Mississippi
updated
4:04 a.m.
If ever there was an anti-research, anti-freedom, anti-woman law in the making, Mississippi's Initiative 26 was it. But last night, Mississippi voters took matters into their own hands. ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Another Republican hypocrite has been forced out of the closet. But this one did it to his damn self. Southaven, Mississippi, mayor Greg Davis was elected in 1997 on a conservative "family values" platform. He even ran for Congress in 2008 on a similar platform. If Davis sounds familiar to you, you may remember him as the guy who wanted to construct a statue of the KKK fou...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
For any who may be reading this series for the first time : this is a thought experiment where I try to see what would happen if the size of the House of Representatives were doubled to 870 members from 435. And yes, I know Republicans have the trifecta in both of these states. This entire series is theoretical to begin with, gimme a break. Louisiana and Mississippi are both states with siz...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m. - 6 clicks 
Not much new in this fight, just the victims. Thanks to everyone who helped Protect Maine Votes to victory on Tuesday. A People's Veto overturned the Republican legislature and governor's ban on same-day voter registration. Protect Maine Votes had this to say : "Same-day registration has worked for almost 40 years, helping Maine to be a national leader in voter participation," said Barba...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m. - 6 clicks
Mississippi’s measure seeking to grant a fertilized egg the status of “person” was defeated at the ballot box last week. Unfortunately, personhood advocates still plan to put the matter up for vote in five more states. Perhaps the next step should be granting women personhood. Because as it is, personhood advocates feel that fertilized eggs, embryos and fetuses should have more rights than ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Jon Stewart had a good piece last night on Tuesday's election results , and echoed Karl Frisch in saying that Republicans did NOT "overreach", but were rather doing exactly what they set out to do. All in all, a tough night for the conservative revolution. There must be a simple explanation. Quick, to the narrative machine! 11/9/2011: CAROL COSTELLO: Did Republicans overreach?...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Last night the Right got its nose smacked with a rolled up news paper by the voters in several states. While we had some electoral victories as Democrats I think that it is the initiatives that told the real story. Personhood in Mississippi failed. That is really good news as this was the state that was most likely to pass such a thing according the Conventional Wisdom. This is not the f...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Want the scoop on hot races around the country? Get the digest emailed to you each weekday morning. Sign up here . Leading Off : • MO-Gov : Given the extremely rocky road he's traveled down these past many months, it's no surprise that Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder finally decided not to run for governor—and that's exactly what he announced in a statement he released late Friday afternoon. K...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
If we were not currently in the middle of a competitive Republican presidential primary, we’d be actively talking about outgoing Mississippi governor Haley Barbour. Earlier this week, Barbour pardoned 215 prisoners, including 17 who had been convicted of murder. The controversy his decision produced was immediate and also unsurprising. Families of victims have been outraged and...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
7:08PM CST Update: I've posted the liveblog diary for this outbreak . I'm going to keep it going as long as I can. 5:35PM CST Update: A PDS Tornado Watch has been issued for the area that the SPC put in the bullseye this morning. The watch is in effect until Midnight CST. PDS means "Particularly Dangerous Situation," which is enhanced wording added to a tornado watch to indicate the poten...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
When Haley Barbour issued his now-infamous raft of pardons in his waning hours as governor of Mississippi, he pardoned five convicted murderers and several sex offenders. However, he couldn't be bothered to pardon Jamie and Gladys Scott, who presently are suffering through one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history. For those who don't know, the Scott sisters wer...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
In the waning hours before he was due to hand Mississippi's governorship to Phil Bryant, Haley Barbour issued 203 pardons. On that list were several sex offenders, child rapists, and five convicted murderers. One problem--it seems that at least some of those pardons violated public-notice requirements in the state constitution. State attorney general Jim Hood sought to have the...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
