Jackson Free Press

The judge who sentenced Jared Lee Loughner to "seven life terms plus 140 years in Federal prison" wrote an op-ed in the LA Times this week calling for stricter gun control. Larry Alan Burns is a gun-owner, a Republican appointee, says he didn't vote for Obama and prefers Fox News to DailyKos. And he says we need to bring back the assault weapons ban... and make it stronger.

Bring back the assault weapons ban, and bring it back with some teeth this time. Ban the manufacture, importation, sale, transfer and possession of both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines. Don't let people who already have them keep them. Don't let ones that have already been manufactured stay on the market. I don't care whether it's called gun control or a gun ban. I'm for it.

Workflowy.com is so simple it's driving me crazy to keep figuring out how useful it is.

A resident in Fondren sent us this voicemail message, which is an apparent robocall trying to suggest that Margaret Barrett-Simon's campaign is designed to help Tony Yarber.

Link: Robocall Audio

Barrett-Simon responded to the call on her Facebook page last week: "I want to be clear that, should I decide to enter the Jackson mayoral race, my campaign will not engage in these or similar tactics. I would also like to call all of those who decide to enter the campaign to renounce the use of 'robocalls' and similar anonymous 'hit and run' methods."

As one might expect, the call doesn't identify the party paying for it; it does appear to originate from a Washington State area code. When we called the Caller ID number in the message, we reached an automated attendant willing to put us on a no-call list.

If you receive robocalls that you can record or that reach voicemail, please email them to reporter R.L. Nave (rlnave at jacksonfreepress dot com).

According to GovTrack.us, Representatives Alan Nunnelee and Steven Palazzo voted against House Bill 2775 this evening, which was the bi-partisan compromise in the Senate to reopen the government and raise the debt ceiling in order that the bills owed--from budgets already passed and funds already appropriated by this same House--might be paid.

The rest of the Mississippi delegation -- Senators Wicker and Cochran, Representatives Thompson and Harper -- voted for the compromise bill.

For the two who voted against the bill, it's worth it to stop and think what they voted against tonight. After their tea party point was made -- and after their tactics failed and a compromise was reached -- they still voted to take the United State's good faith and credit down with their twisted politics.

This compromise was the vehicle for moving ahead; this compromise was the vehicle for getting back to work after a misguided stratagem -- shutting down the government in order to try to kill the Affordable Care Act -- blew up in one party's face.

After $24 billion lost, treasury bills getting more expensive, 0.6% shaved off GDP growth and countless people denied important, sometimes critical services, this was the way forward.

But along with Rand Paul and Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio, two of Mississippi delegation still voted against putting the government back to work and pulling the economy out of a treacherous nose dive.

Nunnelee and Palazzo put ideology over country. It was irresponsible, selfish and potentially very damaging to the United States and its people.

Hopefully their constituents will remember that.

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2013/oct/12/14111/

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that Josh Marks, a Chicago native who attended Tougaloo College and worked for a time in Vicksburg for the U.S. Army as a contract specialist, died Friday of a what the coroner has ruled a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The victim, of the South Side, was pronounced dead at 6:37 p.m. on the scene, according to a spokesman for the Cook County medical examiner's office. An autopsy conducted today ruled his death a suicide.

As an amateur chef, Marks was a contestant on the show Masterchef, having left Jackson to compete on the show's third season in 2012. In an article published by the JFP, Marks summed up his experience: Class Under Fire.

This past summer, Marks was arrested for assaulting a police officer and attempting to pull the officer's weapon; he faced multiple felony charges. According to the Tribune:

At the time of Marks' arrest in July, police say he claimed to have been possessed by "MasterChef" judge Gordon Ramsay who turned him into God. During the scuffle, officials say it took multiple officers to capture Marks, after he lunged at one and attempted to take his gun.

Just this past Wednesday a continuance was granted in the case to November 6th.

Lost in some of the Rand/Medicare/Taxes discussion of Rep. Paul Ryan was a glib line that he's now offered a few times on the stump, taking President Obama's "You Didn't Build That" line out of context to suggest that Obama was saying that small businesses didn't build their businesses.

