16-year old Flora resident to be in Ballet Mississippi performance Sunday

Ballet Mississippi

Flora resident Hannah Sills (far left in the Clarion Ledger photo) will be part of the Ballet Mississippi School Performance Sunday.

 The gist: The Ballet Mississippi School Performance Sunday straddles the gamut of dancers' ages and education. While the first half may be more family oriented with young students ages 3 to 9, the second half is devoted to more professional-level dance with a spring gala feel.

Featured ballets include Suite of Dances to suites by Bach, a jazzy ballet to Leroy Anderson's Jazz Pizzicato, a new ballet to Verdi's Jerusalem choreographed by Cherri Barnett and a contemporary work from jazz choreographer and teacher Marcus Alford.

Alford's dance, titled The Perfect Man, pokes around the idea that there is no perfect man, only a perfect mannequin, to jazz music from 1930s and 1940s France.

"The Perfect Man is a lot of fun for us because it's a little bit different than just the classical ballet ... and I think it will be exciting for audiences to watch because it's very spirited," said dancer Hannah Sills, 17, of Flora.

Clarion Ledger

The last courageous moments of the life of Nikki Bradshaw Carpenter

Relatives: Tornado victim lost life shielding sons

By SHELIA BYRD
Associated Press

JACKSON, Miss. — Nikki Bradshaw Carpenter was tough: she could kill a deer and skin it. But when it came to her three sons, the 31-year-old mother was a nurturer and a protector.

Thus, friends and family say it came as no surprise to learn Carpenter had lost her life trying to shield her children from last weekend's killer tornado.

Rodney Bradshaw, her cousin, said he found Carpenter pinned by two collapsed walls, a washing machine and a refrigerator. Two of her sons were beneath her; a third at her feet. All three children survived.

On Thursday, a funeral was held for Carpenter, one of the 10 Mississippi victims of the severe weather system that kicked up tornadoes around the South and also left two dead in Alabama.

James Bradshaw said his daughter was just 5-foot-5 and slim, but had a powerhouse personality.

"I don't think she's met anybody that she wouldn't talk to," Bradshaw said. "I used to take her hunting and fishing. She killed a deer this past season, hung the deer, skinned it and cut it up and put it in the freezer. She was very feisty."

Moments before the twister barreled down the rural road where she lived in a mobile home, Carpenter's phone rang with a warning about the storm.

"We don't know who called. We never recovered the phone. Whoever it was saved them," said James Bradshaw, whose oldest grandson told him about the call.

Hoping to preserve precious memories, Carpenter pulled family photographs from the wall. Then, she grabbed the boys, piled pillows on top of them and covered them with her body. The twister lifted the trailer in the air like a paperclip, throwing it more than 100 yards, said Rodney Bradshaw.

When Rodney Bradshaw, arrived at the scene, he said the sight was jarring: "The two littlest ones were under her. The oldest one was at her feet. I still can't get her face out of my head."

He said a memorial service will be held for Carpenter in his hometown on May 8.

GOVERNOR BARBOUR ANNOUNCES CREATION OF MISSISSIPPI DISASTER RECOVERY FUND

Nonprofit organization will accept donations for spring storm victims

Jackson, Mississippi – Governor Haley Barbour today announced the creation of the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Fund Inc., a nonprofit that will coordinate donations to aid residents recovering from the April 24 storms.

“The path of destruction left by these tornadoes is one of the worst I have seen,” Governor Barbour said. “We have families who need help rebuilding their homes and their lives. Mississippians are known for their generosity, and I know there are many people outside of the state who want to help. Mississippians also are known for their hard work and perseverance, and they will build these communities back strong.”

Anyone who would like to contribute can donate either through the web site, http://www.mississippirelief.com/, or by sending a check to the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Fund, c/o BankPlus, 4450 Old Canton Road, Suite 101, Jackson, MS, 39211.

“The goal of the Mississippi Disaster Recovery Fund will be to help meet the needs of our communities that cannot be met by the government,” Governor Barbour said. “After seeing the devastation on television or in person, people want to help in any way they can. The recovery fund gives them that chance.”

The web site also will guide visitors to volunteer opportunities through the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service.

The Disaster Recovery Fund will be managed by a board made up of members from the affected areas. The board members will determine the distribution of funds to address unmet recovery needs.

Warnock takes his gripe to the State Board of Licensure

Dorsey Carson, attorney for Rudy Warnock, has taken his clients gripe over an independent audit of his Madison County contracts to the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engingeers and Surveyors.

View a Copy of the Press Release here

View a Copy of the Complaint here

Related Posts: Warnock tells WLBT he embraces audit, But will there be a full investigation?
Madison County Supervisor Asks for Audit of Engineers Contracts . . . Again.

Hymnal found in the debris at Hillcrest Baptist Church from Saturday's tornado.

Hang in there 'zoo crew!

MC Journal: Barbour saws to Yazoo with Flora mayor

As Flora Mayor Les Childress and dozens of other volunteers used chain saws and tractors to clear debris off U.S. 49 to Yazoo City following Saturday's deadly tornado, he turned around to see Gov. Haley R. Barbour pitching in.

Childress and many other Flora residents were some of the first on the scene Saturday, literally cutting their way through downed trees to reach victims of an EF-4 tornado that cut through central Mississippi and claimed 10 lives.

State officials are estimating nearly 700 homes were damaged and 49 people were injured during the storms. Two others died in Alabama.

The hardest hit areas included Yazoo and Choctaw counties. This week Barbour asked President Barack Obama to declare both counties major disaster areas to open up aid for residents and business owners.

On Saturday, Barbour, a Yazoo City native, was on the front lines clearing debris from U.S 49 and directing traffic to give workers enough room to clear the roadway.

"It really hit home for him," Childress said. "You could tell he was really trying to get there (Yazoo City)."

Childress said they were all shocked at the amount of devastation before them, but the mayor said he was even more amazed at the almost instantaneous outpouring of support from the community.

"I went up there Saturday around 1 p.m. right after it happened and there were already folks from Flora there," he said. "Every citizen that lived in the surrounding area was there working to try and help out their neighbors.

"Flora has a lot of ties to Yazoo County," he added. "They're family."

Read more at the Madison County Journal

MISSISSIPPI DELEGATION UNITED IN SUPPORT FOR DISASTER DECLARATION

Federal Lawmakers Endorse Barbour Request for Disaster Aid Following Tornadoes

WASHINGTON, D.C. – All members of the Mississippi congressional delegation today signaled their united support for approval of a federal disaster designation that would sanction federal recovery resources to help Mississippians recover from a deadly storm that tore across the state Saturday, killing 10 people and destroying scores of homes.

The delegation today sent President Obama a letter endorsing the disaster application submitted by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour. The letter was signed by U.S. Senators Thad Cochran and Roger Wicker and U.S. Representatives Bennie Thompson, Gene Taylor, Travis Childers and Gregg Harper.

“We know from our ongoing recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit our state in August 2005, that significant resources and cooperation are necessary to recover fully from natural disasters as quickly as possible. We stand ready to face this new challenge by supporting the local communities, the State, and your administration as we work together to rebuild and renew areas destroyed by this major storm,” the lawmakers wrote to the President.

The letter also notes the ongoing economic hardship of the affected areas, as well as the need for Congress to replenish funding for the Disaster Recovery Fund administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). A supplemental appropriations bill pending before Congress would add $5.1 billion to the FEMA fund.

