Three New Substack Articles That Simply Must Be Read!

Sadly, I rarely have time anymore to do the research and writing I once had time to do. If you’re interested in writing and/or reasearching, for God sakes DO NOT START A PODCAST! It’s shocking how much time a twice-weekly show can take up!

Instead, let me make sure you have links to three MUST READ articles for this weekend, but also the links to numerous Substacks that you simply MUST put on your list to check out daily. Substack is great in that you can follow authors and when they release an article, it pops up in your app. Yes, I suggest you download the Substack app, but you can also be notified of new articles via email – which is great, if like me – you feel your phone filling up beyond manageable proportions with apps!

Please read V1SUT’s newest piece Past Speaker McCall Puts Gov Ambitions Over Kids: Grand Jury Petitioner Arrested Twice after Naming McCall & Others. Charles McCall is running for Governor. This is very important information regarding someone who speaks campaign rhetoric about protecting children and families. You need to follow V1SUT on Substack and on our podcast, where Katy will be subbing for me again – this time during my knee replacement – the 22nd to October 3 (or so!)!

Highway Robbery: How the Oklahoma Turnpike Authority Exploits Drivers and Squanders Millions is the latest from Amy Cerato’s substack. Amy is a professor of Engineering at OU. She has also been forefront (along with our friends and frequent podcast guests Whitney Mullica and Kelly Wilson) in the PikeOffOTA group, writing and researching about the Oklahoma Transportation Authority. This particular article is a must-read, but it is also a necessity that you sign up for Amy’s Substack, as she regularly produces excellent, timely and well-researched information all Oklahoman’s should know.

Amy has another Substack article coming out on the 8th, that you won’t want to miss that promises to show where the ‘extra’ toll funds are going. I don’t think any of us want to miss those revelations – as long as we have trash cans nearby in the event we have to be sick…

Ramblings of a Domesticated Warrior is another Substack to which you should subscribe. Here again, excellent writing combined with truth and news you definitely won’t hear on the drive-by-fake Media. Their newest post is The Chamber’s Puppets: Exposing Oklahoma’s So-Called Republicans. This article has a questionnaire you can give to prospective candidates for office in 2026, that is short and sweet, but gets right down to the nitty-gritty, exposing whether or not they are tyrannists, or Constitutionalists, group thinkers/one world government fans, or individualists. So many candidate questionnaires tire out – not only the candidate – but the person reading. This is awesome. Please download the survey and give it to ALL the candidates you’re able to!

Here are a few other OKLAHOMA Substack authors I suggest:

The Sooner Sentinel – for the libertarians/small government lovers in all of us.

Straight Up – by Tulsa reporter David Arnett, has lots of good information about Tulsa, but also Oklahoma in general.

The Oklahoma Lion – another really great Substack with local, political news.

The Oklahoma State Capitol – a Substack written by former Oklahoma State Representative Jason Murphey, The Oklahoma State Capitol covers exactly what it says it does – the people and legislation coming out of our Capitol. It’s a MUST read for the real scoop on what’s going on where Oklahoma laws are imposed upon We The People.

I also follow a Substack written by a Democrat, called GenXpletives. She writes about politics and important topics with a liberal bend, but she is an exceedingly honest writer that doesn’t hiss, or name call, or act like a leftist. She and I have had some really excellent conversations based on some of her articles because we definitely intersect on thoughts and topics. If you want to read what an honest liberal thinks, I suggest GenXpletives. And remember – we don’t have to give up our core belief system to agree with someone who doesn’t think exactly like us. In fact, the more we converse, the more we find out we have in common and it’s the common ground that is important. Don’t refuse to read something just because the person you’re reading doesn’t have your political bend.

And so, there you are. I know a lot of people who say to me that they would read more, but they don’t know what to read. Now you know! Go get your Substack app fired up, or click through the links I’ve provided here and sign up! 2026 will be a VERY IMPORTANT year here in Oklahoma. Make sure you find a way to keep up with Oklahoma politics!

September 5, 2025 0

Interesting News That Needs Reading Today

Oklahoma Voice gets the prize for having the most interesting reads in one place this week.

When I opened the email today I was pretty surprised at the topics they’d covered.

Panasonic to delay production at Kansas battery plant as electric car sales decline, policies shift – Oklahoma had tried to land this plant, offering nearly $700M in incentives.

Why is this important? Because of the tag line – Oklahoma was going to offer SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION of YOUR tax dollars to get the plant here. Fortunately, everyone and their dog in Topeka, Kansas, offered more taxpayer dollars than Oklahoma and the plant went to Topeka.

As so many of us fighting the ‘green agenda’ have said – most of these deals are done via non-disclosure-agreements (NDA’s) that leave neighbors of the plant/project/etc. almost completely in the dark as to what has been promised to the plant/project/etc., though the neighbors (i.e. tax payers) are paying for it and will have to live with it as part of the “people in their neighborhood“.

Here we have a plant that was ready to go, but then had to scale back because people are deciding to scale back on EV purchases and because President Trump has put the kibosh on EV subsidies through the Big Beautiful Bill. The plant has already spent taxpayer dollars to get up and running. What’s going to happen to the rest of Panasonic’s community promises of jobs, etc. with the scaleback?

This is just one of the many reasons why OKLAHOMA should NOT be pumping taxpayer dollars into private businesses – in so many cases, taxpayers aren’t getting what they paid for. But who cares, right? It’s not the Governor’s money, or the Commerce Department’s money…

Oklahoma parents, faith leaders drop lawsuit over Catholic charter school

There’s no reason to sue when the Supreme Court has said that taxpayer funds can’t fund religious education.

“The plaintiffs and their legal counsel — who include attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, and the Freedom from Religion Foundation — declared victory while dropping their case”. The Oklahoma Parent Legislative Advocacy Coalition was also involved.

