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Mental Health Parity on the Way?

{verbatim email} - House Passes Mental Health Parity Bill - March 6, 2008 By a vote of 268-148, the US House of Representatives on March 5th passed its version of the mental health insurance parity bill (HR 1424), setting up what is likely to be a difficult negotiation with the Senate, which passed its version (S 558) unanimously this past fall. Both bills require group health plans to cover mental illness and substance abuse disorders on the same terms and conditions as all other illnesses - equity with respect to durational treatment limits (inpatient days and outpatient visits) and financial limitations (cost sharing, deductibles, out-of-pocket limits, etc.). However, there are important differences between the House and Senate bills that must be resolved.

Still Need Your Help…Czech Republic Trip Approaches

Greetings all, Just back from a whirlwind few weeks in D.C., Atlanta, and soon to be New Orleans and Ohio attending conferences, doing shows,and fundraising. Our big trip to the Czech Republic is fast approaching and we're short of our goal. We're lacking about $2800 and we need you...JFP readers to help us make this dream tour a reality. Responses have been disappointing from the hometeam but here's the chance to make up. We have until the last week in July to make the grade please..PLEASE contact Jaro Varek at 601 212 8956 or at [e-mail missing] to send in your donations. Don't make me start calling out you regulars LOL!

Worshiping ‘The Gods of Business'

I just finished listening to The Gods of Business on "Speaking of Faith." This was a *great* program, and very thought-provoking about how far the business world, over all, has gotten from basic morality and ethics. Here's the basic description:

Graham Attorney: No Choice but to Let Jury Decide

As I reported earlier today, the Mississippi auditor and attorney general sued Hinds County Supervisor Robert Graham over alleged double-dipping. Graham, they say, was running a private business while on the clock getting paid as the Jackson Police Department's public-information officer. Lisa Ross, his attorney, just returned the call I placed earlier when she was in court and repeated assertions she's made all along -- that the investigation is politically motivated.

Nigerian Plane Crash: Something's not right

Scores of innocent children just lost their lives today in a plane crash, and I am livid.

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria (AP) - A Nigerian jetliner filled with schoolchildren going home for Christmas crashed Saturday while landing during a lightning storm in a delta oil port.

One Christmas Wish

A few months ago I decided to make a list of the top 10 or so things the Jackson City Council could do to improve its weekly meetings. At the top of the list was that the meetings should be shortened from three hours to two so that citizens could actually attend meetings and still have time to address the Council during the public comment portion at the end.

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

Blown away was I when I tasted my first Hurricane on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. The drink, not the Katrina.

Resolve to Write! 2008 Classes Forming Now.

Happy new year, all. And be sure to express yourself in 2008.

Sign up now for my 2008 creative non-fiction writing classes. The next round starts Jan. 3, and I have still have a couple slots in that class (until I hear from all you gift-certificate recipients!). Yes, I do gift certificates year-round (sold one today to a mother buying the class for her daughter), and you can use those anything throughout the year. You can see details about upcoming classes here, as well as costs, etc. In 2008, we will start meeting in the brand-new JFP classroom next to the JFP offices (or, as Doctor S likes to say, in the "JFP tower") here in Fondren. Please e-mail me at class (a) jacksonfreepress (dot) com to get on the class mailing list for updates.

It's Campaign Season (Again)

Yes, I know, it seems like it's always campaign season, which means that those flyers will soon be filling your mailboxes and emails will be filling your inboxes and ads will be filling your Facebooks (if they aren't already).

Ledge: Just Fill the Jails with Juveniles!

Anyone think The Clarion-Ledger has any friggin' clue about what causes crime? It's as if they refuse to read the vast piles of research about juvenile crime, instead focusing on needing more jail space. It's true idiocy from the boys on that paper's editorial board, per usual.

Mississippi United Concert for A Cause: Clothing and Toy Drive. WE NEED YOU!

On SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19th. Mississippi United Presents: The TeamSipp GenerationNxt CONCERT FOR A CAUSE at DreamzJxn(426 Capital). The event will bring several area organizations together for the cause of giving back to those less fortunate during the holiday season. Concertgoers are asked to bring any clothing or toy items to Dreamz on Dec. 19th which will in turn be given to our friends at Gateway Mission. Not only will you be giving to a great cause but you will be entertained by some of the state's hottest talent who have donated their performances for the cause.