Members of the congressional delegation have been consulting with Barbour, the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency and local officials as recovery efforts get underway. The issuance of a presidential disaster declaration, as requested by the state, would trigger the release of federal disaster assistance. Barbour’s initial federal disaster declaration request would encompass Choctaw and Yazoo counties, with other Mississippi counties expected to be added as damage assessments across the state are compiled.

The following is the text of the congressional delegation’s letter to the President:

Dear President Obama,

In the wake of devastating weather events across the Southeastern United States this past weekend, we are writing to request your full consideration of Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour’s request for a federal disaster declaration for Yazoo County, Mississippi and Choctaw County, Mississippi.

We also understand that the State of Mississippi and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) jointly continue to assess the damage across the state, particularly in Attala, Holmes Monroe, Union, and Warren Counties. It is our understanding that Governor Barbour will request a federal disaster declaration in Holmes County sometime today. Should Governor Barbour request federal disaster declarations for these or other counties, we are hopeful you will also give these requests your full consideration.

We have been encouraged by the efforts of FEMA to deploy rapidly to Mississippi to assist state and local officials in estimating the severity of the initial damage caused by a series of tornado touchdowns, some rated as devastating as EF-4. The latest estimates show that 10 Mississippi lives have been lost and hundreds homes have been destroyed. Much of this destruction has occurred in parts of our state that have been particularly affected by our nation’s current economic situation. Many of these counties have poverty levels that are more than double the national average.

Examination of National Weather Service data shows that these tornado touchdowns were some of the most extreme in Mississippi’s history. Preliminary estimations show that one of the touchdowns was 1.75 miles wide at some points and stayed touched down for 149 miles, carving a path of destruction across the heart of our state. If these estimates hold, this storm event will lay claim to the widest tornado in Mississippi’s history and the fourth longest touchdown distance in our state’s history.

We know from our ongoing recovery from the effects of Hurricane Katrina, which hit our state in August 2005, that significant resources and cooperation are necessary to recover fully from natural disasters as quickly as possible. We stand ready to face this new challenge by supporting the local communities, the State, and your administration as we work together to rebuild and renew areas destroyed by this major storm.

We are also very aware of the depleted status of the FEMA Disaster Relief Fund and the potential effect a disaster declaration for this past weekend’s events in Mississippi could have on its solvency. We are hopeful that the Disaster Relief Fund will be replenished as soon as possible so that federal assistance for this and other disasters can flow freely to states in need.

Thank you for your consideration of this request. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you need further assistance in this effort.

A good reason for a great meal!

That's all I needed, another good excuse to go eat some of those gold band oysters. AJ's also has some of the best ceviche around.

WJTV:

Madison Restaurant Offers Community Ways to Help Tornado Victims


MADISON, Mississippi – April 27, 2010 – AJ’s-on-the-Lake has asked its patrons and servers to band together to help our neighbors in need after last week’s tornados by matching gratuity and part of proceeds at the restaurant this week.

AJ’s servers are donating 30% of their tips received this weekend to Mississippi Tornado Relief Efforts. The monetary amount will be matched by AJ’s Management. And all week, AJ’s will be matching part of your proceeds on special menu and drink items in order to raise money for the communities in need.

AJ’s has also asked patrons to bring non-perishable food, bottled water, clothing and bedding and other items to aid in relief efforts for storm victims if they would like the restaurant to transport the goods to the donation center at the Mississippi State Fairgrounds on their behalf.

About AJ’s on the Lake
AJ’s on the Lake has been locally owned and operated by Lucy and John Taylor for the past ten years. AJ’s provides a casual fine dining atmosphere, some of the freshest seafood in Central Mississippi, as well as steaks and pasta. AJ’s won Taste of Mississippi’s best entrée for 2010 and was voted best seafood restaurant in the state by Mississippi Magazine in 2009. AJ’s is located off Highland Colony Parkway just north of Steed Road. For more information, visit http://www.ajsgrille.com/
 

Federal Dollars Expected For Storm Relief, Insured Losses Estimated Over $50 Million

Via the Clarion Ledger:

Insurance chief: Mississippi storm damage 'well north of $50M'

State expects to receive some federal relief

Damage from Saturday’s storm is “well north of $50 million (in insured losses),” Insurance Commissioner Mike Chaney said today.

An exact monetary damage amount hasn’t yet been tallied.

“I think we’re going to get some type of (federal) relief,” he said Tuesday, noting Gov. Haley Barbour and others have been updating federal government officials on the severity of the damage.

The scope of the devastation, caused mainly by an EF4 tornado was still unfolding Tuesday.

Chaney said his office is still assessing the damage the storm did to commercial buildings and other non-residential properties and compiling a definitive number of homes destroyed around the state.

He says at least 700 homes statewide were damaged in Saturday’s storms. In Yazoo County alone, at least 150 homes are unhabitable, and an additional 67 suffered major damage, Chaney said.

Flora pitching in to assist with Yazoo Tornado Relief

The Town of Flora, along with the assistance of Wilmon Holmes, Ramey's Supervalu, Flora United Methodist Church and First Baptist Church, Flora will have a non-perishable food drop off at Ramey's Supervalu in Flora today (Tuesday) from 4 pm -7 pm and on Wed. 10 am - 6 pm and Thurs. 10 am - 6 pm . The donations will be taken to those who were affected by the deadly tornado last Saturday in Yazoo City and the surrounding area. Bottled water and non-perishable canned foods are greatly appreciated. Also in need are cleaning supplies such as mops, brooms, cleaning rags, Clorox, Mr. Clean, buckets, heavy duty garbage bags, and rubber gloves.

Congressman Gregg Harper: Mississippi Will Persevere

Congressman Gregg Harper delivered the following remarks today on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives regarding Governor Haley Barbour’s proclamation declaring April 27, 2010 as a Day of Prayer.

Despite The Spin: Still Government Motors

From Forbes:

GM is paying back Uncle Sam to shake him down for more money.

GM CEO Ed Whitacre announced in a Wall Street Journalcolumn Wednesday that his company has paid back its government bailout loan "in full, with interest, years ahead of schedule." He is even running TV ads on all major networks to that effect--a needless expense given that a credulous media is only too happy to parrot his claims for free. Detroit Free Press' Mike Thompson, for example, advises bailout proponents to start "warming up their vocal chords" to jeer their opponents with chants of "I told you so."

But before belting out their victory aria, GM-boosters ought to hear the whole story--not just the fairytale version about Government Motors' grand comeback that Mr. Whitacre is feeding them.

But when Mr. Whitacre says GM has paid back the bailout money in full, he means not the entire $49.5 billion--the loan and the equity. In fact, he avoids all mention of that figure in his column. He means only the $6.7 billion loan amount.


But wait! Even that's not the full story given that GM, which has not yet broken even, much less turned a profit, can't pay even this puny amount from its own earnings.

As it turns out, the Obama administration put $13.4 billion of the aid money as "working capital" in an escrow account when the company was in bankruptcy. The company is using this escrow money--government money--to pay back the government loan.

GM claims that the fact that it is even using the escrow money to pay back the loan instead of using it all to shore itself up shows that it is on the road to recovery. That actually would be a positive development--although hardly one worth hyping in ads and columns--if it were not for a further plot twist.

