Day194 Friday 03/11/11

ran 1.4 miles

• Mississippi was the twentieth state to join the union on December 10, 1817, one year before Illinois and one year after Indiana.

• Population, as of 2010, is 2,967,297.

• Senators are Thad Cochran (R) and Roger Wicker (R).

• Representatives are Alan Nunnelee (R), Bennie Thompson (D), Gregg Harper (R), and Steven Palazzo (R).

• Mississippi has six electoral votes. The state had seceded from the union during the Civil War and did not participate in the 1864 or 1868 presidential elections. Mississippi had voted almost exclusively with the Democratic Party from reconstruction through the early 1960s. Since 1972, the state has voted Republican, except for 1976 (Jimmy Carter). Three times since World War II, Mississippi voted for third-party candidates, more than any other state. John McCain beat Barack Obama 56% to 43% in 2008.

“You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.” Those were Rahm Emanuel’s words back in 2009. With that in mind, thank you Huffington Post for using shallow scare tactics to move your political vehicle forward on the axles of Japan’s devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown. Directly under an image of Japan torn asunder and engulfed in flames reads the headline “Tsunami Relief And Preparedness Cut In GOP Budget Proposal”.

Thoughts and prayers with those who suffered the disaster in Japan.

1,529.0 miles to go.