Indiana Unemployment Remains above National Average

According to the United States Bureau of Labor, Indiana unemployment rate in May remains above the national average. The United States unemeployment rate average dropped from 9.9% to 9.7% while Indiana remains at 10% for the month of May. Indiana unemployment rate has grown by .3 percent since January 2010.


In the same time period, Fort Wayne, Indiana unemployment rate has grown as high as 11% for the month of April.

Unemployment rates were higher in April than a year earlier in 291 of the
372 metropolitan areas, lower in 73 areas, and unchanged in 8 areas, the
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Fourteen areas recorded
jobless rates of at least 15.0 percent, while 8 areas registered rates
below 5.0 percent. The national unemployment rate in April was 9.5 per-
cent, not seasonally adjusted, up from 8.6 percent a year earlier.

In May, the unemployment number slightly dropped to 10.2% for Fort Wayne. The drop places Fort Wayne in the company of Gary, Indiana with a rate of 10.2 but better than Elkhart with unemployment rate at 14.1%

Alvin Greene win South Carolina Democrat Senate nomination

This man has got the political world in an uproar, Alvin Greene.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Update: This is a new source for information on the internet, Newsy.com

pp

Multisource political news, world news, and entertainment news analysis by Newsy.com

I don't necessarily agree with the premise that Alvin Greene is confused. I believe that Greene is being overwhelmed with the media outlets. Greene has to be careful with any interviews he give these folks looking for an angle to sock it to him. Greene used his own money saving the taxpaying tons of dollars, and folks are hot about this unemployed young man willing to invest in our country. Let me not close without mentioning the pending charges against Green on obscenity. I wonder why the university did not have filters on its computers? How do we know that these were not random sites popping on the computer used by Greene? All the evidence is not yet in, so speculating is left to those who have found him guilty before his trial date.

6-14Update Update: Okay, the man spells him last name with an e at the end. Who is Alvin Greene?

8-14 update update #2 Videos of Alvin Greene ( warning not his official site).

US TEAM: 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa

The most watched sport event, World Cup Soccer starts today June 11 through July 11. United States Soccer Team will play England in the 2010 FIFA World Cup South
Africa. Team US lineup includes England, Slovenia and Algeria in the first round. The 2010 FIFA World Cup Draw:

Group A: France, Mexico, South Africa, Uruguay
Group B: Argentina, Greece, Nigeria, South Korea
Group C: Algeria, England, Slovenia, United States
Group D: Australia, Germany, Ghana, Serbia
Group E: Cameroon, Denmark, Japan, Netherlands
Group F: Italy, New Zealand, Paraguay, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Ivory Coast, North Korea, Portugal
Group H: Chile, Honduras, Spain, Switzerland

Thousands of Americans have trekked their way to South Africa in hopes of witnessing a win by the U.S. While millions will be watching on televisions and cheering on team U.S. to pull off a victory.
Indiana will be represented by Fort Wayne native DaMarcus Beasleyon the world stage.



Even the brave men and women in the military will be able cheer on their Team USA. These men and women want to know only one thing:


"Will Italy retain its crown as the world’s best national soccer squad? Does
Brazil have a sixth Cup in its grasp? Can Team USA surprise the critiques
and rise to the occasion like it did in last year’s surprising second-place
finish at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup South Africa™?

Election or Gulf Oil has Twitter over capacity

ROME - There are two billion (1.99 to be exact) text messages written by users of Twitter in May. The goal is to certify Pingdom, a Swedish company specialized in Internet monitoring. The "chirping" microblog passed on last month, says the company, were 64 million per day, 2.7 million per hour, 741 per second.

Traveling at this rate, Twitter has doubled the volume of messages in six months. In December, the site had in fact reached the threshold of one billion. The figures also include the "junk", but, thanks to measures introduced to combat spam, represent a fraction of the total traffic. As announced on Twitter at the end of March, the spam messages that contain links to malicious sites, up 1% of the total, against 11% hit last August.

View contrast to spam, Twitter has just announced the introduction of a system for its "Short URL", that is, for automatically shortening web addresses to make it less cumbersome their inclusion in messages of 140 characters and their display on the small mobile screen.

The shortening involves replacing the normal address, which contains information with a random sequence of characters. In practice, short-clicking the address you do not know what page you will be connected. This condition, which are taking advantage of cyber-criminals.

