Thompson met by Darcy at Greenwood meeting

The Republican opponent for the 2nd Congressional District seat surprised incumbent Bennie Thompson at the Greenwood Voters League meeting Wednesday night.
Thompson, a Democrat, had planned to give a legislative update to the Voters League, but he found an RV covered with "Bill Marcy for Congress" stickers parked outside the building. Marcy sat quietly during much of the meeting before addressing Thompson during the question-and-answer period after his speech.

Thompson, who was first elected to Congress in 1993, discussed his record in office. He said his stance on health care is unwavering.

"We are the only democracy left in the world that does not provide health care for all of its citizens," he said. "Everybody tells me they are Christians, but why in the world wouldn't a Christian want to provide health care to other citizens?"

He said he has worked diligently to funnel money into Delta projects, including some that are still ongoing.

"If you go to Itta Bena, you'll see some streets being paved," he said. "If you go to Carrollton, you'll see streets being paved."

Thompson, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said his efforts have also made the country safer.

"I'm happy to report to you that since the 9/11 incident, we have not had one major breach in this country," Thompson said. "You can still walk out of your home. You can still fly wherever you want to."

Thompson said the people of the district "know better" than to vote for Marcy. Marcy, a resident of Meridian, lives more than 100 miles from the district.

"Now, how in the world is somebody going to come into this district and say I want you to vote for me, even though I can't vote for myself?'" Thompson said.

Thompson said he wasn't convinced that Marcy was dedicated to the district.

Marcy said his father and grandmother grew up in Mississippi, and he has other ancestral ties to the state. He told the Voters League that his father left the state because "back in 1932 some white folks said that my daddy looked at a white woman too long."

While responding to Marcy, Thompson said, "It's important for people to understand just what people have been through. I didn't leave like you did. I stayed here ... I can tell the story, but I want to tell the story to folk who stay here. I don't want to tell the story to the gypsy."

After the meeting, Marcy said he originally planned to move into the district if he was elected. He said he now plans to move into the district regardless in the next few weeks.

"This election is not about where Bill Marcy lives," he said. "This is about who can help the poorest districts in one of the poorest states in the union."

During the question-and-answer period, Marcy asked Thompson only one series of questions: "Why is it that the second district is the poorest district in the nation? And why is it that we have such a high crime rate? And why is that the schools are listed as some of the most failing schools in challenging our children?"

Thompson said the plantation system of the 1930s and 1940s promoted cheap labor instead of industry. The Delta is still recovering from that, he said.

"I don't accept responsibility for where we are," Thompson said. "I didn't create it. You didn't create it. But I've worked to improve it."

At one point, state Sen. David Jordan, president of the league, chastised Marcy for not allowing Thompson to finish an answer to a question. Marcy said he wanted a chance to defend himself after being spoken about "like a dog."

"This is not your night," Jordan said. "We didn't know you were coming. This is Congressman Thompson's night."

Marcy told Jordan he was "looking forward to my night."

Thompson said after the meeting that by showing up uninvited, Marcy had overstepped common courtesy.

"He showed disrespect to the Voters League," Thompson said. "I wouldn't have done that to him. But I wasn't impressed by him tonight."

Marcy said he thinks he may have rattled the congressman even more than he intended.

"He was more aggressive toward me than I thought he would be, especially for being in office so long," Marcy said. "I think it's a good sign that he is worried about me. He sees that I am an opponent to be worried about."

Marcy said Thompson's answer to most problems has been government programs. "I'm not looking for handouts," he said. "I want to bring high-paying jobs."

Greenwood Commonwealth

Flora man plans waterways paddling event to talk about Alzheimer's

Keith Plunkett, Mississippi paddler and organizer of Lucy’s Revenge — an Alzheimer’s awareness project — will be joined by an expected 30 paddlers in Ocean Springs this weekend for the kickoff weekend of the year-long event.

Paddlers will meet Saturday at Marker No. 1 of the Old Fort Bayou Blue Trail. The effort will continue on Mississippi Gulf Coast regions through July and August.

Plunkett will travel across five regions in Mississippi to paddle waterways during the next year.

During the trips, the Flora resident will tell stories of Alzheimer’s patients and caregivers in each region and will highlight efforts by the Alzheimer’s Association and medical professionals to defeat the disease.

He will also speak with groups across the state to raise awareness and money to aid families affected by the disease with support services.

Plunkett 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 throughout the year.

The project is named in memory of Plunkett’s grandmother, Lucy Plunkett, who suffered from Alzheimer’s before succumbing to the disease in 1993.

For more information visit http://www.lucysrevenge.com/.

Clarion Ledger

WDSU: 500 Fishermen Claim BP Didn't Pay Them (Video)

Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah may follow Arizona's lead on immigration law

Attention is focused on Arizona and the federal government's challenge to the state's strict new immigration law, but three other states could adopt similar legislation next year.

Lawmakers in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah, which have already taken steps against illegal immigration, say that Arizona-style measures have a realistic chance of passing when their legislatures reconvene in 2011.

The Obama administration sued Arizona in federal court Tuesday, charging that the state law usurps federal authority, would hamper immigration enforcement and would lead to police harassment of those who have no proof of lawful status. The government asked that a federal judge stop the law from taking effect July 29.

Legislators in at least 17 other states introduced bills this year similar to the Arizona law, which allows officers to question anyone they suspect of being in the country illegally. But most of those measures are not considered likely to be adopted or signed by governors.

The political climate in Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah, however, improves the chances that state legislatures there could follow Arizona's lead in 2011.

In 2007, Oklahoma led the way on such laws by adopting legislation that makes it a felony to knowingly transport or shelter an illegal immigrant. It also blocked illegal immigrants from obtaining driver's licenses and in-state tuition.

State Rep. Randy Terrill (R), who sponsored the measure, has expressed a desire to go beyond the Arizona law when he introduces a bill next year that would seize property from businesses that knowingly employ illegal immigrants.

Terrill cited the arrest last week of an alleged Mexican drug cartel member in Oklahoma as evidence that an "Arizona-plus" measure is needed urgently. He said the effect of Arizona's law has been to push illegal immigrants "straight down Interstate 40" toward Oklahoma.

Vivek Malhotra, advocacy and policy counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the administration's decision to sue Arizona could discourage other states from doing the same. But he also said that similar legislation may be adopted in 2011.

"After the other border states, it is natural to look at the states that have enacted the most anti-immigrant laws" before Arizona, Malhotra said. He said he expected Oklahoma, South Carolina and Utah to make the "most vigorous effort" to enact similar legislation early next year.

Ira Mehlman, spokesman for the Federation for American Immigration Reform, said he thinks the Obama administration designed the lawsuit against Arizona as a "shot across the bows" of all states considering similar moves. He said he doubts, though, that Terrill will be deterred.

"Randy Terrill has made this his issue in Oklahoma and has earned bipartisan support in the past," he said. "He is a determined guy and he is not going to back down too easily."

In Utah, state Rep. Stephen Sandstrom (R) has been making regular fact-finding trips to Arizona as he finalizes a draft bill. But, following the announcement of the federal suit, he said he may consider watering down one of the Arizona law's most contentious elements.

Under the law, state officers are instructed to check immigration status if they have a "reasonable suspicion" that a person is in the country illegally. Sandstrom said his measure may require officers to meet the higher legal standard of "probable cause" to suspect someone of being undocumented before checking.

