Category Archives: This just in…

Tell me why I don’t like Mondays

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Well, those whacky folks on Wall Street had another bad day, with the Dow as much as 800 points down at one point, and the close below 10,000. Here’s the AP version:

NEW YORK — Wall Street suffered through another extraordinary and traumatic session Monday, with the Dow Jones industrials plunging as much as 800 points – their largest one-day point drop – before recovering to close with a loss of 370. The catalyst for the selling, which also took the Dow below 10,000 for the first time in four years, was investors’ growing despair that the spreading credit crisis will take a heavy toll around the world.

Investors have come to the realization that the Bush administration’s $700 billion rescue plan and steps taken by other governments won’t work quickly to unfreeze the credit markets.

That sent stocks spiraling downward in the U.S., Europe and Asia, and drove investors to sink money into the relative safety of U.S. government debt. Fears about a global recession also caused oil to drop below $90 a barrel….

Guess we can’t blame this one on Gresham Barrett and the other naysayers on the rescue plan, huh?

Everyone seems to be settling in for a long, tough time, regardless of what Washington does or doesn’t do.

We’re used to business not being good in the newspaper biz. Looks like a lot of other folks are going to be joining us, which I assure you gives me no joy.

Harris Pastides spoke to Rotary today and talked about the budget cutbacks he’s had to do since he became USC president two months back. He noted that more cuts are coming unless retailers have a bang-up Christmas season, which he indicated he doubted would happen — and no one in that room full of business types offered to disagree with him.

GOP leadership continues war of words with Sanford

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Just got this release a few minutes ago from Bobby Harrell’s office:

State Needs True Transparency, Not Pandering
Governor proves statewide fly around is about headlines, not delivering true reforms

(Columbia, SC) – Today, Governor Sanford embarked on another statewide fly around to hold a series of press conferences.  Upon learning that the governor’s intentions were only to make a media splash instead of fighting for real reforms, House Speaker Bobby Harrell gave the following statement:

“I have always supported more transparency and responsibility in government.  More transparency is good for our state, and more roll call voting in the General Assembly would be a good idea, but we must be fighting for true transparency and not just pandering to voters and grabbing for headlines.  In the House, we believe in working together to accomplish real transparency.  That’s why the House has passed earmark reform, spending limits, government restructuring, tax cuts and many other important reforms to our state government.

“Demanding that we should spend taxpayer money to take a roll call vote on a resolution congratulating a state championship high school team is not true transparency, it’s pandering.  Real reform in government is fixing the workers comp system, tort reform, and immigration reform, all of which became law because of actions by the General Assembly. 

Tom DeLoach, President/CEO of South Carolina Business & Industry Political Education Committee (BIPEC), commented, “Roll Call voting in the South Carolina General Assembly is not uncommon.  In fact, over the last 10 years business and industry related roll call votes have increased significantly to the point where a roll call vote when not taken is an exception to the rule.  President Pro Tempore Glenn McConnell and House Speaker Bobby Harrell have provided a roll call record on business and industry issues that is both plentiful and verifiable.”

Who’ll resurrect the electric car? Chrysler says IT will

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Just as everyone is ready to write off Detroit, Chrysler (of all companies) tells the WSJ that it’s going to have a fleet — "portfolio" is the term it used, actually — of electric cars and trucks year after next:

Chrysler LLC is aiming to launch a full "portfolio" of electric cars and trucks, and sports-utility vehicles starting in late 2010, a person familiar with the company’s plans said.

The lineup will include front-wheel drive and rear-wheel drive cars as well as so-called "body-on-frame" trucks, this person said.

At least one of the models will be a pure electric vehicle with a rechargable battery pack that Chrysler expects to have a range of 150 to 200 miles, this person said.

Others will have a battery that can last for about 40 miles and a small gasoline engine to provide power and recharge the battery for longer trips.

Chrysler expects these "range-extended" electric vehicles to go about 400 miles on eight gallons of gasoline, this person said….

I’m guessing that there will be a great deal of interest in this "portfolio" if it materializes. After all, my video short "Who Resurrected the Electric Car?" is my second-most watched video EVER on YouTube, with 27,748 views. (Which is first? Don’t ask. What that says about America is more disturbing, and a subject for another day.)

When I saw this breaking news on my Treo this morning, I thought it particularly ironic in light of the three letters to the editor I read in that same paper this morning, trashing Detroit all the way around for failing to do such things as this. I agreed with the letter writers, by the way.

I’ll believe Chrysler can pull this off when it does so. But the news is encouraging, from an Energy Party perspective.

Half a trillion? Whoa! That’s more than I make in a YEAR

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OK, I realize that’s an old joke, but I just basically wanted to give y’all a post on which to react to the Bush administration’s proposal for dealing with the crisis on Wall Street:

WASHINGTON — Struggling to stave off financial catastrophe, the Bush administration on Friday laid out a radical bailout plan with a jaw-dropping price tag — a takeover of a half-trillion dollars or more in worthless mortgages and other bad debt held by tottering institutions.

Relieved investors sent stocks soaring on Wall Street and around the globe. The Dow-Jones industrials average rose 368 points after surging 410 points the day before on rumors the federal action was afoot.

A grim-faced President Bush acknowledged risks to taxpayers in what would be the most sweeping government intervention to rescue failing financial institutions since the Great Depression. But he declared, "The risk of not acting would be far higher."

Here are several versions of the story:

I’m still scrambling here to get the weekend editorial and op-ed pages out, but in the meantime, what do y’all think? The market seems to like it, but those folks are easily excited…

So everything’s OK on Wall St. now? No?

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Tradergrin

So this morning, for the fourth day in a row, The Wall Street Journal spreads the collapse of major financial institutions across six columns — which, to a guy who used to be a front-page editor, is more alarming than any numbers you might throw at me.

And as if that weren’t enough, a one-column headline below and on the right-hand-side of the page, said "Worst Loss Since ’30s, With No End Yet in Sight." What a way to start the day, huh?

But now I go to the WSJ site and see a grinning trader (one Theodore Weisberg, above), and the headline "Stocks Soar; Banks Lead the Way."

OK, that’s nice. I don’t know why this is happening, and I don’t think it reverses all the bad news, but it’s nice. I’ll resist trying to analyze it. I see it had something to do with an action by the Fed and other central banks, which tempts me react like a history major and say something some thing like, "Nothing like a strong central bank — take that, you Jeffersonians!" But I won’t. I’m aware of how little I actually understand….

So now I’m bailing out something called AIG?

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A little while ago I got a release from Jim DeMint that said in part:

Americans should be very concerned by the size and frequency of these government
bailouts…

Well, I am, Jim — I am. And I’d really like to see someone give me an intelligible explanation of why it was important for me, as a taxpayer who’d rather see his money spent on Iraq or universal healthcare, am bailing out yet another private company.

First Bear Stearns. Now AIG. Presumably, this was another company "too big too fail," which evokes the obvious response, "evidently not." Let’s see — we had to bail out Bear Stearns (and I still don’t know why). We didn’t have to bail out Lehman; we let that go into bankruptcy (another form of relief our government offers). We let the marketplace deal with Merrill Lynch — specifically, another private company bought it. And now, ta-da!, another private company is buying Lehman. The market at work, one would think.

So why AIG? I get Fannie and Freddie; as little as I understand about High Finance, I always understood them to have a special relationship to the government. If nothing else, you couldn’t let them go under for the same reason a Mob boss can’t let a made guy get whacked without doing something about it. You lose respect, both on your own turf and abroad. You gotta do something; you got no choice.

But why AIG? I don’t get it.

Well, at least it’s ELECTED

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Just in case you didn’t have enough to worry about with Wall Street collapsing and otherwise sensible Democrats on the verge of losing it if Obama loses, way, WAY out there in Amerika, there are people come up with new worries for you:

U.S. FACES “MOST SERIOUS CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS,” LEADING POLITICAL SCIENTISTS TELLS CONFERENCE THAT SEEKS WAR CRIMES PROSECUTIONS OF BUSH, HIGH AIDES.
ANDOVER , MASS. (Sept. 13)— President Bush’s conduct in office has precipitated a “most serious constitutional crisis,” “one that has already transformed the U.S. from a constitutional republic to an elected monarchy,” a noted political scientist told a conference on seeking prosecution of high Bush administration officials for war crimes.   “We need to revers[e] a fifty-year trend towards unaccountable secret government, which can commit crimes with impunity,” said Professor Christopher Pyle of Mount Holyoke College.

