Category Archives: SC News/Commentary

Gay business guild to hold awards gala May 16

Posted on by

guild_logo.jpg

Make plans now to attend the South Carolina Gay and Lesbian Business Guild 2008 Annual Awards Gala on Friday, May 16, at the Embassy Suites Hotel on Greystone Boulevard in Columbia. (SC GLBG is the SC Progressive Network‘s newest member, and we welcome the group on board!)

* 6-7pm – A networking/reception hour will be held in the hotel atrium
* 7pm – The awards dinner with ANT as featured entertainer
* After Party – A DJ will help you dance the night away right after the program until midnight.

A cash bar will be provided throughout the evening’s festivities.

Awards include:
The Freddie Mullis Corporate Member of the Year – 2007 award recipient was Sheila Morris
The Dan Burch Volunteer of the Year – 2007 award recipient was Rebecca Majeski
The Community Partner of the Year – 2007 award recipient was Harriet Hancock

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor, you should immediately contact us at sclgbg1@aol.com or call (803) 771-0411 and someone will contact you. Sponsorships start at $250.

ant_picture.jpg

Our featured entertainer for this year’s event will be acclaimed comedian ANT. ANT first appeared on The Last Comic Standing and quickly made his name known with frequent appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Tyra Banks Show. Recently The LOGO Channel’s “US of ANT” series and VH1’s “Celebrity Fit Club” helped propel ANT into a name that many recognize as a comedic sensation.

Gala Sponsors for this year’s event include:
American Airlines / American Eagle
Asset Realty, Inc.
Cap’n Al’s Hawaiian Sunglass Hut
Embassy Suites Hotel
FASTCO Threaded Products
QNotes
Robin Ridgell & Marla Wood

Tickets prices: $60 for members / $75 for non-members / Table of 8 for $500, includes a table tent with your personal or company name. Ticket order form and more information is available on the web site at www.scglbg.org.

Thousands of new jobs threatened by old politics and bad judgment

Posted on by

Today’s The State ran a letter from Ken Riley, president of the International Longshoremen Association in Charleston (not vice-president; The State got it wrong) and longtime member of the SC Progressive Network. The letter is a response to the guest editorial the paper ran last month by Carroll Campbell III, in which he fans fear of unions.

*******

In his Feb. 29 column, Carroll Campbell III made it clear that he is dead-set against economic growth in South Carolina.

Some of the world’s most important maritime companies seek to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in our state to develop private shipping terminals. They believe that a huge investment of private capital (and not of taxpayers’ dollars) is needed to keep South Carolina competitive. And they want to employ more South Carolinians to man these ports. Private investment is indispensable, and without it, our state’s maritime industry will founder.

Mr. Campbell believes that private shipping terminals are dangerous to our state. Why is he against private enterprise, job creation, keeping pace with our neighboring states and loosening government restrictions on industry? His excuse: Private ports mean more union jobs.

Mr. Campbell’s counter-productive reasoning is based on “What if?” scenarios. But the businesses that operate in the port on a daily basis rely on “What is?” These businesses know our track record, and they see it projected on their profit statements, year after year.

The longshoremen have operated as a union in Charleston since 1869. Over these 139 years, the union has worked tirelessly to attract and keep business in South Carolina. The companies that actually employ union longshoremen want to employ more of us.

Whether one likes union labor or not, it is a fact of life in the global maritime industry. Virtually all major ports and virtually all major shipping companies and maritime employers rely on organized labor. The arrangement between labor and management is extremely efficient and cooperative, in large part because workers are hired on an as-needed basis.

It is Mr. Campbell’s hysteria that is the real danger to our economy. Hundreds of millions of dollars of private capital are being redirected to neighboring states (that use union workers). Workers want privatization, the businesses that employ them want privatization, the shippers want privatization, and only a few special-interest consultants such as Mr. Campbell want to hold our state back. While Mr. Campbell relies on his consulting fees for his income, longshoremen, shipping lines, stevedoring companies and so many other businesses rely on ships at the dock. No ships, no dollars. Who has a greater interest in keeping our ports busy?

