Meals on Wheels Oyster Roast Oct. 18

The 10th annual Oyster Roast and Low Country Boil to benefit Meals on Wheels-Anderson will be held Oct. 18 at the Anderson County Recycling and Education Center. General admission to the event is from 5–8 p.m., and the VIP  hour begins at 4 p.m. for a limited number of ticket holders. 

This fall tradition offers all-you-can-eat oysters, roasted to perfection on site, a Low Country boil featuring boiled shrimp, sausage, potatoes and corn, as well as homemade barbecue will be offered.  

VIP hour will only be offered to 100 guests. This hour limits the number in attendance offering more personal attention to each guest. Servers will be on hand to “wait” on guests bringing beer, wine or soft drinks to each person. 

General admission tickets for this event are $35 for adults and $15 for children under 12. VIP tickets are available for $60. Tickets must be purchased in advance and include all food and beverages. Tickets can be purchased online at www.acmow.org; at the Meals on Wheels Center at 105 S. Fant St.; or by calling 864-225-6800.

OmniSource Southeast is title sponsor for the event, which usually draws 400 participants to the outdoor venue located at the corner of MLK Jr. Boulevard and Woodcrest Road, directly across from the Anderson County Civic Center. 

All proceeds from the Oyster Roast will support the mission of delivering meals to individuals in need in Anderson County. Funds raised will be used to provide hot, nutritious meals each weekday for approximately 600 homebound elderly and disabled of Anderson County who are participating in the home delivery program. Meals on Wheels-Anderson receives no federal or state funds. It operates solely on donations from individuals, churches and businesses, and through community grants and fundraising.

Use Common Sense Best Way to Avoid Colds

The cold season is in full swing in the Upstate, but experts say the old common sense ways of staying healthy are best.

First, beware of close contact. A lot of germs can be transferred from person to person just by breathing on each other.

Also, stay at home when you fall ill. You may feel OK, but you can pass germs to others at school and work if you are still contagious.

When you cough, cover your mouth and nose. Some health experts say the best way to avoid transferring germs is to sneeze or cough into your elbow. That way you won't spread anything with your hands.

Avoid touching your eyes, mouth or nose. Germs are often spread when someone touches something that is contaminated and then touches these areas of the face which are traditionally moist.

And finally, clean your hands. This is the No. 1 way to protect against nasty germs. Soap and water does the trick, but if you have and alcohol-based hand sanitizer that can work in a pinch.

Washington, D.C., Seeks Statehood Status

Supporters of granting the District of Columbia statehood asked members of a Senate panel on Monday to make the American capital the 51st state in the union.

DC residents lack congressional representation, an injustice statehood supporters compared with denying women and African Americans the right to vote as they urged members on the Senate committee on Homeland Security & Governmental Affairs to consider a proposed measure to make DC into the “state of New Columbia”. The few opponents who spoke during the hearing questioned the seriousness of the bill and the constitutionality of allowing DC to become a state.

Although the bill has almost no realistic chance of passing Congress, Senator Tom Carper, the committee’s chair and the bill’s sponsor, said he scheduled the hearing as a way to restart the conversation on DC statehood.

“When it comes to having a vote in Congress, these men and women really don’t count, at least not in the same way. In truth they never have,” said the Delaware Democrat during the hearing. “While they bear the full responsibilities of funding the federal government and dealing with the consequences of the laws it enacts, they do not enjoy the benefits and protection of having voting representation in Congress.”

This is the first time Congress has dealt with the issue in more than two decades. The last time was in November 1993, when the Democrat-led House defeated a statehood bill in a 277-153 vote. But DC’s slow-burning fight to become a state has continued, garnering some notable supporters over the years, including the current president. 

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Alliance Hopes to Improve Primary Health Care in S.C.

A handful of health care agencies, including the largest private health insurance company in South Carolina and the state Medicaid program, announced a new partnership Monday to improve the way primary care is delivered.