Sean McAlinden, chief economist at the Ann Arbor-based Center for Automotive Research, points out that the company has applied to the Department of Energy for $10 billion in low (5%) interest loan to retool its plants to meet the government's tougher new CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) standards. However, giving GM more taxpayer money on top of the existing bailout would have been a political disaster for the Obama administration and a PR debacle for the company. Paying back the small bailout loan makes the new--and bigger--DOE loan much more feasible.


In short, GM is using government money to pay back government money to get more government money. And at a 2% lower interest rate at that. This is a nifty scheme to refinance GM's government debt--not pay it back!

GM boasts that, because it is doing so well, it is paying the $6.7 billion five years ahead of schedule since it was not due until 2015. So will there be an accelerated payback of the rest of the $49.6 billion investment? No. That goal has been pushed back, as it turns out.

In order to recover that investment, the government has to sell its equity. It plans to do that only when GM becomes a publicly traded company once again. GM was hoping to turn a profit by the end of 2010 and float an initial public offering this winter. However, GM Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell, when queried about that timeline a few days ago, demurred. The offering will be made, he said, "when the markets and the company are ready."

(Take that, taxpayers!)

More Proof: They Knew, But Hid It From the Public

From the American Spectator

What Lies Beneath


OFFICE POLITICS

The economic report released last week by Health and Human Services, which indicated that President Barack Obama's health care "reform" law would actually increase the cost of health care and impose higher costs on consumers, had been submitted to the office of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius more than a week before the Congressional votes on the bill, according to career HHS sources, who added that Sebelius's staff refused to review the document before the vote was taken.

"The reason we were given was that they did not want to influence the vote," says an HHS source. "Which is actually the point of having a review like this, you would think."

The analysis, performed by Medicare's Office of the Actuary, which in the past has been identified as a "nonpolitical" office, set off alarm bells when submitted. "We know a copy was sent to the White House via their legislative affairs staff," says the HHS staffer, "and there were a number of meetings here almost right after the analysis was submitted to the secretary's office. Everyone went into lockdown, and people here were too scared to go public with the report."

In the end, the report was released several weeks after the vote -- the review by the secretary's office reportedly took less than three days -- and bore a note that the analysis was not the official position of the Obama administration.

MDEQ offers Debris Management Guidance for storm ravaged areas

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has developed three debris management guidance documents in response to this weekend’s storm events. MDEQ is providing information to local governments on selecting temporary emergency debris sites, the locations of existing solid waste sites, and dealing with asbestos.

“As a native of Yazoo County, I understand clearly the challenges facing local governments in that county and also in Warren, Holmes, and Choctaw counties. The amount of debris left behind is a big challenge for any county. Therefore, MDEQ has moved quickly to provide guidance to local officials who are dealing with large amounts of debris and other solid waste. We realize the need for additional public solid waste management facilities and are here to provide that information as well as for other solid waste management issues,” said MDEQ Executive Director Trudy Fisher.

The MDEQ documents include the following:

• Guidance to local governments on selecting and requesting approval for emergency debris management sites for burning, storage, or chipping of vegetative debris and storage/staging of structural debris.
• Guidance on the existing permitted solid waste facilities available in the 4 high impact counties and the permitted solid waste facilities in the adjacent counties to those high impact counties.
• Preliminary guidance on dealing with asbestos containing materials advising people to be cautious in managing and cleaning asbestos materials at single family homes and advising owners of commercial, non-residential, and multi-family dwelling unit owners to contact MDEQ for further guidance

The documents are available at:
http://www.deq.state.ms.us/MDEQ.nsf/page/SW_EmergencyDebrisManagementGuidance4.24.2010?OpenDocument

MDEQ Press Release

Allstate Announces Mobile Claims Centers Located to Yazoo City For Disaster Relief

Allstate has set up a Mobile Claims Center in Yazoo City, Miss. to help policyholders affected by Saturday’s tornado. The self-contained mobile claims office is equipped with generators, satellite technology and high-speed internet connectivity allowing Allstate’s National Catastrophe Team the ability to provide customer claim support in areas hardest hit by a tornado.

By visiting a Mobile Claims Center, Allstate customers will be able to start the claims process and ask questions about their claim.

The current Allstate Mobile Claims Center location as of April 26, 2010, is listed below. The location of this unit is subject to change. For an updated list of locations visit www.allstate.com/catastrophe/Mobile-Response-Units.aspx

Sunflower Foods
734 E 15 St,
Yazoo City, MS

Hours are from 8:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. Monday through Friday.

Allstate policyholders whose homes or automobiles have been damaged or destroyed by the recent storm can contact Allstate by calling 1-800-54-STORM, visiting a Mobile Claims Center, or logging onto Allstate.com.

Governor declares Day of Prayer, State Flags at Half Staff for Period of Mourning

Gov. Haley Barbour has declared Tuesday as a Day of Prayer to remember Mississippians who suffered losses in Saturday's severe weather and for those families who lost loved ones in last week's oil rig accident.

Ten people in Mississippi died in Saturday's tornado.

Four Mississippians were reported missing in the oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico.

Barbour says the past few days "have been tough for many Mississippi families."

Barbour has ordered state flags to be flown at half staff April 27 through April 30 as part of a period of mourning.

Associated Press

Fox News highlights the incredible dedication of long time Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers (Video)

Yazoo County Coroner Ricky Shivers -- a Baptist deacon -- says he was in his truck when the twister picked it up and flipped it four times. Shivers says he told God that if it was his time to die, he was ready. Later he went out in his hospital gown to help identify bodies.


Fox reporter, Kris Gutierrez does an amazing job with Mr. Shivers. How do you think a CNN or MSNBC reporter would have responded to Mr. Shivers' Christian worldview of the twister? Considering the response from Mr. Guiterrez, would the MSM respond with an "Amen" or the "We're praying for you, and I mean it"?

Town Hall

Gulf Coast Residents come to aid Tornado Victims in Yazoo City

State asks for volunteers to help with tornado relief efforts


Yazoo City, Miss., residents walk past a tornado destroyed home on Sunday, April 25, 2010. Many residents spent the better part of the day cleaning up and trying to salvage possessions in the homes and businesses damaged by Saturday's tornado. The director of the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency said Sunday that volunteers are needed after a tornado sliced through dozens of counties, killing at least 10 people and destroying numerous homes.

Mike Womack, director of MEMA, said officials are working with the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service to coordinate emergency relief efforts.

"We've set up the Volunteer Reception Center, which will oversee volunteers and national service members," Womack said. "We need people to assist in the removal of fallen trees, destroyed homes, as well as the clearing of other debris."

Visit www.volunteermississippi.org to volunteer or call 888-353-1793. Registered volunteers will be contacted, Womack said.

Paige Roberts, executive director of the Southeast Mississippi Chapter of the Red Cross, was in Yazoo City on Sunday with at least one other volunteer from Jackson County.

Yazoo City has been reported to be one of the hardest-hit areas by the mile-wide twister that ripped through Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama on Saturday.

"It's bad here," Roberts said when contacted by cell phone on Sunday. "This is what tornadoes do. It ripped thorough cities and towns, leaving behind snapped trees. Trees cause the majority of the damage."

Roberts said when she arrived Saturday afternoon to the city that's just outside Jackson, she first encountered a family who lost their brother.

"He was asleep in his trailer, and a tree fell on it, killing him," Roberts said.

She also comforted two children who lost their mother as she tried to protect them.

