Two more Tulsa robberies, last night. One was a 'strong-arm" & violent work of 5 robbers.
  Robberies are almost daily, now. Oklahoma's thousand-plus dispensaries are operating in 'cash only', because our state & federal lawmakers can't seem to regard these as anything other than renegade cartels.
 The Federal govt is deliberating whether licensed marijuana dispensaries should be allowed to use local banks for the safety of their staff & patrons. Hern, Cole, & Horn voted to change the federal policy, but Mullin & Lucas voted to  keep the shops more vulnerable to crime.
  Had the robberies happened at noon on Sundays in local churches, the lawmakers might have more sense and made it a campaign plank for reelection.
  The bill is tied up in the senate. Senator James Lankford is a stalwart opponent of extending banking safety. So is Sen. Jim Inhofe. To them, we guess robberies help discourage cannabis medicines from being more socially acceptable.
  What's even more troublesome for state govt. is the massive train of cash deposits coming in to the Oklahoma Tax Commission's Oklahoma City office every month at about the same time. Several millions in cash are brought in, by the thousands of business owners who either grow, process, or retail the medicines. State employees could be endangered, as well.

  The owner of two medical marijuana dispensaries, Robert Cox; just demonstrated his lack of tolerance this past week, by scolding & suspending an employee for bringing a sack lunch to work with a meat sandwich which was stored in the back room refrigerator.
  It's not clear how the employer discovered the contents of a sealed lunch meal, but the employer quickly took the employee off the schedule and accused her of violating "the holy space we've created at Friendly".
  The shops have a very unique history, especially at the Norman location where they were raided a few years ago for selling pipes that could accommodate smoking more than just tobacco.
  The shop manager, Stephen Holman; personifies much of the hipster image. He ran for city council of Norman and won. The police and prosecutor failed to get a conviction, but kept the contents of pipes they confiscated. Those same pipes are now legal, given the outcome of SQ788, which included paraphernalia in the medical marijuana reform law.
  Holman, who's likeness is the iconic logo of Friendly Markets, defends the owner's right to ban employees from taking meat products to work. 

Politico put it this way..
  From their matching red ties to their matching rhetoric, President Trump and Eddie Rispone, the Republican challenger to Louisiana’s incumbent governor, John Bel Edwards, have tried to erase any distinction between them.
“You need to fire your far-left governor,” Trump told the crowd of nearly 14,000 on Thursday night in Bossier City.
“We have to fire our liberal, socialist-leaning governor, John Bel Edwards,” Rispone said when Trump gave him the microphone at the CenturyLink Center.
While it is Rispone’s name that appears on the ballot Saturday for governor of Louisiana, in many respects it is Trump’s reputation on the line, and that is by choice. Trump has injected himself into the governor’s race with unusual vigor, hoping for a state-flipping win that he can take credit for. Unseating Edwards would do a lot to erase the sting of the public impeachment hearings and the news that the incumbent Republican he had backed in the Kentucky governor’s race had earlier Thursday finally conceded defeat. 

  When Oklahoman's traded in their territorial status for US statehood, certain things were understood. Among them were the sense of equality among the people. One may cynically laugh about whether the people ever lived up to that pledge, but our nation's laws have long come to the aid of minorities whose rights to the full liberties & protection of law. 
  We're now met with a startling realization of a form of racial, or tribal, privilege that is denied to the rest of the people of Oklahoma.

  Several polling locations registered no votes cast. This is especially true in the perimeter precincts. the handful of neighborhoods in Rogers County (near the Hard Rock Casino) had no votes cast. Similarly, wagoner County precincts of Tulsa had just 3 votes cast.
​  The voter turnout in Tulsa is historically poor. But this election had less than half the participants that showed up for the last mayoral election.
 Millions may have been spent to pass the propositions, but no organized campaign was formed to oppose the measures.

Tim Harper, Publisher of News Now OKC, has been arrested, for an infraction that very few understood. It's still a statutory misdemeanor to possess a firearm wherever alcohol is consumed.
  This appears to be the same scenario that OK2A president, Don Spencer, was attempting to demand his legal rights for, last month at OctoberFest.
  What isn't in the police report is the political fallout between Harper and Spencer's gun rights group.
  Last week, Don Spencer issued a press release, condemning Harper's video projects where Harper carries a personal firearm in public places. Spencer impugns Harper's motives and banned Harper from membership in the OK2A organization.
  This sets up a legal test of personal constitutional rights. If I can get an armed person arrested just by opening a can of beer in their presence; I'd highly doubt that our nation's founders would concur with that statute. Clearly, an intoxicated person should not be playing with guns, But a teetotaler's right of self defense needs to be defended, so he can defend himself if he is confronted by unruly & intoxicated people.

