Tag: Oklahoma

Oklahoma Bible Mandate Abandoned

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics, Government Failure, Opinion

Oklahoma Stuck with 500 Trump Bibles Already Purchased

Oklahoma has ended Ryan Walter’s mandate to place a Bible in every classroom. The Oklahoma Supreme Court in the wake of Walter’s resignation asked the State Superintendent if he wished to continue the current lawsuit defending the mandate. Walter’s replacement, Lindel Fields, withdrew the mandate this last Wednesday.

It appears much that Walters did while in office will be reversed and removed. I prefer not to think of him as having resigned preferring to think him melted by a bucket of water.

KOSU and NPR have a news article written by Robby Korth and Lionel Ramos.

https://www.kosu.org/education/2025-10-15/lindel-fields-announces-end-to-ryan-walters-oklahoma-classroom-bible-mandate

Ryan Walters’ controversial plan to put a Bible in every classroom last summer almost immediately met pushback. About a year ago, a coalition of parents, teachers and faith leaders filed a lawsuit against him and the state over the mandate.

The suit is ongoing, but because of Walters’ exit, Oklahoma’s State Supreme Court gave his replacement Lindel Fields, the opportunity to withdraw or resolve the case in the next two weeks.

But he ultimately took much less time. On Wednesday, Fields announced he would withdraw the mandate at the heart of the case.

(This is from a book picturing “The vanished places of worship and cathedrals in France from 1917.”)

Oklahoma like much of the United States is a place of many faiths. The Pew Research Center found that there were Oklahomans who practiced the Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist and Hindu faiths besides a bewildering variety of Protestant sects.

Here in Oklahoma we are leaving this chapter, this episode, of the culture wars to return to the very real problems of low morale among teachers and administrators as well as a tragic lack of funding for education in general. We are the 50th state in per pupil funding and I must reluctantly admit, a national laughingstock.

But stay tuned as various investigations into Walter’s conduct are now ongoing and there may be much, much more to see and hear about what passed for administrative decisions in Oklahoma Education.

In regard to business ethics, this is a cautionary tale of a narrow minded ideologue running wild. It is not the last one we will ever see although we may hope.

Salaries were paid to people who barely showed up, the most pitiful propaganda was adopted as if they somehow qualified as “teaching materials,” and the department was run like a personal fiefdom.

I wish the new Superintendent well and pray for his success.

The people of Oklahoma deserve so much better than what was done and a new beginning is called for.

James Alan Pilant

Hydraulic Fracking and Earthquakes?

On By southwerkIn Business Ethics

Does Hydraulic Fracturing Trigger Earthquakes?

Here’s a quote from the article entitled as above –

English: Hanging wall vs Foot wall - faults ar...

Image via Wikipedia

While the presence of a fault line in this region of the United States can be an apt explanation for the 5.6 magnitude Oklahoma earthquake, what about the sudden rise in seismic activity here? Between 1972 to 2008, an average of 2-6 earthquakes were recorded in the state of Oklahoma every year. In 2009, the number of earthquakes recorded reached 50, and further increased to a whopping 1047 in 2010. One cannot ignore the fact that more than a thousand drilling wells and more than a hundred injection wells have cropped up in this region over the course of time. Back in August itself, the region experienced a series of tremors, all ranging between the magnitude of 1 and 2.5, and now the 5.6 magnitude quake. While environmentalists are citing the link between hydraulic fracturing and earthquakes to oppose such projects, those in this business refute these allegations as baseless.

Does Hydraulic Fracturing Trigger Earthquakes?

Does hydraulic fracturing cause earthquakes? From what I have read so far, it would appear possible that fracking may have a lot to do with small earthquakes and may cause thousands of tiny almost insignificant earthquakes.

Having grown up in Oklahoma, I can’t help but recall that there was virtually never an earthquake. However, that they are much more common now is weak evidence that hydraulic fracking is the cause. If there is a pattern of fracking related earthquakes we will soon have measurable data. Both earthquakes and hydraulic fracking are trackable by geography, and patterns, if forming, should become visible.

Let us consider, however, what the effect of thousands of small quakes will be in a state like Oklahoma. What will the effects be? Generally they will be imperceptible one at a time. It seems to me though that bridges, roads and large concrete and stone structures are likely to take damage as the small insults multiply. How much damage? I have no idea. California has many small earthquakes a year. Maybe they have some data.

One thing is clear. Fracking should have been studied in depth before any large amount was done. There should now be continuous studies and a large tax laid upon the industry to finance both studies and regulation.

James Pilant

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Andrew Comments On “Law Prohibiting Price Gouging In Oklahoma (via 40/29 tv.com)”

On By southwerkIn business ethics

On my regular commentators, Andrew, would like to add his thought to my previous post, “Law Prohibiting Price Gouging In Oklahoma (via 40/29 tv.com).”

I like the spirit of this law. It prevents unethical businesses from profiting from the misfortune of others.

Here’s a hypothetical situation. If Company “A” and Company “B” are both hardware stores in the same town when an emergency hits. Company “A” is owned by an unethical man who ratchets up his prices to make a buck off of the emergency. Company “B” is owned by an ethical man who keeps his prices steady (perhaps out of a sense of duty to his community, who knows). Now say I am a resident of this town. In the aftermath of this emergency, if I hear that Company B’s prices are lower than Company A’s, then I will prefer to do business with Company B. Thus, ideally, ethics will win out over greed.

This hypothetical only applies to situations where healthy competition is established in each market. If you live in a small town where there is only one hardware store or one grocery store, then the residents are at the mercy of the store owner.

So it seems that this law will definitely help out the small town folks, and I see nothing wrong with it at all.

Andrew is good commentator and I appreciate his thoughts. I have urged him to write his own blog or to write full articles for mine but he prefers his current role.

If you write some interesting content, I am likely to post it. I get to choose when and my editorial decisions may not make much sense to you but I will try to do my best to be fair.

James Pilant

Law Prohibiting Price Gouging In Effect in Oklahoma (via 40/29 tv.com)

On By southwerkIn business ethics3 Comments

On occasion I am told by a student or layman that a business has a right to charge as much as they can get. As to rights, I generally prefer to think of the rights of free speech and religion. As to squeezing customers’ wallets as much as possible, this article below should attract a little attention.

James Pilant

Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt says a state law to prohibit price gouging during an emergency is now in effect.Pruitt said the Emergency Price Stabilization Act went into effect statewide after Gov. Mary Fallin declared a state of emergency Monday ahead of Tuesday’s winter storm.The law prohibits price increases of more than 10 percent on most goods and services when a state of emergency is declared and remains in effect on the price of goods, services, storage spaces and dwellings for 30 days after the emergency. It remains in effect for 180 days after the emergency on the prices of repairs, remodeling and construction.