Students sue former Manchester Academy teacher accused of abuse

Accusations are mounting against a former Yazoo City private school teacher charged this week with having inappropriate contact with students.

Several former and current students of Manchester Academy are accusing Richard Darden of administering physical exams during which he touched their genitalia even though he was not a licensed physician.

The exams took place at his home, the private school and the Yazoo City Medical Clinic, according to the civil suit filed today in Yazoo County Circuit Court.

"Plaintiffs and their parents were advised that the physicals were required to be conducted by Darden in order for the students to be eligible to participate in football and in other sports at Manchester," the suit states.

The lawsuit also alleges the school allowed Darden, then a ninth-grade biology teacher and dean of students, to act as an athletic coach and trainer and use his home as a "clubhouse" for athletic teams where male students would shower after games or spend the night.

Attorney Cynthia Stewart, who is representing Darden in his criminal case, could not be reached for comment.

Darden resigned May 7 from the school, where he had worked for more than 25 years. The lawsuit alleges Darden's resignation coincided with several male students' discovery of a secret room in Darden's home that "was used to voyeuristically watch minor boys."

The Yazoo County Sheriff's Department said earlier this week it had obtained an arrest warrant for Darden, who faces three counts of voyeurism and three counts of child exploitation.

Darden reportedly checked himself into an unidentified rehabilitation facility shortly after his resignation and before he could be questioned by authorities.

Assistant District Attorney Steven Waldrup said today he has not been notified whether Darden is still in rehab or in law enforcement custody. Sheriff Tommy Vaughn did not return calls for comment this morning.

If convicted, Darden could face 40 years in prison on each exploitation count and five years on each voyeurism count.

In addition to Darden, the suit names Manchester Academy, the clinic and the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Inc. as defendants. The suit alleges the entities allowed Darden to abuse his position of authority, fostered an environment where employees did not report questionable contact or behavior and failed to investigate the students' claims of abuse.

Manchester Academy Headmaster Bryan Dendy would not comment. He referred questions to the school’s attorney, Jeff Walker.

“I have not seen the complaint so I cannot comment,” Walker said.

The Clarion Ledger


Manchester/Darden Scandal

Related Posts: Manchester Teacher Caught Peeping Refuses to Turn Himself In

Obama to send 1,200 troops to US-Mexico border

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama will send 1,200 National Guard troops to boost security along the U.S.-Mexico border, officials said Tuesday, pre-empting Republican plans to try to force votes on such a deployment.

Obama will also request $500 million for border protection and law enforcement activities, according to lawmakers and administration officials. The moves come as chances for action on comprehensive immigration reform, Obama's long-stated goal, look increasingly small in this election year. But Obama is under pressure to do something with the issue front and center after Arizona's passage of a tough crackdown law.

The National Guard troops will work on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support, analysis and training, and support efforts to block drug trafficking. They will temporarily supplement border patrol agents until Customs and Border Protection can recruit and train additional officers and agents to serve on the border, an administration official said.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity ahead of a public announcement, disclosed the plans shortly after Obama met at the Capitol with Republican senators who pressed him on immigration issues including the question of sending National Guard troops to the border.

Arizona Republican Sens. John McCain and Jon Kyl have been urging such a move, and Republicans planned to try to require it as an amendment to a pending war spending bill.

In a speech Tuesday on the Senate floor, McCain said the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border has "greatly deteriorated." He called for 6,000 National Guard troops to be sent, and he asked for $250 million more to pay for them.

"I appreciate the additional 1,200 being sent ... as well as an additional $500 million, but it's simply not enough," McCain said.

Democrats were considering countering McCain's amendment with a proposal of their own after disclosure of the White House plans.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., said that the administration would announce the deployments late in the day Tuesday. But the White House wasn't expected to formally send the spending request to Capitol Hill until after the Memorial Day recess, said Kenneth Baer, spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget.

