Mississippi Museum Reverse Course, Opens Facility To Same-Sex Commitment Ceremony

Last month, the taxpayer-funded Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum denied a request by Ceara Sturgis and Emily Key to rent the museum’s Masonic Hall for their commitment ceremony. Citing legal advice from state Attorney General Jim Hood from 2009, the museum argued that because same-sex marriage isn’t recognized in Mississippi, it could deny the couple use of its facilities since it wouldn’t be “legal.” Now, after intervention from the Southern Poverty Law Center, Hood has dispensed new legal guidance.
Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Cindy Hyde-Smith announced the change, but made it clear she isn’t happy about it:

HYDE-SMITH: In late July, my office received a letter from Attorney General Hood advising that under Mississippi law, the application could not be refused. Based on my personal and religious beliefs, I strongly object to this, but I have no alternative, due to this advice, but to allow the processing of this permit to move forward. This process contains multiple steps and is currently not finalized.[...]
While this same-sex couple’s request for a permit to utilize one of our state’s facilities for a “commitment ceremony” is not being defined as a marriage ceremony, it is personally troubling for me. Furthermore, based on the legal advice from the Attorney General and the lack of clarity of state law regarding usage of state facilities for these kinds of activities, the legal grounds to deny this request were not found by the Attorney General because the ceremony is, not on its face a violate of state law.

Hyde-Smith called on the legislature to remedy the perceived lack of clarity, essentially requesting that the state enshrine public accommodations discrimination against same-sex couples into law. Lt. Gov Tate Reeves (R) also released a statement objecting to the change:

REEVES: I am disappointed in the decision to allow a permit for same-sex marriage at a taxpayer-subsidized facility to be considered. Attorney General Hood’s legal advice goes against the wishes of an overwhelming majority of Mississippians.

Just last week, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant (R) says he doesn’t even believe same-sex couples are “couples.” Regardless of what Bryant, Reeves, Hyde-Smith or many Mississippians believe, at least two Mississippians will be able to celebrate a special day in a special way and it won’t affect anybody else’s lives whatsoever.

via thinkprogress.org

LeBron 9 “Championship” Pack

In addition to LeBron James winning the MVP this year, he and the Miami Heat also defeated the Oklahoma Thunder in the NBA Finals to become the NBA Champions. To honor these achievements, Nike has put together a special “Championship” pack. The LeBron 9 “Championship” Pack, set to release on August 11, features the LeBron 9 MVP and the LeBron 9 PS Elite. The LeBron 9 MVP is set in a Miami Heat style upper with a white base and a red to black gradient extending from the toe to heel. Yellow accenting add the pop to the detailing such as the branding as well as the MVP graphic on the heel and trophies printed on the sockliner.
The LeBron 9 PS Elite, worn by James in game one of the 2012 Finals, features a similar red and black colorway that is accented with gold on the branding. Additionally, the model features a Max Air 180 unit in the heel and a Nike Zoom unit in the forefoot.
The LeBron 9 “Championship” Pack will be available in very limited quantities starting August 11th at select retailers in the US and China.

via nicekicks

Ohio sets up one early-voting system for Republican counties, another for Democratic counties

In Ohio, Republican-approved cutbacks in early voting will disproportionately disfranchise African American voters who live in the state's most heavily populated counties. Ari Berman at The Nation gives us the skinny.
In Cleveland's Cuyahoga County, African Americans make up 28 percent of the population but were 56 of early voters in 2008. In Columbus's Franklin County, they make up 20 percent of the population but were 34 percent of early voters.
That early voting was a product of the mess in 2004 when voting machines were distributed in such a way as to create long lines in predominately Democratic, minority precincts. Many voters simply gave up and went home. A report by the Democratic National Committee estimated that 174,000 voters left the queues. George W. Bush won in Ohio with 118,000 votes. Subsequently, Ohio added 35 early-voting days to the election calendar and 2008 went much smoother. Barack Obama won a majority of the votes in Ohio.
As a consequence, Republicans cut early voting back for the upcoming election from 35 days to 11 days, with the three days right before the election eliminated.

Now, in heavily Democratic cities like Cleveland, Columbus, Akron and Toledo, early voting hours will be limited to 8 am until 5 pm on weekdays beginning on October 1, with no voting at night or during the weekend, when it’s most convenient for working people to vote. Republican election commissioners have blocked Democratic efforts to expand early voting hours in these counties, where the board of elections are split equally between Democratic and Republican members. Ohio Republican Secretary of State Jon Husted has broken the tie by intervening on behalf of his fellow Republicans.‘I cannot create unequal access from one county board to another, and I must also keep in mind resources available to each county,” Husted said in explaining his decision to deny expanded early voting hours in heavily Democratic counties. Yet in solidly Republican counties like Warren and Butler, GOP election commissioners have approved expanded early voting hours on nights and weekends.

