Tag: State Issues

Nukes Next Door

I admit it I am an anti-nuke person….why make all that discharge when there are so many better ways to generate energy–wind, solar, tidal, etc–

I bring this up because that idiot Donny has signed a new nuke waste thing that could well effect my state of Mississippi.

The Trump administration has quietly narrowed its search for new nuclear waste sites to five states. The Energy Department on Tuesday said it has struck preliminary agreements with Utah, Tennessee, Oklahoma, Louisiana, and Idaho to study whether they could host long-term storage facilities—so-called “Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses”—for spent nuclear fuel “in exchange for federal help developing nuclear energy,” per the AP. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the five were picked from 28 applications from 26 states, reports the Hill.

  • Nuclear power has enjoyed bipartisan backing, but a permanent answer for high-level waste has eluded Washington for decades, with the long-planned Yucca Mountain site in Nevada stalled amid fierce local resistance. (Indeed, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto hailed the news by saying, “I am glad to see the Trump administration take a step toward acknowledging what Nevadans have known for years: Yucca Mountain is dead.”)
  • More than 95,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste is currently stored at nuclear plants and former nuclear sites nationwide. “The new storage sites would move the radioactive material away from population centers, fault lines, and flood plains,” per the AP.
  • In addition to the waste sites, the campuses would handle uranium enrichment, spent-fuel reprocessing, and fuel fabrication, and may also host advanced reactor deployment, power generation, and data centers.
  • The Energy Department estimates the campuses could generate as much as $10 billion in state and local tax revenues.

“Nuclear Lifecycle Innovation Campuses”–seriously?  Put a pleasingly neutral name to something that could devastate–it is what politicians do.

Some of the waste has a half life of 200+ years….so the states will be saddled with this crap forever…..

I do not think this is a good idea for any state.  Here is a better idea…..screw nuclear, stop wasting money on something this dangerous and spend the money where it will do the most good–in wind, solar, tidal, etc.

Just a thought

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Repeal The 17th!

That would be the 17th amendment….and the MAGA twats are busy trying to get rid of the amendment….but what is it, right?

The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch of the State legislatures.

When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies: Provided, That the legislature of any State may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments until the people fill the vacancies by election as the legislature may direct.

MAGA hates this and wants to return to the days when the governors decided….

A group of House Republicans is seeking to repeal the 17th Amendment as tensions with Senate Republicans deepen over the stalled SAVE America Act. While reports suggest the repeal proposal, introduced by Rep. Keith Self of Texas, has little chance of becoming law, the effort highlights growing frustration among House conservatives, who have accused the Senate of failing to advance one of their top priorities ahead of the 2026 midterms.

Self, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, introduced legislation that would repeal the 17th Amendment and return the selection of senators to state legislatures, the system used before the amendment was ratified in 1913. The 17th Amendment gave Americans the right to directly elect U.S. senators. Self’s bill has eight Republican cosponsors: Eric Burlison of Missouri, Andrew Clyde of Georgia, Paul Gosar of Arizona, Andy Harris of Maryland, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Clay Higgins of Louisiana, Sheri Biggs of South Carolina and Michael Cloud of Texas.

In a statement, Self argued that direct election ratified by the 17th Amendment has “given us six-year politicians more focused on national ambitions and the institution of the U.S. Senate than on the states they serve.” He added that the Senate was designed to “protect state sovereignty and act as a check on federal overreach.”

“If senators are supposed to represent their states, then the states should choose them. Repealing the 17th Amendment will restore that constitutional balance and make the Senate more accountable to the people of Texas and every other state in the union,” he said.

https://knewz.com/house-republicans-push-repeal-17th-amendment-feud-gop-senators/

First of all senators represent the checkbook that funds them and secondly they are all in  it for themselves….the people are the furthest from their concerns.

Finally they would have yes men in the Senate (they already do but more would be better)….

This is just MAGA trying to force their idiot-ologies on the process…..

A horrible idea……this needs to be put in the toilet and flushed.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

How About 38 Instead Of 50?

This is just for fun….but I would like to see the comments so keep ’em coming.

My post today about splitting up the country got a lot of attention and comments….I want to thank everyone for that…..I saw this in my news feed and thought that it might add to the conversation from earlier today.

Just a little something to think about.

 

https://x.com/historyinmemes/status/2061662088313913528/photo/1

 

Whatcha you guys think?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Should We Divide Into Two?

SCOTUS has done its part in dividing this nation….