Sadly, these are all left-of-center organizations that hate Christians and religion. I’m a conservative Christian, so they don’t represent me – other than my viewpoint that the state should not fund religious schools. Here’s why:

My God is a jealous God and if I had autonomy over my purse I would not ever financially support another religion. It’s America. You do your own religion. But don’t do it on my dime. When the government takes my money by force and gives it to a church outside the sphere of my religious belief, I’ve funded a religion whether I meant to or not. I vote. The government is of the people, by the people, for the people. How I can say I have absolutely no say against that is mind-blowing.
The government controls what it funds. During COVID, lots of churches closed down because their state told them to. People quit going to church because they were simply told, “you can’t” and lots of people listened. I do not want my government controlling religious institutions of any kind. Churches are to be the pillar of the state. They can’t be that when the government tells them “you can’t”. Churches should make the state accountable to the people and to God. They can’t if the government tells them, “you can’t”.
It is against the Oklahoma State Constitution to use tax dollars to subsidize religious schools. How did a bunch of attorneys decide that the highest land in the nation can just change Oklahoma’s Constitution and not its people. Who knows? Maybe Oklahomans would decide to change the state Constitution to allow that, but we wouldn’t have known because Oklahoma school choice pushers – Governor Stitt, etc. – wanted to remove The People from the government by making an end-around to the Supreme Court. Nope.

So, obviously, I’m thankful the Supreme Court deadlocked and the School Choice pushers were thwarted.

Former Oklahoma agency head prohibited from working for state, under settlement agreement

Well, the Ethics Commission actually did their job and slapped Shelley Zumwalt on the wrist.

In a story that personifies – for me – the absolute horror show that is the Oklahoma government revolving door of agency heads making the round of government agencies (Stitt appointed Zumwalt to three positions: the Oklahoma Employment Security Commission, the Oklahoma Department of Tourism and Recreation, Secretary of Tourism, Wildlife and Heritage – a Cabinet secretary position), Zumwalt was fined $20,000 by the State Ethics Commission and told she can’t work for the state FOR THE NEXT TWO YEARS. Just enough time for Governor Stitt to be removed from office by term limits (thankfully) so that he can’t appoint her to anything else.

As the head of the OESC, Zumwalt created contracts with a business run – in part – by her husband. But don’t worry, neither she nor her husband benefitted, according to Zumwald and the Ethics Commission.

About this situation, AG Drummond said, in April of 2024: “This level of self-dealing represents an unforgivable breach of trust that disqualifies Ms. Zumwalt from overseeing the expenditure of our tax dollars,” Drummond said. “She should resign immediately and cooperate fully with my office as I seek to determine whether any Oklahoma statutes were violated.”

But, never fear, our intrepid AG will not now investigate Ms. Zumwalt because he’s satisfied – after the Ethics Commission ruling – that no crimes were committed here. Come on. Seriously? State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s office found that she violated the rules on conflict of interest by issuing contracts to a company of which her husband was vice-president.

So, breaking the rules isn’t committing a crime? Rules put in place to protect taxpayers from contract-fixing? Why have rules then? What are those supposed to do exactly? Provide a typist somewhere something to do entering it into a database? Again. Slap on the wrist. Yawn. Sigh. Who cares? It’s just taxpayer money…

State board calls for investigative audit of Epic Charter School – Mismanaged budget resulted in mass layoffs at Epic, state officials say

Why has somebody at the Oklahoma Statewide Charter School Board not created an agenda item for closing Epic Charter Schools? My word. This school has been mismanaged from the word “go” and cost taxpayers MILLIIONS and MILLIONS of dollars. Why does this keep happening? Why is the OSCSB LETTING it happen?

First there was State Auditor Cindy Byrd’s scathing audit of Epic which showed that, “since 2015, Epic was allocated $458 million in tax dollars, with $125.2 million funneled to a private company owned by Ben Harris and David Chaney, according to the audit“, though AG Drummond has declined to prosecute the men since taking the case over in 2023. Now, there are massive layoffs and a $30 million shortfall.

Cindy Byrd’s office performed the original audit. Now, Chair Bryan Shellem and the OSCSB have decided to hire an outside auditor to examine the school’s books. This is concerning. The ‘right’ auditor has to be found. So many state agencies and governments use auditors to obtain generalized information that doesn’t provide meaningful results to taxpayers. It will be interesting to follow this story to find out how EPIC will be audited now – and by whom.

FAMILY ORIENTED INFORMATION –

Porn and marijuana are hurting our boys. Parents and schools need to speak up.

“They smoke to relax. They watch to escape. They become lethargic, less motivated, more isolated. Not because they don’t care; but because they’re chemically rewarded for not caring.”

This is a HUGE and IMPORTANT statement. In point of fact, every dad (and mom) needs to read this OpEd in the Daily Oklahoman today and ACT ON IT. Young men in our society are being turned into zombies and we’re effectively letting this happen. Unfortunately, too many parents don’t care as much as this letter-writer. Please read this short editorial and take it to heart.

2025 Homeschool Curriculum Picks and Practical Planning Tips – Aby Rinella and Yvette Hampton

We’ve had Yvette on the show before. She and her husband produced the movie, “Schoolhouse Rocked: The Homeschool Revolution“, a documentary about the rise and possibilities of homeschooling.

Yvette – and Aby Rinella – just released this list of homeschool curriculum picks and planning tips! JUST IN TIME FOR YOU TO DECIDE TO HOMESCHOOL INSTEAD OF GOING BACK TO YOUR PUBLIC SCHOOL!

Check these out and opt for staying home with your kids. It was the best thing I EVER did and I wouldn’t take it back for all the money in the world. In fact, the only downside I EVER found to having my kids with me 24/7 was that when they finally grew up and flew out of the nest, it was just SO LONELY. Having them around was just the best! I recommend it HIGHLY.

July 15, 2025 0

Two Articles That Need Sharing Now

If you haven’t read – or subscribed to – the Ramblings of a Domesticated Warrior Substack, please do. She has so many really good short and sweet, but informative, articles about things that are happening in Oklahoma and what those things can mean for Oklahomans.

