Tag: State Programs

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”

Florida Does It Again

We could write volumes on the lunacy coming out of Florida under the watchful eye of DeSantis….and now they have gone that proverbial one step further….this time in education.

I am a proponent of teaching history as it is….that means no whitewashing the embarrassing bits….teach it like it is.

We know that these Reds States, like my own, are hell bent on turning back the pages of history and throwing white paint (no pun intended) on the whole institution of slavery and Florida is one of the first to put a ‘happy face’ on the ordeal.

Florida education officials have changed state standards, in keeping with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ policies, to mandate teaching public school students that some Black people benefited from being enslaved because they learned useful skills. The state Board of Education immediately defended the policy, unanimously approved Wednesday, by saying lessons will still include the “darkest” parts of the nation’s past, Politico reports. “It’s the good, the bad and the ugly in American history,” Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. said. State officials denied that students will be taught that “slavery was beneficial”; the policy calls for instruction in “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

The 216-page social studies policy requires attributing racial violence partly to Black people, saying, “Instruction includes acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans but is not limited to 1906 Atlanta Race Riot, 1919 Washington, D.C. Race Riot, 1920 Ocoee Massacre, 1921 Tulsa Massacre and the 1923 Rosewood Massacre.” The statewide teachers union called the policy “a big step backward,” per NBC News. “How can our students ever be equipped for the future if they don’t have a full, honest picture of where we’ve come from?” said Andrew Spar, president of the Florida Education Association.

This is a lie!

We can pretend all we want but this is just pure manure spread to make the whole institution appear to be something positive….ranks up there with slaves got room and board….

Anyone with half a brain will see through this….but sadly children may not and will then go along thinking that slavery was ‘not all that ‘bad’ after all.

How long before other Red States start teaching this lie and adding to the whitewash?

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–15Feb22

This new report tells us all we need to know about the political climate in this country.

The states with the lowest education are the same states that lead the country in silliness…..

To find out which ones, the site analyzed 18 metrics in two main categories: educational attainment, which looked at the share of adults ages 25 and older who’ve graduated from high school, attended some college, or earned a university or professional degree; and quality of education (ie, the quality of local schools and colleges, high school graduation rates, and racial and gender gaps in educational attainment).

Finally my state of Mississippi is not at the bottom of the list of the best educated states….instead we are 49th.

This study shows the the South leads the way on least educated….

  • Tennessee
  • New Mexico
  • Nevada
  • Oklahoma
  • Kentucky
  • Alabama
  • Arkansas
  • Louisiana
  • Mississippi
  • West Virginia

WV least educated…well that could explain Manchin.

This proves when you turn your back on education the country will suffer.

Keep the people stupid and you can lead them around by the nose.

Diogenes said…”The foundation of every state is the education of its youth”….if that is true then Mississippi has failed miserably…..the wider picture is that the South has failed miserably.

Turn The Page!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

 

Closing Thought–22Jan20

I live in Mississippi and from time I write about to doings in my state….I do not write much for I do not think that too many are interested in the policies and events in Mississippi

But since a good portion of the population of my state is in prison or have been in jail…I read an article about the so-called “restitution program”…..

Debtors’ prison may sound like a concept from another century. But the Marshall Project asserts that Mississippi is running a court-ordered restitution program that is essentially the same thing. The investigation found that judges sentence hundreds of people a year to one of four “restitution centers” around the state. There they must live while they work off court-ordered debts, including fees, fines, and restitution to victims. One big problem is that most of the workers have low-paying jobs, making their stays at the centers open-ended. And “centers” might be overstating things. One is described as a motel-turned-jail that is surrounded by razor wire. The residents sleep on prison-issued mattresses, eat the same food as inmates, and generally have the same restrictions.

“We don’t know of any other states that have a program quite like Mississippi’s,” says Sharon Brett of Harvard’s Criminal Justice Policy Program. The story by Anna Wolfe and Michelle Liu also includes this quote from Cliff Johnson of the MacArthur Justice Center at the University of Mississippi. “Debtors’ prisons are an effective way of collecting money—as is kidnapping. But there are constitutional, public policy and moral barriers to such a regime.” The program has its defenders, including a judge who says it’s better than sending people to regular prison. One woman who went through it isn’t so sure. Annita Husband ended up escaping from her center. When caught, she went to prison for 10 months, about half as long as she would have spent at the center had she stayed and paid off the debt under its system.

I have thought that it was beyond time for reform in our penal systems and programs…..like why is there little training offered or educational programs?

