Category → Oklahoma City
To Hell in a Hand Basket
Those are the thoughts that come to mind after the events of last week. This post is a week behind but since my wife seems to think that phrase is so funny, I thought I would go ahead and post. Last Friday my wife and son were going down the street when they ran across this man chasing this girl swinging a board at her. My son got out of the car, the mail man tried to stop him and my wife called the police. The very next day my wife and I were looking at some new homes in South Oklahoma City/Moore. We missed our turn so we had to pull into a residential area so we could turn around. As we were waiting for traffic to clear, there was a Ford F-150 pickup that stopped to pull into the street that we were on. When an opening finally appeared, the two teenage boys wearing hoods over their heads driving the F-150 took off onto the street we were trying to pull out from. They crashed right into the brick wall that was in the divided road identifying the the residential neighborhood. At that time, both occupants jumped out the passenger door and ran around the corner. My wife and I called the police and identified them when they were captured. The police told us the truck had been reported stolen about an hour earlier and then hit another car before crashing into the wall. One of the witnesses to their earlier car accident was following them all the way up to the crash.
My wife was commenting about how she had to call 911 two days in a row. I told her that I should blog about this and she told me that I need to title it “To Hell in a Hand Basket”. So in honor of my wonderful wife, I did. For some reason she always laughs when someone says that phrase. I don’t understand but I think it is cute. Anyway, I thought I would share the events of the past week.
Gangland in Oklahoma City
Gangland: Crazy Killers (Latino Gang In Oklahoma City, OK) [44 Minutes]
You may remember a post back in January when I took many gang graffiti pictures around South Oklahoma City. This post had become a hostile place for rivals to post their hatred toward one another. It got so bad that I had to disable the post. At that time, I never realized that we had much of a problem other than the graffiti. This week, the History Channel’s Gangland profiled a local gang, the South Side Locos and their hatred for another gang, Grande Barrio Centrals (GBC). The above video is that program that was on television. I know that many times the media tends to exaggerate things and that may be the case here as well. I do however remember a couple of the events in this video happening. We often hear about a shooting on the South side on the news but when it is reported on TV we never hear what it was about. Most people ignore it because there are always going to be shootings on the news.
I was surprised to see this video on a national network. For one thing, I never thought it was that bad around here. Another thing is that I am not sure how wise it is to give them coverage on a national stage. It is hard to imagine what positive things could come from this type of exposure. In my opinion, this exposure can do nothing more than inflame the situation. In the entire story, they consistently put down this GBC gang. Although I am not really familiar with either of them, it does not take a rocket scientist to understand that the GBC’s are likely going to be offended by this program resulting in even more violence. On another front, I am not too sure that any city chamber of commerce wants this kind of publicity. When you have your city profiled on a national network for gang activity, it turns potential new residences away. I mean, people that just want to live in peace are not likely to want to move to a place that is on national TV for gang violence.
Although I do think this program does exaggerate the situation to some degree, there is no denying their is a gang issue on the South side. If you drive anywhere from I-35 West to May Avenue, and between 15th down to 59th, the graffiti is very prominent. I have seen entire buildings that are painted over from the ground to the roof as displayed in the photo below.
In the picture above you can see on the bottom right where someone has posted LK for Loco Killer. Someone quickly changed the L to a C for Central Killer. These two gangs are talked about in the video above. These two gangs are not the only ones in the area but they are the ones that are profiled in this program. The photo above is just one small example of the tagging that has taken over the South side. It is sad to see the constant vandalism that has taken over this area. I have always seen small areas of graffiti around but it was quickly covered up. It is so bad lately that it would take thousands of dollars just to cover up what is already there. I have always been proud of my home town but this is the sort of thing that no one wants for their town.
One of the sad things about all this is that I have actually heard people defend the vandalism by calling it art. It is not art when they are destroying other people’s property. If they want to paint up their own house then so be it but leave other people’s property alone. I first read about this story on the OKCTalk web site. They were posting about the show being on at the moment but I missed it. I found it on the Internet and thought I would post it here.
Hopefully in my idealist world, the people will see this and take a stand to clean up the problems. Unfortunately it will likely result in more hostility between two groups that are being ‘dissed’ on national TV. That is likely going to be the end result of this program’s airing. It will make them even more emboldened where the tax payers are less safe and end up being stuck paying to repair all the damages. I hate to be so cynical but the media coverage paints a rosy picture as though there is nothing wrong. Our local media does not even know their is a South side. One thing that I have noticed about this city is the enormous blinders that are on. Our city has a North side that tends to reap most of the financial benefits that come with having one of the lowest unemployment numbers in the nation. There are lots of great stories about how our economy has faired well in this downturn. I have met people on the North side that have not been to the South side in 20 years. They have lived here their whole lives and do not even know where some of the main streets go through. It is this vacuum of knowledge about what is going on around them that keeps these problems out of the media.