BP does not care about the south!

Katrina now the oil spill, enough already. Folks go here to express yourself or to file a claim.

Republican Party secret weapon-Sarah Palin

Voters in 12 states held primary elections Tuesday night and who
knew? Who knew that former Alaska Governor and Senator John McCain 2008 Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin would energize women voters to pick women?! Forget about the tea baggers uproar, it is this woman with children wearing sexy clothes and upswept hair had the ear of soccer moms and the eyes of dirty old men who ogled the bespectacled Sarah.

Women from California to Nevada, Arkansas to South Carolina battled male contenders and won a bid to run for governor or senate seats.


From ABCNEWS website: "Nevada Republicans picked Tea Party favorite Sharron Angle to try to unseat Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid . In California, voters chose two former executives and multimillionaires, Meg Whitman and Carly Fiorina, as GOP candidates for governor and senate.

Arkansas Democratic Sen. Blanche Lincoln survived a party runoff to face what is expected to be a fierce Republican challenge to her seat this fall. And, in South Carolina, GOP state Rep. Nikki Haley weathered allegations of marital affairs and an ethnic slur to emerge as her party's leadingcandidate for governor."


Who knew? Back in 1992, dubbed the Year of the Woman, four Democrat women took Senate seats, Patty Murray of Washington, Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois, and Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. Women issues pushed aside traditional voting, although Anita Hill was the catalyst. Hill was unsuccessful in preventing Clarence Thomas from being confirmed as a candidate for the United States Supreme Court with sexual harassment allegations. The women voters wanted the good old boys in Washington, D.C. to take women issues a little more serious when appointing a judge (who happens to be an African-American)to the highest court in the land with an addiction to porn movies.

So how is it that pro-lifer Palin is the shot caller for women in 2010? Not long ago, Katie Couric proved so sweetly that Palin is not that political astute. And is this the same mother, who allowed her teenage daughter to sleep in the same with a male teenager? That would be Bristol Palin, who gave birth to a child without marriage giving abstinence speeches. Palin daughter is an expert on abstinence for teens. This woman was to represent women as the vice-president of the United States, until President Barack Obama won.


It's not Sarah, it's President Obama that has voters in an uproar. Anybody who understands that America is angry that President Barack Obama, an African-American is President. Just go back in your mind to 1992. Clarence Thomas sent these women to the polls in droves. Thomas confirmation to the United States Supreme Court, did not sit well with women. These folks did not care that he was loved by their Republican President George Bush, JR. !! These voters only cared that he was an African-American male.

So if it not about Sarah, than it must be about an African-American holding the President seat in the White House that is driving this Republican year of the Women. How else can you explain a woman spending $70 million dollars to be Governor of California? Who knew that raced white women voted their interest? Who knew President Obama would usher in the Year of the Republican women?

Sarah Palin.

Dr. Belinda Carver Taylor: A Dentist carrying The Legacy of Deamonte Driver

In February 2007, 12-year old Deamonte Driver died from a brain infection caused by untreated tooth decay. He was a student at the Foundation School in Prince George’s County, Maryland. Devastated by the news, members of the Robert T. Freeman Dental Society (RFTDS) (a local chapter of the National Dental Association) residing in Prince George’s County and neighboring Washington, DC, launched a crusade to prevent this tragedy from ever happening again.

Drs. Belinda Carver-Taylor and Hazel Harpers led the effort to form a grassroots community coalition involving all aspects of the community Founded by Robert T. Freeman Dental Society members Drs. Hazel Harper and Belinda Carver-Taylor. The Deamonte Driver Dental Project was launched in 2008 to ensure that no child in Prince George’s County would lack access to needed dental services.



Deamonte Driver Dental Project

From Slavery to Prison Labor-Correctional Industrial Complex

African-Americans unemployment continues to grow. The United States reports that unemployment remains around 9.7-10%. This is the national average. When viewed by individual States you will find some States unemployment is higher than the national average. Go further and separate by races, and an alarming trends emerges, with 32% of African-Americans teenagers between the age 0f 16-19 unemployed.

Often the explanation for an insidious high number of in a groups' unemployment is cited as the group having less education than their counterparts. But a closer examination of statistical data will reveal that African-Americans have borne the historical burden of overcoming slavery, indentured servitude, lower wages and prison labor camps.

