Monday, November 7, 2011

Wealth Gap Between Oldest And Youngest Is Widest Ever

WASHINGTON — The wealth gap between younger and older Americans has stretched to the widest on record, worsened by a prolonged economic downturn that has wiped out job opportunities for young adults and saddled them with housing and college debt.

The typical U.S. household headed by a person age 65 or older has a net worth 47 times greater than a household headed by someone under 35, according to an analysis of census data released Monday.

While people typically accumulate assets as they age, this wealth gap is now more than double what it was in 2005 and nearly five times the 10-to-1 disparity a quarter-century ago, after adjusting for inflation.

Black, Asian Teens Have Lowest Rates Of Drug And Alcohol Use

Nov. 7 — Black and Asian teenagers in the U.S. are less likely to use alcohol or drugs than adolescents of other races, a study found.

The survey of 72,561 teens found that American Indian youth had the highest level of drug or alcohol use, with 48 percent reporting they had used the substances in the past year. That was followed by 39 percent of whites, 37 percent of Hispanics, 36 percent mixed-race teens, 32 percent of blacks and 24 percent of Asians, according to the research published today in Archives of General Psychiatry.

Wireless Service Taxes Hit D.C., Maryland The Hardest

Did you know: Maryland (11^th) and the District of Columbia (15^th) are among the top 20 states with the most expensive wireless services?

A special report released by Tax Analysts, a non-profit provider of tax news and analysis, offers a detailed picture of the problem. If you live in Maryland, the combined federal-state local tax rate on your wireless services is 17.28% – and in D.C. the combined rate is 16.63% (as of July 2010). Wireless taxes in Maryland are about 6.3% higher than the national average and in D.C. about 2.3% higher.

Police Beat Teenage Black Girl For Riding Bike

A Majority Of Black Jobless No Longer Receiving Unemployment

A majority of Black unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits.
In early 2010, 75 percent of Black unemployed were receiving benefits. Now, only 48 percent receive unemployment, a shift that highlights the nation’s issues with long tern unemployment.

Supreme Court to look at life in prison for juveniles

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to decide whether juveniles convicted of killing someone may be locked up for life with no chance of parole, a follow-up to last year's ruling barring such sentences for teenagers whose crimes do not include killing.

The justices will examine a pair of cases from the South involving young killers who are serving life sentences for crimes they committed when they were 14.

Both cases were brought by the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Ala. The institute said that life without parole for children so young "is cruel and unusual" and violates the Constitution.

The group says roughly six dozen people in 18 states are under life sentences and ineligible for parole for crimes they committed at 13 or 14.

Who Killed Biggie Smalls?

A retired LAPD detective who worked on the case says he knows.

Investigations into the shocking murders of hip-hop stars Tupac Shakur and Biggie Smalls was shelved prematurely, according to a retired LAPD detective who said he knows who is responsible.

His new book "Murder Rap" points the finger at hip-hop mogul Suge Knight as responsible for ordering the hit on Christopher Wallace, better known as Biggie Smalls.

"This is the definitive account," said author and retired LAPD detective Greg Kading. "I think that right now is the time when this should be looked at to promote prosecution"

Kading retired in 2010 to write the book.

"At the time, I realized these cases were both shelved, and there was no proactive effort to solve them," Kading said.

A Bright Economic Outlook: Kool Smiles Plans to Hire Nearly 100 South Carolina Residents in the Next 12 Months

Increased Patient Demand Fueling Expansion Plans for Leading Dental Health Provider

ORANGEBURG, S.C., Nov. 7, 2011 -- – While the monthly news from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics reports slow – if any – job growth, Kool Smiles is pleased to announce plans to hire nearly 100 new employees for its South Carolina offices within the next 12 months. A leading

dental health provider for children and adults, Kool Smiles has seen an increase in patients through positive patient referrals and will continue to expand to meet the growing demand.

FBI Joins Search for Missing 2-Year-old Washington Boy

The FBI has joined the search for a 2-year-old Washington state boy who was last seen by his mother inside a parked car.

Sky Metalwala was reported missing Sunday morning after his mother discovered him missing from her car in Bellevue, Wash.

The child's mother, Julia Biryukova, told police that she had run out of gas and left the boy buckled into his car seat while she and her 4-year-old daughter walked to a Chevron gas station, about a mile away.