The local media is almost exclusively comprised of North side residence. I work with people that live on the North side that do not even know about the things that go on in the South side. I do hold a little hope that having a national television exposure will wake up those in our local media so that the tax payers will know what is going on. I sometimes think it is sort of like that awkwardness that people experience when they are at a red light and there is a homeless person standing there holding a sign. It is too easy to stare straight ahead and pretend he is not there. It is easy for our locals to pretend our problems are not there and ignore it because they live in their expensive home on the North side. We do not want these types of stories getting national attention because it only exacerbates the problems. I still love my home town and hope to see it retain its family values roots. I do not want to see it become a den of crime to a point that no one wants to live here.
T-Mobile 3G in Oklahoma City
I would like to thank Shawn Wright for Tweeting the post…
“@tmonews can you confirm 3G in OKC? My phone just started indicating 3G…”
It was his Twitter post that made me check to see if it was true. It looks as though our T-Mobile has finally turned on 3G for most of the Oklahoma City metro area as you can see from the map above. This image was taken from the T-Mobile site. I am both happy and disappointed by this map. Happy because it is finally here and sad because the metro area coverage is very poor, even missing Norman completely. I am going to believe based on previous examples of T-Mobile’s 3G deployments that this is just the first wave of coverage that is expanded within weeks. I have seen this happen in other cities around the country as well. I do think this is a positive step and I thought it was important enough to share even before leaving for work. Since neither T-Mobile, nor Tmonews.com has announced OKC’s turn on yet, it leads me to believe this is not even official yet. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that T-Mobile does a massive expansion over the OKC metro real soon. This is great news for the T-Mobile faithful.
Multiculturalism
Yesterday I was driving around in our local Asian District and thought I would take this picture of the sign. I have mixed feelings about things like this because although it is nice to have many cultures around, it also makes me wonder if our own culture is being squeezed out. While Oklahoma City is not a huge city, it is large enough to see that different parts of town are predominantly one race or culture while others are different. For example in this area of the city in the photo above it is predominantly Asian with a heavy population of Vietnamese. On the South Side, there are mostly Hispanic leaning heavily on Mexican. On the Northeast side of the city, there it is mostly a black population.
While I have nothing against any of these groups, I often wonder about all the promise in the 1960’s and 1970’s of our country being a melting pot where immigrants would come and assimilate into society and become American. I am not saying they should give up any cultural influences of their homelands. I have seen that in many cases the various groups of people have become segregated from the rest of society into pockets. Since my school years were in the 1970’s and 1980’s I can remember all the talk about integration and desegregation. Despite all that talk, we find ourselves in a position where differing cultures are separate. Again, understand that I am not putting anyone down but rather telling of my observations.
We have gone from being the “melting pot” to a multicultural society where differing cultures live in the same community maintaining their own cultures. In some cases they are keeping the native language of their homeland furthering the segregation. I am still unsure of whether this is a good thing or a bad thing but it does tend to go against all the lessons we were taught in school in the 1970’s. Back then it was the prevailing thought that if you integrate children then they will be equal. The idea was that separate but equal was not the same as equality. Despite the teaching of those days we find ourselves living in communities where differing cultures are segregated into pockets. Our community leaders are promoting this multiculturalism by honoring the different cultures with designating certain areas of the city as “culture” districts. In the above photo we see how city leaders have chosen to not only give them an entrance into their community but also change the street signs to look like more of an Asian by using certain Asian fonts.
On the Southside of Oklahoma City the Mexican population has exploded and many businesses are not only in Spanish but fly the Mexican flag. I have not seen any attempt by city leaders to give them an entry sign into their neighborhood but they do have their own Oklahoma City Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Since my mom was born and raised in Southern New Mexico I have a soft spot for Mexican culture.
To date I have not heard any complaints about this type of segregation but I did think it was worthy of mentioning. With the civil rights movement of Dr. Martin Luther King in the 1960’s it was really pushed that we would not allow segregation. At the time it seemed their motives were pure, and to help create a more equal society. It was seen that whites were the dominating force and were suppressing the rights of others. The portrayal of other races being segregated was being a bad thing and would not be tolerated. It seems that now it is not a white force but rather differing cultures joining together to form their own communities. There is no racial factor at all but rather the normal human nature that people are more comfortable within their own groups. This comfort is not a slap in the face at others but just that, a comfort level.
