In case you needed a little shot of holiday cheer, these are pictures from my little trip of the last few days.






Sorry for the blurring - it was REALLY windy!


And for some of the views we got from Ogunquit's Marginal Way:

Holly Aho has a new store - appropriately named the SAHA store.

Holly makes beautiful jewelry, and if you hurry, there's still time to pick up something special for someone you know this Christmas (or whatever holiday you're celebrating. For you atheists out there, pick it up just because).

When I was hanging out with Holly at the Milblog conference this year, she gave me one of her handmade necklaces - I get more compliments on it than on any other piece of jewelry I own.

And true to form, Holly gives special discounts to military families.

So what are you waiting for? Stop by (just click the link below)

TRANSPORT — Military members prepare to attach an M198 Medium Howitzer to a CH-53E Super Stallion helicopter from Heavy Marine Helicopter Squadron 465, 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing (Forward) in Al Asad, Iraq, Nov. 29, 2006, for transport to Barwana, Iraq. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Gunnery Sgt. Michael Q. Retana

News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Report: Saudis Funding Iraqi Sunni Insurgency
Bush to Meet With Congress on Iraq
Coalition raids Iraq areas, killing 20
Iraq raid disputed - Video
Video: How Iraqis responded to report
Baghdad, a city on the brink
Senators question Iraq panel's strategy
AP Poll: Few expect victory in Iraq

Homeland Security / War on Terror
Traveler risk system may violate ban
Guantanamo detainees going to new prison
Rumsfeld Wants Torture Case Dismissed

Fallen Heroes
GI Killed Before His Ring Reaches Fiancee

Supporting Our Heroes
Gifts for Soldiers (Soldiers' Angels' Patti Patton-Bader on MSNBC)

Other Military News
Dual missile test fails off Hawaii

Mid-East Ceasefire / Hamas Rising / Israel at War
Iranian Ambassador Rips Holocaust, FOX News
Lebanese opposition puts on show of Muslim unity - Video
Christian protesters return to Beirut square
Palestinian PM in Tehran nods to Iranian support

Religion of Peace??
German Opera House Loses Muhammad Head

Worldwide Wackos
Two Koreas join forces for 2014 bid
U.S. urges China to pressure North Korea on rights (Does anybody but me find this just a tad ironic????)

Homegrown Moonbats
Rosie says she's not leaving 'The View'

Politics / Government
Democrat chief says to work with, respect allies
Alaska lawmaker arrested in FBI probe
Jeane Kirkpatrick, ex-ambassador, dies

U.N. News
U.N. refugee agency appeals for $1.06 billion in 2007
No problem seen in Indonesia atomic plans: ElBaradei
Annan asks how world can allow "horror" in Sudan (Well, here's how the U.S can -- the U.N. wouldn't help us to enforce its sanctions, and take care of another problem or two, so unfortunately, we're busy. Why don't you all handle this one?)

Science / Nature
NASA rules out Friday shuttle launch
Cocktail robots mix mojitos in Vienna
Utility's storm response criticized
Forecaster sees high hurricane activity

Oddities
Mother May Face Death for Microwave Murder
Speak up, sir...You need the extra small condoms?
Suitable for hanging: Chicago's gallows sold

Other News of Note
Taco Hell Goes Nationwide - Officials Suspect E. Coli-Tainted Onions in Taco Bell Scare From West Coast
Ex-Russian Spy Was Poisoned in London Bar
Police: Hero Dad Died of Hypothermia in Oregon
U.S. says trade friction with China could escalate
Ark. woman looks back on her 109 years

Fox News
Firefighters' Families Denied Funds
Chewable Birth Control Hits Stores

Reuters: Top News
Commonwealth suspends Fiji after coup
NASA rules out Friday shuttle launch
Space tourism to be fashion's final frontier
Blu-ray DVD drive no bonus for some PS3 buyers
Breast cancer screening under 50 questioned
Sanofi sees FDA response on Acomplia by April 26
Yoko Ono not ready to forgive Lennon's killer
Wedding rumors denied for Beyonce, Jay-Z
Dollar falls vs euro after mixed jobs data
Yum shares fall after downgrade, more E. coli cases
Oil higher after OPEC head backs output cut
Gold eases in Europe, eyes U.S. payrolls data
Encysive shares up on FDA clearance
GM touts global design push, expects sales gains
U.S. hiring surprisingly strong in November
McDonald's same-store sales up 6.2 percent
Wal-Mart to reopen ad account review
Yum shares fall after downgrade, more E. coli cases
Global hotel chains check in to India

AP World News
'Survivor' winner appeals convictions
Consumers less cheery as holidays near
Look out Aaron: Bonds returns to Giants
HP investors shrug off spying scandal
Nash, Suns defeat Nets 161-157
LA police: Officer assaulted cuffed teen
Police link man to Phoenix killings case
Philly struggles with 'code of silence'
4 dead in Philadelphia house fire

