Burger proves harmful to car

Cheeseburgers. If you get one while dining out, chances are pretty good that it’s been fried, that the cheese is processed and the buns aren’t exactly whole grain. Eat enough, and they tend to be a contributing factor to clogging one’s arteries, among other physical ailments. They’re not particularly good for automobiles, either. This week, a Rock hill woman, according to The... [Read more]

Brindise leaving Carolina, QB position again in flux

Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier has always been a mercurial sort with quarterbacks, all but saying he’ll pull starting quarterback Stephen Garcia this year if the slightest thing goes wrong. He did the same all the time at Florida, not the least of which with Noah Brindise. Zac, Noah’s little brother, has been on the Gamecock squad for three years, including a redshirt year in 2007 when... [Read more]

Ariail, Haley and the S.C. Policy Council

When former The State editorial cartoonist Robert Ariail took a new job with The Herald-Journal, we thought it was a good thing for an accomplished guy and a nice move by a newspaper that is perhaps not going down the path of running a mid-size daily paper with the staff of a 7,000-circulation weekly. But what of the recent past? Ariail had joined up with the S.C. Policy Council for a little while,... [Read more]

General Assembly on pace to tackle illegal immigration

Wednesday, a U.S. district judge suspended a number of measures in Arizona’s new law to combat illegal immigration, which has thrown more gasoline on the fire, as if the issue needed it. We’ve never cared too much about the immigration issue — the people who care will fight it out and we’ll accept what comes down. But this ruling could have an impact on other states considering... [Read more]

Southern legislators headed to Charleston

Saturday, legislators from across the South will be meeting in Charleston for the 64th annual Southern Legislative Conference so that they might return to their respective states with a little better ideas as to how to tackle issues that address the region. Off the top of our heads, some things that have needed attention for years are the neglect of public schools since desegregation, really trying... [Read more]

Alvin Greene drops new consultant, picks up another

Democratic senatorial candidate Alvin Greene. Strange character. The interviews with him are simply bizarre, and the one done by BBC Radio 4 that we heard recently was right up there. Anybody who willingly decides to work for him has to reevaluate their decision-making process. It looks like that happened with the consultants he only recently hired. Just a few weeks ago, Greene picked up The Warren... [Read more]

Alabama leads ‘The Hill’ 50 beautiful people list

The Hill released its 50 most beautiful people list, detailing the most attractive men and women plying their trade around the halls of Congress. There have been times when South Carolina was adequately represented, like when U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett made it. But this year, the Palmetto State was shut out. The South was decently represented, though, with not one, but three staffers from Alabama slotted... [Read more]

Vandy don’t live here no more. Maybe.

It’s an old conversation, one held on a regular basis over drinks and barbecue across the South for about half a century — what’s the Southeastern Conference doing with Vanderbilt, and should its football mediocrity and odd-man-out stature in the conference merit kicking the university out and bringing in another school? Columnist, radio show host and firestarter Paul Finebaum asked... [Read more]

SEC baseball tourney could be on the move

For 12 years, the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament has been held at what we grew up calling the Hoover Met — Regions Park outside of Birmingham. But there’s only one year left on the contract between the stadium and the SEC, so the process has been opened up to see where the conference champion will be crowned in 2012. If you want to follow Carolina to the tourney in a couple... [Read more]

Don Draper’s new digs, and football

It’s taken a little while to process the premiere of Season Four of “Mad Men,” but now seems as good of a time (spurred by Slate‘s discussion) as any to look at some of the more interesting developments in what was a more low-key episode than expected. The definitive wedge issue appears to be Don Draper’s new apartment. Since Betty and her new husband are still sequestered... [Read more]

Ariail hired by Herald-Journal

Maybe we spent too much time while in the industry comparing one media conglomerate to another, but the first though that came to our mind when we saw this story fly across the wire early this morning was, “Oh, ho! McClatchy got so owned.” Former editorial cartoonist for The State, Robert Ariail, he who was twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize before being forced into leaving the paper,... [Read more]

Carolina baseball resolution stuck in Senate

Commemorative resolutions are an every day part of life in an American legislative body. Usually they move through rather quickly and that’s that. In Congress, when a sports team wins a national championship, the usual thing to do is to have a resolution sponsored by a few people, there’s a little speechifying and the matter’s done. But not recently in the U.S. Senate, and not for... [Read more]

Graham hung in effigy, S.C. still importing crazy

Just as we were thinking of doing a piece on “Cat on a leash,” here comes “Graham in a noose.” You know, abortion’s been a hot topic for decades, and in the last century there was a time in which people could get arrested for advocating birth control. And in the grand scheme of things, we’re still dealing with the issue on a regular basis, though the fire has died... [Read more]

Boehner lobbying against cat house politics

It’s the behind-the-scenes political game that the public rarely sees. Older male elected officials and the young attractive women who are employed to bend their ears, curry influence and gain those officials’ confidence. It why our public relations classes in college were usually filled with 17 gals and 3 guys. It doesn’t take a doctorate in psychology to figure out what is going... [Read more]

Grambling coach: Firing squad for unsavory agents

During SEC Media Days, the NCAA crackdown on agent contact with athletes dominated the discussion. Alabama coach Nick Saban compared the worst of them to pimps. Tennessee head man Derek Dooley likened to drug dealers. But they were tame compared to what went down Friday at SWAC Media Day, also held in Birmingham. Grambling head coach Rod Broadway spent time as an assistant at Florida, so he’s... [Read more]

Holly Springs looking for new fire chief

What a lot of people worked hard to stop happened anyway at the end of last week, when the Holly Springs VFD commission gave the boot to Chief Lee Jeffcoat, leaving the district without a chief and a lot of unanswered questions, not the least of which is the continuing of shady practices. Let’s put out a hypothetical — you’re on a board that oversees a lower governmental function... [Read more]

Dave Rader for Congress?

Oh, boy. You missed out, Tulsa! Most out there probably don’t know who Dave Rader is. He’s not the flashiest of college football assistant coaches, and even though he’s been around the Southeastern Conference and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane forever. His only head coaching gig was a largely forgettable two years at the helm of the Hurricane in the late ’80s. But this year, he... [Read more]