"I don't want people of Hispanic descent to feel my bill is aimed at them," he said.

A Utah law that took effect last year made it illegal to harbor or employ undocumented workers. Gov. Gary R. Herbert (R) has said he expects to sign new immigration legislation next year and is meeting with all sides to find a way forward.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford (R) touted a comprehensive set of measures against illegal immigration as the nation's strictest when he signed it into law in 2008. The far-reaching legislation forced businesses to check the immigration status of their workers. Harboring and transporting illegal immigrants also became a state crime. State lawmakers are seeking to build on it and were quick this year to draw up an Arizona-style bill, introducing it less than a week after the Arizona measure was signed.

State Sen. Larry Martin (R) said in an interview that an Arizona-type measure was introduced too late this year. "But I have every expectation a new bill will be introduced in January," he said. "As long as an officer has a lawful reason to question someone, and then a suspicion develops [that] they are an undocumented person, then I think our law enforcement folks ought to be able to pursue that," he said.

Washington Post



Immigration

Madison County tax rolls swell

Property value tops $1B for 7th straight year

Madison County's growth spurt continues as the tax rolls keep getting fatter.

For the seventh year in a row, the assessed value of real and personal property topped the billion-dollar mark. The total worth of the county hit $1.36 billion in assessed value in 2010, showing a 4 percent increase over last year, Tax Assessor Gerald Barber told the Board of Supervisors.

"There are 81 other tax assessors who would love to have these numbers," Barber said.

In today's slumping national economy, the county's growth is more than the tax assessor expected. He said he was hoping to beat 2 percent growth.

Supervisors will take the property values, which represent a percentage of true value, to prepare a budget for spending in the fiscal year starting Oct. 1.

"Going into the budget working with these numbers and the positive news that Gerald gave us means we can balance our books without a tax increase," said Tim Johnson, president of the Board of Supervisors. "Looking at 4 percent growth in this economy, Madison County is very blessed."

In addition to the county's growth, Barber also presented assessed values for the four municipalities and two school districts, and all but one showed an increase. The city of Canton's 2010 tax assessment showed a 2 percent drop from 2009, from $71.7 million to $70.4 million.

Madison and Ridgeland both experienced a 5 percent growth in value, while Flora reflected a 3 percent growth in assessed value. The Madison County school district showed a 4 percent increase over last year, while the Canton school district showed a 3 percent rise.

"In this economy, that's really, really fantastic," said David Overby, Ridgeland director of finance.

The city of Madison was the only one to show an increase in the assessed value of autos among the county's taxing districts. The value of vehicles in the city, reflected by taxes paid in car tags, rose 6 percent, compared with a 4 percent drop in the county and in the county school district, a 5 percent drop in Ridgeland and in Flora, a 7 percent drop in the Canton school district and a 10 percent decrease in Canton.

"It appears the city of Madison is still buying cars," Barber said.

The lower values in the automobile class shows that people are holding onto their existing vehicles and paying less in taxes on tags each year or they are buying less expensive cars than in the past and paying less for tags, he said.

Barber, who spoke to supervisors on Tuesday, also said the tax rolls show a decrease in new construction throughout the county, except in Ridgeland.

Madison County overall showed a drop in construction of $7.8 million, down to $35.5 million, while Ridgeland showed an increase of about $841,000 in assessed value, up to $11.7 million.

Clarion Ledger

The Passing Of A Good-Hearted Person

BY: Keith Plunkett

Judy Greaves passed away on Tuesday, July 6 after a long bout with cancer. Judy was someone that always greeted with a smile. When she was still acting in her capacity as Flora's First Lady, she would also greet me with a chore. But, I could never say no to Miss Judy.

Only days after her husband Scott took the reins as Mayor in 2006, she called to ask me to come meet with them. I had been working on my first civic project for the town for the better part of a year, and had been attempting to get the former Mayor and Board of Alderman to approve some cleanup projects, landscaping and beautification for the Town of Flora to no avail. She sat both me and Scott down in a room at City Hall and told us we were going to get it done. We did.

She helped organize the first Landscape Advisory Board, and when it came time to pick a President, she unhesitatingly nominated me. The time I served on that board with Judy was some of the most aggravating and fun times I have had. It taught me a great deal about municipal government; how it works, and how it doesn't.

But, it also led to a number of important projects completed around Flora. We wrote and helped pass the first ever Landscape Ordinance in the town. We designed a town seal, had them constructed into big signs, and placed them at the entrances to town on Highway 49.  We also worked with the Flora Historical Society to restart discussions about a Veteran's Memorial. That project had languished for years as nothing more than a good idea. Today, in part because of her tenacity, it stands at Main Street as a memorial to those who have given their life for our freedom.

In my mind, it also stands as a memorial to her. I will forever be grateful for her constant words of support and encouragement.

Our prayers are with Scott and the Greaves family. Judy will be laid to rest in Flora Cemetery on Friday at 11:30 following visitation at Flora Methodist Church.

Arizona Gets Help In Defense From Federal Lawsuit, Congressman Harper Among Critics of Obama Lawsuit

One News Now has a story on a Christian law firm that will assist Arizona in its defense against the Obama Justice Department's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of The Grand Canyon State's immigration enforcement statute.

The lawsuit argues that Arizona's new measure, which requires state and local police to question and possibly arrest illegal aliens during the enforcement of other laws, like traffic stops, usurps federal authority.

President Barack Obama has called the state law "misguided," but Jordan Sekulow, director of international operations with the American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), contends that Obama's grievance is what is misguided.

"For President Obama to invoke race in this, which he did in that speech -- calling this divisive, saying this may lead to people being pulled over because of how they talk or what color their skin is, and then, of course, invoking religion -- is totally misguided," Sekulow argues

Not missing an opportunity to cry wolf, Benjamin Todd Jealous, president and CEO of the NAACP, cheered the lawsuit. Maybe he was "Jealous" that Obama was stealing some of his "poor me" mojo, and wanted to ride the President's coat tails. At any rate, he had the following statement

“In filing this lawsuit, the Obama administration has taken a strong and principled stand against Arizona’s discriminatory law," said Jealous. "African-Americans have the misfortune of being all too familiar with the pernicious effects of racial profiling, and we welcome the addition of the administration to the broad spectrum of organizations already challenging this unconstitutional law.”

Sekulow says that while a crackdown on illegal immigration has the support of the majority of Americans, many Christian groups "have bought into President Obama's propaganda."

The international operations director adds challenging the constitutionality of Arizona's border enforcement law is not going to do anything to solve the root problem: the continued failure of the federal government to protect the United States from the illegal alien invasion.

"You have drug wars going on 12 miles from the Arizona border where 21 people are killed, and this is creeping right into the state," he notes. "So what our leaders have done here in our country is made it a political issue."

Sekulow says the ACLJ is going to file an amicus brief supporting the border state's law.

Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper joined other conservative members of the House condemning the adminstrations decision to follow through with the lawsuit.

"It is illegal to be in the United States without proper documentation, plain and simple. Those who are here illegally should have to face consequences," said Harper. "Arizona had taken a reasonable and constitutional approach to end this decades-old problem that has continuously been ignored by the Obama Administration. Illegal immigration is a matter of national security."