Homeland Security and Pentagon officials have been jousting over the possible National Guard deployment for the better part of a year. Pentagon officials worried about perceptions that the U.S. was militarizing the border and did not want Guard troops to perform law enforcement duties.

In 2006, President George W. Bush sent thousands of troops to the border to perform support duties that tie up immigration agents. But that program has since ended, and politicians in border states have called for troops to be sent there to curb human and drug smuggling and to deal with Mexico's drug violence that has been spilling over into the United States.

More than 20,000 Border Patrol agents are deployed now, mostly along the Southern border.

The Sun Herald

17 States Now Filing Versions of Arizona's Immigration Bill SB 1070

One of America's national organizations fighting against illegal immigration is announcing that 17 states are now filing versions of Arizona's SB 1070 law which is designed to help local police enforce America's existing immigration laws.

Numerous national and local polls indicated that 60-81% of Americans support local police enforcing immigration laws.

"Our national network of activists have been working overtime trying to help the state of Arizona and the brave Arizonans who have passed this bill," said William Gheen, President of Americans for Legal Immigration PAC. "Arizona no longer stands alone and we have now documented state lawmakers filing, or announcing they will file, versions of the Arizona bill in seventeen states! We will not stop until all states are protected from invasion as required by the US Constitution."

ALIPAC has documented the following 17 states are following Arizona's lead in response to citizen pressure.

ARKANSAS, IDAHO, INDIANA, MARYLAND, MICHIGAN, MINNESOTA, MISSOURI, NEBRASKA, NEVADA, NEW JERSEY, OHIO, OKLAHOMA, PENNSYLVANIA, RHODE ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA, TEXAS, UTAH

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC) has helped to pass some form of immigration enforcement legislation in over 30 states, while the group has also gained a national reputation for defeating legislation designed to give licenses, in-state tuition, and other taxpayer benefits to illegal aliens in 20 states.

ALIPAC's President, William Gheen is a former campaign consultant, Legislative Assistant, state lobbyist, and Assistant Sgt-At-Arms staffer in North Carolina who has turned his local experiences into a political battle plan by driving the national operations of ALIPAC.

"The Federal government has been hijacked by special interests that are neglectful of their duties and even hostile towards the rightful citizens of America," said William Gheen. "It is incumbent upon our states to protect American lives, property, jobs, wages, security, and health, when the Executive Branch fails to honor its Constitutional responsibility to do so by enforcing our existing border and immigration laws."

Americans for Legal Immigration PAC lobbied state lawmakers and AZ Governor Jan Brewer to pass SB 1070, which strictly prohibits racial profiling while empowering local police officers to enforce immigration laws.

ALIPAC's activists have been working for almost four weeks now to encourage state lawmakers across the nation to file versions of SB 1070, to help alleviate boycotts and other political antagonism towards Arizona. Citizen activist are being asked to call, e-mail, visit, and fax their state lawmakers to encourage them to support existing SB 1070 type bills or to file them as soon as possible.

For a list of the 17 states joining Arizona's push for this kind of legislation, and to view the associated documentation, please visit our tracking link for updated information at....

Americans for Legal Immigration

Investigation finds terrorist slipping in through Mexico via Europe to South America

This report by Atlanta's Channel 2 television station, shows the evidence many have been talking about for over a year now. We are leaving ourselves vulnerable to attack.

Channel 2 Investigates U.S. Border Security--Part One

Channel 2 Investigates U.S. Border Security--Part Two

Congressman Harper Floor Speech: Democrats' Budget Failure; Republican Solutions

Is there a double standard being applied with Tulane's Madison campus?

Tulane’s satellite campus raises questions

GAUTIER — Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College President Willis Lott is finding that not all out-of-state institutions face the same scrutiny when they open campuses in Mississippi.

Last March, MGCCC had plans to bring the University of South Alabama to its Gautier campus, in the space that had previously been leased by the University of Southern Mississippi. The decision brought up public opposition from state officials. Yet as New Orleans-based Tulane University plans to open a satellite campus in Madison in June, the same opposition has not arisen.