Wel-l-l… at least OUR monarchy is elected, unlike the monarchies in some of those Commie countries out there…

Betcha didn’t even know there was such a thing out there as the Justice Robert  H. Jackson Conference on Planning For the Prosecution of High
Level American War Criminals. Well, now you know.

Red Cross says get ready, seeks volunteers

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Let’s take a moment from the usual silliness to consider these two releases I just got, back-to-back, from the American Red Cross. Here’s the first one:

American
Red Cross Urges Residents to Prepare for Hurricane
Hannah

Columbia,
SC, September 2, 2008 –The American Red Cross urges
everyone to dust off their disaster supplies kit and get better prepared for
Hurricane Hannah and the variety of disasters such as high winds, flooding and
tornadoes that may accompany it.

 

“By taking
three basic preparedness actions you can get “Red Cross Ready” for disasters and
other emergencies 1) Get a kit, 2) Make a plan and 3) Be informed,” said

Greg Parks

, programs and services
director, American Red Cross of Central South Carolina. “Your local Red Cross
chapter is here to help you get prepared for specific disasters like hurricanes.
Even if you took action to prepare last hurricane season, it’s important that
you revisit and update your communication plan and check your disaster supplies
kit for expired items.”

 

The
American Red Cross recommends the following preparedness
actions:

Get
or assemble a disaster supplies kit:

Gather
enough emergency supplies to meet your needs. A portable kit, stored in a
sturdy, easy to carry, water resistant container should have enough supplies for
three days. The Red Cross also recommends having at least two weeks worth of
supplies at home and to keep a smaller kit in the trunk of your car. Check your
kit and replace the stock every six months. Whether you purchase a kit for $60
at www.centralscredcross.org,
call (803) 540-1200 to make a purchase or choose to build your own, your
three-day kit should include:

· A three-day supply of water
(one gallon per person, per day) and ready-to-eat non-perishable foods, such as
tuna fish, peanut butter, crackers, canned fruit, juice boxes,
etc.

· A manual can
opener.

· A battery-powered or
hand-crank radio, flashlight and plenty of extra
batteries

· A first aid kit and
reference guide

· Prescription and
non-prescription medication items

· Copies of important
documents, including birth certificates, insurance policies and social security
cards.

· Cash. ATMs and credit cards
won’t work if the power is out.

· Special items for infant,
elderly or disabled family members

· A change of clothes for
everyone, including long-sleeved shirts, long pants and sturdy
footwear

· One blanket or sleeping bag
per person

· Emergency tools, including
tools to turn off utilities.

· An extra set of home and car
keys

· An extra pair of glasses or
contact lenses, extra batteries for hearing aids

· Pet
supplies

 

Prepare
a Personal Disaster and Evacuation Plan

The
American Red Cross urges each and every household to develop a household
disaster plan.

· Meet with your
family to create a plan. Discuss the information you have gathered and why it is
important to prepare for a disaster.

· Identify two meeting places;
One right outside your home in case of a sudden emergency, like a fire, and one outside your neighborhood in case you can’t return home.

· Be sure to
make advanced preparations for your pets. Be aware that pets may not be allowed
in shelters.

Contact

hotels, motels,
family members and animal shelters to see if they would allow pets in a disaster
situation. Keep a contact list of “pet friendly” locations. If you are asked to
evacuate, take your pets with you.

  • Choose
    an out-of-area emergency contact person. During or     after a disaster, it’s often
    easier to call long distance, especially if local phone lines are
    overloaded or out of service.     Family members should call this person and tell them where they are. Everyone must know your emergency contact person’s phone number and email
    address.

·     Tell
your family about the Safe and Well web site accessible at all times via www.redcross.org.  The Safe and Well Web site is an
Internet-based tool that allows those directly affected by a disaster to let
their loved ones know of their well-being. People within a disaster affected
area are able to select and post standard “safe and well” messages. Concerned
family members who know the person’s phone number (home, cell, or work) or a
complete home address can search for the messages posted by those who
self-register.

