Requiem for Boxing… Pacquio-Mayweather Derailed By Bad Decision

Probably the biggest, largest purse fight in the last 10 years was derailed last night with a controversial split decision resulting in a Manny Pacquio loss.

To say that the split decision was controversial is an understatement – many of those who watched the fight were shocked at the outcome which was greeted by loud boos from the crowd.

This one didn’t help Boxing – and further besmirched the reputation of a sport which has had plenty of controversy through the years.

The only “winner” in this is probably MMA – whose popularity is shooting through the roof…

While Boxing is going the way of Baseball.

A hard fought battle, Pacquiao and Bradley traded shots, with Pacquiao landing more – although neither fighter scored a knockdown

Pacquiao deserved better than unjust ending against Bradley

Injustices like the split decision that gave Timothy Bradley a controversial victory over Manny Pacquiao are not unheard of in boxing.

Yet that doesn’t make the stunning outcome of Saturday’s welterweight title fight — one of the most dumbfounding decisions in recent history — any easier to make peace with.

Pacquiao connected on 253 of 751 punches (34 percent), compared to 159 of 839 (19 percent) for Bradley, and outlanded the challenger in 10 of the 12 rounds. The Filipino absorbed Bradley’s best shots in the early rounds and, undeterred by his opponent’s rapidly diminishing offense, relied on his speed and power to entice Bradley into toe-to-toe exchanges and batter him into retreat.

“I don’t remember if he hit me with one punch,” Pacquiao said afterward.

Yet ringside judges Duane Ford and C.J. Ross both scored it 115-113 to Bradley, dissenting with Jerry Roth, who had it 115-113 to Pacquiao. (SI.com scored it 116-112 to Pacquiao, among the more charitable scores on press row.)

The decision was met with horror, then shock, then anger by the mostly pro-Pacquiao crowd of 14,206 at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. Said promoter Bob Arum: “I went over to Bradley before the decision and he said, ‘I tried hard but I couldn’t beat the guy.’”

It marked the end of a remarkable run for Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KOs) that spanned more than seven years, 15 victories, and five championships in five weight classes — running his overall haul to a record-breaking eight.

But after everything he’s done for boxing, Manny Pacquiao is the last person who should have been cheated like this. He deserved better…

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/bryan_armen_graham/06/10/bradley.pacquiao/index.html#ixzz1xQ0jFfCx

Salty Oysters – Black Salts

Growing up the Mid-Atlantic region – one of my favorite seafood treats is oysters. Fresh shucked on the half shell, please -

• Eastern Shore Style - With a dash of Malt Vinegar
• Baltimore Style – With a sprig of lemon and seafood sauce. or
• N’awleans Style – With some spic hot pepper sauce.

Now there are folks who say the very best oysters come from Maine. I’ve tried them…

And was left decidedly unimpressed.

Chincoteague Fishing Boats

In this region knowlegable folks check where the Oysters were grown, and know that there is a distincitive taste difference between locations.

“Salty” oysters are Sea Side Oysters – grown along the Atlantic Coast back bays which have a high salinity you can taste in the Oyster.

Bay Side (Chesapeake Bay) Oysters are a lot less salty, and have a buttery taste. Indeed, there are distinct taste differences as the growing grounds are further upriver on the various tributaries where the water is less salty.

And for reasons which I don’t know – certain parts of the Chincoteague Bay a few miles north of my place produce really salty oysters. I have grown them, and they taste like Seasides… Maybe because the Ocean is only a mile away on the creek which dumps directly into the ocean – but those grown just a few miles south of Chicoteague are less salty. I have friends who also cultivate them on Oyster Banks, which are artificial reefs.

But the idea of growing a custom Oyster – is a new one on me!

Nomini Creek is a small river off the Potomac, not far from there it empties into the Chesapeake. It is a drop dead gorgeous creek, whose beauty is perhaps only surpassed by the Coan River, a few miles down and entered from he Bay, often used by experienced boaters as a Hurricane hidey hole, not wanting to take a chance entering the Potomac from the Bay at Point Lookout, which can be rough even in good weather at times. I lost two friends whose 36′ boat apparently broke up due to the vicious waves there winter before last.

The other things Oyster do is to clean the water – so more oysters, the cleaner the waters.