The Sun Herald reports some differences exist between the two situations. Tulane University already has a satellite campus in Mississippi in Biloxi. Also Tulane is leasing space from the city of Madison, while USA planned to lease space from a community college that had previously leased to an in-state university.

MBJ

Manchester teacher caught peeping refuses to turn himself in.

Former Yazoo Co. teacher wanted in voyeurism case


Arrest warrant includes three counts of child exploitation

YAZOO CITY — Yazoo County officials want to arrest a former high school teacher they say behaved inappropriately with students, but they can't find him.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of Richard Darden, who until recently taught biology at Manchester Academy for more than 25 years, on three counts of child exploitation and three counts of voyeurism.

Authorities said Darden had a special room in his home that allowed him to secretly watch young men as they dressed and undressed in the bathroom.

Darden, who resigned from Manchester earlier this month, faces 40 years in prison on each exploitation count and five years on each voyeurism count.

After allegations were raised at school on the morning of May 7, Darden checked into a rehabilitation facility before authorities could question him.

"They involved three male students that are all underage that went to Manchester. None of the actions that occurred were on school property," Sheriff Tommy Vaughn said during a news conference on Monday.

Cynthia Stewart, Darden's attorney, wouldn't say where her client is being treated or what he is being treated for.

"We've made arrangements to handle it appropriately, and I can't comment beyond that," Stewart told The Clarion-Ledger.

"She knows the smartest thing to do is to accompany him up here to face the charges," Vaughn said.

Yazoo County law enforcement authorities said if Stewart doesn't tell them where Darden is within the next week or two, they'll have her in court.

Three male student athletes - whose average age is around 16, authorities said - found the peeping area and confronted Darden on May 6. That evening, Darden reportedly went to his minister before going to the school's headmaster, Bryan Dendy.

Dennis Moulder, chief investigator for the Yazoo County Sheriff's Department, has talked to more than 100 people in the community since the case broke.

Darden, who isn't married, was popular with students. Authorities said students often hung out at his home, appear to have dropped by unannounced and may have called him when they had been drinking alcohol.

The Clarion Ledger

Hubris: A Danger to the Tea Party Movement

by Rob Natelson

The disastrous fallout from Rand Paul’s incautious MSNBC interview shortly after his triumph in the Kentucky Republican primary underlines a real danger for the Tea Party movement as we move toward the 2010 elections.

Any political pro could have told Paul not to give that interview. If it had not been a moment of heady triumph, Paul would have known that himself.

But triumph has a way of making people careless.

“Hubris” generally is thought of as wanton pride. For daily purposes, though, it better applies to situations when, fresh from victory, we become a little careless. “I’m on a roll,” the emotions tell us, “the normal rules don’t apply to me any more.”

Paul’s misstep is not the only example. Here in Montana, one of our county Tea Party groups was going from triumph to triumph. So they decided to sponsor a huge “Liberty Convention” — but in doing so, they disregarded some of the hard lessons Montana conservatives have learned over the years.

First, they assumed that people with full-time jobs and families to support would attend a two-day event. [Lesson broken: People with real-world lives can’t afford to spend much time at political rallies—especially not overnight. The big Tea Party crowds of the past year are an anomaly, and probably will not continue. Anyway, the highly competent main-street citizens who are the back-bone of the Tea Party movement are better employed on projects other than sitting in audiences and holding signs.]

Second, the organizers predicted to the press that 5000 attendees would gather in this sparsely populated state. [Lesson broken: Never give an optimistic attendance prediction to the press.]

Third, the organizers chose a huge venue in the most liberal city in the state on the most liberal university campus in the state. [Lessons broken: (1) It’s better to crowd into a smaller facility than make a larger one look empty, and (2) if you want to catch fish, fish where the fish are.]

Fourth: they featured several speakers from the far fringes of political life. [Lesson broken: feature speakers with wide appeal.]