How many African-American prisoners will you find cleaning up BP oil spill on the Gulf? The owner of the environmental company in this article stated he has been using work release inmate for at least two years. The owner, "It's almost impossible for them to steal anything," Graddick said. "They're not walking around talking on cell phones. They're orderly, because repercussions are harsh. I've had less problems with these guys than when I've hired just normal people, '" quoted from the article.

What does it all means?

History describes an United States labor distribution as employing raced white males while enslaving African-American males. This meant that African-American males worked without payment which guaranteed a profit for those who enslaved African-Americans. Or for those raced whites who could steal and could capture African-American males to work their land. One could argue that generating wealth from slave labor was an incentive to maintain the slave system. But something happened to put slavery in disfavor for some business owners' interest. As the United States grew, other means for gaining wealth beyond farming would develop. New settlers were being encouraged to go west to take stake in the new frontier with new opportunies.

The burden of maintaining slavery was not in the best interest of these poor settlers who reached the new land. Without slavery, and slaves forbidden to cross the States line, these workers could hire themselves out to companies with new products or provide a service to other settlers in the promise land. But soon the emancipation act releasing enslaved African-Americans from bondage, and these settlers were not accustomed to working along side African-Americans. Wealthy business owners didn't need slave labor and didn't want these African-Americans living in their communities. But business owners saw the use of indentured servants as a way to increase their profit in the new world. These business owners created coercive contracts and used them to entice African-Americans to work as indentured servants. Promising these individuals freedom after they worked off their debt coming to the new land. Some of these workers signed contracts that put them and their children into servitude for long periods of time. Debts not paid made some African-Americans' prisoners without bars for life. Some African-Americans fought back disputing the debt and length of service. The bottom line was that indentured servants understood they were not bound for life to property owners. Refusing to work for property owners who could not afford to pay them however, would lead to a new system for containing African-Americans.

Some African-Americans committed petty crimes for survival. In order to protect property owners, many of these individuals were soon being contained in jails, later prisons. The cost of maintaining these individuals in jails and prisons were costly. Some private companies seeking a way to increase their profit, began to lease these prisoners. It did not take long for private companies to figure out that prisoners who did not work could be legally shot to death for failure to perform their duties.

The threat of violence by plantation owners against the enslaved for not following the rules was now being welded by prison guards against prisoners who did not follow the rules. Society may have soured over the moral issue of not tolerating slavery by abolishing it. . But, society would not tolerate individuals stealing from them, especially African-American males. So the ideal of punishing such criminal behavior was supported by the community.

The criminal code for certain types of punishment was established and those on the wrong side of the law had to suffer the consequence. Just dessert for those who could not follow society rules became the golden rule. However, the criminal justice system was never just about justice, it grew to be a part of the solution for containing the "Negro Problem." Today, prison system has managed to incarcerate one out three African-Americans males in the prime of their lives.

How does this happen?

Criminologists provide data to suggest that young African-Americans are more prone to commit criminal acts. At first criminologists tried to sell that it was in the genetics of young African-Americans to be criminals. This explanation was plausible for those in society seeking to explain the high concentration of African-Americans males in the prison system. These folks further added single mothers as the blame for continuing to bring children into the world who were predisposed to criminal behavior. In other words, African-Americans women were breeding children by African-American men who were unemployed THUGS. So in essence, when you lie down with dogs, don’t be surprised when you find yourselves with fleas.

But, is that the real story?

For me, I believe the real explanation for incarceration of young African-American males is buried under the debris of slavery. The political forces protected the slave institution until business owners could roll out a different version. The newer version of slavery would be selective coercion. Indentured servant by volunteering to agree in writing for a limited time to contract out their work skills would replace the forced lifetime slave labor. But unbeknownst to indentured servants the owners had no plans to release them from their contracts. But with indenture servitude came the right to sue for their freedom. Some private companies would turn to the criminal justice system like the State of Texas to supplement their need for cheap labor. Prisoners have no rights once convicted of crimes. Criminals gave up their rights under the penal system. Many of these criminals were and still are African-Americans males. Males who are born into a society that has systematically created laws to deny them opportunities based on their race.

How do young African-Americans survive in an economical based society?

The media touts the fact that unemployment has hovered around 9.7 % for the past three months. But remain almost silence on the fact the number represents the national average. Almost mute is the media in explaining what does unemployment means for select groups of folks in America?

Today, unemployment is astronomically high for African-Americans. Data is published that America is in a recession, but that does not mean there is no work in America. What it means is less paid work is going to African-Americans. The rate of unemployment for the raced white male on average dangles around 8% while the African-Americans slides closer to the high 16%. In some States, like Detriot the number of unemployed African-Americans is at 30%. But even more disturbing is the fact that other African-Americans males are not counted in these number because of being underemployed, or malemployed or just dropped out the employment system. As long as the preferred worker for jobs in America is raced whites, African-Americans will find themselves working the streets for sheer survival.

Not good enough, because working the streets is outside of mainstream America can lead many of these African-Americans males into tombs of the correctional industry complex being built in your community. Forget about males with over the top tattoos all over their bodies, or oversizes biceps, what felons bring back to the community is a number for life for petty crimes. And this new system of slavery based on that number labeling a felon as a possible return to prison life. And if these felons screw up three times, they may never return to their community, ever again.

Italy Francesca Schiavone win French Open

Italy Francesca Schiavone became the first Italian woman to win the French Open. After Samantha Stosur upset of no.1 seed Serena Williams., Schiavone returned the favor by acing favorited Samantha Stosur of Australia 6-4 7-6.


For the first time in Schiavone's tennis career, after defeating Stosur, her new ranking in World Tennis places her in the top ten. "Schiavone has won four singles titles on the WTA tour, but has also achieved ten runner-ups in total, eight
of them since the autumn of 2005. Schiavone lost her first eight career finals
before finally winning her first title in July 2007. She and her Italian
teammates Mara
Santangelo, Flavia
Pennetta, and Roberta
Vinci beat the Belgium team 3–2 in the 2006 Fed Cup
final. Justine
Henin had to retire in the fifth and final match due to an injury in her
right knee, which let Italy
win their first Fed Cup trophy.[1] This match was a
doubles match and Kirsten
Flipkens partnered Henin and Roberta
Vinci partnered Schiavone.
In addition, she realized a notable victory
during the quarterfinals of the 2008 Dubai Duty Free Women's Open, when she
upset World No. 1 and four-time champion Henin 7–6, 7–6. She also beat Amélie Mauresmo in a Fed Cup tie in 2006 when Mauresmo was
ranked No. 1.
Partnering Australian Casey
Dellacqua, Schiavone was the runner-up in the women's doubles competition at
the 2008 French
Open."

Facebook Friends

I have a plaque where Rosalynn Carter says only God gives a friend, but that was before Facebook little add as a friend button.

So, when this little email showed up in email box, I couldn't wait to post it:

6/03/10

Admit it. The face is one of the first things you look at when deciding when, how, or not to holla at a cutie, and if it’s busted, you’re going the other way, or as Jay-Z would say you're moving on to the next one. Well similarly, Facebook is one of the first things some employers, college recruiters, and corporations look at to find out more about you. Yeah, it’s true they’re checking you out, but the question is what will they find when they do?

Since the recent introduction of the universal “Like” button on websites all across the internet, more and more people are poking around on Facebook and getting all up in yo' business. Basically, when you choose to “Like” something on a website (food, clothes, companies, anything), you are giving that site permission to look into your profile, and at the same time, drawing other fellow Facebookers to your profile when your “Like” appears in the newsfeed and on your page.
That means you’re drawing a whole bunch of attention to the fact that you “are too drunk to go into work today,” or that your favorite hobby is “chasing skirts.” And while that may be funny to your friends and your “Friends,” other people, like the HR specialist at that job you just applied for or the recruiter at your first-choice grad school, may feel otherwise (see our article Throw Some STDs On It).
Now, we would never be so bold as to suggest deactivating your Facebook account or even stop posting things to your profile (oh no, that would be total social suicide), but we are suggesting that you become a little more cognizant of exactly who you are sharing your business with and what business you’re sharing. Here are a few tips to get you started:
What about your Friends? Now, we know how popular you feel when you see that you have 20 friend requests in 10 minutes, but that doesn’t mean you have to accept everybody. Unless you know who the person is or trust your mutual friends, we suggest ignoring them. That may sound rude, but there are still crazies out there -even on Facebook- so, it’s best to play it safe on the friend tip.
Get on the List! As Mashable.com mentions, the list function on Facebook can be one of your most useful privacy tools. With it, you can create lists for certain groups of people and include or exclude them from certain aspects of your profile. This will be especially handy when your parents and all their friends think it’s “cool” to keep up with you on Facebook. Simply block their list from everything except your name, school and job, and you’re good to go! By the way if their checking for you on Facebook, make sure you have a link for them to your PayPal account as well, all donations accepted, we're just saying.
Don’t take it personal. While Facebook is a great tool to use to keep in touch with friends and family, it’s not a good idea to have all of your personal information listed in your profile. Things like your school and city are cool, but you’d better leave your address, cell phone and baby mama’s apartment number out of your profile; unless you’re up for some random phone calls and even more random visitors. Remember, the crazies are still out there and you could be making their job that much easier.
Although Facebook has implemented some new privacy policies as recently as this week, there’s still a need to guard the information in your profile carefully. And if you wouldn’t put it on a sign in your front yard, should you really be putting it on Facebook?

