Free Republic

GINGRICH: No. It just means that we're going to have to pick up all those delegates in late May, just before the California primary, when we hope to pick up more delegates out here. That still means that on super-Tuesday, we're looking at Georgia, Tennessee, Oklahoma, we're looking at Ohio. It means the week after super- Tuesday, we're looking at Alabama and Mississippi. Now, we have hopes that we're going to keep picking up delegates everywhere and continue. This race is going on for a long time, I think. And what Texas moving back means, combined with California being in...

n his New York Times bestselling book, Throw Them All Out, Breitbart editor Peter Schweizer revealed how members of Congress enrich themselves and their relatives using earmarks and insider information. Now, the Washington Post, following in Schweizer’s footsteps, has conducted a study that found 16 members of Congress have used their power of the purse to benefit companies, colleges, and community groups tied to their relatives. *snip* Among those cited in the Washington Post report were the following (below):

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, in her State of the State Address, outlined a bold plan for tax reform focused on reducing rates and consolidating Oklahoma’s seven tax brackets. The plan would end Oklahoma’s complicated seven bracket income tax structure that begins taxing on the first penny any Oklahoman earns, instead replacing the structure with three brackets – Oklahoman’s making below $15,000 a year would pay a 0-percent rate, those making under $35,000 would pay a 2.25-percent rate, and those making $35,000 and above would pay a 3.5-percent rate. The Tax Foundation ranks Oklahoma as 38th in the nation in terms...

There is a special election in Oklahoma on February 14th for state senaor in district 46. If you live in that district (it's in the OKC area) or know anyone who does, please vote and encourage others to vote for the Republican, Jason Reese! Thanks! It goes without saying that he is by far the best candidate. This could be a close election due to the makeup of the district, so getting Republicans to the polls is crucial.

When Ron Paul talks about repealing the income tax and replacing it with nothing, most people think it can’t be done. But at least on the state level, it can. In fact, there are nine states, including Paul’s home state of Texas, that don’t levy income taxes. Those states have far outperformed high-income-tax states on every measure of economic success. Now Oklahoma is poised to fully repeal its income tax and join the ranks of non-income-tax states. While Oklahoma is already a relatively business-friendly, low-tax state, income-tax repeal would launch it into the top tier of the most economically competitive...

TULSA - Gun sales among women are on the rise. The number of criminal background checks for gun purchases hit an all-time high in December, according to the FBI. Experts said there are many reasons why Americans, especially women, are choosing to arm themselves. For some it's a new hobby. Others are concerned about gun rights this election year. Some just no longer feel safe in their neighborhoods. Here in Oklahoma, interest in guns has also spiked, especially among women. Enrollment in the "women's only" conceal-carry class at the Red Castle Gun Club is up 400 percent. "That's remarkable and...

Three tribes lead the best practice initiative treating the epidemic of painkiller addiction in Native America, Oklahoma, the nation's leader in painkiller addiction. Treating all adults, Medicaid. Last month the Center for Disease Control called prescription painkiller addiction an epidemic in the country, identifying Oklahoma as leading the nation in both the addiction and related deaths. It is only fitting that the battle against such addiction in "Native America" be led by three tribal owned clinics, Absentee Shawnee Counseling Services, OKC; Keetoowah Cherokee Treatment Services, Tulsa; and Quapaw Counseling Services, Miami. Generally speaking, prescription painkillers are opiates. There are 14...

Koranic law: Coming to a city near youA panel of federal judges has ruled that states cannot protect their courts from jurists who base their decisions on international or Koranic law. America needs better judges. On Tuesday, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a federal district court order blocking implementation of an amendment to the Oklahoma constitution that sought to ban judges from using international or Muslim law as a basis for deciding cases. The amendment was approved in November 2010 by a 70 percent popular vote but has never been enforced. Plaintiff Muneer Awad, executive director of the...

Authorities don't plan to file charges against an Oklahoma woman who fatally shot a New Year's Eve intruder at her house while she had a 911 dispatcher on the phone, but the intruder's alleged accomplice has been charged in the death. A 911 tape released to Oklahoma City media outlets Wednesday reveals that 18-year-old Sarah McKinley asked a Grady County dispatcher for permission to shoot the intruder. McKinley's 3-month-old son was with her when she shot Justin Shane Martin, 24, at her Blanchard mobile home. "I've got two guns in my hand. Is it OK to shoot him if he...

