http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/jfp.php/jackblog/ en lacoste@gmail.com Copyright 2009 2009-11-06T21:19:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/radio_show_of_shows_part_ii/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/radio_show_of_shows_part_ii/#When:21:19:00Z Transcript from this morning's show: (musical stylings of Happy Mondays fades) FJ:Good morning and good grief, this is Fearless Jackson and you are listening to your favorite morning radio show in the entire neighborhood. How is the morning pizza? Short broadcast today since the mailman keeps forgetting to collect the mail around here. Know what that means? The bills aren't getting delivered. Oh, who am I kidding? I am only saying this in the off chance someone at the bank listens to my show. What are the odds of that? Impossible is the mission? They said I treated Fridays like Mondays and Mondays like Fridays but to me, that just sounds like an antimetabole. That or I've been reading too much Dr. Seuss, the original rapper, you heard it hear first. Or last. To me, My So-Called Life really jumped the shark after the first season. Behavioral scientist Kathleen Wermke has been studying crying babies for the past two decades. What a Dirty Job. That is 20 years of listening to emo music without the instrumentals. For this, she deserves some sort of prize, such as a diamond ring. Maybe earplugs. Wermke also compares cries from separate backgrounds, such as Chinese and Japanese. On the homefront, perhaps Wermke should attempt to distinguish between a Democrat and a Republican crying. I'm sure they all sound the same, whether it be a Republican senator having his Craigslist account deleted, or a Democrat senator losing her largest campaign donor to prison time. The morning air rushes into the studio this morning. It's 15 after the hour. It's not because of our unique architectural design which allows the autumn gusts to pervade my tiny hall of solace. It's simply because we have a hole in the roof. I would pay the carpenter what I owe him if only the mailman would drop by here once in a while. The check is in the mailbox, honest. Semicolons this week expressed outrage on Capitol Hill over what they call, "egregious discriminatory practices" conducted in part by many computer-users across the nation and world. One activist spoke to me late last night. ;: Due to only being half-colon, we are perceived to be inferior to colons. This is not true and should no longer be perpetuated by the status quo. Our usage is entirely specific to the grammatical task at hand. If the establishment continues to discriminate against using us because of our appearance, then we shall continue to march in protest until we are given proper civil rights. FJ: I spoke to one White House official who refused to believe semicolons were being improperly discriminated against. White House Official: If you look at the state of editing in this day and age, punctuation marks are misused each and every day. Newspaper staffs across the country are being reduced in size. The newly formed staffs now focus more on inserting their own agenda into their stories rather than checking on the proper justification for using a colon or a semicolon. FJ: I then spoke to a college student preparing a 10-page term paper on the subject of man-made hazards in Greece. College Student: I mean, if I can help it, I won't use either. Periods, question marks, exclamation marks; pieces of cake. Wait, did I use the semicolon correctly in that last sentence? I don't want to ruin the transcript. Honestly, I probably should have typed a colon after "exclamation marks", but I don't want semicolons picketing outside of my studio. Plus, I don't mind breaking the 4th wall. College Student: But when it comes to semicolons or colons-forget it. I'm still figuring out how to stray from typing commas. FJ: In other news, gold is at an all-time high. Take the L out of Gold and you have what gold really is at this moment in time. I'd love to come home to a Claire Danes-type of girl wearing god around her neck, watching reruns of Happy Days. Then maybe I'd finally understand the meaning of that Weezer video. The new version of Happy Days would be called Happy Hours and would consist of the saddest teens in the world drooling over their McEwan's at Al's Diner, waiting for the next episode of Happy Days to come on. This has been fun. This has been wild. My phone is rocking off the hook. Caller I.D. says it's someone calling from the bank. Over and out. ( fearless jackson 2009-11-06T21:19:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/namiwalks_is_tomorrow/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/namiwalks_is_tomorrow/#When:12:25:00Z There's still time to give if you wish to do so. You can donate online at http://www.nami.org/namiwalks09/MIS/lwillis or send a check to: NAMI Mississippi 411 Briarwood Dr, Ste 401 Jackson, MS 39206 Please be sure to indicate that the donation is for The Church Triumphant NAMIWalks team. If you want to come to the walk tomorrow, it will be at Mayes Lake off Lakeland Drive. Go down Lakeland and turn on Layfair Drive, which is next to the Shell station and across the street from the fire station. The check-in time starts at 9:00, and the walk starts at 10:00. Just fill out a form and be prepared for a little exercise! There will also be a picnic and entertainment after the walk this year, so come on down! willis 