Michael Jackson voicemail heard in courtroom

Story/video by CBS/AP
Video by abc news

LOS ANGELES - Jurors at the trial of Dr. Conrad Murray, who is charged in Michael Jackson's death, heard an audio recording of the pop superstar slurring his words and talking about his upcoming concerts while under the influence of the very powerful anesthetic propofol.

In addition, jurors saw a photo of Jackson's pale body lying on a gurney after he died from an overdose on the drug.The recording and image played a major role in the prosecution's multimedia presentation in Tuesday's opening argument.

Radio’s cume audience grows.

story by Inside Radio

In a given week, 241.4 million Americans listen to radio, up 1.7 million compared to a year ago. Arbitron calculates radio still reaches 93% of the 12+ population. The gains continue to come from Hispanics as well as young people. But there are surprising drops among the two demos most sought after by advertisers.

Recapture The Future LBJ Saw For America by Jesse Jackson

Commentary by Jesse L. Jackson Sr.

Poverty is spreading in America. The numbers are numbing: 46 million people in poverty, a record number, one out of every seven Americans. Nearly 50 million go without health insurance. There are fewer payroll jobs now than in 2000. The income of a typical household is down nearly 7 percent since 2007. And the number of working poor is skyrocketing, as good jobs get shipped abroad. About 40 percent of all the jobs in the U.S. are low-income jobs.

And inequality has reached new extremes. According to Goldman Sachs, the richest 1 percent of the country earned as much last year as the bottom 60 percent put together, and had as much wealth as the bottom 90 percent. For more than three decades, the U.S. has put faith in a market fundamentalism, lowering taxes on the top end, deregulating finance, touting the benefits of corporate defined trade, all in the belief that the money would trickle down. But the money isn’t circulating; it is congealing at the very top.

This has fostered not simply what economists are starting to call the “Lesser Depression,” but also a depression of spirit and hope. Conservatives tell us that we are on our own. Public action is scorned. Washington is gridlocked. Even a badly needed jobs program is called dead on arrival.

This reflects, in my view, more than three decades of consistent denigration of government. Government is the problem, not the solution, Reagan taught. Then, by cutting spending and capacity, by starving regulatory agencies, by opening the floodgates to big money politics and corporate lobbying, he and his successors helped make that gibe close to a reality.

Consider the last time we acted to reduce poverty with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society and the War on Poverty. Most people have been taught that the war on poverty failed, but that is simply a lie. In fact, from 1963 when Johnson took office until 1970 as his Great Society programs were in place, America went from having 22 percent of the population below the poverty line to 12 percent — the most dramatic decline of poverty in the century.

Johnson did this by summoning the nation to a moral calling. He traveled to Ohio University to provide his vision of the Great Society. “Our challenge,” he said, “not tomorrow but today, is to accomplish objectives which have eluded mankind since the beginning of time. We must bring equal justice to all our citizens. We must abolish human poverty. We must eradicate killing and crippling disease. . . . We must eliminate illiteracy among all our people. We must end open bias and active bigotry and, above all else, we must help to bring about a day ‘when nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.’ ”

He accompanied his soaring words with action. Medicare and Medicaid are his legacy. A dramatic boost of Social Security and increase in the minimum wage lifted millions out of poverty. Head Start, summer youth programs, college work-study and scholarship programs enlisted the young. The Job Corps, Vista, Community Action Agencies, Upward Bound hit pockets of poverty. Food stamps and the school breakfast program dramatically reduced hunger. Johnson was the great education president and the greatest conservationist. He ushered the Civil Rights and Voting Rights acts into law.

This was optimistic, activist government, and it made a profound difference. The War on Poverty was winning in rural Appalachia and urban America. It was lost only in the jungles of Vietnam. That was Johnson’s tragedy and our own. A generation grew suspicious of government. Conservative ideas and big money came to dominate our politics.

The result: record numbers of Americans in poverty, a sinking middle class and soaring wealth for the very few.

We need to change course. We should recapture the enthusiasm and the moral courage that Johnson once summoned from a young generation. Dr. King had a dream of freedom and justice; Lyndon Johnson had a dream of equality. LBJ knew that freedom without equality and justice would ring hollow. LBJ brought about legislation, new laws and the funding to make the dream a reality. Today, Democrats must see LBJ, the transformer, as a frame of reference for hope that will live long into the future.

We have the power to end poverty and malnutrition now. Ending poverty is good for our health, and it fortifies our character. This is America. We cannot surrender its dream without a fight.

