MeridianTeaParty.com will hold a Candidates Forum on July 26th, 2011 starting at 6:00pm at EMEPA Auditorium.

All candidates who responded to our Candidates Questionnaire by the deadline have been invited and will be given time on stage to talk about their candidacy. Everyone will have the opportunity to personally question candidates after the candidates have spoken. We’ll be designating different areas of the room for candidates to make themselves directly available to any voter.

Everyone is invited to attend this event and take advantage of this opportunity to spend some time with the candidates just prior to the election!

Date: Tuesday, July 26th, 2011
Time: 6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location: EMEPA Auditorium

Based on the quality of the film, the attendance and audience reactions to the film, The Temple Theater has decided to have at least two encore performances!

The Encore Show Times will be:

• Monday, June 27th at 7:00pm
• Tuesday, June 28th at 7:00pm

If you were unable to see the film on Friday or Saturday, here’s two more chances to get to the Temple and SEE THIS FILM!

I can tell you for certain: The professional critics got this one very, very wrong! It is a great film and can be enjoyed by everyone who believes in the power of the individual to overcome overwhelming odds and succeed in spite of everything.

The Temple Theater will continue to honor any of the MeridianTeaParty.com passes that have been given away!

There will be three showings:

• Friday, June 24th at 7:00pm
• Saturday, June 25th at 4:00pm
• Saturday, June 25th at 7:00pm

Tickets will be $5.00 for adults and $3.00 for Students.

This film is rated PG-13.

Atlas Shrugged Movie: Part I Film Synopsis

Dagny Taggart (Taylor Schilling) runs Taggart Transcontinental, the largest remaining railroad company in America, with intelligence, courage and integrity, despite the systematic disappearance of her best and most competent workers.

She is drawn to industrialist Henry Rearden (Grant Bowler), one of the few men whose genius and commitment to his own ideas match her own. Rearden’s super-strength metal alloy, Rearden Metal, holds the promise that innovation can overcome the slide into anarchy.

Using the untested Rearden Metal, they rebuild the critical Taggart rail line in Colorado and pave the way for oil titan Ellis Wyatt (Graham Beckel) to feed the flame of a new American Renaissance.

Hope rises again, when Dagny and Rearden discover the design of a revolutionary motor based on static electricity – in an abandoned engine factory – more proof to the sinister theory that the “men of the mind” (thinkers, industrialists, scientists, artists, and other innovators) are “on strike” and vanishing from society.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Atlas Shrugged is a novel that has generated inspiration and controversy since its publication in 1957.

Its theme is the role of individual achievement in society and its goal is to demonstrate what can happen when individual achievement is undervalued, suppressed and demonized. Complex characters embody heroism and evil, in a plot that combines drama, mystery, romance, and science fiction – the result is ultimately inspirational, not apocalyptic.

Dagny Taggart is one of the finest female heroines in modern literature: intelligent, courageous, and as beautiful as she is strong. She is a rare screen example of life lived on one’s own terms, for one’s own values. Steel magnate Henry Rearden says, “My goal is to make money” with pride. He is an industrialist who improves the quality of life for all – and values his reward. Atlas Shrugged’s villains are evil, but as familiar as our local neighbor – as they undercut and subvert talent and achievement.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Relevance Today – Ayn Rand, Atlas Shrugged & Objectivism

Ask yourself: What would happen, if our producers disappear – Steve Jobs, Sergey Brin and other industrialists fall off the radar, their companies shuttered and their creative genius no longer powering America? The answer lies in Atlas Shrugged Part I.

For the millions around the world who have read Rand’s books, for those curious about her controversial philosophy, and for the uninitiated, and skeptical – the film, which only covers the first third of the book, is an opportunity to see a faithful adaptation.

Rand’s unique literary genius – which we hope to make accessible to a broader audience via film – is to show the price to be paid by the individual and society when the tragic words “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need” are carried out.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Participating sponsors are WAPT News, and the Mississippi Center for Public Policy. Moderators will be Forest Thigpen, the President of Mississippi Center For Public Policy, and Stephanie Maxwell, 16WAPT News Anchor.

