U.S. NEWS: February 2009

Thousands of work boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers, beach sandals and roller skates materialized on the Palmetto Expressway, in Florida disrupting traffic for hours.  Police did not know where the shoes came from as there was no sign of a crash, and no one claimed them.  A private contractor was hired to pick up the shoes and deposit them at an empty field, where a Nashville-based nonprofit group, Soles4Souls, picked them up and will distribute them around the world.

Five influential Democratic governors pleaded for up to $1 trillion in federal assistance over two years, to alleviate budget cuts, create jobs, and avoid inflicting irreversible damage to schools during the fiscal crisis.  The governors asked for $350 billion for infrastructure projects, $250 billion for education, $150 billion for middle-class tax cuts, and $250 billion for funding Medicaid, food stamps, and unemployment benefits.  The outline they said was not endorsed by the Obama administration.  It’s still in the air what the final price tag would be and what restrictions would be placed on the money.

Al Franken won the final ballot tally for the Minnesota state senate seat against Senator Norm Coleman. The long and dragged out decision was set to rest with election officials counting the 933 absentee ballots that both sides agreed were wrongly rejected.  Franken won 52 percent and Coleman captured 33 percent (the rest went to other candidates or cast no vote in the Senate race). 

The U.S. inaugurated its largest embassy, a fortress-like compound in the heart of the Green Zone, a sign U.S. officials say is a new chapter in relations between America and Iraq.  U.S. Marines raised the American flag over buildings that sit on a 104-acre site, with space for 1,000 employees, more than 10 times the size of any U.S. Embassy in the world.  ”Iraq is in a new era and so is the Iraqi-U.S. relationship,” Ambassador Ryan Crocker proclaimed.  Not in attendance was Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said to be traveling in Iran.  Explaining the embassy opening three years before the U.S. must withdraw all of its troops, Crocker said it is vital for the U.S. to remain involved in non-military ways.

New Mexico governor Bill Richardson’s exit from the Obama administration brought down the hammer on him being the leading Latino political figure in the nation.  Richardson slated to be Secretary of Commerce, cited a federal investigation into state business for with- drawing.  Great disappointment came from Latino advocates looking to his appointment to increase awareness on Latino issues.  The investigation involves Beverly Hills-based CDR Financial Products Inc., paid to issue road-construction bonds.  The FBI is investigating Richardson’s administrations role in influencing the CDR’s selection.

Pres. Obama braced Americans for possible “trillion-dollar deficits for years to come,” in a dark assessment of the U.S. financial outlook.  He said his administration would impose tight fiscal discipline on the government, citing what will be record deficits for years to come.  His stimulus package could total nearly $800 billion in new spending and tax cuts over two years.  He pledged to work with Congress on spending controls and efficiency measures.  “We’re not going to be able to expect American people to support this critical effort unless we take extraordinary steps to ensure that investments are made wisely and managed well,” Obama said.

The Pentagon won’t award the Purple Heart, a medal given to those wounded or killed by enemy action to war veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder because it’s not a physical wound.  The decision drowned the hope of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who believed the honor could remove the negative stigma associated with the condition.  The disorder is thought to contribute to recurring nightmares, uncontrolled rage, severe depression and suicide. 

Supreme Court refuses cable companies to help customers copy shows, a decision that could have a major impact on video-on-demand as the video recording service would violate the Copyright Act.  Cable TV companies want to make copies for customers at their request.  Lawyers for TV networks/film studios say “copying” violates federal law.  The Copyright Act says that those who make and produce copyrighted material have “the exclusive rights” to profit from it.

The White House cat, an 18-year-old black American short hair, died stated the office of Laura Bush. Named India, the cat was the pet of daughters, Barbara and Jenna Bush, but when the daughters went off to college, the cat, remained with the president and first lady.

Presidents have pondered whether to move in-laws into the White House.  President Ulysses S. Grant’s father-in-law lived there as did Harry S. Truman’s mother-in-law, who historians reported stated that she knew “dozens of men better qualified” to preside over the Oval Office.  President Obama has confirmed that his 71-year-old mother-in-law will move in, possibly temporarily, to help with the children.  During his run for president, Obama’s mother-in-law retired from her bank position to care for the Obama girls.

Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon indicted on stealing gift cards donated to the city for needy families and not reporting fur coats, trips and other luxuries paid by local developer, Ronald H. Lipscomb, a former boyfriend.  A three-year state investigation charged she used $2,000 in donated gift cards for Target and Best Buy to buy a digital camcorder, PlayStation 2, Xbox 360 and other devices for personal use, failing to disclose trips to New York and Chicago. 

A new civil rights bill provides women, blacks and Hispanics with new tools to challenge pay discrimination in the workplace.

A federal intelligence appeals court gave government the power to conduct electronic surveillance without warrants.  The ruling aids telecommunications companies sued for assisting the government’s eavesdropping.  Ruling from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, found an exception to Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches in national-security cases where eavesdropping is done to obtain foreign intelligence.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., ruled that evidence from an unlawful arrest and based on somewhat hapless police record keeping may be used against a criminal defendant.  But the 5-to-4 decision stressed that judges reviewing such evidence should make it last on the list and use it subjectively when deciding whether evidence  should be considered.  ”To trigger the exclusionary rule,” stated Chief Justice Roberts, ”police conduct must be sufficiently deliberate that exclusion can meaningfully deter it, and sufficiently culpable that such deterrence is worth the price paid by the justice system.” 

The current value of university endowments fell approximately 23 percent on the average in the five months ending on November 30, 2008, according to two newly released reports.

According to a Federal District Court judge and prior to White House employees leaving to make way for a new administration, they had their computers searched and had to give up devices containing thousands of e-mails that disappeared.  The messages, dated March 2003 to October 2005, are part of a litigation to protect communication of White House officials from the time frame that surrounds the war in Iraq and a federal inquiry into the leak of the identity of Valerie Wilson, the former C.I.A. officer.