Today, I found this in my inbox: The Foreign Land Loophole: Why SB 1705 Still Doesn’t Protect Oklahomans. I’m not going to synopsize the article, it’s short, but let me just say that I’ve written about this numerous times – the fact that the legislature passes bills that are meaningless when it comes time for Oklahomans to depend upon them to protect their liberty or property. Oh, these bills make great news clip fodder for the author, but they don’t actually DO what they mean for Oklahomans. Read the article, you’ll see what I mean.

The next is from David Arnett and his Substack, “Straight Up” – another Substack to which you should subscribe! Today, he’s written, “Tulsa County Data Center Opposed” about the opposition to a new data center planned for the Tulsa area. Who is opposing? Arnett does a great job of summarizing the issue and who is involved. If you don’t think this is important to you because you don’t live in Tulsa, I’m warning you – data centers are the next big thing to come to your neighborhood with all their baggage. You will definitely want to know what’s going on in Tulsa in case it shows up in YOUR backyard.

Again, these are quick and informative reads that give you definite insight into things happening here in Oklahoma right now. Please read and share!

July 8, 2025 0

Image of a podcast schedule for July, featuring various guests and topics such as the OKC Bombing, Independence Day, and political discussions, set against a background of the American flag.

July 2, 2025 0

Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of March 10, 2025

ROPE2.org

SB224 And SB141 Are Unnecessary; The WAVE (SLDS) Captures Student Data On Education And The Workforce – AND WAY MORE – Already

I have absolutely no idea why this legislation was proposed. I need to make an appointment and go talk to the author and ask, but this makes no sense. Since 2013 we’ve had a State Longitudinal Database System (SLDS) and it’s still working because I went out to the OSDE website and found all the new fields they’re adding to the School Interoperative Framework (SIF) to collect new data. This article describes the SLDS and why we don’t need a bill for something we already have.

Parent Who Posted Now-Viral State-Approved Waurika Psychology Assignment To Her Facebook Page Speaks Out

Last week I interviewed Ashlyn Jade, the mother who posted the now-viral AP Psychology worksheet given to 11th graders at Waurika Public Schools. She had no intention of running down the coach that produced the worksheet and handed it out, she was simply posting the worksheet to let parents know what was going on. Instead of parents being concerned and wanting to know what was going on, they essentially turned on Ashlyn and dogged her on social media for getting the coach ‘fired’. As our friend V1SUT has pointed out, for some reason, parents in small towns seem to circle the wagons around the school and throw whistleblowers under the bus. This seems to be happening here.

A Discussion About Oklahoma Homeschool And Other Education Legislation

Michael and I talked to Jana Belcher and Robert Scott about some legislation being floated this year. At the end, Robert talked about the tax credits being offered to homeschoolers. The state keeps all the data on all the many tax credits they hand out – and that includes the homeschooling credit and the tax credit for the Parental Choice educational credit – where your name is publicly listed in the Oklahoma Tax Commission data report. Robert essentially makes the point that, if you’re homeschooling, it’s likely that you don’t want your child to be tracked by the government. However, if you take the tax credit, the government not only tracks you, they release your name as well.

Citizen Lobbying 101 – Learning How To Work With Legislators On Important Issues

Our discussion with Carolyn McLarty of Eagle Forum (and former Oklahoma State Republican Committee Woman for 12 years) was a lot of fun. We talked about how citizens should go about dealing with their elected representatives and talked about how people who’d like to go to the Capitol could connect with her through Eagle Forum. It’s always a lot more effective to have more than one person lobby on an issue and Carolyn can help you with that.

Kaiser Partners With OK To Fund Birth To Three ‘Early Education’ Collecting Data On Babies For Tax Dollars To Justify Putting Them In Daycare

All the work I’ve been doing on the SLDS this week got me very concerned when I found that organizations are keeping data on babies at the taxpayer expense. Of course it all stems from money ‘gifted’ to the state in a public/private partnership to ‘help’ the underprivileged in our state. Unfortunately for babies and families, this money comes from the George Kaiser Family Foundation. This is truly a huge problem, taking babies and toddlers away from their parents to be raised by the state while the state collects data on them that they then use to justify getting more tax dollars to keep babies and toddlers away from their parents. Please read this and pass it on to others. It needs to stop.

LEGISLATION

Next week, all the bills must change houses – House bills that have been voted off the floor of the House must go to the Senate and vice-versa. At this point, we will look at the bills that have been passed and make a list of the ones that need to be stopped and the ones that need to be passed. We should have that for you by next week’s news wrap up.

OKLAHOMA SUBSTACK AUTHORS

V1SUT – This week, our friend Mary had two great articles, but the last one is definitely an issue everyone needs to know about. OK Speaker Hilbert Pulls Shady Bill Flip in Gov Stitt’s Ongoing War Against Supt Walters’ Board of Ed tells the tale of gutting one bill and dropping new language into that bill. From the substack: “After 5:00 pm on Wednesday, March 4th, that amended bill was gutted and replaced with language giving Stitt’s new appointees control over the State Board of Education agenda, a right and responsibility historically reserved for the State Superintendent as the only member of that board elected by We the People.” Read the rest of her article to find out why this is bad.

The Sooner Sentinel – Author Marvin Goodman writes multiple times a week so it’s hard to put all his substacks in each week, but PLEASE check out the one he wrote yesterday. It. Is. Scary. The Invisible Eye in the Sky: Dirtbox and the Silent Expansion of Surveillance in 2025. Americans are being heavily surveilled to the point that it’s out of control. We need legislators who have the guts to protect WE THE PEOPLE from these constant invasions of our 4th and 1st and 5th Amendment rights. Please read. I had no idea about any of the things he wrote about here and I’m imagining maybe you might not either and knowledge is power.

Restore Liberty Oklahoma – Wendi Montgomery Dial writes often about election issues. Her latest, is an audio note posted the 7th where she discusses the Make Elections Secure Act (MESA) and what Oklahoma can do to get rid of it.

The Oklahoma State Capitol – Author Jason Murphy’s last post was about the passing of Governor David Boren. Did you know that during his time as Governor he was a staunch advocate of transparency? I didn’t. Check out his substack on Boren for more information.