"She died while trying to save her children," Roberts said. "The children are hospitalized, and both are under 7 years old."

Roberts said there are also Red Cross volunteers from Biloxi in Yazoo City.

"It reminds me of Katrina," she said. "The devastation is not as widespread as Katrina was, but the places that were hit resemble Katrina's destruction."

Roberts said more Gulf Coast volunteers could arrive throughout the week.

Mississippi Press

Tornado Relief Effort at Brandon City Hall

A tornado relief effort has been started at Brandon City Hall.


An 18-wheeler will be on site to collect relief items. Items being accepted: Non-perishable food, bottled water, clothing, bedding, sleeping bags, blankets, batteries, chain saws, blowers, towels, toiletries, cash donations, etc.

Location:
Brandon City Hall
1000 Municipal Drive
601-824-4579 or 601-955-1960

Collected between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m.

Sun Pine has already agreed to supply pallets of cleaning supplies toward the effort.

MEMA issues latest damage assessment

Initial damage assessment teams began damage assessments today in the hardest hit areas following Saturday's storms.

They are:

• Attala — 35 homes damaged and seven injuries

• Choctaw — 114 homes/mobile homes damaged, two businesses, 15 injuries

• Holmes — 60 homes damaged and 25 injuries

• Monroe — 48 homes/mobile homes damaged, three businesses damaged, one injury

• Union — 63 homes/mobile homes damaged and one injury.

• Warren — 42 homes/mobile homes damaged

• Yazoo — 319 homes/mobile homes damaged

MEMA's Mobile Operations Unit is deployed in Yazoo County. Area coordinators are in Yazoo and Choctaw. More than 60 Mississippi National Guardsmen and MP's are in both of those counties, and 40 additional MHP officers have been deployed, as well.

The Department of Health has sent in water engineers and facility inspectors to Yazoo County.

MEMA has deployed 740 tarps; 10 light towers; one pallet of Meals Ready to Eat and seven pallets of water to Yazoo County; one pallet of water to Holmes County; and, 192 tarps to Attala County.

The United Way's Mississippi 211 opened it's call center today. The American Red Cross is on the scene, and shelters have been opened by ARC.

How bad do you want it?

Video of destruction from Yazoo City

Taken from site of Hillcrest Baptist Church destruction:





Mississippi Business Journal footage:







AP coverage of local footage:



Fox News:




More from MBJ:

AP: 2 killed as tornado strikes Mississippi

YAZOO CITY, Miss. — A tornado touched down Saturday in rural Mississippi, killing two people, injuring several others and ripping the tops off buildings, the mayor of Yazoo City said.

The ¾-mile wide tornado roared across at least three counties in west-central Mississippi. Mayor McArthur Straughter said the county coroner confirmed the deaths.

"It's devastating. All of the buildings up in this area have had the roof torn off," said Straughter, estimating about 15 to 20 buildings had been heavily damaged.

Power lines and trees were down, blocking roads, Straughter said by telephone as sirens whined in the background. At least four people had been brought by four-wheeler to a triage center at an old discount store parking lot in the town about 40 miles north of Jackson.

Three counties were conducting a "massive response," Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn said.

Associated Press

Yazoo County hammered by major twister

Reports continue to come in from Yazoo County following a major twister hitting Yazoo City. Reports are that Hillcrest Church at the corner of Highway's 49 and 16 was leveled and that some people may have been trapped inside. At least five ambulances have passed our location in Flora headed north on 49. Reports are that Ribeye's Restaurant and the shopping center just north of the intersection of 49 and old 16 were also leveled.

Initial information received suggested that Benton had also been hit, but reports now indicate that Benton has received only minor damage.

Update: Recently received photos suggest that Ribeye's Restaurant and the shopping center had major damage, but both structures remain standing.

Update: WLBT reports Dale Thrasher was inside Hillcrest Baptist Church and took refuge under the communion table as the entire building came down around him.

Update 3:13 pm: Military helicopter passed over Flora in route to storm damage minutes ago. Emergency vehicles still in route to Yazoo City.

Update: 3:29 pm: Reports from Holmes County are that an Ebenezer man was killed while trying to get in his truck from the same storm.

Update: 3:39 pm: MDOT announcing road closures due to the storm:
Debris on Hwy 51 from Madison County to Durant, MS

County: Yazoo
Traffic Impact: High
Direction: All Directions
Lanes: All Lanes
Trees down on Hwy 51 from Madison County to Druant, MS

I-55 @ 151 mile marker north of Pickens near Holmes Co. Park

Traffic Impact: Closed
Approximate Duration: 1 hour
Direction: Northbound
All Lanes
All northbound lanes are closed. One southbound lane is open.

Update 3:49 pm: Yazoo City has established a staging area for injuries at the old Yazoo Motors on Highway 49.

Update 3:55 pm: Governor Barbour briefing media from storm site in Yazoo City. Say's will be no confirmation of fatalities until cornoner reports them. Governor says, "several fatalities likely" from across Yazoo and Holmes County's. 17 reported injuries taken to Jackson via Ambulance, 2 by helicopter.

Update 4:09 pm: AP reporting two confirmed deaths.

Update 4:20 pm: MHP confirmed 2 children dead in Weir, Choctaw County.

Update 4:30 pm: Red Cross has established a shelter, and will be serving meals at the LT Miller Community Center in Yazoo City.

Forward any pictures and information you have on the storm to floraharvester@bellsouth.net and we'll attempt to keep information posted.

U.S.’s Toughest Immigration Bill Is Signed in Arizona

PHOENIX — Gov. Jan Brewer of Arizona signed the toughest illegal immigration law in the country on Friday, aimed at identifying, prosecuting and deporting illegal immigrants. The governor’s move unleashed immediate protests and reignited the divisive battle over immigration reform nationally.
Even before Governor Brewer signed the law at a 4:30 p.m. news conference here, President Obama strongly criticized it.

Speaking at a naturalization ceremony for 24 active-duty service members in the Rose Garden, Mr. Obama called for a federal overhaul of immigration laws — an overhaul that Congressional leaders signaled they were preparing to take up soon.

He said the failure of officials in Washington to act on immigration would open the door to “irresponsibility by others.” He said the Arizona bill threatened “to undermine basic notions of fairness that we cherish as Americans, as well as the trust between police and our communities that is so crucial to keeping us safe.”

The law, which opponents and critics alike said was the broadest and strictest immigration measure in the country in generations, would make the failure to carry immigration documents a crime. It would also give the police broad power to detain anyone suspected of being in the country illegally. Opponents have decried it as an open invitation for harassment and discrimination against Hispanics regardless of their citizenship status.

New York Times

Sun Herald: Oil spill may hit Coast

The sinking of Deepwater Horizon could be catastrophic for Mississippi’s coastline if hundreds of thousands of gallons of crude oil makes its way ashore.

Coast Guard and oil company officials at a news conference Thursday said it was not clear whether the 18,000-foot-deep well was still leaking.

Environmental threats include the 336,000 gallons of oil a day that had been spurting from the rig before it sank, though nearly all of it was burning off in the incessant fire, Coast Guard firefighter Katherine McNamara told the Associated Press.

Coast Guard cutters Zephyr, a patrol boat homeported in Pascagoula, and Cobia, a patrol boat out of Mobile, are involved in the search for 11 rig workers missing since the explosion.

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary E. Landry said that the probability of the crewmembers’ survival was decreasing, despite warm waters and calm seas.

