Winter 2009
"Well, these certainly aren't omnious omens at all..."
"And the corporate chicanery returns. Anyone got a bad feeling about this?"
"We gotta be using these International Courts more..."
While the introduction of President McCain seemed to promise a new opportunity, especially after 16 years of Democrats dominating the political field, the first events of the years led to pundits making cracks on how it was a sign of things to come. The New Year was marked with protests after the
BART Police shooting of Oscar Grant, an unarmed man. As such, talks of police brutality and the treatment of colored people and minorities in comparison to whites was brought up to attention and indeed, one of the first issues that President McCain would need to tackle upon his entry into the Oval Office, upon being sworn in on January 20th. However, there was also positive news as days prior, the Miracle of Hudson River occurred in which a pilot was hailed as a hero for his quick thinking saving the lives of everyone on board. McCain's early months over as President of the United States was one based on a "business as usual" sort of mentality. He did follow some of the advice of his predecessor, which included the maintainance of the digital cabinet and even expanded to include more cybersecurity and military personnel. This was done in response to the actions of how Russian hackers and propagandists possessed an influence during and in the aftermath of the Russo-Georgian War. This included a meeting of McCain and various social media websites along with former President Gore himself coming in to discuss potential problems and threats, both domestic and foreign that could be done through cyberspace. This included bots, especially social bots. Perhaps hilariously, in Febuary 10th, a privately owned U.S. satellite and a Russian military satellite
collide over
Siberia, scattering
space debris in orbits 300 to 800 miles (480 to 1,290 km) above Earth, potentially threatening satellites in nearby orbits. Pundits noted that it seemed like a large metaphor over what could happen if things go wrong. On the other hand, McCain also celeberated the successful execution of one of former President Gore's final projects, the launch of the
Orbiting Carbon Observatory, a new $280 million
NASA satellite designed to precisely measure atmospheric carbon dioxide levels for climate change research after it was delayed for last minute check-ups and fixes.
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Screenshot of Grant pinned down as police try to handcuff him, moments before the shooting (captured from a video that recorded the police incident)
Meanwhile, another issue was on the economy. While it continued to go on, the concerns over potential recessions loomed in the air and a few have questioned McCain's intiatives to further lower rates to try and get more people to buy homes without some potential reforms needed regarding the lending practices. On Febuary 17,
Peanut Corp, a
peanut butter processor implicated in nine deaths and over a thousand poisonings due to
salmonella, files for
Chapter 7 bankruptcy just days after its CEO uses the
Fifth Amendment to avoid questioning by Congress. However, that was not going to be enough to stop the oncoming onslaught of investigations and the oncoming massive recall. One note was on the surprising number of salmonella cases though it was noted that normally, many salmonella cases go on reported though thanks to Medicare For Kids, children afflicted by it were all handled and the data sent to the government. The surprise sent another jolt of frustration and anger at corporations, especially over the low health standards, which led to calls of greater safety inspections, corruption charges and harsher penalities toward corporate goons in charge of such.
Days later, further financial chicanery occurred when James Nicholson, the manager of an unregistered hedge fund, Westgate Capital Management, is arrested and charged in federal court with defrauding hundreds of investors in a
Ponzi type scheme. Pundits took note of this clearly and the anti-corporate sentiment that was in the air continued.
View attachment 514234
Icon of now defunct Peanut Corporation of America
Across the world, various new developments were going on, especially as the world needed to get used to do the new American President and his potentially new direction. The nations of the Indian Ocean experienced an
annular solar eclipse. Austria, Japan, Mexico,
Turkey and
Uganda assume their seats on the
United Nations Security Council.
Asunción,
Paraguay becomes the
American Capital of Culture and
Vilnius while
Linz, Austria became the
European Capitals of Culture and
Slovakia adopts the
euro as its national currency, replacing the
Slovak koruna. Meanwhile,, the first trial at the
International Criminal Court opens. Former
Union of Congolese Patriots leader
Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is accused of training
child soldiers to
kill, pillage and rape. Speaking of courts, former
Serbian president Milan Milutinović is acquitted by the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia regarding
war crimes during the
Kosovo War. However, perhaps in a way to try and make a mark, President McCain insisted on the international community to do something in regards to the Bangladesh Rifles revolt, especially as the
Human Rights Watch,
Amnesty International and the
United Nations High Commission for Human Rights noted their concerns over the lack of fairness within the trials.
View attachment 514245
Partial from Riversdale, South Africa