Racial Gap In Homeownership Widens In U.S. Slump

When Clyde Jackson’s wife took a $6 hourly pay cut several years ago, it was the beginning of his rapid descent from two-time homeowner to renter in an apartment complex in the working-class Washington, D.C., suburb of Greenbelt, Md. Jackson, 51, is an African-American father of three who works for a local government sanitation agency. [...]

Restarting Libya’s Valuable Oil Exports Won’t Be Easy

The light at the end of the tunnel for Libyans isn’t just an end to the Moammar Gadhafi regime — it’s also “light, sweet crude.” Oil provides most of Libya’s income. But the revolution there has strangled exports for months and starved the country of revenue, and also temporarily bumped up world oil prices. So [...]

El Nino Seen As Trigger For Violence In The Tropics

Scientists say there’s a link between climate and violent conflict. A statistical analysis of civil conflicts between 1950 and 2004 found that in tropical countries, conflicts were twice as likely to occur in El Nino years. The analysis appears in the journal Nature. El Nino occurs when there is unusually warm water in the Pacific [...]

For Corn Farmers, There’s Gold In Them There Fields

Corn is a mighty hot commodity these days. Grain prices soared after weather damage across the Corn Belt led the U.S. Department of Agriculture to predict lower yields than previously expected earlier this month. Some agronomists and farmers predict yields will likely be even lower because of ongoing heat and drought. All the while, demand [...]

Gallup: Rick Perry Opens 12-Point Lead Over Mitt Romney

There really is a new sheriff in town or, more precisely, frontrunner in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, and he’s Texas Gov. Rick Perry who has opened a 29 percent to 17 percent lead over Mitt Romney with Republican voters, according to a new Gallup poll. Another interesting result: Rep. Ron Paul of [...]

Dick Cheney Reveals He Kept A Secret Resignation Letter

You’ll be hearing a lot about former Vice President Dick Cheney in the next couple of weeks. His memoir, In My Life, hits stores Aug. 29. And on that same day, NBC News will air an exclusive interview with Cheney during “Dateline,” and another one during “Today” on Aug. 30. Today, NBC news released snippets [...]

Got High Blood Pressure? It Might Take 24 Hours To Know For Sure

A blood pressure check may well be the world’s most common medical procedure. Measuring blood pressure is quick, painless, and provides a pretty good clue to risks for future heart attacks and strokes. But some researchers now say that the classic cuff test can be misleading. Blood pressure readings at the doctor’s office or at [...]

New In Paperback: August 22-28

Panel: Carrier Commander Who Made Raunchy Videos Can Keep Serving

You remember Owen P. Honors? He was the commanding officer of the USS Enterprise who was relieved of command back in January after producing what even he said were offensive videos. As Mark reported at the time, Honor’s XO Movie Night videos were shown “to the 6,000 or so sailors and Marines aboard the Enterprise” [...]