Jeff Black to sell his own signature oysters this fall

Bruce Wood already had lured one noted Washington restaurateur to the waters of Nomini Creek, where he began to cultivate signature oysters for Jamie Leeds , chef and owner of the small Hank’s Oyster Bar chain. So why not land another big fish to feast on his Dragon Creeks?

Like Leeds, Jeff Black was intrigued by the prospect of having his own signature oyster, but only “if I could dictate the flavor profile,” says the Houston native who grew up with the bivalves of the Gulf Coast. Black’s preferred flavor profile, I think it’s safe to say, smacks of someone who has made a living in the restaurant business: “I like a lot of salt,” he says.

Salinity, however, is one quality that Wood has in relatively short supply at Nomini Creek. His leased waters boast a relatively low salinity level, at about 12-13 parts per thousand or ppt. For the sake of comparison, seawater usually hovers around 34-35 ppt. Black would prefer to slurp down something closer in flavor to Gulf water, not pasta water.

Wood had a solution: He is also a partner with Dan Grosse at Toby Island Bay Oysters, located on Chincoteague Bay on Virginia’s Eastern Shore, where the waters are a virtual saltmine at 29-30 ppt. They would begin to farm Black’s signature oyster there.

Thus was born the Black Pearl, due to hit the oyster bars this fall atBlackSalt, Pearl Dive Oyster Palace, Black Jack and Black’s Bar & Kitchen.

Then, a funny thing happened: Cousins Ryan and Travis Croxtonfrom Rappahannock River Oysters contacted Black and said they’d like to grow an oyster for the “Don’t Call Me an Empire Builder” restaurateur as well.

Mexico – Topless Campaign Poster

Politics in Mexico just became a heck of a lot more interesting than Willard’s Gay Bashing days and Obama’s decision on Gay marriage…

Vote for me – and I’ll set you free?

Natalia Juarez, Mexican Candidate, Releases Topless Campaign Poster

Social networking sites are buzzing with debate over a Mexican congressional candidate who released a campaign poster showing herself topless.

Candidate Natalia Juarez says the poster is intended to fight prejudices.

Twitter user Camila Deborarte tweeted “I’d vote for her.” But Itzel Garcia responded, “What a shame! Even this way, she has to call attention to herself.”

Juarez is running on the ticket of the leftist Democratic Revolution Party. She is shown on the poster along with six other women, all of whom are seen covering their breasts with their left hands. Some are raising their right fists.

Juarez is a 34-year-old philosophy instructor at a local university

150 Girls Poisoned For Going to School in Afghanistan

Sometimes I come to the conclusion that the only way to “solve” the Islamic nutcase problem in Afghanistan is to go “Roman”.

That is, like in Biblical times – go scorched earth and kill every male child over the age of 6 in the country.

Look up “chickenshit” on the Web – Shortly there will be a picture of the punk azz Afghani fathers who let the Taliban who committed this crime live afterwards.

Report: 150 Afghan schoolgirls poisoned

KUNDUZ, Afghanistan – About 150 schoolgirls were poisoned Tuesday after drinking water at their high school that was contaminated, Reuters reports. Local officials blamed the incident on radicals opposed to women attending school.

Reuters said the girls suffered headaches and vomiting, with some in critical condition.

“This is not a natural illness. It’s an intentional act to poison schoolgirls,” Haffizullah Safi, head of Takhar province’s public health department, told Reuters.

The Taliban banned education for women when it controlled Afghanistan, saying it was anti-Islamic.

Girls have gone back to school since the Taliban were toppled, but attacks against female students, teachers and school buildings have occurred, particularly in southern and eastern areas of the country, when Taliban insurgents enjoy more public support.

Mike Wallace – 60 Minutes Icon

The old gang at 60 minutes is rapidly passing away. 60 Minutes was a “must see” in my household for may years, with Ed Bradley, Mike Wallace, and Harry Reasoner, and yeah – even Art Buchwald…

60 Minutes icon Mike Wallace dies at 93

CBS News legend Mike Wallace, the 60 Minutes’ pit-bull reporter whose probing, brazen style made his name synonymous with the tough interview — a style he practically invented for television more than half a century ago — died last night. He was 93 and passed peacefully surrounded by family members at Waveny Care Center in New Canaan, Conn., where he spent the past few years. He also had a home in Manhattan.