Fifth: They apparently did not seek or follow guidance from those with political organizing experience. [Lesson broken: If you want political success, do what the our Founders did: include experienced politicians; you don’t have to let them take over.] [Disclosure: I was one of those excluded from planning or speaking at the event.]

The results were deeply embarrassing for the Tea Party movement. Instead of the 5000 predicted, only about 250 people showed up, a point emphasized again and again by the local press. Not surprisingly, moreover, newspaper reports featured some of the weirdest comments made there.

Tea Party activists must remember that they are now playing in the Big Leagues. The latter-day Tories who control the federal government and most of the national media will exploit any available opening to discredit and destroy the movement.

Avoid hubris. The task has just begun.

Rob Natelson is a long-time Professor of Law at the University of Montana and a leading constitutional scholar. He is co-author of a forthcoming book on the Necessary and Proper Clause to be published by Cambridge University Press. He is also the author of The Original Constitution: What it Actually Said and Meant, published by the Tenth Amendment Center. Professor Natelson will shortly be leaving academia to work full-time at the Independence Institute.

Eric Adams is right: young black men mistake dehumanization for authenticity

BY: Stanley Crouch

Before New York State Sen. Eric Adams went into politics he became known for shooting off his mouth about how well the New York Police Department handled its business. As a member of 100 Black Men In Law Enforcement, Adams (above) was always there, standing at a press conference to question actions by the armed people in blue whose job it is to protect the citizenry.

His latest controversial focus is on fashion - and he has become one of those who are dismissed as "the fashion police," meaning adults who are convinced that something is wrong with young black men who walk though the world with their pants down so far that the public is offered more than a peek at their underwear.

In a video called "Stop the Sag," Adams looks handsome and dapper. His command of the language is clear, and an unavoidable seriousness seems to steam up through his superbly chosen dress. He is clearly beyond any kind of simple-minded joke, and unable to be dismissed by anyone anxious to write off those who seem to represent some kind of a diverse threat to the status quo.

The startling point of "Stop The Sag" is that stereotypic and denigrating images of ethnic groups usually come from outside of the group itself. We see a number of the minstrel and anti-Semitic images meant to make Negroes, Jews, and others seem closer to cartoons than humanity. The reductive joke always precedes the boot of the bigot.

Now is another time, Adams makes clear as he proceeds to take on the way that too many young black men have been misled by the opportunistic monsters of hip-hop and the prison world. Adams recognizes that this absurd fashion makes it difficult to give these young men the "respect" that seems to obsess them.





Louisiana legislator Ricky Hardy just had a bill banning the fashion rejected, as it should have been. Having the state restrict freedom is going too far. But public comprehension and condemnation of self-destructive behavior is not too far at all.

We have a popular culture that misleads the young as it bolsters their commitment to narcissism and opposition to authority. The mentality of the American adolescent is that he or she has a right to be respected no matter how offensive what is done might seem to others.

The kids are right in that the freedom to offend is part of our democracy. But no other ethnic group ever concluded that terrible behavior was a version of ethnic authenticity. That is a black American innovation in cultural imbecility.

As rapper Chuck D has observed, when one witnesses young black men screaming the N-word at each other in public places, it is obvious that we have a problem confusing obnoxiousness with authenticity.

The answer to the problem might be far simpler than Eric Adams or anyone else has actually considered. Trying to convince the men might be arguing up the wrong tree.

Once young women cease accepting the "culture" of sagging pants and refuse to go out with men who look like fools, we will all be shocked by just how fast it will all end.

The sensibilities of women are always central to what we call civilization anywhere in the world. Even in the inner city.

NY Daily

Tragedy in Amish Country: Living Levi's Example

By Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson

I first met Levi almost 20 years ago. He was about 12. We had just purchased our land from his parents, Jake and Nancy. Being old-order Amish, Jake and Nancy needed a ride to the attorney’s office, so we drove them and new-born Chris, their youngest, to finalize the transaction. Thus began a very special friendship between two families.

