Mississippi
updated
9:42 a.m.
As the stories pile on about vast economic inequality that only seems to be compounding, and as the allegedly "liberal" media continues to reinforce the narrative that progressive taxation is "wealth redistribution" (dun dun DUUNNNNN), then it seems like this problem will only worsen. But after looking at one individual situation in the heart of impoverished rural Mississippi, we see not only ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Wed 12:09 p.m. - 3 clicks 
Chastened and tranquilized by spewing all over Haley Barbour in these pages the other day, I feel a bit like a guy who has awakened in the bed of a fouled and legless hooker. Say what you want about the girl, buddy, but "You were there", is what comes to mind. My anger is real, no doubt about it and Barbour and Baby-Boy Bush and their coterie pernicious, no doubt about that either. But this mor...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Fri 4:28 p.m. - 7 clicks
I just read this on Think Progress: Mississippi Middle School Segregates Student Government Officers: Only Whites Can Run For President I just can't believe it! Seriously. I am just so dumbfounded, I am beyond sane right now. The fact that this is an acceptable way of life in Mississippi and other southern states in 2010 is an abomination! ...
DailyKos (Mississippi) - Fri 11:47 a.m. - 9 clicks
Elizabeth Warren is really the only candidate to chair the newly created Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). If Obama does not appoint her, it will prove he has no balls. Warren is a professor of law at Harvard Law School. Her entire career has been devoted to studying middle class economics, and she is a recognized expert in the field. I first heard of her in 2004 when she testi...
Natchez Mississippi - Aug 1 - 2 clicks
Today Republican House Whip Eric Cantor introduced a program called YouCut . When I first heard of it, I thought it was very clever. It gives the public a chance to vote on what federal programs they want to see cut from the budget. However, when I went to the website, I discovered it wasn't clever at all - just the same ole crap we always see. The website lists 5 programs for voters to choose. ...
Natchez Mississippi - May 12
I was thinking about those poor souls in Arizona that will always have to be carrying papers to identify themselves as legal. Then I remembered living somewhere overseas as a child where I had to always have my papers. I wasn't sure where it was, but I assumed it was Spain, because I lived there when Franco was dictator - and he was a pretty scary character. All I remembered was that it was thorou...
Natchez Mississippi - May 2
After avoiding the flu all winter, I finally succumbed on Sunday night. Earlier in the day a scratchy throat I blew off as allergy related and I worked in my yard -- carrying two large bags of mulch from car to front, weeding, planting, and mulching. The harder I worked the more hopeful I was in beating back this menacing virus. It was not to be. By Monday morning I didn't bother to ...
Natchez Mississippi - Apr 6
I was finishing up a Natchez mystery last night, The Turning Angel by Greg Iles. In it, he mentions the Eola Hotel: At seven stories, the Eola Hotel is the tallest building in Natchez. Built in 1927, the year of the great flood, the Eola has weathered booms and bust to find itself on the National Register of Historic Places. The Eola has such a strong place in my childhood memories -- it was o...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 26
Nancy Pelosi is the first female Speaker of the US House of Representatives. She is also second in line of presidential succession, after Vice President Biden. This makes her the highest ranking female politician in American History . She is also one of the most effective and powerful Speakers we've ever had, as she aptly showed last night. These are my favorite quotes from today's news - al...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 22
In addition to the Health Reform Bill, the Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act ( SAFRA ) will also be part of the budget reconciliation bill to be voted on tomorrow. SAFRA will increase the size of the Pell Grant that will amount to an investment of $488,354,485 in Mississippi over the next 10 years. It will increase funding for the College Access Challenge Grant program, ...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 20
According to Facing South , the blog from the Institute of Southern Studies, there is good news about Mississippi in a recently released Pew Center Report . The US has about 5% of the world's population but 25% of the world's prisoners. Gee, sounds like we're a nation of outlaws! However, for the first time since 1972, 2009 showed a decrease in state prison populations. And Mississippi is l...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 18
I had the most beautiful time in Natchez the other week, and top of my list of things to do was to visit my favorite antebellum home there, Rosalie. I saw it so many times as a child then in my adulthood -- everytime I went to Natchez after I moved away -- I would go see Rosalie. Here's a pic of my favorite room: I also liked this shot I got of a Southern Belle doing a little accounting at t...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 18
When I was staying at the Elms antebellum home in Natchez last week, my morning breakfasts looked like this: This sure wasn't like Shoney's Breakfast Bar! I was so spoiled by the owner Esther Carpenter's cooking (she was a gourmet chef in LA) that the breakfasts I ate after I left her house were sad tasteless affairs. ...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 16
The Queen of England is not the only Elizabeth in London. Far more important to me is Elizabeth Scanlon Thomas. Why is she more important? First of all, she was reared in Natchez until the age of 12, so she is full of Southern charm and grace - she even still has her Natchez accent with a little touch of British. She is a blogger par excellance - both at her own blog and this one. She i...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 12