Conrad Murray guilty in death of Michael Jackson

Cardiologist Conrad Murray has been convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the drug-overdose death of Michael Jackson. Prosecutors accused him of administering a fatal dose of the powerful anesthetic propofol to the King of Pop.

The judge ordered Murray held without bail until sentencing Nov. 29.

D.A.: Conrad Murray unlikely to serve 'appropriate' sentence

It is unlikely that Dr. Conrad Murray will serve a lengthy stint behind bars, L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said Monday after the physician’s conviction in the death of Michael Jackson.

Cooley said legislation that calls for some state prison inmates to be returned to county jails will probably mean that Murray -– who was handcuffed and taken into custody after his conviction -– will probably not serve “an appropriate sentence.”

Murray faces a maximum term of four years in prison when he is sentenced Nov. 29.

SC's new voter ID law could hit GOP seniors

BLUFFTON, S.C. -- South Carolina's new voter ID law could affect an unlikely group: older white voters who have higher incomes, are reliably Republican and live in retirement homes and gated golf communities along the state's southern coast, according to an analysis by The Associated Press.

There are roughly 217,000 active voters in the state who do not have a driver's license or state ID card, election officials said. Of those, almost a third are 65 or older, and nearly 1,600 of them live in precincts in Beaufort County's Sun City retirement community or affluent neighborhoods nearby, according to AP's analysis.

The Corporate Welfare State

The Occupy Wall Street protesters aren't good at articulating what they want, but one of their demands is "end corporate welfare." Well, welcome aboard. Some of us have been fighting crony capitalism for decades, and it's good to have new allies if liberals have awakened to the dangers of the corporate welfare state.

Corporate welfare is the offer of special favors—cash grants, loans, guarantees, bailouts and special tax breaks—to specific industries or firms. The government doesn't track the overall cost of these programs, but in 2008 the Cato Institute made an attempt and came up with $92 billion for fiscal 2006, which is more than the U.S. government spends on homeland security.

New census measure shows aid programs are helping poor children

A new, more accurate way of measuring poverty shows that antipoverty programs are working to keep children from falling into absolute deprivation.

The U.S. Census Bureau released a supplemental poverty measure Monday that shows children's poverty is at lower levels than previously calculated, thanks to food stamps and other programs aimed at helping families survive.

"It looks like the programs are targeted well at families with children, bringing many up out of poverty," said Kathleen Short, the Census Bureau economist who wrote the report.

At the same time, the report shows that the number of elderly living in poverty is much higher than previously calculated.

49.1 million people are poor, new Census estimates show

The ranks of America's poor are greater than previously known, reaching a new level of 49.1 million — or 16%— due to rising medical costs and other expenses that make it harder for people to stay afloat, according to new Census estimates.

Based on the revised formula, the number of poor people exceeds the record 46.2 million, or 15.1%, that was officially reported in September.

Banning Sodas At School Not Enough, Say Experts

Although children are not buying sugary drinks at school because of state bans, their overall consumption of such beverages does not seem to have dropped, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago reported in Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine after carrying out a study involving nearly seven thousand pupils in 40 US states.

Emergency warning test coming to every radio and TV in the nation

This is only a test. Seriously.

That's what the Federal Emergency Management Agency wants the public to know about the first nationwide test of the emergency alert system, scheduled for Wednesday.

The decades-old warning system is often tested locally, but it’s never been tested on every radio and TV station in the country at the same time, according to FEMA.

The agency is trying to get the word out about the test to avoid unnecessary alarm like, say, the panic caused by Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast of a fictional Martian invasion in New Jersey.

Officials also want to prevent the test from tying up 911 phone lines.

"We have alerted our 911 call centers about the possibility for increased call volume during the Nov. 9 test,'' Alisa Simmons, a spokeswoman for the 911 network in Tarrant County, Texas, said in a statement appealing to the public not to call to inquire about the exercise.

Wednesday's 30-second test, which will sound and look like the familiar local tests, will begin at 2 p.m. EST (11 a.m. PST). Some 30,000 radio and TV operations will participate in the test.

Federal officials considered a three-minute test but decided on 30 seconds "to reduce any potential disruptions to the American people, while still maintaining our ability to test the system's nationwide capabilities," said FEMA spokeswoman Rachel Racusen.