Every Christmas Eve, our little family of three and Jake and Nancy’s larger family (five children at the beginning, but more recently including four daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, and 13 grandchildren) gather for Christmas fellowship.

Levi is the second of Jake and Nancy’s five children. Friendly, kind, very bright, soft-spoken, strong and gentle, he has always been a gem. I can still picture, during that first year of friendship, Levi sitting next to my daughter on a couch in Jake and Nancy’s house. Karin, who was about 15, was holding a book or magazine. Levi leaned over to get a better look, resting his head on Karin’s shoulder. It was a completely unself-conscious moment for both of them, just two pure and innocent youngsters sharing the joy of a story. Nancy remarked, “I know we don’t have photographs, but I’d love to have a photo of that.”

Levi was an avid reader. I shared dozens of the books that I had read as a young teenager with him and his siblings.

About ten years ago, we attended the wedding dinner celebrating Levi’s marriage to Katie. We were two of five “English” (that’s the word the Amish use for all of us who aren’t Amish) packed in among 200 or 300 Amish.

Katie was a perfect match for Levi, a veritable angel of sweetness and quiet steadiness. A couple of years later, they welcomed Sally into the world. Of all of Jake and Nancy’s 13 grandchildren, it was Sally who bonded most closely with our family. The highlight of her year was to draw pictures to give us at our Christmas Eve gathering and to help my Eileen in the kitchen. Like her Aunt Lizzie before her, she was enthralled by the “miracle” of the “baked Alaska” going into the hot oven and the ice cream not melting.

Five years later (about three years ago) little Anna joined the family. The four of them lived their version of the American dream, keeping to the simple Amish life, placing worship of God and love of their families above all else. It was idyllic.

Two weeks ago, Jake and Nancy were over for dessert. Eileen told Nancy that she would be going over to visit her buddy, Sally, on the following Monday. It wasn’t to be.

On that Saturday, May 8, the unthinkable happened. Levi went fishing with his brother Gideon, one of those simple enjoyments that always remain special to these unspoiled people. It was a miserable day, cold, windy, and rainy. At home, Katie went to light a fire. Somehow the can of kerosene ignited. Katie, Sally, and Anna all quickly succumbed.

The next day was visitation. It was at Levi’s next-door neighbor’s house. I have never seen such gloom and grief in my life. Dozens of Amish were quietly and tearfully sitting on rows of benches—men in one group, women in the other, as is their custom.

I could barely recognize Levi, so transfigured were his features by sorrow. We shared a quiet, private word. Jake, his father, was sitting next to him. He couldn’t speak. I just stayed by his side for a few minutes, hand gently touching him in wordless sympathy. Later a tearful Nancy softly voiced her deep faith to Eileen and me, bravely affirming, “God is in control.”

I went to visit Jake and Nancy two days after the funeral. They reported that Levi was trying to buoy up everyone’s spirits. The next day, I spent a half-hour with Levi, and found that to be the case. Though still trying to come to grips with this inexplicable calamity, he continues to be a loving soul, caring deeply for those around him. He has already learned the secret discovered by Job in the Bible, that the key to recovery and renewal from grievous affliction is to pray for one’s friends.

A tragedy of this magnitude puts things in perspective. Why do we waste our scarce and precious time on earth with trivial concerns and petty quarrels?

One of my college classmates told me that her dad’s advice on her wedding day was, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” Amen. Let us all honor the gift of life by forgiving and forgetting our misunderstandings, small and great, and use our brief time on earth to do a better job of loving each other. Let us follow Levi’s example.

— Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson is an adjunct faculty member, economist, and contributing scholar with The Center for Vision & Values at Grove City College.

More Americans support repeal of Health Care Law

Health Care Law

63% Favor Repeal of National Health Care Plan

Support for repeal of the new national health care plan has jumped to its highest level ever. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 63% of U.S. voters now favor repeal of the plan passed by congressional Democrats and signed into law by President Obama in March.

