Stimulating someone's economy with your rebate

Received this email from my brother the other day. It does make you think a bit:

----------

Your Tax Rebate:

The federal government is sending each and everyone of us a $600 rebate.

If we spend that money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China.

If we spend it on gasoline it will go to the Arabs.

If we purchase a computer it will go to India.

If we purchase fruit and vegetables it will go to Mexico, Honduras, and Guatemala.

If we purchase a good car it will go to Japan.

If we purchase useless crap it will go to Taiwan ...

...and none of it will help the American economy.

The only way to keep that money here at home is to buy prostitutes, weed, beer, and tattoos, since these are the only products still produced in the USA.

Thank you for your help & please support the US.

----------

No wonder our economy is a mess.

With friends like this ...

Barack Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, has been on the sawdust trail lately. But it's anybody's guess who he is really backing for president.

It's not Barack Obama. Can't be. There's just no way.

Every time Wright opens his mouth, John McCain seems to gain in the polls. Even Hillary Clinton starts looking downright presidential.

After Wright's incendiary damn-America sermons became public a month ago, Obama gave a barnburner speech explaining life and times in the black community. He did criticize what Wright had to say, but refused to denounce the man himself. Very admirable, I thought.

Over the past week, Wright's put himself back into the limelight, just about when folks were beginning to forget about him. A televised chat with Bill Moyers. An appearance before the National Press Club (which, according to some accounts, was arranged by a hard-shell Clinton backer, which kind of figures). Wright didn't disappoint. He drew comparisons between the U.S. military and Roman legions. He expanded on his statements of the U.S. "inviting" terrorist attacks by its conduct among other, weaker nations -- live by the sword, die by the sword.

"I do what pastors do," Wright said of Obama. "He does what politicians do."

Ouch. That bump you just felt was Wright throwing Obama off the bus, and probably backing over him a few times. With friends like that, you sure don't need enemas ... uhh, enemies.

Has the media made a big deal out of Obama's relationship with Wright? Yes and no. Obama is, in fact, running for President. The public deserves to know who they're voting for.

Except for Obama's associations (and it seems he sure has some smarmy friends) and a slim senatorial resume, Obama's an even bigger mystery than the Manchurian Candidate.

Wright, meanwhile, is defending himself. In one of his talks, the pastor accused the media and the voters of cherry-picking his statements, keying on the more controversial stuff. Uhh, yeah. The electorate is like that. A 45-minute sermon is awfully hard to digest, let alone print in entirety in the local newspaper. To the average Joe a five-second sound bite is a lot more palatable.

But a few sound bites, taken together, do give an honest look at how the speaker really thinks. You don't have to eat the whole egg to know if it's rotten. About the only exception to this is if the speaker is a total whack job who can't put a coherent thought together.

It's almost like reading this blog. Many of my entries are fairly long -- too long for the person who is too busy or has no inclination to dig deep into the issues. That's OK with me; I'm used to that. But I can turn a pithy phrase, partly due to my own warped sense of humor. It's those eye-catching phrases that my reader will remember.

But, take some of my phrases, either in context or out, and the reader will come away with an impression that's remarkably close to where I'm coming from.

But Wright's talkativeness is not doing Obama any favors. In recent polls, voters said Hillary Clinton would beat John McCain by a six-point margin in a one-on-one, while Obama and McCain would battle to a draw. Before anybody had heard of Wright, two months ago, these numbers were almost reversed -- Obama up by a few points over McCain, Clinton about even with McCain. Meanwhile, more and more Democratic voters are saying that if their candidate isn't nominated they'll likely vote for the Republican.

Singlehandedly, Wright polarized the electorate along racial lines, nullifying Obama's talk about bringing us all together.

Elections are rarely won. The vast majority of the time, they're lost. While Obama's own comments about rural and small town white folks clinging to God and guns don't help his cause any, his now-ex-pastor continues to throw every kind of wrench into the Barack campaign works.

Dispatches from the Nanny State:

I see where chain restaurants in New York city are now required to publish calorie counts on their menus and other cities such as San Francisco and Seattle are considering similar action.

New York City seems to be in a tug-of-war with the People's Republic Of California to see which can be the biggest nanny of 'em all. Most anti-smoking laws, among others, have their genesis on the Left Coast, but New York is playing catch-up -- banning trans-fats in restaurants, and now this.

OK, it's good to know how many calories you're scarfing down at Mickey D's, but does the government have to dictate it?

