DocHoc Posts

When will the shaking and rattling finally wake people up to the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, in populated areas? Do people here feel so beaten down by the prevailing political power structure and the oil and gas industry they will actually allow their homes to be damaged and possibly even destroyed to line the pockets of millionaire energy executives? Will they even risk the safety of their children?

It the end, it's an embarrassing Okie spectacle that's going to drag on and on, and The Oklahoman does a disservice to the state's image by not simply urging government officials to comply with the court ruling. So let me say it: Remove the monument.

The antics of Oklahoma U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe when it comes to denying humankind's contribution to global warming never cease. Has he made himself into parody for the fun of it or does he really believe in all of the stuff he argues in some of the world's most serious forums?

An editorial in The Oklahoman lauding Nevada's new law that authorizes education savings accounts or vouchers for all school children fails to address a serious argument against such a policy.

Some of you might remember I made a formal open records request to view internal records of how the Norman School District handled rape and bullying allegations that recently spawned a large demonstration supported by the organization YES ALL Daughters. Case closed, right? Organized protest works! Well, not so fast.

I have a dream that our country will soon bring an end to institutional racism, racial profiling, police brutality, poverty and senseless wars. I have a dream that our country will, free at last, embrace equality and dignity for all people.)
The annual Oklahoma City parade honoring and celebrating the life of the great civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. will begin at 2 p.m. today.

When it comes to basic democratic principles and the freedom of political expression, the public meeting Thursday to discuss a proposal to allow fracking adjacent to Lake Hefner was a complete sham. Democracy is NOT alive and well in Oklahoma City, folks.

(#YesALLDaughters plans a candlelit vigil tonight, Monday, Dec. 1, starting at 4:45p.m. at the Norman Schools Administrative Services Center, 131 S. Flood.)
The student walkout at Norman High School last Monday, followed by a rally that called attention to rape and bullying allegations at the school, has become, intentionally or not, part of a larger movement to elimin

The denial machine keeps trucking. Even with all the evidence mounting that Obamacare is working, neigh, excelling, an Oklahoma federal appeals judge thinks it's okay to spend taxpayers' money to deny the state's citizens health care.

The fact that a Republican legislator in an extremely conservative state is pointing out the lack of government oversight of oil and gas wells goes a long way in exposing the dirty business of extracting fossil fuels. After holding an interim study last week on the issue of water contamination related to oil and gas wells, a Republican State Senator from Oklahoma actually suggested that the state's Department of Environmental Quality should get "more resources to look into these wells."

The media coverage of the 4.3-magnitude earthquake that shook central Oklahoma Tuesday was complacent and routine. That's probably just what the oil and gas industry wants. A glance at online reports about the quakes from The Oklahoman, News 9, KOCO/Channel 5 and NewsChannel 4 shows they didn't even mention how scientists claim the dramatic surge in earthquakes here are caused by the oil and gas drilling process known as fracking.

An Oklahoma state senator, along with a Tulsa geologist, have called for establishing a federal task force to study the dramatic increase of earthquakes here that scientists argue is related to oil and gas drilling processes.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin's attempt to make a group of impoverished refugee children fodder for her reelection will surely test the limits of the the state electorate's cravenness and ignorance. It wouldn't be the first time a candidate resorted to extremes in the face of falling poll numbers.

The Oklahoman has its underwear in a twist over the primary loss of charter school-backer Superintendent Janet Barresi. Maybe they're not realizing something the people of Oklahoma intuitively understand – privatizing schools will only worsen the states poor student performance.

Well, here's something else to further shake up the growing case against hydraulic fracturing: Possible nuclear disaster. Experts argue that a cavern that stores radioactive waste near Carlsbad, New Mexico, could be threatened by nearby fracking activity. Energy companies, according to an article, are drilling and establishing fossil fuel wells within five miles of the site.

Gov. Mary Fallin has signed into law a bill that ends pensions for new state employees under the Oklahoma Public Employees Retirement System, moving new hires into 401(k)-styled plans that don't offer a guaranteed benefit. The only question now is what's next when it comes to cutting state pension plans in Oklahoma?

Right now, oil and gas companies in Oklahoma pay 1 percent in gross production taxes for horizontally drilled wells — fracking — for four years and then 7 percent after that. The tax break was implemented to encourage new drilling and is set to expire in 2015. Oklahoma is experiencing a mini-boom in the oil and gas patch, so it only seems sensible to allow the tax break to expire. North Dakota has an 11.5 percent gross production tax, for example. The campaign to defeat sensibility is well under way, however.

It's become increasingly clear that Oklahoma's dramatic surge in earthquakes can be linked to wastewater injection wells used in the hydraulic fracturing or fracking drilling process. A new study links central Oklahoma earthquakes, known as the Jones swarm, to four high-volume injection wells in Oklahoma City.

U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe continues to berate the Environmental Protection Agency with sweeping generalizations and political sloganeering. Inhofe's contrarian demeanor as a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee doesn't really accomplish anything, but it does give all of us a preview of what could happen if Republicans take control of the Senate in the November midterm elections.

Since the economic downturn in 2008, education funding has dropped in Oklahoma more than in any other state. When teachers held a rally last week at the state capitol, the tea party conservatives got upset — not at the estimated 22 percent cut in education funds, but at the "self-righteousness" of holding the rally on a school day.