If you don't like my fire, then don't come around.

  I'm not going to lie. I'm still pretty pissed off about the Mississippi Supreme Court decision yesterday. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got. The more I contemplated the ramifications, the more infuriated I got. Ironic, isn't it, as I could've definitely benefitted from a joint right about then.

 In yesterday's News, I wrote about but to catch everyone up, the state supreme court voted 6-3 in favor of a lawsuit that invalidated Initiative 65, the medical marijuana initiative. Despite passing with an overwhelming 3-4 majority, the judges ruled it invalid because the initiative process requires signatures from all five of Mississippi's U.S. Congressional districts and we ain't had five since 2000. The lawsuit was issued by Mary Hawkins Butler, the mayor of Madison for the past 40 years. Madison is a white-flight suburb of mostly black Jackson.

 Butler's reasoning was that the initiative failed the five-district rule, but it's more likely that the city government of Madison gets a fairly solid chunk of any business' profits that sets up shop in city limits. From what I understand, most of it goes to the mayor's office side rather than the city council's side because the two hate each other. Of the judges, three are voted in and the other six were appointed by Republican governors but the vote was pretty bipartisan. That said, five of the six appointed judges voted against it.

 So, the judges decided that since the state legislature hasn't gotten around to fix the law or the districts, the initiative process was null and void from here on out. This is weird, because we have a Voter ID law that passed via initiative, and no one bucked on that. It will be interesting to see if that becomes an issue, but I'm sure the state government will tell anyone who does to skip rope.

 What makes things really interesting is there was an initiative going around to expand Medicaid coverage in the state and it's pretty popular, at least as popular as medical marijuana. That explains a lot, really. Voting in this state is extremely restrictive. One in nine citizens can't vote because they're ex-cons, and 60 percent of them are black. We can't do mail-in unless you have a "good reason" and a notary's signature. It's incredibly gerrymandered and up until last November, a governor had to win not only the popular vote but also a majority of the state's congressional district. That was an initiative, too.

 And that explains it, really. The state government was fine with initiatives until the folk that live in the state start voting for things that actually make their lives better. Voter ID is fine. It makes voting just a wee bit harder, so that's fine. But getting folks to a point where they can afford healthcare and not burn themselves out on opioids? That's got to be nipped in the bud.

 I said this on Twitter yesterday, but this isn't a bipartisan thing. Nor is a black or white thing or, for that matter a Protestant Christian or non-Protestant Christian thing. This state has a long, long history of wanting a Ruling Class and a Lower Class. It's burned into our cultural psyche. The whole country is like that, but Mississippi is worse. It's distilled down to its purest form. This is basically William Faulkner's whole oeuvre: people who step on folks to get to the top and the damage that causes for everyone.

 Of course, this gives the rest of the country an opportunity to shit on us while they don't actually do anything to help. I don't think people get that. Since the 1890 state constitution, the non-Elite of this state has been up against the wall and told this how it's supposed to be. Outsiders say move when they really can't understand that most people would if they could, but the thumb's down on folks. And not everyone wants to leave the only home they've ever known. Help or piss off.

 But I know they won't. Liberals or leftists, socialists or communists, none of them really, really give a shit about the people of Mississippi. White or black, doesn't matter, we deserve what we get because we can't push the thumb off us. I will say it again, but the most heartening thing I've seen since moving home is watching young people - especially young Black people - who are working to make the state a place to live rather than a place to be from. I just hope they realize there won't be any outside help.

 Ah, well. I was looking forward to buying pot legally on a regular basis come August but I'm not really surprised the state of Mississippi bent over backward to make sure it didn't happen. I just want to get high and get my head out of gear, I'll be okay. I'm not dealing with cancer or constant pain or glaucoma or opioid addiction. 

 It's a bummer but it won't kill me. Okay, before I go, let's get this week's News in. Monday was the Liz Cheney drama along with another way the state of Mississippi is making life harder for its residents. Tuesday was the fallout of the Cheney-GOP fight, which I hope completely destroys the party and every conservative politician.

 Yes, I am pissed off.

Darlin', so it goes. Some things are meant to be.

  The weather took a hard turn from being beautiful and warm all week to an ice storm sitting down on us. It got pretty nasty in Memphis, but down here in Enon Holler, it was just cold and rained all day. One of those gray, foul days that make you want to just stay in bed. And since I had nothing better to do, I did just that.