On April 29, the Supreme Court delivered a devastating blow to the 1965 Voting Rights Act (VRA). As bad as it was, the decision fit with a long line of cases in which the conservative- dominated Court has turned a blind eye to the lived realities of racism in the United States.

https://thefulcrum.us/rule-of-law/supreme-court-vra-gerrymandering-unraveling-democracy1

The political divide in our beloved country is making it impossible for it to ever return to the unity of yesteryear.

There are some that think we should just stop all this back and forth and divide the country into Blue States and Red States and become two separate entities.

I never thought I’d say this. I agree with Marjorie Taylor Greene. Not on policy, certainly not on her rhetoric, but on her suggestion that Americans might be happier if we split into two separate nations — one red, one blue.

It may sound unthinkable to many. But let’s be honest, America has never been as united as its name suggests. The Articles of Confederation established an unworkable loose alliance of sovereign states, and it took the Constitutional Convention’s compromises — on slavery, representation, and federal power — to hold our young nation together, eventually leading to the Civil War, still our bloodiest conflict.

Post-Reconstruction, the divides persisted. The agrarian populism of the Midwest clashing with Eastern industrialism, the isolationist heartland versus coastal internationalism during the World Wars. The 20th century was marked by furious battles over civil rights, voting, and gender equality. From the beginning, we have been — and continue to be — a nation at odds with itself.

This divide feels even more permanent and deep than ever before. A country of 330 million people — stretching from New England villages to Mid-Atlantic cities to Texas oil towns to Montana ranches to California tech hubs to the glaciers of Alaska — is forced to act as if one set of laws, one political culture, and one vision of morality can workably apply to everyone. The result is endless frustration — with the whiplash of government swinging from left to right, Democrat to Republican, and back again every few years. One administration builds, the next tears down, and ordinary citizens are left angry, exhausted, and embittered.

A peaceful separation into two sovereign countries could offer a much healthier and happier path forward. Imagine a “Red America” and a “Blue America,” each free to pursue its own vision of health care, education, social policy, and regulation — without constantly trying to override the other.

But separation need not mean isolation. We could model our post-split relationship on the European Union: two sovereign nations bound by a cooperative framework that preserves the best of our shared history. The U.S. dollar — as a continued common currency — would stabilize economies and facilitate trade, avoiding the pitfalls of monetary divergence. Joint defense through a mutual security pact — perhaps an evolved NATO-like alliance — would safeguard against external threats, with shared military assets and intelligence.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/marjorie-taylor-greene-is-threatening-donald-trump-publicly-with-a-revolution-his-next-move-might-be-the-one-that-finally-breaks-maga/

My take is that this nation can heal but it will take lots of work….work that the population is not prepared to do….so maybe the separation is necessary for the nation to heal.

I am not sure just yet….but I would like to see what others think of this idea.

Please join the conversation.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

A Damn Good Idea

This entire country is ignorant on how the government works and that has lead to some silly stuff in government….why is this?

Civics is not a mandatory subject in schools….here in Mississippi a Senator is trying to do something about the ignorance.

In celebration of America’s 250th birthday, we must ensure that Mississippi’s students graduate with knowledge of and appreciation for the Declaration of Independence and our state and federal institutions it inspired. Civics knowledge, skills, attitudes and behaviors are not passed along through the gene pool, but must be built anew with each rising generation of citizens.

To this end, I am proud to author Senate Bill 2292, legislation that would require civics courses in every public and charter school in Mississippi in order for students to graduate high school.

Earlier this month, the Senate unanimously passed SB 2292 with strong bipartisan support. It’s now assigned to both the House Education and Accountability, Efficiency and Transparency Committee, and I encourage my House colleagues to put aside “education politics” of the last couple of years and advance it to the House floor, teeing up its passage prior to our adjournment in April.

Thirty-seven states plus D.C. require stand-alone civics courses for high school graduation, seven of them for a full year. If we pass this bill, beginning with the 2027-28 school year, Mississippi would proudly join this mix.

Civics knowledge is sadly lacking across our citizenry, perhaps most acutely among our students here in Mississippi. Nationally, only 22% of eighth graders achieved proficiency on the most recent NAEP civics assessment — the lowest performance of any tested subject outside U.S. History. For Mississippi students, who largely lack access to a dedicated civics course, the picture is likely no better. Mississippi students deserve better than that national floor.

Sen. Wiggins: Mississippi must require civics education for graduation

This is a stellar idea….not just for Mississippi but for this whole darn country.

Here in Mississippi I do not think this has a chance for state politicians like having an ignorant popular that is easily duped into their schemes and scams.

Hopefully this idea will catch on nationwide…..it is sadly needed for an informed population.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Stand Your Ground

I am writing about a subject that gets press these days….gun violence.