Woods: Williams apologized over racial slur

Tiger Woods says he has received an apology from former caddie Steve Williams over a racial slur, and the two met and shook hands Tuesday at The Lakes Golf Club ahead of the Australian Open.

At a caddies' awards party last week, Williams talked about a television interview he gave following his new employer Adam Scott's win at the Bridgestone Invitational, saying "it was my aim to shove it up that black a---."

Woods said Tuesday the comment "was hurtful ... the wrong thing to say, and something that he has acknowledged. Stevie is not racist."

The world is talking, are you listening?

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Engaged couple discover they are brother and sister when their parents meet just before wedding

An engaged couple who dated for five years have been left in turmoil after their families met and they discovered they were brother and sister.

The woman, who is due to give birth next month, is devastated by the discovery that the father of her child is her brother.

The couple, who met at university, had decided they wanted to introduce their single parent families to each other before they got married.

It reported: 'Their parents separated when the woman was eight months old and the man was two years old.

'The man's father said he dumped his wife in 1983 because she was cheating on him. The girl was raised by her mother, while her brother was raised by his father.

'Neither of them knew they had a sibling.'

Case of missing Jhessye Shockley reaches 3-week mark

Sources inside the Shockley family tell CBS 5 News that Jhessye wasn't in
school for a week and a half before she disappeared.

Family members say Jhessye's mother, Jerice Hunter, told the school Jhessye had ringworm.
Police said Monday the girl's mother is not a suspect.

Glendale police Det. Jeff Daukas tells CBS 5 Hunter's polygraph test has not yet been scheduled. Daukas says it will be conducted by the FBI or Glendale police.

Jhessye Shockley has been missing since Oct. 11 after police believe she wandered from her apartment in Glendale, outside Phoenix, while her mother was running an errand.

Ultrasound of patient’s testicles reveals startling image of a man in agony

Doctors at a Canadian hospital found a shocking image staring right back at them as they were scanning the testicles of a 45-year-old paraplegic man. The image of one of the testicles, shown above, looks like a man's face grimaced in agony.

"It was very ghoulish, like a man screaming in pain," Dr. Naji Touma of Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario told The Toronto Star. "His mouth was open and it looked like one eye was gouged out."

The image, taken in 2009, was sent to the medical journal "Urology," and was recently published with the headline, "The face of testicular pain: A surprising ultrasound finding."

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ultrasound-patient-s-testicles-reveals-startling-image-a-man-agony-article-1.971604#ixzz1cwpbAsZS

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/ultrasound-patient-s-testicles-reveals-startling-image-a-man-agony-article-1.971604#ixzz1cwozzart

Arrest warrant issued for WR Terrell Owens

An arrest warrant was issued for Terrell Owens after he failed to show up for a court date regarding
child support payments.

Diana Bianchini, a spokeswoman for Owens, said Saturday the free-agent wide receiver tried to reschedule an Oct. 24 hearing in Contra Costa County Court because he had set up a televised workout in the hopes of hooking on with an NFL club. No teams attended the workout.

According to Bianchini, Owens was looking for a new attorney and was representing himself while trying to change the court date. She said his new attorneys will deal with the warrant issued this week.

Oklahoma quake buckles highway, damages several homes

No serious injuries had been reported as of midnight after the 5.6 magnitude earthquake near Oklahoma City, but a major highway buckled in three places, at least three homes sustained major damage and others had roof and chimney damage, officials said.

U.S. Highway 62, which crosses Lincoln County, buckled west of Prague, Okla., according to Aaron Bennett, a dispatcher with Lincoln County 911 and emergency management.

"There's a boulder the size of an SUV in a rural road," Bennett said, noting the quake had left many coping with "a lot of broken glass and ceiling tiles."

NBA Offers Players up to 51 Percent of Revenue

NBA players have an offer that could get them up to 51 percent of basketball-related income.
They rejected it Saturday, and if they don't take it by the close of business Wednesday, they'll get a proposal that would guarantee them just 47 percent and call for a flex salary cap.

Could Michael Jordan impede labor progress?

Charlotte Bobcats owner Michael Jordan is reportedly leading a faction of hard-line NBA owners that will urge the league not to make any more concessions to the players, according to a report in the New York Times. The group of 10 to 14 owners is reportedly upset that the league has proposed a 50-50 split of basketball-related income with the players and would likely vote against such an agreement.