While writing this draft more news about Mississippi penal system came to light……

Two inmates were beaten to death in a fight with other inmates in an understaffed Mississippi prison that has been shaken by other deadly violence in recent weeks, a coroner said. The state Department of Corrections on Tuesday confirmed the men died at Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman and said officials are investigating, the AP reports. “Both victims appear to have died from blunt force beating injuries,” said Sunflower County Coroner Heather Burton. The department originally said the inmates died Monday night, but Burton later clarified that they died early Tuesday. Department spokeswoman Grace Simmons Fisher said the injuries occurred late Monday as the two inmates fought with other prisoners. “At this moment, it appears to be an isolated incident—not a continuation of the recent retaliatory killings,” the Department of Corrections said Tuesday.

Violence is a recurring problem in Mississippi prisons, where many jobs for guards are unfilled. Five inmates were killed and an undisclosed number of others inmates were injured during an outbreak of violence in Mississippi’s prison system between Dec. 29 and Jan. 3. Three of those five deaths were at Parchman. In addition to those deaths and the two on Tuesday, another inmate was found hanging in his cell Saturday night at Parchman. Burton said she was called Sunday to the prison, where Gabriel Carmen was found hanging the night before. She said corrections officials reported he had been irate and throwing feces before his death. An autopsy was being done. Prison officials said Carmen’s cell lock had been jammed from inside the cell. One of the inmates who died Tuesday was Timothy Hudspeth, 35, who was serving a 10-year sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The name of the other inmate was not immediately released because a chaplain was trying to reach his family.

I Read, I Wrote, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Closing Thought–12Jun19

Alabama has joined the list of states that will punish sex offenders they will be forced to undergo chemical castration……

Males convicted of a sex offense against a child under the age of 13 in Alabama will be forced to undergo chemical castration in the month before they’re released from custody. Republican Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Monday signed into law the bill passed by the state legislature on May 30, which forces offenders to pay out of pocket for chemical castration via oral medication or injection, which interferes with the production of testosterone, unless a court decides an offender is unable to pay, per CNN. The effects—an inability to perform sexual acts and limited sexual interest—are reversed once treatment stops, but it’ll be up to a court to determine when this might happen. Any offenders who stop treatment on their own will be found in violation of parole and returned to custody.

“This bill is a step toward protecting children in Alabama,” Ivey said, per CNN. Randall Marshall of the ALCU of Alabama instead believes the law may be a form of cruel and unusual punishment. “It’s not clear that this actually has any effect and whether it’s even medically proven,” and “when the state starts experimenting on people, I think it runs afoul of the Constitution,” he tells AL.com. The bill’s author, GOP Rep. Steve Hurst, who initially called for surgical castration, counters that many victims of sexual abuse support the law, which follows similar ones on the books in seven states and Guam, per NBC News. GOP Sen. Cam Ward adds it will likely apply only to a small group of offenders as most people convicted in such cases are not considered for parole.

I am sorry but this does not “protect children” as promised by the governor…..in my opinion.

The urges are still there and though he may not have the “junk” to carry out his urges he will find other means of satisfying those urges…..use objects like bottles to “get off”.

I do not have the answers to this problem….but I just do not believe this will not solve the problem no matter the promises.

Just Saying

Closing Thought–24May19

I live in Mississippi, the heart of the Diabetic Belt, and our insulin is anything but inexpensive…..$349 a month……the disease is about 11.3% of the population……

The Diabetes Belt?

So when I read of someone, a state, that is trying to make a difference for its residents I take notice……and Colorado is that state……

Diabetics in Colorado who use insulin to control their blood sugar levels won’t pay more than $100 per month for the drug starting in January thanks to a bill signed into law by Gov. Jared Polis on Wednesday.

“Today, we will declare that the days of insulin price gouging are over in Colorado,” Polis said in his office as he signed the bill, according to CBS Denver.

Insulin has been around for nearly a century, but the price that patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes pay for the drug has doubled since 2012, according to the Healthcare Cost Institute. The cost of insulin can creep up toward $1,000 for those whose health care coverage requires significant cost-sharing.

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/05/23/colorado-insulin-price-cap/
 
Makes me wonder why a state that is not on the top 10 list for diabetes would be the first to try and control the price of insulin……it should have been a top priority for a state like Mississippi or Alabama……but that would presume that the elected ones actually care about their voters….FLASH!  They Do Not!
The highest cases of diabetes…….
 
  1. Mississippi (11.3%)
  2. Alabama (11.1%)
  3. West Virginia (10.7%)
  4. Louisiana (10.3%)
  5. Tennessee (10.2%)
  6. Oklahoma (10.1%)
  7. Kentucky (10.1%)

You would think these 7 states would be the most interested in helping the sufferers of diabetes…..well you would be mistaken….the poorer the state the more diabetes and the less adequate programs.

So ends my Friday and I prepare for a good weekend and Memorial Day……hope all have a good time…be well, be safe……

Tax Cuts For All!

How many times have you heard that promise?  My guess is just about every damn election.

Let’s do a wee bit of economics…..(I can hear those heavy sighs and the eyes glazing over)…….