In a similar way you could have a room full of white people and one black person. A new black person enters the room and will naturally gravitate to the other black person when they do not even know each other. This is not a discrimination thing but rather just desiring some comfort from familiarity. It is my belief that some of this comfort level along with cultural pride has caused our communities to have segregation all over again. I do not see it as a bad thing as long as our American culture does not begin to fade. I am not too worried about that because these segregated communities have been going on for several decades now and yet most of these differing cultures have no problem working together at their employer. I have found it to be interesting that a practice just 20 years ago would be frowned upon is now encouraged. The term “melting pot” has faded from the vocabulary of most Americans. In many neighborhoods you do find differing cultures living on the same street. Despite this, we still have pockets of predominantly one race over another and that is not necessarily a bad thing. It seems that despite the racial concerns of a few, America is now more accepting of others and for the most part that is a good thing. People no longer worry about having a certain race in their neighborhood like they use to. I for one like not having to be concerned about having “one of them” in my neighborhood. It is a different world now from what it was when I was younger. I can remember when people would make racial slurs openly and not even think twice. Looking back on it, I feel that it was shallow to feel that way. I was one of them when I was younger but then that was all I was exposed to at the time. I am curious how this will play out in the end. How about you?
Summer in Oklahoma City
I guess it is that time again. The photo above shows the temperature as 109 degrees while the National Weather Service only listed the high as 105. Oklahoma gets a little of both cold and hot. This is fairly common temperatures to get in summer though it only happens about two weeks each year. The average high on the hottest day of the year is 94 degrees though we have periods of much warmer like this. Just thought I would share this.
Club HOG
I ran across this video on Youtube today advertising some motorcycle event coming to Oklahoma City this month. I have never been much of a motorcycle fan myself but I have many friends and relatives that do. This event is supposed to bring thousands of Harley Davidson riders to the Oklahoma City area. It looks like it will be very interesting to bring more visitors to the area. We already have a large motorcycle ridership here in the metro as I have seen hundreds of them Bricktown and over on Meridian Avenue near the airport. This event is supposed to be June 26th and 26th so people will need to be paying attention to the roads. I hope you get a chance to come to the area and visit. Since the city of Oklahoma City put this video together, it is clear the city will be welcoming them with open arms. This could be a huge event to see. Hopefully I will be available to take some photos. Maybe it is wishful thinking but it would be nice.
Fourteen Years?
Today is April 19th and is a big day in Oklahoma City. It was 14 years ago today that Timothy McVeigh blew up the Murrah federal building in Oklahoma City in 1995. At this event there were 168 people killed. Above we have a picture of the Oklahoma City National Memorial that I took a couple months ago. This was represents 9:03 in the morning. Behind me there is another wall that says 9:01 am. Between the two walls there is a reflecting pool representing 9:02 when the bomb exploded.
In this picture you can see to the left, or South of the view in the picture on top. This shows the 168 chairs lit up that represent all of those that were killed in the bomb. These chairs have the names on the top and front so you can see who they represent. These chairs are sitting on the very ground where the building once stood. In fact if you look at the wall in the background, you can see the wall of the parking garage that was under the building.
In this picture you can see a day time view of the memorial. The bottom photo was taken a couple years ago. This view is looking to the Southwest showing the same wall as in the first picture above. This memorial seems to be done with some taste showing dignity to those that were killed. I would have gone down there today to take some pictures of the crowd today but the North wind is really blowing hard and I really do not want to fight the crowd. It is hard to believe that it has been 14 years since this happened. I was living in Phoenix, Arizona at the time because I was stationed at Luke AFB.
I remember being in the M-16 firing range certifying for my upcoming move to Alaska. My wife paged me in my class to tell me about this bombing. I remember at first my instructor seemed irritated that his class had been interrupted by my being paged. Then once he heard what it was about, he went to get a television and brought it into the range so we could see what was going on. After the class, my supervisor let me go home early because my family lived in Oklahoma City. I remember I could not get in touch with my parent’s or my wife’s parents because of the circuits being busy. Eventually later that night, I was able to get through to my parents to find out they were not near this explosion. They were able to hear and feel the boom from their home. Shortly after this, I came back to Oklahoma City to visit my family on my way to Eielson AFB in Alaska. I was here long enough to see them implode the building to finish it off. It seems like it was just yesterday. I just thought I would share this day with you and post a few pictures that I had taken at the memorial.
