president barack obama

Feb 5 2013

Housing market collapse

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Reportedly seeking $1 billion in penalties, the Obama administration has selected Los Angeles as the venue for an ambitious legal effort to ascribe blame for the housing market collapse and the financial calamity that it triggered.

The Justice Department sued Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services in Los Angeles federal court late Monday, alleging the New York firm ignored its own standards when it rated mortgage bonds that subsequently imploded, costing investors billions.

Feb 1 2013

Sales are skyrocketing in AV and the nation

 “Sales are through the roof,” said David Spillwell, an employee with The Gun Shop in Lancaster. “When Obama was re-elected on his anti-gun agenda, people seemed to go into a sort of panic. This happened when he was first elected—all the anti-gun talk—but it was nothing like it is now.
We can’t keep adequate supply, sales have been so good.”

What has the president wrought?

Julianne Malveaux  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 31 2013

Counting the Cost

President Barack Obama has the opportunity, in this second term, to put his feet on history. He won an election that his opponent had essentially claimed; he has been firm about that which he would negotiate on, and he has offered a progressive inauguration speech that offers up a liberal agenda, embracing Social Security and Medicare, uplifting immigrants and gay rights, and embracing ways to address inequality.

Jan 28 2013

Recess appointments unconstitutional

WASHINGTON, Calif.—Some $425 million of enforcement actions against credit card companies could be at risk as a result of last week’s court ruling against the Obama administration.

Last Friday, a U.S. Appeals Court said President Obama’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations in 2011 were unconstitutional. A recess appointment also gave the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) its director, Richard Cordray.

David L. Horne, Ph.D.  |   OW Contributing Columnist
Jan 24 2013

Practical Politics

Former Miami, Fla., Congressman Allen West shares more than a last name with Professor Cornel West.

Both were (are) quick-trigger character assassins who love the public spotlight. Both profess to be knowledgeable, experienced and wise men whose points of view are and should be important to more than one or two drunken heads in the local bar.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.

California
San Diego college students and volunteers will carry out their sixth home restoration project on Wednesday, July 10 through Sunday, July 14. as part of the “Healing our Heroes’ Homes” (H3) program created by the nonprofit Embrace. The five-day effort will take place at the home of medically retired Marine Corps Capt. Sarah Bettencourt. Bettencourt served with many different units across the country during the Global War on Terrorism and developed a rare neurological disorder in 2008. With a focus to restore the homes of disabled veteran homeowners, H3 falls in line with Embrace’s mission to mobilize college-student volunteers and community members to serve less fortunate members of civilian and veteran communities. The project for the Bettencourts’ home includes kitchen and bathroom remodeling, building ADA-compliant disability ramps, widening their driveway to ADA standards, widening doorways and landscaping.
 
District of Columbia
The 2013 Smithsonian Folklife Festival will showcase its five-year community research project on African American identity with the program “The Will to Adorn: African American Diversity, Style, and Identity.” This multicity collaboration examines the history and culture of the aesthetics of African Americans. The festival will be held June 26-30 and July 3-7, outdoors on the National Mall between Seventh and 14th streets. “Whether we realize it or not, we are all dress artists. The way we compose our look is a creative expression of our ideas about who we are and who we aspire to be,” said Diana N’Diaye, program curator. “This program explores the diversity of African American traditions of style, but also teaches young people the importance of documenting their own culture and saving that information for themselves and future generations.”