Defend the Indefensible: Mississippi

DeSoto County

Mississippi judge ejects Sikh from court for refusing to remove ‘that rag’ from his head

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/09/27/mississppi-judge-ejects-sikh-from-court-for-refusing-to-remove-that-rag-from-his-head/

"Take the rag away from your head, now's not the time for your beard"

http://thedmonline.com/upd-investigating-discovery-of-noose-and-flag-on-meredith-statue/

http://wdam.images.worldnow.com/images/24843507_BG1.jpg

asshole sonofabitch

http://www.governorbryant.com/governor-bryant-signs-senate-bill-2681-mississippi-religious-freedom-restoration-act/

Lame. But Mississippi has a nice hiphop influenced dance company who are the subject of a reality show on the Lifetime channel that I stumbled upon:

Founded in 2001 by Dianna Williams, or "Miss D," the Dancing Dolls of Jackson, Mississippi, ages 7 to 17, are said to be one of the country's preeminent dance troupes, with over 15 Grand Champion titles and more than 100 trophies under their belt.

http://blogs.indiewire.com/shadowandact/lifetime-launches-new-series-set-in-elite-world-of-hip-hop-majorette-competitions-watch-preview

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-watch/wp/2014/05/15/new-case-again-demonstrates-duplicity-of-embattled-mississippi-medical-examiner/?hpid=z3

This stunning revelation was the catalyst to create the campaign, which combats the erroneous stereotypes that plague Mississippi

...and which the politicians of Mississippi choose to reinforce every day!

Ugh.

yeah that article was horrifying.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal-a/2014_05/the_abandonment_meme_in_the_mi050483.php

criminal conspiracy charges against three people other than the original suspect, blogger “Constitutional Clayton” Kelly—to take photos of Rose Cochran in a Mississippi nursing facility:

I saw that today. What in the hell.

Defending Thad Cochran, didn't know it was possible in my mind.

This has been a crazy-ass story. I thought about voting in the Republican primary for McDaniel, in the spirit of "let's get all the crazy out in the open," but this whole thing is radioactive to me now. I'll vote for Childers in November, but he's going to get his head handed to him on a stick.

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2014/05/23/madison-county-judge-accused-racial-abuse/9518717/

Can anyone school me on this guy and his movie doc? This is happening in D.C. this week at the Library of Congress

Thursday, June 5, 2014
12:00 Noon to 1:00 pm
West Dining Room, Sixth Floor, James Madison Building

Michael Ford.

Homeplace Mississippi: a Cultural Journey, presented by Documentarian Michael Ford, Yellow Cat Productions, Washington, DC

During the early 1970s, filmmaker Michael Ford lived in and documented traditional music, farming practices, blacksmithing, molasses-making, and other aspects of community life in La Fayette, Marshall, Tate, and Panola Counties, Mississippi. Portions of his material were published in his documentary film Homeplace (1975). Recently, Ford's important collection of films and photographs documenting grassroots community life in northern Mississippi was acquired by the American Folklife Center archive. To celebrate this recent acquisition and to discuss his experiences in the 1970s as well as talk about his on-going work documenting life and culture in contemporary Mississippi, Mr. Ford joins American Folklife Center archivist Todd Harvey for a program highlighting his work.

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/michael-fords-homeplace-mississippi-in-the-1970s/

Found this

I had an appt with my primary care doctor this morning -- she's leaving this practice and the state and today's her last day. "We came here from Arkansas, and I thought Mississippi wouldn't be much different, but boy was I wrong -- it's very different here. My husband and I don't have kids and aren't really interested in having kids, and the nonstop judgement about that...ugh....My husband grew up in Detroit and then Minneapolis, and this was just not a good fit."
Me: "Congratulations on the escape."
Her: "Hahaha, thanks."

*judgment

"We came here from Arkansas, and I thought Mississippi wouldn't be much different, but boy was I wrong -- it's very different here."

Offended on multiple levels.

I def thought about you when she said that.

