Free Republic

TOKYO (Reuters) - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) will switch gears and produce the Prius hybrid instead of the less fuel-efficient Highlander sport utility vehicle at its planned Mississippi factory, the Nikkei business daily reported on Thursday. The world's biggest automaker is also likely to suspend production at one of two assembly lines at its Indiana factory, where it builds the Tundra pickup and Sequoia SUV, by year-end for at least six months, the paper said. Citing company sources, it said the move was in response to falling demand for those models and would amount to a production cut of 50,000...

WASHINGTON -- Mississippi, one of the nation's most conservative states, has not elected a Democratic senator in a quarter-century. It has voted for Republican presidential candidates in the last seven elections. But this year, there is a real chance that the state will send a Democrat to the Senate. Democrats are running strong Senate campaigns in states such as Mississippi, Alaska and North Carolina that Republicans have long taken for granted. ...The stakes for Obama in the Senate races are high. If he is elected president, the biggest obstacle to his goals could be in the Senate, where parliamentary rules...

Navy Names New Amphibious Assault Ship Story Number: NNS080630-13 Release Date: 6/30/2008 4:12:00 PM From the Secretary of the Navy Public Affairs JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (NNS) -- The Navy's newest class of large-deck amphibious assault ship, LHA 6, will bear the name USS America, Secretary of the Navy Donald C. Winter announced June 27, while speaking at the USS America Carrier Veterans Association reunion in Jacksonville, Fla. This ship will inherit a proud tradition, explained Winter. From the American Revolution through the first Gulf War, three warships have sailed with the name America. "To serve in a ship named after our...

A new state law is now in effect requiring all restaurants in Mississippi to clearly display the specific country of origin of the catfish they serve. While supermarkets have previously been required to display “Country of Origin Labeling” for catfish, restaurants have been under no such mandate until House Bill 728 went into effect Tuesday. According to a statement recently released by Roger Barlow, president of the Jackson-based Catfish Institute, “This is possibly the most significant piece of legislation the Mississippi Catfish Industry, or for that matter, the entire U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish industry has ever had. “Since Mississippi is the...

Atlanta, GA (AHN) - High level of formaldehyde have been detected in trailers and mobile home occupied by victims of Hurricane Katrina, says a report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Formaldehyde, a preservative commonly used in construction materials, is carcinogenic and can cause breathing problems. The trailers were provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to hurricane victims in 2005. The agency no longer provides them, but the mobile homes are still in use.The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California was tasked by CDC to measure formaldehyde concentrations in trailers and emissions from specific...

GULFPORT -- Notably mild-mannered Republican Sen. Thad Cochran shocked many earlier this year with comments about John McCain's volatile temper. He has since mended fences with the GOP presidential nominee. But as first reported at sunherald.com, Cochran told the Sun Herald he witnessed a confrontation between McCain and a Sandinista rebel decades ago in which McCain "got mad at the guy and he just reached over there and snatched him." --------------------------------------- "McCain was down at the end of the table and we were talking to the head of the guerilla group here at this end of the table and I...

GULFPORT --A small group of youngsters in sailboats made it safely back to shore Monday after one of them capsized in the Mississippi Sound during an afternoon thunderstorm, authorities said. "The storm came up on them and they were trying to get everybody back when it happened," said Fire Chief Pat Sullivan. ------ SNIP ------ "The most heroic job, in my opinion, was the boy that brought his boat back in by himself," Clark said. "It was incredible. He looked to be 11 or 12 years old, out there battling against God and nature in a little-bitty sailboat."

THE interim between the primaries and the parties’ nominating conventions is, according to ancient writ, a fertile period for presidential campaigns to talk about how they plan to expand the political map in the fall. This year is no different. Barack Obama’s strategists are suggesting that the first African-American presidential nominee of a major political party can parlay increased turnout among black voters into a string of victories in the South. Given that roughly half of all African-Americans live in the 11 former Confederate states, the idea seems intuitive enough. It’s also wrong. Prying Southern electoral votes away from the...

LATIMER --A Biloxi teen is accused of impersonating a police officer when he tried to stop a Latimer resident on Allie Byrd Road, according to Jackson County Sheriff's Department reports. Brennon Foster Quade, 18, of Holly Hills Drive, was arrested about 11:45 p.m. Tuesday at the home of the victim's parents in the Latimer community. -----SNIP----- When Quade stopped, the victim's father said he dialed 911 and held a gun on Quade until sheriff's deputies got there.