 So, with that in mind, you'll forgive me if I have nothing of note to share today. Again. Unlike Tuesday, I don't have the excuse that I'm all tired and wrote out from playing with my fiction. Nope, I just spent the day napping, listening to the rain, and reading. As for what I'm reading, well, it's a pleasant little space opera by a guy named Wallace Henry called Dead Shock. It's a two-book series and I just started on the second book, Blood Shock.

 It's a space horror thing with city-ships cut off from the rest of the galaxy and run by a power-mad dictator, body modification whatnots causing genetic terrors, and a crew that doesn't like each other trying no to get destroyed. It sort of reminds me of BioShock but IN SPACE, and that's a compliment. It's got an interesting rhythm, too, and I'm not sure what to think about that yet.

 The impeachment goes on and the latest quirk is the revelation that Senators Mike Lee, Ted Cruz, and Lindsay Graham meeting with the Trump defense staff and discussing strategy. I'm not going to get deep into it because I think it at least needs the evening to marinate.  For what it's worth, I don't see it being made too big a deal of, mainly because those three especially are certifiable Trump toadies. And this is from a party that is completely beholden to Trumpism for at least one more election cycle.

 It doesn't do any good to say "what if a Democrat did this" because we all know better. Or we should, anyway. Anyone too shocked and dismayed by this behavior, especially from these three dickbags, has no one to blame but themselves. I really wish people would get over the idea that Trump has some dirt on Graham and just accept he's always been a complete party stooge and a rat bastard of one, at that.

 On another note, Mississippi SB 2765 failed to pass. I didn't explain this properly in yesterday's News, but it was put forth in case the mayor of Madison's goofy lawsuit against Initiative 65 succeeds. It would allow for medical marijuana in the state but set up some crazy restrictive hurdles for potential growers.

 I really don't think the state legislature, particularly the Republicans, really thought the initiative would pass and they certainly didn't think it'd pass so overwhelmingly. They wouldn't have let Initiative 65 even come up for a vote if they did, but it's got to be a part of the state constitution now. This has traditionally been a state that got off on making things unpleasant as possible for the hoi polloi while putting as much money as possible in the fat cats' pockets.

 I guess that's plenty for tonight. I really don't have anything else that's worth discussing. It's cold and wet still, and one can only get away with lazing around all day one day in a row.

I feel a storm, all wet and warm, not ten miles away approaching my Mexican home.

 Getting a late start on this tonight. Or a normal one, depending on how you look at it. In any event, it's 9 p.m. and I need to get something in the can for today. Before we get on with the business, links to this week's News.

Monday

Wednesday

Friday

 I'm particularly pleased with Friday's effort. As a part of the general thing the country finds itself, in re: dealing with systematic racism, there's a serious movement in the Mississippi Legislature to remove the Confederate battle emblem from the state flag. I went into a little detail of why this is a big deal and why we're waiting until 2020 to make anything happen. A little history and a little background, that's what I'm here for.

 Wednesday was pretty good, too, as a look at the mess that was the Georgia primary vote and what it bodes for November. In short: nothing good as the GOP will use all at its means to decide the election. Monday was a fairly bog-standard wrap up of the weekend's events concerning the protests across the country in reaction to the murder of George Floyd, the growing discontent among some higher ranking Republicans with Trump's chances come November, and a little bit about Tropical Storm Cristobel, which thankfully turned out to be not much of nothing. A good piece for what it was, though.

 I've been keeping my eye on what's going on in Seattle, the "Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone" or "CHAZ". In all things, I recommend eschewing the national press and paying attention to the folks who actually live in a place that's in the news. I've long been a fan of indie magazines, having written for several, and The Stranger is considered one of the very best. Plus, they're keeping a solid look on what's going on without the bias and ignorance of some of the national publications.

 It seems folks in Nashville are trying to kick up a similar "autonomous zone" type thing, as well, despite dire warnings from Gov. Bill Lee. I don't know what he thinks he's going to do. I do believe that apart from the hard-core authoritarian types, any sort of government heavy handedness, from state or federal forces, doesn't go down as well as they think. It's interesting that a lot of the voices that have been screaming about government tyranny or Second Amendment rights - from the Bundy-types to the NRA - have been pretty quiet when the rubber is hitting the road. Undoubtedly, since this is happening mostly to black folks and left-leaning types, they're all of the sudden down to the ground with an authoritarian government ignoring basic civil rights.

