News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Senators Craft Bill Opposing Iraq Escalation - Sen. Clinton Wants Troop Cap in Iraq
Schwarzenegger backs 2007 deadline for U.S. in Iraq
Bush wants stronger U.N. presence in Iraq, says Ban
White House tries to avoid Iraq showdown

Operation Enduring Freedom
Troop Surge Likely for Afghan War

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Captured Taliban Spokesperson: Mullah Omar Living in Pakistan
Philippine Military Confirms Death of Top Al Qaeda-Linked Militant
Secret Court to Monitor NSA Spying Program
U.S. raid may have hit top Somali militant: Pentagon
Bush won't reauthorize U.S. eavesdropping program
Northwest Airlines apologizes to Hajj pilgrims
Gonzales faults judges' terror rulings

Other Military News
Gates seeks to reassure Saudis on Iraq, Iran
U.S. military base expansion splits Italian city

Religion of Peace??
Message of Hate - American-born imam spews venom in U.K.

Worldwide Wackos
U.S. and North Korea pursue nuclear talks
Castro successors keep Cuba on stable track - Video

Politics / Government
Voters use Internet more, big role seen in 2008

Immigration / Border Control
Border Agents Surrender Over Drug Runner Shooting

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment
Armed Kidnapping Charges for Devlin
Cops: Gun was used to scare Shawn Hornbeck
Cops: Man Impregnated Stepdaughter, 11
Police Say Man Shot His Own Baby With BBs
Interpol launches task force on child sex abuse
Mo. man gets 100 days for dog attacks
Calif. mom ruled insane in sons' deaths

U.N. News
U.N. to reassess peacekeepers along Darfur border

Science / Nature
Retired Lab Chimp Gives Birth Despite Vasectomies for All Males at La. Sanctuary
Ice Storm Claims 56 Lives in 9 States - PICS
Peru ruin find may hold clues to lost civilization
Climate change to dominate Davos meeting
Storms give Texas an unexpected shiver

News from My Neck of the Woods
Body Found in Connecticut Lake; Police Say it Matches Description of Missing N.Y. College Student

Oddities
Man Serves Meatballs Cooked in Own Fat (OMG - EEEWWWW!!!!!!!!!!)
Skunk, ready to go home, prepares for handover
Ten fired after radio contest death
Empire State parachuter charge dropped

Other News of Note
Countdown to the Apocalypse: Scientists Change Doomsday Clock
Doomsday Clock Moved Closer to 'Midnight'

Fox News
'Mean Girls' Charged in Video Beating - VIDEO
U.S. Cancer Deaths Drop for Second Year
Man Charged With Kansas Coed's Murder
Doomed Comair Pilot's Last Word: 'Whoa'
Honda Recalls 81,000 Accord Sedans
U.K. Court: Poker Is Game of Luck, Not Skill
Dense Breast Tissue Hikes Cancer Risk
Report: Anna Nicole Smith's Lover Gave Son Drug, Tried to Cover It Up
Reality Check: The Tone Deaf Take Center Stage on 'American Idol'

Reuters: Top News
Frozen embryo survives Katrina flood: Noah is born - Video
World falling behind on 2015 education goal
HarperCollins named in suit over OJ Simpson book
World falling behind on 2015 education goal
PS3s in stock show demand may be softening, analyst says
Mirror, mirror on the wall, is this dress for me?
U.S. families puzzled by tighter China adoptions
Sex, meth and Internet spark new AIDS fears
Viagra may decrease ability to smell
Actress Lindsay Lohan enters treatment center
HK blue chips flat at open but China plays down
Nasdaq down on Intel; Apple waxes and wanes
Fast Retailing up, may spend $3 bln on acquisition
Cisco hit by another downgrade, investors turn wary
Oil up $1, rebounds from 20-month low
Brightcove going global - MediaFile Blog
MediaFile: Newspaper blogs gaining
Oshkosh Truck strategy
Apple profit trounces forecasts, outlook lags
PC shipments rise more than 7 pct in 4th quarter
Ex-Cendant chairman gets over 12 years in prison
N.J. appeals court reinstates Vioxx lawsuit
Exxon hopes to hold Venezuela to contracts: exec

AP World News
Pilots in Ky. crash violated rules
Apple reports record 1Q profit
Pacers, Warriors make blockbuster trade
Dow ends down 5 on slow economic growth
Most of U.S. shows economic growth
Federline signed to do Super Bowl ad
Rain saves Safin; faces Roddick next
Ex-Cendant chairman gets over 12 years
Police chief: Sorvino was legally armed
Crews burn off remaining chemicals

Military.com
Navy Puts Newest Warship on Hold
DT: BioShield has BioFailed
Op-ed: The Doomed Surge
SpouseBUZZ: Time for "The Talk"
Podcast: Playboy and the Nude Airman
The Military Blogosphere is Yours

CENTCOM: News Releases
JOINT PATROL UNCOVERS MULTIPLE CACHES
DEFENSE SECRETARY MEETS WITH MILITARY LEADERS IN AFGHANISTAN

