Jackblog

Subscribe

Will the Debt Deal Spell Disaster for the U.S.?

Paul Krugman explains in his New York Times column why we could be facing economic disaster as a result of the obsession over slashing spending:

WaPo: Who ‘Wins' With The Debt Ceiling Deal?

Some say the debt deal announced this weekend helps Obama claim centrist cred and position him for re-election:

Candidate Sandridge Says Jackson Threatens Madison ‘Way of Life'

Here is the full write-up:

In his bought campaign write-up in The Northside Sun this week, Madison County Sheriff candidate Mark Sandridge amps up the anti-Jackson rhetoric that brought him massive criticism in May when he ran this campaign ad. This write-up, which the Sun gives candidates who also buy advertising in the paper, goes even further than calling Jackson one of the "most violent cities in the nation" (which is inaccurate). In this anti-Jackson diatribe, Sandridge borrows from segregationist language of old and says that Jackson—now a majority-black city—actually "threatens our schools, businesses, property values and way of life."

Mark a Ballot

"Are you voting in the primary elections?" I asked him. I knew I was marking a ballot Tuesday.

I was riding with my friend back home after seeing Cowboy and Aliens at Malco Theaters. I looked at the election signs that seemed to multiply overnight.

Field Trip, Indeed

"It'll be like a field trip," said Lacey McLaughlin, while instructing me to retrieve the Hinds County Sherriff campaign contributions from the Circuit Court Clerk.

Why Write? We've Got Computers!

I've been doing too much work in my head and on paper instead of where it actually counts so that people can see it. I didn't realize this until last week when Donna asked about my lack of blog posts. At first I was so confused. How could she have forgotten all of the things about jobs and school and life that I had been writing about this summer? Turns out I was just being crazy, because all of this is written on paper and is neatly tucked away in my room. This ordeal made me wonder: Why have I been keeping everything on paper? Is it some weird form of procrastination or am I just unwilling to change my routine?

Cult of ‘Objectivity' Is Destroying America

Anyway, here is some of what Krugman says. (Better late than never, I guess.):

So-called media objectivity is destroying our country, The New York Times' Paul Krugman is telling us on his blog. I've been warning about this he-said-she-said approach to journalism for years now: a faulty device that tries to split any side down the middle regardless of what the facts are. It is just the opposite of real "enterprise" or investigative reporting. I like to tell my students and staffers that it's actually opinion writing when you take a story and just quote two different opinions and call it objective. It's ludicrous. What matters, or should matter, is actual fact finding -- not just quoting people giving bad facts, which we see constantly in mainstream journalism. And, way too often, without bothering to factcheck (most daily papers don't; we do) or to correct faulty information said by one of the "sides" quotes. And it's a false division: the two sides are often decided by some fake political compass that divides people into left or right, Democrat or Republican, when most Americans reject that kind of binary categorization. Meantime, they allow their media to get away with it.

The War on Math, Part 2: Is the GOP Out of Step with America?

In the continuing GOP/Tea Party "War On Math," the insistence on balancing the budget by cutting spending may be doing serious damage to the Republican Party's credibility -- so says Professor Lawrence Jacobs writing for CNN, who finds that polling is going against the GOP in a big way.

The Great Debate: Who Won?

If you watched the gubernatorial debate on WLBT, share your thoughts here. Who do you think was the best debater, and why? Who didn't do so well? Do you have a favorite quote? (I would like to know why the independent candidates weren't on the panel, actually.)

Don't forget the little things

It's the little things.

I started interning at the JFP amid a buzz of activity preparing for the annual Chick Ball. Stacks of donations for the charity auction collected in almost every available corner, and readings assigned to us interns examined past domestic violence cases the JFP had written about.

The Topic Was Wondering

Hello Worldwide Web! JFP Intern Alexis G., here.

Step Into the Mind of Alexis G.

Originality

I silenced a sleepy yawn as I sat on the red chair in the Jackson Free Press office, waiting for my interview with Ronni Mott concerning my summer internship. I was freshly out of college for the summer and my body was still feeling the pain from all-nighters I pulled during the finals week. A door opened, its sound pulling me out of drowsiness. I looked up to a woman and gawked at her as she gave me an awkward but polite smile while walking to her office.

The Past Two Months…

When I was first deciding where to intern, my immediate choice was the JFP. My sister's boyfriend, Jonathan O'Keefe, was an intern here a couple of years ago, and my roommate, Holly Harlan, began as an intern last year and ended up having a job as a graphic designer. It only seemed right that I follow in their footsteps, and I'm very glad I did. The first day I began working was May 11th. I quickly noticed that everyone was extremely nice and helpful.

The Viking Classic is Set to Tee Off Thursday

In 2009 the Viking Classic was cancelled to due rain and Mississippi missed out on hosting its only PGA event. This 2011 edition of the Viking Classic is a make up for the missed 2009 tournament.

The Hinds County Armory

Recently, I visited the Hinds County Armory, which is located on the State Fairgrounds. The building has characteristics of the gothic revival in architecture, and it is fairly obvious that it was once very handsome and awe-inspiring. It still is, if you can look past the utter disrepair of the poor building. With over 30 years of disuse and neglect under its belt, the old armory is now in terrible condition--massive holes in the roof, severe weather damage, vandalism, etc. With such a lack of interest in the building, it is likely to never be restored to any kind of functional condition.

Blogs