Henry needs to sign immigration reform bill into law

Hopefully Brad Henry, boy governor, will get with the program and sign the immigration reform bill into law. Sure, the corrupt, unethical businesses in our state may be crying in pain (particularly Seaboard out in the Panhandle, I reckon) as are the pro-illegals activist groups. But our boy governor should think of the hardworking, LEGAL residents first and foremost. He fell down in regards to the abortion bill a few weeks back and lost a lot of respect from those of us in the pro-life movement. So, Gov. Henry, do something right this time and send a message that the state of Oklahoma takes illegal immigration seriously and will no longer tolerate the coddling of lawbreakers.

Terror war plate for sale

So, what to make of this Oklahoma "Global War on Terrorism" license plate? Well, you've got the eagle. Very American. You've got the Twin Towers from the demolished World Trade Center and a ribbon reading "9/11." Hmm. Curious. It's also got that new-style desert camo look. If I wasn't so cynical about the whole affair, I'd think it was kind of cool. But when your eyes are opened and you know something to be completely false, then it's just kind of a bummer. So, if you're interested in picking up one of these plates for your Hummer or whatever, go to http://www.tax.ok.gov/plates/sp145.html. But hurry, supplies are limited.

Inhofe clearly confused as to why we invaded Iraq

Saw this little nugget via ThinkProgress today. Sen. Jimmy is clearly confused once again.

Inhofe: Media invented WMD excuse for Iraq invasion.

Inhofe, speaking to the press before Cheney’s arrival (in Tulsa), lambasted Democrats for Thursday’s Senate vote to begin withdrawal from Iraq by Oct. 1 and the press for “mischaracterizing” the reasons for U.S. involvement.

“The whole idea of weapons of mass destruction was never the issue, yet they keep trying to bring this up,” Inhofe said. […]
Pressed for an explanation, Inhofe said weapons of mass destruction were “incidental” to the decision to invade Iraq.
“The media made that the issue because they knew Saddam Hussein had used weapons of mass destruction.”
(Then we find out what Jimmy said back in August 2002 ...)

Our intelligence system has said that we know that Saddam Hussein has weapons of mass destruction — I believe including nuclear. There’s not one person on this panel who would tell you unequivocally that he doesn’t have the missile means now, or is nearly getting the missile means to deliver a weapon of mass destruction. And I for one am not willing to wait for that to happen.
--END--

You've embarrassed us enough, Senator.

Henry on OK quarter: 'The results are clear'

Scissor-tailed flycatcher chosen for state's commemorative quarter design

By Michael McNutt

Oklahoman Capitol Bureau

The state's bird and wildflower will be on Oklahoma's commemorative quarter, the governor's office announced today.
Voters preferred by about a 2-1 margin the scissor-tailed flycatcher flying over some Indian blanket, or Gaillardia pulchella, the governor's office said. Four other designs up for consideration each featured a representation of the Pioneer Woman statue in Ponca City. Some Oklahomans were upset that sketches from the U.S. Mint omitted a Bible in the woman's right hand.
That now is a moot point.
More than 148,000 votes were cast — mostly online — in selecting the design for the quarter, part of a special series launched by the U.S. Mint in 1999. More than half, or nearly 77,000, voted for the state bird design.
"Oklahomans have spoken, and the results are clear,” Gov. Brad Henry said in a statement.

--END--

And what a "statement" it was from the boy governor. "Clearly," he is overwhelmed with the selection made by Oklahomans. I don't know about you, but what is it about birds that causes people to lose all sense of perspective? I much preferred the oil rig and the Bible-clutching Pioneer woman. Oh, wait, what Bible?

State House prepared to pass strict immigration bill on Tues.

Red Dirt Reporter received this press release from the media department of the state House of Representatives stating that the House is expected to pass a strict immigration reform bill tomorrow morning.

--BEGIN--
The Oklahoma House of Representatives is scheduled to take up House Bill 1804 for a final vote before sending the measure along to the governor's desk.
House Bill 1804, by Randy Terrill (R-Moore), creates theOklahoma Taxpayer and Citizen Protection Act of 2007.
The bill is partof the House Republican majority's legislative agenda, and has now passed both chambers of the Legislature by overwhelming bipartisan margins.
HB 1804 also has the support of two national immigration reform advocacy groups and has been called one of the nation's toughest anti-illegal immigration laws at the state level.
--END--

Let's hope Gov. Henry signs the bill and sends a message that illegal immigration is not acceptable in the Sooner State.

OU Daily editorial board on Hinrichs stone: WHATEVER!

In typical smarmy fashion, the OU Daily editorial staff have concluded that a paving stone featuring dead bomber Joel Henry Hinrichs III's name on it, and placed on university property, is not worthy of a news story. In the following editorial, linked here, the staff heaps scorn on those of us who actually ASKED QUESTIONS about the Hinrichs case. And now that the Oklahoman has made the university's paper of record look bad, they have decided to cover their embarrassment with an air of superiority - "Oh, the Hinrichs stone? We're above all that. Let the rabble get into a snit about it. We're too busy covering stories about Sonic Drive-In, etc.

Here it is ...

