United States links

Nearly 20 million students now receive free or low cost school lunches, an all time high.  Many school districts struggle to cover their share of the meal's rising costs.  Peter Eisler and Elizabeth Weise USA TODAY June 11, 2009 More financial, food, and hunger crisis stories

Obama reaches out to Muslim world  BBC News June 4, 2009

A foreclosed home on Barclay Street in Baltimore. The city is suing Wells Fargo Bank over its mortgage lending practices in black neighborhoods. Photo: Matt Roth/New York Times

Wells Fargo bank accused of pushing high-interest subprime mortgages on African Americans in Baltimore Michael Powell New York Times June 6, 2009 More financial, food, and hunger crisis stories

Video: Homeless victims of credit crunch Across the US, a new generation of homeless has been created by the credit crunch. Families have lost their homes, and with no safety net, more and more are entering the shelter system. Dumeetha Luthra went to the Bronx and followed Kara Gonzalez and her five children as they move to their third shelter since losing their home last June. Dumeetha Luthra BBC News

Little new in Obama's immigration policy Spencer S. Hsu Washington Post May 20, 2009 

Study says anti-union tactics are becoming more common Steven Greenhouse New York Times May 19, 2009  Not enough Congressional votes to pass bill making it easier to join a labor union, Obama says Stephen Dinan Washington Times May 14, 2009

Time is money, and both are in short supply: Quintin Strange, left, and Kenneth Thomas say they've cut back their weekly laundering to every third week because of the recession. Photo: Lois Raimondo/Washington Post)

It's expensive to be poor! No car, no washing machine, no checking account and no break from fees and high prices!  DeNeen L. Brown Washington Post May 18, 2009 

Food companies try to guarantee the safety of their products, but increasingly cannot Michael Moss New York Times May 14, 2009

Ellen Evans led a game for her fourth-grade Spanish class in New York, where Harlem's Children Zone started. Photo: Essdras M Suarez/Boston Globe

President Obama and Boston non-profits hope to replicate Harlem's Children Zone in Boston and elsewhere  James Vaznis Boston Globe May 1, 2009

In Immokalee, Fla., hundreds of day laborers work in the tomato fields. Bon Appétit Management promises to boycott Florida tomatoes if growers do not agree to improve conditions and increase pay for these workers. Photo Washington Post.

Food company will boycott Florida tomatoes if growers do not increase wages and improve working conditions for workers  Jane Black Washington Post April 29, 2009 

One location where a Chicago food bank is helping feed people that need food. Photo: BBC See complete video

Poverty hits African Americans hard  BBC News April 23, 2009  See video 

Detroit's long road to ruin BBC News April 21, 2009

Study says Pentagon's Africa Command needs to refine mission, citing fears that it will militarize US foreign policy in Africa Eric Schmitt New York Times March 25, 2009

Amnesty International lambastes U.S. for treatment of immigrant detainees-- charges the federal government violates human rights by allowing tens of thousands of people to languish in custody every year without receiving hearings to determine whether their detention is warranted Ken McLaughlin Mercury News March 24, 2009 See Amnesty report

China worried about US debt: biggest creditor nation demands a guarantee. (China owns $1 trillion in US bonds.) Anthony Faiola Washington Post March 14, 2009

One in 50 children now homeless  Cynthia Hubert   Sacramento Bee March 10, 2009

US downturn dragging world into recession Anthony Faiola  Washington Post March 9, 2009

Texas Gov. Rick Perry rejects stimulus money for jobless claims, citing unacceptable rule changes that would broaden who may receive unemployment benefits  Christy Hoppe and Robert T. Garrett Dallas Morning News March 13, 2009  US unemployment rate leaps to 8.1 percent--highest since 1983 Neil Irwin and Annys Shin Washington Post March 7, 2009 Both parties love big government: Ronald Reagan increased government spending by 69 percent,  Bill Clinton by 32 percent, and  George W. Bush by 68 percent  Steven Thomma  McClatchy Newspapers March 5, 2007  Obama's budget: taxing for fairness or class warfare?  Maura Reynolds  Los Angeles Times February 28, 2009  Battle lines quickly set over planned policy shifts: budget, in addition to addressing financial crisis, also marks largest ideological swing since Reagan era Lori Montgomery Washington Post March 1, 2009  Economy shrinks at staggering rate Annys Shin and Neil Irwin Washington Post February 28, 2009

Search for your local food bank Feeding America is new name for America's Second Harvest (A2H)

Ex-foes of health care reform emerge as supporters Ceci Connolly Washington Post March 6, 2008 Obama proposes $634 billion fund for health care as a big step to universal coverage Ceci Connolly Washington Post February 26, 2008 To pay for health care, Obama looks to taxes on rich  Jackie Calmes and Robert Pear New York Times February 25, 2009 

The US may be moving towards a mixed system of procuring food aid, with food purchases not only in the US, but also in developing countries as well. Photo: IRIN

Winds of change in US food aid policy? IRIN March 5, 2009  See more food aid and development aid stories

One out of 31 Americans is in prison, or on parole or probation, at a cost to states of $47 billion in 2009 Solomon Moore New York Times March 2, 2009

CIA adds global financial crisis to daily threat updates for President Obama: growing CIA belief that economic meltdown is now principal security threat Joby Warrick Washington Post February 26, 2009

Liberal and conservative Christian groups bridge some differences in new collaborative efforts to fight poverty in the United States  Jane Lampman Christian Science Monitor  February 16, 2008

William Kittrell, 62, receives a meal from Chris DeSouza, 17, through the Campus Kitchen program at the District's Gonzaga College High School. Bill O'leary/Washington Post

A fresh look at how best to get food to 35 million hungry Americans Megan Greenwell  Washington Post January 24, 2009

Senate passes health care bill to provide health insurance to 11 million low-income children, for the first time spending federal money to cover children and pregnant women who are legal immigrants Ceci Connolly Washington Post January 30, 2009 Congress set to renew health care for children Robert Pear New York Times January 12, 2009

President Barack Obama  visits an emergency homeless shelter for teenagers in the nation's capital. Photo: Washington Post

Thousands heed Obama's call for a day of public service to honor Martin Luther King's birthday  Nikita Stewart and Susan Kinzie Washington Post January 20, 2009

Joint Chiefs chairman urges limit on mission of military, strengthening of US civilian agencies responsible for diplomacy and overseas economic development Thom Shanker New York Times January 12, 2009  See more on the US military role in developing countries

Jobless rate hits 7.2%, a 16-year high  Louis Uchitelle New York Times  January 9, 2009

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