March 2020 Archives

I'm proud to tell you that an article my wife and daughter co-authored has been published by The Stream. The article "DON'T PANIC: A Homeschooler's Guide to the Quarantine" contains their advice to parents who suddenly find their kids at home because of the CCP Bat Virus, needing to be taught. Mikki has been homeschooling one or another of our children for nearly 13 years, as part of Tulsa's first Classical Conversations community, and Kat was homeschooled through middle school, and she also taught her younger brother how to read. Their tips address the opportunity for togetherness as well as ways to create needed physical and mental space.

They also suggest lightening up the school day, not trying to cram everything in right now.

Lighten up your school day. School at home is different. Thank heavens! You choose the start time. You might be finished in 3 or 4 hours, and that is just fine. (Well, Latin and Logic add some time here.) PJs and cozy blankets work fine! Math probably needs progress to move on to next year's level, but many courses stand alone. Relax about those. Consider Life Skills 101 as a new Unit Study. Cooking is a great way to learn fractions and to feed your family. There are a lot of math card games out there.

(UPDATE: An appendix to the article is an annotated list of links to online resources for homeschooling that our family has found useful.)

That would probably resonate with Karol Markowicz, who complains in her latest New York Post column that schools are overwhelming parents with their distance-learning demands:

My own schedule for our three children, ages 4, 7 and 10, included morning yoga, baking banana bread and listening to a science podcast. We pulled out a world ­atlas and started learning about countries in alphabetical order. My kids are now experts on ­Afghanistan....

Now, I'm just crying. It turns out distance learning is nothing like my cozy little homeschool­ ­program.

Now there is a constant barrage of links, passwords, Google classroom, Zoom, Zoom, Zoom. It's too much: We get messages from their music teachers, their art teachers, librarians, even their gym teachers. They take attendance strictly....

A friend described it as suddenly becoming an administrative assistant to the busiest, and tiniest, CEOs....

But we need the education system's permission to loosen up with our children right now. This should be a time of baking banana bread and listening to mildly educational podcasts. This shouldn't be a time of overscheduling and intense Latin lessons.

I don't know. I always think anytime is a good time for intense Latin lessons.

The weekend was lovely, just about my favorite time of year in Oklahoma. Redbuds were at their peak, dogwoods starting to bloom. One of our redbuds has developed clusters of blossoms along its trunk, which is quite fetching. Azaleas are starting to pop. There are magnificent purple draperies of wisteria around the city; one of them overhangs the westbound lanes of the Broken Arrow Expressway at the bend just west of the Harvard Avenue exit.

A new and stricter shutdown was announced last Saturday, effective that night, so I thought I'd better pick up the items I needed for a couple of home repairs while I could.

I made the mistake of going to a home improvement superstore, thinking I could get everything at once. The parking lot was quite full, and the store made no effort to meter the number of customers entering the building. It seemed like most of the other customers hadn't heard of social distancing or didn't care.

As it happened I couldn't find everything I was after, but I went to wait in line for the self-checkouts for the items I had. There are four self-checkout registers, two on each side, without much space between them. They really ought to close the near one on the left and the far one on the right to provide the proper distance. The proper six-foot distances had been marked on the floor with painter's tape, so I was waiting with my cart across the front transverse aisle from the registers. As soon as a register opened up, a couple of women swooped in to claim it, not noticing me.

After I checked out, there was a traffic jam at the exit, as customers, a couple with two carts, were talking to the supervisor about something doubtful on a receipt. I abandoned my cart and squeezed through with my purchases. Someone needed to be directing traffic, but no one was.

Sunday I still needed those items I couldn't find. I drove past a competing superstore. Their parking lot was packed. I didn't go in.

I headed to Midtown True Value Hardware, a little (7,000 sq. ft.) locally owned hardware store on 31st Street at Sandusky, a few blocks west of Yale. They've got nearly everything you need for home repair, home maintenance, and lawn and garden. Brooms, hammers, screws, drawer pulls, light bulbs, batteries, wire, zipties, bypass pruners, hoes, shovels, grass seed, mulch, top soil -- you name it. And they can sharpen blades, cut keys, cut glass, fix window screens, ship UPS packages, rewire lamps, and locate vintage hardware. If you know exactly what you need, you can go in, get your items, and get out in a few minutes, without fighting the crowds at the big-box stores. They're offering curb service as well during the current crisis.

We used to have a bunch of these neighborhood hardware stores in Tulsa. Swinney's in Whittier Square always had a good stock of plumbing supplies. (They had a notary, too. I got my last-minute declaration of candidacy for my 1998 run for city council notarized there.) There used to be one across Harvard from Lanier Elementary. Between Midtown, Harvard, and Swinney's I could usually find what I needed. Of the three, only Midtown is still open. Dawson Hardware, near White River Fish Market on N. Sheridan, is the only other locally-owned hardware store that comes to mind. The owner of Best Electric and Hardware at 37th and Peoria announced earlier this month his intention to liquidate his stock and close the doors; Best wasn't open when I drove through Brookside on Sunday; a sign says they're closed to the public, but available by phone.

The last item I needed that Midtown Hardware didn't have, I was able to find at Westlake Ace Hardware at 41st and Peoria. It's part of a Kansas-based chain with stores in 12 states, and here in the Tulsa area, they have a number of stores in former Safeway/Homeland supermarket buildings. At about 38,000 sq. ft., Westlake is about a quarter the size of Lowe's, and it was not at all crowded. This one took the place of our local grocery store when we were newlyweds in the neighborhood. They have erected acrylic sheet partitions as cough and sneeze guards at each register to protect cashier and customer from one another.

One of my worries about these decrees to shut "non-essential" businesses is that small, locally owned businesses will suffer at the expense of big-box stores and online ordering, and that public health will be the worse for it. Which is better for avoiding contagion: Everyone packing into Lowe's to buy flats of pansies and seedling trees, because they're still open for browsing, or smaller numbers of people going to neighborhood nurseries and garden stores like Ted and Debbie's or Rancho Flores to get some items for beautifying the yard where they're spending much more of their time than usual? Which is better for reducing community spread of the CCP Bat Virus: Amazon hiring more workers to crowd into their fulfillment centers to ship office supplies, toys, and craft materials, or local "non-essential" shops serving customers with private browsing by appointment or curbside pickup of phone orders?

By the way, many local "non-essential" retailers I've been worried about have indeed found ways to continue to serve customers. Ted and Debbie's Flower and Garden at 39th and Harvard has expanded delivery service to include garden materials: "For A Small Fee We Will Deliver Flats of Pansies, Mulch, Potting Soil & Everything Available In Our Green Houses." They also offer curbside pickup -- call in an order, drive over, and they'll bring it to your car. They are open 9 to 6 weekdays, 8:30 to 6 Saturdays, and 12:30 to 5 Sundays.

A block north, Kiddlestix, a wonderful locally owned toy store that carries Lego, Playmobil, wooden train sets, games, books, and much more, is also offering online or phone ordering with touch-free curbside pickup, and they will deliver orders over $50 within 5 miles of the store. Kiddlestix is open 10-4, Tuesdays through Saturdays. (They carry Magformers, a favorite building toy with our kids, which consists of colorful magnetized shapes, safe to have around toddlers, and mesmerizing for hours.)

Kiddlestix says, "If you don't see something you're looking for on our website, give us a call! We are constantly getting in new toys and games and are working very hard to get as much as we can online." One silver lining of the current crisis is that it is prompting small retailers to improve their online presence and be better placed to compete with the big-box stores and online behemoths.

Even though they're still in business, these local retailers are at a disadvantage when it comes to browsing and impulse purchases. People can still browse and buy garden materials, toys, camping equipment, electronics, craft and sewing supplies, and clothing at Walmart or Target because they also sell groceries and hardware. Retailers focused on one segment are closed to browsing. Prior to the more general stay-at-home orders, some jurisdictions allowed retailers to offer appointments to browse alone in the store, which seems to me to be a much safer alternative than everyone going to Walmart.

With more time on our hands, this is a good opportunity for all of us to recalibrate our instincts. Instead of reflexively opening your Amazon app or making a beeline for the big-box stores, take some extra time to find a local retailer who can meet your needs.

NOTE: I started writing this just after last weekend, but I finished and took photos today, Saturday, April 4, 2020. I left the date on the post so as not to have to change all the relative time references.

If you're a fan of the British sitcoms that have made their way to American television -- "Fawlty Towers," "One Foot in the Grave," "Keeping Up Appearances," "Yes, Minister," to name a few examples -- you will enjoy the radio show that set the standard for the Britcom genre. "Hancock's Half Hour" has become my favorite British comedy, and a family favorite as well.

On November 2, 1954, "Hancock's Half Hour" made its debut on the BBC Light Programme. Starring comedian Tony Hancock and written by Alan Simpson and Ray Galton, the show quickly became appointment radio across the UK. It ran for six series and 102 episodes over six years and spawned a television version that was an even bigger pop-culture phenomenon. Writers Galton and Simpson were introduced to classic American radio comedy via American Forces Radio Service which broadcast in the UK during and after World War II; they were particular fans of the Jack Benny Show, and the influence is apparent.

Hancock plays himself as a mostly unsuccessful comedian, a pretentious pseudo-intellectual, an easy target for the latest scheme from shady, oleaginous Sid James. Sid James was also a star of the long-running "Carry On" series of comedy movies, as were Hattie Jacques, who plays Hancock's secretary Griselda Pugh, and Kenneth Williams, who played multiple roles in each episode. Bill Kerr, Hancock's Australian lodger, rounded out the cast. In the first series, Moira Lister played Hancock's girlfriend, succeeded by Andreé Melly in series 2 and 3.

