The country of South Africa had a serious image problem going into this year's World Cup. For years, the country had been banned from international competitions, largely due to economic sanctions because of apartheid. The 2010 World Cup presented a chance for the nation to either redeem itself or continue to look even worse than it has in the past.

Things were not looking so good for South Africa going into the games. There were complaints about potential labor unrest, and the country has always been known for being incredibly violent. In addition, the government was being criticized for not having the organizational skills to pull the event off successfully.

All doubts were erased when the World Cup turned out to be a tremendous success. Violence wasn't a problem, and the country's image in the world was restored. Riding off that momentum, the country now has big plans to make itself a major player on the world's economic and political stage -- and it just might be successful.

BP is getting criticism from civil rights leaders about African Americans being left out of the highly profitable oil clean up process. According to a recent investigation by the NAACP, minority contractors are not being given an opportunity to make money by cleaning up the spill that has destroyed the livelihoods of so many black people in the gulf region.

According to information presented in the Federal Procurement Data System, only $2.2 million of the $53 million awarded in contracts to clean up the oil spill have been given to businesses being run by people of color. That is only 4.8 percent of the total. In a recent letter, NAACP President Ben Jealous told BP CEO Tony Hayward that, "contractors of color are not receiving equal consideration for opportunities to participate in mitigation efforts."

The NAACP's analysis of events occurring in the Gulf region looks at the issue from a multitude of viewpoints. The organization considers the economic impact on those who live in the region. It also looks at the health effects, both physical and mental, on Gulf communities. Finally, NAACP leaders took a look at the social impact of industries and property that are important parts of the local community being suddenly destroyed or significantly altered. Economically, the losses are in the billions and are not yet accurately estimated.

Some are fuming over a new tax that was quietly introduced into recent health care legislation. The tax is a 10 percent levy imposed solely on those who use ultraviolet indoor tanning beds. The tax is expected to raise $2.7 billion for the economy. It is also designed to discourage the use of tanning beds, which are known to significantly increase the risk of skin cancer in those who use them the most.

The most interesting thing about this new tax is that there are some who argue that the tax is "reverse racism" against white Americans. They appear to be making this argument because most of those who use tanning salons are white, so this tax is more likely to affect whites than blacks.

Rush Limbaugh even jumped in, along with Doc Thompson, who fills in for Glenn Beck. Other conservative commentators across the nation seem to have made the tan tax a rallying cry in what they've now interpreted to be their own battle against oppression and discrimination. Thompson, in response to the tax even said, "I now know the pain of racism."

The rapper Chamillionaire recently alerted many of his fans to the concept of a strategic default -- a rather high-end personal finance concept. The rapper was asked about one of his homes that went into foreclosure in a recent interview, and explained why he let the house go deliberately, rather than working to keep up with the mortgage payments. The rapper told TMZ:

"I have multiple mortgages. This house actually was my most expensive mortgage. ... When the market went down, the house went down too and it was just worth nothing. ... I just decided to let it go, give it back to the bank. It wasn't a situation where they came and took it from me . I felt like I didn't want to pay that much money a month for a house I'm never at. ... I just didn't feel like it was a good investment. ..."

A strategic default is when you choose to let go of your home, rather than keeping it. It's not always the case that the bank comes and takes your house without your permission in a forced foreclosure. In this case, you are simply passing the house on because it's too much trouble to pay the bill.

The suicide of Ma Xiang Qian, a 19-year old Chinese worker, has consumers around the world questioning the working conditions in factories contracted to make Apple products. Qian was an employee at Foxconn, a firm that makes iPhones and more. His suicide marked the 10th to occur at the plant he worked at in recent months. Many are accusing the plant of being a sweatshop. Foxconn has even drawn criticism from the Chinese government, not known for its championship of human rights, which has asked the company to improve working conditions for its 400,000 employees. The company also makes products for Nokia and Dell.

Ma's parents were devastated by their son's death. "The more I think about his death, the sadder I feel," his father Ma Zi Shan told ABC News. "Sometimes I think I can't go on living." Ma's sister, Ma Li Qun, said that the pressure within the factory was almost unbearable. "We were not allowed to talk during work. We weren't even allowed to look around. Our superiors used a stop watch to time us. We were fined for any mistakes we made." Ma's sister also went on to say that her brother was verbally and emotionally abused by supervisors at Foxconn. The family does not believe that their son committed suicide and claim that he was actually murdered. There does not appear to be any evidence to support that assertion.

