Adventures in Customer Service

I just spent almost 50 minutes trying to get an egg and sausage biscuit from McDonalds. I went through the drive through and peeked into the bag to check the order when they gave it to me but it wasn't until I got home and unwrapped the food that I found the sausage and egg biscuit had no sausage or egg on it. I went back. The place was in chaos when I walked in. A middle-aged woman was yelling at her co-workers to stop serving breakfast. Customers were yelling that they had been standing in line for 30-minutes and wanted their (*%* breakfasts. I got in line and worked my way to the front. By this time the whole system had broken down and the English-speaking staff was yelling at the apparently uncomprehending Hispanic cooks. All of them ignored the customers for a good ten minutes while they yelled at each other. By the time I got my chance to be waited on I settled for french fries instead of hashbrowns and no apology. I just wanted to get out of there and never come back. If the food hadn't of been meant for my daughter I would have just thrown my naked biscuit at them all and left.

Note: if you ever want to give a company a piece of your mind, try www.planetfeedback.com

Expanding the Search


I'm all for a beefed up space program that will take us back to the Moon and on to Mars but I had to laugh at Kucinich's observation that President Bush must be expanding the search for WMD to other planets since he couldn't find them in Iraq.

Who Got Life First?

Hugh Ross (aka: Reasons to Believe) sez that we'll find life on Mars but that it came from Earth - not the other way around, as some believe. It would be very inconvenient if we determined that the first life in the universe did not originate on Earth. After all, we humans are the center of the Universe and the whole shebang was created just for us. The discovery that our solar system didn't revolve around us was unwelcome news - just imagine what the discovery of life on other planets that predates life on Earth would do?

Our pastor pointed out again last week how ludicrous the theory of evolution is. He pointed out that if you throw a piece of meat on the ground it won't evolve into something else. Now that's what I call proof positive! Scary.

Gone Nuts

Aaron Mitchell Gordon at Freezerbox thinks America has Gone Nuts and points to sodomy, Ann Coulter, and Queer Eye as proof.

Jerry Falwell wants $75 from me? For Israel?

Knowing that Israel is the number one recipient of foreign aid from the United States ( over $1 billion a year) I almost gagged tonight when I saw Jerry Falwell on my tv asking me to send $75 to the Guardians of Israel to help Israel. Truth be told, Falwell triggers the gag reflex in me anyway, but to hear him and others asking me to send yet more money to Israel was over the top. I think Ethiopia, Haiti etc are full of truly needy, starving people who desperately need help to stay alive. I feel sorry for those who suffer poverty and starvation and I do everything I can to help out, through World Neighbors (based in Oklahoma) and Feed the Children - but Israel has enough money (much of it from US taxpayers like you and me) to take care of its small population. Judging by the jowls on Falwell he's not doing too bad either.

Gun Drawn in Bar!!

The following news was front-page material in Hong Kong recently:

Gun Drawn in Bar - Hong Kong: An anti-triad officer was disarmed in a Yau Ma Tei bar yesterday during a dispute over free drinks.

However, he later retrieved the service revolver with the help of 30 friends who allegedly stormed the bar on Nathan Road about 4am.

During the scuffle, the bar manager received a black eye and an injury to a finger.

A police spokesman would not confirm or deny the involvement of an officer attached to the anti-triad squad of a Kowloon police station.

I had to laugh. Can you imagine what our newspapers would look like if everytime a gun was drawn in a bar it was headlines? We don't have enough newsprint.

Look Me In the Eyes Governor

A few days ago I was in a meeting with Governor Henry. He was civil and polite as usual, but the thing that bugs me is he won't look you in the eyes. He seems uncomfortable with any extended eye contact. This is probably different with people he knows well but in our culture (American) it is not a trait that engenders trust. Averting ones eyes tends to signal that one is hiding something, not sure of himself, or intimidated. I really like humble people - can't stand aggressive a**holes - but humble does not equal meek or elusive.

Tired of the anti-Semitic Label

In a Reader's Forum article on Dec 21st in the Tulsa World Perry Simons and Robert Cohen of the Jewish Federation of Tulsa attack the Rev. Naim Ateek, the retired canon of St. George's Cathedral in Jerusalem for recent talks in Tulsa in which he gave some supportive remarks about the Palestinian people. Simons and Cohen took issue with Rev. Ateek's reported statement that he could understand the Palestinians frustration:

"Ateek doesn't understand American democracy. He claimed that America's support for Israel is because of a "large and powerful Jewish population," but such claims are now recognized simply as anti-Semitism. That's bigoted stereotyping."