Check out the link below:

http://www.urbanprofessor.com/

Fort Wayne-Funny 4-HL Locally Grown Comedy

There's more than corn in Indiana! There's...funny people and stuff!
The Fort Wayne Comedy Group is showcasing local comedians at their first show this month! See your favorite funny people:

Alex Edwards
Jody Reiter
Russ Breeden
Scott Jarmus
Michael Breuning
Terry Cassell
Paul David Fernandez
Claude Jackson
Stephanie Lochbihler


Show is ages 18+
Tickets are $5
Come support local funny so we can continue to bring funny to the Fort!


Funny 4-H: Locally Grown Comedy
Location: IPFW Neff 101
Time: 7:00PM Friday,
June 4th, 2010

Chuck Barrington-Indiana Small Business Advocate 2010 Award Recepient

Join me in congratulating Chuck Barrington. Chuck was named a United States Small Business Administration 2010 Indiana Small Business Advocate “in recognition of exceptional Economic Recovery Assistance to Indiana Small Businesses.”



Jack Robinson, CPA from Anderson who attended the event that Chuck was honored at states; “ Congratulations to all of you for the recognition given to you by Gail Gesell of the SBA. It has been an honor getting to know you and Chuck these past few years. I am sincere when I say congratulations to hard working, dedicated civil servants who just happen to be my friends.”



Two pictures of Chuck are attached. One is with fellow recipients of the SBA 2010 Indiana Small Business Advocate awards and one with Jack Robinson.



We are very proud of Chuck and his accomplishment.

Serena Williams reached the second round

PARIS (AP)—Top-seeded Serena Williams has reached the second round of the French Open with a 7-6 (2), 6-2 win over Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland.

Williams had 10 aces and three service winners late in the tiebreaker. The 12-time Grand Slam champion also saved three break points late in the first set Monday.

Williams won the title in Paris in 2002 after defeating her sister Venus in the final.

Alabama Gospel connections

IT'S THE 40TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY GOSPEL ANNOUNCERS GUILD of the GMWA July 24 - July 30, 2010 - Cincinnati, Ohio

Willie "Deacon" McKinstry AwardSpirit-filled witness for Christ. Shows an infectious love and warmth for people. Not ashamed to tell of His goodness, anytime , anywhere to anybody.Deacon Willie McKinstry was the... first President of the Gospel Announcers Guild before Rev. Cleveland changed the title to Chairman. Deacon McKinstry was always full of the Spirit and would acknowledge the greatness of the Lord anytime, any place, in front of anyone. He would shout on a dime.See More


Message from Dr Al Hobbs Feb, 2010
GOSPEL ANNOUNCERS’S GUILD ●GMWA Office of the Chairman 900 Shetland Court – Indianapolis, IN 46278 – 317-329-9220 Al “The...
By:GAG NATIONAL GOSPEL ANNOUNCERS GUILD - GOSPEL MUSIC WORKSHOP OF AMERICA, IN

In FORT WAYNE: DEE McKinley Eldridge celebrates 36 years with the Fort Wayne Gospel Fight Radio Program.