2009-11-06T12:25:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/response_to_an_irrelevant_blogger/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/response_to_an_irrelevant_blogger/#When:19:57:00Z This week, John Yargo writes in the JFP about The Ole Miss Rebels and their Irregular Season. You can follow him at The Irregular Season Blog. As you can see, this "prolific writer" has all of two (2) followers. Irrelevant Blogger, The misconceptions presented in this article are frankly astounding. You cunningly pass off half-truths and half-baked notions which are not only refutable by statistics and recent results, but also by common sense. Though I'm sure from the friendly confines of Orlando Fla. you've painstakingly researched a football team which hails from another time zone, I have trouble believing you crossed every 't' and dotted every....lower case 'j'. In fact, I wonder if you wrote this article several weeks ago, and it's just now being featured in this paper. Taking this possibility into account, it's funny how irrelevant your article becomes after Ole Miss begins to once again succeed. You begin this aberration by comparing the Egg Bowl to the Apple Cup. Currently, The Washington Huskies are 3-5 and the Washington State Cougars are 1-6. The Ole Miss Rebels are 5-2 and ranked #25 in the latest polls. Miss. State is coming off of a tough loss to the Florida Gators, the 2009 National Champions. Given a few bounces of the ball in State's favor, they could have pulled out a miracle. Egg Bowl > Apple Cup. Always. There is no comparison. Perhaps the juxtaposition was your petty attempt at humor. Perhaps if the two Miss. schools had more dismal records, the statement would have been humorous. Instead, it appears you failed at hyperbole. You then paint the Ole Miss Rebels as the biggest pre-season disappointment in all of college football. That may be true. However, it was people like yourself who planted the Rebels at the top of the polls, not the Rebels themselves. Next, you decide to take potshots at Coach Houston Nutt. Very strange indeed. You label him as one of the worst front-runners in college football, citing his inability to develop quarterbacks. First, you say he lacks leadership. Well, maybe while researching this article on wikipedia.org, you missed the part in Houston Nutt's personal entry where it lists his two (2) SEC Coach of the Year awards, the same amount of people who follow your blog, and also his National Coach of the Year award. Though I may be mistaken, I'm pretty sure it's not an easy task to accumulate three coaching awards while also possessing sub-par leadership skills. Talent can only get you so far. Consider the three years prior to his arrival. At Ole Miss, Head Coach Ed Orgeron recruited some special talent, yet never won an in-conference contest. A year later, with virtually the same players, Nutt shows up in Oxford and leads the Rebels to a Cotton Bowl victory while also garnering a SEC Coach of the Year award. This amazing turn-around mirrored his first year at Arkansas. In 1998, he was placed with a Razorbacks squad that was picked to finish last in the division. Instead, the 'backs finished 9-3. In his first six seasons at Arkansas, his teams went to a bowl game each year. Again, talent can only get you so far. Each year, USC and Florida succeed thanks to a mix of solid coaching and All-Galaxy recruits. But when you are coaching in the state of Arkansas, for heavens sakes, it takes some superb coaching. Nutt is also not a "quarterback killer." You listed a few quarterbacks who failed to meet expectations, but also omitted former NFL quarterback Clint Stoerner who set several school records while under the direction of Houston Nutt. Why the omission? Also, one quarterback you mentioned, Matt Jones, didn't even deserve to be listed as an underachiever. He also set schools records while in college. He, too, went on to the NFL, though as a wide receiver. Mentioning the infamous prima donna of all prima donnas, quarterback Mitch Mustain, is most amusing. Both Mustain and his mother became critical of Nutt's coaching methods, and Mustain decided to leave Arkansas for greener pastures to 'star and lead' the University of Southern California. Currently, Mr. Mustain is the Trojan's third-string quarterback, 'leading' the scout team. Mr. Irrelevant Blogger, you had to have known about Mustain's current status. It is certainly national news, and also widely accepted that he is not as talented as his ego would have you think. My most cherished blunder of this article comes next. You gush over the coaching 'genius' of Gus Malzahn, the "top candidate for the Frank Boyles Assistant Coach Award," even going as far as pimping out his book, "The Hurry-Up No-Huddle: An Offensive Philosophy" (Coaches Choice, 2003, $19.95). Do you collect royalties or some sort of commission? Well, I hope you still collect royalties when this page-turner gets relegated into the local bargain bin. After a surprising 5-0 start, the Malzahn-led Tigers have lost three straight games. The offense went from incredible to atrocious, quickly. In those three losses, the Tigers have been outscored 47-96, mounting only 10 points in last week's horrendous loss to LSU. You applaud Malzahn for "the wildcat" formation, which his credit is due, but then criticize the Rebels for not utilizing Dexter McCluster enough. Maybe you are new, chief, but Dexter was named SEC Player of the Week after racking up 260 all-purpose yards last week again Arkansas. That means he is being utilized. Again, I