Stokes

Jackson City Councilman Kenneth Stokes is seeking a court order to stop Leslie McLemore from continuing to serve as council president.

The complaint is the second in seven months filed by Stokes against the council.

Spanish politico labels Tony Blair "a complete dickhead"

A Spanish politician has reportedly called Tony Blair "a complete dickhead" on live television, but didn't know his comment had been heard.

The comment by Jose Bono, one of the three most powerful figures in Spain's Socialist Party, was recorded by a TV team as he talked to Joaquin Almunia, a former Socialist leader.

Mr Bono said: "Hey, and our colleague Blair? He's a complete dickhead (un gilipollas integral). He's an imbecile."

American Envoy Visits N. Korea Nuke Facility

An "unofficial" delegation of Americans visited North Korea's Yougbyon nuclear facility, and the North Korean regime issued a statement claiming that the visitors were shown its "nuclear deterrent."

Brave New World in ... New Jersey?

Stories in both TownHall.com and Baptist Press News cover the New Jersey cloning bill, which is nearing a vote in the N. J. legislature.

Here's what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis!

This morning, I caught a few minutes of an infomercial on television. It was advertising some type of weight loss and body building program by BeachBody.com, but that is not what is important. What is important is that seeing that commercial has motivated me to lose some weight and tone up in general.

Here's the deal: I'm six feet tall and of medium build, yet I weigh over 200 pounds, and I'm flabby. Ugh! That is too much! I don't know exactly how much I do weigh, because I don't own a scale. I will buy one, to keep track of my progress.

What this whole effort boils down to is will-power. If I have the will-power, then I'll be able to stick to a schedule that will ultimately change the "bad" habits of (1) eating too much of the wrong foods and not enough of the right foods and (2) not exercising, into the "good" habits of (1) eating the right foods (in the right quantities) and (2) adopting a life-long regimen of exercising.

This afternoon, I am going to the coin-operated laundry. While I am out, I will go to Wal-Mart and buy a scale. After I get back to the house, I'll weigh myself. Then, I will weigh myself every week to see what progress I've made toward my goal, which is a weight of 175 pounds at the end of ten weeks. I'll post my progress here.

Saddam Capture Drives Dems, Media Mad

Reaction of the Democrats and the media to the capture of Saddam Hussein.

Possible suspect arrested in councilman's carjacking

City councilman carjacked yesterday. Police arrested a suspect today.

Christian teen forced to become Muslim
How many others has this happened to? That we didn't find out about?

Bush Makes Surprise Visit to Troops in Baghdad

Huge morale boost for the troops, and it didn't hurt that the Commander-in-Chief's trip definately upstaged Senator Clinton's trip to Afghanistan.

Judge denies bond for 2 men charged with murder of sons

Suspect arrested in bank robberies

Jackson: The Bold, New City

Jackson: The Best of the New South

I can't believe they gave a wrong address!

Massachusetts has lost track of where one-third of their registered sex offenders live or work.

History in the making

For only the second time since Reconstruction, Mississippians elected a Republican for governor.

Sheriff denied funds for gate

Last week, a convicted murderer hot wired a vehicle and drove out of the Hinds County Penal Farm by way of a broken gate. This week, the Hinds County Board of Supervisors said that replacing the gate was not an urgent issue.

The replacement gate would have cost only $7,035.00, but some supervisors said that size expense required two price quotations, thereby delaying the purchase.

I went to the coin-operated laundry this afternoon. One of my pet peeves is the lack of consideration someone shows when they leave their laundry in a washer or a drier after the cycle has finished when someone is waiting to use that machine.

Well, both of the four dollar washers were in use when I got there. One of the machines finished, and no one took the clothes out. I waited for ten minutes. Still no one looked to see if the cycle had ended, so I removed the clothes and put them in one of the wheeled laundry baskets which the management provides.

My clothes were halfway through washing when a woman came looking for her clothes. I mentioned that I had removed her clothes. She was not a happy camper. Instead of apologizing for leaving her clothes in the washer after they had finished washing, she told me that I should have asked around to see if the clothes belonged to anyone in the laundry! I told her that I wasn't about to poll those in attendance and that I had only removed the clothes ten minutes after they had finished washing and when no one had shown any interest in them.

I should mention that in the laundry there is a sign stating that clothes may be removed from machines when patrons are waiting to use them. Harrumph!

Way to go, Reuters!

The United Methodist Church signed a contract through an agency to run a series of ads during the Thanksgiving season on the giant Times Square video billboard belonging to the Reuters news service. Reuters quickly nixed the deal, citing its long-standing policy against accepting religious or political advertising, but, when faced with withering criticism from religious liberty and free-speech groups, Reuters flip-flopped and will now permit the ads.

A statement by the National Council of Churches read, in part, "To imply that religious and political speech might be in the same class with messages that are ‘pornographic… libelous, misleading or deceptive in nature,’ as Reuters did in explaining its refusal to carry the United Methodist ad, is a frightening use of the power of media ownership."

Now, Reuters said that perhaps the company should accept any ads, as long as they aren’t confused with Reuters’ news coverage. If that happens, and if Reuters accepts messages that are pornographic, then, I predict, legitimate advertisers like the United Methodist Church will pull their ads, and Reuters will be left with nothing but ads that are "pornographic… libelous, misleading or deceptive in nature."

An Increase in the Number of Beggers?

This is getting ridiculous! I was panhandled out in the front yard, this morning! I went out to the car to put Mother's library books in the trunk, and a man came across the street from the store with a "sob story" about his car breaking down. He asked me for a ride. I told him that I couldn't give him a ride, because my eighty-two year old Mother lived with me, and I couldn't leave her. So he asked for some gas money, five dollars worth, to be exact. I didn't have a five, so I gave him two one-dollar bills, after getting him to agree not to replay me.

That's not too bad, but it comes on the heels of the man that panhandled me yesterday. It was at the Burger King restaurant on High Street. When he asked for help, I suggested that I buy him something to eat. Instead of saying, "Thank you," he wanted to know what I was going to buy him. I asked him what he needed. He replied that he was hungry enough to eat three sausage biscuits. I told him that was two too many and walked into the store. I bought my breakfast and got another to go. When I finished eating and went outside, the guy was nowhere to be seen. I took the breakfast back to the office and gave it to the company secretary, who was glad to get it!

The day before that, which was Thursday, I was panhandled in the parking lot of the Shell convenience store on High Street. I could go on. My point is that there seem to be more people asking for a handout than there used to be. If that is the case, I wonder why?

Trick or Treat!

Woman dressed as clown robs bank

Think of the Children

Chicago teachers take first step toward strike

Hatch proposal angers activists

"Conservatives are furious over a Republican proposal to create two new Michigan-based judicial seats in exchange for getting Sen. Carl Levin, Michigan Democrat, to lift his blockade on four of President Bush's nominees from that state."