[bumped - Barbara Morrill] Mississippi voters agree: This is not a person Suck it , forced birthers. Despite a poll earlier this week showing Mississippi voters split on the Personhood Amendment, voters decided to reject "biological ignorance." So for now, pregnant women won't be cruising in the carpool lanes. This is a stunning defeat for the forced birthers who were tryin...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Mississippi voters will be determining more than the direct rights of women in Mississippi when they vote on a personhood amendment on Tuesday. The vote will also measure how far the Christian right's misogyny will go. Written by Amanda Marcotte for RH Reality Check . This diary is cross-posted; commenters wishing to engage directly with the author should do so at the original post ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
The day after she got out of jail, Martese Chism gave an interview to Mike Malloy on his nightly radio talk show. 1 On Saturday, October 22nd, Chism, and her fellow registered nurse, Jan Rodolfo, were manning the first aid tent at Occupy Chicago in Grant Park, when police came to clear the occupation. 2 [A]t 11 o’clock white shirt Chicago police officers came up and told us th...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
The defeat of Mississippi Initiative 26 and the gains for reproductive choice today in Mississippi--while critical--may in the long run be seen as pyrrhic victories given the ominous implications of Initiative 27, the exclusionary voter ID initiative that will disenfranchise thousands of African Americans, immigrants, married women, transgendered people, and Native Americans. Written by Lore...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Topics: BP’s Top U.S. Officer Called to Testify at Gulf Oil Spill Trial, Judge rules BP's 2009 oil spill in Alaska was accidental, BP Staff May Face U.S. Criminal Charges After Spill, WSJ Says, In a first, gas and other fuels are top US export, Deep Gulf drilling thrives 18 months after BP's oil spill, In a first, gas and other fuels are top US export, Shrimp season worst in recent history, A Gu...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m. - 5 clicks
Right wingers adamantly proclaim that free markets are necessary for freedom. So why do so many of these liberty lovers insist that women be constrained? ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
I know, I know, not a diary, but... Now that Mississippi voters are considering defining a fertilized egg as a person, I think we should consider the matter philosophically. If an unfertilized egg isn't a person and a fertilized egg is a person, does that mean that the egg gets a soul as soon as it has 26 chromosomes? What are the implications? Given that most zygotes don't becom...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Mississippi says this is not a person. A fun note on yesterday's defeat of the "personhood" initiative in Mississippi: Mississippi seemed the natural place to go—the most conservative state in the nation, which also elected Phil Bryant, the Republican lieutenant governor and co-chair of the Yes on 26 campaign, to succeed Haley Barbour as governor. This would be the man who Monday evo...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
The more things change the more they stay the same. From Canada's premier national daily newspaper, the Globe and Mail . Greg Davis, the Republican mayor of Southaven, Miss. was caught when state auditors requested receipts to explain 170 K in unaccounted expenses. The public only found out after 'The Commercial Appeal' (a Memphis TN newspaper) filed FOIA requests. According to The Commer...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
"Personhood" is on the table tonight in Mississippi. Amendment 26 - being voted on even now, for a few final hours - will potentially define a "person" under the laws of the state as any fertilized human embryo from the moment of conception . Leave aside, for the moment, the idea that any birth control method that prevented implantation (i.e., "the pill") might be rendered illegal - or the im...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Time to welcome me back to the fold. It's been awhile since I've posted anything. This semester has made me... busy. Not only have my classes been more rigorous than the last few semesters, but I've been consumed with the process with graduate school applications. So, I'm sure that you noticed (the inimitable) SaoMagnifico's diaries on fantasy states such as Delmarva and a scenario wherein O...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
For background on this tornado outbreak, please see my diary from earlier today. The SPC has issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" Tornado Watch for parts of Mississippi, Arkansas, and Tennessee until midnight CST as a line of storms continues to build up and move east across Arkansas. "Particularly Dangerous Situation" is enhanced wording added to a tornado watch to indicate the highe...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m. - 3 clicks