A young Oklahoma mother shot and killed an intruder to protect her 3-month-old baby on New Year's Eve, less than a week after the baby's father died of cancer. Sarah McKinley says that a week earlier a man named Justin Martin dropped by on the day of her husband's funeral, claiming that he was a neighbor who wanted to say hello. The 18-year-old Oklahoma City area woman did not let him into her home that day. On New Year's Eve Martin returned with another man, Dustin Stewart, and this time was armed with a 12-inch hunting knife. The two soon...

Former Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts is expected to endorse Newt Gingrich on Monday, according to multiple media reports, earning the former House Speaker another nod from a member of the 1994 Republican Revolution. Watts, who served four terms representing Oklahoma's 4th district, was a star quarterback at the University of Oklahoma and replaced now-Speaker John Boehner as chairman of the House Republican Conference in 1999. Since leaving Congress, Watts founded a lobbying and consulting firm in Washington. He has also served as a political commentator for CNN. Watts provides Gingrich with much-needed establishment support while his once-ballooning poll numbers have...

Drug Enforcement Administration agents have raided an Oklahoma car dealership that the government suspects may be one of about 30 such businesses in the U.S. involved in funding the terrorist group Hezbollah. DEA agents say the car lot of Ace Auto Leasing in Tulsa is part of a huge network that is selling cars and drugs -- and then using the money to support terrorism against the U.S., myfoxphoenix.com reports. During Friday's raid, agents could be seen carryout out filing cabinets and other items. They also questioned employees and took inventory. "They're making big time money and it's going right...

TULSA, OK (KTUL/CNN) - Police arrested a woman they said mixed meth chemicals inside a Wal-Mart store. They reported the suspect, Elizabeth Alisha Greta Halfmoon, had been in the store for about six hours, taking chemicals from bottles and mixing them in order to make meth. One police officer received minor injuries when the chemicals in the bottle burned his hand. Nobody else was hurt. Tulsa Police Officer David Shelby said it was the first time he had seen anyone actually try to mix meth in a store. "There are elderly people, there are children, there are all kinds of...

SURRENDER COMPLETELY AND RECEIVE MY LOVE FOR YOU ! My surrender to you is eternal , for as My Sacrifice was a promise and a statement of My Love coming down through the Father ! It is Now time for You to SURRENDER wholeheartedly to Me . I need to see a heart opened forth right and true ; to discern My Presence ! That you make " ALL " Known to Me ~ free for release and in this surrender as you raise your hands and lower your defenses and pride I WILL COME ! And My SPIRIT ,...

OKLAHOMA CITY – In the 2008 presidential election, Oklahoma was the only state in the nation where every single county voted for the Republican candidate – 77 in all. And now, wanting to make sure that “the reddest state in America had a straw poll of its own,” to quote Oklahoma Republican Party Chairman Matt Pinnell, the state’s inaugural Presidential Straw Poll will be conducted online, starting Monday, Nov. 21, 2011 and concluding on Monday, Dec. 5, 2011. Said Pinnell: “Many states hold presidential straw polls every four years creating national publicity and financial support for their respective state. We...

A former Creek County judge convicted of exposing himself by using a sexual device while on the bench will lose his judicial retirement pay, the state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday. -snip- Thompson served about 20 months in prison after being found guilty in 2006 of four felony counts for his use of a penis pump while presiding over trials.

WASHINGTON — Thousands of times every day, drilling deep underground causes the earth to tremble. But don't blame the surprise flurry of earthquakes in Oklahoma on man's thirst for oil and gas, experts say. The weekend quakes were far stronger than the puny tremors from drilling — especially the controversial practice of hydraulic fracturing. The weekend quakes didn't have the mark of man. They were a force of nature.

SPARKS, Okla. – Near a remote, dirt road intersection not far from this Lincoln County community, there are at least five visible cracks in the road, evidence of the 5.6 magnitude earthquake that was centered here late Saturday evening, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Having experienced an earthquake both at Red Dirt Report headquarters in Oklahoma City and another one while visiting Oklahoma State University in Stillwater – all in less than 24 hours, your Red Dirt Reporter, along with RDR contributor Ted H. Smith and photographer Marie Mentesana did our research as to the location of the quake’s...

The debate over spending among Republicans in Congress has become so intense that one Senate Republican leader has started wearing a flak jacket to meetings. The arguments have gotten so pointed that Senate Republican Conference Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) wore a flak jacket to a Republican lunch meeting a few weeks ago. He said he would don the protective gear after Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), an outspoken conservative, blasted him in a meeting for arguing that Congress had already made substantial reductions in discretionary spending. Coburn objected heatedly. He argued that slowing the rate of discretionary spending growth is not...

