OCPAC COMPLETES ITS BEST YEAR EVER

+ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

+ WHAT IS JUSTICE IN THE DR. TILLER TRIAL? JURY NULLIFICATION?

+ OCPAC COMPLETES ITS BEST YEAR EVER

+ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 30th will be held at Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Our speaker this week will be Mr. Tim Gillespie, founder and director of a new 2nd Amendment organization in Oklahoma known as OK2A. For more information log on to their web site at www.ok2a.org. While this is not an affiliate of the national organization known as Gun Owners of America (GOA), they maintain a relationship with the GOA and align themselves with that no compromising organization. I look forward to learning more about the reason for a new organization as well as some of the goals for OK2A. So don’t miss this week’s meeting, especially if you know the importance of the 2nd Amendment, especially with the gun grabbers now in control in Washington.

+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

WEDNESDAY - OKC AREA - Over the past few weeks I have announced several activist training sessions with the agenda of becoming a more effective citizen lobbyist as well as learning how to be a conservative influence upon the Republican party. This coming Wednesday, December 31st, a similar all day session will be held from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. There is no charge for this all day event and they do intend to break for lunch with the suggestion that those attending come to the OCPAC meeting for Lunch. The location will be the Northwest Bible Church, 4301 NW 36th street. That is just a couple of blocks East of Meridian on the North side of 36th street. If you are going to be able to attend please RSVP to Richard Engle at

640-9219 or e-mail him at engle@mrgop.com. Subjects covered will be:

real nature of politics and politicians, strategy and tactics, types of battles, the 2 seasons of politics, choosing leaders, parliamentary procedure, committees and hearings, staff, phones, the press, recruitment, meetings, lists, the internet and websites, how to raise money, direct mail and telemarketing, events, face to face contact as well as e-mail and internet technology.

JANUARY 22ND & 23RD - The second annual CLOUDS OVER AMERICA conference will be held at the Character First Center, 520 West Main in downtown OKC. The conference will begin on Friday afternoon at 1:30 p.m. and go until 6:00 p.m. From 6:30 until 9:00 p.m. a banquet will be served with pastor Stephen Broden of Dallas speaking about Restoring America and the dangers of the progressive agenda. Following pastor Broden’s speech will be Dr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University in Bartlesville. Dr. Piper will challenge us to understand and take on the culture war. The Conference starts on Saturday morning at 8:45 a.m. and concludes at noon.

Other speakers will be pastor Paul Blair regarding hate crimes legislation, Oklahoma Representative Charles Key on State Sovereignty Efforts, from Boston, the President of the John Birch Society, John McManus will talk about the history of Oppression, Oklahoma State Representative Mike Ritze, MD will discuss Medical Care Solutions, from Appleton Wisconsin, the Birch Society CEO Art Thompson will talk about growing the Americanist movement, Art Crino will talk about efforts to stop state cap and trade legislation in Oregon, a state in which the Governor wants to lead the nation in the green movement, pastor Dan Fisher will talk about liberty and the emergence of a modern day “black robe regiment”, Dr. Sterling Lacy will talk about religious neutralism, Charlie Meadows will talk about the Constitutionalist movements need for education and solutions and Oklahoma State Representative Jason Murphey will talk about reducing the size of government.

As you can see, there will be a lot on the table during this two day event which will require us to keep on a tight schedule. The cost to attend for Friday or Saturday or both days is $25 per person or $40 for a couple. Students are $10 each. There is an additional cost to attend the dinner banquet on Friday evening and hear the two speakers.

The banquet cost is $25 per person. For tickets, mail a check made out

to: Oklahoma Projects, 415 West 15th St., Suite 2, Edmond, Ok 73013.

For more information call (405) 348-9991 weekdays from 9 to 5:00 p.m..

If you are a pastor you need to call (405) 348-1745. Your registration and costs are different as they are being handled through Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ.

In addition, I need a volunteer with computer skills as well as camera or internet skills sufficient to create a power point presentation for this conference. I would suggest the date of January 9th or 10th to get together to put the information together. In addition, you will need to be able to attend the conference on Friday afternoon the 22nd. If you can help, contact me at charliemeadows7@gmail.com.

+ CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE? THE MANHATTAN DECLARATION!

The following article was in the December 10th edition of Oklahoma’s finest newspaper, The Tulsa Beacon:

“MANHATTAN DECLARATION POINTS TO THE IMMORALITY IN AMERICA” “What is going to happen to America? Based on the immorality of the Obama Administration, we are in for a rough patch.

Obama’s march toward liberal extremism has prompted a formal response from the Christian leaders of this nation. Several hundred have already signed the Manhattan Declaration, a bold document that outlines the folly of our federal government and advises Christians to refuse to follow laws that violate biblical principles.

In other words, God’s Law tops Obama’s law.

The answer, in the tradition of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is civil disobedience.

An impressive list of Evangelicals and Catholics, preachers and teachers, and authors and opinion makers have signed on.

They include Chuck Colson, Dr. James Dobson, Josh McDowell, Al Mohler, Dr. Everett Piper (Oklahoma Wesleyan University) and a list of other notables too long to repeat.

Some famous Evangelical leaders will not sign on for a variety of reasons, including a reluctance to join hands with Catholics in any cause. (I am not a Catholic, and have no interest in becoming one.

However, this is sad, much like being in a burning house with a hose but won’t use it because someone I disagree with on some issues is helping me hold the hose.)

This is a Christian protest against abortion, forced euthanasia, human cloning, homosexual marriage, out-of-wedlock births, human embryo- destructive research, federal funding for abortions, polygamy and the assault on freedom of speech and religion through hate speech laws.

The contract specifically mentions Obama and his advisors and their disdain for a host of traditional, biblical and spiritual values.

Other countries are already enforcing laws against preachers who speak out against homosexuality as an abomination. They are going to jail for teaching the Bible in public.

Obama recently signed a national hate crimes law, a precursor to hate speech legislation.

Obama’s health care reforms will force Christian hospitals to perform abortions or lose Medicare and Medicaid funds. Doctors that refuse to perform abortions will lose their licenses. Pharmacists who refuse to sell the abortion pill will lose their jobs.

This is serious business.

The liberals running this country need to wake up and stop this social engineering.

The good Christians of America will only take so much before they react.