Like in so many other American home-places, black and white Mississippians see things differently, and, consequently, vote differently. As Mississippians proved last night, when things get really, really bad, together, we get our act together; we overcome. Now we all need to keep working to overcome exclusionary voter ID laws. Written by Rebecca Sive for RH Reality Check . This diary is c...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Conventional wisdom pushers and the beltway chattering class have been scrambling to explain the crushing defeat Republicans suffered in last night's off-year election. To hear them spin it, Republicans lost because they “overreached.” The GOP went too far they say. Ridiculous. Let me say this is as clearly and as simply as I can: Republicans did not overreach. What they did is who they ar...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
Appalachia is a region of the United States that has long been distinct from the standard definition of the North and South with which it overlaps, both culturally and politically. Central Appalachia has long been a bastion of the Democratic Party, but has moved rapidly towards Republicans in recent elections. Southern Appalachia has a mix of areas that have been Republican for many ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
In a decisive and resounding victory in one of the most conservative states in the country, Mississippi voters defeated--by a margin of 57 percent to 43 percent as of this writing--the dangerous Initiative 26, which would have defined a fertilized egg as a person with full human rights. Written by Editor-in-Chief Jodi Jacobson for RH Reality Check . This diary is cross-posted; commenters ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
When Haley Barbour issued his now-infamous raft of pardons in his waning hours as governor of Mississippi, he pardoned five convicted murderers and several sex offenders. However, he couldn't be bothered to pardon Jamie and Gladys Scott, who presently are suffering through one of the worst miscarriages of justice in American history. But now there's a chance to rectify it--which is w...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Mon 9:41 p.m.
This week saw Haley Barbour in hot water over pardons he granted to some Mississippi prison inmates. Haley Barbour left the Mississippi's governor's office on Jan. 10, 2012, after Mississippi's term limits law prevent Barbour from seeking another term. As one of his final acts, he granted full pardons or early release to some 200 Mississippi inmates. This action has drawn a strongl...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 24 - 3 clicks
In general, the federal Voting Rights Act requires states to draw majority-minority districts as long as they are compact and respect communities of interest. What might congressional maps of the 5 “deep south” states look like if this were not required? ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 22
Topics: The BP Gulf Oil Spill: A Risk Management Debacle, Gulf currents aided breakdown of oil after BP spill, study says, Revisiting the Deepwater Horizon Plumes, New NOAA study mirrors spill rate from BP well, Gulf of Mexico oil spill environmental data drives damage assessment, Claimants challenge holdback in BP oil spill case, In BP case, legal ties are topsy turvy: James Gill, Editorial: Wa...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 16
Well, that didn't take long. The outrage in Mississippi and the nation over former governor Haley Barbour's possibly unconstitutional decision to pardon over 200 criminals--including five convicted murderers serving as trusties in the Governor's Mansion--has already resulted in a drive to amend the state constitution in order to restrict the governor's power of pardon. And Barbour's ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 15
Late yesterday, Haley Barbour made his first public comments since issuing a raft of pardons in the waning hours of his term as governor of Mississippi. Among those pardons were several convicted murderers--and at least some of them didn't notify the public of their requests. Yesterday, from his new job as a lawyer with a Jackson-area firm, he made his first public comments since i...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 14
In his waning days as governor of Mississippi, Haley Barbour showed just how warped his sense of justice really is. He pardoned 14 convicted murderers --including one of the most cold-blooded murderers I've ever read about, anywhere. "I feel like my safety is in jeopardy," Randy Walker, who was shot and wounded by convicted killer David Gatlin, said Wednesday. "I wonder if he's going to...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 11
BP's PR campaign targets BCS game, and continues through Saints' playoffs. BP blasted by Norway’s regulator over offshore fire. Three firms appeal citations alleging Gulf spill safety violations. Halliburton denies destroying evidence in BP oil spill case. Transocean’s CFO steps down. Oil and gas group starts election push. You are in the current Gulf Watchers BP Catastrophe - AUV #575. AUV #5...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Jan 9 - 2 clicks
The Internet has been a tremendous boon for our economy, for entrepreneurs and for the sharing of knowledge. Nothing has transformed our society and our economy quite like the Internet. Of course, the Internet has it’s ugly side as well. Pornography abounds on the Internet. SPAM evolves every day. Petty people clog Facebook pages with [...]...
