[Kamikaze] Wrangle the CraziesOK, I get it. There are varying opinions on the new health-care bill. You have some who are staunchly in favor of the resolution. Others are none too fond of the new plan. This is what America was built on, …
[Tatum] My Personal EasterIt's easier to gather a breeze in a basket than to totally grasp the mystery of Easter.
[Balko] Progress and Challenges in MississippiLast week Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour signed House Bill 1456, which would require anyone conducting autopsies in the state to be certified in forensic pathology by the American Board of Pathology. The bill was a response to an effort last …
For Those We LoveWe buried my cousin Anita last week. She was a beautiful, saucy blonde who used to tag around her brother Martie and me back on Fork Road in Neshoba County. Our mamas--both deliciously loud women married to Ladds--were great buddies, …
Bluster Isn't Enough, GovernorEarlier this week, Gov. Haley Barbour announced that he would sue the federal government over the new health-care law the U.S. Congress passed March 21. In his usual windy style of political rhetoric, his press release was full of statements …
[Stiggers] Rabid Race MixersMr. Announcement: "On this episode of 'All God's Churn Got Shoes,' members and supporters of Operation White Backlash have organized a Tea Party protest rally and barbeque outside the offices of the Progressive Multi-Cultural Review, World Report and Other Stuff …
[Hutchinson] An Ugly GlareThe throng of angry whites jeered, catcalled and spat out borderline racial insults at the small group of mostly black protesters. The charged racial confrontation happened March 14, 2010, in the self-billed all-American, mostly white Los Angeles suburban bedroom city …
[Balko] Pre-Crime PolicingTo hear them tell it, the five police agencies who apprehended 39-year-old Oregonian David Pyles early on the morning of March 8 thwarted another lone-wolf mass murderer. The police "were able to successfully take a potentially volatile male subject into …
Thinking ‘Locals' FirstIt's hard to believe Mal's St. Paddy's Parade—and the attendant celebrations both downtown and elsewhere—are already upon us. It doesn't seem like it's been long enough since the Great Snowman Contest of February, even if daylight savings time is here.
‘Good Enough' Isn'tMississippi has not had a state medical examiner for the past 15 years. To fill that hole, the state has relied mainly on Dr. Steven Hayne, a decision that has often proved unwise.
[Stiggers] Vicious WhackBoneqweesha Jones: "Live from the new Hair Did University television studio, it's time for 'Qweesha Live: 2010 Edition.'
[Kamikaze] A Work in ProgressYou'll have to excuse me. I'm writing this column in somewhat of a sleepy haze. You see, sleep has devilishly escaped me for the past few days. I wish it would return. But alas, I'm a new father again so …
[Balko] The Other Broken Windows FallacyOne of the central themes of the critically acclaimed HBO series "The Wire" was the pressure politicians put on police brass, who then apply it to the department's middle management, to generate PR-friendly statistics about lowering crime and increasing arrests. …
[Ladd] Ain't That SomethingNot long ago, Todd and I were downtown to see "Groovaloo" at Thalia Mara. As we walked to the car, an obviously homeless man walked up and respectfully asked us for money. Todd did what I've watched him do so …
Bring Development to EarthTea-partiers and fiscal conservatives make a lot of noise about how much citizens pay in taxes—income, property, sales and so forth—decrying any effort toward increased spending on health care or social programs.
[Stiggers] Whooty Whoot TimeMr. 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 …
A Yankee Reporter in the Bible BeltI drove 19 hours to get from New York to Mississippi. Nearly a dozen cans of Coke kept me from falling asleep and drifting into oncoming traffic. The only company in my Volkswagen was a bamboo plant sitting on the …
[Collier] The Sweetest TabooThis past Valentine's Day I got two things: a single white rose–which every woman older than 18 received at church that day–and a card from my mother. That's it. No more. It's virtually impossible for it to have been less. …
Happiness Worth CelebratingIn my own relationship with an abusive man, "You're the best" turned fairly quickly into "I'm the only one who loves you," along with overt attempts to demonize my friends and isolate me.
Get Serious About FloodingThe area got good news last week when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced it is recommending that FEMA certify existing Pearl River levees as capable of withstanding most of the flooding that the metro experiences.
[Stiggers] Future ParadiseRudy McBride: "This may sound weird, but an epiphany came to me. It happened while I was doing some paperwork and listening to the 'Good Morning Ghetto' Drive Time Morning Crew on the Serious Ghetto Science Team Radio Network."
[Kamikaze] Take It BackBeing a born and bred Jacksonian, I can say I've lived on every "side" of this city. I've seen the good and the bad up close, met some treasures, and met some trash.
[Eady] Our Students Deserve BetterThree young boys waited on a wooden bench in a brown-paneled office on the hot May day. Anton stretched his legs out and slouched back, his face blank and eyes flashing with anger. Next to him sat Reggie, whose brown …
[Mott] Happiness Worth CelebratingFor too long in Mississippi, the legal community--police, lawyers and judges--have seen domestic abuse as a problem best dealt with at home. Women bring violence on themselves, the thinking goes; they should just do what their men tell them to. …
[Balko] Is Texas About to Execute Another Innocent Man?Henry Watkins "Hank" Skinner was supposed to be executed tomorrow, but last Tuesday a Gray County, Texas, district court judge pushed the date back one month, to March 24. Skinner has been on Death Row in Texas since 1993, awaiting …
The Power of NowWhen I moved back to Mississippi in 2001, I was naïve. I thought I was coming home to write about the past that shamed me as a white Mississippian. I wanted to be a white Mississippian who wasn't afraid to …
Will U.S. Chamber Win Again?In 2004, Attorney General Jim Hood hired attorneys Joey Langston and Timothy Balducci—who later pled guilty to corruption in 2008 and 2007, respectively—to recoup unpaid taxes and interest resulting from a multi-state tax fraud scheme Clinton-based WorldCom cooked up before …
[Stiggers] That Sounds NastyBoneqweesha Jones: "Welcome to Hair Did University's S.O.H.K. (School of Hard Knocks) Critical Thinking Lecture Series. Psychologist Judy McBride wants to share with us an effect that is affecting people today."
Pseudopolitics Equals PseudofailureRecently the Mississippi Legislature passed legislation outlawing the sale of medical products containing pseudoephedrine without a prescription. The intent of this legislation is to reduce the rampant methamphetamine epidemic.