"My husband grew up in Detroit and then Minneapolis, and this was just not a good fit."

that'd be some fun culture shock, I am sure

I mean, take my home-state bias out of it.

"Gosh, it sure seems a bit backwards living here in Arkansas. Maybe we should try a different place... like Mississippi."

I guess I read that a little wrong. They moved from Arkansas and didn't think Mississippi would be much worse.

Still offended.

http://www.cinepremiere.com.mx/assets/images/galerias/2013/10-Octubre/11%20personas%20ficm/exclusivo.gif

Yeah, I gather my doc is from Arkansas or at least spent a long time there -- she has a bit of a southern accent but not a really heavy one. She was careful to say she didn't think MS would be "much different," not "much worse." This was basically them finding out that once population -- density as well as raw numbers -- drops below a certain point, there's just not a hell of a lot to do. Oh well, she only spent 2 years here.

A top aide to state Sen. Chris McDaniel is under investigation along with two others as to why they were locked in a Mississippi county courthouse hours after ballots were counted in a fierce Senate GOP primary on Wednesday morning.

Hinds County Sheriff's Department is trying to figure out how McDaniel’s campaign coalition director Scott Brewster, Central Mississippi Tea Party board member Janis Lane and consultant Rob Chambers gained access into the building, where they stayed until a police officer arrived at 3:45 a.m., spokesman Othor Cain said.

The McDaniel campaign told the The Clarion-Ledger that staffers entered the courthouse through an open building to observe ballot counts, until they were locked inside, and a close Cochran ally was called for assistance.

Read more: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/208328-miss-sheriff-investigates-mcdaniel-staffer#ixzz33mTMJMqG
Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

http://www.buzzfeed.com/wyattwilliams/chef-john-currence-wants-to-save-mississippi-from-itself

Very good piece imo.

http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/college_guide/blog/in_mississippi_schools_access.php

Mississippi — the “least-wired” state in the country according to a 2011 Census survey. More than half of Mississippians have no Internet at home, and 41 percent have no access to the Internet at all.

Mississippi is so far behind on technology use in schools, it earned an “F” on a“digital report card” published this year byDigital Learning Now, a group that advocates for more online learning. The rankings examined whether schools have high-speed broadband, whether teachers and students have Internet-capable devices, and whether the states have metcertain benchmarks to ensure effective use of technology.

In Mississippi, this technology access gap only compounds the state’s most persistent educational problems. In the 2011-12 school year, only 75 percent of students graduated in four years, compared to the national average of 80 percent. After students graduate, they often struggle to find jobs. Nearly 20 percent of youth ages 16 to 24 are out of school and not working, the highest rate in the nation.

The Chris McDaniel fan-dance continues, with extra "Hey, Look! Nazis!"
http://www.clarionledger.com/story/politicalledger/2014/09/05/mcdaniel-appeal-lawsuit/15138543/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/09/04/mississippi-and-west-virginia-are-the-most-obese-states/

The other standard Mississippi story

Hmm, yes, I wonder what the No. 3 state is ... ok, I really didn't have to wonder at all.

http://www.seattlepi.com/default/article/Miss-misses-out-again-on-federal-preschool-money-5947188.php

State Board of Education member Danny Spreitler of Amory, who runs a foundation active in expanding and improving child care in Monroe County, said the loss was "demoralizing."

Spreitler said he thought the state's proposal has suffered from "too much bureaucracy and not enough direct money to children" and said Mississippi needs to improve coordination among the groups that fund and regulate child care.

Mississippi is governed by the most aggressively stupid humans that this nation can generate.

http://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/mississippi-town-repeals-anti-discrimination-resolution-secret

On Tuesday, in a closed-door executive session, the Starkville alderman voted to repeal both the new anti-discrimination statement and the policy providing health benefits for same-sex couples. Mayor Parker Wiseman says the aldermen behind the repeal provided no notice that they intended to hold those votes or any explanation for doing so. A local paper, the Columbus Dispatch, can’t even be sure which alderman voted which way:

Well this illustrates one major way in which Arkansas ways is better than Missippi ways: We have a strong Freedom of Information Act in Arkansas. I don't know what Mississippi's is like, but this wouldn't happen here. It's very limited what can be done in an "executive session." We'd have to vote it down out in the open, like they did in Fayetteville in November when they repealed that city council's efforts.

