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Christmas Trees (From Best to Worst)
Christmas may be the time to find the best deals on gifts and goodies, but it is not the time to skimp on eco-values. That means finding the best tree …
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U.S. Retailers Report Best Sales Growth Since March
This summer, Americans were walking contradictions: They opened their wallets despite escalating fears about the slow economic recovery and surging gas prices.
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The Back Story on the Anti-Gay Alliance Attacking Mississippi's "If You're Buying" Campaign
By Donna LaddThis falls in the can't-make-it-up column.
Most of you know that Mitchell Moore of Campbell's Bakery, who is straight, and Eddie Outlaw of William Wallace Salon, who is gay, and others started the amazing "If You're Buying, We're Selling" campaign. They want Mississippi business owners to put stickers in their windows to indicate that they don't discriminate, in response to SB 2681, Mississippi's version of the "Religious Freedom Restoration Act." (See lots of business owners with the icon in their ads in this week's JFP, too.)
So, the religious right is apparently not happy with the international media coverage the campaign is getting -- and from Mississippi, which is supposed to be their wheelhouse, you know. They really didn't like it when Emily Pettus of the AP (the JFP's next-door neighbors) did a story about this that was picked up by many outlets.
In response, they went on a PR tear to take back the messaging. Greg Scott, who tweets at @adfmedia, led the way, tweeting this week in response to the AP story: "Sticker folks protest imaginary law .@AP bows false narrative, RFRA not "vaguely written," no threat to "=treatment" http://bit.ly/QEU2El
Curious, I did some research. Turns out, Scott is the VP for media communications for Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly Alliance Defense Fund), a nonprofit group founded in 1994 by extreme-right and vocally anti-gay leaders including James Dobson of Focus on the Family and Donald Wildmon of the American Family Association. (Interestingly, Mississippi's Judge Charles Pickering is also on the board.)
Not to be outdone, the American Family Association, an alliance co-founder, also blasted the sticker campaign on a Christian "news" site, which is part of the American Family News Network, which is part of the ... American Family Association. "It's not really a buying campaign, but it's a bully campaign," said Buddy Smith, executive vice president of Tupelo-based American Family Association, "and it's being carried out by radical homosexual activists who intend to trample the freedom of Christians to live according to the dictates of scripture."
The Southern Poverty Law Center includes the alliance (and AFA) on its list of a dozen groups that drive the "religious right's anti-gay crusade." On its website, it brags that its "attorneys have successfully defended marriage as the union between one man and one woman in over 40 cases nationwide."
SPLC indicates that the alliance was established in the early 1990s in response to gay-rights battles in the courts—which it clearly believes is the "principal" threat to religious freedom. ADF President Alan Sears and Vice President Craig Osten wrote " The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom," which ties homosexuality to pedophilia and other "disordered sexual behavior."
SPLC states: "The ADF has also mounted legal challenges to gay military service, marriage, adoption and foster-parenting, as well as to domestic partner benefits around the nation. It trains other attorneys 'to battle the radical homosexual …
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Net-Metering Advocates Push for Support
Advocates for net metering pressed legislators this morning to submit and pass laws during this legislative session making the consumer-based electricity policy a reality in Mississippi.
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Events
It's the Weekend!
On Sunday, the Soulful Messiah Celebration youth concert is at 4 p.m. at Jackson Medical Mall.
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[Featured Blog] Obesity, Cars and Suburbia
Good column today from Ellen Goodman, especially for those of us interested in urban planning, the creative class, and all that stuff (Philip and Todd, I'm looking at you). It …
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[Sue Doh Nem] Come and Get It
The struggling economy has 'shocked and awed' the poor and middle classes.
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Free Voter ID Will Cost ... But What?
Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann announced yesterday that his office will be "proactive" and distribute free voter ID cards to anyone who does not have the proper identification. But …
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Record Powerball Result of Changes to Boost Sales
The historic Powerball jackpot boosted to $500 million on Tuesday was all part of a plan lottery officials put in place early this year to build jackpots faster, drive sales …
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Health Care
Health Department: Over Half a Million People Fully Vaccinated
The state of Mississippi has now administered 1.32 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine to residents, according to the state health department.
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New Eats; Small Business Loans Available
Longtime Fondren lunch spot Brent's Drugs started serving breakfast Saturday. The soda fountain and lunch counter closed its pharmacy operation in 2009, and new owner Brad Reeves has had his …
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Mississippi House Passes Bill Mandating Execution Secrecy
The Mississippi House has passed a bill that not only makes the details surrounding state executions secret, but allows lawsuits against anyone who discloses the secrets.
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Gifts for Your Sports Fanatic
A few years ago, my wife, Lacey, gave me one of my favorite books. "The Sports Book" (DK Publishing, 2007, $19.95) has an Astroturf cover and contains information about multiple …
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Voter ID: What's All the Fuss About?
The voter identification amendment that Mississippians voted in last fall has been generating some discussion on our site the past couple of days. Specifically the debate has centered around comments …
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Federal Gov't Edges to Shutdown Over Health Care
The Senate has the next move on budget legislation that has fueled a bitter dispute over President Barack Obama's signature health care law.
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New Oneida LP
Oneida record new album, The Wedding CD/LP; Tour w/ Black Mountain + Kinski; prepare split 12" with Plastic Crimewave Sound.
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My Stocking Needs a Massage
Christmas. Next week. Gifts. Parties. Cards. Stress. Relaxation: You could use some right now, and we're betting the people on your gift list would love some, too. Sit down; take …
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Faultline's "Your Love Means Everything" Re-issue +
"The Colossal Gray Sunshine," featuring guest vocals from the Flaming Lips, has been remixed as the emphasis track for Faultline's lost electronic classic "Your Love Means Everything", which will be …
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UK Police: Cyber Crooks Could Have Stolen Millions
A daring attempt to graft a rogue piece of hardware onto a computer at a London branch of Spanish bank Santander could have drained millions of pounds (dollars) from its …
