This is a joint event with SC and Indiana the At&t and BMW event place is full. They are raising money for hurricane relief.
Talked to Lindsey Graham also Rob Godfrey of the SCGOP.
Was up at 2 AM to catch the flight out of Charleston at 530 AM was at airport at 4 AM. Flying first class was nice. Flew with a US Senator from NC - Burr. Also a Female Congresswoman from NC believe her last name was Ford just not sure man it was too early and they are not from SC.
Everybody is talking Hurricane. We have had Obama people with tee shirts in our lobby I was told by Joshua and last night I understand several people arrested I hear Joshua has already blog that.
Bush and Cheney will not make convention due to hurricanes.
Just met the new SC Rep, Ms. Nanny and her husband.
A Cuban punk rocker known for his raunchy lyrics criticizing Fidel Castro was convicted of public disorder Friday, but freed after a court dismissed a more serious "social dangerousness" charge that could have sent him to prison for four years.
Following a two-hour trial, the court ordered Gorki Aguila to pay 600 pesos (US$28) and released the 39-year-old singer.
"I am very proud of all the people who have supported me, and I feel even more hate for this tyranny," Aguilar told reporters upon his release.
Those who are criticizing McCain's selecton of Sarah Palin feign concern about what they allege is a lack experience to fill the VP slot, having formerly served as the mayor of a town of 9,000.
A Gulfstream IV from Anchorage, Alaska, flew into Middletown Regional Airport in Butler County near Cincinnati about 10:15 p.m. Thursday, said Rich Bevis, airport manager. He said several people came off the plane, including a woman and two teens, but there was no confirmation of who was aboard.
"They were pretty much hustled off. They came right down the ramp, jumped in some vans here and off they went," Bevis said. "It was all hush, hush."
In politics, it's often risky to run candidates with pending criminal charges against them. This had plenty to do with the recent downfall of Summerville Senator Randy Scott, and has plenty to do with the ongoing controversy over York County Council member Paul Lindenmann.Feared by his opponents for his take-no-prisoners approach to pursuing justice for his clients, Beaufort attorney Jim Brown is held in extremely high regard by his colleagues in the S.C. Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers because of his outstanding research, writing, lecturing, and leadership skills.
South Carolina lawmakers have failed in their primary responsibility to create a practical, balanced state budget, and they refuse to let Gov. Mark Sanford push them into fulfilling their obligation to the state.
Lawmakers ended their legislative session knowing they had passed a budget that didn't provide enough money for core state responsibilities like school buses and prisons, even if the economy held steady. Worse, they knew an economic downturn was likely, throwing the budget even further off balance.
But their pet spending priorities were funded, so they left anyway.
Now their unfinished work has become a bigger problem. State revenues are falling short, and the budget has to be cut.
- Editorial: "Legislative obfuscation", Spartanburg Herald-Journal, 8/24/08
In case you missed it, we were pretty hard on South Carolina’s higher ed leaders in our first installment of this year’s “Palmetto Power 100″ list. Frankly, we think it’s inexcusable the way they’ve been jacking tuition and fees on our state’s citizens in recent years, particularly while they’re hiding multi-million dollar slush funds (in Clemson’s case) or gobbling up real estate like the Wehrmacht (in Carolina’s case).
Of course, like their K-12 counterparts, these ivory tower blowhards always blame tuition increases on “budget cuts,” despite the fact that South Carolina grew government at obscene levels over the last four years and continues to spend more than 16% of its state budget on higher ed (compared to the national average of around 10%).
You got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.
"Poor Joe Biden", 2/1/07
Everybody we spoke with said a first-term circuit court judge didn’t belong on our Top 100, let alone the “honorable mentions,” but the fact is Harrington isn’t your typical circuit court judge. She’s “wonder woman,” people. Not only ridonkulously hot in her robe, she’s tough as nails in it, too, already earning the nickname “handcuff Harrington” for her no-nonsense brand of dispensing justice. Plus, she’s incredibly well-liked and well-connected in Columbia and seen by many conservatives as a rising star in the judiciary.
Although it won’t have the same impact as another historic African-American addition to the Republican Party (which you’ll read about in our Top 100), Glenn McCall’s selection as national committeeman is still a big deal. What people forget, though, is that McCall has been a force in this state long before he decided to run for this post. We’re just glad he’s finally gotten some of the visibility he deserves.
You might think our founding editor imposes his will on the world around him, but you should see how fast his arrogant, sarcastic tail tucks between his legs the second Mrs. Sic so much as bats a disapproving eye. Forget “wearing the pants,” we’re not even sure Sic has any underwear on.