“It is with tremendous sadness that we mark the passing of Mike Wallace. His extraordinary contribution as a broadcaster is immeasurable and he has been a force within the television industry throughout its existence. His loss will be felt by all of us at CBS,” said Leslie Moonves, president and CEO, CBS Corporation.

“All of us at CBS News and particularly at 60 Minutes owe so much to Mike. Without him and his iconic style, there probably wouldn’t be a 60 Minutes. There simply hasn’t been another broadcast journalist with that much talent. It almost didn’t matter what stories he was covering, you just wanted to hear what he would ask next. Around CBS he was the same infectious, funny and ferocious person as he was on TV. We loved him and we will miss him very much,” said Jeff Fager, chairman CBSNews and executive producer of 60 Minutes.

A special program dedicated to Wallace will be broadcast on 60 Minutes next Sunday, April 15.

Wallace was as famous as the leaders, newsmakers and celebrities who suffered his blistering interrogations, winning awards and a reputation for digging out the hidden truth on Sunday nights in front of an audience that approached 40 million at broadcast television’s peak.

Wallace played a huge role in 60 Minutes’ rise to the top of the ratings to become the number-one program of all time, with an unprecedented 23 seasons on the Nielsen annual top 10 list — five as the number-one program.

He announced he would step down to become a “correspondent emeritus” in the spring of 2006, but Wallace continued to land big interviews for 60 Minutes. His last appearance on television, on January 6, 2008, was a sit-down on 60 Minutes with accused steroid user Roger Clemens that made front-page news. His August 2006 interview of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won him his 21st Emmy at the age of 89. He was also granted the first post-prison interview with assisted suicide advocate-and convicted killer Dr. Jack Kevorkian for a June 2007 60 Minutes broadcast. After a successful triple bypass operation in late January 2008, he retired from public life.

Discovering Jesus – Chavez

Amazing how many folks find Jesus when faced with mortality…

Here, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez discovers God is not just for the uneducated peasants. Many of Chavez’s avowed heroes like Che Guevera were dedicated Marxists. Folks who believed “Religion is the Opiate of the masses.”

Hugo Chavez weeps and calls on God to spare his life

Very little is known about the 57-year-old socialist leader’s condition, including even what type of cancer he has. Chavez has undergone three operations in less than a year, and received two sessions of radiation treatment.

He says the latest surgery was successful, that he is recovering well and will be fit to win a new six-year term at an election in October. Yet big questions remain about his future, and on Thursday the strain appeared to show.

In a televised speech to the Catholic service in his home state of Barinas, Chavez cried and his voice broke as he eulogised Jesus, revolutionary fighter Ernesto “Che” Guevara and South American independence hero Simon Bolivar.

“Never forget that we are the children of giants … I could not avoid some tears,” the former soldier said, his parents and other relatives looking on from the church rows.
“Give me your crown, Jesus. Give me your cross, your thorns so that I may bleed. But give me life, because I have more to do for this country and these people. Do not take me yet,” Chavez added, standing below an image of Jesus with the Crucifix.

Rosie the Riveter And Other Tales of Conveyance

Interesting picture from WWII Nashville as a woman factory worker rivets a part on a “Vengance” Dive Bomber built by Vultee Aircraft…

The interesting part here – to me at least is a black factory worker in the South during the early 40′s. Vultee initially didn’t become  a big name because most of it’s aircraft were built for our allies and foreign consumption.

Vultee would be reorganized in 1943 to become Convair, which would build the massive B-36, the F-102 Delta Dagger, F106 Delta Dart, the B-58 Hustler, and the Atlas Centaur Rocket booster. As a kid I built Revell models of most of these aircraft (what fun!).

Vultee Vengeance Dive Bomber

Thinking of things that go fast and bump in the night…

Strawberry Bugacchinno

This article mentions bugs as “meat” relative to vegetarian diets…

Bugs are “meat”?

Now these little crunchy cactus eating critters have been used for hundreds of years as a source of red dyes, and originated in Aztec and Mayan Mexico…

It is commonly used in a number of food items as coloring, including Ketchup.

So much for Ketchup being a “vegetable”.