The show is still broadcast every week on BBC Radio 4 Extra, and the four or five most recent episodes are usually available for streaming on the BBC website, but as a way to keep us entertained during this time of shelter-in-place, the BBC is making all of the surviving episodes of "Hancock's Half Hour" available for listening on their website. At this writing, 59 episodes are online, with one more being added each week. Not only that, "The Missing Hancocks," the 21 missing episodes recreated over the last six years by a cast starring Kevin McNally, are all online as well.

I asked fellow members of the Tony Hancock Appreciation Society which episode they'd recommend to a first-time listener. It's hard to pick a favorite.

The consensus pick was "Sunday Afternoon at Home," first aired on April 22, 1958. Not only is it a favorite of fans, it's especially timely: Tony and friends are stuck at home on a rainy Sunday. The pubs are closed, the shops are closed, the TV is broken, and the only entertainment is a visit from a neighbor who does bird calls.

"Wild Man of the Woods," from 1957, is another favorite: Tony, spurning civilization and its discontents, heads off to the forest to live as one with nature. Sid and Bill find a way to make some money by turning Tony's retreat into a zoo with one creature on display.

In "The Diary, Tony looks back on his diary entries from 1956 and daydreams, Walter Mitty-style, of three different career paths he might have taken. The last scenario, with Tony as test pilot, is a classic, but I'm fond of Bill Kerr's portrayal of Bill-O the Sad-Faced Clown, a malevolent "nice guy," in the lion-tamer segment.

Tony's triskaidekaphobia means he can't perform in "The 13th [Episode] of the Series" without a ceremony at Stonehenge to appease the Little People. If you've wondered what happens to the stones at night, have a listen to Tony's conversation with an office in the Stonehenge Police Force.

The occasional spoofs of movies and theater -- "The Blackboard Jungle," "The King and I," "Look Back in Hunger," "Cinderella," "Around the World in 80 Days" -- are a lot of fun, as are the takes on contemporary trends, like coffeehouses, TV game shows, and Beatnik poetry.

Today's BBC gets a lot of grief, much of it deserved, for the progressive, metropolitan slant to its news coverage of politics and culture, but I give Auntie Beeb credit not only for continuing to broadcast classic radio comedy, drama, sci-fi, and documentary on Radio 4 and Radio 4 Extra, but also for continuing to produce new content, something that seldom happens in the rest of the world. So, while you're working in the yard, sorting through the garage, or taking your daily constitutional, pick a program from the archives and have a listen.

MORE: "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" began life as a six-episode radio series. BBC Radio 4 Extra recently broadcast those episodes plus interviews and commentary in honor of the program's 42nd anniversary.

A large cluster of Chinese Communist Party Bat Virus cases has emerged in rural Arkansas, apparently the result of asymptomatic spread at a March 6-8 church event, before any novel coronavirus cases had been reported in Arkansas. Bill Barton, a 91-year-old member who served as greeter at the church, died March 24 from complications from the virus.

The sudden eruption of dozens of cases, including 6 hospitalizations, almost a week following the church gathering, appears to be an indication of the silent spread of the virus. The Greers Ferry outbreak may trace back to the headquarters of Assemblies of God World Missions, based in Springfield, Missouri. Several of the organization's leaders have been hospitalized with COVID-19, as has one of the speakers at the Greers Ferry event, who serves with the organization.

According to a report on Monday, March 23, 2020, in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, there were positive tests for the SARS-CoV-19 coronavirus for 34 people who had attended a "Kids Around the World Kids' Crusade," held on March 6-8 at First Assembly of God in Greers Ferry, Arkansas, 75 miles north of Little Rock. Posts by the church's interim youth directors, Shane and Kim Khoury, highlight a scavenger hunt and door prizes, a taste test of foods from around the world, and a pie in the face for one of the leaders as special features of the three-evening event, which seemed to have been aimed at teaching children about foreign missions.

Those affected were mainly members of the church, but the evangelists who were guest speakers for the event, Thomas and Angelia Carpenter, also tested positive, as did a child from another church attending the event. The Carpenters are based in Springfield, Missouri, serving with CompassionLink, the international compassion outreach of Assemblies of God World Missions, working with community development and health initiatives. According to a post on Angelia Carpenter's Facebook page, Thomas Carpenter has been hospitalized since March 18 and is on a ventilator.

The executive director of Assemblies of God World Missions, Greg Mundis, 69, was reported on March 17 as having pneumonia and a positive COVID-19 diagnosis was confirmed the following day. Latest news on the AGWM website from March 23 is that "his kidneys have been responding and dialysis was to be stopped. His lungs were continuing to respond, but it is still an up and down process." His wife Sandie was also hospitalized and "continues to battle aches and fever." Dr. Greg Mundis Jr., their son, reported on March 25 that his mother was "feeling under the weather with classic flu type symptoms and low grade fever" and his father "is in stable critical condition": "Had to start dialysis again for a short while, but overall he is doing well. His lungs are doing about the same and he hasn't run a temperature."

In a March 25 interview on KMBZ radio, Mundis Jr., a spinal surgeon based in San Diego, went into detail about the course of his parents' illness and treatment. He stated that early in March his father had hosted some French visitors who later tested positive for COVID-19. His father began to have symptoms -- high fever and lethargy -- around the 12th. He was tested for flu around the 14th but was not tested for COVID-19 at that time. On March 16 he was tested, and upon his return home he experienced sudden onset of shortness of breath, went via ambulance to the hospital, and was put on a ventilator. Sandie Mundis went to the emergency room on March 18 with a high fever. Sandie, at high risk due to asthma and diabetes, was immediately placed on hydroxychloroquine and antibiotics to prevent secondary pneumonia, and she was allowed to return home on March 23. Greg Sr. is on a 10-day course of hydroxychloroquine that began on March 19.

In the podcast, Greg Jr. explained at length the significant side effects of these drugs. Both Greg Sr. and Sandie developed a prolonged Q-T interval, a side effect of the drug, which creates a risk of sudden cardiac death, and the levels of medication had to be adjusted. Dr. Mundis was emphatic that hydroxychlorine is not a miracle drug and that the best treatment was to avoid catching the virus at all, by staying home and being diligent about hygiene.

Ron Maddux, director of AGWM's Northern Asia ministries, is also hospitalized with COVID-19. Maddux's son Sam Maddux reported that he went to the ER on March 13 with "some pain in his chest, fever, dizziness, headaches, and pain in his back," was tested on March 16 and was confirmed positive on March 17. After quarantining at home, on March 21 his oxygen levels dropped, and he was admitted to the hospital. He began hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin on March 23. As of March 25, he is still in the hospital and on supplemental oxygen but has not had to be on a ventilator.

A March 25 update from Pastor Mark Palenske on the Greers Ferry First Assembly Facebook page reports that the number of positive cases is now 37, with a "small handful that are still waiting on test results."

In his first Facebook post about the virus on March 19, Pastor Palenske said that he and his wife Dena experienced strong symptoms -- "headache, followed by intense body aches and lethargy" then "waves of chills, sweating and nausea." His wife "had a very scary morning" with "a seizure of sorts" and had to go to the hospital. She improved and was released to recuperate in home quarantine.

Palenske's March 22 update reports that at that point 26 people connected with the church had tested positive, and 6 had been hospitalized. He mentions daily phone calls with the Arkansas Department of Health: "We spent hours on the phone together going over each detail of our story. Retracing every step and sharing more information than we could imagine. They took that information and scoured our community for more that might have been affected."

In a post the evening of March 25, Palenske writes, "Many of us are recovering from a long list of symptoms that seem to be common with this virus, and we certainly appreciate the hints of restored health that are headed our way."

According to Palenske, no one in the church had been outside of the state of Arkansas in the weeks leading up to this outbreak, and the children's ministry event concluded several days before there were any reported COVID-19 cases in the state.

Palenske urged his readers to pray, to take the virus seriously, to heed social distancing guidance, and to express gratitude for health care workers seeing us through this crisis.

I would love to have you take this medical threat more seriously. Maybe you assumed that it couldn't happen to you, just like I did. Please adhere to the social instructions that you are receiving locally and nationally. We must keep the affected population to as low a number as possible. Our singular act of stubborn independence can have far reaching effects on someone else's life. Respect and compassion for the people around us must dominate our self-discipline.

A timeline of events:

• March 4: 118 cases had been reported in 14 US states, 92 of them in California and Washington state. The nearest to Arkansas was one reported case in Texas.
• March 6-8: Kids' crusade hosted by Greers Ferry First Assembly.
• March 10: First symptoms noted by Mark and Dena Palenske, according to his March 22 post. In his March 19 post, Mark Palenske wrote that "there are people who have been sick longer than we have."
• March 11: Governor confirms first case, in Pine Bluff, and issues order declaring a public health emergency.
• March 11: Wednesday night service held at First Assembly; at this point no one in the church had tested positive. No further services have been held by the church. Palenske stated on March 19, "Even before positive results were returned, we had already followed medical advice and canceled services. We were convinced that whether it was Covid-19 or another virus, we assumed that no one wanted what we were dealing with and sought to confine ourselves."
• March 12: Greg Mundis starts experiencing symptoms.
• March 13: Ron Maddux goes to the ER with symptoms.
• March 16: Greg Mundis hospitalized.
• March 18: Thomas Carpenter hospitalized. Sandie Mundis goes to ER with high fever.
• March 19: Mark Palenske first Facebook post about the virus
• March 22: Mark Palenske Facebook update
• March 24: Death of Bill Barton.
• March 25: Mark Palenske Facebook update

If we assume that the virus traveled from AGWM HQ to Greers Ferry via the Carpenters, the virus was transmitted almost a week before AGWM leaders began to experience symptoms.

My trouble has always been that I find too many different things interesting. The vast collection of printed material in the public domain and available on the internet is like a time machine that beckons one to enter and explore.

