city hall municipal building that was built in 1936. (www.okc.gov/city_hall/index.html) He is the 35th mayor to take office and, at age, 45, he is the youngest mayor to hold office, since 1959.

Frances Kersey has been serving as the Oklahoma City Clerk for the last 27 years.

“It is unusual to be in one department for that amount of time, but I am not elected. I am appointed by the city manager.  Some clerks are elected, but the position is appointed here,” she said.

She says the chain of command is the best thing about the current system.

“It is very clear who everybody reports to and it is clear that the mayor and council can not interfere in personnel matters. We are protected in that we report to the city manager,” she said. “In a strong mayor form of government, those boundaries can get crossed. That’s probably the main difference from other systems.”

Kersey, who has lived in Oklahoma City for 29 years, believes the downfall to this system is that the mayor is perceived more as a figurehead and not so much as a strong mayor, and that council members are considered to be more like part time volunteers rather than strong politicians. “That is a drawback,” she said. “They are not given the credit that they deserve. I wouldn’t want to work for any other form of government than what I have here.”

Oklahoma City Initiatives

Improving education and creating jobs are two priorities that Cornett has identified.

“We have a seven year program in effect to rebuild all 75 buildings in our school system,” he said. “We know that the educated workforce will want to be in that system. In the 21st century, jobs are going to go to where the people are. That is why we are focusing on rebranding and creating a place where people want to live.”  He continued, “Investing $125 million into what is going to be a new sports arena is part of that initiative.”

Oklahoma City is also positioning itself to relocate Interstate 40 seven blocks south in 2012.

“Our long range plan is to create a large central park and take advantage of the location of the interstate. We want to create the grandest street in the state Oklahoma. The thought is that we are going to create a place out of a street instead of just designing a place to build a park,” he said.

It may seem that Oklahoma City is following Tulsa’s lead, as they are making long range plans to develop a new convention center, but it is something that has been on the agenda.

“We need one and it’d be nice to put that along the boulevard as well. It’s an initiative that we will take to the citizens,” Cornett said.

Along with new construction, Oklahoma City seems to be fairing well in uncertain economic conditions. Forbes Magazine has already named the area as one of the most recession proof in the economy.

“Our revenue is still going up remarkably. This fiscal year has been really, really good for us,” he said.

Success comes as the result of what is said to be growing energy, aviation, and biomedical fields and the vast number of governmental agencies in the city. “Since we are the state capital, we have tens of thousands of government jobs. In a recession, those are good jobs to have in a community.”

If Oklahoma City is the recipient of more federal assistance than other areas, that is difficult to say. Cornett believes, in affairs as such, it is better to be the state capital than to not be.

Image“For one, you have state legislatures that are familiar with your city. If you look at the way things are funded, however, Oklahoma City has not received its share. What you will see is that Tulsa will get something and that Oklahoma City and rural areas will get something,” he said. “Oklahoma City is larger than one third of the state. It’s often inferred that we should share more with Tulsa. Based on our population, we actually should get more, but we are not complaining.”

Municipal Funding

It all comes down to taxation.

“In the state of Oklahoma, municipalities are funded by sales tax. In Texas, 25 percent comes from sales tax. That forces the city government to chase retail and to compete for what side of the street Wal-Mart will be located to achieve the other 75%,” Cornett said. “In a system as such, the viability of smaller cities is going to be determined by who got a Wal-Mart or who did not. There are two sides of the coin, as we are overly reliant on sales tax and that is very inconsistent when you are trying to budget.”

Cornett says the media is often too quick to compare one city to another using all sorts of criteria. “The only city that can truly compare to Oklahoma City would be Tulsa, as their municipalities operate under those of the same state government. It is fair to compare Tulsa in the way that it is funded,” he said.

On the same note, he encourages a more unified approach between the residents of Tulsa and Oklahoma City because the two share a common agenda and could accomplish more by working together than competing.

“That way, we would speak as one voice, instead of two.”

