The Demise of SC

It has baffled me over the past several months what people are NOT talking about in South Carolina.

There should be protests. There should be riots. There should be T-shirts. There should be SOMETHING!

Our governor, Mark Sanford, is repeatedly refusing to accept the 700 million dollar stimulus check that South Carolina so desperately needs. South Carolina has always been far from the upside of the economic situation in America, and our present state is so much more dire.

Why is one man, our governor, a man who is by definition supposed to promote public policy, manage state bureaucracy, and act as intergovernmental relations manager, tying the entire state to a proverbial railroad track while he waits for the Republican party to recognize his unfailing loyalty?

This entire stint shows just how disconnected Mark Sanford is to the actual citizens of South Carolina. He sits in his governor's mansion complaining about the "wasteful expense of education" while our state unemployment rates steadily chug a long an ever steepening slope.

Although most SC citizens are either left in the dark or blissfully ignorant other states are noticing this lunacy. The New York Times had a great editorial that summed up the present state of the stimulus bill in SC.

I encourage EVERYONE to read this and REACT! Don't sit around. We can speak up for ourselves as citizens.

Whether you are a Republican or a Democrat how can you respect a man who would put a feather in his own hat rather than assist the citizens who put him in office and keep this state functioning?

Gulty conscience on deathbed leads to guilty sentence...

An unfortunate turn of events fell upon a Oklahoma resident after he confessed to a murder with what he thought was his final breath.

BBC News reported that 58-year-old James Brewer, who had been living under the alias of Michael Anderson called police to his hospital bedside after he had a supposed fatal stroke.



"He wanted to cleanse his soul, because he thought he was going to the great beyond," police detective, Tony Grasso said, the BBC website reported.

Brewer confessed to shooting and killing his 20 year old neighbor, Jimmy Carroll in 1977 when he resided in Tennessee with his wife Dorothy Anderson. According to police reports Breer stated that he killed Carroll because he believed he was trying to seduce his wife.

Brewer and his wife fled to Oklahoma after the incident and had been living there for nearly 32 years. They had completely integrated into their new lives. Dorothy Brewer even started a Bible study group, BBC reports.

After giving his confession Brewer began to make a speedy recovery, oh the powers of a clean conscience, and was arrested by Tennessee police who had been tipped off by the Oklahoma police detectives.

Brewer has been charged with murder and could possibly face the death penalty.

Here's my tip for Brewer always ask the doctor how much of a chance you have to live before admitting to any heinous crime.

Here I am, it's the third day of my vacation. It's been a heck of a trip to say the least. We had all the great factors of a perfect spring break...first road trip... Then grey hound bus ride.. Complete with strange strangers and even weirder "in trip" movies.

Florida Breezes are Calling...

Only One more day and I will be on my way to the balmy beaches of Palm Beach Florida! The departure could not get here soon enough.

No school, no stress, no Thomson food; just me, sand, sun and possibly some fruity beverages.


This is going to be my first spring break away from home and actually on my own. My parents are pretty strict about the "who, what, when, where, and why's" of my life. I have learned to make plans and inform my parents of them rather than ask permission. Oddly enough the more I show what a "responsible daughter" I am by asking permission and seeking their blessing the less they let me do.

This is why I have developed the "Shock and Awe" method.
Works pretty well...especially if you throw in a shocking statement at the end to throw them off the chase...for example:

Mom: When's your spring break because I was thinking that you could help me re-tile the...
Me: Oh yeah 16-22 but i'mnotcominghome yeah goingtopalmbeachwithsara yeah should be fun!
Mom: wha..!
Me: Did you know dolphins actually have death rituals?!
Mom: ...death rituals? Really?
Me: yep straight up funerals.

Works like a charm. I highly suggest my patented "shock and awe" method for any potentially tense situation.

So now that Operation Fog Parent's Mind was successful all there is to do is pack up the sunscreen and get ready for an amazing spring break!!!