David Arnett – David is the publisher of Tulsa Today and also writes on his personal substack. Check it out.

Shooting The Oklahoma Breeze – Oklahoman Ryan Kester is sick of the ‘green agenda’. As he has time, he writes about it. Check out his latest post, Another Mirage.

Critical Thinking Still Matters – Okie Author J Ossenkopf writes about various subjects pointing to the lack of critical thinking we humans seem to display currently as a general rule. Her latest is, “The Golden Age of Common Education Funding and Union Influence (Not Academics, Students, Families) in Oklahoma” and it’s a really great summation of all the educational BS that’s been going on and why it is meaningless to outcomes of students. Lots of great data here to mine!

LOCAL MEDIA

Governor calls for audit of Oklahoma mental health agency, says it may need additional funding

Oklahoma Voice: In a shocking turn of events, we find that government misuses the money that is stolen from taxpayers. Worse, we’ll have to pay even more out of the treasury to keep open a government office that has no business being a government office in the first place. Once, long ago now, churches and other private organizations took care of the mentally and physically infirm and little ones. Now, Big Brother does it for us and we’re shocked when we find out they not only don’t do the jobs they were appropriated to do, they misspend they money stolen from us for the cause.

Regent says employee tip led to internal OSU audit that showed alleged misspending

The Oklahoman: Rinse and repeat from above. Government money means little to people using it who often like to believe it’s ‘their’ money.

Governor’s DOGE-OK initiative takes shape ahead of reporting deadline

The Frontier: So, Oklahoma’s very own DOGE is up and running. Here’s a quote from the article: “Stitt appointed Marc Nuttle, a businessman and political insider who worked on the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan and Pat Buchanan, to administer DOGE-OK. Nuttle also coordinated fundraising efforts for Stitt’s inauguration as governor.”

SD 8 GOP primary: Bryan Logan, David Nelson advance to runoff

Non-Doc: BOY WAS THIS GREAT NEWS! Bryan Logan knocked it out of the park with a whopping over 40% in the primary. Now, we’ve just got to stay focused and help him finish out the homestretch on May 13th. (Let’s not ask why our Governor took so long to call this election, since the people of SD8 will have had no representation through nearly the ENTIRE legislative session – and let’s not ask why Senator Roger Thompson had to throw such a baby fit and quit and leave his district without representation for nearly the ENTIRE legislative session.) Let’s also remember that the swamp would prefer Bryan’s opponent, so all the stops will come out before May. Here’s an interview we did with Bryan for our Candidate Corner. Please share.

NATIONAL MEDIA

Chris Wright: “We need more energy. Lots more energy.”

Robert Bryce Substack: Bryce quoting Wright, “Everywhere wind and solar penetration have increased significantly, prices on the grid went up and stability of the grid went down.” Now, can we convince our tax-credit-happy Governor to get away from the stupidity? Who knows, but we can’t quit trying.

Breaking News: South Dakota Governor Signs HB 1052

FreeSoil Foundation: “South Dakota Governor Larry Rhoden signed HB 1052 to protect property rights and prohibit the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipeline projects.” This is great news for SD and I’m hoping that, not far behind, will come a real repudiation of the whole C02 carbon credit scheme that’s driving so much of this stuff from Harold Hamm (Continental Oil) down.

With lawyers and judges like those the American Bar Association advances, the United States will quickly discard what’s left of our constitutional order

The Federalist: Hopefully, people are learning that nearly ALL the organizations they had believed to be at least politically ‘neutral’ have been taken over by leftists. Look at the AMA and other US medical groups. A study just last year found that, “Overall, activism is common across specialty medical societies. Among the 26 societies that take stances, 23 (88%) do so on multiple issues.” From the Federalist article, “By endorsing race and sex discrimination, presidents unilaterally changing the Constitution, and forbidding elected executive control of unelected executive bureaucrats, the ABA has disqualified itself as a legal organization or any kind of legitimate player in American public life. No elected official who has made a public vow to preserve and protect the Constitution should give this anti-American pressure organization the time of day.”

Honors Student Sues After Graduating Without Being Able to Read

The Liberty Sentinel/Alex Newman: From the article, “Despite graduating from high school with “honors” and being accepted into the University of Connecticut on a scholarship, 19-year-old government-school victim Aleysha Ortiz cannot read or write. At all. Literally. And she’s hardly alone. Now, with help from an attorney, Ortiz is suing the city and the school board. And the national media is paying attention.” I knew social promotion was happening back in the early 2000’s – it’s one of the reasons I left public school teaching. We can write laws against social promotion all we want, but it’s still done and it will CONTINUE to be done until parents wake up and decide to take an interest in what their kids are learning at school. As our friend Kendra Wesson has said before, all it takes is a parent who will listen to a child read on a regular basis to tell how well they’re doing in school. If you can’t do even that, you’re dooming your child to this same outcome. That is a parental responsibility and until parents accept their responsibilities, they don’t have parental rights.

March 10, 2025 0

Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of March 3, 2025

Oh my gosh. Lots and lots and lots of news from last week!!! So many things going on to try and follow – including legislation!

ROPE2.org

Colonel Jim Putnam, Candidate for Edmond School Board – Virtual Presence Is Actual Absence

Colonel Jim Putnam is running for Edmond School Board. We interviewed him on the podcast, Wednesday, February 26th, and had such fun. That guy is smart and tough and tested and has the right idea about school boards – they control the school! I made a couple video clips from our interview which I hope everyone will share with people who live in the district. Edmond Public Schools would absolutely be a better place with Colonel Jim on the Board! Make sure you click on the link to see the videos. In one, he tells a story that is just hysterical. It’ll start your week off with a giggle.

Governor Stitt (R) Warns Trump Not To Dump Green Subsidies.