Cochineal Bugs

Starbucks Strawberry Frappuccinos dyed with crushed up cochineal bugs, report says

Are you a fan of Starbucks Strawberry Frappuccinos? How do you feel about eating bugs?

The website thisdishisvegetarian.com reports Starbucks’ Strawberries & Creme Frappuccino is not vegan, even if it contains soy, after a barista alerted the site that the company’s new strawberry flavoring contains “cochineal extract” – which is essentially crushed up dried bugs used as dye.

“My guess would be that the recipe changed about three or four weeks ago, when our strawberry sauce got new packaging,” the barista told the website. “I was hoping you guys could help get the word out there so that no vegans end up drinking this formerly vegan frappucino by mistake!”

Cochineal extract comes from the dried bodies of cochineal bugs and has been used for thousands of years to color fabrics. The extract is also known as “carmine” or “crimson lake.”

A Starbucks spokesperson replied to the vegetarian website on March 16, according to the site.

“At Starbucks, we strive to carry products that meet a variety of dietary lifestyles and needs. We also have the goal to minimize artificial ingredients in our products,” the spokesperson said. “While the strawberry base isn’t a vegan product, it helps us move away from artificial dyes.”

HealthPop could not reach Starbucks for comment at press time.

The report has prompted a petition on Change.org that calls on Starbucks to use other natural alternatives for food coloring, including red beets, purple sweet potatoes and paprika.

The news has also prompted some to point out that a whole lot of our food already contains cochineal extract – and has for quite some time. The FDA says the dye is safe and food and cosmetic labels must state if cochineal extract is present. That means it may be found in wines, yogurts, candies, fruit drinks, ice creams, ketchup, lipsticks, eyeshadow, nail polish – you name it.

The Center for Science in the Public Interest petitioned the FDA in 1998 to get the product labeled on packaging after a study found the dye caused an allergic reaction in one patient. The CSPI has received many complaints since, it said in a 2009 article.

French RIght Wing Terrorist Not Much Different From American Counterparts

French Nazis aren’t any different than their American counterparts… Now unlike the US where drive-bys and school shootings enabled by our out of control gun culture are an everyday occurance – this level of violence is something drastic for France, as it is in most of the world.

Sarkozy: Gunman in French shootings driven by racism

French President Nicolas Sarkozy said that the same gunman who shot dead a teacher and three children at a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday was also responsible for the killing of three soldiers last week, apparently motivated by racism.

“We know that it is the same person and the same weapon that killed the soldiers, the children and the teacher,” Sarkozy said in a televised address, saying the terrorism alert level in France had been raised.

“This act is odious and cannot remain unpunished.”

Sarkozy also said he would suspend his campaign for France’s April-May presidential election until Wednesday.

French paper Le Point reported that French police are searching for three former paratroopers in connection with the Toulouse Jewish school shooting that left four dead.

According to the report, the paratroopers were dismissed over suspicion of being neo-Nazis in 2008. The Jerusalem Post could not confirm the report.

French police said earlier Monday that forensic evidence revealed the gun used to kill four people — a teacher, his two children and another child — at the Ozar Hatorah school was the same used to slay three French soldiers on two separate occasions nearby.

The victims in the shootings were all members of minority groups but the exact motivation of the killer is yet unknown.

The first murder linked to the gun took place on March 11. Police found the body of Imad Ibn-Ziaten, a 30-year-old staff sergeant of North African descent, dead behind a school in Toulouse. Investigators suspect the off duty serviceman was lured there by his murderer.

Last Thursday a gunman riding a scooter and wearing a black helmet opened fire on three French soldiers in uniform at a shopping mall in Montauban, a city 50 kilometers north of Toulouse. Abel Chennouf, 24, and Mohamed Legouad, 26, both of North African descent, were killed. Loic Liber, 28, of Afro-Caribbean descent, was left in a coma.

On Monday morning a motorcyclist similar in description to the gunman involved in the second attack drove up to the entrance of Ozar Hatorah in Toulouse and opened fire on a group of parents and children that gathered outside on the start of the school day.

Yonathan Sandler, a 30-year-old teacher from Jerusalem; his two children Aryeh, 6, and Gavriel, 3; and 8-year-old Miriam Monstango, the daughter of the school’s principal, died in the attack and several others were wounded.