Madison County DA: Baby was alive when dumped in Flora

Suspected mother of dumped infant treated

FLORA — Authorities believe the newborn boy found in a suitcase left in weeds behind a church was alive when his mother disposed of him, Madison County District Attorney Michael Guest said.

Shelia Ealey, 41, who already had five children, is charged with murder.

"The baby was not born at a hospital," Guest said Tuesday. "Based on the investigation, it appears the child was alive when she abandoned it, which appears to be a short time after she gave birth - less than 24 hours."

On Tuesday, Ealey, of Flora, was treated at a hospital for complications related to childbirth. Officials still are awaiting DNA tests to determine if Ealey is the baby's mother.

Ealey is expected to have her initial appearance today in Madison County Justice Court. She is being held in the Madison County jail without bond.

Guest said evidence in the case points to murder but a grand jury will determine whether Ealey will be indicted on murder, manslaughter or capital murder. He said the investigation is ongoing.

Madison County Coroner Alex Breeland said an autopsy has been completed but the cause of death is pending further results.

The infant was found Friday behind Smith Chapel Baptist Church by a church member clearing weeds around the property. The boy was wrapped in a garbage bag and blanket inside the suitcase.

The church, where Ealey attended, is on rural Livingston-Vernon Road, east of U.S. 49 in the Kearney Park community, and about a mile from Ealey's home.

Hours after the baby was discovered, Ealey turned herself in to deputies.

Ealey's neighbors Belinda Walker and Clara Cowan said they never knew she was pregnant.

"We couldn't tell," said Walker, who lives next door to Ealey on Magnolia Street.

Walker said Ealey lived alone with her five children and they appeared to be a normal family.

Cowan, 59, said she's known Ealey since Ealey was a toddler. Ealey grew up in the Magnolia Street home across from Cowan's.

Cowan said she would see Ealey go to work, come home and cook for her children every day.

"None of us thought she was the one who did this. Everybody's shocked," Cowan said.

Cowan said Ealey's oldest child is in his early 20s and the youngest is about 9 years old.

Madison County Sheriff Toby Trowbridge said Ealey's children would most likely be placed in the care of relatives.

Clarion Ledger

Arrest made in dead baby case

An arrest has been made in the case of a baby who's body was found in a suitcase behind a church near Flora.

Madison County Sheriff Toby Trowbridge says 41-year-old Sheila Ealey, of Flora, turned herself in to authorities late Friday night between 9 and 10pm.

An autopsy has been performed on the infant's body and Sheriff Trowbridge says DNA testing will confirm whether Ealey is the mother of the newborn.

Ealey is being held in the Madison County Detention Center without bond and will appear in court Tuesday.

WLBT

Rock solid reputation: Forest near Flora a real gem

FLORA — This year's guest book at the Mississippi Petrified Forest boasts the signatures of visitors from Iceland, Italy, Australia, Cuba, England, India and Turkey.

As of Wednesday, it also gained the signature of Susie Crommett, 64, of Madison, who made her first trip here.

"Yes, I hate to admit it, but I've never taken the time to stop and see it - which was a mistake because this place is beautiful," she says. "And to make matters worse, I'm originally from Yazoo City. I've driven past the sign about the petrified forest on (U. S. 49) a million times."

Crommett came at the urging of her granddaughter, whose brother had visited here. "It's a shame, really," Crommett says. "We go all over creation - to Disneyland and the like - but never stop to look at the things in our own backyard. But this place isn't hyped a lot. You don't hear a lot about it."

The Mississippi Petrified Forest, located about two miles southwest of Flora just off U.S. 49, is the only one of its kind in the nation east of the Mississippi River. Here, you can see and touch logs and pieces of wood that are roughly 36 million years old. They are everywhere along a shady, clean walking path in the middle of about eight acres.

One should allow about 45 minutes to cover the half-mile trail. Points of interest are numbered and information about each is included in a pamphlet.

And, yes, that figure is correct: 36 million years old. Bob Dellar, resident expert who helps run the place, has done the math to put it in perspective.

"Scientists say the age of the earth is about 4.5 billion years old," he says. "If you put that in reference to a football field - 300 feet - the average human life span would be about the width of a human hair, or 12 millionths of an inch. These petrified logs, or 36 million years, would represent 2.4 feet."

Petrified wood is a tree that turned to stone beneath sediment, which was originally carried by wind, water or ice. All its organic material has been replaced by minerals. Over time, erosion causes the petrified wood to surface.

The petrified forest here was believed to have been first publicly recognized in an 1845 article written by a state geologist. National Geographic magazine featured the forest in a story about Mississippi in its September 1937 edition.


"In 1955, the Schabilion family - Bob and Shirl - came across the forest and felt it was something that needed to be preserved. Bob Schabilion had a keen interest in rocks and minerals," Dellar says. "Only problem was, it wasn't for sale. They were finally able to buy it in 1962 - mortgaging about everything they owned - and the forest opened to the public in 1963."

It is still owned by the Schabilion family.

In 1966, it became a Registered National Natural Landmark. The Legislature made petrified wood the official state stone in 1976.

"I really do believe we're one of the best-kept secrets in the state -even though there are signs along Highway 49 that direct people here," he says. "I continue to be amazed by the people in this part of the state who don't even know it's here. But once they visit, they're usually repeat customers."

A campground with spots for 11 RVs and four or more tents is also available. A gift shop is stocked full of jewelry made of petrified wood.

Visitors are welcomed to try their hand at fluming, which is similar to panning for gold except the prizes are gems and minerals. One recent visitor came away with colorful blue calcite, Mexican opal, peacock ore and a piece of quartz.

"I have driven past the petrified forest in Arizona but was never able to stop and go in," says Jim Wirshing, 54, of Montgomery, Ala., standing in the gift shop. "So when my wife and I came across this place a while back, we stopped and really enjoyed it. We were back in the area, so I decided to come out again.

"The petrified wood is beautiful and nice to see. But one of the things I love about this place is the trail you walk. You feel like you are in the middle of nowhere. You can't hear vehicles on the highway. I totally just let my brain rest when I'm out there. It's really a neat, relaxing thing."

Clarion Ledger

Coroner: Baby Found Dead In Suitcase Behind Flora Church

Body Found Off Livingston Vernon Road In Flora

The body of a baby was found stuffed in a suitcase on Friday, the Madison County coroner said.

Coroner Alex Breeland said the body was found behind a church in the 3200 block of Livingston Vernon Road in Flora at about 2:30 p.m.

Breeland said the baby was a newborn boy, but he said he's not sure how the baby died.

WAPT

Thompson Wants Answers On FEMA Trailers

Congressman Seeks Inquiry on Trailers

A Mississippi congressman asked the Justice Department on Thursday to investigate the use of potentially contaminated FEMAtrailers to house cleanup workers involved with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The request, by Representative Bennie Thompson, the chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, followed an article about the trailers Thursday in The New York Times.

In his letter, Mr. Thompson, a Democrat who was one of the most vocal opponents of the public sale of the trailers, also demanded that the General Services Administration and FEMA provide documents by July 15 indicating how each agency has enforced the legally binding requirements on the buyers of the trailers.

More than 100,000 of the trailers were publicly auctioned this year by the federal government on the condition that they not be used for long-term housing and with the requirement that placards be posted warning of the trailers’ potential hazards from high levels of formaldehyde, a carcinogen. Buyers were required to sign a legally binding waiver agreeing to these terms.