· Show and
explain to each family member how and when to turn off the water and electricity
at the main switches. Turn gas off only if instructed by local authorities.
Remember, if the gas is shut-off, only a professional can turn it back
on.

  • Plan
    your ev    acuation
    rout    e. Download the S.C. Emergency
    Management Division 2008 Hurricane Guide for a map of evacuation routes, shelter
    locations and helpful tips at www.scemd.org.
    Use local maps
    and i    dentify alternate evacuation routes from home, work and/or school.
    K    now where you are going and
    how you plan to get there before you leave home.

 

Be
informed:

· Find out how
local authorities will contact you during a disaster. Listen to local media
broadcasts or NOAA Weather Radio for the latest storm conditions and follow the
advice of local authorities.

· If you are
told to evacuate, do so immediately. You may choose to evacuate sooner than
alerted if you think you may need additional time.

 

Know
what to do if a hurricane
WATCH is issued:

· Listen to weather updates
from your battery-powered or hand-cranked radio.

· Bring in outdoor objects
such as lawn furniture, hanging plants, bicycles, toys and garden tools, anchor
objects that cannot be brought inside.

· Close all windows and doors.
Cover windows with storm shutters or pre-cut
plywood.

· If time permits, and you
live in an identified surge zone, elevate furniture or move it to a higher floor
to protect it from flooding.

· Fill your vehicle’s gas
tank.

· Check your disaster supplies
kit to make sure items have not expired.

 

Know
what to do if a hurricane WARNING is issued

· Listen to the advice of
local officials, and leave if they tell you to do so.

· If in a manufactured home,
check tie-downs and evacuate as told by local
authorities

· Secure your home by
unplugging appliances and turning off electricity and the main water
valve

· If you are not advised to
evacuate, stay inside, away from windows, skylights and glass
doors

· Do NOT use open flames, such
as candles and kerosene lamps, as a source of light

· If power is lost, turn off
appliances to reduce damage from a power surge when electricity is
restored

 

For more
information regarding how
individuals and families can prepare for disasters or to purchase emergency
preparedness and first aid kits, visit www.centralscredcross.org
or call (803) 540-1200.

 

The
American Red Cross shelters, feeds and counsels victims of disasters; provides
nearly half of the nation’s blood supply; teaches lifesaving skills; and
supports military members and their families. The Red Cross is a charitable
organization – not a government agency – and depends on volunteers and the
generosity of the American public to perform its humanitarian mission.

-END

And here’s the second:

Red
Cross Braces for Hurricane Hannah, Volunteers Needed

Columbia

,

SC

,
September 2, 2008 – The
American Red Cross of Central South Carolina needs volunteers to staff shelters
during coastal evacuations. Anyone can volunteer – all that is needed is a
desire to help.

 

A shelter
operation overview for new volunteers will be held Thursday, September 4, from 1
to 3 p.m. at the S.C. DHEC Peeples Auditorium located on

Bull Street

in

Columbia

.

 

To sign up
for the emergency volunteer training, call (803) 251-6104 or e-mail [email protected].
Volunteers may fill out preliminary volunteer paperwork online at www.centralscredcross.org.


All
American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary
donations of time and money form the American people. You can help the victims
of thousands of disasters across the country each year by making a financial
gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross
to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to victims of
disaster. The American Red Cross honors donor intent. To support the work of the
American Red Cross this hurricane season, designate your contribution to
Hurricane Season 2008 or Disaster Relief Fund. Call 1-800-REDCROSS or
1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent
to your local American Red Cross chapter at

P.O. Box 91

,

Columbia

,

SC

29202

, or to the American Red Cross,

P.O. Box 37243

,

Washington

,

DC


20013

. Internet users
can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.centralscredcross.org or
www.redcross.org.

And here’s the latest on the coming storm.