In Mississippi especially here on the Coast we have seen an increase of violence with deaths….and it is nothing unusual in ‘stand your ground’ states.

Stand-your-ground laws, which are in effect in more than half of U.S. states, are associated with higher homicide rates, increased racial disparities in legal outcomes and broader public costs, according to a new report from Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control research and advocacy group.

Stand-your-ground or shoot first laws remove the legal duty to retreat before using deadly force in a self-defense situation. These laws evolved from the centuries-old castle doctrine, which permitted individuals to use force to defend themselves in their own homes.

Modern stand-your-ground statutes expanded this principle to apply in public spaces. Florida enacted the first such law in 2005, and the policy drew national attention in 2012 after the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin by George Zimmerman, a private citizen.

Over the years, these laws have gained traction in state legislatures with strong backing from gun rights organizations. At least 35 states have stand-your-ground statutes or laws that expand the castle doctrine to apply beyond the home, according to a separate analysis by the RAND Corporation.

A standalone 2022 study published in the peer-reviewed medical journal JAMA Network found that stand-your-ground laws were associated with an 8% to 11% increase in monthly homicide and firearm homicide rates nationwide. Several Southern states –– Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Louisiana –– saw increases of 10% or more.

States that have adopted stand-your-ground laws have seen gun homicides rise by up to 11% annually from 1999 to 2017, according to the JAMA report. That equates to more than 700 additional gun deaths each year, according to estimates in the Everytown report.

https://stateline.org/2025/07/21/stand-your-ground-laws-linked-to-higher-homicide-rates-new-report-finds/

I realize that this situation in the age of His Royal Highness Donny is not as important as a bathroom or sports or tomato pickers but that is no excuse for ignoring the glaring stats.

What is my suggestion?

Stop applying political BS and apply commonsense and decency to the policies that now govern our states and the conserv agenda that does NOTHING to make us great or safe.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

“No Jews Allowed”

This whole whites only thing is getting more disturbing by the week….Arkansas now has some yahoo trying to build a whites only community….

Nearly 60 years after the United States outlawed racial and religious discrimination in housing, one group in Arkansas is openly reviving it.

“Return to the Land,” a white supremacist group started in 2023, owns 160 acres in northeast Arkansas, according to the group’s website. Jews and non-whites are explicitly banned from membership. Prospective residents must verify their “ancestral heritage” in a written application and interview before becoming paying members and residing in the off-grid settlement, according to the group’s Substack.

The organization hopes to replicate its whites-only settlements across the country, with the stated aim of “trying to put land back under the control of Europeans.” Experts warn the group’s practices likely run afoul of anti-discrimination laws and express doubt about its long-term viability.

Still, the group’s financial and legal infrastructure makes it one of the most established white supremacist residential communities in the United States today, according to Morgan Moon, an investigative researcher with the Anti-Defamation League’s Center for Extremism.

Return to the Land is part of a long tradition of white supremacist groups that have sought to create isolated living communities, according to Moon. In the 1970s and ‘80s, white supremacists urged like-minded racists to move to the Pacific Northwest with the goal of transforming the area into a white ethnostate. In recent years, similar attempts at forming remote enclaves have cropped up in Kentucky, North Dakota, and Maine.

Such communities almost always fail to gain traction, Moon said, often due to financial troubles, infighting, or simply the difficulty of asking people to move to remote areas and uproot their lives.

This isn’t the first time Arkansas has been the site of such a project. In 2012, Jason Barnwell, a member of the Aryan Terror Brigade, hoped to persuade white supremacists to relocate to the small town of Evening Shade, Arkansas, where he had purchased 12 acres, according to an ADL report. But the project soon fell apart after Barnwell and several others pleaded guilty to federal charges of firebombing an interracial couple’s home.

https://forward.com/news/733168/return-to-the-land-arkansas-jews-eric-orwoll/

That is not the worse thing….there is a network that pushes these extreme anti-American beliefs….Old Glory Club….

Old Glory Club has at least 26 chapters with participants including military personnel, lawyers and civil servants

The Old Glory Club (OGC) – which has at least 26 chapters in 20 US states and until now has drawn little attention – exemplifies the alarming rise of organized racist political groups in the past few years but especially during the rise of Donald Trump and his return to the White House.

The OGC network has held conferences, meetups and other events. Key members like podcaster Pete Quinones use their platforms to push far-right ideas about Jewish people and immigrants. Other members have used their platforms to respond to political events, and to advocate measures including “cancellation insurance” for members whose extreme political views might impede their professional lives.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/05/far-right-mens-clubs-old-glory

I have said many times that this hateful crap needs to be squashed….this is not what America stands for…..I realize we are living in times when extremism is running rampant but that does not mean we should look the other way….

