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 …
[Update] Speaker McCoy: Gov, Senate Move ‘Terrible Thing'
After spending eight days in special session, costing taxpayers a total of $41,162 so far (see below), the Mississippi House of Representatives went home Friday, saying they will return next …
[Breaking] ‘Tort Reform' Hits Brick Wall
UPDATE, 4 p.m.: After an apparent lunch meeting between Gov. Barbour, Speaker Billy McCoy and Senate President Pro Tem Travis Little, Sen. Charlie Ross, R-Brandon, announced on the floor that …
‘Philadelphia Coalition' Calls for Justice
The Neshoba Democrat is reporting that a multi-racial coalition of leader, business owners, newspaper editors and citizens in Neshoba County today issued a long-overdue statement, calling for justice for the …
JFP "Cheap Date" Night - May 26
Where: Smith Wills Stadium on Lakeland Drive
Come out to Smith-Wills Stadium for JFP "Cheap Date" Night, for $1 beverages and, if you bring the ad from LAST WEEK's issue—the Howard Stern cover story—you'll get 2-for-1 tickets! …
Leland Speed Touts ‘Creative Class'
A Clarion-Ledger story today about a Leland Speed speech talks about the "Creative Class" concept that we started talking about way back in our preview issue: "Other successes are discussed …
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 …
Coalition Calls for ‘Meaningful' Insurance Reform
Gov. Haley Barbour may be getting more than he bargained for in the 2004 Extraordinary Session he called to wrangle the House of Representatives into accepting his versions of tort …
Bush Ratings Fall Steady, Predictable?
In Salon this week, economist James K. Galbraith challenges the conventional notion that the relvelations of torture and prisoner abuse in Iraq have caused Bush's current record dip in the …
Kerry, Nader to Meet Today
AP is reporting: "When Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry meets with independent rival Ralph Nader on Wednesday, Kerry isn't likely to ask him to leave the race. And it's even …
Stop the Blaming
Reason magazine's Cathy Young provides perspective on the attempt to place 9-11 blame: "With the 9/11 commission holding its hearings, the blame game is in full swing. It's Bush's fault. …
Barbour: Of Course, Bush Will Take Mississippi
The Clarion-Ledger reports today: "Mississippi Republicans say President Bush can bank on a solid re-election showing here and in much of the South, but the latest poll shows him in …
Barbour Calls Special Session for Tort Reform, Voter ID
[Verbatim statement] Governor Haley Barbour is standing by his pledge to call lawmakers back to the Capitol since the House of Representatives failed to address lawsuit abuse during their Regular …
Bush Approval Ratings at All-Time Low
CBS News is reporting: "President Bush's overall approval rating has fallen to the lowest level of his presidency, 44 percent, in the latest CBS News poll, reflecting the weight of …
GOP Blames Soldiers, Dems, Media for Scandal
In an editorial, The New York Times exposes the strategy to protect the White House from prisoner-abuse fall-out: "The administration and its Republican allies appear to have settled on a …
‘We Owe It to Emmett Till'
AP is reporting: "The Justice Department said Monday it is reopening the investigation into the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, a black teenager whose death while visiting Mississippi was an …
- Best in Sports May 6-12
Pro baseball: Jackson at Coastal Bend, 7 p.m. (1240 AM): The Senators begin their season in Texas. ... College baseball, SWAC Tournament, Houston: In the first round, East champ Mississippi …
Macon, Miss., Contractor Escapes; 11 More Troops Killed
AP is reporting: "In a daring escape, American hostage Thomas Hamill pried open the doors of the house where he was being held late Sunday morning and ran a half-mile …
Black College Women Take Aim at Rappers
AP reports: "Maybe it was the credit card that rap superstar Nelly swiped through a woman's backside in a recent video. Here at Spelman, the most famous black women's college …
GOP Warriors vs. Rap Music
Salon reports: "'We need to understand rap, folks,' Limbaugh told his listeners, in a mocking tone. 'There's a lot of poetry and anger in this. Social energy. It's important. Look, …
America's Pastime: Moneyball
The Oakland A's have turned conventional baseball wisdom into a lie. Many people who work in, report on or follow major league baseball say that the game has changed from …
