Nikki Haley and Mick Zais Pro Union afterall?

Governor Nikki Haley made a national reputation of taking on labor unions when she fought the National Labor Relations Board in regards to its stand on Boeing locating a plant in South Carolina. State Superintendent of Education Mick Zais seems to take a shot against the SCEA, the equivalent of a teacher's union in South Carolina, every chance he gets. So, hardcore real Republicans cheer both as fighters against unions.

But, their shortsighted stand on school bus transportation has union folks licking their chops. Haley and Zais, for various true believer and money reasons, support the bill in the South Carolina House that will sell all the school buses in the state fleet and make districts provide their own transportation or preferably contract with a private company for bus transportation. As their public money for private school tuition scheme, it is not well thought out.

First, public bus drivers in South Carolina can not be unionized. Charleston County decided to privatize its district buses and was met with unionization by the Teamsters, which drove up the cost of those buses. They could afford it. Other counties around South Carolina can not.

VUI will dig deeper into the public school transportation issue. But, this post is about unions. Under the Haley-Zais plan, unions will have an open door to take over your children's transportation to and from school. A private company doing that can be unionized by the Teamsters. They can strike for higher pay, better conditions, whatever, and at whatever time, and leave you scrambling to get your children to school.

As it stands now, your child's transportation is ran by the public. The buses are going to run everyday school is in session. Their trips to and from school can not be held hostage by a Teamster's Union Boss who makes a decision a thousand miles away.

But, that is the kind of thing that happens when two politicians who really do not think things out and have no beliefs other than their own well being push for things they are talked into by well paid lobbyists and groups. The truth is, privatize school buses, and you will have union battles all over this state as well as increased local school taxes, and kids finding themselves unable to get their constitutionally provided access to public schools, which will lead to more taxpayer costs with lawsuits and the like.

Who knew Haley and Zais were so pro union and so much for raising taxes and government spending? They might claim they are not, but their support of this bill shows that they are. Actions speak so much louder than words.

The "Fight of the Century"

It has been years since the sport of boxing was iconic in American culture. But, 41 years ago, on March 8th, 1971, boxing was the center of the cultural world. On that day, in Madison Square Garden, Joe Frazier, a native of South Carolina, met Muhammad Ali in the ring. It was billed "Battle of the Champions" and the "Fight of the Century," and for good reason. No fight like it had happened before in sport of boxing, and no showdown perhaps had happened in all of sports.

Joe Frazier was the recognized heavyweight champion of the world and was undefeated. Ali was undefeated as well, and had been the heavyweight champion of the world before he refused induction into the United States Army on religious and conscious grounds. That led to Ali being stripped of his titles. That led fight commentators and fans to see Ali as the true champion, since he had never lost his title in the ring.

The circumstances surrounding Ali's political stands created a cultural clash. It was billed as establishment versus anti establishment. It was billed as working class ethics versus elite liberalism and views. Some in the Black community billed as Uncle Tom (Frazier) versus a real Black Man. Added to all that, Ali was press friendly, smooth in his talking and his hyping. Frazier was gruff. It was a true cultural battle. The working class folks, especially working class whites, backed Frazier. The press and the so called elite backed Ali.

The fight would prove one of the ages. It would go the distance of 15 rounds. Frazier would win a unanimous decision, in part because of his performance in the late rounds and his knockdown of Ali in the final round. That would be the high point of the career of Joe Frazier.

Frazier would lose the heavyweight championship to George Foreman, yes the grill guy. Ali would then add to his legend by defeating Foreman with the "rope a dope" strategy in a fight billed as the "Rumble in the Jungle." The questions about Ali's toughness caused by the late rounds against Frazier would never be raised again as Ali took all the powerful Foreman had and simply made Foreman too tired to fight on. Ali's strategy would be praised and used by others in sports. Ali would also defeat Frazier twice in future fights, lose and win back the title again and become one of the most adored athletes in the world.

The relationship between Ali and Frazier was strained. Reports say when Ali lit the torch at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Frazier was still bitter about Ali. The two did reconcile of sorts, and Ali attended Frazier's funeral.

VUI mentions the fight 41 years ago to lament the fact that the sweet science of boxing has no such figures today. Once a boxing match was the center of the cultural world, a place where the clash of ideas could be reduced down to two men fighting in the ring. Now, boxing is just a sideshow, filled with clown promoters and boxers with no personality. But, it was not that way 41 years ago. That day, the whole world was watching.