A Long Shadow of Doubt: The Execution of Troy Davis

Commentary by:

Marc H. Morial
President and CEO
National Urban League

“When ... the Supreme Court gave its seal of approval to capital punishment, this endorsement was premised on the promise that capital punishment would be administered with fairness and justice. Instead, the promise has become a cruel and empty mockery. If not remedied, the scandalous state of our present system of capital punishment will cast a pall of shame over our society for years to come. We cannot let it continue.” Former United States Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall

Last Wednesday, September 21, 2011 was a sad day for American justice. On that date at 11:08 PM Eastern Time the State of Georgia administered a lethal injection into the body of 42-year-old Troy Davis and put him to death. With his dying breath, Troy Davis maintained his innocence in the 1989 shooting death of off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. For 20 years, the shadow of doubt that hung over Davis’ conviction grew so large that it galvanized anti-death penalty advocates around the world, including hundreds of citizens wearing “I am Troy Davis” T-shirts who kept a solemn vigil outside the Jackson, Georgia prison until the final hour

Over the last 20 years, the National Urban League and dozens of other prominent organizations and leaders argued that Davis’s conviction was in serious doubt. Seven of the nine witnesses who originally identified Troy Davis as the murderer, later recanted their testimony. And no murder weapon or other physical evidence was ever found linking Davis to the crime. That is why we joined the NAACP, the Congressional Black Caucus, Amnesty International, former president Jimmy Carter, Nobel Laureate Desmond Tutu, Al Sharpton, former FBI Director William Sessions, Pope Benedict, former Georgia Congressman, Bob Barr and others in calling for Davis’ exoneration or at least further investigation.

The racial subtext of this case cannot be ignored. Davis, a black man, was convicted of killing MacPhail, a white police officer. While African Americans make up only 13 percent of the population, more than 42 percent of death row inmates are black. Over 75 percent of the murder victims in cases resulting in an execution were white, even though nationally, only 50 percent of murder victims were white. .

Since 1973, a total of 138 man and women have been exonerated or had their death sentences commuted based on post-conviction findings that proved their innocence -- five of them in the state of Georgia. And, according to the Innocence Project, “Seventeen people have been proven innocent and exonerated by DNA testing in the United States after serving time on death row. They were convicted in 11 states and served a combined 209 years in prison – including 187 years on death row – for crimes they didn’t commit.” These disparities and problems cast a long shadow of doubt over our criminal justice system.

People of conscience can disagree on the death penalty, but it is unconscionable by every standard to execute someone who very well might be innocent. Our hearts go out not only to Mr. Davis’ family, but also to the family of Mark MacPhail who will never know for sure that his killer was brought to justice.

Legendary Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall was unequivocally against the death penalty and would have been a dissenter in last week’s 11th-hour Supreme Court decision allowing the execution of Troy Davis. Justice Marshall felt, as we do, that as long as questions of equity, fairness and fallibility persist, we must stop executions and give death row inmates every chance to prove their innocence.

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on Fitness

Story/Video by: AARP

Reporter: Bernard Ohanian

AARP reporter Bernard Ohanian admitted to basketball great Kareem Abdul-Jabbar that he is a bit of a "weekend warrior" - with exercise concentrated on a weekly basketball game among friends. What should he do on the rest of the days, when competition is not so intense, he wondered? Video above.

King Memorial Virtual Tour

R&B singer Vesta Williams found dead at 53

Vesta Williams

Song: Suddenly it's Magic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95NmH3o3qQk

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) -- Big-voiced R&B diva Vesta Williams, perhaps best-known for her 1980s hits "Don't Blow A Good Thing" and "Congratulations," has been found dead of a possible drug overdose in a Southern California hotel room, coroner's investigators said Friday. She was 53.

Williams was found dead at 6:15 p.m. Thursday in an El Segundo hotel room, Los Angeles County coroner's Capt. John Kades said.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death. A toxicology examination will take six weeks to be completed, Kades said.

Born Mary Vesta Williams on Dec. 1, 1957, to a disc jockey in Coshocton, Ohio, she had hits with "Once Bitten Twice Shy," "Sweet, Sweet Love" and the torch song "Congratulations," where she emotionally bids goodbye to her ex, about to marry someone else, on his wedding day.

Williams also appeared in movies and on television.

She was a saloon singer in the Mario Van Peebles movie "Posse" and she had a recurring role on the television situation comedy "Sister, Sister," playing actress Jackee Harry's best friend Monica.

Harry tweeted her condolences: "...just received truly devastating news: R&B great, and my friend of many yrs, Vesta Williams (@vesta4u), has passed away. #RIPVesta"

Williams diminutive frame belied her powerful, soulful pipes. Her initial success in the music industry came as a background singer for artists ranging from Chaka Khan, Anita Baker and Sting. But she would eventually establish her career with release of her first album, "Vesta," in 1986.

Over the years, she had hits including "Once Bitten Twice Shy," "Sweet, Sweet Love" and her signature torch song "Congratulations."

Williams continued to make albums, and was a regular performer on the concert circuit.

She was supposed to perform at the 21st annual "DIVAS Simply Singing!" in Los Angeles next month. The Oct. 22 show will now pay tribute to her and another late soul singer, Teena Marie.