USJFCOM
Liveblogging: Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa Mission Rehearsal Exercise 07-1
USJFCOM hosts first-responder focused modeling and simulation demonstration event
Not your typical reserve position: USJFCOM seeks reserve officers to join Standing Joint Force Headquarters
More about Standing Joint Force Headquarters Core Elements - podcast
Exercise to begin to prepare Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa for deployment
More about the mission rehearsal program

Department of Defense
NEWS UPDATES
Gates: Success Must Be Sustained in Afghanistan - Story
Stability & Security in Iraq Report (pdf)
For Top News Visit DefenseLink

ON THE GROUND
Iraqi City Rebuilds Police Force After Uprising - Story
Soldiers Surprise Iraqi Troops With Goodwill Visit - Story
Security Operations Continue in Al-Doura - Story
Iraqi Neighborhood Chosen for Renovation - Story
Number of Iraqi Police Recruits Skyrocket - Story

IN IRAQ
Undersecretary Tours Iraqi Fertilizer Plant
Iraqi Cops Take Lead With a Little Help
Four-Legged “Troops” Sniff Out Explosives
Oil Protection Forces Guard Vital Pipelines
Iraqi Police Patrol Keeps Tigris River Safe
Safety Officer Develops Lifesaving Tool
Iraqi, Coalition Forces Conduct Major Offensive
Soldiers Use Air Assets to Capture Comb Makers
Hundreds of Ramadi Residents Join the Police

IN AFGHANISTAN
Volunteers Spark Warmth at Burn Center
U.S. Air Assets Support Strike in Afghanistan
U.S. Air Force Engineer Helps Afghans Rebuild
Afghans Graduate From Agricultural Course
Afghans, U.S. Soldiers Distribute Relief Supplies
277th Named Army’s ‘Top Aviation Battalion’

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 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
0336 - St. Mark begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0350 - General Maxentius drives out Western Roman emperor Constans
0532 - Nika uprising at Constantinople fails, 30-40,000 die
1307 - German king Albrecht I makes his son Rudolf king of Bohemia
1478 - Grand Duke Ivan II of Moscow occupies Novgorod
1486 - King Henry VII of England marries Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV
1520 - Christian II of Denmark & Norway defeats the Swedes at Lake Asunde
1535 - Francisco Pizarro founds Lima Peru
1644 - Perplexed Pilgrims in Boston reported America's 1st UFO sighting
1650 - French Prince Louis II of Condé captured
1671 - Pirate Henry Morgan defeats Spanish defenders, captures Panamá
1691 - English king Willem III travels to The Hague
1701 - Frederik I/Sophie Charlotte van Hanover crowned king/queen of Prussia
1777 - San Jose CA founded
1778 - Captain James Cook stumbles over Sandwich Islands (Hawaiian Islands)
1795 - French admitted to Amsterdam without resistance; Governor/Viceroy Willem V flees Scheveningen to England
1817 - San Martin leads a revolutionary army over Andes
1850 - British blockade Piræus, Greece to enforce mercantile claims
1854 - Filibuster William Walker proclaims Republic of Sonora in NW México
1862 - Confederate Territory of Arizona is formed
1865 - Battle of Fort Moultrie SC
1871 - 2nd German Empire proclaimed by Kaiser Wilhelm I & Bismarck
1884 - General Charles Gordon departs London for Khartoum
1896 - 1st demonstration of an x-ray machine in the US, New York City, NY; British troops occupy Kumasi, West Africa
1905 - French government of Combes falls
1911 - 1st shipboard landing of a plane (Tanforan Park to USS Pennsylvania)
1913 - Turkish-Greek sea battle near Troy
1915 - Train crashes at Colima-Guadalajara Mexico, about 600 die
1919 - WWI Peace Congress opens in Versailles, France
1929 - Stalin proposes to ban Trotsky from the Politburo
1933 - White Sands National Monument, NM established
1942 - Nazis arrest journalists Frans Goedhart & Wiardi Beckman
1943 - Jews in the Warsaw Ghetto begin resistance of Nazis; Presliced bread sale banned to reduce bakery demand for metal parts; Soviets announce they broke the long Nazi siege of Leningrad
1944 - 1st Chinese naturalized US citizen since repeal of exclusion acts
1947 - Small river steamer sank on Yangtze River, kills 400
1951 - 1st use of lie detector in Netherlands; Hermann Flake sentenced to death due to "hate campaign against German Democratic Republic"
1954 - Fanfani forms Italian government
1956 - German Democratic Republic forms own army (National People's Army)
1957 - 3 B-52's set record for around-the-world flight, 45 hours 19 minutes
1960 - US & Japan sign joint defense treaty
1962 - Southern University closed due to demonstrations; US begins spraying foliage in Vietnam to reveal Viet Cong guerrillas
1964 - Plans for the World Trade Center announced (New York City, NY)
1965 - H.L. de Vries appointed Dutch Governor of Suriname
1966 - Robert C Weaver, confirmed as 1st black cabinet member (HUD)
1967 - Albert DeSalvo (Boston Strangler) sentenced to life in prison
1969 - Expanded 4 party Vietnam peace talks began in Paris; Soyuz 5 returns to Earth
1973 - John Cleese's final episode on "Monty Python's Flying Circus" on BBC
1974 - "The $6 Million Man" starring Lee Majors premieres on ABC-TV; Israel & Egypt sign weapons accord
1978 - Roof of 3-year-old Civic Center in Hartford CT collapses (no injuries)
1981 - Iran accepts US offer of $7.9 billion in frozen assets
1985 - US renounces jurisdiction of World Court despite previous promise
1986 - 24th Space Shuttle (61-C) Mission-Columbia 7-returns to Earth
1988 - Airliner crashes in SW China, killing all 108 on board
1989 - Astronomers discover pulsar in remnants of Supernova 1987A (LMC); Otis Redding, Dion, Rolling Stones, Temptations & Stevie Wonder inducted into Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
1990 - South Africa says its reconsidering ban on African National Congress; Washington, DC, Mayor Marion Barry arrested in drug enforcement sting
1991 - Eastern Airlines goes out of business after 62 years; Iraq launches SCUD missiles against Israel; US acknowledges CIA and US Army paid Noriega $320,000 over his career
1993 - Martin Luther King Jr holiday observed in all 50 states for 1st time
1995 - Pope John Paul II begins visit to Australia

