Free Republic

• ACLU Working to Chip Away Code of Discipline with DeSoto County Schools Editorial by Milton Kuykendall, Superintendent, DeSoto County Schools The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is attacking the Code of Discipline in DeSoto County Schools. The ACLU has just filed the 3rd lawsuit against our school district. What some may not realize is that they are challenging our safe and orderly environment--the one characteristic that separates our school district from districts near us. The ACLU can make charges against the school district saying we have done something to a student. We cannot respond because of privacy issues. In...

Microsoft plans to release the final version of its free-of-extra-charge anti-malware scanner later on Tuesday The application, Microsoft Security Essentials or MSE (formerly Morro), is designed to provide consumers with basic protection against Trojans, computer viruses, spyware and rootkits. The product lacks the personal firewall, backup and PC tuning features found in OneCare, the paid-for consumer security software discontinued by Microsoft back in June. Cliff Evans, head of security and privacy at Microsoft UK, said he was personally sorry that OneCare was discontinued, but argued that MSE offered a better chance at improving overall internet hygeine. “We want everyone to...

Since passing tort reform in 2004, Mississippi has seen the number of medical malpractice claims plummet by 91 percent from its peak. The state's largest medical liability insurer dropped its premiums by 42 percent, and has offered an additional 20 percent rebate each year since tort reform went into effect. That is the story that Mississippi's Republican, governor, Haley Barbour, offered on Friday, speaking at the Heritage Foundation. He also made an observation about President Obama's decision to offer only token "demonstration projects" on lawsuit abuse rather than address it meaningfully in his health care reform proposal.

Starkville Police Department detectives say they are tracking several leads in the early Saturday morning robbery attempt that saw the victim fire gunshots at the suspect who tried to hold him up. Around 5:30 a.m. Saturday, the owner of Starkville Ready Cash on Highway 12 West was arriving at the business to prepare to open for the day when a black male approached him, pointing a handgun at him. The owner, whose name SPD detectives would not release amid concerns for his safety, then pulled out a handgun of his own and fired multiple shots at the suspect, but none...

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - Jackson police have identified the armed burglar who was shot and killed while trying to break into a closed business Sunday. The man who died in the shooting was 33-year-old Lorenzo Rodriguez Jones of Jackson. The shooting happened at the Gipson Discount Foods, in the 14 hundred block of Highway 80, near Terry Road Sunday evening. When officers arrived, they found Jones with a gunshot wound to the chest, at the rear of the grocery store. Assistant Police Chief Lee Vance says he was breaking in when an employee who lives in the building, opened fire...

Jackson police are investigating a shooting that may fall under the "Castle Doctrine," Mississippi's law governing justifiable homicide in the defense of a home or business. The shooting took place at approximately 5 p.m. Sunday at Gipson's Discount Foods on Highway 80 in West Jackson. Police say that a man carrying a large knife and a handgun attempted to enter the store through a back door. A relative of the store's owners shot and killed the intruder. Jackson Police Department spokesman Lt. Jeffery Scott said this morning that the shooter lives on the premises, but would not release his name....

Rep. Gene Taylor (D-Miss.) has called Grover Norquist’s anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform “lying sacks of scum” for lumping him in with other moderate Democrats who support the House health reform bill. “Americans for Tax Reform are lying sacks of scum, and anyone who knowingly repeats this false information is also a liar,” Taylor said in an unusually blistering statement for a member of Congress. The incident has so incensed Taylor, he’s pointing out Americans for Tax Reforms past ties to convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The Americans for Tax Reform release said Taylor had agreed to a “backroom deal”...

Scientists have been able to reverse the symptoms of multiple sclerosis using stem cells from patients' own body fat. Some have been left free from seizures and better able to walk after the treatment. Researchers said that the results suggest that the "very simple" injection of their own cells can stimulate the regrowth of tissue damaged by the progression of the disease. The preliminary findings add to the growing evidence that stem cells could be used to treat the crippling neurological disease, which affects about 85,000 people in Britain. Last year experts suggested that stem cell therapy could be a...

