Wednesday, September 30, 2009
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Tuesday, September 29, 2009
To Stillwater Blues Festival and those who worked to make it happen!
One of the best Blues Festivals in Oklahoma in 2009, and well worth the cost of admission!
Excellent weather this year made for a big crowd, good food, and some awesome entertainment!
Blues is as diverse as the color, and the artists proved this point many times over. A “big hats” off to the folks who worked with the youth in the Blues in the School program, and to those who made Idol part of the program, and the harmonica program was appreciated by all in attendance. Overall, this is a very positive image of our community, and one that will continue to grow with time and keeps our city on the front-page of quality events run by superstars who give of their time and talents to make Stillwater the well rounded yet diverse city it is.
My hat is off and respect shown to all who worked to provide this great event. You and your work did not go unnoticed, or appreciated. It took many hours of planning, etc.
THANK YOU VERY MUCH to everyone who worked to make this event a big success.
Stan and Ann Moffat
Stillwater, OK
Daryl Gene Evans of Perkins, Oklahoma passed from this earth to his waiting heavenly Father in his home at 9:20 a.m. on September 26, 2009.
Funeral services are under the direction of Strode Funeral Home and will be held at 2:00 p.m. Friday, October 2, 2009 at the River of Life Church with his brother Dr. Keith Evans officiating. The burial will follow at the Perkins Cemetery.
The son of the late James “Buck” Evans and Frieda (Collyar) Evans was born on June 4, 1942 in Johnsonville, Illinois. He graduated from Ripley High School in 1959. He attended business school in Tulsa and served eight years in the Army National Guard.
He worked at Payne County Bank for five years. For the past 36 years he sold supplemental insurance with Colonial life.
Daryl was very involved with the community. He established the first city clerk’s office in Perkins. He was a two time Charter member of the Perkins Jaycees and state vice president. He was president of the PT All Sports Booster Club. He was privileged to announce high school football games in Perkins in the 1960’s. He promoted and organized the Taylorville Gospel Opry and annual outdoor singing events from 1992 to 2005. He was an active member of the First Baptist Church in Perkins since 1983. He enjoyed singing in the choir, singing solos, teaching Sunday school and being on many different committees.
He had a deep love for Southern gospel music, and was a member of several different groups over the years. He loved his St. Louis Cardinals baseball and OU Football and Basketball. He enjoyed playing softball with church and community leagues. He was an avid bass fisherman and enjoyed competing and winning local tournaments. He also enjoyed sharing his fishing expertise with his kids and grandchildren.
Daryl was united in marriage to Beverly (McGehee) Evans on August 28, 1972 in Miami, Oklahoma. They shared four children. Tracy Farmer of Seattle, WA; Trica Gordon and husband Larry of Perkins, OK; Greg Farmer and wife Terrie of Centreville, MD; Carla Lester and husband Scotte of Perkins, OK; eleven grandchildren; and five great grandchildren. He is also survived by his mother, Frieda Evans; two brothers, Jim Evans and wife Linda of Mustang, OK; Keith Evans and wife Beverly of Troutdale, OR and their children; nephew, Rick Evans of Mustang, OK. His very special Aunt Agnes Collyar of Oklahoma City; cousin, Aggie Faye Borthhick of Oklahoma City; Dale and Willa Gowdy of Cleveland and relatives and friends too numerous to list.
He was preceded in death by his father James “Buck” Evans of Perkins, OK; aunts, uncles, and grandparents.
Memorial contributions may be made in his name to Judith Karman Hospice, P.O. Box 818 Stillwater, OK 74076.
Condolences may be e-mailed to the family may by visiting www.strodefh.com
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
SEPTEMBER 23, 2009, 7:03 P.M. ET
The President Risks Getting Stale
Continuous TV appearances can't rescue a bad argument.
By KARL ROVE
It sounded to White House advisers like a good idea. Put President Barack Obama on five Sunday morning talk shows. This would focus attention on health care, re-establish momentum, and show off Mr. Obama's passion, intelligence, and persuasive abilities. It didn't work.
Mr. Obama made a classic mistake of politicians on a downward-bending arc. He jumps out in front of the cameras without having something fresh to offer.
As a result, he was on the defensive and failed to win over the slice of America that opposes his plans. His refusal to sit down with Fox News's Chris Wallace made him look petulant if not fearful, and his answers weakened his credibility.
