(NNPA)—Michelle Obama has now challenged Americans to deal with the growing problem of obesity in children. Childhood obesity has tripled in the last thirty years. Nearly one-third of US children are now overweight or obese; nearly one in three will eventually suffer from diabetes. In the African-American and Latino communities, the proportion is almost one in two.

This is, the First Lady said, possibly “an even greater threat to America’s health than smoking” with staggering costs. A recent study put the health care cost of obesity related diseases at $147 billion a year. Obesity is now one of the most common disqualifiers from military service.

The wall-to-wall news coverage, the charity events, the pledges from the international community have all raised hope for Haiti and her future. But there is always a gap between promised aid and help and the delivery of such aid, let alone the price of delivering such aid.
There have been promises to help Haiti in the past, whether the pledges were motivated by natural disasters, like deadly floods in recent years, or political problems, like the ouster of former President Jean Bertrand Aristide, the gap between the promise and its fulfillment has been a wide one.

As the first Black Republic struggles to right herself, the American government, the international community and the nonprofits fulfilling many functions that should be the work of government must be held accountable—the old days of promise today and forget tomorrow cannot be allowed to repeat.

by Benjamin L. Hooks

(NNPA)—The nation’s top officials at the Federal Communications Commission came to Memphis to learn about the state of our high-speed Internet service and how it affects our city. These officials wanted to find out whether high-speed services are being deployed in a way that allows all Americans to benefit.

Allow me to discuss a number of persons and asinine statements that agitate me, that I sometimes am compelled to respond, particularly when people try to explain why they don’t read the New Pittsburgh Courier. These persons run the gamut, Blacks with advanced college degrees, college students in their third year, males, females, etc. Some of their excuses are listed below.