WaPo lists Bates, McCarville, Faught top Oklahoma political bloggers

Chris Cillizza of the Washington Post's The Fix recently compiled a list of the "best state-based political blogs" in the country, based on recommendations from readers and political junkies.

Representing Oklahoma on The Fix's list are Michael Bates' BatesLine, Mike McCarville's The McCarville Report Online, and Muskogee Politico (authored by yours truly).

I am humbled to have been included with these two fine gentlemen on this list. Blogging has been a very good experience for me, and I hope I have been able to pass along good information to my readers, and given them reason to come back often!

American Majority 'Tulsa Battlefield Training': Saturday

This Saturday, I will be participating in a local blogger panel at an American Majority training event. Joining me will be bloggers Michael Bates of BatesLine.com, and Peter J. Rudy of OklahomaWatchdog.org.

Here's the press release from American Majority:

Our nation was founded by ordinary citizen activists desiring a government that was accountable to the people.  Today, ordinary citizens in every citizen and in every community are tired of the status quo and are ready to get involved like they never have before to demand accountability.

American Majority’s purpose is to address these passions by providing education and resources to help you reach your goals.

To that end, American Majority desires to challenge concerned citizens to turn their focus to state and local issues with the first annual Tulsa Battlefield Training.

This event will provide those in attendance with two things:

First, the Tulsa Battlefield Training will give those in attendance a clear picture of what is happening at both the state level and local level with government spending, waste, and clear explanation regarding how all levels of government got into this mess.

Secondly, the Tulsa Battlefield Training will also provide tool, resources, and specific ways that attendees can get involved in the local government structure – whether as informed citizen activists or candidates for local office.

Confirmed Presenters Include:

• Ned Ryun, President of American Majority
• Michael Carnuccio, President of Oklahoma Council for Public Affairs
• Matt Robbins, Executive Director of American Majority
• A Local Blogger Panel Consisting of Michael Bates of Batesline.com; Jamison Faught of MuskogeePolitico.com; and Peter J. Rudy of OklahomaWatchdog.org
• Plus Presentations by the American Majority Oklahoma Staff

The Tulsa Battlefield Training will take place on Saturday, April 23^rd at Tulsa Technology Center located at 3420 S Memorial Dr. from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Doors open at 8:30 am.

Registration is $20 per person (which includes lunch and all materials) - space is limited.

Click here to register online. If you have any questions or would like additional information, call Seth Brown at 405-639-8896 or e-mail him at Seth@americanmajority.org.

This will be a great event; I highly encourage you to attend if at all possible.

Weekend Roundup

Voting continues in our 2012 GOP Primary Madness - Round 1. Round 1 will continue through Tuesday, so if you haven't made your picks yet, go here. The results thus far are fairly interesting.

Pam Pollard, longtime conservative activist, announced her candidacy for OKGOP Vice-Chair yesterday. Read her official press release here.

I've added some redistricting files to OKDistrict2.com. Do you want to do some redistricting of your own? There are files for congressional districts, state house districts, and state senate districts. Go here to take a look.

Take a look at the blog lists on the right sidebar. I continue to update and add new Oklahoma conservative blogs. I've recently added a list of blogs authored by Oklahoma legislators.

'A Day in the Life of a Government Regulated Citizen'

My FCC regulated alarm clock goes off and I reluctantly roll off of my FTC and state gov't regulated mattress. I stumble to the bathroom and turn on the DOE regulated showerhead which is what really wakes me up. In the shower, I wash my hair with my FDA regulated shampoo which conveniently has a "Drug Facts" label on the back so I know what I am putting on my head. 

After the shower I get dressed and pickup my FCC regulated cellphone and head to my DOT regulated truck. On the way to work I stop and fill the truck up with DOE regulated gasoline, which I hope doesn't contain ethanol as I really like my truck.

For the rest of A Day in the Life of a Government Regulated Citizen, written by Fort Gibson resident Steven Hill, click here.

News from the Blogosphere

Publicly-funded OSU: "LGBT History Month"

Michael Bates of BatesLine.com reports that Oklahoma State University has recognized October as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) History Month, and is having atheist/pro-homosexual philosophy professor John Corvino deliver a lecture on "What's Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?", where he intends to discredit religious objections to such perversions. This is what Oklahoma taxpayers are paying for with their hard-earned money... what a disgrace and an outrage...