How the humble hydrangea shrub could hold the key to curing MS, diabetes and arthritis By FIONA MACRAE 05th June 2009 It's bright and beautiful flowers bring a splash of colour to gardens all over Britain. But it seems the hydrangea is more than just a pretty bloom. A drug made from its roots could be used to treat a raft of common diseases, researchers say. The colourful shrub - a staple of Chinese medicine - has the power to 'revolutionise' the treatment of multiple sclerosis, psoriasis and some forms of diabetes and arthritis, scientists claimed yesterday. Hydrangea: The common...

Marks & Spencer has admitted to making a mistake by charging extra for bras with a DD cup or larger. The retailer had been the target of a campaign from Facebook group Busts 4 Justice, which orchestrated a protest against the "tit tax". Marks & Spencer said: "We boobed. It's true our fantastic quality larger bras cost more money to make, and we felt it was right to reflect this in the prices we charged. "Well, we were wrong, so as of Saturday May 9, the storm in a D cup is over! We will reduce the price of our...

Courses of a common cancer drug can dramatically reduce the risk of a patient with multiple sclerosis having a relapse or deterioration, work shows. Taking cladribine a few times a year more than halved the chances of a relapse, with few side-effects, the UK study of 1,300 patients found. UK expert Professor Gavin Giovannoni said the drug could revolutionise the treatment of MS. Its manufacturer Merck Serono hopes to seek licensing for its use this year. The drug is already licensed for treating leukaemia. Prof Giovannoni gave his assessment of its potential value to MS patients at a meeting of...

Changes in Windows to Meet Changes in Threat Landscape Customers have heard us say over the years that the threat environment is an ever-evolving one. That means that one of our jobs in working to keep customers safe is to continually monitor the threat environment and make changes to adapt to it. Today, we're announcing modifications in Windows that adapts to recent changes in the threat environment. Specifically, wee announcing changes to the behavior in AutoPlay so that it will no longer enable an AutoRun task for devices that are not removable optical media (CD/DVD.). However, the AutoRun task will...

PASCAGOULA — A woman, awakened by the sound of someone removing the screen from her bedroom window, got out of her bed at 1 a.m. Friday, walked to her son’s room and quietly woke him. “She said, ‘Snigg get up,’” the son said in an interview later Friday morning. “I got up, grabbed my gun and went to the corner there by her room,” he said, standing at the door of the apartment, on the bottom floor of the last in a row of Spanish-style buildings in the Granada Apartments on Chicot Road. It was dark in the apartment, but...

Scientists have been able to reverse the symptoms of multiple sclerosis using stem cells from patients' own body fat. Some have been left free from seizures and better able to walk after the treatment. Researchers said that the results suggest that the "very simple" injection of their own cells can stimulate the regrowth of tissue damaged by the progression of the disease. The preliminary findings add to the growing evidence that stem cells could be used to treat the crippling neurological disease, which affects about 85,000 people in Britain. Last year experts suggested that stem cell therapy could be a...

People with multiple sclerosis may have a lower overall risk of developing cancer, Swedish researchers report. The study, which tracked the medical records of more than 20,000 MS patients for 35 years, "found that they had some 10 percent decreased overall cancer risk compared with those without the disease," said lead researcher Dr. Shahram Bahmanyar, from the Clinical Epidemiology Unit at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm. The study did find an increased risk among MS patients for certain malignancies, such as brain and bladder cancers. Prior studies into the risk for cancer for people with MS has produced a hodgepodge...

