News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
PM: Baghdad Plan Is Ready; 30 Militants Killed
Iraqi PM announces crackdown on militias, gunmen
U.S. pacifists in Cuba to protest Guantanamo prison
Saddam was hanged in "deplorable" way - UK's Brown
Bush fleshes out Iraq strategy details

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Abbas: Hamas Militia Is Illegal VIDEO
Shoe Scanners May Speed up Airport Security
Rebels kill 55 in multiple attacks in India's Assam
Suspected suicide bomber attacks S.Lanka bus
Hamas pledges to boost forces in Gaza

Troops on Trial
Official: Evidence doesn't back Marines

Other Military News
Iwo Jima (Military.com slide show)
Army to Apologize for Letters
One in Four Knows Gay Servicemember

Religion of Peace??
Anti-Ethiopian protests rock Somali capital - Video

Worldwide Wackos
Report: Israel Plans, Trains for Nuclear Strike on Iran
Strategy targets uranium enrichment facilities
Hoyer: Nuclear-Armed Iran Unacceptable

Homegrown Moonbats
Sheehan: Gitmo Must Go (On behalf of Gitmo: You first.)

Politics / Government
Bush confident on common ground with Democrats
Bush's dusty veto pen may soon get busy
Moscow slams U.S. sanctions on its military firms
Richardson heads to Sudan with 3 goals
Dems prepare slew of oversight hearings

Immigration / Border Control
Toys 'R' Sorry, Give Baby Prize (Pathetic)
Filipino MD picks life as nurse in U.S.

Science / Nature
Crews Rescue 8 After Avalanche Buries Cars in Colorado - PHOTO ESSAY

News from My Neck of the Woods
Planes clip at JFK; No injuries
R.I.: No link in meningitis case, death
Unseasonable weather jolts Northeast

Oddities
1,100-Pound 'Hogzilla' Killed Near Atlanta
Florida Woman's Bra Softens Bullet's Blow
Guard Sneaks Inmate Marijuana-Filled Canoli
Father: Costumed "Tigger" hit his son (OK, how much therapy do you need for something like THAT?)

Other News of Note
French Judge: Don't Let Them Eat Pork Soup (Oh, brother....)
New Orleans curfew possible to stop murders
Farrakhan recovering from surgery

Fox News
NFL Playoffs: Colts Top Chiefs 23-8
Ramen Noodle Inventor Dies at 96 in Japan
Croc Hunter's Death Won't Be Shown
U.S. Joins Hunt for Indonesian Plane
Agency Renews 'XXX' Porn Site Domain Plan
Saved Sailor Recounts Tale - PHOTOS

Reuters: Top News
Tight security as Bangladesh blockade begins
Bangladesh army patrols Dhaka ahead of blockade
U.S. consumer electronics sales to hit record in 2007
Heart of new EU is sleepy German commuter village
British charity issues anorexia Internet warning
Fast growing melanomas have distinct traits
Oprah Winfrey targeted in extortion scheme: report
Oscar watchers narrow list of top film nominees
Wall Street gains hinge on deals, pre-earnings announcements - Video
Oil rises, ends steepest slide in 2 years - Video
Shares off on rate worry
Jobs data help extend dollar rally to third day
Global Payments shares fall on lowered view
Playing catch-up
On the radar: Honda
U.S. consumer electronics sales to hit record in 2007
EU urges U.S. to seize chance for global trade deal
Zimbabwe probed on "blood diamond" rules
Motorola warning signals tough 2007 for industry
British Airways reaches pension deal with unions
Adelphia says reorganization may take effect January 17

AP World News
Colts' D steps up in 23-8 win over K.C.
20 inmates killed in El Salvador riots
Oprah gets HIV test, hopes students will
Some heroes crash after instant fame
Broncos turn out in force for Williams
Maritime union leaders convicted
S.C. town recalls toxic 2005 train wreck
Boy killed by NY train a graffiti artist
Jail: Teen shooting suspect mentally ill
Clouds clear for Philly's Mummers Parade

Military.com
Op-ed: Another Flight From Reality
Who is Admiral Fallon?