The irony is two-fold (a.) Ryan has spent his adult entire career working in government in Washington, aside from a year he listed as a "marketing consultant" for his family's company and (b.) his family business, Ryan Incorporated, began in the 1800s building railroads for the government, switched to roads and highways (for the) government in the 20th century, had a hand in building O'Hare in Chicago, and more recently has made a a fair bit of scratch on defense contracts. In other words, the family fortune has done just fine by way of the government and, particularly, the infrastructure that Obama was talking about when Ryan misquoted him.

A current search of Defense Department contracts suggests that “Ryan Incorporated Central” has had at least 22 defense contracts with the federal government since 1996, including one from 1996 worth $5.6 million. … Mr. Anti-Spending secured millions in earmarks for his home state of Wisconsin, including, among other things, $3.3 million for highway projects. And Ryan voted to preserve $40 billion in special subsidies for big oil, an industry in which, it so happens, Ryan and his wife hold ownership stakes.

Speaking of his wife, Janna Ryan was a D.C. lobbyist before she became the "stay at home mom" that she has been introduced as -- for big pharma, big oil, "nuclear waste issues," health insurance and the cigar lobby, as they fought to keep the same warnings off cigars that cigarettes have.

In a move that I wouldn't be surprised to see repeated in the near future in the Magnolia State, Governor Rick Perry of Texas declared today that he [won't be implementing Obamacare][1] in Texas. Specifically, he says the state will not increase its Medicaid roles to cover additional working poor with the program, and the state will not set up the state exchange that's required in the law.

Perry's office sent a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on Monday morning asserting his opposition, both to accepting more than a hundred million federal dollars over the next several years to put more poor Texas adults onto Medicaid, and to creating an Orbitz-style online insurance marketplace for consumers.marketplace for consumers.

The story notes that the insurance exchange isn't optional, and that the Federal government will set up a "one size fits all" exchange for the state.

“If anyone was in doubt, we in Texas have no intention to implement so-called state exchanges or to expand Medicaid under Obamacare," Perry said in a statement. "I will not be party to socializing healthcare and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government."

Texas, according to the story, has the country's highest percentage of uninsured residents.

But Dan Stultz, president and CEO of the Texas Hospital Association, said without the expansion, "many will remain uninsured, seeking care in emergency rooms, shifting costs to the privately insured, and increasing uncompensated care to health care providers."

And for folks who think the current ACA is a "socialist" expansion, does anyone find it curious that conservative leaders would leave their state exchanges to the Federal government to set up? It seems you would want a hand in there, making sure free market principles reign and such.

Although I guess stamping your feet and say "No! No! No!" feels like better politics to Governor Perry.

[1]: http://www.texastribune.org/texas-health-resources/medicaid/perry-tx-wont-implement-key-elements-health-reform/marketplace for consumers.

The Mississippi Republican Party has responded to the McDaniel campaign in the form of a statement to the public and a letter to Chris McDaniel's attorney, Mitch Tyner, from Joe Nosef, MS GOP chairman. (Here's the letter in PDF format.)

The upshot is that the MS GOP is suggesting to Tyner that they go ahead and take their fight to court, in part because the MS GOP's executive committee would only have 24 hours starting Aug 13th (once the requisite seven days notice for a meeting was circulated) to figure out whether it makes sense to overturn a U.S. Senate primary result. That's just one day before McDaniel would be forced by law to go to court on Aug 14th.

So, they're punting. (Which sometimes makes sense on Fourth and Forever.)

Jackson, MS. –– Joe Nosef, Chairman of the Mississippi Republican Party, issued the following statement today regarding a challenge to the results of the June 24th primary runoff and a letter sent today by Chairman Nosef to Mitch Tyner, lawyer for the Chris McDaniel campaign:

"Our 52-member volunteer Republican State Executive Committee has been asked to spend just five hours listening to legal arguments and then overturn a United States Senate primary in which over 360,000 Mississippians cast votes.

It is neither prudent nor possible in a single day for any political committee to process and review the significant amount of complex evidence necessary to make such a decision, and attempting to do so would be prejudicial to both candidates.

Under these circumstances, the only way to ensure that the integrity of the Mississippi Republican Party and our election process remains intact is to have a proper, public review of this matter through the judicial system in a court of law. Both candidates have said they look forward to such a review, and now is the time. "

What's wrong with the American Economy? Income inequality, due, in part, to an over-emphasis on shareholder value as our prevailing metric for corporate success.