I hate to break it to Simons and Cohen, but beating people who don't agree with them over the head with the nuclear anti-Semitism label is old and bound to backfire. Those of us who have legitimate complaints about Israel's policies and behavior get real tired of being charged as anti-Semites. More and more Americans who are uncomfortable with our one-sided approach to the Israel/Palestine issues are speaking their minds. The irritating refusal of pro-Israel groups to listen is bound to backfire on them as people in the middle get fed up with their obstinacy and overuse of the anti-Semite label as a means of cutting off debate.

To deny that the US politician's lop-sided support of Israel is largely attributal to a large and powerful Jewish population is a blind refusal to acknowledge reality. If Simons and Cohen can't see this reality then how can anything else they say be believed? Granted, much of the "Israel-Right or Wrong" crowd is made up of fundamentalist Christians that believe that Biblical prophecies about the restoration of Israel are coming true and must be supported - even if the means are unjust. So, to be honest, our politicians (and especially Bush) are unapologetically pro-Israel because of a large and powerful Jewish and fundamentalist Christian population in this country.

Others, including thinking Jews and Christians, think we owe the Israelis and the Palestinians (and the USA) a more objective and even-handed approach to solving the conflict. Our lop-sided support of Israel guarantees no solution will be found AND causes the US problems far beyond this one serious issue.

World on Henry

According to the Tulsa World on December 24th:

"(Governor) Henry has been in a sort of Alice in Wonderland since he won the seat in 2002. He wasn't expected to win, he keeps reminding us, and he obviously wasn't prepared to be governor."

The World, a usually pro-Democrat centrist newspaper, has admirably come down hard on Henry and Sen. Stratton Taylor over Taylor's efforts to recruit lawsuits to Oklahoma and Henry's refusal to address the awful publicity Oklahoma is getting as a result AND his refusal to address tort reform. This is very significant since if Henry loses the World's support in the next election he'll have both major papers in the state against him.

As the World states, Henry seems to be a good person but OkiePundit thinks he is not right for the job and that Oklahomans made a big mistake in selecting him. But we didn't have any great choices in the general election. But that's primarilly our own fault for not paying attention.

Day 7

It's Day 7 of the Wimp Watch - waiting for Governor Brad Henry to come down hard on Senator Stratton Taylor for bringing unwanted national attention to Oklahoma's lack of tort reform. As discussed last week in this blog a letter from Taylor (a trial lawyer and the head of the State Senate) to lawyers across the USA to do their sueing in Oklahoma caught the attention of the Wall Street Journal. The paper blistered Oklahoma for its lack of reform and Taylor for inviting lawyers to take advantage of our no-caps-on-jury-awards system.

Governor Henry hasn't done a thing to respond to the conflict of interest or Taylor's shameful letter. We're waiting.

Brad Henry Doesn't Like to Talk Negative

A couple of days ago the Tulsa World reprinted an editorial from the Wall Street Journal that flamed Oklahoma State Senator Stratton Taylor for soliciting other trial lawyers around the US to try their cases in Oklahoma because of the no-cap on jury awards to plaintiffs in our state. Stratton Taylor happens to be the Senate Pro Tempore in the Oklahoma Legistlature - in other words, he controls the Senate agenda. He is also a trail lawyer and he grows rich suing companies. He has a vested interest in not letting the Legislature put a cap on jury awards as the Texas Legislature did last year. Now, this is quite outrageous. Our Legislators have put Senator Taylor in position to thwart tort reform knowing full well that this is a full-blown conflict of interest for him. Why would our Legislators act so outrageously? Could it be because many of them are also lawyers?

So, what is Governor Brad Henry going to do about this? Nothing. A big fat nothing. Our so-called economic development Governor cares more about not rocking the boat at the Legislature than he does about fixing one of Oklahoma's worst problems. When the Tulsa World asked the Gov what he thought about Stratton Taylor's letter and the horrible publicity it brought Oklahoma all he could say was that he didn't want to "talk negative" but wanted to talk about what is good about Oklahoma. So Governor Henry wants to bury his head in the sand and ignore serious problems such as tort reform and the fact that it drives business (except lawyers) out of the state? Could the fact that the Governor (and seemingly everyone in his cabinet) is a lawyer and a good buddy of former colleague Stratton Taylor have anything to do with the Governor's unwillingness to face the problem head-on?

The Governor and his Democratic Party need to get real on this issue. They need to repudiate Taylor and this conflict of interest and address tort reform. The Governor needs to remove his rose-colored glasses and stop paying lip service to economic development.