 

Choosing Sarah Palin

134 Replies

Mccain_veepstakes_pal_wart

Folks, I’m absolutely swamped, this being Friday morning, but I thought I’d give those of you with the time a place to discuss McCain’s choice of … let me go check her name again… Sarah Palin to be his running mate. Here are some conversation-starters:

  • One thing’s for sure, I don’t have any video to share with you of Gov. Palin. Never met the woman.
  • For a brief moment this morning, I thought maybe Bobby Jindal was back on the short list, when I saw this piece by him in the WSJ. (I know that’s not logical, but the human mind is susceptible to the suggestion of coincidences.) That would have been cool, because it would have made the two tickets perfectly symmetrical — McCain playing the role of Biden on the GOP ticket, and Jindal (young, charismatic, ethnic) playing Obama.
  • Do you think McCain made a big mistake not beefing up his ticket’s economic cred with Romney?
  • Not that I want to attach a lot of importance to her gender, but it would seem that McCain is really, really serious about going after those disaffected Hillary voters, the ones who took HER gender very, very seriously.
  • Where’s Wayne Campbell when you need him for expert commentary on whether she, if elected, would qualify as the first babe to be a heartbeat from the presidency?

Talk amongst yourselves.

Obama has a secret, and he’s not telling

20 Replies

Robertwagner3

Barack Obama is playing very coy with his veep selection, saying "I’ve made the selection, and that’s all you’re going to get." At least until Saturday. Unless you’ve joined the secret club.

That Obama, he’s such a tease.

On a serious note, I’m hoping for my man Joe. No, not that man Joe, my other man Joe. No, and not that man Joe, either! I mean the one from Delaware. Sheesh. (Y’all know I like Joes.)

He is the perfect complement, just chock full o’ experience, thereby compensating for Obama’s greatest weakness. Yeah, Joe can talk you to death, but he’s a smart and thoughtful guy, and about the only Democrat who was putting forth a real plan for Iraq back when it was the thing to talk about. (You’ll notice that now that the surge has succeeded, and we actually can talk about timetables for withdrawal, they’re a lot quieter on the subject.)

Kathleen Sebelius is cool — very UnParty — but he really doesn’t need another fresh new face on his ticket.

Unfortunately, I have reason to believe that it will be neither Biden nor Sebelius. Apparently, the folks at the WashPost know something, and they’re giving us a hint with their headline: "Obama Says He Has Chosen His No. 2."

Obviously, that means he has chosen veteran actor Robert Wagner.

Remember, you read it here first.

Aw, that’s OK; I can wait a few minutes

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Just got this come-on from the Democrats :

Dear Brad [they always call me "Brad"],
    Barack Obama is about to choose his running mate, and you can find out who it is before the press, the pundits, or his opponents.
    Sign up to be the first to know and you’ll receive an email the moment Barack makes his decision.
    Or you can text VP to 62262 to receive a text message on your mobile phone.
    Thanks to the energy and efforts of Democrats like you, we are in a great position to elect a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
    And if we stand together behind Barack and his nominee for Vice President, we won’t have to worry about another Dick Cheney playing the role of tie-breaker in the Senate.
    No campaign or political party has made a VP announcement like this before, and you can be part of this important moment.

Click here to be the first to know who Barack picks.

    After you’ve signed up, forward this message to your friends and family and tell them about this special opportunity.
    Barack’s campaign is transforming politics in this country and helping Democrats up and down the ballot in all 50 states.
    Thanks for everything you’re doing to bring the change this country needs,
J.B. Poersch
Executive Director
Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee

Hey, at least I forwarded it to my friends, right?

I wonder which of the following is true:

  • People are so wired now to know things right this second that they’ll subject themselves to future fund-raising come-ons to be among the first few million to know.
  • People think it’s cheesy, but will sign up anyway to be part of the Inner Circle.
  • This is way off base, and won’t get a single bite.

As for me — I can wait; thanks. I’m sure someone will tell me soon enough.

What would we do without those wonderful media watchdogs?

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Speaking of self-absorbed… Just got this e-mail from Romenesko with PoynterOnline — a site about media on the subject of media — with a link to a media site reporting on what media watchdog groups say about the media.

Did you follow that? You could leave out a couple of the "medias," and you’d still probably get the idea.

Anyway, Romenesko somewhat whimsically reported on both of the following at the same time:

  • The conservative Media Research Center claims that not only do the media obsess about Obama, but "34 percent of the stories about Obama were positive and 5 percent negative. The rest were characterized as neutral."
  • Set that alongside this report from the liberal Media Matters, telling us that "for more than a decade, John McCain has been the media’s favorite
    politician. Even conservatives have long acknowledged that McCain
    enjoys a special place in the hearts of the Washington press corps."

