Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of January 13th, 2025
Oklahoma Government Is Turning Our Kids Into Commodities – The Women Of Broken Trust Speak Out
ROPE Report – This is the write-up from our visit with Sherrie Conley, Dayna Mooney and Roberta Lewis of the new non-profit “Broken Trust”.
Peter Murphy of CFACT; Green Energy is “pure crony capitalism”
ROPE Report – Lots of links with the clips from last Friday when Michael and I interviewed Peter Murphy. You might want to send this article to your legislator!
Oklahoma House lawmaker takes on second role as government affairs manager
The Oklahoman – I’m not sure how we’re not to see this as a major conflict of interest. How does one sit on the board of an organization – certainly one like the Freedom From Religion Foundation – without that influencing your legislative votes? How do you lobby for a group and then NOT vote in a way that would further their cause on the floor of the House?
Rep. Dollens says he can do it because he’ll vote the way his constituents want, but then there’s this; Dollens’ new job will be to, “identify[ing] and advance[ing] key legislative priorities, building coalitions in strategic states and developing initiatives to counter Christian nationalism”. Interestingly, he then goes on to say in basically just the next paragraph that he is “in no way a lobbyist.” Since he just articulated the definition of lobbyist in the prior sentence, I’m very confused. Does that mean Rep. Dollens is as well?
Federal Agency Gains Access to Monitor Guthrie Oklahoma Residents Through City Surveillance System
Sooner Sentinel – The Sentinel tells us in this installment, that the ATF has been allowed access to automatic license plate reader (ALPR) data by the Guthrie Police Department. What? Essentially, just like we learned from Rep. Tom Gann’s interim study on ALPRs, the contract that Guthrie PD has signed with ALPR data group FLOCK. This is – I would hope – obviously, distressing. Police departments should not be using FLOCK because they share their data with so many other organizations. But then again, just recently the Sentinel told us how the City of Edmond refused an open records request for information on with whom exactly the City was sharing their ALPR data, so how would we really know. ALPR cameras must go IMO.
Government Created Pathogens: Will MAHA Finally Expose Origins of Lyme Disease?
V1SUT – Well this was an interesting departure from the articles we usually share from V1SUT, but BOY was it interesting. She makes a pretty darn good argument that Lyme disease was a lab-created, warfare disease. It’s a bit long, but fascinating. When you have a minute read it. But careful though, it might red-pill you if you’re not already! LOL
Shooting The Oklahoma Breeze Substack – really, quite a great commentary on the environmental movement. It’s short and very well-written, so at least scan it. His thesis is that the climate change narrative is given to us by fools who are too arrogant and consumed by elitism to realize they are even fools. Jesus is the only person who can save the planet, so we’re sitting with fools if we believe we’re somehow going to ‘fix’ the planet via any of the climate crowd’s ridiculous nonsense. I would add, that the best way to fix the planet IMO is reducing, reusing and recycling as individuals. Also, instead of technology companies focusing on things like AI that will not only eventually harm us, but eat up massive amounts of energy, they should focus on how better to recycle the things we’re taking from the earth NOW so that more people can use them a second time.
Court Strikes Down Biden’s Title IX Trans Overhaul Nationwide
The Federalist – YES! But it would have been nicer had they sped up the process a bit so we didn’t have to fight over boys in girls’ restrooms. With Trump coming into office, I expect that this stupidity will start to die off. If not, he – and we; in our own localities – should put the nail in that coffin. Another piece of nonsense that the Left had to dream up for their Utopian vision to be complete, so GOOD RIDDANCE.
Edmond, Moore, Stillwater districts shine in latest edition of Oklahoma State Report Card
The Oklahoman – Who really knows for certain what the Department of Educational Quality and Accountability office is doing with the state report cards. It was reported that the data had changed for the year and that cut scores had been changed, but there is nothing on the website I could find that explains how the data was crunched. If we don’t know how the data was collected, how do we know what to think of the scores? We talked to Kendra Wesson about that briefly in our conversation from last Wednesday, but even she wasn’t clear, she just mentioned that the differences in scores from then to now were not outrageous in the scores she’d spot checked.
You can scan the article to see some scores reported for mainly central Oklahoma schools.
WAIT! I just went out to find the article on Oklahoma’s cut scores only to find out that Wisconsin and Ohio changed their cut scores – I didn’t have time to look for other states. So, because the A-F grading for schools was federally mandated in Obama’s ‘Race To The Top’ program in order for schools to get federal dollars, I’m thinking there might be something going on at the federal level that sparked the change. I don’t know and don’t have time to research it I’m sorry to say, but I think the chances are good…
Right of First Refusal Laws Benefit Utilities, Not Consumers
Real Clear Energy – YIKES! I didn’t know anything about this, but we’d better start looking to get rid of any “right of first refusal” laws that might have previously been passed, or that might be passed this year. Here’s the explanation RCE gives:
“The proposed bills would give electric utilities in these states a “right of first refusal” (ROFR) to build, own, and operate new transmission lines in their service area, preventing new projects from being competitively bid on by other energy companies. These bills would eliminate a key element of competition from the part of electricity grid development known as transmission planning.”
Bergstrom Introduces Legislation to Strengthen Classroom Integrity and Transparency
Oklahoma Senate Media – Although I’ve not read these bills myself yet, it looks as if these are the bills we need to help keep predators out of the classrooms and to help parents remove pornographic library books. We’ll definitely have to watch these. SB346 and SB348
Ryan Walters asks lawmakers for millions for Bible mandate, legal fights
The Oklahoman – I can say that this article finally has something upon which the Superintendent and I can agree fully – THE FEDERAL EDUCATION DEPARTMENT SHOULD BE SHUTTERED FOREVER.
Basically, however, this article is about Walters’ meeting with the state Senate education budget subcommittee where he submitted a request for…. drumroll please….. $3.95 billion dollars – which includes 3 million dollars Walters wants to spend on classroom Bibles.
Billion. Think on that. A BILLION dollars spent on Oklahoma public education systems graduating a vast majority of students who aren’t proficient in either reading or math. I want my money back. What a horrible return on ‘investment’ <eye roll>.
What’s Driving the Rise in Non-Denominational Christianity? You Might Be Surprised.
PJ Media – I think you probably won’t really, but I don’t want to tell you what it is because it’s a VERY SHORT, pretty interesting little article.
New Bill Calls for DHS Accountability to Protect Families and Uphold Due Process
OK House Media – New Rep. Gabe Woollley has “introduced House Bill 1100, a legislative measure aimed at ensuring accountability within the Oklahoma Department of Human Services (DHS). The bill would require clear and convincing evidence to keep a child away from their parent or guardian. HB1100 would also impose felony kidnapping charges on the DHS employee who is responsible for approving the continued holding or release of a child for noncompliance.”