God’s Beauty
All jokes aside about the weather the last few days what an amazing day it has turned out to be. I went out this morning and took advantage of the pretty spring time weather to take some pictures and it just makes a person happy to be outside today.
I took this picture of some flowers in the area around the Presbyterian Health Research Foundation at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center in Oklahoma City. Among all the medical research towers I found this area near I-235 that had such pretty flowers. I had no intentions of stopping here but I took the wrong exit off the freeway at I-235 and Harrison Avenue just South of the State capitol. As I was trying to navigate the confusing parking lots in the area, these caught my eye.
I don’t care how manly you are, you have to recognize the beauty in God’s design here. We have been enduring a terrible drought over the last few months until two days ago when we had two inches of rain and freezing temperatures and yet these flowers survived. I only wish I had more time to get out and see more of God’s miracles that we have been blessed with. If you are like me and too busy to enjoy life, you should stop and take a look around and recognize what you have been blessed with.
In the photo above you can see the line of severe thunderstorms that were moving into the Oklahoma City area on March 27, 2009 that preceded the snow storm of the century spoken of here… 
This storm had some amazing cloud formations though no tornados in this one. I only wish I would have had time to get into a clearing to get this shot before it lost its look but this was taken in my front yard.
My blessing are too many to count but chief among them is the sacrifice that Jesus did for me on the cross followed by my wonderful family. I know I often use sarcasm in an attempt at being humorous on this blog but I do try to keep in mind the blessings that I have. When I graduate in May, I would like to make a point to take more photographs and post them on here. Photography forces you to take note of the beauty around you. I hope those that read my previous posts about the storm realize that I was just poking fun at the local meteorologists here in Oklahoma City. For the record as one that loves weather as a science, I do understand there are many variables that can change a forecast on a daily basis especially here in the central plains. For an explanation of why the weather can be so violent here, read this article from the National Severe Storms Laboratory here in Norman, Oklahoma.
Our climate is so volatile in the spring that it can go from a beautiful day like today to a violent storm within hours. This is something that we are use to in this part of the country and some love it while some hate it. If you are one of those that does not like this type of weather you do not have to worry about it too much because it does not happen nearly as much as the media would have you believe. I love watching them and even with me looking for them, they do not happen as much as I like. One thing is for sure though, you will never be surprised by one of these storms because as I joked about earlier weather coverage on our local media has become a contact sport and they will let you know if there is a storm 150 miles away. They will let you know if there is even the potential that one will occur within the next week. Also we have tornado sirens all over the place that will shake you out of bed in the night.
I know some of you may be asking yourself how I can go from being thankful for God’s beauty to something as destructive as a tornado. I guess it is all in how you see things. I genuinely love thunderstorms as crazy as that sounds. I see them as a wonderful thing. For those that do not like them, you can understand that the same physical forces that created this world continue to operate. God has given us the technology to research and know when these things will happen and prepare for them. Again, I guess it is how you look at things because as we know anyone can see negative in anything if they want to. The forest fires that start by lightning usually result in cleaning out all the undergrowth for new growth helping the habitat for many animals. If you choose to see the beauty in them you can.
I have lived in three countries, and four states and choose to see the best in every place that I have been. Oklahoma is a great place to live if you have the right attitude. This is my home and I love it here.
The Morning After
DISCLAIMER: This post contains photos that may be inappropriate for young viewers. Parental Guidance (PG) is advised.
(Cue the piano music)
Yesterday, March 28, 2009 will go down in history as the day that mankind almost went extinct. The Blizzard of 2009 was so horrific that it will be talked about for generations as the Oklahoma City metro area was brought to its knees with a record TWO MILLIMETERS of snowfall. You are right, your ears did not fool you as this city received two millimeters as in twice as much as one millimeter. As the storm clouds passed over night the horror of this event is just now being measured. As mothers clung to their children their very homes were being destroyed by the weight of two millimeters of snowfall. The chaos that has ensued has been nothing less than horrific. This morning after shows a city, and nation that can no longer survive on its own. The panic and wailing of those left behind gives the impression that time is running short. Looting has become out of control as well as violent. Below you can see what is left of a mother dandelion as she was mauled by a black bird. This graphic image is just an illustration of the pandemonium that has ensued.
