03-18-2024  7:04 pm   •   PDX and SEA Weather

It is so easy to excel when you are the only player on the field. Such was the case for the US Automobile Industry for decades.  World War II and the Korean War devastated European and Asian automobile capacity. The bombing and aggression left their manufacturing facilities in total disarray.  They were knocked back into the "stone ages." The Big 3 of the United States had virtually little competition during the 1950s through the mid-1970s. We foolishly thought it was our ingenuity and prowess, but the actual playing field wasn't level at all. . . .


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As the first news of U.S.-sponsored torture became public years ago my immediate reaction was unquestionable, defined by distress and empathy.  I can't say, however, that my response included surprise. Having worked with for the compensation of human rights advocates in Haiti tortured and abused by the military during the 1994 coup, I understood such repulsive tactics as a regretful reality of conflict and war. . . .


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Much has been written, discussed, researched, and analyzed on so-called "Black Spending Power" or "Black Buying Power," as some would call it.  For Black consumers especially, but also for other so-called "minority" groups in this country, the respective aggregate amounts of money earned each year, and then spent, are staggering. In addition, and again especially for Black consumers, our aggregate "buying power" can be described as a perpetual cash register, ringing, buzzing, and chiming 24/7/365. Why do we and others always pontificate about our "buying power" and seldom, if ever, discuss our "selling power"? . . .


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"Face the Nation" was probably a favored TV venue on Sunday, May 24, for most watchers of the Sunday talk shows.
That's because former Secretary of State Colin Powell defended his place in the Republican Party from charges by Rush Limbaugh and former Vice President Dick Cheney. On the same show a week earlier, Cheney said that he preferred Limbaugh to Powell, whom he accused of  departing from the Republican Party because he voted for Barack Obama. Limbaugh said that Powell did it only because Obama was Black. . . .


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Ninety-nine young women walked across Bennett College for Women's graduation stage on May 9, ninety-nine exuberant achievers who have cleared one life hurdle and now have to gear up for another. There are scientists going to study microbiology, aspiring lawyers heading to Indiana University and the University of Iowa, social workers headed to the University of Pittsburgh and Simmons College, an urban planner going to the University of Illinois, a budding journalist headed to Columbia University. . . .


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The emergence of the swine flu has become a moment for our domestic swine to surface with anti-immigrant bashing. What has been amazing has been the intensity of it. As you may have noticed, the political Right has been using the rise of the swine flu (H1N1) as a way of challenging Mexican immigrants, documented and undocumented. . . .


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Who says entrepreneurship is only for the young? After all you need energy, stamina, relentless focus, and the most important thing, time on your side. Maybe! But a key to successful entrepreneurship is simply doing it. Regardless of age or circumstance, make your own opportunities and go for it.
According to Department of U.S. Labor Statistics, the self-employed aged 55 -65 rose 33 percent in 2008, double the number of self-employed 25 - 35 year-olds. Research shows that approximately 22 percent of all new startup businesses are registered by people between 47 and 65 years of age. . . .


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After falling for many years, the teen pregnancy rate is again on the rise. According to a report released in March by the National Center for Health Statistics, the teen birth rate increased 5 percent between 2005 and 2007. A 2007 Centers for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Survey reveals that the declines in teenage sexual activity and increases in teenage contraceptive use have come to a standstill. . . .


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There is an economic tsunami rumbling through urban America, more destructive than anything we have seen on Wall Street. A new report commissioned by the America's Promise Alliance, headed by Colin and Alma Powell, shows that while the national graduation rate has climbed to a still less than acceptable 71 percent, the average high school graduation rate in the nation's 50 largest cities stands at a devastatingly low 53 percent – an 18 percent gap. . . .


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... right on cue, a question was directed to President Barack Obama at his press conference on April 29, by BET journalist Andre' Showell, who asked him, "…given this unique situation [where Blacks face double-digit unemployment and communities of color experience a deep recession] what specific policies can you point to that will target these communities and what's the timetable for us to see tangible results?" . . .


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The Skanner Foundation's 38th Annual MLK Breakfast