Prior to today, weekly polling had shown support for repeal ranging from 54% to 58%.

Currently, just 32% oppose repeal.

Read more at Rasmussen Reports

Healthcare Bait and Switch AKA Lying

The Obama Administration Now Admits Their Health Care Plan Will Lead To Rationing


Back when Obama was trying to convince Congress to destroy America's health care system in the name of expanding government and giving Democrats more power, his administration claimed that there would be no rationing under the program:

“No one here is talking about rationing,” said Peter Orszag, director of the White House Office for Management and Budget. “What we are talking about, look at the source of that 30 percent or so in potential efficiency gains in the health system are from unnecessary procedures, unnecessary days in hospital, unnecessary applications of technology and what have you.”

But now that they've forced it through, their tune has changed quite a bit:

Read the entire post at Right Wing News

Can I get an Amen?!

I'm not a smoker. I don't want to inhale second hand smoke. I won't go to a place that forces me to do so in order to do business there. That's my choice, and how the free market works.

But I have written before, believe today, and think I will still believe tomorrow, that the government has no place regulating what happens in a private business. Zoning decides if a business fits an area. But, once that is decided no elected official has any right to tell that company how to conduct business.

Kudos to the Aldermen in Booneville! 

Aldermen vote down city smoking ban


BOONEVILLE — The Booneville Board of Aldermen has voted down a proposed ban on smoking in public places.

The vote was 3-2.

The motion to pass the ordinance was made by Alderman David Bolen and seconded by Alderman Wilda Pounds. Aldermen Harold Eaton, Mark McCoy and Jeff Williams voted against the measure.

Aldermen who were contacted by the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal chose not to comment.

Business owners said they felt it should be up to a business to decide if smoking would be permitted, and how to accommodate individuals who choose not to smoke.

Several nonsmokers who opposed the ordinance said although they do not smoke, passing the law would be another infringement on individual rights.

Mississippi Business Journal

Bug--Getting Up For Work

BP LAUNCHES LIVE WEBCAM OF RISER FLOW

Today BP launched a live webcam of the riser flow. The webcam can be viewed at http://www.bp.com/.

BP has been providing a live feed to government entities over the last two weeks – including the US Department of the Interior, US Coast Guard, Minerals Management Service (MMS) through the Unified Area Command center in Louisiana – as well as to BP and industry scientists and engineers involved in the effort to stop the spill.

BP continues its work to collect oil by the riser insertion tube tool (RITT) containment system. Once on the drillship Discoverer Enterprise, the oil is then being stored and gas is being flared. The RITT remains a new technology and both its continued operation and its effectiveness in capturing the oil and gas remain uncertain.

BP has, and will continue, to support the government’s work to determine the rate of flow from the well. Since the Deepwater Horizon accident, the flow rate estimate has been established by the Unified Command. Throughout the process, BP has made it a priority to quickly and consistently provide the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Coast Guard with requested information for the joint command structure to make as accurate an assessment as possible of the rate of flow.

The rate of flow from the riser is determined in a number of ways and by a number of variables. For instance, while the original riser was 19.5 inches in diameter prior to the Deepwater Horizon accident, damage sustained during the accident distorted the diameter at the end of the pipe by about 30 per cent. In addition, a drill pipe currently trapped inside the riser has reduced the flow area by an additional 10 per cent. Thus, some third party estimates of flow, which assume a 19.5 inch diameter, are inaccurate. As well, there is natural gas in the riser. Data on the hydrocarbons recovered to date suggests that the proportion of gas in the plume exiting the riser is, on average, approximately 50 percent.

To provide further specificity on the flow rate, the US government has created a Flow Rate Technical Team (FRTT) to develop a more precise estimate. The FRTT includes the US Coast Guard, NOAA, MMS, Department of Energy (DOE) and the US Geological Survey. The FRTT is mandated to produce a report by close of business on Saturday, May 22.