Side note: that article mentions Starkville's city attorney. He was a buddy of mine when I was in school there, third-sixth grades.

Thank God for Mississippi.

provided no notice that they intended to hold those votes or any explanation for doing so.

this is how the republican government in wisconsin basically does everything now

I wonder if politicians and Oprah and others have followed up on this since 2008

On yesterday’s episode of Oprah, she and Bob Greene announced the kick off of the 2008 Best Life Challenge. To promote the weight loss campaign, she visited her home state of Mississippi because, what better place to launch a weight loss campaign than in the fattest state? After learning of the Just Lose It! Meridian campaign, Oprah chose that community to help with the launch.

http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/01/meridian-ms-loses-it-with-oprah/#5XGmRUxx0QyhyDbu.99

Somewhat interesting story brewing about the firing of Dan Jones, the Ole Miss chancellor. Shit's hitting the fan from a lot of angles — Jim Barksdale (Netscape fortune), John Grisham, former chancellor Khayat, Charles Overby, Archie Manning, the Alumni Association, the Gertrude Ford Foundation, all are criticizing the move very loudly. The student rally on Jones' behalf tomorrow may move the story from local to national news.

http://www.deepsouthdaily.com/2015/03/was-ole-miss-chancellor-dan-jones-fired-over-obamacare.html

The IHL board are all Haley Barbour and Phil Bryant appointees, and as soon as Jones came back to work after a medical leave fighting lymphoma, they canned him. Word floating around is that Jones and the UMMC vice-chancellor he appointed were in favor of the Medicaid expansion and the ACA in general, so they stuck him full of holes on the steps of the Senate, as it were, close enough to the Ides of March. Bryant: "Hey, don't look at me, I didn't have anything to do with it."

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/03/27/documenting-the-blues-in-the-mississippi-delta/?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&module=mini-moth®ion=top-stories-below&WT.nav=top-stories-below&_r=0

x-post

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/ap-newsbreak-trustees-offer-deal-ole-miss-chancellor-29938677

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/business/2015/10/17/poor-students/

Just another sad article about Mississippi schools, the state government's priorities , etc.

Saw that yesterday, hugely depressing.

The all-Republican state legislature refuses to fully fund K-12 education (nitpicking and hairsplitting about the definition of "adequate" funding), so there's a ballot initiative this year (MS's statewide elections are on odd-numbered years) that allows the citizens to sue to force full funding. Suits would be filed in Hinds County (where Jackson is; this venue for suits against the state was set up by the legislature quite a few years ago), so opponents to Initiative 42 have been playing the Activist Judges card, saying "a single judge will pick your pocket and give the money to school districts without knowing what they really need." Anyway, a state legislator named Bubba went Full Racist and decoded what "a single Hinds County judge" really means:

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/local/dailyledes/2015/10/18/rep-bubba-carpenter-black-judge-and-initiative-42/74196426/

Oh, and our state senator, one of the few Dems left in the legislature, is liable to lose this time around because the GOP has finally found a candidate willing to say "pssst, ever notice that my opponent is a lifelong bachelor...?"

But you are getting a B.B. King Museum...(a music critic colleague who is quoted in the below, lives in your state,and posted about this on FB awhile back)

http://www.clarionledger.com/story/news/2015/05/29/mississippians-pay-respect-king-blues/28177663/

ok

They should pay their respect to Nina Simone, too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVQjGGJVSXc

And right on schedule, Bubba is deeply sorry.
http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/oct/19/rep-lester-bubba-carpenter-deeply-sorry-inappropri/

TGFM.

A rare (itt, anyway) positive take.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/expat/expatlife/11928516/Mississippi-madness-expat-life-in-Americas-weirdest-state.html

Posted by a fb friend of mine who travels to Pluto and loves it.

this state is fucking terrifying