North Charleston plant churns out bullet-proof vehicles for diplomats, CEOs

The 30,000-square-foot Fain Street factory and its 32 employees churn out 10 to 14 bullet-resistant vehicles a month on its single production line, but by late next summer Streit USA Armoring plans to expand, add two assembly lines and eventually 40 new employees to its payroll.

The auto armorer will leave the leased building where it has bullet-proofed about 125 vehicles a year since 2007 and will build a new, 75,000-square-foot, company-owned facility on eight acres along Palmetto Commerce Parkway beside the Daimler van assembly plant.

Does it pay to drive a cab in D.C.? A look at the fair wage debate in the nation’s capital

“Basically, we’re getting slammed out here,” he says, swinging his 2003 Grand Marquis to the curb recently. “If cabbies are a little grumpier these days, there’s a reason. We’re hurting.”

The District of Columbia implemented a new meter system and fares three years ago, and today few, if any, major U.S. cities offer such a sweet deal for the riding public. On the other hand, as Frankel, 58, and his cabbies have argued loudly ever since, the flipside is that cabbies are being shortchanged with virtually every fare.

6 Reasons Why You Can't Lose Weight

Do you feel like you've done everything you can but still don't seem
to lose weight? Chances are, you're not doing the right things. Americans are more confused than ever about how to effectively lose weight and keep it off. Furthermore, many people are surprised to learn that the seemingly insignificant choices they make every day can negatively affect their goal of losing weight. Are you guilty of any of these behaviors?

DC program turns vacant buildings into apartments

Named Sweat Equity, the program is centered in the poorest of part of the city, the southeast neighborhood just about five miles away from the White House. It takes homeless D.C. residents on temporary assistance and gives them jobs renovating vacant buildings owned by the city. Upon completion, participants can live in the buildings for two years rent-controlled. Though it is still a pilot program, officials with the Department of Homeland Securtiy have seen results, giving them hope it will become a permanent fixture for getting those on public assistance back into the workforce.

16-year-old girl shot repeatedly, killed in Philly

Teen Girl Shot, Killed in Norristown

Forgotten Negro league players finally get recognition

Amid headstones of chiseled and polished granite, at a Topeka Kansas Cemetery, Jeremy Krock, an Illinois Anesthesiologist, has purchased a new marker and is working hard to give a name to some African-American baseball heroes, who were invisible in death. Many of those men never became household names like their white counterparts, and sadly, some of those black players passed away and hardly anyone noticed, until now.

Click here to view a slideshow of some of the nameless Negro Leaguers being honored

"They played in anonymity and I don't want to see them buried forever in anonymity," said Krock. "To know that these players are out there and to know where they're buried and to just walk out there and see a plot of grass is an injustice."

Declining numbers of Blacks seen in math, science

With Black unemployment reaching historic levels, banks laying off tens of thousands and law school graduates waiting tables, why aren't more Blacks looking toward science, technology, engineering and math—the still-hiring careers known as STEM?

The answer turns out to be a complex equation of self-doubt, stereotypes, discouragement and economics—and sometimes just wrong perceptions of what math and science are all about.

“White men make up less than 50 percent of the U.S. population. We're drawing (future scientists) from less than 50 percent of the talent we have available,” says Mae Jemison, the first Black woman astronaut, who has a medical degree and a bachelor's in chemical engineering.

“The more people you have in STEM,” she says, “the more innovations you'll get.”

Saturday, November 5, 2011

The McRib Is Actually The McPigIntestines

Analyzing the contents of the mysterious sandwich. The reconstituted pork-based patty probably contains tripe, heart, and scalded stomachs. That may sound a bit gross to some, but they're all edible meats already found in products like sausages.

Rapper RoseMo Killed After Twitter Beef WorldStar Video

LOS ANGELES — Jomo Adoula Zambia who rapped under the name, “RoseMo,” was killed in Los Angeles, California while
driving his car.

Boxing Legend Joe Frazier Seriously Ill With Liver Cancer

PHILADELPHIA — Former heavyweight champion Joe Frazier has liver cancer and is under hospice care.

The 67-year-old boxer was diagnosed four or five weeks ago, Frazier’s personal and business manager said Saturday. Leslie Wolff told The Associated Press that doctors have not yet told Frazier how long he has to live.