Forbes: Memphis tops decadence list three times

I've driven through Memphis once, years ago, and didn't think it was a hotbed of decadence. On the contrary. OK, it's the birthplace of the blues (which makes it a holy place), and was Elvis' home town (making it the site of pilgrimages).

But, it received top billing three times by Forbes Magazine.

An article in the most recent edition lists the most "sinful" cities, using the Seven Deadly Sins as its yardstick.

Here are tops in the fields:

Lust: Denver, Colorado.

Pride: Salt Lake City, Utah.

Greed: San Jose, California.

Sloth: Memphis, Tennessee.

Envy: Memphis, Tennessee.

Gluttony: Memphis, Tennessee.

Wrath: Detroit, Michigan.

Do you think travel magazines will pick up on this theme? Somehow, I can't picture an article on wild, wild Memphis.

A footnote: Las Vegas came in third in sloth. And Riverside, California came in fourth in gluttony. H'mmm. I grew up in that town. According to Forbes, most folks there grow out.

The list of Seven Deadly Sins, by the way, dates back to sixth-century Pope Gregory the Great, and was elaborated on by Dante Alighieri in The Divine Comedy.

America's 13 Arguments outlined

Being one who studies human nature and keeps an eye on the public process, I found this very interesting.
Howard Fineman, a senior correspondent with Newsweek and MSNBC, recently wrote a book about what he calls the "13 American arguments." He considers these arguments as the biggest shapers of public policy, historically.
Although Fineman is a lot more liberal than I am (Attila The Hun is a lot more liberal than I am), this list makes for good reading and even better thinking. My own comments are in italics, but here goes:

1 - What is a person?
(Several groups have received short weight here, Fineman points out. At one point, blacks were judged to be three-fifths of a person for census purposes. Women didn't have the right to vote until 1920. And now, there's the debate about the unborn ...)

2 - What is an American?
(Whatever the definition, all Americans share the same bio: We ain't from around here. All of us came from somewhere else, some generations ago. If you want to get technical, we'd all be in a world of hurt if the original occupants -- what we call the Native Americans -- kicked us out.)

3 - What role does faith have in public policy?
(This is one of those debates that just won't go away.)

4 - What can we know and say?
(Fineman is alluding to freedom of speech, and more importantly, freedom to know what the folks in Washington are doing to us.)

5 - What are the limits of individualism?
(This is just a small, but fundamental, part of the debate between liberals and conservatives.)

6 - Who judges the law?

7 - Debt and the dollar.

8 - Local vs. national authority.
(Another of those issues that keeps cropping up. You can look at South Carolina's history to see how this works.)

9 - Presidential power.
(Almost duplicates #8, but not quite. Fineman asks, how much presidential power is too much? The framers of the Constitution wanted a weak central government, and it's a safe bet the President is a lot more powerful than he used to be. Even with some highly-questionable executive calls in recent years, there is still some precedent -- witness Lincoln's suspension of habeus corpus during the War Between The States.)

10 - Terms of Trade.
(As in, who controls it? Who sets the terms, calls the shots?)

11 - War and diplomacy.
(Fineman: "Do we need to change the world to survive in it?")

12 - Environmental issues.
(This is a fairly new phenomenon.)

13 - Creating a far more perfect union.
(You've heard your kids ask about this on long car trips: "Are we there yet?")

These issues (with the possible exception of #12) were somewhere in people's minds back when the Constitution was being framed, each came to the forefront at some point, and all remain important today.

Dispatches from the smoking wars

For those of you who are watching the No Smoking laws spreading throughout the country, here's the the latest dispatch on this front. As of October, you won't be able to smoke on the casino floors in Atlantic City.

And from New York ... Atlanta Braves manager Bobby Cox was warned that he wouldn't be able to enjoy his postgame cigar in the manager's office at Shea Stadium. (Where have you gone, Red Auerbach?)

After last night's performance...

After last night's performance in Pennsylvania, folks are wondering about whether Barack Obama has developed Buffalo Bills' Disease -- as in, can't win the big one. Stay tuned; we'll be watching.

Saving gas

It seems everyone has a cure-all to reduce gas usage, save money at the pump, and all that.

Here's mine:

Drive barefoot.

It does give you a little better feel on the gas pedal and it might actually make a difference. You never know. I usually do this on longer trips.

(You heard it here first.)

No-gas days

Commentator Bill O'Reilly, whom I normally respect, said Tuesday that consumers should make a statement to oil companies by refusing to buy gas one day a week -- perhaps Tuesdays.

Say, Bill, that's a pinhead idea which would make no difference in how people drive. What's the difference buying gas one day over another? Folks will just tank up on Monday.