The alliance will encourage primary care practices across the state to become "patient-centered medical homes." While most patients don't know - or probably care - what that means, the advantages of the program are worth noting. For example, patients enrolled in a medical home may find it easier to schedule same-day appointments or speak with a nurse over the phone for medical advice.

More than 100 primary care practices in the state are already recognized as patient-centered medical homes. Most of them are certified by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina, the largest private insurer in the state, wants at least 300 practices to participate.

The program isn't mandatory, but it is labor intensive. The process takes many months for each practice to complete and requires primary care providers to shift the way they do business - pushing doctors, nurses and staff to set goals, to focus more on keeping patients healthy and managing chronic conditions and less on treating episodic illness.

"It takes a lot of effort on the physicians' part and the practices' part," said Dr. Laura Long, BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina's chief medical officer. "They are really retooling how they work together."

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South Carolina Centralizes IT Oversight

The South Carolina Department of Revenue data breach in 2012 exposed 3.6 million Social Security numbers to hackers. While the rupture was disruptive and damaging to those whose data was compromised, the incident had a silver lining: It helped push forward a complete overhaul of South Carolina’s decentralized IT governance model.

Lawmakers passed the South Carolina Restructuring Act of 2014 earlier this year, giving the governor’s office more executive power. Legislators created a new cabinet agency – the Department of Administration and put state technology underneath the agency’s purview.

In addition, the South Carolina Legislature will have the power to evaluate the Department of Administration’s allocation and expenditure of funds, including the oversight of technology policy creation and implementation. The Department of Administration will officially come into existence on July 1, 2015. 

In an interview with Government Technology, State Sen. A. Shane Massey, explained that historically, the governor’s office hasn’t had a lot of power in South Carolina. While he felt that separation of powers was “good government,” Massey also believes it led to the Legislature doing “very little to look under the hood” of what’s going on in agencies, including technology issues.

“The hope is that this oversight will allow us to catch problems before they’ve become real problems and avoid some of these things going forward,” Massey said, referring to the 2012 data breach. “My belief is that if we had been doing regular oversight, somebody, somewhere, at some point, would have asked the Department of Revenue about their security. And that would have had them focusing on it before we ever got hacked.”

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County Council to Consider Economic Development Tuesday

Anderson County Council will hear a report on economic development from the Appalachian Council of Governments as part of the regular meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the historic courthouse downtown.

Council will also consider a number of tax incentives for businesses as part of the meeting. The public is invited.

Full Agenda Here

Road Construction Scheduled Off Clemson Boulevard

Crews said road construction will continue along Clemson Boulevard in Anderson County on Monday between Garrison Farm and Mays Road.

Crews advise drivers to expect lane closures and look for warning signs, equipment, and workers in the road.

Officials advise drivers to slow down, expect delays, and find an alternate route during the construction.

The road repair is expected to continue until September 20.

Heavy Rain Cancels Saturday ECP; to Resume Sunday

The old saying "the show must go on" held true Sunday at the Electric City Playhouse in Anderson.

Less than 24 hours after several inches of water flooded the community theatre and forced officials to reschedule a show, the curtains would rise again for the matinee performance of Why Do Fools Fall In Love.

When heavy rain and storms poured over Anderson on Saturday, the water seeped into the theater, soaking the auditorium, dressing room and offices, according to office manager Alan Lawton.

The deluge forced officials to cancel the Saturday evening performance, which has been rescheduled for Thursday at 8 p.m.

Lawton said theatre staff, performers and volunteers banded together to soak up and carry out the water.

Officials then called in a restoration company to dry the building.

By Sunday afternoon, Lawton said the auditorium had dried enough for performances to resume.

"We still have several drying units in other parts of the building," Lawton said, "but we will turn those off during the performance and then let the drying resume (Sunday) evening."

