Jackson Free Press

This past week I wrote a Publisher's Note called "AFA Bearing False Witness Against Businesses?" about the American Family Association's "action alert" wherein they called the "We Don't Discriminate" campaign discriminatory, despite the very basic tautological problems with their argument. (It seemed to me they were going to have to define "don't" as "do" in order to make their argument make any sense.)

So I was intrigued this week to see the AFA has now edited that exact same alert from its original headline of "A List of Businesses Displaying Hatred Toward Religious Freedom" to the new headline "Businesses Suckered By Homosexual Reaction to MS Religious Freedom Restoration Act."

The alert is otherwise dated the same (suggesting, falsely, that they wrote the current text on May 9, 2014, when it actually sometime between May 16th and 19th), it has the same URL and it still has the title "A List of Businesses Displaying Hatred Toward Religious Freedom" at the top of the window.

Here's a screenshot of the original:

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/may/20/17455/

Here's the new one:

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/may/20/17456/

Aside from the fact that replacing their earlier statements and pretending they wrote them 10 days ago once again calls into question this self-proclaimed Christian organization's relationship with the Ninth Commandment, it's also instructive to note where they now pretend their argument has been the whole time -- gays are apparently suckering businesses into putting the sticker in their window.

Again, a reminder: The campaign is a reaction to a law signed recently in Mississippi that may allow businesses to discriminate against other based on their religious beliefs. The sticker proclaims a given business' desire to work with all customers despite that law.

Given that the law -- which AFA, partner organizations and Governor Bryant wanted -- is now in existence, the sticker can help people at risk of being discriminated against know that a business won't discriminate against them.

The sticker doesn't say a darned thing about other people or businesses who don't have the sticker.

That said, this is, at least, a slightly better tactic on the part of the AFA for its own sake, since the original plan (still evident) was to simply castigate the businesses for proclaiming their anti-discriminatory stance.

Blaming the businesses, in hindsight, was pretty stupid, as the businesses have a clear right (a.) not to discriminate against their customers and (b.) to tell people about it.

(Pretending that The Gays are using their convince-o-tron on hapless business owners is, at least, a slightly less stupid tactic. Progress!)

Now, the new text calls on those who read the alert to further the AFA's agenda by asking the business owner if they aware the sticker is "part of a plan to bully, intimidate and demean Christians."

Since it's not, then that's false witness, but the AFA seems to operate with a special exemption from the 9th.

Maybe re-reading Proverbs 6:16-19 would help?

Republican Mike Pence, governor of Indiana, has a long history of railing against "Obamacare." But according to the Washington Post, he may become the next governor to expand Medicaid in his state.

Republican Gov. Mike Pence, after months of discussions with the Obama administration, is offering a new plan Thursday morning to expand coverage to low-income uninsured Hoosiers. As expected, he's doing it through an existing state insurance program for adults that's been championed by some conservatives.

The Indiana program offers health spending accounts to folks that are slightly above Medicaid eligibility; Pence is looking to expand that access, much the same way that the ACA was designed to expand Medicaid access for the working poor and those slightly above the poverty line, up to 138 percent.

Pence is getting credit (and criticism) for finding a clever way to accept Medicaid expansion while still saving a little face as an Obamacare denier; any chance Governor Bryant could do the same and help the 300,000 Mississippians in the insurance gap?

After all, his logic that the state would be stuck once Obamacare was struck down seems less and less likely at this point.

Maybe it's time to go ahead and help working Mississippians get access to decent healthcare?

August Alsina, a 21-year rap sensation from New Orleans, was supposed to perform in Jackson tonight. He won't make it after all, which has apparently infuriated his fans in Jacktown.

Promoters of the concert, planned for Saturday at the Mississippi Coliseum want to set the record straight.

In a statement to Jackson media outlets, promoter Yolanda Singleton explained the situation from their point of view:

"We, as promoters, did everything we were legally obligated to do via contract as well as met all financial obligations. After the initial May 10, 2014 date was rescheduled, we were still committed to bringing the artist to the city for those who had purchased tickets and others. We were more than accommodating to the artist with a new date.

Singleton continued: "Although the venue was scaled down to accommodate an audience of 3500 seats for August Alsina's performance, promoters were contacted by management two days prior to the schedule event date stating the 2000 tickets already sold was not a big enough crowd for August Alsina to perform because he did not want to see empty seats while performing. We were told, 'it would not be a good look for him.'"

It was not immediately clear if promoters could issue refunds to people who bought tickets or pursue legal action against Alsina.

In a "public-service announcement" posted on Instagram late Friday Alsina said only that "there was a mixup with the date and venue" as the reason he wouldn't be doing the show, but that he looks forward to coming to Jackson during his summer tour.

Three Mississippi businesses that are participating in the If You're Buying, We're Selling sticker campaign are currently demanding that the American Family Association retract statements that accused them of discriminating against Christians. The three businesses include The Golden Growler, The Keg and Barrel, and La Finestra.

The AFA issued a news release on its website Monday that stated:

"Ironically, this sticker represents the very promotion of discrimination…against freedom of religious convictions. Businesses that display this sticker believe Christians should be forced, by law, to embrace homosexuality and deny their faith in personal business practices."

The entire news release can be read on the AFA's website: http://action.afa.net/item.aspx?id=2147545307.

Attorney Alexander Ignatiev of Hattiesburg, who represents the three businesses, issued the following statements in a cease and desist letter to AFA President Timony Wildmon on Wednesday:

"These statements are defamatory and actionable per se under the laws of the State of Mississippi, because they accuse my clients of unlawfully discriminating against persons in violating of the 14th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of 1965, a felony . . . subjecting my clients to a penalty of up to ten years in prison. They are also materially false, and provably so, in connection with my clients, The Golden Growler, The Keg and Barrel, and La Finestra. These statements have been published with actual malice, which means that they have been published with reckless disregard for truthfulness, or with actual knowledge of their falsity, which removes any First Amendment protection from those statements."

Ignatiev is demanding that AFA remove the "materially false, reckless, unprotected statements" from the release within 7 days.

On May 14, 1970, two Jackson State University students were killed by Jackson police officers—10 days after the much more publicized Kent State shootings of four students in Ohio.

The victims of the JSU shootings were Phillip L. Gibbs, a junior at the school and father and James Earl Green, a high school senior.

Why didn't the JSU shooting get as much national attention? Well, the most obvious answer is the race of the victims. All four Kent State victims were white; the young men killed at Jackson State were African American.

NPR retells the circumstances of what it calls a "widely forgotten" tragedy at JSU:

On the evening of May 14, African-American youths were reportedly pelting rocks at white motorists driving down the main road through campus — frequently the site of confrontations between white and black Jackson residents.

Tensions rose higher when a rumor spread around campus that Charles Evers — a local politician, civil rights leader and the brother of slain activist Medgar Evers — and his wife had been killed, according to Lynch Street: The May 1970 Slayings at Jackson State College. The situation escalated when a non-Jackson State student set a dump truck on fire.

Police responded to the call. A group of students and non-students threw rocks and bricks at the officers. Police advanced to Alexander Hall, a large dorm for women.

Even if the rest of the nation has forgotten (or never knew), the shootings remain integrated into the curriculum and culture at JSU, where all students learn about the shootings during a mandatory orientation.

In C. Liegh McInnis' freshman composition class, students have to observe in the women's dorm and write a paper on it.

He told NPR: "The tragedy showed the resolve of the students.