World Sues Blogger Bates, Newspaper

The Tulsa World sued one of its regular critics on Thursday, alleging that the newspaper Urban Tulsa Weekly and columnist/blogger Michael Bates libeled the newspaper for alleged false claims that the World misled advertisers about its paid circulation.

"When a firm purportedly in the news business makes a claim that we have misled our advertisers, they call into question our integrity, and we cannot and will not let that stand," said World Publisher Robert E. Lorton III.

He said the World objects to Bates' claim in the January 15th issue of Urban Tulsa Weekly that the World concealed circulation declines from 1997 to 2007. Bates specifically alleges that a 2006 report by the Audit Bureau of Circulation "suggests the World was inflating its circulation by as much as 20 percent."

The World said the ABC audit showed drops of 6 percent in daily circulation and 5 percent in Sunday circulation for the period in question.

The lawsuit does not dispute that the newspaper's print editions have lost circulation over the past decade, but it does dispute Bates' claim that the losses were concealed or might have been greater than reported.

The lawsuit also contends that Bates and Urban Tulsa Weekly Publisher Keith Skrzypcak knowingly published the false information in an attempt to "gain commercial advantage."

Lorton said he does not object to criticism of himself or the World but will not stand for the organization's honesty being impugned.

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Tulsa Blogger Supports Jones

The widely-read BatesLine, Tulsa-based blog of Republican activist Michael Bates, is calling for the appointment of Republican State Chairman Gary Jones to replace convicted former Auditor & Inspector Jeff McMahan.

Bates notes that McMahan narrowly defeated Jones in their 2002 race for the office and that testimony in McMahan's trial showed a huge influx of illegal donations near the end of the campaign probably allowed McMahan to win.

Bates writes, "We now know that Jeff McMahan won that election in part because of massive amounts of illegal campaign money, including $157,882 from Steve Phipps, a business partner with Gene Stipe in abstract companies regulated by the State Auditor's office."

Read all of Bates' editorial at www.batesline.com and vote in our poll on the right side of this page.

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Blogger Bates Examines Council's Muslim Agenda

The controversy over gift copies of the Quran for Oklahoma legislators now floods blogs from one end of the country to the other. In Tulsa, blogger Michael Bates did some digging and offers this thought, part of a much longer and thoughtful piece you can read here.

Writes Bates: "Few people seem to have noticed that these Korans were being offered by an official Oklahoma governmental body, the Governor's Ethnic-American Advisory Council (GEAAC), established by executive order of Gov. Brad Henry in 2004. (The chair of which is Marjaneh Seirafi-Pour, at left with a copy of the Quran outside the Capitol.) That link will take you to an earlier item I wrote about this group. (Note: This link takes you to an article Bates wrote in May about the members of the Council; it raises many questions, including some about the associates of Council member Malaka A. Elyazgi's husband Mohamed: "He was quoted as a spokesman for the mosque in Norman following the October 1, 2005, suicide bombing on the OU campus. He was a business partner in a small shop in Oklahoma City with Mufid Abdulqader, who was indicted as a fundraiser for the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, of which Abdulqader's half-brother is the supreme political leader. (Abdulqader's story is frightening. He was a civil engineering student at OSU, worked at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation and then went to work as an engineer with the City of Dallas. In his spare time, his rock band performed at Hamas fundraisers, where he sang lyrics like, "With Koran and Jihad, we will gain our homes back, hey, hey, hey! My precious eyes are for Palestine, the agony of death is precious, killing Jews . . . Death to Jews, is precious. Jews will not fear threats, only action. So Hamas, hit them with the shoe bottoms of Islam and Hamas!")

"Officially the GEAAC 'is to be made up of from five to 15 representatives of Ethnic Americans of the Middle East/Near East community of the state of Oklahoma.' You may be tempted to take that at face value, to assume that GEAAC exists to serve Oklahomans of any religion and any ethnicity with roots in the 'Middle East/Near East.'

