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City Must Pick Up the Pieces, Move On
The City of Jackson needs to do whatever it takes to keep from being ruled and stagnated by rumors and lawsuits. And let's be honest, after the lawsuits filed against …
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Jacksonian
Father Michael O’Brien
Father Michael O'Brien first met Hal White more than 10 years ago while O'Brien was serving as the priest at St. Richard Catholic Church in Jackson.
Story
Fight For Women, Not Against Them
If our politicians are truly concerned about protecting women and children, they should abandon their relentless assault on abortion rights and tackle the real issues facing girls and women in …
Story
Closing Arguments Begin in Trial of Ex-NFLer Aaron Hernandez
A lawyer for former New England Patriots star tight end Aaron Hernandez told jurors on Tuesday that there is only one possible and lawful verdict in his client's murder trial: …
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City & County
Jackson Working Out Bugs on Tech Issues
The City of Jackson spent close to a half-million dollars this week as part of its ongoing efforts to update its technology systems, many of which are old and outdated …
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Ban-the-Box a Good Step
For decades, employers from fast-food joints to mall boutiques and financial-services firms to news organizations have been asking prospective employees about their criminal histories.
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Jacksonian
Dorlisa Hutton
One student in particular holds a special place for Dorlisa Hutton, project manager at the educational nonprofit Scientific Research, aka SR1, in Jackson.
Story
Have a Little Fun, Why Don’t You?
It's easy to fall into the trap of viewing Jackson, the metro area and Mississippi as a place where nothing will ever change, where there's nothing to do. But just …
Story
NRA Board Member Blames Church's Pastor in Charleston Shooting
A Houston attorney on the National Rifle Association's board of directors is blaming the deadly Charleston church shooting on one of the victims, saying the slain pastor had opposed concealed …
Entry
MoJo: Chris McDaniel Spoke at Confederate Ball; McDaniel Denies: I Was at an ALEC Event
By R.L. NaveMother Jones, the liberal investigative-news magazine that broke the story of Mitt Romney's 47 percent remark during the presidential campaign, is now taking aim at Mississippi politics.
MoJo reports that in August, state Sen. Chris McDaniel, who last week announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate, addressed a "a neo-Confederate conference in Laurel, Miss., near his hometown of Ellisville."
Attendees were reportedly urged to dress in "Confederate uniforms and antebellum ball gowns or wee kilties."
McDaniel told the Clarion-Ledger political editor Geoff Pender, however, that he never attended the ball and was at a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council at the time.
MoJo doesn't provide any videographic proof but quotes sources saying that McDaniel attended the ball (the invitation listing McDaniel can be found here), but reports:
McDaniel was joined at the Southern Heritage Conference by Al Benson, a historian from Louisiana, who talked about his book Red Republicans & Lincoln Marxists, which speculates that Lincoln's actions during the Civil War were influenced by the writings of Karl Marx. ("Was Abraham Lincoln influenced by communism when the Union condemned the rights of Southern states to express their independence? It’s shocking to think so.") Benson's Amazon bio describes him as "a true Copperhead," a reference to Northern Democrats who supported the Confederate cause. In the September issue of the Rosin Heels newsletter, Benson writes that the nation's public school system was a product of "spiritual apostasy" by Unitarians and socialists.
The third speaker at the event was Ryan Walters, a PhD student at the University of Southern Mississippi who occasionally guest-hosts "The Right Side," the radio program McDaniel hosted before he entered politics (and still regularly appears on). Walters worked for McDaniel's first political campaign and previously suggested that President Obama was preparing to send army tanks to Texas. "As you recall, there was great controversy over Obama's birth certificate, which hasn't really been solved, but that's another story," he wrote in a recent blog post.
McDaniel is the first, and may end up being the only, Republican to come out and challenge the veteran Sen. Thad Cochran. McDaniel is one of the Tea Party's favorite legislators; Cochran is one of the Tea Party's most hated.
Mother Jones points out that the Rosin Heels has put up billboard wishing Confederate president and former Mississippi resident Jefferson Davis a happy birthday/
Now, in fairness to the Rosin Heels and to McDaniel, the Mississippi Senate once adjourned in memory of southern General Robert E. Lee and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whom share a recognized birthday, at the suggestion of African American state Sen. Hillman Frazier of Jackson.
Updated to reflect a correction. A previous version misstated that MoJo did not quote sources saying McDaniel attended. The magazine did report that one of the organizers confirmed McDaniel's attendance.
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[Lott] Worst of Times; Best of Times
<b>Web Exclusive</b>
Three weeks after America's worst storm directly hit Mississippi, the Katrina recovery effort has miles to go, but we are making progress. As we recover, we must continue addressing immediate …
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Loosening the Beer Bottleneck
Kevin Slark is a beer connoisseur. He can tell the difference between a Belgian Abbey-style Leffe and a German Helle Weissebier. He is also, if not a criminal, someone who …
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Planning an Ideal Neighborhood for Kids
An ideal neighborhood for children begins with including children in the planning process. This doesn't mean families, developers or planners put in an amusement park with ice cream stands on …
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Men We Love
In honor of Dad's day, we want to spotlight just a few of the Jacksonian men we love.
Former Gov. William Winter, 81, is such an obvious choice for the "Men We Love" issue that we almost feel silly including him. But, as politics get uglier and more …
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Thanksgiving Fare
If there are two things I love, they're my momma and her famous nobody-can-do-it-better cornbread dressing. My family can't imagine eating out for Thanksgiving dinner. Whoever is around gets together …
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The Sum Of Its Parts
The art in the 2007 Mississippi Invitational falls on both sides of the modernist/postmodernist ideological divide. Some artists relate to a modernist conception of art, which counsels that art is …
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[Green Eats] Giants Dominate Organics
If you think the farmer-in-the-dell wearing Birkenstocks and singing "Kum Ba Yah" owns that organic brand you're so fond of, think again. According to "Organic, Inc.: Natural Foods and How …
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Akin Rejects Uproar Over 'One Word,' Vows to Stay in Race
Rep. Todd Akin renewed his vow to carry on with his embattled Senate campaign Tuesday, even as a key deadline loomed to withdraw from the race over his comments that …
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Music
Rapper Condo Bo Spreads Christian Message Through the Metro
Music is entrenched in Jeremy Thompson's family, he says. The Jackson native said his brother and cousins used to own a studio when he was a child and that he …
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[Herman's Picks] Vol. 8, No. 11
After stuffing yourself with turkey, you might be ready for a strong drink and loud music to wash all that family time down.