While I was researching something else this week, I accidentally came upon an interview that Governor Stitt had done with the online rag (I mean mag…LOL) POLITICO. Yes, POLITICO. I guess they wanted to talk to him because our Governor now sounds more like a Democrat than a Republican. The article was a mess, but even worse was the video interview he did with them. The interviewer was HORRIBLE and Governor Stitt honestly made a fool out of himself talking about the free market while giving tax subsidies and other handouts like candy. Links to the articles and the interview is in the piece – including a video I put together SHOWING that our governor literally loves green energy and has no clue what ‘free enterprise’ and ‘picking winners and losers’ means.

Guest Don Spencer, OK2A President Wows Us With Some History And 2A Legislation

Former Representative, Jason Murphy knows a lot about the legislature, having served there a full 12 year term. Today, he is making the most of that knowledge by writing a Substack called, “The Oklahoma State Capitol“. He joined Michael and I on the podcast last week to talk about how the legislative process – at least the way its been run in recent history – is simply a shell game to keep the citizenry appeased and the lobbyists/big business interests that run the state, happy. You’ll want to read the blog to see who all these interests are so you can keep your eye out for them.

Former SD15 Candidate Robert Keyes, His Fight For Election Integrity, The Evidence In His Case And SB654 To Remove The Election Law At The Center Of It All

Friday morning (2.28.25), we had President of OK2A, Don Spencer on to talk about gun bill legislation going through the capitol this session. It was a really great conversation – especially when he talked about the Oklahoma Constitution and why Don and his group are still having to work so hard on firearm legislation. See the article for video clips. We also talked to Michael’s brother Mark about the federal Department of Education employee who got busted by Project Veritas for admitting that they protected illegal aliens from ICE. Mark also talked a bit about when he was a professor.

Who’s Running The Show? Oklahoma Carbon Capture, Part 2

Those of you who read Part 1 in my Oklahoma Carbon Capture series might be interested in Part 2. In this segment, I outline the people who are ‘invested’ (for lack of a better word) in Oklahoma’s carbon capture plant – the biggest one in the US. I’m not sure it’s who you think it might be, but you might have pegged the fact that they are a group of elitists who care about making money off the backs of taxpayers while ‘saving the planet’. They could care less if you want to farm or have an unobstructed view of the prairie, you’re just the little people who don’t really know what you want any more than to be guided by their much smarter (and richer) hands. This is a good one to share with friends and family who still think we’re a red state.

LEGISLATION

Much legislation has been passed through Committees this session, with more coming up this week. The cell phone bill was the first bill passed off the floor, unsurprisingly, since the Governor and the House and Senate leadership all want this STUPID bill (Usurping Local Control – Cell Phone Restrictions In Oklahoma – NO on SB1389 and HB1276). That article goes over the many reasons this is such a BAD bill and why it needs to be voted down by the House and Senate both.

As usual, the two-tiered committee system in the House is making it very hard to see which bills are out of committee and going for the floor. The week of the 3rd is the last week for bills to be heard in committees. After that, all the bills will finish up their hearings on the floor of the Senate and the House. We’ll have a pause then, to take stock of the bills that have passed BOTH houses, so we can put our heads together and determine which bills must be stopped (or passed) in committee on the other side of the capitol. We’ll publish the list at that time so EVERYONE can keep them on their radar!

I have to say that I felt so much more informed when I was just following education legislation. Trying to keep up with bad bills in all the legislative sectors is making my head spin!

OKLAHOMA SUBSTACK AUTHORS

Don’t forget to check out our Substack authors this week!

The Oklahoma State Capitol by Jason Murphy

The Sooner Sentinel by Marven Goodman

V1SUT Vantage by ‘Mary’

LOCAL MEDIA

The biggest local news of the week was the TULSA PUBLIC SCHOOLS audit by our fabulous State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd. Here is the link to the actual 60-page audit. I suggest you at least scan it.

State audit finds culture of poor financial transparency at Tulsa Public Schools

Oklahoma Voice – We intend on having SAI Byrd on the ROPE Report Live podcast as soon as she’s able to talk to us in depth about this audit. There can’t be enough said about what a big deal it was. In fact, one of the biggest findings showed how the school board was left out of the administrative process altogether, while administrators created the school culture they wanted using lots of loopholes. It also shows the problem with public money being ‘given’ to private organizations which were used extensively at TPS. Now that the audit is through, we need to keep an eye on what happens next. If there are no arrests or prosecutions in this case, Oklahomans should throw up their hands in disgust and Tulsans should get a new DA as soon as possible. There is no reason for the SAI’s office to work this hard on an audit only to have the audit offenders in the same positions they were in BEFORE the audit. Prosecutions MUST be made for taxpayers, parents and the community to get any real relief.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS: Counties and Townships Authority to Zone, Permit, and Approve Certain Wind, Solar, and Other Green Energy Construction Projects

AG’s Office – This document is from the Oklahoma AG’s office. It’s a series of questions and answers about different types of local governments and what they can and can’t do so that citizens will know how to properly petition them for redress of local issues related to green energy projects.

Report shows $19.3M in Oklahoma’s private-school tax credits went to wealthier households

The Oklahoman – We’ve said it SO many times – the Oklahoma Parental Choice Tax Credit was going to be a boondoggle for Oklahoma taxpayers. It’s already caused private school tuition to go up – which we hypothesized it would – and now we find that nearly 25% of all the scholarships are going to people who can afford to send their own kids to private school if they really wanted to do so – families who made more than $250,000. Yes, Democrats are opposed to the voucher system because they claim it takes money away from public schools, but Conservatives like us rail against it because it violates the two biggest tenets of Conservatism – it grew government and it takes from one set of taxpayers to give to another. Only those people making over $250k are an actual tax credit – and even then, depending upon their income, they may have exceeded their tax credit and need a voucher for a second or third child’s tuition. Just a horrid plan. The legislature should quit giving public schools money carte blanche and make them actually perform to get paid. THAT would straighten them out, but our legislators are too chicken to even try the one thing that would make schools responsible to parents instantaneously.