Lousy bus service is still a major upgrade

The gas prices have spoken -- loudly -- and as gas increases, everything else increases.

So it's no surprise that CARTA, the local bus service here in Charleston, announced plans to hike its rates, with a basic fixed-route ride going from $1.25 to $1.50, effective in October.

Although in some quarters there may be weeping and gnashing of teeth, the increase is really chicken feed. Face it, those big buses burn Diesel fuel, which is right around $4 per gallon last I looked, and a fair bit higher than regular unleaded.

The bus service in Charleston is terrible. Stinks. Unspeakable. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's still a major upgrade over what it once was. A few years ago the service was so bad that routes made no sense, transfers meant sitting for 45 minutes in a neighborhood no sane person would enter unarmed, and the whole system was losing money hand over fist. And while CARTA was fighting for its life (which required a half-cent sales tax increase), it built a fancy "superstop" transit station at Rivers and Cosgrove, with a block building. Talk about misplaced priorities!

But while one local talk-show host gleefully points out CARTA's shortcomings -- and there are many -- I feel compelled to answer.

First things first. Bus services do not make money. They don't. It's against nature.

Some years ago I spoke to Peter Schauer, a mass-transit consultant out of Boonville, Missouri. He was hired to come up with some ideas when the town of Bullhead City, Arizona was losing its bus system. This transit service was 100 percent privately funded, owned by a nearby casino, and even with fares of $2 per ride (in 1994), it was still losing money rapidly.

Schauer laid it out to the city council -- forget about having a bus service that makes money. Forget about just breaking even; that does not happen. You'd more likely find a passenger pigeon nesting on your roof.

Running a bus service goes against all the rules of business. It must be as cheap as possible for the passenger or no one will ride it. And it must be as convenient as possible for the passenger, or there'd be no point in riding it. These two factors make lousy business sense, though, and is a sure ticket for failure. Schauer warned the city that it had been lucky; from now on it will have to subsidize mass transit if any is to be expected.

I've used CARTA quite a bit lately, and have been getting my money's worth. My usual weekly trip is from North Charleston to Folly Beach, and the bus takes me most of the way -- I pedal the final two miles. The bus trip itself is about 20 miles. Not the fastest way to go, especially waiting for the transfer.I don't care what you say, though, you probably can't drive that distance on a buck and a half -- which includes the 25-cent transfer here. No way, not with gas costing what it does right now. And if I took a cab, forget that. A 20-mile trip in a Yellow Cab is $42 in Charleston.

What's even better is that the bus comes with a rack that carries two bicycles. I know the days is coming that I'll need a third bike slot in a hurry -- quite a few folks ride bikes out in these parts, but so far I've been lucky.

Still, the service is not that good. In fact, it's awful. Some routes may have one or two riders at the most, and other buses -- particularly in North Charleston -- are standing room only. Buses break down. The printed schedules often have nothing to do with reality. While some of the drivers are pleasant folks, others apparently went to the Saddam Hussein Memorial Charm School. And, it seems the call-in dispatch center doesn't really want you to call in.

I found this part out Saturday, while coming back from Folly Beach. I knew which route I wanted and knew where the nearest bus stop was, but not when. I didn't have my schedule with me, so I called. The person did answer my question, but acted as if I was interrupting something important (a crucial nail-drying cycle?). After answering, she rather snippily advised me to pick up a schedule when I board the bus. Gee, if I had one of those schedules with me, I wouldn't need to waste my time on the phone call.

Oh well. The service has a long way to go before it can be called reliable. But it gets you there. Even with the proposed rate increase it's still cheaper than driving. It beats walking, and you can haul your bike.

Essential stuff for new cars, then and now

This is kind of interesting. I found this in USA Today, and it reflects what options are considered essential for car buyers, then and now:


AM/FM radio and tape or CD
1985: 8.7%
2007: 95.8%

Power windows
1985: 16.8%
2007: 94.2%

Air conditioning
1985: 15.7%
2007: 90.4%

Rear window defrost
1985: 6.6%
2007: 89.3%

Backup lights
1985: 2.2%
2007: 76.8%

Cup holders
1985: 3.8%
2007: 75.2%

Cast alloy/special wheels
1985: 22.7%
2007: 62.2%

Remote outside mirror
1985: 14.8%
2007: 52.0%
Entertainment center
1985: Didn't exist. Next question?
2007: 41.6%

Leather seats
1985: 6.3%
2007: 39.3%

(The source is CNW Research.)