Before the auction, Congressional opponents of the sale said there would be no way to enforce these rules. New evidence emerged this week indicating the validity of those concerns.

In a separate letter, Representative Edward J. Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat and chairman of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee, asked the G.S.A. for documentation relating to the trailers’ sale and oversight of their use.

On Friday, Mr. Markey also said that he had asked for the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the sales of the trailers constituted an unfair or deceptive practice under the Federal Trade Commission Act.

Laura J. Gerdes, a spokeswoman with the Louisiana attorney general's office, said there office has opened an investigation into the matter as well.

The New York Times

Hasn't Steele Crammed His Foot Far Enough Down His Throat, Yet? Apparently, Not.

Latest Steele Gaffe Prompts Fresh Calls for His Resignation

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele’s recent comments that the war in Afghanistan is “a war of Obama’s choosing” released on YouTube have led prominent Republican columnist William Kristol to ask him to step down.

And some Republicans on Capitol Hill wouldn’t mind if he took that advice.

"Exhibit 2,345 as to why Steele should not be chairman," one GOP aide said. "The question is, who does he fire this time? Mr. Chairman, Please listen to Mr. Kristol."

Steele’s comments, captured in a poor-quality video at a fundraiser, had Democrats in attack mode and had Republicans cringing, even as Gen. David Petraeus arrived in Afghanistan to oversee the war effort.

“This was a war of Obama’s choosing,” Steele said in the video. “This is not something the United States had actively prosecuted or wanted to engage in.”

The former Maryland lieutenant governor later added, “It was the president who was trying to be cute by half by flipping a script demonizing Iraq, while saying the battle really should be in Afghanistan. Well, if he’s such a student of history, has he not understood that you know that’s the one thing you don’t do, is engage in a land war in Afghanistan? All right, because everyone who has tried, over a thousand years of history, has failed. And there are reasons for that. There are other ways to engage in Afghanistan.”

The gaffe-prone RNC chairman also called the situation involving the dismissal of Gen. Stanley McChrystal “comical” during his talk, which appeared to be an attempt at giving messaging advice to Republican candidates for Congress.

Democratic National Committee spokesman Brad Woodhouse ripped Steele for calling the war in Afghanistan unwinnable.

“The American people will be interested to hear that the leader of the Republican Party thinks recent events related to the war are 'comical' and that he is betting against our troops and rooting for failure in Afghanistan,” Woodhouse said.

“It’s simply unconscionable that Michael Steele would undermine the morale of our troops when what they need is our support and encouragement. Michael Steele would do well to remember that we are not in Afghanistan by our own choosing, that we were attacked and that his words have consequences.”

Roll Call

Justices Say Gun Rights Apply Locally

The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the Second Amendment, which forbids Congress from infringing the right to keep and bear arms, applies to state and local governments as well.

WASHINGTON — The Second Amendment’s guarantee of an individual right to bear arms applies to state and local gun control laws, the Supreme Court ruled on Monday in 5-to-4 decision.

Justices Will Weigh Challenges to Gun Laws (October 1, 2009) The ruling came almost exactly two years after the court first ruled that the Second Amendment protects an individual right to own guns in District of Columbia v. Heller, another 5-4 decision.

But the Heller case addressed only federal laws; it left open the question of whether Second Amendment rights protect gun owners from overreaching by state and local governments.

The ruling is an enormous symbolic victory for supporters of gun rights, but its short-term practical impact is unclear. As in the Heller decision, the justices left for another day the question of just what kinds of gun control laws can be reconciled with Second Amendment protection.

The majority said only that the right to keep handguns for self-protection at home is constitutionally protected. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr., writing for the majority, reiterated the caveats in the Heller decision, saying the court did not mean to cast doubt on laws prohibiting possession of guns by felons or the mentally ill, those forbidding carrying guns in sensitive places like schools and government buildings or those regulating the commercial sale of firearms.

Read more at The New York Times

Byrd Dead at 92

Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.), the longest-serving Member in history, died at 3 a.m. Monday after a brief hospital stay. He was 92.

“I am saddened that the family of U.S. Senator Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., tearfully announces the passing of the longest serving member of Congress in U.S. history,” Byrd’s office said in a statement.

In a separate statement Sunday afternoon, his office said Byrd had been hospitalized after suffering from heat exhaustion and dehydration. He was described as being “seriously ill."

Byrd, who was first elected to the Senate in 1958, was President Pro Tem, a largely ceremonial post but one that put him third in succession to the presidency.

Read more at Roll Call

Thought Provoking Thursday: June 24, 2010

It's an open question. What's your answer?

Scary Stuff In Dearborn Michigan: Sharia Law (Video)

Democrats Refuse To Produce A Budget For 2010, Harper Says Move Lacks Priorities

The Hill is reporting:

House Democrats will not pass a budget blueprint in 2010, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) will confirm in a speech on Tuesday.

But Hoyer will vow to crack down on government spending, saying Democrats will enforce spending limits that are lower than what President Barack Obama has called for.

In the scheduled address to the progressive think tank The Third Way, Hoyer will acknowledge that the lower chamber will do things differently this election year.

“It isn’t possible to debate and pass a realistic, long-term budget until we’ve considered the bipartisan commission’s deficit-reduction plan, which is expected in December,” according to Hoyer’s prepared remarks that were provided to The Hill.

The House has never failed to pass an annual budget resolution since the current budget rules were put into place in 1974. Hoyer this spring noted that the GOP-led Congress didn’t pass a final resolution in 1998, 2004 and 2006.

The House will put forth a “budget enforcement resolution” rather than a budget blueprint that looks beyond next year and calculates five or 10 years’ worth of deficit figures.

The House’s “enforcement” — or deeming — resolution will endorse the goals of the president’s fiscal commission and reiterate the commitment to vote on its recommendations after the midterm elections. And it will also set limits on discretionary spending “that require further cuts below the president’s budget,” according to the speech.

“This budget enforcement resolution will enforce fiscal discipline in the near term while the fiscal commission works on a long-term plan to get our country back to fiscal health,” Hoyer’s remarks state.

Mississippi Congressman Gregg Harper was not pleased with the announcement.

“The Democratic leadership in Washington has no budget for the federal government and this is because they are unwilling to take ownership of the massive budget gaps they have created," Harper said in a statement.

“Last year, the leadership spent $11,988 per household, money that we did not have. Now the President and the Democratic-led Congress continue to spend nearly $4.8 billion per day and our country has yet to see many optimistic shifts in unemployment.

"Taxpayers deserve a fiscally responsible budget that spends less, cuts taxes and reduces our national debt.”

No Surprise: Arizona Law Is Working

Immigrant families leave Arizona and tough new law

PHOENIX -- "Cuanto?" asks a young man pointing to four bottles of car polish at a recent garage sale in an east Phoenix neighborhood.

The question, Spanish for "How much?" sends Minerva Ruiz and Claudia Suriano scrambling and calling out to their friend, Silvia Arias, who's selling the polish. "Silvia!"

Arias is out of earshot, so Suriano improvises.

"Cinco dolares," she says. "Five dollars." And another sale is made.

As the women await their next customer in the rising heat of an Arizona morning, they talk quietly about food and clothes, about their children and husbands. They are best friends, all mothers who are viewed as pillars of parental support at the neighborhood elementary school.