"But every public action this council has taken so far has concerned the Islamic faith -- encouraging schools to grant excused absences for Muslim holy days, asking for rebuttal time on OETA to the PBS series 'America at a Crossroads' because, according to the council's chairman, 'we thought there were a couple of segments that did not put Islam in a positive light,' and now passing out Qurans at the state legislature. While those actions would be reasonable for a private organization representing Oklahoma Muslims, they don't suggest a government-sponsored council seeking to represent the diversity of religions in the Middle East."

In Oklahoma City, attorney Mitchell Gray has written about some of the connections that exist: "Mufid Abdul Qader was one of the incorporators of the ISGOC (Islamic Society of Greater Oklahoma City) mosque where Webb once was the Imam. Qader is currently under Federal indictment in the Holy Land Foundation (HLF) case out of Richardson, Texas near Dallas. Qader’s half brother, Khalid Mishaal, is a Syrian who is a high ranking Hamas military executive and a known terrorist. Mufid Qader traveled with a troupe that performed skits portraying violent killings of Jews included at a 1992 conference in Oklahoma City. Mufid Qader is considered by the US government to have been a top fundraiser for Hamas. Hamas is responsible for many deadly attacks including some attacks where even Americans have been killed. The HLF is alleged to be a front for the Hamas terrorist organization through its fundraising efforts.

"A co-founder of the ISGOC along with Mufid Qader is Mohammed Elyazgi who, like Mufid was, is an engineer at the Oklahoma Department of Transportation. His wife Malaka is on current governor Brad Henry’s Ethnic Advisory Board." Read all of Gray's article by clicking http://www.newswithviews.com/guest_opinion/guest79.htm.

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Kathy Taylor, Gun Control In The New York Times

Tulsa blogger Michael Bates notes today that Mayor Kathy Taylor, a member of New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's coalition of gun-grabbing mayors, made the New York Times as a result of that membership. Bates asks questions the mainstream Tulsa media hasn't asked.

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Kathy Taylor: Her Bloomberg Involvement Examined By Tulsa Blogger

Tulsa blogger Michael Bates has an excellent post in which he examines the controversy over Tulsa Mayor Kathy Taylor's involvement in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's gun-grabbing coalition of mayors, an issue TMRO also has followed closely.

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Where Did Mary Easley Vote Last November? Coffee Says Residence 'Violation of the law'

UPDATE: Attorney General Drew Edmondson told KTOK radio today that questions about Easley's residence are not ones that "would come to our office." He said such questions would go to the Election Board or the Ethics Commission. State Senator Mary Easley, who last October 2nd registered as a voter in Senate District 29 while she represents Senate District 18, faces more questions today about her place of residence and whether she voted in her own election last year.

The McCarville Report Online reported Wednesday that Easley, who moved out of her district into Owasso last year, now lists a district "office" in Grand Lake Towne, on Grand Lake in Republican Senator John Ford's district, and claims mileage reimbursement from that Grand Lake Towne address to the State Capitol and back.

Easley thus far has had no comment or offered an explanation.

Today, Tulsa blogger Michael Bates reveals that Easley and her husband, Truman, registered to vote on October 2nd in the Mayes County town but didn't vote there in November's election and are no longer registered to vote in Tulsa County. That begs the questions (1) Did she vote last year, (2) If so, where?

Senate Co-President Pro Tem Glenn Coffee told radio station KTOK that Easley's residence outside her district is "a violation of the law."

Bates raised the issue: "McCarville points out that 230 miles is the right distance for a round trip from the Capitol to Owasso -- where the phone book lists her as living, even though it's in (Senator) Randy Brogdon's district -- but too far for the round trip between the Capitol and east Tulsa, where Easley was registered to vote last summer. 336 is what Google Maps gives for a round trip between the State Capitol and Grand Lake Towne, where Easley and her husband Truman registered to vote on October 2. (Records show that neither of them actually voted in that precinct, 490031. They are no longer registered to vote in Tulsa County, so it's not clear where they voted. I can't imagine that they wouldn't vote when her name was on the ballot.) I doubt she changed the mileage for the sake of $50, but she might have changed it in order to keep her stories straight."

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