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[Israel] No Check Required

This weekend, law-abiding citizens will attend the Mississippi Gun Show and undergo a background check to purchase a firearm from a federally licensed firearm dealer.

Barbour: What's In a Name?

This week, with the two-year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina approaching, it's worth noting that the storm is still trying to knock down one more person as it blows its way into the history books—Haley Barbour.

[Balko] Should Suing Bad Prosecutors Be Legal?

Should prosecutors who manufacture evidence be susceptible to lawsuits?

[Kamikaze] The Show Must Go On

First of all, let me say that the Mississippi's Best Awards, held on Oct. 28 at the TelCom Center, was an excellent idea. The vision honoring the best our state has to offer was long overdue. Not everyone excels in music or athletics. There are restaurateurs, hairdressers and authors who deserve our kudos. Why should we wait for some other entity to validate what we already know: Mississippi matters.

[Balko] Vanishingly Rare Misconduct Citations

In 2007, a court tried Sonya and Joseph Smith for felony murder in connection with the 2003 death of their 8-year-old son, Josef, who medical examiners said was beaten and deprived of food and water. The trial was highly publicized, partly due to the Smiths' membership in the Remnant Fellowship, a Christian sect that stresses corporal punishment and dietary restrictions.

[Wilkes] TSA: Terrorists Screw America

The Transportation Security Administration implemented new policies that, in essence, give strippers more rights in their places of employment than airline passengers in an airport.

No. 36, August 8

<b><em>Trophy Wives and Slow Death</b></em>

Over the years my wife has been rightfully concerned about my time following and fighting Big and Brutal Tobacco. Get-a-way cruises can make wives more supportive. Regretfully, no cruises here as we need newspaper coupons to buy weekly groceries. (No sales tax on food and groceries would be a blessing for us. You?)

[Stiggers] Of Fear and Hope

Miss Doodle-Mae: "Looks like this summer is just another memory. And what a time it was—a period of anxiety, fear, hatred, and doubt mixed with hope, perseverance and patience.

[Kamikaze] Don't Be A Hater

I've had a pretty prosperous 2007 so far—getting called an "idiot" by a right-wing fanatic while co-hosting the Kim Wade Show; blogging back and forth with a few independent thinkers on the JFP Web site; winning a Lifetime Achievement Award at this year's Martin Luther King Banquet; and doing some much needed reading. Yes, guys, rappers read!

[Collier] Matters of the Heart

Just about all my formal education was whitewashed. The things I knew about the parts of American history that weren't white, I learned from my family.

Stop the Immigrant Bashing

A disturbing meeting took place at the Madison County Cultural Center Monday night. It was a tea-party-organized forum to call for the state of Mississippi to adopt an anti-"illegals" law such as the one the state of Arizona recently enacted, and which is now caught up in legal battles over its constitutionality.

[Gregory] Becoming Blonde

As a woman, there are quite a few ridiculous things I do to myself in the pursuit of "pretty." The least of these is my weekly scouring of local drugstores for my favorite fake eyelashes, and the most of these is my regular salon appointment to keep this crazy platinum mess on top of my head from looking like a Jerry Springer special.

[Skipper] Our Jackson

"I am Jackson." It's emblazoned on a T-shirt sold at F. Jones Corner on Farish Street. And it's a motto for the growing force of Jacksonians working to make Jackson what we want it to be. The future of this city is partly reflected in my Jackson story, but what makes me so confident in its future is that my story is not unique."

[Stiggers] Progress Is a Process

Smokey "Robinson" McBride: "Greetings, fellow members of the Ghetto Science community. I want to thank you for your support and tolerance during my term as congressman for the Ghetto Science Team District 7 and 2/3rds. As you know, election time is right around the corner. And I'm here to give a friendly reminder about the progress made under my administration.

[Stiggers] Renegade Runaway

Mr. Announcement: "Controversial independent filmmaker Kunta ‘Rahsheed X' Toby presents a scene from his new epic movie ‘Kunta King James: Runaway Franchise Athlete.' Look for guest cameo appearances from Rev. Jesse Jackson, Mel Gibson, tea-party protesters and the NAACP.

[Wilson] Santa's New Suit

As my half-completed degree from Reformed Theological Seminary can attest, I have a hearty sense for the true meaning of Christmas, but I'll let some other commentator discuss that.

[Stiggers] Momma's Mad

Mr. Announcer: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented mostly by two members of the McBride family: Dudley 'Do-Right' McBride, and attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I. This is their story."

Pompous and Circus

To walk or not to walk, that is the question. Or is it?

The Convention Hotel Conundrum

The JFP warned when taxpayers were voting on funding for the Jackson Convention Complex that powers-that-be would be back asking for a hotel in the future. Now that's happening, in the disconcerting form of a "public-private" partnership.

[Balko] More Democracy, More Incarceration

Last year the U.S. prison population declined for the first time in a generation. That's good news, but it doesn't begin to offset the damage done by a 30-year incarceration binge that has made America far and away the democratic world's leader in putting people behind bars.