Chickball 2008

6:20 Spoken Word/Break: Blaque Butterfly

QUEEN- The Jackson Progressives, The Capital City Roller Girls, Crossings Assembly of God, Vineyard Church of Jackson-B.A.D. Girls, Larry Davidson, Jim Craig, ACLU, Faye Peterson

You've Got to be Kidding

One of my former bosses often quipped that her "need to edit" was a force too strong to resist. Having worked as an editor myself, I have to admit that I can usually "fix" just about all but the most poetic and perfect prose. The Clarion-Ledger, on the other hand, seems to have given up editing altogether. Perhaps it went the way of the employee coffee.

A Hall of Fame Weekend

This weekend the MS Hall of Fame inducted six new members: Will Clark, Jennifer Gillom, Coach Paul Covington, Reggie Collier, Hill Denson, and Coolidge Ball. In a time when athletes are constantly embroiled in one sort of controversy or another, it was refreshing to see a sports event where everything anyone had to say was complimentary and laudable. Just days after the MLB trade deadline's headlines about Manny Ramirez's trade as result of his refusal to play for his club, this weekend was about celebrating those who were always willing to step up, period. In a time where athletes agonize over the to retire or not to retire question, Will Clark quietly retired at the end of one of his best seasons in the pros. Before an Olympics begins where the media is sure to constantly be talking just as much about the Chinese's ability to run the games, Jennifer Gillom - gold medal-winner 1988 - has only good things to say about her honors at the Olympics. In an era where coaches can be just as big drama queens as their players, Paul Covington and Hill Denson always just wanted to coach for the sake of coaching and for the sake of their players. Denson still loves coaching at Belhaven as much as he did fifteen years ago at Southern. Covington says he still finds time to stop by practices, just for the atmosphere. While players today sometimes complain about having to wait a year before NBA eligibility kicks in after high school, Coolidge Ball just wanted to play ball - even if that meant being the first African-American to earn a basketball scholarship from Ole Miss. Finally, when any professional athlete seems obsessed with immortality, Reggie Collier couldn't be more thrilled to have earned his place in history, as a Hall of Fame inductee and with the retirement of his jersey at USM. Truly, the contributions and legacies of these six Hall-of-Famers are still relevant and will always be praise-worthy.

The NAMIWalks Fundraiser is back! Help me "Stomp Out The Stigma of Mental Illness" in ‘08

I am writing you today to tell you about an upcoming event that I am participating in that is both very important and very exciting to me. It is NAMIWalks for the Mind of America, NAMI's signature walkathon event that is being held in Jackson, MS at Mayes Lake State Park on November 8, 2008. Registration begins at 9 AM, and the walk begins at 10 AM.

ChickBall Performer: Rhonda Richmond & Laurel Isbister

The African proverb goes something like this:"If you want to know the end, look at the beginning." So, if you're going to talk about the music lineup at the 4th Annual Chickball, you're going to have to look at longtime blues artist and Jackson native Rhonda Richmond, who played the inaugural Chickball in 2004. Steeped in the blues, peppered with jazz and a healthy dose of R&B and even country, Richmond's music reveals a powerful spiritual component which illuminates the strong cultural ties between the Mississippi region and the West African nation of the Yoruba. Richmond's debut album, Oshogbo town, draws greatly from the West African and the Mississippi blues traditions.

Christopher Hitchens Endorses Obama; Palin ‘National Disgrace'

The always-contrarian Christopher Hitchens writing in Slate the way pretty much only he can:

It's The Weekend!

This weekend is jam-packed with community events and festivities, so choose wisely. After work, put your spandex on and head to the Rainbow Grocery parking lot at 6 p.m. to join The Jackson Bike Advocates' monthly community bike ride. The route is six miles at a slow conversational pace and will make a stop at Peaches Cafe on Farish Street for drinks and food. If you'd rather stay out of the heat, attend BBQ & Blues from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Mississippi Agriculture and Forestry Museum. Proceeds from the event go to the Harbor House Chemical Dependency Services. Tickets are $25 for adults and $5 for kids. Afterwards, don't miss Memphis-based John Paul Keith and the One Four Fives perform at Ole Tavern. Check out Best Bets for more options.

Consignment and New Eats

After last winter's tornadoes damaged Vacita Jones' consignment shop "I'm Back" in Pearl, she decided to open another shop in Fondren's Duling School.

Russ Markle

Even though Russ Markle joked about growing a mustache, he knew it would involve a few challenges. His wife wasn't a fan of facial hair, and he felt he would risk his professional look at work. But when friends offered to pay him to grow a mustache if he donated the money to charity, it was an offer he couldn't refuse.

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