"She was really excited about doing divas," her friend and fellow entertainer Sheryl Lee Ralph told The Associated Press, adding Williams was also scheduled to be the subject of a TVOne "Unsung" episode.

The 5-foot-3 entertainer gained weight in the 1990s, ballooning to a size 26. She went on a dramatic weight loss program, losing 100 pounds and getting down to a size 6.

She told Ebony magazine that she began gaining weight rapidly after her singing career started to falter. She blamed her size for loss of her recording contract.

"When I lost my record deal and my phone wasn't ringing, I realized that I had to reassess who Vesta was and figure out what was going wrong," she said. "I knew it wasn't my singing ability. So it had to be that I was expendable because I didn't have the right look."

She went on to become an advocate for the prevention of childhood obesity and juvenile diabetes.

Last year, she released a song on iTunes. In an interview last December with Egypt Thompson on the Web show "The Couch," she said she was blessed.

"She had just become such a brand new person," Ralph said. "This is very hard, this is very hard."

Ralph said Williams is survived by an adult daughter.

Georgia executes Troy Davis after his last pleas fail

story by NBC

JACKSON, Ga. — Troy Davis was put to death by lethal injection late Wednesday for the 1989 murder of an off-duty police officer, maintaining his innocence until the end after convincing thousands of it, but not the justice system.

Davis was declared dead at 11:08 p.m. EDT, a prison official said.

His execution, which began at 10:53 p.m., came after a three-hour hold while the Supreme Court considered a late request for a stay. In the end the court refused to stop the execution, despite calls for clemency from former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI and others.

Davis' attorneys say seven of nine key witnesses against him recanted all or parts of their testimony, but state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against granting him a new trial.

Media witnesses said that on his death bed, Davis told the family of the slain officer, Mark MacPhail, that he was very sorry for their loss but that he wasn't responsible for his death.
"It's not my fault; I did not have a gun," he said while strapped to a gurney, according to witness Rhonda Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I did not personally kill your son, father, brother," he said, Cook reported.

He asked his family and supporters to "dig deeper" into the case after his death "so you can find the real truth."

Floyd Mayweather controversial punch versus Victor Ortiz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFPHC7MEs9Q http://www.youtube.com/user/harryleiza
YouTube by Harry Leiza

Kara Kennedy, Daughter of Edward Kennedy, Is Dead at 51

President Obama presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Kara Kennedy on behalf of her father, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, in 2009. Ms. Kennedy died Friday of a heart attack.

Eleanor Mondale Dies at 51.

Eleanor Mondale, daughter of former vice president Walter Mondale and former WCCO, Minneapolis talk show host, passed away on Saturday at age 51 after her second bout with brain cancer. Mondale left her show on WCCO in March of 2009 after the brain cancer returned a second time.

She had surgery later that year to remove the tumor and it was reported at the time that the surgery was successful. Mondale began her broadcasting career in 1989 as the entertainment reporter for WCCO-TV, Minneapolis.

She went on to network television gigs but returned to Minnesota and co-hosted a radio talk show on WCCO with Susie Jones in 2006.

Pipebomb in Kenya kills over 100 people

The American Jobs Act -- President Obama’s Plan to Create Jobs Now

President Barack Obama outlines the details of the American Jobs Act during an address to a Joint Session of Congress in the House Chamber of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Sept. 8, 2011. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)

1. TAX CUTS TO HELP AMERICA’S SMALL BUSINESSES HIRE AND GROW

• Cutting the payroll tax cut in half for 98 percent of businesses: The President’s plan will cut in half the taxes paid by businesses on their first $5 million in payroll, targeting the benefit to the 98 percent of firms that have payroll below this threshold.

• A complete payroll tax holiday for added workers or increased wages: The President’s plan will

completely eliminate payroll taxes for firms that increase their payroll by adding new workers or

increasing the wages of their current worker (the benefit is capped at the first $50 million in

payroll increases).

• Extending 100% expensing into 2012: This continues an effective incentive for new investment.

• Reforms and regulatory reductions to help entrepreneurs and small businesses access capital.

2. PUTTING WORKERS BACK ON THE JOB WHILE REBUILDING AND MODERNIZING AMERICA

• A “Returning Heroes” hiring tax credit for veterans: This provides tax credits from $5,600 to $9,600 to encourage the hiring of unemployed veterans.

• Preventing up to 280,000 teacher layoffs, while keeping cops and firefighters on the job.

• Modernizing at least 35,000 public schools across the country, supporting new science labs, Internet-ready classrooms and renovations at schools across the country, in rural and urban areas.

• Immediate investments in infrastructure and a bipartisan National Infrastructure Bank,

modernizing our roads, rail, airports and waterways while putting hundreds of thousands of workers

back on the job.

