It is rare when a race for lower state offices has such a great contrast. Usually, it is Tweedledee versus Tweedledum. But that is not the case for the Secretary of State's race. While I have been a very strong supporter of Secretary of State Eric Clark, perhaps one of the most honorable and decent men ever in Mississippi politics, he is not running for re-election. So the choice is between Republican Delbert Hosemann or Democrat Robert Smith.
I'm voting for Delbert Hosemann. I know him and I can tell you he is a fine person and is well-qualified for the post. He's been active in local affairs and has been active in a lot of charitable organizations. I have listened to him on talk radio (WJNT 1180 rocks!) and he is very well-informed on election matters.
The main issue this race has is a very sharp contrast on the matter of voter ID. Hosemann is for voter ID; Smith is against it. This may shock Smith, but there is voter fraud in this state. Has he ever heard of Noxubee's Democratic primary races? In Smith's home county of Rankin, there were MORE votes for the liquor referendum in 1980 than there was in the Presidential race. There was a lot of talk of voter fraud, but nothing was ever done.
In the Laurel Leader Call of October 7, 2007, Smith said voter ID would stop people from voting. He said he was most concerned about elderly people voting in 2008 due to possible re-registration due to party affiliation. In the Hattiesburg American of September 19, 2007, Smith also stated many older black Mississippians say providing voter identification is a reminder of the Civil Rights Era when the state used poll taxes to keep blacks from voting.
Delbert Hosemann has responded that he has encountered very little opposition to voter ID. In the Biloxi Sun Herald he has stated he would make certain nobody would be left out from voting. He said 97% of the people in the state have a driver's license. As for the other three percent, he would find some other form of identification for them. In the Laurel Leader Call of September 29, 2007, Hosemann said he would lead the fight to pass a state constitutional amendment voter ID program, which would ensure only citizens would vote.
Smith has also come up with a plan to bring all the circuit clerks and county election commissioners together and come up with a better plans and various plans to conduct elections. Newsflash Smith: HAVA (Help America Vote Act) throws cold water on such plans to conduct different modes of voting in various counties. You can't use lever machines and punch card machines. 492 people CANNOT be in charge of elections (82 circuit clerks and 410 election commissioners). You can't have different counties have different voting systems and performance levels. There is only one boss: The Secretary of State. If different counties have different voting systems, the Secretary of State can be hauled into Federal court for violating the equal protection clause. Has Smith even READ HAVA? When the county clerk messes up (and that has been known to happen), the citizens will be calling the Secretary of State's office--not the circuit clerk.
(I'm a municipal election commissioner and I can tell you that office has radically changed since HAVA took effect. Other than conducting elections (not primaries--only general elections), the municipal election commissioners don't do a thing. Before HAVA, we used to meet at least three times a year to clean up the voter rolls. Under HAVA, we can no longer do that.)
Smith has no plans for bringing Mississippi up to code with the Americans with Disabilities Act. He has gone on record saying we should have BOTH electronic and paper ballots for the voter to choose between. Is this guy NUTS? As an election commissioner, that would be total chaos. It is a recipe for disaster and total confusion. Does Rob Smith know ANYTHING about how an election is run? Is he ignorant or just plain stupid?
Smith is also not a friendly person. I have had people tell me he is cold and caustic when they dealt with him when he was in the State Senate. I've talked to him in the past and found him to be a cold, aloof individual. What happens when he has to deal with angry voters if he puts some of his nutty ideas into effect (If the Feds don't stop him.)? Is he going to flip them off?
Hosemann is intelligent, friendly, well-informed, witty and a very hard worker. I know he will do an excellent job and continue the great work Secretary of State Eric Clark has done.
The choice is so easy even a caveman can do it: Please vote for Republican Delbert Hoseman for Secretary of State on November 6th.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Thursday, October 18, 2007
The Three Stooges at WJTV---Channel 12
For a change, I am not writing on politics. Instead, I'm going to vent on the sheer stupidity of WJTV in Jackson, Miss. I have never seen a more callous station that treats the viewer like ignorant, dumb trash.
Last night(Wednesday, October 17) I was watching "Criminal Minds." It was a gripping episode of serial killers and the climax was coming to a head. The child had gone back to the foster home and shot somebody. At this time, Shemar Moore heard a shot and came out of the car to inspect. At that second, the show was interrupted by a weather bulletin. There was some tornadoes out of the metro area and they were reporting on it.
