Americas 10 Poorest Counties in Appalachia, Deep South or on Indian Reservations

Census Bureau Data: Richest Counties Get Richer, Poorest Get Poorer
Source: ABC News Kentucky Has County With Lowest Median Household Income; Richest 3 in Virginia The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, at least judging by the most extreme neighborhoods for median household income in the latest Census Bureau data. The Census' American Community Survey, released this week, provides detailed neighborhood data, including languages spoken in a home, commute time and income levels. The poorest county, Owsley County, Ky., had the lowest median household income o...

Family Report Shows Brokenness in U.S. Homes
Only 45 percent of American teenagers have spent their childhood with both parents legally married to one another, according to a recent report. The Family Research Council's "U.S. Index of Belonging and Rejection" also found that 55 percent of U.S. teenagers live in families where their biological parents have rejected each other. Read the entire report here . "We have undertaken this study because, bad though it may be, the out-of-wedlock Birth Rate is not the key measure of family intactne...

Jeff Biggers: Roadmaps to New Power: WMMT Radio Brings Together Coal Miners and Tree Huggers on the Airways
Editor's note: "Roadmaps to New Power" will be a series of interviews with Activists, residents, entrepreneurs and industry analysts about current plans and visions for a just transition to Clean Energy and sustainable Economic Development in coalfield communities around the nation. Marking its 25th anniversary last month, Appalshop's WMMT-FM radio transmits from Pine Mountain in eastern Kentucky as the voice of the central Appalachian coalfields. As one of the most unique community radio sta...

georgia prison strike: the inmates' demands - Lawless Lawyer - Open Salon
Posts about New Orleans and Louisiana state of insanity pass it on: lessons from a new orleans cabbie "asking for it": LGBT kids abused behind bars adopting my own child: the Deep South edition the atheist's prayer is it a full moon or somethin'? Rural? No Abortions for You, but Try Some Thorazine My FarmVille, Myself louisiana love song 9/22/09 Posts about BP's Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill bp's oil causes flashbacks: our collective PTSD fleur l'oeil ease and elegance as the ...

About 140 inmates escape Mexican border prison
MEXICO CITY - Nearly 150 inmates escaped Friday from a state Prison in the northern Mexico Border city of Nuevo Laredo, and authorities said the breakout was probably helped by Prison employees. The Public Safety department of Tamaulipas state, where the Prison is located near the border with Laredo, Texas, said 141 inmates got out through a service entrance used by vehicles, "presumably with the assistance of the Prison staff." The department said the prison's director could not be locate...

Inmates flee prison in Mexico; bomb targets police
By Robin Emmott and Gabriela Lopez MONTERREY, Mexico | Fri Dec 17, 2010 4:46pm EST MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - More than 140 inmates escaped from a Prison in Nuevo Laredo on the U.S. border on Friday while hours later suspected hitmen blew up a car near Monterrey in a burst of violence in Mexico's brutal Drug War. The 149 Prisoners slowly filed out the main entrance of a Prison in Nuevo Laredo across from Texas in the early hours of Friday, said two police sources in northern Tamaulipas sta...

Friday roundup, Dec. 17, 2010
Relatives mourn for a Victim in an Explosion at a mine owned by Yi Ma Coal Industry Group in Mianchi, in central China’s Henan province, Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010. The Explosion killed 26 miners who were working despite an order to halt production, officials said Wednesday, while a mine tunnel collapse elsewhere left four dead in the latest accidents to strike the country’s mining industry. (AP Photo) Hey folks, I’m catching up after not doing a “Friday roundup” las...

Tax-cut bill includes big boost for liquid coal
WASHINGTON — The tax-cut bill that the House of Representatives was expected to pass late Thursday does more than prevent taxes from going up next year. It also provides some energy Tax Breaks, including a subsidy for producing liquid coal. Environmental groups oppose the subsidy because of its impact on Climate Change. Making a liquid fuel from coal adds twice the Global Warming Pollution to the atmosphere as Gasoline does because it requires so much energy to produce. The Coal Industry...

Corbett nominates new leaders for state police, corrections
HARRISBURG - Tom Corbett, the state Attorney General who is about to become Governor, took two steps toward filling out his cabinet Friday. The governor-elect named the top investigator from the Attorney General's Office to lead the State Police, and chose a warden from central Pennsylvania to oversee one of the largest and Most Expensive parts of State Government, the Department of Corrections. Frank Noonan, 64, Corbett's chief of Criminal Investigations, spent more than 25 years with the FBI b...

Black segregation falls, but Latino and Asian separation up
California's relatively small and slow-growing black population is experiencing far less residential segregation that it did in years past, but its rapidly growing Latino and Asian American populations are experiencing more, a new nationwide study of housing patterns indicates. The study, "Racial and Ethnic Separation in the Neighborhoods: Progress at a Standstill," was written by John R. Logan of Brown University and Brian J. Stults of Florida State University, was based on data from decennia...

Latest Indicators: Jobless Claims Dip; Trade Gap Grows; Housing Starts Up
What is this? The number of people filing first-time claims for jobless benefits decreased by 3,000 last week, to 420,000, the Employment and Training Administration says. Bloomberg News says that signals "a labor market that is on the mend" in part because the slight decline was unexpected and in part because claims have now dipped in three of the past four weeks. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says the nation's Deficit "on trade in goods and services" widened to $127.2 billion in t...