Take, for example, his dustup on ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos" over whether requiring Americans to buy health insurance or pay a fine was a tax. Legislation in the House and Senate defines it as a tax, and Mr. Stephanopoulos said it fit Merriam-Webster's definition of a tax. But the president insisted it was not a tax. That's because by favoring the mandate Mr. Obama is breaking his pledge not to raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. He already signed a cigarette tax increase in February, but this tax could be as much as $3,800 a year for a family and is therefore a more material breach of his promise.
On "Face the Nation" Mr. Obama said he would pay for two-thirds of his health-care proposal by redirecting Medicare funds that are "just being spent badly." "This is not me making wild assertions," Mr. Obama said, "waste and abuse" can provide "the lion's share of money to pay for" health-care reform.
If that is true, Mr. Obama could flip the health-care debate to his advantage by offering a stand-alone bill that would cut the $622 billion from Medicare and Medicaid that he sees as badly spent. Such a bill would show that Mr. Obama can be trusted when he says overhauling health care will be painless. But the White House won't do any such thing because those cuts aren't easy to make. If they were all "waste and fraud" they would have been cut already. And such a bill would force Democrats to either stick with the president or side with constituents who would be hurt by the cuts.
Mr. Obama opened a different can of worms on "Face the Nation" when he told Bob Schieffer health insurers and drug companies "are going to have to be ponying up" more in taxes because "they're making huge profits." Everyone except for the president seems to know that such a tax increase would be, in Mr. Schieffer's words, passed "right on to the consumer." That would drive up health insurance costs for everyone. How does that help the middle class afford health care?
Mr. Obama's dig at profits reveals a certain disdain for markets. Health insurers have a 3.3% profit margin, less than the 4.6% average for all businesses in the country. Drug companies do enjoy, on average, a 17% profit margin. But that's still less than software companies, which earn on average a 22% profit margin. Brewers make 18%. Are these industries the next targets for a revenue hungry Obama administration?
By the way, some of those drug-company profits are now paying for an ad blitz favoring Mr. Obama's health-care plans. There would be a little justice if drug companies succeed at increasing their own taxes.
To turn things in his favor, Mr. Obama needs to start thinking about making substantive concessions that will really improve health care. He could adopt Republican proposals to allow people to buy insurance across state lines, permit small businesses to pool risk to get the same discounts large employers receive, and crack down on junk lawsuits through medical liability reform. By doing so, he'd actually be lowering costs and expanding access instead of just pretending to—and at an infinitesimal fraction of his proposal's cost.
Americans have taken the measure of Mr. Obama's health-care plan and, as his falling poll numbers attest, increasingly don't like it. His health-care initiative is not only losing public support on its own merits; it is diminishing Mr. Obama's credibility. Most amazing of all, the president's constant chattering runs the risk of making him boring and stale. His magic dissipates as he becomes less interesting.
Mr. Obama doesn't need more TV time. He needs a new health-care plan that comes from actual bipartisan negotiation and compromise—one that most Americans see as something that will actually improve their health care. He needs his facts to align with reality.
More talk doesn't automatically lead to greater public support, but it can erode public confidence in your leadership. Mr. Obama is capable of flooding the airwaves with his words. But what he needs most is a message that wins the attention and support of most Americans.
Mr. Rove is the former senior adviser and deputy chief of staff to President George W. Bush.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
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130 W. Main Street Ada, OK 74820 Phone: (580) 332-8108 | ||||||||||||||||||||
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunday, September 20, 2009
• Komono-Robinson
• Komono-Robinson
Shoko Komono to wed Morgan Robinson
Shoko Komono, Kyoto, Japan, and Morgan Robinson, Stillwater, will wed Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, at 7 p.m. at Boomer Lake.
The bride-to-be is the daughter of Fumio and Tomiko Komono, Kyoto.
The groom-to-be is the son of Lawrence and Sharon Robinson.
Komono graduated from Doshisha University in Kyoto and has worked as a computer programmer for 11 years. She loves traveling, scuba diving and photography.
Robinson graduated from UCO in Edmond with a bachelor of fine arts degree in sculpture. He has worked as a cabinet maker for five years and studied furniture design and fabrication in Japan from March 2008 to March 2009. He is starting Morgan Interior Accents Ltd. Co., a design and fabrication studio in Stillwater.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
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just how over the top can one be.... and they wondered why?
By Dana Milbank
Friday, September 18, 2009
Let's say you're preparing dinner and you realize with dismay that you don't have any certified organic Tuscan kale. What to do?
