Oklahoma is #5

[cannon_fodder]

Aaaar limey! Yousa gonna walk the plank for that thar wrong answer.   hint hint

Because the pirates did it!

[TheArtist]

Ok, I give lol.

From wikipedia....."  In 1740, citrus juice (usually lemon or lime juice) was added to the recipe of the traditional daily ration of watered-down rum known as grog to cut down on the water's foulness. Although they did not know the reason at the time, Admiral Edward Vernon's sailors were healthier than the rest of the navy, due to the daily doses of vitamin C the sailors received.[8] However, it was not until 1747 that James Lind formally proved that scurvy could be treated and prevented by supplementing the diet with citrus fruit such as limes or lemons.[3] "

Thats how the tradition of putting lemon juice or lime juice on fish came about. It was to help prevent scurvy in sailors.  Thus ends this thread hijacking. :-)

[okcpulse]

TulsaArtist, this thread is interesting and all, but after five years of listening to board discussions and forum discussions and like, is that everyone is good at nothing but running Oklahoma into the ground based on rankings and lists, and not a goddamn thing about what they would do to make Oklahoma better.

Based on my observations, Oklahoma haters, as I have come to call them, are useless and self-loathing.  Let's not turn this into another useless conservatives vs. liberals bullshit argument. 

[cannon_fodder]

Well, I for one am glad to hear that I am worthless and self loathing.   I note you failed to raise a suggestion on what we can do to make Oklahoma better in regards to the prison population.  I doubt simply failing to mention problems will do a goddamn thing for making Oklahoma better.

IMHO, pointing out flaws is an essential step in improving them.  You are free to constructively add to this thread if you think it is worthless and self loathing.  Or you can call Oklahoman worthless self loathing persons who don't do anything to make Oklahoma better - which in and of itself might be construed as adding to the underlying problem you complain of.

[Cats Cats Cats]

I would decrease the number of people in prison or increase the population with people not in prison.  I think that would work. 

I would start with not throwing people with weed in prison.  We need to worry about meth not about weed.  I have no idea what # of people would follow under that category.

[okcpulse]

Well, I for one am glad to hear that I am worthless and self loathing.   I note you failed to raise a suggestion on what we can do to make Oklahoma better in regards to the prison population.  I doubt simply failing to mention problems will do a goddamn thing for making Oklahoma better.

IMHO, pointing out flaws is an essential step in improving them.  You are free to constructively add to this thread if you think it is worthless and self loathing.  Or you can call Oklahoman worthless self loathing persons who don't do anything to make Oklahoma better - which in and of itself might be construed as adding to the underlying problem you complain of.

I never said Oklahoma haters are worthless.  They are not.  But, they are useless in that everyime a ranking comes out, instead of offering solutions, they run Oklahoma into the ground.  That's it, nothing more.

Before we can offer solutions, we need to take a constructive approach as to why the incarceration rate is high, even nationwide.  There are a myriad of possibilities to consider and narrow down.  Simple using the reason "Oklahoma is conservative" or "it's Oklahoma's conservative values" gets us absolutely nowhere.  Nor does writing Oklahoma off as damaged goods.

[cannon_fodder]

I read your comment as making a general statement about people whining too much about Oklahoma, advocating the position that we should pretend everything is sunny in Oklahoma.

I agree.  Political affiliation might be related to whatever causes the high incarceration rate as the correlation seems to be there, but certainly in and of itself it is not the reason.  I started this thread actually wondering (I believe I pondered this) WHY Oklahoma is significantly higher than Kansas or New Mexico - let along other states that are much lower.

Everyone that is in prison is not only costing us all money each day to maintain, they are also NOT contributing to society in any way.

[okcpulse]

Not whining doesn't advocate the position that we should pretend everything is sunny in Oklahoma.  The point I am trying to make is that everytime this ranking comes out and that ranking comes out, I never hear "WE NEED TO FIX THIS!!!"

Instead, I always hear "That's Oklahoma for you!" or "Don't come to Oklahoma, it sucks."  Yeah, accomplishing a whole lot there, isn't it?  This is based off of many message boards and blogs and any other online posting source that gives the general population one more place to grumble.

No one believes in Oklahoma enough to fight for this state and do what's good for Oklahoma.  Instead, people get carried away and start grabbing change of address forms for another state.  That is the point I am trying to drive home.

We should be using these rankings to our advantage, but we are not.  Your posting this thread in no way is the problem.  I am not calling you out cannon, I am just speak about people in general.

[nathanm]

Simple using the reason "Oklahoma is conservative" or "it's Oklahoma's conservative values" gets us absolutely nowhere.  Nor does writing Oklahoma off as damaged goods.

You're right. That is a cop-out. The problem is the chokehold the law and order types have around here. Desperate people do desperate things. Why do you think bank robberies are up?

[Cats Cats Cats]

You're right. That is a cop-out. The problem is the chokehold the law and order types have around here. Desperate people do desperate things. Why do you think bank robberies are up?

There is a lot of "nobody should get a second chance" people.  So just as long as it isn't their favorite radio personality getting busted for using drugs.  They should go to prison forever, etc.

[waterboy]

.......I never hear "WE NEED TO FIX THIS!!!"

No one believes in Oklahoma enough to fight for this state and do what's good for Oklahoma.  Instead, people get carried away and start grabbing change of address forms for another state.  That is the point I am trying to drive home.

Okay, I'll say it "We need to fix this!!" And all the myriad of other poor rankings we get. Truth is that patience is running thin with the inflexible 1950's Okie attitudes that persist. If it takes pounding the rankings home till enough people are outraged at legislators who think persecuting gays, pot smokers, and flagburners is why we elected them; if it takes humiliating legislators who think putting the Ten Commandments on public property is a real issue deserving of their time, then so be it. Pound away.

Sitting on our bumpkins and telling everyone how friendly and warm we all are and how beautiful our state is has not gotten us much. Truth is, its not conservative politics as much as it is uninformed, theocratic, poorly educated demagogues who latch on to the conservative wing of the Republican party because they need such alliances to overcome a predominately moderate Democratic populace.  I look forward to state leaders who will face real problems and stop trying to run backwards towards the darkness just to get elected.