“We are struck by the similarities between the modus operandi of today’s drama and those last week even if we have to wait to have more elements from the police to confirm this hypothesis,” said French President Nicolas Sarkozy at a press conference.

French police have launched a massive manhunt for the suspect while French Interior Minister Claude Gueant has ordered increased security at Jewish schools throughout the country.

Sarkozy, who is facing an election later this year, is personally overseeing the investigation in Toulouse. In a press conference, he vowed to find the perpetrator of the attacks…

13 Syrians Killed Rescuing British Journalist

This sounds like something out of an Action and Adventure movie – but it is real life. In an effort to save foreign journalists targeted by government forces, the Syrian rebels lost 13 of their own. The Revolution will not be televised…

Wounded British journalist smuggled safely out of besieged Syrian city of Homs

A wounded British photographer who had been trapped in the besieged Syrian city of Homs has been spirited safely into Lebanon in a risky journey that killed 13 rebels who helped him escape the relentless shelling and gunfire.

Also Tuesday, a Syrian diplomat stormed out of an emergency U.N. meeting amid renewed calls for a cease-fire to deliver humanitarian aid. A top human rights official said a U.N. panel’s report concluded that members of the Damascus regime were responsible for “crimes against humanity.”

The United Nations said the death toll in the 11-month uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad was well over 7,500, and activists reported more than 250 dead in the past two days alone _ mostly from government shelling in Homs and Hama province.

Tunisia’s president _ the first since the country’s own Arab Spring uprising toppled his predecessor _ offered the Syrian leader asylum as part of a negotiated peace, an offer Assad will almost surely refuse.

The harrowing ordeal of British photographer Paul Conroy, who was wounded with a French colleague last week by government rockets that killed two others, has drawn focus to the siege of Homs, which has emerged as the center of the anti-Assad uprising.

Hundreds have been killed in the city, parts of which the army has surrounded and shelled daily for more than three weeks. Many have died while venturing outside to forage for food, and activists have posted videos online of homes reduced to rubble and alleyways rendered no-go zones by snipers.

Conroy’s escape was the first sign of relief for a group of Western journalists who sneaked into Syria illegally and reached the embattled Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr only to find themselves trapped. Government rockets bombarded the makeshift media center they shared with activists last week, killing two of them and injuring Conroy and French reporter Edith Bouvier. Conroy and Bouvier later appeared in activist videos lying on makeshift hospital beds, pleading for help.

Conroy crossed the border into neighboring Lebanon after leaving Homs on Sunday evening, according to the global activist group Avaaz, which said it organized the evacuation with local activists.

The group said 35 Syrians volunteered to help get the journalists out and 13 were killed in the operation.

North Korea’s Kim Jong Il Dead

Well… Another small bit of good news on that dictator front around the world…

Kim Jong Il is dead…

Washington Nationals Catcher Rescued

A collective sigh from local sports fans…

Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos found safely, reports say

Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was found safely after he was kidnapped earlier this week in Venezuela.

Venezuelan police rescued Ramos on Friday, two days after he was kidnapped, officials announced.

Justice Minister Tareck El Aissami said on state television that Ramos was “safe and sound” and that he was rescued by police. He said the circumstances weren’t immediately clear.

Information Minister Andres Izarra initially announced the news on Twitter, saying: “The baseball player Ramos found alive by security forces in mountainous zone.”

Ramos was found in the mountains near where he was abducted, according to NBC sports.

Adam Kilgore, a Nationals beat write for the Washington Post, also wrote on the social networking site that Ramos agent, Gustavo Mercado, confirmed Ramos was found safe. Mercado was with Ramos family, Kilgore said. Ramos was “on his way back home,” he wrote on the Washington Post website.

Washington Nationals Baseball Player Kidnapped in Venezuela

One of the things you have to deal with when working in certain parts of the world is kidnapping. This is particularly prevalent in Central and South America, and has even begun happening in Mexico and several Caribbean countries. There actually is “kidnapping insurance”, but that is little consolation as the kidnappers may or may not return the victim alive even if paid off.

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos kidnapped from home in Venezuela

Washington Nationals catcher Wilson Ramos was abducted by gunmen Wednesday from his home in his native Venezuela.