• A New “Project Rebuild”, which will put people to work rehabilitating homes, businesses and

communities, leveraging private capital and scaling land banks and other public-private

collaborations.

• Expanding access to high-speed wireless as part of a plan for freeing up the nation’s spectrum.

3. PATHWAYS BACK TO WORK FOR AMERICANS LOOKING FOR JOBS

• The most innovative reform to the unemployment insurance program in 40 years: As part of an extension of unemployment insurance to prevent 5 million Americans looking for work from losing their benefits, the President’s plan includes innovative work-based reforms to prevent layoffs and give states greater flexibility to use UI funds to best support job-seekers, including:

› Work-Sharing: UI for workers whose employers choose work-sharing over layoffs.

› A new “Bridge to Work” program: The plan builds on and improves innovative state programs where those displaced take temporary, voluntary work or pursue on-the-job training.
› Innovative entrepreneurship and wage insurance programs: States will also be empowered to implement wage insurance to help reemploy older workers and programs that make it easier for unemployed workers to start their own businesses.

• A $4,000 tax credit to employers for hiring long-term unemployed workers.

• Prohibiting employers from discriminating against unemployed workers when hiring.

• Expanding job opportunities for low-income youth and adults through a fund for successful approaches for subsidized employment, innovative training programs and summer/year-round jobs

for youth.

4. TAX RELIEF FOR EVERY AMERICAN WORKER AND FAMILY

• Cutting payroll taxes in half for 160 million workers next year: The President’s plan will expand the payroll tax cut passed last year to cut workers payroll taxes in half in 2012 – providing a $1,500 tax cut to the typical American family, without negatively impacting the Social Security Trust Fund.

• Allowing more Americans to refinance their mortgages at today’s near 4 percent interest rates, which can put more than $2,000 a year in a family’s pocket.

5. FULLY PAID FOR AS PART OF THE PRESIDENT’S LONG-TERM DEFICIT REDUCTION PLAN.

To ensure that the American Jobs Act is fully paid for, the President will call on the Joint Committee to come up with additional deficit reduction necessary to pay for the Act and still meet its deficit target. The President will, in the coming days, release a detailed plan that will show how we can do that while achieving the additional deficit reduction necessary to meet the President’s broader goal of stabilizing our debt as a share of the economy.

____________________________________________

Complete overview of the Jobs Act: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2011/09/08/fact-sheet-and-overview 

Impact Jobs Act will have on your State: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/09/09/state-state-look-american-jobs-act

CBCF STATEMENT ON PRESIDENT OBAMA'S JOBS ACT PROPOSAL

Last week, President Obama posed the question, "What's the best way to grow the economy and create jobs?" Millions across the country tuned in to hear the president's answer to rebuilding our nation's economy, among them African Americans and other communities of color who remain disproportionately affected by the recession.

The Congressional Black Caucus Foundation's longstanding mission has been economic empowerment and equal opportunity for underserved communities. We pleased to know that The American Jobs Act the president proposed is a critical step in furthering our mission. With African Americans suffering from an unemployment rate twice as high as the national average, tax credit incentives for employers to hire jobless workers, modernizing school infrastructure, and providing job opportunities for our youth will create a better and stronger economy for our most vulnerable communities.

It is essential that we not lose sight of the fact that the best way to grow an economy is to ensure that all Americans have a fair share and that means targeted policies for individuals, families, and communities who were unable to protect themselves against the recession as well as others. The President's Pathways Back to Work Fund will provide low-income youth and adults with the job opportunities and training initiatives while at the same time prohibiting employers from discriminating against unemployed workers; this is exactly the kind of targeted legislation America needs in order to achieve long term economic stability and growth for all.

Now, more than ever, we must take the steps needed to revitalize our economy and ensure that Americans make their voice heard at this critical juncture. Our lawmakers need to hear from Americans who are struggling to make ends meet. We agree that we don't have 14 months to wait until we address the jobs crisis. Together we must continue to stand strong for millions of African Americans and other underserved communities, so they may not only recover from the recession, but equally benefit from job creation and economic growth in the long term.

http://www.cbcfinc.org/alc-2011/registration.html

Ryan Seacrest may buy VH1 Soul: report

Story by Inside Radio

With a top-ranked Los Angeles morning radio show that’s also syndicated nationally, television is where KIIS-FM (102.7) personality Ryan Seacrest has focused. If a deal reportedly in the works come to fruition, Seacrest could soon have his own cable TV channel.

The Hollywood Reporter says Seacrest is in talks with Viacom to buy the VH1 Soul channel. Targeting African Americans, the channel is a low-rated sister to the flagship VH1. The deal is in an “advance stage” but insiders say it’s still a long way from completion and may yet fall apart. No word on any business partners. Last November Seacrest signed a three-year, $60 million contract extension to remain with Clear Channel until the end of 2013. The announcement called for him to create new digital and radio content for syndication — as well as work with Clear Channel on developing new TV content.

