U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced that Michigan will receive $19,599,600 in funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to support energy efficiency and conservation activities. Under the Department of Energy’s Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program, the state will implement programs that lower energy use, reduce carbon pollution, and create green jobs locally.
BLACK AMERICA WEB — A Texas school superintendent apologized Friday for his decision not to allow students to watch President Barack Obama’s recent back-toschool speech live while earlier consenting to busing about 500 students to see former President George W. Bush talk about a Super Bowl volunteer initiative.
Even though the comment was off-record, I agree with President Obama: Kanye West did act like a jacka$$. Most people I spoke to agree that his antics last night at the VMA awards were off-color at best and horrible at worst when he charged upon the stage where winner Taylor Swift stood, and then proceeded to state that "Beyonce had one of the biggest videos of all time!" SMH (shaking my head). You will have people who agree with him wholeheartedly, (I think both Beyonce and Swift are talented) and there are some people who think that he was totally wrong for what he did and should be reprimanded somehow. Was he really wrong?
Marygrove College hosted the Aug. 27 presentation of “Passing,” a play that dissects the true ethnicity of Blacks who are often thought to be White and those who decide to “pass.”
Gov. Granholm recently proposed an executive order to eliminate the Department of History, Arts and Libraries. This order would transfer most functions of the library of Michigan to the Dept. of Education, but also cut such services as interlibrary loans through the Michigan elibrary.
While Mayor Dive Bing had decided last week not to go forward with proposed cuts to weekend bus service — including the layoff of 113 bus drivers — he has since announced that cuts to the Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) will be part of a 10 percent cutback in the city’s workforce. He said he will announce what the cuts will entail on Sept. 10, and that these cuts will take effect Sept. 26.
My baby’s birthday is next month.Even four years after the miscarriage, every October, I say a little prayer for the soul that didn’t make it full term. I think I was going to name him something cool like Titan or Oscar. It would have been my first child.
Two things: The Huffington Post recently reported on a four minute public service announcement from Wales that shows in bloody and graphic detail the dangers of texting while driving. Frankly, I think we need more ads of this sort in the U.S., ones that are straight and to the point. And not just aimed at teenagers (the PSA shows a teenage girl texting while behind the wheel). Plenty of imbecilic adults drive while texting or chatting on their cell phones. And I would venture a guess that at least 99 percent of them aren't talking about absolutely urgent matters that couldn't wait until the car has stopped moving.
Last night, I had the pleasure of seeing a play at Marygrove College titled “Passing.” It is the story of an orphan in the Antebellum South who was light enough to pass for Caucasian, and even had several offers to do so. But she decided to identify and live as a Black woman in the Black community where she was raised. It was wonderful and I enjoyed myself.
Washington — Former U.S. Homeland Security chief Tom Ridge charges in a new book that top aides to then-President George W. Bush pressured him to raise the “terror alert” level to sway the November 2004 U.S. election. Then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Attorney General John Ashcroft pushed him to elevate the color-coded threat level, but Ridge refused, according to a summary from his publisher, Thomas Dunne Books.
