Charleston Currents – Andy Brack

Articles by: Andy Brack

BRACK: What really needs to happen with General Assembly’s nuclear mess

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Until state legislators go through the five stages of grief over the $9 billion failure of building two nuclear reactors, they might just screw up things worse.

It’s easy to see where they are, so far, six months after the announcement by Santee Cooper and SCANA that the project in Fairfield County wouldn’t get off the ground, despite ratepayers paying more for power over the last 10 years.

First is the denial stage – that it couldn’t happen here. Evidence of this is the prodigious finger-pointing as everybody and his brother look for scapegoats.

by Andy Brack · 01/29/2018 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

MYSTERY PHOTO: Where is this?

Here’s an old photo that might bring back some memories to people in a particular part of South Carolina. Where is it? What is it? Send your guess to editor@charlestoncurrents.com with “Mystery Photo” in the subject line. Please make sure to include your name and contact information.

by Andy Brack · 01/29/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos

At a corner in Selma, Ala., near the National Park Service's Selma Interpretative Center. The youths on the trip can be seen in the background.

BRACK: Teaching more about civil rights era will bring us together

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | A teenager almost started to cry Jan. 14 as she read a passage from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s 1963 “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Her white peers, normally boisterous, were markedly subdued as they witnessed stark museum displays of what life was like for black Southerners during civil rights struggles.

One thing was clear for more than two dozen Charleston youths on a church trip to learn about the South’s special kind of past apartheid: They had no real understanding about what it was like to live in the Jim Crow South of 60 years ago. They didn’t learn it from textbooks and lessons in school. They had no real concept of the flashes of vitriol, hate and anger that rocked many Southern communities as they wrestled with civil rights and big cultural changes following World War II.

by Andy Brack · 01/22/2018 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

FEEDBACK: New woodworking group starting in West Ashley

Michael Kaynard, Charleston: “My interest in woodworking was purely defensive. I knew my wife would be retiring within the year and I needed a hobby. When I was turning 65, I asked for a chop saw for my birthday. What I really wanted was a miter saw but didn’t know enough about tools to ask for the right tool.

“Now it’s been a year and a half or so and I have reached my limit of incompetence. I don’t like reading text or watching YouTube to learn new techniques. I need to be shown how to do things.”

by Andy Brack · 01/22/2018 · 2 comments · Feedback

CALENDAR, Jan. 16+: On breaking barriers, restaurants, comedy and jazz

Staff reports | Former S.C. Rep. Lucille Whipper of Mount Pleasant and Charleston business leader Linda Ketner, two recent recipients of Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Charleston NAACP, will share their experiences breaking barriers in South Carolina at Charleston’s Emanuel AME Church in a forum that starts 6 p.m. Jan. 23. The talk will be moderated by Patricia Williams Lessane, a cultural anthropologist and the executive director of the Avery Research Center at the College of Charleston. Several other community events also are listed on the calendar. Click headline for more.

by Andy Brack · 01/16/2018 · Comments are Disabled · calendar

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivering a speech.

BRACK: How South Carolina influenced King

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | With the Martin Luther King holiday still fresh in our minds, it’s a good time to look at how South Carolina influenced King – and how he influenced the Palmetto State.

Many people don’t realize South Carolina provided sanctuary for King and his supporters. He used Penn Center on St. Helena Island as a retreat to think and compose. While state officials in many parts of the South interfered with King, his South Carolina base for reflection helped usher in the civil rights movement.

by Andy Brack · 01/16/2018 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

MYSTERY PHOTO: Cloudy bridge

Here’s a bridge outside of South Carolina that you might recognize. But where is it? Send your best guess – plus your name and hometown – to editor@charlestoncurrents.com. In the subject line, write: “Mystery Photo guess.”

by Andy Brack · 01/16/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Mystery Photo, Photos

BRACK: Cartoonist Ariail loves doodling, drawing about S.C. politics

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Award-winning South Carolina political cartoonist Robert Ariail has been having a jolly old time lampooning politicians for more than three decades.

As state legislators prepare to get back into the policy swing of things next week, we thought you might enjoy learning more about Ariail’s craft of illustrating an editorial comment, often with a little humor added for good measure.

Q: Describe what makes a good political cartoon?

ARIAIL: I think a good political cartoon should be topical and easily understood while imparting a valid message or opinion using good drawing style and, when possible, humor.

by Andy Brack · 01/08/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Preserve, conserve S.C.’s beauty by getting involved

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | The beauty and majesty of South Carolina’s natural assets from the mountains to the sea are a part of what makes the state great. But unless people, including state legislators, take ongoing steps to keep what makes South Carolina special, then we risk losing what we’ve got.

To ensure the state’s natural attractions remain viable, you should get involved at local and state levels to conserve and preserve what’s makes South Carolina great.

Locally, you can pay attention to what’s happening in city and county council proceedings to check development and to make sure local governments abide by smart growth strategies. You can write letters to the editor, attend meetings, run for office when you see a wrong or just speak up when talking with friends and neighbors.

by Andy Brack · 01/01/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: #FakeNews is a fake phenomenon

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | There is no such thing as #FakeNews.

There is, however, a cynical, national political strategy called #FakeNews. It is a continuing attempt by President Trump and his cronies to promote public disbelief in information that these politicos don’t like or that makes them look bad.

The whole “#FakeNews” phenomenon is nothing more than a public relations ultra-spin to kill the messenger AND the message.

Before you shout #FakeNews or #RealNews, please realize neither exists. Either something is news or it is not. That which is not news either doesn’t measure up as something that’s new, factual and interesting. Or it is something titillating that is simply made up, a fiction.

The job of a reporter is to provide new information based on facts (hence, “news”) with which you might not be familiar so you can keep informed. Facts are bits of verifiable information. For example, Clemson will play in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1. That’s a verifiable fact. But it’s also a fact that a Clemson coach hopes the team will win. Sure, that’s an opinion of the coach, but it’s a fact that it is his opinion.

by Andy Brack · 12/18/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views