Mississippi Could Strip Confederate Symbol From State Flag

Mississippi lawmakers could vote to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag.

Mississippi lawmakers could vote this weekend to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag, a symbol that has come under intensifying criticism in recent weeks amid nationwide protests against racial injustice.

People for and against the current flag were gathering at the state Capitol on Saturday morning as lawmakers arrived.

Karen Holt of Edwards, Mississippi, was with several people asking lawmakers to adopt a new banner with a magnolia, which is both the state tree and the state flower, and with stars to represent Mississippi as the 20th state. She said it would represent “joy of being a citizen of the United States,” unlike the current flag.

“We don't want anything flying over them, lofty, exalting itself, that grabs onto a deadly past,” Holt said.

Dan Hartness of Ellisville, Mississippi, walked outside the Capitol carrying a pole that had both the American flag and the current Mississippi flag. He said the current state flag pays tribute to those who fought in the Civil War.

“Being a veteran, that's important to me — that you remember these guys that fought in battle, whether they're on the right side or the wrong side,” Hartness said.

Mississippi has the last state flag that includes the Confederate battle emblem — a red field topped by a blue X with 13 white stars.

Lawmakers could adopt a new Mississippi flag without Confederate imagery. Or they could kick the volatile issue to a statewide election, giving voters choices that might or might not include the current banner.

The battle emblem has been in the upper-left corner of the Mississippi flag since 1894. White supremacists in the Legislature put it there during backlash to the political power that African Americans gained after the Civil War.

The Mississippi Supreme Court ruled in 2000 that the flag lacked official status. State laws were updated in 1906, and portions dealing with the flag were not carried forward. Legislators set a flag election in 2001, and voters kept the rebel-themed design.

But the flag has remained divisive in a state with a 38% Black population. All of the state’s public universities and several cities and counties have stopped flying it because of the Confederate symbol that many see as racist.

Influential business, religious, education and sports groups are calling on Mississippi to drop the Confederate symbol. Flag supporters say the banner should be left alone or put on the statewide ballot for voters to decide its fate.

The state’s annual legislative session is almost over, and it takes a two-thirds majority of the House and Senate to consider a bill after the normal deadlines have passed. Leaders have been working to secure those majorities. Republican Gov. Tate Reeves said Wednesday that he will not veto a bill if legislators pass one.

https://www.usnews.com/news/us/articles/2020-06-27/mississippi-could-strip-confederate-symbol-from-state-flag

>>9766115

tyb

Grassley chides Trump, Fox News for answer on second term agenda

Sen. Chuck Grassley laid blame on Fox News — and President Donald Trump — on Saturday over failing to articulate what his administration’s second term priorities would be during a recent interview with the news organization.

The Iowa Republican tweeted that Trump got “off point” when asked by Fox’s Sean Hannity what his goals would be if re-elected, but appeared vexed at Hannity for helping the president “digress” instead of helping Trump form a more intelligible answer.

“Does FOXNews want Trump Re-elected?” Grassley wrote.

Trump was widely criticized for his meandering answer to the softball question, in which he promoted his experience and attacked former national security adviser John Bolton instead of focusing on initiatives and policies he’d promote if given another four years in office.

“You make some mistakes. Like, you know, an idiot like Bolton,” Trump said during the interview. “All he wanted to do was drop bombs on everybody. You don’t have to drop bombs on everybody. You don’t have to kill people.”

And on Saturday morning, Trump tweeted a defense of his Fox News interview, saying Hannity “dominated T.V. with my interview on Thursday night.”

Grassley, calling it the most important question of the interview, said Trump should have communicated to voters his desire for continuing to “DRAIN THE SWAMP” and appoint more conservative justices to the Supreme Court.

The criticism from Grassley comes a day after he encouraged Trump to heed the advice of a scathing Wall Street Journal editorial that warned Trump could only serve one term.

“Will somebody w access to the Oval Office read the WSJ editorial ‘The Trump Referendum’ to President Trump,” Grassley wrote in a tweet on Friday. “We won’t hv more good scotus justices or the best economy in 50 years like we hv had if he doesn’t follow that advice.”

https://www.politico.com/news/2020/06/27/chuck-grassley-fox-news-trump-second-term-342088

fucking sick evil fucks…

Lots of PURPLE in there too.

And all the "humping" bullshit…..how does anyone find any of this funny??? Or entertaining??

>>9766204

oops meant to link

>>9766291

MOAR FEAR - NOW ADD PREGNANT WOMEN!!

The nation’s top public health agency on Thursday revamped its list of which Americans are at higher risk for severe COVID-19 illness, adding pregnant women and removing age alone as a factor.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also changed the list of underlying conditions that make someone more susceptible to suffering and death. Sickle cell disease joined the list, for example. And the threshold for risky levels of obesity was lowered.