Archbishop-elect Roger Paul Morin Vatican City, Mar 2, 2009 / 11:35 am (CNA).- Archbishop-elect Morin, who will turn 68 next Saturday, will replace Archbishop Thomas Rodi, who was made the Archbishop of Mobile last April.Bishop Morin has been active in ministry to the poor since 1967, when he worked in the Archdiocese of New Orleans’ summer Witness program. Following his summer experience, Bishop Morin became the director of The Center, a neighborhood social service organization run by the archdiocese. While he served as the full-time director of The Center, Morin enrolled in the seminary, studying in the evenings and...

Multiple sclerosis could be prevented through daily vitamin D supplements, scientists told The Times last night. The first causal link has been established between the “sunshine vitamin” and a gene that increases the risk of MS, raising the possibility that the debilitating auto-immune disease could be eradicated. George Ebers, Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Oxford, claimed that there was hard evidence directly relating both genes and the environment to the origins of MS. His work suggests that vitamin D deficiency during pregnancy and childhood may increase the risk of a child developing the disease.

MS in remission w/own stem cells - JAMA Report

Adult Stem Cells Successfully Reset Immune System for Multiple Sclerosis Patients by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com Editor January 29, 2009 Chiacgo, IL (LifeNews.com) -- Adult stem cells continue to outpace their embryonic counterparts by successfully treating patients with a variety of diseases and conditions. Now, the use of adult stem cells from bone marrow has helped patients suffering from the early stages of multiple sclerosis.A new study shows a research team appears to have reversed the neurological dysfunction of early-stage multiple sclerosis patients by transplanting their own immune stem cells into their bodies and thereby "resetting" their immune systems.Dr. Robert Burt,...

Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) is extending the deadline for making its supposedly retired Windows XP operating system available to custom PC builders. Under the plan, system builders will be allowed to take delivery of XP licenses and media through May 30. Previously, Microsoft had announced a Jan. 31 XP cutoff date for system builders, which are typically smaller, build-to-order vendors. The news was first reported Friday by InformationWeek.com sister site ChannelWeb.

SOUTHAVEN, MS (WMC-TV) - Several outraged people in Southaven, Mississippi said one church has gone too far. Gracewood Baptist Church in Southaven is a traditional Southern Baptist Church. And on the sign out front, the subject for the upcoming week's sermon is "Exiles in an Obama Nation." "We're not racist at all and again we're going to pray for him. He's our president. But we don't agree with our platform," pastor Dr. Barry Baker said. Baker said the church does not like Obama's stand on homosexuality and abortion and that is what he will talk about on Sunday. Church member...

Whispering Woods Manager Received Threats OLIVE BRANCH, Miss The general manager of a Memphis-area conference center hotel has resigned, saying he received threats over a white power group's planned meeting at the facility next month. Former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke is promoting the Nov. 7-9 event billed as the "European American Unity and Rights Conference" at the Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center. Whispering Woods manager Travis Murray said Wednesday he quit after his work telephone number and work e-mail address were distributed in an e-mail by the Memphis-based civil rights group Mid-South Peace and Justice Center, which...

A drug developed to treat leukaemia may be a powerful new weapon against multiple sclerosis, researchers say. Alemtuzumab appears to stop progression of the disease in patients with early stage active relapsing-remitting MS - the most common form of the condition. The University of Cambridge study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, also suggests the drug may enable repair of previous damage. However, it can produce potentially serious side-effects, they warn. The ability of an MS drug to promote brain repair is unprecedented Dr Alasdair Coles University of Cambridge And the researchers stress their work is still at...

U.S. immigration agents have arrested 595 people at a Mississippi factory in what was the largest workplace enforcement raid in the United States to date, an immigration official said on Tuesday.

000 WTNT32 KNHC 260258 TCPAT2 BULLETIN TROPICAL STORM GUSTAV ADVISORY NUMBER 4 NWS TPC/NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER MIAMI FL AL072008 1100 PM EDT MON AUG 25 2008 ...GUSTAV STRENGTHENS...ALMOST A HURRICANE... AT 11 PM EDT...0300 UTC...THE HURRICANE WARNING IS EXTENDED FROM PORT AU PRINCE HAITI NORTHWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS. A HURRICANE WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT FROM BARAHONA IN THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WESTWARD TO LE MOLE ST NICHOLAS HAITI. PREPARATIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY SHOULD BE RUSHED TO COMPLETION. AT 11 PM EDT...THE GOVERNMENT OF JAMAICA HAS ISSUED A TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR JAMAICA. A TROPICAL STORM...