9-11 Memorial in New York

Selvyn Blake holds a picture of his mother, Carol Rabalais, while visiting at the National September 11 Memorial at the World Trade Center site in New York, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2011.

Memories of 9-11

One decade after 9/11, an unsettling number of images from Ground Zero and its environs remain seared in our collective memory -- unsurprising, perhaps, given the scope and scale of the destruction. But the fact that the deadliest, most visually arresting attacks occurred in New York City also meant that many of the world's best photographers were, in effect, already on the scene when the terrorists struck. Here, to mark the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and in hopes of lending coherence to our shared, turbulent recollections, LIFE.com presents the 25 most stirring, visceral photographs from that day, featuring pictures from the likes of James Nachtwey, Joe Raedle, Spencer Platt, Mario Tama, and other celebrated photojournalists (and one intrepid amateur). These are the pictures we remember: wrenching, indelible photographs that tell the tale of a still-resonant late summer day that changed everything.

Read more »

The American Jobs Act by President Barack Obama

The Lingering Injustice of ATTICA

Story by NY Times
Written by Heather Ann Thompson

FORTY years ago today (Sept 8th article), more than 1,000 inmates at Attica Correctional Facility began a major civil and human rights protest — an uprising that is barely mentioned in textbooks but nevertheless was one of the most important rebellions in American history.

A forbidding institution that opened in 1931, Attica, roughly midway between Buffalo and Rochester, was overcrowded and governed by rigid and often capricious penal practices.

The guards were white men from small towns in upstate New York; the prisoners were mostly urban African-Americans and Puerto Ricans. They wanted decent medical care so that an inmate like Angel Martinez, 21, could receive treatment for his debilitating polio. They wanted more humane parole so that a man like L. D. Barkley, also 21, wouldn’t be locked up in a maximum security facility like Attica for driving without a license. They also wanted less discriminatory policies so that black inmates like Richard X. Clark wouldn’t be given the worst jobs, while white prisoners were given the best. These men first tried writing to state officials, but their pleas for reform were largely ignored. Eventually, they erupted.

Over five days, Americans sat glued to their televisions as this uprising unfolded. They watched in surprise as inmates elected representatives from each cellblock to negotiate on their behalf. They watched in disbelief as these same inmates protected the guards and civilian employees they had taken hostage.

Read more »

Tea Party Rally Signs

Tanzania ferry capsizes -- nearly 400 dead or missing

Tanzanians wait near the beach in Zanzibar for the victims of the ship that sank, Saturday, Sept 10, 2011. An overcrowded ship sank in deep sea off mainland Tanzania on Saturday with about 600 people onboard, and about 370 people are believed missing or dead. The ferry, M.V. Spice Islanders, was heavily overloaded and some potential passengers had refused to board when it was leaving the mainland port of Dar es Salaam, said survivor Abdullah Saied. It sank in an area with heavy currents in deep sea between mainland Tanzania and Pemba Island Saturday. About 230 people had been rescued and 40 bodies had been recovered, said Mohamed Aboud, the minister for the vice president's office. (AP Photo/Ali Sultan)

Tanzanian police carry bodies of children from the sea in Zanzibar, Tanzania, Saturday Sept 10, 2011. An overcrowded ship sank in deep sea off mainland Tanzania on Saturday with about 600 people onboard, and about 370 people are believed missing or dead. The ferry, M.V. Spice Islanders, was heavily overloaded and some potential passengers had refused to board when it was leaving the mainland port of Dar es Salaam, said survivor Abdullah Saied. It sank in an area with heavy currents in deep sea between mainland Tanzania and Pemba Island at about 1 a.m. Saturday. About 230 people had been rescued and 40 bodies had been recovered, said Mohamed Aboud, the minister for the vice president's office. (AP Photo/Ali Sultan)

9/11 Air Traffic Controllers tapes released....listen

Have Questions About the President's Address?

Tonight, immediately following the President's address to Congress (http://www.whitehouse.gov/live) at 7pm ET, stay tuned for a live panel of policy experts from the White House who will answer your questions about key issues of the speech in a special edition of "Open for Questions" at www.whitehouse.gov/live.

Expected panelists include:

Stephanie Cutter, Assistant to the President and Deputy Senior Advisor
Brian Deese, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director, National Economic Council
Roberto Rodriguez, Special Assistant to the President for Education Policy
Portia Wu, Senior Policy Advisor for Mobility and Opportunity Policy

Do you have questions about the President's jobs and growth proposal? Send us your thoughts, and the panel will address as many questions as they can after the speech.

on Twitter: use the hashtag #WHChat http://mobile.twitter.com/search/#WHChat

on Facebook: post your questions to our wall at www.facebook.com/whitehouse

or submit a question here on http://www.whitehouse.gov/   

Back to School and Back to Work on Creating Jobs

Marc H. Morial President and CEO
National Urban League

"A world-class education is the single most important factor in determining not just whether our kids can compete for the best jobs but whether America can out-compete countries around the world.” President Barack Obama

Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer and the start of another school year for more than 60 million public school students.

