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[Mimi] Hurl Rice, Not Brimstone

One day a guy wakes up and says, "You know what, today I am deciding to be gay. It will be so much fun. I'll tell my parents so they will shut me out of their lives and take away their financial support. Then the kids at school can beat me daily and scrawl death threats on my locker. And when I get older, I can look forward to an ostracized life from family, friends and church. Then there is job discrimination to contend with, unless I land that part on 'Will and Grace' or join the 'Queer Eye' guys, which kind of narrows my stereotypical career choices. And if I'm lucky enough to find love, I may be harassed on the street and in public places for expressing that love with the simple gesture of holding a hand."

Haley Barbour's Katrina Special-Session Speech

[verbatim transcription]September 27, 2005—Thank you. Governor Tuck, Speaker McCoy, ladies and gentlemen of the Legislature*. Fellow Mississippians.

[Sawyer] It's A Rich Or Poor Thing

Each morning during the semester, the bell rings for thousands of Mississippi youth. Mississippi teachers bear a great burden in their cause to shape every young mind. They know that each generation becomes another candle to light the way for all of us. Education—especially in our state—becomes the great hope to move us ever forward.

[Stiggers] The ‘No Child Left Behind' School Bus

Funding for the Ghetto Science Team's No Child Left Behind School Bus for the financially challenged is brought to you by a grant from the L.M.H.F.D. (Let Me Hold Five Dollars) National Bank educational trust fund.

[Stiggers] Caught Looting? Call Cootie McBride

Here's an important message from the McBride family representing the Ghetto Science Team's Emergency Assistance Task Force.

[Ladd] Life in the Fast Lane

Not to be a drama queen here, but hanging out at the Mississippi Legislature can really shatter one's faith in humanity. After doing years of research on harmful youth policies (zero tolerance, adult sentencing, "superpredator" rhetoric, media demonization of youth), I'm already convinced that most people don't give a damn about young people they didn't raise. And too many don't really care enough about the ones they did.

[Stiggers] 40 Acres And A Fool

Readin' Rain-Bro Is brought to you by contributions from the International Electric Slide Foundation and The Ghetto Science Team's Trust Fund.

[Stiggers] Yes, You Have Rights

The "Nu Apprentice: First Hired, Last Fired," starring Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, will return after this message.

Hush! Somebody's Calling Our Name

Never say things can't change. Sometimes remarkable change comes, and it seems so obvious that people barely notice. That was apparent recently when both the Mississippi House and the Senate voted to rename two stretches of highway after civil-rights martyrs: Highway 19-South out of Philadelphia after Chaney, Goodman and Schwerner and US-49 East would be renamed Emmett Till Memorial Highway, in honor of the black teenager beaten to death by white men in 1955 in Money, Miss.

Essay: ‘The Uses of Disaster'

A compelling essay by Rebecca Solnit in Harpers:

[Kamikaze] The Choice Is Yours

Come election time, there's always a slew of PSAs—on both TV and radio—stressing the importance of voting. Each time, this election is more important than the last. "Vote or Die" is the new mantra. Even I, during the last presidential election, urged readers to vote "no matter who you vote for."

[Ladd] Rest In Peace

When Dr. Monique Guillory called me and said she wanted to bring the "Without Sanctuary" exhibit to Jackson, I swallowed hard. I knew about the horrifying and controversial exhibit of lynching photographs, the images that sear themselves into your psyche and refuse to let go. I hadn't seen the actual exhibit; I lived across Central Park from it for a while in New York, but never quite got up the courage to go. But since returning home, I had looked at the 81 photos posted online; I knew this would be rough.

Times-Picayune's Open Letter to the President

OUR OPINIONS: An open letter to the President

Reprinted verbatim from the Sunday edition of the Times-Picayune:

[Ladd] Haley's March to the Sea

On the JFP blog recently, someone asked me if I was willing to give Gov. Haley Barbour the benefit of the doubt. That question gave me pause. I think of myself as independent-minded, free of party affiliation, fair-but-tough and willing to consider many viewpoints, even as I refuse to defend any view blindly. The problem, of course, is that Barbour really pissed me off during this campaign. It wasn't because he's a Republican—duh, he gets to be, even if I don't care for today's prevailing corporate Republicanism—but because I believed he cleared a path of destructiveness through the state, a modern-day march to the sea, to get there.

The Next Generation

Those are six words I never expected to say. I grew up, like many restless kids, thinking my town was the most backward place on earth. That's normal. But when I was 14 and found out what occurred in Philadelphia, Miss., when I was 3, I was overwhelmed with shame. That's tragic

[Sawyer] The Patriotism Problem

It's hard to remain calm in war. It evokes something within each of us that pulls at our very core. Crying mothers of soldiers, the piles of body bags in full color, and the posting of the guard do not allow room for indifference or stoicism. Beginning in 1776, war and fighting were rooted in a moral purpose where each American defended their actions through the higher purpose for which we all knew that we were fighting. "God Bless America" and "Support Our Troops" were not attached to the back of buggies back then, but rather singed on our hearts and in our minds. We knew that our fight was the good fight, and so each tear was never shed in vain.

[Stiggers] Not Even A Cadillac

Readin' Rain-Bro is brought to you by the Let Me Hold Five Dollars National Bank Emergency Aid Fund and the Cootie McBride Help the Financially Challenged Debt Consolidation Centers of America.

[Kamikaze] Don't Get Nuked

What you don't know: filibuster, n. the use of extreme dilatory tactics in an attempt to delay or prevent action.

[Stiggers] Save Money With Pass-N-Gas

The following is an unpaid testimonial for the GST and LMHFD National Bank's Pass-N-Gas discount and roadside assistance card.

Letters No. 1, September 22-28

The Repressive Regime

In George Bush's televised prime-time speech to the nation revealing his plan to move forward after Katrina, he dropped this little bomb: "It is now clear that a challenge on this scale requires greater federal authority and a broader role for the armed forces."

Ellington

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