The crisis in foreclosures promises to get even worse in the near future, with up to 3.6 million people losing their homes over the next two years, as estimated by the New York Federal Reserve.

Up until August 2011, all 50 State Attorney Generals were negotiating with five banks that were accused of “robo-signing” documents and conducting illegal home seizures. That month, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman decided to oppose what he felt was Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner's undue haste in trying to get a settlement and to instead pursue criminal charges against the five banks. Over the next four months, as evidence of blatant illegality mounted, seven other State Attorney Generals followed Schneiderman's lead and left the settlement group.

Read Full Analysis & News Roundup by Rich Gardner, PhillyIMC | Related Indymedia Reports from East New York, Baltimore, and the December 6 National Day of Action | occupyourhomes.org

Last month, following the Philadelphia DA's decision to not hold a new sentencing hearing, Mumia Abu-Jamal was transferred to SCI Mahanoy, in Frackville, PA, where he as since been held in "Administrative Custody." His present conditions are actually worse than they were on death row at SCI Greene. Please join us in our call for Mumia to be immediately transferred into general population.

For more information, please visit prisonradio.org and freemumia.com.

More Coverage: Sadism in the Cell by Linn Washington, Jr., Counterpunch | The Torture of Mumia Abu-Jamal Continues off Death Row by Hans Bennett, Prison Radio

The First United Methodist Church of Germantown calls it a wrap after conducting a monthly vigil in opposition to the Iraq War since late 2006.

Fox News is terribly upset that Iraq War veterans didn't receive an enthusiastic homecoming parade in their honor, but Al Jazeera examines the site of the war's biggest battle between insurgents and Americans and finds Fallujah is still a pile of rubble, citizens there are still pulling dead bodies from the wreckage, there's still no steady electrical power, still no real victory.

Our frequent contributor Stephen Lendman has recently written on Iraq's and the Middle East's condition several times.

December 31, 2011 — I learned from William Singletary's wife, Jeannette, that he died this morning. Bill was a courageous man who lived fighting to make the truth known — that Mumia is innocent in the shooting death of police officer Daniel Faulkner. For that Bill suffered severe personal and financial consequences. I've known Bill since June 1990 when he came forward with his eyewitness testimony for Mumia and as a witness at the PCRA hearing in 1995, when I was co-counsel for Mumia.

Baba Bob Shipman is a longtime community activist in Philadelphia. He’s involved with various organizations around the city including the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, Phillyneighborhoods, the Philadelphia Parent Partner Yahoogropus Community, as well as Philadelphia IMC. He is currently the "Social Media Ambassador" for newsworks.org and website administrator for xoffendersofpa.ning.com and x-offenders.org.

WHYY recently highlighted Bob's work in their "Citizen Spotlight" Program. In the interview, Bob speaks of his sense of servanthood, the roots of his activism, how the internet has affected him, and his hopes and fears for his city. Read Interview | Bob's Reflections on his Work

Fifty years after Fanon’s death in Bethesda, Maryland new generations of young people encounter his books with electric excitement.

Re-posted from NYC.Indymedia.org | More from Richard Pithouse: video | syllabus

class war

Rich sez: "What can I say? This was the best piece we could find for a new feature, but I just hadda put up a rockin' video to go with it. The words are all in Russian, but the tune's pretty cool."

Yesterday's preliminary hearing shed new light on Joe Paterno's minor, but important, role in reporting allegations of sexual molestation up the chain of command, but also to the person in charge of the University police. Read Full Report by Walter C. Uhler

Previous Reports:
* Part Four: New, Previously Suppressed Grand Jury Testimony and Joe Paterno
* Part Three: DeLillo's Jesuit Priest, the Media Jackals, the Incited Mob and Joe Paterno
* Part Two: The Grand Jury Report
* Part One: What did Joe Paterno know and when did he know it?

The mood was both celebratory and angry among a 1000-plus overflow audience packed into the balcony space of the Constitution Center in Philadelphia on the evening of Dec. 9. The crowd, surely the largest to attend an event in support of Abu-Jamal in years, had thus come both to celebrate the end to the death threat facing the veteran journalist and world-renowned symbol of America’s obsession with state murder, and also to demand that he not instead be “left to rot” in a regular prison for the rest of his life. Read More by Dave Lindorf

Related Coverage: Dr. Johanna Fernandez of Educators for Mumia Abu Jamal Speaks on the Latest Developments in the Mumia Abu Jamal Case by ontheblockradio | From Troy Davis to Mumia: Have we turned a corner on the death penalty? by David A. Love | Why freedom for Abu-Jamal makes even more sense now by Mark Lewis Taylor | Over 1000, Cornel West, Immortal Technique and Others Pack the Philly Constitution Center by freemumia.com

On Wednesday, Dec.7, DA Seth Williams announced that he would not seek the reinstatement of the death penalty by not calling for a new sentencing hearing for death row journalist Mumia Abu-Jamal. Read more in the new article by David Love in The Grio, entitled From Troy Davis to Mumia: Have we turned a corner on the death penalty?

Today is the 30th anniversary of Mumia's arrest on Dec. 9, 1981. An historic event for Mumia featuring Cornel West, Michelle Alexander, and many others, will be held tonight at 7pm at the Constitution Center, 5th and Market (watch the live stream here.). Earlier in the day, there is also a press conference at 11am, Friends Center, 1515 Cherry Street and a Honk for Mumia, 4pm – 5:45, East Side of City Hall.