Thursday, March 12, 2009

SPB News for Thursday.



Obama Announces Iraq And Afghan Ambassadors

Ross Douthat To Fill Kristol's NYT Op-Ed Slot

Obama To Other Nations: Take Stimulus Action

Public Broadcasters Seek Extra $300M From Obama

Poll: Congress Hits 4-Year Approval High -- At 39%

Biden to formally an- nounce new drug czar
President downgrades Kerlikowske's position from Cabinet rank.

Freddie Mac seeks $30.8b, again

UN experts to investigate secret U.S. jails Two UN human rights experts said on Tuesday that they would conduct a global investigation of secret detention centers used by the United States and other countries in their 'counter'-terrorism efforts. The yearlong investigation is aimed not only to clarify facts, but also to ensure that such secret jails would not be used in the future, according to Manfred Nowak, UN envoy for torture, and Martin Scheinin, UN envoy for human rights and counter-terrorism.

Terrorist watch list hits 1 million The government's terrorist watch list has hit 1 million entries, up 32% since 2007. Federal data show the rise comes despite the removal of 33,000 entries last year by the FBI's Terrorist Screening Center. The remaining million entries represent about 400,000 individuals, according to the center. "It's always going to be a work in progress," says Timothy Edgar, a civil liberties officer at the intelligence director's office.

NFL, others win exemption from terrorism lawsuits
The National Football League and dozens of other companies and organizations have won exemption from lawsuits under a post-9/11 law that prohibits them from being sued if terrorists attack a site they are protecting. The law, called the SAFETY Act (Support Anti-terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies), aims to help security providers by guaranteeing they will not pay any claims that terror victims might file after an attack.

Judge 'should head torture probe' Allegations that British intelligence agencies were complicit in torture should be fully investigated by a judge-led inquiry, say the Tories. The claims by a former Guantanamo Bay prisoner [Binyam Mohamed] have been referred to the attorney general but David Cameron said that did not go far enough. He said it would only look at whether a crime was committed not whether "our moral authority has been maintained".

Intel Chiefs: Iran Can't Build Nukes Yet Iran does not yet have any highly enriched uranium, the fuel needed to make a nuclear warhead, two top U.S. intelligence officials told Congress Tuesday, disputing a claim by an Israeli official. U.S. National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples said Tuesday that Iran has only low-enriched uranium - which would need to be refined into highly enriched uranium before it can fuel a warhead. Neither official said there were indications that refining has occurred.

Administration to Ask Congress to Expand Funds Available to IMF The Obama administration is planning to ask Congress to expand the United States' primary line of credit to the International Monetary Fund from about $10 billion to $100 billion to boost emergency support for struggling economies around the world, Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said today.

AIG's Small London Office May Have Lost $500B --Feds, Brits Probe AIG's London Office on $500B Losses Ground zero for AIG's spectacular implosion, which has soaked up more federal bailout money than any other entity, appears to have been a small London branch office that may have lost nearly half a trillion dollars in bad deals. The disastrous deals were built up in a decade and, when the crisis hit, the man who ran the unit for the last eight years retired after making $280 million for himself and leaving with a $1 million-a-month consulting contract.

BRISTOL PALIN & LEVI JOHNSTON BREAK OFF ENGAGEMENT — Sarah Palin's 18-year-old daughter Bristol has reportedly broken off her engagement with Levi Johnston, the father of her 2-month-old son Tripp. It's surprising because in an interview just last month with FOX's Gretta Van Susteren …

Sacramento and Its Riverside Tent City

Third Bank Says It Will Return Bailout Funds…But 487 Banks Keep Theirs - by Paul Kiel, ProPublica - Signature Bank of New York says it wants to give that $120 million it received from the government three months ago right back….

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