Jackblog

Get the Lead Out

According to a recent ABC News report, several brands of lipstick contain lead, including popular brands such as Cover Girl and L'Oreal:

And the Nobel Peace Prize goes to…

...Al Gore, who is sharing it equally with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Mychal Bell back in jail

He has to spend 18 months in a juvenile facility for violating his probation. However, the charges are old and weren't brought up until now, so Sharpton and others see this as some sort of revenge.

Every so often, I come across something really useful on the Internet that isn't trying to sell me anything. If you're like me, it's even better if it tells me where to get cool, free stuff. Here's a page that fits both of those criteria: The Massive Free Education List from Jimmy Ruska. The list includes 177 free Berkeley Video Courses— on everything from Psych 101 to Operating Systems—plus resources for free language learning sites to free software. Check it out.

Eaves Makes Front Page of NY Times

In a story headlined In Mississippi, Democrat Runs in G.O.P. Lane, reporter Adam Nossiter explores John Eaves' run to Haley Barbour's right on social and religious issues:

Noose Found on Door of Black Columbia Professor

Well, if anything, the Jena 6 situation is going to expose the racism and bigotry in our midst—all of our midst. And that is a damn good thing. We've got to clean out these wounds and deal with the ugliness. And you can't do that if you're in denial about it being there. Associated Press:

Feds Might Buy Gulf Coast Homes

Did you guys see this? (AP) The federal government is considering buying out as many as 17,000 homes along the Mississippi coast and remaking the land into a vast hurricane protection zone. For some, the proposal sparks a number of worries, including anxiety that it could destroy the waterfront lives many residents have been struggling to regain in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The Mississippi Coastal Improvement Program could cost $40 billion, including buying the homes, building levees and restoring barrier islands. The land could be converted into wetlands or other public uses, such as golf courses or bike trails, but could not be sold for private development.

Barbour Attacks Eaves for Suing the Military; Eaves Responds

In recent TV ads, Gov. Haley Barbour feigns outrage at his opponent for suing the military as a trial attorney. Eaves responds in an e-mail and TV spot that indicates that Barbour isn't explaining why he sued the Pentagon:

He Fired a 9mm and They Didn't Check His Background?!?

What!?! Just because a man is a "homeowner" firing at apparent "thugs" with his semiautomatic, the JPD doesn't check his background? Good Lord. There goes another Clarion-Ledger front-page hero.

JFP Registration Announcement

If you have registered for the JFP site recently, please go try your user name and password to see if you've been approved (you may not get an e-mail back about it). Everyone should be aware, however, that we are rejecting registrations that use a free-service e-mail address (like Yahoo) with no other identifying information, due to recent abuse of the system. If you are using one of those addresses and have not been approved to post, please use a more established e-mail address or get in touch with the JFP admin and verify your identity (you do not have to be identified online, however). Getting such an address approved may require providing the JFP a working phone number.

NAMIWalks 2007: another successful year!

Our team raised $129.93, and my T-shirt design won 3rd place. Also, two team members won door prizes. What a great day!

Mea Culpa from Ledger's Hampton ... Sort of

But notice that his only solution to the problem of newspapers' decreasing coverage of "complex" political issues is finding more bloggers for the Ledger's site. Sigh; it's sad to watch daily newspapers shrink andd die due to their own purposeful irrelevance in the community, while their leaders can do nothing about it but beg for more bloggers:

"State of the Nation" Art and Performance Festival Starts Today

"State of the Nation" Art and Performance Festival Oct. 4-6, starting at 7 p.m. every night at the F.D. Hall Music Center at JSU. Featuring Teo Castellanos, Uprooted: The Katrina Project, Sunni Patterson, Saddi Khali and more. $15 single night general admission, $10 single night for students and seniors and $25 for a festival pass. For more info, call 601-473-6074.

Lobbyist: Barbour Has No Ties to Firm

Bobby Harrison is reporting in the Daily Journal that Lanny Griffith has issued a statement about Haley Barbour's current status with his (former?) lobbying firm.

GAO: FEMA Favored Mississippi Over Louisiana

The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office has confirmed that FEMA favored Mississippi over Louisiana after Katrina, concurring with the Department of Homeland Security's inspector general who criticized FEMA for awarding "the vast majority of the available funds (about 71 percent) to one project in one state." Associated Press:

Ellington