At least 700,000 gallons of diesel fuel was in a tank on the rig, but that could have been consumed in the fire before the rig sank, said Doug Helton, incident operations coordinator for the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration’s office of response and restoration.

“The diesel fuel, if it didn’t burn off, will evaporate and not come to shore,” he said.

The crude oil leaking from the newly drilled well is heavier and will last longer.

“It could float around long enough to reach the shore,” he said.

Sun Herald

Will Dems 'go for it' on immigration reform?

Across Capitol Hill, Republicans are asking just one question about Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid: Are they really going to do it?

Will the president, the speaker, and the majority leader try to pass "comprehensive" immigration reform in a midterm election year that already threatens to be a disaster for Democrats?

So why are Obama, Pelosi and Reid going forward? There are five possible explanations.

1) They've lost their minds.

2) They are very smart and know something we don't.

3) They're out of touch with the public's concerns.

4) They want to be able to tell the most ardent supporters of reform that they tried.

5) They're fully aware that the public doesn't want "comprehensive" reform but are racing to do as much as they can before the elections take away their power to defy the public's wishes.

The first possibility is highly unlikely. The second is less so, but still pretty unlikely. The third is plausible, but not probable. The fourth is arguable. And the fifth? It makes a lot of sense, especially in light of the Obamacare experience.

Not long ago, in another context, the president challenged Republicans to "Go for it." Don't be surprised if the GOP tells him the same thing this time.

Washington Examiner

Madison County Schools get boost, may get to keep some teaching positions open.

School district enjoys one-time ‘windfall’

Madison County schools may be able to keep several teaching positions next fall because of a nearly $260,000 one-time windfall.

Leavitt Tube, LLC, owes back taxes dating to 2003. Tax assessor Gerald Barber said an oversight led to the company not paying taxes on its buildings and grounds after a 10-year tax exemption lapsed.

School Superintendent Mike Kent welcomed the good news.

Earlier this month, Kent told The Clarion-Ledger that the district might have to eliminate 40 teaching units to balance the upcoming budget because of cutbacks from the state.

In addition to the back taxes, Barber says the school district can expect Leavitt Tube to pay its yearly taxes from now on. The annual amount, over the past seven years, has ranged from $31,199 to $49,628.

Mississippi Business Journal

Rainy weekend reading

The People and Their Government
DISTRUST, DISCONTENT, ANGER AND PARTISAN RANCOR

Redstate: Billy Graham’s Son Is Too Christian For Barack Obama’s Army

Billy Graham’s son Franklin, a solid evangelist in his own right, was invited to give the address at the Pentagon’s National Day of Prayer service.

Barack Obama’s administration has revoked the invitation.

Why? Well, it turns out Franklin Graham really believes in Christ and holds that Christ really is “they way and the truth and the life.”

Consequently, Franklin Graham has spoken out about Islam — the only religion to see its followers carry out violent terrorist attacks on the United States in the name of that religion — and its violent ways.

The Council on Islamic-American Relations and other Islamic groups got upset with Franklin Graham pointing out the truth.

So the Obama Administration caved.

Read the entire post at Redstate

Oh the irony!

How ironic is it that White Supremacist Richard Barrett dies from the hands of a black man that he had been HELPING?

Man arrested in Barrett homicide

White supremacist found stabbed, burned in home. McGee had performed yard work for Barrett, Pennington said.

McGee had served five years of a six-year sentence for simple assault on a police officer and grand larceny when he was released on probation in February from the State Penitentiary at Parchman.

He is being held in the Rankin County Detention Center. His initial court appearance will be Monday.

A photo on his Facebook page shows off numerous tattoos associated with the Vice Lords street gang.

Pennington said McGee was arrested after investigators obtained a search warrant based on evidence they spotted under the carport of his parents' home. Pennington did not elaborate.

Witnesses told investigators Barrett had gone to McGee's home around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday to pay him for yard work.

Clarion Ledger

White Supremacist Barrett found dead

WLBT is reporting:

Richard Barrett dies in house fire

RANKIN COUNTY, MS (WLBT) - Nationalist Movement founder and leader Richard Barrett was found dead in his home this morning following a fire.

A neighbor spotted the fire at Barrett's home around 7:45 this morning and called the fire department. When they responded to 227 East Petros Road, in Rankin County, they found smoke coming from inside the house and Barrett's body inside.

Several law enforcement agencies are on scene, including the FBI, but no one has said if foul play is suspected.

The Nationalist Movement is a white supremacist group Barrett founded after moving to the Magnolia State in 1966. He's also run unsuccessfully for Governor and Congress.

In 1994 he spearheaded a movement to get Governor Kirk Fordice to pardon Byron de la Beckwith, who was convicted for the 1963 murder of Medgar Evers.

UPDATE: Man arrested in death of Miss. white supremacist

PEARL, Miss. -- Authorities says a white supremacist lawyer found dead in his house had been stabbed, beaten and his body set afire.

Pennington said 22-year-old Vincent McGee has been charged with murder. He said additional charges could be forthcoming, including arson.

Pennington said Friday that a preliminary autopsy showed Barrett had been stabbed multiple times in the neck and had blunt force trauma to the head. The sheriff said 35 percent of Barrett's body had been burned.

Sun Herald

New PR push for Livingston Township suggests waning interest?

A recent story on WJTV promoting Livingston Township at the corner of Highway 22 and 463 is only one attempt of many over the past several months to keep the development in the public eye. The development is owned by David Landrum, and has seen significant challenges including the filing of two lien's here and here for over $120,000 in Madison County Chancery Court for architectural work.

Landrum was in Flora during a Town Board meeting earlier this year to promote the development as a good thing for Flora. That leap in logic is questionable. One would think development away from Flora is the opposite of "good for Flora."

WJTV reports:

Plans are in the works to bring life back to one part of Madison County.

 

Livingston once a historic town, was abandoned years ago.

The historic land is located at the corner of U.S. 22 and Highway 463 in the Mannsdale-Livingston Heritage Preservation District.

The historic land will turn into “Livingston Township”.

A 60 million dollar project that will be the home of offices and businesses while paying homage to the town’s history.

There are also plans to build about 60 Charleston-style cottages.

Developers say the project will keep the area’s history and economy alive.

“It’s our intent that the small businesses that will be located here will be in a nurturing environment to spawn other businesses that can open manufacturing in Flora or Canton’s industrial parts,“ said Don Williams the President of Livingston Holdings. “we are going to provide the essentials that are absent in this area.“

Historians like Charles Bowering hopes the future development will keep Livingston’s past in the present.

“I think it’s great,“ said Bowering. “It would just grow up in a wilderness if they don’t clean it up.“

Developers plan to break ground on the project this fall.

I have a great respect for Charles Elon Bowering. But, I tend to think the "wilderness" that has grown up there is quite a beautiful and pastoral setting, and the fact that "it was abandoned years ago" doesn't necessarily mean it's a good idea to rebuild something there now. There is only so much money to go around from developers and investors in today's real estate market, and with millions of dollars coming due this year, liens for architectural work, and rumors of Landrum's own financial problems the project is already at a disadvantage.

Furthermore, the assertion by Don Williams that essential services "are absent in the area" is nothing more than a sales pitch. Nothing could be further from the truth. Flora is only 5 miles away, the Mannsdale area where considerable development is now occurring, is even closer.

