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Columns

Missed Opportunities and Failed Processes

Tulsa Beacon

The New York Times recently wrote about a young man age 12 named T.J., who was classified as having a disability.  Young T.J. was one of 200,000 students in New York City public schools classified as having a disability, which can be anything from mild dyslexia to a complex physical disorder.  The story refers to…

Kavanaugh circus shows we have too many judges

Tulsa Beacon

In September, we experienced one of the most disgusting displays of incivility in the “hallowed halls of Congress” in my lifetime.  Certainly there have been others, but for sheer volume and intensity of ill will and verbosity, this one seems to take the cake. Of course, the subject of this monstrosity of indignity and lawlessness…

A lonely place versus the ‘green room’

Tulsa Beacon

I have the privilege of speaking at some of the largest churches in the United States. Because the services are televised worldwide and the messages have mass exposures, there are sometimes threats from unstable individuals. When I preach in these churches, I must follow their protocols. One megachurch where I preach has a bodyguard who…

Trump’s EPA is rolling back ridiculous car standards

Tulsa Beacon

It began to go wrong in the late 1950s when M. King Hubbert of the U.S. Geological Survey predicted that America would start to run out of oil by the end of the 1960s.  His prediction was called Peak Oil, defined as the point at which our nation, and perhaps the world, would use more…

Offshore exploration make sense

Tulsa Beacon

Several states are preparing to sue the federal government. They’re trying to halt Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s planned expansion of offshore oil and natural gas drilling. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, the most vocal opponent of Sec. Zinke’s plan, claims the drilling “threatens our environment and our economy.” He’s wrong on both counts. The…

It’s always fun to go to Dallas and beat the Longhorns

Tulsa Beacon

My second trip to Texas was in 1973 when I was a student at The University of Oklahoma. Some friends and I drove to Dallas on a Friday afternoon with plans to see OU play Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Wow. The Bedlam game between OU and Oklahoma State is a storied and intense rivalry…

The Wraparound Approach

Tulsa Beacon

The fall edition of Focus magazine just arrived.  The magazine is written by the Lumina Foundation, which is an independent private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. The first article centers around Morgan State University, a historically black institution in Baltimore that was founded…

We need to pay more heed to Constitution Day (9/17)

Tulsa Beacon

It suddenly dawned on me earlier in the day, this Monday, September 17, that this subject should have been addressed previously so as to appear in publications during the previous week. In my opinion, this date should be given importance comparable to July 4 in observance in the calendars in the United States of America….

And they called it ‘Puppy love’ (1963)

Tulsa Beacon

It was 1963; I was a pimply-faced, hormonally imbalanced 12-year-old. Half the world was telling me to find myself, and the other half was telling me to get lost. I wasn’t alone. I had plenty of company known as the Baby Boomers; we were all in the same boat without a sail. The turmoil of…

Thank Republican lawmakers for a secure retirement

Tulsa Beacon

What would the reaction be if the state ran out of money to pay the pensions of retired teachers? I guarantee the public would be furious. That’s not going to happen, at least anytime soon in Oklahoma. According to a report by State Treasurer Ken Miller, the $32,900,000,000.00 (that’s $32.9 billion) in the state’s public…