Ramos, 24, was taken away in an SUV by four armed men in Santa Ines in central Carabobo state, Kathe Vilera, spokeswoman for the catcher’s Venezuelan League team, said through her official Twitter account.

“This is sad, worrisome and true that Wilson Ramos has been kidnapped,” she said. Ramos was playing winter ball with the Aragua Tigers.

She said the rising Major League Baseball star was kidnapped at 6:45 p.m. local time (2315 GMT) and that police have been notified. Santa Ines lies about 150 kilometers (95 miles) west of Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.

A person close to Ramos’ family, who asked not to be named for safety reasons, said the catcher was at home with his father and brothers when several men “entered the house and took him away.”

“As of this hour, there has been no contact” between the kidnapper and Ramos’ family, the person said.

Ramos is considered one of the Nationals’ young building blocks as they try to become a contender in the National League East. As a rookie in 2011, he hit .267 with 15 homers and 52 RBIs in 113 games. He also threw out 19 of 67 runners attempting to steal a base, a 28 percent success rate that ranked third among qualifying catchers in the National League.

George Washington’s 100 Proof Votes…

One of the things they conveniently forget on the tour of Mount Vernon, the home of our First President George Washington, is that after serving as President he started one of the most successful distillery businesses in the new nation. Up until Prohibition, Rye Whiskey outsold all other formulations, and was the most popular strong alcoholic drink in the country.

When you needed to get out the votes in those days… Well “Brother” Rye was a reliable vote getter!

Seems to me to be a lot better excuse if a candidate didn’t work out than today – “I was drunk stupid when I voted for that Republican…

Instead of today – being  stupid enough to vote for him sober!”

George Washington Plied Voters with Booze

At $185 a Bottle, a Rare Whiskey Indeed...

It’s Election Day in Virginia, an event that back in George Washington’s day would have had the ex-president and his supporters seeing double. The reason: Voting day was a reason to binge in Colonial times, and the candidate who served up the most hooch often won.

Washington biographer Dennis Pogue, vice president of preservation at Washington’s home of Mount Vernon, reveals that the father of the nation lost his first campaign in 1755 to the House of Burgesses largely because he didn’t put on an alcohol-laden circus at the polls. That year, Washington got 40 votes. The winner, who plied voters with beer, whiskey, rum punch, and wine, got 271 votes.

A quick learner, Washington won three years later with the help of alcohol. “What do you know, he was successful and got 331 votes,” says Pogue, author of the new book Founding Spirits: George Washington and the Beginnings of the American Whiskey Industry. He spoke about his research Monday night at an event sponsored by the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States and the National Press Club.

Drinking around voting polls has long since been banned in the country.

Bad Night for the Reich Wing – Good Night for America

In what are considered bellweather elections prior to the 2012 contests, Republicans went down on a lot of fronts…

Miss. defeats life-at-fertilization ballot prop

Mississippi voters Tuesday defeated a ballot initiative that would’ve declared life begins at fertilization, a proposal that supporters sought in the Bible Belt state as a way to prompt a legal challenge to abortion rights nationwide.

The so-called “personhood” initiative was rejected by more than 55 percent of voters, falling far short of the threshold needed for it to be enacted. If it had passed, it was virtually assured of drawing legal challenges because it conflicts with the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that established a legal right to abortion. Supporters of the initiative wanted to provoke a lawsuit to challenge the landmark ruling.

Ohio voters reject Republican-backed union limits

The state’s new collective bargaining law was defeated Tuesday after an expensive union-backed campaign that pitted firefighters, police officers and teachers against the Republican establishment.

In a political blow to GOP Gov. John Kasich, voters handily rejected the law, which would have limited the bargaining abilities of 350,000 unionized public workers. With more than a quarter of the votes counted late Tuesday, 63 percent of votes were to reject the law.

Democrats, unions cheered by election results

Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear, a folksy moderate Democrat, cruised to victory as expected with about 56 percent of the vote over a Republican and an Independent candidate.

The only bad news? Johnny Dupree lost in his run for Mississippi Governor. Republican Phil Bryant had 59 percent of the vote to 41 percent for Democrat Johnny DuPree, with 43 percent of the votes counted. If DuPree had won, the mayor of Hattiesburg would have been the first African-American to win statewide office in Mississippi in modern times.