Daily News Feed 1.06.09/Vocab:lascivious

BBC in Racism Row After Brown-Faced Doll Becomes White
On the face of it, a small furry doll from a magical secret world seems an unlikely subject for a row about racism. Yet the BBC has found itself under fire about the colour of Upsy Daisy, central character in the children’s programme In The Night Garden. Parents have complained that while she has dark skin on screen, an Upsy Daisy doll on sale in toy shops at upwards of £28.95 is much whiter. The BBC has denied any sinister motive, but yesterday it revealed that the doll was to be withdrawn in favour of a new version more faithful to Upsy Daisy’s on-screen hue. Produced by the team behind Teletubbies, In The Night Garden has become Britain’s most popular children’s TV franchise, earning £18million in the last year. Although Upsy Daisy has brown skin and what appear to be dreadlocks, according to the show’s creators ’she is not intended to represent a specific race or culture’. (Continue Reading…)

Hip-Hop Chess Federation Lands Community Grant
While many of the country’s educational programs are seeing funding cuts, in light of the recession, the Hip-Hop Chess Federation (HHCF) has received a community grant. According to ThugLifeArmy, the unique project, focused on outreach of underserved communities, was chosen by the Mitchell Kapor Foundation for funding. “This community grant will allow us to take our first steps toward making this a coast-to-coast teaching/learning community,” said the HHCF’s Founder Adisa Banjoko. “If we are going to promote unity and non-violence in our schools and communities, we need to bring educators together to build a playbook of classroom strategies.” (Continue Reading…)

Lenders overcharged Latinos, blacks
Two mortgage brokerage companies must compensate 445 black and Hispanic borrowers who were systematically charged higher fees than white clients. HCI Mortgage and Consumer One Mortgage must pay $665,000 in restitution, according to a settlement between the companies and the state Attorney General. The state sued the mortgage firms after an investigation of GreenPoint Mortgage Funding, a unit of Capital One Financial, uncovered the discriminatory practices. HCI, Consumer One and U.S. Capital Funding all did “substantial business” with GreenPoint, state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said. In March 2007, Capital One agreed to pay $1 million in compensation. The suit against U.S. Capital Funding has not been resolved. (Continue Reading…)

lascivious \luh-SIV-ee-uhs\, adjective: