Charleston Currents

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Former U.S. Sen. Fritz Hollings at a 2008 event at the University of South Carolina.

BRACK: Enjoying Fritz Hollings’ colorful language again

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | More than a decade after South Carolina’s Fritz Hollings left the United States Senate, people still talk about how he would talk about things.

Whenever Hollings took the floor of the Senate to make a speech, staffers would often stop their day-to-day business and watch on the Senate’s internal television network to listen to what he would say.

“That’s like delivering lettuce by way of a rabbit,” Hollings could be heard when discussing something dysfunctional about government spending.

by Andy Brack · 08/29/2016 · 3 comments · Andy Brack, Views

MORRIS: Identity theft and your role in protecting your data

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is the U.S. government’s central repository for identity (ID) theft complaints and provides victim assistance and consumer education. In 2014, one billion records – Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, health records, and private photos — were taken. Forty percent of all identity thefts are tax- or wage-related.

In 2015, the IRS “Get Transcript” data breach involved potentially 724,000 compromised accounts. The thieves were able to transcend a multi-step authentication process that required prior personal knowledge about the taxpayers. There was also an additional step where several personal identity verification questions typically only known by the taxpayer were correctly answered.

by Kyra Morris · 08/29/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Money, Views

BRACK: On Sanford, unemployment, airport parking, bike lane and Trump

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | A bunch of headlines — some good, some not — scream out for some kind of commentary, so let’s dive right in.

Our congressman, Republican U.S. Rep. Mark Sanford, offered a self-serving opinion piece/lecture of Aug. 15 in The New York Times that urged his party’s presidential standard bearer, Donald Trump, to release his federal income tax returns.

He’s right, particularly to suggest that Trump’s “obstinacy” in releasing returns would have dramatic impacts in down-ballot elections and in future elections because others wouldn’t feel they had to be as transparent as candidates in the past.

by Andy Brack · 08/22/2016 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

LIFE: Five easy ways to get to know your neighbors

By Ben Fanning, contributing editor | I smelled something so awful on the floor of our New York City apartment building; I knew our neighbor must be dead. I called the police to report it, and they asked her name…

I didn’t know.

Fortunately, about that time, I opened the microwave to discover it was 3-day old broccoli. I was relieved, yet embarrassed that I didn’t know who the heck my neighbor was.

Do you know your neighbor’s name?

According to a Harris Survey only 53 percent of Americans do. This reveals a big problem.

by Ben Fanning · 08/22/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Careers, Views

Winter, center, at a Mississippi church service. Images courtesy of the William Winter Institute for Racial Reconciliation.

BRACK: We need more inspirational leaders like William Winter

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Whenever there’s a letter or card in the mail from Mississippi, it’s bound to be inspirational. And it’s bound to be from a guy you might not have heard of but should know more about.

Meet former Mississippi Gov. William F. Winter, a public sector healer whose decency, goodness and vision for a better South gently motivates people to be kinder and more accepting of each other.

by Andy Brack · 08/15/2016 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Red or blue? How will S.C. vote in the fall?

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Improbable as it may seem, there’s a slim chance South Carolina could vote blue in November and send its nine electoral votes to Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

There’s no way we could ever have written that sentence a year ago — heck, even two months ago. But with the campaign of GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump in a political free fall of biblical proportions, anything seems possible as moderate Republicans and independents are finding it harder to stomach Trump’s hubris, arrogance and fear-mongering.

by Andy Brack · 08/08/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Sales tax holiday gimmick is here again

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Pens, pencils and paper. Blankets, bed spreads and shower curtains. Adult diapers, bonnets, bridal gowns, corsets, costumes, earmuffs, ice skates, ski boots and tuxedos.

All are among the 100-plus exempt items that can be purchased Aug. 5-7 without paying the 6 percent state sales tax during South Carolina’s 17th sales tax holiday. Consumers will save an estimated $2.25 million in the state tax plus any local sales tax that may apply.

by Andy Brack · 08/01/2016 · 2 comments · Andy Brack, Views

BRACK: Trump’s rise rooted in S.C. politics

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Turn the pages of South Carolina history to about 50 years ago if you want to better understand the rise of Donald Trump, the current GOP presidential candidate who is fueling rage across America.

Back in 1968, America was changing. African Americans, long disenfranchised across the South, had won major civil rights victories. They were voting, going to integrated schools and starting to move into “white” neighborhoods. It was a big change for the white South.

A key Republican Party strategist at the time, Harry S. Dent Sr. from South Carolina, recognized how the political playing field was shifting and translated it for impact. He became a major architect of Republican Richard Nixon’s so-called “Southern strategy,” which successfully sought to win white votes in the solid Democratic South by appealing to fears and prejudices of white Southern voters upset by changes caused by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

by Andy Brack · 07/25/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Andy Brack, Views

Photographer Bill Hawker of Sydney, Australia, captured this shot outside the Tower of London around the time of the Brexit vote.

MORRIS: What’s going on post-Brexit and what it means

By Kyra Morris, contributing editor | History was made June 23 of this year when the United Kingdom (UK) voted to leave the European Union (EU). For two days after the so-called “Brexit” vote, the U.S. stock market offered buying opportunities.

The DOW fell over 600 points on the June 25 and another nearly 300 points on the following Monday. Then the rebound began. Within the following month, the S&P and the DOW not only regained their pre-Brexit levels, but went on to achieve record highs. International markets since the vote – everywhere but the UK — also rebounded. This include both developed and emerging markets. This is only one month. Does it give us any idea of what to expect going forward?

by Kyra Morris · 07/25/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Money, Views

BRACK: The recoil of hope

By Andy Brack, editor and publisher | Some of the most welcoming places I’ve ever been are Southern black churches on Sunday mornings — halls of worship filled with bright eyes, toothy smiles and genuine warmth.

They have been places where the bonds of close-knit communities seem tangible, where voices lift to shake rafters and where a spirit of togetherness provides palpable strength to those in the room.

by Andy Brack · 07/17/2016 · 1 comment · Andy Brack, Views