For fifty-five minutes Tony Mastro and Ken South went on and on about the stinking weather. They constantly repeated themselves. Unless you are the stupidest, most ignorant human being that ever walked the face of the earth, you understood what they were saying the first time they reported. They kept on and on with the same information. My opinion of Tony Mastro is unprintable. He talks to us on TV like we are a bunch of dumb, ignorant rednecks. He's from Rhode Island and he probably thinks the average Mississippian has the IQ of an iguana.
Then that Californian Linda Allen came on. She started running her mouth on what we should do during a tornado. I thought we heard the same malarkey from Ken South (at least he's a native Southerner). She was very patronizing when she talked about the interruption of the two best Wednesday night programs on network TV (I don't have cable or satellite.)--"Criminal Minds" and "CSI:New York." I found her tone insulting and she would have been better off not even coming on TV.
The regular programming came on to show the conclusion on "CSI:New York." But before that, we had to put up with five minutes of idiotic commercials. That added insult to injury. On the news, all we heard was the stinking weather. There was no sports at all. It was weather, weather, weather. It was like listening to a broken record.
In our office, the complaints about the rude interruption was loud and long. A lot of us felt cheated for they're butting in just as the climax was coming to a peak on "Criminal Minds." If they had to interrupt, couldn't they have waited for five minutes? Would that have been too much to ask?
I called WJTV twice. The lady was surprised I was fairly polite. She said the answering machine was piled with complaints. The language that was used was totally unprintable except in porn magazines. The phone was ringing off the hook in the morning with people complaining about the rude interruption. They were white-hot with anger. The lady said she had never heard of such loud complaining and had never had as many complaints.
I called near noon to see when they would show the programs. I told her it would be stupid to show them at 1AM. I suggested they show the programs at 7PM and 8PM on Saturday, since the station has latitude in showing repeats of crime programs. She said they had no intentions of showing the programs again. I was miffed. She did tell me the management had a meeting and they plan to do things differently.
I suggested they interrupt commercials and report the weather on the half hour and for the rest of the time just show a trailer at the bottom of the screen. I told her people in this state can read. I curtly informed her she should inform Linda Allen and Tony Mastro that Mississippians are educated and can read the English language. She chuckled but didn't comment.
These rude interruptions have got to come to an end. They have done this in the past and taken up as much as three hours running their mouths about some storm in Buttsville, Miss. They constantly repeat themselves like magpies in heat. I honestly believe the management at WJTV thinks we Mississippians are dumber than dog turds and they have to constantly repeat themselves. It is nauseating, disgusting and insulting. Whenever they have rescheduled the interrupted programs, it has been at 1AM or some other kook time. This is insulting and insensitive to the average viewer. Who is going to watch TV that hour or record it on a VCR? The management must think we don't have jobs and all we do is watch TV 24/7.
Linda Allen, Tony Mastro and Ken South are the Three Stooges of WJTV. All three of them sorely lack common sense and don't have the brains to come out of the rain. All three of them are insulting and very patronizing. I believe they honestly think we are dumber than dog turds and if it weren't for their enlightened reporting and knowledge we would never know anything about bad weather. If they are that stupid and insensitive, they should be immediately fired.
What happened from 8:53PM to 9:48PM was an insult to the average viewer. They should apologize. And if management had any brains (which they don't), they would fire the Three Stooges (Fat chance of that happening.).
Last night(Wednesday, October 17) I was watching "Criminal Minds." It was a gripping episode of serial killers and the climax was coming to a head. The child had gone back to the foster home and shot somebody. At this time, Shemar Moore heard a shot and came out of the car to inspect. At that second, the show was interrupted by a weather bulletin. There was some tornadoes out of the metro area and they were reporting on it.
For fifty-five minutes Tony Mastro and Ken South went on and on about the stinking weather. They constantly repeated themselves. Unless you are the stupidest, most ignorant human being that ever walked the face of the earth, you understood what they were saying the first time they reported. They kept on and on with the same information. My opinion of Tony Mastro is unprintable. He talks to us on TV like we are a bunch of dumb, ignorant rednecks. He's from Rhode Island and he probably thinks the average Mississippian has the IQ of an iguana.
Then that Californian Linda Allen came on. She started running her mouth on what we should do during a tornado. I thought we heard the same malarkey from Ken South (at least he's a native Southerner). She was very patronizing when she talked about the interruption of the two best Wednesday night programs on network TV (I don't have cable or satellite.)--"Criminal Minds" and "CSI:New York." I found her tone insulting and she would have been better off not even coming on TV.
