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JFP Index: Prices are Risin'
Compiled by Robert Williamson
• The average percent tuition increase nationally for the 2002/2003 school year for 4-year public institutions: 9.6
No Stoplight for Bubba
With his stiff blue collar and black-rimmed glasses, state Rep. Randy "Bubba" Pierce looks and smiles just like a politician. When we spotted him at the Neshoba County Fair, he was standing inside a horseshoe of similarly dressed men, addressing all of them at once. They seemed to be entranced by his words. Later, he said, "I speak impromptu, from the heart. I don't script myself. I like to talk to people, not speak at them." He has not written a speech so far in his political career, he said, including the one he gave that morning at the Fair.
Political Knick-Knacks
Just about everyone at this point has heard of the Governator's off-color remarks concerning Sacramento Democratic legislators—but just in case you want to be a billboard, you can endorse either side in cotton. http://www.sacramentogirliemen.com started it all with their t-shirts—if you're a Democrat they suggest you sing it loud and sing it proud with a smart blue girlie-man shirt—they even donate 20 percent of the $24 price tag to California's Democratic Party.
[Rev] City Gal, Country Gal
As you might know, I'm a city gal. As you don't know, I just got back from a long weekend out in the boonies, and boy did I notice some differences between country life and city living. My friends and I arrived in our city car, tattooed with bumper stickers but otherwise shiny clean. The local country folk were mostly driving trucks covered in mud. There were some good bumper stickers on these rigs; my favorite was "Save a Cow, Eat a Vegetarian."
[Rev] Veggie Car on a Road Trip
Hey! NPR's "All Things Considered" just did a short spot on SVO (driving your diesel car on straight vegetable oil). A lot of people on the best biodiesel and SVO listserv (http://www.biodiesel.infopop.cc) were pissed at the NPR story because they made it seem like the only people who used SVO drove junkers that couldn't reach a speed over 45 miles per hour, that they use SVO kits sold by Greasel or NeoTeric, and ... well ... that veggie-oil enthusiasts are weird. The fact of the matter is, quite a number of SVOer folk run relatively new cars on grease, at high speeds, and all of that with a system they built themselves.
Noise and Pulse, by Scott Albert Johnson
Every shaman knows that, at the very heart of the universe, there lies an inexorable, joyous pulse. As the late Nigerian percussionist and drumming scholar Babatunde Olatunji once put it: "We say that rhythm is the soul of life, because the whole universe revolves around rhythm, and when we get out of rhythm, that's when we get into trouble."
18 Going on 21: Jubilee Jam! Almost Legal!
Mississippi's largest annual music festival has returned for its 18th birthday after its near-fatal deluge of rain and indebtedness in 2003. Jubilee! Jam, with its move to mid-June, has been imagined and re-energized by several changes. As you peruse the line-up, you'll notice that the festival has been scaled down to Friday night and Saturday only. The stages have shifted toward State Street so you won't have to trek back and forth to One Jackson Place from the governor's mansion. You'll have continuous music on two national headliner stages on Capitol Street, a Mississippi stage on Congress Street, and a variety of Jackson's musical offerings in the Jackson Lounge (organized by the Jackson Free Press and other local businesses). The Baroque Dresden exhibit has inspired a traditional German beergarten, complete with German music, food and beer to get your Weinerschnitzel-ed. And, bless us all, the Hallelujah Stage at St. Andrews Cathedral will continue the always-popular Gospel Jubilee on Saturday, and offer a new acoustic singer/songwriters stage on Friday evening.
51 Ways to Have Summer Fun
We here at the Jackson Free Press know that our Mississippi summer is here—even if the summer solstice isn't until June 20 at 5:57 p.m. Central Daylight Time—all blazing hot and sticky-humid. The last thing we want is for Jacksonians to be caught off guard with absolutely nothing to do for fun. We know how humiliated you'd be, caught wandering aimlessly about town, perpetually searching, fun-less and sunburned. So we'd like to offer up our failsafe, low-carb, Atkins-friendly selections for summer fun. Arm yourself with our ideas, some energy and maybe a little sunblock, and you'll be ready to stave off boredom and cancer-causing agents alike.
Medicaid Train Wreck
The most momentous action so far during the special session wasn't technically on the agenda: Gov. Haley Barbour signed HB 1434 Wednesday, May 26, a "landmark" bill to cut $106 million from the state budget and terminate 65,000 low-income and disabled Mississippians from the Medicaid rolls as of July 1. Of those, 60,000 will be shifted to the federal Medicare program by 2006 (which can see more cuts later), and the medical fates of the other 5,000 are uncertain. They will not be eligible right away for Medicare, nor are they certain to receive prescription drug coverage under Barbour's plan.