A Pocket article (originally from Narratively), advertised on a new browser tab, about the man who popularized a low-carb diet in 1860s London led me to his 50-page pamphlet (Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public, by William Banting, 3rd edition (1864)). Searching for a magazine article mentioned by Banting led me to the Internet Archive's collection of The Cornhill Magazine, published monthly in London starting in 1860, and bound into semi-annual volumes.

Cornhill Magazine, Volume 5, January-June 1862, contains nearly 800 pages of prose, poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. The diversity of topics on display in the table of contents reminds me of Reader's Digest, except that these are full-length articles.

• The Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World
• Chapter 27. I Charge you, Drop your Daggers.
• Chapter 28. In which Mrs. Mac Whirter has a New Bonnet.
• An Election Contest in Australia
• The Fairy Land of Science
• To Esther
• The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson. By One of the Firm
• Chapter 16. Showing how Robinson walked upon Roses.
• Chapter 17. A Tea-Party in Bishopsgate Street
• Chapter 18. An Evening at the Goose and Gridiron.
• Liberalism
• At the Play
• The Quadrilateral
• Dining down the River
• Agnes of Sorrento
• Chapter 18. The Penance.
• Chapter 19. Clouds Deepening.
• Roundabout Papers -- No. 18. On Letts's Diary
• The Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World
• Chapter 29. In the Departments of Seine, Loire, and Styx (Inferieur).
• Chapter 30. Returns to Old Friends.
• What are the Nerves?
• Frozen-out Actors
• The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson. By One of the Firm
• Chapter 19. George Robinson's Marriage.
• Chapter 20. Showing how Mr. Brisket didn't see his Way
• Chapter 21. Mr. Brown is taken ill.
• Fish Culture
• The Winter in Canada
• Belgravia out of Doors
• Commissions of Lunacy
• Agnes of Sorrento
• Chapter 20. Florence and her Prophet.
• Chapter 21. The Attack on San Marco.
• Chapter 22. The Cathedral.
• Roundabout Papers. -- No. 19. On Half a Loaf. -- A Letter to Messrs. Broadway, Battery and Co., of New York, Bankers
• The Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World
• Chapter 31. Narrates that Famous Joke about Miss Grigsby.
• Chapter 32. Ways and Means.
• The Winter Time. -- A Peep through the Fog
• The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson. By One of the Firm
• Chapter 22. Wasteful and Impetuous Sale.
• Chapter 23. Farewell.
• Chapter 24. George Robinson's Dream.
• A Vision of Animal Existences
• Covent Garden Market
• Gentlemen
• Life and Labour in the Coal-Fields
• Recent Discoveries in Australia
• After Dinner
• Agnes of Sorrento
• Chapter 23. The Pilgrimage.
• Chapter 24. The Mountain Fortress
• Chapter 25. The Crisis.
• Chapter 26. Rome.
• The Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World
• Chapter 33. Describes a Situation Interesting but not Unexpected.
• Chapter 34. In which I own that Philip tells an Untruth.
• The Brain and its Use
• Fire-damp and its Victims
• A Fit of Jealousy
• Inner Life of a Hospital
• Irené
• First Beginnings
• On Growing Old
• Roundabout Papers - No 20. The Notch on the Axe. A Story a la Mode. Part 1
• The Adventures of Philip on his Way through the World
• Chapter 35. Res Angusta Doma.
• Chapter 36. In which the Drawing-rooms are not Furnished after all.
• Superstition
• The Great Naval Revolution
• Six Weeks at Heppenheim
• Rotten Row
• Book I. of the Iliad translated in the Hexameter Meter. By Sir John Herschel
• Agnes of Sorrento
• Chapter 27. The Saint's Rest
• Chapter 28. Palm Sunday
• Chapter 29. The Night-Ride
• Chapter 30. "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
• Chapter 31. Martyrdom.
• Chapter 32. Conclusion.
• The Wakeful Sleeper. By George McDonald
• Roundabout Papers -- No. 21. The Notch on the Axe. -- A Story a la Mode, Part 2
• The Adventures of Pliilip on his Way through the World
• Chapter 37. Nec plena Cruoris Hirudo[???]
• Chapter 38. The Beaver of the Bowstring.
• At the Great Exhibition
• Courts-Martial
• May : In Memoriam
• Is it Food, Medicine, or Poison?
• The Shallowell Mystery
• The Home of a Naturalist
• A Conceit
• What are the Oil Wells?
• Roundabout Papers -- No. 22. The Notch on the Axe. -- A Story a la Mode, Part 3

Unfortunately, few of the articles carry an author's byline. The Roundabout Papers are essays by the editor, William Makepeace Thackeray.

You will notice a number of serialized novels: Agnes of Sorrento by Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom's Cabin; The Adventures of Philip on His Way Through the World, the final novel by William Makepeace Thackeray; and The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and Robinson, by Anthony Trollope, a satire of dishonest advertising.

"What are the Oil Wells?" describes the initial stage of petroleum exploration in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Canada. The question "Is it Food, Medicine, or Poison?" is asked of alcohol. "Covent Garden Market" paints a portrait of London's vegetable and flower market, likely little different from its character as the Edwardian setting for My Fair Lady.

"The Inner Life of a Hospital" describes medical care and convalescence as it was at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. This depiction of patients facing lengthy stays in the hospital may provide some inspiration in this time of indeterminate confinement:

Now and then comes a patient of more sense than his fellows, who, feeling that he will be confined to the hospital for several months, sets boldly to work and tries heartily to improve his mind or learn some new art. Such patients are most grateful for a word or two of help, and it is very pleasant to find them asking the surgeon or the chaplain to lend them books of a higher class than those which are supplied to the wards. Latin and French grammars, books in those languages, and Euclid have repeatedly been lent, and have always been honourably delivered to the sister before the borrower has left the ward. A few years ago one patient amused himself with oil paint, and after decorating all the flower-pots and saucers in arabesque patterns, became ambitious and tried to copy landscapes. Being a persevering man, with some taste for colour and a good eye for form, he succeeded marvellously well, and actually sold his productions as fast as he could paint them.

The article mentioned by Banting is in Volume 7, in the April 1863 issue, and titled "Obesity." The same volume includes several chapters of George Eliot's novel Romola (a popular book that became a 1924 silent film, starring Lillian Gish, which served as the namesake for the rural Tulsa subdivision Romoland and a number of other places across the country). There is also a sketch of the final years, death, and funeral in Westminster Abbey of James Outram, an officer of British India, whose career and retirement had been detailed in the January 1861 issue.

The Rev. Merle Dry, 55, Berryhill resident, United Pentecostal minister, and grounds manager at Oral Roberts University, is the first death resulting from Wuhan Chinese Bat Virus in Oklahoma. Metro Pentecostal Church, where Dry was a member, posted the following information on its Facebook page:

It is with great sadness that I have to announce our dear Bro Merle Dry made his journey from earth to glory at 8:01pm. Sis Dry and family are under quarantine and cannot receive guests. Please text her instead of calling. Thanks to everyone for your prayers. We need the hand of God to guide us. He was so loved by the Metro Pentecostal Church. Details of his funeral will be forthcoming.

DUE TO MISINFORMATION:

Merle Dry was in good health as far as we all knew. He was fighting a cold and then he contacted the corona virus. He was diagnosed on Tuesday and passed away on Wednesday. He was unable to breathe. He was age 55 and Cherokee. He had not been at the Church for a bit due to his not feeling well. We are taking all precautions to allow the virus to die out in the area he would have been in.

He was over the grounds at Oral Roberts University. He won awards for his exceptional work there. Those who knew him knew he loved people. He always interacted with the students. He is from Haskell, OK.

He leaves his dear wife, Carrie (McNulty) Dry, son, Jesse, age 22, daughter, Pamela, age 17. Pamela will graduate this year. His wife is a Tulsa Public School Teacher. They live in Berryhill.

Prayers are needed for this exceptional family. They are loved by all.

Carrie Dry is a language arts teacher at Edison Middle School.

KJRH has more details of Dry's illness from Metro Pentecostal pastor Don Martin:

"All we know is he had a cold, he didn't even go into ER until Sunday because he was having trouble breathing," Pastor Martin said. "And he wasn't diagnosed with the virus until Tuesday, and he passed away the next day, this past Wednesday."

Pastor Martin says Dry told him Monday, "I'm going to beat this thing."

Rev. Dry was on the ministerial staff at Metro Pentecostal Church, a licensed minister in the Oklahoma District of the United Pentecostal Church International, and served as secretary of the Oklahoma District's Childrens Ministry committee. Numerous comments on the Metro Pentecostal Facebook post pay tribute to his positive influence as an evangelist and mentor.

A December 2018 profile of Merle Dry in the ORU Oracle reveals his creative and whimsical approach to designing and maintaining the campus's beautifully kept grounds:

Though their days are long and full of hard work, the groundskeepers truly enjoy their work and are always ready to wave "hello" to students and other passersby.

"I like working around the people out here and helping, being involved," said Dry. "When people come to the campus, I want the campus to have an impact, to reach out and grab somebody and say, 'Hey, you need to be here as a student.' I want them to be able to say the campus looks good, and if it looks good, they'll feel comfortable being in a place that looks good. We try to maintain it the best we can at all times."...

Dry's system falls in line with the yearly seasons. A few weeks ago, the fall flowers were planted, yellow and purple pansies, chosen to match the school colors of gold and blue in a flower that will stay alive through the harsh, winter winds. They are now in the planning process for spring and will begin planting the spring flowers in January, as the weather warms up. The spring flowers will stay throughout the summer. Though Dry and the guys keep the campus fresh on the day to day, they're always thinking six months ahead.

In addition to keeping the campus bright and lively year round, the groundskeepers have found a creative outlet within topiary, which is the process of shaping perennial plants into shapes.