If you want to submit a question to be used in the debate, send your question to CentralMSTeaParty@gmail.com.

If you cannot attend the event, you can watch the debate live at www.stogtv.com.

Click to open a pdf version of the flyer!

On June 14, 2011, in commemoration of Flag Day and to show our pledged allegiance to the American Flag, the Starkville T.E.A. Party will host a FLAG DAY PATRIOTIC RALLY to be held at the Circuit Court Complex, 108 W. Main Street, Starkville.  Several activities are being planned to make this event memorable not only to our young children and students of all ages, but also to their parents and grandparents.

School-aged students and adults are invited to write and submit essays that follow the FLAG DAY theme:  “What the American Flag Means to Me!” Guidelines and specific rules must be adhered to in order to qualify.  Unbiased judges will evaluate the essays according to the following five categories and length: Grades: 1-3 (25-100 words); 4-6 (50-200 words); 7-9 (50-300 words); 10-12 (100-400 words); adults (100-500 words).

Essays will be accepted through June 7, 2011, and must be accompanied by the writer’s name, address and phone number, and student’s age/grade in school.  Essays may be submitted in either of the following ways:

• email to FlagDayEC@gmail.com
• postal mail to Flag Day Essay Contest / PO Box 2349 / Starkville MS 39760
• hand delivery to Designers’ Gallery / 201 Hwy. 12E / Starkville, MS 39760

First and second place essay winners will be recognized and will receive an autographed copy of America’s Story: A Pictorial History of the Pledge of Allegiance. Additionally, each first place winner will be presented a folded American Flag that has been flown over our Nation’s Capital and the opportunity to be on the program to read aloud their essay.

Tricia Raymond

Guest speaker is Mrs. Tricia Raymond of Madison, MS. Among her many contributions to the preservation of our American liberties and the U.S. Constitution, Tricia is the author of America’s Story: A Pictorial History of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Published in 2007, this educational book will be available for purchase at the Flag Day Patriotic Rally on June 14.

It is our hope that many will participate in this PATRIOTIC essay contest opportunity and in this commemoration and celebration of FLAG DAY.  The program will warm your patriotic blood.  Honored veterans and all patriotic Americans are invited to attend and participate!

Questions or comments: please contact Mary Cole (mary.cole313@gmail.com) or Rachelle McKibben (mrsmckib@gmail.com).

This has become one of the highlights of the Run For The Wall riders as they pass through Mississippi and once again members of MeridianTeaParty.com folks did our hometown proud!

Elizabeth Lagrone who headed up the effort for us had this to say, “Our breakfast muffins were a great hit again this year. All the RFTW folks were very appreciative. Please put a thank you out on the website for all who helped.”

How about more than one:

Thank you, Thank You, Thank You!

The time to welcome the Riders For The Wall is nearly upon us again and once again, MeridianTeaParty.com is planning to make these riders feel as welcome as we possibly can when they get here.

But we need some volunteers to help make this happen!

Anyone interested in helping with cooking muffins for the run for the wall group please contact Elizabeth Ann Lagrone at 601 632-1444 or email at ealagrone@aim.com by May 7.

Muffins will be delivered on May 24 at 5:30 AM at the agriculture center.

We will need about 1,000 muffins to feed everyone so we need your help!

Based upon the response we got from the riders last year, their Meridian stop is one of the highlights of their journey. Please help us make it a wonderful experience for these Patriots once again!

2010 Run For The Wall Photos:

Mississippi Elections Calendar (PDF)

Pay particular attention to the August 2nd date for Primary Elections and November 8th for General Elections.

Click link below to download the list:

List of Local Candidates (pdf format)

MeridianTeaParty.com will discussing our plans to be involved in the upcoming local elections, giving everyone a look at the questionnaire we will be sending to each candidate, as well as begin the planning process for our Local Candidates Forum we will hold before the primaries in August at The Temple Ballroom.

Everyone is invited! Please make plans to attend if you can.