The Opinion Blog

Getting closer to peace

Just read a transcript of this talk by Harvard psychologist Stevin Pinker and found it fascinating. Worth a read if you have 15 minutes or so.

Believe it or not—and I know most people do not—violence has been in decline over long stretches of time, and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species' existence. The decline of violence, to be sure, has not been steady; it has not brought violence down to zero (to put it mildly); and it is not guaranteed to continue. But I hope to convince you that it's a persistent historical development, visible on scales from millennia to years, from the waging of wars and perpetration of genocides to the spanking of children and the treatment of animals.

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FRIDAY CARTOON EXTRA

 
By Jimmy Margulies, the New Jersey Record

Political Misstep's Silver Lining



We debated earlier this year whether seasonal workers should be eligible for unemployment benefits. Friday’s editorial discusses why that debate will continue at least a few more months:

Earlier this year, as the legislature debated an exemption to unemployment insurance for seasonal businesses, Sen. Ray Cleary said the change would “save tens of millions of dollars a year.” Now, it seems, that savings will have to wait, not because anybody has changed their minds about cutting off unemployment benefits to seasonal workers, but because of a disconnect between the state’s bill and federal guidelines.

Somewhere along the way, those writing the law didn’t manage to do their due diligence in crafting a rule that would actually be enforceable. As a result, the changes will be delayed at least until next year, and perhaps forever, as the fix to the situation requires a new bill to be filed and passed by the legislature once again, not necessarily a foregone conclusion.

FRIDAY OPEN FORUM

Be civil and enjoy.

Circuit Court Judge Closes FOIA Door

The story that promises to keep me busy today:

 A South Carolina Circuit Court Judge has ruled the S.C. Freedom of Information Act unconstitutional as applied to the S.C. Association of School Administrators. The ruling holds that the association is a public body under the FOIA, but that the law's requirements that public bodies conduct public meetings and provide public access to records unconstitutionally burdens the Association's right to advocate on political issues.

 Read more.

 

THURSDAY CONVERSATION STARTER

A simple rule meant to cut paperwork for U.S. companies has grown into one of the biggest multinational tax breaks around, costing the United States and other governments billions of dollars in lost taxes each year.

It thrives thanks to determined business support, including a campaign two years ago that forced the Obama administration to retreat from altering it and tax professionals worldwide who exploit its benefits.

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Don't Waste Chance to Cut Legislative Perk



  Thursday’s editorial (provided by The State’s Cindi Scoppe) takes on the bubbling issue of overly generous legislative pensions. Locally, legislators receiving such pensions include Dick Elliott of North Myrtle Beach, Yancey McGill of Kingstree, Liston Barfield of Aynor and George Hearn of Conway:

By sheer coincidence, the top item on my to-do list on Friday was to write one of my periodic columns about the legislature’s pension perk, which taxpayers subsidize at three times the rate we subsidize pensions for teachers, social workers, janitors and other people who work 40 hours a week for our state, and which pays benefits of 150 percent of our part-time legislators’ salaries.

THURSDAY OPEN FORUM

Be civil and enjoy.

It's a great day to put words in my mouth

This catch anybody else's eye this morning?

Gov. Nikki Haley wants state workers to answer their phones, saying, "It's a great day in South Carolina. How can I help you?"

Haley said the change will boost the morale of state workers, remind them they work for callers on the other end of the line and help her sell the state to employers.

Not being part of quite such a controlling organization that I have to answer the phone in some prescribed manner, I can't speak from experience. But I can't imagine this will be boosting morale. I'd guess the opposite. And as for reminding them that they work for callers, I'd guess it will more likely remind them that they work for people who can make them do any silly thing they want. And really, who wants to have to listen to that cheery pap every time you call a state agency?

Public access, but just as much as I say

I'm glad I wasn't yet drinking my coffee this morning as I read our story about Danny Isaac and his views on the DOT commission. My dog wouldn't fancy the idea of dodging hot liquid spewed across the room.

“The commission is the people’s access,” said Danny Isaac, chair of the DOT commission and a Myrtle Beach resident. “The DOT was reformed in 2007 to eliminate the dominance of politics. We need to leave it out of politics and keep it in the hands of the people.”

This, you might remember, is the same chairman who has been fighting the idea of public comment periods at commission meetings because people might waste his time. And the same chairman who took his fellow commissioner to task for giving those people more information about the DOT's business. The idea that the commission is currently "in the hands of the people" is almost ludicrous.

As for taking away the people's access, why would eliminating a superfluous, politicized commission do that? Plenty of other state agencies function without a commission. Meetings at those agencies are still open to the public, their files are still available on request and residents still have a venue to have their voice heard. Why should the DOT be any different?

Sen. Larry Grooms summed up the weakness of the current system well when I talked to him earlier this month: "A commission system that is parochial in nature, no matter how good a job you do at screening candidates ... when it all boils down to it, everybody wants to make sure that the roads closest to home are the ones that get the most asphalt."