The state should allow private companies to invest in and operate their own terminals, just like they do all over the country and all over the world. If they build them, the ships will come, in fleets.

Ken Riley,
Vice-president, [sic] International Longshoremen Association
Charleston

A 15-year-old’s take on the Democratic race

Posted on by

I’m so proud of my granddaugher Laura’s (age 15) writing that I had to pass this along. I think she has nailed what’s at issue in our time: hope vs. fear.
Peace,
Dwight Fee

(Dwight is the Progressive Network’s representative for the Low Country Peace Network.)

***************

Hillary Clinton’s switch from dialogue to diatribe
By Laura Schneck, NYC

According to the media, America’s fighter, Hillary Clinton, has made a comeback. The March 4th primaries awarded Senator Clinton only six more pledged delegates than Barack Obama, but proved that she could survive being “victimized” by a misogynistic media.

To me, though, Hillary’s comeback couldn’t have been more of a letdown. 

A year ago, I was just another high school freshman completely oblivious to anything political. And if you had asked me to describe my parents’ political tendencies I’d have to say that they were, at best, apathetic democrats. 

Last January, something changed. My mom would come over and sit with me as I waited to see the results of the night’s primaries. We’d play tag team, watching for when Obama would come out to make his speech. We’d listen together, and, yes, we began to hope together. Night after night, we talked politics at the dinner table with my dad and 10-year-old sister and then sat side-by-side, glued to CNN. I became a fan of top political analysts rather than pop-culture icons, ate lunch with page A18 instead of the “in” crowd, and stayed up to watch the democratic debates instead of the latest reality show. Our family was interested. We were inspired. We were almost ready to ask what we could do for our country.

Then Hillary decided to try a new tactic: making fun of us. She tried to make it sound like we were being duped by Obama, that we were somehow deluded in feeling passionate about a candidate who could bring integrity back to the White House. She poked fun not only at his optimism, but also at ours.  The Clinton people claimed that my family had fallen for a fairy tale, soundtrack courtesy of a celestial choir.

I think I speak for many Obama supporters when I say our enthusiasm is not based on imagination or illusions. I don’t support Obama because he’s “cool,” uses big words, or because I love the way he blows his nose. I support Obama because I agree with his policies on the issues-from healthcare to energy-that affect my family. I support him because he can make it to the White House with dignity. And once he’s in the White House, he will make sensible and substantial changes to improve relations between parties in this country and between countries in the world. Sorry, Hillary, but your patronizing attempt at a wake-up call only motivated me to donate to Obama’s campaign.

Some people wonder why I became so interested in politics, but mainly they ask why I am not supporting a woman for president. I tell them that, although I’ve always favored Obama, I can’t help but admire Hillary’s intelligence and tenacity. Until a few weeks ago, I might have even taken some pointers from her climb to power. 

But then she disappointed me; she began playing dirty. Ironically, her “fighter” mentality made me doubt her strength and my own. As a woman, can I only become successful by putting up a fight? Will people only listen to me if I shout? Will people only take notice of me if I scare them?

Senator Obama welcomed me into this race and Senator Clinton pushed me out. Until recently, the Democratic race convinced me that powerful people can be decent, and one doesn’t need to tear others down to come out on top. I even began to wonder what my apathetic parents had seen so wrong with politics. But the recent switch from dialogue to diatribe has turned my parents back into cynics and may convert me as well.

In the coming weeks, my optimism is on the line. I’ll be looking to see, as Bob Herbert put it, how Obama will confront the kitchen sink.

Columbia passes historic city ordinances

Posted on by

Council Passes Ordinances Prohibiting Discrimination in Housing and Public Accommodations

Today the Columbia City Council voted unanimously to pass ordinances prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity in housing and public accommodations. South Carolina Equality proposed these ordinances in January and the ordinances passed with little opposition.