All three are illegal immigrants from Mexico.

They're holding the garage sale to raise money to leave Arizona, along with many others, and to escape the state's tough new law that cracks down on people just like them.

The law's stated intention is unambiguous: It seeks to drive illegal immigrants out of Arizona and to discourage them from coming here.

There is no official data tracking how many are leaving because of the new law. "It's something that's really tough to get a handle on numerically," said Bill Schooling, Arizona's state demographer. "It's not just the immigration bill. It's also employer sanctions and the economy. How do you separate out the motivating factors?"

But anecdotal evidence provided by schools and businesses in heavily Hispanic neighborhoods and by healthcare clinics suggest that sizable numbers are departing. Ignacio Rodriguez, associate director for the Phoenix Roman Catholic diocese's Office of Hispanic Ministries, said churches in the area are also seeing families leave.

Priests are "seeing some people approach them and ask for a blessing because they're leaving the state to go back to their country of origin or another state," he said. "Unless they approach and ask for a sending-off blessing, we wouldn't have any idea they're leaving or why."

Ruiz and Suriano and their families plan to move this month. Arias and her family are considering leaving, but are waiting to see if the law will go into effect as scheduled July 29, and, if so, how it will be enforced.

The law requires police investigating another incident or crime to ask people about their immigration status if there's a "reasonable suspicion" they're in the country illegally. It also makes being in Arizona illegally a misdemeanor, and it prohibits seeking day-labor work along the state's streets.

Read more at the Sun Herald

Ariz. lawmaker takes aim at automatic citizenship

PHOENIX – Emboldened by passage of the nation's toughest law against illegal immigration, the Arizona politician who sponsored the measure now wants to deny U.S. citizenship to children born in this country to undocumented parents.

Legal scholars laugh out loud at Republican state Sen. Russell Pearce's proposal and warn that it would be blatantly unconstitutional, since the 14th Amendment guarantees citizenship to anyone born in the U.S.

But Pearce brushes aside such concerns. And given the charged political atmosphere in Arizona, and public anger over what many regard as a failure by the federal government to secure the border, some politicians think the idea has a chance of passage.

"I think the time is right," said state Rep. John Kavanagh, a Republican from suburban Phoenix who is chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee. "Federal inaction is unacceptable, so the states have to start the process."

Earlier this year, the Legislature set off a storm of protests around the country when it passed a law that directs police to check the immigration status of anyone they suspect is in the country illegally. The law also makes it a state crime to be an illegal immigrant. The measure, which takes effect July 29 unless blocked in court, has inflamed the national debate over immigration and led to boycotts against the state.

An estimated 10.8 million illegal immigrants were living in the U.S. as of January 2009, according to the Homeland Security Department. The Pew Hispanic Center estimates that as of 2008, there were 3.8 million illegal immigrants in this country whose children are U.S. citizens.

Pearce, who has yet to draft the legislation, proposes that the state of Arizona no longer issue birth certificates unless at least one parent can prove legal status. He contends that the practice of granting citizenship to anyone born in the U.S. encourages illegal immigrants to come to this country to give birth and secure full rights for their children.

"We create the greatest inducement for breaking our laws," he said.

The 14th Amendment, adopted in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, reads: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside." But Pearce argues that the amendment was meant to protect black people.

"It's been hijacked and abused," he said. "There is no provision in the 14th Amendment for the declaration of citizenship to children born here to illegal aliens."

John McGinnis, a conservative law professor at Northwestern University, said Pearce's interpretation is "just completely wrong." The "plain meaning" of the amendment is clear, he said.

Senate candidate Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican and darling of the tea party movement, made headlines last month after he told a Russian TV station that he favors denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants.

A similar bill was introduced at the federal level in 2009 by former Rep. Nathan Deal, a Georgia Republican, but it has gone nowhere.

The Federation for American Immigration Reform, based in Washington, said Pearce's idea would stop immigrants from traveling to the U.S. to give birth.

"Essentially we are talking about people who have absolutely no connection whatever with this country," spokesman Ira Mehlman said. "The whole idea of citizenship means that you have some connection other than mere happenstance that you were born on U.S. soil."

Citizenship as a birthright is rare elsewhere in the world. Many countries require at least one parent to be a citizen or legal resident.

Adopting such a practice in the U.S. would be not only unconstitutional but also impractical and expensive, said Michele Waslin, a policy analyst with the pro-immigrant Immigration Policy Center in Washington.

"Every single parent who has a child would have to go through this bureaucratic process of proving their own citizenship and therefore proving their child's citizenship," she said.

Araceli Viveros, 27, and her husband, Saul, 34, are illegal immigrants from the Mexican state of Guerrero. He has been in Phoenix for 20 years, she for 10, and their 2- and 9-year-old children are U.S. citizens.

"I am so proud my children were born here. They can learn English and keep studying," Viveros said in Spanish.

She said her husband has been working hard in Phoenix as a landscaper, and their children deserve to be citizens. The lawmaker's proposal "is very bad," she said. "It's changing the Constitution, and some children won't have the same rights as other children."

Associated Press

Obama's Moratorium On Drilling Slapped Down By A Federal Judge

Judge block Gulf offshore drilling moratorium

NEW ORLEANS — A federal judge in New Orleans has blocked a six-month moratorium on new deepwater drilling projects that was imposed in response to the massive Gulf oil spill.

Several companies that ferry people and supplies and provide other services to offshore drilling rigs had asked U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman in New Orleans to overturn the moratorium.

President Barack Obama’s administration has halted the approval of any new permits for deepwater drilling and suspended drilling at 33 exploratory wells in the Gulf.

Feldman says in his ruling that the Interior Department failed to provide adequate reasoning for the moratorium. He says it seems to assume that because one rig failed, all companies and rigs doing deepwater drilling pose an imminent danger.


Gulf Coast Oil Spill

More Simple Speak From Governor Chris Christie: Confrontation Is Good (Video)

Locals lament second landfill

DEQ hears concerns before deciding whether to give permit

Tougaloo College student government leaders have a message for state officials: Don't approve another landfill on North County Line Road.

"They're not healthy. I'm already struggling with my asthma, and others are, too. Would you want your kids to put up with that?" student Courtney Coleman said at a community meeting last week that attracted about 150 Hinds and Madison county residents.

"A landfill is not only poisoning us, but Madison County and Mississippi," said Amber Williams, vice president of the college's student government association. "If the landfill continues, then the student body will rise. Many of us are registered to vote."

The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality is seeking comments from residents as it considers whether to issue a permit for the 94-acre landfill on North County Line Road.

"Before we make any decision on a permit, we want to hear the concerns of the people," said Melissa Collier, director of DEQ's office of community engagement.

The proposed landfill, NCL Waste LLC, was formerly known as the Bilberry site. It would be the second landfill on the line between Madison and Hinds counties and would sit to the north of the 165-acre Little Dixie landfill in operation since 1979.

Madison County has another landfill operated by the city of Canton, making it the only county with two solid-waste disposal sites. Seventeen other Mississippi counties have landfills.

Ridgeland resident Sylvia Thomas, president of the North Livingston Road Homeowners Association, said the stench, property depreciation, bad roads, stray animals, rodents and insects are problems caused by the existing landfill, and a second site will compound the problems.

