As Foreclosure Crisis Worsens, State May Offer More Forums to Help Homeowners
December 18, 2007
Cross posted from the Michigan Messenger
The forum was hosted by state Attorney General Mike Cox and the banks and lenders present represented 98 percent of the
Dealing with diabetes this holiday season
December 18, 2007
With the holidays, the premium on good food takes precedent over nice gifts. With that said, one disease that is prevalent in
An article in the Washington Post featured the ever-amazing chef extraordinaire B. Smith.
Sentencing Commission does the right thing
December 11, 2007
The following press release is from Families Against Mandatory Minimums. Today is a great day!!!
For Immediate Release
Date: December 11, 2007
Sentencing Commission votes in favor of crack cocaine retroactivity
WASHINGTON, D.C.: Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), the nation’s leading sentencing reform organization with 13,000 members — many of whom are incarcerated people and their families — praises the U.S. Sentencing Commission for its courage and leadership on improving crack cocaine sentencing policies for future defendants and current prisoners.
Today in an historic vote, the Commission agreed to allow prisoners serving crack cocaine sentences to seek sentence reductions that went into effect on November 1. Retroactivity will affect 19,500 federal prisoners, almost 2,520 of whom could be eligible for early release in the first year. Federal courts will administer the application of the retroactive guideline, which is not automatic. Courts may refuse to grant sentence reductions to individuals if they believe they could pose a public safety risk. Read more
A question about your money
December 9, 2007
What’s up fam,
I would submit to you that our personal path to financial freedom actually has less to do with how much we make but how we spend what we have. The need to constantly upgrade can wipe out any financial gain we may realize from additional income. So my question to the family is this; what are the services/goods that you refuse to pay a lot of money for, regardless of how much you make? Another way to think about this question is to think about the things that will probably never be upgraded in your life, regardless of income. My goal is to help us collectively understand how we can better live below our means.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Part I: Gentrification in Detroit? Experts disagree
December 8, 2007
Cross-posted at the Michigan Messenger:
With Compuware, Quicken Loans and other businesses setting up in
Reporting from Rhode Island
December 8, 2007
I am writing this post from a hotel in
If I could steal a page from Garlin’s book, I want to give you a glimpse of what is happening as I travel. In 2005,
Bush touts plan to calm mortgage crisis
December 6, 2007
Today, President Bush announced a private sector plan to address the mortgage crisis by freezing the subprime mortgage rates of some borrowers. In a speech today outlining the centerpiece of his plan, President Bush said, “We’ve launched a new initiative at the Federal Housing Administration called FHA Secure. This program gives the FHA greater flexibility to offset refinancing to homeowners — to offer refinancing to homeowners who have good credit histories but cannot afford their current payments.”
The focus on helping homeowners with good credit will exclude many of the people who have bad credit and should not have been offered mortgages to begin with. It’s funny how assistance to rich people is deemed essential to growing the economy but government assistance to low-income people is depicted as crippling the economy.
Among the critics of the plan, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow released a press release that said in part, “The President’s announcement today is a good first step, but I believe more action is needed to assist families in danger of losing their homes…we must immediately do everything we can to help families faced with losing their home. I will continue to lead efforts to pass my measure that will relieve families of a tax burden when their lender forgives a part of their mortgage. No one who is faced with losing their home should be faced with an additional tax bill.”
If you are feeling the pain of this mortgage crisis, call this number 24 hrs a day, 1-800-995-4673.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Make lower crack sentencing guidelines retroactive!!!
December 5, 2007
What’s up fam,
As you prepare to wrap up the year, I want to alert everyone to a very important event regarding drug sentencing. On December 11, the U.S. Sentencing Commission plans to hold a public meeting where they are expected to vote on whether to make the new, lower crack cocaine guideline retroactive.
On May 1, 2007, the U.S. Sentencing Commission proposed an amendment to the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to reduce the sentencing ranges for crack cocaine offenses by two levels. The amendment went into effect on November 1, 2007, and will affect 70 percent of crack cocaine cases sentenced in federal courts, reducing sentences by an average of 15 months.
Retroactivity is vital because for nearly twenty years now, no group has been hit harder with mandatory minimums than Black folks. But don’t take my word for it.
Breaking news re: Iran
December 3, 2007
In breaking but not surprising news, it was revealed today that Iran is not actually developing nuclear weapons. From the New York Times via truthout.org.
Washington - A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.
The conclusions of the new assessment are likely to be a major factor in the tense international negotiations aimed at getting Iran to halt its nuclear energy program. Concerns about Iran were raised sharply after President Bush had suggested in October that a nuclear-armed Iran could lead to “World War III,” and Vice President Dick Cheney promised “serious consequences” if the government in Tehran did not abandon its nuclear program.
Now before you think that this report will actually end the saber-rattling regarding Iran, please put your dancing shoes back in the closet. The Bush administration has already shifted its justification against Iran by citing Iran’s meddling in Iraq. We are very much not out the woods yet and I would ask for all of my liberal-minded friends to not think that evidence or facts prevail in Bush’s world. Please continue to speak out against war escalation and not just in safe progressive bubbles.
Stay up fam,
Brandon Q.
Help! I’ve Lost My Mojo!
December 2, 2007
I was watching Austin Powers 2 the other day, and for the first time, I was struck by the way he was so depressed when he lost his mojo. He was so defeated.
Poor Austin Powers got me thinking about the times when we have lost our mojo. We all have periods in life where, we just are not quite ourselves. Our equilibrium is off, our internal compass no longer points due north. It is a period where we have lost a grip on the essence of ourselves. Our swagger is on the ropes. In sports, they call it a slump. Normally, this occurs in times of uncertainty, growing pains, transition or when we experience some kind of set back. Read more
