http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/jackblog.xml Headlines from the online collective weblog of Jackson Free Press writers. en-us Tue, 06 May 2008 00:37:07 GMT Tue, 06 May 2008 00:37:07 GMT http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/jackblog.xml http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16821_0_67_0_C In my last JackBlog post, I argued that the media was <a href="http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/index.php/site/comments/mlk_iii_to_edwards_keep_fighting/" >fanning the flames</a> of racial controversy in the 2008 Election. I still believe that's true. But in light of the recent furor over Barack Obama's pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah A. Wright, Jr., I also believe--as do many others the media, even the ones who <i>weren't</i> licking for a fight-- that... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16782_0_67_0_C Cledger-Ledger honchos have been known to declare that the paper does not use "unnamed sources." We already know that's not true due to mucked-up stories like the one by Ledger Washington Bureau reporter Ana Radalat (OK, they called her that <I>before</I> the muck-up) where she wrote a story based on an MBN memo in 2003 "obtained from" Frank Melton, who was then an unnamed source. Ledger Metro editor Grace Simmons accepted the piece, despite the supposed... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16778_0_67_0_C April 18, 2008—When I first heard that one of AAN’s highest ranking executives had used the n-word to jokingly refer to a deceased friend of his, I assumed his friend was black and was shocked. When I learned that the friend was white, I was just as appalled. The issue, to me, is not who he was talking about; it was about his use of the most notorious white supremacy label as a flippant term of endearment. Even more puzzling to me is why Mr. Lacey, or other white men, would even consider... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16777_0_67_0_C <a href="http://www.theroot.com/id/45744" >In this article on TheRoot.com</a>, Melissa Harris-Lacewell talks about a public discussion that took place in a church in Brooklyn, NY - a discussion of the touchy subject of intra-racial rape in the black community. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16773_0_67_0_C OK, so this was not the best moment for the alternative-news industry. The owner of the alternative newspaper industry's most corporate chain, Mike Lacey, accepted an award from the Phoenix Society of Professional Journalists on the anniversary of Martin Luther King's death. At the podium, he referred to his deceased (white) friend, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Tom Fitzpatrick, as "my n*gger." In the audience were black journalists, as well as an 82-year-old mother of a... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16748_0_67_0_C The MississippiforMcCain Web site is truly acting like a cyber-moron at the moment. We just turned up this general swipe at "another lefty"—who, it turns out, is a guy with radical, inconsistent (at best) views at best who wrote a letter to the Ledger the McCain crowd doesn't like. George Lambus wrote to the Ledger complaining that: <I>Carroll County in Mississippi has been from its inception a hotbed of Klan activity, now if Sen. John McCain's great-grandfather was once... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16729_0_67_0_C Today marks the 40-year anniversary of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_luther_king" >Dr. Martin Luther King</a>'s assassination. Dr. King was only 39, but the man was eloquent and mature way beyond what his age would indicate. Since Dr. King's death, how much closer are we in realizing his dream? King was known for his notable participation in the Civil Rights Movement, but he was also against the war in Vietnam and spoke out about poverty.... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16727_0_67_0_C OK, what animals do y'all know of in the community that are "famous" in some way&#8212;meaning have to know people beyond their owners. Pets that live in businesses? Pets with lots of friends? You get my drift. Need fast! http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16696_0_67_0_C Thanks to a conversation that started about tipping over on <a href="http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16645_0_7_0_C" >under Kaze's column</a> about race dialogue, I promised I would start a thread so that JFP readers could discuss tips about etiquette in life and and business (and continue the tip conversation if they want). So here is my thread, as promised. I'll start with a few random things I've learned from running my own business in Mississippi;... http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/comments.php?id=16683_0_67_0_C Especially younger ones. This is extremely well said, and captures something that resonates with me—I <I>like</I> the way he treats women. The Clintons seem to come from another generation, when men sh!t all over their families, and their wives blink lovingly back at them, no matter what. And, as the writer points out, Obama promises change on so many levels—from the personal to the most public. And that's what so much of the American public craves....