by Salty Caramel
special correspondent from elsewhere

Columbia – Carolina Pascal recently called her aunt in Barcelona to wish her a happy birthday. Little did 21-year-old intern for the South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (SCPRT) expect that her overheard “feliz cumpleaños” would lead to her planning the office’s Cinco de Mayo celebrations. Read the full story

by William Moultrie

Florence – In a rare act of near-unanimous contrition, South Carolinians have admitted that they used poor judgment in the past few statewide elections. In particular, the resolution drafted at the annual Meeting of Everyone in South Carolina (MESC) addresses the failings of statewide officeholders elected in 2006. Read the full story

by Middleton Jervey Manigault, III

Columbia – With less than a year remaining of his time in office, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina still has work left to do cementing his legacy to the state. With that legacy in mind, the governor announced plans today that should go a long way toward imprinting his collection of seven letters into the minds of our children: the founding of a university bearing his name. Read the full story

by William Moultrie

Washington, DC – Amid charges that his blocking of the nomination of Erroll Southers to lead the Transportation and Safety Administration (TSA) is depriving the agency of leadership at a critical time, Senator Jim DeMint is claiming a victory in the war on labor unions. Read the full story

by William Moultrie

Columbia – Governor Mark Sanford has had a bad year and everyone knows it, but how bad was it exactly? A new court filing by Sanford’s lawyers to block release of Santa’s famed “Naughty List” is leaving some observers to think there’s more than what we know about. Read the full story

by Salty Caramel
special correspondent from elsewhere

Summerville – Zhu Zhu pet hamsters are the must-have present of the 2009 holiday season. They squeak, run through mazes and even ride skateboards without making a mess, making them darlings of kids and their parents.

But Harriet Wortherby knows that a year from now will be a different story. She remembers the Tickle Me Elmo carnage of ‘97 — when just months after parents shelled out big bucks to secure the furry creatures, millions of giggling Elmos were shoved into dusty corners as fickle children transferred their loyalties to Beanie Babies.

In order to turn the inevitable mass abandonment of the hamsters into something positive, Wortherby has established a shelter for the Zhu Zhus at her 50 acre country estate near Summerville and plans to have the hamsters transferred to deserving children in Africa. The shelter is empty now, but she anticipates it will be filled next year. She plans to set up at safe havens at veterinarians’ offices in all 50 states for people to bring the unwanted hamsters, “No questions asked.”

The program, which she is calling “Zhu Zhus for Zulus,” will be modeled after organizations like Aid for AIDS and Recycled AIDS Medicine Program (RAMP), which donate unused AIDS drugs to HIV-positive patients in developing countries. Once a medicine has been prescribed it is illegal to redistribute it within the United States, but there is nothing to bar its redistribution in another country.

The cost of transporting the hamsters will be considerable, but Wortherby has secured the financial backing of animal lover and actress Katherine Heigl, who plays “Izzy” on the hit ABC show Grey’s Anatomy. Heigl’s charity organization, the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, recently paid $25,000 to fly 25 Chihuahuas from Los Angeles to the East Coast, where they will be adopted and spared an unhappy fate.

California shelters have reported a glut of abandoned Chihuahuas in recent years, due in large part to the heightened profile the breed has enjoyed because of heiress Paris Hilton, whose pet Chihuahua Tinkerbell is a permanent fixture in her handbag. But while the increase in ownership of the yappy dog has been concentrated in California, the Zhu Zhu phenomenon has infected the entire country, with online auction site eBay reporting markups of 500 percent. That’s why Wortherby said that she chose Africa as the recipient of the hamsters.

Wortherby’s proposal has received some criticism by ecologists, who say that releasing the Zhu Zhus without a preliminary study could be tantamount to bringing an invasive species to the continent.

In addition, an informal survey of a Zulu village in South Africa suggested that Zhu Zhus might not be received as gratefully as Wortherby anticipates. “I’d rather have a goat or reliable electricity,” said Mzambo Nkosi, a sentiment echoed by his neighbors. “Or maybe Oprah could expand her school so that my daughter could attend, too.”

Salty Caramel can also be found at his own blog at http://saltycaramel.blogspot.com.

by William Moultrie

Columbia – Responding to the release of the 37 ethics charges released by the South Carolina Ethics Commission on Monday, Governor Mark Sanford wasted no time in answering the charges. Read the full story