 Anyhow, The Nashville Scene is a pretty good magazine, as well. Full disclosure, they paid me less than $50 for a story about someone, I think either Slobberbone or The Drive-By Truckers, nearly 20 years ago. As I said, I've always preferred those sort of magazines and have worked for a couple in the past. They never pay well or, indeed, enough to live on - this is indie journalism, after all - but it's always much more fun.

 Me and Momma had a fairly heavy conversation about all this and what it implies the other night. My mother is a very intelligent woman, but she is - by her own admittance - happily provincial and a bit naive about how the world outside Itawamba County actually is. She's also old fashioned and conservative. What I'm saying is she will listen but you have to take a hammer to her if you ever want to get anything through.

 Plus, while she understands what I mean when I tell her about being an atheist who leans towards far-left anarchism, she really doesn't like those stances. I think I got it through to her why this autonomous zone business wasn't the popular perception of anarchy but rather the political connotation of anarchism. That is, a rejection of unearned authoritarian groups as someone automatically obeyed. If your "leadership" fails to the extent that it did the folks in Capitol Hill, or so they consider, feel they're justified in telling them to piss off and taking it over on their own.

 If I get Sarah Thompson to understand that anarchism is a viable political ideology, I'll consider this a life well lived. Anyhow, that's plenty. I intend to keep the weekly stuff done in the morning (or as close to morning as I get) but anything goes for the weekend. In the meantime, keep safe, wash your hands, maintain social distancing, and don't let the bastards grind you down.

The meek, they ain't inherited nothing. Their leaders are falling behind.

 Before we get too deep in the big muddy, as always, some links from this week's News.

Monday

Wednesday - This actually turned out to be a big mouthful, so I broke it up into two parts.

• Part One: The Shooting of Ahmaud Arbery
• Part Two: Defrauding Mississippi's Welfare Service

Friday

 I'm pretty proud of Wednesday's big monster, as well as the two shorter pieces from it. I'm also glad both topics are getting the national press. Even The New York Times has written about the mess going on in Mississippi, so that's something. And the Arbery killing and resulting cover-up by the local law is just too egregious to pretend it's business as usual.

 Other than that, I've been ignoring a white screen for the past 45 minutes. Let's just start typing and see if we can't knock the word count out sooner than later. This sentence is just to satisfy the "a paragraph must have three sentences" rule that I quite possibly made up.

 The internet's been less spotty today. Matter of fact, it's run pretty good all day. Far as I know, anyway, I spent most of the day napping. Just one of those days I didn't feel like engaging with the rest of the world. The whole COVID-19 business continues to get stupider as more and more people have decided, "Fuck it, YOLO" and since they've never needed a helmet riding a motorcycle or a seat belt when they were driving, this "killer pandemic" is all a bunch of hoo-hah. Probably the entire world secretly plotting together solely to make Father Trump look like a pea-brained jackass.

 I live in the boonies, work from home and am self-employed. I rarely leave the house for any reason besides going to the gym, seeing doctors I have to see, or the odd bit of shopping for stuff I can't buy online. The only time I'm around large groups of people is when we have family gatherings four or five times a year, and I only stay as long as I can handle it after getting a plate.

 So, knock yourself out. Maybe it'll be a big bunch of nothing. Maybe it'll thin the herd. Maybe it will be what finally shows the irreparable cracks and flaws in the American capitalistic system. I don't have to worry about it, you're not interested in what I have to say, so I'm not bothering. I will keep writing about it, sure. Partly because that's how I earn my salt and partly because I enjoy writing the News as much as I enjoy this gibberish.

 But as I get older I find myself less inclined to be a part of society and this is just another excuse/example of why I shouldn't bother. I don't want to insinuate that I suggest this as a proper lifestyle for anybody else. But with nothing invested in the future and just waiting around to die, I don't see any reason to fight to save people who don't want to be saved. Same thing with getting leftists to understand that they don't have to vote for Joe Biden, but they really ought to vote against Donald Trump. People all across the political spectrum have a fantastic, naive perception of what politics is, how it's designed to work and just what all can be done. Stop waiting on people to come save you, neighbors.