Maybe, like years ago, people are recognizing that Livingston should be abandoned.

Earth Day 2010: More about blame, than conservation and stewardship.

Earth Day 2010 is here and it seems to lack the hype it once did. Gone is the weeklong celebration by the tree-huggers, Greenpeace and the multi-million dollar corporations that hope to nab a few of their dollars through green marketing campaigns. Today, it would appear that the self annointed enviromental cops have the people they want in leadership, so they can back off and let the government do it now. Or maybe it's because after 40 years of trying, the effort has accomplished nothing but hype. A Gallup Poll released on April 9 shows that Americans are today no more environmentally friendly in their actions than they were at the turn of the century. While more than three in four recycle, have reduced household energy use, and buy environmentally friendly products, these numbers have barely budged since 2000.

Excuse me if I don't act surprised. It is hardly news that everyone wants hard choices to be made, but very few people want to be the ones to make the sacrifices themselves.

When it came to wasteful spending former Senator Trent Lott once said "Pork is anything spent north of Memphis." The same mindset holds true for those who would otherwise be enviromentally friendly.

Case in point: The New York City sightseeing company Gray Line is promoting an “Earth Week” package of day trips that includes visits to “green spots” like the botanical gardens and flower shopping at Chelsea Market. The fact that these tours will be taken on buses running on fossil fuels does not sit well with the first Earth Day national coordinator Denis Hayes who tells The New York Times what he thinks of such green consumerism: “This ridiculous perverted marketing has cheapened the concept of what is really green. It is tragic.”

Even the Old Gray Lady can't help but notice:

At 40, Earth Day Is Now Big Business

So strong was the antibusiness sentiment for the first Earth Day in 1970 that organizers took no money from corporations and held teach-ins “to challenge corporate and government leaders.”

Forty years later, the day has turned into a premier marketing platform for selling a variety of goods and services, like office products, Greek yogurt and eco-dentistry.

And then there is the left’s push for economy-killing energy taxes. The Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis has found that cap-and-tax legislation pending in Congress would cost the average family-of-four almost $3,000 per year, cause 2.5 million net job losses by 2035, and a produce a cumulative gross domestic product (GDP) loss of $9.4 trillion between 2012 and 2035. Losing that $9.4 trillion to appease the fragile sensibilities of the enviro-left – now that would be tragic.

Especially when one considers that studies clearly show that important indicators of environmental quality actually improve as incomes and levels of consumption go up.

I, for one, would be more than happy to stop increasing my carbon footprint if the government would get the hell out of my money. If I were able to keep more of it, I wouldn't have the need to be constantly burning fossil fuels to find more.

Finally, there is the growing sentiment that we've all been lied to. It's becoming hard to believe traditional media sources as they continue to hype the same old argument despite the 900-pound gorilla sitting behind Katie Couric.

It’s been a rough five months for the credibility of many of the “leading” climate scientists.

First, the ClimateGate e-mails appeared to show unethical or illegal behavior of high profile scientists and a potential conspiracy to distort science for political gain. These weren’t just a few renegade scientists; in the following months, damning information came to light about the world’s leading climate alarmists and their work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the Stern Report, the U.S. National Climate Data Center and even NASA.

Even with the 40th anniversary of Earth Day coming up on April 22, Americans are skeptical about the threat of climate change. A March 2010 Gallup poll found that 48 percent of Americans think the threat of global warming is “generally exaggerated". That’s the highest in 13 years, according to Gallup.

The public’s receding fear of climate change may be related to the series of scandals and admissions that have been uncovered since Nov. 20 when e-mails from University of East Anglia’s Climatic Research Unit (CRU) were leaked. Those e-mails provided “ammunition” to climate skeptics about the authenticity and ethics surrounding the CRU’s work on global warming science.

Including this very damning email:

From: Phil Jones
To: ray bradley ,mann@XXXX, mhughes@XXXX
Subject: Diagram for WMO Statement
Date: Tue, 16 Nov 1999 13:31:15 +0000
Cc: k.briffa@XXX.osborn@XXXX

Dear Ray, Mike and Malcolm,

Once Tim’s got a diagram here we’ll send that either later today or first thing tomorrow.
I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline. Mike’s series got the annual land and marine values while the other two got April-Sept for NH land N of 20N. The latter two are real for 1999, while the estimate for 1999 for NH combined is +0.44C wrt 61-90. The Global estimate for 1999 with data through Oct is +0.35C cf. 0.57 for 1998.

Thanks for the comments, Ray.
Cheers
Phil
Prof. Phil Jones
Climatic Research Unit Telephone XXXX
School of Environmental Sciences Fax XXXX
University of East Anglia
Norwich

As for me and my house, we'll continue to do the very things my family and my faith has always taught me to do; be good stewards of the resources the Lord has provided. At the same time, I will try to get away, hide and otherwise stop those who would take those resources away to give them to someone else who refuses to take the same responsibility for themselves.

Williams: Taxes and Voting

According to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington, D.C., research organization, nearly half of U.S. households will pay no federal income taxes for 2009. That's up from the Tax Foundation's 2006 estimate that 41 percent of the American population, or 121 million Americans, were completely outside the federal income tax system. These Americans pay no federal income tax either because their incomes are too low or they have higher income but credits, deductions and exemptions that relieve them of tax liability. This lack of income tax liability stands in stark contrast to the top 10 percent of earners, those households earning an average of $366,400 in 2006, who paid about 73 percent of federal income taxes. The top 25 percent paid 86 percent. The bottom 50 percent of taxpayers paid less than 4 percent of federal income taxes collected.

Let's not dwell on the fairness of such an arrangement for financing the activities of the federal government. Instead, let's ask what kind of incentives and results such an arrangement produces and ask ourselves whether these results are good for our country. That's a question to be asked whether or not one has federal income tax liabilities.

Having 121 million Americans completely outside the federal income tax system, it's like throwing chum to political sharks. These Americans become a natural spending constituency for big-spending politicians. After all, if you have no income tax liability, how much do you care about deficits, how much Congress spends and the level of taxation? Political calls for tax cuts and spending restraints have little appeal. Survey polls revealed this. According to The Harris Poll taken in June 2003, 51 percent of Democrats thought the tax cuts enacted by Congress were a bad thing while 16 percent of Republicans thought so. Among Democrats, 67 percent thought the tax cuts were unfair while 32 percent of Republicans thought so. When asked whether the $350-billion tax cut package will help your family finances, 59 percent of those surveyed said no and 35 percent said yes. Tax cuts to many Americans mean just one thing: They pose a threat to the federal handouts they receive.

Here's my perhaps politically incorrect question: If one has no financial stake in our country, how much of a say-so should he have in its management? Let's put it another way: I do not own stock, and hence have no financial stake, in Ford Motor Company. Do you think I should have voting rights or any say-so in the management of the company?Let's put it another way: I do not own stock, and hence have no financial stake, in Ford Motor Company. Do you think I should have voting rights or any say-so in the management of the company? I'm guessing that the average sane person's answer is no. You say, "Williams, just where are you heading with this?" I'm not proposing that we take voting rights away from those who do not pay taxes. What I'm suggesting is that every American gets one vote in every federal election, plus another vote for each $20,000 he pays in federal taxes. With such a system, there'd be a modicum of linkage between one's financial stake in our country and his decision-making right. Of course, unequal voting power could be reduced by legislating lower taxes.