City In The Dark! Unable To Pay Bill, Michigan City Turns Off Lights

HIGHLAND PARK, Mich. — As the sun dips below the rooftops each evening, parts of this Detroit enclave turn to pitch black, the only illumination coming from a few streetlights at the end of the block or from glowing yellow yard globes.

It wasn’t always this way. But when the debt-ridden community could no longer afford its monthly electric bill, elected officials not only turned off 1,000 streetlights. They had them ripped out — bulbs, poles and all. Now nightfall cloaks most neighborhoods in inky darkness.

More People Joined Credit Unions In Last Month Than In All Of 2010

At least 650,000 people joined credit unions since September 29th, the day Bank of America announced it would charge a $5 per month fee to use their debt card for purchases starting in 2012. The bank has since killed that idea after all the negative feedback they received from it.

Man Says He Was Fired For Hiring Black Cashiers At Bread Shop

PITTSBURGH — A white man claims he was fired as manager of a suburban Panera Bread shop for repeatedly having a black man work the cash register instead of putting him in a less visible location and having “pretty young girls” be the cashiers.

Andy Rooney dead at 92

Andy Rooney, the "60 Minutes" commentator known to generations for his wry, humorous and contentious television essays - a unique genre he is credited with inventing - died Friday night in a hospital in New York City of complications following minor surgery. He was 92, and had homes in New York City, Rensselaerville, N.Y. and Rowayton, Conn.

Large asteroid between Earth and the moon

Astronomers are keeping a very close eye on an asteroid which will pass between Earth and the moon in a few day's time. It's about 400 metres in diameter, and nothing that big has come quite as close to hitting earth for decades.

Earthquake, multiple aftershocks rattle central Oklahoma

The earthquake was the second-largest in Oklahoma history, seismologist Austin Holland said.

Around 3 million gather on Mount Arafat for Haj

ARAFA: As many as three million pilgrims gathered on Sunday on the historic Mount Arafat and its surrounding plain, marking the peak of the annual Haj pilgrimage.

Swarms of pilgrims who had spent the night in Mina on Friday headed towards Arafa to attend the day long stay, praying to God and chanting in unison: "Allah, I am responding to your call,"

Most of the unemployed no longer receive benefits

Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for year or more

The jobs crisis has left so many people out of work for so long that most of America's unemployed are no longer receiving unemployment benefits.

Early last year, 75 percent were receiving checks. The figure is now 48 percent — a shift that points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment. Nearly one-third of America's 14 million unemployed have had no job for a year or more.

Former caddie Williams makes racial inference to Tiger

Steve Williams received a mock award Friday night for "Celebration of the Year" for his TV interview after Adam Scott won the Bridgestone Invitational. That was the day Williams said it was "the best win of his life," despite being on the bag with Woods for 13 majors.

At an awards party filled with banter, Williams said of his interview, "It was my aim to shove it right up that black a------."

NYPD Teams With FBI To Bust Harlem Gang

Investigators took down a violent street gang this week whose members are accused of terrorizing Central Harlem and stashing guns all over the neighborhood.

The New York City Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation recovered about 20 guns. Officials said Friday that dozens of people could have easily been killed with just two of them: a TEC-9 and a Chinese military semiautomatic rifle.
The members are accused of using violence to defend their drug-dealing territory near West 129th Street and Lenox Avenue.

Earthquakes have a bigger health toll than other disasters

There are more than a million earthquakes, of varying severity, around the world each year.
As well as the immediate deaths, many people receive serious injuries which cannot be treated because of the quake damage to infrastructure.

The Lancet review says children are often at particularly high risk.

Chickenpox lollipops? Some moms may be sending in mail

You’ve probably heard of "chickenpox parties," where parents get unvaccinated kids together (in the home of an infected child) in the hopes they'll catch the disease. They think making their kids suffer through the disease will help them develop stronger immunity than immunization would provide.

But now the buzz is all about people shipping objects that have been contaminated with the chickenpox virus to people who live too far away to attend a pox party.

A Phoenix TV station last week reported that a Facebook page called “Find a Pox Party in Your Area” was helping to arrange shipments of contaminated objects—jammies, blankets, suckers.