This Manhattan Contract shows the level of seriousness shared by some very important Christian leaders in America.”

As I said in the e-mail last week I have been hearing expressions of disobedience from a wide spectrum of people. Also, the thought process for ways to push back against the government are varied and wide. Some are suggesting not paying taxes to the federal government, others are suggesting downsizing their businesses, eliminating employees to be free from many of the government regulations and costs associated with employees. Others are talking about bartering or developing a black market. Others are suggesting working for cash and not paying taxes on a significant part of their earnings.

I would suggest that the more the Marxists that now control our government, move to control the economy and oppress the people, the more we will see people who love liberty and the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labors rise up in various forms of resistance.

That is why it is such an interesting time in which we live. It is also a time we need people to summon their up-most courage.

Fortunately, the democratic processes are for the most part still functioning and fair. Should that process shut down or become so corrupt that fairness is out the window, that is when things could really get rough in this culture war in which we find ourselves.

+ WHAT IS JUSTICE IN THE DR. TILLER TRIAL? JURY NULLIFICATION?

The trial of Scott Roeder, the Kansas City man accused of killing Dr.

George Tiller, the late term abortion doctor based in Wichita, is due to begin on January 11th. Roeder, has admitted to killing Tiller, but based on the necessity defense, some would suggest it was a justified killing and not a murder.

I believe the thinking behind his actions was the realization that Dr.

Tiller was killing babies, some of whom were perhaps just a few days away from being born. To save the lives of these unborn babies, he took action to kill the doctor and thus prevent him from killing any more pre-born babies. Roeder is reportedly not sorry for his actions.

I believe he decided to take this extreme action to save the lives of these soon to be born babies.

Under the constitution, our government can execute capital punishment on citizens only after being found guilty of committing a capital crime and only after being convicted by a “fair and impartial jury” (“jury of our peers” is not the proper wording in the Constitution). According to the Declaration of Independence, one of the three reasons specifically mentioned for the need to form our government was to protect (innocent) life. If government refuses to protect innocent life or worse still if government condones the killing of innocent life or even funds such activity, are the actions of Mr. Roeder what we get?

Somebody help me to understand this quandary. If we don’t prosecute a police sniper for taking out an evil doer holding a hostage, then why would we prosecute Mr. Roeder for taking action to save the lives of “soon to be born” innocent children? If a good Samaritan killed someone in the process of murdering a helpless person and we wont prosecute that person, why do we prosecute Mr. Roeder? If the men and women in our military kill people who are intent on killing and destroying citizens in America before they have an opportunity to do so, then why do we prosecute Mr. Roeder for trying to prevent an evildoer like Tiller from successfully snuffing out the lives of the unborn?

I am sure some would say the difference is in the law. The law permit’s the police, the good Samaritan and the military to kill to save lives and property, but the law doesn’t permit a good Samaritan to kill an abortionist because we have made that legal. Is that sound thinking?

When Adolph Hitler came to power in Germany, many laws were in place to prevent Hitler from committing his many acts of genocide. However, he successfully changed those laws to allow him to move forward with his Godless and immoral deeds. So did changing the law make what was immoral become moral?

When a society rejects God and His principles, then governs in rebellion to His principles, that society sets itself up to rip and tear itself apart. What might happen if Mr. Roeder goes to trial, admits to killing Mr. Tiller but denies it was murder. Then the Judge issues strict rules for consideration to the jury, who then might ignore the judge and declare Mr. Roeder to be found not guilty of murder?

Should that occur, we may see a lot more actions like those of Mr.

Roeder. When the justice system of a society breaks down and begins to reward evil and punish good, then the well intentioned in a society begin to take justice into their own hands. When that occurs, sometimes those actions roam far and wide. There may come a day we see well intentioned people go after corrupt judges and crooked politicians. I sure hope and pray it doesn’t come to that in America, which is just one more reason to get organized and participate in the political processes to turn this nation back around to its founding principles without the use of violence.

+ OCPAC COMPLETES ITS BEST YEAR EVER.

As 2009 is coming to a close I just want to thank everyone who participates, attends and supports OCPAC though your finances and activism. We are ending the year with 217 dues paying members, raised over $20,000 this year (we spent $1,000 to help elect Todd Russ in a special election leaving us with a little over $19,000 going into 2010). We now have over 3,000 people on our e-mail list and see many of our members and friends participating in numerous projects. This year we have distributed more copies of THE LAW by Frederick Bastiat than in any other year. We have also distributed a similar number of the Davy Crockett stories “NOT YOURS TO GIVE” and have helped to get out hundreds of the DVD, Overview of America as well as other resources.

We normally have even greater participation in an election year. We are on schedule to raise over $40,000 for the 2010 election cycle which would greatly exceed the $33,000 we raised for the 2008 elections. Everyone’s membership will expire on December 31st except those who are having their checking accounts drafted on a monthly basis.

Already, people are beginning to pay their dues for 2010. I would urge folks to do so as quickly as possible. Somewhere in mid to late February we will begin to interview candidates for statewide office and Congressional seats. As an example, at this time there are only two known Republican candidates for the State Treasurer’s Office. We will schedule them both to appear on the same day. At the end of the meeting our dues paying members will vote for an endorsement. To be able to vote and make those determinations you must have your dues paid 2 weeks prior to the vote and you must be present at our meeting.

It will be a tight schedule in 2010 as we must have all our interviews for state wide and congressional races completed by filing date in June. Following the filing date, every Wednesday through the first week in October will be filled with our part in creating the Oklahoma Constitution Newspaper’s Conservative Index and interviewing candidates for legislative seats. So we have a busy year ahead of us.

Again, thanks for your support in the many ways it is exhibited. To join for 2010 please see the information below.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday

Charlie Meadows

Charliemeadows7@gmail.com

SECOND AMENDMENT HERO

+ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

+ TUESDAY’S 3 MOST IMPORTANT ELECTIONS

+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

+ SECOND AMENDMENT HERO

+ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday December 9th will be held at Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. Speaking briefly will be Dr. Steve Kern, pastor of Olivet Baptist Church in OKC. Dr.