'No Pressure': Environmentalist video blows up kids

Moe Lane at RedState.com has posted a eco-propaganda video entitled No Pressure, produced by British environmentalists to promote the environmentalist campaign "10:10" [cut "carbon" emissions by 10% per year starting in 2010]. In the video, they blow up schoolchildren, soccer players, and employees who are not as zealous for the environmentalist cause, spewing bloody guts all over the surrounding schoolchildren, soccer players, and employees. The 10:10 campaign has now pulled the video, after making this statement:

With climate change becoming increasingly threatening, and decreasingly talked about in the media, we wanted to find a way to bring this critical issue back into the headlines whilst making people laugh. We were therefore delighted when Britain's leading comedy writer, Richard Curtis - writer of Blackadder, Four Weddings, Notting Hill and many others – agreed to write a short film for the 10:10 campaign. Many people found the resulting film extremely funny, but unfortunately some didn't and we sincerely apologise to anybody we have offended. [emphasis mine]

I will warn you - this short, four-minute film is graphic and gory (schoolchildren blow up at their desks in a crowded classroom, splattering the rest of the class in gore, a soccer team manager and employees at a business meet the same fate, all in a nonchalant manner).

Coburn Donates to GOP Senate Efforts

Chris Casteel at the Oklahoman's political blog reports that U.S. Sen. Tom Coburn, M.D., has transferred $1M from his campaign account to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, to be used to help efforts to win back the Senate. Joining him was U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), who also gave $1M to the NRSC; those are the two biggest contributions this cycle for the NRSC.

Happy Birthday, Mike McCarville!

Widely read and respected Oklahoma policical blogger, Mike McCarville, is turning 70 today.

Read his post here.

From the Muskogee Politico and his readers: happy birthday, Mike!

McCarvilles Celebrate 48 Years of Marriage

Respected Oklahoma blogger Mike McCarville and his wife Ann are celebrating their 48th year of wedded bliss today.

So, from one blogger to another, congratulations and happy anniversary, Mike!

2009 Okie Blog Awards

Nominations are now being taken for the 2009 Okie Blog Awards.

From the official blog:

The purpose of the Okie Blog Awards is to recognize the outstanding talent, creativity and hard work of Oklahoma bloggers, and to encourage excellence in blogging.

The program was founded five years ago and was originally based on peer-selection. Peer selection will continue as the core of the nominating process; however, final determination and selection of top winners in each category will be made by a panel of experts, all of whom are from Oklahoma.

Here is a link to the official rules, and here is a list of the categories open for nomination. You can only nominate if you are an active Okie blogger, and by email (2009okieblogawards@gmail.com). The top ten nominees in each category will be announced between February 3rd (when nominations end) and February 5th (when voting begins). Voting closes on February 12th, a board of panelists will be announced on the 13th, and the winners will be unveiled by the panel no later than February 19th.

The categories for nomination are as follows:

• Best Arts/Crafts Blog
• Best Audio/Podcast Blog
• Best Business-Related Blog
• Best Culture Blog
• Best Blog Design
• Best Family Blog
• Best Food Blog
• Most Humorous Blog
• Most Inspirational Blog
• Best Kept Secret (blogging prior to 1/1/09; not the prior recipient of an Okie blog award)
• Best Micro-Blogger (Yes, Best Tweeter. Who writes the best 140 characters?)
• Best New Blog (2009)
• Best Oklahoma City Blog (metropolitan region)
• Best Overall Blog
• Best Photography Blog
• Best Political Blog (Conservative)
• Best Political Blog (Liberal)
• Best Representation of Oklahoma
• Best Rural Blog
• Best Single Topic Blog (majority of content must be on one topic)
• Best Tech Blog
• Best Tulsa Blog (metropolitan region)
• Best Veteran Blogger (5+Years)
• Best Writing

Now, if you are a blogger, participate in the 2009 Okie Blog Awards process!

Chris Medlock Re-Launches Blog

Chris Medlock, former talk show host on 1170 KFAQ, re-launched his blog this week. MedBlogged had been idle since August of 2008.

Medlock blogged extensively on Tulsa politics and issues, much as he dealt with the same topics on his radio show. The Oklahoma blogging community has re-gained a great asset.

Medlock's blog is located at www.MedBlogged.com.