Through no fault of his own, he was born in Michigan; however, his family moved to South Carolina when he was two years old, allowing him to maintain that he is truly a Southerner at heart. He grew up in North Charleston, and in 1980 graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from the Baptist College at Charleston, which is now known as Charleston Southern University. He graduated from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1983 with the degree of Juris Doctor, and with the degree of Master of Judicial Studies from the University of Nevada, Reno in 2000 …
Roger also served as a Municipal Judge for the City of North Charleston from 1988-90. He was elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 1990 and served two terms. He was Master-in-Equity for Charleston County from 1996 until he replaced Judge Vic Rawl on the Circuit Court bench upon his retirement on July 1, 2003 …
Through an odd confluence of interstellar events, Roger has received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from the University of Charleston in 1992, was appointed an Honorary Kentucky Colonel by Gov. Brereton C. Jones in 1993, and was awarded the Order of the Palmetto by Gov. Carroll A. Campbell in 1994.
A patient and dignified Circuit Court Judge who does not take himself too seriously, and uses common sense on the bench every week.
Making a lot of money has never really been a motivating factor in my life, and I found through being in the state legislature that I enjoy public service. Serving in the General Assembly was a wonderful experience; however, I'm not cut out for that job. I have a special appreciation for those that do it and enjoy it, but constantly driving up the road to Columbia and always running for re-election is not my cup of tea.
There is nothing like being a circuit court judge to have something new to deal with every day. I consider myself one of those fortunate people who look forward to going to work every day, although there are some days it flat wears you down, but I suppose that is true of every job.
Every judge brings their own unique perspective to the bench, so while I would say it gives me a different perspective, I do not want to imply that it makes me a better judge than my colleagues, because some of the best have never served in the legislature. I would say the experience made me a better citizen. I think everyone should run for office at some point in time (as long as they don't run against me). It will humble you to have to go out and ask people for their vote.
The case load for circuit court judges is the highest in the nation and is getting worse. While the legislature has authorized three new circuit court positions, they have not funded them in several years. We are trying to manage our dockets so that people don't have to wait years to get their case heard, but you can only squeeze so much.
We also now have two law schools in this state graduating twice the number of new lawyers. That has to have an effect on the number of case filings. Technology can only get us so far. You have to have a body on the bench to hear the case at some point.
We are trying to more cases resolved through alternatives to trial by jury, such as mediation and arbitration, but the sheer volume means that there are still a lot of cases left on the trial roster. In addition, those cases that do not resolve themselves are increasingly complex and demand more pre-trial attention from the judges, who cannot be in two places at one time.
I am filing for re-election this fall. That election will be early next year. I enjoy what I do immensely and have no foreseeable desire to seek an appellate court position. I may change my mind one day. However, I have set on the Supreme Court twice when justices have been sick or on vacation, and while it was a great experience, but left me wondering if I wanted to read briefs and transcripts all day.
I like the interaction with people you get as a trial court judge, especially with juries. I think the combination of the adversarial process and a trial by jury is the best system for settling conflicts ever devised by man.
I started judging barbeque the minute I ate at Sweatman's 30 years ago in college. That's the gold standard for what a commercial barbeque joint should be, in my humble opinion. However, competition barbeque is something else entirely. I started judging at the local Prestigious Palmetto Pig-Pickin' in Charleston over ten years ago, and look forward to it every year. It's grown and become quite a well-respected event. The quality of barbeque produced by the competitors is very high.
Believe it or not, the hardest part of judging competition barbeque is to not over-eat early. You can't eat more than a very, very small amount because you will probably be eating 15-20 samples within a few hours. I learned the hard way.
As for commercial places, locally Fiery Ron's Home Team and Jim and Nick's are putting out some outstanding barbeque. I recently tried a new place in North Charleston off East Montague called The Barbeque Place and it showed great promise. I also held court in Moncks Corner this week and tried a new place called Moose's BBQ. It was very good and had an outstanding beef brisket, which you don't find much of in this area of the country. The owner, Moose, wandered around place constantly checking on his customers and chatting people up. It was a fun experience.
Candidly, growing up in the low country I have a soft spot for any of the Bessinger brothers' places when you just need to scratch an itch and eat a good sandwich and onion rings. There is a branch of Brown's BBQ in Moncks Corner that is really good. Finally, there are branches of the ubiquitous Dukes BBQ in Beaufort and Ridgeland that serve fried chicken gizzards on their buffet which earns them an honorable mention for that fact alone.