The changes didn’t include adding race as a risk factor for serious illness, despite accumulating evidence that Black people, Hispanics and Native Americans have higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death.

Agency officials said the update was prompted by medical studies published since CDC first started listing high-risk groups. They sought to publicize the information before Independence Day weekend, when many people may be tempted to go out and socialize.

“For those at higher risk, we recommend limiting contact with others as much as possible, or restricting contacts to a small number of people who are willing to take measures to reduce the risk of (you) becoming infected,” said CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield.

The same advice holds for people who live with or care for people at higher risk, Redfield added.

Previously, the CDC said those at high risk of serious illness included people aged 65 years and older; those who live in a nursing home or long-term care facility; and people with serious heart conditions, obesity, diabetes, liver disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic lung disease, and conditions that leave them with weakened immune systems.

In the changes, CDC created categories of people who are at high risk and people who might be at high risk.

Those who are at high risk include people with chronic kidney disease, chronic inflammatory lung disease, obesity, serious heart conditions, sickle cell disease, Type 2 diabetes, and weakened immune systems because of organ transplants. The threshold for obesity concern was lowered from a body mass index of 40 down to 30.

The CDC said people are at increasing risk as they get older, but it removed people 65 and older as a high-risk group.

The list of people who might be at high risk includes pregnant women, smokers and those with asthma, diseases that affect blood flow to the brain, cystic fibrosis, high blood pressure, dementia, liver disease, scarred or damaged lungs, Type 1 diabetes, a rare blood disorder called thalassemia, and people who have weakened immune systems due to HIV or other reasons.

Pregnant women joined the list on the same day a CDC report found they accounted for about 9% of lab-confirmed COVID-19 cases in women of childbearing age. About 5% of women of childbearing age are pregnant at any given time.

The report showed that pregnant women had higher rates of hospitalization, of admission to a hospital intensive care unit and of winding up on a breathing machine vs. young women who weren’t pregnant. There was no clear evidence of a higher death rate among pregnant women, however.

It’s not completely surprising, said Dr. Denise Jamieson, chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the Emory University School of Medicine. Pregnant women have been found to be at higher risk from other infectious respiratory diseases, likely because the lungs decrease in the volume as the uterus grows, Jamieson said.

What is surprising, she said, is that CDC didn’t place pregnant women in the highest risk category.

“To me this is the most compelling evidence to date that pregnant women are at increased risk,” said Jamieson, who spent 20 years at CDC as a reproductive health expert.

Earlier this week, CDC officials called on a panel of experts to help them identify groups that should be prioritized for coronavirus vaccinations if one becomes available and supplies are limited.

Pregnant women could be among that group. So could certain racial and ethnic groups.

CDC officials shared data with the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices that showed, compared with white Americans, coronavirus hospitalization rates were 4 times higher for Hispanics, 4.5 times higher for Black people, and 5.5 higher for American Indians and Alaska Natives. A recent study in the Atlanta area suggested that being Black was as large a risk for hospitalization as having diabetes, being a smoker or being obese.

“If we fail to address racial and ethnic groups as at high risk for prioritization, whatever comes out of our group will be looked at very suspiciously and with a lot of reservation,” said Dr. Jose Romero, chair of the expert panel.

“They are groups that need to be moved to the forefront,” he said.

CDC officials say they expect to come out with recommendations for racial and ethnic minority groups soon.

https://news.wttw.com/2020/06/27/us-officials-change-virus-risk-groups-add-pregnant-women

>>9766345

I think this is a fantastic move.

I don't have a college degree and I have been discriminated my entire life because of it.

I have been passed over for promotions, better paying jobs, ect…..because well, you don't have a degree.

Total bullshit because to me, I have always said, that experience should trump any degree. Sorry just my humble opinion.

I have seen college degreed little assholes who are totally worthless in the workforce get higher paying jobs, and then EXPECT to get promoted right away, because they are so special and I have always just been the workhorse who held the place together.

I have raised my kids to work hard, and then find ways to work harder. It may not ever get you anywhere, but I have taught them that they are not entitled little brats who will act as they are ever above anyone. That they need to EARN their place; it will NEVER just be handed to them.

So far….I am seeing great results with them.

The world needs more redblood hard knuckle WORKERS who will bust their asses, and be rewarded for it in their paychecks. Not because they have some lousy degree that basically their parents paid for, for them to party away from home for 4 years (and I am not saying ALL are like this, of course not…..it's just that is what I have seen in my 30+ years in the workforce. )

Miami beaches to close for July 4 weekend following spike in coronavirus cases

https://washingtontimes.com/news/2020/jun/27/miami-beaches-to-close-for-july-4-weekend-followin/

https://twitter.com/WashTimes/status/1276908344125554690