Sam R. Hall - Jan 9
These really are awesome posters. Captures each of the original trilogy movies perfectly. Go check them out. ✤ ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Jan 6
Interesting, I suppose. When it comes to mapping the world’s changing plutocracy, the Rolls-Royce Index is among the more useful tools. Simply put, it measures which country is buying the most Rolls-Royces. The index not only gives us a sense of the country’s with the most excess wealth to burn (a base model Rolls will [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Jan 5
The Clarion-Ledger has seriously hurt itself with the cuts they have made (probably many forced by Gannett), but their worst mistake was cutting back Marshall Ramsey. He’s far more than “just a cartoonist”. He’s an active member of the metro community and much beloved. And even if he was “just a cartoonist”, he’s a damned [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Jan 4
Over at my tech blog, Flashing Robot, I shared two outstanding posts from iOS developer Justin Williams about the state of magazine publishing for the iPad. Given my background in journalism, this is something that concerns me greatly. I’ve argued many times that print media has completely mishandled the Internet, and now they are mishandling [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
If you manage people, then you need to read this. If you are unhappy with your job, you need to read it too. Everyone else should read it because you never know when this truth might be handy to recall. I think of boredom as a clock. Every second that someone on my team is [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
John Gruber gets personal about the special moments we all experience as parents and how important they are. Short, wonderful post. ✤ ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
Over at ion, you can read about what the Social Network and Fight Club director would have done had he taken the helm of Spider-Man. The title sequence of the movie that I was going to do was going to be a ten minute — basically a music video, an opera, which was going to [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
Brett Kelly offers up a grat list of things that need to be included in the definition of “fiddling”. One that should definitely be included in mine OS over-thinking: Over-thinking is what breeds unfounded doubt. There’s a reason “go with your gut” is such a timeless refrain among those most accomplished — more often than [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
Some things you read and then just sit back and reflect. This short, chaotic little post is one of them. ✤ ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
I’m reading What Jesus Demands from the World (Kindle edition) by John Piper. In Chapter 14, the author discusses not being anxious with daily necessities. It includes this wonderful passage on Matthew 6:33, which says “Seek first the Kingdom of God”: “In other words, when you think about your life or your food or your [...]...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
I’m trying to catch up on a few podcasts, including Merlin Mann’s excellent Back To Work over at 5by5 with Dan Benjamin. The Dec. 7 episode was dedicated to discussing the difference between Noun people and Verb people, especially in the workplace. It’s an excellent listen that gets at the heart of the difference between [...] ✤ ...
Sam R. Hall - Dec 30
Just in case you forgot, or wondered what the government was doing: U.S. prosecutors are preparing what would be the first criminal charges against BP PLC employees stemming from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon accident, which killed 11 workers and caused the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history, said people familiar with the matter. http://online.wsj.com/... But is it really BP that's go...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Dec 29
However , a review by The CA shows that Davis spent thousands of dollars at the Mesquite Chop House in Southaven and thousands more at local liquor stores. Also included in the receipts is a charge for $67 at Priape , a store in Toronto that is described by its website as "Canada's premiere gay lifestyle store and sex shop." NSFW link. You were warned. ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Dec 16
Topics: BP spill may lead to criminal charges: Prudhoe Bay Spill, Did BP violate its Alaska probation? Federal trial begins in Anchorage, BP Pipeline Rupture May Force It to Pay More for 2006 Spill, BP faces revoked criminal probation in Alaska, BP Alaska Probation Hearing: Was Worker Fired for Calling Company Unsafe?, BP manager's email listing safety concerns debated at spill trial, BP to Secu...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Dec 5
With the release of election data for Alabama, and Mississippi for Dave's Redistricting Application. I figured I would try to get some districts made more favorable for Democrats. Needless to say the prospects are dim as we all could guess. Mississippi has the highest African American percentage of population at 37%. This as some 2011 Mississippi Gubernatorial election diaries have men...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 14
