USofA:

The shooting of a burglar in Pasadena, CA turns a little race rioty. Constitutional scholars are saying a ban on saggy pants—like the one in Dallas, perhaps?—is unconstitutional. And apparently, our national debt grows at $1 million a minute.

Outside the bubble:

A German official wants to ban Scientology. U.S. intelligence says that Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003, but might still be developing capabilities. Australia ratifies the Kyoto Protocol (The U.S. is still a no, of course). Despite protests for execution, the Sudanese government has pardoned the British teacher who named a teddy bear "Muhammed."

Finally, scientists (they gotta do something with their free time) have deduced that Santa Claus can only logically visit the average household for about 34 microseconds.