Thursday, December 6, 2012

Senator Alice Harden passed away.

JJ just learned Senator Alice Harden passed away.  Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves issued this statement:

“As a former teacher, Senator Harden brought her passion for improving Mississippi’s schools and universities to the State Senate. She fought diligently for all Mississippi children to have an opportunity to receive a good education. Her dedication to public service will be missed. Elee and I pray for her family during this difficult time.”

25 comments:

Pruple in a Red State said...

Great woman and advocate for education...she will be missed.

Anonymous said...

You mean an advocate to maintain the status quo of Mississippi's failing education system.

Pruple in a Red State said...

You may want to look at her record before you pass judgement. Moreover, if the system is failing we (parens of children, teachers, administrators and representatives, etc.) all are maintaining the status quo. The system didn't fail overnight and can't be fixed overnight, however, pointing a finger doesn't get us anywhere. As a parent of two high schoolers I have to do my part...making sure homework is done, that they understand what is being taught, checking with the teachers and being invovled with the school. That is what my mother did and I will continue to do also. I can't speak for you 9:29a or anyone else but it is easy to get on social media and point a finger but as I learnerd 35 years ago pointing a finger points some back at you.

Anonymous said...

So sad. She taught gym when I was at Callaway a million years ago. A great lady.

Jane Tucker

Anonymous said...

Harden voted party line Donkeycrat and school districts like JPS are an example of her legacy. YOU are apparently the one who needs to take a look at her record.

Please save your one-world-we're-all-responsible-its-going-to-take-time-bullshit for some other numbskull stupid enough to actually believe it.

We can only hope and pray that your high schoolers don't exit into the adult world with a brain full of mush.

Purple in a Red State said...

Wow...I love that song!! Pulling it up on iTunes right now...thanks!!!!!

Purple in a Red State said...

But seriously...did you not read what I said about my doings...AGAIN...I can't speak for you or anyone else...I am doing for mine and not complaining about a system that I can't fix alone. However, I can take responsibility in my home with my children...I gues YOU miss all that because you are so gunho to speak ill of the dead. Oh well...life does indeed go on...

Anonymous said...

9:49 and 11:43 am and 1:54 pm, are , I pray, one inappropriate person. Clearly, these blogs reflect the uninformed opinion of someone who never met Sen. Harden.

Sen. Harden cared very much about quality education for ALL students.

When I served on the Board for Community and Junior Colleges and liasoned with the legislature, I found her to be very well informed on issues regarding community colleges ,very hard working and always pleasant.

Of even greater importance to me at the time, she was unflailingly honest with me about what she could and could not support or succeed in doing and why. She was always rational and logical. That kind of honesty and reasoning ability was, sadly, far too rare.

Many, I am sorry to say, told me either what they imagined I wanted to hear or literally that they were uninterested in information but would vote " how they felt".

I respected Sen. Harden and those who shared her sense of honor very much, whether they agreed with the position I was supporting on behalf of the board or not.

My condolences to Sen. Harden's family.

Susan Purdy

ShadowHearse said...

Susan Purdy delivers a nice eulogy. It's not 'speaking ill of the dead' when an emotional issue bumps heads with the reality of the death of an elected official.

We have a choice of pretending she was an angel delivered into our midst to salvage the education system (which never happened), or we can be honest and scrap the emotion over her passing and deal with honesty. What difference did she make? Emotion aside!

What the hell did she accomplish? In all these years while she was "Championing this" and "supporting that" and "believing in the other", none of the system she came from improved one God Damned bit.

Years ago Alice Harden realized she could enjoy employment as a legislator more than as a teacher. The benefits were better, the hours were way more desirable and she had nobody to answer to. No annual reviews, no requirements to show up after hours for conferences and dealing with the plebes, no recertification, no mandated annual certification updates. She succeeded at what she went after ~ a vocal position in the domed building, just a little to the right of Maxine Waters. Nothing offensive intended. It is what it was.

Whether or not she was a 'great lady' I have no clue, as I don't know her personally. But, to suggest we must revere her because she has passed over Jordan is nonsense.

Anonymous said...

dam you zealots, a woman passed away. good grief.

Kingfish said...

No kidding. Leave the political battles to the side for once.

Anonymous said...


ShadowHearse sums it up quite well.

The news coverage of Harden's passing is full of politics Kingfish. The media is heralding the issues she "championed" -- especially education -- though, of course, they say nothing about the dreadful results in public education during her 24 years in the Senate. So they can tout her love for Blackburn all they want and herald her devotion to the school but the academic results there and throughout Jackson Public Schools are atrocious and pathetic.

Anonymous said...

Thoughts and prayers to her family.

Scott Jones said...

I knew Alice from the morning workouts in Paul Lacoste Sports classes and she was a great person.

ShadowHearse said...

It might be wise for Kingfish to not publish obituaries if he does not want respondents to speak honestly about the issues surrounding the deceased. In that case, what is the purpose and benefit of publishing them in the first place. I respond to these sorts of blog posts just as I did when Edward Kennedy died or when Kirk Fordice died (two opposite ends of my spectrum). Is there a certain amount of time that should pass before we should give our opinion of the legacy of a deceased public figure?

ophelia said...

