The paper is about Poverty. In section one, I defined poverty and led into section two which covered minimum wage laws. Minuimun wage led into section 3, the ideas of a living wage to decrease the gaps between the rich and poor.

Now, I am feeling stuck at section 4. Here is what I need: this section needs to be about 4 pages of double spaced print. Everything must be cited MLA format Following are the guidelines:

 Who is responsible for implementing this policy/program change for a living wage. I am thinking federal and state)

o   Is this a National, State or Local change?

o   Will this be implemented by Government entities (i.e. DHHS, OCFS, etc.) or Non-Governmental ( I am thinking govermental, with business grants as well as Community Action Agencies, local service agencies)

o   How will funds be distributed? (block grants, competitive grants, through existing departmental budgets)

  Will your change be implemented as a permanent or pilot project? Will it be short term in duration or a long term change? (I am thinking long term, with studies and data collection every 3 to 5 yrs)

o   Consider whether your change is retroactive or could have a grandfather clause attached.  Who will oversee project/program changes ( to ensure that the changes are actually made, I am thinking IRS and better business beareus)? The persons implementing it, a government agency, or a third party entity? ( not retroactive, a forward date)

Establish a clear evaluation strategy: How will you determine whether your changes have been successful?  ( I am thinking research and data collection)

o   What are the intended outcomes and how will you know if they have been met? How do you define success? (intentions are to lesson poverty, would define success by cost of living standards and levels of poverty)

o   Who will evaluate this (the entities responsible for implementation or oversight or an independent third party would be IRS, better business, local agenices,)

 Consequences: Present some potential long or short term intended and unintended consequences of this change? long term may cause more poverty by increasing inflation

 so if there is someone here on triond that is up for helping a college student gather referenced information, please help and dont forget the reference links. Truly I would appreciate this help.

Thurgood-Marshall, first African-American U.S. Supreme Court Justice

How much do you know about the events and people who have shaped African-American history?

Test Your Knowledge with Daybreak Africa’s Trivia Contest

Today’s Question

Who is the first man in the history of the National Basketball Association (NBA) to score 30,000 points?  

Yesterday’s Question

Who is the first African-American Supreme Court Justice?   ANSWER:  Thurgood Marshall

How to Participate

Listen to Daybreak Africa on the radio or check here on the website.  Every day, Monday through Friday, we will ask our TRIVIA QUESTION OF THE DAY.

call us at +1 202-205-9942.  The winners will be selected from the correct answers received.  Listen to Daybreak Africa each morning to see if you’ve won.

While many Americans are familiar with black slavery in the South during the 19th Century and its role in igniting the nation’s great Civil War, less attention has been paid to the black experience in northern cities such as New York, where so-called “freedmen” lived.

Now, a new book, “Black Gotham,” by University of Maryland Professor Carla Peterson, shines a light on their remarkable stories.

Much of the history of black 19th-Century New York has been lost, in part because it was eclipsed in the popular imagination by the saga of southern slavery. Additionally, mostly-white academic historians minimized the contributions of African-Americans. And no comprehensive archive of black life existed until the 20th Century, when the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture was established.

Peterson’s ancestors were distinguished members of the city’s black elite and she felt theirs was a powerful story that needed to be told. She spent 11 years researching and writing her book.

John T. Consoli’Black Gotham’ author Carla Peterson

“Writing this book was very important to me,” says Peterson. “It was a journey of hard work, but also of love and passion.”

Led by free blacks such as clergyman Alexander Crummell, newspaper editor Charles Ray and businessman George Downing, members of New York’s black elite tried to establish themselves as full Americans, not merely as “Africans” or “coloreds” as black slaves had once been called and called themselves.

Like members of outsider groups before and since, this African-American elite considered education to be the key to full citizenship. They also embraced values of character and responsibility.

“A good, upright moral citizen, valuing temperance, a Protestant ethic of hard work, sobriety and all those kinds of inner values. Respectability then is the outward manifestation of character,” says Peterson. “It’s in your appearance, how you dress, how you comport yourself, especially when you’re out on the streets of New York, and especially with whites. No loud, boisterous behavior but being utterly respectable and respectful.”

‘Black Gotham’ explores the history and contributions of New York’s black elite during the 19th Century.