To support this, BP is in the process of providing FRTT with all requested information, including diagrams and schematics showing release points, amounts of oil and gas currently being collected on the Discoverer Enterprise, and subsea video of the oil release point.

Immigration Boycotts: Two can play that game!

Boycotts of Arizona not working out so well.

Mississippi Paddler Announces Camellia Home Health and Hospice as Gold Level Sponsor for Alzheimer’s Fundraiser

Flora, MS. May 19, 2010—Keith Plunkett, Mississippi paddler and organizer of Lucy’s Revenge, announced today that Camellia Home Health and Hospice will be a Gold Level Sponsor of the yearlong project to raise funds for Alzheimer’s research and support services. Camellia Home Health and Hospice is based out of Hattiesburg, Mississippi and has 18 locations from Jackson to the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

“I am extremely excited to welcome Camellia Home Health as a partner for this project,” said Plunkett. “They understand firsthand the toll Alzheimer’s is taking on our seniors, and the need to fight this disease.”

In Mississippi alone, 53,000 people have been diagnosed with the disease with an additional 148,000 caregivers providing unpaid care.

“As Keith begins his journey, it is our hope to get our local offices involved in drumming up support and participating in the paddling experience,” said Camellia President Abb Payne. “I look forward to working with him, and the Alzheimer’s Association to further their efforts.”

The effort will begin in July on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and will take Plunkett on a journey across 5 regions of the state to paddle waterways that are both popular destinations and underutilized opportunities. During the trips, the Yazoo County native and Flora resident will tell the stories of Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers in each region, and will highlight ongoing efforts by the Alzheimer’s Association and medical professionals to defeat the disease.

Over the next two months leading up to the kickoff on July 10 in Ocean Springs, Plunkett will speak with groups across the state to raise awareness, and to secure donations. He has set a goal of 600 miles, or roughly 120 miles per region, and hopes to entice a few others to join him on some of the excursions, including Payne.

“Abb told me he would like to join me on a few trips, and I look forward to it,” said Plunkett. “Paddling is a great family friendly sport, and we have so many resources in Mississippi to enjoy. I welcome anyone that wants to join in.”

Work is ongoing to outfit the current website, www.lucysrevenge.com, with a real-time map that uses GPS to track Plunkett’s whereabouts, and a website has been setup by the Alzheimer’s Association to begin collecting donations. A Paddling Partners Program has also been established for those who would like to form paddling teams and compete to raise money for the project.

The project is named in memory of Lucy Plunkett, who suffered from Alzheimer’s before succumbing to the disease in 1994. The matriarch of the Plunkett family reared six children, and oversaw the upbringing of 9 grandchildren. She was a housewife and an active member of her church and the rural community of Little Yazoo in Yazoo County.

Here is your MAGIC diet pill!

In eight easy steps you can get rid of those unwanted extra pounds!

Just one problem . . . your too lazy to do it and too set in your ways to stop your pitiful eating habits!

This is why American's (especially Mississippians) are so fat. We're all about hard work, as long as somebody else is doing it. Most of us won't even walk to the mailbox. And we refuse to eat much of anything not loaded down with grease, fat, butter, salt and sugar. Heck, even our vegetables are unhealthy!

Bottom line is if what you're doing isn't working, then you should stop what your doing. The Chinese have it right. I knew there was a reason I was always hungry walking around NYC China Town.

Eight Reason Why The Chinese Are Skinnier Than You

Items 1, 3, 4 and 6 are pretty obvious.

Item 2 is, as well. But, the thought of it has me seeing visions of my Mama standing over me threatening to make me eat the unfinished morsels for breakfast. I'm working through that with self counseling (Thanks Mama!).

Item 5 is a no brainer, too. But so hard to do when you work until 9 on the days your not taking your kids to soccer or baseball game double headers.