Mad Cows and Lobbyists

Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman assures us that the risk of mad cow disease in the US is very low. I hope she is right, but knowing that her most recent career was as a lobbyist for the cattle industry doesn't do anything to assure me.

Dick Cheney Kills 70

As reported by the HSUS:

Upon his (Cheney) arrival at the exclusive Rolling Rock Club in Ligonier Township, gamekeepers released 500 pen-raised pheasants from nets for the benefit of him and his party. In a blaze of gunfire, the group—which included legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach and U.S. Senator John Cornyn (R-TX), along with major fundraisers for Republican candidates—killed at least 417 of the birds. According to one gamekeeper who spoke to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Cheney was credited with shooting more than 70 of the pen-reared fowl.

PETA

The group called the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and OkiePundit share a general interest in humane treatment of animals but PETA's tactics are very detrimental to the humane movement. They use shocking tactics that do nothing but fuel the erroneous stereotype of the misanthrope humanitarian (talk about oxymoron). I know a lot of humanitarians, animal-rights activists, vegetarians, etc in Oklahoma and I don't know any that would fit in the universe of PETA. The ones I know care about both humans and animals (non-humans).

PETA seems to be a Hollywood-oriented group of people whose hearts are in the right place but have not a clue about persuasion or a shred of common sense. I sometimes wonder if PETA isn't secretly funded by the NRA in an effort to discredit humanitarians. For the reasonable person I would refer you to the Humane Society of the United States - a much larger, and saner organization.

Rising Tide of Vicious Blogs

Have you noticed the growing number of really vicious blogs out there? It's great to have strong opinions voiced through blogging but some bloggers don't even pretend to reason. An example of the kind of blog I'm talking about can be found at Dog Snot (aptly named). It's full of foul language (warning) and hate but it's the kind of blog we see more of these days. While political extremists on both the left and right are falling into this genre an unscientific survey indicates that bloggers on the extreme right are most numerous. There's a lot of angry people out there but the depth of the viciousness we see in these blogs is enough to be worrisome.

Tar Creek

Wow! The Tulsa World is all over US Senator Jim Inhofe on his opposition to buying out the residents of Superfund Site Tar Creek. The World has run a five-part series on the controversy and at least two editorials in recent days. According to the World Inhofe wants to spend $45 million more to try to clean up the site or sell the homes to some company that for some unexplained reason wants to buy homes in a Superfund site. Governor Henry seems to want the feds to buy out the Tar Creek residents but Inhofe says the Governor doesn't really want that. Congressman Brad Carson (who is running against Inhofe's buddy, Kirk Humphries, for US Senate) also wants a buyout for the residents.

The very suspicious part of this story is how Inhofe brought Bush's new Secretary of the EPA into the Tar Creek site the day before Thanksgiving - all in secrecy and without meeting with any of the locals - because Inhofe didn't want them embarrassing the new EPA chief. Like that's the most important thing to worry about while hundreds of families are living in a toxic waste site.

Travelling PR Man

Word on the Street is that Jim East, formerly of Tulsa Mayor Susan Savage's office, then Government PR man for the Benham Group, then PR "consultant" for the Tulsa Vision 2025 campaign has a new job - working for the husband of Oklahoma Secretary of Commerce and Tourism Kathy Taylor. He owns a couple of rental car companies. Word in the public sector is that they're glad East is back in the private sector.

Slate's says

OSU Faculty Unhappy with Schmidly's Strategic Plan

The Daily O'Collegian of OSU has a story in today's edition wherein several faculty members describe OSU President Schmidley's strategic plan as a disaster and his administration a "mushroom administration". Good thing those professors are tenured.

As the O'Colly points out, "The university is paying a consultant $150,000 plus expenses to help with the (strategic) planning and $20,000 plus expenses to audit the university's integrated marketing efforts. The consultant, Mary Chicoine, was Texas Tech's strategic planning adviser during Schmidly's tenure there. "

As OkiePundit has previously reported, Schmidley, who came from Texas Tech last year has surrounded himself with old friends and acquaintancesnces from his Texas days. OSU faculty and students report deep frustration over the president's apparent belief that the yokels in Oklahoma need an imported army of Texans to tell them how to run a university.

Snow

There's a soft snow in Oklahoma tonight. Even in the city it's quiet. Only a few cars are on the streets - even then, the sound of the machine is muffled by dense snow. Only the crack of wind-whipped flags can be heard.