Category Archives: Protests

Wordless Wednesday – The Anarchists of Anonymous

Guy Fawkes Day – Tulsa Oklahoma

Anonymous – “a loosely associated international network of activist and hacktivist entities. A website nominally associated with the group describes it as “an internet gathering” with “a very loose and decentralized command structure that operates on ideas rather than directives”.^[2] The group became known for a series of well-publicized publicity stunts anddistributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on government, religious, and corporate websites.” (quoted from Wikipedia)

Update: Anonymous has declared War on ISIS after the Paris attacks

Saying No to an Outlet Mall on Turkey Mountain

There is big news here in Tulsa, Simon Property Group wants to build an “Upscale Outlet Mall” here. That is just great. We need economic development and jobs and investment and all that good stuff. I just have one problem with the concept.

They want to build it on Turkey Mountain right near the Turkey Mountain Wilderness Park. The outlet mall is going to be huge, covering 53 acres. Simon Properties Woodland Hills Mall is a little over 60 acres. As near as I can tell the spot where I took the photo above would be inside the outlet mall.

It is going to ruin a lot of things about Turkey Mountain. The one place in Tulsa where one can get away from it all.

Turkey Mountain is home to a lot of critters, Everything from snakes, turtles, and deer to…

… thousands of people: geocachers (above), hikers, runners, bicyclist, Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and just people wanting to go get their heads clear.

This is the wrong place to build an outlet mall. There are other places in the city where it wouldn’t have such a drastic effect.

I know that it is private property and I’m all for property rights as anyone else but not when it has such a drastic effect on the adjoining property. Plus it is anticipated that Simon Properties will be demanding subsidies and special tax treatment to make their project feasible. (Why is it that giving money to starving people is welfare and giving money to multi-billion dollar companies is incentives?) I don’t know about you but I’m not really wanting to provide incentives to somebody to destroy a wilderness and pave it over.

So, I will be writing to the Mayor and writing and talking to my City Councilor and contacting Simon Properties Group to see if they can make a wiser decision on locating their new Outlet Mall.

I am saying No to the Turkey Mountain site. Build in Tulsa if you wish, but do it somewhere else.

What about you? Have you ever fought City Hall on anything?

The Heat is On Downtown, Politics and Energy

Its’ been hot here in Tulsa. Especially downtown Tulsa. The main diversion here at lunch used to be dodging the tumbleweeds. Now all sorts of things are happening.

John Sullivan, our local US Representative was strolling the main mall Tuesday with his handlers and body guards and a KRMG radio reporter talking to local voters. He lost the election. So, if he calls you looking for a job, take the call ok? He really is a decent guy, I think voters were wanting change.

There was also a demonstration down by the Federal Courthouse. I walked down and chatted with this lady a while. She is of course is against the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that will be built to take tar sands oil from Canada down to refineries on the gulf coast. She has a lot of concerns about the extraction of the tar sands oil and the air and water pollution involved. She is also worried about the integrity of the pipeline and potential leaks and the effect on the environment. I neglected to ask if she was a part of an organization. Check out the Natural Resources Defense Council to see what they have to say. She and I parted friends. I’m just glad that she and her friends were taking advantate of their right of peaceable assembly.

I walked across the street to see these guys. I didn’t talk to them very much. Anyway, these guys and gals above are from LiUNA, the Laborers International Union of North America. They are for the pipeline for the jobs it will create.

I think the Keystone Project is one of the biggest no-brainers I’ve ever seen. I don’t want to dismiss the concerns of the anti partisians but I think they have been addressed. Energy is what makes our economy go. I would rather get our energy from a close friend and partner like Canada instead of the Middle East. Anyway both pro and anti groups were downtown trying to influence the Army Corps of Engineers who are considering a permit for the Oklahoma leg of Keystone XL. I didn’t want to be the big know it all and tell them that Corps hasn’t been downtown for years. They are in east Tulsa, hunkered down with the IRS behind a big iron fence.

I hadn’t had as much fun downtown since the Occupy Tulsa folks last Fall.

Tulsa World article on Tuesday’s protests.

What do you think? Are you for or against Keystone XL?