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Numbers fall in lull before foreclosure storm

(FinalCall.com) - “There are several indications that this lower activity is simply a temporary lull before another foreclosure storm hits in the coming months.” While the November 2008 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report shows foreclosure filings–default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions–were down seven percent for the month, filings were still up 28 percent from the same time last year....

Renewed effort to execute Mumia Abu-Jamal?

PHILADELPHIA (FinalCall.com) - "These people are pushing for Mumia’s death, despite his innocence. We need to organize like we never have before,” declared Pam Africa of the International Concerned Family and Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal in the call for a Dec. 6 rally in support of the death row inmate in the “City of Brotherly Love." The 27th anniversary of...

U.S. jury acquits oil giant in Nigerian deaths

CHARLENEM A San Francisco jury has acquitted Chevron Corporation of any involvement in the deaths of two peaceful demonstrators at one of its oil platforms in Nigeria as well as any human rights violations that stemmed from a decade-old protest against the company’s production activities there. The Dec. 1 verdict came just 12 days after Nigeria’s Vanguard newspaper reported that...

Inauguration parade route opened to public

ASKIAMSenior Correspondent WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration may be attended by more people than the Million Man March according to District of Columbia officials and National Park Service organizers. Against that landscape, the inaugural parade route will be more open to the public than recent parades, as a result of a long-fought lawsuit. “I think you could have an...

What’s behind drop in home sales?

It might be more than hard times WASHINGTON (FinalCall.com) - The largest drop in home sales on record, a 3.1 percent decrease in October, reported by the National Association of Realtors raised questions about whether the culprit is consumer hesitation or the cut in down payment assistance programs. Lawrence Yun, the association’s chief economist, said consumer hesitation is understandable. “Many...

Police, community partner to stamp out recidivism

CHARLENEM LOS ANGELES (FinalCall.com ) - Thousands of men and women will have been paroled to the streets of Los Angeles by the end of the year and according to the Bureau of Justice. Almost 70 percent of them will walk right back into prison within three years due to a lack of resources and staff to help chart their progress. The...

Congressman denounces ‘classic bait and switch’

WASHINGTON (Capitol Hill) - During a recent congressional hearing, an outspoken Ohio Democrat accused Neel Kashkari, the assistant treasury secretary in charge of the $700 billion Wall Street bailout dubbed the Troubled Assets Recovery Plan, of overseeing a “classic bait and switch.” Rep. Dennis Kucinich, chair of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Nov. 14 questioned why...

Hip hop give back

CHARLENEM Bay Area rapper announces $10,000 scholarship promotion Imagine being a father fighting foreclosure and trying to keep your family off the streets, a single mother trying to keep a roof over your children’s heads, or a college-bound youth with no funds for tuition or books in sight. You spend a fraction of your income to buy some music to...

Repression against U.S. political prisoners ongoing

NEW YORK (FinalCall.com) - A week after the Jericho Amnesty Movement held October rallies and workshops here to commemorate their 10th anniversary as a coalition dedicated to freeing political dissidents in U.S. prisons, there were charges that repression continues.   (Part two in a two-part series)  “More activism and support is needed in the campaign to free Mumia Abu-Jamal,” wrote...

Historic victory etched in American history

ASKIAMSenior Correspondent WASHINGTON - Elation. Euphoria. Tears of joy. Barack Hussein Obama was elected President of the United States Nov. 4, 2008. The date was etched among the most important in American history. When inaugurated on Jan. 20, 2009–one day after the commemoration of the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday–Mr. Obama will become the first Black President. When major television networks declared that...