Kern, along with pastors Paul Blair of Edmond and Dan Fisher of Yukon recently traveled to Washington D.C. to urge Attorney General Eric Holder to view the recently passed hate crimes legislation as unconstitutional. In addition they joined several other pastors and para-church leaders in preaching sermons about the SIN of homosexuality and the redemption from such sin on the steps of the Justice Department, thus challenging the JD to arrest them if they were violating the newly passed law. The main part of our meeting will be consideration of a new and updated set of by-laws for OCPAC. We are now about 12 years old, and while we have amended our by-laws several times they are in need of cleaning up and concisely reflecting our organization today. I want to do this at the end of the year where we have a large number of dues paying members allowed to vote on the possible changes.

One more item on the homosexual issue. This past Wednesday, the State Senate in New York defeated a bill by a surprisingly large margin which would have made homosexual marriage legal in New York. This follows voters turning down a similar measure in liberal Maine a few weeks ago. Homosexuals are disheartened over these two defeats. Last week I heard an interview with an advocate of the legislation who was sounding like a whiny butt cry baby. He was saying this was ALL ABOUT LOVE and the ability TO MARRY WHO YOU LOVE! Truth is, homosexual marriage is about re-defining the Biblical definition of marriage and family. In addition, it would re-define the recorded definition of marriage which has stood for over the 6,000 years of recorded history.

If the re-definition is allowed, the gate is open for anything. There are some animal lovers that are so nutty they will want to be married to their animals. After all, they will say, it is ALL ABOUT LOVE.

TUESDAY’S 3 MOST IMPORTANT ELECTIONS

OKLAHOMA CITY - The polls will be open for anyone living in the city limits of OKC to vote to extend one penny of the sales tax over the next 7 years and 9 months for the MAPS 3 projects or see a significant sales tax reduction. If the sales tax is reduced, the people and their families can spend that money however they see fit rather than putting it into the hands of city officials.

In the special e-mail which went out last Thursday morning, I tried to just evaluate the projects and the lack of operational and maintenance funds to keep them operational. I didn’t want to bring in the issues with the police and fire unions opposing the projects because the supporters of MAPS 3 have rather successfully “demonized” our police and firefighters as simply being union thugs seeking leverage over the city in contract negotiations. However, I want to address some of those issues at this time.

While I don’t know that much about the issues regarding the firemen, we did have the President of the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) speak at OCPAC and I have a good grasp on their issue. First, you must understand, the police have not asked for raises for any of their officers, as they recognize the down economy.

They have been asking for additional officers for some time now. I believe there are only 26 more officers on the force now than in 1982, yet the city has increased in population from about 450,000 in 1982 to today’s 550,000. Population increases put more strain on law enforcement. Since 1982, with the rise in gang activity, several officers have been pulled off the streets and assigned to a gang activity task force. In addition, with the development of brick town another large number of officers have been pulled off the streets and assigned to that small area of OKC. If MAPS 3 passes, another large number of officers will have to be assigned to the new park to keep it from becoming crime infested, filled with the vagrant winos and drug dealers. That will put even more pressure on police personnel.

The result is that fewer officers patrol the streets today and the serious emergency response time has now dropped to over 10 minutes. An outside entity was recently commissioned by the city which found we were 200 officers short for a city of our size. I personally don’t believe OKC needs another 200 officers, but we may need at least an additional 60 to 80 officers. Of course that would require more money.

I believe the polling numbers are looking bad for the proponents of MAPS 3, and as such they offered that the “special use tax” expected to be generated by MAPS 3 could be used to increase support for public safety. Traditionally, the use tax should be used for operational expenses and maintenance expenses for the projects. The use taxes won’t generate enough to expand public safety, and if used for such it will cause even less funds to be available for maintenance and operational expenses for the new convention center, senior wellness centers, light rail system and etc.

Last Friday, the firefighter local president was on Mark Shannon’s radio talk show and asked a very pertinent question. He suggested, if the first MAPS was such a great economic engine, why has there not been enough money to keep the level of police and firefighters up with the growth of the city? Great question and let me suggest the reason is that the city fathers frequently miss use tax receipts for improper functions of city government as well as grant sweetheart deals for their buddies, all in the name of economic development. The result is, an insufficient amount of funds are available for the vital functions of city government. Please let me explain.

In 2001 I was the morning host on a talk show and was suggesting that all corporate welfare and redistribution of wealth in the name of “economic development” was immoral and an inferior way to obtain a vibrant economy. I still stand by that assumption today. The real estate developer John Henry III twice asked me to address the OKC city council about the deal the city was negotiating with the Bass Pro Stores. I believe you are only allowed 3 minutes when you speak before the council, so it must be concise and to the point.

The second time I addressed the council, which was the meeting they decided to enter into the sweetheart deal with Bass Pro, I said something like this: I believe it is only fair that the citizens of OKC know that the way you have structured this deal, that for at least the next 20 years, none of the sales taxes generated by Bass Pro and none of the ancillary (sales taxes in the surrounding area) sales taxes will be available to be used for vital city functions such as police, fire, water, sewer, streets, parks and etc.. Those sales taxes must be used to repay the loan to build the Bass Pro store (Bass Pro was obligated to pay $825,000 per year on a $19 million dollar loan at 8% for 20 years). At that rate it takes 23 plus years just to pay back the principle and that doesn’t include interest. The city was subsidizing the loan with sales tax dollars for the parent company in which at that time the Gaylord family had a 19% interest. In my opinion, at that time I believe then Mayor Kirk Humphrey was little more than the water boy of the Godfather, Mr. Gaylord. Then Councilmen Larry McAtee and Mick Cornett went right along with the project.

The next deal of significance was the remodeling of the Skirvin Hotel.

Part of the financing to repay bonded indebtedness was the creation of a TIF (Tax Increment Financing) district. Meaning the property taxes generated by the remodeled Skirvin wouldn’t be going to the county and the sales taxes wouldn’t be going to the city, again sales taxes needed to be used for vital city functions.

The next drain away for city revenues came when the Hornets temporarily re-located to OKC. I believe at the request of some of the same powerful corporations and people backing MAPS 3, the state legislature passed a law exempting the tickets for professional sporting events from being subject to sales taxes (previously we did pay sales taxes on these tickets). Most individuals paying 20 to 50 dollars for a ticket to see a NBA game are not going to decide not to purchase that ticket because of another 2 to 4 dollars in sales tax costs. However, corporations purchasing hundreds of season tickets didn’t want to pay those sales tax costs. Therefore we have another source of sales tax dollars no longer available for city use.

