[Stiggers] Operation ‘Cover Your Butt'
"Congressman, last week, the government was like a falling cat able to land on its feet in a nick of time. Whew! A lot of folks were glad that the government avoided a shutdown. You and the Ghetto Science Team's Government Task Force had plan weeks before the shutdown. Tell the viewers about it."
[Kamikaze] Political Drama
The federal government was able to avert shutdown. Whether or not you actually believed it would happen, it stands to reason that all of us should take pause at how close a shutdown actually came.
[Polen] Learning from Austin
"This is how a city should feel," I thought to myself.
[Balko] A History of Paternalism
Government-sponsored public health campaigns have given us many memorably mockable moments, from talking crash-test dummies to "I learned it by watching you!" Now, courtesy of the federal government's National Institutes of Health, you can relive those campaigns (or at least the print versions of them) via a searchable, browsable online archive.
Who's Fooling Whom?
No one likes to be fooled.
Waiting on Transparency
The past week was a decent week for transparency in Mississippi, at least compared to most weeks in these parts. For one thing, the city of Jackson launched its 311 service so that residents can both log inquiries and requests and track the progress of the response.
[Stiggers] Controlling the Masses
Cockeyed Chicken Lady: "I'm your former spokesperson for Cockeyed Chicken here to inform the Ghetto Science community about my resignation from Cockeyed Chicken Inc. During my three years as spokesperson for Cockeyed Chicken, I studied and learned a lot about marketing techniques used to convince consumers in the Ghetto Science community to buy and eat Cockeyed Chicken."
[McLaughlin] Giving Time
The worst thing is for a child to expect you and then you not show up.
[Balko] Failing Upward in Criminal Justice
When the SWAT team came for Richard Paey in 1997, officers battered down the front door of the Florida home he shared with his wife and their two children. Paey is a paraplegic who uses a wheelchair after a car accident and a botched back surgery. He also suffers from multiple sclerosis. Paey was accused of distributing the medication he used to treat his chronic pain, even though there was no evidence he had sold or given away a single pill. Thanks to Florida's draconian drug laws, he was eventually convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Jackson Emerging
As I walked through the parking lot in front of the Mississippi Museum of Art on a cold, wet Monday morning, it was hard at first to visualize the same space as a vibrant garden with water fountains, blooming flowers, free Wi-Fi and laughing babies just a few months from now.
Sure, ‘Rebrand,' But Don't Stop There
A group of city and county leaders got together this week to hear a South Carolina company explain how it is going to spend three days talking to citizens and then present us with a plan to "rebrand" Hinds County.
[Stiggers] Forget the Mess
"Don't allow the troubles of this world to ruin your peace of mind. All you need is a comfortable exercise mat or your favorite blanket, and your imagination."
[Kamikaze] Jackson, Waking Up
Some of you may be familiar with the tale "The Emperor's New Clothes." It's a short story written in the 1800s by the Danish author Hans Christian Andersen that gives some amazing insight into human nature.
[Head] Rebels Without a Cause
It's difficult to effectively address a racism issue by sweeping the subject of race under the rug.
[Balko] How Drug Cops Go Bad
If you browse the website of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), you will notice a conspicuous theme: The war on drugs is corrupting America's cops.
Ode to Fondren
I moved to Jackson because of Fondren. (I can hear a few of you cursing Fondren now.) More specifically, it was because of Rainbow Whole Foods, which a friend of ours had turned us on to during a dinner in Manhattan.
Attract Creative Class With Art
The city of Jackson took a significant step forward last week when City Human and Cultural Services Director Michael Raff announced a public-art initiative. Jackson Mayor Harvey Johnson Jr. has committed 1 percent of all eligible capital-improvement funds for public art displays around the city, and the administration is seeking community members to get involved.
[Stiggers] Good Deeds, Bad Events
"As your elected congressman and public servant, I am here to let you know that crap, mess, drama, trouble, gloom, despair and agony happens, and they are a part of this world's order. However, along with order comes balance. The good deeds of concerned and sympathetic people follow bad events."
[Our Turn] A Call for Understanding
Taking more accurately the universal message of the Civil Rights Movement to heart, this letter is not a call for silence, as that would be antithetical to the Movement as well. Rather, this letter is a call for understanding.
[Hill] Healing Words
What impresses me is that he did not call them "bad" or label them "thugs."
[Balko] Getting Forensics Right
by Radley Balko March 14, 2011 After countless scandals in recent years, the problems with America's forensics system are finally getting some national attention. In December, Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced a bill to reform the country's crime labs. In January, ProPublica and Frontline teamed up for a year-long investigation into the ways criminal autopsies are conducted across the country.
The Rest of ... The Story
Back in 2005, a Canadian TV producer asked me if he could film Mississippians working for the Jackson Free Press investigating a civil-rights cold case in Franklin County for a documentary.
Redistricting: Get Moving
The Mississippi House of Representatives did the right thing this week by stapling its Senate-rejected redistricting plan onto the Senate's own redistricting map. Both chambers must approve each other's redistricting map to complete the new districts by the June 1 deadline to qualify for House or Senate elections this year.
[Stiggers] Smart Dummies
Mr. Announcement: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented by two members of the McBride family: police officer and part-time security guard at the Funky Ghetto Mall, Dudley ‘Do-Right' McBride; and attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I. This is their story."
[Kamikaze] Do the Right Thing
Let's be honest. I'm sure all parents agree that kids need discipline. Kids need to learn respect; kids need to learn tolerance. But what happens when a kid feels like he doesn't see those qualities exemplified by the adults around him, adults who are charged with instilling in them those same values?
[Dickerson] Dances with Panthers
Suddenly, the big cat began moving toward me, slowly at first, then faster...
[Balko] Leviathan's Lawyers
Attorney General Eric Holder's announcement last month that the U.S. Justice Department's Office of the Solicitor General would no longer defend the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act in federal court spurred some interesting discussion among legal scholars and commentators about the decision's rationale and significance.
Back in the Saddle
Like many of us, I started off the new year so well. I actually began an intensive fitness makeover at 6 a.m. on Dec. 30--just so that I would have a head start on everyone.
Reject the Partisan Posturing
Politics are getting uglier by the day.
Politics are getting uglier by the day.
[Stiggers] The Greatest Thing
"He understands the law of cause and effect: If you make workers give up their pension, accept lower wages and settle for the life their great-grandparents had, they will go on strike and affect the profits of the business."