The regular programming came on to show the conclusion on "CSI:New York." But before that, we had to put up with five minutes of idiotic commercials. That added insult to injury. On the news, all we heard was the stinking weather. There was no sports at all. It was weather, weather, weather. It was like listening to a broken record.
In our office, the complaints about the rude interruption was loud and long. A lot of us felt cheated for they're butting in just as the climax was coming to a peak on "Criminal Minds." If they had to interrupt, couldn't they have waited for five minutes? Would that have been too much to ask?
I called WJTV twice. The lady was surprised I was fairly polite. She said the answering machine was piled with complaints. The language that was used was totally unprintable except in porn magazines. The phone was ringing off the hook in the morning with people complaining about the rude interruption. They were white-hot with anger. The lady said she had never heard of such loud complaining and had never had as many complaints.
I called near noon to see when they would show the programs. I told her it would be stupid to show them at 1AM. I suggested they show the programs at 7PM and 8PM on Saturday, since the station has latitude in showing repeats of crime programs. She said they had no intentions of showing the programs again. I was miffed. She did tell me the management had a meeting and they plan to do things differently.
I suggested they interrupt commercials and report the weather on the half hour and for the rest of the time just show a trailer at the bottom of the screen. I told her people in this state can read. I curtly informed her she should inform Linda Allen and Tony Mastro that Mississippians are educated and can read the English language. She chuckled but didn't comment.
These rude interruptions have got to come to an end. They have done this in the past and taken up as much as three hours running their mouths about some storm in Buttsville, Miss. They constantly repeat themselves like magpies in heat. I honestly believe the management at WJTV thinks we Mississippians are dumber than dog turds and they have to constantly repeat themselves. It is nauseating, disgusting and insulting. Whenever they have rescheduled the interrupted programs, it has been at 1AM or some other kook time. This is insulting and insensitive to the average viewer. Who is going to watch TV that hour or record it on a VCR? The management must think we don't have jobs and all we do is watch TV 24/7.
Linda Allen, Tony Mastro and Ken South are the Three Stooges of WJTV. All three of them sorely lack common sense and don't have the brains to come out of the rain. All three of them are insulting and very patronizing. I believe they honestly think we are dumber than dog turds and if it weren't for their enlightened reporting and knowledge we would never know anything about bad weather. If they are that stupid and insensitive, they should be immediately fired.
What happened from 8:53PM to 9:48PM was an insult to the average viewer. They should apologize. And if management had any brains (which they don't), they would fire the Three Stooges (Fat chance of that happening.).
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Why I Will Vote For Haley Barbour
I'm no big fan of Haley Barbour and I think he represents the "Country Club" faction of the Mississippi GOP. Nevertheless, I plan to vote for him. I strongly believe he deserves another term as Governor. I disagree with his stand on the tobacco-grocery tax swap, but I respect his stand of not raising taxes.
I know there are still problems with the Hurricane Katrina Recovery. But he showed extraordinary leadership on August 29, 2005, when the hurricane hit. He was on top of the tragedy and he did a yeoman job in getting relief to the Gulf Coast. I don't like the slow recovery, but that's government for you---slow as molasses. His leadership was in strong contrast to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blank-o and the New Orleans Mayor EmptyRay Noggin.
John Arthur Eaves, Jr. slams Barbour for his blind trust and getting money from his lobbying firm. That's a fair criticism. But what about Eaves? He's a trial lawyer who has made millions from the agony and tragedy of others. He gets fat contingency fees and sues at the drop of a hat if he thinks he can make a buck. I'm not crazy about lobbyists, but I have raw contempt for trial lawyers. I still remember years ago about some trial lawyer in another state suing McDonald's because some lady spilled hot coffee on herself while driving her auto.
Another strong criticism is his lack of knowledge of basic economics and accounting. In one of his ads (and they are very good ads), he accuses "Big Oil" (Why not "Big Law"?) of gouging consumers and the government does not do a thing. Perhaps he needs to understand a little accounting. Most oil companies use FIFO--First In First Out--inventory pricing. Let's say Exxon sells a barrel of oil for $100. Under FIFO, the cost of the oil would be the oldest inventory. So let's say the barrel cost $50. So, Exxon had made a profit of $50. But that is a fictitious profit because the replacement cost is $88 a barrel. In reality, oil profits are only 4.6% of revenue. The normal profit margin for all industries is 5.4%. And I'll bet it's a lot lower than the profit at Eaves' firm. Eaves strikes me as ignorant about economics and the free market. Barbour does know business and the marketplace. And his lobbying connections just might bring more industries and jobs to the state.