Goodbye Winthrop University!!! Hope everyone else has an amazing spring break as well!

Monkey See Monkey....attacks.

BBC America's headlines today had an interesting story. The title read Zoo Chimp Planned Stone Attacks this headline caught my eye because...well, who isn't interested in a stone wielding strategical monkey?


Zoo keepers of the Swedish facility finally figured out last week what the chimp had been gathering large rocks and bits of concretes for. The chimp had a whole damn artillery saved up. The attack was called by one paper, "a hailstorm of rocks against visitors".

Scientist are pretty excited about this chimp's ambush on innocent Swedish citizens and zoo keepers. The incident clears up the "do they think ahead?" question pretty clearly.

The whole thing sounds like the murmurs of a zoo animal revolution. Or maybe the government will find some way of harnessing the chimps throwing ability. Next thing you know we'll have a full chimp squadron in the U.S.A.

I can't help but laugh thinking about how the whole charade played out: tourists
snapping pictures, zoo keepers tossing out bananas and suddenly Chimpy sees his chance. And then the launching began.

I'm pretty sure all this scientific hoopla is not what this chimp had in mind. Possibly his demands are more food, more conjugal visits with the lady chimps, or maybe he's just tired of those Swedes.

Whatever the reason I have a feeling this won't be Chimpy's last attack...somebody better make sure those banana peels are disposed of safely.

This weather's got me feeling free and lazy. Therefore what else could be on my mind but SUMMER. That wonderful 2 month hiatus that will eventually fade into yet another year of school. Yes, I am complaining. I have hit that wall...that wall that says "one more day one more day.."

Now in case you happen to NOT have a countdown of the final school days left (what is keeping you going!?) I will give you the current number count.....51 days that we will be breathing on the lush Winthrop Campus. 51 days, that's roughly seven weeks guys....seven Mondays, seven depressing "school is tomorrow" Sundays.

I am pretty excited about this summer. I am hopefully getting a job/internship at my town's monopoly of a communications center, PRTC. They do everything from telephone lines, internet connections, to their own television channel. It would be pretty exciting to get some experience so early in my time at Winthrop.

The other opportunity summer brings is more writing, interview, and journalism practice at my local newspaper. The summer before last I started writing and covering assignments for the Laurens County Advertiser. I guess it helps a great deal that my family owns the paper. But, don't be fooled my father is the toughest critic I ever face. And having your dad as a boss does not make for the best father-daughter "warm fuzzies".

Despite the undoubtable family tension this will evoke I can not wait for those busy summer days and warm easy weekends....give me sun, a fruity drink, and a nice tan.

It's all just around the corner in 1,228 hrs and counting.

Believe it or not I've had time to read for pleasure this semester. My Tuesday/Thursday classes are jam packed and tend to be one after the other. There for I can
a) Walk all the back to my dorm fall into a comatose state for twenty minutes and pray that my mind can determine my alarm clock's ring from the current soundtrack running in my dream (am I the ONLY one this happens to consistently?)
OR
b) Prop my eye open with tooth picks and do the same with a good book.

Option B seems to get me to class more often than the former.

My most recent read was Persuasion by Jane Austen. This was the final publication of Ms. Austen's before her death, but honestly I feel like she should have stopped while she was ahead. The book contained all the gorgeous prose and attention to detail that her classics are revered for, but the protagonist's character was lacking. Maybe I am biased because of my own perception of what a "Jane Austen" woman should be like.

She is strong, takes up for herself, and she does not bend easily to the strict rules that Austen continuously made a satire of. Anne Elliott the main character in Persuasion is quite the opposite.

I found that I must go back to a stronger woman and story so I have started the classic Sense and Sensibility

Great teenage angst even in the late victorian era....

"I have no wish to be distinguished; and I have every reason to hope I never shall. Thank Heaven! I cannot be forced into genius and eloquence."

Ah I love it. I guess i'm just a sucker for a good romance. ;)