Lessons From the Impending Recession
September 16, 2008
Lately, the economy has taken center stage in the media and the upcoming election. With the collapse of Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch, coupled with the Feds taking over Fannie and Freddie, Wall Street is getting religion in a major way. What does this mean to the average person? Why should you care about the credit crisis? Have you made sense of it? Read more
Stop Speculation Now - Black on Black Thought
July 17, 2008
This is part of the bi-weekly Black on Black Thought feature.
Guess what? Gas is expensive. Expensive gas impacts almost everything in Americans’ day-to-day lives by making almost everything we do or consume more costly. One of the large contributors to the high cost of fuel is speculation, which in simple terms means to buy something you have no purpose for other than to make money off of its unstable price.
Well, the argument against excessive speculation, especially on commodities like oil, has brought together groups of citizens, organizations, and companies that often times are at odds with one another. The Stop Oil Speculation Now effort has caused many to join in a call for smarter, more responsible government regulation and an end to one of the major drivers if high gas prices.
How to save gas money: don’t be fat
April 28, 2008
I’m looking forward to discussing further why we choose to interact with the environment the way we do, but an article I came across yesterday got me thinking even more and more about the impact of our consumption habits specifically those that lead to obesity. 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.
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.
The Unforgivable Sin
October 7, 2007
What is the unforgivable sin for a black man? One would think calling a black woman out of her name, but apparently hip-hop and Isaiah Thomas have taken the sting out of that one. It used to be taboo to participate in interracial dating, but even that has lost its bite.
Actually, it is something a lot less politically charged than that or is it? It took me 24 years to figure it out, but the unforgivable sin for a black man is…to be unemployed. I did not realize it, now I am faced with the looming prospect of unemployment upon completing my post-graduate studies. And as the song says, I am living under pressure.
Up until this point, I have tried to be a pretty responsible guy. I have done my best to be the Dream of Dr. King and what not. But apparently, I did not realize how quickly that accounts for nothing when you do not have a J-O-B.
What is independence?
July 4, 2007
Many moons ago, I wrote a piece about the concept of Indivisible Freedom, which essentially came to the conclusion that the notion is does not really exist in practical terms. Today, this “Independence” Day, I’d like to do a similar exploration of the the concept of independence.
Actively wanting less
June 18, 2007
After reading Garlin’s fantastic post on the Black Middle Class, I was inspired to think of ways that we can maintain an engaged and active middle class. This idea is not original, but I think the answer comes from actively wanting less.
Unfair Pay and the Discrimination Loophole
June 5, 2007
A Supreme Court ruling from last week made it more difficult for people to sue their employers when they found that they were being discriminated against and paid neither fairly or equally. I missed this, but I think that was the point.
Bush doesn’t like the troops, I don’t like Bush
May 18, 2007
I really, really don’t like this guy. Why do he and his political allies talk all this noise about “supporting the troops” when they treat them like the little green army men that small children play war with?
Case in point: Democrats today called for the President to support a compensation increase for the soldiers via The National Defense Authorization Act:
