Jackson Jambalaya

I was going to post "A Charlie Brown Christmas" today but after yesterday, I think I will wait before I post that video. Here is the entire showing of "Scrooge", starring Alaister Sim in 1951. Needless to say, Mr. Sim's Scrooge is a real s.o.b.  Its considered the best version of the Dickens classic although George C. Scott almost stole the role for himself in 1984. Enjoy.

Consider this post to be a thread about the shooting at the elementary school in Connecticut. Our prayers go out to the families there. There is simply nothing to say at a time like this. Feel free to vent, grieve, or post updates here. KF.

Stokes wants to appoint Nathan Hargrove to the board of Hinds Community College. Agenda

Whispering Pines and Wingfield Estates. Two South Jackson neighborhoods that brought the spirit of the Christmas season every year to the Jackson area as residents put on a festival of lights. Bumper to bumper traffic. Lanterns lining the streets.   A holiday tradition everyone enjoyed. Although the character of South Jackson changed over the last ten years, the Christmas displays continued year after year.  Since neither of us saw the Christmas lights in three years, StilettoGOP and I visited the two neighborhoods last night with videocameras rolling as we did for the "Cruising McDowell Road" post earlier this year. I won't spoil the fun for you. Just watch the videos below.

Doug Anderson's daughter said he will support Joe Lewis as his replacement on the Hinds County Board of Supervisors. The same Joe Lewis who was removed from the bench in 2005 by the Mississippi Supreme Court for making inappropriate advances towards several women. Jackie Anderson Woods made the statement during a press conference announcing Mr. Anderson's resignation.

JPD issued the following press release:

Supervisor Robert Graham called it a "difficult day".    Jackie Anderson Woods announced at a press conference today her father, Hinds County District 2 Supervisor Doug Anderson, will resign from the Board of Supervisors on January 1, 2013. Mr. Anderson was not present.

District 2 Congressman did not exactly tell the truth when he sent a letter to the Justice Department protesting school district consolidation in Bolivar County.  The Congressman was quite upset the state would dare do something about one-school districts paying superintendents salaries over $117,000.The Congressman could not resist playing the race card. One can almost imagine him writhing on the floor and foaming at the mouth as he wrote this letter. How dare those white Republicans do something in the Delta. Who do they think they are? The Congressman wrote in his letter:

I posted last week an email from a listener who took exception to what I said about majority-black public school districts on the radio last week.  The same person sent these emails prior to sending these emails. Enjoy.

Pig's tongue. How does the mutt eat this stuff. Ugh.

Bigger Pie Forum commissioned a study to determine the effect the Kemper project will have on utility bills for residential and commercial customers. BPF stated in a recent post:

The Commissioner of Insurance will hold a health care symposium tomorrow at the convention center. See flyer posted below for more details.

Note: This was first posted on December 4, 2012 but I am bumping it up as I will be discussing some of this on the radio this week as well as my earlier post about Bolivar County schools.

Highlights of post:
-All district report cards reviewed with charts included below. 
-Districts reviewed on # of teachers hired/Total # of employees
-Total spending per student compared by grades and majority race. All federal, state, & local funding dollars is included.
-Statistics are compared between majority-black and majority-white districts. Charts included.
-Districts over 80% of one race are compared to each other. Charts included.

A review of annual report cards for all Mississippi public school districts reveals some uncomfortable trends: majority-black districts in Mississippi spend more money per student, hire a fewer percentage of teachers, and have worse ratings than majority-white districts. The picture worsened for districts at least 80% black. They spend $2,000 more per student than  districts at least 80% white while performing much worse.

Lieutenant Governor Tate Reeves announced the proposed 2014 budget in this press release:

Bradley Lum, Bennie Hubbard, Scott Allen and Brent Powell qualified for House of Representatives District #59 yesterday.

A police report states an employee embezzled $80,000 from Broadmeadow United Methodist Church in Fondren.

Here are the latest crime reports available online. Sorry, Jackson's have not been updated in several weeks and are still stuck on October 28.

Excellent choice. I wish Miles would fire Stud and hire him to be his OC but such is not to be. If you want a look at his offense with real talent, watch the 2007 Sugar Bowl. He called the plays in that game against Notre Dame.

The Tiger Girls got a little bored on a road trip and decided to produce this video:

The Sierra Club issued this press release charging former Governor Haley Barbour "failed to disclose his financial ties to corporate giant Southern Company, parent company of Mississippi Power (MPCO).

Mississippi Republican Party just issued a press release stating a politician is going to switch parties:

Ever wonder what Superintendents make in Mississippi? Check out the chart below.

Kent & Larry took my Tuesday post about Mississippi education and ran with it on their Thursday morning show on WJNT.