That didn’t mean the status quo went unchallenged. Peterson’s book describes salon-style meetings in the back of James McCune Smith’s pharmacy. Smith, who was one of antebellum New York’s most important black leaders, hosted lively debates about voting rights for blacks and the abolition of slavery.

Alliances with whites were often forged. And like white New Yorkers, many in “Black Gotham” also wanted to be rich – but success could be fleeting.

“You see black New Yorkers make tremendous gains and then lose. Gains in terms of entrepreneurship, finding a trade, finding a profession, setting down roots, buying property, and feeling they were at last becoming a genuine part of city life. They would refer to ‘color-phobia’ as ‘fast disappearing in our city.’ But then there would be a loss.”

Racial violence was also an issue. Peterson cites a riot in 1834, which began in a chapel where both black and white choirs were scheduled to rehearse at the same time.

“And the white choir went nuts. It was only a pretext, but a race riot broke out, and a lot of black property was damaged. Saint Philip’s Episcopal Church, which was the church of my family, was desecrated.”  

The Draft Riots of July 1863, during the height of the Civil War, were an especially low point in the history of black New York.  When President Abraham Lincoln instituted a military draft, many immigrants, especially the Irish, thought they were being asked to fight and perhaps to die in a war being waged for the benefit of blacks. Angry mobs set out to destroy the dwellings and businesses of the city’s prosperous African-Americans.

But there was also some goodwill between the races. Peterson’s great grandfather owned a pharmacy in a largely Irish neighborhood. He was known as a kind man who gave free medicine and clothes to the poor.

“So they came to see him as a pillar of the community. So at the time of the Draft Riots he was warned to leave. A group of white merchants in the area came to him and said ‘You’d better get out. Your pharmacy is going to be attacked.’ And he said, ‘As many men who are going to come and attack me, there will be as many who come to defend me.’ And that is exactly what happened. His Irish neighbors protected his pharmacy.”

Then as now, New York was an ethnic melting pot, and Peterson says many black New Yorkers saw themselves as citizens of the world. Her own ancestors had roots in England, Haiti, Jamaica, Venezuela, American Indian territory as well as Africa.

She points out that more than a century later, many American blacks still lack the educational and economic opportunities that the mainstream enjoys. But Peterson adds that she has been gratified to learn that many black groups are inspired by the struggles and incremental successes of 19th-Century “Black Gotham.”

Many processed food products today are sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.  But concerns that corn syrup might be contributing to obesity has led many food manufacturers to turn to organic brown rice syrup, believing it to be a healthier alternative to the high fructose corn syrup.  

Now, researchers say that brown rice syrup may be an unintended source of arsenic, a highly toxic metallic element that’s been shown to increase the risk of cancer when present in drinking water.

A researcher at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences at Dartmouth University in New Hampshire, Brian Jackson, says scientists were curious about the amount of arsenic in foods consumed by babies.

“Because of their low body weight, if they are exposed to arsenic, then they are exposed to a disproportionately high exposure rate on a high kilogram body weight basis,” Jackson said.

Jackson, who led the study, and colleagues randomly purchased more than a dozen baby formulas to test them for the presence of arsenic. He says almost all the formulas contained very low or trace amounts of arsenic, including those that had rice starch.

“And then I selected two other formulas that I found in a local supermarket, brought those back to the lab, tested them and they turned out to be 20 to 30 times higher than any of the other formulas that we tested. So when we get an anomalous result like that, we retested this and got the same results again.  And at that point I turned a jar around and looked at the label and the first ingredients in that label were organic brown rice syrup,” Jackson said.

Researchers found high levels of inorganic arsenic, the most toxic form, in soy based formula.

Jackson explains that growing rice needs a mineral in soil called silica.  But Jackson says arsenic is chemically a lot like silica, and the growing rice plant takes up both silica as well as arsenic, which is also in the ground. When the rice is fermented to make organic rice syrup, Jackson says the arsenic dissolves easily in the watery brew and becomes part of the syrup.

For this reason, Jackson urges parents to read the label on baby food products and to think twice before purchasing infant foods that contain organic rice syrup.