Man, I could talk about bbq all day.
I have a friend in New Orleans who has one of the oldest law related blogs (as well as one of the most respected) called ernietheattorney.net. He covers much more than law, and often writes about computers, photography, philosophy, yoga, food and his mistress - the City of New Orleans. He is commercial law litigator who frequently lectures around the country on law and computers. He is partially responsible for my converting to Apple computers a few years ago, and he operates a truly paperless office out of his home. A cool guy to hang out with.
Until it recently shut down, I thought FakeSteveJobs, a blog satire about Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, was pure genius. You helped to be an Apple fan to really appreciate it, but it was fabulous satire, and anyone who follows the computer industry could appreciate it. I hope it comes back.
I listen to some podcasts daily while I walk since I'm not much of a music fan. A couple are, again, Apple related, but I also enjoy Dennis Miller's re-broadcast of his radio show. By now you've figured out I'm a big Apple computer fan, and love having an Apple store in Charleston. I also am grateful that SC Public Radio podcasts Walter Edgar's Journal. I'd never be able to listen to it otherwise. Those broadcasts are wonderful for those that love to learn about this state, and Walter shares my love of all things barbeque.
First, judges do a lot more than sit on the bench and listen to trials. In fact, when you are serving a year as Chief Administrative Judge like I currently am, it is probably less than half of what I do most days. There is a never-ending mound of paperwork as CAJ.
I suppose most people would be surprised at how difficult it can be to sentence people, or perhaps I should state more correctly, fashion an appropriate sentence. Every person is different, and the vast majority of people are not evil, horrible people. If you stop and think about it, the relative rarity of brutal, violent crimes is why they are newsworthy when they happen. Instead, most of the people who come before the courts have wrecked their lives with drugs and alcohol, and we are dealing with crime which is either directly or indirectly associated with it. You can toss them in jail and throw away the key - and sometimes you have to do that - but most of them are eventually going to get out of prison, and as a society it is in our best interest to figure out some way to turn them into productive citizens as opposed to hardened criminals. I don't have the answer. I just deal with the problem.
Sentencing young people really is heartbreaking. Young people make so many mistakes, and every time I see one infront of me I envision one of my children. I can only imagine how their parents must feel. A sad fact of life is that far too many young people don't even have a family member that comes to courts with them. It takes no imagination to guess how they got there. Sadly, they are often parents themselves, and have no skills or education by which they are reasonably going to get a decent paying job or become a responsible parent. You wonder what chance their children have to succeed. It's a cycle that seems to have no end.
When Senator John Drummond, whose service in the Senate stretched across much of the 20th Century, decided to retire from the chamber, both sides have worked to recruit strong candidates. The Democrats recruited Floyd Nicholson, the current Mayor of Greenwood, to defend their hold on the seat, while the GOP hopes to gain the seat with Greenwood County Council Vice Chair Dee Compton, who emerged from a five-candidate pack to win the GOP nomination by a crushing margin in the June run-off.
Last year I introduced the Appropriations Bill Earmark Disclosure Act, a bill that will bring greater transparency to the budgeting process by requiring legislators to put their names on requests for funds going to local projects. Unfortunately the bill died because too many big spending politicians want to fund their pet projects in secret.
I support Senator Glenn McConnell’s effort to push a commonsense conservative plan through the General Assembly. The people of South Carolina should be able to hold legislators accountable for the decisions they make at the State House, and roll call votes bring instant accountability. To bring more transparency to state government, I will ask for a roll call vote in the South Carolina Senate on any bill that requires a significant expenditure of state funds.
South Carolina faces extraordinary challenges in education, healthcare, and energy. We will never be able to solve those problems if state government keeps wasting taxpayer dollars. I was elected on a commitment that I would do whatever I could to shake things up in Columbia and tackle the tough problems facing our state. I intend to make good on that commitment even if it means ruffling a few feathers along the way.
Last session, I introduced House Bill 5019, the 2008 Spending Accountability Act, because I believe legislation that in a time when a gallon of milk and a gallon of gas are roughly the same price we owe it to the public to show them how their hard-earned dollars are being spent.
Whether it’s ten percent or eighty percent, I firmly believe it is sound policy to go on the record. In the business world no one hands over a checkbook and says spend this money wisely. All expenses are recorded and individuals are held accountable for how they spend. The same should be true in state government.