"If you allow this landfill in the county, this will be a grave environmental injustice to this community," she said.

"We are just sick and tired of landfills and the birds, vermin and whatever that come with them," Hinds County Supervisor Doug Anderson said.

Madison County Board of Supervisors attorney Eric Hamer said in February that the board has held numerous hearings, "dating back to 1999," but Hinds County supervisors never attended or voiced their opinions in those public meetings.

Read more at The Clarion Ledger

Lesbian Teen At Center Of Prom Flap To Meet Obama

Constance McMillen Invited To White House During LGBT Pride Month

The lesbian student who waged a legal battle against her Mississippi high school after being denied permission to bring her girlfriend to the prom will meet President Barack Obama as he marks the contributions of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Americans Tuesday at the White House.

Constance McMillen made headlines months ago when her Mississippi high school canceled prom because she wanted to bring her girlfriend and wear a tuxedo.

"The honor of being invited to join President Obama at the White House ceremony and the amazing support I've received has helped me come to terms with what happened over the prom," McMillen in a statement Monday.

"Unfortunately, I've heard from a lot of other kids who are having problems at their schools, too. I am grateful that President Obama recognizes the difficulties that LGBT youth still have, and I really hope the attention my case has generated will help encourage Congress to pass a federal law barring LGBT discrimination in schools so that no one else has to go through what I did."

A judge ruled in March that the school had violated her constitutional rights.

McMillen appeared on the CBS' "The Early Show" in March and said legal battle had been worth it.

The teen has garnered much attention since her story came out and she has appeared on the "The Early Show," "The Wanda Sykes Show" and "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" to talk about how she is fighting for tolerance. DeGeneres presented her with a $30,000 college scholarship from Tonic, a digital media company. A Facebook page set up by the ACLU for McMillen has over 400,000 fans.

McMillen will also serve as a Grand Marshal in the New York City Pride parade on June 27.

CBS

Reed In Stable Condition At UMC, Another Dead Following Collision

Former Mississippi Republican Party chairman Clarke Reed has been injured and another man has been killed in a two-vehicle accident in Greenville.


Police say 68-year-old Leonard Crow, identified as being from Oklahoma, died in Monday's crash after his car collided with another driven by Reed at an intersection.

Police say Crow died at Delta Regional Medical Center.

Reed, who also served as the GOP's national committee member from Mississippi, was airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson where he was listed in stable condition Tuesday.

A passenger in Crow's car also taken to UMC but their condition was not available.

Police say the collision is under investigation.

Republican Stalwart Reed Reportedly Injured In Accident In Greenville

Clarke Reed, a former chairman of the Republican Party in Mississippi has reportedly been airlifted from an accident in his hometown of Greenville, Mississippi.

Reed is considered one of the architects of the rise of the Republican Party in the South during the 1960's that helped build the "two-party system" we have today.

Senator Kyl: Administration holding border security "hostage" until it is combined with immigration reform (Video)

On June 18, 2010, Arizona Republican Senator Jon Kyl told the audience at a North Tempe Tea Party town hall meeting that during a private, one-on-one meeting with President Obama in the Oval Office, the President told him, regarding securing the southern border with Mexico, "The problem is, . . . if we secure the border, then you all won't have any reason to support 'comprehensive immigration reform.'" [Audible gasps were heard throughout the audience.] Sen. Kyl continued, "In other words, they're holding it hostage. They don't want to secure the border unless and until it is combined with 'comprehensive immigration reform.'"





Immigration

Congressman Harper Discusses the BP Drilling Incident with GOP Leaders(Video)

Yesterday, Congressman Harper discussed his thougts with GOP leaders about the Gulf Oil Spill, and the steps needed to correct the situation.

Bentonia Blues Fest This Saturday, June 19.

CL: Get a sample of Bentonia blues


 The Bentonia Blues Festival takes place in downtown Bentonia, located off U.S. 49 between Jackson and Yazoo City. Performers at the free event include headliner Bobby Rush, scheduled to appear at 9 p.m. The day's events begin at 9 a.m. with a series of gospel performers.

The festival is run by bluesman Jimmy "Duck" Holmes, proprietor of Bentonia's Blue Front Cafe, one of the oldest juke joints in the state. Holmes' parents, Carey and Mary Holmes, started the cafe in 1948, and the festival evolved out of blues gatherings at their home.

Holmes, who began performing actively in the last decade, has recorded four mostly acoustic CDs and aims to keep alive the distinctive local tradition most famously represented by blues pioneer Skip James.

"It's an honor to pay homage to the old guys like Skip James, Jack Owens and Jacob Stuckey who laid down the foundation for it all," says Holmes. "I feel like it's because of them that I'm doing what I'm doing, and to take it in another direction would be to dishonor them."

Last weekend Holmes performed at the Chicago Blues Festival on the Mississippi Juke Joint stage, which is underwritten by the Mississippi Development Authority to promote blues tourism. The Bentonia event will feature a number of other artists who appeared in Chicago, namely Dexter Allen, the Jarekus Singleton Band and the duo of Alphonso Sanders and Bill "Howlin' Madd" Perry.

Also performing are Eden Brent, 19th Street Red, the Roosevelt Roberts Blues Review and Brian Sivils.

Related events include a free screening of the blues documentary M For Mississippi, which features Holmes, at the Triangle Cultural Center in Yazoo City at 6:30 tonight, and a jam session at the Blue Front Cafe that begins at 5 p.m. Friday.

For more information, visit Bentonia Blues Festival on Facebook.

Breaking records: Holmes Ridgeland hits new heights in enrollment

By August, the seventh parking lot–the third new one in the past few years - will be ready for the fall influx of students to the Ridgeland campus of Holmes Community College.

"Even with that in place, we won't have enough room, but that's a great problem to have," vice president Joe Adams said. "We'd rather have it overcrowded than have empty spots out there."

Empty spots in the parking lot or in the classrooms haven't been a problem, nor do they seem likely any time soon. The two-year college continues to break its records for enrollment this summer, building on growth that hits new highs each fall and spring.

Taking classes in the first summer session are 2,098 students, and the June 23 registration for the second term in July will push that number higher. Last summer's total enrollment was 1,940. Since 2007, the increase in summer enrollment has risen 33.5 percent.

"We're very busy," Adams said. "We are meeting the educational needs of both the traditional students, 18-21 years of age, which represents 55 percents of our enrollment, and the non-traditional students by offering classes during the day, evening, and online."

Bumping up summer enrollment are the students coming home from the four-year colleges they attend.

Michael Tate Webb of Madison will head back to the University of Mississippi in August as a sophomore with 12 credit hours from Holmes summer sessions added to his transcript.

Last summer he took a three-hour course at Holmes before joining the freshman class at Ole Miss.

"This is an opportunity to catch up on credits and get ahead for the year," Webb said. "Plus, it gives me something to do over the summer."

Read the entire article at The Madison County Herald

Proposed Landfill Concerns Madison County Residents

Landfill To Go Next To Little Dixie Landfill In Ridgeland

RIDGELAND, Miss. -- Neighbors are concerned about another landfill that could go up in Madison County.

It's set to go next to the Little Dixie Landfill on North County Line Road in Ridgeland. There's also another landfill on the road.

It was a packed house at Potter's House Worship and Fellowship Center in Jackson Thursday night.