As another point of interest, when the citizens decided to extend the MAPS 2 tax for 15 months to up-grade the Ford Center and build a new practice facility, everyone spending money in OKC is paying for those improvements, except the people attending the games. They are exempt for paying for the up-grades when they purchase their tickets. In addition, the city allowed the owners of the Thunder to have their way in such a sweetheart deal regarding the Ford Center and Practice Facility. The lease was so low on the practice facility that is would take over 100 years just to re-coup the cost of the facility (the estimated cost to build the facility is less, so I don‘t have accurate figures). In addition, while waiting on the new corporate offices to be built inside the Ford Arena, the city paid for the class 1 office space in one of the office building in downtown rather than the team paying for their own office space. That money used to pay for the Thunder’s office space didn’t go for the vital functions of city government. Are you getting the picture of what I mean when I talk about sweetheart deals for the good old boys.

The city has been so confident that the citizens will pass MAPS 3 that they have already been buying properties in the proposed area of the park. I don’t know where they got that money, but it isn’t being used for public safety. Just another example of the mind set of the central planners who control the city, to lure in a retail shopping center to be located at I-40 and Council Road, the city has promised sales tax rebates to the developers for a certain number of years. Do you think those retailers will have an advantage over other retailers in the city? These actions are immoral.

The bottom line is this. The first MAPS did generate new revenues, but those revenues are ALWAYS insufficient to keep up with the insatiable appetite of city leaders to give revenue away in the name of economic development. Thus, the new revenues aren’t sufficient to provide for the growing infrastructure costs and public safety demands for a growing city. If MAPS 3 passes the temptations for supporting ever more sweetheart deals in the name of economic development will abound.

The people in most areas of the city will never see their fair share of the newly created revenues to be spent on infrastructure or public safety expenses in their areas.

BROKEN ARROW - The Broken Arrow school board wants to saddle the taxpayers with an additional $295 million in property tax debt. $10 million are for new school buses and are on a separate issue. I might support that part of the issue, as long as they were purchasing the buses, not leasing them, and as long as they operated on compressed natural gas (CNG). I don’t know the what is being proposed, but the fuel cost savings from buses operating on CNG would go a long way toward paying for the buses.

Much of the rest of the costs are associated with building a large number of gyms and according to our good friends at Americans For Prosperity (AFP), the Broken Arrow Chamber of Commerce is to receive

$5.9 dollars from these property taxes. That would be a complete misuse of taxpayer dollars, though I am not surprised by the effort as greedy organizations are always trying to figure out way to get their hands on tax payer dollars. To our Broken Arrow friends and members I urge you to vote no and make the school board be more accountable for properly funding needs in the district. Property taxes are the most regressive tax known to man. They are totally insensitive to your personal prosperity and they will cause you to lose your property if you don’t pay them.

NEWCASTLE SCHOOLS - Proposition 2 is for $1 million for new buses.

However, proposition 1 is for $49.5 million which is huge for a small to medium size school district like Newcastle. Much of that will go for wasted efforts like an early childhood nanny state baby sitting center, and then a lot of extras like a field house, wellness center, up-grading sports facilities. These are things which for which people should raise money through donations or through the sale of concessions at sporting events. There may be some valid needs here, but they should be on a separate and much smaller school bond.

+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

WEDNESDAY - OKC AREA - There is a lot going on so I am going to limit the announcements to include only 3. This Wednesday morning, December 9th the Business and Professional Chapter of the John Birch Society will have their monthly breakfast meeting at the Character First Center, 520 West Main in downtown OKC. Breakfast is served at

7:15 and the meeting will begin at about 7:40 a.m. With the “global warming/climate change” conference beginning this week in Copenhagen it is most appropriate to have Dr. Ed Blick as our speaker. Dr. Blick has been a professor at the University of Oklahoma for many years and can teach in several disciplines. He is an inventor, authored many books and is an expert to the fraud known as “man caused global warming.” He will show us a few slides and update us on the recent e- mails discovered which show that many “so called” scientists may be quite willing to “cook the books” and thus sell their integrity for a continued flow of taxpayer research dollars. The timing is most appropriate as President Obama will be in Copenhagen on Wednesday, making a fool of himself and our nation as he will pander to the fraud.

WEDNESDAY - OKC AREA - Stuart Jolly, state director for Americans For Prosperity (AFP) contacted me to let me know he has secured the Character First Center from 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. for a live feed from the Copenhagen Conference. AFP will actually be in Copenhagen sponsoring a protest of the event. I believe they are also going to do a live interview with Senator Jim Inhofe regarding the silliness going on in Denmark. We in Oklahoma and the nation owe a lot to Senator Inhofe and others like Dr. Blick and Dr. David Deming, another OU professor who have all done stellar work bucking the tide of miss- information about CO2 and its effect on climate change. If you can’t make it to the OCPAC meeting, drop by the Character First Center (520 West Main) and join others participating in this event. There will be groups all over America on this live feed.

THURSDAY - MOORE OKLAHOMA - This Thursday evening, December 10th there will be a summit for pastors & state legislators on religious freedom. The location is the First Baptist Church in Moore (NE 27th and I-35), the time will be 7:00 p.m.. This is being sponsored by Reclaiming Oklahoma for Christ and some of the topics covered will

be:

* How are the UN’s Rio Summit, Kyoto Treaty and Copenhagen connected to Global Warming Alarmism.

* What is the Real ID Act?

* What is Agenda 21?

* How can these things effect your religious liberty?

* What can the State of Oklahoma do?

Christians really need to wake up to this threat, especially that of the Real ID Act and its successor, the Pass ID Act. These efforts, all in the name of public safety, are building a system which could have so much control over our lives that we could not work, travel, buy or sell anything without the watchful eye and control of “Big Brother”

all over us. Sad to say, we have Christian lawmakers in the state legislature who are facilitating the creation of this Orwellian monster. Come to this meeting to educate yourself, then communicate with your lawmakers on this subject. If they aren’t responsive, then vote them out of office, I don’t care who they are.

