One Daughter Away from the White House
Out of everything that chilled me to the bone about Bill Clinton's Lewinsky affair, nothing bothered me more than him messing around with the intern with his teen daughter in the building.
Judicial Activism Must Stop
The Jackson Free Press revealed in a breaking story online last week that some Mississippi Supreme Court justices had been deliberating how to change a state law that determines who gets to be the chief justice and presiding justices, essentially turning the positions into popularity contests among the justices.
[Sue Doh Nem] Beating Down Insensitivity
Mr. Announcement: "Ghetto Science Television presents the final episode of the short-lived reality series 'Kunta the Unruly Y'all Mart Employee.'
Where is the Humanity in Laurel, Miss.?
Last Monday morning, Aug. 25, federal immigration agents descended on Laurel, Miss., to conduct the largest immigration raid in the country, where they arrested 600 workers at a manufacturing plant.
Yes, They Can
Last Friday, several interns sat in front of their computers, refreshing their e-mail inboxes. They also had their cell phones at the ready, impatiently waiting for the big text message to come from Barack Obama announcing his running mate.
Start Asking Questions
Community response to the proposed National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility in Flora brings to mind a question every mother has asked an irresponsible teenager since time immemorial: "If 'everyone' jumped off a cliff, would you follow?"
[Kamikaze] The Media Fix Is In
Some of you may know that in a former life I was a journalist. Yes, your friendly neighborhood mad-rapper turned concerned-citizen was once an aspiring cub reporter trying to put a mass communications degree to good use.
[Rayburn] Time to Enfranchise Youth
The average American citizen has access to more information than ever before. Candidates are waging and winning political campaigns through grass-roots outreach efforts to Joe and Jane Citizen, and few elections of recent memory were as exciting and energizing as the current race for the White House.
[Sue Doh Nem] Rise of the Ghettocratic Party
Nurse Tootie McBride: "Brothers, sisters and ghettocratic delegates, welcome to the first Ghettocratic convention, held at the Clubb Chicken Wing Multi-Purpose Complex."
Something to Hide, Mississippi?
The Jackson Free Press recently submitted an information request to the city of Jackson for some fairly modest figures.
Magic of the Game
Some people are true sports fans. They venture out to every game, rain or shine, regardless of the projected excitement of the matchup; they tear up at the end of a losing game or at a monumental triumph. They have a fiercely passionate relationship with sports.
[Sue Doh Nem] 'Slave Ship Enterprise'
Cholly Bossman: "CEO's log in the year of 2008 and 2/3: A couple of corporate supervisors and I made a surprise inspection of Crunchie Burga World's Food Distribution Warehouse, a place where processed Crunchie Burga World food items and productssuch as Crunchie Burgers and Blackened Crispy Friesare packaged and sent to Crunchie Burga World ghetto franchises nationwide.
[Queen] Raising a Man
As a single mother attempting to raise an astute son, I find that I am never sure what I'm doing.
Smells Like Team Spirit
When interns show up at the Jackson Free Press, they come through the door a tad nervous, hoping to get some sort of experience. They have a foggy idea that they might be picking up coffee and lunch for the people doing the real work.
Judge Discrimination Must Stop
Jackson attorney Dennis Sweet is calling attention to a recent change in Hinds County Circuit Court that should alarm every county resident, regardless of race. Hinds County Chief Judge Swan Yerger issued a memorandum to circuit court judges last November, dividing the four justices into two different case categories.
[Sue Doh Nem] A Good Purse Beat-Down
Nurse Tootie McBride: "It's 'The Nurse Tootie Factor' television show on the Ghetto Science Team Cable Network. And you have entered the 'Spin Zone'plus 'Rinse and Wash' cycles.
[Kamikaze] Dear Whiners
This column is dedicated to the whiners. Loyal readers, I suggest you copy and paste this column into an e-mail message to all the naysayers, cynics and haters of Jackson.
[Kinnison] 'Motivate and Delegate'
This summer, after I crossed Interstate 10 and returned home after graduating from Loyola University, I showed up at the Jackson Free Press again. I had first interned at the JFP when I was still at Jackson Prep, in the early days of the JFP, when the office was in a duplex.
Dear Larry: Jackson More Than a 'Market'
The Clarion-Ledger's current publisher Larry Whitaker announced in a staff memo last week that Mississippi's state-wide Gannett property will lay off 20 employees on top of the hiring freeze it has in effect, in order to maintain current levels of profitability.
[Middleton] Freedom Van Now
Once a year, some of the coolest chicks of all, the Jackson Free Press chicks, host an event that makes such a difference, you just have to be a part!
Feds Need to Get 'Er Done
The U.S. Constitution probably breathed a sigh of relief last week when the U.S. Department of Justice announced indictments of Mayor Frank Melton and his two bodyguards for the alleged Aug. 26, 2006, attack on a Ridgeway Street duplex.
[Sue Doh Nem] Riots, Crime, Etc.
Nurse Tootie McBride: "Live from the Ghetto Science Public Television Studios is 'The Nurse Tootie Show.'
[Kamikaze] Winning In Spite
I apologize. My first intentions were to sum up my experiences in Africa. I know some of you were eager to hear more. But there's something more important at play here.
Innocents Abroad
It was with a bit a trepidation that I approached last week's bus trip to Little Rock arranged by former City Councilman Ben Allen, now president of Downtown Jackson Partners.
Half-Way Isn't Enough
A city-wide smoking ban extending to all restaurants without a "stand-alone" bar barely survived the city council last month. Before deciding on the partial ban, members voted down two different versions of the ban, including a more complete ban on smoking in all businesses within city limits, including bars.
[Sue Doh Nem] 'Down With Being Broke
Still Bill: "You're listening to Ghetto Science Team Internet Radio, courtesy of Aunt Tee Tee Hustle's computer technology class. This is your funk doctor streaming old-school music and information across the World Wide Web.
[Kamikaze] Feels Like Home
Greetings from across the Atlantic to all of you. Of course I would have loved to check in with you guys sooner, but Internet access is not nearly as available here as it is in the States.
[Hutchinson] Obama Never Said 'No' to Bush on Iraq
"Let me be clear: There is no military solution in Iraq, and there never was. The best way to protect our security and to pressure Iraq's leaders to resolve their civil war is to immediately begin to remove our combat troops. Not in six months or one yearnow."
The Wind in My Fro
Mississippi in July, ah. What joy the summer sun brings to us southerners!
Call Off Your Dog, Barbour
Last Thursday, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant refused to let the Senate even consider a bill raising the state's pathetic 17-cent excise tax on a pack of cigarettes to counter the $90 million Medicaid budget shortfall.