News of Note
'Tis the Season
GRRR! Halloween Pedophiles
Sleeping Man Dressed as Zombie Mistaken for Corpse on Train in Germany
San Francisco to Shut Down Halloween Street Party

Operation Iraqi Freedom
U.S. to tighten rules for Iraq contractors - Video
Iraq bill would lift contractor immunity
1-15 Infantry air assault detains six suspected insurgents
Ramadi parade celebrates unity, security
Job No. 1 in northern Iraq: keep al Qaeda on ropes
MND-B Soldiers seize cache in southern Baghdad
Concerned Local Citizens lead Coalition Forces to cache location (Al Buaytha)
MND-C Soldiers attacked (Baghdad)
Iraqi Security Forces rescue sheik hostages
Four terrorists killed, 17 suspects detained during Coalition operations
Coalition Forces free hostage from al Qaeda (al Hammadi)

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Israel steps up threats to invade Gaza Strip
Spanish judge due to rule on Madrid train bombs
Spy budget, at $43.5 billion, is no secret now
Palestinians raise stakes for talks
Bomb blast near Musharraf's HQ kills 7

Troops (and Contractors) on Trial
Immunity deals 'routine' for contractors

Fallen Heroes
Furor After Ceremonial Flag-Folding Readings Pulled From Military Funerals

Other Military News
U.S. Gunships Battle Pirates Who Seized Ships Off Somalia, Mogadishu
Small Training 'Bomb' Falls From Navy Fighter Jet
Australia to collect troop DNA to help ID bodies
Bush nominates new Veterans secretary

Religion of Peace??
Saudi king gets royal welcome, jeers on UK visit

Worldwide Wackos
Major powers expected to meet on Iran this week
Marx's erupting skin may have influenced writings
Cuba warns US against regime change

Politics / Government
Waterboarding Issue SlowsMukasey's Appointment
Stay on Internet Taxes Heads to White House
Bush Blasts Democrats for Spending Bill Delays
Kucinich Doubts Bush's Stability
Bush's budget fight with Democrats deepens - Video
Democrats open fire on Clinton at debate
Bush balks at revised child health bill
Bush chides Congress on spending bills
House votes to extend Net tax moratorium
Edwards shifts focus to integrity
Democrats consider more money for war

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Giuliani: Illegals are a federal problem

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Body of Unidentified Woman Exhumed for Testing
Love Ain't Cheap - High court to hear 'spouse theft' case
Burglar Pleads Guilty to Slaying 5 in Texas KFC Mass Murders
McCanns Accused of Using Madeleine Fund to Pay Their Mortgage
Family of Missing Illinois Woman Lisa Stebic Say Her Husband Cut Communication to Family
Teens Could Face Murder Charges After Throwing Metal Tent Pole at Father's Head
Man Charged in Death of Woman Answering Craigslist Ad
Justices Doubt Claims Against Anti-Child Porn Law
Body of Mom Who Disappeared on Jog Found - VIDEO
Mississippi death row inmate gets last-minute stay

Adventures in Political Correctness
Christian Groups Claim Pro-Atheist 'Stealth Campaign' in Nicole Kidman Fantasy Film 'The Golden Compass'
VIDEO: Does Illinois Moment of Silence Promote Religion?

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Sarkozy Storms Out of '60 Minutes' Interview, Calls it 'Stupid'

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Scientists Find Oldest Living Animal, Then Kill It (Jerks)
Astronauts Find Large Rip in Solar Panel - PHOTOS
Want to stop superbugs? Clean up hospitals: study
Vitamin D does not prevent death from cancer
Many older doctors plan to phase out their practice
AIDS virus invaded U.S. from Haiti: study
Computers seen selling briskly in holiday buying
France Telecom denies Google talks about handset
Scientists note brain's reaction to fear
Experts discover rare amphibian imprints

Mother Nature
Insurance group sees 14,000 claims from California fires
Embattled New Orleans district attorney quits
Noel hits Cuba; 22 dead elsewhere

Oddities
Is It Bigfoot? Hunter's Photos Ignite Debate
Michigan Man Gets Probation After Pickle Assault
VIDEO: Cheerleader Trampled by Players at Game
Teenager escapes prison in suitcase
Give us your money, this is a ketchup
Traffic stop yields embalmed heads
Woman claims pet-sitter made her pig fat

Fox News
Teen Jumped Out Window to Escape Beach Fire - PHOTOS
Dumped Merrill Lynch CEO Gets $161.5M Farewell
Couple Offers Refund, Inheritance for Whoever Buys House
Pop Tarts: Vanessa Hudgens in Therapy With 'Bottom' Blues?
Canadian Toddler Lone Survivor of Plane Crash
Young Victims of Carolina Beach House Fire Remembered

Reuters: Top News
Actor and singer Robert Goulet dies at 73
French and Spanish charged over Chad children flight - Video
Savor whisky like wine, the Glenmorangie way
Guilt stops parents from kids-free vacations: survey
"American Gangster" watched Washington on set daily
Britney slammed for chaotic parenting
Consumer confidence trips up Wall St - Video
Oil slides $4 to below $90 a barrel
Dollar near record low vs euro before Fed verdict
McKesson shares rise
Goodyear, American Axle beat estimates, others lag
Transparency on the line with Fed
Rebuilding after fires a boon to San Diego
Google in talks with Verizon Wireless: sources
Fed cut seen slim help for housing
Other CEOs under microscope as Merrill chief exits
Ford, UAW talks intensify, "activity" seen in days
Merrill hit with shareholder lawsuit over subprime
Bankruptcy reform can stem foreclosures, panel told