A couple of thoughts. For me, the music system was always essential stuff, and I can't see how I existed for so many years on the road without a cup holder. A few third-degree coffee burns in most uncomfortable places remind me of the necessity. But that's what I get for drinking coffee at freeway speeds.

SC immigration reform in the works

State Representative Wallace Scarbrough (R-James Island) said yesterday that, while no action has been taken on immigration reform in South Carolina, the issue is far from dead. In fact, the legislature is debating the issue right now.

Scarbrough says he wants the strongest immigration law in the country.

Uhh, Wallace, take a look at what Arizona is doing, as highlighted in a previous entry here. There's your blueprint.

Arizona puts out ‘go away’ mat for illegals

"This is a whole lot different from our national policy of talking out of both sides of one’s mouth on immigration matters."

Sonora has an immigration problem these days. The government of that Mexican state has been complaining of all those people coming down from “el norte,” Up North.

But it’s not illegal immigration; many of these arrivals are theirs in the first place.

There’s an article in the Los Angeles Times about how Arizona, a favorite entry point for illegal aliens, has essentially replaced its “welcome” mat with a “go away” mat. The state has become downright unfriendly to foreign invaders. It seems to be working a bit, as illegals are leaving the state in droves. Many are in fact leaving the U.S.

Illegal immigration is driven by economics. The folks move up here to find work that pays more than what they can make back home. Pretty basic. U.S. businesses find the “imported” help to be much cheaper than the local product, and these illegals will actually work. What papers? Who needs papers? Again, this is basic stuff. As long as American business looks to the bottom line above all else – including such nonessential things as quality of life, for example – and there’s an incentive to hire illegal help, the problem will continue. And grow.

“The more who leave, the better. They shouldn’t be here in the first place.”
-- Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio

This year, Arizona implemented some new sanctions against businesses hiring illegals, and the penalties have a lot more teeth than the wimpy Simpson-Rodino law back in the late 1980s. Get caught hiring an illegal alien once, your business is on probation. Do it twice, and your business license is revoked.

Job applicants are scanned by the E-Verify database. Unfortunately, there are serious flaws in the system, as E-Verify has listed naturalized U.S. citizens as illegal aliens.

In recent years, Arizona has also barred illegals from posting bail for serious crimes, and from receiving government services – read food stamps and the state’s version of Medicaid here. Illegals are also prevented from claiming punitive damages in lawsuits.

Is this working” Hard to tell, as it’s near impossible to keep a head count on a group of people that places a premium on invisibility. But according to the Times article, illegals are complaining that it’s impossible to find good employment in the state and are heading to where the pastures are greener.

Arizona’s policies tend to take away all the incentives for attracting and keeping illegal aliens, which is crucial if the country really wants to keep secure borders. This is a whole lot different from our national policy of talking out of both sides of one’s mouth on immigration matters.

In the thick of the Arizona action is Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, the self-proclaimed “toughest sheriff in America.” Arpaio feeds the county jail inmates corn dogs to cut costs, houses them in military tents, and issues them pink underdrawers. If you get the idea I admire Arpaio, you’re right.

Over the past couple o years, Arpaio’s policy has been to check the immigration status of folks who are stopped for even minor infractions. In two years his department has detained more than 1,000 illegals.

Despite complaints from immigration-rights groups, Arpaio offers no apologies. “The more who leave, the better,” he says. “They shouldn’t be here in the first place.”

You’ll occasionally run across such rhetoric in how the illegal-immigration situation is handled elsewhere, too. This is taken straight from Wikipedia, on San Bernardino, California – a town I’ve known for a long time:

2000 - In December 2000, the City closes the Cypress Inn mobile home park off of Mount Vernon Avenue in the City's Westside. The park is closed by the City's Fire Prevention Unit because of life safety issues involving a gas leak and illegal/unsafe electrical hook-ups. The park is largely inhabited by monolingual Spanish speakers. The City, using money set-aside for redevelopment, relocates the park's inhabitants to local motels. One resident, Valente Duran, complains about the treatment by the City. He says "In Mexico, they treat us better than here." San Bernardino City Attorney James F. Penman writes Valente Duran a letter in English and in Spanish that says in part "The people of this City have no desire to deprive you or your family of what you may believe would be better treatment by the government of Mexico. Therefore, in substitution for the housing, food, and other assistance the City of San Bernardino is voluntarily providing, we want to give you the option of continuing to receive this assistance or accepting our offer to arrange and pay for transportation for you and your family, one way, to Mexico." The letter causes a political firestorm.

