Post Tagged with: "Fred Palm"

NEW for 4/12: Planting trees; Shame of redistricting

NEW for 4/12: Planting trees; Shame of redistricting

IN THIS EDITION
FOCUS: Group plans to plant 3.3 million trees on Earth Day
COMMENTARY, Brack: Redistricting delay is a public shame
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: S.C. Ports Authority
FEEDBACK: Special funds being hijacked for regular responsibilities
MYSTERY PHOTO:  In the distance
CALENDAR:  Marsalis, septet to bring jazz to Gaillard April 23, 24

by · 04/12/2021 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
NEW for 11/30: Photographic study; Nathalie and Jack; Suffer the children

NEW for 11/30: Photographic study; Nathalie and Jack; Suffer the children

IN THIS EDITION
PHOTO FOCUS: A study in black and white
COMMENTARY, Brack: Here’s to two good friends who will be just a click away
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: SCIWAY
ANOTHER VIEW, Palm: Suffer the children
NEWS BRIEFS: COVID-19 cases in state top 200,000
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: So, who’s the king?
CALENDAR: Gibbes to offer annual Antique Stroll on Dec. 2

by · 11/30/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
FOCUS: Vigorous government action needed to curb spread of virus

FOCUS: Vigorous government action needed to curb spread of virus

By Fred Palm, contributing editor  |  Correct and effective state action to battle COVID-19 is required. Now. Otherwise, more lives and livelihoods across South Carolina will suffer as a third wave descends upon the state.

Gov. Henry McMaster’s Oct. 23 public relations visit to Myrtle Beach revealed a guy who is in over his head with no way out. That means we have no way out. 

“We’re vigilant. We’re trying to do our best,” he said during the visit. “We’ve heard from a lot of people in a lot of different kind of businesses; we’re taking all of that into consideration. These restrictions, it’s uncomfortable. Sometimes it imposes great hardship; we’re aware of that. All of these decisions are made not quickly.”  

by · 10/26/2020 · 1 comment · Focus, Good news
NEW for 8/31: Testing, Sanford’s new mission and more testing

NEW for 8/31: Testing, Sanford’s new mission and more testing

IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS:  Governor should create new state health testing office
COMMENTARY, Brack: Sanford is on target about debt, deficit
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: Magnolia Plantation and Gardens
NEWS BRIEFS:  More coronavirus testing needs to be done, officials say
FEEDBACK: Send us your thoughts
MYSTERY PHOTO: Dock scene you may recognize
CALENDAR:  Lowcountry Listens back for round 3 of virtual music
NEW BOOK: Ever wonder where the Atlantic Ocean started? 

by · 08/31/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
FOCUS: Management of an epidemic requires surveillance monitoring

FOCUS: Management of an epidemic requires surveillance monitoring

By Fred Palm, contributing editor  |  Our South Carolina emergency plan is an all-event skeleton.  Depending upon the particular threat, customization to the plan is made. Even in the overall skeleton plan, any epidemic event is a second thought found in an appendix (14-1) to the general model for action.  In these plans, there is no pandemic appendix, so with COVID-19, we presumptively start as if the virus is an infection.

An epidemic requires a swift model that leaps ahead of the presenting of requests for medical services. State-level authorizations and equipment requests passed up the line will not be delivered in time. In fact, little time exists if an infection doubles every five days.

Social science surveys estimate the size of something, the incidence in the population. In this election season, for example, we are bombarded with polling data about what percentage of voters, likely Republicans or Democrats, are expected to behave in a particular way.

by · 03/16/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Common Good, Focus
3/16: Managing the epidemic; Civil rights; School closures

3/16: Managing the epidemic; Civil rights; School closures

IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS: Management of an epidemic requires surveillance monitoring
COMMENTARY, Brack: Renew commitment to protecting civil rights of all Americans
IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  Charleston RiverDogs
NEWS BRIEFS:  Schools across the state close to deal with coronavirus
FEEDBACK:  Send us a letter or two
MYSTERY PHOTO: White flower among azaleas
CALENDAR: Call first before you head out

by · 03/16/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
1/6, full issue: Justify road spending; Decade of the Nibble; Polar Plunge

1/6, full issue: Justify road spending; Decade of the Nibble; Polar Plunge

IN THIS EDITION
TODAY’S FOCUS, Palm: Justify spending $1.1 billion on Interstate 526 widening project
COMMENTARY, Brack: 2010s were the Decade of the Nibble
IN THE SPOTLIGHT:  Charleston RiverDogs
PHOTO ESSAY: Polar plunging
GOOD NEWS, ICYMI: Charleston celebrated “Nathalie Dupree Day”
FEEDBACK:  Send us a letter
MYSTERY PHOTO:  Tunnel of trees
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA: Chicken bog
CALENDAR:  Charleston inaugural to be Jan. 13

by · 01/06/2020 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
FOCUS, Palm: Let’s be smarter about dealing with traffic woes

FOCUS, Palm: Let’s be smarter about dealing with traffic woes

By Fred Palm, contributing editor  | The S.C. Department of Transportation (SCDOT) wants to widen Interstate 526 to six lanes in Charleston and Berkeley counties recognizing that congestion is regional and the correct response is more highway. 

Maybe.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way into the commercial, medical and educational spheres. Traffic management involves dynamic conditions involving both complex and repetitive decisions to control traffic signals to get us through an intersection.

Congestion detection and prediction is a math problem that we can do — and so can trained machines. In fact, the Federal Highway Administration advocates more use of these “Adaptive Traffic Management Systems.”

by · 12/16/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Common Good, Views
A tram at a station in Linz, Austria.

12/16, full issue: On smarter traffic; 5 things to get right; Photo essay

IN THIS ISSUE:
TODAY’S FOCUS, Palm: Let’s be smarter about dealing with traffic woes
COMMENTARY, Brack:  Get these 5 things right in 2020
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: South Carolina Ports Authority
PHOTO ESSAY:  Holiday cruise finds Europe brimming with holiday cheer
FEEDBACK:  Got something to say? Send us a letter.
MYSTERY PHOTO:  Warm, autumn light
S.C. ENCYCLOPEDIA:  White lightning
CALENDAR:  Free parking available in downtown Charleston garages

by · 12/16/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Full issue
FOCUS, Palm: Whistleblowers, inspectors general and the common good

FOCUS, Palm: Whistleblowers, inspectors general and the common good

By Fred Palm, contributing editor  |  The role of a government inspector general is much in the news lately.  The position has evolved from military tradition to ensure that government-funded entities use taxpayer money in careful, frugal and legal manners.  We don’t want, for example, our hard-earned tax dollars wasted, ripped-off, squandered, thieved or frauded.

The inspector general was first used here during our Revolutionary War. General George Washington smartly recognized that his militia leaders and those that reported to them sometimes distorted, exaggerated and plain lied about their fitness and capabilities. 

Washington appointed an inspector general modeling a practice of the Prussian Army, then the world’s elite war-fighting army.  Back then, one of the practices of the Prussian Army was to require field inspections for war-fighting fitness to be conducted by knowledgeable staff who were independent and outside the reporting chain of command.  They were intentionally free from the obligation to follow orders.

Washington and his command staff used an inspector general to provide a potential pathway for the truth. The obligation of Washington’s inspectional forces was to objectively determine capability and to accurately report on the conditions …

by · 10/07/2019 · Comments are Disabled · Common Good, Focus, Good news