"A Mississippi Love Story" is a documentary about JFP's own Eddie Outlaw and his partner, Justin, living as a successful, committed gay couple in Mississippi, but without the legal right to marry.

The documentary is available to rent or own on Vimeo On Demand. A special screening will take place at the Mississippi Museum of Art Friday evening from 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Here's the trailer:

A Mississippi Love Story - Trailer from Fisher Productions, LLC on Vimeo.

An the full release, verbatim:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 27, 2014

CONTACT: Eddie Outlaw, (601) 955-3474, [email protected] Robbie Fisher, (601) 941-1865, [email protected]

JACKSON, Miss – Mississippi-based film producer Robbie Fisher and Fisher Productions, LLC announces the release of a short documentary entitled A Mississippi Love Story. The film introduces the viewer to Eddie and Justin, together living what might otherwise be considered an ordinary life during an extraordinary time in history. It provides a glimpse into the relationships the two have with one another, and with family, friends and their Deep South hometown. Against the backdrop of legal battles about same-sex marriage, Eddie and Justin share their personal take on what love really means.

“It was important to us, as Mississippians, to tell the story of this loving and devoted couple who are productive business people and well-liked members of the community, and who want their legal union to be recognized in their home state,” said Fisher.

The 13-minute film is now available on Vimeo on Demand for a $1 rental fee or for purchase for $2.50.

Cinematographer Lauren Cioffi spent months, beginning in March 2013, documenting the day-to-day lives of Eddie Outlaw and his partner Justin McPherson Outlaw. A second unit team captured footage in Washington, D.C. as the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments on California's Proposition 8 and on the Defense of Marriage Act. Editor Azod Abedikichi employed an upbeat and whimsical style, which included animating original illustrations by Joy Abedikichi, to capture the essence and spirit of the subjects. Composer Chris Gibbons' simple and beautiful Red Tango reflects the energetic and optimistic disposition of Eddie and Justin.

WHAT: A new short documentary about the lives of Eddie Outlaw and Justin McPherson Outlaw in Jackson, Mississippi, throughout the months surrounding the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the DOMA and Prop 8 cases.

WHO: Produced by Fisher Productions, LLC, featuring Eddie Outlaw and Justin McPherson Outlaw

WHEN: Now available on Vimeo on Demand

WHERE: vimeo.com/ondemand/mslovestory

If there's something I feel like I've learned after years of watching the New Orleans Saints play football, it's that there really is such a thing as scoring their last points too soon.

The classic instance in their modern incarnation is the Saints-49ners NFC Championship game in 2012. In that game, quarterback Drew Brees threw a 66-yard touchdown to tight end Jimmy Graham that put the Saints into the lead with 1:37 left on the clock. The point after put the score at 32-29.

The ensuing 49er drive took 1:28, as Alex Smith moved the team methodically down the field against a porous Saints defense, with the final touchdown just seconds before the end of the game.

It was a painful loss for Saints fans who watched a second Super Bowl berth slip away in a scenario that's happened just a little too often in the Sean Payton era—the Saints scored too soon on their final drive.

I don't think you can fault Payton and his quarterbacks, whether Brees or now Luke McCown, for seeing a potential matchup and going for the jugular late in the game. That's how football is played.

But what I do feel like you can fault Payton for—and I hate to say this—is trusting that his awful defenses will be able to hold off the other team's final drive if you give the opponent any time at all.

This past Sunday, for instance, I submit that a little conservative play-calling might have won the day.

The Saints were poised to beat the Carolina Panthers late in the fourth quarter, after marching down the field in an unhurried three-minute offense led by the surprisingly unflappable McCown.

Faced with dropped passes by the usually reliable veteran receiver Marques Colston and a couple of hot grabs by slot receiver Brandin Cooks, that final 24-yard pass into the end zone to Cooks looked too good to pass up; and it was, for Carolina cornerback Josh Norman, who made a fantastic interception on a pretty good pass by McCown.

It's hindsight, yes. But clearly the pass shouldn't have been thrown.

