Just when you thought you knew, you have no idea...

Alright this rape case against the Duke players is getting stranger by the day. This case has more drama that a soap opera and more errors than the OJ case....time to bring in the CSI guys to solve this case. Read the latest on this case and now the accuser is pregnant......I know this is a serious matter but can we say this has the makings for a Lifetime TV movie.

http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/16241754.htm

Poltical Thought...

Okay....we have a proposed 30-cent tax increase on cigarettes going into the 2007 SC Legislative Session. I disagree that the proposed tax should offset income taxes. Income taxes have already been cut and are pretty low compared to other states. The tax revenue generated should go towards funding state health care programs and retain other state revenues to fund important initiatives like better roads, more state troopers and economic development. IF IT IS PASSED.

No one likes to pay more taxes, but there's a pretty good case for not insisting on an offsetting cut if the cigarette tax is increased. South Carolina's cigarette tax is the lowest in the nation at 7 cents per pack vs. a national average of 92 cents. The 30-cents per pack increase being sought, which still leaves our tax well below the national average, would generate $107 million in revenue. That money could come in handy in a state that has 700,000 uninsured residents which really when you 'boil it down' hurts everyone. Cost of health care keep going up and many employers are cutting health benefits....something needs to take place to help this problem why not place a tax on something that causes some of these health problems.

What do you guys think about a 30 cent increase on the tax???

For your Thursday reading pleasure...

Here is a good article for Thursday to be read while at work or killing time. It talks about the "strange" season that the ACC had with Wake Forest stealing the show and how - well simply a unique season with more drama than 'Days of Our Lives.'

Click here...http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=2693694

More on SC Basketball...

Eight games into the season the USC men's basketball team is 6-2. Anyone expect better? Perhaps. Most would have predicted USC would have beaten UC-Irvine and lost to Southern Cal on its west coast swing.

Where does USC stand as it takes a break for exams? Again, it's early, but here's some thoughts based on the RPI thanks to www.collegerpi.com:

---USC ranks sixth out of 12 SEC teams in RPI and is 59th overall in the nation. Arkansas (7), Alabama (28), Tennessee (38), Mississippi State (49) and Kentucky (58) are ahead of USC.
---Of USC's wins, the victory at Southern Cal (RPI 78) is the strongest, although the win at Baylor (191) could be important down the road if the Bears make some noise in the Big 12. Lipscomb (149) has the next highest RPI of the teams USC has beaten.
---"Good'' losses - UC-Irvine, on the road and sporting a 135 RPI. The Clemson loss will no doubt hurt because it was at home but the Tigers have an RPI of 17 right now.

And what of the near future? USC's next four foes aren't going to help its RPI: Princeton (188), UNC-Asheville (304), Jacksonville (254) and Western Carolina (159). Then comes Kansas, which at this point has the nation's 60th RPI. But a victory over the Jayhawks on Jan. 7 would certainly help USC's chances of making a trip to the NCAA and give it a boost going into its SEC schedule, which starts with a trip to Georgia three days later.

Reports from the Shrine Bowl

Scrimmages from the SC team practice in Spartanburg, Cliff Matthews crushed Willie Korn at the end of the scrimmage. Was asked after practice why he hit his QB so hard, he said "I just want Willie to get use to getting hit by me, because it is going to be a long 4 years for him" You got to love it.

Are you Amish

I finally uploaded some pictures from the past couple of months. He is one of my favorites.....