wonder if you wrote this weeks ago, because most of this hardly makes sense. You pass along half-truths and half-baked notions, most likely stolen from other ill-informed bloggers and internet message boards. The best part of all? You might have actually been paid for your contribution. fearless jackson 2009-10-29T19:57:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/2009_new_orleans_saints_real_deal/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/2009_new_orleans_saints_real_deal/#When:14:59:00Z Seven weeks into the season and the New Orleans Saints remain undefeated at 6-0, having pulled themselves out of the cellar on Sunday in a challenging contest against Miami. The Dolphins spent the first half of the game throwing all sorts of defensive schemes at Saints quarterback Drew Brees and the Saint's O-line, racking up sacks, fumbles and interceptions from Brees. Facing a three touchdown deficit going into the half, Brees talked head coach Sean Peyton into calling a fourth-and-goal quarterback sneak -- with Brees leaping to break the plane of the goal line, in what Jeff Duncan of the Times-Picayune called an imitation of the Dolphin's logo. According to Duncan, this game cements the fact that the Saints are in a "special" season. Even before the first kickoff, Drew Brees commissioned T-shirts with the word in big block letters across the back -- SPECIAL -- and distributed them around the locker room to teammates. Now we know why. If any doubts remained that the Saints are in the midst of one of the truly special seasons in club history they melted in the sultry South Florida heat and white-hot fury of their stunning come-from-behind victory against the Dolphins on Sunday. todd 2009-10-26T14:59:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/gene_taylor_to_nancy_pelosi_repeal_insurance_company_anti_trust_exemption/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/gene_taylor_to_nancy_pelosi_repeal_insurance_company_anti_trust_exemption/#When:19:01:00Z It seems that every since the AHIP (American Health Insurance Providers) went rogue with their "report" on the costs of healthcare reform and their push to get GOP lawmakers to oppose any form of health insurance, the notion of revoking their anti-trust exemption (passed in the McCarran-Ferguson Act of 1945) has been gaining steam. H.R. 3596, the Health Insurance Industry Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2009 has passed the Judiciary Committee of the House, acting narrowly to remove anti-trust exemptions. Yesterday, Mississippi Gulf Coast Democrat Rep. Gene Taylor posted a letter (PDF) on his website, co-signed by 14 other House members (including Dennis Kucinich and Peter Welch), calling on Nancy Pelosi to ensure that all anti-trust exemptions are lifted for insurance companies. Calling the original exemption "temporary," the letter claims that consumers could save $40 billion dollars if the anti-trust exemptions are lifted. todd 2009-10-23T19:01:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/fearless_jackson_goes_to_the_fair/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/fearless_jackson_goes_to_the_fair/#When:19:44:00Z Jackson Breland filed this video report from the last weekend of the Mississippi State Fair. Enjoy: fearless jackson 2009-10-22T19:44:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/the_public_optionits_baaaack/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/the_public_optionits_baaaack/#When:19:13:00Z Things are starting to get interesting in the healthcare legislation. From ABC's the Note, Jonathan Karl is reporting that word is now that Harry Reid may well include the "public option" in the bill that he presents to the floor of the Senate, suggesting that the whip count might allow him to get 60 votes to end a GOP filibuster of the bill even if he only ends up with 51 votes, ultimately, to pass the bill. Procedurally, this would cover everyone's butts in the process: And Democratic critics of the public option would get a chance to go on-the-record with their opposition by voting for an amendment to strip it from the health care bill. Under Senate rules, such an amendment would need 60 votes to pass. And while there may not be 60 votes in favor of a public option, there are also not 60 votes against it. So, it would remain in the bill. Here's what's interesting to me...are they really going to filibuster? Are GOP senators going to stand up there and read from the Bible and the Constitution and filibuster their little "Mr. Smith" hearts out in order to keep people from getting better access to healthcare? When the polls read that a majority favors a public option and a super-majority favors reform of healthcare insurance, it'll be interesting to see if there's a bluff to be called over this whole filibuster thing. Meanwhile, the AHIP is cutting loose of their "bi-partisan" support for healthcare reform, telling the GOP that the Democrats in Congress are "the enemy" and that there is "absolutely...no reason Republicans should ever vote for this thing." Is that good advice? The used to call the GOP the "cocktail party" back in the days on FDR because all it tried to do was obstruct Democrats in the interest of their corporate backers. Is that the wise play this go-round? todd 2009-10-22T19:13:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/radio_show_of_shows/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/radio_show_of_shows/#When:12:43:00Z Transcript from this morning's show: (musical stylings