But shortly after the Phoenix story ran, the “pox party” FB page posted a warning:

Johnson & Johnson Baby Shampoo Has Cancer-Causing Chemicals, Group Says

TRENTON, N.J. -- Two chemicals considered harmful to babies remain in Johnson & Johnson's baby shampoo sold in the U.S., even though the company already makes versions without them, according to a coalition of health and environmental groups.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has unsuccessfully been urging the world's largest health care company for 2 1/2 years to remove the trace amounts of potentially cancer-causing chemicals – dioxane and a substance called quaternium-15 that releases formaldehyde – from Johnson's Baby Shampoo, one of its signature products.

Johnson & Johnson said it is reducing or gradually phasing out the chemicals, but did not respond directly to the campaign's demands.

South Carolina women get life for toddler's death

Two South Carolina women will spend the rest of their lives in prison for beating a toddler to death in 2009, a sentence that fits their crime, the case's prosecutor said on Friday.

Erika Mae Butts and Shanita Latrice Cunningham, both 25, each received a life sentence from a Charleston judge on Thursday, two years to the day after 3-year-old Serenity Richardson died while in their care.

They pleaded guilty to the crime in August.

'Scared' bus drivers return to work in Detroit

Public buses resumed rolling on the city's streets Friday afternoon after Detroit's mayor promised drivers increased police patrols and security checks at stations.

Friday, November 4, 2011

The Not-So-Empty Nest: More Young Adults Choose To Live With Parents

The U.S. Census Bureau released a study on Thursday that tracks living situations for this demographic from 1983 through 2011. According to the data set, entitled America’s Families and Living Arrangements: 2011, the number of 25 to 34 year olds living with mom and dad has risen among both sexes since 2005: the number of young men living with parents is up from 14% to 19% and the number of young women is up from 8% to 10%. The Census’ graphs indicate that the numbers of older Generation-Yers living under their parents’ roofs — a number that had already been trending up before the “Great Recession” — continued to shoot up following the financial meltdown of 2008, specifically from the beginning of 2009 onwards.

No More Home Alone as Economy Drives Men to Live With Parents

Too posh to push? More C-sections on demand in UK

LONDON—Pregnant women in Britain, where the government provides free health care, may soon be able to get a cesarean section on demand thanks to a rule change that critics describe as the health system caving into the "too posh to push" crowd.

"It's about time women who have no desire to view labor as a rite of passage into motherhood be able to choose how they want to have their baby," said Pauline Hull, who has had two children by cesarean because of medical reasons. "The important thing to me was meeting my baby, not the experience of labor."

Who Owns Your LinkedIn Contacts?

Who owns your LinkedIn profile? (Hint: it might not be you.)
That was the headline on a post on this blog back in June, 2011 — and the answer that I arrived at with help from a number of legal and compliance experts was, “It depends.”

Thursday, November 3, 2011

‘Oh Wow’: What Do Steve Jobs’s Last Words Really Mean?

“Oh wow.” Two words that can have many meanings.

Steve Jobs’s sister Mona Simpson has a moving tribute in the New York Times detailing some of his final moments and his last words.

According to the article, titled “A Sister’s Eulogy for Steve Jobs,” Jobs’s last words were “OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.” (The words were rendered in all capital letters in the essay.)

People are fascinated by last words. They can be viewed as a summing up of a life. Because the person saying them has nothing left to gain (except in terms of their legacy), they can be seen by some as an honest a representation of a person’s true opinions as one can get in this life. And there’s a mystical quality to last words–we hear them and wonder if the person saying them can give us any insight or information about what’s really on the other side.

Fed downgrades growth forecasts, sees high unemployment for years ahead

The Federal Reserve sharply downgraded its projections for the U.S. economy Wednesday, warning that weak growth and high unemployment will be the norm for years.

The Fed expects that the unemployment rate will be around 8.6 percent at the end of next year, down only slightly from 9.1 percent today, and will still be between 6.8 percent and 7.7 percent in late 2014. In their June forecast, Fed officials said joblessness would come down faster, to around 8 percent by the end of 2012, when the next presidential election will take place.

