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Obama Extends Hands to Cuba

In an op-ed piece published in The Miami Herald, Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama criticized the Bush administration's decision to tighten restrictions on relatives of Cubans who visit the island or send money back home. Obama described it as a strategic blunder and, if elected promised to reverse these measures. "Unfortunately, the Bush administration has made grand gestures to that end while strategically blundering when it comes to actually advancing the cause of freedom and democracy in Cuba," Obama said in a statement, adding that in order to improve relations with Cuba, Americans need to help the country's people become less dependent on the Castro regime, told The Associated Press. 

Vick Pleads Guilty

It's game time for Mike Vick, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. With three of Vick's associates prepared to testify that he brutally executed dogs and bankrolled gambling, the NFL star said Monday that he would "accept full responsibility" for his role in a dog-fighting ring and plead guilty to federal-conspiracy charges. In the meantime, chances of Vick beginning the NFL season with his teammates are slim as he faces prison time, from one to five years. However, an inside source says it's possible prosecutors will recommend a sentence of a year to 18 months. Read more.

(See also: Mike Vick: Guilty Until Proven Innocent? Our Readers Can't Stop Talking About It)

Does Discrimination Cause Substance Abuse?

A team of researchers at Columbia University found that substance abuse may be linked to discrimination. Researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia Univesity found that blacks who experience racial discrimination are more likely to report tobacco, alcohol, marijuana and cocaine use. Four other major universities including Harvard also found similar results when whites reported discrimination--38 percent of whites report discrimination, compared to 89 percent of blacks. The study, published in the "American Journal of Epidemiology," also discovered that while blacks who experience racial discrimination are more likely to use drugs, they were more educated, with higher incomes and a stronger social network than those reporting no racial discrimination. Read more.

Latino Youth Least Happy With Their Lives, Poll Finds

From their relationships to their jobs to their money, young whites are happier with life than young people of color, according to a new AP/MTV poll. According to the poll, which surveyed 1,280 people ages 13 to 24, 72 percent of whites say they are happy with life, compared with 51 percent of Latinos and 56 percent of blacks. The survey also found that while 20 percent of whites feel their race will help in getting ahead in life, including in their careers, 28 percent of people of color believe race will hurt them in the quest for a better life, reports The Associated Press.

First Orientation-Bias Lawsuit Hits London Law Firm

Clifford Chance, a London-based global law firm, has been hit by what is thought to be the first discrimination lawsuit against a law firm on the basis of orientation. Former partner Michael Bryceland first hit the "magic circle" firm in November with the claim, which has now been settled for an undisclosed amount. It's possible the firm paid up to 1 million pounds (nearly $2 million) in damages. Bryceland, who was once considered one of Clifford Chance's rising stars in the competition team, alleged both direct and indirect discrimination toward the firm. An employment partner explained: "This means that not only did the firm have an allegedly discriminatory culture, but specific circumstances happened where the individual felt personally discriminated against." Read more.

Do Special-Ed Students Get an Easy Ride?

Concerned parents of children with disabilities say schools are letting their kids graduate without the skill sets they need to succeed after high school. This appears to be a growing trend among parents with children with disabilities. More families are complaining that schools give their children an easy academic ride through regular-education classes, undermining a new era of higher expectations for the 14 percent of U.S. students who are in special education. Read more.

Lutherans May Embrace Gay Pastors

The Rev. Bradley Schmeling of Atlanta believes he and others are making a difference in how one Lutheran denomination plans to deal with gay members and ministers in coming years. Schmeling and members of St. John's Lutheran Church in Atlanta lobbied representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America earlier this month to stop removing gay pastors from pulpits, with great success. Despite the fact that gay pastors are becoming more accepted among church members, since Schmeling is presently in a committed relationship with a man, church officials have removed his name from a roster of approved ministers. The denomination allows gay ministers but requires them to be celibate. Members of St. John's support him and continue to employ him as their pastor, states The Atlanta Journal Constitution. 

Historic Calif. Hospital Closes Doors

Martin Luther King Jr. Harbor Hospital, erected just south of Los Angeles in response to the Watts riots during the 1960s, is now closing. The hospital played a vital role in the life of Watts and other poor communities in the area, especially poor black communities. But even before its inception, the hospital was been a lightning rod for controversy, an essential neighborhood resource and metaphor for the shifting demographics and racial politics of Los Angeles. Joe Hicks, who grew up in Watts and who is the vice president of Community Advocates Inc., a group in downtown Los Angeles that focuses on race relations, is furious about the closing of this historic hospital. He says, "Instead of demanding to keep an incompetent hospital open, why didn't community activists take the opposite position that black people and poor folks deserve the same kind of care as other people in L.A.?" Read more.

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