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[Mott] Nearing Nirvana
I've always been fascinated with how my brain works. Sometimes, it's downright confounding. Take dieting, for example. I know exactly what I should be eating (and not eating), but I can talk myself out of doing what's good for me in a hot second.
Into The Unknown
For me, high school was awful. I felt like I was trapped in useless classes surrounded by immature and idiotic people. Then comes senior year, when everyone pretends they have always loved each other. People who have hardly spoken a word to you in three years suddenly want to be your best friend. And in my opinion, everyone becomes entirely too emotional. To finally be free of it all is a dream come true. "College" says to me that I will be able to see who I choose, learn about what I choose and be free of all that high school drama.
Be the Actors
I was running late and felt lost in the hallways of the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, D.C, last week, as I attempted to find Sen. Roger Wicker's office. My feet ached because I had bought into the "pain equals beauty" mantra and walked miles in heels. I was in D.C. after the CARE organization invited me to attend their conference. I followed two young Mississippi women as they lobbied on behalf of legislation to improve access to food, health and maternal care for women throughout the world.
[Young] Save Our Men
It is Friday morning. The rain is slowing from an overnight storm. The streets are wet, and the air is humid and cold. The gray skies and wet chill are no deterrent for concerned citizens silently gathering at the Medical Mall in Jackson to bring attention to an epidemic in Mississippi that killsthe spread of HIV.
[Letter To The Editor] Payday Loans Needed
Every American adult has experience in financial management. But despite the fact that we all manage our personal finances and make decisions every day about how to spend, save and invest, many of us remain baffled by the complicated systems behind our dollars.
[Stiggers] Dear Jackson Free Press Readership
As of today I am relocating to Atlanta to help take care of my mother, Mrs. Ruby Stiggers. This is something I must do because for many years "Miss Ruby" cared for me. She supported me in everything I ever did—high school, college, career choices and even living in Mississippi. She never judged or criticized me harshly; she just loved, prayed and encouraged me consistently.
[Stiggers] Whooty Whoot Time
Mr. Whooty Whoot Man: "Good morning! And welcome to the 'Mr. Whooty Whoot' television show. This program is brought to you by a tiny grant from the Poor Ghetto Children's Television Network. Additional funding is brought to you by the Ghetto Science Team's Community Stimulus and the Let Me Hold Five Dollars National Bank (L.M.H.F.D.N.B.).
[Greggs] Missing The Window
I first heard the phrase "missing the window" in my youth. It quite possibly was gleaned from one summer's obsession with the movie "Space Camp." You know the one, right? Kids go to Space Camp, kids accidentally get launched into space, Kate Capshaw was the "real" astronaut on the flight? Yes, it was extremely reality-based. I just recently discovered the cute valley girl in the film is Kelly Preston—John Travolta's Scientologist wife. For some reason, the very fact that she didn't know she would later marry "Danny Zuko" and completely lose her mind is very amusing to me. I often point to the screen and snicker at her references to space aliens in the movie—she has obviously been groomed since the early '80s for this dubious transformation into Scientologist alien queen.
Voter Shenanigans Could be Costly
A curious exchange took place between Rep. John Hines, D-Greenville, and Republican Speaker Philip Gunn of Clinton over the weekend, as the Legislature hammered a budget for state agencies.
Whose River Is it?
In the past weeks, the Jackson Free Press has spent some time looking into the Two Lakes plan for flood control and economic development on the Pearl Rivera plan that's come back so many times from the grave that it makes "Night of the Living Dead" seem like a History Channel documentary.
[Grayson] Our Way Of Life
When I was 16 years old, my friends talked me into going to a local teen dance club. I begged my grandmother to approve, and we were off. I spent all evening getting dolled up for my first club appearance. When we pulled up to the club, I was nervous, but the music was blasting, the line was long, and I was ready to dance. When we finally made it inside, I was a little nervous but excited nonetheless.
[Saldaña] Keeping Seale Free
On Jan. 26, 2007, two days after a federal grand jury indicted former Klansman James Ford Seale with three counts of kidnapping and conspiracy, his defense attorneys moved to dismiss all charges on the grounds that the charges violated the statute of limitations.
The Best We Can Be
Last week, I attended one of those uniquely Jackson events that national media never seem to know about when they paint us with a broad brush. It was a performance of "Defamation," a play by a Chicago playwright that allows the audience to act as jury and decide whether a black woman or a Jewish man should win a defamation suit she brought against him because he assumed she stole a watch from him and then caused her to lose business as a result.
The Merry Month Of June
Unlike many fellow Jacksonians, I actually look forward to the month of June, despite the impending heat and humidity. That's partly because it's Jubilee!JAM Month—and this year the Jackson Free Press was extremely pleased to partner with JAM to help get the word out about its return to Capitol Street and its emergence, once again, as a high-caliber downtown music festival. Word is it was extremely successful and has put the JAM organization on the footing it needs to continue bringing national acts to downtown Jackson. We look forward to being a partner with JAM for many years to come.
[Balko] How Many More Are Innocent?
Calculating the percentage of innocents now in prison is a tricky and controversial process. In hundreds of cases, courts have overturned convictions due to lack of evidence, recantation of eyewitness testimony, or police or prosecutorial misconduct, cases for which no DNA evidence was present to establish definitive guilt or innocence.
[Stauffer] A 21st Century Boom Town?
When we launched the Jackson Free Press seven years ago this week, it was with a cover story on Jackson's "creative class." Seven years later as the JFP rolls into Volume 8, I still hear from people surprised, amazed and (at least, more often than not) pleased to see the JFP is still kicking andin factgrowing.
‘Jackson is the New Jackson'
When we started the JFP, we had the vague notion that we could help turn Jackson into "the new Austin." For us, that is no longer the goal. Austin is cool, and its turnabout from a boring capital city not long ago to a musical Mecca (with the help of its alt-weekly) is legend. But that was their path; this city is on our own. We don't need to be Austin.
[Stiggers] Booty-Gate and the Mystery Pol
Mr. Announcement: "On this episode of 'All God's Churn Got Shoes,' the deputy secretary of state's mishap has inspired the 'hypocrisy division' of the Ladies in Church Hats, Union 203 and 7/8, to conduct an audio/video surveillance mission, across the street from Madame T.J. Hooka's Booty Reportin' for Duty Erotic Fantasy Escort Service. The Ladies in Church Hats have set up their surveillance equipment inside an abandoned church bus. They call this assignment 'Mission Hypocritical—Code Name Booty-Gate.'
[Balko] The Subversive Vending Machine
In 1819 the English publisher, bookseller, and radical Richard Carlisle was sentenced to three years in prison for blasphemy and seditious libel. Carlisle's imprisonment was partly due to his publication of pamphlets exposing what's now known as the Peterloo Massacre, in which a cavalry brigade attacked tens of thousands of protesters who had gathered to call for reforms to Parliament, and partly because he published the banned works of enlightenment figures such as Thomas Paine.
How To Be Pro-Life
It was peaceful in Fondren this week, the "no public restrooms" signs gone from store windows, locals lunching outside Basil's without worrying about their children's growth being stunted by horrifying political photos.