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College baseball, Southern Miss at Tulane, 6:30 p.m.: Need a reason to go to New Orleans? The Golden Eagles begin a three-day CUSA series against Tulane. Baseball and decadence mix …
Quoteworthy
Tee Martin, who succeeded Peyton Manning as Tennessee's starting quarterback in 1998, with some advice for Micheal Spurlock as he prepares to take over for Eli at Ole Miss next …
‘I'm Going to Get There,' by Lynette Hanson
Telling the story of his first encounter with the record business—other than the normal retail one that many 44-year-olds remember—brings a smile to Greg Preston's blue eyes. "I was about …
Not Too Hip to Vote
Christopher Hayes writes for Alternet: "[T]his crowd, which formed a line that snaked around Astor place onto Lafayette, was garbed in American Apparel t-shirts, thrift store blazers, and the hyper …
‘Built This City' Tops Worst Song List
AP reports: "Starship may have built this city on rock and roll, but Blender magazine is tearing it down, naming the band's 'We Built This City' as the worst song …
Jesse Jackson Seeking Macon Man's Release
AP is reporting: "The Rev. Jesse Jackson will contact religious leaders in Iraq to seek the release of Thomas Hamill, the American civilian truck driver abducted in Iraq, Hamill's wife …
NAFTA Tribunals Stir U.S., Mississippi Worries
More NAFTA woes ... New York Times reports today: "Any Canadian or Mexican business that contends it has been treated unjustly by the American judicial system can file a similar …
State GOP Twists Kerry Out of Context
Linked to the top of the conservative Magnolia Report right now is a press release the Mississippi GOP put out April 15 to explain "why John Kerry is wrong for …
Who's Scaring Whom?
April 14, 2004 -- This is a weird press release from Gov. Barbour's folks, blaming school administrators, who are facing funding cuts thanks to the governor and the Senate, for …
Bush: Drop ‘Political Posture'
The New York Times editorializes today: "No reasonable American blames Mr. Bush for the terrorist attacks, but that's a long way from thinking there was no other conceivable action he …
Business Students Shifting Focus
"Corporate responsibility" is becoming the mantra at many business schools, AP reports: "As the stereotype goes, business students are supposed to be single-minded in their career goals: making money, more …
Student Trades Rock Posters for Food
Wiretap reports: "'If I give food to the hungry, they call me a saint,' Brazilian Bishop Dom Helder Camera once famously quipped. 'But if I ask why the poor are …
Sex and the Single Voter
"Single women are the hot, must-have demo for the 2004 presidential race. But will they put out this November?" Rebecca Traister explores this burning question in Salon.
AP Poll: Bush 45%, Kerry 44%, Nader 6%
AP reports today: "Bush was backed by 45 percent of voters and Kerry by 44 percent in the poll conducted for the AP by Ipsos-Public Affairs. Independent candidate Ralph Nader …
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College baseball, Mississippi State vs. Ole Miss at Smith-Wills Stadium, 6:30 p.m. (620 AM and 97.3 FM): Expect a packed house for the latest edition of the Mayor's Trophy Game.
Clarion-Ledger Acknowledges Crime Drop
C-L editorial today: "Jackson's 30 percent drop in overall crime the first quarter of this year is an encouraging sign that with persistence by the police and public the decline …
Black-White Disparities Still Severe
AP reports: "Black Americans are less likely than white Americans to own homes, don't earn as much as whites, don't live as long, and don't do as well in school, …
Nina Parikh
Nina Flaminiano Parikh isn't the sort of name you'd expect for the associate manager of the Mississippi Film Office, but that's what the 30-year-old answers to (even after April 10 …
That Old-Time ‘Southern Strategy'
Jack Bass writes for Salon: "The recent recess appointments by President George W. Bush of two controversial Deep South Republicans to federal courts of appeals indicates that the Republican 'Southern …
Medicare In Trouble, Thanks to Health Costs and New Medicare Law
Let me guess: federal tort reform is the cure-all? NY Times reports: "Medicare's financial condition has significantly deteriorated, partly because of exploding health costs and partly because of the new …