Say what? Unequal access for the boards? It's unequal access for voters at issue, sir. But you knew that.
To repeat: Republicans in wealthier suburban districts will be able to vote at night, on weekends and other off-hours during those 11 early balloting days. Working-class Ohioans, Democrats or leaning that way, will find that early-voting hours in their counties are more likely to be available when they're on the job and can't get away. Which, of course, goes counter to the purpose of early voting.
As Abe Zaidan has noted in regard to these shenanigans:

No county will be impacted more than Cuyahoga, where Democratic officials, organized labor and some clergy are outraged by the GOP's handiwork. "It's Republicans' dirty little secret," declared county Democratic Party Chairman Stuart Garson. "What they are saying is, 'We don't want you people voting'."

Husted and other Republicans can try to label this nothing more than a local affair adjudicated totally within the rules the state has set forth. Move along. Nothing to see here.
In fact, it's the new Jim Crow.

via DailyKos

Air Jordan 7 “Raptors” Release Date

Club purple accents and dark charcoal hints add character to the standard black and red motif on the Air Jordan 7 “Raptors”. This OG colorway will return to retailers on September 1st, 2012.
Air Jordan 7 “Raptors”
Black/True Red-Dark Charcoal-Club Purple
304775-018
September 1, 2012
$160

via Nicekicks

Gov. Bryant: 'I Will Resist Medicaid Expansion'

JACKSON — After weeks of dancing around the issue, Gov. Phil Bryant announced his intention to resist expanding the state's Medicaid program under the federal Affordable Care Act.

#Bryant, a first-term Republican, said he would consider opting out of the expansion when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the federal government couldn't withhold funds from states who declined to go along with the Medicaid overhaul the ACA calls for.

#"No matter on what side of the political spectrum you align yourself, when you look at the bottom line of a potential Medicaid expansion in Mississippi, it is clear we cannot afford this enormous burden," Bryant wrote on his official state website Monday. "It would rob our resources for education, public safety and job creation and could very well result in tax increases."

#Bryant dismissed the claims of expansion proponents who note the federal will government will pick of the tab for more than 90 percent of states adding more people to the Medicaid rolls.

#"Since when did the federal government ever give free money without asking for something in return? After all, some people tend to forget the so-called 'free' money is actually your money," Bryant wrote.

#Bryant's solution to the state's healthcare woes include job creation and individual responsibility. He writes:

#"(E)ach of us must assume personal responsibility for our own health and our own choices. Living a healthy lifestyle that includes regular exercise and a proper diet can help shrink Mississippi’s obesity rate and the chronic diseases like diabetes that accompany it.

#"Hazardous activities like smoking erode our health, and we must do all in our power to fight the epidemic of teen pregnancy—an issue that has far-reaching consequences for our state."

via Jackson Free Press

TREASON

Treason - the offense of attempting by overt acts to overthrow the government of the state to which the offender owes allegiance…with that defined…follow me.

The inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States took place on Tuesday, January 20, 2009. As an African American male I knew…at that moment the psychological impact that these four years would have on my 11 month old daughter. What seemed impossible to my father, grandfather and myself would be nothing out of the norm for her; her president was black and so was she.

But little did I know…on that same proud day that 66,882,230 million Americans voted to see and millions more patriotically supported, at a private dinner in Washington at the Caucus Room (a high-end D.C. steakhouse), top Republican lawmakers and strategists were conjuring up ways to submarine his presidency. So I’m up all night watching inaugural ball after ball, Beyonce singing Etta James’ classic “At Last”, and these guys are plotting on tearing down the guy we are currently lifting up.

The guest list that night (which was just over 15 people in total) included Republican Reps. Eric Cantor (Va.), Kevin McCarthy (Calif.), Paul Ryan (Wis.), Pete Sessions (Texas), Jeb Hensarling (Texas), Pete Hoekstra (Mich.) and Dan Lungren (Calif.), along with Republican Sens. Jim DeMint (S.C.), Jon Kyl (Ariz.), Tom Coburn (Okla.), John Ensign (Nev.) and Bob Corker (Tenn.). The non-lawmakers present included Newt Gingrich, several years removed from his presidential campaign, and Frank Luntz, the long-time Republican wordsmith.