While I admire Eaves' fundamentalist Christian values and exhortations, I was turned off when he held up that big Bible and ripped into Barbour, talking about Eaves' serving the little people and Barbour serving the powerful. Yeah, lobbying firms are powerful. But what about those trial lawyer firms like Dicky Scruggs? They aren't powerful?
I also have doubts about Eaves' statement his proposal that every child be covered by health insurance. He said it won't raise the cost of medical care in this state. Where have I heard that before? Back in 1965 when Medicare was being debated, the liberals said Medicare would cost only $10 billion in 1990. In 1990. Medicare cost over $100 billion--ten times the projection! Do you honestly believe Eaves' plan won't raise medical costs? If you believe that, I strongly suggest you look at other plans in other states--especially Illinois. In EVERY case, health costs were much larger than originally projected.
Eaves also slammed Barbour for investing in Toyota and not investing in Mississippi companies. First of all, I don't have a problem with Toyota coming to Tupelo any more than Musgrove's bringing Nissan to Canton four years ago. After all, these are Mississippians working in those plants. I do tax returns for some of those employees and they get great benefits and wages. And the money is spent in Mississippi. Secondly, what Mississippi businesses would Eaves have the state "invest" in? What criteria will be used? We had a real turkey with that beef plant. Will we have more turkeys?
While Eaves has never said it, I get the gut feeling Eaves would have no qualms about a 6% personal income tax bracket. That idiot State Rep. John Mayo introduced that in the State House a session or two ago. I am bitterly opposed to raising the personal income tax. I have a gut feeling he'd raise the income tax to pay for his health programs.
There's only one candidate for Governor who can lead Mississippi forward and continue the progress we have made in the last four years--especially after the horrific effects of Hurricane Katrina. And that man is Republican Governor Haley R. Barbour.
I know there are still problems with the Hurricane Katrina Recovery. But he showed extraordinary leadership on August 29, 2005, when the hurricane hit. He was on top of the tragedy and he did a yeoman job in getting relief to the Gulf Coast. I don't like the slow recovery, but that's government for you---slow as molasses. His leadership was in strong contrast to Louisiana Gov. Kathleen Blank-o and the New Orleans Mayor EmptyRay Noggin.
John Arthur Eaves, Jr. slams Barbour for his blind trust and getting money from his lobbying firm. That's a fair criticism. But what about Eaves? He's a trial lawyer who has made millions from the agony and tragedy of others. He gets fat contingency fees and sues at the drop of a hat if he thinks he can make a buck. I'm not crazy about lobbyists, but I have raw contempt for trial lawyers. I still remember years ago about some trial lawyer in another state suing McDonald's because some lady spilled hot coffee on herself while driving her auto.
Another strong criticism is his lack of knowledge of basic economics and accounting. In one of his ads (and they are very good ads), he accuses "Big Oil" (Why not "Big Law"?) of gouging consumers and the government does not do a thing. Perhaps he needs to understand a little accounting. Most oil companies use FIFO--First In First Out--inventory pricing. Let's say Exxon sells a barrel of oil for $100. Under FIFO, the cost of the oil would be the oldest inventory. So let's say the barrel cost $50. So, Exxon had made a profit of $50. But that is a fictitious profit because the replacement cost is $88 a barrel. In reality, oil profits are only 4.6% of revenue. The normal profit margin for all industries is 5.4%. And I'll bet it's a lot lower than the profit at Eaves' firm. Eaves strikes me as ignorant about economics and the free market. Barbour does know business and the marketplace. And his lobbying connections just might bring more industries and jobs to the state.
While I admire Eaves' fundamentalist Christian values and exhortations, I was turned off when he held up that big Bible and ripped into Barbour, talking about Eaves' serving the little people and Barbour serving the powerful. Yeah, lobbying firms are powerful. But what about those trial lawyer firms like Dicky Scruggs? They aren't powerful?
I also have doubts about Eaves' statement his proposal that every child be covered by health insurance. He said it won't raise the cost of medical care in this state. Where have I heard that before? Back in 1965 when Medicare was being debated, the liberals said Medicare would cost only $10 billion in 1990. In 1990. Medicare cost over $100 billion--ten times the projection! Do you honestly believe Eaves' plan won't raise medical costs? If you believe that, I strongly suggest you look at other plans in other states--especially Illinois. In EVERY case, health costs were much larger than originally projected.
