Thursday, July 31
The Kobe Case: The Law, The Media, The Lakers
Slate's Dahlia Lithwick says the upcoming Kobe Bryant trial will showcase America's mixed-up rape laws. Meanwhile, as more information in the case surfaces, media organizations are asking the judge to …
Wednesday, July 30
Plea to Candidates: Prosecute Civil Rights Murders
John Gibson writes: "Please call the candidates for District Attorney for Mississippi District 8 (includes Neshoba county) and ask will they and how will they aggressively pursue prosecution in the …
[Gardens] Of Soil and Soul
"This will never do," I said to my sister Judy when she showed me her herb garden. In fairness, it was not all bad. It was perfectly located near the …
Heroes of Hedonism, by Alphonso Mayfield
To attend a 2 Live Crew concert is to experience a mixture of hedonism and mass hysteria. Between the kick of 808 drum patterns and thongs moving to the rhythmic …
Take That, Joe Lieberman
After all the talk-show babble of the last couple days about Howard Dean being such a "far-left" candidate, it's a relief to see a New York Times story today that …
Haley Barbour's New "Democrat-Lover" Nastygram
July 30, 2003: Gubernatorial hopeful, and former national GOP party head, Haley Barbour seems more stressed about Davidian challenger Mitch Tyner than you'd think. A rather breathtaking nasty-politics flyer landed …
Tuesday, July 29
Haley Barbour Issues Statement Posted
Go take a look at Barbour's positions on a list of issues just posted on his JFP candidate blog.
New answers up from Max Phillips
I have to say, two of the agriculture commissioner candidates, both Republicans, are leading the pack on substantive questionnaires as far as I can see. You've got to go read …
Monday, July 28
The (NFL's} Boys of Summer
All of the NFL teams are finally in training camp, even the Bengals, who win about as often as they spend money (rarely). ... Training camp has changed over the …
Musgrove statement to JFP, more Klotz answers posted
This morning, we posted a statement from Gov. Musgrove on the Politics Blog addressing several of the substantive issues in our questionnaire. And House 66 candidate Chris Klotz sent over …
The Kobe Case: O.J. Returns
Sports Illustrated's Roy S. Johnson writes what a lot of people are thinking: Kobe Bryant is new O.J. Does this mean that Bryant is going to spend the rest of …
Sunday, July 27
[Talk] eVoting Next for State
Hurry, you only have until Monday, July 28, to get in your two-cents about Mississippi's voting upgrades.
Saturday, July 26
Hollywood Horse Story
This week's big movie release is a sports flick, "Seabiscuit" (not to be confused with the Shirley Temple movie). The reviews are mostly good, but the Washington Post's Stephen Hunter …
Fun Politics? Imagine ...
Right now, over on Howard Dean's blog, there's a fund-raising "bat" marathon going on to beat the $250,000 that Dick Cheney is going to get from a few wealthy contributors …
Saddam, Middle Reliever
The Cubs got Kenny Lofton. The Phillies got Mike Williams. Armando and Orosco went to the Bronx. But Al Leiter is still happy. Who know the Hussein brothers could play …
Friday, July 25
Tour de Lance
OK, Dr. S admits that he's pulling for Lance Armstrong to win his fifth straight Tour de France. But the issue is still in doubt going into Saturday's big time …
The Kobe Case, Part 3
Here's one of the more sordid aspects of the furor surrounding the rape charge against Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant: Several Web sites and at least one radio show have identified …
Uh Oh, Ole Miss
Ole Miss admits that the NCAA has been sniffing around Oxford again. Where there's smoke, there's definitely fire. How long before the strippers turn up again?
Thursday, July 24
Tyner Lunges, Barbour Defends
The two personalities on the Republican primary ballot of the gubernatorial race couldn't seem any more different. Tyner, with his innocent gee-whiz demeanor and Boy Scout-ish philosophies, stepped quietly into …
Vickie and Bill Giles
The old saying goes: Marriages are made in heaven. Actually, some are made at football games and barbecues as well. In November 1979, Meridian native Bill Giles was a graduate …
Not Fit To Print?
You would think that after the disgraceful disclosures of recent months, The New York Times would make every effort to avoid sloppy reporting and questionable sources when reporting the news. …
The Kobe Case, Part 2
Here's two bonus prizes from the sexual assault case against Lakers uberstar Kobe Bryant:
1. A scumbag who revealed the alleged victim's name on his nationally syndicated radio show.
Tuesday, July 22
The Kobe Case
Akron Beacon Journal columnist Terry Pluto has a great column on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant, who's been charged with rape in Colorado: "When your best defense is infidelity, your life …
Will Eagles Be Golden?
Conference USA football coaches have selected Southern Miss to finish second this season behind TCU. And USM linebacker Rod Davis was named C-USA's preseason defensive player of the year. Stay …
Monday, July 21
The Boys Are Back
The Jackson Senators (your CBL East first-half champions) opened a four-game homestand Sunday night with a 4-2 victory over the San Angelo Colts. And if your scared of the water, …
Thursday, July 17
The Best Sports Writer?
Who's the best sports writer in America? Slate's Ben Yagoda casts his vote for Sports Illustrated's Gary Smith (who wrote an incredible story in the June 16 SI). Dr. S …
Wednesday, July 16
[Talk] Let It Shine
It probably goes back to his babysitter on the southside of Chicago who was a deejay. As he grew older, Corio Thomas continued to fall in love with the music …
[Talk] Revered and Feared
If you were to walk down the 300 block of Farish Street today you would find a Federal Building, a few reserved parking spots and possibly a couple of state …
[Ladd] Stuck in the Middle with You
I don't know about you, but I'm sick of nastiness. Of sniping. Pettiness. Silly arguments. Name-calling. Divisiveness. It seems as if hurling insults has become the new national pasttime. Chris …
[Stiggers] Col. Reb's Last Stand
Concert and event promoters: Have I got an idea for you! Man, this could be the biggest gala event in the "state of minds" of Mississippians! I'm thinking of a …
Misery on the Bounty
The splendor of the season's bounty thrills thousands at the open-air farmers market. More than ever, people prefer purchasing their produce directly from the farmers who grow it. You can …
Tuesday, July 15
Does The All-Star Game Really Count?
