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Bachmann Knocks Obama on Debt Downgrade
It should come as no surprise that elected officials are lining up to blame the Obama administration for Standard & Poor’s downgrade of the U.S. government’s debt rating for the first time. Minnesota Republican Michele Bachmann was among the first of the finger-pointers. “She called for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner’s resignation, while House Speaker John…
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Guilty Plea in Maryland McDonald's Beating
A Baltimore television station is reporting that the 18-year-old female charged in the brutal beating of a transgender woman at a McDonald’s has pleaded guilty in the attack, a video of which went viral. The woman, Teonna Brown, pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count of first-degree assault and one count of a hate crime…
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Cops Convicted of Post-Katrina Bridge Shootings
A jury convicted five current or former New Orleans police officers of civil rights violations in connection to fatal shootings on the Danziger Bridge in the turbulent days after Hurricane Katrina, the Justice Department announced Friday. It took jurors three days of deliberations to convict the officers in the shooting death of 17-year-old James Brissette…
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Etta James Is Alive, Contrary to Hoax
The Washington Post is reporting that TMZ’s lawyers are investigating a hoax that led to a cavalcade of condolence Tweets in the death of big-voiced singer Etta James. The investigation started after a Web page called TMZNews announced that the singer of “At Last” had died of complications from leukemia and dementia, both of which…
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Steele Defends Former GOP Role
Leave it to a group of African-American journalists to ask former GOP Chairman Michael Steele the hard question. During a panel discussion the other day about the upcoming elections in 2012 at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention in Philadelphia, he was asked about his unflagging membership in the Republican Party after his unceremonious…
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CDC: HIV Infections Up Among Black MSM
New HIV-infection rates among young black men who have sex with men rose dramatically during a four-year study, while overall infections in the United States remained relatively stable, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new HIV infection rate among young black men who sleep with men (MSM), ages 13 to 29,…
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New Rules Require Free Birth Control
In a move that is already generating pushback from conservatives, the federal government today announced new guidelines that would require insurers to cover contraception without co-pays. Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said during an afternoon conference call that besides free contraception, the guidelines would require new health insurance…
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Deal Reached on Debt Limit
CNN is reporting that President Obama and congressional leaders reached agreement on a measure that would extend the federal debt ceiling, cut spending and guarantee more reduction efforts. “There are still some very important votes to be taken by members of Congress, but I want to announce that the leaders of both parties in both…
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Detroit to Limit Neighborhood Services
It is serious in Detroit. The Motor City apparently has been so emptied by urban flight that officials are now parsing out services, such as tree trimming, code enforcement and lighting. That means if residents live in blighted neighborhoods, it’s going to be dark at night for a minute. Mayor David Bing said the city’s…
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Expert: Mommyrexia Is a 'White-Girl Problem'
The Today show’s medical editor called out pregnant women who can’t stop obsessing about exercising and staying skinny. Knock it off, Dr. Nancy Snyderman said, calling it an “upper East Side, obnoxious, white-girl problem.” She points out that these women, dubbed “mommyrexics,” want perfect babies, perfect bodies and perfect lives, but if moms fail to…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