On Tuesday several bloggers of The Natchez Blog, gathered for lunch at the Carriage House Restaurant, in Natchez, eager to meet Elizabeth Scanlon Thomas who had arrived in town, from her London, England home, the night before. Casey, Gwen, Elodie, Marsha, and myself had never met Elizabeth, but we felt as if we knew her, from reading her comments on Casey's Natchez Blog, as well as po...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 12
My mother's dearest friend was Betty McGehee of Natchez. Miss Betty (we children were allowed to call her that after years of knowing her) lives on a big farm with horses, cows and chickens. We always loved going out to the McGehee's and riding their horses and getting a taste of the country life. Here's me and Miss Betty earlier this week: We saw Miss Betty twice during our few days in Nat...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 12
The federal government today released its states based unemployment figures for January. As reported by Chris Kromm in Facing South - a blog from the Institute for Southern Studies - the South is suffering. Eight out of 13 Southern states, including Mississippi, have unemployment figures below the national average. A year ago, Mississippi had 8.2% unemployment. Now it's 10.9%. T...
Natchez Mississippi - Mar 11
Today our esteemed Governor wrote an op ed piece in the Washington Post in support of Toyota - and then went on CNN to do the same thing. Haley seems to have forgotten that he is a Governor now - not a lobbyist for big corporations. I know, I know. We have lots of jobs in Mississippi dependent on Toyota. But Haley seems to have also forgotten that people were killed due to Toyota's greed ...
Natchez Mississippi - Feb 24 - 2 clicks
Rubin turned seven years old a few days before he and I flew to Los Angeles to visit Rachel. She and I had talked briefly about him staying on with her when I returned home. I think neither of us knew how that decision would turn. She knew I would miss him; she would have to make arrangements for his day care. On the other hand she is the alpha female in his life. I've been his bud for a whil...
Natchez Mississippi - Feb 23
Elite used to be a compliment. It basically referred to the best of anything. For example, Drew Brees is now considered one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. However, nowadays that might be considered an insult instead of a compliment - at least in political circles. The worst insult you can hurl at a politician is to call him or her a member of the "Washington elite" . What??? It'...
Natchez Mississippi - Feb 12 - 2 clicks
So what is to be done with health care reform? Nothing could be done . Health care costs will continue to escalate, more and more Americans will become uninsured, thousands more will die for lack of insurance, the federal deficit will spiral upward. It will soon get so bad, that citizens may revolt and demand the government take over health care. Oh yeah, this is a great idea. The Re...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 26
People who know me will notice that I wear only black and some white - and they eventually ask me why. From experience, I have developed several quick answers - but the truth is a little longer. Like most women, I wore colors that I liked the look of and that I thought looked good on me - and over the years developed some favorites that would vary over time. However, black and white were always t...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 25
On the anniversary of the Supreme Court decision Roe v Wade , I wanted to give honor to the 26 year old attorney who argued the case and won - Sarah Weddington . She was born in Abilene TX after the end of World War II. Her father was a chaplain and religion professor. Her mother was a teacher and basketball coach. Due to the example set by her parents, she grew to love reading and studying, w...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 22
I am grieving tonight, because something near and dear to my heart is terminally ill. The Republican just elected in Massachusetts vowed to be the Senate's 41st vote to kill my loved one, and I'm sure he will succeed. It will be an ugly death, and I will not want to watch. There is one treatment that could save that life. The US House of Representatives could vote to accept the Senate's version of...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 19
Tomorrow, Tuesday, the most liberal state in the union is going to elect to the US Senate a teabagger created empty suit, Scott Brown, whose only claim to fame is posing nude for Cosmopolitan several years ago. Why is this happening? People will try to blame the Democratic candidate, Martha Coakley. Don't you believe it! Women always get blamed when men make a mess. But we're not going to le...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 18
On Sunday morning, I woke up and headed straight for the coffee pot. Oops! Nothing is coming out of the faucet. As I wander around caffeine deprived, I spot my neighbor Marc outside. I ask if he has water, and he says he does. He runs home and brings me a big container of water - it never occurred to me to save water. He is inquiring about my water problems and discovered that I haven't checked al...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 14
My sad tale of the freeze starts with my painter. Being financially challenged, I paint one side of my house at a time. For the front I hired an excellent painter, and he did a fantastic job. However, he was expensive. I was having trouble saving up for the second side, which is almost totally windows - my house is brick. I finally talked myself into hiring a cheap painter - figuring he can surely...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 12
This is a followup of sorts to my post about being an online ambassador for Natchez. Today I ran across an alert for someone visiting Natchez. When I clicked on it, I was taken to Southern Lagniappe - a blog by an unbelievable photographer from Vicksburg. She also has another site with nothing but photographs, which are the most beautiful photographs of Mississippi I have ever se...