  The city of Mannford, OK is in shock and grief, today; with the news that one of their own peace officers, Michael Patrick Nealey, is suspected of the violent murder of the police chief, Lucky Miller.
  The two were taking part in a convention in Pensacola, FL when they reportedly got into a violent brawl at the Hilton Hotel. Nealey is a veteran cop with special training in sex crimes. He's being held without bond in the Escambia County jail. Despite Florida's broad public record laws, his mugshot has not been released because Florida law makes an exemption for cops.
  According to Pensacola media, WEAR-TV; Miller's dead body was found on the beach on Sunday morning. Nealey was not arrested until this morning.
  No word has been released regarding the nature of the dispute or what the nature of the injuries were. We also have no word regarding any weapons used in the altercation. Miller died from the injuries, according to police reports. 
  Lucky Miller has been with the Mannford Police dept. for more than 10 years and has earned praise for providing for a safe community.

  One of the worst failures of the US, militarily was the 20 years spent in Vietnam. We lost 58,000 uniformed personnel in that 'theater of war'. Deaths contributed to a war effort are the primary way that Washington politicians 'count the cost'.
  But the nation is eerily silent about the deadlier 'war' that these veterans continue to fall victim to... suicide. Between 2008 -2017, at least 60,000 veteran deaths were reported. Many were formally diagnosed with the catch-all diagnosis of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It has wide-ranging symptoms and a vast spectrum of impairments. 
  Survival on the battlefield is dependent on vigilance and circumspect diligence. Getting your head in the battle and focusing on all the dangers.
  But for many, getting the battle out of your head may never ever happen. the US has perhaps the best trained military in world history. As a result we usually have the tactical edge. But perhaps we're finding a sad consequence in what we train and expose?

 News Now OKC had video rolling while conducting an audit of 1st & 2nd Amendments rights in central Oklahoma City, on Saturday. Among the locations they traversed, was a faith community which was meeting during their sabbath. 
  Publisher Tim Harper sought a discourse with the worshippers regarding a recent traffic stop in which an individual refused to acknowledge municipal police authority to detain him, but asked for a sheriff, instead. Harper wanted to know if that motorist was reflecting the beliefs of this Black Hebrew Israelite group (as he referred to them).
  The worshippers (all men) told Harper to leave the property, and Harper promptly complied. But several municipal police responded to the scene and stayed present while a determination was made as to where the public right of way ends and private property begins.
  When the matter was established, police told Harper that they would prosecute if harper ever trespassed again. At no time was Harper required to disarm or provide documents. All parties acted with restraint even though there was clear displeasure with what Harper was doing. Neighboring businesses expressed their displeasure, in solidarity with the religious group.
​  We're providing two raw video clips of the event.

“This idea of purity and you’re never compromised and you’re always politically ‘woke’ and all that stuff,” Mr. Obama said. “You should get over that quickly.”

“The world is messy; there are ambiguities,” he continued. “People who do really good stuff have flaws. People who you are fighting may love their kids, and share certain things with you.”

  The NY Times added;

 After two months of unpleasant headlines and finger-pointing, the Oklahoma Grand Old Party (OKGOP) held two committee meetings in the past two days, to resolve some very timely issues. The State GOP Budget Committee finally had a 2nd working meeting on Friday night. It was a closed meeting with no teleconference accommodations. The looming task involved setting a structure for oversight of spending. A debt of about $20,000 had amassed since April. 
  Joe Beffer was officially designated as the new Budget Committee Chairman, replacing former State Auditor and past Party Chair, Gary Jones. Jones stepped down from the chairmanship this fall, due to other business commitments, but remains a budget committee member. Beffer is a Bartlesville banker.  A follow-up budget committee meeting will be set where a final proposed budget will be drawn up and sent to the presiding State Committee of the GOP, for approval and enforcement.
  Unofficial sources indicate that party spending has radically dropped and all staffing of the headquarters is provided by party volunteers and unpaid state party officials. Still other sources indicate that several in leadership have donated to a special fund to erase the party debt substantially, if not in whole.
  Observers confirmed that in this set of meetings, Chairman David McLain and Vice Chair, Mike Turner, have demonstrated a commitment to cooperative fulfillment of their roles in party leadership. Both seemed relieved and optimistic of the potential for electoral advancement in the crucial 2020 electoral calendar. 

  In the 3rd year of a massive & populist effort to reform how Oklahoma deals with criminal law; over 500 commutations occured this weekend. Over 400 of those affected are immediately going free. By the year's end, about 2000 will go home.
  Their crimes are deemed non-violent and no longer regarded as felonies.
  In 2016's general election, a citizen's petition garnered the support of the voters and gave a mandate to state govt. that nonviolent thefts of under $1000 is not a felony, and no more than 1 year in the county jail is appropriate. In addition, simple possession of CBD oil or other cannabis medicines is not a felony. Heck, it's not even illegal in many cases! Other drug possessions are also deemed a misdemeanor.
  This is no less than a cultural shift of the people of Oklahoma. The govt. came kicking & screaming to a place where they must comply. But Oklahomans still regard violence as worthy of severe prison sentencing.