News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Four U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq
6 U.S. troops die in bloody Iraq weekend

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Olmert suggests Palestinian prisoner release - Video
Man speaks out after Sept. 11 acquittal

Religion of Peace??
'Forced to Enter a War'
Ethiopian PM: We will defend against extremists

'Tis the Season
Neither Snow, Nor Rain, Nor Heat, Nor Gloom of Night
1,500 mail carriers go out on Christmas Eve
Pope issues Christmas call to protect children
Americans embrace the art of the re-gift
A real Christmas story
'Museum' wins pre-Christmas box office
Gloom hovers over Bethlehem Christmas
Retailers count on post-Christmas sales

Worldwide Wackos
Iran's Warning: You'll Be Sorry
Iran vows to press on with uranium enrichment - Video
Surgeon flies to Cuba to help Castro

Politics / Government
Latest N.H. Poll: Obama, Clinton in Dead Heat
Schwarzenegger on mend in Sun Valley

Science / Nature
Inhabited Island Vanishes Beneath Rising Waves

News from My Neck of the Woods
A college builds a town from scratch

Other News of Note
FBI Faulted in Oklahoma City Bombing Probe
Ex-KGB Spy Contact Arrested Amid Nuke Probe

Fox News
Trump Sues for $10 Million Over Flag Dispute
1 Dead, Gunman Arrested in Fla. Mall Shooting

Reuters: Top News
Pinochet leaves behind letter defending actions
Chad president and rebel leader sign peace accord
Knight joins Smith atop all-time win list
Condemned killer claims innocence 25 years later
Video game console shortage could linger into '07
Amateurs reach for high-end digital cameras
Even New Orleans elite suffer Katrina reversal
When faith and medicine collide
Crowe and Cage in year's biggest bombs
Bono receives honorary British knighthood
Mergers expected to spur more stock-buying
Economic growth concerns drag down indexes - Video
Dollar rises as technicals outweigh U.S. inflation data
Oil extends tumble from 3-month high
Shire knocked after ADHD drug approval stutters
Meeting the grade
Retail batttle brewing
Exxon, ONGC and Inpex win Libya oil blocs
Alcoa, UAW Cleveland union reach tentative deal
New rules enable healthy savings
ITT could continue strong growth: Barron's
U.S. court cuts Exxon Valdez damages by $2 billion
News Corp reaches deal with Liberty Media

AP World News
Flights leave Denver nearly on schedule
James Brown hospitalized with pneumonia
NFL playoff picture begins taking shape
Henner weds college roommate's ex-beau
Chargers stun Seahawks on last-minute TD
Giants look small against surging Saints
Pats beat Jags 24-21 to clinch AFC East
Last-second FG lifts Texans over Colts
Manning has record 7th 4,000-yard season
Web 'safe' mark may elude new merchants
L.J. carries Chiefs past Raiders 20-9
Obituaries in the news
Gunman wounds 2 officers, kills himself
Assistant principal kills 2, himself

Military.com
Blog: Operation Santa Helps Wounded
Defense Tech: Top 20 Posts of '06
Podcast: Truth From Al Anbar
Advisors: Books for Military Kids
Last Minute Shopping Made Easy
Military Travel Benefits Explained

CENTCOM: News Releases
SOLDIER KILLED BY ROAD SIDE BOMB

HUNTING FOR TERRORISTS ROADSIDE BOMB STRIKES MND-B PATROL

USJFCOM
USJFCOM gets approval to connect U.S., Australian networks - podcast
USJFCOM’s new super computer to enhance joint experimentation, training - podcast

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Forces Kill Suspected Insurgents - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Chief of Naval Operations Visits USS Boxer - Story
Santa’s Helper Delivers Gifts to Foreign Nationals - Story
Trainers Tell Gates They're Pleased With Progress - Story
Residents Take Pride in Market Renovations - Story
Soldiers, Mayor Discuss Progress of City Cleanup - Story

IN IRAQ
Iraqi Police, Coalition Forces Deliver Supplies
Najaf Teaching Hospital Nears Completion
Soldiers Work 24/7 to Keep Supplies Flowing
U.S. Army Engineers Help Ramp Up Oil Production

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Officials, U.S. Troops Open Runway
Chief of Chaplains Brings Support to Region
Buccaneers Return from Afghanistan Tour

BACKGROUND
IRAQ
Renewal In Iraq
Iraq: Security, Stability
Fact Sheet: Progress and Work Ahead
Report: Strategy for Victory in Iraq
Iraq Daily Update
This Week in Iraq
Multinational Force Iraq
State Dept. Weekly Iraq Report (PDF)
'Boots on the Ground' Audio Archive
Weekly Reconstruction Report (PDF)
Iraq Reconstruction
Maps

AFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan Update
Maps

WAR ON TERRORISM
Fact Sheet: Budget Request
Fact Sheet: War on Terror
Fact Sheet: Terror Plots Disrupted
Waging and Winning the War on Terror
Terrorism Timeline
Terrorism Knowledge Base

