Blowing smoke...

Tobacco foes in South Carolina are pushing a proposal that would raise the state's lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax (7 cents a pack) almost to the national average of $1 per pack. (The national average now is $1.01).The 93-cent per pack raise by Rep. Seth Whipper, D-Charleston, is similar to a proposal made last year. The proposal would hike the tax three times more than a proposal floated by GOP Gov. Mark Sanford.

Advocates say the tax would raise $223 million in South Carolina. They say the money could be used for a variety of purposes, including research, smoking cessation plans, and programs for kids to improve health, nutrition and literacy.

House leaders, however, say the proposal hasn't got much of a chance this year. More: The State, Greenville News.

Any thoughts on the issue?

Rishi a 'baby daddy'...

not really but we thought we would throw it out there since many men are lining up to claim to be the "proud papa" of Anna Nicole Smith's child. Also the drama has cooled down a little since the wacko judge last week but I am sure there is more to come. And we thought we would throw this "rumor" out there since no one knows what Rishi is up to in southern cali. The baby is set to inherit over 400 million dollars....


Is all of this drama for the love of the child or the love of money?

St. Patty's is coming

Here are a list of bands playing this year in five points. I was hoping for a couple more big bands instead of Joel Rush.

Budweiser/Rock 93.5/FOX 102 StageLocated on Green Street
Noon Hot Lava Monster
1:15 Everything After
2:30 The Movement
3:45 Stretch Arm Strong
5:00 3 Days Grace

Miller Light/WCOS StageLocated at the corner of Blossom and Harden Street
Noon John Paul White
1:00 Danielle Howle
2:15 Patrick Davis
3:30 Will Hoge
4:45Corey Smith

Free Times StageLocated on Santee Avenue and Blossom Street
2:00 Joal Rush
3:05 Sun Brewed Soul
4:10 Josh Roberts
5:15 Villanova

Oldies 103/ Heritage StageLocated on Saluda Avenue and Blossom Street

Noon Elliot & The Untouchables
12:55 Drink Small
1:45 Dennis Spring and the Sons of the Full Moon
2:40 The Merrows
3:50 Loch Ness Johnny
5:00 Seven Nations

S.C. Education Lottery Located at the Five Points Fountain
12:45 Madison Fair
2:00 Testing Ground
3:15 Soul Mites
4:30 Tootie & The Jones

Friday's Answers

Congrats to dev, the winner of this week's Friday trivia. Dubs was the only other person to try to answer all of them - though she e-mailed her answers to me and got 0.86666/10.0 points. Penis with ears - way to give it a try. The answers:

1. Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.
2. James Darnell with 4.
3. Delaware
4. Kansas City Chiefs.
5. a. free coffee for life
b. the Marlboro Man ad in Times Square
c. Underwear ad
6. Lake Baikal in Southern Russia
7. 1688 in England when James II was deposed and William and Mary of Orange were asked to come rule.
8. Subway
9. The capitol of Djibouti is Djibouti (don't try to tell me I've never had a coke before)
10.
a. Gaffney
b. Washington, DC
c. LaGrange, GA
d. Atlanta, (specifically Mableton)
e. Columbia (Irmo)
f. Greenville
g. Raleigh (Garner), NC
h. Lewisville
i. Columbia (Springdale)
j. Greensboro

BONUS: As of Friday it had been 461 days since Clemson last beat South Carolina in football.

Table is set...

For a thriller this weekend when two college baseball powerhouses collide.

Clemson University and the University of South Carolina maintained their Top Five status in the baseball rankings today, setting the stage for their first two meetings of the season this weekend.

The Tigers (6-1) remained No. 2 and South Carolina (8-1) stayed No. 4 in the Baseball America rankings behind No. 1 North Carolina.

In the Collegiate Baseball rankings, USC and Clemson maintained their respective No. 4 and No. 5 rankings with Vanderbilt remaining No. 1.

Clemson and USC play at 2 p.m. Saturday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson and at 1:30 p.m. Sunday at Sarge Frye Field in Columbia.

Some Monday Humor anyone...

This is from the College Humor Site and is up for a '07 Jesties award for Best Song.

Leprechauns in Alabama - the remix...
click here -
http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1678049

Catch some more of the Jesties nominees at
http://www.collegehumor.com/update:1720716

We must protect this coop!

It is offical the South Carolina Football Team unveiled its new jerseys this past Friday, and they are actually 'koool' looking. They are made by Under Armour as LOHD reported a while back, can you hear the "Click Clack" already?

Thoughts?

At the NFL Combine...

USC, Clemson and the state of SC is well represented.

In addition to Newton and Rice, defensive back Fred Bennett also has been invited to the combine from USC. Clemson has seven invitees: defensive end Gaines Adams, offensive linemen Dustin Fry and Nathan Bennett, receiver Chansi Stuckey, linebacker Anthony Waters and defensive backs C.J. Gaddis and Duane Coleman.

No other state schools will be represented, though there were four other players with South Carolina ties on the invite list. Linebackers Justin Durant (Hampton) and Lawrence Timmons (Florida State) were teammates at Wilson. Virginia Tech offensive lineman Brandon Frye played at Myrtle Beach and North Carolina running back Ronnie McGill was a standout at Clover.

Will Sidney be a First Round pick? Will Newton play WR?

Report: Family ties Sharpton to Thurmond

As reported today:

Geneaologists have found that civil rights activist the Rev. Al Sharpton is a descendent of a slave owned by relatives of the late Sen. Strom Thurmond, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The Daily News said professional genealogists, working at the newspaper's behest, recently uncovered the ancestral ties between one of the nation's best known black leaders and a man who was once a prominent defender of segregation.

"I have always wondered what was the background of my family," the newspaper quoted Sharpton as saying. "But nothing — nothing — could prepare me for this."
"It's chilling. It's amazing."

Sharpton's office said Sunday morning that he would not comment until a news conference planned for later in the day.

Some of Thurmond's relatives said the connection also came as a surprise to them. A niece, Ellen Senter, said she would speak with Sharpton if he were interested.

"I doubt you can find many native South Carolinians today whose family, if you traced them back far enough, didn't own slaves," said Senter, 61, of Columbia, S.C. She added: "And it is wonderful that (Sharpton) was able to become what he is in spite of what his forefather was."
One of the late senator's sons, Paul Thurmond, and a nephew, Barry Bishop, declined comment, the Daily News said.

According to the newspaper, the genealogists found documents establishing that Sharpton's great-grandfather, Coleman Sharpton, was a slave owned by Julia Thurmond, whose grandfather was Strom Thurmond's great-great-grandfather. Coleman Sharpton was later freed.

The newspaper said the lead researcher was Megan Smolenyak, the chief family historian for Ancestry.com and an author of several published books on genealogy. Another researcher on the project was Tony Burroughs, who teaches genealogy at Chicago State University.
Strom Thurmond, of South Carolina, was once considered a symbol of segregation. During his 1948 bid for president, he promised to preserve racial segregation. In 1957, he filibustered for more than 24 hours against a civil rights bill.

But Thurmond was seen as softening his stance later in his long life. He died in 2003, at 100. The longest-serving senator in history, he was originally a Democrat but became a Republican in 1964.

His children have acknowledged that Thurmond fathered a biracial daughter. Essie Mae Washington-Williams' mother was a housekeeper in the home of Thurmond's parents.


THOUGHTS????