Le Louvre Bouteille -- Restaurant Review

Address: 150 Rue St. Honoré

Nearest transport: Louvre-Rivoli (ligne 1)
Hours: Closed Sundays

Reservations: recommended

Telephone: 01.73.54.44.44

http://www.louvrebouteille.fr/

Rating Standards: 5-Stars = Extraordinary; 4-Stars = Excellent; 3-Stars = Average; 2-Stars = Fair; 1-Star = Poor
€ = Inexpensive: 30€ and under; €€ = Moderate: 31€-49€; €€€ = Expensive: €50 -75; $$$$ = Very Expensive: more than €76 (prices based on plats--main course)

1-Bell = Pleasantly quiet (less than 65 decibels); 2-Bells = Can talk easily (65-70); 3-Bells = Talking normally gets difficult (70-75); 4-Bells = Can talk only in raised voices (75-80); BOMB = Too noisy for normal conversation (80+)

  1 - Star..................................................€ (Pre-fix menu)...............................................1 - Bell

I went with 2-foodie friends. And, I have to say, we were all very excited to go because the Chef de cuisne Cyril Roquet is well known in Paris and a lot of it had to do with his participation in the Masterchef contest, a French cooking show. 

The restaurant is in a great, convenient location, “Rue St. Honoré” I have to say it was nicely decorated and the upstairs room was really lovely. And, the tables and seating were well spaced, so you didn’t feel like you were being packed in.  We all complained that the menu was hard to read.  One wall had a long mirror, on it was the written menu.  Unfortunately, the mirror had a glare, and depending where the light shone, it was either readable or not.  We were all able to decipher the menu, in part because depending where we were seating, we could see parts of the menu and we shared the information.

Entrées:

Two of us had the “Velouté corail rutabaga huile d’argan.” Smooth scallop coral with rutabaga and "argan" oil, garnished with a little yellow edible flower. We all commented that this was the first time we’ve tasted scallop corals in a soup.  Although it was tasty, it was served just lukewarm. We all agreed it could’ve been served warmer.

I had the “Oeuf crème champignon croustillant coppa.” A poached egg with mushrooms/polenta and crispy bacon.  When the dish arrived my first thought was, what an absolutely ugly dish, how amateurish?  It looked like sand that had a poached egg on top, surrounded with what looked like canned sliced black olives and grated hard boiled cooked eggs, and garnished with a little mâche. I have to say this dish not only looked bad, but tasted just awful. The polenta was not cooked, so it had a gritty sand taste. The only saving grace was that the poached egg was cooked perfectly.  I could not finish the dish it was so bad.

Plats: 

After we finished our entrées we waited, waited, and waited some more for our plats.  Even by French restaurant standards, this was way too long of a wait in between courses.  It finally came.

One of us had the “Tournedos fumé au thym, sauce moutard, pommes grenailles.”  A steak dish with thyme and mustard sauce with whole potatoes.  My first impression when the dish came out, it was totally out-of-proportion.  Even for meat and potato loving people, this dish was out of whack. Clearly you can see that it seemed the potatoes were the star of the dish. It looked ridiculous. I tasted it, and again, although tasty it was lukewarm.

Two of us had the “Margret de canard croustillant, bouillon Thai, frite de polenta.” Crispy duck breast, accompanied with a Thai bouillon with a fried polenta.  The crust they were referring to was phyllo dough the duck was encased in, otherwise known as “brick” in France. My friend loved the dish, but I have to say the duck skin was extremely fatty and inedible. And, although the breast was tasty, it was extremely rubbery. The accompanying bouillon seemed like an afterthought. It was almost as if he didn’t know what to do with the leftover duck, so he made stock out of it, with a bunch of stringy leftover meat at the bottom of the glass, put some lemongrass, hence, the Thai influence, and some mango balls. Although the broth was good, it just seemed out of place to me. And, because of the stringy meat at the bottom, it was very unrefined and seemed very amateurish.

We decided we came this far, let’s order a dessert and a cheese plate to share. I wish I could give you our impression of what we ordered; unfortunately, we waited, waited, and waited some more and the restaurant started emptying out.  We even tried to get the wait staff's attention, but failed. Frustrated and defeated, we decided to ask for the bill.

The bill came and they charged us for the dessert. My friend told the waiter, who also happens to be the sommelier and I believe is also the business partner of the Chef, that had he paid attention to us, he would’ve known that we never got the dessert, and that’s why we were leaving.