Eaves also slammed Barbour for investing in Toyota and not investing in Mississippi companies. First of all, I don't have a problem with Toyota coming to Tupelo any more than Musgrove's bringing Nissan to Canton four years ago. After all, these are Mississippians working in those plants. I do tax returns for some of those employees and they get great benefits and wages. And the money is spent in Mississippi. Secondly, what Mississippi businesses would Eaves have the state "invest" in? What criteria will be used? We had a real turkey with that beef plant. Will we have more turkeys?
While Eaves has never said it, I get the gut feeling Eaves would have no qualms about a 6% personal income tax bracket. That idiot State Rep. John Mayo introduced that in the State House a session or two ago. I am bitterly opposed to raising the personal income tax. I have a gut feeling he'd raise the income tax to pay for his health programs.
There's only one candidate for Governor who can lead Mississippi forward and continue the progress we have made in the last four years--especially after the horrific effects of Hurricane Katrina. And that man is Republican Governor Haley R. Barbour.
Friday, October 05, 2007
Highway 80 Follies
Have you driven over Highway 80 in Pearl going from Kroger to Park Place Baptist Church? It looks nice, doesn't it? But why is Commissioner Tricky Dicky Hall spending all these bucks for a highway that does not need asphalting or even major repairs? Answer: IT'S AN ELECTION YEAR!!
My friends and I were travelling over the Interstate to get to the Rankin County Courthouse and we were talking about the major traffic tie ups on Highway 80 because of one lane being closed. Now I don't mind the highway being asphalted. I like nice highways. But what was wrong with it? It was still a very smooth drive. There were probably some minor repairs that needed to be done, but there was nothing major. In fact, from Airport Road for a mile east the road had just been paved just a couple of years ago. Head west on Highway 80 and get in the turn lane to enter Pemberton. Does your car dip a little? That's because the two westbound lanes are paved, but the turn lane isn't. I'll bet your shocks love the wear and tear. Thank Dicky Hall for that.
And yet, we Pearlites look at our streets and shake our heads. You'd have to see the potholes and major repairs that need to be done. Now I'll admit MDOT can't do anything about the city streets. But it would be great if MDOT could have transferred those funds to the city so we could get repairs to our streets rather than repaving Highway 80.
This is why we need to get rid of Tricky Dicky and replace him with Rudy Warnock. As a professional engineer, Warnock would know how to judiciously spend the money. He wouldn't waste money on election year projects to make himself look good. Perhaps he will endorse a plan to give cities more discretion on using funds to repair city streets. Dicky Hall is a politician. He just wants to get reelected so he can get a juicy pension. Warnock is an engineer and he doesn't need the bucks as MDOT Commissioner. He wants to better our roads and make driving a lot safer and smoother.
Just drive down Highway 80 in Pearl and you will see it is time for a change. It's time to elect Rudy Warnock.
My friends and I were travelling over the Interstate to get to the Rankin County Courthouse and we were talking about the major traffic tie ups on Highway 80 because of one lane being closed. Now I don't mind the highway being asphalted. I like nice highways. But what was wrong with it? It was still a very smooth drive. There were probably some minor repairs that needed to be done, but there was nothing major. In fact, from Airport Road for a mile east the road had just been paved just a couple of years ago. Head west on Highway 80 and get in the turn lane to enter Pemberton. Does your car dip a little? That's because the two westbound lanes are paved, but the turn lane isn't. I'll bet your shocks love the wear and tear. Thank Dicky Hall for that.
And yet, we Pearlites look at our streets and shake our heads. You'd have to see the potholes and major repairs that need to be done. Now I'll admit MDOT can't do anything about the city streets. But it would be great if MDOT could have transferred those funds to the city so we could get repairs to our streets rather than repaving Highway 80.
This is why we need to get rid of Tricky Dicky and replace him with Rudy Warnock. As a professional engineer, Warnock would know how to judiciously spend the money. He wouldn't waste money on election year projects to make himself look good. Perhaps he will endorse a plan to give cities more discretion on using funds to repair city streets. Dicky Hall is a politician. He just wants to get reelected so he can get a juicy pension. Warnock is an engineer and he doesn't need the bucks as MDOT Commissioner. He wants to better our roads and make driving a lot safer and smoother.
Just drive down Highway 80 in Pearl and you will see it is time for a change. It's time to elect Rudy Warnock.
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