Send me a bill that stops credit card companies from taking advantage of consumers, and do it by month's end, President Barack Obama is demanding of Congress. But there's no guarantee lawmakers will deliver by Memorial Day, and the banking industry is fighting back. "Americans know that they have a responsibility to live within their means and pay what they owe," Obama said. . . .

When Jacob Zuma takes the presidential oath Saturday, he will become the leader of a country where at least a quarter of the work force is unemployed and 1,000 people die of AIDS every day. No wonder South Africans grasped at Zuma's promises of new hope. It is a measure of his political skill that he was able to convince them his 97-year-old African National Congress, in power since the first all-race elections in 1994, was the party of change. For all the challenges ahead, Zuma says South Africans need only look back for inspiration. . . .

Despite an economy represented by high unemployment rates, a home foreclosure crisis and low consumer confidence, African-American buying power is projected to reach $1.2 trillion in 2013, according to a report conducted by the University of Georgia's Selig Center for Economic Growth.
The report "The Multicultural Economy" published in late 2008, estimates that African-American consumers' share of the nation's total buying power will increase from $913 billion, resulting in a contribution of almost nine cents out of every dollar that is spent. Despite this predication, economists believe that consumption by African-Americans will not only fall, but that African-Americans will also continue to be the brunt of high unemployment, suffer an increase in poverty and suffer from a reduction in wages and income. . . .

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The Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries today announced a new citizens leadership panel advising the agencies of civil rights trends and helping chart its course for the future.
The panel's co-chairs are Connie Ashbrook of Oregon Tradeswomen and James Mason, director of Diversity Education and Cultural Competence for Providence Health and Services in Oregon.
Other board members include: Cal Henry, founder and president of the Oregon Commission on Black Affairs; Dawn Holt of LifeWorks Northwest; Rep. Tina Kotek; Sarah Mensah of the Oregon TrailBlazers; State Sen. Frank Morse; Urban League of Portland CEO and President Marcus Mundy; and others. . . .

For Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's wife, First Lady Mary Oberst, jobs in the arts and cultural preservation are the centerpiece of the CHAMP II Reinvestment Package. Oberst visited The Skanner's offices Friday to talk about the Culture, History, Art. Movies, Preservation program....

Jamie Lesser (David Rhein) is a nearsighted nerd with two left feet who has dreamt about salsa dancing since he was child, when he would watch the movie "Strictly Ballroom" numerous times a day. Although he is already a young adult, he has never acted upon that impulse and merely passes a lonely existence in New York City where he works as an accountant. . . .

The replacement of outgoing Supreme Court Justice David Souter may have little to no impact on the civil rights agenda, political and legal analysts and activists say.
"Really, until the conservative members begin to resign from the court you're not going to see much of a change," said University of Maryland law professor Sherrilyn Ifill. . . .

Residents of Orleans and Jefferson parishes seem generally well prepared to meet the upcoming hurricane season, but for some groups preparedness may be dangerously low, said Robert Sims, director of the University of New Orleans Survey Research Center commonly known as the UNO Poll.
Results of a recent UNO Poll survey reported at the National Hurricane Conference in Austin, Texas earlier in April indicate that 71 percent of area residents claim to have made plans about what to do if a hurricane threatens ... Less than 40 percent of residents with a ninth- grade education or less have made plans. . . .

Home prices fell in nearly nine out of every 10 U.S. cities in the first quarter of this year as first-time buyers looking for bargains dominated the market. The National Association of Realtors said Tuesday that median sales prices of existing homa."declined in 134 out of 152 metropolitan areas compared with the same period a year ago. Prices rose in the other 18 cities. Nationwide, sales of foreclosures and other distressed properties made up about half of the market. Overall, sales dipped 3.2 percent from the year-ago period. "I think we're near a bottom, but we're not there yet" . . .