OXFORD - Beef Plant defendants Nixon Cawood and Charles Morehead, executives with The Facility Group of Georgia, are set to change their plea to guilty on a one-count information Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. So says two filings late today in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Mississippi. Cawood's hearing is set for 10 a.m. before Chief Judge Michael P. Mills. Moreheads is set for 10 a.m. Thursday. An information is a legal charge short of an indictment, which comes from a grand jury. No other details were available, but it seems possible Cawood and Morehead will follow...

Horn Lake, MS -- The black bear spotted in the Horn Lake, Mississippi area is still out there somewhere. It was last seen in a wooded area behind the Apple Creek Subdivision. Jimmy Massey was one of the last people to see the bear. "I saw something move in the trees, and there it was about 60 yards from me. It just stopped and stood there for about 30 seconds," Massey said. Mississippi Wildlife Officials believe the bear may be lost or looking for a mate. They tried to pick up a signal from a tracking collar the bear may...

NICE, France: In patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation elicited high response rates and improved quality of life for up to 6 years. The results of the study were presented here at the 18th Meeting of the European Neurological Society (ENS) by Tatiana Ionova, MD, PhD, Department of Haematology, Pirogov National Medical Surgical Center, Moscow, Russia. During the last decade, high-dose immunosuppressive therapy followed by autologous haematopoietic stem cell transplantation has been used with increasing frequency as a therapeutic option for patients with MS. "The aim of the study was to assess...

Cheney to appear in 'get out the vote' rally at the Desoto Civic Center SOUTHAVEN - White House officials confirmed Friday that U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney will make a campaign stop on behalf of 1st U.S. Congressional candidate Greg Davis May 12, the eve of the run-off election with Democrat Travis Childers. "We can confirm the vice president will be attending a get out the vote rally for Greg Davis," Jamie Breland, spokesperson in the White House Press Office of Vice President Dick Cheney, said Friday. Tentative arrangements call for Cheney to appear with Davis in an afternoon rally...

Last Summer, Microsoft Corporation quietly introduced a powerful tool for getting past security on laptops and PCs running the Windows operations system (which about 90 percent do). The device is a USB thumb drive called COFEE (Computer Online Forensic Evidence Extractor). When you capture an enemy computer, you plug in COFEE and then use over a hundred software to quickly get whatever information is on the machine. COFEE can quickly reveal passwords, decrypt files, reveal recent Internet activity and much more. A lot of this can be done without COFEE, but with the Microsoft device, intelligence collection is a lot...

While vitamin D’s role in strengthening bones is well established, its links to cancer and immune-system malfunctions have only recently emerged. At the Harvard School of Public Health, nutrition experts say large segments of the population don’t get enough vitamin D and are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to raise the daily recommended dose, from 400 international units to 800. For an update on what’s known so far about this important nutrient, the Harvard Public Health Review spoke with HSPH Professor of Nutrition and Epidemiology Edward Giovannucci. *** Q: What are the documented benefits of vitamin D? A:...

When it comes to understanding, preventing and treating chronic diseases, multiple sclerosis ranks among the most challenging. The word “multiple” is apt in more ways than one. Various suggested causes include early-life exposure to certain viruses or toxic agents, geographic and dietary influences, inherent immunological defects and underlying genetic susceptibilities. MS is highly unpredictable. Rarely are any two patients alike in the presentation, duration and progression of symptoms; even the underlying cause of disability in MS is being reconsidered. And rarely do any two patients respond in the same way to a given therapy, be it medically established or alternative....