I think the recent report by the SC Policy Council validates the need for this type of legislation. While individuals may differ on their conclusions, I think we can all agree that there is clearly a need for more accountability in government, and that’s the chief aim of my legislation.
Over the past few months, I have been working closely with Senator McConnell on this legislation. We plan to pre-file a comprehensive bill in both the House and the Senate later this year.
Do we really need FIFTEEN different classifications? In doing research, some states have only three…..1, 1.5, and 2.0? And aren’t these numbers arbitrary really?
Apparently we acknowledge a different “cost” (weight) for each “type” of student. However, one notable exception to me is the “Poor Kid”. (Is that politically correct to say?) My question is this: Wouldn’t most of us consider it more expensive to educate someone in a “poorer district”? Most would admit that in a “perfect world” it should cost the same to educate every child but if we already have a system of weights, shouldn’t we explore this concept?
I’m not saying we need to throw more money at the problem but (here goes the politically damaging part), shouldn’t we agree there should be some weight given to “rich” and “poor” kids? This would most likely mean that folks like me (representing “rich” districts) will have to give up some of “our money” to the “poor” districts. Because if we actually address this disparity, districts with a “poor kid” classication will receive more money than those with less students in that category.
As a political consultant and a newspaper publisher, I’m familiar with “spin”... but there’s not really much way to spin this:
A few days ago, tests revealed I have a cancerous brain tumor.
I don’t know how other people would react to such news. But in the days since, I have been completely overcome with one central thought: I truly feel like the luckiest man in the world! I can’t even begin to count my blessings.
Today, we celebrate two birthdays: Bonnie and the Blogland. She turns ten today and we turn three.
We were trying to look back at the year that's passed, and here are some thoughts which occured to us:
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn was a rare voice in the Cold War. Decorated for service during WWII, Solzhenitsyn's criticms of Stalinist tyranny saw him quickly exiled to Siberia, then abroad. His novel, "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich", which was based upon his own experiences in a Siberian gulag, as well as the movie based upon the book, presented a bleak, tragic world in which the humanity of prisoners was slowly suffocated.If I were today addressing an audience in my country, in my examination of the overall pattern of the world's rifts I would have concentrated on the calamities of the East. But since my forced exile in the West has now lasted four years and since my audience is a Western one, I think it may be of greater interest to concentrate on certain aspects of the contemporary West, such as I see them.
A decline in courage may be the most striking feature that an outside observer notices in the West today. The Western world has lost its civic courage, both as a whole and separately, in each country, in each government, in each political party, and, of course, in the United Nations. Such a decline in courage is particularly noticeable among the ruling and intellectual elites, causing an impression of a loss of courage by the entire society. There are many courageous individuals, but they have no determining influence on public life.
Political and intellectual functionaries exhibit this depression, passivity, and perplexity in their actions and in their statements, and even more so in their self-serving rationales as to how realistic, reasonable, and intellectually and even morally justified it is to base state policies on weakness and cowardice. And the decline in courage, at times attaining what could be termed a lack of manhood, is ironically emphasized by occasional outbursts and inflexibility on the part of those same functionaries when dealing with weak governments and with countries that lack support, or with doomed currents which clearly cannot offer resistance. But they get tongue-tied and paralyzed when they deal with powerful governments and threatening forces, with aggressors and international terrorists.
Must one point out that from ancient times a decline in courage has been considered the first symptom of the end?
-1978 commencement address, OrthodoxyToday.org
Section 7 of Article One of our Constitution is very clear on this point, when it says "All bills for raising Revenue shall originate in the House of Representatives". More specifically, when it comes to the Budget Committee, which I chair, "the primary responsibility of the Budget Committee is the drafting and preparation of the Concurrent Resolution on the Budget, usually called the 'budget resolution.' This resolution sets the aggregate levels of spending and revenue that is expected to occur in a given fiscal year.*"
You do the math: the Democrats run the House, the House originates budget legislation, and the Committee I chair puts the budget resolution together. While I can blame the President and the Republicans for the size of the deficit, let's face it - me and my fellow Democrats deserve plenty of the blame as well. It's time for Democrats to have the courage to live up to Harry Truman's old saying of the "buck stops here".
EARTH—Former vice president Al Gore—who for the past three decades has unsuccessfully attempted to warn humanity of the coming destruction of our planet, only to be mocked and derided by the very people he has tried to save—launched his infant son into space Monday in the faint hope that his only child would reach the safety of another world.