Oklahoma Daily editorial staff
Posted: April 27, 2007
http://www.hub.ou.edu

Our View: Memorial honoring Joel Hinrichs sparks fake controversy in media

In an unfortunate twist of events, news media have flashed back to a year and a half ago and started a minor controversy in the shadow of an unfortunate event.
Oklahoma City media outlets have jumped on a shocking discovery: Joel Hinrichs III, the OU student who blew himself up on the South Oval in October 2005, has a stone commemorating him on the Oklahoma Memorial Union patio.
We admit, it's strange and not necessarily in the best of tastes.
But at the same time, whatever. Despite a major scare, the Hinrichs tragedy affected mostly the Hinrichs family and OU administrators. So if they want to make that decision, whatever.

The problem that has arisen, however, is that message boards and talking heads have reborn what we hoped had died: non-factual rumor-milling and general salacious gum-flapping.
"That damn Muslim terrorist done tried to kill us all!" we expect to hear a few people say. Message boards already become home to similarly nonfactual nonsense. That's why we wish sleeping dogs could have been kept asleep, even hit over the head with a bucket of golf balls, if need be.
And, before we hear cries of being in President Boren's pocket, we merely shared his frustration a year and a half ago when racist Web sites, fake journalists (which KWTV-9's Tamara Pratt managed to devolve into) and couch commentators teamed up for one of the free world's most gratuitous spectacles of misinformation, rumor-spewing and fear-mongering ... ever.

Meanwhile, here's why we didn't do a front page story today: Johnny Journalist is assigned to write the story. He receives OU's official statements, he talks to Joel Hinrichs Jr. and then it becomes time for him to test the waters of public opinion and pick out a few good quotes. But what does Ol' Johnny have to do to get those? Johnny has to go stand by the stone outside of the union and wait for people to pass by."Excuse me, my name is Johnny Journalist, and I was wondering if you had seen this stone here on the ground?"
"Nope. Which one?"
"The one that reads ‘Joel H. Hinrichs III,' who was the guy who blew himself up on campus last year. Do you have a comment?"
And within three seconds of learning of this fact, the student is asked to give an emotional reaction to a controversy that is only a controversy because media have made it a controversy.
Do Johnny's antics sound familiar? Yup. They sound just like what each local TV news outfit did two or three times Thursday.
We didn't feel it necessary to participate.
--END--

OU OUTRAGE! - Bomber Hinrichs gets memorial stone on campus

I give credit to The Oklahoman today for featuring this as their top story - "OU bomber's memorial stone causes shock".
In light of the fact that witnesses said bomber Joel Henry Hinrichs III was trying to get in the stadium that day, this is totally outrageous, particularly in light of the mass shooting at Virginia Tech a week-and-a-half ago.

Anyway, the story, written by crime/terrorism beat "repeater" Nolan Clay, who has covered up for the FBI and former Gov. Frank Keating regarding the Alfred P. Murrah federal building bombing, is interesting. What is OU President David Boren (Skull & Bones, CFR, CIA insider, etc., etc.) up to?

Here it is:
NORMAN -- The University of Oklahoma has put outside the student union a patio stone engraved with the name of the student suicide bomber.
"I was just kind of horrified,” said OU football fan Jenny Clemons, who spotted the stone after OU's Red-White game April 7. "I don't think he has any business being out here.”
OU's student affairs division arranged to have the stone placed, an OU alumni affairs employee said. OU officials say families pay for such memorials but the student's father said OU offered to place the stone and never billed him.
A stone costs $150.
Joel "Joe” Henry Hinrichs III, an engineering student, died Oct. 1, 2005, when his bomb went off at a campus bench a short distance from an OU night football game.
The FBI investigated whether the student, 21, tried or intended to enter the packed stadium but reported finding no conclusive evidence.
The student's father traveled from Colorado to Oklahoma to visit with university officials after the death. Joel Hinrichs Jr. said OU's dean of students, Clarke Stroud, offered to have the stone placed.
In an e-mail, the father told The Oklahoman the dean "very kindly understood that Joel's act was one of loneliness, not of aggression, and offered to have the stone placed in the memorial courtyard; he also indicated that the wife of the university president might select a tree to be placed on campus, also in Joel III's memory.”
The father said he asked to pay for the stone and tree "but was never told anything.” He repeated his offer to the dean in an e-mail Monday after being contacted by The Oklahoman. He said, "They never sent me any indication of cost, or even that they had moved forward.”
In a statement, OU President David Boren said, "As is well known, the death of Joel Hinrichs III was an apparent suicide. A tree was not planted on the campus. Instead, the university gives the opportunity for those who desire to purchase pavers in the union courtyard for students, graduates, or friends of the university.
"Some are given to honor graduates or friends of the university and some are given as memorials. They are paid for by those who have them placed there and the proceeds go towards the upkeep of the student union. The university tries to be sensitive to all the families who have lost sons or daughters while they were students.”
Stroud said in an e-mail: "We invite all parents or members of the university family to purchase stones in the courtyard honoring friends or family members. In this case it is certainly appropriate to allow Mr. Hinrichs to honor the memory of his son who tragically died while he was a student at the university.”
The father said his son was only committing suicide. FBI agents said they do not know if the student intentionally set off the bomb on the bench as a suicide or if he also had intended to kill others elsewhere. A Norman police bomb expert has said he believes the bomb went off accidentally and that the student had further plans.
Clemons, 50, a hospital nurse, said, "I was in the stadium the day that guy blew himself up. ... I feel like ... if he'd been successful he would have killed a whole bunch of us at the football game.”

Read the rest here.
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Why was the university so eager to feature Hinrichs and give him a memorial stone and not have the family pay for it. Hinrichs clearly wanted to take out people at that stadium. And if the comments at NewsOK.com are any indication, people are outraged about the placement of this stone.