Weather
Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Germany
Ansbach Aschaffenburg Berlin Berlin-Tempelhof Berlin/Schonefeld Bremerhaven
Darmstadt Frankfurt Frankfurt/Main Freiburg/Breisgau Garmisch
Garmisch-Partenkirchen Geilenkirchen Gelnhausen Giessen Kitzingen Hanau Am Main
Heidelberg MainzMannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier Wiesbaden WurzburgGitmo

Guam
Agana Agana Heights Agat Andersen AFB Asan Barrigada

Iraq
Al Azamiyah Al Basrah Al Hillah Al Karkh Al Kazimiyah Al Kut
An Nasiriyah Baghdad Baqubah Mosul Najaf Nineveh Tall Kayf

Japan
Kadena Air Base Okinawa Tokyo Yokohama

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar SiteUlsan Yosu

** If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me! **
Today in History
0001 - 1st Christmas, according to calendar-maker Dionysus Exiguus
0337 - Earliest possible date that Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
0352 - 1st definite date Christmas was celebrated on Dec 25th
0390 - Roman emperor Theodosius admits debt on mass murder in Thessalonica
0498 - French king Clovis baptises himself
0597 - England adopts Julian calendar
0604 - Battle at Etampes (Stampae); Burgundy beat Neustriers
0795 - Adrian I ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0800 - Pope Leo III crowns Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Roman emperor
0875 - Charles, the Bare, crowned emperor of Rome
0967 - John XIII, crowned Otto II the Red German compassionate emperor
0969 - Johannes I Tzimisces, crowned emperor of Byzantium
0979 - Rotardus appointed as bishop of the kingdom
0999 - Heribertus becomes bishop of Cologne
1000 - Monarch István crowned king of Hungary
1046 - Pope Clemens VI crowns Henry III Roman Catholic-German emperor
1048 - Parliament of Worms: Emperor Henry III names his cousin count Bruno van Egisheim/Dagsburg as Pope Leo IX
1066 - William the Conqueror, crowned king of England
1100 - Boudouin I of Boulogne crowned king of Jerusalem
1101 - Henry I of Limburg becomes duke of Netherlands-Lutherans
1130 - Anti-pope Anacletus II crowns Roger II the Norman, king of Sicily
1223 - St. Francis of Assisi assembles 1st Nativity scene (Greccio, Italy)
1492 - Columbus' ship Santa Maria docks at Dominican Republic
1522 - Turkish troops occupy Rhodos
1582 - Zealand/Brabant adopts Gregorian calendar, yesterday was Dec 14th
1613 - Johan Sigismund of Brandenburg becomes protestant
1621 - Governor William Bradford of Plymouth forbids game playing on Christmas day
1651 - Massachusetts General Court ordered a fine (five shillings) for "observing any such day as Christmas"
1683 - English Whig-leader duke of Monmouth flees to Holland
1688 - English king James II lands in Ambleteuse, France; Lord Delamere sides with King James II
1717 - Floods ravage Dutch coast provinces, 1000s killed
1741 - Astronomer Anders Celcius introduces Centigrade temperature scale
1745 - Prussia/Austria signs Treaty of Dresden; gives much of Silesia to the Prussians
1758 - Halley's comet 1st sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch during return
1776 - Washington crosses Delaware & surprises & defeats 1,400 Hessians
1818 - 1st US performance of Händel's Messiah, Boston; 1st known Christmas carol ("Silent Night, Holy Night" by Franz Joseph Gruber & Joseph Mohr) sung (Austria)
1831 - Louisiana & Arkansas are 1st states to observe Christmas as holiday
1832 - Charles Darwin celebrates Christmas in St Martin at Cape Receiver
1833 - Charles Darwin celebrates Christmas in Port Desire, Patagonia
1834 - Charles Darwin celebrates Christmas on Beagle at Tres Montes, Chile
1835 - Charles Darwin company celebrates Christmas in Pahia, New Zealand
1837 - Battle of Okeechobee-US forces defeat Seminole Indians
1848 - New Haven Railroad opens
1862 - 40,000 watch the Union army men play baseball at Hilton Head SC
1868 - Despite bitter opposition, President Andrew Johnson grants unconditional pardon to all persons involved in the Southern rebellion (the Civil War)
west coast, University of Chicago defeats Stanford 24-4 at Palo Alto CA
1896 - "Stars & Stripes Forever" written by John Philip Sousa
1901 - Battle at Tweefontein Orange-Free state: Boers surprise attack British
1922 - Lenin dictates his "Political testament"
1926 - Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan (1926-1989)
1932 - During King George V Christmas dinner speech, his chair collapes
1936 - Belgian bishops condemn fascism & communism
1939 - Montgomery Ward introduces Rudolph the 9th reindeer
1941 - Japan announces surrender of British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong; Japanese aircraft carriers Akagi/Kagu back in Kure, Japan
1942 - Admiral Dalans, murderer of Bosinier de la Chapelle, sentenced to death; British Colonel S W Bailey reaches Mihailovics headquarters; Russian artillery/tank battle on German armies at Stalingrad
1946 - Constitution accepted in Taiwan
1947 - Taiwan passes Human Rights laws (Day of Earth Law)
1950 - Coronation Stone, taken from Scone in Scotland by Edward I in 1296, stolen from Westminster Abbey & smuggled back to Scotland
1953 - Avalanche of lava kills 150 (Ruapehu volcano, New Zealand)
1959 - A synagogue in Cologne, Germany desecrated with swastikas
1962 - USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR
1969 - 5 Israeli gunboats escape from Cherbourg harbor
1971 - Longest NFL game (82 minutes 40 seconds) as Dolphins beat Chiefs 27-24; Worst hotel fire in history kills 163 at Taeyokale Hotel in Seoul
1974 - Cyclone Tracy virtually destroys Darwin, Australia
1976 - Egyptian SS Patria sinks in Red Sea, about 100 killed; Takeo Fukuda becomes Japanese premier
1977 - Israeli PM Menachem Begin meets in Egypt with Egyptian President Sadat
1979 - USSR airlifts invasionary army to Afghánistán
1987 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, who escaped 2 days earlier, recaptured
1989 - Japanese scientist achieves -271.8ºC, coldest temp ever recorded