CENTCOM: News Releases
IRAQI POLICE RAID CAPTURES 4 INSURGENTS MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS - IRAQ PAO

COALITION FORCES CAPTURE AQI CELL LEADER MULTI-NATIONAL CORPS - IRAQ PAO

COALITION FORCES ATTACKED IN FALLUJAH

USJFCOM
U.S. Joint Forces Command bringing together military, interagency for Multinational Experiment 5 - podcast
2006 -- The Year in Review
USJFCOM gets approval to connect U.S., Australian networks - podcast

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Gates Recommends Key Positions - Story
82nd Airborne Arrives in Kuwait - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Team Assists Iraqis With Reconstruction Projects - Story
Building Becomes ‘Shining Light’ for Tal Afar - Story
Iraqi Trainers Graduate 120 From Police Academy - Story
Paratroopers Seek to Build Trust in Samarra - Story
Servicemembers Unite to Save Iraqi Girl's Life - Story

IN IRAQ
Task Force Maintains Presence Off Africa
Warrior Brigade Re-enlists More Than 120
Infantry Soldiers Help Injured Iraqi Children
U.S. Army Veterinarian Tends to Iraqi Animals
Stateside Communities Rally Support for Marines

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

DefendAmerica Week in Review
Sunday - Monday - Tuesday - Wednesday - Thursday - Friday - Saturday

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 Mainz Mannheim Nurnberg Stuttgart Trier
Wiesbaden Wurzburg

Gitmo

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 Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me! *

Today in History
0754 - Stefanus II arrives in Ponthion
1325 - Afonso IV succeeds Dionysius as king of Portugal
1558 - Calais, last English possession in France, retaken by French under Francois, Duke of Guise
1566 - Antonio Michaele Ghislieri is elected Pope Pius V
1579 - England signs an offensive & defensive alliance with the Netherlands
1598 - Boris Godunov seizes the Russian throne on death of Feodore I
1601 - Robert, Earl of Essex leads revolt in London against Queen Elizabeth
1608 - Fire destroys Jamestown, Virginia
1610 - Galileo discovers 1st 3 Jupiter satellites, Io, Europa & Ganymede
1618 - Francis Bacon becomes English lord chancellor
1622 - Germany & Transylvania sign Peace of Nikolsburg
1654 - Fire after heavy storm destroys 2/3 of De Rijp Netherlands, 1 dies
1698 - Russian Czar Peter the Great departs Netherlands to England
1714 - Typewriter patented by Englishman Henry Mill (built years later)
1761 - Battle at Panipat India Afghan army beats Mahratten
1782 - 1st US commercial bank, Bank of North America, opens in Philadelphia
1784 - 1st US seed business established by David Landreth, Philadelphia
1785 - 1st balloon flight across English Channel (Blanchard & Jeffries)
1789 - 1st national (Presidential) election in US
1822 - Liberia colonized by Americans
1830 - Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Co begins carrying revenue traffic - 1st US Railroad Station (Baltimore MD)
1835 - HMS Beagle anchors off Chonos Archipelago
1861 - Florida troops takeover Fort Marion at St Augustine
1862 - Battle of Manassas Junction, VA; Romney Campaign-Stonewall Jackson march towards Romney WV
1868 - Arkansas constitutional convention meets in Little Rock; Mississippi constitutional convention meets in Jackson
1890 - W.B. Purvis patents fountain pen
1892 - Mine explosion kills 100, Krebs OK-blacks trying to help rescue white survivors, driven away with guns
1896 - Fanny Farmer publishes her 1st cookbook
1911 - 1st airplane bombing experiments with explosives, San Francisco
1913 - William M. Burton patents a process to "crack" petroleum
1914 - 1st steamboat passes through the Panamá Canal
1916 - German troops conquer Fort Vaux at Verdun
1923 - Baltimore Sun warns of Ku Klux Klan
1927 - Commercial transatlantic telephone service inaugurated between New York & London; Harlem Globetrotters play 1st game (Hinckley IL)
1929 - "Buck Rogers", 1st sci-fi comic strip, premieres; "Tarzan", one of the 1st adventure comic strips, 1st appears
1934 - "Flash Gordon" comic strip (by Alex Raymond) debuts
1942 - WWII siege of Bataan starts
1944 - Air Force announces production of 1st US jet fighter, the Bell P-59
1945 - Lord Haw-Haw reports total German victory at Ardennen
1946 - Cambodia becomes autonomous state inside French Union
1948 - US President Truman raises taxes for Marshall-plan
1949 - 1st photo of genes taken at University of Southern California by Pease & Baker
1950 - Mental health wing of Mercy Hospital burns, kills 41 (Davenport IA)
1952 - French Plevin government falls
1953 - President Truman announces development of the hydrogen bomb
1958 - USSR shrinks army to 300,000
1959 - US recognizes Fidel Castro's Cuban government
1962 - Assassination attempt on Indonesian president Sukarno fails
1964 - Bahamas achieves internal self-government & cabinet responsibility
1968 - Surveyor 7 lands on the Moon
1969 - US Congress doubles presidential salary
1972 - Iberian Airlines crashes into 800' peak on island of Ibiza, 104 die; Lewis F. Powell, Jr., becomes a Supreme Court Justice; William Hubbs Rehnquist, sworn in as Supreme Court Justice
1974 - Dutch rations gasoline
1977 - Human Rights Charter '77 established in Prague
1978 - Angola revises its constitution
1979 - Vietnamese forces capture Phnom Penh from Khmer Rouge
1983 - Reagan ends US arms embargo against Guatemala
1985 - Japanese space probe Sakigake launched to Halley's comet
1986 - STS 61-C mission scrubbed at T -9m because of weather problems; US President Reagan proclaims economic sanctions against Libya
1987 - French airplanes harass Libyan positions in Duadi Doum
1989 - British Midland Boeing 737 crashes on Motorway; Akhito becomes emperor of Japan
1990 - Tower Of Pisa closed to the public after leaning too far
1991 - Haiti coup defeated; Soviet paratroopers sent to Baltic Republics
1992 - AT&T releases video-telephone ($1499)
1994 - United Express commuter plane crashes in Ohio, killing 5
1997 - Newt Gingrich, narrowly re-elected speaker of the House

