Free Republic

Only seven months after the Supreme Court shattered the Voting Rights Act, a bipartisan group of lawmakers has come up with a bill that would go a long way toward putting it back together. If they can persuade Republicans in Congress to set aside partisanship and allow it to pass, they would begin to restore justice to a deeply damaged electoral process. It would be an ideal way to observe the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday this week. The bill is far from perfect. In particular, it does not give enough weight to the discriminatory effect of voter ID...

Today Mississippi Representative Omeria Scott (D-District 80) introduced House Bill 231. In her bill she proposes that anyone who sells ammunition in the State of Mississippi be required to keep records of each sale. If passed, every merchant, dealer or pawnbroker that sells pistol or rifle cartridges, shall keep a record of all sales of such cartridges sold, showing the description of the kind and caliber of cartridges so sold, the name, address and driver’s license or social security number of the purchaser, and the description of and the quantity of cartridges and date of sale. These records, which include...

BY DANA CRISWELL – January 13, 2014 Today Mississippi Representative Omeria Scott (D-District 80) introduced House Bill 231.  In her bill she proposes that anyone who sells ammunition in the State of Mississippi be required to keep records of each sale.  If passed, every merchant, dealer or pawnbroker that sells pistol or rifle cartridges, shall keep a record of all sales of such cartridges sold, showing the description of the kind and caliber of cartridges so sold, the name, address and driver’s license or social security number of the purchaser, and the description of and the quantity of cartridges and...

The Associated Press first reported this developing and completely predictable problem earlier in the week. What happens when you pass a law that (a) causes the health-insurance cancellation for millions and then (b) forces them and millions more to use a disastrously-built web portal as a middeman to replace that coverage? Answer: You end up with millions of people flooding into providers without any idea whether they have coverage or whether their doctor will accept it.The New York Times confirmed this issue … for its Saturday edition, of course: In addition to the difficulties many face in proving they have...

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Bill Marcy said Friday that he's changing party labels, but not his conservative beliefs, to run as a Democrat for the U.S. Senate in Mississippi this year. The Vicksburg resident courted tea party voters when he ran as a Republican for the U.S. House in 2010 and 2012. Both times, he lost to Democratic incumbent Bennie Thompson. Marcy, 67, said Friday that he filed qualifying papers for the Senate race Wednesday with the state Democratic Party. He's the first Democrat to enter the statewide race for a seat that has been held by Republican Thad Cochran...

Almost two years ago, Nunez decided he wanted to "be one of the best," so he picked up the phone and called his local U.S. Marine Corps recruitment office. After checking off various requirements, the recruiter asked Nunez about his weight. The 18-year-old gulped. Always a heavy kid, Nunez crushed the scales at 338 pounds. The recruiter told him he should probably consider a different career path.

NASA will complete a $350 million structure to test rocket engines at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi early this year. Then, it plans to mothball the 300- foot-high, steel-frame tower for the foreseeable future. The reason: Congress ordered the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to finish building the facility even though the agency doesn't need it. The tower was designed to test a GenCorp Inc. engine for a rocket program canceled in 2010. Its funding survived thanks to Mississippi Republican senators led by Roger Wicker, who crafted a provision requiring the agency to complete the work. The test stand is...

Jackson, Miss. Over the next three months, there will be plenty of issues that are discussed by Mississippi lawmakers. But one debate started outside the Capitol even before the gavel sounded Tuesday. “Terminate the implementation of Common Core,” said Roy Nicholson of the Mississippi Tea Party. The organization held an anti-Common Core rally Tuesday and stands by its opinion that the federal government will now have control over our children's education. “To which we tell them no,” said Nicholson. The group moved from the rally to the Capitol where members said they hoped their voices would be heard by lawmakers....

The Orange County Bar Association (OCBA) swears it's not just whistling "Dixie" when it comes a call for removal of the Mississippi state flag from the Plaza of the Flags outside the county courthouse in Santa Ana. The Newport Beach-based OCBA says a flag that "incorporates the Confederate Battle Flag in its design" has no place on the government property. For those who have missed 153 years of American history, the Confederate battle cross has come to symbolize racism, segregation and--the greatest horror of all--Kid Rock concerts. The OCBA passed the resolution calling on the City of Santa Ana to...

Six months before the Mississippi GOP primary, Sen. W. Thad Cochran is in a dead heat with attorney and former radio host state Sen. Christopher McDaniel, according to a Dec. 13 Human Events/Gravis poll of 691 voters, who voted in a Republican primary in 2010 and or 2012, with both men polling 40 percent with 20 percent undecided. “Overall, the results indicate that Senator Cochran is in a tight spot,” said Doug Kaplan, president of Gravis Marketing, a Florida-based polling and call center company. The poll also asked about other issues and carries a margin of error of plus or...