This is not a far-out idea. The founders worried about it. James Madison's concern about class warfare between the rich and the poor led him to favor the House of Representatives being elected by the people at large and the Senate elected by property owners. He said, "It is nevertheless certain, that there are various ways in which the rich may oppress the poor; in which property may oppress liberty; and that the world is filled with examples. It is necessary that the poor should have a defense against the danger. On the other hand, the danger to the holders of property cannot be disguised, if they be undefended against a majority without property."

Town Hall

Financial Regulation: The foxes are guarding the hen house

This post from CleanGovernmentNow on the upcoming hearings and financial regulation:

Are We At Farce Yet? The Show Trial of Goldman Sachs


What could possibly be more tragic than a 1400 page financial reform bill written by some of the key architects of financial ruin: Chris Dodd, Barney Frank and Timothy Geithner ?

How about a convenient show trial for Goldman Sachs, one of biggest beneficiaries of the bailout these clever men cooked up?

On the one hand, you have a handful of elite, well-connected financial intermediaries and their investing clients that loaded up on smart gimmicks that were too clever by half. These derivatives instruments went poof when underlying real estate values declined more than expected. In a normal world, this would mean those dabbling in these hot potatoes would get burned. But lo and behold, these cats, who are perfectly capable of fattening themselves up for slaughter, were saved from their own idiocy by the bailout of their chief casino on credit -- AIG.

That was the tragedy. It is a tragedy that continues with an effort by Dodd, Frank, Geithner to play house to the Wall Street whales -- for a cut of the take of course.

Now comes word that one of the main beneficiaries of the AIG bailout -- Goldman Sachs -- might have done something that might have looked like something that might be connected to something that could possibly be interpreted as greedy speculation.

What I do know is that the timing and subject matter has all the earmarks of a show trial meant to distract from a far greater set of sins that took place within the government before, during and after the financial crisis.

Baldwin: SPLC Publishes Patriot Hit List

By Chuck Baldwin

In a report on its web site dated April 2010, entitled "Meet The Patriots,"
the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) profiled "36 individuals at the heart of the resurgent [patriot] movement." (In reading the list, I counted only 35 "patriots" and 5 "enablers" for a total of 40. I'm not really sure how the SPLC came up with "36." Perhaps their ability to count is commensurate with their ability to appreciate patriotism and liberty.) The SPLC (founded by Morris Dees) sees itself as America's guardian against "right wing militias" and loves to label conservatives and libertarians that it doesn't like as "extremists." The SPLC is one of the most ultra-liberal organizations in the country and should be dismissed as a group of paranoid leftists, not worthy of thought or mention.

The sad truth is, however, our federal government has chosen to exalt the SPLC to the position of being its "go to" source for information regarding "potential domestic terrorists" and similar characterizations. As a result, the information and reports disseminated by SPLC wind up in police reports and bulletins all over the United States. As an example, the SPLC had its fingerprints all over the infamous MIAC report. One could even question whether the SPLC is merely a front organization for Big Brother.

Therefore, it is highly likely that the report negatively profiling 40 American patriots will find its way into Department of Homeland Security (DHS) fusion centers and be distributed to police agencies all across the country. So, should the 40 people who find themselves targeted by SPLC expect some kind of government/police attention? Are we really that close to Nazi-style persecution in America? If the SPLC has its way, the answer seems to be a definite yes.

I remind readers that in the book, Nazi Justiz: Law of the Holocaust (page 3), there were five steps to Hitler's plans for the destruction of European Jews. Step 1: Identification/registration of the targeted group as a public menace. Step 2: Ostracism of the targeted persons. Step 3: property confiscation. Step 4: Concentration of members into geographical locations. Step 5: Annihilation. In this latest report, SPLC seems quite willing to accomplish steps 1 and 2.

Here are the 40 names that are targeted in the SPLC report (and guess who is listed at the very top? Yours truly):

1. Chuck Baldwin, Pastor, Radio Broadcaster, Syndicated Columnist, 2008 Constitution Party Presidential nominee.
2. Joe Banister, former IRS special agent, tax protester.
3. Martin "Red" Beckman, tax protester
4. Catherine Bleish, head of the Liberty Restoration Project.
5. Chris Broughton, Second Amendment advocate, member of "We The People" group.
6. Bob Campbell, head of American Grand Jury.
7. Robert Crooks, Army veteran, retired commercial fisherman, anti-illegal immigration proponent.
8. Joseph Farah, CEO of World Net Daily
9. Gary Franchi, producer of "Camp FEMA: American Lockdown," national director of RestoreTheRepublic.com.
10. Al Garza, head of the Patriot's Coalition, an anti-illegal immigration group.
11. Ted Gunderson, retired FBI agent.
12. John Hassey, "The public face of Alabama's militia movement in the late 1990s," says SPLC.
13. Alex Jones, Radio Talk Show host.
14. Devvy Kidd, "prolific columnist, blogger, and public speaker."
15. Larry Kilgore, telecommunications consultant, former US Senate candidate from Texas, pro-secession advocate.
16. Cliff Kincaid, syndicated columnist and author, editor of AIM Report (Accuracy in Media's publication), founder and president of America's Survival, Inc., a UN watchdog group.
17. Mark Koernke, associated with the now-defunct Michigan Militia.
18. Richard Mack, former Graham County, Arizona, Sheriff, author, and public speaker.
19. Jack McLamb, former Phoenix, Arizona, police officer, author, and public speaker.
20. John McManus, former member of the US Marine Corps, president of the John Birch Society.
21. Daniel New, father of Michael New (the Army medic who refused to wear a UN uniform), author, public speaker.
22. Norm Olson, founder of the now-defunct Michigan Militia.
23. Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America.
24. Stewart Rhodes, Army veteran and Yale Law School graduate, founder of Oath Keepers.
25. Jon Roland, computer specialist, founder of the Constitution Society.
26. Luke Rudkowski, founder We Are Change.
27. Robert "Bob" Schultz, founder of We The People.
28. Joel Skousen, editor, World Affairs Brief.
29. Jim Stachowiak, Radio Talk Show host, "Longtime militia organizer,"
claims SPLC.
30. John Stadtmiller, founder, Republic Broadcasting Network.
31. Orly Taitz, California attorney, a leader in the push to make President Obama disclose his US birth certificate.
32. Amanda Teegarden, executive director of Oklahomans for Sovereignty and Free Enterprise.
33. Mike Vanderboegh, anti-Obama health care activist.
34. Paul Venable, former candidate for the Idaho House of Representatives.
35. Edwin Vieira, Jr., attorney, author, proponent of constitutional State militias, lecturer.
36. Michele Bachmann, US Representative from Minnesota.
37. Glenn Beck, Fox News Channel TV host.
38. Paul Broun, medical doctor, US Representative from Georgia.
39. Andrew Napolitano, attorney, former State judge in New Jersey, Fox News Channel legal analyist, lecturer.
40. Ron Paul, former member of the US Air Force, medical doctor, US Representative from Texas, 2008 Republican candidate for President.

See the SPLC report at:

http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/publications/the-patriots?page=0,0

The SPLC, no doubt, sees each person on the above list as being a leader of the "radical right," a "conspiracist," and "antigovernment." But understand, the SPLC makes its living off of big-government, leftist ideology. To say it is a shill for Big Government Liberalism is an understatement. The SPLC is so radical it makes the ACLU look conservative!