C. Ray Drew, Executive Director of South Carolina Equality Coalition, said, “We have passed one of the most comprehensive bills in the country, in one of the most conservative states in the country. South Carolina, and states like ours, represents the front lines of our battle for LGBT civil rights in this country.”

Columbia is the first municipality in the state to pass comprehensive human rights ordinances in housing and public accommodations including sexual orientation and gender identity. Council Members Daniel Rickenmann and Tameika Isaac Devine introduced the legislation and urged the City Council to support the ordinances. Rickenmann and Isaac Devine stated, “When we work together and respect each other, we can make Columbia an even better place to live.”

Columbia joins two other cities in the “Deep South” that have passed comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinances – New Orleans and Atlanta. 

Harriet Hancock, longtime activist and Board member of the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, said, “These ordinances represent the single greatest advance in civil rights for the LGBT community in the history of our state.”  Hancock was the architect of the 1991 city ordinances prohibiting discrimination in city employment on the basis of sexual orientation.

Drew added, “Working collaboratively with the SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement in passing these historic city ordinances is a perfect example of what our community can accomplish when we work together.”

Ryan Wilson, President of SC Gay and Lesbian Pride Movement, said, “There’s a whole new energy in our state. We’re focused and working together. There’s no end to what we can accomplish.”

Does the United States really favor torture?

Posted on by

By Stephen Laurence
Greenville

Some five years ago, in the days leading up to our invasion of Iraq, a local peace advocate carried a sign outside Greenville’s federal building asking “Are we what we say we are?” as a nation. More recently — about a week ago, in fact — a former U.S. House Speaker implored public radio listeners to carefully consider the relationship between our rhetoric and our actions.

An ongoing debate about the acceptability of torture as an interrogation technique has led to passage of the Intelligence Authorization Act, with a provision that bans torture through its reference to the U.S. Army Field Manual. Regrettably, Sen. Lindsey Graham opposed use of this standard for civilian intelligence gathering; Sen. Jim DeMint voted against the final legislation; and President George Bush threatens to veto it.

While we often boast of being the most democratic and most pious of nations, the rest of the world watches our actions and recognizes the frequent hypocrisy between what we say and what we do. Abu Ghraib is one example. The high civilian casualty count in Iraq is another. Guantanamo is yet another. And now we have representatives of the United States, including the “leader of the free world,” condoning torture — albeit couched in more acceptable language — with the ultimate outcome of the issue being uncertain.

Torture is completely indefensible on moral and ethical grounds. Most faith communities specifically condemn inhumane acts toward others. The New Testament of the Christian Bible quotes Jesus calling on us to love our enemies and to do unto others as we would have them do unto us. The United States has been party to the Geneva Conventions since their inception in 1864. And our “greatest generation” punished enemy soldiers and officers found guilty of torture during World War II.

Continue reading →

The South behind bars

Posted on by

Let’s do the numbers

Total number of adults incarcerated in America: 2.3 million

Total number of adults incarcerated in China: 1.5 million

Rank of U.S. incarceration rate among all nations: 1

Rank of South’s incarceration rate among all U.S. regions: 1

Percent increase in South’s incarceration rate in 2007 alone: 2.8

Rank of Texas’ incarceration rate among all U.S. states.: 1

Year in which Florida is expected to run out of prison space: 2009

Percent of American adults in prison or jail: 1

Percent of all men age 18 or older: 2

Percent of white men age 18 or older: 0.9

Percent of Hispanic men age 18 or older: 3

Percent of black men age 18 or older: 7

Percent of black men age 20 to 34: 11

Percent of white women age 35 to 39: 0.3

Percent of Hispanic women age 35 to 39: 0.4

Percent of black women age 35 to 39: 1

Amount states spent on corrections in 2007 alone: $49 billion

Percent which that amount has increased over the past 20 years, adjusted to 2007 dollars: 127

Percent increase in adjusted spending on higher education over that same period: 21

Minimum amount Texas is expected to save over the next two years from prison reforms that expand drug treatment and change parole practices: $210 million

************
Statistics taken from “One in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008” by The Pew Center on the States, available online here.

