In Brief - February 7th, 2008

In the Pacific Northwest

• The House in Idaho passed a bill that requires people not born in the U.S. to show that they are in this country legally before obtaining a driver's license. Democrats fear that the bill could make it harder for students and other legal immigrants to obtain the licenses, but this did not deter the Republican-led house from passing the bill onto the Senate.
  
• Oregon's House Consumer Protection Committee voted to ban the sale of toys in the state of Oregon that had been previously recalled due to safety issues.
  
• Microsoft made an unsolicited $44.6 million bid to purchase Yahoo!. Yahoo! has yet to respond to the bid, and is thought to be weighing its options.
  

Across the Nation

• The tragic realities of global climate change are once again being revealed as 50+ people perish in tornadoes throughout the South on Tuesday.
• The Black AIDS Institute, National Minority AIDS Council, NAACP, National Urban League, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Bar Association, American Medical Association and U.S. Conference of Mayors all believe that a 20-year-old federal ban on syringe exchanges funded by federal dollars is contributing to the AIDS epidemic in Black and Latino communities in America.
  

Around the World

• Former Pakistani Prime Minister and slain Presidential candidate Benazhir Bhutto's Pakistan People's Party (PPP) has ended their 40-day period of mourning and released her will, which names Bhutto's husband, Asif Ali Zardari, as her political heir.
• In another woeful yet consistent act as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk agreed that Poland will host U.S. missiles as part of our missile defense system. This deal not only angered the Russians, but is also thought to be a set up for preemptive action against Iran.
• Speaking of Iran, they just opened their first space center. The Bush Administration of course seized the opportunity to condemn the rocket launch, saying that launching things into space takes the same kind of know-how to launch "ballistic" missiles. This is saber-rattling at its finest.

Today in Black History

• Negro History Week, which was invented by Carter G. Woodson, was first observed on this day in 1926. This eventually grew into what we now celebrate as Black History Month.