It's time for baseall's All-Star Game (yawn). Or make that a so-called All-Star Game. After last year's disgraceful tie, FOX forced MLB to change the rules to 1) give homefield …
Saturday, July 12
Tell Me the Truth, JoAnne
Q. I've been hearing a lot about crime on the evening news. Should I consider moving out of Jackson to raise my children? – Running Scared
[Spann] Breaking through the Ice
So Vanilla Ice is a rock star these days? I heard that he even played a set at a club in the Jackson area not so long ago. Perhaps a …
Thursday, July 10
[Drive] Sonata for a Song
Ms. D wrinkled her nose the second she saw it and called to me through the open window of the Miata. "It's white," she said, stating the obvious. I told …
Downtown: The ‘Neighborhood' Solution
On Thursday, July 3, 2003, real estate developer Mike Peters and his wife drove to Memphis to stay in the Peabody Hotel. After dinner, they were told in the lobby …
[Talk] Colonel Bedroom
If you think that Lawrence v. Texas is just about homosexuals, you're wrong. The crux of the decision is not really about love, or sex, or sodomy, or whatever you …
Hob-Gate
Note: As the JFP went to press, the organizers of Hobstock cancelled the event altogether.
[Questions] Danny Goldberg Takes on Teen Spirit
Just months before the 2002 election, Danny Goldberg, the music industry macher who shells out big bucks to progressive causes, received an invitation to a Democratic Party fundraiser. The invite …
Jay Sones
Jay Sones, 28, sits across the small table at Fenian's talking on his cell phone (the kind you can send pictures through) with his baby sister, Meg. He tells her …
Wednesday, July 9
[Web exclusive] JFP Talks to Jucifer's Amber Valentine
Amber: I'm a vegan, and we have been looking all over for a health food store. We finally found one today. The fridge [in the r.v.] shut down on us, …
Sunday, July 6
A Soldier's Daughter
I read recently that patriotism is learned behavior. If that is true then I learned from my dad that America is beautiful. He joined the Navy at the end of …
Saturday, July 5
Love It, Don't Leave It
Zack Exley, the organizing director of the populist MoveOn.org, challenges Americans to move past divisive patriotic rhetoric to something that can bring the country together: "Perhaps as old political categories …
Friday, July 4
General Gourmet
You would never guess that the man standing at attention—waiting for me on the sidewalk, dressed in a crisp linen short-sleeved shirt and cuffed khakis, cordovan wingtips softly gleaming—is 90 …
Saturday With Maury
Maury Wills, the 1962 National League Most Valuable Player, came to Jackson June 6, 2003, 44 years to the day after he was called up to the major leagues. He …
Competing Forces
I imagine different people have their own meaning of what the term "patriotic" really means. I believe it means "one who strongly supports and serves his or her country." Implicit …
Spokoino
In 1996 I studied for a year in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, a city of about 400,000 people. Though politically a democracy, true capitalism had not yet set in, and I treasured …
Whose Desecration?
Most likely you've heard that various lawmakers, such as co-sponsor U.S. Rep. Chip Pickering, R-3rd District, have once again voted for a constitutional amendment that creates penalties for desecrating the …
Got Patriotism?
Whether your answer to this question is yes, no or not sure, you may want to check out the Patriotism Experience exhibit now open at the Mississippi War Memorial Building …
[Ladd] ‘Say These Words With Me'
"How is everybody?" Bob Moses asked the congregation in his famous whisper. He paused and then added, "Say these words with me."
Wednesday, July 2
Senators Blast Off
The Jackson Senators (your CBL East Division first-half champs) return home on Saturday, July 5, to play the team with the ugliest uniforms in baseball, the Springfield/Ozark Mountain Ducks at …
Tuesday, July 1
[Video] Twisted Orchid
When I was working as a maid in Yosemite National Park, a departing guest left a stack of New Yorker magazines. An article in one of them struck me with …
On the Patriotic Road
As a child in the early 1960s, I remember my mother playing military marches on the piano. I would march around the house carrying the American flag and singing every …
Liberal and Patriotic
One recent Sunday morning, while we were spending a wonderful weekend in Memphis, my husband was flopped on the bed of our hotel room watching TV. Being a news junkie, …
We Are All Americans
Patriotism is a sincere love or devotion to one's country. Patriotism is a cause for which many lives have been taken. Patriotism is people linking arms at a prayer vigil. …
Bitter Waters
Artist Martha Ferris and husband and playwright Kos Kostmayer of Vicksburg believe we're in danger. Since 1985, we have lived in the shadows of Entergy's Grand Gulf Nuclear Power Plant …
Civil Obedience
It wasn't much of a Juneteenth celebration, but the Mississippi ACLU and the Mississippi Green Party (which can, at times, appear to be one person—activist Landon Huey), sponsored a Freedom …
Funkee Fanger Productions
"Unsolved Mysteries of Butt Nekkid Divorcees" combines reality TV with the paranormal. The premiere episode (titled "Know a Playa When You See His Azz") features a segment about a mysterious …
Tell Me the Truth, JoAnne
Q. I'm fairly recently divorced, and have even more recently returned to the North Jackson area after a few years away. Do your sources have any idea where interesting single/divorced …
