Writing letters to lobby gov't

Think that writing letters to government officials doesn't work, won't be effective, is a waste of time? You are SO astoundingly wrong, as this blog post from Jeff Jarvis demonstrates.

I'm as guilty as anybody in thinking that such letters aren't worth the effort, a feeling that has intensified since coming to conservative Oklahoma.

But when an issue comes up that makes me think about writing to, say an Oklahoma republican Senator, to say "vote no" but I don't, then that Senator brags that he only got letters that said "vote yes" I cringe with shame. I have allowed him -- and now the media and the public -- to solidify the belief that the opinion is unanimous.

We should never allow them to make such a statement. We have to start demonstrating that there is an opposition to insanity, however small.

Report on the status of women in Oklahoma

The report on the status of Oklahoma women(PDF) is not all bad.

* Women hold four of eleven statewide elected offices.
* Although women in Oklahoma have relatively low earnings, their wage ratio with men ranks in the top half of all states.
* Oklahoma women report the lowest number of days per month of poor mental health in the country.
* Oklahoma allows women access to abortion without a mandatory waiting period.
But then again:
* As of July 2004, there were no women in Oklahoma’s congressional delegation, and less than 13 percent of state legislators were women.
* Women in Oklahoma are less likely to work in professional or managerial positions than women in all but six other states.
* Women in Oklahoma are among the least likely to have health insurance or a college education, and the most likely to live in poverty.
* Oklahoma does not require insurance companies to cover contraception or infertility treatments, important resources in women’s reproductive lives.
* Oklahoma has among the highest rates of mortality from heart disease, and Oklahoma women experience more days of activity limitations due to health than most women in the nation

(found on Okiedoke blog)