Yadda-yadda.

People see what they want to see, hear what they want to hear. I’ve had fun with these "media watchdog" groups on the blog before.

Want to know the truth? The "media" — to the extent that you can talk about anything so diverse and numerous — like Obama. They also, to the same extent, like McCain. The "favorite" of most media types won both parties’ nominating contests.

Hey, even I like ’em both — and I am very seldom in tune with the "collective wisdom" of the MSM.

Apparently, Bush has looked a little more closely into Putin’s eyes this time

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This just in from the NYT:

WASHINGTON — Russia’s military offensive into Georgia has jolted the Bush Bushputin administration’s relationship with Moscow, senior officials said Thursday, forcing a wholesale reassessment of American dealings with Russia and jeopardizing talks on everything from halting Iran’s nuclear ambitions to reducing strategic arsenals to cooperation on missiles defenses.

The conflict punctuated a stark turnabout in the administration’s view of Vladimir V. Putin, the president turned prime minister whom President Bush has repeatedly described as a trustworthy friend. Now Mr. Bush’s aides complain that Russian officials have been misleading or at least evasive about Russia’s intentions in Georgia….

Do ya think? Apparently, the president didn’t gaze deeply enough into his eyes the first time. If you ask me, this second look has produced a more accurate assessment.

A latter-day Berlin Airlift?

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I had thought that the U.S. was sort of out of options as far as confronting the resurgent Russian Bear as it mauled Joe Stalin’s old stomping grounds. But I had not thought of this: Sending U.S. troops in with humanitarian aid, a sort of latter-day Berlin Airlift, if you will.

This accomplishes a couple of things: It applies soft power in a way that also puts the U.S. military smack in the middle of the confrontation, thereby drawing a line in the sand. It’s an approach that combines subtlety with bravado. With statements such as this from Bush:

We expect Russia to ensure that all lines of communication and transport, including seaports, airports, roads and airspace, remain open for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and for civilian transit…

The U.S. both establishes itself as the nice guy, but also, in the words of Huck Finn, "dares them to come on."

I don’t know, but this may be the right approach. What do you make of it?

… and what about Aquaman?

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More from the organization formerly known as The South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association:

S.C. TRIAL LAWYERS CHANGE NAME, REDEFINE MISSION
Unveils New Name and Logo at 2008 Annual Convention

COLUMBIA, SC – The South Carolina Trial Lawyers Association (SCTLA) announced today they have a new name.   Now called the South Carolina Association for Justice (SCAJ), the name change is intended to reflect their new, broader mission and better represent the purpose of the organization.
    The name change was approved and finalized at the 2008 SCTLA/SCAJ annual convention in Hilton Head which ran August 7-10.
    "The mission of the South Carolina Association for Justice involves more than courtroom battles," said Pete Strom, former U.S. Attorney for the District of South Carolina who assumed office as President at the convention. "We will also work with elected officials and policy makers to create a legal system that protects everyone, not just the rich and the influential."
     SCAJ’s central mission to protect the rights of people will remain, but the group has expanded its purpose to become "the state’s leading advocate for justice and fairness under the law."  Organizational changes are also underway….

Wait a minute, doesn’t that come awfully close to trademark infringement with the Justice League of America? What do Superman, the Green Lantern and Wonder Woman have to say about this?

 

Alert: Actual relevant discussion happening on the blog as we speak!

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Just thought I’d clue y’all into the discussion going on as I type this between DHEC’s Thom Berry and the S.C. blogosphere’s "not very bright" over the sewage spill into the Saluda River.

Those of you who prefer serious issues to Top Five Lists should probably tune in, and weigh in…

Yeah, but what’s ‘normal?’

23 Replies

Just now had to run downstairs to make a change in a Friday editorial because I got this release from DHEC to the effect that test results "from the Saluda River in Columbia indicate water quality has returned
to normal following the discharge of partially treated wastewater last
week."

DHEC further says it’s taken down the warning signs that everybody was ignoring, so I guess it has a lot of confidence in the tests.