+ SECOND AMENDMENT HERO

This past Friday, a crazed fellow with a long rap sheet tried for over 10 minutes to get a single woman in a rural area of Lincoln County to let him in her home. She was calmly talking with the folks on the 911 emergency line when he finally picked up a table and threw it through her sliding glass patio door. That is when 911 and law enforcement could no longer do her any good. She took her 16 gauge shotgun and with one shot killed the intruder. When events like this happen, as a Christian I am on the one hand saddened as I know he will never have another opportunity to come into a righteous relationship with God. On the other hand, as a citizen, I am thankful that another parasite upon society will no longer be around to kill steal from and destroy the lives of good people. Donna Jackson is a Second Amendment hero. I advise all of the good people of Oklahoman to arm themselves and know how as well as be willing to use your weapons.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows

Charliemeadows7@gmail.com

IMPORTANT CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING MAPS III

There is a fair amount of exaggeration by the proponents of MAPS 3 as well as its opponents. The conflict of interest allegations regarding Mayor Cornett, who the prominent people might be that will make large sums of money from overpriced projects paid by the taxpayers and whether or not the police and fire unions are making valid arguments or just being unions are all points to consider, but not in this examination. My perspectives are based on attending two lengthy meetings with extensive Q&A time with city councilman Larry McAtee, a proponent. Also a meeting with councilman Brain Walters and the OFP President, both opponents. I attended a lengthy meeting with a former city insider who is familiar with local corruption and how the local good old boy deals work. I have read massive amounts of information, listened to information on Mark Shannon’s radio program and have a grasp of basic economics and past performances of similar projects in other communities. I am often asked if these e-mails can be forwarded or printed out for distribution? Please do so, some people may have a different opinion, but many are looking for additional perspectives before making up their minds. Hopefully the following information will be helpful.

Bullet points for why you should vote NO on MAPS III, detailed information will follow the bullet points.

* Proponents are asking for a huge amount of money with no legal

obligation to do any project

proposed (read the ballot, to a degree, this is a pig in the poke).

* Not enough money to complete proposed projects. In the best of

times, a 1 cent sales tax has

never produced more than $92 million in revenues. This project requires $100 million in

annual revenues and now we are in a recession with declining revenues.

* Proponents didn’t allow us to chose what we wanted, it is all or

nothing. There are some good

projects and some that are very bad.

* The operational and maintenance expenses along with needed tax

payer subsidies will be

greater than new revenues produced by the various projects.

* Projects like the light rail, river rapids, convention center and

senior wellness centers should

be built by the private sector, government should not compete against free market businesses.

* The state fair board is not forthcoming to show accountability for

the millions of dollars

received from the gate receipts, vendors, supplies purchased by vendors and the fees from the

weekly events held on the fair grounds. Those revenues should pay for all improvements to

the fair grounds, rather than continually asking for more tax revenues for improvements.

The revitalization of OKC started in earnest in brick town with the opening of Spaghetti Warehouse. Other restaurants began to open, then a little retail and antique activity. However, the first MAPS really accelerated the revitalization process and helped make downtown OKC into an exciting community. It was done the proper way as is being proposed in MAPS 3, in that the money isn’t going to be borrowed, but it will be, pay as you go. Tax dollars won’t be wasted on interest.

MAPS 1 certainly increased city revenues and when Devon indicated they would not have their home office in OKC without the first MAPS, that just shows how important the improvements to the city were, for companies to be able to attract people who want to live and work in the OKC.

However, under the law of diminishing returns, if MAPS 3 passes, don’t look for such a noticeable difference. “IF” all the proposed projects are completed, there will be improvements, but at twice the cost of the original MAPS, and there will not be anywhere near twice the value. Just remember, if money is no object, there is little man can’t build as an edifice to himself. Man can build really flashy and beautiful things. However, money is an object, not only to build the projects, but more importantly to operate, subsidize and maintain them.

The extension of the one penny sales tax must raise $100 million dollars per year to pay for the projects, assuming the costs are held in check. The projected cost is $777,000,000 million to be collected over the next 7 years and 9 months. Unfortunately, $90 and $92 million are the most revenues ever collected from one penny of sales tax in a fiscal year or in any given 12 month period and that was before the recession hit us. It is likely the sales tax revenues will be far below the necessary amount needed. Therefore, will some of the projects be deleted (not one single project is on the ballot) or will the tax have to be extended? The ballot calls for a “Citizens Capital Improvements Sales Tax Advisory Board” to review projects and make RECCOMMENDATIONS regarding projects. This “Board” will ONLY be able to “recommend”, they will have not enforcement authority. Basically, the proponents are asking the voters to grant the money and then they will decide later when, where and what capital projects for which it should be spent. The order in which projects will be built, as well as the proposed LOCATIONS for the “convention center” the “light rail”

project, the “senior wellness centers” and the river floating venue have not been revealed by the proponents.

Most people never realize how much one penny adds up over time. Over the life of the project, the cost is projected to be $777 million. If you divide that by the 550,000 people who live in the city, it comes out to a cost of $1,400 for every man woman and child in the city.

However, tourists and people who live outside the city, shop and eat in the city and thus pay a portion of the costs. OSU economist, Dr.

Mark Snead crunched the numbers on 1 penny of sales tax in OKC by factoring in revenues raised by visitors and suggested the average cost for EACH RESIDENT of the city would be close to $900 over the course of the project. Therefore, the cost to a family of 4 would be $3,600. The taxpayers are going to have to decide if they want to spend that money themselves on the things they need or want or let the city spend it how ever they see fit?

The convention center is one of the most important projects to the Chamber of Commerce. The Cox Center is a functioning convention center, but a new one would be nice to have. However, its price tag is far above what is should cost (equal to 80% of the cost of all 10 projects in MAPS 1). Even before the recession, convention business was on the decline, yet more and more cities have been building them hoping for convention and conference business. In hopes of landing Big

12 basket ball tournaments, they will be forced to leave the Cox Center in place as the proposed convention center will not have an arena. The operational expense and maintenance costs will double, while increased revenues will probably be far short of hoped for levels. The largest privately owned convention and conference center in the state just opened in Norman a few months ago.