Venus Willaims defeated in the French Open

PARIS (AP) -- Venus Williams has been beaten in the fourth round of the French Open, falling 6-4, 6-3 to Nadia Petrova of Russia

What you talking about-Gary Coleman Dead

Gary Coleman, star of the popular series "Diff'rent Strokes" has died. The 42-year old was hospitalized for a few days in serious condition. At his bedside was his wife in Utah. The actor was reported to have fallen from his head and never recovered from an emergency surgery.

Coleman was never afraid to speak his mind and to stand up to those who would try to take advantage of him because of his size. So long.

Mark Souder's Party schedule a Caucus

Mike Foster

Marlin Stutzman
Third District Republican precinct committepersons are scheduled to meet on June 12th in Columbia City. These folks will have the task of nominating the candidate for the special election and the November general election ballot. The list to replace U.S. Rep. Mark Souder is growing daily:

Phil Troyer

Randy Borror

Liz Brown

Bob Thomas

Lonnie Powell

Ryan Elijah

Bob Morris

Greg Dickman

One thing for sure, the candidate selected will be favored by many who have ran for election, currently holding a position as an elected or appointed official or served to do the dirty work for the Allen County Republican team. Fort Wayne Observed and Angry White Boy bloggers decided to publish the secret croynism list of the committeepersons.

If only they have posted the pictures of each of these folks, we could tell if the real committeeperson showed up to represent the voters..just must remember this is a party that will stop at nothing to win a seat, just ask outgoing Congressperson Mark Souder.

Fort Wayne Native DaMarcus Beasley will play 2010 World Cup

Last night I watched the movie Invictus so it was nice to wake up to the knowledge that DaMarcus Beasley will be playing not rugby but Soccer on the World Stage. Beasley made the

United States Men's National Team's 23-man World Cup roster.

This will be third time on the World Cup team for the seasoned 28 years old Beasley. third times on the team. Nicknamed Jitterbug for his movements,

"DaMarcus Beasley is the American soccer player nicknamed "Jitterbug" for his quickness and elusive qualities with the ball. Like his fellow American phenom Landon Donovan, Beasley began playing internationally as a teen; he was named player of the tournament at the 1999 Under-17World Cup in New Zealand. From 2000-2004 Beasley played for the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. In 2004 he moved to PSV Eindhoven in The Netherlands. Beasley played for the U.S. World Cup team in both 2002 and 2006. His World Cup biography from 2006 praised his 'pace and industry down the wing.'"
Beasley also had a remarkable turnaround and will be going to his third World Cup. He teamed with Donovan to spark the Americans to a quarterfinal appearance in 2002, their best finish since reaching the semifinals at the first World Cup in 1930. Then he was part of the disappointing team eliminated in the first round four years ago.

He was exiled from the national team after poor play at the Confederations Cup last June, but returned for the March exhibition at the Netherlands.

"I like being one of the old guys. I get called grandpa now," said Beasley, who turned 28 on Monday.

Beasley made a strong showing at the training camp that began May 17.

"He certainly had to prove himself," Bradley said. "He needed to make a renewed commitment to the team, a renewed commitment to doing things as a player that make his team better. We've seen that."

THE NATIONAL COALITION PARTNERS WITH AFRICAN AMERICAN CLERGY NETWORK FOR CENSUS CAMPAIGN

Washington, DC - Sunday, May 30, 2010 marks the first Sunday of The National Coalition on Black Civic Participation's (The National Coalition) month-long push to encourage hard-to-reach residents in the black community to participate in the 2010 Census. The National Coalition's Unity Diaspora Coalition (UDC) has partnered with the National African American Clergy Network for the "Count on Me - Count Me In Census Campaign," a national initiative to stress the importance of participating in the census and urge church congregants who have not filled out a Census form to cooperate with census takers or call in their census forms immediately.

Specially designed Census toolkits are being distributed to members of the faith community to prepare faith leaders to address questions related to the 2010 Census. "Census Sunday Toolkits" include a sample church bulletin, pulpit announcement, a "Prayer for a Fair 2010 African American Census Count," and an introductory letter signed by twenty prestigious clergy including Bishop Paul Morton, Reverend Dr. Otis Moss, Jr., and Reverend Dr. Cheryl Sanders. The toolkits also provide information on how to identify legitimate census workers.