Summary:

I wanted to like this restaurant so much, because of the location, the ambiance, and the nice staff, albeit pretty “clueless”. To me, reviewing a restaurant has to be sincere.  I did not like this restaurant at all. The food had more misses than hits, and although the wait staff were charming, they were totally clueless of restaurant timing. We wondered if the lukewarm food was a result of the staff not getting the food out in time.  None-the-less, the prices are reasonable, you get what you pay for.  I realize they’re relatively new, but I would prefer to pay a few extra euros to have a better dining experience.  With 2-bottles of 2009 Réserve Bordeaux and 2 glasses of Chardonnay, we paid a total of 95€ for 3-people for lunch.

Would I go back? Although I wish them much luck and success, and hope they improve, I probably would not go back! There are just so many other choices.

Two Senate legends, on opposite sides, are stepping down

Two South Carolina Senate legends have announced they are stepping down and not seeking re-election. The men are politically polar opposites. State Senators Greg Ryberg of Aiken and John Land of Clarendon are wrapping their careers up.

Frankly the South Carolina State Senate will be less without them. Ryberg was a conservative to the core, always arguing the conservative cause, right or wrong. Land had the role of the liberal, always arguing the liberal cause, right or wrong.

What made VUI respect them both? They did their own homework. Neither were ran by handlers. Both frustrated the powers that be in their respective parties. We believe both were intellectually honest. One might think this or that idea of either man was a bit crazy, but they offered real ideas, thought out, and they fought for them. Having the two of them duke it out in the South Carolina State Senate was the very embodiment of the deliberative body in action.

Both had that detractors. They both had personal attacks. Some said Land was this and that, Ryberg was this and that. That is politics. Indeed, that is life in any great endeavor. There are always those who try to tear down people greater than them. That is human nature.

But, let's pause that stuff for a moment to think about the contributions of the two great champions of their own causes who now are calling it a day. The state of South Carolina will be lesser without them, not because one of them was right or wrong, but because they both were men who did what they thought was right and through that fight, made the Senate and the rest of us think on things.

As such VUI offers the same compliment to both Land and Ryberg. They thought for themselves, and they fought for what they believed. Good wishes and a thank you to both of them.

The political train wreck that is SC right now

The State newspaper reported in two separate stories that some folks are rallying around the accused.

First, the State reported tacit support from both Republican and Democratic politicos from the Pee Dee region of the state for one of their own, Lt. Governor Ken Ard, who has admitted to misuse of campaign funds for things like personal items and family vacations. Ard is under investigation by the state Grand Jury, and rumors abound he is about to be indicted.

But, if the story from the State is correct, those folks in the Pee Dee think such a misuse of campaign funds is a much ado about nothing and that Lt. Governor Ard is a good guy. The Pee Dee is legendary, for shall we say interesting politics, but the effort to make Ard look like an honest and earnest man who just goofs up on paperwork seems a longshot to VUI. Seriously, while South Carolina, and especially those in the Pee Dee play fast and loose with the rules, things like vacations and women's clothing items are not likely to past the smell test, even in South Carolina. Further, if Ard was a Democrat, he would probably be wearing an orange jumpsuit by now. And it would not have a Tiger Paw on it. Just saying.

Then there was the story about how Governor Nikki Haley voiced support for embattled South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Chairwoman Caroline Rhodes. Rhodes is accused by members of the South Carolina Senate of lying under oath to them in hearings on February 1st, about The Savannah Port Gate. The Savannah Port Gate being what we at VUI dub the dirty deal done to sell out South Carolina to dredge the Savannah River to give Georgia a good port and take away from our port at Charleston.

Frankly, Governor Haley had no choice but to give Rhodes some cover. After all, Savannah Port Gate is Haley's deal. A lot of good folks were strong-armed into it. Haley has money and support riding on it.

Add to all that the publicity the Laurens County Republican Party is getting for its sexual purity pledge. If published reports around the internet and the nation are correct, the Laurens County GOP will only accept candidates for office who did not have premarital sex and who did not engage in extramarital sex. Some contend that the measure was aimed at Republican Sheriff Ricky Chastain, who admitted an affair. Whatever the reason, it adds to the making of the image that South Carolina's leadership seem out of step and silly.

And, we at VUI could live with out of step and silly, but corrupt we can not. Add the rallying around the accused and the silly, and well, the mess that this state is in now is clearly illustrated. We are a long way from the vision of what Carroll Campbell would want for South Carolina. For that matter, as a bone to you history buffs like VUI, we are a long way from what the likes someone like Coley Blease would tolerate. South Carolina is a political train wreck right now.