With over a minute on the clock and with timeouts still available, the Saints had two downs to get 6 yards and at least three backs to think about using to get them. On the play that they ran for the interception, Mark Ingram was wide-open in the flat for at least 5 of those 6 yards—a quick throw to the back would might have netted a first down and, critically, an opportunity to bleed more clock. (Colston, as it turns out, was also wide-open over the middle and might have scored if thrown to.)

Crazy talk? Sure. And, of course, there's no guarantee that you score from the 15 or so yards out.

But I can't avoid asking the question... is it too much to ask an NFL coach to at least temper the desire to toss it into the end zone for the quick …

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?

6:00 p.m. Final polls in Indiana/Kentucky. Polls close in Virginia. (They also close in Georgia, South Carolina and Vermont.)

Bernie Sanders has won re-election in Vermont; Virginia Senate race too close to call.

NBC calls Indiana for Romney; Democrat Joe Donnelly has slight lead with 7% reporting.

6:42 p.m. West Virginia and South Carolina both called for Romney.

6:47 p.m. Polls still open in Florida although there's some counting going on, with Obama in the lead, but close.

North Carolina polls are closed, and Obama is leading with 9% of the vote in. Exit polls seem to give Obama a shot in North Carolina.

7:00 p.m. NBC calls Georgia for Romney. 7:00 p.m.

Poll closings... Pennsylvania, Michigan, Missouri, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maine, North Dakota, Florida and New Hampshire. (Also non-leaners Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Mississippi, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, Tennessee and Texas.)

7:04 p.m. Interesting Senate races in this round, including Warren/Brown in Massachusetts; NBC calles Maine Senate race for independent Angus King.

7:06 p.m. New Hampshire, Florida and Pennsylvania are too close to call according to NBC.

7:08 p.m. AP: reports: Obama carried Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont and Romney's home state of Massachusetts. Also as expected, he won Delaware and Maryland as well as the District of Columbia and Illinois. Romney had South Carolina, Oklahoma, Kentucky and West Virginia in his column. He also won Indiana, a state Obama carried in 2008 but did not contest this year.

7:29 Roger Wicker wins re-election in Mississippi.

7:56 A lot still undecided; NC and FL being tough to call bodes better for Obama than Romney. McCaskill, Warren leading; CNN calls Pennsylvania for Casey, all Democrats leading/winning.

8:00 Polls close in swing states Colorado and Wisconsin, and in close-ish Arizona, Minnesota and New Mexico. (Plus: Louisiana, Nebraska, New York and Wyoming.)

8:02 Wisconsin and Colorado too soon to call; Wisconsin said to be lead by Obama. Romney gets 4 of 5 votes in Nebraska. Michigan projected quickly for Obama. Arizona too early to call and Romney leading; Minnesota too early and Obama leading.

8:04 NBC says the House will stay with the GOP. No surprise.

8:06 I just realized Orrin Hatch is still in the Senate. Good lord.

8:15 NBC calls Pennsylvania for Obama -- rust belt firewall continues to hold.

8:35 Wisconsin called for Obama; arguably first legit swing state. He's one medium-sized state away from the win.

8:37 CBS calls New Hampshire for Obama. Another swing state.

8:42 NBC calls Elizabeth Warren the winner in Massachusetts.

9:00 Polls close in Iowa and Nevada. (Also Montana and Utah.)

Again, these are two swing states (Nevada less so) both leaning toward Obama. If Obama has won New Hampshire, Colorado and Wisconsin by now and has held in the leaners (Minnesota, Michigan, Maine, Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Nevada) then Iowa's swing votes (and Nevada's leaning votes) make him president of the United States. Again.

9:24 CBS says that Democrat Tim Kaine has won the Senate race in Virginia.

9:55 North …

Jackon Mayor Yarber has been called out as one of the 'Tweet Elite' mayors in the United States, ranking 19 among 250 mayors for his use of Twitter.

The Human Rights Campaign this evening announced in a release that the Mississippi Manufacturers Association—a frequent contributor to conservative candidates and supporter of "pro-business" legislation in Mississippi—is calling on Governor Phil Bryant to veto HB 1523, which has passed both houses and awaits the Governor's response.

In a long e-mail to supporters, Elizabeth Warren outlined the positions that Democrats will stake out in opposition to and in support of potential policies put forth by a President Trump.