Shadow, I applaud you for using the plain, declarative verb "DIED." The phrase "passed away" seems...welll...sorta "prole" to me. Not much better than "went to be with her Lord and Savior" which we read daily in the Glaring Error obits.

Shadobit said...

Terms such as 'passed', 'passed away', 'crossed over Jordan' and 'went to be with her Lord' are heartfelt expressions written into obituaries by family or friends. I have no disrespect for that if it consoles the survivors. I've done the same with family members and will again. Anybody who has passed away or crossed over Jordan has died. I didn't mean to be disrespectful of the deceased with my honesty, unlike Ophelia.

Anonymous said...

I am puzzled...if alice hardin cared so much about the education of the little chirens why in the world didn't she do something worth while like fixing the broken system or was she to dumb to even know the system was broken in the first place?

ophelia said...

One of my favorite movie lines, spoken by the mahhhhvelous Lainie Kazan: "When your father passed away, and eventually died..."

Certainly no disrespect intended, Shad me lad! Just a bit of gallows humor. I used to call it "black humor" until my mother and I were watching her favorite comedian, Kevin James, and after one of his routines I used that term. " 'Black humor'? What are you talking about? He's as white as you are!"

Anonymous said...

Senator Harden could not be expected to singlehandedly improve education, but she was in the fray, working hard and taking the abuse of the ill informed who don't know jack about education.

I am frankly more than a little tired of arm chair critics who bitch about everything and everybody but are NEVER the ones actually working to improve whatever they are bitching about nor do they do more than superficially familiarize themselves with any issue.

And, I'm more than nauseated by mean spirited, unimaginative people who can't apparently understand that Sen. Harden left a family behind who is in grief or realize, that Sen Harden is no longer here to annoy them, and that they may find Sen. Harden's replacement far less to their liking.

Not only did Shadow and his cohorts never meet Sen Harden, not a one of them has ONE clue about what education bills she did or didn't support or what actions she did or didn't take. All they know about her is her political party, her gender and her race. If they weren't boorish ignoramouses then they'd know she supported many measures they would applaud.

Anonymous said...

You have NO IDEA December 8, 2012 9:04 AM about anybody here so look in the mirror because the boorish ignoramus is YOU.

ShadowDoubt said...

Please educate us 9:04. Since I have no idea what Hardin did, will you list her accomplishments. I'm not so much interested in what 'she supported' as in what she actually 'did'. Please list three of her accomplishments regarding education during her lengthy career at the state trough.

Anonymous said...

Shadowdoubt, allow me, please, even though I'm not 9:04

You seem to have forgotten that education isn't only K-12.

While I'm certain Sen. Harden's overall focus was for improving all levels of education, let me just share was I know from working with her.

Senator Harden also was interested in community and junior colleges and our institutes of higher learning.

She worked to make sure during my tenure on the Board for Community and Junior Colleges that parents didn't have to double pay for courses their child had already passed with a C or better when they transferred to Ole Miss or State or Southern from one of our junior colleges.

Indeed, she worked to create the Board when before, the Junior College Presidents had their own little fiefdoms.

In doing both of those things, the boondoggle annual coastal meetings at the Broadwater at tax payer expense were curtailed considerably.

She worked to make sure that our junior colleges could compete for good faculty with our neighboring states when we were losing faculty( and students) to LA and ALA and TN.

She understood that our IHL and community colleges were losing money by not taking advantage of economies of scale and supported ( and garnered support) whenever she could for changes in the law that would allow fiscal responsibility.

She understood that ALL of our educational systems should be not only student focused but efficient.

She was involved in getting better funding for the libraries as most , to my horror, in the community college system relied too heavily on donations...lots of Danielle Steele and few reference books.

She supported kindergartens.

She understood what an " average" is and how it is derived and you would not believe how many legislators and junior college presidents argued that an " average" didn't account for lows or highs. Had I not been certain they had actually averaged grades, I might not have known they were lying as their sincere demeanor was impressive.

I can't think of a good bill regarding education from 1978 -1986 that she didn't lend her full weight to getting passed.

She tried to stop the helter skelter growth of duplicating programs that occur because our institutions too often compete rather than co-ordinate.

There was much she couldn't do because too many, like you, have opinions that aren't factually based.

Cy Rosenblatt and Alice Harden stood out during my political years as being the best informed legislators when it came to education. They did their homework.

You should do your homework before you speak so ill of the dead, Shadow.

Susan Purdy










Anonymous said...

There was much she couldn't do because too many, like you, have opinions that aren't factually based.

Ding, ding, ding.

Thanks for playing Susan.

You've got LADD SYNDROME.

Head to Fondren immediately for a Falcon Award and a complementary ObamaisGOD sticker from the old Editor Bitty herself.

Carry on.

Kingfish said...

All right. I've had it. I'm closing off comments to this thread. No damn respect for those passed away. And yes, that is my damn term for it. You can go practice your Monty Python skit on another website. Some of you have no class whatsoever. Probably like to tell 5 year old kids there is no Santa Claus.



Recent Comments

Search Jackson Jambalaya

Subscribe to JJ's Youtube channel

Archives

Trollfest '09

Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


Note: Security provided by INS.

Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

Note: Security provided by INS
.