Natchez Mississippi - Jan 9
by Adam Lynch April 8, 2008 A spring storm went overboard last Friday, spawning about five tornados in the Jackson area and leaving a large portion of the city and some adjoining communities without power well into the following week. Hinds County Emergency Operation Director Larry Fisher called the storm the worst thing to hit the city since the Easter flood......
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5 - 5 clicks
2:45 p.m.—(JACKSON, Mississippi) - Governor Haley Barbour today declared a State of Emergency for 12 Mississippi counties following a severe weather system and tornadoes which hit parts of Central Mississippi, including the Jackson Metro area. The Governor announced the State of Emergency while touring neighborhoods in Northeast Jackson, which were among the hardest-hit areas from Friday’s storm ...
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
If you haven’t already, be sure to stop in at the Mississippi Museum of Art to take in the Young Person’s Cultural Exchange Exhibit, featuring artwork from young people across the state. Call 601-960-1515 for details. … David Gatlin takes the stage at Martin’s at 10 p.m. … Left ......
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
by Adam Lynch April 8, 2008 Innocence Project attorneys, activists and a man who served 12 years in Parchman for a crime he did not commit are calling for a radical overhaul of the state’s criminal-justice system in order to keep innocent Mississippians out of prison. Part of that overhaul, the Innocence Project says, is to revoke the medical license of Dr. Steven......
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
by Adam Lynch Photo by Adam Lynch April 2, 2008 Jackson State University President Ronald Mason Jr. was full of apologies regarding the university’s recent failed attempt to push an eminent-domain “quick-take” bill through the Mississippi Legislature. The bill would have allowed the JSU Development Foundation to claim property for the school’s expansion over a 50-acre......
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
Make it a point to stop in to the Mississippi Museum of Natural Science as its “Bone up on Bones” exhibit reaches its final days, teaching people about bone health and overall well-being. Call 601-354-7303 for details. … Take in some live music and make some new friends at the Plaza Building’s “Thursdays at the Plaza” at 5 p.m. at 120 N. Congress Street. Be sure to try a new dish at Tye’s Resta...
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5 - 2 clicks
Join the JFP for Southern Fried Karaoke as we wish farewell to graphic designer Darren Schwindaman. Hal and Mal's Restaurant. Free....
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
After months of controversy stemming from a sexual harassment charge by a male educator, JPS Superintendent Earl Watkins announced tonight that he is resigning, effective June 2009....
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
Despite the weather, all is well at Regal Cinemas Parkway Place, the Mississippi Museum of Art and Hal and Mal's. All events are on schedule and the Crossroads "show" will go on! Crossroads Highlights This Weekend: If you haven't make it out, come spend the weekend with us. Buy your All-Access Pass or tickets at the Parkway Place Box Office throughout the festival. Box Office sales are Cash or C...
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
All...I've turned off commenting and the forums because I need to spend a few hours moving files into the new CMS that...God willing...the JFP will begin using by tomorrow morning (if not sooner). Wish me luck. ;-) - Todd...
Jackson Free Press - Nov 5
