U.S. recession pains minorities, but hope persists

By Andrew Stern

Blacks and Hispanics have suffered disproportionately in the recession because they often lack seniority, and they are heavily represented in the hard-hit retail, manufacturing and auto industries, Morial said in an interview.

The unemployment rate for U.S. blacks has hovered between 1-1/2 times and double that of whites for several years.

So as the national jobless rate has risen to 9.5 percent -- and is predicted to rise further -- the rate among blacks has jumped as high as 15 percent and the rate among Hispanics is 12.7 percent, while white unemployment reached 8.7 percent
midway through 2009. Read more...

Tamiflu causes sickness and nightmares in children, study finds

David Rose

More than half of children taking the swine flu drug Tamiflu experience side-effects such as nausea and nightmares, research suggests.

An estimated 150,000 people with flu symptoms were prescribed the drug through a new hotline and website last week, according to figures revealed yesterday. Read more...

Divorce Takes Lasting Toll on Health

A study involving 8,652 people between the ages of 51 and 61 found that people who are divorced or widowed have 20% more chronic health conditions, like heart disease, diabetes, or cancer, than married people. In addition, those who remarried had 12% more chronic health conditions than those continuously married, suggesting that divorce has a lingering detrimental impact on health that may never be fully remedied. One shortcoming of the study is that it does not address the impact of marital quality. According to previous research, people who remain in unhappy marriages may be at increased risk for health problems like high blood pressure, depression, and heart disease. More ...

Critics Slam Overweight Surgeon General Pick, Regina Benjamin

By SUSAN DONALDSON JAMES

Leading Experts Say Dr. Benjamin, Though Stellar Nominee, Gives Wrong Message

Dr. Regina M. Benjamin, Obama's pick for the next surgeon general, was hailed as a MacArthur Grant genius who had championed the poor at a medical clinic she set up in Katrina-ravaged Alabama.

Obama's new surgeon general, Alabama doctor Regina Benjamin.

(Getty Images)

But the full-figured African-American nominee is also under fire for being overweight in a nation where 34 percent of all Americans aged 20 and over are obese. Read more...

Americans: Racial Discrimination Still A Big Problem

Tell Me More

The majority of Americans, including many African-Americans, still see racial discrimination as a serious problem in the U.S., according to recent CNN/ESSENCE survey. The findings are a blow to some who hoped the election of Barack Obama as the nation's first black president would inspire widespread racial reconciliation. Veteran pollsters Ron Lester and Frank Luntz discuss the findings and the road to racial progress in the U.S. Listen to report

Young People of Color Are Rising Up Against Military Recruiters

By Anisha Desai and Maryam Roberts

Military recruiters have unprecedented access to youth of color in America's neighborhoods. Some are fighting back.

But in 2008, as the economic crisis took a firm hold, recruitment numbers began to rise. “Jobs with stability are rarities,” Lennon explains. “Options are narrowing and we have people that may have been in the work force that are now thinking about going into the military and getting some stability.” In 2008, 185,000 men and women signed up for military service—the highest numbers since 2003—and many of the new recruits come from the groups being hit hard by the economic crisis. The National Priorities Project (NPP) report of FY2008 army recruiting reveals that with unemployment climbing to 7.6% in that year—and to 12.6% in the Black community—the steepest climb in recruits came from lower-middle-class neighborhoods with income ranges hovering around $40,000. One quarter of recruits from these groups were women of color compared to 10% of white recruits. The share of Black recruits rose 2%, making up 95% of the total increase in recruits. Read more...

Duke University Official Sells Adopted Black Son for Sex Online

Yes! We have been working with the animal control center and have found yet another animal posing as a human. This particular species is undefined for various reasons as you will read for yourself. The animal, Frank M. Lombard, 42, was arrested at his home in North Carolina and not only was his adopted five-year old he had been selling and having sex with present, but two other children as well.

The FBI seized all kinds of computer equipment and other evidence against the assistant director for Duke University’s Center for Health Policy. The animal was caught because he was selling his son to a stranger online that happened to be a D.C. Task Force agent, according to CNN. He promised the officer that he could perform all sorts of sex acts on the child because he had already done them to the child himself.

[Question:] Also, doesn’t it make you ponder why this story isn’t all over every network superceding Michael Jackson’s death at least for one day? The man is from the country’s coveted Duke University and there hasn’t been a serious peep about the story locally or nationally. Is it because Duke’s reputation cannot be tarnished? Is it a racial thing? He is white you know. What about the fact that he’s a gay white male? Wouldn’t want them to come off as deviant. So you … SPREAD THE WORD! Read more...