The Jackson Free Press published a report on the decision by the Jackson Public School Board to refinance some bonds. It turns out JPS is going down the road taken by the city of Jackson a few years ago: running up the bond credit card to get more cash up front but pay more later than if it had done nothing. The JFP reports:

The Sun-Herald's Karen Nelson uncovered more shenanigans in the scandal at the Department of Marine Resources. Ms. Lee reports DMR spent over $1 million of money meant for artificial reefs to lease boats from foundations, including one operated by the Executive Director of DMR:

College football is over. Nascar is on its winter break. What to watch, what to watch. Want some good political theater? The complete episodes of I Claudius are on Youtube. Here is the first episode. No fancy sets, no special effects, no Spartacus sex scenes, just good old-fashioned script-writing. Enjoy.

I discussed the post about public education in Mississippi on the show this week. Enjoy. Kent & Larry discussed it on their show yesterday and today. I'll post the recordings to those shows over the weekend.

WJTV covered the Twin Creeks failure and problems at Silicor in this story last night:

Senator Chris McDaniel (R-Jones) honors the heroes of Pearl Harbor in this column submitted to JJ:

Today we all remember the day the Japs bombed Pearl Harbor. We took our licks, toughened up, and gave them more then they ever bargained for when they pulled off their sneak attack. If interested in a good movie telling the story of the attack, watch Tora, Tora, Tora. It was made back in the 1970's and is far superior to the theatrical piece of garbage starring Ben Affleck a few years ago. This is a link to a gallery of photos taken after the attack at Boston.com. Here is color video of the attack:

Seems my little posts about Mississippi education and discussing them on WJNT got someone's attention. Here is the email I received this week:

What would be a fiscal cliff discussion without Santelli & Liesman going at it in this video?

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

The Justice Department approved the consolidation of Bolivar County school district in a September letter sent to the Mississippi Attorney General. The Mississippi Legislature passed a law this year mandating Bolivar reduce the number of districts from six to no more than three. The law generated much opposition from Bolivar residents.

However, my review of Mississippi school district report cards yielded quite a few nuggets about Bolivar County school districts that didn't make into that post earlier this week. Take a look at some basic facts about these districts below and pay attention to the Superintendent salaries as well as the size of the districts.

That is run for the House, not run to the House.  Bradley Lum announced his candidacy to replace Kevin McGee in this press release:

The Mississippi Center for Public Policy issued this statement and petition:



Our friends at the Goldwater Institute created a short video giving six reasons states should be opposed to the insurance exchanges being set up under Obamacare. While Mississippi is saying yes, 21 states are saying no. Here’s why:

Well, actually alive but if dead it won't bother me even though it won't happen.  These thugs posted below are wanted for attacking the manager of the Swell-O-Phonic on North State Street Monday night:

The New York Times published a story Sunday on how states are giving major incentive packages and tax breaks to corporations in an effort to recruit industry but are often left holding the bag. The story included an interactive map allowing the reader to see a list of projects and incentives for each state.

How did I forget to do this? Enjoy.

Dr. Arnold Smith filed a Section 1983 lawsuit against Attorney General Jim Hood, District Attorney Dewayne Richardson, and Assistant District Attorney Timothy Jones in U.S. District Court Monday. The suit alleges the three defendants acted to deprive Dr. Smith of his fourth amendment rights. Dr. Smith was indicted for allegedly masterminding a murder for hire plot to kill Greenwood Attorney Lee Abraham. Dr. Smith is incarcerated without bond in the Leflore County Detention Center.

Mississippi's health insurance exchange is now active.  Onemississippi.com is the title for the exchange. 

Moved up in the family from throwing phones at people & assaulting security guards to this:

A fine representation of a Canton Public School education:

Insurance companies providing coverage in states that do not set up a health insurance exchange under Obamacare will pay a 3.5% surcharge on premiums.  The surcharge will fund the creation and maintenance of the federal exchanges for such states.

Our favorite Congressman, last seen worrying that too many Marines would cause Guam to sink into the ocean, now wants to pass a constitutional amendment to "control" the free speech rights of corporations and businesses since they might oppose ideas he suppports. Can't make this up.

Recording a police officer with a cellphone became easier after the Supreme Court let stand a 2011 Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that affirmed the right of citizens to record police officers performing their duties in public. (No. 12-318) The Court denied certiori to an appeal by the State of Illinois on November 26.* The Seventh Circuit decision overturned a fifty-year old Illinois statute making it a crime to record “all or any part of any conversation” without the consent of all parties. The ACLU filed suit after it announced it was going to start recording police officers while in the performance of their duties.

Ole Miss is talking to Nike about new uniforms in 2013. Here are some of the new helmets that are up for consideration. The Gray one is pretty bad-ass.

The political junkies on both sides will enjoy this post. Erick Erickson at Redstate declared war on the "consultant class" after election day.  He penned a series of posts naming names and diagramming the relationships.  Erick ramped it up in his latest missile, oops, I meant missive, against the consultants he says are strangling the Republican Party.  Mr. Erickson writes:

I'm posting a snapshot of Mississippi public schools Monday based on reviewing report cards for a solid week. Here is a quick look at one group: the school districts under 1,000 students.  Enjoy.

The Associated Press reports Governor Bryant said the Twin Creeks project in Senatobia failed and the state is seeking repayment of the $27.7 million loan provided to the company.  AP reporter Jeff Amy writes: