BY DAVID PERRYMAN There are phrases that are used to illustrate that whatever you call something, it doesn’t change what it is. In Shakespeare’s age, it was “A Rose by any other name is still a Rose.” Some areas of the country say “Put a Bow on It.” In rural Oklahoma, when we recognize that…
State Rep. Forrest Bennett, left, and UCO Political Science Professor John Wood, right, join Observer Editor Arnold Hamilton to discuss big money’s impact on state policymaking and potential ethics reforms at July 8’s Oklahoma Observer Newsmakers at Full Circle Books in OKC.
BY DAVID PERRYMAN “Ladies and gentlemen: the story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed to protect the innocent.” For the better part of 30 years, Jack Webb as Detective Joe Friday in Dragnet brought realistic law enforcement first to radio and later to television with each and every…
BY DAVID PERRYMAN The ancient idea that “The Enemy of My Enemy is My Friend” is widely considered to be an old Arab proverb. But in truth, it can actually be traced to the military strategy writings of an Indian named Kautilya who is often referred to as the “Indian Machiavelli.” Kautilya’s 4th century BC treatise…
BY JOHN THOMPSON Next January, Diane Ravitch’s long-anticipated book on education reform, Slaying Goliath, will be published but it is being preceded by an anthology, The Wisdom and Wit of Diane Ravitch. I contribute to Ravitch’s blog, and we have only had two types of disagreements. One is addressed in the new book. The first…