The meeting was for neighbors to voice their concerns about the proposed landfill. Most said they worry about the affects it'll have on their health.

"These types of landfills can cause many, many health problems," said the Rev. Holiness Barnes Jr. "First, it has to do with our respiratory system, water intake. I'm deeply opposed for that reason."

"I don't think anybody wants a landfill next to their house, but this proposed landfill is going to be located between two other landfills and my clients understand that," said Bryant Clark, the attorney for North County Line Thomas Lane Community Association. "What else can be in between a landfill than another landfill?"

Barnes said the landfills in the area aren't kept up.

According to Clark, developers said the proposed landfill will have vegetation planted along the road so it won't be noticeable to drivers.

WAPT

Plain Spoken New Jersey Governor Just Tells The Truth, It's An Odd New Politics

I've posted a few videos of the of the new plain-spoken Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie. Every time I view one, I like him more and more.

Sierra Club, others sue to stop Miss. Power plant

The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit Thursday trying to stop Mississippi Power Co. from developing a coal-fired, electric-generating plant in the east central part of the state.

The lawsuit was filed in coastal Harrison County Chancery Court.

In May, the state Public Service Commission voted 2-1 to ease restrictions it had put on the Kemper County plant.

Sierra Club state director Louie Miller described that decision as a "flip flop." He said it would allow Mississippi Power to charge rate payers for the costs of the plant before it's even built.

Miller said the PSC refused to order Mississippi Power to disclose how much customers will pay in rates for the new plant.

"Agreeing to unknown increased electric rates for Kemper is like buying a car when the salesman won't tell you what it costs," Miller said in a statement. "This is an outrage and betrayal of the public trust."

Mississippi Power officials had no immediate comment. The lawsuit represents only one side of a legal argument.

Mississippi Power, a subsidiary of the Atlanta-based Southern Co., has said the plant would use a new technology that converts lignite into a gas that would fuel turbines to create electricity. Company officials said the lignite would be locally mined and would be cheaper than natural gas.

The utility said more than 4 billion tons of lignite are underground near the plant site, and it has options on 30,000 acres.

The proposed 582-megawatt plant is expected to begin generating power by 2014, according to the utility.

Mississippi Power officials say the plant will create 260 permanent jobs and 1,000 jobs during the construction phase.

Associated Press

Proof that "A mind is a terrible thing to waste"

The celebration of ignorance continues, and even after being told in terms a 6-year old could understand what the theme of the card meant, they still thought it was about "black whores".


Stupid is as stupid does, and you can't fix stupid.

NAACP Urges Hallmark to Pull 'Racist' Card From Shelves

LOS ANGELES --- A space-themed, talking Hallmark graduation card is being pulled from store shelves because of the card’s reference to a black hole.

But members of the Los Angeles NAACP say the message sounds like "black whore" in the card's audio recording. That's how they hear it, and they say it's racist, KABC-TV in Los Angeles reported.

"That was very demeaning to African-American women when it made reference to African-American women as whores, and at the end it says 'watch your back,'" said Leon Jenkins of the Los Angeles NAACP.

The Hallmark card reads, "Hey world, we are officially putting you on notice," before playfully touting the ambitious future of the new graduate.

Characters known as "Hoops" and "Yoyo" banter on: "And you black holes, you are so ominous. Watch your back."

Hallmark calls the outrage a misunderstanding, claiming that the space theme emphasizes the power the graduate has to take over the universe, even energy-absorbing black holes.

"The intent here is to say that this graduate is not afraid of anything," explained Hallmark spokesman Steve Doyal.

Apparently, NAACP members heard something different.

FOX

Only in the minds of government bureaucrats is spending more considered "cost -saving"

Inspector General’s Memo: Census Says It Hired More Workers Than It Needed As a ‘Cost-Saving Measure’

The U.S. Census purposefully hired more workers than it needed, telling the Office of the Inspector General of the Commerce Department that it did so as a “cost-saving measure,” according to a memorandum that Todd J. Zinser of the inspector general’s office sent to Census Bureau Director Robert Groves last week.

“According to Census,” said Zinser’s May 26 memo to Groves, “‘frontloading’ its workforce (i.e. hiring and training more enumerators than necessary to offset turnover) is a cost-saving measure.” The inspector general’s memo, however, suggested that in at least one Census Bureau operation excessive staff had increased the “cost of operations” and that in another operation deployment of an unnecessarily large number of workers "increased the operation’s direct labor and travel costs."

In the first quarter of this year (January-March), personnel from the inspector general’s office observed Census Bureau operations in four programs. These included “update/leave” (U/L), in which Census workers deliver questionnaires to homes that would not be reached by ordinary mail service; “update/enumerate” (U/E), which counts people in communities where the homes lack ordinary mailing addresses or street names; "enumeration at transitory locations" (ETL), which counts people at places where their residences are potentially mobile, such as recreational vehicle parks, campgrounds, marinas and carnivals; and “service-based enumeration” (SBE), which counts homeless people at places such as homeless shelters, mobile food vans and so-called “targeted non-sheltered outdoor locations” (TNSOL).

The inspector general’s memo said that the Census Bureau had “overestimated” the staff needed for the program to enumerate people at transitory locations. “During the ETL operation,” said the memo, “crew leaders overestimated the number of Census staff needed to enumerate transitory locations, thus increasing the cost of operations.”

The memo also said that there were so many people hired for the “service-based enumeration” that there turned out to be one Census enumerator for every seven homeless people counted, and that the inspector general’s office “observed significant periods of enumerator inactivity at certain locations.”

"In another operation [which the inspector general’s office confirmed to CNSNews.com was the SBE program],” said the memo, “we found many enumerator teams to be unnecessarily large—an average ratio of one enumerator for just seven homeless respondents. We observed significant periods of enumerator inactivity at certain locations, which increased the operation’s direct labor and travel costs.”

As a result of these problems, the inspector general suggested that the Census bureau should “reevaluate” frontloading—that is, the practice of hiring more enumerators than necessary to cover anticipated turnover. “Census should reevaluate its practice of frontloading and develop a better process to estimate workload and cost assumptions,” said the memo. “A more streamlined enumeration process could reduce training and travel costs and be more responsive to changing economic conditions.”

The inspector general’s quarterly report to Congress on the Census, published on May 5, also noted that there had been one Census enumerator for every seven homeless people counted at locations other than “targeted non-sheltered outdoor locations” in the SBE program. “We also found many enumerator teams to be unnecessarily large--an average ratio of one enumerator for just seven homeless respondents for non-TNSOL operations,” said the report. “As a result, we observed significant periods of inactivity at these locations, which unnecessarily increased the cost of the SBE operation.”

CNSNews.com asked the inspector general’s office if it had determined that the Census Bureau’s practice of hiring more workers than needed, the so-called “frontloading,” had indeed been a “cost-saving measure” as the bureau had contended and whether the program referred to as “another operation” in the quotation above was in fact the SBE program. The inspector general’s office confirmed via email that the program in question was indeed the SBE program, but said it had not done the analysis to determine whether or not the Census Bureau’s “frontloading” in hiring had saved money.

“Our office has not done the analysis to conclude that Census’s practice of ‘frontloading’ its workforce is or is not a cost-saving measure,” said the email from the inspector general’s office. “Our recommendations are based on our observations of the operations mentioned in the second paragraph of the memo—update/leave (U/L), update/enumerate (U/E), enumeration at transitory locations (ETL), and SBE.”

