Thursday, December 25, 2008

SPB News for Thursday.



Doomsday: U.S. report warns of 'strategic shock' leading to massive unrest The United States could be sleep-walking into its next crisis, a military report said. The report by the U.S. Army War College's Strategic Institute, said that a defense community paralyzed by conventional thinking could be unprepared to help the United States cope with a series of unexpected crises that would rival the Bush strikes in 2001, termed a "strategic shock." The report cited the prospect of the collapse of a nuclear state leading to massive unrest in the United States, Middle East Newsline reported.

Feds consider searches of 'terrorism' blogs --Homeland Security officials looking for companies to search Internet for postings "in near to real-time which precede" attack The Homeland Security Department may soon start scouring the Internet to find blogs and message boards that terrorists use to plan attacks in the USA. The effort comes as researchers are seeing terrorists increasingly use the Internet to plan bombings, recruit members and spread propaganda

Security Council Extends Protection of Iraq's Assets The Security Council unanimously passed a resolution on Monday extending United Nations protection over Iraq’s assets through 2009, effectively shielding its oil and other revenues from billions of dollars in international claims stemming from the era of Saddam Hussein. The resolution was introduced by the United States and Britain.

Iraqi ex-speaker praises shoe-thrower as 'brave' The newly resigned Iraqi parliament speaker on Wednesday praised the journalist who threw shoes at President [sic] George W. Bush and said the legislature should have supported him. Mahmoud al-Mashhadani's comments came a day after he resigned under heavy pressure from Shiite and Kurdish lawmakers, breaking an impasse that would allow foreign troops, including British forces, to stay in Iraq past Dec. 31.

Japan Should Scrap U.S. Debt; Dollar May Plummet, Mikuni Says Japan should write-off its holdings of Treasuries because the U.S. government will struggle to finance increasing debt levels needed to dig the economy out of recession, said Akio Mikuni, president of credit ratings agency Mikuni & Co. The dollar may lose as much as 40 percent of its value to 50 yen or 60 yen from the current spot rate of 90.40 today in Tokyo unless Japan takes "drastic measures" to help bail out the U.S. economy, Mikuni said.

New York University sues fund executive over Madoff Hedge fund executive Ezra Merkin has been sued again for entrusting investments with confessed swindler Bernard Madoff, this time by New York University, which said it lost about $24 million. The complaint was filed on Tuesday in New York State Supreme Court by NYU, which describes itself as the largest private university in the United States.

Minnesota Supremes Shoot Down Crucial Coleman Lawsuit, Making A Franken Win Nearly Certain — Norm Coleman just got a Christmas present from the Minnesota Supreme Court: A giant lump of coal. — In a unanimous decision handed down just now, the state Supremes denied Coleman any relief …

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran to give alternative Christmas Day message President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran will give a message of seasonal goodwill on Christmas Day as an alternative to the Queen's traditional broadcast, it has been announced.

Poll: 82% Like How Obama Is Handling Transition

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