"We shape them in all kinds of ways, like birds," said Lionel Parra, one of the groundskeepers. "We say, 'Let's try to make this one this way,' and we do it. It's a little bit more work, but we like it."

In these living sculptures, the groundskeepers find ways to have fun at work.

"When we get plants in, sometimes if their oddly shaped, we won't leave them oddly shaped, and these guys will get creative and make something out of them," explained Dry.

Dry was employed by Sodexho, which has the contract for food, maintenance, grounds, and custodial services at ORU.

On Tuesday, March 17, 2020, Tulsa Mayor G. T. Bynum IV issued an executive order closing down dine-in service for all restaurants and shutting all bars, theaters, gyms, and recreational facilities in response to the Wuhan Bat Virus / COVID-19 pandemic. (Original link here. FAQ here.) Restaurants may offer take-out, drive-through, and delivery service. Institutional and business cafeterias may remain open. The dining facilities past security at the airport, soup kitchens, groceries, health care and childcare facilities are are among the exemptions.

The order mentions the pandemic declaration by the World Health Organization, and the emergency declarations by President Trump on March 13, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt on March 15, and by himself on March 16. The authority cited for the order:

Tulsa Revised Ordinances Title 8, Section 100 (G) provides that the Mayor, after proclaiming a civil emergency may in the interest of public safety and welfare make "Such other orders as are imminently necessary for the protection of life and property.

The closures took effect at 11:59 p.m. March 17 and will remain in effect indefinitely. Restaurants without their own off-street parking can request the city to designate an adjacent on-street parking space for curbside pickup. Restaurants will be able to allow customers to enter to place an order to go, but won't be allowed to sit down. Bars that serve food will be able to provide the same takeout service, but only for food. (No margaritas to go.) Retail stores may remain open.

As of 9:15 a.m. Oklahoma had 17 verified cases of coronavirus, with 247 negative tests, and 82 test results pending. That's almost double in the course of 24 hours. These are people who have been asymptomatic until very recently, going to church, going to work, shopping, hanging out in bars, giving you a hug, or shaking your hand.

The US is now ahead of the curve of growth in cases that Italy experienced. If you make a graph of COVID-19 infections vs. days, the US is about 11 days behind Italy. (Think of it like comparing your kids on a growth chart. I can tell by comparing my youngest son's height on each birthday to my oldest son's height on the same birthday that my youngest is on track to be taller than the oldest when he's fully grown.) Last week it was observed that the US curve matched the Italian curve almost exactly, but now the US infection numbers are rising faster than the Italian numbers.

Katherine Wilson, an American mother living in Rome, offered some advice yesterday to American parents:

The virus has ravaged our country. Hospitals in the north are on the verge of collapse. Intensive-care units are full of people who are elderly, but also people who are 40 and 50. The streets are empty, and restaurants are closed. You have to have an authorization paper to walk your dog.

Only 10 days ago in Rome, this wasn't the case. The government had closed schools and most sporting facilities, but nothing else. Our teenagers were socializing in the evening with their friends. Kids had time on their hands and were healthy and well rested. Did we, as parents, really want them at home on their screens, where they'd been all day?...

Our teens were going stir-crazy at home. Their friends were going out, and the government hadn't told us to restrict their activities. So, reasoning that this was a disease that didn't strike teenagers, we told them to wash their hands and unleashed them onto the sidewalks and piazzas, into other people's cars and homes....

The only thing that could have prevented -- or mitigated -- this tragedy in Italy is social distancing.

I'm not talking about a high-five instead of a handshake, or grandchildren not hugging their grandparents. I'm talking about not being close to another human being who is not your immediate family. This is the only available and effective measure to help slow the transmission of the disease.

When your teen complains that other parents are letting their kids go out and party, your reply should be something along the lines of "Where are my Beats?" Tune them out.

If in a few weeks reality reflects that you were too conservative, then hallelujah.

Wilson urges parents not to worry about screen time, not to hoard supplies, to get anyone traveling back home as soon as possible because of the possibility of travel restrictions, to find fun things to do together as a family, and not to get obsessive about the news.

In about 10 days we shall be able to see clearly how widespread the disease is, as infections become symptomatic, and shall be in a better position to know who is safe to be out and about and who is not. Social distancing now, while the infection is present but not yet symptomatic, gives us the best shot at protecting our loved ones.

MORE:

Sydney Morning Herald reported on March 13, 2020, on the physical effects of the Wuhan Bat Virus:

But when it's bad, it can mount an attack on the whole body - and start a storm in the lungs.

How it plays out depends on the two factors important to any invasion: the strength of your defences and the strength (or dose) of what you've been hit with....

As the body fights off the virus, inflammation starts in the lungs and can sometimes develop into pneumonia. In more severe cases - about 14 per cent - breathing becomes difficult as blood vessels leak and fluid builds up, restricting the lungs' ability to pump oxygen through the body. Patients might need a ventilator to breathe. A secondary bacterial infection might also hit, requiring antibiotics....

At the World Health Organisation, assistant director-general Bruce Aylward warns when danger strikes, it's often fast-moving. Doctors report patients can go downhill quickly during those "critical" second and third weeks and urge people with or suspected to have the virus to monitor their symptoms, particularly their breathing and fever....

As the immune system ramps up its defences, blood vessels start to leak and the lungs can be flooded with cellular debris, making it harder for them to pump oxygen to the rest of the body - and harder for patients to draw breath. "They start to drown," Professor Collignon says.

Falling blood oxygen levels put pressure on other organs, in particular the heart. More systems can start to fail, and blood pressure too, which, if it falls low enough can tip the body into septic shock, a whole-body infection....

Whatever your personal vulnerability, the dose of virus you first receive - say, from touching a contaminated door knob versus caring for an infected person over several days - also plays a big part in how your body copes. "The higher the dose the faster you will get sick, and the harder it will be on you," Professor MacIntyre says.

That could explain why otherwise young and healthy medical workers have died from the disease. Li Wenliang, the 34-year-old doctor who blew the whistle on early cases of COVID-19, went through a gamut of treatments after falling ill himself, including antivirals, antibiotics, even having his blood pumped through an artificial lung, but he died weeks later. As with SARS, clusters of severe infection are emerging in hospitals and households as people come into sustained close contact.

Roy Askins in The Lutheran Witness provides the context:

In 1527, Luther wrote a letter to a friend because the bubonic plague was passing through Europe again and had struck both Silesia, where his friend lived, and Wittenberg, where Luther lived. ...

When the plague struck a town, the wealthy would often flee to the countryside. The question put to Luther was simple: Should a Christian flee this horrific plague?

Here's the letter from Martin Luther: Whether One May Flee From A Deadly Plague.

Luther judges that someone with an obligation to others must stay, unless he is surplus to requirements. Pastors and preachers, judges and mayors, are all ministers of God to the people in the offices of church and state, respectively, and must remain. But there is an exception:

However, where enough preachers are available in one locality and they agree to encourage the other clergy to leave in order not to expose themselves needlessly to danger, I do not consider such conduct sinful because spiritual services are provided for and because they would have been ready and willing to stay if it had been necessary. ...

On the other hand, if in great weakness [mayors and judges] flee but provide capable substitutes to make sure that the community is well governed and protected, as we previ-ously indicated, and if they continually and carefully supervise them [i.e., the substitutes], all that would be proper.

Luther goes on to cite the duties of servants to their masters, masters to their servants, parents and children to one another, guardians to orphans. "Likewise, paid public servants such as city physicians, city clerks and constables, or whatever their titles, should not flee unless they furnish capable substitutes who are acceptable to their employer."

Luther notes the obligation on all Christians to ensure that the sick around us are cared for:

Yes, no one should dare leave his neighbor unless there are others who will take care of the sick in their stead and nurse them. In such cases we must respect the word of Christ, "I was sick and you did not visit me ..." [Matt. 25:41-46]. According to this passage we are bound to each other in such a way that no one may forsake the other in his distress but is obliged to assist and help him as he himself would like to be helped.

Luther charges Christians to be bold in caring for their sick neighbors, even in the face of repugnant ailments. He commends the policy of establishing hospitals "staffed with people to take care of the sick so that patients from private homes can be sent there -- as was the intent and purpose of our forefathers with so many pious bequests, hospices, hospitals, and infirmaries so that it should not be necessary for every citizen to maintain a hospital in his own home."

At the same time, it is no sin to protect ourselves from danger as long as we have done our duty to our neighbors:

It is not forbidden but rather commanded that by the sweat of our brow we should seek our daily food, clothing, and all we need and avoid destruction and disaster whenever we can, as long as we do so without detracting from our love and duty toward our neighbor. How much more appropriate it is therefore to seek to preserve life and avoid death if this can be done without harm to our neighbor, inasmuch as life is more than food and clothing, as Christ himself says in Matthew 5 [6:25]. If someone is so strong in faith, however, that he can willingly suffer nakedness, hunger, and want without tempting God and not trying to escape, although he could do so, let him continue that way, but let him not condemn those who will not or cannot do the same.

"Examples in Holy Scripture abundantly prove that to flee from death is not wrong in itself." Luther mentions Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Elijah, and Moses as examples. Luther mocks those who insist that a Christian must remain in danger when it is not necessary:

By such reasoning, when a house is on fire, no one should run outside or rush to help because such a fire is also a punishment from God. Anyone who falls into deep water dare not save himself by swimming but must surrender to the water as to a divine punishment. Very well, do so if you can but do not tempt God, as they are capable of doing. Likewise, if someone breaks a leg, is wounded or bitten, he should not seek medical aid but say, "It is God's punishment. I shall bear it until it heals by itself." Freezing weather and winter are also God's punishment and can cause death. Why run to get inside or near a fire? Be strong and stay outside until it becomes warm again. We should then need no apothecaries or drugs or physicians because all illnesses are punishment from God. Hunger and thirst are also great punishments and torture. Why do you eat and drink instead of letting yourself be punished until hunger and thirst stop of themselves? Ultimately such talk will lead to the point where we abbreviate the Lord's Prayer and no longer pray, "deliver us from evil, Amen," since we would have to stop praying to be saved from hell and stop seeking to escape it. It, too, is God's punishment as is every kind of evil. Where would all this end?