Housing Starts and Vacant Units
by CalculatedRisk on 12/17/2010 01:36:00 PM Here is an update to a graph showing total Housing Starts and the percent vacant housing units (owner and rental) in the U.S. Over a year ago, I used this chart to argue that there would be no "V shaped" recovery, and that Housing Starts wouldn't rebound rapidly. See: Housing Starts and Vacant Units: No "V" Shaped Recovery. In that earlier post, I also argued that the Unemployment Rate would remain high throughout 2010. Hey, housing matters! Note: Ho...

Census: Rich Areas Richer, Poor Get Poorer
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer, at least judging by the most extreme neighborhoods for median household income in the latest Census Bureau data. More Video ...

Serf And Turf
Don't like the way wealth is distributed? Then you can join congressional Democrats and grump about it, or you can get some wealth for yourself. Ahh, if only that were true. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income in the United States in 2009 was $49,777, not statistically different from the 2008 median. The nation's official Poverty rate in 2009 was 14.3 percent, up from 13.2 percent in 2008 — the second statistically significant annual increase in the po...

Latest Indicators: Jobless Claims Dip; Trade Gap Grows; Housing Starts Up
What is this? The number of people filing first-time claims for jobless benefits decreased by 3,000 last week, to 420,000, the Employment and Training Administration says. Bloomberg News says that signals "a labor market that is on the mend" in part because the slight decline was unexpected and in part because claims have now dipped in three of the past four weeks. Meanwhile, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says the nation's Deficit "on trade in goods and services" widened to $127.2 billion in t...

More D.C. area commuters leaving the driving to others, census data show
Network News X Profile View More Activity READ MORE Traffic & Roads See the latest alerts, a construction calendar, traffic cams and more to help you get around Washington. >> Dr. Gridlock is here to help >> Get transit tips | Traffic By the numbers DataPost Looking for research help, deeper understanding of the day's news, or do you just like numbers? Here's are some of the most interesting, searchable databases developed by The Washington Post and other local and national organizations ...

Washington area is wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, census data show
The Washington area's affluence and education levels make it the wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, according to Census data released Tuesday that reflect five years of relative prosperity compared with the rest of the country. This Story More D.C. area commuters leaving the driving to others, Census data show Commuters data Poll: Have you changed your commute? Washington area is wealthiest and most educated region in the nation, Census data show U.S. Census Bureau: American C...

Housing Starts and New Permits Remain Weak in November
As the Housing Market continues to sputter, new construction has been very slow. Although Housing Starts rose 3.9% in November to 555,000, they didn't nearly overcome the 13.0% decline experienced over the two months prior. The Census Bureau also reports that new permits, which are more of a leading indicator, fell by 4.0% last month. The new home construction market remains relatively lifeless. While it might seem that there could be reason to hope for a new trend here, given the small rise in...

Black segregation in US drops to lowest in century (AP)
WASHINGTON – America's neighborhoods took large strides toward racial integration in the last decade as blacks and whites chose to live near each other at the highest levels in a century. Still, segregation in many parts of the U.S. persisted, with Hispanics in particular turning away from whites. A broad range of 2009 Census data released Tuesday also found a mixed economic picture, with the Poverty rate swinging wildly among counties from 4 percent to more than 40 percent as the nation...

American Community Survey Maps
The Census Bureau has released new county-level maps based on the 2005-2009 ACS 5-year estimates . All of the topics also have Census 2000 maps and data to determine statistical significance. ...

Why the Census may be bad news for Missouri Democrats
WASHINGTON — The Census will make clear on Tuesday what has been speculated about in Missouri political circles for a while: The state could lose a Congressional Seat effective the 2012 Elections. Democrats could be most at risk. Going into the 2011 Congress, they will hold only three seats in the nine-member House delegation because the party just lost Rep. Ike Skelton's district in the November Midterm Elections. But they might have trouble keeping that many. It depends on how the Rep...

Georgia Prison Inmate Strike for Human Rights What You Need to Know
Just like there’s a lot of money to be made in waging war, there are plenty of folks sadly who have an interest in maintaining the status quo of jailing black folks here in the United States despite the cost to black communities. Black Agenda Report has been doing an excellent job covering the development of this extremely interesting and important story in GA which the Mainstream Media is strangely ignoring just like they’ve mostly ignored the systematic arrest & Incarceration o...

Palestinian Women Suffer Harsh Violations in Israeli Jails
© Palestinian Information Center The P.A. spokesman in Gaza denounced, on Thursday, Israeli jailers for their treatment of Palestinian female Prisoners, who suffer harsh and systematic violations, the Palestinian Information Centre reported. Riyadh al-Ashqar, spokesman of the P.A. ministry of prisoners and ex-prisoners in Gaza City, commented on the sever treatment against Palestine women held captive in Israeli jails during an open forum organized by the independent bureau for human rig...

Manning Should Be Removed from Solitary
Bradley Manning is apparently being kept in long-term solitary confinement. Let me second what Matt Yglesias said: So as best I can tell Manning is, in fact, guilty of serious crimes. And unlike the nutty and dangerous effort to legally sanction Julian Assange for publishing leaks, I have no problem with the government punishing people who violate the terms of their classification status. But Manning hasn't had a trial and hasn't been convicted. Somewhat punitive post-arrest pre-trial measures a...

Landmark Mine Safety Case Survives First Court Test
What is this? A Federal Judge in Kentucky appeared to give the government a partial victory Friday in an unprecedented attempt to force Coal Mining companies with persistent and repeated Safety Violations into Federal Court. U.S. District Court Judge Amul Thapar did not give Massey Energy the dismissal it sought in a hearing over its Freedom Mine No. 1 in Pike County, Ky. Instead, Judge Thapar said he would issue a formal ruling as early as December 22, but indicated in his comments in court tha...