Atheist Maher Tells Charlie Rose: Islam not Like Christianity

Appearing on Charlie Rose's PBS show this week, HBO's "Real Time" host Bull Maher rebuked him for linking Islam to Christianity, defending Christians by saying a vast numbers of them do not believe in violence or treat women as second class citizens.

Maher, a self-proclaimed atheist, began by refuting former Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean's recent statement that vast numbers of Muslims are not like ISIS in Iraq and Syria, an al-Qaeda offshoot that seeks to form an Islamic emirate in the Levant region through "jihad."

Interrupting Maher, Rose asked, "Behind every Muslim is a future member of some radical?"

"Vast numbers of Christians do not believe that if you leave the Christian religion you should be killed for it," Maher responded. "Vast numbers of Christians do not treat women as second class citizens … Vast numbers of Christians do not believe if you draw a picture of Jesus Christ you should get killed for it. So yes, does ISIS do Khmer Rouge-like activities where they just kill people indiscriminately who aren't just like them? Yes. And would most Muslim people in the world do that or condone that? No."

Maher then quoted a Pew poll held in Egypt a few years ago, noting that 82 percent of respondents said stoning is the appropriate punishment for adultery, and over 80 percent thought death was the appropriate punishment for leaving the Muslim religion.

The comedian then added that to claim that Islam is like other religions is "just naive and plain wrong."

Maher also remarked that "we're upset that ISIS is beheading people which we should be upset about but Saudi Arabia does it and they're our good friends because they have oil."

Rose pointed out that Arab League nations are now also fighting ISIS. "They're joining us in the fight. As is the Emirates. As is Jordan. They are all Muslim countries."

Maher responded by saying, "Well, they are both fighting ISIS and they are for ISIS."

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Study: Angry Face Makes People Look Stronger

Lowered brow, thinned lips, and flared nostrils—we know an angry face when we see one.

“The expression is cross-culturally universal, and even congenitally blind children make this same face without ever having seen one,” says Aaron Sell, a lecturer at the School of Criminology at Griffith University in Australia and lead author of the study.

The anger expression employs seven distinct muscle groups that contract in a highly stereotyped manner. The researchers wanted to understand why evolution chose those particular muscle contractions to signal the emotional state of anger.

The current research is part of a larger set of studies that examine the evolutionary function of anger.

“Our earlier research showed that anger evolved to motivate effective bargaining behavior during conflicts of interest,” says Sell, formerly a postdoctoral scholar at UC Santa Barbara’s Center for Evolutionary Psychology.

The greater the harm an individual can inflict, notes Leda Cosmides, the more bargaining power he or she wields. Cosmides, professor of psychology at UC Santa Barbara, is a co-author on the study along with John Tooby, UC Santa Barbara professor of anthropology.

“This general bargaining-through-menace principle applies to humans as well,” says Tooby. “In earlier work we were able to confirm the predictions that stronger men anger more easily, fight more often, feel entitled to more unequal treatment, resolve conflicts more in their own favor, and are even more in favor of military solutions than are physically weak men.”

Starting from the hypothesis that anger is a bargaining emotion, the researchers reasoned that the first step is communicating to the other party that the anger-triggering event is not acceptable, and the conflict will not end until an implicit agreement is reached.

This, they say, is why the emotion of anger has a facial expression associated with it.

“But the anger face not only signals the onset of a conflict,” says Sell. “Any distinctive facial display could do that. We hypothesized that the anger face evolved its specific form because it delivers something more for the expresser: each element is designed to help intimidate others by making the angry individual appear more capable of delivering harm if not appeased.”

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County Board of Education to Consider Bonds for Dist. 4

The Anderson County Board of Education will meet Monday at 6 p.m. in the Foothills Community Foundation Meeting Room, 907 North Main Street.

