Jackson Free Press

Here's the new releases for this week...

Mariah Carey - Me. I Am Mariah...The Elusive Chanteuse (Contemporary R&B)

Sharon Van Etten - Are We There (Alternative Singer/Songwriter)

Robyn / Röyksopp - Do It Again (Downbeat)

Hercules & Love Affair - The Feast of the Broken Heart (Club/Dance)

Sam Smith - In the Lonely Hour (Pop)

Cher Lloyd - Sorry I'm Late (Pop)

Bruce Robison / Kelly Willis - Our Year (Americana)

Ben Frost - A U R O R A (Experimental Electronic)

Owen Pallett - In Conflict (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Napolian - Incursio (Left-Field Hip-Hop)

Amy LaVere - Runaway's Diary (Americana)

Various Artists - Sound of Siam, Vol. 2: Molam & Luk Thung 1970-1982 (Thai Pop)

They Might Be Giants - Idlewild: A Compilation (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Kiss - Kiss 40 Years: Decades of Decibels (Arena Rock)

Hundred Waters - The Moon Rang Like a Bell (Indie Pop)

Popstrangers - Fortuna (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Crowbar - Symmetry in Black (Heavy Metal)

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/may/30/17571/

The Florida League of Women Voters released the following verbatim news release Tuesday, May 27, 2014 in regard to a recently-completed study on charter schools across the state.

League of Women Voters Releases State-Wide Study on School Choice

Tallahassee, Fla — Twenty percent of the state's charter schools close because of financial mismanagement or poor academic standards, according to the League of Women Voters of Florida after a year-long study of charter schools in 28 Florida counties.

"Charter schools could fill a niche in Florida's educational spectrum, but for many, their biggest contribution may be to corporate bottom lines," said Deirdre Macnab, President of the League of Women Voters of Florida.

With over 576 charter schools in the state, the League of Women Voters of Florida conducted a study in order to better understand the oversight, management, accountability and transparency of charter and private schools in Florida.

The study found that:

Approximately one-third of charters are run by for-profit management companies. Many screen students, then drop those who are not successful, which public schools are prohibited from doing. Charters also serve particular socio-economic groups, increasing segregation in schools.

Although charters tend to be smaller than traditional schools, there is no consistent difference in achievement for charter school and public school students.

Many charters blur the distinction between religious and non-secular schools. Some churches receive as much as a million dollars in lease payments annually for their facilities from charter schools.

In areas with declining enrollments, neither the charters nor regular public schools are large enough to adequately provide support for staff like nurses or counselors. Retaining teachers is also a problem; most charters offer lower salaries and benefits than public schools.

The League's study produced several recommendations:

Charters should be limited to those that fill unmet needs in identified local school districts.

Stronger local management oversight and disclosure policies are needed.

Financial mismanagement issues must be addressed, as too often the privatization of schools leads to financial abuse.

For more information, including further findings and recommendations, please see the state-wide study, along with the individual studies conducted by eighteen local Leagues across Florida.

The League of Women Voters of Florida, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. For more information, please visit the League's website at: http://www.TheFloridaVoter.org.

FLORIDA LEGISLATORS WITH A DIRECT INTEREST IN CHARTER SCHOOLS:

Conflict of Interest Concerns

Senator John Legg Chair of Senate Education Committee is co-founder and business administrator of Daysprings Academy in Port Richey.

Senator Kelli Stargel from Orange County is on board of McKeel Academies. She is on the Education Committee and sponsored the Parent Trigger Bill.

House Budget Chairman Seth McKeel is on the board of McKeel Academy Schools in Polk County.

Anne Corcoran, wife of future House Speaker Richard Corcoran has a charter school in Pasco County. Richard Corcoran is Chair of the House Appropriations Committee.

Senator Anitere Flores …

The Clarion-Ledger is reporting that Mississippi Tea Party vice chairman Mark Mayfield appeared in a Madison County court for his alleged participation with a story to that continues to roil the Mississippi Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

Mayfield, an attorney in Jackson, was arrested today along with an unnamed suspect, but charges were not released, the paper reported. (Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender later tweeted from court that Rick Sager, a soccer coach in Laurel, is the other individual arrested)

Mayfield may be familiar to readers of the Jackson Free Press for his participation in a 2012 interview in which then-president of the Central Mississippi Tea Pary Janis Lane said that America took a wrong turn when women gained the right to vote.

Mayfield quietly exited the interview as Lane began her anti-woman rant, but he had some harsh words for sitting U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.

In response to a JFP question about whether Congress's core function is to bring federal dollars to their home districts, Mayfield said:

"They sure think it is. We've got a senator up there right now—Thad Cochran—who's just as guilty as anybody. He's probably the worst one up there in terms of pork-barrel legislation."

Mayfield said he was apolitical for much of his life "until I saw the direction we started taking with the bailouts, the stimulus, TARP, Obamacare--you name it--this endless, mindless overspending and over-borrowing."

He added that he believed certain Tea Party principles could attract more African Americans, among them, he said: "Jobs and economic development. Things like giving voters a choice on where to send their kids to school. They don't have to keep sending them to a failing public school. We want to give them the option of sending them to a successful charter school or perhaps look at vouchers where they can send them to a successful private school."