Different State, Same Hate

On Monday, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a lawsuit against South Carolina to block the implementation of SB 20, a divisive and dangerous anti-immigrant law signed by Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) earlier this year. If SB 20 does take effect on Jan. 1, 2012, the law will create a new $1.3 million immigration enforcement unit for South Carolina and provide local law enforcement with overly broad authority to investigate residents' immigration statuses. As NCLR (National Council of La Raza) has repeatedly pointed out in the past, when other states attempted to pass similar bills, these anti-immigrant laws not only promote racial profiling and discrimination, but also violate the Constitution.

5 things you didn't know about the first black NBA player

Earl Lloyd was the first black person to play in the National Basketball Association. Lloyd made his historic debut in the NBA on October 31, 1950, during a time when many American institutions were still segregated.

Lloyd is remembered for being a trail-blazer for African-Americans in the NBA. What other contributions did he give to the world?

Food Stamps: Democrats In Congress Attempt To Eat On $4.50 A Day To Protest Potential Budget Cuts

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.) along with eight other congressional Democrats are eating on a budget of about $4.50 a day to show solidarity with food stamp recipients who receive $32.59 a week.

The personal thrift, which is part of a challenge organized by Fighting Poverty With Faith, was reported by Pacifica Patch. The site also listed the food items that Speier was now buying.

The number of people relying on food stamps has risen as a consequence of the recession. Over 40 million individuals and 19 million households used the program in 2010, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

How To Look Good Using Food Stamps: Beautify Yourself with the Foods You Buy at the Market!

[Ebook, PDF Format]

Poorest poor in US hits new record: 1 in 15 people

The ranks of America's poorest poor have climbed to a record high — 1 in 15 people — spread widely across metropolitan areas as the housing bust pushed many inner-city poor into suburbs and other outlying places and shriveled jobs and income.

New census data paint a stark portrait of the nation's haves and have-nots at a time when unemployment remains persistently high. It comes a week before the government releases first-ever economic data that will show more Hispanics, elderly and working-age poor have fallen into poverty.

Owner of car dealership labeled "Taliban Toyota" wins millions

The owner of a large southwest Alabama car dealership derided as "Taliban Toyota" by a competitor has been awarded $7.5 million in damages after a jury trial for his slander claim.

Iranian-born Shawn Esfahani, owner of Eastern Shore Toyota in Daphne, Alabama, sought $28 million in compensatory and punitive damages from Bob Tyler Toyota, claiming employees at that Pensacola, Florida-based dealership falsely portrayed him as an Islamist militant to customers.

"The feeling I received in the courtroom for the truth to come out was worth a lot more than any money anybody can give me," Esfahani told Reuters on Tuesday.

4 million borrowers eligible for foreclosure review

More than 4 million borrowers who have faced foreclosure since early 2009 will have the chance to have their cases reviewed for potential wrongdoing, federal regulators and some of the nation’s largest mortgage servicers announced Tuesday.

The reviews stem from a deal forged earlier this year in which 14 servicers agreed to hire independent consultants to evaluate whether borrowers suffered financial injury during the foreclosure process. If a review finds errors or abuses by the financial firms, the consultants will determine what recompense wronged homeowners deserve.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

South Carolina Partnerships Address Statewide Nursing Shortage

In a continued effort to help alleviate the nationwide nursing shortage, the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future will host the Promise of Nursing for South Carolina gala to raise funds and provide
scholarships to help ease the nursing shortage in South Carolina. As the 30th Promise of Nursing regional gala to be held, this year's proceeds will contribute to the more than $18 million raised across the country to date.

All funds raised from the event, which is being held in Charleston on Thursday, November 3, will remain in South Carolina to support undergraduate nursing student scholarships, graduate nursing education fellowships to prepare nurse faculty, and grants to South Carolina area nursing schools to help expand their program capacity. More than 500 South Carolina nurses and healthcare professionals are expected to be in attendance at the Charleston Marriott Hotel beginning at 6 p.m.

"Nurses are the heart and soul of patient care as they care for patients during their most intimate moments, from bringing new life into the world to helping patients die with dignity," says Marilyn J. Schaffner, PhD, RN, CGRN, chief nursing executive and administrator for clinical services, Medical University of South Carolina Medical Center. "Through partnership with the Johnson & Johnson Campaign for Nursing's Future, we have the opportunity to help fund scholarships for student nurses as they become part of the magic of nursing."

Black Nurses Can't Care for White Patients?

When your health is failing and you require assistance with your basic needs, the last thing you should be worried about is the color of the person providing it. Right? In the eyes of one nursing company, maybe not.