Birthdays
1528 - Jeanne d'Albret, Queen of Navarra/mother of French King Henry IV
1685 - Gerard George Clifford, Dutch director of East India Company
1799 - Daniel Tyler, Union Brigadier General
1800 - Millard Fillmore, 13th US President (1850-53)
1808 - Jacob Ammen, Union Brigadier General
1816 - Stephen Miller, Union Brigadier General
1821 - Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell, Confederate Brigadier General
1824 - James Morrison Hawes, Confederate Brigadier General
1830 - (Samuel) Emerson Opdycke, Union Brevet Major General
1844 - Marie-Bernarde Soubirous (St Bernadette of Lourdes), saint/visionary
1845 - Louis III, last king of Bavaria (1913-18)
1879 - St Bernadette (Marie-Bernarde Soubirous), religious visionary
1883 - Andrew Browne, Irish/British admiral (WWII)
1918 - Alessadro Natta, Italian political leader (Communist Party)
1931 - Mack Mattingly (Senator-GA, 1981-86)
1935 - Valeri Nikolayevich Kubasov, cosmonaut (Soyuz 6, 19, 36/35, Apollo-Soyuz)
1941 - Frederick Drew Gregory, Colonel USAF/astronaut (STS 51-B, 33, 44)
1951 - Talgat Amangeldyyevich Musabayev Russian Major/cosmonaut (TM-19, TM-27)
1966 - Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, model/wife of John Kennedy, Jr.

Passings
1285 - Charles I of Anjou king of Naples/brother of King Louis IX, dies at 58
1325 - Dionysius the justified, King of Portugal (1279-1325)
1451 - Amadeus VIII, last anti-pope Felix V (1439-49), dies at 67
1529 - Peter Vischer the Old, German count of Sebaldus
1536 - Catherine of Aragon, 1st wife of England's King Henry VIII
1537 - Alessandro de' Medici. Italian monarch of Florence, assassinated
1598 - Theodorus I (Fedor Ivanovitch), czar of Russia (1584-98), dies at 40
1655 - Innocentius X (Giambattista Pamfili), pope (1644-55), dies at 80
1695 - Mary II Stuart, queen of England, dies at 32
1890 - Augusta Maria L. Katharina, wife of German emperor Wilhelm I, dies at 78
1892 - Tewfik Pasja, viceroy of Egypt, dies at 39
1942 - Henry, Count of Baillet-Latour, president of IOC (1925-42), dies at 63
1944 - J. Verleun Dutch, resistance fighter, executed
1958 - Dr. Petru Groza, Premier of Romania, dies at 74
1961 - Clarice Baright, 1st woman admitted to American Bar Association, dies at 74
1983 - August Cool Belgian, trade union leader, dies at 79
1989 - Hirohito Japan`s emperor (1922-89), dies of duodenal cancer at 87 after 62-year reign (1/2 Million line Tokyo streets)
1994 - Lewis Boddington, aerospace Engineer, dies at 85; Phoumi Vongvichit President of Laos (1986-91), dies
1995 - Viktor Vorobyov Russian General Major, dies in battle
1996 - Karoly Grosz, PM of Hungry (1987-88), dies at 65

Reported: Missing in Action
1966
Callanan, Richard Joseph, USAF (CA); C130B shot down (w/Greenley), KIA, body not recovered

Greenley, Jon Alfred, USAF (ND); C130B shot down (w/Callanan), KIA, body not recovered

1968
Brewer, Lee, US Army; escaped January, 1968

Nelson, Steven N, USMC.; escaped January, 1968

Roha, Michael R., USMC (CA); escaped January, 1968 - deceased, March, 1997

Stone, James M., US Army (FL); KIA, body not recovered

Trujillo, Robert S., US Army (NM)

1969
Welsh, Larry D., US Army (KS)

1970
Hoff, Michael G., USN (FL); A7A shot down

Ochab, Robert, USAF (NY); F4E shot down, KIA, body not recovered