Face-Off: The Battle for ‘Tort Reform'
When Sen. Gloria Williamson walked up to the podium on the first day of the 2004 Extraordinary Session called by Gov. Haley Barbour, she had one goal. The senator from Neshoba County, a Democrat, wanted to convince the Senate—an assembly of mostly well-to-do Republican men lined up behind Barbour's mission to end "lawsuit abuse"—to do the right thing. She wanted to appeal to the human side of the chamber, to convince them to continue allowing Mississippians who had suffered horrendous disfigurement as a result of a defective product, negligence or an act of malpractice to collect "pain and suffering" damages.
The Kill Zone
Moving wounded and dodging American bullets in Fallujah
Entering the besieged Iraqi city of Fallujah was difficult, but not impossible. We came in along the backroads, following the Euphrates River past beautiful date groves, villages of clay houses, and herds of goats. The air is marvelously dry, clean, and bright, the polar opposite of Baghdad's choking, fume-ridden skies. It is a fantastic and timeless landscape.
KOOL Ploy
The company that makes KOOL cigarettes is deviously trying to entice young people of the hip-hop generation into the trap of consuming tobacco, a group that fosters healthy habits in the black community charges. KOOL, owned by Brown & Williamson (of "The Insider" film notoriety), is sponsoring a hip-hop DJ competition called KOOL Mixx 2004 in cities throughout the U.S. The idea is that local undiscovered DJs can display their talents in hopes of realizing their dreams of being in the music industry. The company claims to "understand the vibrant world of the trend setting, multicultural smoker," it says in press materials.
Farish Street Blues: Rebuilding A ‘Music Town," by Scott Barretta
I wouldn't have a gal on Farish Street, I wouldn't speak to one that lived on Mill
— Doodleville Blues, by John Henry "Bubba" Brown & Cary Lee Simmons
[Sex] An Unsaintly Valentine
If there'd been an award for Best Adult Emporium in last issue's Best-of-Jackson roundup, first prize would surely have gone to Romantic Adventures, an unassuming-looking establishment—on the outside, that is, and that's about to change—situated just across the Pearl River on Highway 80 East. "A Very Nice Naughty Shop," says the sign, and indeed, this is one clean-scrubbed, brightly lit sex-stuff place, perhaps a first for the Jackson area. On any given visit you're liable to see—in broad daylight, mind you, and right in Rankin County, no less—demure-looking couples perusing sexy DVDs or ladies on their lunch break picking out nasty-girl lingerie and selecting among personal stimulation devices so stylish they could be displayed on the mantel.
[Best of Jackson 2004] Urban Living
I can't think of anybody who couldn't do with a little more class in their system, and the place to get some in Jackson, according to our poll, is Gallery 119. The gallery, 10 years old and just recently moved to its new Fondren location next to Seabrook Paints on State Street, is one of the premier places to hang a creation. The gallery has no preferences, other than quality.
2004] Urban Living
<b>Best Gallery: Gallery 119 (3017 North State St., 366-5141)</b>
I can't think of anybody who couldn't do with a little more class in their system, and the place to get some in Jackson, according to our poll, is Gallery 119. The gallery, 10 years old and just recently moved to its new Fondren location next to Seabrook Paints on State Street, is one of the premier places to hang a creation. The gallery has no preferences, other than quality.
[Ladd] Just As I Am
I was baptized when I was 13 in a Southern Baptist church in Neshoba County. I wasn't particularly spiritual; there was more anger and selfishness and confusion in my heart than love. I couldn't have been ready to live a godly life; I didn't know what it meant. I just walked down the aisle because everybody else was doing it.
Whip It Good
Watching George Glass demonstrate his skill with a bullwhip, I was convinced that I could grow to enjoy this sport. On eBay I could find myself an inexpensive whip, then I could order some videos from Western Stage Props: "Whip Cracking Made Easy" and "Whip Cracking Made Easy—Part Two," finally working my way up to "No Bull Whip Cracking"—a study of over 30 advanced whip cracking techniques." For now, though, Glass—a 57-year-old insurance man who lives in Ridgeland with his wife, Sherrie, a music teacher at Northwest Middle School—is my best bet for hands-on whipping.
And the Winners Are…
...Republicans (and Jim Hood) in contested statewide elections, Democrats in Hinds County and Legislative elections and turnout -- over 818,000 people had voted in the Lieutenant Governor's race with 92% of precincts reporting, suggesting that turnout was better than the Secretary of State, Eric Clark, had predicted at the beginning of the day, and besting recent gubernatorial elections.