Bixby superintendent Rob Miller announces run for state superintendent

News 9 – Back in the day, Rob Miller actually helped ROPE stop Common Core. We still have the video of Miller testifying before the House Common Ed Committee in November 2013 on our YouTube channel. Unfortunately, since that time, Miller has veered off the more conservative track. In fact, in Bixby, a group called Bixby Parents Voice has had to fight Miller’s leadership on a number of issues, including disgusting literature and parent comments at school board meetings. We’ll have to keep an eye on this situation and maybe even ask Miller to come on the podcast…

Could Oklahoma schools start offering free three-year-old pre-k?

KGOU – “House Bill 2395 by Rep. Brian Hill (R-Mustang) would amend existing law to allow schools to offer half-day or full-day pre-kindergarten for three-year-olds.” ABSOLUTELY NOT – UNDER NO CONDITIONS. Number one, schools are now going to have to possibly find day care teachers to change the diapers of toddlers in public school? Isn’t that what day care centers are for? If it’s to help parents who can’t afford day care, there are (of course) taxpayer subsidies to help with that. Secondly, it takes SMALL KIDS AWAY FROM PARENTS and makes the SCHOOL THEIR PARENT! We’re not going to get any closer to a world where we have happy families with children who can think for themselves if we’re going to allow government schools to start raising kids at younger and younger ages. NO NO NO NO NO!

Supreme Court sets date to hear whether Oklahoma can open publicly funded religious charter school

KOCO 5 News – The Supreme Court has set April 30th as the date when it will hear the case of St. Isadore Catholic school receiving taxpayer dollars as a private, religious charter school. This situation actually violates the Oklahoma Constitution, but apparently, in their desire to completely begin to fund ALL KINDS of religious schools with taxpayer funds, the state could care less. They’ve had to drag it to the Supreme Court. Hopefully, the Supreme Court will put the Supreme kibosh on this idea, because my God is a jealous God (Exodus 34:14) and I can’t imagine having to fund a Madrasa or a school of Satan via my tax dollars.

NATIONAL MEDIA

IMMIGRATION

I’m lumping several articles together here because I think they’re important as a group.

DHS will require migrants without legal status to register with U.S. government – Oklahoma Voice

Maine’s Schools Collapse as More Migrants Pour In – Breitbart

Hispanic Americans Eager for Bold Immigration Reform – The Washington Stand

Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt Signs Illegal Immigration Bill Only To Open Door To VISA Taskforce

For those who may not remember, last week, Governor Stitt – angry over a State School Board agenda item to allow schools to simply count the number of illegal students – fired the three board members who voted for it and replaced them with three other picks. Please note the Breitbart article, which essentially says that Maine’s schools are collapsing under the weight of illegal students who can’t take tests in English but are required to, who can’t communicate with their teachers – which means they can’t learn anything – and who need so much remediation that Maine is having to spend more and more money just to keep their heads above water. No one is helped in this situation – not the students, the families, the schools or the taxpayers, but Governor Stitt simply wouldn’t entertain the notion that Oklahoma is having the same problem and needs to get a grip on the problem – the first start of which would be to see how many illegal students there are in the Oklahoma public education system.

This was more of a problem under the Biden administration because the Democrats were not only allowing illegal immigration, they were continually promoting it. Now, with Trump in office set on stopping the rolling tide of illegal immigrants to the US by creating policies like that of forcing illegals to register, it shouldn’t be rocket science to at least count the number of illegal students in order to try and help schools appropriately help non-English-speaking students.

According to the article in the Washington Stand, legal Hispanic citizens don’t want the effects of illegal immigration any more than any other citizens in this country legally. We had an entire podcast about that fact with two legal Oklahoma citizens of Hispanic origin. Why Governor Stitt had such a fit over this issue is a complete mystery – or is it? We’re investigating that now.

Examining a new method of estimating homeschool participation

Thomas Fordham Institute – Put under the category “scary”. Why it is that so many people feel as though they need to know exactly how many families are doing the most normal thing in the world – educating their own children just like their forefathers did? But then again, it scares authoritarians when they can’t make everyone do what they want, so I guess it’s not so shocking. I would just suggest that no one needs to know how many homeschoolers are out there for any reason at all and leave it at that.

Apple Rejects Attempts To Protect Children From Online Sex Abuse, Repeal Harmful DEI Policies

The Federalist – Alliance Defending Freedom worked to introduce resolutions at Apple’s shareholder meeting that would protect children from online sexual abuse and remove DEI programming and all four were voted down. I know so many people just can’t live without their I-whatever, but this is truly bad news and should make Apple owners think twice.

Poll: Rate of People Who Identify as LGBTQ at Record High

The Washington Stand – “Gallup chalked up the trend to an uptick in younger, liberal women identifying as bisexual during the years of the Biden administration.” In the last two years of the Biden administration alone there was a sharp increase, with the percent of Gen Z that identified as LGBT going “from an average of 18.8% of Gen Z adults in 2020 through 2022 to an average of 22.7% from 2022 to 2024.” Yet another concerning trend.

March 3, 2025 0

Weekly News Headlines And Commentary – Week of February 24, 2025

ROPE2.org

This week (and last, since I wasn’t able to post last week due to a farm emergency) there are a number of new posts to the blog. Most of these are about legislation since we’re quickly reaching the date (3.6.25) for bills to switch houses (from House to Senate or vice-versa).

Republican Governor Stitt Sides With Democrats To Keep The Education Status Quo By Firing State Education Board Members Engaged In Protecting Oklahoma Kids

This is the most infuriating situation. Citing “political drama”, Governor Stitt fired three members of the State School Board on February 12th. The “political drama” apparently had to do with an agenda item on the previous week’s State School Board agenda wherein the Board would vote to find a way to count the number of ILLEGAL immigrants in Oklahoma classrooms. There is definitely some “political drama” here if not “political intrigue” and I hope to expose all that in upcoming weeks. This all stems from a very influential man in Oklahoma politics who has an R after his name, who believes illegal immigration is essentially fine and works deals with elected officials to create policies – written or not – that protect them in this state. The saddest part here is that these three board members were doing Yeoman’s work ridding Oklahoma public education of school employees that sexually abuse students. Our governor is – AGAIN – completely wrong. Read the blog for information on who was selected to replace the three removed members. None have any educational experience whatsoever, so, there’s that.

