Category: National News

In an attempt to reduce the national deficit and improve his political standing, President Obama is making bipartisan moves, which so far has been met with mixed reviews by congressional Democrats. The president opened the week with a Nov. 29 directive for a two-year salary freeze for federal employees, which is expected to save $2 […]

Click here to see a full-size version of the photo. A monument to Martin Luther King on Washington, D.C.’s National Mall is on pace for an Aug. 28 unveiling, project organizers said at a Dec. 1 preview event. King’s monument will be the first on the Mall dedicated to a man of peace, and someone […]

WASHINGTON – The glut of catalogs in consumers’ mailboxes this season has created a dilemma for shoppers who want to go green and help the economy. Although the number of people who do holiday shopping by catalog is falling 15 percent in 2010, down from 20 percent in 2007, according to the National Retail Federation […]

African Americans are still waiting the “40 acres and a mule” promised them by the U.S. government almost two centuries ago. But, this week, Black farmers took one giant step closer to receiving the payouts due them from the settlement of a discrimination case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture. On Nov. 30 the U.S. […]

WASHINGTON (AP) – A significant bloc of Republican National Committee members wants embattled chairman Michael Steele to step aside, but the rank and file have failed to settle on a clear alternative, according to Associated Press interviews with committee members. More than four dozen interviews with members of the 168-member central committee found fear that […]

A former Navy veteran and New York City ex-police officer was arrested Nov. 18 after being charged with threatening to assassinate President Barack Obama. According to the online publication Talking Points Memo, Michael Stephen Bowden, 78, was taken into custody Nov. 18 after revealing to a nurse during a routine visit Nov. 16 to a Department of Veterans […]

Despite marginal success with his foreign policy and attempts to reduce unemployment, and the recent loss of Democratic control of the House of Representatives, President Obama still seems to be on the path for a successful 2012 campaign bid, according to a recent New York Times report written by Jeff Somner. In addition, economists like […]

The victory scored by Black farmers with the Senate’s unanimous approval of funds due to them in the 1980’s Pigford discrimination lawsuit has been mired by allegations of fraud. The Senate approved the dispersal of as much as $50,000 to each farmer involved. But while John Boyd, president of the Virginia-based National Black Farmers Association, […]

It has always been hard to overlook the high-profile Congressman from Harlem. If one ever had the privilege of meeting him, it was impossible to ignore his sharp intellect, his commanding presence, his booming voice or the smartly tailored suits. The defrocked chairman of one of the most powerful committees in Congress, like too many […]

Some low-income Mississippi residents, still in need of recovery funds five years after Hurricane Katrina, will receive disaster recovery assistance following a Nov. 15 settlement with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. After two years of litigation, the department agreed to redirect to needy residents for home rehabilitation a portion of funds earmarked […]

Outgoing U.S. Sen. Roland Burris (D.-Ill.) said he is furious with the lack of African-Americans in the Senate, calling the fact that there will be no Black senators once he completes his term when the 111th Congress adjourns, “unacceptable” and “troubling.” Republican Mark Kirk will replace Burris, who chose not to seek election. Burris is […]

The Chicago-based manufacturers of Four Loko, a popular caffeinated alcoholic energy drink, were among the four recipients of a warning letter issued by the Food and Drug Administration, who claimed the caffeine used in their products was unsafe, according to the Associated Press. The “FDA does not find support for the claim that the addition […]