According to statistics between 60% - 80% of Las Vegas homeowners are underwater on their homes with homes selling for as low as 30 cents on the dollar. 

According to the Institute for College Access and Success in 2008 over 200,000 students owed more than $40,000 in student loans.  In 1996 there were only around 20,000.

Here is a great article on what you can get for the median price in the Bay Area.

If you didn’t take the quiz yesterday’s AfroBlog post, here is the link.  Go take the quiz and we’ll see you back here shortly.

Anyone who has spent more than 5 minutes reading The AfroBlog or surfing through The Black Man Survival Guide knows that I tend to rail about corporations and their evil practices.  It is not that I think that corporations are inherently evil.  They are just doing what their charter tells them to do – to make continually increasing profits for their investors.  In order to do that corporations must have loyal customers who will continue to spend money on their goods and services.  In the tradition of Malcolm X, the corporation must get new customers and retain them “by any means necessary”. 

The larger the corporations get, the harder it is to for them to rely solely on solid and fair business practices to continue to get these customers and increase profits year after year.  Unfortunately we have situations today where many corporations resort to deceptive advertising, shady business practices, coercion and legal manipulation in order to maintain their shareholder obligations.  In fact, corporations (particularly banks and financial institutions) use such heavy handed tactics that they have created a form of corporate slavery to trap and retain customers indefinitely.

This article was originally posted on the site ProgressiveToo and highlights how the mega-corporations get richer while the masses get poorer.  The source for the statistics come from the Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. Enjoy the article and show some love to ProgressiveToo.  The owner is very adamant about making some changes in America at the grassroots level.

1) Exxon Mobil made $19 billion in profits in 2009. Exxon not only paid no federal income taxes, it actually received a $156 million rebate from the IRS, according to its SEC filings.

Liquor Lining is the practice of encouraging very high density of liquor stores and other alcohol outlets in low income and/or minority communities relative to surrounding areas.

This is a process of reverse redlining where instead of denial of services to low-income neighborhoods, the exact opposite occurs when banks believe it to be the most lucrative option for the service providers. Basically banks are betting on inner city people becoming alcoholics and are steering them to it.

"Liquor lining" is the practice of encouraging very high density of liquor stores and other alcohol outlets in low income and/or minority communities relative to surrounding areas.

Liquor lining is a form of "reverse redlining" in which a lender or insurer particularly targets minority consumers. As with supermarket redlining this process is not illegal, but highly immoral.

"Supermarket redlining" (sometimes called "grocery store redlining") is the preferential placement of grocery stores in wealthy neighborhoods, where potential profits are greatest. It is not illegal, just immoral.

"Supermarket redlining" (sometimes called "grocery store redlining") is the preferential placement of grocery stores in wealthy neighborhoods, where potential profits are greatest.  The lack of supermakets in poor urban neighborhoods leaves only convenience stores where food prices can range between 30% to 100% more.

You can read more about other forms of redlining here