Here's how Michelle Obama handled this very predicament Thursday afternoon:
The Secret Service and the D.C. police brought in three dozen vehicles and shut down H Street, Vermont Avenue, two lanes of I Street and an entrance to the McPherson Square Metro station. They swept the area, in front of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with bomb-sniffing dogs and installed magnetometers in the middle of the street, put up barricades to keep pedestrians out, and took positions with binoculars atop trucks. Though the produce stand was only a block or so from the White House, the first lady hopped into her armored limousine and pulled into the market amid the wail of sirens.
Then, and only then, could Obama purchase her leafy greens. "Now it's time to buy some food," she told several hundred people who came to watch. "Let's shop!"
Cowbells were rung. Somebody put a lei of marigolds around Obama's neck. The first lady picked up a straw basket and headed for the "Farm at Sunnyside" tent, where she loaded up with organic Asian pears, cherry tomatoes, multicolored potatoes, free-range eggs and, yes, two bunches of Tuscan kale. She left the produce with an aide, who paid the cashier as Obama made her way back to the limousine.
There's nothing like the simple pleasures of a farm stand to return us to our agrarian roots.
The first lady had encouraged Freshfarm Markets, the group that runs popular farmers markets in Dupont Circle and elsewhere, to set up near the White House, and she helped get the approvals to shut down Vermont Avenue during rush hour on Thursdays. But the result was quite the opposite of a quaint farmers market. Considering all the logistics, each tomato she purchased had a carbon footprint of several tons.
The promotion of organic and locally grown food, though an admirable cause, is a risky one for the Obamas, because there's a fine line between promoting healthful eating and sounding like a snob. The president, when he was a candidate in 2007, got in trouble in Iowa when he asked a crowd, "Anybody gone into Whole Foods lately and see what they charge for arugula?" Iowans didn't have a Whole Foods.
For that reason, it's probably just as well that the first lady didn't stop by the Endless Summer Harvest tent yesterday. The Virginia farm had a sign offering "tender baby arugula" -- hydroponically grown, pesticide free -- and $5 for four ounces, which is $20 a pound.
Obama, in her brief speech to the vendors and patrons, handled the affordability issue by pointing out that people who pay with food stamps would get double the coupon value at the market. Even then, though, it's hard to imagine somebody using food stamps to buy what the market offered: $19 bison steak from Gunpowder Bison, organic dandelion greens for $12 per pound from Blueberry Hill Vegetables, the Piedmont Reserve cheese from Everson Dairy at $29 a pound. Rounding out the potential shopping cart: $4 for a piece of "walnut dacquoise" from the Praline Bakery, $9 for a jumbo crab cake at Chris's Marketplace, $8 for a loaf of cranberry-walnut bread and $32 for a bolt of yarn.
The first lady said the market would particularly appeal to federal employees in nearby buildings to "pick up some good stuff for dinner." Yet even they might think twice about spending $3 for a pint of potatoes when potatoes are on sale for 40 cents a pound at Giant. They could get nearly five dozen eggs at Giant for the $5 Obama spent for her dozen.
But whatever the socioeconomics, there can be no doubt that Obama brought some serious attention to her cause. Hundreds of people crowded the market entrance on I Street as police directed pedestrians to alternative subway entrances. Hundreds braved a light rain and gave a hearty cheer when Obama and her entourage took the stage. "I can't imagine there's been a day in the history of our country when people have been more excited about farmers markets," Mayor Adrian Fenty, Obama's warm-up act, told the crowd.
The first lady, in gray slacks and blue sweater, marveled that the people were "so pumped up" despite the rain. "I have never seen so many people so excited about fruits and vegetables!" she said. (Must be the tender baby arugula.)
She spoke of the global reach of her cause: "The first thing world leaders, prime ministers, kings, queens ask me about is the White House garden. And then they ask about Bo."
She spoke of the fuel fed to the world's most powerful man: "I've learned that when my family eats fresh food, healthy food, that it really affects how we feel, how we get through the day . . . whether there's a Cabinet meeting or whether we're just walking the dog."
And she spoke of her own culinary efforts: "There are times when putting together a healthy meal is harder than you might imagine."
Particularly when it involves a soundstage, an interpreter for the deaf, three TV satellite trucks and the closing of part of downtown Washington.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Drive By Flu Shots - Thursday, Oct 29th....
second biggest liar in America... oh my goodness, do I need to stand in the corner... for being an American and voicing my views??
even I get it and I am as dumb as a knot on a log!
Pelosi: I'm clueless about cash cut-off
Last Updated: 9:07 AM, September 17, 2009
Posted: 3:49 AM, September 17, 2009
WASHINGTON -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said yesterday she is clueless about an amendment to prohibit government funds for embattled ACORN, although it overwhelmingly passed the Senate Monday and the White House is calling for the group to be held accountable.