REFUGIO, Texas - With an abandoned Wild West-vintage town of storefronts slumbering just a block from old US 77, tiny Refugio is a place where myth and reality coexist in a ghostly silence. more stories like this Obama faces heat over aide's NAFTA remarks to Canadians Texas, Ohio could decide Dem nomination Canada says didn't misrepresent Obama over NAFTA McCain tags Dems on trade treaty NAFTA seen differently in Ohio, Texas And now this South Texas outpost is swept up in one of the more intriguing tests of myth vs. reality in today's political life: the battle over the so-called...

.S. News & World Report, which has made a name for itself by ranking and announcing the best colleges every year, is now ranking and listing the best careers for young people. A comparison of the latest lists shows a shocking disconnect and makes for dispiriting holiday reading. While the price of a college education has skyrocketed far faster than inflation, many careers for which colleges prepare their graduates are disappearing. U.S. News' Best Careers guide concludes, "college grads might want to consider blue-collar careers" because bachelor's degree holders "are having trouble finding jobs that require college-graduate skills." Incredibly, U.S....

The life of Ike Pringle has become a sort of enigma for local historians who are trying to figure out exactly what role the slave played in the American Civil War. Born in May, 1841, Isaac, or Ike as he was better known, was owned by the Pringle family that lived and owned land around Vimville. Ike took on the name of his owners and was forever called Ike Pringle. At an early age he was given to the grandson of the family, Frank Pringle. Not that far apart in age, the two basically grew up together until the Civil...

More details at FoxNews Channel as they come in...

I watched HBO's Inside The NFL this week and they aired a piece about a group of Packer fans that have been making trips to Brett Favre's hometown of Kiln, MS to help rebuild houses destroyed by Katrina. It was mostly a feel-good piece, but I really enjoyed it. This group has made about twenty trips to Kiln to help rebuild houses. I can't remember the exact number, but I think they said they've helped about 44 families rebuild. While I was watching this story, I couldn't help but think this is what's right with America. People helping other people....

Police are investigating a carjacking that lead to a chase and a shooting Monday afternoon near Olive Branch, Mississippi. The shooting happened in an area near the intersection of State Line Road and Riverdale Road in Olive Branch, Mississippi. Investigators said a 71-year-old woman was unloading groceries in the driveway of her south Shelby County home when a man approached her with a shotgun, demanding her car. 71-year-old Bobbie Gray is traumatized and feeling the emotional pain of fear wondering if her life will ever be the same. "He just walked up behind me as I was taking the groceries...

Microsoft Relevant Products/Services posted revenue of $13.76 billion for the company's fiscal first quarter -- a 27 percent increase over the year-earlier period. Net income amounted to $4.29 billion or 45 cents per share. "The first quarter represented an outstanding start of the fiscal year, with every part of the company performing above expectations," said Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell. "I was particularly happy that we increased revenue while meeting operating expense guidance." Microsoft's Client, Business Division, and Server and Tools units grew combined revenue in excess of 20 percent, with demand for Vista, Office 2007, Windows Server, and SQL Relevant...

The age-old wrong of stealing another man’s wife — “alienation of affection” — is still recognized in six states, while being wholly or mostly abolished in 31 others. It traces its origins back at least to the Teutonic tribes of early Germany in the 10th Century. Now, a well-to-do businessman from Mississippi, facing a verdict of $754,500 for “alienating the affections” of the wife of a plumber, is asking the Supreme Court to impose a constitutional ban on such verdicts at least when they are used to punish the forbidden conduct. Asking for a stay of a Mississippi Supreme Court...

CHARLOTTE, NC (AP) - The family of a 15-year-old Charlotte girl killed in a charity bike ride is suing the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The lawsuit alleges that the MS Society promised traffic control and police protection it didn't deliver, and routed the 2006 Breakaway to the Beach from Charlotte to North Myrtle Beach, SC, along a stretch of narrow and busy highway unsafe for bicyclists. The lawsuit does not say how much money the family is seeking. Rachel Giblin was killed on Sept. 16, 2006, after a pickup truck hauling a trailer hit the tandem bike she and her...