"The Bible teaches that God and government are not in conflict," said Dr. T. DeWitt Smith, Jr., president of the Progressive National Baptist Convention and co-facilitator of the National African American Clergy Network. "We are promoting full participation in the 2010 census so that our communities receive critically needed resources and services that are based on the census."

"We are encouraging clergy to make announcements in church bulletins, on websites, Facebook pages, Twitter, and other media available," adds Dr. Barbara Williams-Skinner, president of Skinner Leadership Institute and co-facilitator of the African American Clergy Network.

The coalition is telling pastors to urge congregants who have not returned their form to cooperate with door-to-door Census workers or call the Census telephone questionnaire line to give answers over the phone.

"People need to know that it's not too late to participate in the 2010 Census." The National Coalition's president and CEO, Melanie L. Campbell continues, "The Church has always played a defining role within the Black community, their overall reach is beyond measure. Our partnership with the National African American Clergy Networkis a crucial element toward continuing to impact our communities. We know we can count on our faith leaders to make sure our community gets counted so that we get our fair share of billions of dollars."

The UDC is an initiative of The National Coalition that brings together organizations representing the Black Diaspora. In addition to urging residents to mail in their completed Census forms, their goal is to demonstrate unity among Blacks, and to encourage the Black immigrant community to check the "Black" box on question nine of the Census form, then write in their country of origin.

The National Coalition's UDC has focused efforts on ten cities, which include Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Gary, IN; Houston, TX; Jackson, MS; Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New Orleans, LA; St. Louis, MO; and New York, NY.

As part of the campaign, the UDC organized grassroots efforts that include the canvassing of neighborhoods in Jackson, MS; union volunteers gathering in Florida to visit members working at hospitals; and rallies and town hall meetings calling for the end of prison-based gerrymandering were held in New York. The UDC participated in the Census Bureau's March to the Mailbox which organized thousands of volunteers in 6,000 neighborhoods across America to promote mailing in Census questionnaires.

The UDC also launched the Poster & Social Media Competition targeting school-age children and young adults and challenging the youth to use their artistic talent to express why the Census is important to their community.

The National Coalition Unity Diaspora Coalition partners include: The National Council of Negro Women, The Praxis Project, APRI, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Urban League, NAACP LDF, African Federation, Institute of Caribbean Studies, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, NAACP, National Conference of Black Mayors, UniverSoul Circus, Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies, Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Rainbow PUSH Coalition, Black Youth Vote, Black Women's Roundtable, Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, Center for Law and Social Justice and others.

For more information on the UDC or to download a toolkit visit http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103439573546&s=7269&e=001OTmrT0Jc5zjf4wUUY5rBHFDbD_QT7-qI8WVkCdw9llcDi866sOQRXW-A0oRtHkMG4DI1eSfBvNT-R8Jbl508l7Yfeg82tsn2QxN0D2QjdzefwQJujxpE_B2tGADhydJGXVsgKVQ2W3Q= or http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103439573546&s=7269&e=001OTmrT0Jc5zgGqgKPBeOxN4LfbOuYvm0dt0frxNUsg2mbRFLZRqvlYYOPtsuTkswQL8GTq6RrTEc-DBQqTt_Je8RZiMBMJYbenAyAPQZkh4k=. To contact the Census Bureau's Telephone Questionnaire Assistance line call 1-866-872-6868.
###
Link to Faith Toolkit:
http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103439573546&s=7269&e=001OTmrT0Jc5zimPgj1KtUCSQMeh9lZ0PDysD57T6L47Iqv3fc3am7Tbzz84agc2rNTuhmVB9FJQWOmKSJRW9RG1zjU8LCLZEwBMmXR3TTX69RyX-9BbN4x-XtW3jVwV3-FJUNAPOT8VjAY1aGcR8b-0BqUhd39NZ2b

Fort Wayne settled emptied police gun shooting for $335,000

In late 2008, the estate of Jose Lemus-Rodriguez filed a six-count lawsuit against the city and Fort Wayne Police Officer James Arnold in his individual capacity, alleging excessive force, failure to train and supervise, a state law claim for a wrongful death, negligence, assault and battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Lemus-Rodriguez’s estate includes a young daughter in Guatemala.

Arnold faced no criminal charges for the shooting. Arnold fired 18 rounds allegedly fearing for his fellow officers safety. The victim was drunk. The tape of the shooting of Lemus-Rodriquez is remain ealed.