You’d think this note would still haunt Penman. Maybe a little; he got smoked in a run-off in the 2006 mayoral election. But he’s still the city attorney. I’ve known him for a while, and he’s far from a racist. Before he went into public office, he was close to San Bernardino’s Latino community, and his resume in human services speaks for itself. But then, the “established” Latinos had a lot less sympathy for illegal aliens than you’d expect – in fact, often referred to them as “wetbacks,” a term no self-respecting Anglo dare use unless he likes to live dangerously.

Although Arizona’s approach appears to be a step backward, maybe there’s nothing wrong with that. The only real “forward” progress in immigration matters has been to welcome the illegals with one hand, with work and government benefits, while complaining about them being here.

If the government is really serious about securing its borders and not just engaging in feel-good, election-year rhetoric, then Arizona’s policies deserve a look. Do it right, or don’t do it at all.

Despite to your questions...

Despite to your questions about whether it really is one or not (and all this depends on who you're listening to), former federal reserve chairman Alan Greenspan says today that we are in fact in a recession. Gee, and the current Fed head says we're close but not there yet.

Powered by Jott

I understand South Carolina...

I understand South Carolina state legislators will meet in the capital city of Columbia in the next few days to discuss the legality of card games. Interesting news in the wake of last week's poker bust.
Powered by Jott

They walk among us ...

While I usually don't go in for forwarded email (it's some sort of a tic; when I see "Fw:" my DELETE finger twitches), I thought this was great. Almost sounds like one of my rants. This came from my Mom.

Well, one can always pray for a little unnatural selection.

-- ericsomething



==========

They Walk Among Us and Many Work Retail

I was at the checkout of a K-Mart. The clerk rang up $46.64 charge. I Gave her a fifty dollar bill. She gave me back $46.64. I gave the money back to her and told her that she had made a mistake in MY favor.
She became indignant and informed me she was Educated and knew what she was doing, and returned the money again. I gave her the Money ba ck ... Same scenario! I departed the store with the $46.64.

They Walk Among Us and Many Work Retail

I walked into a Starbucks with a buy-one-get-one-free coupon for a Grande Latte. I handed it to the g irl and she looked over at a little chalkboard that said 'buy one-get one free.' 'They're already buy-one-get-one-free,' she said, 'so I guess they're both free'. She handed me my free Lattes and I walked out the door.

They Walk Among Us!

One day I was walking down the beach with some Friends when one of them shouted, 'Look at that dead bird!' Someone looked Up at the sky and said, 'Where?'


They Walk Among Us!

While looking at a house, my brother asked the real Estate agent which direction was north because, he explained, he didn't want the sun waking him up every morning. She asked, 'Does the sun rise in the North?' When my brother explained that the sun rises in the East, and has for sometime, she shook her head a n d said, 'Oh I don't keep up with all that stuff.'

They Walk Among Us!!

I used to work in technical support for a 24/7 call center. One day I got a call from an individual who asked what hours the call center was open. I told him, 'The number you dialed is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.' He responded, 'Is that Eastern or Pacific time?' Wanting to end the call quickly, I said, 'Uh, Pacific.'

They Walk Among Us!

My sister has a lifesaving tool in her car designed to cut through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the trunk.


They Walk Among Us!

My friends and I were on a beer run and noticed that the cases were discounted 10% Since it was a big party, we bought 2 cases. The cashier multiplied 2 times 10% and gave us a 20% discount.

They Walk Among Us!

I couldn't find my luggage at the airport baggage area, so I went to the lost luggage office and told the woman there that my bags never showed up. She smiled and told me not to worry because she was a trained professional and I was in good hands. 'Now,' she asked me, has your plane arrived yet?'

They Walk Among Us!

While working at a pizza parlor I observed a man Ordering a small pizza to go. He appeared to be alone and the cook asked him if he would like it cut into 4 pieces or 6. He thought about it for some time before responding. 'Just cut it into 4 pieces; I don't think I'm hungry enough to eat 6 pieces.'

Yep, They Walk Among Us!

They Walk Among Us,
And they Reproduce,
And Worst of all
.....they Vote!

==========

If The Law knocks, flush the cards

Every so often I get reminders that South Carolina is a little, well, different.

Last Friday, a 10-month police investigation culminated with a raid on a house in Hanahan. More than $40,000 was seized and 27 people were arrested for the serious crime of … poker.

These folks ran afoul of a 206-year-old state law banning games involving the use of cards or dice.