 One of today's Twitter ruffles is a column tradcath fenderhead Elizabeth Bruening - the interesting one of the couple; that husband of hers is as dull as dry white toast - wrote a column saying there's no such thing as a "Religious left". She was rightfully dragged, which isn't anything special. Every time she puts pen to paper, she says something dumb enough to deserve a dragging. She claims to be socialist but once Republicans managed to get someone who isn't a moral sinkhole in the White House, I'm sure she'll say the Democratic Party/Democratic Socialist changed, not her.

 Anyhow, while she's catching hell from liberal Jews, Liberation Theory Latino Catholics, the Black Protestant churches where the Civil Rights battled gestated, Unitarians, Sikhs, and just all the groups apart from White Protestants or Catholics, which was all she was going to count anyway, I had a thought. Now, I am neither religious nor spiritual. I've been agnostic since my teen years and pretty much since my twenties, I've considered myself a hardcore philosophical materialism.

 There's no difference in the inanimate atoms that make up my body, the chair I'm sitting in, the air that I breathe or whatever makes up Böotes Void. Consciousness is a result of a quirk of biology that arises from how the brain is structured and, at best, nothing more than an illusion. Morality is all made up and has always been made up by human beings, and generally reflects more the zeitgeist of the times rather than anything axiomatic.

 I'm fine with all that. The universe is amazing enough that I can nevertheless manage to find wonder in it, fairly easily to, without having to have some unseen, unquantifiable force behind it. Math, initiative, imagination, and elbow grease can achieve some amazing things. In other words, when it comes to how religion or spirituality should inform one's politics, I really don't have a dog in this hunt. Momma goes to church because it provides her with a sense of community and comfort. Belief in redemption and heaven help my grandmother and father pass on easier. Some people find comfort and strength in their faith. All fine. Anyone who uses religion as a weapon would be a rotten bastard as an atheist anyway, and we've seen plenty of examples of that.

 But I can't help but wonder why non-religious leftist/liberals/what have you should worry too much about the religious leftists/liberals/what have you. My question is why isn't incumbent on the religious left to put a little effort into mending any bridges to the rest of the left-wing amorphous beast. The hard right co-opted much of American Christianity and it was an established goal since at least the '60s. Again, read The Family or watch the Netflix documentary. This is just anecdotal, but left-wing religious people rarely take any responsibility for it.

 It's like "reasonable gun owners" who don't seem to think they have a responsibility to maybe worry about the dingbats bringing bazookas to Subway instead of complaining that everyone thinks they're just as nutty as the average ammosexual. It's part of the reason I'm so unforgiving when it comes to racism in the South and neo-Confederate ding dongs. I see that as partly my responsibility. Anyhow, it's not my problem, either of it. I reserve the right to treat everyone who has a gun on their hip one mockery of their dick away from unloading on a school bus. Plus, I continue to reserve the right to not really give a damn about your faith unless it breaks my leg nor picks my pocket.

 Okay. Enough of that. I've been playing a lot of Phantom Doctrine. It's pretty decent, sort of like Sid Meier's Covert Action, an old favorite, in that it takes the Len Deighton take on spies and that world. Most intelligence work, like most private investigation work or, for that matter, investigative journalism, is pretty damn dull. It requires a lot of patience and a lot of digging through bland documents and seemingly unrelated bits of information to find that nugget of gold. Phantom Doctrine does a good job replicating that without making it too boring. Plus the turn-based strategy part of the gameplay is a lot of fun. It's made by the same people who made Hard West, and that is definitely a favorite. Looks like they've got an XCOM game based on 1930s bank heists coming, so we'll keep an eye on that.

 Take it easy.

Mr. Ledbetter, can you tell me again, what's a Mississippi Flush and how's it beat this hand?

 I really couldn't tell you why, but since I've moved back home I have gotten more... into? interested? engaged? enraged? Whatever it is, I'm more of it concerning the political situation in Mississippi. Maybe it's because I know, deep down, that I'll probably never leave for good again. Or maybe things have gotten just this bad in the past 20 years since I left.

