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GOP Using Katrina Aftermath to Gut Anti-Poverty Efforts

The New York Times is reporting that conservatives in Washington are reacting in a very cynical way to the poverty exposed to the world by Hurricane Katrina:

Charrette Leader: Make City 'Walkable'

Andrés Duany, the renowned "New Urbanism" architect, promised "no resolution tonight" as he gave the final presentation of the intensive planning charrette held this past week to discuss ideas for retooling the Pearl River for flood control and economic development. Instead, he told a large crowd in the Mississippi Telcom Center's third-floor theater on Monday evening that he was "clarifying the plot" by presenting the different plans that his firm, DPZ, will now study and draw in detail, including pros and cons of each plan. He will deliver the final report to the Levee Board, which will be available to the public at some point in the next few months.

LADD: Let the Music Play

I've never understood folks who listen to only one type of music. That's kind of like eating McDonald's for every meal; how can one live that way? I could have gone down that road, though. I grew up hearing nothing but country music in Neshoba County. It was the '60s for heaven's sake, and not a single Motown tune. Or Dylan. Or the Beatles. Basically no music that was remotely diverse or revolutionary. I knew Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner and Merle Haggard and Charlie Pride (OK, a bit of diversity) intimately, however. I'd sing their songs (horribly) at the top of my lungs in the back seat of my stepdad's Olds 98 on our car trips.

[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.

Fresh and Local, Every Day

One night a few weeks ago, Todd and I left the office at our too-usual time of 8 or 9 p.m. We ran through McDade's to pick up dinner supplies.

[Wilkes] Dudettes Wearing Suits

Scene: Working husband, John Jones, walks in the door fresh from work, proverbial bacon in hand. Stay-at-home wife, Janet, cooks said bacon and puts what's left in a ROTH IRA for when their precious, unborn children, little Johnny Jr. and Jane, retire. End scene.

Carving Nature at Its Joints

People have called my obsession with snakes (and by extension cats) aberrant, cockamamie, campy and injudicious. It is all of these things. I am all of these things.

Reverence and the River

I love thunderstorms. From the safety of a covered porch, a nighttime thunderstorm can be a truly awe-inspiring natural light-and-sound show on par with the best July 4 fireworks. Just watching those jagged stabs of light streaking across a dark sky can produce visceral reactions.

Happiness Worth Celebrating

In 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.

Gay in Jackson

Gay. I've never really understood that word. I mean, are we all supposed to be happy because we're in love with members of the same sex? If so, is that why some people choose to persecute us, because of our happiness, to prevent us from being happy?

Walking with Mr. Meredith

F*ck you, n*gger!" It was Oct. 1, 1962, and James Meredith was finally a student at the University of Mississippi.

Prowling for Sex

The chat begins innocently enough, with the man asking the girl's name. Then he asks what her hobbies are and tells her she's pretty or sexy. It is easy to see how a young girl might think the attention is flattering and innocent: It's just a chat. Then the questions get more personal: What color are your eyes? How old are you?

What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?

OK, as we all anticipate a great Thanksgiving meal or two or three, let's take time to give thanks for what we have. What are *you* grateful for? Please share below.

As The Conventions Fire Up, Women Loom as Undecideds in Key States

A nation at war, crippling joblessness and a looming budget standoff that could wreck the economy have been overshadowed in recent days by an issue that polls show doesn't even crack voters' lists of top 10 concerns: abortion.

BTW Birthdays

Yeah, you guessed it, my birthday's in December. It's on the 21st to be exact, which sometimes falls on the first day of winterthe shortest day of the year.

Out in Left Field

Last week, Mississippi sent three baseball teams to NCAA Regional tournaments and was fortunate enough to host two of them. I had the opportunity to attend the Starkville Regional at Mississippi State's Dudy Noble Field. Usually I sit above the third-base dugout, but this trip I had an invitation to the Left Field Lounge. On occasion I had walked through the outfield, but I had not hung out there since my college days. As I sat in the outfield on some sort of constructed contraption, I observed the ingenuity and creativity of the evolved fan and how they have contributed to the evolution of the Left Field Lounge.

Actor James Gandolfini, 51, Dies of Cardiac Arrest

James Gandolfini's lumbering, brutish mob boss with the tortured psyche will endure as one of TV's indelible characters.

Ramsey’s Food Network Debut

Tom Ramsey makes his network debut competing in "Guy's Grocery Games," hosted by Guy Fieri. Sunday, Ramsey will host a watch party at Hal & Mal's.

'Reopen Mississippi' Protesters Demand Governor to Reopen State Amid Pandemic

Dozens of cars bearing hand-painted messages and signs, American flags, the Mississippi state flag, the Gadsden “Don’t Tread on Me” flag and other insignia, encircled the Governor’s Mansion in downtown Jackson Saturday, April 25, to demand that Gov. Tate Reeves fully re-open the state amid the COVID-19 global pandemic.

More to Lose If I Don’t

On the no-frills DASH diet, I have given up nothing that matters to me; cutting back sodium has been the hardest, because it's in so much more than just the saltshaker.

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