#daily Oklahoman

[mimi-0007]

Daily Oklahoman newspaper. Still whites don't care.

[webercreative]

Joy of scanning the paper on a Sunday morning

Yep, I’m here defending the value – not just the past – of self curated news consumption I think it would truly benefit our industry (journalism), as well as what should be in my opinion a hallmark of our society (being an informed one) if more newspapers chose The New York Times online model. Its layout captures the ergonomic integrity of the scanning read (allowing the reader to make choices…

[thislovintime]

Peter’s application picture to Carleton College, 1959 (courtesy of Carleton College Archives).

“When I was in junior high school, I was a punk. I wanted people to love and admire me for my gentle wit, my talented music-making and my beauty of personality. Instead I was loathsome and irritating and quarrelsome and I didn’t know why people didn’t like me. But I began to think and meditate on it. Meditation is the only way the personality can be improved, and gradually I began to work things out and better myself. I like to give someone as many ‘different sheets of music paper’ as I can — behave differently toward him each time I see him. That is the only way someone can know what the real me is like. You can’t know the real me by only talking to me. I believe that you can tell more about people by the way they looking walking away from you than you can by what they say.” - Peter Tork, Seventeen, August 1967 (x)

“‘All of my early life was spent feeling out of whack. Physically I matured late and never was very athletic and always found myself on the short end of the stick. I was raised in a liberal family in the middle of the McCarthy era.’ Against those odds, Tork inevitably developed an inferiority complex that he carried into adulthood and his musical career. When he became one of four young men chosen out of 437 applicants to become what were supposed to be the ‘American Beatles,’ his self-doubt grew to mammoth proportions. ‘Half of the time I would think I didn’t deserve it and the other half I would think I was God’s gift to the children. I got my head turned around. It was the “arrogant doormat” syndrome low self-esteem combined with arrogance.’” - The Daily Oklahoman, November 7, 1983 (x)

“‘My life between then [moving from Wisconsin to Connecticut] and my senior year of high school was a total disaster,’ says Peter. ‘In fifth grade I started going downhill because I was unhappy. I was constantly trying to make friends and trying to be funny but never succeeding because I was so much younger. I did have a small circle of friends but that was at home, it didn’t have much to do with school.’ […] ‘When I was little I wanted to be an orchestra conductor. I remember a time when I was in Germany, I was about four years old, we went to a restaurant where they had an orchestra and the leader let me get up and conduct it. As I got older I began to love folk music, particularly the Weavers stuff.’ Around 1956, as rock ‘n’ roll was beginning to make its impact, Peter was pursuing rather different musical interests. Folksinger Tom Glazer […] became a friend of the family and presented fourteen-year-old Peter with a ukulele, which he mastered with disarming ease. ‘Then I took up the guitar and later I learned to play the five string banjo. Learning to play musical instruments always came easy to me. Other things I couldn’t learn no matter how hard I studied.’ Peter’s adolescence took a turn for the better around the time of high school senior year, when he was moved to the newly-opened University of Connecticut High School. ‘It was much more comfortable. The age difference ceased to matter and I finally got a chance to make some real friends. This is when I guess you could say I blossomed out. There were all kinds of amateur societies I could join, like drama and rifle shooting. I even started going to football and baseball games. […] I was very interested in drama but I was a late grower and because I was so short I never got any big romantic leads. My acting debut, at age sixteen and a half, was as a thirteen-year-old paper boy in Our Town. This was a bit degrading; it reminded me of the age problem, that had dogged me all through school.’ Peter also contributed to the school newspaper, submitting bizarre humor pieces illustrated by his younger brother Nick. Buoyed up by new confidence and security, Peter took a crash course in the French horn and was invited to join the University (not high school) of Connecticut Orchestra, as fourth chair French horn. ‘I really began to love music, just about every kind except opera. Sometimes I liked listening to classical music better than anything. My favorites were Prokofiev, Bach, Rachmaninov and Stravinsky. Pop music seemed kinda drab around that time. The hard core rock ’n’ roll era had ended and most of the excitement had gone. I was hung up on the orchestral music we played at school. About the only popular stuff I used to really listen to was Ray Charles.’” - Monkeemania (1997)