Four nurses recently filed a lawsuit alleging that their employer, Accord Services, violated their civil rights by refusing to send black nurses to care for white patients.

Black nurses suing company after not being allowed to take care of white patients

COBB COUNTY, Ga. —

Four women are suing a nursing company because they say their leaders wouldn't send black nurses to take care of white patients.

In the 63-page lawsuit, the women claim Accord Services violated their civil rights. They said the health care company screened their nurses based on their race before sending them to a patient's home.

"You could hear something from 'We can't use a nurse because they were too ghetto' or 'This client doesn't prefer foreigners' and 'Black women are not professional,'" Erika Arnold said, a former H.R. manager.

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Four Elderly Georgia Men Charged In Terror Plot

Four senior citizens will appear in front of a federal judge in Georgia today after telling undercover informants about plans to attack federal buildings with explosives and a biological toxin.

The men named in the charging documents, Frederick Thomas, 73, of Cleveland, Ga., and Toccoa, Ga., residents Dan Roberts, 67, Ray H. Adams, 65, and Samuel J. Crump, 68, were all members of a fringe militia organization, according to investigators.

They called themselves "the covert group," and met several times throughout the year to discuss killing federal employees with rifles, explosives and ricin, a dangerous toxin that can be extracted from castor bean seeds using acetone and lye.

Meet The Senior Citizen Militia Members Arrested In Georgia Bio Attack Plot

“When it comes time to saving the Constitution, that means some people gotta die,” Thomas allegedly said.

“Let’s shoot the bastards that we discover are anti-American or enemies of America, treasonous,” Thomas allegedly said. “And to me the easiest and best way to do that is to walk up behind them with a suppressed .22. I am of the, uh, old school, Mafia; one behind the ear with a .22 is all you need.”

New Gmail is here, first impressions

"That's one of the reasons we're embarking on a series of interface updates to help strip out unnecessary clutter and make Gmail as beautiful as it is powerful," said Google user experience designer Jason Cornwell. "This is part of a Google-wide effort to bring you an experience that's more focused, elastic, and effortless across all of our products."

Site reveals the human slavery behind your stuff

I have 66 slaves working for me. Or at least that’s what Slavery Footprint estimates based on my lifestyle and the size of my family.

The website — which was created by Call + Response, a non-profit dedicated to ending slavery, in collaboration with the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons — estimates the number of slaves by taking a look at more than 450 products, and breaking them down from the sourcing of raw materials through the manufacturing.

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Tuesday, November 1, 2011

12-Year-Old Boys Arrested for Allegedly Dropping Shopping Cart on NYC Mother

Two 12-year-old boys were in police custody after allegedly dropping a shopping cart four stories onto a New York City mother who was out buying Halloween candy for underprivileged children.

Marion Salmon Hedges, a wealthy Manhattan real-estate agent, was struck in the head by the falling cart on Sunday while walking outside a Target store with her 14-year-old son in East Harlem, the New York Post reports.

Raising the Chance of Some Cancers With Two Drinks a Day

A burgeoning body of research links alcohol to cancers of the breast, liver, colon, pancreas, mouth, throat, larynx and esophagus. A large new study last week added lung cancer to the list—even for people who have never smoked cigarettes.

Deaths from OD of Rx Painkillers Triple in 10 Years

Deaths caused by overdoses of prescription opioid painkillers more than tripled over a decade, to nearly 15,000 in 2008, CDC researchers found.

That's up from 4,000 in 1999, Len Paulozzi, MD, of the CDC, and colleagues reported in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and in a Vital Signs brief.

"These increases occurred despite numerous warnings and recommendations over the past decade for voluntary education of providers about more cautious use of prescription opioid painkillers," they wrote.

U.S. Schoolchildren Don’t Make Grade on Reading, Math Tests

Only three in 10 U.S. schoolchildren make the grade in reading, the U.S. Education Department said today. Four in 10 passed muster in math.

About half of fourth-graders knew that a right triangle and a rectangle each had at least one right angle, according to a federal test, known as the Nation’s Report Card. On the 2011 National Assessment of Educational Progress, which measures fourth- and eighth-grade knowledge, scores rose from 2009 except in reading at the lower level. The score for younger readers was unchanged.

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