Stop this train in mid-track and flush the a/holes down the toilet where they belong.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

What If Mississippi Was A Nation?

Note:  This scenario could be any state that leaves the union….

From time to time I post about the doings in my state of Mississippi….basically to let my readers know what goes on here for a lot of people probably could not find my state on a map.

Back during the years of the Obama admin there was lost of talk about Texas seceding from the union and forming their own nation….there even other states that were thinking along their lines most of them red states and their dislike for anything democratic.

Back then I thought what if Mississippi acted along those lines….then I would smile and think not a chance…..why?  Mississippi depends too heavily on the federal budget for their own state budget….but it was still something to think about….

And Pierre Lemieux did just that….

Mississippi would be a poor country relative to the United States.  (ya think since it is the poorest state I cannot see much changing) The average hourly wage in Mississippi is $23.91, compared to $38.41 in California (Bureau of Labor Statistics, data for May 2024). On average, wages are thus 38% lower in Mississippi than in California. For the whole (current) USA, the average wage is $32.66, which means that Mississippian wages are on average (about) 27% lower than in the rest of the United States. As a newly sovereign country, Mississippi would be much poorer than the US, although still wealthier than, say, Vietnam or China.

Voices would be raised in the (remaining) United States to claim that American businesses cannot compete against their Mississippian counterparts given the latter’s “unfair” wage advantage. “We need fair trade, an equal playing field, with Mississippi,” American lobbyists and politicians would proclaim.

After the first national-account system in Mississippi is set up and its customs authorities have become effective enough at measuring trade flows, the new data would lead to further conflict. By virtue of a frontier having been drawn on the map, the trade deficit would suddenly become a politically contentious issue. It is likely that Mississippi currently has a trade deficit with the rest of the US, although it cannot be measured in the absence of border surveillance and control. After independence, many Mississippian lobbyists and politicians would get all pumped up about the trade deficit.

From a liberal-individualist viewpoint, nothing would have really changed: it would still be individual Mississippians and their private organizations trading with Americans and the latter’s private organizations. Many variables, including a few new ones, would adjust between the poorer traders in Mississippi and the richer traders in the US: the terms of trade and (if Mississippi had its own currency) currency exchange rates; interest rates; foreign investment flows; public policy and government intervention, etc.

It should be obvious that few individuals would become richer if the American state imposed tariffs on imports from Mississippi, or if the Mississippian state imposed tariffs on goods imported from the US. It would be the contrary: most people on both sides of the border would become poorer—and probably to a greater extent on the Mississippian side because of the relative size of the two economies. Nobody would become richer except for government favorites and cronies.

If Mississippi Became a Sovereign Country

Until Mississippi moves past the ‘good ol’ boys’ mindset it will be the poorest whether a state or its own country.

Hopefully you read about my state….kinda boring at times but it does have its points.

I Reade. I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Trying To Reason With The Hurricane Season

Just a few days ago the 2025 hurricane began and the people down here where I live, the Gulf Coast, will be keeping close watch on the tropics waiting for that next show to fall.

I went through Katrina and the destruction was damn near complete….the Coast looked like a war zone and that was 20 years ago this year….and thanks to FEMA, MEMA and others we rebuilt….some say better than before.

But we have another worry to plague our minds…..Dear Donny and his helter skelter mindset towards any disasters….we will be able to weather (no pun intended) any massive storm like Katrina?  (Did you know that the director of Donny’s FEMA did not know it was hurricane season?)

I have my doubts because of what he has done to North Carolina….

President Trump talked a big game on the campaign about what he deemed an ineffective response by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) during hurricane season last year. In fact, during a trip to North Carolina in January, he made a point to criticize the Biden administration’s response to Hurricane Helene, saying, “This is totally unacceptable, and I’ll be taking strong action.”

Turns out that “strong action” would be telling the state, “Nah fam, you on your own.”

According to ABC News, FEMA has rejected a request from the North Carolina governor to continue matching state funds for efforts in cleaning up the damage left by Hurricane Helene. The Biden administration issued a cost-sharing directive last fall to match 100% of the funds the state spends on cleanup operations. Hurricane Helene was a Category 4 storm that killed over 230 people and resulted in record flooding throughout the state.

“After a careful and thorough review of all the information available, including that contained in your initial request for a cost share adjustment and appeal, we have concluded that an extension of the 100 percent federal cost share for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance for an additional 180 days under major disaster declaration FEMA-4827-DR is not warranted,” acting Administrator David Richardson wrote in the letter.