The proposed new park will run from the current I-40 cross town highway down to the Oklahoma River. Probably about 7 blocks long. The mowing, landscaping and cleaning costs will be enormous as well as the need for many additional police officers to prevent crime and the homeless from making it their new home. The city did not plan for any parking around the park. When asked where visitors would park, Councilman McAtee indicated they would park on the side streets around the park. The plan is to have lofts, retail and offices surrounding the park. There will be a great need for parking for those residents and customers, making parking a real problem for non local residents to visit the new park.

The senior wellness centers were added to MAPS 3 in hopes of attracting votes for the “all or nothing projects.” The model for these centers came for Little Rock Arkansas. The finest center of its kind is well used because the fee to use the facilities is very small.

However, the nearly $1 million a year operating budget requires a city subsidy of over $600,000 per year and we are talking about building 5 of these financial losers. Over the past few years the city has shut down many of its swimming pools for a lack of funds to keep them open.

These will be much more costly as they will be open year round, are indoors and thus will require heating and cooling. On top of that, it is government competing against privately owned fitness centers as well as facilities operated by the YMCA family centers. It is immoral for the government to build these centers and compete against those in the private sector. Worse still, from a moral or fairness perspective, young professionals and teens who live in OKC will be forced to pay for these centers, but they will not be allowed to use them.

The light rail systems in Portland Or, Tampa Fl and other places are financial disasters. They require heavy subsidies and it will be worse in OKC as we are spread out and love the freedom and flexibility afforded by our autos. If light rail is approved, the next desired project will be commuter rail service. These might include rail lines from Norman, Edmond, Midwest City, and Yukon. Councilman McAtee indicated the costs to establish those lines will be over 1 $BILLION dollars. Commuter rail lines in California, Utah, Dallas and virtually everywhere besides Boston and a couple of other high rise congested cities are huge money pits, requiring massive taxpayer subsidies.

Unfortunately, the Oklahoma Department Of Transportation (ODOT) has applied for $2 billion in stimulus dollars to build a high speed rail between OKC and Tulsa. If built it will not save more than 20 minutes in travel time and will require an estimated $22 million taxpayer dollars each year to keep the boondoggle operating. It has been proposed that the State, Tulsa and OKC all share in that cost. The lust by city and state leaders to provide passenger rail service is driven by a spirit of “keeping up with the Joneses.” Just because Boston or someone else has passenger rail, we think we must have a system also, even though our lifestyle and population density is antithetical to such propositions. The light rail boondoggle project alone is enough reason to defeat MAPS 3.

The Oklahoma River has quickly become a heralded venue for rowing and other uses. There have been many improvements already done with private dollars. Further improvements could also be done in the same manner. The white water rapids project will be a lot of fun. But it will compete against the White Water fun park. Another case of government going into business and competing against those in the private sector. If and again I say if, there is a market for such an activity, then put it out for bids to the private sector and let someone build and operate it to make a profit. The city should stay out of these kinds of ventures. The rapids project is modeled after the one in Charlotte North Carolina. By the way, that project just went belly up. Because of the short time span for usage, this one here will require heavy taxpayer subsidies.

The sidewalks and trials are proper functions of government. The city already has plans to build them. The money in MAPS 3 simply accelerates the time to complete them. If the citizens want to extend a tax for a few month for these purposes, they should be allowed to vote on those projects separately.

Another thing to consider. Oklahoma County government is under threat by the federal government to fix the problems associated with the jail. Propose costs so far have been exorbitant and chilling. The county commissioners are trying to trim costs and may ask the citizens for a sales tax increase to solve that problem. If the citizens refuse, a federal judge could order a fix and demand the cost to be paid through a huge increase in property taxes. If MAPS 3 is voted down, OKC will see its sales tax reduced and in fact be the lowest of any community in central Oklahoma. That might lessen the blow of a future short term county sales tax increase.

One final thought. There are 7 announced Republicans and 1 independent running for the soon to be vacated 5th district congressional seat. No Democrat has announced at this time. Week before last former State Representative Kevin Calvey was on Mark Shannon’s radio show and was asked if he supported or opposed MAPS 3. Since that time several of the other candidates have made their positions known. OCPAC Vice Chairman Richard Engle and I have contacted all of the candidates and I now want to make all of their answers known. This is important as it gives the voters a glimpse into the ideology of the candidates. Their philosophy for the size and activities of government during a recession and more importantly how they may react to pressure from city leaders once in Congress as to whether or not they will bring the “bacon home” from a bankrupt federal government or if they care more about fiscal restraint and reducing the federal debt. City leaders will want some parts of MAPS 3 subsidized by the federal government.

Will the next 5th district congressman be independent or a puppet on a string for the rich and powerful?

The Congressional candidates opposed to MAPS 3 are:

Kevin Calvey - Republican

Dr. Johnny Roy - Republican

Rick Flannigan - Republican

Paul Araby - Republican

Clark Duffe - Independent

The 5th district congressional candidate in favor is:

Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud - Republican

Two other responses:

State Rep Mike Thompson - Republican - told me his position, but doesn’t want it made public.

James Lankford - Republican - Indicated his strong belief that federal office holders (or candidates) should not interject themselves into local issues.

The voting members of the Oklahoma Conservative Political Action Committee (OCPAC) overwhelmingly voted to oppose MAPS III. I would suggest it be voted down then after the recession has recovered, those issues may again be presented to the voters so they have a choice as to which ones to support and which ones to turn down.

Please direct any comments or a request to be added to our weekly e- mail list to:

Charlie Meadows, OCPAC Chairman

Charliemeadows7@gmail.com

BEWARE OF ARTICLE V

+ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

+ BEWARE OF ARTICLE V

+ THE CONSERVATIVE DIVIDE BETWEEN LIBERTY AND ILLEGAL ALIENS NEXT YEAR’S

+ RACES - LARGE REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES

+ AGENDA FOR THIS WEEK’S MEETING

Our 12 noon luncheon for Wednesday, December 2nd will be held at Italiano’s restaurant, 4801 North Lincoln in OKC. I am still trying to contact Moshe Tal to speak this Wednesday before the MAPS III vote so our members can have some understanding as to how the “good old boy”

network in OKC operates. He went from the president of the brick town merchants association to worse than the dust of the earth, perhaps because he wouldn’t go along to get along. If he can’t be with us, we will show the DVD, Freedom on the Alter. This is an expose on the UN’s agenda toward religious freedoms.