“A friend of the family, Tom Glazer, a folk singer, is the one who started it all for me. He gave me my ukulele. I had been taking piano lessons but when I got the uke, I found I could go plunk, plunk, and it was a sound I really dug. My mother wanted me to keep studying the piano, but I couldn’t make that plunk-plunk sound on it even after practicing. Knowing the piano helped a lot, though. I played other instruments too, like the French horn. I played that as a senior in high school in Connecticut and in a university band.” - Peter Tork, Seventeen, August 1967 (x)

[bigfootbeat]

Big-Footed Monster is on the Loose in Osage, 1935

The Daily Oklahoman, August 4th, 1935. (Note use of the word Bigfoot before it was "coined" in 1958.)

[ourshadowstallerthanoursoul]

On this day... - April 3rd

On this day Led Zeppelin performed:

+ 1970 : Macon Coliseum in Macon, Georgia, USA

“The group played with brilliance and endurance which far surpassed the performance it gave at last summer’s Atlanta Pop Festival. This was due to the Macon crowd’s enthusiasm, from which Led Zeppelin seemed to draw its own enthusiasm. […] When they had finished, the crowd hadn’t and was screaming louder than ever. They reciprocated with a massive rendition of Whole Lotta Love, with Plant on organ. Georgia has never seen the like” - ‘Zeppelin Concert – Macon crowd goes wild’, S. Fair

+ 1977 : The Myriad in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

“Led Zeppelin throbbed with a vengeance Sunday night at the Myriad Convention center. Britain’s notorious heavy-metal virtuosos masterfully assaulted the capacity crowd with a hit-packed program accentuated with lengthy and frequent solos. […] The group is remarkably tight musically and appears in as good form as ever, searing and thunderously loud. It’s brutal, aggressive and embodies a paganistic rawness. That “aura” surrounds them completely. Zeppelin fans know what the group is capable of and demand it Sunday with almost masochistic pleasure.” - ‘Hit-packed Zeppelin throbs at Myriad’ by P. Upton, Daily Oklahoman

[tomorrowusa]

Oklahoma is not exactly a friendly place for LGBTQ+ Americans. Though some residents are pushing back against the culture of hatred.

Dozens of students at an Oklahoma high school walked out in a peaceful demonstration on Monday to show support for the LGBTQ+ community after the death of a non-binary teenager following a fight in a school bathroom in which they said they were a target of bullying. Nex Benedict, a 16-year-old student who identified as non-binary and used they/them pronouns, died on 8 February after a “physical altercation” with classmates in the bathroom of Owasso high school, according to local law enforcement. Body camera footage later released by police showed Benedict describing the altercation with three girls who were picking on them and some friends. At least 40 students at Owasso high school walked out to protest what they described as a pervasive culture of bullying with little accountability, NBC reported. “I just want to get the word out and show these kids that we’re here,” Cassidy Brown, a Owasso graduate and organizer of the demonstration, told KTUL. “There is a community here in this city that does exist, and we see them, and they are loved.” Vigils have been held in honor of Benedict across Oklahoma and the country, including on Sunday night when hundreds gathered at Redbud Festival Park in Owasso for the teen. Many of the gatherings were organized by LGBTQ+ groups to protest against the frequent bullying suffered by nonbinary teens. “Our children are scared to death and go to school every day, and something has to stop,” one Owasso parent, Susie Eubank, said. “My child has had direct threats. Direct derogatory names.”

The Oklahoma state government is completely controlled by Republicans. On a federal level, both of Oklahoma's US senators and all five of its US House members are Republicans.

One GOP Oklahoma state senator is trying to outdo Trump's "vermin" talk and Ron DeSantis's "don't say gay" persecutions.