Personally, I’m not going to run down the river and jump in quite yet, partly because of my heavy dignity as eminence grise of the editorial board, and partly because, after I dragged my old behind back up the stairs after updating the editorial I got to conjurin’ (which is "Firefly" talk for "figuring"): Do they mean "South Carolina" normal, or "states with the kinds of safeguards in place to make sure this sort of thing doesn’t happen in the first place" normal?

Mind you, I’m not putting the blame on DHEC here — or rather, I’m only assigning to them their fair share of it. The whole way we provide such basic local services as sewer in this state — a fragmented, often overlapping mishmash of local gummints, special purpose districts and private providers — is such a mess it’s hard for anybody to keep track of it.

Maybe Mayor Bob ought to go ahead with pulling his summit together. With all these little local fiefdoms along the river counting on its waters to attract untold wealth to the region, I expect they’ve all got some more conjurin’ to do.

(Oh, and for those of you who conjure that Mayor Bob, or someone in local gummint, should have been able to deal with this without meeting with a bunch of other folks — well, you just don’t understand how weak and fragmented local gummint is in our state. You can thank the Legislature for that, by the way. They never miss an opportunity to keep things this way.)

60 years of an integrated military

17 Replies

Today is the 60th anniversary of the integration of the U.S. Armed Forces, a commemoration I would have missed without this release from the Pentagon:

    Secretary of Defense Robert Gates today celebrated the 60th anniversary of the desegregation of the armed forces and the federal civil service in a ceremony at the Pentagon.
    Executive Order 9980, which President Truman signed on July 26, 1948, created a Fair Employment Board to eliminate racial discrimination in federal employment. Executive Order 9981, signed the same day, began the process of eliminating segregated units and occupational specialties from the post-World War II military.   

Having grown up in the military (making it sort of like my real hometown), I’ve always taken pride in the fact that it was the first major institution in our country to integrate, far ahead of the schools and the rest of our society.

Perhaps that experience of being surrounded by a meritocracy that made a point of erasing unimportant divisions — everyone was alike, once they put on the uniform — had a lot to do with my having the attitude as an adult that the differences civilians still make so much of really don’t matter. Consequently, the way Democrats and Republicans — and all too many black people and white people — look at each other as alien seems unAmerican to me.

Build a better blog, and they’ll beat a path to your door

34 Replies

One of the cool things about blogging is that so much of the time, you don’t even have to go look stuff up or ask questions in order to provide relevant content for your readers — your subjects will do it for you.

Increasingly, I find that about all I have to do is wonder aloud about something on the blog, or poke a little fun at something I know little about, and suddenly those involved with the issue will be reaching out to shower info on me from across the nation — info from their point of view of course, but that can be helpful. I don’t even have to contact them; they find me.

For instance, today alone, I:

  • Heard from the campaign of the Senate candidate in Texas who I said might be Energy Party material. Responding to my crack that his position lacked details, his campaign sent me a PDF file with more info. But then, inexplicably, they asked me NOT to post the PDF, urging me just to write about it or excerpt it. I wrote back asking why CAN’T I post it, and I’m waiting hear back on that.
  • Got a mea culpa from the author of the release from musicFIRST about the omission I had joked about.
  • Got a phone message from the OPPOSITE side of that issue — the radio people who don’t WANT to pay those performers what they want. Here’s the audio clip of that.

If anything else interesting comes in with little or no effort on my part, I’ll be sure to share it.

DeMint right about Fannie and Freddie, too

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Speaking of Sen. DeMint — which I just did — I meant to say something last week about his proposal that, now that we’re bailing them out, it’s a good time to ban Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from "lobbying and political activities."

I may not understand why we’re bailing out Bear Stearns, but I sorta kinda understand it with Fannie and Freddie, them being quasi-governmental. But if they ARE quasi-governmental, they shouldn’t enjoy the lobbying privileges of the private sector. As I’ve often said in the past about state agencies, taxpayers should not have to pay for gummint entities to lobby the gummint.

The advisability of what DeMint is recommending is underlined by a lengthy lament from the WSJ‘s editorial page editor today, about the network of influence Fannie already enjoys (including, interestingly according to him, Paul Krugman).