But let’s look at that promise realistically……if tax cuts go through then that will mean less revenue for the state/city and that will mean cuts will have to be made to fill the gap of the lost revenues……and that means that the cuts will come from the services that is for the population while all the programs for business remain in place.

To me it sounds like a master plan to kill ALL social programs….especially from a GOP controlled entity whether city or state…..

But do not take my word for it…..read this piece about the state of Kansas and its great programs of tax cuts……

The state of Kansas, where Gov. Sam Brownback’s right-wing economic program and handling of the state finances have reached comedic levels of absurdity, is now also failing at a key economic test: Keeping up with the neighboring state.

In his latest column, Kansas City Star opinion writer Yael Abouhalkah, a strong critic of Brownback’s who has made a regular beat of busting the governor and his advocates, highlights the newest data from the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, which show the disparity in j

Source: New data from Sam Brownback’s Kansas destroys the GOP myth that tax cuts create jobs

Keep these types of problems in mind before you vote for some “promised” benefits from massive tax cuts……tax cuts screw everyone but those in the circles of power…..your benefits are at jeopardy and you want to give them the keys to the family car….tsk….tsk…..tsk!

But what should I expect from a culture that thinks Reality TV is good and informative TV?

Red states suffered higher rate of federal budget cuts between 2009-2013: report

Red state voters loathe the president and anything Democratic…….they vote for people that promise to slice federal spending and will be a better day for everyone…..

The problem is in their haste to send mental midgets to DC they are systematically screwing themselves……does that speak to civic illiteracy?

 

Red states suffered higher rate of federal budget cuts between 2009-2013: report.

Sad Indictment Of Society

I live in the South, Mississippi to be accurate, and Alabama the sister state to my state has some disturbing stats for our region…..

Source: Yellow Hammer

The correlation between the two programs is not necessarily meaningful, other than to illustrate that any state having to give more food assistance to adults — justifiably or not — than education assistance to children should perhaps at least consider the reasons why.

Alabama is actually one of 27 states around the country in which the number of SNAP enrollees outpaces public school enrollment, and nationally the number of enrollees for the two programs is roughly the same.

Unsurprisingly, “States with higher poverty rates tend to have higher ratios of SNAP-to-schoolkids,” writes the Washington Post’s Philip Bump.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, between the years of 2009 and 2013, an average of 18.6 percent of Alabama’s roughly 4.8 million population was living below the poverty line. That makes Alabama the sixth poorest state in the nation per capita over that time period.

But while there are undoubtedly many Alabamians in need who are helped by the SNAP program, fraud and abuse have also been found to be widespread.

The Alabama Department of Human Resources issues more than $109 million in benefits every year, and recovered $4.5 million dollars in food stamp fraud in 2013 alone.

In an effort to cut down on fraud an abuse, the Alabama Legislature in 2014 pushed through a package of bills that drastically reformed the state’s taxpayer-funded public assistance programs.

Read More…

Do not know about you….but this is just a damn shame…….your ass backwards neo-liberal policies are the blame.  This country will NEVER obtain its true calling as long as stats like these persist…..IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?  No need to answer that was rhetorical…..your actions say it all!

Keep on this path and we will truly slide down the scale of “First World”……

Mississippi Is Number 1!

A change of pace today…….

Everybody should be proud of their state when it reaches the top of the lists that tell the tale of what it is like to live in that state…….unfortunately Mississippi is NOT one of those states.

It is my state and I have been writing about the damage that conserv politics has done to the state…..even under a Democratic governor and legislature…….for many long decades the voters of Mississippi have bought into the conserv talking point of small government and lower taxes and the world will be a brighter place…….

After decades of these failed policies Mississippi is number 1 in diabetes, obesity, poverty, etc…..and number 50 in things like education, health care, etc……and the voters keep believing that these lower taxes and small government will change things……..the only change it has brought about is the Mississippi is at the top of another list…….dependent on the federal government for its existence……..

1. Mississippi

  • Return on Taxpayer Investment: $3.07
  • Funding as Percentage of Revenue: 45.8 percent
  • Federal Employees Per Capita: 8.67

Along with its neighbors Louisiana and Alabama, Mississippi is heavily assisted with federal dollars. So much so, that WalletHub’s calculations place them at the top of the list for the most dependent on Washington for subsistence. Mississippi suffers from some serious socio-economic issues, including having the highest poverty rate and one of the lowest income rates in the country.

These are issues that have plagued the state for a long time, and there doesn’t appear to be any hope for change in the near future. There are a few things that capture federal funding that add to the state’s total, including several military bases, but the major issue appears to be the lack of jobs and opportunity suffered by the state’s citizens.

This is what I am always going on about…..Mississippi depends heavily on the Fed government for ots existence and yet the voters want to destroy the “Big Government” in DC…….at what point do these morons realize they would be cutting off their nose in spite of their face?