State senator 'stands by' beliefs after calling LGBTQ+ Oklahomans 'filth'

Days after calling LGBTQ+ Oklahomans "filth," a state senator issued a statement on his comments, saying he stands by what he said. State Sen. Tom Woods is facing growing public outcry and even scrutiny from those within his own Republican Party. Senate leadership called Woods' comments "reprehensible" and "horrifying." But the state senator from eastern Oklahoma has not apologized and appears to be doubling down. “We are a Republican state – supermajority – in the House and Senate. I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma," Woods said, referring to the LGBTQ+ community during a public event last week. The comments came after an audience member asked Woods about legislation targeting the LGBTQ+ community. The audio was recorded by the Tahlequah Daily Press. "We are a religious state, and we are going to fight it to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma, because we are a Christian state. We are a moral state," Woods said.

Yep. Tom Woods defends his extreme homophobic hate speech by referring to Oklahoma as a "Republican state" and a "Christian state". Allowing Republicans to get elected by failing to vote or by wasting votes on third parties empowers hatemongers like Tom Woods.

This is Oklahoma State Senate District 4. It sits along the state's eastern border. It looks like there's not a single notable town in the entire district. Does a tiny suburb of Fort Smith, Arkansas count?

It would probably be difficult to defeat an asshole like Woods in such a district. But electing Democrats in more swing districts would reduce the influence of politicians like Woods.

Look up who represents you in your state legislature – regardless of state. If it's a MAGA Republican extremist, contact your county or state Democratic Party to find out what you can do to help retire the individual.

Find Your Legislators Look your legislators up by address or use your current location.

[skari]

Cathy Cott, a 64-year-old semi-retired resident, asked the lawmakers why the Legislature had such an obsession with the LGBTQ+ citizens of the state, what people do in their personal lives and how they raise their children, according to the Tahlequah Daily Press, which first reported the remarks. When she got no answer, she asked about the bills targeting the LGBTQ+ community. “We are a Republican state — supermajority — in the House and Senate,” said Woods, R-Westville. “I represent a constituency that doesn’t want that filth in Oklahoma.” The newspaper reported several audience members clapped, while others appeared shocked. “We are a religious state, and we are going to fight it to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma because we are a Christian state — we are a moral state,” Woods said. “We want to lower taxes and let people be able to live and work and go to the faith they choose. We are a Republican state, and I’m going to vote my district, and I’m going to vote my values, and we don’t want that in the state of Oklahoma.”

In Oklahoma, a lawmaker can feel politically safe saying something like this right in the middle of the media flurry around Nex Benedict. At this point it's hard to even call it stochastic terrorism.

I don't even know what I want to say about this. It feels like anything that could be said just... goes without saying. I'm furious, I'm saddened, I'm grateful to activists everywhere who put in the work to hold their legislators accountable.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Morgan Stephens at Daily Kos:

So much for separation of church and state. According to new reporting by The Oklahoman, state Superintendent Ryan Walters opened bids to purchase 55,000 Bibles for schools. Interestingly, a Bible endorsed by Donald Trump, known as “Lee Greenwood’s God Bless the U.S.A. Bible,” is one of only two that fits the bill—and the other one is endorsed by his son, Donald Jr. According to the request for proposals, the “Bibles must be the King James Version; must contain the Old and New Testaments; must include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution and the Bill of Rights; and must be bound in leather or leather-like material.” That sure does seem specific.  “A salesperson at Mardel Christian & Education searched, and though they carry 2,900 Bibles, none fit the parameters,” according to The Oklahoman—except the one that the former president gets a cut from.

Bid documents indicate the supplier must provide a total of 55,000 Bibles to the Oklahoma State Board of Education and each school district. With the Trump-endorsed Bibles selling at a lavish $60 each, that would be a $3.3 million purchase. That’s quite an excessive order as, according to the report, there are only 43,000 classroom teachers in the state—and Walters has claimed he only “wants them in classes where the Bible might apply to academic standards, such as history or literature.”

Oklahoma Superintendent of Schools Ryan Walters (R) has opened bids for Bible purchases, with the following requirements: Must be KJV, contain both the Old and New Testaments, and include copies of the Pledge of Allegiance, Declaration of Independence, US Constitution, and the Bill of Rights, and bound in leather material.

The Trump Bibles fit those requirements.