Richardson is…an interesting fellow, to put it politely. A former Marine, he was named the acting director of FEMA despite having no experience managing natural disasters. In his initial remarks to the agency, he warned he would “run right over” any person who doesn’t agree with the changes being made to how FEMA operates.

His appointment seems to be yet another instance of the Trump administration valuing blind loyalty over an innate ability to do critical jobs. This isn’t even speculation, as Richardson more or less confirmed this when he told FEMA employees, “I will achieve the president’s intent. I am as bent on achieving the president’s intent as I was on making sure that I did my duty when I took my Marines to Iraq.”

North Carolina Denied Hurricane Relief Amid Changes At FEMA

How can this soulless son-of-a-bitch deny Americans the chance to rebuild their lives and communities after a catastrophic storm?

But yet he can find money to throw that the most wasteful and useless appendage of the government….the War Department.

He has no priorities other than making money for himself and his merry band of thieves.

You voted for this asshole….are you happy now?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–10May24

From time to time I give news from my state of Mississippi not that anyone would give a crap but rather to show just how goddamn backwards it is here in the ‘New South’….

After months of rhetoric the legislature passed a bathroom bill….wasted time and wasted days….but let me ask will there be ‘bathroom monitors’ to see who is using the ‘right’ bathroom?  If so is that not a privacy issue?  Who decides who will be the ‘pervert’ of the day?

Then the worthless bunch of panty waste passed a bill on what is known as ‘squatted cars’….I know….HUH?

Squatted vehicles — also called Carolina Squat — are those whose front fenders are 4 inches or higher than their back fenders, making the vehicles appear to be squatting. Lawmakers say the vehicles pose a danger to the driver and to others on the roads.

Several states throughout the South have banned “squatted” vehicles in recent years. Now, Mississippi is included in that list.

Gov. Tate Reeves signed House bill HB349 into law that prohibits squatted vehicles from public streets and highways. The new law takes effect July 1.

Other states that have banned squatted vehicles include North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Tennessee this year enacted a similar ban, which also takes effect in July. Alabama legislators are currently considering whether to ban squatted vehicles.

Fines for violating the new laws vary from state to state. In Mississippi, citations will come with a $100 fine the first offense. Subsequent violations will come with higher fines. Even though the new law goes into effect July 1, the fines will not start until January, to allow squatted vehicle owners time to have their vehicles put back to their original form. Law enforcement will still issue citations, which will count toward the number of offenses when it comes to the amount of the fines.

(aol.com)

First take a look at the states that have banned these tricked out cars.

Is it me or is it the states with a large black population?

Now I ask….what about all these rednecks and their trucks that are 9 feet off the ground?  Why are those not dangerous?

While we are at it….how about a ban on those 20 foot luxury 4 door pick-ups….no one needs a truck that big.

How about our newest 4th district representative?

Our last election saw the do-nothing representative, Palazzo, lose a bid for re-election to some jerk wad and a bigger douche, Ezell….well Rep. Ezell is in hot water for being stupid….

A Palestinian-American activist is pressing charges against U.S. Rep. Mike Ezell of Mississippi for allegedly assaulting her on Capitol Hill.

Ezell, who is currently running for reelection, was shown in a video posted Tuesday with Sumer Mobarak, a member of a feminist political advocacy group based in California called Code Pink.

One of the activists can be heard asking Ezell about the Israel-Hamas war and whether he thinks Israel should accept a ceasefire proposal or if he wants “this genocide to continue?”

Another person off-camera asks: “You want the killing of my people, my Palestinian people?”

“Oh, why don’t you shut up?” Ezell says in response. “Knock it off!” He then appears to reach out with his hand and knock the cellphone filming him to the ground.

“These China-backed protesters want to harass and intimidate Members of Congress into ending our support for Israel and our opposition to Hamas terrorists,” Ezell said in a statement. “I will not be harassed or intimidated by the Chinese Communist Party, Hamas, or their supporters, and I will continue standing with our Israeli allies against terrorism.”

Code Pink says on its site that “China is not our enemy.” According to a 2023 New York Times investigation, the group—which describes itself as a “feminist grassroots organization working to end U.S. warfare and imperialism, support peace and human rights initiatives”

(mississippitoday.org)

This old dinosaur, Ezell, is using a tired old meme of a communist party.  A question was asked….that is no intimidation in my book…why not not give a straight answer instead of some hilly-billy bully reaction?

Apparently he has to wait for his staff to try and cover his ass for he is too dim to do it himself.

This is what us peasants in Mississippi have to deal with…..stupid waste of time on laws that apply to only a certain quarter of the population.

I hope you have a great Mother’s Day weekend….and as always…..Be Well and Be Safe….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”