Judge Neal Biggers handed down Dickie Scruggs fate calling his conduct reprehensible. Dickie Scruggs will serve five years in federal prison and pay a $250K fine. Before sentencing, Scruggs told the judge, "I could not be more ashamed to be where I am today. I realized I was getting mixed up in it and I will go to my grave wondering why. I have disappointed everyone in my life - my wife, family and friends here to support me today. I deeply regret my conduct. It is a scar and a stain on my soul."

Appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R), seeking to win the job on his own, remains in a pure toss-up with former Governor Ronnie Musgrove. The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey in Mississippi found Wicker attracts 48% of the vote, while Musgrove earns support from 47%. Last month, it was Musgrove with the single point lead, 47% to 46%. University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato has noted that this will be a “real political battle” which is “a rarity in a state that’s usually red as red can be.”

Des Moines, IA (AHN) - The marine dead zone resulting from the Midwest flooding is expected to expand to over 10,000 square miles, according to researchers from the Louisiana State University and the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium. The water in the dead zone, approximately the size of Massachusetts, does not have sufficient oxygen at depth to support marine life. Since 1990, the zone, located off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas, usually covers 6,000 square miles, varying according to the flow of the Mississippi River. Its low oxygen content is caused by the presence of large algae blooms which feeds...

Middle School Pregnancy Test by: Deborah Lambert, June 12, 2008 An irate father in Jackson, Mississippi is demanding that his daughter’s sixth grade teacher at the Chastain Middle School be fired, said pcblogspot.com. According to Curtis Lyons, the teacher handed out a survey asking students to select which one of their classmates was most likely to contract AIDS, get pregnant or die before they graduated. When she learned that her fellow students thought she would be the first one to get pregnant, his daughter—an honor student—was humiliated, said Lyons. “Where was the lesson in that?” asked Lyons, who said that...

Jack Lucas, who at 14 lied his way into military service during World War II and became the youngest Marine to receive the Medal of Honor, died Thursday in a Hattiesburg hospital. He was 80. Lucas had been battling cancer and died shortly after midnight after he requested doctors remove a dialysis machine, his wife, Ruby, told The Associated Press. Jacklyn "Jack" Lucas was just six days past his 17th birthday in February 1945 when his heroism at Iwo Jima earned him the nation's highest military honor. He'd used his body to shield three fellow squad members from two grenades,...

An official reaction to FEMA's no-ice policy came from U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor who referred to FEMA officials as a "bunch of buttheads." Last week, officials were told that FEMA had decided to only supply ice for use in medical emergencies and life-saving reasons. It's left local officials scrambling to figure out ways to make it available for the general public. During a meeting with Hancock County Board of Supervisors this morning Taylor said he intends to write to FEMA to register his objections to the new policy. He also urged Hancock County supervisors, as well as the city councils...

Birmingham, Ala. (AP) -- Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood wrongly conspired with prominent trial attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs to skirt a court order in a case involving Hurricane Katrina insurance claims, a federal judge has ruled. Referring to Hood as a "so-called law enforcement officer," U.S. District Judge William Acker said the attorney general helped his "close confidant" Scruggs avoid handing over stolen insurance company documents that Scruggs wanted for lawsuits against State Farm Fire and Casualty Co. Acker did not recommend any criminal or civil action against Hood in the opinion, filed Thursday. But the judge cited Scruggs and...

MINNEAPOLIS -- Former Vice President Al Gore thinks Al Franken would be “a fantastic senator,” according to a letter sent to Democratic delegates. Gore’s endorsement of Franken's bid for the U.S. Senate comes days before Franken squares off against opponent Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer for the DFL endorsement at the state party convention in Rochester, Minn. One reason Gore endorses Franken is their shared goals of an effort to slow global warming.

Study Warns Global Warming Could Swamp Gulf Coast By SEAN REILLYWASHINGTON — A new government report offers a grim forecast of global warming's long-term impact on the Gulf Coast, warning that "a vast portion ... from Houston to Mobile, Ala., may be inundated in the future." The predicted flooding, resulting from rising sea levels and sinking land surfaces, would occur within the next 50 to 100 years, according to the report, released last month by the National Science and Technology Council, a federal advisory body. While the effects would fall outside the life spans of most adults today, they could...