That one felt bigger here in south OKC than yesterdays.

4.7 Magnitude Earthquake Central Oklahoma (Prague) 11/5/2011 02:13AM Local

OKLAHOMA CITY – A heavy police presence in Kerr Park Monday afternoon led Red Dirt Report to learn via a tipster that someone in a tent at the Kerr Park encampment of Occupy OKC had overdosed on a drug overnight. Officer Kevin Barnes, the public information officer for the Oklahoma City Police Department told Red Dirt Report late Monday afternoon that “they got a call at 2:40 p.m. about an unattended death” in Kerr Park. Barnes said that investigators are currently on the scene and that it “does not look suspicious.” “I don’t see anything that makes it more than...

A man thought to be a protester was found dead Monday inside a tent at Kerr Park, police said. The man's name has not been released by police, but he was thought to be in his 20s, Oklahoma City police Capt. Dexter Nelson said. The man is part of Occupy OKC, a group of protesters who have been camping since Oct. 10 in Kerr Park near Robinson and Broadway avenues. Organizers refer to the man as “Street Poet,” a homeless man provided with food, clothing and shelter by others involved in Occupy OKC, according to a news release written by...

SAYRE, OKLA. -- A brawl among California inmates housed in a prison in Oklahoma because of overcrowded lockups back home resulted in 46 injuries, authorities said Wednesday. The fighting broke out Tuesday at the North Fork Correctional Facility in Sayre, Okla., about 130 miles west of Oklahoma City. The prison holds 2,381 inmates, all from California, .. Inmates were involved in fights at various locations throughout the 2,500-bed, medium-security prison, .. Jackson said 46 inmates were hurt, 30 of whom were treated at the prison. Sixteen were taken to hospitals, three in critical condition. The injuries ranged from "normal scratches...

The Pac-12 decided it won't expand further late Tuesday because commissioner Larry Scott couldn't get assurance that Texas would agree to an equal revenue sharing plan if the league added the Longhorns, Oklahoma, Texas Tech and Oklahoma State, a source with direct knowledge told ESPN.com. The source said Scott didn't recommend expansion to the presidents.

A suspect in a Monday morning double homicide was at the crime scene. In fact, he spoke exclusively to Tulsa's Channel 8. Darren Price was watching police conduct their investigation as Tulsa's Channel 8 approached him. Price was eager to talk on camera, even grabbing the mic at one point. "I think it's real crazy. I bring my kids out here to play. It raises a question, is it safe to even walk around this town, people just dying and stuff like this," he told Tulsa Channel 8. Tulsa police arrested 19 year old Price and 21 year Jirao Davis...

Five Tulsa police officers - including one who accidentally fired his weapon - served misdemeanor traffic warrants and arrested a key witness Thursday in a police corruption lawsuit against the city. The officer who fired his weapon is under internal investigation, and police refused to release his name. Kelie D. Barnes, 32, was arrested Thursday on outstanding municipal warrants, Tulsa Jail records show. Barnes' warrants are all misdemeanors involving failure to wear a seat belt, expired tag, no proof of insurance, no driver's license and speeding, according to jail records. ***** In arresting Kelie Barnes, police officers forced open the...

The Pac-12 appears to be working out the final details of a deal that would bring Texas, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Texas Tech to the conference, sources close to the situation told Hookem.com and the American-Statesman on Sunday morning.

Pro Football Hall of Fame member Lee Roy Selmon has reportedly died following a stroke on Friday...In 1995, Selmon was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Buccaneers honored Selmon in 2009, making him the first member of their Ring of Honor.

Tulsa Police enter the sixth day of trying to get William Sturdivant to come down from the tower outside FOX23 studios. On Monday afternoon, 25-year old Sturdivant climbed part of the way down before climbing back up to a spot about 100 feet up the 300 foot tower. A Tulsa police negotiator says he believes the man will eventually become so tired and dehydrated that he has to give in to rescue efforts. Onlookers continue to flood parking lots and slow down along Memorial Drive. Negotiators believe spectators are a roadblock in their attempts to talk the man into descending,...