This was fairly large-scale stuff. Among the 27 hauled off to the pokey was Deputy Solicitor Don Sorenson of First Circuit Court. About 65 people were identified as part of this poker cartel. Buy-ins for poker action ranged from $300 to $1,000. The players used hired dealers and pit bosses. The action floated among several places in Hanahan, North Charleston, and Daniel Island. Refreshments were served. This is a little more involved than just a few guys getting together for a few hands after work, but maybe this is how folks with money do it.

I’m still wondering how many police man-hours went into the investigation. And I’m struck that a region that has a violent crime problem – nearby North Charleston was recently declared the 7th most dangerous city in America – would expend such time and resources into a victimless crime when there are bigger fish to fry.

Although the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office said the scale of the gaming operation is the key here, the law that was allegedly violated simply covers all dice and card games.

It’s spelled out in Section 16-19-40 of the South Carolina State Code: “If any person shall play at any tavern, inn, store for the retailing of spirituous liquors, or in any house used as a place of gaming, barn, kitchen, stable or other outhouse, street, highway, open wood, race field or open place at any game with cards or dice … shall be imprisoned for a period of not over 30 days or fined not over $100.”

Going further, in State v. O’Neal (1947), it was ruled that if a place is not kept for gaming but a poker game breaks out and the owner allows it, participates in it, or receives a benefit, then it’s a gaming house.

Exceptions to this law are few: Backgammon and whist are OK as long as no one’s betting on the come. But other than that, according to the law it doesn’t matter if any wagering is going on, the other games are illegal.

Yet you can go to just about any store and buy a deck of playing cards. If you’re feeling real dangerous you can even buy a pack of poker chips. But you just can’t use them.

So your weekly Bridge Night is a violation, a few hands of poker for pocket change a serious crime, games such as Yahtzee and Monopoly (remember, you’re throwing dice) are highly suspect, and to engage in some Go-Fish with your five-year-old is to corrupt his morals.

Back when I worked at the Mohave Valley Daily News in Arizona, the staff would occasionally meet at Managing Editor Verne Peyser’s house for poker. Verne would cook up something Cajun, and we’d cut the deck. Nickel-dime stuff. I’ve never seen any folding money cross the table.

One of our regular players was Sam Benevento, then the assistant city attorney. He was married to one of our reporters, and he’d worked his way through law school as a casino pit boss. Good man, though it’s true playing poker with lawyer means highly flexible game rules. Or so I claimed.

But that’s in Arizona, within sight of the casinos in Laughlin, Nevada. Many times here in South Carolina I’d gotten together with friends for poker, blackjack, spades, or Yahtzee. All illegal, by the way – I didn’t realize I was such a scofflaw. I’ve been extremely lucky, though. No one pounded on my door during a game of gin, and I’ve never had to flush the evidence (cards, poker chips, score pads, Doritos) down the john. Yet. And I’ve yet to be infiltrated with organized-crime types.

Oh, yes. That’s a favorite slippery-slope argument against gambling, that such activity paves the way for organized crime to move into your neighborhood. H’mmm … in South Carolina, the only legalized form of gambling is the state-run lottery, so maybe that argument is true. They just don’t get much more organized or criminal than your federal, state, or local government.

REAL-ID a slam dunk

Last week, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford decided not to ask for an extension to implement REAL-ID in his state. He'll get it anyway.

Without the extension, we'd have until mid-May to get on board with the new, Homeland Security-driven national ID.

I like Mark Sanford. He's a Republican, but you'd swear he's really a libertarian in sheep's clothing. He's become popular out in these parts, and his name is being bandied about as a possible running mate for John McCain.

Sanford has held that the South Carolina drivers' license process is reasonably close to complying with the new national ID standards. I can personally vouch for that myself. When I moved back to the state a few years ago, I wanted to reinstate my driver's license. A simple matter; just turn in my year-old North Carolina license, have the folks at the Motor Vehicles department look up my old license, I give them the license fee, and I'm good to go. I'd done it before (in 2000, when I moved back from Tennessee). Turns out I needed a birth certificate this time. The folks at Motor Vehicles told me it was a Homeland Security thing.

I'd written in the past about REAL-ID, and my stance hasn't changed on it at all. In these days of terrorism, paranoia, hysteria, and the resulting Homeland Security effort, I can trust the government about as far as I can throw it. And it's not because of any real or perceived malevolence on its part, but its general incompetence. But even the incompetence isn't bad if the central government is a weak one. But give that same incompetence to a strong central government, then all kinds of things can happen.