Mississippi’s appointed U.S. Senator Roger Wicker (R) finds himself in a very tight election battle to win the job on his own. University of Virginia’s Larry Sabato has noted that this will be a “real political battle” which is “a rarity in a state that’s usually red as red can be.” The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race finds a pure toss-up--former Governor Ronnie Musgrove (D) attracts 47% of the vote while Wicker earns 46%.

The US Minerals Management Service is proposing regulations to distribute qualified federal Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas revenues to four Gulf Coast states and their eligible coastal governmental subdivisions. The distributions will take place under the 2006 Gulf of Mexico Energy Security Act, which established federal OCS revenue sharing for affected coastal states and communities, MMS said on May 27. The law authorized that 37.5% of all federal OCS revenue from new leases in the gulf, including bonus bids, rentals, and production royalties, would be shared with Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas and their coastal communities and counties (or,...

In MemoriamClyde J. McGee September 19, 1930(Beach, MS)— May 11, 2008 (Dallas, TX) BMC, USN Retired from the U.S. Navy after thirty years of service. Laid to rest on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 10:00 A.M. at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas.

Mississippi State University, for the second consecutive year, earned top honors in the GM and US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Challenge X student engineering competition. Over the past nine months, the 2008 Challenge X: Crossover to Sustainability competition challenged 17 university teams from the US and Canada to re-engineer a Chevrolet Equinox that employs advanced powertrain technologies. The Mississippi State team designed a through-the-road parallel hybrid electric vehicle powered by a 1.9L GM direct injection turbo diesel engine fueled by biodiesel (B20). It used a GM F40 6-speed manual transmission and a Johnson Controls 300V NiMH battery pack in conjunction...

Just one week after Democrats picked up Sen. Roger Wicker's (R-Miss.) former House seat in northeast Mississippi, the party's Senate campaign committee released a new poll showing Wicker trailing former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) in November's special election Senate race. The poll shows Musgrove leading Wicker 48 to 40 percent in a head-to-head matchup. Musgrove holds a 57 percent favorability rating, while 30 percent of voters view him unfavorably. Wicker also sports high approval ratings, but is less known throughout the state - which is partially attributable for his polling deficit.

GRENADA, Miss. (AP) - State Rep. Sidney Bondurant of Grenada has switched to the Republican Party. He was elected in 2003 and 2007 as a conservative Democrat in House District 24 in Grenada, Calhoun and Yalobusha counties. Bondurant, 61, is a physician. He said he decided to change parties after talking with his family and friends. He said Republican Gov. Haley Barbour and others encouraged him to make the leap. This past January, Bondurant supported conservative Democrat Jeff Smith of Columbus as Smith tried unsuccessfully to unseat populist Democrat Billy McCoy as speaker of the 122-member House.

House GOP leaders have taken the blame for last week’s devastating loss in Mississippi, but in some Republican circles the real culprit is former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss). Lott created the House opening by opting to leave Congress late last year before tougher lobbying restrictions went into effect. After his departure, Rep. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) was appointed to serve out Lott’s unexpired term, which created the need for the special election to fill Wicker’s seat. Republicans were irked that Lott would retire early just to serve his own financial interests. But that’s only the tip of the anger iceberg for...

Regardless of your political persuasion, this from a man who wants to be our president, is WELL worth the read. U.S. Senator John McCain delivered the following remarks during the first stop of his "Service to America" tour in Meridian, Mississippi: Thank you. It's good to be back in Meridian. As you might know, I was once a flight instructor here at the air field named for my grandfather during my long past and misspent youth. And it's always good to be in Mississippi, which you could call my ancestral home. Generations of McCains were born and raised in Carroll...

Agents for Sen. Hillary Clinton, trying desperately to keep alive her presidential campaign, are privately telling Democrats that she is so "tight" with a dollar that she would not continue her contest against Sen. Barack Obama if she did not have a chance to win. That was a reference to Clinton pulling $11 million out of her family's newfound personal fortune to maintain her candidacy. Saying that she would not waste money on a futile effort, her supporters imply she will still find a path to the presidential nomination. With not enough primary elections left for Clinton to close the...

I am not an expert on campaign strategy, but I know a losing game plan when I see one. The Republican Party’s strategy in a series of special House elections this year has been to tie Democratic candidates to Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi. How’s that working? Three straight losses, all in congressional districts President Bush carried easily in 2004. Some strategy. John McCain may well win the presidential election, but at the congressional and grassroots level, I don’t think I’ve ever seen the GOP in a more severe state of disarray. The worst result yet has come from the...

