( Photo: Clarence Tabb Jr. / The Detroit News )

On Monday, criminal charges were filed against Detroit mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his former chief of staff, Christine Beatty, following a 56-day investigation of their text message scandal that erupted in January.

There are a total of 12 counts, including obstruction of justice, misconduct in office and perjury.

Last week, Kilpatrick vowed not to resigned, however Detroit’s charter calls for the mayor to be removed from office if convicted of a felony.

Following the announcement of the charges, Kilpatrick declared his innocence:

“This has been a very flawed process from the beginning,” Kilpatrick said. “I look forward to complete exoneration.”

The details of the charges are available online.

( Photo: Wikipedia )

“A More Perfect Union,” the speech Sen. Barack Obama made last week has garnered all sorts of opinion, both supporting and criticizing the presidential candidate. The most recent has come from Pat Buchanan who wants everyone to know that “America has been the best country on earth for black folks” and that “no people anywhere has done more to lift up blacks than white Americans…”

In a blog entry dated March 21, Buchanan writes, “White America needs to be heard from, not just lectured to.” He adds:

“We have all heard ad nauseam from the Rev. Al about Tawana Brawley, the Duke rape case and Jena. And all turned out to be hoaxes. But about the epidemic of black assaults on whites that are real, we hear nothing.”

Part of “Eyes Wide Open” exhibit at National City Christian Church (Washington, DC) on inauguration day (1/20/05). Each pair of boots symbolizes a soldier killed in Iraq.

Following a roadside bomb in Baghdad that killed four American soldiers, the number of U.S. troops who have died since the “war on terror” hit 4,000 just days into the sixth year of a war that President Bush says the United States is on track to win.

The New York Times has posted excerpts from e-mails and journals from fallen soldiers and an interactive timeline of the casualties of war.

Concrete Loop salutes our brave men and women who proudly serve our country.

If you’d like to send your support to a soldier in harm’s way, but have no idea of what to send, who to send it to or even how to send it, visit anysolider.com.