We are facing a tsunami of painkiller addiction that will flood our criminal justice, health care, behavioral health, and social services resources. Illicit online pharmacies have made prescriptions cheap and easy to acquire, fueling a massive wave of addi...ction that we actually have not seen yet. SAMHSA estimates that over 5% of the nations population, 12 years and older, are using painkillers, nowhere more prevalent than the heartland with Oklahoma leading the nation at 6.7%. Opioid addiction used to be thought of as primarily heroin addiction, but that is changing rapidly. The masses currently addicted to prescription painkillers have conveniently...

Not all Opioid Treatment Programs (OTP) are the same. Compare OTPs to the following list before making a selection: ð A SAMHSA accredited and certified, CARF accredited OTP. ð An evidenced-based, best practice Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT) OTP, using SAMHSA Treatment Improvement Protocol 43 as its model. ð A MAT that emphasizes treatment of the underlying addiction requiring multiple therapeutic contacts per week, using a bio-psych-social approach toward recovery. ð A MAT that is not a just a "maintenance" program but uses medication as a tool to get the opioid addict past a critical stage in recovery toward better outcomes....

We are facing a tsunami of painkiller addiction that will flood our criminal justice, health care, behavioral health, and social services resources. Illicit online pharmacies have made prescriptions cheap and easy to acquire, fueling a massive wave of addiction that we actually have not seen yet. SAMHSA estimates that over 5% of the nations population, 12 years and older, are using painkillers, nowhere more prevalent than the heartland with Oklahoma leading the nation at 6.7%. Opioid addiction used to be thought of as primarily heroin addiction, but that is changing rapidly. The masses currently addicted to prescription painkillers have conveniently...

BARTLESVILLE, OK - To Protect and Serve... sadly, one of their own failed to be provided with sufficient protection from the elements to survive. Last Wednesday, a Bartlesville Police Department K9 died. The dog, a 2 yr-old Belgian Malinois named Copper, had been with the department for just 5 months before his tragic death. Copper lived with his handler, a Bartlesville Police officer - the man left Copper in his outdoor kennel for "a couple of hours" on Wednesday. When the handler returned home, the dog was dead on the slab of his kennel...slab? As in cement? In the heat...

Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., said Sunday that fellow GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell's proposal to raise the debt limit was "a great political plan" but that it didn't solve the nation's debt crisis - and so he was not likely to vote for it. In an appearance on CBS' "Face the Nation," Coburn claimed he no longer cared about the politics of the debate, and said that "I am only going to support something that actually solves the problem." "I haven't firmly decided, but I am unlikely to support it at this time," Coburn said, of McConnell's plan, which would allow...

Just a quick question for Oklahoma Freepers- I live in Texas, and am planning a quick trip to OK tomorrow. I'd like to know if, or under what conditions, it is legal there for me to carry a pistol in my car. I know that it is legal in Texas, but I'd like to know if I'm headed for hot water over the border. Thanks in advance for any info- I won't be able to reply for a couple of hours- gotta take the wife to the doctor!

Tens of thousands of Americans are lining up in support of a police officer in Tulsa, Okla., who was punished for refusing his department's order to attend an "Islamic proselytizing event" even as a legal team representing the captain is petitioning the court to add new allegations of misbehavior by his superiors to a lawsuit over the dispute. WND reported earlier when a legal action was brought by attorneys with the Thomas More Law Center on behalf of Paul Fields. Named as defendants are the city, police chief Charles W. Jordan and deputy chief Alvin Daryl Webster. The lawsuit focuses...

SNIPPET: "Shanti was arrested by u.s. Customs and Border Protection in Blaine, Wash. ..." SNIPPET: "Both were from Morocco. It's unclear why Shanti would need to jump the border so often. But a LinkedIn account listed in Shanti's name lists a string of jobs in Canada, Dubai, and Jordan, so it may have been work-related."

Oklahoma senator hopes is putting the finishing touches on his plan to reduce the federal deficit by $9 trillion. He expects to release it this week. WASHINGTON — U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, who has been working on a deficit-reduction plan worth $9 trillion over 10 years, said he hopes to release the blueprint late this week. That timetable may slip since the scope of the plan requires so many calculations (mathematical, not political). Coburn, R-Muskogee, and his staff have been working on the plan since the senator dropped out of the bipartisan Gang of Six deficit reduction talks in May....

