Even as Congressional leaders draft legislation to reduce greenhouse gases linked to global warming, a powerful roster of Democrats and Republicans is pushing to subsidize coal as the king of alternative fuels.

Prodded by intense lobbying from the coal industry, lawmakers from coal states are proposing that taxpayers guarantee billions of dollars in construction loans for coal-to-liquid production plants, guarantee minimum prices for the new fuel, and guarantee big government purchases for the next 25 years.

Among the proposed inducements winding through House and Senate committees: loan guarantees for six to 10 major coal-to-liquid plants, each likely to cost at least $3 billion; a tax credit of 51 cents for every gallon of coal-based fuel sold through 2020; automatic subsidies if oil prices drop below $40 a barrel; and permission for the Air Force to sign 25-year contracts for almost a billion gallons a year of coal-based jet fuel.

• Representative Nick V. Rahall, Democrat of West Virginia and chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee
• Representative Rick Boucher, a Virginia Democrat
• Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat,
• Senators Jim Bunning of Kentucky and Larry Craig of Wyoming, both Republicans.
• Former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt, who has been hired to lobby for the initiative.

“At best, you’re going to tread water on the carbon issue, and you’re probably going to do worse,” said Howard Herzog, a principal research engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a co-author of “The Future of Coal,” a voluminous study published in March by M.I.T. “It goes against the whole grain of reducing carbon.”

The M.I.T. team expressed even more skepticism about the economic risks. It estimated that it would cost $70 billion to build enough plants to replace 10 percent of American gasoline consumption.

The study estimates that the construction costs for coal-to-liquid plants are almost four times higher than the costs for comparable petroleum refineries, and it argues that cost estimates for synthetic fuel plants in the past turned out to be “wildly optimistic.”

Those who say that a fuller measure of Rudy Giuliani's record should be considered during the course of his candidacy for President, and we at the Blogland couldn't agree more. To help better educate our readers about 's record as Mayor of New York City, here are two videos which outline Rudy's efforts to tackle two major issues in New York City ...

Graffitti sucks:


Cracking down on Ferrets:

Hugh Weathers and our friends over at the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (the dude with the really cool cow TV spots) has a new advocacy campaign for South Carolina agriculture - Certified South Carolina.

In the wake of the really bad weather earlier in the spring which dealt a heavy blow to our state's peach crop, this sort of campaign couldn't have come a better time.

When I talked to Commissioner Weathers at the MCASC event a couple of weeks ago, he had told me this campaign was getting ready to start and asked me to check it out. It looks like a good effort that has great potential - it certainly deserves our support.

Don't forget, when it comes to good eatin', there's nothing finer than grown in South Carolina:

The Certified South Carolina program is a new, exciting cooperative effort among producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and the South Carolina Department of Agriculture (SCDA) to brand and promote South Carolina products. Our goal is for consumers to be able to easily identify, find and buy South Carolina products.

Public interest and perceptions, image and awareness, distribution, legislation, regulations all have an impact on the sustainability and growth of agribusiness. In order to tackle these issues, overcome obstacles and keep agriculture profitable, the South Carolina Department of Agriculture in cooperation with public and private partners has implemented the Certified South Carolina program.

Certified South Carolina is a call to action for South Carolina citizens as we ask you to Buy South Carolina because Nothing's Fresher. Nothing's Finer.

Starting now, farmers and processors from across the state are invited to be a part of this unique, industry-wide marketing and branding effort of the SCDA.

Some men just won’t stop beating women, and Lexington County is trying to block the blows in a novel way.

The Sheriff’s Department has a $1 million plan to hire specialized detectives to combat accused batterers who figure no one can stop them from intimidating or sweet-talking their partners to avoid prosecution.

It would be an innovative, expensive plan that no other police agency in South Carolina has, law enforcement agencies and victim rights advocates said.

Prosecutors hope it helps them convict more batterers when victims are reluctant to cooperate, like the Sheriff’s Department said has happened in 80 percent of its cases since mid-2005.
- The State, 5/27/2007

USC aims to boost transfers from Greenville Technical College from last fall’s 31 students to hundreds with a Bridge program university officials say will ensure a Greenville Tech student a seamless admission to the Columbia campus after one year of successful academic work.

USC president Andrew Sorensen said Tuesday he envisions a parallel academic experience between students who sign up for the Bridge program and those who begin their college lives on the Columbia campus.

A year or so ago, I took my GRE exam - a two-hour exam which was my last obstacle to be an official graduate student (I had gotten in on a waiver since the program was new). It took me two hours and I got my scores on the spot (I even passed it, believe it or not). Many other similar tests are administered and scored via computer. If it's done for those seeking professional certifications and entry into graduate programs, then I have two questions:

• So why does the PACT test have to be done the way it is?
• Who stands to benefit/profit from the way it is presently being done?

The answers to these questions will likely tell us a lot about why they won't modernize the state's assessment tests.