Luther likewise chastises those who refuse to make use of the "man-made" means God has providentially provided to protect them and others:

Others sin on the right hand. They are much too rash and reckless, tempting God and disregarding everything which might counteract death and the plague. They disdain the use of medicines; they do not avoid places and persons infected by the plague, but lightheartedly make sport of it and wish to prove how independent they are. They say that it is God's punishment; if he wants to protect them he can do so with-out medicines or our carefulness. This is not trusting God but tempting him. God has created medicines and provided us with intelligence to guard and take good care of the body so that we can live in good health.

If one makes no use of intelligence or medicine when he could do so without detriment to his neighbor, such a person injures his body and must beware lest he become a suicide in God's eyes. By the same reasoning a person might forego eating and drinking, clothing and shelter, and boldly proclaim his faith that if God wanted to preserve him from starvation and cold, he could do so without food and clothing. Actually that would be suicide. It is even more shameful for a person to pay no heed to his own body and to fail to protect it against the plague the best he is able, and then to infect and poison others who might have remained alive if he had taken care of his body as he should have. He is thus responsible before God for his neighbor's death and is a murderer many times over. Indeed, such people behave as though a house were burning in the city and nobody were trying to put the fire out. Instead they give leeway to the flames so that the whole city is consumed, saying that if God so willed, he could save the city without water to quench the fire.

He commends this attitude, which acknowledges God's sovereignty, does not shy away from duty, makes use of "second causes" through which God accomplishes his healing purpose, but does not tempt God by taking unnecessary risks.

"Very well, by God's decree the enemy has sent us poison and deadly offal. Therefore I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order not to become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others, and so cause their death as a result of my negligence. If God should wish to take me, he will surely find me and I have done what he has expected of me and so I am not responsible for either my own death or the death of others. If my neighbor needs me, however, I shall not avoid place or person but will go freely, as stated above." See, this is such a God-fearing faith because it is neither brash nor foolhardy and does not tempt God.

News and opinion on the coronavirus plague, in reverse chronological order (mostly):

Here is a coronavirus COVID-19 dashboard and interactive map showing current numbers of cases from the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. Here is the spreadsheet that feeds the map.

As of 7 a.m. local time on March 16, 2020, Oklahoma had 10 confirmed cases, 29 cases pending test results, and 174 tests that came back negative, with no deaths to date. Here is the Oklahoma State Department of Health COVID-19 dashboard, which shows cases in Tulsa, Kay, Payne, Oklahoma, Canadian, Cleveland, and Jackson Counties.

March 15, 2020: Tulsa's First United Methodist Church announced late Sunday night that one of its staffers had tested positive for COVID-19, and anyone sitting in certain pews during worship on March 8 should monitor their symptoms. The church is closed, March 15 worship was held online only, and the entire staff has been asked to self-quarantine.

We found out this afternoon that one of our staff members received a call last night from the Health Department with news that she has tested positive for the Coronavirus. (As a courtesy to her, we are not giving her name.) Currently, no additional staff members have tested positive for the virus. If you sat in the first three rows on the center right side of the sanctuary in either service on Sunday, March 8, please monitor yourself for symptoms and contact your doctor if you do not feel well.

Many more items after the jump.

UPDATE 2020/04/27: CCP Bat Virus has delayed the Tulsa City Council's final vote on the new animal ordinance, which is now set for the regular council meeting on May 11, 2020, 5 p.m., at City Hall. If you raise backyard poultry in the City of Tulsa, if you sell feed and equipment to people who do, if you have expertise in animal husbandry, or if you simply think government shouldn't block Tulsans from growing their own food in their own backyards, please volunteer to speak at the City Council meeting. As you'll read below, the "blue-ribbon commission" that rewrote the animal ordinance did not include anyone with expertise in this area and ignored the information that was provided to them by knowledgeable members of the public. This is a chance to make the case directly to those who will make the decision. Tina is hoping to have at least a half-dozen speakers, but the more the merrier.

Tina writes, "If you are willing but don't know what you'd say, I can help you. All last year I laid out information for the Mayor's commission, handing them dozens of pages of evidence that our ordinances for chickens are unreasonable currently, with footnotes, and we were soundly ignored. The commission has handed their recommendations (utterly unchanged by our recommendations) to the City Council, who will be voting to keep things restrictive if we don't show up and inform them of all the things they are not considering. This is our last stand. This is our Alamo (we probably won't die, though). I have information I can put in your hands to allow you to speak for up to 5 minutes, knowledgeably, confidently, and maybe make a difference in Tulsa for backyard poultry owners." Contact Tina through Facebook to volunteer.

Earlier this year, Tina Nettles, a resident of the Hoover neighborhood and a good friend of our family's, wrote to me about her eye-opening experience in dealing with bureaucrats and board members at Tulsa's City Hall. Tina raises a small number of chickens in her backyard, as do many other Tulsans, and she got involved in providing input to a city board that has been rewriting Tulsa's animal ordinance. What she learned is something that many other Tulsans have experienced when they attempt to participate in city public hearings -- City Hall doesn't want your expertise or your input if you're not wealthy or well-connected.

Former Mayor Susan Savage, who has lived in the Money Belt for as long as I am aware, and who as mayor had a documented problem appointing people outside the Money Belt to authorities, boards, and commissions, is the chairman of the Tulsa Animal Welfare Commission which headed up this rewrite. Four of the five members of the commission live in the Money Belt; three in the midtown portion. As far as I can determine, none of the commissioners live northeast of 71st and Harvard, north of 21st Street, or west of the river, and none are involved in agriculture. Home values range from $234,000 to $523,308. (Zillow's current estimate of Tulsa's median home value is $127,893.) Three commissioners are registered Democrats (Savage, Robin Flint Ballenger, Cordell Dement) and one of the registered Republicans, Teresa Burkett, only has contributions to Democrats and to ActBlue in the FEC's database of federal campaign contributions. (The other Republican is Christine Kunzweiler, a small-animal veterinarian who also happens to be the wife of District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler.)

Savage and Burkett presented the proposed revisions to the Tulsa City Council's Urban and Economic Development committee this past Wednesday, March 11, 2020, with Savage doing nearly all of the talking. Ballenger was also present but not at the table. The legislation had a First Reading at that night's City Council meeting (a formality, with no discussion), with a scheduled Second Reading scheduled for March 25, 2020. Here is the draft ordinance to be considered by the City Council, with backup material. Here is a local copy of the draft ordinance (50 MB PDF) which has been OCRed.

You can watch the video of the 50-minute committee presentation here. Councilors Cue, Decter Wright, Fahler, Hall-Harper, Lakin, and McKee were present, but only Hall-Harper and McKee had any substantial comments, and only McKee mentioned agricultural animals, specifically relaying constituent interest in raising goats in residential neighborhoods. Savage made reference to public comment, but it seems to have had no affect on the proposed changes. When Savage acknowledged the input of subject-matter experts, she referred specifically to the city's legal department and the Tulsa Planning Office -- in other words, the only expertise they wanted involved legal enforceability and compatibility with zoning laws, not expertise on animal agriculture in an urban context. No one from the public was invited to speak. The council did not review the legislation at all; once Savage's presentation was over, the council moved on to the next agenda item without (as far as I could see) voting on whether to advance it.

The revised animal ordinance has been placed on the March 25, 2020 May 11, 2020, 5 p.m., Tulsa City Council agenda. Now is the time to contact your city councilor (dist#@tulsacouncil.org, replace # with your district number 1 through 9) to urge them to listen to Tulsa citizens with hands-on experience raising chickens and other agricultural animals. (UPDATE 2020/04/27: Date changed to reflect the city's CCP Bat Virus lockdown.)

Here (and continuing on the jump page) are Tina Nettles's observations on the process of rewriting Tulsa's animal welfare ordinance. The accompanying photos are courtesy of Tina Nettles and show her hens and a collection of the eggs they've laid.

Monday December 2, 2019
10th floor, One Technology Center,
Tulsa City Hall
Tina Nettles

I'd stood before this microphone every month for the last five months with no difficulty, but tonight was so different, in the worst possible ways.

No fan of speaking in front of crowds, I hadn't suffered from this debilitating condition, of the dry mouth and the pounding adrenaline, the sound of my heartbeat whooshing behind my eardrums, until tonight. I literally felt the room was spinning around me and I clutched the lectern with trembling hands to try and make it all go still. What made this one moment feel like it was suddenly running in slow motion, with the whole universe coming unraveled as I struggled to connect even two sensical words together?

My eyes were finally open to how my nice little midwestern city's government had never been what I thought it was - the very picture of red-state conservativism, with minimal interference into the daily lives of its citizens. No. That's not what I was watching unfold before my eyes. Minutes before, the head of the commission had moved that the current wording of the chicken ordinances be voted on and passed to the city council in the near future, before we had even reached tonight's public comment, with no regard to what we had advised in all the months leading up to this moment, nor regard for what we were about to further advise.

[continued after the jump]

The Oklahoma Retail Crime Association issued its annual retail theft survey today, noting "massive spikes in both the numbers of losses due to theft and the amounts taken" for Oklahoma retailers.

Already hard-hit by the growth of online sales and the (hopefully temporary) impact of coronavirus, retailers don't need the state legislature to add insult to injury by discarding the tools to deter systematic theft.