Again, this SPLC report would not even merit a mention (much less an entire column) except for the fact that the SPLC has become a source of information fuelling anti-freedom hysteria for countless bureaucrats at the DHS. Add this to the previously exposed MIAC and DHS reports, and the Army major's report blaming "millennialist" Christians for much of the ills of the world, and a disturbing trend is quickly developing: so-called right-wing ANYTHING is being targeted and demonized as a "public menace."

But the lists that you and I are not seeing are even more disturbing.

Joel Skousen quotes (Radar Magazine's) Christopher Ketcham's The Last Roundup as asking if the federal government is "compiling a secret enemies list of citizens who could face detention?" He goes on to say, "A number of former government employees and intelligence sources with independent knowledge of domestic surveillance operations claim the program that caused the flap between [former assistant attorney general under John Ashcroft, James] Comey and the White House was related to a database of Americans who might be considered potential threats in the event of a national emergency.

Sources familiar with the program say that the government's data gathering has been overzealous and probably conducted in violation of federal law and the protection from unreasonable search and seizure guaranteed by the Fourth Amendment.

"A veteran CIA intelligence analyst who maintains active high-level clearances and serves as an advisor to the Department of Defense in the field of emerging technology tells Radar that during the 2004 hospital room drama [between former Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Attorney General Ashcroft, in an attempt by Card to coerce a very ill Ashcroft to authorize President Bush's secretive domestic spying programs as his assistant--and acting--attorney general had refused to do so], James Comey expressed concern over how this secret database was being used 'to accumulate otherwise private data on non-targeted U.S. citizens for use at a future time.'"

The report further states, "According to a senior government official who served with high-level security clearances in five administrations, 'There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived "enemies of the state" almost instantaneously.'" At this point, Skousen noted, "And that is precisely why the census bureau took a GPS coordinate on every front door in America, secretly linking this to dissidents and their known addresses."

This database of Americans who are perceived to be potential "enemies of the state" goes by the code name "Main Core." And according to the report, "One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.

"Officials at the Department of Homeland Security begin actively scrutinizing people who--for a tremendously broad set of reasons--have been flagged in Main Core as potential domestic threats [sound familiar?]. Some of these individuals might receive a letter or a phone call, others a request to register with local authorities. Still others might hear a knock on the door and find police or armed soldiers outside. In some instances, the authorities might just ask a few questions. Other suspects might be arrested and escorted to federal holding facilities, where they could be detained without counsel until the state of emergency is no longer in effect."

The report also noted that former Assistant Attorney General James Comey "had concluded that the use of that 'Main Core' database compromised the legality of the overall NSA domestic surveillance project. 'If Main Core does exist,' says Philip Giraldi, a former CIA counterterrorism officer and an outspoken critic of the agency, 'the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is its likely home. If a master list is being compiled, it would have to be in a place where there are no legal issues--the CIA and FBI would be restricted by oversight and accountability laws--so I suspect it is at DHS, which as far as I know operates with no such restraints.' Giraldi notes that DHS already maintains a central list of suspected terrorists and has been freely adding people who pose no reasonable threat to domestic security."

So, is there a secret list of 8 million "unfriendly" Americans kept by DHS (if there is, dear reader, you are probably on it!)? Does anyone reading this column doubt that our federal government is more than willing and capable of doing such a thing? All of us are quite familiar with the government's "no fly" or "flagged" airline passenger list. I can personally attest to the authenticity of this list, as airport officials in San Antonio, Texas, told me that I'm on it. I also made it to the "list of three" that were named in the MIAC report (the other two were Ron Paul and Bob Barr). And now I am on the SPLC list of "patriots" (not a compliment in the SPLC lexicon). Wow! I never realize how popular I was! (With the exception of Ron Paul, I'm probably on more lists than anyone in America.)

Who would ever have thought that the day would come in America when to speak up for freedom, constitutional government, and the principles expressed by our Founding Fathers would land one on a government watch list? Well, that day is here, my friend! No doubt, the major media and federal government--in order to further ostracize patriotic, God-fearing Americans--will use the SPLC patriot hit list as a vehicle to carry our country further down the road of oppression.

But what the radical left fearmongers at the Southern Poverty Law Center fail to realize is that the more they try to marginalize and ostracize American patriots such as you and me, the more they isolate themselves from America's future, because millions and millions of hard-working, God-fearing, liberty-loving Americans are not going to sit back and let Morris Dees and his cabal of Big Government elitists destroy the principles of freedom in our land.

So, people such as Morris Dees can put us on as many lists as they like; we will never let liberty die! And the more they try to demonize us, the more people will want to join with us. You see, freedom burns deep and strong in the hearts of real Americans. And that's something the SPLC can't extinguish--no matter how many lists it makes!

Now may be a great time for a good book.

The rats scurry as the ship goes down.

The blood is in the water with respect to Supervisor's Tim Johnson and Karl Banks, Engineer Rudy Warnock and now, Eric Hamer, who himself has not exactly been a good steward of taxpayer money during his time as Board Attorney. Johnson is under fire for his association with the now defunct FAIM charity (also see below article). Karl Banks is getting a close look for potential ethical violations, and Warnock's days are numbered as the State Auditor finally begins to look into his practices.

The best thing the other Supervisor Paul Griffin can hope to do right now is to join Supervisor's John Bell Crosby and DI Smith in ordering a full audit of Madison County's books, and hopes the voters reward him for his change of heart. Either that, or he can take the path of Administrator Mark Houston and jump ship. Otherwise, Griffin can expect to drown with the rest of the rats.

From the Madison County Journal:

Bill Murphy was the highest paid charity bingo director in the state until regulators determined he was operating the dump for personal gain and shut him down.

The Secretary of State ordered the charity shut and levied fines totaling $50,000 against the organization and Murphy.

FAIM paid Murphy $155,000 in 2008 and spent only $22,000 on actual charitable giving, testimony showed.

Murphy's actions are indefensible, but look who's lurking around the bingo hall, District 2 Madison County Supervisor Tim Johnson, the charity's PR hack and their former lobbyist.

Murphy's attorney, Eric Hamer, - who happens to be the attorney for the Madison County Board of Supervisors, Murphy's former employer, as it would happen - argued during hearings that Murphy's compensation shouldn't be in question, claiming there are no statutory rules governing such things. Perhaps, but decent people have morals and principles.

To make things even more interesting, an asset sharing agreement FAIM had with Lynn Johnson, Tim Johnson's wife, was the red flag for regulators, they said.

What kind of confidence can Mississippians have in charities - or our elected public officials (Tim Johnson is president of the Madison County Board of Supervisors) -with these kinds of shenanigans going on?

If bingogate wasn't enough of a scandal, Johnson has been threatening to sue the state Department of Transportation over the failed $37 million Reunion interchange the county was going to build and give to the federal government.

Nearly 300 Madison countians showed up at a regular meeting of the Board of Supervisors in January to protest "wasteful and misdirected spending" of county tax dollars, including Reunion.

Examiners from the State Auditor's Office are currently reviewing engineering contracts connected to Reunion. The real meat of that story will be found in the subcontracts the county engineer arranged.

Bill Murphy should be ashamed and so should Tim Johnson and Eric Hamer.

What kind of people stand behind the kind of fraud Murphy was committing?

Read the entire Editorial at the Madison County Journal

The wheels are coming off. Ain't it GRAND?