Number 7? Please. I know people that will have the driver drop them off at the front door of the All-You-Can-Eat, so they don't have to walk that long 30 yards from the parking lot to the front door.

Number 8 is the only one here that is absolutely NOT going to make it in to any of my diet plans. One thing I know about good Ole' Mississippian's, we'll love you to death with food, literally. But, if you tell us we look fat in that new outfit we picked up from Wal-mart, your likely not going to see our happy side, and may, in fact, leave the whole exchange with something Ajax won't take off!

Harper discusses FEMA flap in Yazoo on Fox and Friends (Video).

U.S. Representative Gregg Harper (R-Miss.) joins Steve, Gretchen and Brian live on FOX & Friends to discuss a recent incident in Yazoo County involving local volunteers and Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) employees. Volunteers with faith-based organizations were asked to change their shirts because of a religious message on the shirt, before they were allowed to proceed with an interview with a FEMA employee. This interview hits on the details of this episode and Congressman Harpers encouraging conversation with FEMA Administrator, Craig Fugate.


 



Related Posts: Gregg Harper upset with FEMA over T-Shirt Flap
Michelle Malkin addresses FEMA T-Shirt Flap

Michelle Malkin addresses FEMA T-Shirt Flap

FEMA attempts to whitewash faith-based volunteers


A few years ago, economist Arthur Brooks wrote a must-read book on volunteerism in America titled, “Who Really Cares.” An excerpt:

The conventional wisdom runs like this: Liberals are charitable because they advocate government redistribution of money in the name of social justice; conservatives are uncharitable because they oppose these policies. But note the sleight of hand: Government spending, according to this logic, is a form of charity.

Let us be clear: Government spending is not charity. It is not a voluntary sacrifice by individuals. No matter how beneficial or humane it might be, no matter how necessary it is for providing public services, it is still the obligatory redistribution of tax revenues. Because government spending is not charity, sanctimonious yard signs do not prove that the bearers are charitable or that their opponents are selfish. (On the contrary, a public attack on the integrity of those who don’t share my beliefs might more legitimately constitute evidence that I am the uncharitable one.)

To evaluate accurately the charity difference between liberals and conservatives, we must consider private, voluntary charity. How do liberals and conservatives compare in their private giving and volunteering? Beyond strident slogans and sarcastic political caricatures, what, exactly, do the data tell us?

The data tell us that the conventional wisdom is dead wrong. In most ways, political conservatives are not personally less charitable than political liberals—they are more so.

…People living in conservative states volunteer more than people in liberal states. In 2003, the residents of the top five “Bush states” were 51 percent more likely to volunteer than those of the bottom five, and they volunteered an average of 12 percent more total hours each year. Residents of these Republican-leaning states volunteered more than twice as much for religious organizations, but also far more for secular causes. For example, they were more than twice as likely to volunteer to help the poor.

I bolded that last part as a segue to this stomach-turning story from the Associated Press about how a FEMA official taping interviews with volunteers helping tornado victims in Mississippi was so sick of meeting faith-based volunteers in the area that he asked two women to change their shirts to hide their religious affiliation:

The top officer for FEMA said one of the agency’s videographers was “absolutely wrong” to ask Mississippi church volunteers not to wear religious T-shirts for a video about tornado cleanup.

Angela Lott and Pamela Wedgeworth, who are sisters, told The Associated Press that the FEMA worker videotaping the cleanup on Saturday in the small town of Ebenezer asked them to do on-camera interviews but requested that they change out of their T-shirts because of a Salvation Army logo.

“He said, ‘We would like to ask you to change your shirt because we don’t want anything faith-based,’” Lott said Tuesday.

Lott said she asked him why he didn’t want to feature faith groups.

“All he said was, ‘We’ve done that hundreds of times,’” Lott said.

No surprise there.

If only the religious volunteers had worn ACORN or SEIU or “God is Dead” t-shirts, the FEMA employee would have featured them in full-length documentaries and bought them steak dinners.

Michelle Malkin