We aren't talking about Javert relentlessly pursuing Jean Valjean for stealing a crust of bread to feed his starving family. We're talking about organized crime gangs who consider fines and brief imprisonments just the cost of doing business, and who are taking the bread out of the mouths of retail workers and their families.

The Facebook page Repeal SQ780 is a good source for stories on the impact of reducing penalties for so-called "non-violent crimes," such as shoplifting, burglary, and car break-ins. The page recently linked to a infographic showing that the loss amount from the average "pushout" theft -- when someone simply pushes a cart out the door without paying -- for our region doubled last year, from $778 in 2018 to $1544 in 2019. 59.5% of pushout robberies involved organized retail crime, and 10% involved violence against store personnel.

Here is the press release from the OKRCA:

The Oklahoma Retail Crime Association (OKRCA) has completed the 2020 Oklahoma Retail Theft Survey - which draws on retailer's internal theft data, as opposed to just numbers reported to law enforcement.

Once again, Oklahoma retailers saw massive spikes in both the numbers of losses due to theft and the amounts taken.

Oklahoma retailers are also reporting increased violence against store personnel.

According to OKRCA President, Norm Smaligo, "Retailers from around the country want to know why their theft rates in Oklahoma are so much higher than other states they operate in. I have to point to our laws and the permissive attitude the courts take towards retail theft."

"Organized Retail Crime (stealing for profit) has exploded here in recent years, because of our loosening of penalties for theft and our failure of our laws to address the people who steal for a living and those that sell it for them."

According to the most recent National Retail Federation (NRF) Organized Retail Crime survey, states that have raised felony theft limits have seen increases in theft activity. [Here is the complete National Retail Federation Organized Retail Crime Survey.]

In Oklahoma this effect is amplified by the fact that Oklahoma law allows cities to prosecute these 'misdemeanor crimes' as a municipal infraction similar to a speeding ticket. This hardly serves as a deterrent to criminal activity.

Smaligo said: "This year's survey just builds on the bad numbers we saw last year. We're seeing increased thefts, increased amounts and increased violence against our people. Retailers are begging for help. Our legislators at some point are going to have to decide: Do they want to help tax producing businesses lose less, or do they want to help criminals steal more?"

Smaligo said there are currently three bills pending before the Oklahoma legislature that they hope will help curtail some of the theft activity: Senate Bill 1587 would allow law enforcement to aggregate multiple larcenies over a one year period as opposed to the current 90 days - which Smaligo said is less time than it takes for an arrest warrant to be issued in many cases.

Senate bills 1689 and 1691 would prohibit Pawn Shops from buying fraudulently obtained gift cards and new-in-box items stolen from stores without some proof of purchase, such as a receipt.

According to Smaligo - the easy cash that criminals receive for selling these items is what is driving most of the theft activity. "They're not stealing four power tool kits for personal use! They're selling them within minutes of stealing them".

Norm Smaligo is the President of the Oklahoma Retail Crime Association - a group of retailers and law enforcement working together to identify and prosecute Organized Retail Crime offenders in this state.

Smaligo can be reached for comment at:

nsmaligo@gmail.com
or
(918)698-2626

After the jump, the text of the report itself.

Mark McBride, a Republican Oklahoma state representative from Moore who touts himself as a "lifelong conservative Republican" and founder and president of a mission organization, has been accused of directing a fusillade of obscene verbal abuse at a think-tank president who was walking through the State Capitol.

In a recent news release promoting the OCPA's new legislative scorecard, Jonathan Small, president of the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs, reports that McBride "flipped him off" as Small passed by a committee room. Small says that McBride then summoned Small into the committee room and proceeded to unleash a barrage of obscenities at Small in front of several other people.

At the beginning of the 2020 legislative session, the Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs announced that we would produce a legislative scorecard to be updated throughout the session.

The OCPA board of trustees and staff came to realize that there wasn't an easy-to-use guide for constituents to understand just how their lawmakers are voting on issues related to free markets, limited government, individual initiative, and personal responsibility. So we decided to change that.

At the beginning of the legislative session, we launched our new Legislative Scorecard, which can be found at scorecard.ocpathink.org. In addition to the scorecard itself, we released a watch list of bills that are eligible to be included on the scorecard. You can view the watch list at ocpa.co/WatchList.

Check out the live scorecard and share it with your family and friends, it even has an easy-to-use locator so anyone can easily find their lawmaker.

The scorecard has already had major impact.

Early this session, a horrific bill popped up on the House Calendar, House Bill 1230 (HB1230). In short, while touted as a "transparency bill" it actually commands government bureaucrats to violate the privacy of families and students who use the Lindsey Nicole Henry Scholarship, including students with special needs and disabilities. The bill easily can be interpreted to require students and families to waive rights to privacy, normally afforded to most other students, in order to participate in the program in the future.

OCPA sent repeated notices to lawmakers that HB1230 would be scored negatively.

You need to know about something. Just a little over two weeks ago, the day after the vote on HB1230, I was at the state capitol building. As I was walking on the 4th floor of the Capitol, I passed a committee room. In the room were several people and a lawmaker who was sitting in a chair facing the doorway. The lawmaker was State Representative Mark McBride, author of HB1230.

As I walked by the door, I was surprised when I saw that State Representative Mark McBride slightly raised his hand from his lap and flipped me off.

After being flipped off by State Representative Mark McBride, it appeared State Representative Mark McBride motioned for me to go in the room to talk to him. As I got close to his chair, with others sitting around and in a voice so others could hear, State Representative Mark McBride then began to cuss at me profusely. His words included saying I was the "F..." word at least twice, calling me a piece of "S..." twice, saying I was worthless twice, referring to me as a derogatory word for male genitalia twice, and twice telling me to "scat" like I was some sort of animal. Also included in his personal, verbal, and public attack on me was his criticism of OCPA for opposing HB1230.

Our hope is that Oklahomans will utilize the scorecard to remain informed and involved in the legislative process, while also holding politicians accountable.

Thank you,

Jonathan Small
Oklahoma Council of Public Affairs
President

McBride currently has a score of 35 on the OCPA scorecard out of a possible 100. The lowest score for any Republican is 29.

Rep. McBride boasts on his House web page that he is "the Founder and President of Thousand Hills Mission - a non-profit organization dedicated to providing agricultural and veterinary assistance to the people of developing and Third World countries." Guidestar shows the most recent IRS Form 990 as filed for the 2013 tax year, and that the IRS non-profit ruling was issued in 2012. The earliest 990 that Guidestar has is from 2011, and it shows fundraising back to 2007. Here are the annual fundraising totals shown on the 2011-2013 IRS Form 990s.

2007: $24,409
2008: $50,343
2009: $27,019
2010: $24,409
2011: $72,814
2012: $10,730
2013: $8,030

The expenses for the 990s provided seem to cover travel for one or two people and veterinary supplies. The organization reported no paid employees.

I'm reminded of an experience I had back in March 2004, when I took a camcorder to capture the Tulsa City Council "pre-meeting" which was held in the library of the council offices an hour before the official meeting and which dealt with the agenda for the main meeting. My presence there triggered an obscene outburst against me from a City Council staffer.

In the future, I suggest that Mr. Small and his OCPA colleagues wear GoPro cameras when they walk through the Capitol. They may capture some insights into the character of our legislators that aren't fully evident in voting records and campaign websites.

Postdated to remain at the top of the blog until the polls close at 7 p.m.

Today, March 3, 2020, is the Oklahoma presidential preference primary. Oklahoma is one of 14 states (Alabama, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Massachusetts, Maine, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia (Democrats only), and Vermont) holding a presidential primary on "Super Tuesday." American Samoa Democrats will also hold a territorial caucus on Tuesday.

Super Tuesday came into existence in 1988, driven by southern Democrats. After a win in the post-Watergate election of 1976, with a ticket headed by former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter, Democrats were wiped out in 1980, as Reagan beat Carter, and again in 1984, as Reagan won 49 states against former VP Walter Mondale. The worry was that the early states (Iowa and New Hampshire) tilted the playing field in the liberal direction, resulting in a liberal nominee.

The Democrats' practice of "superdelegates" was another reform aimed at the electability problem that traces back to the reforms prior to the 1972 convention. The idea was that Democrats who had actually been elected office would help shift the convention and the selected nominee in a more centrist direction than Democrat primary voters left to their own devices.

The hope was that a Southern regional primary early in the process would encourage the nomination of a Southern moderate who could win in November. Oklahoma's Democratic governor and legislative majorities went along with the plan; previously, both major parties used the caucus and convention system to elect national delegates from Oklahoma. As it happened, of the 13 Southern states voting, Jesse Jackson won the four Deep South states (LA, MS, AL, GA) plus Virginia, Al Gore won five border states (OK, AR, TN, KY, NC), Michael Dukakis won Florida and Texas, and Dick Gephardt won his home state of Missouri. Dukakis's wins in the south, plus success in his home region of New England, killed Gore's electability argument.

(Virginia Republicans will not hold a primary but will use the caucus and convention process: County and Independent City Republican parties will elect delegates to the Congressional District and State GOP Conventions, and the CD and State Conventions will elect delegates to the Republican National Convention. All of Virginia's 48 delegates will be pledged to the candidate winning the presidential preference vote of delegates at the Virginia State Republican Convention.)

In Oklahoma, each political party may opt to allow voters not registered with a party to vote in their primary. For 2020 the Oklahoma Democratic Party is allowing independents to vote in their primaries; the Republican and Libertarian party primaries will be open only to voters registered with the respective party.

Oklahoma Democrats will have 15 candidates to choose from, all mainstream enough to earn a spot on a debate stage at some point. They're shown below in the order in which they filed for the primary back in December.