About five years ago, when a friend of mine who was then on the State Board of Education was one of those who tried to stop local school districts from continuing to creep their start dates back to early August. Why the need for a change? They need more time to teach the PACT test ... to get the desired scores ... to rig the system.

- A Game of PACT Scam? (2/23/2007)

Students in South Carolina will no longer take the Palmetto Achievement Challenge Test if the state education superintendent gets his way.

On Thursday, Superintendent Jim Rex proposed sweeping reform to the state testing system. His plan is to replace the standardized test for third- through eighth-graders with a new accountability test that would consume less time at the end of the school year and to devote more time to diagnostic tests.

Rex hopes to bring the plan to the state Education Oversight Committee and the General Assembly for approval in 2008.

Students could begin taking the new test in spring 2009.

-Myrtle Beach Sun News (5/18/2007)

• A modest amount of booing when Lindsey Graham argued in favor of compromising on immigration reform, cautioning "anything is better than the current system". A position with which I agree - anything is progress.
  
  While we're talking about the rampant Hispanic-bashing, I'd love for anyone to show me when Hispanics were caught plotting with Al Queda.
  
  
• The over-the-top speech from (1-900) Van Hipp on behalf of Duncan Hunter, Congressman from California and Congressional candidate. As some remember, Hipp was the religious right's favorite candidate for the 1st Congressional District seat in 1994, only to lose to Mark Sanford in the GOP runoff. I was seriously expecting the guy's bombast to lead to him waving his fingers, shaking his face and proclaiming "I am not a crook".
  
  With his 1997 conviction for getting illegal campaign contributions via an elaborate phone sex credit card scam, one would think the Hunter people could find someone more credible to speak on his behalf (hint - don't invite me, I would do no better).
  
  
  
• Thomas Ravenel being cut off in the middle of his endorsement speech for Giuliani when he ran out of time. Whoops!


• The priceless look I got from Rick Beltram when, after I said hello to my friends in the Spartanburg delegation, I turned to him to say "Hey Rick, how ya doin'?"
  
  I think he wanted to deck me. Being just rows from the front of the stage, it would have given everyone a real floor brawl at a convention that otherwise didn't have one.
  
  
• Last, but not least, getting the four Sanford boys to autograph the book they did about the Statehouse. My little one will love it.

It was also a good chance to meet and talk with some of my readers, and I really appreciate hearing from you all.

Senator Ceips was most gracious, in the wake of her recent win, not to mention Moye ... Ryan ... Wes ... Trey ... Bobby ... June ... Hugh ... Mark ... Thomas ... Mary ... Chuck ... Arthur ... Rod Jr. ... Katherine ... Bill ... Mary ... Annette ... Steve ... LaDonna ... Tim ... Elizabeth ... and of course RICK B ... and so many others that took a few minutes to say hello and let me know what you thought about my work, and your ideas for how I can make it better.

I look forward to seeing all of you again out there - but don't forget to take a few minutes to say hello and share your thoughts out here in the Blogland.

Rep. David Weeks, D-Sumter, has filed a bill to open a review of the shootings - known as the Orangeburg Massacre in which three people were killed at the predominantly black South Carolina State University in 1968.

Weeks' bill won't get very far with less than a month left on this year's legislative calendar, but it can carry over to the next session, which starts in January. In February, the state will mark the 40th anniversary of the event that Weeks says still causes "hard feelings" among some black South Carolinians.

"There are still a lot of questions - a certain mystery about what happened," he said. "We may not like what (an investigation) finds, but perhaps we can bring some closure to this."

The shame of it is that only one white legislator and one Republican, Jim Harrison of Richland County, put his name on the bill. He should not have been the only one.

It's not the first time that the Blogland has said something nice about Mr. Weeks, so he's on his way to becoming one of the Blogland's favorite Democrats.

While time in this session is short, I hope we'll see Weeks' bill back next year, with more support. The truth may not be pretty, but it's past time for us to get to it, and move beyond it.

As we count down the days to Mother's Day (and you'd better be keeping up with the date too ...), here is some neat background information about Mother's Day from Mother's Day Central:

The majority of countries that celebrate Mother’s Day do so on the second Sunday of May. On this day, it is common for Mothers to be lavished with presents and special attention from their families, friends and loved ones. But it hasn’t always been this way.

Only recently dubbed “Mother’s Day,” the highly traditional practice of honoring of Motherhood is rooted in antiquity, and past rites typically had strong symbolic and spiritual overtones; societies tended to celebrate Goddesses and symbols rather than actual Mothers. In fact, the personal, human touch to Mother’s Day is a relatively new phenomenon. The maternal objects of adoration ranged from mythological female deities to the Christian Church itself. Only in the past few centuries did celebrations of Motherhood develop a decidedly human focus.

There is a lot more reading on this page about the holiday, so click here and keep on reading.

Also, a chart shows the breakdown of spending for the holiday:

Last weekend a traffic jam several miles long snaked out of the Mansour district in western Baghdad. The delay stemmed not from a car bomb closing the road but from a queue to enter the city's central amusement park. The line became so long some families left their cars and walked to enjoy picnics, fairground rides and soccer, the Iraqi national obsession.