See Also:

The Advocate: Oklahoma superintendent wants $3.3 million to put 55,000 Trump Bibles in classrooms

[taraross-1787]

On this day in 1999, a hero passes away. Medal of Honor recipient John R. Crews hadn’t wanted to talk about his experiences after World War II. “I didn’t care whether anyone knew,” he told a journalist from The Daily Oklahoman. “It was difficult to talk about. It just left such an emotional load.”

He later changed his mind and began opening up. In the final years of his life, he made a point of attending Memorial Day ceremonies and other events honoring Medal recipients. He wanted “to be a part of the expression of what had to take place in order to survive,” he explained.

The story continues here: https://www.taraross.com/post/tdih-john-crews-moh

[killed-by-choice]

Gaylene Golden, 21 (USA 1985)

21-year-old Gaylene Golden was pregnant with her second baby. According to the records available, her son’s father was either dead or absent. Gaylene ended up undergoing a “safe and legal” abortion done by Joe Bills Reynolds in Oklahoma City. She didn’t know that her son was about to be alone.

The abortionist lacerated Gaylene’s cervix so badly that she suffered from both an air embolism and an amniotic fluid embolism. She died that day along with her youngest child. Had she known about the kind of malpractice that went on every day in that facility, she most likely never would have even considered going.

Reynolds, who performed a variety of elective and cosmetic operations, was completely incompetent and careless. The filthy operating room in his facility was littered with dirty cups and papers. He was sued four times in 1990 alone for malpractice. He let his 60-year-old janitor administer anesthesia. His “nurse” was actually untrained. He reportedly paid a hypnotist to see his clients.

His maltreatment of his clients extended to his marriage. He performed many cosmetic surgeries on his own wife (Sharon Reynolds) over the course of their 18-year marriage, including liposuction and artificial breast enhancements. He even removed Sharon’s ovaries because he decided “they were making her too fat”. Sharon attempted suicide at least once while married to him. She died during one of the many cosmetic surgeries when her husband stood there and let her bleed to death. He then tried to collect a $518,798 life insurance policy from her death.

The lawsuit over Gaylene’s death was settled for only $125,000. It wasn’t until 6 months after Reynolds killed his wife that he had his medical license revoked and was charged with with second-degree murder.

Gaylene, her child and everyone else Reynolds mutilated and killed should never have been subjected to these horrors.

https://www.sysoon.com/deceased/gaylene-golden-215

https://www.ancientfaces.com/person/gaylene-golden-birth-1964-death-1985/65831242

“Doctor’s Trial Nears In Liposuction Death,” The Daily Oklahoman, April 22, 1991

District Court of Oklahoma (OK) County, Case # CJ 87-2991

[easy-family-recipes]

OKLAHOMA NUT CANDY

Until recently, I had never heard of Oklahoma Nut Candy. The name alone was enough to grab my attention and after a little research I learned this candy has quite the history! It was first published in 1936 in the food column of The Daily Oklahoman where it was called Aunt Bill’s Brown Candy. From there it seems to have made the rounds throughout the nation. People know a good Christmas treat when they taste it!

The instructions varied a bit throughout the years, but the ingredients have stayed largely the same. Mainly, a whole lot of sugar. If you take a peak at the ingredient list you’ll see that this recipe calls for a hefty six cups of sugar. Yup, you read that right. From there you’ll find other baking staples.

[elisabethloxx]

Article on Cheri Jo Bates, The Daily Oklahoman, Tuesday 1st November, 1966.

[thislovintime]

Peter in his high school year book, 1959. Photos from an old auction listing.

“All of my early life was spent feeling out of whack. Physically I matured late and never was very athletic and always found myself on the short end of the stick. I was raised in a liberal family in the middle of the McCarthy era.” - Peter Tork, The Daily Oklahoman, November 7, 1983 (x)