CNSNews.com asked the Census Bureau two questions about the inspector general's memo: Did the bureau contest the inspector general's conclusion that there was an average of one enumerator for each seven homeless people counted in the SBE program? Does the bureau still contend that "frontloading" its workforce by "hiring and training more enumerators than necessary in order to offset turnover" is in fact a cost-saving measure?

Michael C. Cook, public information officer for the 2010 Census, responded by email. "Experiences in 1990 and 2000 have demonstrated cost and time efficiencies associated with the early training of sufficient employees to replace those lost through attrition," he said.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on Friday that employment in the United States grew by 433,000 jobs in May, but that those jobs included 411,000 temporary workers hired by the Census Bureau.

CNS


Census

Stossel: One-Size-Fits-All Government

A Nevada woman named Michelle Lyn Taylor "kissed a friend’s [13 year-old] child, forced him to touch her breast and asked him to have sex with her."

That's bad, but should the punishment be... life in prison? That was the sentence that she got.

In the sentencing, which is on youtube, the defense attorney argues:

"The sentence here shocks the conscience… The minimum penalty for first degree murder is 50 years. She could get 25 years for 2nd deg murder... She is getting a greater penalty for letting a boy touch her breast than for murder.”

The prosecutor didn't argue that a life sentence was reasonable -- rather, he just informed the judge that there was no choice:

"This is the sentence that the legislature of Nevada has created for this type of crime… now really there’s nothing left to be done except for the imposition of a life sentence."

after delivering the life sentence, The judge offered a confused-sounding explanation:

Ms. Taylor, you were charged with a crime with this sentence and apparently you weren't offered any plea deal... I've done a lot of these cases and I can't figure it out. To tell you the truth I don't know why they charge what they charge... and why they give plea bargans to some and others not, but I know that you had a jury trial, and you were charged, and this is the sentence. Good luck.

Good luck!? Julie Stewart of the group "Families Against Mandatory Minimums" tells us:

We are following this to its bitter end -- fighting to get it overturned in the State Supreme Court -- to try to make sure that this is overturned not just for her case, but that they overturn the law.

Once again, one-size-fits-all government policy imposes its nasty results.

Fox Business

Some Gluckstadt residents hope community will become Madison County municipality

Canton Mayor has no objection, Madison Mayor withholds judgement pending more information

Group pushes hopes for city



The future of the proposed city of Gluckstadt rests on 10 sets of petitions circulating in the Madison County community.

"We're going to put a push on this summer to get the signatures we need," said Bill Weisenberger, listed as the proposed mayor of Gluckstadt for incorporation purposes if a successful petition drive can get the cause to Madison County Chancery Court.

Two-thirds of the qualified electors living in the proposed city have to sign the petition asking for incorporation.

That number is "simply a moving target. The pool of qualified electors changes every day" as people move in and out of the community, said Jerry Mills, the attorney for city-status supporters. "You've really got to prove a super majority of voters - on the day of filing - want this incorporation."

Weisenberger said no target date has been set for getting the required number of signatures, but "we'd like to get them as soon as possible."

The committee overseeing the incorporation effort plans come-and-go meetings in the coming weeks for residents to sign the petitions and find out more.

Read more at The Clarion Ledger



Gluckstadt Incorporation

Man arrested for cocaine possession in Madison

A traffic stop lands one man behind bars in Madison County.

A Ford Explorer was traveling northbound on Interstate 55 when a sheriff's deputy conducted a traffic stop. After questioning the driver 47-year-old Jose Delarosa the deputy grew suspicious and requested consent to search the vehicle. A false compartment was discovered with five kilos of suspected cocaine inside.

Delarosa is charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, driving with a suspending drivers license and following too closely.

The vehicle was also seized.

Delarosa is being held in the Madison County Detention Center.

WLBT

Madison Police need help finding burglary suspect

Police release sketch of Cobblestone attempted burglary suspect


Madison Police have a composite sketch of a suspect wanted in an attempted house burglary in Cobblestone subdivision.

The burglary, in which an occupant of the house struggled with the suspect, occurred May 27.

The witness to the crime assisted police in creating the composite sketch. The suspect is about 5 feet, 10 inches tall and had an "unshaven, unkempt appearance," according to a Friday statement from police.

Anyone with information about the attempted burglary should call the Madison Police Department at (601) 856-6111.

Obama Administration decides it's time to shoot the messengers and create their own.

LA Times Andrew Malcolm writes:

What's widely-known is that Americans are not buying newspapers anymore in droves.

What hasn't been widely-known, until now, is that a year ago the new Democrat administration ofBarack Obama launched a major internal study intended to design a major government rescue plan for the nation's financially-troubled information media, primarily newspapers.

That strident sound you hear are the alarms going off in minds and offices across the country: Government helping the press? Which press? How help? In return for what?

Well, two years ago who'd have thought the feds would own General Motors with major holdings in a bunch of banks and financial institutions, reshaped the healthcare industry, spent $787 billion on who-knows-what to create some jobs, have rewritten a package of new financial regulations to corral Wall Street and still not be securing the U.S.-Mexico border?

The Federal Trade Commission has just released a major staff study of modern American media titled "Potential Policy Recommendations to Support the Reinvention of Journalism." And....

...silly you thought the private business of journalism was doing that by itself in its own stumbling ways without the help of the Washington branch of the Chicago Democratic political machine.

The study notes those industry-wide revival efforts and adds:

There are reasons for concern that experimentation may not produce a robust and sustainable business model for commercial journalism. History in the United States shows that readers of the news have never paid anywhere close to the full cost of providing the news. Rather, journalism always has been subsidized to a large extent by, for example, the federal government, political parties, or advertising.

True, there have been government subsidies over the decades in the form of below-cost postal rates and printing contracts. But this FTC study is rated R for anyone who thinks the federal government, the object of copious news coverage itself, has no business deciding which sectors of the private media business survive and thrive through its support, subsidies and encouragement with things like tax incentives 

Yet that's what this Obama administration paper is suggesting as another of the ex-community organizer's galactic reform plans.

Would you believe: major changes to the copyright law, including government licensing provisions; government pilot programs to investigate potential new media business models, antitrust changes to allow media companies to unite on imposing online pay walls, establish a journalism division of AmeriCorps with government underwriting the training of young journalists, tax incentives per news employee, increased funding of public broadcasting, a 5% tax on consumer electronics and/or assessments on users of public airwaves.

Mark Tapscott of the Washington Examiner tells independent journalist they better wake up: 

Those in the administration who clearly view independent journalism as an obstacle to "change we can believe in" and their numerous allies in the old media, non-profit, and academic communities who either share a similar ideological vision or see the FTC process as their salvation against the Internet, will no doubt dismiss my assertions as extemism or alarmism.

Fine, call me whatever, but what they cannot deny is what is clearly written in the FTC document and what it reveals about the intention behind the initiative, which is to transform the news industry from an information product collected by private individuals and entrepreneurs as a service to private buyers, to a government-regulated public utility providing a "public good," as defined and regulated by government.

The authors hide this dangerous intention behind carefully worded expressions of concern for preserving "quality journalism" and "addressing emerging gaps in reporting,"

Read the FTC Report here.