Across the city, restaurants are slowly filling and shops are reopening. The streets are busy. Iraqis are not cowering indoors. The appalling death tolls from suicide attacks are often high because of crowding at markets. These days you are as likely to hear complaints about traffic congestion as about the security situation. Across Baghdad there is a cacophony of sirens from ambulances, firefighters and police providing public services. You cannot even escape the curse of traffic wardens ticketing illegally parked cars.

Tonight, the lights are back on in Ramadi.

One year ago, in a report that received national attention, the Administration, Pentagon, and Coalition General Staff had unofficially declared Al Anbar Province and Ramadi to be “lost.” Incidents in Ramadi, Fallujah, and Al-Qaim were measured in how many per hour. Stories of fighting in Ramadi’s “Snake Pit,” or the tragic August 2005 report of fifteen Marine reservists of Lima Company, 3/25, killed in Haditha splashed across the news each night. This was the Sunni and Al-Qaeda in Iraq insurgency at its worst.

But Ramadi is a far different town than when I visited in October 2006 and Jan-Feb 2007. And it’s decidedly different than a year ago.

Single bloggers follow the Ukranian vacation of fellow Palmetto State blogger Mike Reino with great envy.

Reports were that the public disorder rivaled the early 1990s concert stops by Guns 'n Roses, with Reino being arrested twelve times for drunk and disorderly, including by threating to "re-start and re-finish the Cold War when I dig up all those commie bastards and singlehandedly kick their asses back into their graves.", as well as mobs of crazed, scantily-clad teenaged females attempting to smash down the front door of the hotel where he was staying, to have their ... chests ... autographed.

Ukranian officials reportedly were hard-pressed to maintain order due to the mass hysteria by Reino, who has become a cult figure with a following rivalling that of David Hasselholf in Germany. Hasselholf reportedly threatened:

"Looks like you're havin a good time, and she's smokin'...you keep up the good work son!"

"Maybe Mike can bring me one back. I just got free for the Silver Elephant. Someone needs a extra ticket. "

Last night, I attended the annual “Legislative Rally” of the Mechanical Contractor’s Association of South Carolina, the third one I’ve attended. First of all, I want to thank Mona Flowers and the MCASC for their hospitality. As always, it was a first-class event that helped keep our Legislature focused on issues near and dear to the construction trades.

Mark Sanford was this year’s speaker. His remarks were short, but he stressed the need to see action on Worker’s Compensation reform, singling out opposition in the Senate by Senator John Land. He also advocated the need to continue working on restructuring, reform the budget process and control spending. Needless to say, with this crowd, his messages were well-received.

• Senator Larry Grooms, who was concerned about the progress of the S.C. DOT restructuring efforts which he led in the Senate.
  
• Representative Chip Limehouse, whose father, Buck Limehouse, was just named the new Executive Director of the S.C. DOT.
  
• Representative Carl Gullick, a first-termer whose political career started in 1992, when I worked on his first campaign for York County Council.
  
• Agriculture Commissioner Hugh Weathers, who talked about an upcoming South Carolina agriculture publicity campaign (stay tuned ... we'll be talking about that here soon).

It was another busy month at the Blogland, with a total of postings. As always, we covered a wide range of topics, and counted on you to throw in your ten cents' worth. Here are the postings that got ya'll stirred up and talking this month:

4/1: From the Blogland: Ceips news story
4/4: Inside Interview: Wallace Scarborough
4/5: Would you like fries with that?
4/7: Change your light bulbs?
4/15: Back to Hell?
4/18: Shirley Hinson for the State Senate
4/19: Inside Interview: Bill Cotty
4/25: Protecting the Camden battlefield

Also, now I have the ability to track traffic in considerable detail, so here are the ten most visited postings of the month:

Inside Interview: Wallace Scarborough (4/4)
Shirley Hinson for the State Senate (4/18)
Bill Mescher: The American Dream (4/8)
From the Blogland: Ceips news story (4/1)
Inside Interview: Bill Cotty (4/19)
Beaufort Senate election preview (4/22)
Florence Republican willing to consider VP slot (3/29)
Pascha - The Eastern Celebration of Easter (4/12/06)
Jesse Jackson assails Don Imus while JC Hammer mumbles (4/16)
Progress in Iraq? The McCaffrey Report (4/3)

... as you can see, there is a bit of a difference between what people read and what they talked about. Two of them weren't even written last month. Honorable mention goes to a runner-up that was also an oldie: Give 'Em Enough Rope: The Clash.

As always, thanks for caring enough to visit and share your thoughts. Remember that in the Blogland, we care at least as much about you, as you do about us. Be sure to keep coming back for more ...

For a break from more meaningful discussion, I want to share with ya'll one of my favorite places in all the world: Wildcat Falls.

In case you'd like to know more, here are some additional links about this place ... Hiking trail info ... NCWaterfalls.com ... a really good fall photo of the lower waterfall.