Work For Our VotesReader reactions to a pair of unpaid, uncommissioned polls by political consulting firm Zata|3 have revealed an unsavory aspect of our political system: Attack the messenger, ignore the message.
[Stiggers] Hair StimulusBoneqweesha Jones: "Recently, Hair Did University's Post-Secondary Education Foundation received needed funding from the Ghetto Stimulus Package. I appreciate this financial gesture from the government who responded like a good friend.
[Hutchinson] Leave Madonna AloneIn 2006, Save the Children UK butted in and denounced Madonna for adopting Malawi orphan David Banda. Now another bunch has jumped into the adoption fray and branded her a "bully" for her plans to adopt another Malawi orphan.
Protect Private PropertyDuring trips to my mother's hometown of Oxford, it was customary for her to point out the areas of land, now heavily developed, that blacks owned when she was growing up.
Do Your Jobs, LegislatorsMississippi lawmakers didn't even pretend to try to get their jobs done within the parameters set by the state Constitution this year. Instead, a week or so before their 90-day session ends, they passed legislation to extend it. How handy.
[Stiggers] Riches To RagsMiss Doodle Mae: "In these turbulent, traumatic and tense economic times, the staff of Jojo's Discount Dollar Store has seen many sad and empty faces of broken people holding in their tears of shame and frustration.
[Kamikaze] Seizing Jackson's MomentMy daily affirmation is, as taken from the movie "Talladega Nights": "Here's the deal. I'm the best! I wake up in the morning, and I piss excellence. Nobody can hang with my stuff!" Humor notwithstanding, those words speak to a …
[Gregrory] Plight Of A Sports WidowI hate sports so much that I purposely avoid the sports category any time I play Trivial Pursuit because there is a 90 percent chance that—unless the answer to the question is "David Beckham in his underwear"—I have no idea …
Entering Year SevenThe economy has eclipsed almost everything these days, including the fact that last Friday marked the sixth anniversary of the Iraq war, a war this paper opposed since the week it started.
[Stiggers] Reader's Guide to StiggersBright moments, Jackson Free Press readership! This is your resident satirist Ken Stiggers following up on an idea a reader suggested to me Sept. 22, 2005, after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast.
[Agho] Cover The UninsuredI recently read a comment by a reader in a local paper that set me back on my heels. The post was in response to an article on the effects of the proposed hospital tax on insured and uninsured patients.
Stimulus Starts At HomeThis week we're proudand perhaps a little surprisedto be publishing one of our largest issues of the Jackson Free Press so far in Volume 7; and one of the most ad-packed issues ever.
Law Enforcement Needs to Release InfoFive weeks. That's how long it's been since Dr. Mark Pogue and his fiancée, Dr. Lisa Dedousis, died in flames after the Mercedes driven by Karen Irby crossed into their lane on Old Canton Road Feb. 11, hitting their pickup …
[Stiggers] Warm Front Of ChangeSista Encouragement: "Live from the Ghetto Science Team radio studio is "Positively News!" I'm your upbeat news anchor providing you with good news you can use!
[Johnson] Project DribbleOn the morning of October 22, 1964, the United States government detonated a nuclear bomb under Mississippi, 28 miles southwest of Hattiesburg.
Note From A Concerned CitizenWhen I arrived at the office one recent morning, an e-mail from a "concerned citizen" was awaiting my eyes in my inbox. In that e-mail, a Jackson resident expressed her outrage at an incident she and her husband had witnessed …
Boys & Girls Club to Close?More than 1,000 Jackson schoolchildren could be left unsupervised after school if a local community organization does not receive donations soon. The Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Mississippi plans to close three of its six Jackson-area facilities at the …
Protect Justice in MississippiGov. Haley Barbour and Mississippi's legislators have several opportunities this session to provide measures of justice to its citizens.
[Stiggers] Too Blessed To Be StressedRev. Cletus: "Blessings to all who endure tough times in an economic recession! This is your car-sales pastor broadcasting on Ghetto Science Satellite Radio. I have a shameless plug in the form of a riddle for my devoted listeners: What …
[Lynch] Two-Ton Kill MachinesTraffic light cameras caught a lot of hell this legislative session. The cameras sit not-too-stealthily at about eight intersections throughout Jackson, including spots in West Jackson, the corner of Lakeland Drive and Old Canton Road and the corner of Pearl …
[Kamikaze] Shut Up and ListenI went to "The Vagina Monologues" last weekend, and it turns out that it wasn't that bad after all. After I was "told" I would be going, I prepared myself for all of the "controversy" and "profanity" that I was …
For NoellaWhen Kimberly Griffin told me that the Fondren Theatre Workshop had agreed to direct "The Vagina Monologues" in Jackson, I was happily stunned. Nearly seven years ago when we started the Jackson Free Press, I couldn't have imagined that in …
Cap the School-to-Prison PipelineTwo recent reports, one from the ACLU and one from the Pew Center on the States, highlight and then double-underscore the problem of what experts have dubbed the "school-to-prison" or "cradle-to-prison" pipeline.
[Stiggers] Our Time Has ComeCongressman Smokey "Robinson" McBride: "Greetings, Ghetto Science community! I am proud to announce that our stimulus package has come!
[Johnson] Let Them Eat PillsIf you think bankers are corrupt, be sure you give doctors their due. On Feb. 9, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced it would disclose the payments it makes to doctors to promote its drugs.
Barbour's Ambitious PosturingGov. Haley Barbour has been a vociferous opponent of the Obama administration's stimulus package, especially when it comes to accepting the $2.3 billion allocated to Mississippi.
Ledger Admits Guilt on MeltonLast weekend, David Hampton, editorial director of The Clarion-Ledger, wrote what could have been an important first step for the newspaper that did a fair bit to help get Frank Melton elected.
[Stiggers] Stimulate My WalletSmokey Robinson McBride: "In the midst of a financial meltdown, wealthy folk seem very worried about their shrinking funds because broke folk have decided to horde their hard-earned money.
[Hutchinson] Apologize, Mr. MurdochMr. Rupert Murdoch, it's certainly no surprise to you that New York Post editor-in-chief Col Allan would hotly defend the racist Post cartoon comparing President Obama to a chimp.