A bond issue for Anderson School District Four and a report from the Anderson County Alternative School part of the agenda

Plight of Christians in Mideast Will Have Dire Consequences

In response to the plight of Middle East Christians fleeing from their homes in the wake of extremism and terror brought by the Islamic State and other terrorists groups, Christian leaders and advocates called on modern Muslim community leaders against radical Islam and warned that the plight of Christians could have disastrous consequences in the Middle East.

"The stakes are enormous," said Edward Clancy, director of outreach for the humanitarian organization Aid to the Church In Need, on Thursday. "Christianity might entirely disappear from the very region of its birth. Such a disaster would not only mean the loss of ancient patrimony, it would also mean the demise of a key player to society dominated by Islam and unfortunately dominated by a radical Islam that seeks to kill and destroy rather than to live side by side."

A top priest among Jordanian Christians said that Christianity needs support now that Christians are fleeing by the masses or suffering the consequences. He called out the modern Muslim community telling them it is time for them to help lead the charge against extremism and promote religious co-existence.

"Christians of the Middle East are an integral part and that integral part should take the lead in building our region and confronting extremism," The Very Reverend Father Nabil Haddad said. "Today I would like to issue a statement that calls on Muslim leaders of good will to work hand-in-hand with us to put an end to the current ordeal in the Christian population and we need to build a new era where all must be a part of an alliance."

Clancy and Father Haddad, along with the other panelists at the In Defense of Christians summit, said Christians are too important to the Middle East to let the Islamic State and other radical groups run them out of the region.

Since Christians provide quality education, health care and development that benefits all society within the region, the ongoing plight of Christians from the Middle East puts "future of mankind" at risk, said Maronite Foundation's Nehmet Frem.

Frem had a message for Muslim leaders, "It is literally in the Quran as much as the Gospel that creates the harmony between brotherhood, brothers. This century we'll be saved. The millenium will be built on the values of inclusion and acceptance."

Edward Clancy, director of outreach for Aid to the Church In Need, explains wire Christianity is dire in the Middle East on a panel at the inaugural In Defense of Christians summit in Washington, D.C.

Clancy explained that with Christians in the Middle East everyone has a "greater chance of survival." 

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NYT: S.C. DSS Under Scrutiny Before Killing of 5 Chidren

The state child welfare agency that investigated whether a South Carolina father was capable of caring for his five children before he allegedly killed them and dumped their bodies in rural Alabama has itself been under scrutiny in recent months, facing allegations of botching similar cases that resulted in child deaths.

The department’s leadership will be asked to justify its handling of the case of the five siblings in a State Senate subcommittee hearing on Tuesday.

“We intend to ask a lot of questions,” said Senator Joel Lourie, a Democrat and member of the panel. “This is a tragic, horrific situation.”

The scrutiny comes as Gov. Nikki R. Haley of South Carolina, a Republican who has faced sharp criticism for more than a year over her handling of the department, runs for re-election. Her Democratic opponent, Vincent Sheheen, who trails badly in polls in an overwhelmingly Republican state, had been running television ads before the five siblings’ deaths saying the department had failed to protect vulnerable children.

Documents released this week show that the South Carolina Department of Social Services investigated two reports this year that Timothy R. Jones Jr., a 32-year-old engineer who was raising his children in a Lexington, S.C., trailer home, had physically abused them. The children were not removed from Mr. Jones’s custody in either case, nor were they removed after an investigation into the conditions of the home Mr. Jones made with his wife at the time in 2011 and 2012.

Long before Tuesday, when the authorities said Mr. Jones helped lead them to the bodies, South Carolina’s social services department had come in for sustained criticism from an array of Democratic and Republican state legislators.

Earlier this year, during a number of high-profile hearings by the Senate subcommittee, Mr. Lourie said he and his colleagues determined that department managers were fixated on meeting quotas in an effort to reduce the number of children in foster care, resulting in some children being removed from such care and returned to unsafe homes.

Mismanagement led to plummeting morale, Mr. Lourie said, with many caseworkers quitting. Some of those who remained, he said, found themselves dangerously overloaded with cases.

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