Sanford told a local radio station today that the REAL-ID was passed by Congress through the back door, without debate, tacked onto a bill approving relief for tsunami victims a few years ago. Now, that in itself is dangerous. Plus, REAL-ID is one of those unfunded mandates -- Congress says, here's what we want. Y'all implement it and pay for it.

"It's the worst piece of legislation I've ever seen at any point in the political process," he told WTMA. "It's being jammed on us."

Under the plan, the new national ID card would be required to get on an airplane or go into a federal building -- which Sanford interprets to include your local Congressman's office. That's scary.

"If you care about civil liberties, you ought to care about this," he said.

Which is why I'm watching this.

Scary stuff from restaurants

This from the mailbag (thanks, Mom): 'Nuff said. If you're thinking about going out to eat while monitoring your waistline, forget it.

20: Worst Fast-Food Chicken Meal - Chicken Selects Premium Breast Strips
From McDonald's (5 pieces) with cream ranch sauce. 830 Calories, 55 grams
Fat (4.5 Trans fat), 48 carbs. Add a large fries and regular soda and this
Seemingly innocuous chicken meal tops out at 1,710 calories.

19: Worst drink - Jamba Juice Chocolate Moo'd Power Smoothie (30 fl oz). 900
Calories, 10 g fat, 183 carbs, 166 g sugar.Jamba Juice calls it a smoothie,
MSNBC calls it a milk shake. The beverage contains as much sugar as 8 pints
Of Ben & Jerry's butter pecan ice cream.

18: Worst supermarket meal - Pepperidge Farm Roasted Chicken Pot Pie (whole
Pie). 1,020 calories, 64 g fat, 86 g carbs.Label may say this pie serves
Two, but, who ever divided a small pot pie in half? Once you crack the
Crust, there will be no stopping.

17: Worst 'healthy' burger - Ruby Tuesday Bella Turkey Burger. 1,145
Calories, 71 g fat, 56 g carbs.

16: Worst Mexican entree - Chipotle Mexican Grill Chicken Burrito. 1,179
Calories, 47 g fat, 125 g carbs, 2,656 mg sodium.(Please - don't buy any of
These!)

15: Worst kids' meal - Macaroni Grill Double Macaroni 'n' Cheese. 1,210
Calories, 62 g fat, ! 3,450 mg sodium. It's like feeding your kid 1-1/2
Boxes of Kraft mac 'n' cheese.

14: Worst sandwich - Quiznos C! Lassic Italian (large). 1,528 calories, 92 g
Fat, 4,604 mg sodium, 110 g carbs. A large homemade sandwich would more
Likely provided about 500 calories.

13: Worst salad - On the Border Grande Taco Salad with Taco Beef. 1,450
Calories, 102 g fat, 78 g carbs, 2,410 mg sodium.This isn't an anomaly: Five
Different On the Border salads on the menu contain more than 1, 100 calories
Each.

12: Worst burger - Carl's Jr. (Hardee's on East Coast) Double Six Dollar
Burger. 1,520 calories! , 111 g fat. Carl's Jr. Brags it's home to this
Enormous sandwich, but the restaurant chain also provides convenient
Nutrition info on its Web site -- so ignorance is no excuse for eating it.

11: Worst steak - Lonestar 20 oz T-bone. 1,540 calories, 124 g fat. Add a
Baked potato and Lonestar's Signature Lettuce Wedge, and this is a 2,700
Calorie blowout.

10: Worst breakfast - Bob Evans Caramel Banana Pecan Cream Stacked and
Stuffed hotcakes. 1,540 calories, 77 g fat (9 g Trans fat), 198 g carbs, 109
G sugar. Fiv! E Egg McMuffins yield the same caloric cost as this stack of
Sugar-stuffed flapjacks, which is truly a heavy breakfast, weighing in at a
Hefty pound and a half.

9: Worst dessert - Chili's Chocolate Chip Paradise Pie with Vanilla Ice
Cream. 1,600 calories, 78 g fat,! 215 g carbs. Would you eat a Big Mac for
Dessert? How about three? That's the calorie equivalent of this decadent
Dish. Clearly, Chili's customers get their money's worth.

8: Worst Chinese entree - P.F. Chang's Pork Lo Mein. 1,820 calories, 127 g
Fat, 95 g carbs. The fat content in this dish alone provides more than 1,100
Calories. And you'd have to eat almost five servings of pasta to match the
Number of carbs it contains. Now, do you really need five servings of
Pasta?