Lawyers from California have cast accusatory eyes on Mississippi, declaring that the state’s Confederate symbol on its flag that’s flown at a Santa Ana display is racist and needs to go. The Orange County Bar Association has passed a resolution to remove the Mississippi flag from the Santa Ana civic center where it now hangs, along with the flags of all other states, The Los Angeles Times reported. Members of the group say the Confederate symbol is an outdated relic that represents racism and hatred, The Associated Press reported.

The Mississippi State University, led by 2014 Heisman Trophy frontrunner Dak Prescott, annihilated Conference USA Champion Rice University 44-7. Prescott threw for three touchdowns and passed for another 2 as The Mississippi State University showed the rest of the college football world that they were going to contend for the 2014 National Championship.

'The thriving cotton industry brought Jewish merchants to the southern states of the US in the 19th Century. Their synagogues once attracted hundreds of worshippers but now, many Deep South Jewish communities are preparing to shut up shop.'

America's newest, most expensive coal-fired power plant is hailed as one of the cleanest on the planet, thanks to government-backed technology that removes carbon dioxide and keeps it out of the atmosphere. But once the carbon is stripped away, it will be used to do something that is not so green at all. It will extract oil... To help the environment, the government allows power companies to sell the carbon dioxide to oil companies, which pump it into old oil fields to force more crude to the surface. A side benefit is that the carbon gets permanently stuck underground. The...

It’s not even 2014 and Mississippi conservative Senate candidate, Chris McDaniel, is already tied with incumbent Senator Thad Cochran in the polls. According to a new Human Events/Gravis poll, Cochran and McDaniel are all tied up at 40% apiece. It is pretty unprecedented for a challenger to be polling this well against a 35-year incumbent so early in the race. The poll also showed that only 39% of Republicans definitively approved of Cochran. This poll is in line with previous surveys that show Chris to be very competitive. This is why we were so proud to endorse him early on...

Six months before the Mississippi GOP primary, Sen. W. Thad Cochran is in a dead heat with attorney and former radio host state Sen. Christopher McDaniel, according to a Dec. 13 Human Events/Gravis poll of 691 voters there, who voted in a Republican primary in 2010 and or 2012, with both men polling 40 percent with 20 percent undecided. “Overall, the results indicate that Senator Cochran is in a tight spot,” said Doug Kaplan, president of Gravis Marketing, a Florida-based polling and call center company. The poll also asked about other issues and carries a margin of error of plus...

Prancing Elites' Parade Controversy Parade controversy: Support for Prancing Elites on social media SEMMES, Alabama -- Minutes before they made the now-controversial strut down the parade route on Wulff Road on Saturday, the Prancing Elites, an all-male dance team from Mobile, stretched and lined up with the other parading groups before they marched. As the parade began, Kentrell Collins, the group's leader, recalls an older man who was directing the procession offer what seemed to be last-minute encouragement: " 'If anybody says anything to you, don't stop moving, keep going,' " Collins said, recalling the event afterward. The Prancing Elites...

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1050 AM CST SAT DEC 21 2013 ...WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI TO OHIO VALLEYS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... The NWS Storm Prediction Center in Norman, OK is forecasting the development of a few intense tornadoes and widespread damaging winds over parts of the Lower Mississippi to Ohio valleys this afternoon and tonight. The areas most likely to experience this activity include: Northwest Alabama Southeast Arkansas Central and Northeast Louisiana much of Mississippi Western and Middle Tennessee Elsewhere, severe storms are also possible from parts...

A man lured two brothers, ages 5 and 8, from their yard in south Mississippi and took them to his camper trailer, where he sexually abused them and slashed the older boy’s throat, authorities said Thursday. The 8-year-old boy is hospitalized and is expected to survive the Wednesday attack, said Don Bass, chief deputy with Hancock County sheriff’s office on the Mississippi coast. Bass said the older brother, with his throat cut, escaped the suspect’s trailer Wednesday evening and ran about 500 yards to a neighbor’s house. The neighbor called police. The children were abducted Wednesday afternoon from a residence...

The Reverend Michael Minor, resplendent in a mustard-coloured robe, stomps and sways as he belts out the words of his sermon, a synthesizer stabbing and swooping behind his voice. "I said, are there any saved in the house today - saved, sanctified, filled with the Holy Ghost - who know they've been saved?" He bounces on his feet, emphatically, keeping rhythm. The music at Oak Hill Missionary Baptist Church in Hernando, Mississippi, is pretty amazing. But it's not the funk or the faith that sets them apart in the Deep South - it's that fried chicken is banned from church...