Funny video: here.

A new treatment for multiple sclerosis (MS) is being pioneered near Bristol. Six patients at Frenchay Hospital are being injected with their own stem cells in the hope that they will repair damage to the brain. Approximately 60,000 people in the UK suffer from MS, an incurable disease of the nervous system. Prof Neil Scolding, of the Institute of Clinical Neurosciences, said: "We know stem cells are attracted into the brain, into these areas of damage." He added that he hoped the stem cells would "help those areas to stop getting worse" and "repair damage". 'Lot of hope' Liz Allison,...

Let me start by saying I like Haley. I cheered him on back in 2003 when he was here in Southaven with the president. He brought jobs to Mississippi and has helped the coast recover after Katrina. But during this past primary season I noticed something. The literature that came from the state senate candidates was full of items that they would do to stop illegal immigration. Haley's pamplets shows his strides in jobs and education, which of course are a good thing. But digging through the web you don't find much on his stance of immigration. You find alot...

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) (MSFT)'s Xbox 360 video game console will be $50 cheaper starting Wednesday, confirming fuzzy snapshots of leaked advertisements posted by bloggers in late July. The company said its most popular console, which comes with a 20-gigabyte hard drive, will cost $349. A basic console without a hard drive or wireless controllers will retail for $279, $20 less than its current price, while the Xbox 360 Elite, a black version with a 120-gigabyte hard drive and high-definition video support, will drop $50 to $449. - snip - Sony Corp. (SNE) slashed the price of its...

Medical researchers have made a significant advance in understanding multiple sclerosis, a common neurological disease that causes symptoms ranging from muscle weakness to paralysis. The disease is one in which the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks the electrical insulation of nerve fibers. The cause is part genetic and part environmental, but researchers trying to identify the relevant genes have endured repeated frustration. Their approach has been to guess what genes might be involved and see if patients have abnormal versions. This guesswork has produced more than 100 candidate genes in recent years, none of which could be confirmed except for...

CHICAGO (Reuters) - After decades of dead ends, scientists have identified two genes that may raise the risk of multiple sclerosis, lending insight into the causes of the debilitating disease. The findings, released in two medical journals on Sunday, represent the first genes conclusively linked to multiple sclerosis in more than 20 years, experts said.

Microsoft Search Share Up Thanks to 'Chicktionary' By Nate Mook, BetaNews July 18, 2007, 12:12 PM After months of diminishing market share in the search industry, Microsoft may have found the answer to competing against Google and Yahoo: Chicktionary. The addictive game, which is available on the Live Search Club site, rewards users with prizes such as software. Microsoft's troubles in the search market date back many years. The company previously utilized Google and Yahoo to handle its search results, not launching its own engine until late 2004. At the time, Microsoft said it would put forth considerable effort and...

SEATTLE — Microsoft Corp. is once again on the defensive against hackers after the launch of a new program that gives average PC users tools to unlock copy-protected digital music and movies. The latest version of the FairUse4M program, which can crack Microsoft's digital rights management system for Windows Media audio and video files, was published online late Friday. In the past year, Microsoft plugged holes exploited by two earlier versions of the program and filed a federal lawsuit against its anonymous authors. Microsoft dropped the lawsuit after failing to identify them. The third version of FairUse4M has a simple...

The new director of the National Hurricane Center, under fire from staff members who wanted him ousted, said Friday that he won't resign and that the disagreements can be resolved. Director Bill Proenza replaced Max Mayfield in January. On Thursday, 23 employees - about half his staff - urged the government to removed him immediately. "We may have some disagreements in the philosophy of making changes at the hurricane center in the future as far as what we want for new capability, new science and technology," Proenza said in a phone interview. "Does that justify removing someone?" The senior...