Military.com
Op-ed: Too High a Price
Blog: Don't Make Me Your Victim
Def. Tech: Everyone Hates Baker
F-14 Tail Washes Up in Ireland
Video: Dec. 7, 1941 - You Are There
Podcast: The History of Military.com
Gear in the News: DDG51 Areligh Burke Class Destroyer

CENTCOM: News Releases
SEVEN SUSPECTED TERRORISTS DETAINED; WEAPONS CACHE DESTROYED

THREE SUSPECTED TERRORISTS CAPTURED BY AFGHAN, COALITION FORCES

BAGHDAD ‘EAGLE BRIGADE’ DETAINS SEVEN SUSPECTED TERRORISTS

IRAQI ARMY, PARATROOPERS WORK TOGETHER, DESTROY CACHES

IRAQI, COALITION FORCE LEADERS DISCUSS SECURITY, FUTURE OPERATIONS

MARINES ENTER HOSPITAL AFTER TWO MARINES WOUNDED

IRAQI ARMY, COALITION FORCES DETAIN THREE SUSPECTED ANTI-IRAQI FORCES

FIELD ARTILLERY TROOPS DISCOVER CAR BOMB

MND-B PATROL FINDS IED, SUSPECTED BOMB-MAKER

ISF CAPTURES AQI LEADER DURING RAID

FOURTEEN INSURGENTS KILLED, BUILDINGS DESTROYED IN RAMADI

TWENTY-SIX FORMER DETAINEES RELEASED

MEHTAR LAM PRT DELIVERS AID TO POOR, DISABLED

IRAQI ARMY CAPTURES INSURGENT SNIPER DURING RAID

IRAQI POLICE DETAIN SUSPECTS DURING RAID IN TALL AFAR

IRAQI SECURITY FORCES CAPTURE INSURGENTS IN YUSUFIYAH

CAPTURE OF TERRORIST EMIRS GIVES AL-QAIDA IN IRAQ NOWHERE TO TURN

USJFCOM
C4 program to deliver joint training set to begin - podcast

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Bush, Blair Affirm Commitment - Story
Iraq Study Group Report
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Hundreds Graduate from Iraqi Basic Training - Story
Learning, Teaching and Growing in Iraq - Story
Baghdad Counts on Local Improvements - Story
Task Force Helps Aid Kenya Flood Victims - Story

IN IRAQ
Coalition Works to Help Iraqis Move Forward
Bulgarian Minister of Defense Visits Troops
Doctors, Corpsmen Practice Hand-to-Hand Combat
Newly Arrived Troops Make Safety Priority
Army Engineers Aid Iraq Reconstruction Efforts

IN AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Farming Communities to Receive Tractors
Reconstruction Team Hosts First Vendor Fair
Reconstruction Team Brings Supplies to Orphans
Infantry Soldiers Help to Rebuild Afghanistan
Operation Season's Greetings Stops at Bagram

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

Afghanistan
Bost/Laskar Ghurian Herat Kabul Qandahar

Gitmo

Today in History
1710 - Battle at Brihuega: English General Stanhope captured
1776 - George Washington's retreating army crosses Delaware River from New Jersey
1863 - Abraham Lincoln announces plan for Reconstruction of South
1874 - Jesse James gang robs train at Muncie, KS
1880 - 5,000 armed Boers gather in Paardekraal South-Africa
1881 - Vienna's Ring Theater destroyed by fire, kills between 640-850
1886 - American Federation of Labor (AFL) formed by 26 craft unions; Samuel Gompers elected AFL president
1895 - Battle at Amba Alagi: Ethiopian emperor Menelik II drives Italian General Baratieri out
1902 - Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., becomes Associate Justice on U.S. Supreme Court
1914 - British and German fleets battle at Falkland Islands
1921 - Eamon de Valera publicly repudiates Anglo-Irish Treaty
1923 - German-U.S. friendship treaty signed; Labour/Liberals win British parliament
1931 - Coaxial cable patented
1936 - N.A.A.C.P. files suit to equalize the salaries of Black and White teachers; Anastasio Somoza elected President of Nicaragua
1941 - U.S., Britain, Netherlands declare war on Japan; Russia's 16th Army recaptures Krijukovo
1946 - Army rocket plane XS-1 makes its first powered flight
1948 - Jordan annexs Arabic Palestine
1949 - Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa
1952 - French troops shoot on demonstrators at Casablanca, 50 die; Isaak Ben-Zwi elected President of Israel
1955 - Turkish government of Menderes forms
1959 - Dom Mintoff demands independence for Malta
1962 - 114-day newspaper strike begins in New York, NY
1963 - 3 fuel tanks explodes when jetliner is struck by lightning crashing near Elkton, MD-Only case of lightning caused crash, 81 die
1965 - Nikolai Podgorny succeeds Mikojan as President of U.S.S.R.
1966 - U.S. and U.S.S.R. sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space
1969 - Greek DC-6B crashes in storm at Athens, 93 killed; Police launch a surprise attack on Black-Panthers in Los Angeles
1972 - United Airlines airplane crashes at Chicago's Midway Airport killing 45
1974 - Soyuz 16 returns to Earth; Greek monarchy rejected by referendum; Irish Republican Socialist Party forms
1976 - U.N. General Assembly re-elects Kurt Waldheim as Secretary-General
1977 - Portugal's premier Soares resigns
1982 - Demanding an end to nuclear weapons, Norman Mayer, holds the Washington Monument hostage - After 10 hours, police kill him - he has no explosives; Suriname army leader Bouterse murders 15 opponents
1983 - 9th Space Shuttle Mission-Columbia 6-lands at Edwards AFB
1984 - Europe and 64 developing countries sign Lomé III treaty
1986 - House Democrats select majority leader Jim Wright as 48th speaker
1987 - Occupied Palestinians start "intefadeh" (uprising) against Israel; President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev sign a treaty eliminating medium range nuclear missiles
1990 - Galileo Earth-1 Flyby
1991 - Russia, Byelorussia and the Ukraine form Commonwealth of Independent States
1992 - Galileo's nearest approach to Jupiter (303 km)
1993 - 30 killed at religious rebellion in Algeria; Storm hits western Europe, 11 killed in England
1994 - Fire in cinema in Karamay China, 310 killed