This year, the Labor Day weekend also coincided with the announcement last week that zero jobs were added in August, and African American unemployment has soared to 16.7 percent, the highest rate in 27 years.

It is my hope that with the return of Congress this week and the much-anticipated jobs speech by President Obama on Thursday, Washington is finally ready to make job creation its number one priority.

Education has always been the gateway to good jobs and a better life for the American people.

This has never been more true than today.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people who hold bachelor’s degrees earn on average $58,000 a year compared with just $31,000 for high school graduates and only $21,000 for those without high school diplomas.

We also know that a growing number of 21st century high-tech jobs require higher skills and more education than ever before.

That is why for more than 50 years, the National Urban League’s Education & Youth Development division has worked to improve educational opportunities for African-American and underserved students by developing innovative programs to support their academic achievement, encourage their civic involvement, and contribute to their healthy physical and emotional development. We have also made education a cornerstone of our 21st century empowerment agenda with a challenge to the nation that every American child will be ready for college, work and life by 2025.

The Urban League serves more than 200,000 children and youth each year through Head Start, after-school programs and charter schools.

As the nation struggles to find the right balance between fiscal austerity and necessary investments in our future, the education of our children must not be sacrificed in the process.

Doing so would not only shortchange their futures, it would cripple our ability to grow the American economy and remain competitive in the global economy.

We are encouraged by the Obama Administration’s commitment to education, including signing into law the largest investment in education in history as part of the President’s 2009 stimulus package – some $115 billion over two years to save education jobs, send young people to college, modernize America's classrooms, and advance education reforms.

We are also pleased that Education Secretary Arne Duncan has set aside this week for an “Education and the Economy” bus tour to urban centers, including Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Detroit, and Chicago to highlight the important connection between quality education and quality jobs. “No other issue is more critical to our economy and our way of life than education,” said Duncan.

So, as our children head back to the classroom, we urge students to do their part by studying hard and making the most of what their schools and teachers have to offer.

We ask parents to do their part by getting involved.

And we urge local school districts and Congress to do their part by ensuring that all our students have the resources and support they need to succeed.

_________________________________

National Urban League ▪ 120 Wall Street ▪ New York, NY 10005 ▪ (212) 558-5300 ▪ WWW.NUL.ORG

Michigan Governor signs 48-month Welfare Limit

Story by AP
Written by Kathy Barks Hoffman
Photo by AP

LANSING, Mich. — Gov. Rick Snyder on Tuesday signed into law a stricter, four-year lifetime limit on cash welfare benefits, prompting advocates for the poor to warn that tens of thousands of residents will find themselves without cash assistance on Oct. 1.

Michigan's first-year Republican chief executive said the state will offer exemptions to the limit for those with a disability who can't work, those who care for a disabled spouse or child and those who are 65 or older and don't qualify for Social Security benefits or receive very low benefits.

Some recipients who are the victims of domestic violence also may be temporarily exempted.

"We are returning cash assistance to its original intent as a transitional program to help families while they work toward self-sufficiency," Snyder said in a statement. He noted that the state still will help the poor by offering food stamps, health care coverage through Medicaid, child care and emergency services.

Then-Gov. Jennifer Granholm, a Democrat, signed a bill that created a four-year limit starting in 2007. But that law exempted many welfare recipients, including those whose caseworkers said they were making progress toward finding employment.

The 2010 election of Snyder and the simultaneous Republican takeover of the Michigan House gave the GOP a free hand to set its own course on public assistance.

The change gives Michigan the Midwest's toughest welfare time limit, according to a survey by The Detroit News. It said there are five-year limits in Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio and Wisconsin. Indiana has a two-year limit for adults — but none for children.

Gilda Jacobs of the Michigan League for Human Services said she expects about 41,000 people to lose their cash assistance payments on Oct. 1 when the state's new budget year begins. That includes 29,700 children, according to the Michigan Department of Human Services.

"We're very, very concerned," Jacobs said. "As the days go by, new people will be meeting the 48-month limit. ... More will be falling off that cliff."

The new law will reduce the number of children and adults receiving cash assistance by nearly a fifth, from more than 221,000 to around 180,000. Enforcing a four-year limit will save the state more than $60 million annually, according to a House Fiscal Agency analysis.

Jacobs said it's hard to see how 11,000 adults will find a job when Michigan's July unemployment rate was 10.9 percent, tied with South Carolina for third-highest in the nation.