7: Worst chicken entree - Chili's Honey Chipotle Crispers with Chipotle
Sauce. 2,040 calories, 99 g fat, 240 g carbs.'Crispers' refers to an extra
Thick layer of break crumbs that soak up oil and adds unnecessary calories
And carbs to t! Hese glorified chicken strips.

6: Worst fish entree - On the Border Dos XX Fish Tacos with Rice and Beans.
2,100 calories, 130 g fat, 169 g carbs, 4,700 mg sodium! . Perhaps the
Most misleadingly named dish in America : A dozen crunchy tacos from Taco
Bell will saddle you with fewer calories.

5: Worst pizza - Uno Chicago Grill Chicago Classic Deep Dish Pizza. 2,310
Calories, 162 g fat, 123 g carbs, 4,470 mg sodium.Downing this 'personal'
Pizza is equivalent to eating 18 slices of Domino's Crunchy Thin Crust
Cheese pizza.

4: Worst pasta - Macaroni Grill Spaghetti and Meatballs! With Meat Sauce.
2,430 calories, 128 g fat, 207 g carbs, 5,290 mgsodium. This meal satisfied
Your calorie requirements for an entire day.

3: Worst nachos - On the Border Stacked Border Nachos. 2,740 calories, 166 g
fat, 191 g carbs, 5,280 sodium.

2: Worst starter - Chili's Awesome Blossom. 2,710 calories, 203 g fat, 194 g
carbs, 6,360 mg sodium.

1: The worst food in America - Outback Steakhouse Aussie Cheese Fries with
Ranch Dressing. 2,900 calories, 182g fat, 240g carbs. Even if you split
these 'starters' with three friends, you'll have downed a dinner's worth of
calories before you entree arrives.

Personal note: If you've got a body type like mine, weight is not an issue. But fat content still is, as it's not so good for the arteries either. I think I'll stick with my shrimp & grits.

Grim future unless you're Hannibal Lecter ...

Here's the latest from Ted Turner: He says there are too many people in this world, and by the year 2050 -- that's 42 years -- if pollution and global warming trends continue, we'll all be eating one another.

Like the man said, Soylent Green is ... people! listen

Powered by Jott

Sand castle story gets around

It's amusing to see how the sand castle story from the Isle of Palms grew legs over the past day. It became local news on Monday, and before the sun went down it went national.

In the interim, radio icon Paul Harvey picked it up. It went out on the Associated Press wire, which was then dispersed to just about every newspaper that has a "news hole" to fill. Talk-show hosts foamed excessively over the story. All of this is pretty tall cotton for a city council member who says he tries to stay away from the spotlight.

Isle of Palms Councilman Ryan Buchanan says his proposal is part of a larger one aimed at beach-goers who leave their junk around -- including chairs and coolers. He's taking the same tack that any good outdoorsman would take -- leave the beach the way you found it. In a phrase, leave no trace.

Buchanan told local radio talk-show host Richard Todd yesterday that the local media blew the sand-castle part way out of proportion, which is a big part of why he doesn't talk much to reporters.

Here's the catch, though. The news business is interested in the hot, splashy story that will get reader's attention and maybe help attract advertising revenue, which is really what pays the freight. A routine story about a council member wanting clean beaches isn't going to interest readers. It's a yawner story. Everybody wants clean beaches, and wherever there's a beach, you can bet there's a city council member wanting to keep it clean. That's not news.

But let the councilman mention something specific, unheard-of, unique, then that's news. And Buchanan, knowingly or not, gave the media just what they were looking for. An effort to demolish sand castles? Man, that's news.

I can't remember the exact wording, but in the newsroom, "news" is defined as something that doesn't usually happen. Something new. Different. A break in the status quo. Why do you think homicides find their way to the front page here? 'Cause they're news. Now, in a place like New York City or Detroit, where homicide may be considered "natural causes," you might find your homicides on page 38, buried among the Viagra ads. (A personal footnote here: I certainly would not want to be in a society where homicides and other bad-news stories are considered just another day in the life. But then again, who would? So I'll take my definition of "news and run with it.)

As our society becomes less literate and our attention spans shorten, this really puts that definition to extremes. Why slog through a dry news story when a snappy sound bite fills the need for news?

Meanwhile, the nation is now watching the Isle of Palms. I understand a ton of media types have been calling City Hall for something quotable.

As far as Buchanan, he seems to be taking this pretty well, which is not easy when one becomes the butt of national jokes. But today, Todd felt he had to ask Buchanan a question: Is this, by chance, an April Fool's joke?

Buchanan: "Gawd, I wish it was."