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Sisters from Another Mister

Friendships, new and old, take commitment and self-sacrifice; but the rewards are plentiful.

Gerald Ford – 1913-2006.

The statement from his family did not list a cause of death. He was 93.

1. Always park across the street. When I went to interview the Lettuce Ladies (on my second day) I parked directly in the parking lot of the gas station where two young women were giving out free gas while wearing only bikinis made of lettuce. I had noticed that all the other reporters and cameramen had parked at the restaurant across the street, but I didn't want to try to cross the scary highway. When I got back in my car post-interview, I realized that the hordes of people trying to get the free gallons of gas were not about to let me out anytime soon. Lightbulb! I should have figured out that the older reporters had a method to their madness. It took me about fifteen minutes to drive the twenty feet to the highway, and the only credit for my car leaving in the same condition it came in goes to the fact that God looks after children and fools. Luckily, I'm a little of both.

Cult of ‘Objectivity' Is Destroying America

Anyway, here is some of what Krugman says. (Better late than never, I guess.):

So-called media objectivity is destroying our country, The New York Times' Paul Krugman is telling us on his blog. I've been warning about this he-said-she-said approach to journalism for years now: a faulty device that tries to split any side down the middle regardless of what the facts are. It is just the opposite of real "enterprise" or investigative reporting. I like to tell my students and staffers that it's actually opinion writing when you take a story and just quote two different opinions and call it objective. It's ludicrous. What matters, or should matter, is actual fact finding -- not just quoting people giving bad facts, which we see constantly in mainstream journalism. And, way too often, without bothering to factcheck (most daily papers don't; we do) or to correct faulty information said by one of the "sides" quotes. And it's a false division: the two sides are often decided by some fake political compass that divides people into left or right, Democrat or Republican, when most Americans reject that kind of binary categorization. Meantime, they allow their media to get away with it.

Giving Every Little Bit Counts

Every donation counts. No matter how much you have to give, the donations of everyday people like you and me make a difference in the lives of others.

Singing Without Shame

Jill Conner Browne, The Sweet Potato Queen, and I are pulling thick wires out of glittered sweet potatoes on a farm in Clinton. Inside a barn, two Sweet Potato Queens, two Spud Studs and the Head SPQ Wannabe are diligently painting, glittering and prettying up the Official Parade Float for the 25th Annual Mal's St. Patrick's Day Parade. A hospital in Arkansas has given Jill a throne, which sparkles with obvious adoration and appreciation, to place on this year's float. If you've heard Jill Conner Browne speak, or know her at all, you can appreciate this token of affection. Jill says she "brings Jesus to folks who cuss like sailors," and she ceaselessly travels to tell others to "Do what makes your heart sing." She is the thinking and laughing woman's Beth Moore or Joyce Meyer.

Raised Garden Bed

Growing your own food is back in style. The popularity of books like "The Omnivore's Dilemma" shows that people are more concerned about where their food comes from.

Saturday Night Lights

"Yaw bee baw," then-Ole Miss football coach Ed Orgeron told offensive tackle Michael Oher when he was recruiting him.

Schools That Are Mostly Black, Latino Favor Starting Online

Districts where the vast majority of students are white are more than three times as likely as school districts that enroll mostly students of color to be open for some in-person learning, according to an analysis conducted by The Associated Press and Chalkbeat.

Shellheads: Fans Talk on the Heroes in a Half-Shell

Sergio Lugo II also serves as a host for Reality Breached, a podcast that developed into a network for additional locally produced podcasts.

Federal Judge Finds Hinds County in Contempt for Ongoing Jail Conditions

A federal judge has declared Hinds County in contempt of court, setting the path for receivership proceedings after the county, in a Jan. 21, 2022, motion, sought to end the consent decree at the Hinds County Detention Center in Raymond.

Rusted Tin to Cotton Gin: A Trip on the Mississippi Blues Trail

Geographic routes of discovery on the Mississippi Blues Trail are as varied and plentiful as the paths weaving through the history of the music itself—music that began as spirituals, work songs and simple narrative ballads in African American communities in the South.

States Use Out-of-the-Box Approaches to Raise Awareness of Health Exchanges

Catchy jingles? Splashy videos? Multi-million-dollar public education campaigns? For the 16 states and the District of Columbia that have opted to run their own online health insurance marketplaces, these are among the tools being used to make sure residents know the exchanges will be open for business Oct. 1.

Half-Life

This summer, a couple of Walker's Drive-In employees painted a mural on the iconic eatery's patio wall in Fondren. It replaced a pockmarked and aging piece The Projectors, a trio of artists who still live and work in Jackson, did a decade ago.

Scandal Widens in Probe of Top U.S. General's Emails

The sex scandal that led to CIA Director David Petraeus' downfall widened Tuesday with word the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan is under investigation for thousands of alleged "inappropriate communications" with another woman involved in the case.

Hail To The Staff

July 6, 2005 This is the 101st issue of the Jackson Free Press. We set out three years ago to bring independent journalism (and the best entertainment coverage) to Jackson, Miss., based on the "alt-weekly" model that is successful in other markets from the Village Voice to the Chicago Reader to the Nashville Scene, Memphis Flyer and many of the top 120 or so media markets. We had a kitchen table, some know-how, and the rich tapestry of Jackson and Mississippi to work with. The three-year trip we've made to become Jackson's news and entertainment weekly has been both grueling and gratifying.

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