 I've been actively engaged in politics basically since my college days in Florida. All through my time in Georgia and New Orleans, I've kept my head in even when it was considered a character flaw by many in my social circle. That being said, I'm not going to lie, it was mostly national politics. I dealt with local stuff when it affected me, particularly in Athens, but my eye was always turned to at least the U.S. Congress or, failing that, socio-political concerns that were greater than one state. The Confederate flag on state flags or at state capitols, for example, has driven me up the wall for years.

 I've always kept an eye on Mississippi. It's my home, much as I may not like that (or as much as my brother hates it). The bulk of the state or, for that matter, Itawamba County, I really didn't give a good goddamn. Now, my home is here in Peaceful Valley, this hill I live on. Then, though, it was just where I grew up. I stayed away and intended to stay away until I was put in the ground, and only then because I already have a grave site. Mississippi's where I'm from, I'd tell people, it's not where I am.

 Well, now it's where I am and unless something drastic happens, it's where I'll stay. I don't like that, but that's how it is. Anyone with half a lick of history knows Mississippi has a dark, nasty history, one that we're still trying to come to grips with. Like William Faulkner wrote in Requiem For A Nun, "The past is never dead. It's not even past." Our history of slavery, Jim Crow, Medgar Evans, near-total political domination by the Klan for decades, and even the overall anti-labor history of treating poor white trash as nothing more than a bulwark for the rich and powerful.

 But now, it seems it's gotten that much more real. The ICE raids on the chicken plants that were used to rid the company of workers who'd made hay about sketchy practices by management. The medical marijuana initiative that's on the 2020 ballot. The ongoing horror of prisoners living and dying while in state penitentiaries and their deadly conditions. And now, the Nissan plant down in Canton is doubling the workers' load in the midst of CORVID-19 while giving the executives leave to "self quarantine". Why? Because we have a labor history that is actively hostile to any concept of a union.

 For the first time in a long time, state and local politics feel real and urgent in a way they haven't. Along with that, my general disgust with both parties and even soi-disant "leftists" and "socialists" as well as my long-dormant interest and sympathy for anarchistic political theory. I've said it elsewhere, one of the most attractive aspects of anarchism, to me, is the suggestion that you can use the tools of the system to change the system and you can do it in smaller, personal ways. Right here, right now, in Mississippi 2020, that just sings, man.

 I'll be 45 next month. I'm single with no kids and no real strong ties. I find myself at times cut adrift from my own head. I don't understand it nor do I want it, but I won't deny part of me envies my brother and his wife or my cousin and his family. I wouldn't trade my freedom for the world, but a man does need something to latch himself to, something to make the universe worth the effort.

 I'd might as well try to make this state a little better than I left it.

Friday, February 7, 2020

 I don't know who or why, but some read the tar out of this blog yesterday. I got 164 hits, which not only destroys that all previous records of hit-per-day but also more hits than I usually get in a month. I surely do appreciate it, whoever you are and why ever you did. Tell your friends and relations. Most of the time it's more interesting than yesterday's half-baked gibberish, too. Well, sometimes.

Wednesday, January 8, 2020

 Well, apparently we're not going to war today, so that's nice. Been a weird 72 hours, though, and I'm not sure anyone has any clue what we're doing, much less the guys who're supposed to be running the show. Okay, so let's get up to speed.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

 The rain's set in and it's been pouring down all day. They're getting it worse south of us with some wind and thunder, and as soon as I wrote that out a not-insignificant peel of thunder rolled through. Otis is not allowed to go outside, though, and he is in high dudgeon. So, let's go.

Friday, December 27, 2019

 As we head towards what will be the very last weekend of this decade... wait, is that right? Does a new decade start on the '00 or the '01, I never can keep that straight. Anyhow, this time next week it'll be 2020 & may the Lord have mercy on all our souls.

Sunday, November 17, 2019

 Spent another night trying to liberate the Earth from alien domination, and didn't notice the time until morning again. So, another day of being a zombie but I've already written all about XCOM I can think of. Ah, well, we'll do what we can.

Wednesday, November 6, 2019

 Well, that was invigorating.

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

 Okay, I'm wore slap out, so we're making this one short. Let's go.

Friday, October 18, 2019

 Better frame of mind today, despite the grayness of the sky. It's cool and there's a bite in the air. We've got another storm, Nestor, brewing in the Gulf and rain's a-coming. Batten down, y'all.

Wednesday, October 2, 2019

Ugh, what a day. You know, I might as well just post a link to Google News & let you see for yourself.