Birthdays
Jesus of Nazareth, religious leader/philosopher (estimated date)
1642 - [Sir] Isaac Newton, physicist/mathematician/astronomer (Laws of Motion and Gravity)
1717 - Pius VI [Giovanni A Braschi] Italy, Pope (1775-99)
1808 - Stephen Cleeg Rowan, Commander (Union Navy)
1821 - Clara Harlowe Barton, nurse (founder-American Red Cross)
1823 - Preston Smith, Brigadier-General (Confederate Army)
1832 - Thomas Alfred Smyth, Major General (Union volunteers)
1865 - Evangeline Cory Booth Salvation Army general (1904-34)
1876 - Quaid-i-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, founded Pakistan (1947)/Governor (1947-58)
1887 - Conrad Hilton, hotel mogul (Hilton Hotels)
1891 - Kenneth A. N. Anderson, British general (Dunkerk, North Africa)
1899 - Humphrey Bogart, actor (Casablanca)
1901 - Alice C. English, Duchess of Gloucester/aunt of Elizabeth II
1904 - Gerhard Herzberg, physicist (molecular structure-Nobel 1971)
1906 - Clark M. Clifford, US Secretary of Defense (1968-69)
1906 - William McChesney Martin, Chairman of Federal Reserve Bank (1951-70)
1918 - Anwar el-Sadat, Egyptian President (1970-81, Nobel 1978)
1934 - Bob Martinez (Governor-FL)
1936 - Alexandra, English princess/daughter of Sir Angus Ogilvy
1943 - Ravish Malhotra, India cosmonaut (Soyuz T-11 backup)
1959 - Michael P. Anderson, Major, USAF / astronaut (STS 89)
1969 - Bernhard, Jr., Prince of Netherlands

Passings
0795 - Adrian I Italian Pope (772-95)
0820 - Leo V the Armenian, Byzantine general/Emperor (813-20), murdered
1530 - Babur emperor of Delhi
1683 - Kara Mustapha Turkish grand-vizier (1676-83), executed
1761 - Elisabeth Petrovna, Tsarina of Russia (1741-62), at about 51
1926 - Yoshihito, 123rd Emperor of Japan (1912-26), at 47
1927 - Sergei D. Sazonov, Russian Foreign minister (1910-16), at 66
1951 - Harry T. Moore, NAACP official, killed by bomb
1957 - Frederick Law Olmsted, US architect (Central Park), at 87
1961 - Dr. Rheinhold Rudenberg, inventor of the electron microscope
1973 - Ismet Inönü [Mustapha Ismet Pasha], Turkish PM (1923..65), at 89
1989 - Billy Martin, New York Yankee manager, killed in a car accident at 61; Nicolae Ceausescu, Romanian dictator (1945-89), and Elena Ceausescu, his wife, executed
1992 - Garrison H. Davidson, US Lieutenant-General commandant (West Point); Ted Croker, RAF-pilot/secretary English soccer team (sponsoring)
1994 - Zail Singh, President of India (1982-87), at 78
1996 - Jon Benet Ramsey, Colorado child beauty queen, murdered at 6; Rupert John, Governor-General of Grenadines (1970-76)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Bailon, Ruben, Civilian - Merchant Marine; disappeared from Qui Nhon (with Laughlin)

Laughlin, Stephen M., Civilian - Merchant Marine (AL); disappeared from Qui Nhon (with Bailon) - remains recovered June, 1973

1967
Burns, Frederick J., USMC (NY); DIC January, 1969 - remains returned 1994 / ID'd April, 1995

Koonce, Terry T., USAF (TX); T28 shot down

1968
King, Charles D., USAF (IA); lost when rescue line broke, while attempting to rescue downed pilot

Mehrer, Gustav A., US Army (NE); released by PRG March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

1972
Rickman, Dwight G., USMC (MO); O1 shot down - KIA, buried at crash site with Viet observer