There are far worse images than these but I felt that to show them would be taking advantage of the poor victims. I guess that is just the humanitarian in me rearing its head. Below you can see the young child of this dandelion clinging to life on a nearby chain link fence as the violence continues just out of the picture. I think I speak for all of humanity when I say this poor child needs our prayers.
As much as this pains me to see this violence and the raging storms go on I feel that we need to recognize that it is our own fault. If we had only listened to the doomsday predictions of global warming. If we had only taken their advice and rode a bicycle in a suit and tie to work ten miles, this could have been avoided. This horror is your fault and mine for not heeding the advice of the climate change crowd. Is it too late to correct this terrible situation? We will find out the next snow storm we have.
I have received countless emails praising my heroics of my reporting but I just want to say that I am no hero. I am just doing what anyone would do in this situation. I put myself in danger to protect you. It is just who I am as a humanitarian. I will continue to brave the elements and cover these terrible events to keep my viewers educated. I will not bow to the pressures of those that speak logic. I will not bow to those that have common sense. I do it for you because you the viewer mean so much to me.
(Piano music off)
Blizzard 2009!
Over the last week the weather experts have forecasted the storm of the century. They were on record to save the lives of those they have sworn to protect. Thanks to their heroic efforts thousands of people shopped their local Walmart stores to get survival gear that would inevitably save their lives. My hats off to the meteorological community as they have prepared us for this horrible experience.
The state of Oklahoma and the rest of the central part of the United States have found themselves in the grips of a blizzard of Biblical proportions. Especially hard hit is the Oklahoma City metro area with grave conditions being reported all over the city. The governor has declared a state of emergency for treacherous roads and dangerous conditions. Folks! We are talking about conditions that could bring our city and dare I say our economy to a halt. I implore you to stay at home unless you absolutely have no choice. If you must go out, make sure you have your winter survival kit with you to include 12 days of non perishable foods, four blankets per person, road flares, and a cell phone with six extra batteries. People I cannot express enough just how dangerous conditions in the Oklahoma City metro are. There have been reports of 2 millimeters of snow reported on car ports throughout the metro. There have been reports of roof collapses, power outages and scores of deaths associated with this historic 2 millimeter snow fall. Experts have blamed global warming for this unprecedented storm responsible for rose petals suffering “gulp” frost bite with this 32 degree weather.
State emergency managers are calling out the National Guard to pull Yugos out of the 1/2 inch snow drifts that have paralyzed our great city. People take blizzard precautions as the drizzle lands on your wind shield melting this 2 millimeters of snow. The melting windshield snow is causing tremendous flooding that has been known to move homes off their foundations. It is unsure what the final body count will be but preliminary estimates are around one. As the day progresses it is likely that number will increase with the inevitable rollover accidents with 18 wheelers in the 1/2 inch snow drifts. The Roman Catholic Church has been reporting mass commitments from converts in fear of their lives.
Again Oklahomans, if you do not have to go out, don’t! Your life is in danger and not worth braving the treacherous conditions resulting from this 2 millimeters of snow. Keep an eye on the elderly and the children as they are the most vulnerable to this incredible storm. The dooms day advocates are predicting a holocaust the world has never seen. Blacks and other minorities are reported to be the most affected as this storm has been known to show a racial element. The below picture illustrates the dangerous and dare I say grim conditions.
And below you can see just how deep this snow is as we compare it to the size of a dime. Not a penny mind you but the enormity of a dime! That is ten cents as compared to one cent.
To get a true “big picture” of the scope of this monstrous storm you must look at this wide angle view of the same area. You will have to forgive the blurriness of the photo below but I was overcome by the horror of the situation and forgot to put the camera on autofocus. I was in shorts because this storm came upon us with such veracity that we were unable to keep up. I will keep you up to date on my medical condition as the storm continues. As you can see from these photos that Oklahoma City has been under a strangle hold from this severe storm.
I risked my life to take this photo as a service to my fellow man. It is my innate concern for the human race that forces me to brave these conditions so that I can report to you just how grim the conditions are. I had four ambulances, and the experience of the Oklahoma National Guard at my beckon call during this event so do not do this at home. You do not and I repeat do not want to find yourself in these kinds of conditions. Although I make this look easy, it is not! I reiterate do not go out into these conditions without professional help. Today is my 43rd birthday and I should be enjoying it with my family but the humanitarian in me has taken over to save the lives of those around me. I am no hero as I do what anyone would do in these circumstances. I will be reporting the death toll throughout the day as well as damage reports right here on paulmccord.net. I’ll keep you advised.