“I would recommend that.  Obviously the amount of arsenic –  it varies in rice depending upon the cultivar of rice, where the rice is grown — so you are going to get that same variation in brown rice syrups.  It’s true that rice as a grain takes up more arsenic than other grains,” Jackson said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a statement saying it is not aware of any baby formulas that contain organic brown rice syrup.  An agency spokeswoman said FDA regulators are studying aresenic in all rice and rice products and could issue recalls after the report is completed later this year.

An article on arsenic concentrations in baby food and other products is published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

While a protest by religious leaders against last year’s botched presidential and legislative elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been quickly suppressed, U.S-based analysts and activists fear for the country’s future.

The Carter Center issued a statement deploring the suppression of a Thursday march in the Democratic Republic of Congo capital Kinshasa.

Priests and nuns were arrested by tear-gas wielding police, while several radio stations were reported shut down.

The march had been planned to reject results from last year’s vote, which protest organizers said in no way reflected reality or justice.

Mvemba Dizolele from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies says unfortunately international powers brushed off major problems in the run-up to the still controversial 2011 vote. These included a rule change making it a one-round contest and faulty voter rolls.

“A lot of these issues were issues that we all had flagged before that come to now bite us. So at this moment, we have a crisis where the election results were proclaimed but you have (Mr.) Kabila claiming to be the winner, you also have (Mr.) Tshisekedi claiming to be the winner,” Dizolele said.

Congo’s electoral commission declared the incumbent President Kabila the winner with nearly 49 percent of the vote to Mr. Tshisekedi’s 32 percent.

But election observers reported gross violations from ballot stuffing and suspiciously high registration in pro-Kabila areas to polling stations being burned down and security forces tying people up and voting in their place in pro-Tshisekedi areas.

In the legislative elections, more than 300 results from a new 500-seat assembly are being contested in court.  

Pro-Kabila parties have been credited with winning 341 seats to 42 for Mr. Tshisekedi’s party.

Congo expert Jason Stearns from Yale University says a best case scenario of having a revote is being dismissed.

“If you talk to diplomats, if you talk to people in Kinshasa, they look at you as if you are in la-la land if you start talking like that,” Stearns said.

But Tony Gambino from the U.S.-based advocacy group Eastern Congo Initiative says if the fraudulent election results stand, he sees many possible doomsday scenarios.

“Congo could descend into a deeper humanitarian disaster, become unstable once again affecting all of Central Africa and beyond. Surely, we do not want to see this. That is what is at stake,” Gambino said.

Gambino also points out that the International Monetary Fund and World Bank contribute about half of Congo’s budget.

“Anyone who suggests that the West has no influence, that we cannot do anything, they are just blowing smoke. It is wrong,” Gambino said.

Gambino is calling for what he calls financial consequences from international banks and donors.

He also says upcoming provincial elections should be delayed so these can be better prepared.

The United States is Congo’s largest donor country, having contributed over $900 million over the past year.  

This week, a U.S. government statement said it was still closely monitoring the electoral process and that it was deeply concerned about multiple allegations of human rights abuses by Congolese security forces.

Vijay Nambiar, special adviser to the U.N. chief on Burma, made the appeal at the end of a five-day visit during which he met key figures including President Thein Sein and main opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

A U.N. press release Friday praised the changes underway, saying they have “attained an unprecedented level of initiative.”

The statement added that health, education and job creation remain key responsibilities for both central and local authorities in order to empower people to participate fully in the country’s development and growth.

The announcement comes a day after prosecutors requested Mr. Wulff’s immunity be lifted so they could investigate whether he abused his position as governor of the state of Lower Saxony.

Wulff faces multiple allegations including allowing a film producer friend to pay for his bills from two hotel stays and accepting a large loan from a wealthy friend’s wife.

Chancellor Angela Merkel, who handpicked Mr. Wulff for the primarily ceremonial job in 2010, issued a short statement expressing what she said was ” deep regret” at the president’s resignation.

Chancellor Merkel says she wants to seek a consensus from main political parties on a new president.