It may surprise you to know that there are many employers across the country who offer loans to their employees. The loans can cover everything from personal expenses to more serious things, such as catching up on a mortgage or moving. The trend has grown over time due to the bad economy and the fact that many Americans are now living paycheck-to-paycheck in single income homes. According to the Department of Labor, the percentage of households with just one income grew to 7.8 percent, which is a 12 percent increase over last year. The Wall Street Journal reports:

Every year, business owner Jim Fab lends his 25 employees as much as $4,000 interest-free for personal expenses they can't afford up front, ranging from down payments on homes and cars to funeral and legal fees. Most pay him back – eventually.

"I had a guy send me $300 a month for three years after he quit," says Mr. Fab, whose electrical-contracting company, Fab Electric Inc., has been in operation in Gaithersburg, Md., since 1978.

At small, closely knit companies, business owners like Mr. Fab sometimes take on an extra role: that of the parent who opens up the wallet when the kids need cash. After all, they typically can't steer their penny-pinched workers toward the kind of resources that many big companies have, such as credit unions and debt-counseling programs. Instead, the only option they usually have is to dig into their own pockets – and many say they do with little hesitation.

With the arrival of the new TBS show, 'Are We There Yet?' the black community is getting another option for network television viewing. We all know that black shows are rare these days, with few outside of the family sitcom genre even getting produced. There is much family fare on TBS now, including the shows created by Tyler Perry, 'House of Payne' and 'Meet the Browns.' But these two black sitcoms are based on what some perceive to be stereotypes of the African American family. The characters tend to be loud and animated, in scenarios in which dancing and jokes that are sometimes a little ignorant abound. We can only hope that 'Are We There Yet' will offer more balanced images of African Americans. But it is troubling that, despite our diversity of experience, the only new major black show in years is another sitcom.

There is always room for a good black comedy -- but it's sad that black shows have been limited to such a narrow form over the years, and often a vehicle for stereotypes at that. It's true that the most successful black shows in history have been family comedies, including 'The Jeffersons,' 'Sanford and Son,' and 'Good Times.' At the same time, most of us can't think of a serious black show that has been on the air for more than one season. Why? And what does this mean for the African American community?

Dr. Alvin Pouissant of Harvard Medical School said this about the state of blacks on television in an interesting article on FamilyEducation.com: "Overall, the position of blacks on TV is better than that of other minorities, but it is hampered by the racial conflicts and segregation that are embedded in American society. Historically, black actors have been grouped stereotypically and assigned to comedy and buffoonery." That seems about right.

If you're madly in love, money should be the last thing on your mind, right? Maybe not. One of the greatest pieces of advice that I learned from reading the book 'Financial Lovemaking 101' is that if you want to talk about love, you've got to talk about money first. Getting rid of your financial anxiety is an important part of trusting your partner.

But, what if your partner asked you to sign a prenuptial agreement? Would you feel that they don't trust you, or would you think they were being prudent? If you were the one who made the most money, would that change your point of view? After Elin Nordegren, the wife of Tiger Woods, asked for $750 million as her divorce settlement, many have reconsidered the value of a prenuptial agreement.

Wells Fargo has recently announced new ways for parents to pay down student loans for their children. The large lender, which has taken a great deal of criticism for its lending practices in the black community, is trying to repair itself by engaging in new and creative ways for Americans to find money.

Parents and children are often saddled with the difficulty of trying to find ways to pay their way through college. The debts can mount, and even getting the initial financing can be difficult. Wells Fargo's new program allows parents to make interest-only payments while their child is in school. Once your child graduates, you can spend another 15 years paying off the remainder of the loan. The interest rates can vary, however, between 4.25 percent and 10.74 percent, depending on your credit score.

The loan is not just available to parents, but it is also available for use by other relatives, like uncles, guardians or grandparents. The new product was created shortly after President Obama cut private banks out of the pool of those offering federal loans to students. The direct lending model is expected to cause large banks to lose $2 billion per year in profits, according to Mark Kantrowitz of Finaid.org. He and other experts expect that these new loans are being created to help fill that void.

America rejoiced at the election of President Barack Obama. African Americans took an unprecedented level of interest in American politics, and the world celebrated the possibility of peace. The end of the Bush administration even inspired the Nobel Prize committee to give its coveted award to President Obama, based on the mere hope that he might make the world a better place.

The world has changed a bit since then. The happy political bash of the election became the tired and draining after party, and the excitement has worn off. America is no longer drunk with the thrill of having an intelligent president. So, this takes us to one final question (inspired by our friend over at the Average Bro blog): Is life better or worse under President Obama?

I focus this article on African Americans, since that is the target audience of this Web site. But every American is asking that question right now, especially after living through one of the most tumultuous economic downturns in the past 50 years. The people in the Gulf region are probably not better off, as they are facing what many are calling the worst oil spill in U.S. history. This spill has destroyed the livelihoods of thousands who depend on the sea and tourism to make a living.