Parents whose children attend a Mississippi school embroiled in controversy after a science teacher had 6th-graders vote on who was most likely to become pregnant – or be dead – by age 19 say officials now are stonewalling them. Parent Curtis Lyons wants to see the assignment given his daughter, but is being told he won't be allowed to review it. "I have a right to see that assignment," he told WND today, "but I've been refused." The controversy erupted when a science teacher at Chastain Middle School in Jackson, Miss., asked 6th-graders to vote from among themselves who was...

2008-05-14) — An ebullient Sen. John McCain told a crowd of supporters today that the Republican loss of a Mississippi Congressional seat Tuesday bodes well for his presidential hopes in November. “Travis Childers, who beat the Republican in Mississippi, ran as a conservative Democrat and will now join the liberal Democrat coalition in the House,” said the presumptive Republican nominee. “What does that signal if not the triumph of the McCain strategy?”

In a major blow to national Republicans, a Mississippi congressional seat that once voted for President Bush by a twenty-five point margin elected a Democrat on Tuesday. Prentiss County Chancery Clerk Travis Childers beat out Republican candidate Greg Davis, the mayor of Southaven, by a 54%-46% margin, a spread that several Republican strategists on Capitol Hill characterized as a startling wake-up call for a party in dire straits. Voters cast ballots for the fourth time in three months for the seat, vacated when Republican Roger Wicker was appointed to fill the remainder of Senator Trent Lott's term. After winning the...

CNN just reported Childers beat Davis. Dick Cheney campaigned for the Republican candidate in that district. GOP ran commercials tying Democrat to Obama and Reverend Wright. Thrid straight special Election where long held GOP seat is lost. This in MISSISSIPPI. WOW! This is not good news by any means.

Dems score a hat trick with specials TRIBUNE-REVIEW By Salena Zito Democrats scored a hat trick with their third special-election win in GOP-held House seats by winning tonight in Mississippi’s 1st District. This win follows Democratic victories in special elections in Illinois' 14th District in March and in Louisiana's 6th District 10 days ago.

Travis Childers, elected U.S. House, District 1, Mississippi. [Note: This is an AP bulletin - nothing follows]

School Survey Asks: Who'll Get Pregnant? Parent Wants 6th-Grade Teacher Fired POSTED: 4:32 pm EDT May 13, 2008 UPDATED: 5:49 pm EDT May 13, 2008 JACKSON, Miss. -- The father of a sixth-grader in Jackson, Miss., said he wants a teacher fired following a survey students completed that said his daughter will likely get pregnant before graduating high school, local station WAPT reported. Curtis Lyons said that when his daughter came home from Chastain Middle School Monday she told him what had happened. "She was humiliated," Lyons said. "She's an honor student." Lyons said his daughter told him that the...

I'm sure the Democrats are trying to convince people who voted in the Democrat Primary on March 11th that they can't vote Republican today. This is the general and you can vote for anyone on the ballot. Need to vote for Greg Davis (R) to keep the Dems from using another Democrat who is campaigning as a Conservative Travis Childers from adding to Pelosi's stable of reliable votes.

The Democrat Party resorted to handing out handbills linking Mayor Greg Davis, the Republican candidate for the House of Representatives (MS-01), to supporting a leader of the KKK. The DCCC was caught distributing handbills and flyers that accused Greg Davis of supporting a KKK leader. This action by the DCCC will escape press coverage on election day. It is a last minute surprise to motivate core Democrat supporters without press scrutiny. This ad could have been posted weeks ago but it wasn't because of the embarassment that would have resulted. A copy of the handbill can be seen at Yallpolitics.com.

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 296 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 335 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2008 THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ARKANSAS NORTHWEST MISSISSIPPI EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 335 PM UNTIL 1000 PM CDT. ...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION... DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 2.5 INCHES IN DIAMETER... THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES...

Tornado blows vehicles off highway in N. Carolina, kills 1 By JAY REEVES – 3 hours ago A damaged vehicle sits in the Mississippi Department of Transportation parking lot surrounded by twisted metal after a line of sever weather moved through the area Thursday, May 8, 2008, in Tupelo Miss. A number of northeast Mississippi counties and portions of northwest Alabama were under tornado watches or warnings until midafternoon Thursday. (AP Photo/Ryan Moore) Mississippi Department of Transportation road crews work to clear downed trees and power lines from streets in Tupelo Miss. after a line of sever weather moved through...