For several hours they plotted out ways to not just win back political power, but to also put the brakes on Obama's legislative platform. "If you act like you're the minority, you're going to stay in the minority," author Robert Draper ("Do Not Ask What Good We Do: Inside the U.S. House of Representatives) quotes McCarthy as saying. "We've gotta challenge them on every single bill and challenge them on every single campaign." Show united and unyielding opposition to the president’s economic policies. Begin attacking vulnerable Democrats on the airwaves. Win the spear point of the House in 2010. Jab Obama relentlessly in 2011. Win the White House and the Senate in 2012. "You will remember this day," Draper reports Newt Gingrich as saying on the way out. "You’ll remember this as the day the seeds of 2012 were sown."

Ok. So I’m still sporting my “Yes We Can” tee, having thoughtful conversations with friends about the impact of this day on our kids and this is what’s happening while we talk. A possible upcoming colorblind generation that will only know of racism and bigotry in textbooks, and this is what the losers of the 2008 election are doing; plotting a way back to power ala Malcolm Little. The month of the inauguration, the US lost 820,000 jobs and you mean to tell me that the guy elected to lead the country out of this mess is being plotted upon for “down the road” political gain; not for the benefit of the American people who at that moment had lost more the 2.6 million jobs; no. not that; but so republicans can gain power once again.

So eight days later, Minority Whip Cantor would hold the House Republicans to a unanimous “No” against Obama’s economic stimulus plan; $831 billion dollars (one third tax cuts) with a primary objective to save and create jobs almost immediately. The first National Republican Congressional Committee attack ads would run in less than two months. Mitch McConnell said in October 2010 that his party's primary goal in the next Congress was to make Obama a one-term president. Oppose the new 2010 health care law even though Obama’s plan was originally their idea in opposition to Clinton’s 1993 proposal. Oppose cap and trade even though Reagan conceived the first cap-and-trade program, Bush 41 passed “The Clean Air Act” in 1990, and while running for president in 2008 John McCain proposed to reduce global warming pollution via a cap-and-trade program. The Dream Act Immigration reform had been touted by Republicans for decades. Their savior Reagan granted amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants in the 1980′s…Obama likes it; OPPOSE IT. Republicans supported TARP when they helped pass it in response to the economic collapse in 2008. President Bush even signed the legislation into law. But since it’s been up to the guiding hands of President Obama to deal with TARP, Republicans have since revoked their support and have been highly critical even as they take credit for it when presenting stimulus checks to their local constituents. Bail Out of the Auto Industry, Republicans once supported this too but abandoned it once President Obama called for it. Republicans have always believed in strong infrastructure and infrastructure spending, until now. Oppose an extension of unemployment insurance. Oppose Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Oppose Payroll Tax Cut and damn…I thought they loved tax cuts. The Nuclear START Treaty, financial disclosure, deficit spending, environmental protection……..overkill???? Ok…you get it.

At every turn they opposed our president out of sheer politics…nevermind what they may have had in common or Obama’s willingness to latch on to some of their historically supported proposals. Hell no. You like it. We don’t. The worse off the citizens of the United States of America…the more likely they are to blame the current Commander and Chief. For God sake, who will listen to someone explain the plotted demise of a leader step by step, situation by situation. We will just point out the current economic climate, scream failure!!, and hope that inside all that noise…no one will ask us what we have done. Because the true answer is “nothing”…we have done nothing to contribute; we’ve been the opposition…the derailer. We have not operated in the interest of the people. If Obama succeeds, we don’t succeed. You have no need for us, (as McCarthy refered to in “stay in the minority") he will get the credit and admiration…we will be on the sideline. Sure the Nation would be happier, less polarized & divided, Congress’ approval rating wouldn’t be a dismal 17 percent; America back on track BUT WE WANT THE POWER. AND BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY.

Overt acts, culprits and their willingness to throw the country as a whole under the bus if it means a negatively charged electorate ready to throw out Obama. Its all here. The testicular fortitude they must have to throw around words like “Country First” and “Believe in America” if this is who they really are. It’s induced failure, it’s temporarily absolving oneself from principle for a temporary goal…stepping on America on your way back to the top of America. They really don’t care if you like them, it doesn’t matter…they know their your only alternative.

I Thank God that I pay attention.
Obama 2012.
-rb

Nike Air Max 90 Hyperfuse Premium - "Infrared"

The Nike Air Max 90 Hyperfuse "Infrared" will see a retail release this summer, potentially pleasing fans with a very popular Air Max 90 colorway.

According to Overkill, the "Infrared" Air Max 90 Hyperfuse will release on July 27.