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Editor's Note
A Fresh Start
John Lennon once said, "Life happens when you're busy making other plans." That's always been one of my favorite quotes, but never one that seemed to apply to me.
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NASA's Orion Spacecraft Back in Florida After Test Flight
NASA's experimental Orion spacecraft left Florida by rocket and returned by truck. The capsule arrived back at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Thursday.
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Justices Reject Arizona Bid Over Abortion Drugs
The Supreme Court is refusing to allow Arizona to enforce stringent restrictions on medical abortions while a challenge to those rules plays out in lower courts.
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House GOP Confident of Finishing Spending Measure
Confident House Republicans pressed ahead with a $1.1 trillion government-wide spending bill Thursday despite persistent grumbling among Democrats whose votes they need for passage, and lingering opposition from tea party …
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National
Shaunna Thomas’ Fight Against Sexism
Shaunna Thomas, Ultraviolet cofounder, says her organization creates costs for sexist behavior.
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Dawn of Orion: NASA Launch Opens New Era in Space
NASA's new Orion spacecraft zoomed toward a high point of 3,600 miles on an orbital test flight Friday, ushering in a new era of exploration that could one day put …
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Business
Pregnancy Discrimination Case Reaches Supreme Court
Today the U.S. Supreme Court will hold oral arguments in yet another blockbuster case at the intersection of sex discrimination, workplace law and reproductive justice.
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LGBT
Looking Way, Way Into Gay Marriage's Future in Mississippi
Predictably, U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves—as most federal judges appointed by Presidents Clinton and Obama did before him—last night ruled that same-sex couples in Mississippi should be allowed to marry.
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City & County
10 Local Stories of the Week
There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.
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Personhood
Ruling: Mississippi Abortion Law Remains Blocked
A federal appeals court said Thursday that it won't reconsider its earlier ruling that a 2012 Mississippi abortion law is unconstitutional. The decision means the law remains blocked and Mississippi's …
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Let's Keep Abortion Safe, Legal for All Women.
By AnnaWolfeWhat Rev. Joseph Dyer has done in his column published in The Clarion-Ledger today is suggest that white women, who he stresses are inherently more privileged, should have more rights than women of color. His column is called "Let's keep abortions safe, legal for white women," and he calls this proposal a "compromise."
"This compromise tells the children of black women that they are worthy, and desirable, and have been from the moment of their conception ... My compromise means that they will always know that their lives were protected, not just by their mother, but also by the law of the land," Dyer, pastor at St. Michael Parish in Forest, Miss., writes.
Leaving the option of abortion only up to white women, he says, tells white children "that the larger society was iffy about their value and worth at that time in their vulnerable lives."
He acknowledges that his "compromise" is horrible and racists, "but isn't that what compromise means, putting up with the disgusting to bring the nice a little closer?"
I assume the "nice a little closer" Dyer is referring to is the abolition of abortion for women of color. Only, Dyer seems oblivious to the fact that abortion is currently a right of all women in every state in the country (despite the fact that it is quickly being diminished by anti-abortion activist attempts).
To say that abortion should only be legal for white women is to say that abortion should be illegal for black women, which would only strengthen systematic oppression and racism against them. To "keep abortion safe, legal for (only) white women" is to make abortion dangerous for women of color.
Dyer says that his compromise will tell black children they are worthy, but instead it tells black women that they are not worthy of choosing when to become a mother and strips them of their autonomy.
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Men: Don’t Wait on Women to Act
Mississippi is only as strong as our women. And right now, by most economic and social indicators, Mississippi is not very strong.
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India Slides, US Gains in Gender Equality Ranking
Indian women still face some of the world's worst inequality in access to health care, education and work, despite years of rapid economic growth, according to a survey of 142 …
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City & County
10 Local Stories of the Week
There's never a slow news week in Jackson, Miss., and last week was no exception. Here are the local stories JFP reporters brought you in case you missed them.
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Cover
The Faces of Travis Childers
Travis Childers, a former congressman from Booneville, hopes traditional Democratic voters and tea-party members can help him upset Republican U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran in November.
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On the Issues
Travis Childers signed the Federation for American Immigration Reform's so-called no-amnesty pledge, saying that he opposes both authorization for people who came to the U.S. illegally as well as expanding …
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Personhood
Stinker Quote of the Week: 'Without'
Rev. Mychal Massie seems to suggest that the racism and lack of opportunity that African Americans face on a daily basis is nothing compared to the issue of abortion, and …
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Civil Rights
Preaching a ‘Black Genocide’ Parable
It wasn't a large crowd that gathered to hear a group of infamous clergymen share their prophecy at the last abortion clinic in the state last week. Their message: Abortion …
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'Black Genocide' Prophecy Coming True?
By AnnaWolfeAt a press conference at Mississippi's last abortion clinic last week, "stone the gays" Pastor James Manning told a group of mostly white protestors that McDonald's would cease to exist in three to seven years due to abortion.
His logic: abortion is a racist institution, abortion providers target black people and, as a result, companies that target black customers will begin to collapse due to the decreasing population of black people.
As absurd as it sounds, Manning might be going somewhere. A report released today shows that McDonald's has lost 30 percent of it's quarterly profit. Could Manning's prophecy be true?
We're not convinced.
One explanation for the loss in revenue is a major meat scandal in China—inspectors found that a Shanghai food supplier was selling expired meat to McDonald's this summer.
But people in China are not the only ones who are no longer "lovin' it." An emphasis on health has likely deterred people in United States—and all over world—from enjoying meals at the massive fast food chain.
McDonald's acknowledges a significant decrease in revenue in the United States, but not because of "black genocide"—which is what Manning calls abortion.
The chain has received negative publicity due to the poor wages of its workers. That and a push to chose healthier food options can be be blamed for the decrease in revenue.
Manning would likely say "that's what they want you to think." What do you think?
Stay tuned for a more in-depth analysis of the preacher's statements publishing tomorrow.