McDaniel's camp has maintained that the state senator had nothing to do with the blogger who allegedly photographed Cochran's bedridden wife, Rose, and released a statement about the arrests of Mayfield and Sager.

"As we have said since day one, the violation of the privacy of Mrs. Cochran is out of bounds for politics and is reprehensible. Any individuals who were involved in this crime should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law," McDaniel said

Mayfield later posted bond, the Ledger reported.

VERBATIM STATEMENT: Seventh Mississippi city to pass diversity resolution recognizing the role LGBT people play in thriving communities

WASHINGTON – Tonight, Waveland, Mississippi unanimously passed an anti-discrimination resolution recognizing the dignity and worth of all city residents - including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT). Waveland becomes the seventh Mississippi city to pass such a resolution and joins Starkville, Hattiesburg, Greenville, Magnolia, Bay St. Louis and Oxford.

“This is another important step forward to ensure that all Mississippians are treated equally and with respect and dignity,” said Human Rights Campaign (HRC) President Chad Griffin, a native of Arkansas.

Public opinion on equality in Mississippi is far ahead of law in the state. A poll conducted last summer found that 64 percent of residents back workplace non-discrimination protections for LGBT employees and nearly 60 percent of Mississippians under the age of 30 support marriage equality.

“The approved action is important for the people of Waveland. This sends a strong message throughout Mississippi that LGBT citizens are welcome in our fantastic city,” said Mayor David Garcia. “We are proving to the country that our city is on the right side of history.”

Just last month, HRC launched Project One America, an unprecedented effort to expand LGBT equality in Mississippi, Alabama and Arkansas. This summer, HRC Mississippi will open office space in Jackson staffed with a statewide director, community organizer, and faith organizer. The community-based program will focus on changing hearts and minds, gaining enduring legal protections and building more inclusive institutions from the church pew to the workplace.

For details on Project One America in Mississippi, visit http://www.hrc.org/states/mississippi

The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality. By inspiring and engaging all Americans, HRC strives to end discrimination against LGBT citizens and realize a nation that achieves fundamental fairness and equality for all.

Pearl Jam just announced some 2014 tour dates. Looks like Eddie Vedder and company will hit the FedEx Forum in Memphis in October after playing the Austin City Limits Festival. Go here for the full skinny.

There are some heavy hitters on this week's new releases:

Coldplay - Ghost Stories (Adult Alternative Pop/Rock)

The Roots - ...And Then You Shoot Your Cousin (Alternative Rap)

Conor Oberst - Upside-Down Mountain (Adult Alternative Pop/Rock)

Oasis - Definitely Maybe [Deluxe Edition] (Alternative Pop/Rock)

Miles Davis - Take Off: The Complete Blue Note Albums (Cool Jazz)

Jolie Holland - Wine Dark Sea (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Brantley Gilbert - Just as I Am (Contemporary Country)

Yann Tiersen - ∞ (Infinity) (Film Score)

R.E.M. - Complete Rarities I.R.S. 1982-1987 (Alternative Pop/Rock)

R.E.M. - Unplugged 1991 & 2001: The Complete Sessions (Alternative Pop/Rock)

Archie Bronson - Outfit Wild Crush (Indie Rock)

Billy Joel - A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia (Contemporary Pop/Rock)

Trans Am - Volume X (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Afrojack - Forget the World (EDM)

The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band - Goin' Home (Modern Electric Blues)

Mr. Scruff - Friendly Bacteria (Funky Breaks)

Phillip Phillips - Behind the Light (Adult Alternative Pop/Rock)

Comet Control - Comet Control (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Plaid - Reachy Prints (Techno)

Pujol - Kludge (Indie Rock)

John Doe - The Best of John Doe This Far (Roots Rock)

Smoke Fairies - Smoke Fairies (Alternative/Indie Rock)

Syd Arthur - Sound Mirror (Neo-Psychedelia)

Chatham County Line - Tightrope (Bluegrass)

Bo Ningen - III (Alternative/Indie Rock)

FKA Twigs - EP2 (Indie Electronic)

Les Big Byrd - They Worshipped Cats (Indie Rock)

Hank Thompson - Songs for Rounders/At the Golden Nugget (Bakersfield Sound)

Hank Williams - The Garden Spot Programs, 1950 (Honky Tonk)

Bottin - Punica Fides (Left-Field House)

Hollis Brown - Gets Loaded (American Trad Rock)

Hedley - Wild Life (Punk-Pop)

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/may/21/17515/

First, August Alsina skipped out on a concert in Jackson—and possibly lost hundreds, if not thousands, of local fans in the process. Now it looks like Lil Boosie won't make it to Gulfport.

Recently freed from prison, Boosie had planned a concert for a Gulf Coast neighborhood baseball park, but was denied a noise variance permit.

Promoters said they would ask the local band of hip-hop aficionados otherwise known as the Gulfport City Council to reconsider.

The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/TpIIxv ) reported that the promoters pointed to Boosie shows across the South in his native Louisiana as well as Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and Arkansas.

