Story
Court Says Isolated Human Genes Cannot be Patented
The Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously threw out attempts to patent human genes, siding with advocates who say the multibillion-dollar biotechnology industry should not have exclusive control over genetic information …
Story
Jackson Officials Back Robinson, Link McQuirter to GOP
Local officials expressed their full-throated supported for Hinds County District 2 contender Willie Robinson of Bolton.
Story
Clarion-Ledger No Longer a ‘Newspaper'?
My, my. It seems that Gannett Co. is causing consternation in its news room and talk in the newspaper industry by its decisions to turn its newspapers into "information center" …
Story
Politics
Hosemann's Voter ID Subterfuge
Nowhere does the secretary of state's website make it clear that the Mississippi's voter-identification law, which the Legislature and governor approved in May, will not be in effect for the …
Story
Politico On Horse-race Coverage
This is an interesting piece over at Politico talking about media bias (and/or the lack thereof) in the coverage of the McCain and Obama campaigns. Politico is talking about its …
Story
Trump Campaign Manager Forced Out
Republican presidential contender Donald Trump has forced out his hard-charging campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, in a dramatic shakeup designed to calm panicked Republican leaders and reverse one of the most …
Entry
Why does the Ledger's Brian Eason ooze contempt for so many Jacksonians?
By Donna LaddOK, Snark King, it's your turn.
I've had it in the back of my head to blog about a really offensive post by The Clarion-Ledger's city reporter Brian Eason for weeks now, but it had fallen to the side in the need to report actual news. But while cleaning up my desk today, I started noticing a pattern—first from a clipping of another snarky thing he wrote calling a whole city office stupid, and then I saw a blog post belittling an enterprise story by our staff this week, but without actually saying what was in it or linking to it. So here's my Friday afternoon round-up of what I've been noticing about Mr. Eason's snark, which I assume is meant to be humor, except none of it is funny.
No. 1. Don't dare compare crime to terrorism, dumb little council candidate. After 20-year-old minister Corinthian Sanders decided to get involved enough to run for City Council, he made the mistake of saying that the "terrorism" of crime was one of his top priorities (as if he's the first to ever say that here). Sanders told the Jackson Free Press: "Let’s talk about getting our lawbreakers, criminals—I call them terrorists….(If) you can’t go anywhere without killing someone or robbing someone or terrorizing someone, that’s terror, (and) you’re a terrorist; you’re a domestic terrorist.” The mention of the word terrorism tickled Eason's funny bone. He snarked:
"To my knowledge, no major terrorist attacks have occurred or been planned on our streets, and the Jackson Police Department reported no terrorist incidents in 2012, according to its published crime stats. But maybe that’s what the terrorists want us to think.
"Lest anyone think Sanders is trying to politicize the Boston Marathon bombing, rest assured, his commitment to fighting terrorism on the streets of Jackson predated the explosions at the marathon.
"But while Sanders listed counter-terrorism as his No. 2 priority, right behind “protect, improve and increase affordable housing,” none of his competitors — or, indeed, any other candidates in the entire metro area — mentioned local terrorism as a problem worthy of their consideration.
Eason's blog post shows he later clarified what Sanders meant, and quoted Sanders' above words from the JFP in an addendum to the snark-post, but that nasty horse was out of Eason's barn by then. That's what you get for running for office in Jackson, Corinthian. The ire of a native Dallasonian. And I really don't know what all his references to monkey videos on your Facebook page were about, and don't care.
No. 2. In a post called "Common sense? Not at clerk's office," Eason showed the entire staff of the Jackson city clerk's office not to mess with him, no sir. He was irked that he couldn't get election results from the clerk's office at 11 a.m. the day after the primary. They didn't have certified results available, yet, and gave him a bit of a runaround. OK, it's fair to …
Story
Person of the Day
Ambrose Tabb
In Jackson, Ambrose "Eli" Tabb was influential in the high school arts scene, but is most noted for his relentless pursuit of social justice.
Story
Tricked Out
The clang and clatter of skateboard wheels against wooden slabs echo through a long corridor and emerge outside dock 36 of the Jackson Enterprise Center in South Jackson. Inside, colorful …
Story
City & County
Jackson to Use $1.8 Million Federal Grant to Fight Lead Contamination
The City of Jackson is getting $1.8 million in federal funds to clean up lead-based paint and other home health hazards in the city.
Story
Education
Mississippi to Receive 'Help Me Grow' Hotline
Mississippi Families for Kids, a community service organization that works with adoptive and foster-care families as well as children with mental-health challenges, received an $850,000 grant from the W.K. Kellogg …
Story
City & County
Sen. Horhn to Seek Yes or No Vote in Legislature on State Flag Change
State Sen. John Horhn, D-Jackson, said he will file a bill asking lawmakers to take an up or down vote to keep or change the Mississippi state flag, the last …
Story
New York, Massachusetts Sue Volkswagen Over Emissions Cheating
New York state and Massachusetts are suing Volkswagen and its affiliates Audi and Porsche over diesel emissions cheating, alleging that the German automakers defrauded customers by selling diesel vehicles equipped …
Story
Red Wolf Pups Named at Mississippi Zoo
Seven endangered red wolf pups now have Choctaw names to honor the state's only federally recognized Indian tribe.
Story
Language of the Absurd
Despite its ungainly headline, AP ran an excellent story about the absurdity of some Mississippi politicians' anti-immigrant rhetoric, delivered just in time for the election cycle.
Story
Protesting Protest
Over a hundred thousand protesters took to the streets across the country the week the war started—but not to protest the war. They were protesting the protest of the war. …
Story
"So who should be the HNIC of the Memphis City Schools?"
This was the second sentence of the first paragraph of an article written by John Branston for the Memphis Flyer. So it won't look as if I am taking this …
Story
Melton's Last Laugh
The sudden and extremely belated concern about TCI doing a convention-center hotel deal with the city would be amusing if it weren't so frustrating to realize how little some people …
Story
Art
Don't Judge a Punk by Her Cover
If you met Caroline or Ray Crawford on the street, knowing nothing more of them than the (black) clothes on their backs and (large) tattoos on their arms, you might …
Story
Wedding Hair Do's
photos by Will Sterling
The forecast for fall bridal hair plays up non-traditional hairstyles, drawing inspiration from Hollywood's red carpet and the fashion runway. This season's hair trends are more sculptured and complex, but …