• Tulsi Gabbard
• Amy Klobuchar
• Elizabeth Warren
• Bernie Sanders
• Kamala Harris
• Pete Buttigieg
• Andrew Yang
• Deval Patrick
• Michael R. Bloomberg
• Tom Steyer
• Joseph R. Biden
• Michael Bennet
• Marianne Williamson
• Julián Castro
• Cory Booker

Only five are still actively campaigning: Gabbard, Warren, Sanders, Bloomberg, and Biden. (Klobuchar, Buttigieg, and Steyer dropped out after poor showings in South Carolina last Saturday.) All of the Democratic candidates take an extreme position in support of abortion. They all support greater intrusion of the federal government into every aspect of life. Each of the Democratic candidates wants Christians either to bow down before the gods of the Sexual Revolution, or have the Federal Government destroy their businesses, their professional careers, their schools, their churches, their private organizations. None of them are "moderate." Given the number of conservative rural Oklahomans who are still registered as Democrats, a candidate that, say, supported private spaces and protected athletic opportunities for women, opposed late term abortion, supported robust protections for religious liberty, and sensible policies on immigration and trade -- someone like Louisiana governor John Bel Edwards -- would do very well in the Oklahoma Democratic primary.

Although you can still vote for any of the candidates on the ballot, a candidate needs at least 15% of the vote in a congressional district or statewide to get any delegates at all. In South Carolina, Biden got 49% and Sanders 20%, but split all of the delegates between them because the rest of the candidates split the remaining 31% of the vote, with none of them topping the threshold. Steyer's 11.3% was the best of the rest. Very little polling has been done in Oklahoma. A Sooner Poll taken from 2/17 to 2/21 put Biden at 21.2%, Bloomberg at 19.8%, undecided at 19.3%. Buttigieg and Klobuchar, both now out of the race, combined for 17%.

For Oklahoma Democrats, each congressional district has a different number of delegates: CD 2 and CD 3 have four each, CD 1 and CD 4 have five each, and CD 5, with a Democrat congressman, has six. There are 13 seats pledged based on statewide results: 8 statewide at-large delegate seats and 5 seats belonging to Party Leader and Elected Officials (PLEOs). Five more PLEOs go as superdelegates -- the Oklahoma Democrat chairman and vice-chairman and the national committeeman and national committeewoman, plus Congressman Kendra Horn. The "superdelegates" aren't pledged to any candidate, but they won't be able to vote unless no candidate receives a majority of the delegate vote on the first ballot at the National Convention. (I am still trying to find out who the pledged PLEOs are and why we have five. In other states, the number of unpledged PLEOs is different from the number of pledged.)

Oklahoma will have 43 delegates to the Republican National Convention, three from each congressional district, plus 28 statewide, including the state party chairman, the national committeeman, and the national committeewoman. If a candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in a CD or statewide, he gets all the delegates for that jurisdiction, even if another candidate breaks 15%, which seems unlikely.

Five Republicans are challenging President Trump on the Oklahoma ballot.

Zoltan G. Istvan, 46, of Mill Valley, CA: Istvan is a transhumanist who wants Republicans to embrace the unfettered use of technology to modify humanity. He believes science and technology can solve all problems. He writes, "The fate of fiscally conservative Republicans rests in embracing transhumanism and become more open-minded to cultural and technological change--or the far-left will own the future, just like they already own the environmental movement. The GOP must embrace radical innovation in the human being and be the caretakers of humanity's brave future." Istvan also wants to "improv[e] the Constitution to make it more malleable and ready to adjust every few years to radically changing times and accelerating technology." Call him the "Brave New World" candidate.

Roque "Rocky" De La Fuente, 65, San Diego, CA: He ran as a Democrat on the 2016 Oklahoma ballot, and his son ran as a Democrat in New Hampshire this year, but he's on the GOP ballot in Oklahoma in 2020. In 2016, he was also the presidential nominee of the American Delta Party and the Reform Party, which was founded by Ross Perot. De La Fuente tends toward an open-borders view: "We need comprehensive immigration reform that views undocumented workers as assets rather than liabilities. It is not logical to suggest that we can deport 13 million immigrants in a way that would be deemed fair. It is just as illogical to suggest that we could deport the small percentage of undocumented immigrants who have committed felonies." He wants to raise the retirement age and the contributions cap to keep Social Security solvent.

Matthew John Matern, 54, Manhattan Beach, CA: Matern is an attorney. He wants to solve homelessness by giving people a $10,000 tax credit for taking in a homeless person. He wants to raise the threshold for taxable income to $50,000 for individuals and $100,000 for families. Matern wants to focus on the environment, including a tax credit for reducing carbon footprint and tariffs to penalize goods from major polluters like India and China. He wants a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Bob Ely, 61, Vernon Hills, IL: Ely is running as a something of a tongue-in-cheek, satirical candidate, "your least-worst alternative." He calls himself partyfluid, says he has no experience and the charisma of a doorknob. His political pronouncements are the sort of thing your opinionated uncle might shout at the TV while watching the news after a few beers. Ely claims he would be a "better" (and scarier) Trump:

A federal judge I know decried how Trump was subverting the rule of law. I told him I could do much worse. He said that was impossible. How about this, I said:

• In some random speech or tweet I would state: "A human virtue I admire most is loyalty. I am loyal to those who are loyal to me." An unimpeachable statement.
• My sleezy [sic] friends would understand Omertà.
• I would let those who cooperated with Mueller rot in prison; I would pardon those that stayed silent. My smarter sleezy friends would figure out that the easiest strategy would be say nothing; plead guilty; get pardoned.

The judge conceded that would be worse.

On foreign policy, Ely believes that sanctions against international bad guys are ineffective, and that instead, on a case by case basis, America should choose between resigned acceptance and putting a Tomahawk through a dictator's bedroom window, pour encourages les autres. On illegal immigration, Ely supports amnesty and guest worker visas for low-income jobs. Ely doesn't want you to follow him on Twitter or friend him on Facebook.

Joe Walsh, 57, Washington, D.C.: Walsh is a former congressman who suspended his campaign for the Republican nomination after a poor showing in Iowa and is now begging his supporters to vote for Democrats in order to unseat Trump. He won a seat in Congress by a slim margin in 2010, then lost it in 2012, after making light of the war injuries of his Democratic opponent, Tammy Duckworth. He spent much of his presidential campaign apologizing for outrageous things he said as a radio host.

Also on tomorrow's ballot: Seven counties in Oklahoma -- Creek, Cleveland, Kingfisher, Muskogee, Oklahoma, Tulsa, and Washington -- will vote whether to allow liquor stores to open on Sundays. Since supermarkets can now sell strong beer and wine, and they can sell on Sundays, and since people can buy liquor by the drink at bars and restaurants, it seems only fair that liquor stores should be able to compete on a somewhat level playing field. It seems to me that it's safer for everyone if people buy alcohol at the store and take it home to consume, rather than drinking at a bar or restaurant and then having to get home somehow.

Remember when we voted on the Vision Tulsa package in 2016? Did you know you were voting to demolish Gilcrease Museum and build a smaller one in its place? Me, neither. But it was announced last month that demolition is what we're getting for our money. The historic 134,000-square-foot facility will be torn down and replaced with an 89,000-square-foot building that will, we are promised, have better storage conditions for artifacts and more display space.

In 2016, City of Tulsa residents voted for a package that included $65 million for renovation of the main building of the Thomas Gilcrease Institute of American History and Art, to better house the priceless collection of artwork and artifacts of the American West, a collection that the citizens of Tulsa purchased from oilman Thomas Gilcrease using a bond issue in 1954. Gilcrease bequeathed additional collections to the city upon his death. Tulsa citizens have continued to support the museum with taxpayer dollars.

According to the Gilcrease web page about Vision Tulsa, there are $73.6 million in public funds available for the rebuilding project, plus a $10 million donation from the A.R. and Marylouise Tandy Foundation. But another web page states that "Gilcrease Museum's managing partner, The University of Tulsa, is committed to raising an additional $50 million in private funds for an endowment to ensure the long-term sustainability of museum operations." You can well imagine the strings that will come attached to funds raised by GKU.

It was chilling to learn that the museum's executive director is former city councilor Susan Neal, an ardent opponent of historic preservation during her time as an elected official and as an aide to Mayor Kathy Taylor. In 2006, Neal pushed for watering down the CORE recommendations for downtown historic preservation, recommendations which were ultimately shelved. You can read my overview of Neal's political career in my report on the 2014 opening of Gilcrease's Helmerich Center for American Research.

Not only do I distrust Neal for her previous political behavior, it's worrisome that she serves in dual roles as Gilcrease executive director and as Vice President for Public Affairs at the University of Tulsa. In 2017, Neal was named as executive director not by the governing body of the owners of Gilcrease Museum and collection, but by then-University of Tulsa president Gerry Clancy, part of the public-private partnership deal enacted when Kathy Taylor was mayor in 2008 and extended for another decade by Dewey Bartlett Jr. in 2014.

In other words, Tulsa's priceless art collection is at the mercy of a failing university that has just undergone a hostile takeover and whose faculty is still in revolt.

The claimed reason for the City of Tulsa taking on TU as "managing partner" is the university's "nationally recognized academic expertise in western American history, art history, anthropology, and archaeology." Under TU's "True Commitment" plan, it will not be possible to earn a Master's in history, a Ph.D. in anthropology or archaeology, or to major in art history.

It's easy to imagine TU and its major donors using the leverage of the management partnership and the proposed $50 million to relocate the museum (to the Gathering Place, perhaps, or the TU campus), or to eliminate politically incorrect artwork (anything by white people depicting Native Americans, for example) and artifacts (e.g., the 1777 copy of the racist Declaration of Independence and Articles of Confederation), to so entangle the collection with TU and their management and donors that the citizens of Tulsa will never be able to reassert control over the museum and the collection.