"Mississippi is the only place he hasn't been able to play," said Walter Malone of Gautier, owner of Magnolia Vivid Productions, the company trying to produce the show, of the Baton Rogue-born Boosie.

It's been rough going for Louisiana rappers and the Magnolia State as of late.

Over the weekend, New Orleans' August Alsina pulled out of a show at the Mississippi Coliseum. Promoters of that concert claim that they held up their end of the deal, but that Alsina pulled out at the last minute.

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.

Apparently, the date-and-venue mixup was that Alsina actually wanted to go to Yo Gotti's birthday party in Atlanta and ride around in a Lamborghini the same night as the Jackson show.

Update: The Sun Herald is reporting that the Gulfport City Council has denied promoters of the Lil Boosie concert the zoning variance they sought to move ahead with the show.

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.

This week's new releases in music...

Rashad Crisler made his official announcement that he is running for Mayor Tony Yarber’s previous position, Ward 6 city councilman, this morning at a press conference outside City Hall.

Crisler said that he is enthusiastic about the prospect of being a part of a young, progressive leadership movement, which he believes was set into motion with Mayor Yarber’s initial election to council in 2009.

“He was only two years older than I am today when he earned the Ward 6 citizens’ trust to lead our community out of the brink of despair,” Crisler said. “I have known Mayor Yarber for many years and admired his leadership as our city councilman. I appreciate the example he has set and I am now prepared to take Ward 6 to the next level.”

It is well known that Crisler’s father, Marshand Crisler, was a big supporter of Yarber’s bids for both city councilman in 2009, and recently, as mayor; hence Rashaad Crisler sees a direct correlation between his bid for the Ward 6 seat and the efforts of Mayor Yarber and the elder Crisler during their respective tenures as city councilmen. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/weblogs/politics-blog/2014/may/13/after-speculation-crisler-no-not-that-one-announce/

Addressing the ward’s current needs, Crisler said that infrastructure would be his top priority since it is the weakest aspect of the ward. However, he feels that space is the ward’s greatest advantage and will allow for more businesses to move into the area. He also expressed interest in working to decrease crime in the area to make the area more appealing to business.

He admitted that he would like to address problems with council that he saw when his father held the seat previously, expressing a desire to work with the rest of city council to ensure success for the city as a whole.

“I’ve seen in the past, watching my father when he was in this seat, all the problems with communication between city council members, fighting and bickering over issues,” Crisler said.

“I want to bring the council members together, all on one accord, to get a plan done to present to the mayor so he can execute it.”

http://jacksonfreepress.com/users/photos/2014/may/14/17423/

Precious Martin, a prominent Jackson-area attorney, died yesterday in an accident. His 10-year-old son remains hospitalized, according to media reports.

WAPT reported that Martin was riding a four-wheeler Sunday evening near his home in the Bridgewater subdivision when the vehicle flipped several times.

Martin's son, Daniel, was taken to University of Mississippi Medical Center, where his condition was unknown as of this morning.

Martin handled part of a $1.2 billion class-action lawsuit against the federal government for denying USDA benefits to African American farmers between January 1983 to January 1997 and other civil-rights cases.

An Edwards native, Martin was part of a high-profile legal family that includes his younger brothers Kenya, Deshun and Warren Jr., who are triplets.

Martin's wife, Crystal, is a staff attorney at his Jackson law firm and was formerly the attorney for the Hinds County Board of Supervisors.

Martin was also an ally of U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson, who is from the neighboring town of Bolton, and was a donor to Democratic political causes and candidates.

Two special concerts and new releases...

This Wednesday's show from M Ward and Ardenland will help out the American Red Cross.

Jackson City Council met today to announce that an election for the Ward 6 City Council seat, which was made available by Tony Yarber's election to mayor, will be held June 17, 2014. The qualifying deadline for the election is May 28.

Both Tyrone Hendrix, a longtime Democratic operative, and Robert Amos, who competed in the 2013 Democratic primary for Jackson mayor, have both confirmed that they are considering running for the Ward 6 position: http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2014/may/01/hendrix-amos-among-ward-6-possibles/.

Hendrix helped manage Jonathan Lee's campaign for mayor in 2013 and worked with Regina Quinn during the recent special election for mayor. Amos ran for mayor of Jackson in 2009 and for a seat on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors in 2011.

A runoff election, should it be in order, is set for July 1.

Duling Hall and new releases...

This 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 …

Bennie Thompson, the only African American and only Democrat representing Mississippi in Congress, is locking horns with Gov. Phil Bryant over the guv's staunch objection to Medicaid expansion.

Buzzfeed reported yesterday that Thompson called into a telecast of the New Nation of Islam to discuss a number of topics, and made several eyebrow-raising remarks.

Thompson never says Bryant's name on the tape, but points out that in turning down Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, "he also turned down $426 million in federal funds."

"It's not just that this man (Bryant) turned it down, he also turned resources down that could go to help his citizens who are already documented as having some of the worst health conditions known to man," Thompson said, adding "just because a black man created it."

In what Buzzfeed characterized as "shocking" comments, Thompson called U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas an "Uncle Tom" and Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is a "racist."