+ ANNOUNCEMENTS

TUESDAY - SOUTH OKC AREA - The next training session for legislative lobby training and being an effective member of the Republican party will be held at the Southern Oaks Library, 6900 South Walker in OKC on Tuesday, December 1st. The time will be 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.. The training is being conducted by conservative organizations with some of the speakers having many years of activism under their belts.

THURSDAY - TULSA AREA - Oklahomans For Sovereignty And Free Enterprise (OK-SAFE) will hold their monthly Action Forum in the Tulsa area on Thursday evening, December 3rd from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Hardesty Regional Library, 93rd and South Memorial in Tulsa. The subject will be about citizen involvement to make a difference in the state legislature. These training sessions are really important, especially for the many new activists as the legislature will convene in about 2 months.

FRIDAY - CENTRAL OKLAHOMA - The central Oklahoma members of the John Birch Society will host their annual Christmas dinner and fund raising auction, this Friday evening, December 4th, 7:00 p.m. at the Character First Center, 520 West Main in downtown OKC. The cost for the meal is $10 per person. Each family should bring a quality auction item, suggestions are homemade breads, pastries, home canned jams, sporting tickets, unused time share times, art, gift baskets or other items of interest.

Our annual Christmas dinner is always an enjoyable event and great opportunity to meet and visit with fellow Birch members as well as other friends. As always, I have a challenge. The man decked out with the most flashy Christmas tie or attire will receive their Christmas dinner on me. I lost this contest last year and am determined not to lose again. So wives, dress that hubby up to the hilt with Christmas “bling” and bring it on, I dare yah to try and beat me this year.

In all seriousness, this is our annual fund raiser for our many projects and information distribution for the next year. Don’t miss this fun event. So the food service can know how much food to prepare, please RSVP by 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday the 2nd at 348-9991. Please call during office hours. I urge all Birch members and other friends to attend.

+ BEWARE OF ARTICLE V

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the risks of all the new activists getting caught up in an effort to convene a constitutional convention, better known as a con-con. During the legislative session earlier this year, Oklahoma passed legislation RECINDING all our previous calls for a con-con. We joined about a dozen other states that have done the same over the past 10 or 15 years. However, I am not sure many of the lawmakers now serving in state legislatures know of the real danger behind calling a con-con.

When our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, we had to fight a though 8 year long war to make our independence stick.

Following the war we were governed by what was known as The Articles of Confederation. There were a couple of problems which existed, so a constitutional convention was convened to address these limited problems. Rather than tightening up the loose ends, the delegates to the convention threw out the Articles of Confederation and created a whole new government, with its parameters defined by our current Constitution. The point to note is the purpose for a con-con was limited, but the outcome was broad and wide, a new government.

While article 5 of our current Constitution allows for the states to call for a con-con, we have never done so since the one time in the 1780s. The danger in convening a con-con today is that it would be impossible to limit it to one or just a few limited issues. If a con- con were convened today it is VERY, VERY, VERY unlikely to have the caliber of delegates attending a con-con today that we had when our founders crafted our nation.

The pressure for a con-con today arises out of the understanding that we are facing serious problems in our nation. So people, perhaps well meaning folks, want to try and fix those problems by “adjusting” our system. However, our problems aren’t a result of a broken system, but rather a poor quality citizenry, the ones who operate the system. Our biggest problem is that elected officials and the Judiciary ignore or pervert the Constitution. If they pervert and ignore the highest “rule of law” today, what makes anyone think they will obey and uphold an adjusted Constitution?

As a matter of fact, I would suggest some of the previous amendments such as the 16th which created the income tax was a change that has led to the kind of oppressive control and favoritism we experience in our nation today. In addition, when we passed the 17th we allowed for direct election for U.S. Senators, rather than have the state legislators elect our Senators. That was the change that opened the door for the many massive unfunded mandates upon the states by the ever growing tyranny of the federal government. The average citizen is not well informed about un-funded mandates or how to stop them, but state lawmakers who have to scramble to obey them are well acquainted with those problems and they would make sure the Senate was controlled by people who were not inclined toward pushing the states around.

The reality is, the delegates of a modern day con-con could completely throw out our current Constitution and the Bill of Rights to create something very different, something very inferior to our current Constitution. Advocates of a con-con explain; any new document would have to be ratified by three fourths of the states. That requirement is a part of our current document, a new document might not require that at all. In addition, given the current historical, economic and constitutional ignorance, I am not so sure there wouldn’t be three fourths of the states that would be willing to ratify a very different form of government. Do you want to take that chance?

Talk radio host Neal Bortz, having grown impatient with the efforts to bring about the Fair Tax (something I really support), has become a proponent for a con-con. One day while listening to his program dedicated to such an effort, one caller after another called in with an idea of one more issue to add to a constitutional convention.

Believe me, those ideas for just one more issue will be the demands on a convention and that is why is will get OUT of control if one is convened.

An Oklahoma lawmaker recently forwarded me an e-mail he received from a person representing an organization promoting a con-con. The president of the organization listed 6 proposed amendments (some of them are really bad, intended to move us toward a direct democracy).

In addition he offered to provide model legislation for each state to use to call for a con-con. The e-mail went on to inform, that all 7,400 lawmakers in the various states were being sent the e-mail and a web-site was being created for constituents to be able to determine if their personal lawmaker was on board with a con-con.

Our problem in America today is that of a poor quality citizenry, largely ignorant of history, economics and having a post Christian moral code. We don’t have a problem with our system, we have a people problem. To try and solve our problem by changing our system rather than educating people is like a person on a highway with a destination in mind. That person becomes distracted and takes a rabbit trail down into a deep ditch on the LEFT side of the road, a trail that leads him on a wild goose chase through a briar patch. God help us, we must say no to any attempt at a con-con as it is completely off base in any effort to fix our nation.

+ THE CONSERVATIVE DIVIDE BETWEEN LIBERTY AND ILLEGAL ALIENS

This past legislative session I found myself in the middle of a growing divide between liberty minded conservatives on the one hand who don’t want to live in a “big brother” surveillance society, and conservatives who were very concerned with the threats to our nation and culture as a result of the massive invasion of illegal aliens.