An old symbol with renewed popularity among tea partiers and other conservatives could soon appear on Oklahoma license plates. The Revolutionary War era Gadsden Flag, featuring a coiled rattlesnake on a yellow field and the words "Don't Tread on Me," was among the eight special tag themes approved by the Legislature this year. A specific design for the tag won't be approved until the minimum 100 orders are received by the Oklahoma Tax Commission. The Gadsden Flag has been much in evidence at tea party events over the past few years, but Rep. Randy Terrill, R-Moore, said he did not...

The Oklahoma Supreme Court yesterday upheld a law that makes it illegal to knowingly transport undocumented immigrants, creates state barriers to hiring workers who are in the country illegally and requires proof of citizenship before a person can receive government benefits.The decision comes as states across the country confront illegal immigration with similar laws, several of which have or will surely also face legal challenges.The highest court in Oklahoma defended the decision critics called “political�: “It is not the place of the Supreme Court or any court to concern itself with a statute’s propriety, desirability, wisdom or its practicality as...

Several Senate Republicans are angry at anti-tax activist Grover Norquist’s position on a major ethanol vote, creating a rift between one of Washington’s most influential conservatives and a Republican Party that has marched largely in lock step with his campaign tax pledges over the years. “What Grover Norquist has just done is blown his pledge wide open,” Sen. Mike Johanns (R-Neb.) told POLITICO.

Coburn on Grover Norquist: ‘Old news..doesn’t matter what he says’ Coburn talks with reporters before their caucus luncheon on Capitol Hill Tuesday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) An intra-GOP feud played out in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday.

Rep. Dan Boren, the only Democrat in Oklahoma's seven-person congressional delegation, will not run for re-election in 2012, leaving open a seat that spans much of eastern Oklahoma. Boren, 37, plans to make an official announcement at 2 p.m. Tuesday in his hometown of Muskogee. He has served in the U.S. House since 2005. His predecessor in the 2nd District seat, Democrat Brad Carson, said Tuesday that he plans to run for the seat. Carson, 44, of Claremore, is now a business and law professor at the University of Tulsa. Carson gave up the House seat in 2004 to run...

The 18 Senators Who Approve Breaking The Internet To Protect Hollywood from the not-cool dept Last fall, we noted that the Senate Judiciary Committee had unanimously voted to approve COICA, a bill for censoring the internet as a favor to the entertainment industry. Thankfully, Senator Ron Wyden stepped up and blocked COICA from progressing. This year, COICA has been replaced by the PROTECT IP Act, which fixes some of the problems of COICA, but introduces significant other problems as well. A wide cross section of people who actually understand technology and innovation have come out against PROTECT IP as written...

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A loud noise coming from an unattended box that turned out to be Christmas music prompted a security alert at the Oklahoma City airport on Friday that closed most of the facility for four hours, officials said. An unidentified caller notified the airport of noises coming from a box in the baggage claim area about 9:30 a.m. local time and the police bomb squad was summoned, airport spokeswoman Karen Carney said.

(VIDEO AT LINK) A controversial decision to send a pharmacist to jail for life for shooting dead a young man who tried to rob his store has caused a storm of protest. Jerome Ersland was given a life sentence for the first-degree murder of 16-year-old Antwun Parker at an Oklahoma court last week. The 59-year-old pharmacist shot the youngster six times during an attempted armed robbery in 2009, leading jurors to decide he had acted beyond the limits of self defence. Thousands in the area have, however, reacted furiously to the decision, insisting Mr Ersland had simply acted to protect...

Oklahomans Outraged Over Ersland Conviction Residents Ask Gov. Mary Fallin To Pardon Jerome Ersland POSTED: 5:51 pm CDT May 27, 2011 UPDATED: 6:07 pm CDT May 27, 2011 OKLAHOMA CITY -- Some Oklahomans are outraged over the conviction of pharmacist Jerome Ersland, and they are turning to social media to voice their opinions. A jury found Ersland guilty of murder in connection with the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Antwun Parker, sparking a backlash of citizens outraged with the verdict. Dozens of calls have been made to Gov. Mary Fallin's office along with messages posted on the governor's Facebook wall, asking...

That's a big one.

Sadly, given the events in Joplin, Mo. and Minneapolis this past weekend, we are not through with severe weather this week. Not by a longshot. The ingredients are in place for a classic Plains tornado outbreak Tuesday. First, we have a screencast discussing how this setup compares to the infamous May 3, 1999 tornado outbreak. Then, we'll highlight the area of greatest risk, then step through why this is the case. Another May 3, 1999? The very date is chilling. An F5 tornado, the first on record documented in the Oklahoma City metro, carved through the area that afternoon and...