of Squarepusher fades) FJ: Good morning and good grief, this is Fearless Jackson and you are listening to your favorite morning show in the entire neighborhood. News this morning. None. Nothing happened. You thought wrong. You read the paper this morning and thought what you were reading was news. That is the Coffee News. Close, but not news. I already found the mug, by the way. In a startling revelation, Walter, the radio station's security guard, did not recognize me this morning. He was expecting someone with better hair. I was wearing a cap. He was expecting someone wearing cooler shoes. I was wearing Stride-Rite's. He was expecting someone with taste in music. Sorry, Walter, but Raffi will have to do. It's cool and collective outside. Or is it collected? You get the drift. The wind is blowing and the pizza guy isn't here yet. Probably means I won't tip. I'm kidding. I always tip anyone willing to drive this far out into the county. Anyone willing to encounter as many potholes and still smile when I hand them 56 cents in change. Especially when the pizza place isn't open so the driver kindly offers to cook one of those Tombstone Pizzas in his oven. He then kindly asks how I have his cellphone number. What a guy. Better be Original Supreme Taco, I'm just saying. The White House is reporting that dinner was served on time last night and that tomorrow will be another day. Speaking of White's, Jim and Dana White hosted Supper Club last night and I was not invited. More on those scumbags later. What else happened today? My dog didn't bark this morning when the paper boy dropped off the Coffee News. More on that Snoopy later. Earlier I mentioned my dog. You might remember her from 20 seconds ago. She has a name. We call her Ruby. I call her RubyRubyRubyRuby really fast, just like that. Just like if I were epileptic and also a dog lover. I'm not epileptic and also not a dog lover because I prefer humans. Though, I love RubyRubyRubyRubyRuby. She doesn't fetch, but I've come to terms with that. She isn't so much a hunter-gatherer, but rather, a licker-snoorer. And also a wagger-Coffee News reader. The music you are currently listening to is the sounds of Fearless Jackson, wasting his life. Democracy Now dot org has yet to post a video detailing the horrifying details of yesterday's events, whatever they may be. We'll keep you posted since Democracy Now dot org apparently doesn't care about the world anymore. I kid. They do a wonderful job of scaring the living Original Supreme Taco out of me. Perhaps you've heard of this new phenomenon known as Soccer Moms. Well, let me be the first to tell you, be prepared for disappointment. I drop my dog off at soccer practice yesterday, when all of a sudden, an entire litter of SUVs and station wagons pull up to the playing fields. Immediately, I grasp what is at hand. I am witnessing the arrival of Soccer Moms. Passenger-side doors burst open, and little boys and girls bolt in every direction. Only moments later, the doors close, and these so-called Soccer Moms speed away. There I was, waiting for these middle-aged ladies to trot onto the pitch to bend it like Beckham, but instead, they peel away without ever unbuckling their safety belts. A true dereliction of duty if you ask me. But who asks me? I'm just your favorite neighborhood radio host. Gas prices are up. Morale is down. The coffee is cold. But the Coffee News is just heating up. We'll be right back with my top five favorite financial scandals of the year. Til' then, enjoy M83. (the musical stylings of M83 begins to play) fearless jackson 2009-10-20T12:43:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/saints_go_5_0_beat_elis_giants/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/saints_go_5_0_beat_elis_giants/#When:19:21:00Z The New Orleans Saints (5-0) scored on their first drive and never looked back in an offensive effort that gained over 500 yards, with seven different Saints making it into the end zone. The game represented New York Giant Eli Manning's first visit to the New Orleans Superdome as a professional football player. Not only do the Saints remain undefeated, but they knocked off the previously undefeated New York Giants (5-1) with a healthy 48-27 drubbing. Tight End Jeremy Shockey, formerly of the Giants, made a touchdown reception against the team that had taken him in the first round of the 2002 NFL draft, but traded him to the Saints in the summer of 2008. Sports 2009-10-18T19:21:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/mississippis_own_storage_24_wins_band_of_the_year_honors_at_national_battle/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/mississippis_own_storage_24_wins_band_of_the_year_honors_at_national_battle/#When:16:07:00Z Congrats are in order for Mississippi's own Storage 24. The hometown Rock Band came in 1st Place (out of ten bands from around the country) and was named Band of The Year at Club Le Vela's National Battle of The Bands competition over the weekend. The event took place in Panama City, FL at what is billed as THE largest club in the United States. It is also one of the sights of MTV's Spring Break broadcasts. As winners, Storage 24 won cash and prizes the biggest of which will be a slot during MTV's Spring Break Concerts in March 2010. Please continue to support your state's talent. You can hear some of the bands music at http://www.myspace.com/storage24live or on facebook. PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD!!! kaze 2009-10-18T16:07:00-06:00