This is the time to reject nuclear arms

Posted on by

By Glenn Carroll
Coordinator, Nuclear Watch South

Without a word of public debate, nuclear weapons became a seemingly inevitable fact of life and death on our planet. After World War II ended with two single bombs destroying the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, The Bomb became big business with vast factory complexes on government reservations in several states across the country.

A government agency, now called U.S. Department of Energy, was formed to oversee private contractors who churned out no less than 30,000 nuclear warheads over the next four decades and established the nuclear industry as an economic force in human affairs.

A people’s movement to “Ban the Bomb” formed instantly in response to the wartime bombing of Japan, and to the “test bombings” on the lands of the Western Shoshone Nation in Nevada and Utah and the Pacific islanders of the Moruroa Atoll.

From protests on the street to civil disobedience at weapons sites, the public has been vocal and insistent that our only reasonable option is to abolish nuclear weapons. Indeed, in 1996 the World Court issued a landmark decision defending this basic ethic when it declared the manufacture, possession or use of nuclear weapons to be illegal.

The Cold War bomb factories were built in secret in the 1940s and 1950s. They operated without public oversight until the Cold War ended in 1991, when crumbling Russian and U.S. nuclear bomb factories and reactors were forced to shut down.

Continue reading →

SC congressional delegation fails its children

Posted on by

The Children’s Defense Fund Action Council (CDFAC) released its 2007 Nonpartisan Congressional Scorecard, which grades every member of the House and Senate based on 10 key votes affecting children. The Scorecard showed some important legislative successes but noted some missed key opportunities to improve the lives of children in 2007, including Congress’s failure to override President Bush’s veto of legislation to extend health coverage to 3.1 million more uninsured children.

South Carolina’s Members of Congress collectively voted to protect the well-being of children only 41 percent of the time in 2007, ranking 47th among all 50 states.

The CDF Action Council website has put the entire Scorecard online, including an interactive database to find how each individual legislator in each state voted, as well as rankings of the best and worst Members of Congress and State Delegations. You can access all of these tools here.

SC legislators trump up fear of voter fraud

Posted on by

By Brett Bursey
Director, SC Progressive Network

When I asked the 62 young people at Fairfield High school’s Teen Institute what “democracy” was last week, hands shot up. “One person, one vote,” one said. “Rule of the people,” said another. When I asked what country leads the world in democratic participation, a chorus of “USA” broke out.

They were shocked to find that the land of the free and home of the brave doesn’t rank in the top ten. In fact, the USA doesn’t even rank in the top 100.

The voting-age population in 138 other countries turn out at higher numbers than in the United States. In fact, according to the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance’s “Global Report on Voter Turnout,” the U.S. ranks 139th, between Armenia and Nigeria, with an average of 47 percent of our voting-age population participating in elections.

So, no, the USA is not number one. What’s more, the Census puts South Carolina 34th in state rankings for voting-age participation in elections.

Which brings us back to Fairfield High School and the discussion on democracy. I went there to urge the Teen Institute to sign on to the SC Progressive Network’s “Missing Voter Project” (MVP), which is working to identify and engage South Carolina’s voting age-population (VAP) that isn’t registered or doesn’t regularly vote.

In the 2006 election, about 47 percent of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot – about 37 percent of the VAP. It gets worse. In Fairfield County, only 136 citizens between 18 and 21 – about 10 percent of that age group – voted.

In Fairfield, 79 percent of the county’s children qualify for a free lunch. The per capita income for the county is about $21,000. Twenty percent of the population lives below the poverty line, including 25 percent of those under age 18. Drop-out rates are high, good jobs are scarce. Fairfield County, which is 60 percent black, has not had a black representative in the State House since Reconstruction, some 110 years.

Why people aren’t voting is a complex equation of historic and systematic disenfranchisement that may take generations to overcome. Voter registration in this state was once limited to white, property-owning males, and has historically been used to restrict access to the ballot box, not facilitate it.

Continue reading →