This past week, Carol Helm, founder and director of the organization Immigration Reform in Oklahoma Now (IRON) sent out an e-mail. I believe it had as an intention to harm or pressure State Senator Randy Brogdon , also a candidate for governor, into support for an increased level of a surveillance society. I am a former supporter of IRON and am just as concerned today as I was over the past few years about the many problems associated with illegal aliens. I was a supporter of HB 1804, the legislation passed during the 2007 legislative session which deals, on a state level, with the problems associated with the illegal alien invasion. I am still a supporter of HB 1804 with the exception of the electronic verification (E-VERIFY) provision in the legislation.

In Carol Helm’s attack on Senator Brogdon, she failed to quote his full statement. Brogdon said “I co-authored HB 1804 but my concern is the federal government could use the information illegally much like Real ID. I have a real problem with E-Verify and I’ll tell you why, it requires that you give up your personal information that can be shared with the government database.”

We have done many programs at OCPAC on the illegal alien problems as well as programs on the threat of an international ID system using biometric facial imaging. The serious danger is turning that facial recognition system used on our driver’s licenses into being used for an international identification system. Those of us opposed to the invasion of illegal aliens are simply going to have to find a way to solve this problem without using E-Verify or other bio-metric imaging systems. However, I don’t believe Carol Helm or State Representative Randy Terrill are willing abandon that system.

Representative Terrill did a masterful job in pushing HB 1804 through the legislative process and I strongly support his efforts to allow us to vote next November to establish English as the official language for the state of Oklahoma. In many ways he has been a conservative hero, but if he doesn’t back off the efforts to turn us into a surveillance society then he will change from a hero to a goat.

Fortunately Senator Brogdon is not so focused on one problem that he is willing to put us at risk with the far greater problem, the threat to our liberty and the ability to live in a free society, not continually under the watchful eye of big brother. Speaking of big brother, have you seen the news reports about the installation of cameras to read the bar codes on our tags to determine if we have insurance? Not having insurance is a problem, but cameras watching our every move is not the answer.

+ NEXT YEAR’S RACES - LARGE REPUBLICAN PRIMARIES

So far there are only two Republican candidates for Governor, State Senator Randy Brogdon and U.S. Representative Mary Fallin. There are only 2 candidates for Lt. Governor, State Senator Todd Lamb and State Representative John Wright. The Attorney General Race has attorney Ryan Leonard from OKC and State Senator Clark Jolley of Edmond.

Reliable sources have told me former State Senator Scott Pruitt is still looking at the AG race. Janet Barresi of Edmond and Shawn Hime of Enid are both running for State Superintendent of Schools. Jason Reese, an OKC attorney is running for State Labor Commissioner.

Sources have told me former Edmond Mayor Saundra Naifeh is also considering the labor commissioner race. I am sure Dana Murphy will run for re-election for the Corporation Commission seat that is up for this election cycle. Thus far, former State Senator Owen Laughlin of Woodward and current State Representative Ken Miller of Edmond are the two candidates for State Treasurer.

I believe the only state wide race that the Republicans have no candidate for is the very important State Auditor’s race. While this is not an open seat, it is one a quality candidate could pick up as the current auditor is a recent gubernatorial appointee to replace the recently convicted former auditor Jeff McMahan. This past week current Republican State Party Chair, Gary Jones filed a law suit seeking damages against McMahan, former auditor Clifton Scott, and former Senator Gene Stipe for their alleged roles in cheating Jones out of a fair election.

I am wondering if Jones is positioning himself through the lawsuit for another run for Auditor? During the campaign for State Chair earlier this year he promised he would not run for that position again. Next year should be a huge year for Oklahoma Republicans, so I hope we can come up with a quality candidate for auditor. To have a good chance at cleaning up some of the deeply embedded corruption in the state, it will be imperative to have an independent thinking attorney general and state auditor working together in a spirit of cooperation.

When we get to the federal government races, we don’t see any challengers to U.S. Senator Tom Coburn. In the first congressional district, incumbent John Sullivan of Tulsa picked up a conservative challenger by the name of Nathan Dahm. Many of the grassroots activists who helped elect Sullivan have abandoned him for his lack of consistency. Dahm has an engineering background and spent several years in Romania as a Christian Missionary. He was one of the speakers at the END THE FED rally a week ago Sunday and was most impressive. I believe there may also be additional candidates get into this race.

In the second district, Democrat Congressman Boren has drawn at least

5 Republican challengers. Some of these folks are working very hard to unseat our lone Democrat in Washington. I believe the strongest candidate will emerge and if that candidate is able to raise enough money to be viable, that person will have a real chance to defeat little Dan with the Boren’s big last name.

There does not seem to be a Republican challenger in the 3rd district to challenge Congressman Frank Lucas. That may be because Lucas was the only U.S. Representative from Oklahoma to vote against the $700 billion TARP bail out legislation.

U.S. Representative Tom Cole of the 4th district may have the most difficult primary race of any of the Republican incumbents. Cole is our most liberal Republican Congressman and drew a challenger about a year ago. The challenger is a war veteran and current law student, R.J. Harris of Norman. I also just received an e-mail from Jeff Pritchard of Mustang that he will enter the race for Cole’s seat.

Pritchard describes himself as a Constitutionalist. There may be more to get into this race before it is all over.

The 5th District race, being vacated by Representative Mary Fallin will be a most interesting race. I believe the first Republican to announce was former State Representative Kevin Calvey of Del City.

Current State Representative Mike Thompson of OKC was the second candidate and Dr. Johnny Roy, of Edmond was the third candidate to announce. He was followed by Bethany businessman Rick Flannigan and then the Falls Creek Youth Camp Director, James Lankford. Mr. Lankford announced in September. About a month ago Corporation Commissioner Jeff Cloud announced he intentions and then a week ago a fellow by the name of Paul Arabie threw his hat in the ring. There may be more to come.

Starting in February of next year we will invite all of the candidates for an interview process. Our voting members will vote to endorse a candidate in all of these races or vote not to make an endorsement.

Next year’s election process should be most interesting. It will be important to see if the tea party and 912 folks will make a significant contribution toward electing conservative candidates rather than just the run of the mill good old boy Republicans or whacky Democrats.

I look forward to seeing everyone this Wednesday.

Charlie Meadows

Charliemeadows7@gmail.com