"I don't even know what they passed," Pelosi told The Post yesterday. "What did they do? They defunded it?"
The amendment to suspend housing grants was a stunning blow to the community-activist group -- and came as some Democrats and the White House have been backing away from the group.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Are You a Career Bound Performing Artist?
If you are, then you can’t miss the 2009 Arts Conference in Stillwater October 7– 9 at the Wes Watkins Center. The Oklahoma Arts Council is offering an exciting opportunity for performing artists to learn the skills needed to make you more marketable. This unique series of workshops will be conducted by Jeri Goldstein, founder of performingbiz.com.
Subjects to be covered include:
· Acquiring communication skills for more effective marketing
· Discussing how websites can offer more appeal to increase bookings
· Creating a unique identity brand and reaching target audiences
· Negotiating fair performance deals and developing market value
In addition, artists will learn about initiatives for film production and music promotion from the Oklahoma Film & Music Office. There will be excellent opportunities for performing artists to network with presenting organizations from across the state.
Artists are also invited to perform at Café Kazany hosted by Zanni Kazany and Family. Bring your poems, stories, musical instruments and a zany sense of humor at this late night cabaret. All characters welcome; kazoos will be provided.
Registration is $50 and must be completed by September 25. Contact the Oklahoma Arts Council at okarts@arts.ok.gov or (405) 521-2931 or www.arts.ok.gov.
Laura's E-Blast http://www.LauraIngraham.com September 15, 2009 | |
Remember the days when the press ooohed and aaaahed every time Barack Obama and Michelle went out to dinner? The President's jump shot ... the First Lady's arms ... the adorable kids ... the dog search ... the vegetable garden ... it was Operation Razzle Dazzle run by an image machine working overtime. Team Obama believed that if people saw the First Family as cool and fun, they would be more likely to think Obama's "remaking of America" was cool and fun, too. Of course, it didn't work out this way. Americans, it turns out, are sophisticated enough to separate their personal appreciation for the Obamas from their views on the President's policies. At this point, the entire White House operation is starting to have the look and feel of a tired Vegas lounge act. The economic forecast looks grim to most of us, who wonder why Washington can't cut back on spending in the same way our own families have. Everything Obama proposes carries a hefty price tag -- which ends up further burdening already beleaguered taxpayers and small businesses, who sooner or later pick up the tab for this profligate spending. The health-care debate has turned out to be a referendum on how well Washington manages big programs. The answer? Not well. Clearly, there is a genuine opportunity today for any politician who is willing to stand with these Americans who feel Washington just doesn't give a damn about them. These people are looking for a voice of reason amidst the chaos and insanity of a world where numbers like $10 trillion are casually tossed around. This feels like 1993, the last time I recall such widespread, intense anger with Washington. Back then, Gingrich's Contract with America tacked its sail to these prevailing winds, helping a demoralized GOP coast to a stunning 54-seat congressional coup. We need a new blueprint for a new age that our fellow Americans can read and think about. I suppose we could just sit back and hope to beat Democrats by default, but that would be foolhardy. Obama is a master campaigner and loves competition. The GOP needs to outline a coherent platform of specific ideas that every Republican candidate can run on in 2010 -- that way there's a clear post-election agenda that, assuming big GOP pick-ups, brings its own mandate. Call it "10 for 2010." 1) Taxpayers' Bill of Rights (TABOR). Limit federal spending growth to the percentage in population growth plus the rate of inflation; provide taxpayers the option of filing a post-card sized return using a low, flat tax rate of 25% | |
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
hummmmmmmm.... Ann.... annnnnnnnnnn
Image: DietsinReview
Between the finger-lickin’ pieces of chicken are two slices of bacon, melted slices of swiss and pepper jack cheese and a dollop of “the Colonel’s sauce.” It’s been dubbed the “Double Down,” and “It’s so much 100 percent premium chicken, we didn’t have room for a bun,” according to a KFC commercial posted on YouTube.
The Colonel is test marketing these calorie bombs only in Providence, R.I., and Omaha, Neb. They’re $6.99 (not including airfare) for a value meal including fries and a drink.
The calorie count has yet to be posted on KFC’s Web site. But an independent analysis by the Vancouver Sun (yet another example of Canadians looking down on Americans) estimates the Double Down has 1,228 calories.
To put that into perspective, that’s almost 300 calories more than a Wendy’s Triple with Everything.
KFC may need to introduce a new desert to follow the “Double Down.” The “Keep it Down” should include at least three Alka-Seltzers, and possibly a Lipitor pill to boot.