"We still have to preserve a safety net for people who, through no fault of their own, can't find a job," she said, noting that most cash assistance goes to help poor residents pay their rent. "There's obviously a lot of anxiety out there. Folks aren't sure exactly what this means to them."

State officials say they're working with nonprofit organizations to direct welfare recipients to other services and provide a "soft landing" as they lose benefits. Recipients will be connected with other resources, given housing and job placement assistance for up to three months beyond October and mentored by trained job navigators.

"Michigan continues to face financial challenges, and the fiscal reality is that we cannot afford to provide lifetime cash assistance to recipients who are able to work," Health and Human Services director Maura Corrigan said in a statement. "Enforcing lifetime limits for cash assistance ensures that available funds are targeted toward those recipients who need a helping hand while they find employment."

Michigan ranked 38th in child poverty for 2009, defined as income below $21,756 for a family of two adults and two children. About 23 percent of Michigan's children lived in poverty in 2009, compared with 20 percent nationally. In 2000, only 14 percent of Michigan children lived in poverty. The average age of a child in a family receiving cash assistance is around 7 years old.

Snyder, a Republican, has said reducing the number of children living in poverty is a priority of his administration.

The Michigan Catholic Conference has objected to the four-year limit. The conference said the effect will be felt for years by society and by children who lose services.

Shark sighting at Swami's Beach in the San Diego, California community of Encinitas?

Shark sighting photo in San Diego by Gary Eliott

Martin Luther King Jr. speaks April 3, 1968 the night before he died, encouraging boycotts and economic unity

Giant Crocodile captured ALIVE in Philippines

Sunday, Sept. 4, 2011, Mayor Cox Elorde of Bunawan township, Agusan del Sur Province, pretends to measure a huge crocodile which was captured by residents and crocodile farm staff along a creek in Bunawan late Saturday in southern Philippines. Elorde said Monday that dozens of villagers and experts ensnared the 21-foot (6.4-meter) male crocodile along a creek in his township after a three-week hunt. It was one of the largest crocodiles to be captured alive in the Philippines in recent years. (AP Photo)

Postal Service on verge of going broke, shutting down

The United States Postal Service has long lived on the financial edge, but it has never been as close to the precipice as it is today: the agency is so low on cash that it will not be able to make a $5.5 billion payment due this month and may have to shut down entirely this winter unless Congress takes emergency action to stabilize its finances.
“Our situation is extremely serious,” the postmaster general, Patrick R. Donahoe, said in an interview. “If Congress doesn’t act, we will default.”

In recent weeks, Mr. Donahoe has been pushing a series of painful cost-cutting measures to erase the agency’s deficit, which will reach $9.2 billion this fiscal year. They include eliminating Saturday mail delivery, closing up to 3,700 postal locations and laying off 120,000 workers — nearly one-fifth of the agency’s work force — despite a no-layoffs clause in the unions’ contracts.

The post office’s problems stem from one hard reality: it is being squeezed on both revenue and costs.

As any computer user knows, the Internet revolution has led to people and businesses sending far less conventional mail.

At the same time, decades of contractual promises made to unionized workers, including no-layoff clauses, are increasing the post office’s costs. Labor represents 80 percent of the agency’s expenses, compared with 53 percent at United Parcel Service and 32 percent at FedEx, its two biggest private competitors. Postal workers also receive more generous health benefits than most other federal employees.

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Shanksville, Pennsylvania 9-11 Monument altered due to a Crescent Moon shape -- Muslim symbol -- within design

story by Yahoo News

written by Claudine Zap

design above by Paul Murdoch

photo below by NPS/Brendan Wilson

On Sept. 11, 2001, two planes crashed into the World Trade Center in Manhattan. A third hurled into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. But a fourth plane, United Airlines Flight 93 from Newark, N. J., to San Francisco, never made it to the hijackers' destination.

The 40 passengers and crew members realized their flight had been hijacked, and from air phones they learned about the attacks on the other sites. According to accounts from the phone conversations, the group took a vote and vowed to take back their plane, which crashed into a field in a remote, rural area near Shanksville, Pa., never to reach its possible target, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. -- only 20 minutes flying time from the crash site.

In 2005, relatives of those who died on Flight 93 helped select Paul Murdoch's winning design for a memorial out of some 1,000 entries. The remote area proved a challenge. It is a former coal-mining site that required major soil and water cleanup. There also were landowner conflicts and a controversy over a crescent in the design that some took to be a Muslim symbol in the original plan.

To quiet debate, the design was altered from the original crescent shape, and the project eventually will feature a 93-foot-high Tower of Voices containing 40 wind chimes -- one for each passenger and crew member who died -- and 40 groves of red maple trees that will line a circular walkway that follows the natural bowl shape of the land, a result of the surface mining.