Maybe everything will work out wonderfully, but my anxiety for Gilcrease comes from experience: Our city government has a terrible record when it comes to caring for our heritage and history, and for those of us who have been around for a while, it's chilling to see the likes of Susan Neal, an opponent of historic preservation during her time on the City Council, in a position of authority over this priceless collection. TU's role in Gilcrease is another source of concern, particularly with the recent conquest of TU's board. The Gilcrease collection was purchased by the City of Tulsa for the citizens of Tulsa; I am wary of the involvement of third parties who are unaccountable to the voters.

Tulsa's elected officials need to reassert the citizens' control over our priceless treasure and cut all ties with TU. If the current mayor and councilors won't do it, we need to elect new officials who will.

Back on February 4, 2020, Jacob Howland, University of Tulsa professor of philosophy, and a leader in the fight against the corporate takeover of the university, spoke at Hillsdale College on TU's restructuring, on the influence of the George Kaiser Family Foundation, on GKFF's view of Tulsa as "beta city" -- a place to engage in social experimentation -- and the bigger connections to the surveillance state. Howland walks the listener through his process as he began to ask questions about the radical restructuring of the University, and began to find connections in ever-widening circles.

I spoke about this when I was last on with Pat Campbell, but neglected to publish the link. Unfortunately, there's no way to embed this video. Here is the video of Jacob Howland's speech at Hillsdale College.

Here is the report of Howland's talk in the Hillsdale Collegian student newspaper:

Corporate interests are taking over the University of Tulsa with the goal of turning its students into meek, interchangeable cogs to serve the new knowledge economy, said Jacob A. Howland, professor of philosophy at the University of Tulsa. He gave his lecture "The Crisis of Liberal Education in America: Does it Have a Future?" on Feb. 4.

According to Howland, leaders at TU have one thing in common -- a connection to billionaire George Kaiser, the controlling shareholder of the Bank of Oklahoma. Interestingly, the Bank of Oklahoma controls half of TU's 1.2 billion endowment.

Howland said that this corporate takeover "was designed to extract value from TU for Kaiser, his trustees and administrators, and to promote Kaiser's progressivist causes."...

No matter what training they choose, however, the greater goal is to turn students into a new kind of human capital.

"Education is, in many ways, the new oil," Howland said. "The monetization and commodification of human capital requires a standardized product that will be pumped out in large quantities."

Essentially, the goal behind the restructuring of TU is to transform students into this standardized product. According to Howland, the ideal future TU students will be "individuals ground down smooth into workers and managers who will fit interchangeably into a globalized and digitalized system of production. This endeavor requires new levels of behavioral conditioning, which is quite adequately supplied by the imperatives of progressive ideology."

If this sounds dystopian, perhaps that's because Gerard Clancy, former president of TU and a close associate of Kaiser, sought to emulate the University of Beijing's branch campus in the city of Karamay, China. According to Howland, Clancy was particularly impressed by Karamay's heavy investing in the "knowledge sector"-- namely, technology information systems and information service industries from all over the world.

The city of Karamay has served as a testing ground for the newest security systems in China, including drones, wearable computing facial recognition, and predictive video that Clancy praises as "helping law enforcement fight crime and maintain public safety."

One of the intriguing facts Howland relayed dealt with a TU plan to turn parts of the Pearl District and Kendall Whittier neighborhood into a Cyber District. He managed to download a copy of the prospectus for the Tulsa Enterprise for Cyber Innovation,
Talent and Entrepreneurship (TECITE) Cyber District, which has since been removed from the web:

This proposal asks for the creation of a Tulsa Enterprise for Cyber Innovation, Talent and Entrepreneurship (TECITE.) The backbone of this enterprise is a set of co-located cyber centers of excellence that link industry, federal agencies and The University of Tulsa in a united effort in defense of our information systems. The proposal takes advantage of Tulsa's low cost of living, ability to recruit and retain young talent and the near downtown Tulsa Opportunity Zone along 6th Street. The proposal leverages The University of Tulsa's 20-year history as the lead supplier of Top Secret Security Clearance talent to federal agencies and as a national center of excellence in cyberdefense education and research. All of this is an effort to significantly grow additional cyber workforce and innovations in Tulsa.

Specifically, we propose four co-located Centers of Excellence; an Engineering Research Center at The University of Tulsa focused on cybersecurity, a Multi-Federal Agency Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, a Cybersecurity Insurance Institute to gather and analyze data on cyber risks, and a Consortium of Business Sectors in banking, energy, retail, health and transportation focused on cyber defense research and innovation. We propose the co-location of these centers of excellence along the 6th Street Opportunity Zone Corridor, linking downtown Tulsa with The University of Tulsa.

One wonders how this might dovetail with Tulsa Development Authority's redevelopment plans for these neighborhoods.

UPDATE 2024/02/19: Howland's speech is now also available on the Internet Archive and thus embeddable.

Chris Medlock used to make the point that in America, coalitions are formed before the election, while in countries with proportional representation, they happen after the voters have had their say. Giles Fraser considers the UK's decisive December election alongside Israel's third election in a year and explains why this is an advantage for the American and British systems:

The two main parties -- Blue and White and Likud -- are virtually equal, and not terribly different ideologically, with a whole host of smaller parties making up the difference. In Israel, and because of Proportional Representation, politics is all about the coalitions, with the smaller parties having a disproportionate influence on the makeup of any future government. The names of these parties may change a lot, but no amount of reincarnation can shift the underlying stalemate. And no one is confident that after another electoral cycle that things can change this time either.

Back in the dark days of Autumn 2019, when Brexit was stuck, neither able to go forward or backwards, I flirted with proportional representation as a way to break the log jam. I should have known better. For it was First Past the Post that finally delivered a much needed verdict.

For all its various faults, FPTP has the virtue of forcing different political temperaments to enter into coalitions with each other before elections rather than after them. And this means two things: 1) that we have a clearer view of the alliances we are voting for and 2) that the winning side is more likely to have the freedom to take politics forward. Stuck politics is a ghost story, unable to achieve anything, neither alive nor dead.

Elizabeth Babade, a Brexit Party candidate, said at the Change Politics for Good conference on Saturday that she no longer supports proportional representation. She believes it produces weak parliamentary institutions that are dominated by the permanent bureaucracy. Instead, she says:

The focus should be replacing the present ineffective opposition with a more focused party that is ready to properly scrutinise the Tory government not spitefully, hatefully or maliciously but dispassionately & competently. @UKLabour is not up to the task at hand.

James Heartfield tweeted in reply:

Under FPTP parties have to convince a large body of voters their plan is good. Under PR they have to convince a minority to back them; and then they have to convince opponents to compromise. PR tends to encourage 1. Posturing in elections 2. Opportunism in coalitions.

There are problems with FPTP. It turns most elections into a binary choice between bad and worse. New voices struggle to gain a foothold. Tiny pluralities turn into massive majorities. Similar parties can split the vote and allow a despised minority to take office. The Alternative Vote (aka instant runoff voting) would preserve most of the advantages of FPTP, but ameliorate some of the problems.

A friend, responding to news of the Boy Scouts of America filing for bankruptcy, asks, "Now that all the nonsense has destroyed everything, can we go back to Boy Scouts for boys, and Girl Scouts for girls?"

To put it another way, what benefit has accrued to BSA for all of the compromises the national organization has made with the Sexual Revolution over the last decade?

It must have been disorienting for BSA to go from being the epitome of Americanism and perfectly aligned with American culture for decades to being outcast, sued in Federal court, excluded from city and school facilities, and cut off by corporate donors because the values they always upheld were suddenly regarded as patriarchal, homophobic, transphobic, and regressive.

BSA national leadership thought they could make some compromises to the demands of the zeitgeist and get back their donors and locations, but the zeitgeist hates male leadership, hates morality and loves disorder and corruption. The more BSA gives in to the demands of the Sexual Revolution, the more they depart from their purpose, and the more they alienate their most loyal supporters.

This article in the San Jose Mercury News suggests that greedy behavior by central executives bears some of the blame for BSA's national financial turmoil. Execs getting salaries in the high six figures would have more to fear from major corporate donations drying up than the councils and troops who depend upon volunteers and local donors to make things happen.

At the grassroots level, troops are doing the best they can to uphold the traditions of Scouting, in spite of decisions made at national HQ. My son is part of a strong troop with solid traditions, a focus on outdoor skills, and the benefit of a large corps of adult leaders who teach merit badges, track advancement, organize equipment, and provide continuity and a framework for the boys to learn how to lead one another. (I am speaking here only for myself, and not on behalf of the troop or anyone in it.)

Our troop has helped to launch a sister troop for girls, and the two troops cooperate occasionally, but meet separately and camp separately, in accordance with the guidance given when girls were admitted to what is now called Scouting BSA. When we were at an out-of-state summer camp this year, however, we noticed a number of troops where boys and girls mustered together as troops at flag ceremony, shared a troop number, and appeared to be, effectively, a single co-ed troop.

And along with girls in the troops you get Scoutmaster Karen and her ilk. At the troop leader meeting the day after the staff's skit program on opening night night, there were complaints from female scoutmasters over some very mild gross-out humor and cartoonish violence. One veteran adult leader observed, "What boy wants to go to summer camp with his mom?" If the program shifts to accommodate the likes and dislikes of 11-year-old girls, 11-year-old boys will lose interest.

The only way forward for the Boy Scouts is for the national organization to decide that they are going to be consciously counter-cultural, recommitted to its traditional purpose: boys learning from men to develop manly skills, shoulder manly responsibilities, and build moral character (in the traditional meanings of those terms). America needs men who will step forward as servant leaders.