Birthdays
65 BC- Horace Rome, lyric poet/satirist (Satire, Odes)
1626 - Christina, Queen of Swedenden who abdicated after becoming Catholic
1704 - Anton de Haen, medical expert (Ratio Medendi)
1708 - Francis I, Holy Roman emperor (1745-1765)
1765 - Eli Whitney, inventor (Cotton Gin)
1822 - Luther Prentice Bradley, Union Brigadier-General
1828 - Clinton Bowen Fisk, Union Brevet Major General; Robert Bullock, Confederate Brigadier-General
1861 - William Crapo Durant, founder of General Motors
1908 - John Volpe (Governor-MA) / U.S. Secretary of Treasury (1969-73)
1915 - Denis Harding, soldier
1916 - Dorothy Mae Ballard, labor union representative
1922 - John B. (Jack) McKay, U.S. test pilot (X-15)
1925 - Sammy Davis, Jr., singer/dancer/actor (Ocean's 11, Candy Man)
1927 - Vladimir Aleksandrovich Shatalov, USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 4, 8, 10)
1937 - Jan van Houwelingen, Dutch UnderSecretary of Defense (CDA)
1941 - Albert J. Evenhuis, Dutch UnderSecretary of Economic (VVD)
1943 - Jim Morrison, singer (Doors)
1947 - Gregg Allman, guitarist/vocalist (Allman Brothers Band)

Passings
0644 - Omar I, second kalief of Islam, murdered
0899 - Arnulf of Carinthia, last emperor of Austria-France
1292 - John Peckham, English archbishop of Canterbury, dies at 62
1587 - Mary Queen of Scots (1560-1587), executed
1596 - Luis de Carabajal, first Jewish author in America, executed in México
1643 - John Pym, English House of Commons member, dies at about 59
1722 - Elisabeth C. "Liselotte" van Palts, German/French duchess, dies at 70
1751 - Jozef L.D. von Königsegg, minister of Austrian Netherlands, dies at 78
1831 - James Hoban, architect who designed the White House
1907 - Oscar II, Frederick King of Sweden (-1907)/Norway (-1905)
1967 - Robert H Lawrence USAF/astronaut, dies at 32
1972 - George Collins (Representative-IL), dies at 47, in airplane crash
1978 - Golda Meir, Israel's PM (1969-74), dies in Jerusalem at 80
1980 - John Lennon, assassinated at 40 in New York by Mark David Chapman
1982 - André Kamperveen, Suriname minister, murdered; Bram Behr, Suriname revolutionary, murdered; Cyrill Daal, Suriname worker's union leader, murdered; Frank Wijngaarde, Suriname journalist, murdered; Gerald Leckie Suriname, scholar, murdered; Harald Riedewald, Suriname attorney, murdered; John Baboeram, Suriname lawyer, murdered; Jozef Slagveer, Suriname journalist, murdered; Kenneth Goncalves, Deacon of Surinamese order of advocate, murdered; Leslie Rahman, Suriname journalist, murdered; Surendre Rambocus, Suriname army lieutenant, murdered
1992 - William Shawn, editor-in-chief (New Yorker, 1952-87), dies at 85
1994 - Jesús "Enrique" Líster, Spanish/Russian general (Civil War), dies at 87

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Corle, John T., USMC (PA); UH-34D shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Richtsteig, David John, USMC (UT); remains recovered September, 1974

1966
Asire, Donald H., USAF (CA); F105D shot down, remains retrned June, 1989

Hyde, Michael Lewis, USAF (CO); F100D shot down, remains returned, ID'd April, 1991

1968
Rex, Robert Alan, USAF (UT); F105D shot down, remains returned September, 1996

1969
Pirruccello, Joseph S., USAF (OH); A1E shot down, KIA, body not recovered