Dumping Human Waste On Farmland Must Stop

Unfortunately, we’ve lost several lambs on the farm this winter season, so I used them as the backdrop to talk about the horror show that is spreading human waste on cropland in Oklahoma. This is as bad as it sounds and now the EPA and other organizations, have shown that this material contains ‘forever chemicals’, cancer-causing molecules cause PFAS. Unfortunately, an excellent bill to stop the practice, written by new Representative Jim Shaw (from Lincoln County where this has been done regularly for many, many years) has been denied a hearing in Committee this year. This will not just hurt farmers and ranchers who use the stuff, but PFAS and other chemicals have been shown to migrate from where they were dumped and into water sources, effecting neighboring farmsteads as well. Please read the blog to find out more about the practice and why you should want this stopped even if you live in a city.

This article was published in The Federalist under the headline; “Your ‘Farm Fresh’ Produce Might Be Fertilized With Forever Chemicals And Human Waste“.

Jason Murphy Divulges The ‘Scam’ That Runs The Oklahoma Legislature

Former SD15 Candidate Robert Keyes, His Fight For Election Integrity, The Evidence In His Case And SB654 To Remove The Election Law At The Center Of It All

We’ve had Robert on the show before and his descriptions of what happened to him during his campaign for SD15. It was eye-opening. Here, he gives us some updates on his current case. This blog is SUPER IMPORTANT to read because I’ve embedded Robert’s Supreme Court documents. These documents include photographs and specific instances of the Oklahoma State Election Board irregularities over which Robert took them to court. These are MORE than eye-opening. It shows that there are real concerns with our State Election Board and the processes that govern election law in Oklahoma – and this knowledge is important to EVERY Oklahoman.

File Under, ‘Too Much Too Little Too Late’; James Lankford Comes Out Swinging In Favor Of Smaller Government

This last week, Senator Lankford has hit social media hard to capitalize on the Elon Musk/DOGE efforts at right-sizing government. Over and over again he’d Tweet (X) out a message about how government is ‘fumbling’ (a take on his 5th Federal Fumbles, just out) with spending. Unfortunately, it hit me as being pretty disingenuous because he’s never seen a budget he didn’t like. After Tweeting back at him a couple times, I decided to stop and actually write a piece on his voting record and why Lankford needs to leave DC and find a new job. In order to be fair, I went to the VOTE SMART website and looked through every one of the votes they had posted there. While some of his votes are quite good, all but one time, he’s voted for the budget and for continuing appropriations. Check out the article. Lankford may be one of your very favorite people, but at least read this knowing that I’ve been fair. If you’ve never seen his voting record, it might be pretty interesting….

This Week At The Capitol, Legislators Dick Lowe and Danny Sterling UNprotect Students With HB1937

This is a SUPER IMPORTANT article because HB1937 is still alive. Contact your Representative immediately and tell them that this must be a NO vote if it’s brought to the floor. This bill basically undoes the good legislation former Rep. Sherrie Conley had passed before she left the House that prevents public school employees from communicating with a student without the knowlege of a parent. Unfortunately, perennial public school employees Lowe and Sterling, felt that this created an undue burden for public school employees and created a bill to allow parents to ‘opt out’ of the law’s requirement. This is a really bad idea and if you’re not quite sure how, please read the piece where Michael, Mary from V1SUT and I spell it out clearly.

The New World Order Needs Compliant Kids, So Government Schools Educate Them To Be Compliant

We’ve talked about this fact many times on the podcast – the fact that we all seem to think that public schools were created to educate children – but they’re not. Here, Julianne Romanello, Michael and I talk about what public schools actually do and what the educational trend will be for students over time if we don’t STOP it now.

Citizens Of HD32 Effectively Taxed Without Representation As Representative Jim Shaw’s Bills Blocked From Hearings

If bills were not assigned to a Committee for the upcoming week (2.24), they will not get a hearing in the Oklahoma legislature this year. NONE of new Representative Jim Shaw’s bills received a hearing in a committee. Why? I make the case that Shaw’s defeat of Kevin Wallace (former House Appropriations Chair) is at the epicenter of this situation in which citizens of HD32 will be taxed without representation during the 2025 legislative session. This is unforgivable. Personal pettiness should NEVER stand in the way of the democratic process in America and certainly not in a ‘red state’ like Oklahoma.

LEGISLATION

So much legislation has been passed through Committees this session, with more coming up this week. The cell phone bill is still in play (Usurping Local Control – Cell Phone Restrictions In Oklahoma – NO on SB1389 and HB1276). Please read the article to find out the many reasons this is a BAD bill that needs to be voted down by the House and Senate both.

To be honest, with the new two-tiered committee structure in the House, it’s been hard to follow bills. I’ve been hoping that different groups following bills would let me know what’s out there and what needs to be followed, but I think the system is doing it’s job and making it hard for people to follow the legislation they want to see stopped or followed.

OKLAHOMA SUBSTACK AUTHORS

Don’t forget to check out our Substack authors this week!

The Oklahoma State Capitol by Jason Murphy

The Sooner Sentinel by Marven Goodman

V1SUT Vantage by ‘Mary’

LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEDIA

Survey: Homeschooled Adults Are More Religious And Less Anxious

House lawmakers reject communism education bill, advance new scholarship requirements

African prosperity activist says “the west is committing suicide.” Speaking to the packed auditorium at ARC, the Senegalese entrepreneur, said that the west is currently “committing suicide” by limiting the use of emergy sources like oil, coal, and gas.

Voting by mail? Oklahoma bill would require voters to give reason for absentee ballots

Oklahoma’s OMA Exemptions Enables a Possible Cloak of Secrecy for County Commissioners’ Backroom Deals

Traffic ticket scheme was netting millions for Oklahoma DA’s office – how much of this is going on in every county, we just haven’t found out about it yet?

February 24, 2025 0

Weekly News Headlines and Commentary – Week of 2.10.25

I sort of fitzed out on the headlines from the week I’m sorry to say, but we’ll cover as many as we can from last week today.