A tornado has hit Tupelo, MS. If anyone on the ground has more info, please share. Thx... MM

REDWOOD, Miss. (AP) - A county sheriff says an explosion at a paper mill has killed two people and left nearly a dozen missing. Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace confirmed the deaths Saturday at the International Paper mill in Redwood. He told WJTV in Jackson that nearly a dozen people are missing and nearly 20 others are injured. The mill employs about 300 people in and around Warren County. The county is west of Jackson.

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...

The U.S. Air Force’s Air Education and Training Command suspended all T-38C Talon jet trainer flights on May 1 after a second fatal crash in as many weeks. Two pilots were killed on the morning of May 1 when their aircraft assigned to the 80th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard Air Force Base crashed. Names of the victims of the latest accident have not been released. The other crash occurred during takeoff of a T-38 at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi on April 23. Instructor pilot Major Blair Faulkner of the 43rd Flying Training Squadron and student pilot 2nd Lt....

May 1, 2008– Former Presidential candidate and Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be attending a “Meet and Greet” for Greg Davis, candidate for Congress in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District. Governor Huckabee is in town to endorse Greg Davis and to ensure that the residents of the district come out and support Davis’ bid for Congress. With the special election runoff on May 13, Governor Huckabee will meet with Greg Davis and his supporters this Saturday, May 3rd at 9:45AM at Joe Joe’s Espresso & Café in Tupelo, MS. Davis stated “I’m honored to welcome Governor Huckabee to Mississippi. He...

Video link of the new ad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCdgQBGnhHw Is Barack Obama Really THIS Unpopular? I wrote yesterday about Travis Childers, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Mississippi's first Congressional District. Childer's Republican opponent has been airing an ad that points out that Childers has received support from Barack Obama. In what seems a desperate attempt to preserve his general election chances, Childers has cut a stunning new ad: Childers describes the association with Barack Obama as an attack. Is that what's in store for the likely Democratic presidential candidate from other Democrats in targeted districts? It's going to make for an...

Watch this news report on MS-1 special election, it's hilarious. Obama is rapidly becoming democratic candidates' nightmare. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vE1oN4bYjyg

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour yesterday said that he is too conservative to be John McCain's running mate but that the Arizona senator's maverick reputation will help him in an election in which moderates and independents will be more important than in recent years. Mr. Barbour also urged Mr. McCain, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, not to name his pick for vice president until after the Democrats' convention, when he can draw the sharpest distinction between the parties. Mr. McCain will depend on "persuasion" to snare independents and disgruntled Democrats on Nov. 4, unlike George W. Bush in the 2000 and...

The crash of a T-38 training aircraft on a runway at Columbus Air Force Base at about 12:30 p.m. today killed two pilots, according to Air Force spokespersons. Witnesses reported seeing a large plume of smoke coming from the sprawling base complex and at least two ambulances going to the scene. The base runways were closed and by 2 p.m., eight T-6 aircraft from CAFB that were out on training missions had been diverted to Golden Triangle Regional Airport. Lowndes County Coroner Greg Merchant said he was on the scene but could not release any details. But in a press...

In the first two advertisements of their kind, Republicans seeking an advantage in a Mississippi special election are invoking Barack Obama in arguing that a Democratic Congressional candidate is too liberal for his district. That flies in the face of what has been conventional wisdom for months among national Democratic strategists who have not publicly taken sides in the presidential contest; many privately express more hope in Obama's potential coattails than in rival Hillary Clinton's. But while Hillary Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi have made appearances in Republican advertisements before, the GOP is now taking on Obama, reflecting both...

Youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sPeQ2mKRro The Republican candidate in a special election to fill an unexpectedly contested seat in a conservative Mississippi congressional district is using recent controversies surrounding Senator Barack Obama to tar his Democratic rival. A television ad from Southaven Mayor Greg Davis tells viewers that his Democratic rival, Travis Childers, a realtor and Prentiss County official, has accepted the endorsement of "liberal Barack Obama." Then, with Childers' face beside footage of Rev. Jeremiah Wright, it says, "When Obama's pastor cursed America, blaming us for 9/11, Childers said nothing." Then: "When Obama ridiculed rural folks for clinging to guns and...