She postponed a trip to Italy Friday, in anticipation of President Wulff’s resignation.

the goverment is a very tightly sealed club in which powerfull indeviduals fight for the right to lead the great nation out of its great problems right?

i highly doubt that one ,,

we are voting for a select few “party candidates”  who seam to come out of nowere with strange backgrounds, and with no real knowledge of who they are, and we as a society vote them into power! doesent this all seem a little strange to anyone else but me?

we follow their rules , and obide by their laws at all costs or we are punished, we are frown into jail and labeld a convict, when many times people were only demonstrating their right to protest against something that is wrong. the goverment has the nation wrapped round its finger, as it grows further and further into bankrupsy we as citizens pay more and more tax to fund their debts to the other nations who strangle the people for their currency.

change is needed, and needed soon

soon the pound will be worthless and people will starve and perish for the mistakes of the so called goverment that we so badly trust, they have got the world so distracted by going to work, paying bills, providing for the family, so that we dont see the big picture. that the goverment doesent want us to be free, no not at all. 

These are not the only good things that could be done, and new legislation may be introduced periodically throughout the session, but these are those most promising:

10.H.R. 106 — Public Official Accountability Act

This bill provides for an extra two year penalty for any public elected or appointed official convicted of bribery, fraud, extortion, or theft of public funds greater than $10,000, not a mandatory, just an extra tool available to the judge.

9.H.R. 61 — Coach Act of 2011

This bill is to amend title 5 of the United States Code, to require Federal employees to use coach-class air travel in the United States except in limited circumstances.

8. H.R. 54 — Stand by your Oil Pollution Act or the STOP Act.

To amend the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 to extend liability to corporations, partnerships, and other persons having ownership interests in responsible parties, make the corporations pay.

7. H.R. 47 — Classified Information Accountability Act of 2011 or CIA Act.

This is legislation to provide a civil penalty for certain misrepresentations made to Congress by a person employed by the intelligence community, a $10,000 fine to be exact.

6.H.R. 109 — To establish a national commission on presidential war powers and civil liberties.

This is a commission to investigate the broad range of executive branch national security policies undertaken since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, such as torture, wiretaps, etc, etc.

5. H.R.35 — Teacher Tax Reduction Act of 2011

Allows teachers to take a $500 larger deduction for material they buy for their classrooms, the language is not very specific, it only says the deduction is for “certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers”, but it’s a good start.

I would like to see it expanded to upper level education too, but for now this is pretty advantageous.

(FULL DISCLOSURE: My wife is a community college teacher and so we value education and teachers a lot here, I may be biased in liking this legislation.)

4. H.R.29 — To provide for the withdrawal of the United States from the North American Free Trade Agreement.

This one is pretty self-explanatory, if you haven’t hard about the negative effects of NAFTA, you should have. Facts like in the US alone, more than 765,000 jobs have disappeared as a result of NAFTA. When these laid off workers find new jobs, they earn 23 percent less on average than at their previous employment, NAFTA hurts everyone.

3. H.R.32 — Homeless Children and Youth Act of 2011

This bill is too amend the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act to include youths and children…not sure why the Regan era legislators left them out.

2. HR 111: Breast Cancer Patient Protection Act of 2011

This bill is to require a minimum standard of care by insurance companies for all persons with breast cancer, including extending the hospital stay to up to 48 hours if a doctor deems its needed and other benefits.

1. H.R. 36 — Eating Disorders Awareness, Prevention, and Education Act of 2011.

This bill is to raise awareness of eating disorders and to create educational programs in schools to help students learn and avoid these devastating diseases. This is not the first time that the bills sponsor, Congresswoman Judy Biggert, has done some good things with her power, as this story shows.

And one that deserves an honorable mention, and all good internet users should look up is…

H.R. 96 — Internet Freedom Act

Do you know that sickness has entered your soul? a soul  fed by fear, digestion never possible, hunger  constantly dwelling.

Do you know that you have stood still, unmoved? unmoved and, rooted in a routine that kills not only passion but buries love alive.

Know that you are free, only your mind can control you to delve in such darkness…if you let it.

Know that freedom is a thought away, only the mind can catch it, if it’s free and willing.

Your heart holds the the compass in the direction of truth, not to far away on the train of thought.

Come from beneath and uncover love through the tunnels of desperation, a violent moment of imagination casts out the demon of routine.

Allowing one to become an original not a photocopy of what has been done before but clean and innocent.

One that has not been tainted by fear or hold remembrance to the death of passion.

One who has the freedom of mind, imagination that has not been enslaved by the greys in life only coloured by the experiences.

Do you know you have forgotten your divine right? right where wrongs were unborn and beauty was the parent …remember.