Birthdays
1641 - François Michel le Tellier, French statesman (Marquis de Louvois)
1657 - Hendrik Casimir II, Dutch Fieldmarshal (Nassau)
1782 - Daniel Webster, orator/politician/lawyer
1795 - Anna Paulowna Romanova, monarch of Russia/daughter of czar Paul I
1809 - Richard Caswell Gatlin, Confederate Brigadier General
1815 - James Chesnut, Jr., Confederate Brigadier General; Richard Yates, Governor-IL (1861-65)
1820 - Abraham Buford, Confederate Brigadier General
1831 - Edward Ferrero, Union Brevet Major General
1849 - Sir Edmund Barton, 1st PM of Australia (1900-03)
1857 - Otto von Below, German commandant (WWI)
1878 - Hendrik Baels, Belgian politician
1879 - Henri-Honoré Giraud, French General /member of parliament
1892 - Oliver Hardy, comedy team member (Laurel & Hardy)
1908 - Albert P. Morano (Representative-CT, 1951-59)
1913 - Danny Kaye, UNICEF/comedian/actor (Danny Kaye Show)
1933 - Vladimir Yevgrafovich Bugrov, cosmonaut
1944 - Relus ter Beek, Dutch Minister of Defense (PvdA)
1958 - Jeffrey N. Williams, Major Army/astronaut

Passings
1367 - Pedro I, King of Portugal (1357-67), dies at 46
1479 - Louis IX the Rich, duke of Bayern (U of Ingolstadt), dies at 61
1677 - John A. van Riebeeck, Dutch founder Cape Colony, dies at 57
1730 - Peter II, Czar of Russia (1727-30), dies at 14
1862 - John Tyler, 10th US President (1841-45), dies in Richmond VA at 71
1890 - Amadeus I, King of Spain (1870-73), dies at 44
1906 - Bartolomé Mitre, President of Argentina (1862-70), dies at 84
1913 - Edmond R.H. Regout, Dutch industrialist/politician, dies at 49
1936 - Rudyard Kipling, author (Gunga Din, Nobel 1907), dies in Burwash England at 70
1984 - Malcolm H. Kerr, 9th president of American University of Beirut, shot dead
1985 - Mahmoud Taha, Sudanese Moslem leader, hanged at 76
1995 - Adolph F.J. Butenandt, German bio-chemist (Nobel 1939), dies at 91
1996 - N.T. Rama Rao, PM of Andhra Pradesh India (1983-84, 84-89, 94-95)
1997 - Paul Tsongas (Senator-MA), dies at 55

Reported Missing in Action
1964
Metoyer, Bryford G., US Army (LA); UH1B crashed (w/Straley)

Straley, John L. US Army (PA); UH1B crashed (w/Metoyer)

1967
Madsen, Marlow E., USNR (MN); A1H crashed in water (landing attempt), KIA, body not recovered

1968
Boles, Warren W., USN (MA); F4B crashed (w/Roehrich), presumed KIA, body not recovered

Hinckley, Robert B., USAF (ME); F4D shot down (w/Jones), released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998

Jones, Robert C., USAF (NJ); released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Roehrich, Ronald L., USN (AR); F4B crashed (w/Boles), presumed KIA, body not recovered

Smith, Wayne O., USAF (KY); F4D shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Simonet, Kenneth A., USAF (IL); F4D shot down released by DRV March, 1973
*** also served in the Pacific in WWII ***

1969
Coady, Robert F., USAF (LA); A1H shot down, presumed KIA, body not recovered