http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/jfp.php/opinion/ en demonsblaze@gmail.com Copyright 2009 2009-11-04T22:50:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editorial_johnson_fumbles_110409/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editorial_johnson_fumbles_110409/#When:22:50:00Z Mayor Harvey Jr. Johnson rode back into the mayor's office on a platform of openness to the media and the voting public, but he recently left himself vulnerable to criticism on this very issue.November 4, 2009 Mayor Harvey Jr. Johnson rode back into the mayor's office on a platform of openness to the media and the voting public, but he recently left himself vulnerable to criticism on this very issue. City/County, Politics, editorial 2009-11-04T22:50:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/stiggers_i_have_a_scheme_110409/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/stiggers_i_have_a_scheme_110409/#When:22:45:00Z Miss Doodle Mae: "It was one of those dreary and rainy evenings. The staff and I had just finished our store-closing duties. Jojo suggested that we wait until the heavy rain lighten up before going home."by Ken Stiggers November 4, 2009 Miss Doodle Mae: "It was one of those dreary and rainy evenings. The staff and I had just finished our store-closing duties. Jojo suggested that we wait until the heavy rain lighten up before going home. We agreed with the suggestion and headed to the combination break room/broom closet to watch something on our new flat-screen television. We settled on the Ghetto Science and History Channel broadcasting a Martin Luther King television special. The video and sounds of the Drum Major for Justice mesmerized us. 2009-11-04T22:45:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/kamikaze_to_our_health_110409/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/kamikaze_to_our_health_110409/#When:22:31:01Z I have to shamefully admit that it's been over a decade since my last trip to a doctor's office. That's any doctor's office, anywhere, for any kind of checkup.by Kamikaze November 4, 2009 I have to shamefully admit that it's been over a decade since my last trip to a doctor's office. That's any doctor's office, anywhere, for any kind of checkup. Sure, I've been to the emergency room several times. Even took a couple of trips to MEA. But those were only instances where the discomfort had become too much to bear. Either I was in pain or had a broken bone or some ailment that required immediate attention. I wasn't thinking about "being healthy." health care 2009-11-04T22:31:01-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editors_note_the_path_of_least_drama_110409/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editors_note_the_path_of_least_drama_110409/#When:19:15:00Z Everyone who reads me regularly knows that I despise the question "Why does she stay?" when asked about domestic-abuse victims.by Donna Ladd November 4, 2009 Everyone who reads me regularly knows that I despise the question "Why does she stay?" when asked about domestic-abuse victims. I've written and stated many times that I resent the fact that so many people, of both genders often respond to an incident of family violence by asking why the woman stays (and, yes, in the vast majority of instances, the victim is a woman. And often her children.) Many of them even mean well. domestic_abuse 2009-11-04T19:15:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/balko_bad_prosecutors_mississippi_and_beyond_110309/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/balko_bad_prosecutors_mississippi_and_beyond_110309/#When:19:15:01Z by Radley Balko November 3, 2009 Anthony Caravella walked away from a Florida prison last month. He served 26 years for a rape and murder that DNA testing has shown he didn't commit. Caravella was 15 at the time he was arrested and has an IQ of 67. A confession that his attorneys say was beaten out of him by police interrogators played a part in his conviction. Caravella's prosecutor, Robert Carney, has put at least two other people in prison for murder who were later cleared of the crimes. Carney is now a judge in Broward County, though he recently announced he's retiring at the end of this year. Justice 2009-11-03T19:15:01-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editors_note_whip_it_good_102809/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editors_note_whip_it_good_102809/#When:22:09:00Z Every year for Halloween, I struggle when it come to finding the perfect costume. Instead of dressing up as an oversexed nurse or pop star, I've always found it a challenge to dress up as a woman I actually agree with.by Lacey McLaughlin October 28, 2009 Every year for Halloween, I struggle when it come to finding the perfect costume. Instead of dressing up as an oversexed nurse or pop star, I've always found it a challenge to dress up as a woman I actually agree with. 2009-10-28T22:09:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editorial_jps_needs_to_level_with_public_102809/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/editorial_jps_needs_to_level_with_public_102809/#When:21:27:00Z The Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees made a mistake last week in not renewing the district's music education contract with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra.October 28, 2009 The Jackson Public Schools Board of Trustees made a mistake last week in not renewing the district's music education contract with the Mississippi Symphony Orchestra. For 42 years, professional musicians with the state's premier orchestra have taught string instruments to elementary students in JPS and performed in concerts and recitals for students across the district. But thanks to a tie vote on renewing the contract at an Oct. 20 board meeting, the program may end. music, Youth, editorial 2009-10-28T21:27:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/stiggers_mommas_mad_102809/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/stiggers_mommas_mad_102809/#When:21:22:00Z Mr. Announcer: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented mostly by two members of the McBride family: Dudley 'Do-Right' McBride, and attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I. This is their story."by Ken Stiggers October 28, 2009 Mr. Announcer: "In the ghetto criminal justice system, the people are represented mostly by two members of the McBride family: Dudley 'Do-Right' McBride, police officer and part-time security guard at the Funky Ghetto Mall, and attorney Cootie McBride of the law firm McBride, Myself and I. This is their story." health care 2009-10-28T21:22:00-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/your_turn_jps_students_need_strings/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/your_turn_jps_students_need_strings/#When:21:15:01Z Sometimes I wonder if the people in charge of making decisions about education realize we are the future. We kids are affected by the school board's decision to cut out important extracurricular activities such as strings.by Georgie Fitch October 28, 2009 Sometimes I wonder if the people in charge of making decisions about education realize we are the future. We kids are affected by the school board's decision to cut out important extracurricular activities such as strings. This decisions means that many students will not get to have such a wonderful experience in elementary school as I did. education, music, Youth 2009-10-28T21:15:01-06:00 http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/mott_the_cost_of_executions_102809/ http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/mott_the_cost_of_executions_102809/#When:18:00:00Z Quitman County, Miss., population 10,500, raised taxes for three years and borrowed $150,000 to provide legal counsel to Robert Simon and Anthony Carr, sentenced to death for the 1990 murders of four family members. A death-penalty case "is almost like lightning striking," county administrator Butch Scipper told The Wall Street Journal in 2002. "It is catastrophic to a small rural county."by Ronni Mott October 28, 2009 Quitman County, Miss., population 10,500, raised taxes for three years and borrowed $150,000 to provide legal counsel to Robert Simon and Anthony Carr, sentenced to death for the 1990 murders of four family members. A death-penalty case "is almost like lightning striking," county administrator Butch Scipper told The Wall Street Journal in 2002. "It is catastrophic to a small rural county." Justice 2009-10-28T18:00:00-06:00