"I tried to warn them, but the Elders of this planet would not listen," said Gore, who in 2000 was nearly banished to a featureless realm of nonexistence for promoting his unpopular message. "They called me foolish and laughed at my predictions. Yet even now, the Midwest is flooded, the ice caps are melting, and the cities are rocked with tremors, just as I foretold. Fools! Why didn't they heed me before it was too late?"
Al Gore—or, as he is known in his own language, Gore-Al—placed his son, Kal-Al, gently in the one-passenger rocket ship, his brow furrowed by the great weight he carried in preserving the sole survivor of humanity's hubristic folly.
"There is nothing left now but to ensure that my infant son does not meet the same fate as the rest of my doomed race," Gore said. "I will send him to a new planet, where he will, I hope, be raised by simple but kindly country folk and grow up to be a hero and protector to his adopted home."
As part of the Blogland’s ongoing efforts to expose our readers to the wide range of movers and shakers in South Carolina through our Inside Interview series, we wanted to introduce our readers to the Midland’s own Erin Gaddy. She’s a career prosecutor who is currently working with the National District Attorneys Association, focusing on issues related to the abuse of the elderly and disabled. Prior to that, she spent four years as an Assistant Solicitor in the Midlands.2) For attorneys, a career in prosecution isn’t always the best-paying route, so we’ll assume you don’t do it for the money. What do you personally find to be the biggest rewards associated with your work?I instantly liked criminal law (although it was probably my lowest grade in school), and tried both prosecution and defense. Social justice is a very important concept in the Catholic church, and my mother really emphasized it in our lives. I thought I might wind up a public defender, but it was quickly apparent that the people with the power to do the most justice were on the prosecution side. I believe we need great attorneys on both sides of the criminal courtroom, and have always felt like my place was on the side of the State.
3) Tell us a little bit about what kind of work you do in your current position.When I was working in the courtroom, every night I could lay my head on my pillow with a clean conscience. I knew that I had done something good for someone every day, even when I’d just pushed paper on my desk or answered hone calls. That’s a pretty great reason to go to work every morning. I’d love it if both prosecutors and public defenders were paid better, in order to keep more of them in the profession long-term.
4) Since a lot of your work in recent years has focused upon protecting those, such as the elderly, who can’t protect themselves, what do you see as the most important trends out there?I’m involved with a Federally-funded project through the U.S. Department of Justice, Office on Violence Against Women (OVW). There are three prongs of the training currently (for law enforcement, judges, and prosecutors), and training for victim advocates and adult protective services workers is coming soon. I work with an incredible faculty from all over the nation to put on the OVW training for prosecutors on elder abuse and neglect. I’m not generally at the front of the room, but in the background, making sure the curriculum is running as it should. I have a lot of help, but ultimately I‘m responsible for the education these prosecutors receive.
We use a multi-disciplinary faculty consisting of prosecutors, medical doctors, mental health specialists, adult protective services workers, and victim advocates. Law enforcement experts on elder abuse were also involved in the development of the project. I also run a listserv for the trainees and faculty, plus offer technical assistance to prosecutors on elder abuse.
5) You're a Midlands native. For those who doubt that claim, we'll ask you to prove it by naming at least two good places to go for BBQ.It’s an incredibly vibrant time for the prosecution and prevention of elder abuse, so I’d prefer to focus on some positive trends. Because of increased awareness, we’re seeing much more reporting of elder abuse by community members and family members of victims, as well as more victims being willing to report for themselves.
It’s important to remember that in many states, 55-60 is “elderly,” which most people who have reached that age wouldn’t call themselves. Our elders are active community members who are demanding fair and equal treatment under the law. We talk about elder abuse being in a similar place as domestic violence was 30 years ago, where people are really interested in stopping it, but not entirely sure what they can do.
I’ve been very impressed with efforts from the Lieutenant Governor’s Office, as you mentioned. The more we can do to enforce the laws that are already on the books, the better off our elders will be. If each of our legislators simply thought about how they’d like their parents, grandparents, or themselves to be treated, I think we’d likely be in very good shape with our laws. There are great model laws out of Wisconsin and California, which of course is on the forefront of this issue. Florida and New York are also states to look to for instruction.
Doc's on Shop Road and Little Pigs up on Alpine Road.
6) As our final question – the Blogland loves to talk about music, so we’re going to ask you to name your favorite album(s) and/or artist(s).
For recent music, I’m a little obsessed with Corinne Bailey Rae’s debut album, but the classics still draw me: Joni Mitchell’s Wild Things Run Fast, and pretty much anything by CSNY or James Taylor.