The $62 million plan includes 2,200 acres. Visitors can follow the flight path, and in phase one, they will view a slab of white marble inscribed with the names of the 40 victims. A concrete structure will form a gateway for visitors, separating the parking area and the memorial plaza, which extends along the edge of the crash site.

The project is part of the National Parks System, and $52 million has been raised so far. The money has come from the federal and state governments, as well as from 72,000 individual contributors. To support the completion of the design, a campaign to raise $10 million in private donations is in full force.

African-American Unemployment Rate Climbed in August - Reaches 27-Year High

story by bet.com

written by Joyce Jones

The Labor Department has released the August jobs report and the unemployment figured was unchanged from July's 9.1 percent. In addition, the economy added only 17,000 new jobs. The African-American jobless rate climbed from 15.9 to 16.7, which only strengthens the argument of Black lawmakers that there is a critical need to specifically address this problem.

The unemployment rate for Black males rose a whole percentage point to 18.0 percent and the rate for Black youths aged 16–19 jumped from 39.2 to 46.5 percent.

According to William Darity, an economist at Duke University, the Black unemployment rate may be in part attributed to more people feeling less discouraged about finding employment and reentering the workforce to jumpstart their job searches. Still, he says, it is also a sign of the discrimination that continues to exist in the labor market.

Georgia Tech Thomas Boston agrees that's a part of the problem, particularly given the fact that Blacks comprise just 12 percent of the labor market but 22 percent of the unemployed. He also said that the unemployment burden is shifting from whites to African-Americans whose job losses are almost equal to white job gains.

"Part of it also is where Blacks are situated in the market. They have the kinds of jobs that are the first to be affected when the economy sneezes," Boston explains. "We also have an economy that isn't creating jobs for people with low levels of education and Blacks are heavily concentrated in that group. All of this points to an historical pattern of discrimination, which puts Blacks in a situation where they're the first to experience downturns in the economy."

According to the Associated Press, although employers added 117,000 jobs in July, and the unemployment rate continues to hover at 9.1 percent, there have been signs of increased consumer confidence. Americans continued to spend during the critical back-to-school season despite higher prices and Hurricane Irene’s roar up the East Coast, the manufacturing sector expanded for the 25th consecutive month and the auto industry experienced a notable boost. In addition, large and small retailers are reporting sales gains. Analysts are predicting that the economy will grow by approximately two percent in the current quarter, which is slow but better than the first half of the year, the AP reports.

In addition, the Labor Department reported on Wednesday that unemployment rates dropped in a majority of American cities in July despite a weak increase in jobs. But the economy needs twice the number of 117,000 net jobs added in that month to make a real dent in the overall unemployment rate.

The August report underscores the importance of the jobs plan that President Obama is scheduled to unveil before a joint session of Congress on Sept. 8, in which he is expected to unveil a grand plan to boost job creation and the economy, while at the same time reducing the nation’s ballooning deficit and debt. It will undoubtedly be a difficult balancing act, but he won’t be alone.

Republican presidential candidates will also be on the spot during their Sept. 7 debate, when they too will be expected to provide solutions to the nation’s troubling and persistent unemployment rate that is affecting a broad swath of the American public. They will be challenged to provide fair, balanced and workable solutions that will get millions of struggling Americans back to work.

August jobs report: Employers added no jobs

Employers added no jobs in August, the Labor Department said Friday.

Former Governor David Paterson Named WOR radio, New York Evening Drive-Time Host.

story by Talkers Magazine

photo by Time

Citing a desire to be locally focused, WOR, New York ousts Steve Malzberg from the 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm program and brings former Governor David Paterson in to host the show.

WOR VP/GM Jerry Crowley says, “During his frequent stints as a fill-in host on WOR, Governor David Paterson proved to be a favorite with our listeners throughout the tri-state area. He was the obvious choice to be the man behind the microphone as we extend our locally focused drive-time programming to the afternoon.”

Paterson is a confessed “radio junkie” states WOR program director Scott Lakefield. “He is truly a fan of the medium.” Malzberg is the second conservative talk show host to leave the station within the past year. Premiere Networks host Glenn Beck exited the station at the beginning of the year.

But Lakefield tells TALKERS that from a positioning standpoint, there’s nothing to read into this move. “This is all about our belief in David Paterson.” He says of Malzberg, “Steve is a fine broadcaster and we have the utmost respect for him.”

Since leaving the governor’s mansion, Paterson has done some fill in work at sports WFAN among other New York radio outlets. He begins his new show Tuesday, September 6. As for Steve Malzberg, he writes on his website, “I am extremely proud of the four years in PM drive there. I could not have imagined the great success, which came very quickly. (Not entirely true, I knew we would rock!) I wish my successor David Paterson all the best.

Please understand that this is not the end of the Steve Malzberg show, just a detour on the road to a better and bigger forum for all of us.” Malzberg is available for fill-in work. Contact Frank Murphy at 732-741-5456.