ROPE2.org

Oklahoma Taxpayers Get Soaked By Canoo – And Other Taxpayer-Financed Violations Of The Free Market

Gov. Stitt’s Commerce Department Gives Multiple MILLIONS Of Taxpayer Dollars To Paycom And Love’s Through Quality Jobs Incentives

Law Enforcement Use Of ‘FLOCK’ Camera Surveillance in Oklahoma Does Not Protect Our Constitutional Rights

Senator Jett, Rep. Jim Shaw and Oklahoma Donkey Dairy Farmer, Saundra Traywick – Why Dumping Human Waste On Farmland Needs To Stop

Lots Of Dark Money and PACs Fueling Barbara Peck’s Ward 3 Oklahoma City Council Campaign

LEGISLATION

Community Schools Are The Marxist Solution For Oklahoma Schools – Vote NO on HB1467 by West

Usurping Local Control – Cell Phone Restrictions In Oklahoma – NO on SB1389 and HB1276

Election Bills To Support And Oppose

Legislation To Support And Oppose Affecting Farms and Ranches – Including Energy, Property Rights, Farming and Food

PikeOffOTA (aka Citizens for Responsible Transportation) Request Bills For 2025

Oklahoma Legislation Affecting Homeschool Or Education Autonomy To Support Or Oppose

OKLAHOMA SUBSTACK AUTHORS

How to Hold Your State Representative Responsible for Allowing Biden’s Green Assault on Oklahoma to Continue

Jason Murphy – Oklahoma State Capitol

OK House Reps Sterling & Lowe (both R) Push to UNPROTECT Students from Ed Predators

‘Mary’ – V1SUT Vantage; FILE THIS UNDER BAD!

Progressives Protest POTUS & More in America’s Reddest State: Misinformation & Left-Wing Conspiracy Theories Abound

‘Mary’ – V1SUT Vantage

Unpacking Oklahoma’s Constitutional Mandates on Public Education: A Closer Look at Minimum Requirements

Marven Goodman – The Sooner Sentinel

Guthrie City Council Officials Silent on ATF’s Access to Guthrie’s Controversial Warrantless Tracking System

Marven Goodman – The Sooner Sentinel

LOCAL AND NATIONAL MEDIA

War on Farmers & Your Health: How to Fight Back

Alex Newman – The Liberty Sentinel

What’s Wrong With Free Money?

Schoolhouse Rocked: The Homeschool Revolution – one of our own Oklahoma independent film makers and homeschoolers answering the questions, “Why do homeschoolers need a tax break” (short answer – they don’t and neither does anyone else).

Oklahoma Republicans Are Helping Green Energy Cronies Scam Taxpayers Out Of Billions

Jenni White – The Federalist; our legislature and our governor is killing us with tax incentives.

Oklahoma legislative leaders hesitant to cut income tax

The Oklahoma Voice – Our legislators want us to believe we can’t afford a tax cut. Meanwhile, the biggest proponent of paying people to bring their businesses to the state – our Governor Kevin Stitt – is saying he’s going to open an Oklahoma DOGE office inside of OMES – the place where Oklahoma taxpayer dollars go to be redistributed. Truly, so many of our legislature has no idea why they’re there. They think it’s to ‘make laws’, or ‘help bring business’ to the state, but very few seem to understand that GIVING AWAY THE GAINS OF THE INDUSTRY OF OKLAHOMANS ISN’T IT!

Governor’s Oklahoma budget calls for $1.4 billion less spending, removal of education funding cap

The Oklahoma Voice – So we’re going to cut spending while increasing the cap on the ‘school choice’ tax credit. So, again, we’re going to be funding TWO KINDS OF EDUCATION IN OKLAHOMA – PRIVATE AND PUBLIC WITH TAX DOLLARS. I suggest you watch one of our podcasts on the ‘tax credit’ to get a better idea of what a bad idea this is.

Could ‘School Choice’ End School Choice?

Alex Newman – Liberty Sentinel – This is one you should probably read after you watch the video and think about what it means for the Governor to want to reduce taxes while increasing the cap on a tax incentive program…

Nation’s Report Card shows Oklahoma academic results are stagnant

The Oklahoma Voice – So, we’re going to increase teacher salaries. Look, I know there are some good teachers out there, but they should be paid by THEIR SCHOOL BOARD! If a teacher is doing great, the school board should vote to give them a raise!!! Yet very few that I’ve ever heard of do that! Instead, we’ll allow the legislature to create a BLANKET RAISE FOR EVERYONE EVEN THOUGH WE’RE 49TH IN EDUCATION AND HAVEN’T IMPROVED SINCE COVID! Please don’t re-elect the people who work at Lincoln and 23rd who vote for this nonsense.

Garfield Co. Conservation Coalition’s Response To Gov. Stitt’s State Of The State – Stand With Us; Stand With Trump

The Garfield County Conservation Coalition – this is the group that’s fighting a huge solar installation north of Enid. They have a point. Governor Stitt should stand with Trump as a Republican and QUIT SHOVING THE GREEN AGENDA DOWN OUR THROATS.

Trump’s Education Department Ends Biden’s Harmful Title IX Social Experiment On Children

The Federalist – I would say that maybe this would end the fights between parents and administration over things like boys in girl’s bathrooms, but since so many schools are staffed with progressive ideologues today, the chances of this kind of thing will probably not go down as much as we’d like. Still and all, don’t let schools push you around parents! Trump has wiped out of existence all the progressive BS.

February 11, 2025 0

Weekly News Headlines and Commentary – Week of 2.3.25

This week’s headlines include lists of legislation posted to the site to watch for this year’s legislative session. More items will be posted this week.

February 4, 2025 0

Category

News

Panasonic to delay production at Kansas battery plant as electric car sales decline, policies shift – Oklahoma had tried to land this plant, offering nearly $700M in incentives.

State board calls for investigative audit of Epic Charter School – Mismanaged budget resulted in mass layoffs at Epic, state officials say