Just a quick overview:
- Libya air force ‘unable to fight’ (BBC) — “Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s air force “no longer exists as a fighting force”, the commander of British aircraft operating over Libya has said.” Which is kinda what we were aiming for. Now, to maintain it.
- Allies Bomb Around Besieged Libyan Cities (WSJ) — Which means, just FYI, we’re doing more than “no-fly.”
- Tokyo Says Radiation in Water Puts Infants at Risk (NYT) — There’s iodine in the water.
- South Carolina among nation’s fastest growing (USA Today) — We grew 15.3 percent in the last decade, to 4,625,364, making us one of the top ten fastest-growing states. (It was weird, but USA Today had the best SC story I saw on the census figures today. It wasn’t much, but it hit the highlights.)
- 150 attend pro-Moore rally (thestate.com) — No, not 15,000. Not 1,500. 150, as I told you earlier.
- Elizabeth Taylor, legendary actress, dies at 79 (LAT) — That pretty much states it.
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Re #3: Given this news and continued concern about the situation with the Fukushima reactors, one of your favorite Senators is displaying his usual impeccable sense of timing.
And re #4: Here’s something where you and I may see eye-to-eye…wouldn’t you agree this news, especially the part about SC becoming a more “urban” state, amounts to some of the best news for those of us who would like to see SC move forward and begin to join the rest of the US in the 21st century? I think it’s cause for great optimism.
Interesting commentary from Kristoff today.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/24/opinion/24kristof.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212
@Phillip
I’d be surprised if the growth in SC could truly be considered “urban”. Northeast Columbia / Harbison have exploded over the past two decades. People are moving from rural areas and inner cities to suburbs.
Mmmmm… I dunno about that. Yeah, the boom of the last few decades in the ‘burbs continues, but the most notable development in Columbia lately has been the migration to downtown, as modest as it still is.
And the growth, whether downtown or SUBurban, is still in these economic entities we call cities (wherever the city limits are drawn in this state with such weak annexation powers for municipalities — which means that cities GROW outward, but their boundaries fail to get redrawn to reflect the cities ACTUAL size).
And whether new developments are TECHNICALLY inside Charleston or Hilton Head or Myrtle Beach, the migration to those cities from elsewhere is dramatic.
These folks certainly aren’t moving to the RURAL areas of SC; small towns continue to look like ghost towns. If only we were a little further west, you’d see tumbleweeds.
Yes, I think when they speak of “urban” they were kind of referring to larger metropolitan areas, which would include suburbs, too, you’re right, Doug.
Every time I hear reference to “tribal” cultures in Arab nations, Libya for example, I can’t help thinking of SC as one of the closest examples to a kind of tribalism we have in this nation. You can see it in the census numbers: for example, last names 90-95% of whose “owners” live within SC. I don’t think there are many other states where that happens. The larger point of the migration into South Carolina is that “old” South Carolina will be diluted. Some aspects of that are not necessarily to be celebrated, but mostly I think that more people bringing a wider array of viewpoints and backgrounds and NOT carrying the historical baggage of SC, is a good thing.
The difficulty in annexing land into a city must be especially acute in Greenville County. How can the central city of the state’s most populous county have fewer than 60,000 residents? Greenville is a booming place yet you’d never know it by the city population count. Is that creating a problem with proving fire and police services?
I don’t know about the great flight back into the city. Many of the condos I see while driving to work everyday still say “5 units available” when there were only 10 units put on the market 2 years ago.
Most people I know still want a yard, and not just a parking spot and a balcony. The majority of the people I know buying downtown are the people who are buying it because their kid is too good to live in a college dorm.
The Westboro Church is planning to picket Elizabeth Taylor’s funeral. Apparently they’re upset at her AIDs prevention work. I think we can agree in a bipartisan manner that these people are very disturbed.