AP World News
Methodist transgender minister may stay
Little resigns, paving the way for Torre
Britney Spears allowed visits with sons
Girardi agrees to manage Yankees
Elvis is Forbes' richest dead celebrity
Stocks slide ahead of Fed rate decision

CENTCOM: News Releases
CONCERNED LOCAL CITIZENS LEAD COALITION FORCES TO CACHE LOCATION
JOINT STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR RYAN C. CROCKER AND GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS ON THE TRANSFER OF SECURITY RESPONSIBILITY FOR KARBALA PROVINCE

USJFCOM
House Armed Services Committee chairman tours command
Command focusing on improving joint fires at the brigade combat team and below
More about JFIIT
Command leadership completes Transformation Advisory Group meeting
Command moves forward with Joint Urban Fires Prototype - podcast

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Bayaa car bomb injures 2
18th Military Police Brigade assumes Iraq mission
Iraqi Army discovers cache (Hawr Rajab)

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Rice, Gates Discuss Control Of Private Contractors - Video
Gates Considers Extending Two Brigades' Stay in Europe

IRAQ
Pilots Needed to Boost Fledgling Iraqi Air Force
U.S. Soldiers Free Hostage From al Qaeda

ON THE GROUND IN IRAQ
Iraqi Police Learn Basics During Prep Course
Coalition Troops Detain 11 Suspects in Iraq

AFGHANISTAN
Afghan, Coalition Forces Detain Six Suspects

INSIDE AFGHANISTAN
Afghan Troops Take Lead in Operations
Combat Engineers Mentor Afghans

WILDFIRES
Troops Work to Battle Remaining Fires
Defense Logistics Agency Supports California Wildfire Relief Effort
Special Report: Military Helps Fight Wildfires
Wildfires Photo Gallery
C-130 Firefighters Face Challenges
Airmen Conduct Aerial Assault on Fires
Air Force Wildfire Coverage
Official Calls Response ‘Awe-Inspiring’
Defense Personnel Hit Wildfires Hard

MILITARY NEWS
Landstuhl Medical Facility Keeps Promise to Provide Best Care

WHY WE SERVE
Nurse Rejoins Air Force

FACE OF DEFENSE
Oboe Player Joins Fight
Soldier Lures ‘Finicky' Fish

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Wounded Find Renewal In Caribbean Adventure
Kayaking Trip Heals Wounded Veterans

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

National Hurricane Center

Today in History
1270 - The 8th - and final - Crusade is launched.
1888 - The first ballpoint pen is patented.
1905 - With the "October Manifesto," Russian Tsar Nicholas II grants civil liberties.
1918 - Slovakia asks for the creation of a Czechoslovakian state.
1919 - Baseball league presidents call for the abolishment of the spitball.
1922 - In Italy, Mussolini forms his cabinet.
1930 - Turkey and Greece sign a treaty of friendship.
1938 - Orson Welles panics a nation with the broadcast of "War of the Worlds."
1939 - The U.S.S.R. and Germany agree on partitioning Poland.
1941 - The Germans torpedo the USS Reuben James, despite the fact that the U.S. is not involved in the war.
1944 - Anne Frank is deported from Auschwitz to Bergen-Belsen.
1945 - The U.S. government announces the end of shoe rationing.
1948 - In Donora, Pennsylvania, smog kills 20 and sickens 6,000.
1953 - Dr. Albert Schweitzer and General George C. Marshall win the Nobel Peace Prize.
1954 - The Defense Department announces the elimination of all segregated regiments.
1956 - Israel captures the Egyptian militay post at El-Thamad.
1961 - The Soviet Party Congress unanimously approves a resolution removing Josef Stalin's body from Lenin's tomb in Red Square.
1961 - The Soviet Union tests a 58-megaton hydrogen bomb.
1965 - Fireworks explosions kill 50 in Cartagena, Colombia.
1967 - The U.S.S.R.'s Kosmos 186 and 188 make the first automatic docking & Venmera 13 launch.
1975 - Juan Carlos assumes power in Spain; the NY Daily News runs the headline "Ford to City: Drop Dead."
1976 - Jane Pauley becomes the news co-anchor of the Today show.
1979 - NASA launches the space vehicle S-203.
1980 - Honduras and El Salvador settle their boundary dispute; NASA launches Satcom-4.
1985 - The 22nd Space Shuttle Mission (61-A; Challenger 9) is launched.
1991 - A Middle East peace conference begins in Madrid, Spain.

Birthdays
1735 - John Adams, Declaration of Independence signer, second U.S. President (1797-1801)
1821 - Feodor Mikhailovich Dostoevski, Russian novelist / short-story writer
1830 - Confederate Major-General John S. Bowen
1873 - Francisco Madero, Mexican revolutionary, president (1911-13)
1893 - Charles Atlas, body builder
1918 - Ted Williams, Baseball great (Red Sox - AL MVP '46, '49; Triple Crown '42, '47)
1939 - Grace Slick, rock vocalist (Jefferson Airplane-White Rabbit)
1946 - Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson, USN/astronaut (STS 41B, 61C, 27)
1969 - Brittany Gae Thompson, Miss Oregon-America (1991)

Passings
1893 - Sir John Abbott, PM of Canada (1891-92)
1991 - William Shea (Shea Stadium namesake)

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Page, Jasper N., USAF (MS); first to escape out of SVN, November, 1965 - alive and well as of 1998

1973
Sakamoto, Hideako (Japan); released January, 1974

Labels: Headlines, History