Less than a week ago, Republicans in Mississippi won the House (now 64-58 after Dem Rep. Donnie Bell switched parties on Friday), giving them control of government for the first time since Reconstruction. And because redistricting was not completed before this election, Republicans will be free to run wild and draw themselves very favorable maps. The Congressional map will be straightfor...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 13
Having trouble understanding what the Mississippi definition of a "person" is? Walter Brasch gives the most logical explanation. ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 11
Oh Mitt. Is there no position you won't run from? Once upon a time, Mitt Romney supported women's reproductive rights : "I believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country. [...] I believe that since Roe v. Wade has been the law for 20 years, that we should sustain and support it and I sustain and support that law and the right of the woman to make that choice. [...] And you...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 9
8 November 2011 Dear Mississippi, I was born ten minutes from the bathtub-warm brackish and silty Mississippi Sound. Before I said “Momma,” before I said “Daddy,” or “dog,” or “cat,” I said “Pascagoula.” No matter how long I live away from your moonlight and magnolias, your Mardi Gras and tamales at Christmas, your fig trees and fresh seafood, I will always fall into a deeper sou...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 8
While there doesn't seem to have been a lot of mainstream media coverage of Initiative 26 in Mississippi , it could potentially rewrite the rules of engagement for sexual activity in this country. David Atkins over at Digby's was discussing the futility of trying to debate the backers of this bill on rational grounds. So let's look at this irrationally. IF a person is what you have the mome...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 8
The Personhood Amendment in Mississippi intrigues me as to the legal ramifications of such an Amendment. So, I compiled a list in honor of the 23 pairs of chromosomes these future people have of such questions. 1. If an entire family dies, and their only heirs are the embryos left in a cryogenic lab, does all their money go to their heir embryo into keeping it alive? 2. ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 7
Mother Jones reports: So how are supporters getting out the vote? By blasting out emails promoting a film that equates support for reproductive rights with support for the Holocaust. 180 is a documentary by Australian filmmaker Ray Comfort, and features graphic images from concentration camps. Per a press release, Personhood USA has sent out a link to the film to 600,000 eligible voters in Mis...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 7
Does this look like a person to you? A new poll from Public Policy Polling shows voters are split on the Personhood Amendment appearing on tomorrow's ballot in Mississippi: It looks like the race to watch in Mississippi on Tuesday night will be the state's proposed 'Personhood Amendment,' which would make the state's laws regarding abortion and birth control the strictest of any sta...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Nov 7
N ovember 8th, Mississippi voters will will either support or defeat a proposition that would give a fertilized human egg the same legal rights and protections under the State’s Constitution that apply to living breathing people. Few voters in Mississippi would bother to turn out to support particulars of defining the legal status of the fusion of two haploid gametes. Most folks might ...
The iHandbill - Oct 30
A fetid brew of public ignorance and indifference flavored with abject partisan stubbornness forms the growth medium in America's political petri dish. A virulent voter virus feeds upon it, spreading a plague of indecision, impotence, Presidential pusillanimity, and contemptible congressional charade. The voter virus was created by pseudo patriotism and the excesses of a previous ...
The iHandbill - Aug 1
I posted this article in June, 2009. The spending and debt figures were taken from the Congressional Budget Office. It occurs to me that this article, even more valid two years after it was written, should be required reading for voters as well as the ignorant, deluded, greedy fabulists in Washington who are flirting with fiscal disaster for our Nation. Mitch McConnell, Mr. Cantor, Mr. Boehner...
The iHandbill - Jul 22
Mississippi voters do not register by Party. When they vote in Primaries, they may choose to vote in either Party Primary. Most white candidates for local races run as Democrats - otherwise they will get no black votes. Black Mississippi voters will just not vote for a Republican - nor do I blame them. As Republicans have tried to take over our state, they have rarely had Republican Primaries. Th...
Natchez Mississippi - Jul 21 - 2 clicks
The Great American Sideshow ! A merica has always had a fringe element of nuttiness but most everyone knew it was nuttiness and not to be taken seriously. Before today's instant mass communication, conspiracy claims, wild headlines, mean gossip and outright lies was mostly the stuff of checkout aisle tabloid newspapers. Today many people can...
The iHandbill - Apr 11
