Story
FBI, State Dept. Official Say No Talk of Email Quid Pro Quo
A now-retired FBI agent and a State Department official involved in a discussion over the classification of information in one of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's emails said Tuesday …
Story
France Sees 19,000 Cyberattacks Since Terror Rampage
Hackers have targeted about 19,000 French websites since a rampage by Islamic extremists left 20 dead last week, a top French cyberdefense official said Thursday as the president tried to …
Story
The Lingering Effect of Dispersants
Even though the Federal Drug Administration and other U.S. agencies remain confident that oil and dispersants are not tainting Gulf seafood, the jury is still out, according to some tests …
Story
Gross: Why Obama Should Ignore the Dow
Newsweek business columnist Daniel Gross explains why investor ire at Obama about the stock market's ups and downs is misplaced. And he advises Obama to ignore the naysayers and stay …
Story
*Jackson Newbie: Myths Debunked
Downtown Jackson is full of crime, right?
Actually, no. Downtown Jackson is one of the safest areas of the city with some of the lowest crime rates. Of course, activity makes any area safer, so the more …
Story
A Wild Ride
Alan Huffman's "Mississippi in Africa" (Gotham Books, 2004, $27) is a remarkable book that will capture your imagination and ground you in reality. For anyone who has ever been haunted …
Entry
Allow Me to Rant About This Campaign for a Minute ...
By Donna LaddThe turn this mayoral campaign has taken is extremely frustrating, especially between the Harvey Johnson and Jonathan Lee campaigns. And from where we sit, trying to get out as much accurate information as possible, we see it all. It is one thing to get good, solid public information from a candidate, supporter or anyone as we did last week when we received an envelope of real information about Lee's business issues—which, in turn, a led to a very revealing interview with the candidate, in which we learned that he actually never has been a business owner. The public has the right to know about all of this, and then decide what they think.
But this week, both campaigns have frustrated us. First, the Lee campaign put out a press release (see below) listing several accusations of the Johnson campaign. When our reporter called them to get backup materials, they refused to give us any. I guess we're all supposed to believe it without proof. (See: lesson in that envelope of documents we got last week.)
We're also frustrated with the Johnson campaign over the same press release, though. They put out a press release in response (also quoted in below story) that referred to our story about Lee's business woes and used the fact that Lee is facing those troubles as a response to the allegations?
Huh?
That is not a response. A response would be actual information about the incidents referred to—on which both campaigns failed epicly. It's as if it is a push-and-shove game on a playground. "Oh, yeah?" "Oh, yeah!"
What the public needs is information: documents, links, sources, people will go on the records. It's what we're in the business of doing: gathering and disseminating facts. We cannot legally put out garbage on people and public officials, and the campaigns should not, either. Granted, the Johnson campaign was responding to Lee based on a factual story about his business problems, but a much better response would be information that refuted and/or gave context to the allegations in the email.
Not to mention how many half-baked accusations are flying around; Lee supporters have been especially fond of floating theories to us about the Johnson administration—which none of them bothered to pitch us over the last four years—but then not being able or willing to back them up with documents or people to talk to.
One case in point: a story someone mentioned to me last Sunday; he told us who to call to get details, which we did Monday; he wouldn't talk unless we knew exactly which questions to ask, which we didn't because it's their story tip; the original source then said he'd provide those Wednesday; we didn't hear from him; texted him last night; he texted back this morning with a 90-minute window we could talk to him in; we were on daily deadline and couldn't; now says he's too busy to talk. I told him to call me when he can so we …
Story
Miss. AG Hood Says He'll Subpoena Google on Drugs
Mississippi's attorney general says he still considers Google's responses to allegations that it's not doing enough to prevent illegal online sales of drugs without prescriptions and says he's sending out …
Story
Art
Celebrating Cuban Culture
On Saturday, Oct. 15, from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., the Latin-American Business Association, or LABA-Link, of Mississippi is hosting the state's fifth annual LatinFest at the Multipurpose Complex in …
Story
State School Board Approves Tweaks to Academic Standards
Mississippi's state Board of Education unanimously adopted a series of minor changes to the state's academic standards Thursday, in what could be a quiet end to a controversy over the …
Story
Budget Stalled Again
Mississippi lawmakers failed yet again to come up with a budget for the 2010 fiscal year. A small budget committee has been working overtime to come to an agreement, but …
Story
Iraq Executes 21 Men Convicted of Terrorism
Iraq has executed 21 prisoners convicted on terrorism charges and links to al-Qaida, the Justice Ministry said Wednesday, setting off fresh criticism from an international human rights expert over Baghdad's …
Story
Art
Mural Magic in West Jackson
As part of the Seven Days Community Arts Festival, Cooperation Jackson commissioned 10 artists to paint murals around the themes of "Afrofuturism" and indigenous people in two west Jackson locations.
Story
[Rob In Stereo] Growing Prince's Sound
Prince recently released his newest single, "Cause and Effect," (Youtube link) which is predictably tame and in keeping with the trend of his singles in recent years. It is appearing …
Story
JFP on WLEZ Podcast for 2/25/10
jfp022510.mp3
OK, this is not *really* the podcast, but I'll put up a subscribe tool later today so that people can subscribe to this show and all future shows. Meanwhile, here's …
Story
State
Governor Tate Reeves Announces New COVID-19 Measures
Gov. Tate Reeves announced those who are 65 years and older or have a pre-existing medical condition are now eligible to make an appointment to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Story
Congressmen Support Landmark Status for Mississippi Capitol
Mississippi's entire congressional delegation is supporting an effort to have the state Capitol named a national historic landmark.
Story
Hood Warns of Stimulus Scams
[verbatim from the Mississippi Attorney General's office]
Attorney General Jim Hood, along with the Federal Trade Commission, is warning consumers about bogus web sites and emails promising to help them qualify for a payment from President Obama's …
Story
Story
IS Claims Responsibility for Texas Cartoon Attack
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a weekend attack at a center near Dallas, Texas, that was exhibiting cartoon depictions of the Prophet Muhammad — though it …