Christopher Knight once said, “You must have mindshare before you can have market share.” Considered the invitation to Tulsans extended.

What I do is so, this world will know, it will not change me. –Garth Brooks

There’s a saying that if the circus is coming to town and you paint a sign which reads, "Circus Coming to the Fairground Saturday," you’ve created advertising. If you put the sign on the back of an elephant and walk it into town, that’s promotion. If the elephant walks through the mayor’s flower bed, that’s publicity. If you can get the mayor to calm down about his flowerbed, that’s public relations.

If the town’s citizens then go to the circus and you show them the many entertainment booths; explaining how much fun they’ll have spending money at the booths, and they spend a lot at the circus, that’s sales. Getting someone to identify an area with something else…that’s rebranding.

Image“Oklahoma is synonymous with many things, but none so much as the Oklahoma City bombings, which garnered International media coverage,” Cornett said. “In many respects, I think that we are a very cosmopolitan place that has moved on, but people in other areas are very aware of it and that presents significant branding issues for this community. I think it is important to remember that half of our population did not live here or was not born yet when the bombing occurred, but it is a significant part of our history.”

The Oklahoma City National Memorial & Museum was established to pay respect to that history and to remember those who were killed, those who survived and those changed forever.

Before the bombing, Oklahoma City was a vibrant community with many attractive rural features, known for its rich Indian heritage. Rebuilding has been a significant task, but crisis readiness is something this city knows a little about.

Oklahoma City is unique in that Cornett serves as its spokesperson. Because of his extensive background in the media, he doesn’t delegate that task. Few have his experience when it comes to crisis reporting.

“When something occurs, our response is to gather information and to allow the media complete access. Rather than call a press conference, we will chose an hour or two where I am available to the press. We don’t call press conferences to bring positive attention to ourselves or to generate publicity, we do it to distribute needed information,” he said.

City Demographics

Oklahoma City was considered the 29th largest city in 2000. “I think it is the 30th today. In 2010, we’ll pass Portland,” Cornett said. “The majority of our city is Caucasian, 15% African American, 10-12% Hispanic, with a number of other minorities below five percent.”

The city does offer a high quality of life but residents are almost completely reliant on the automobile. “We are not very pedestrian friendly,” he said. “There is plenty of affordable housing. Our real estate market never rescinded and our housing values are continually increasing.”

At present, average median income is $35,000, among the lowest in the nation, but the cost of living is the second lowest in the nation.

The Oklahoman is Oklahoma’s City’s major metro newspaper.

One interesting fact about Oklahoma City is that a person must have a permit to have a yard sale, which costs $7 and can be obtained by filing with the License Division at 420 West Main Street in Oklahoma City. Residents are limited to two garage sales per year. Those who do not comply with regulations are subject to a fine of up to $200, plus costs.
           
See it in this light…

Oklahoma has a rich history. It is most famous for the “land run” competitions, nicely portrayed in Ron Howard’s, 1992 film, Far and Away, featuring Tom Cruise and Nichole Kidman.

After Oklahoma City settled in 1889, the city became a center for oil production. The capital building at 23rd and Lincoln is the only capital in the nation with an oil well under it.

Oklahoma City remains the largest city in Oklahoma. According to Adam Knapp, the name originated from the Choctaw words “okla,” meaning “people,” and “humma,” meaning “red.” When translated, it means “red people.”

The area is known for introducing the first shopping cart and remains the headquarters for the Amateur Softball Association of America, founded in Oklahoma City in 1933.

The Oklahoma City bombing of April 19, 1995 was considered the largest domestic terrorist attack in the nation’s history, until the events of Sept. 11, 2001.

About the author:
Tracy L. Crain is a freelance writer. She holds degrees in English and Journalism from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and completed post graduate work at the University of Memphis in Tennesse. To reach her, send an email to tlcrain10@aol.com.
Last Updated ( Tuesday, 11 November 2008 )