“Peter started school in Germany before he’d turned five and when the family returned to the United States his father refused to allow him to repeat first grade. ‘From that time on, until I got to college, I was always about a year younger than the other kids. A year makes a hell of a difference in school. Kids don’t like getting involved with someone they consider to be their junior. It didn’t make things too easy.’ [...] ‘My life between then [moving to Connecticut] and my senior year of high school was a total disaster. In fifth grade I started going downhill because I was unhappy. I was constantly trying to make friends and trying to be funny but never succeeding because I was so much younger. I did have a small circle of friends but that was at home, it didn’t have much to do with school.’ […] Peter’s adolescence took a turn for the better around the time of his high school senior year, when he was moved to the newly-opened University of Connecticut High School. ‘It was much more comfortable. The age difference ceased to matter and I finally got a chance to make some real friends. This is when I guess you could said I blossomed out. There were all kinds of amateur societies I could join, like drama and rifle shooting. I even started going to football and baseball games. My father and I did a lot of target shooting together. I was very interested in drama but I was a late grower and because I was so short I never got any big romantic leads. My acting debut, at age sixteen and a half, was as a thirteen-year-old paper boy in Our Town. This was a bit degrading; it reminded me of the age problem that had dogged me all through school.’” - Monkeemania (1986)

In connection with high school: from an older post, Peter's advice to a fan, such as: "Think about what I’ve told you and try your very best to be open, cheerful and friendly with everyone. That includes people who have or will try to point you in one way or another. If someone puts you down, letting it roll off your back is not accepting it so much as recognizing the fact that it’s their hangup, not yours! There are going to be people who will become your friends. Some of them you’ll get to know, and others will find you. Your social life will pick up again, but this time you’ll be doing it on your own terms! This much I know is true, because it happened to me! The transition from being one of the crowd to being your own individual self is painful, but the way you feel about yourself is the most important thing that will ever happen to you! Peace and Love, Peter Tork” (read more)

[stanthejokemanshow]

I am so ashamed of my home state!  Fanatical religious extremists are ripping rights away from Oklahomans daily!  Kevin Stitt is the devil, fully supported by dim wits who've never roger 'd up in defense of their nation, but cannot wait to go buy a gun and attack it!  IT'S NOT SAFE HERE ANYMORE FOR ANYONE, IF YOU'RE DISABLED, VETERAN, BLACK, JEWISH, TRANSGENDER, GAY, FEMALE OR CHILD!

[djangodurango]

In January 1932 alone, Floyd was identified as robbing banks in three separate towns, only one of which he probably robbed. It didn't matter. The Daily Oklahoman called for mobilization of the National Guard; on January 14 insurance rates on rural Oklahoma banks were doubled, a move blamed directly on Floyd. Governor William "Alfalfa Bill" Murray announced a $1,000 reward for his capture.

It was a classic case of media hysteria, of hype that would shape reality that would in turn create a legend. Every morning that winter brought a story of Floyd's exploits, a bank robbed, a supposed sighting, speculation where he might strike next. Lawmen combed eastern Oklahoma in a futile manhunt. Floyd understood the situation and made a crude bid for public support. In a letter to the governor, he demanded that the reward be withdrawn. "I have robbed no one but the monied men," Floyd wrote, a claim guaranteed to find favor in rural Oklahoma. Floyd thus cannily positioned himself as an attacker of only "monied" interests, making the governor their defender. In doing so he created a socioeconomic debate he was guaranteed to win.

- Bryan Burroughs in Public Enemies, on Pretty Boy Floyd

"Asked what Dillinger was like, Grover Weyland [a bank president Dillinger's gang had taken hostage to escape the robbery of his bank] told reporters the gang had been "genial". At one point, he said, one of the robbers in the getaway car--later identified as [Charles] Makley--had cursed, and Dillinger had told him to cut it out, because of the presence of a lady [Anna Patze, a bank teller they also took] in the car.

This kind of small courtesy was becoming a Dillinger hallmark. Like most of his peers, Dillinger was an avid reader of his own press clippings, and one suspects this penchant for niceties had less to do with good manners than with an increasing awareness of his own public image. Dillinger knew how the public tended to celebrate daring bank robbers, and he craved its adulation. He got it. Just as Pretty Boy Floyd had aroused populist sentiment in dust-bowl Oklahoma, Dillinger was quickly perceived by many mid-westerners as a force of retribution against moneyed interests who had plunged the nation into depression. Letters of support began popping up in the Indiana newspapers.

"Why should the law have wanted Dillinger for bank robbery?" read one. "He wasn't any worse than bankers and politicians who took the poor people's money. Dillinger did not rob poor people. He robbed those who became rich by robbing the poor. I am for Johnnie."

And this was only the beginning."

Bryan Burrough, Public Enemies, re: Dillinger being his own goddamn press agent.

"At 2:45 Dillinger and [John "Red"] Hamilton stepped out of a car double-parked outside the bank. They left the driver in the car; his identity has never been established. Inside the marble lobby, Dillinger pulled a submachine gun out of what several eyewitnesses thought was a trombone case. "This is a stickup!" he shouted, startling the dozen or so customers in the bank. "Put up your hands everybody!"

A bank vice-president named Walter Spencer pressed a silent-alarm button beneath his desk; a block away, it rang at police headquarters. As the customers raised their hands and lined up against a wall, one forgot his cash on a counter. "You go ahead and take your money," Dillinger said. "We don't want your money. Just the bank's."

Bryan Burrough, Public Enemies, re: the beginning of this heist movie trope.

"While [Raymond] Hamilton was inside the vault, Clyde snatched the $27.00 from Ollie Worley's hand. As they left, he turned to Worley. "You worked like hell for this, didn't you?" Clyde asked, motioning to the money in his hand.

"Yes sir," Worley said. "Digging ditches..."

"Here," Clyde said, thrusting the money at Worley. "We don't want your money. We just want the bank's money."

Among the dozens of eyewitness accounts of Clyde's behavior, this exchange is unique. If Worley's memory is to be believed--he related the story to Dallas historian John Neal Phillips in 1984--it is perhaps the only time Clyde ever expressed anything approaching an altruistic impulse towards one of his victims. Moreover, Clyde's choice of language is telling: the words he spoke to Worley were precisely the same words newspapers reported Dillinger using six weeks earlier when robbing the First National Bank of Chicago. The incident, along with his tailored clothing and uncharacteristically polite behavior that day, suggests that Clyde was adopting Dillinger as a role model, that at the very least he was aware of Dillinger's exploits and was attempting to emulate his success. It's not a stretch to suggest that Clyde craved the adulation Dillinger enjoyed and was altering his behavior in hopes of attracting something similar."

Bryan Burrough, Public Enemies, re: Clyde Barrow trying to be as classy as Dillinger.

i have developed a much more viceral understanding of why bank robbers were widely regarded as popular heroes in the 1930s

[lboogie1906]

Attorney Andrew Jackson Smitherman (December 27, 1883 - June 20, 1961) known as a heroic advocate of self-defense for African Americans in a time of intense racist violence, was a leading Black political figure in the American West. Born in Childersburg, Alabama, he moved to Indian Territory with his parents in the 1890s. He attended the University of Kansas and Northwestern University but received a JD from LaSalle University. He married Ollie B. Murphy (1910) and the couple had five children.

He advocated “self-help” and “social uplift” for Black Oklahomans. He convinced Tulsa to create a Black voting precinct where he was appointed the inspector of elections. He cooperated with various governors of Oklahoma on several occasions to prevent lynching and rioting. When a white mob burned at least twenty African American homes in Dewey, Oklahoma, he reported the episode to Gov. R.L. Williams resulting in the arrest of thirty-six white perpetrators including the mayor of Dewey.

He learned the newspaper business working for the weekly Muskogee Scimitar. He started his newspaper, the Muskogee Star and he moved to Tulsa and launched the Daily Tulsa Star. He edited and published the paper at his plant until June 1, 1921, when white rioters in Tulsa destroyed the paper in retaliation for his political activism. His home and business were burned to the ground and mob rule forced him, his wife, and their five children to flee to Massachusetts. Oklahoma prosecutors attempted to have him extradited to stand trial for the crime of incitement to riot but Massachusetts never cooperated with extradition efforts. klansmen cut off the ear of a relative in an act of racial intimidation. He sold his remaining business interests in Oklahoma to Theodore Baughman, who started the Oklahoma Eagle. He never returned to the Sooner state.

He and his family rebuilt their lives in Buffalo, New York where he reestablished himself in the newspaper business with the Buffalo/Empire Star. There he continued his work as an African American political leader mainly through his journalism for almost four more decades. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence