News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Dems Back Down on Iraq War Funding Conditions
Kirkuk: Edging out its Arab migrants
Suicide bomber strikes Iraqi oil hub
Iranian Rockets Found, Turned Over to Coalition Forces

Operation Enduring Freedom
Afghans close road to save minarets
Afghan, NATO troops fight for Taliban stronghold
Afghan, NATO operation leaves 14 dead

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
CIA, Justice Dept. Open Tape Destruction Probe
Guantanamo: Legal no-man's land?

Worldwide Wackos
Gates says Iran still a threat
U.S. intel report on Iran was political: Bolton

Politics / Government
Oprah Ignites Iowa Crowds - Lauds Obama's vision for America - VIDEO
Young: 'Bill Clinton Every Bit as Black as Barack'
Huckabee Defends AIDS, Homosexuality Remarks
'Campaign Carl' Cameron's '08 Trail Web Log
Rising Republican Huckabee tests appeal in U.S. South
U.S., Russia to talk about missile defense
Ex-Thai PM's unity government call wins little support
Merkel puts Zimbabwe in spotlight over rights abuses
White House threatens budget veto
Clinton's mother, daughter hit trail
Fla. teen documenting '08 election

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Report: Tiger Woods' Wife Wins Damages for Fake Nude Photos
Warrant Issued for Arrest of Actor Daniel Baldwin
Wife: Canoeist Faked Own Death to Clear Debts
Vermont Customer Sues Burger King After Finding Unwrapped Condom in Sandwich
Dog Missing Since Halloween Being Held for Ransom
Cops: High School Hockey Coach Had Sex With Player, 16
Pregnant Attorney Tells Police She Was Kidnapped
Cops: Trucker Made False Claim About Peterson Meeting
Prosecutor Mulls Closure in Holloway Case - PHOTOS
Arrest warrant issued for actor Daniel Baldwin
Juveniles do hard time for harsh crimes
Aruba considers closing Holloway case
Mom hopes incarcerated son will be freed
Omaha mall reopens as mourning continues

Adventures in Political Correctness
Head of the Classless

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
James Murdoch steps up as News Corp heir apparent
Gunmen in Mexico kill crime reporter
TV executive who syndicated "Oprah: dies

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
NASA to Try for Sunday Shuttle Launch
Studies show how fruits and veggies reduce cancer
Green tea may protect against colon cancer
Record-size spitting cobra found in Kenya
NASA clears shuttle for launch try Sunday

Mother Nature
Large Oil Slick Washes Ashore in South Korea - PHOTOS
World climate change protests kick off
President declares disaster in Northwest

News from My Neck of the Woods
New York City Councilman to Introduce Legislation to Ban Horse-Drawn Carriages
Lively bidding at New York rare spirits auction

Oddities
Florida Christmas Parade Float Runs Over, Kills Boy
Man Shocked for 40 Minutes After Stepping on Power Line
Cremator dumps half-burned bodies to save fuel
Neglect of parents a criminal offence

Other News of Note
Chrysler says recalling over 575,000 vehicles

Fox News
Florida Super Sophomore QB Best in Nation
Turkey Studies Alleged Police, Christian Killer Ties
FOXBusiness: Cuomo Subprime Probe Likely First of Many
Sly Stone's Stage Debacle
Florida Sophomore QB Tim Tebow Wins Heisman Trophy Award
California Diocese Breaks With Episcopal Church in Rift Over Role of Gays in the Church

Reuters
One dead, many hurt in Bangladesh building collapse
Record numbers of Chinese sit government job exam
New Apple store highlights "geniuses," services
Macrovision to buy Gemstar-TV
Singles should head to New York, bookworms to LA: study
"Golden Compass" disappoints at box office
Big Fed rate cut may spur a rally - Video
Employers add jobs but consumers gloomy
Wall Street end flat on oil, jobs; eyes on Fed - Video
Oil falls 3 percent to below $88
Papa John's soars after 2008 view
Subprime, Wall Street's painful December
Full Coverage: Crisis in Credit
Conglomerates ready for slowdown?
Gulf revaluation talks due in days: Bahrain
Brazil's Vale said to be looking at Xstrata bid
UnitedHealth, Brocade change options landscape
Murdoch's steward picked for key Dow Jones role
Big Fed rate cut may spur a rally - Video
Employers add jobs but consumers gloomy
Wall Street end flat on oil, jobs; eyes on Fed - Video
Oil falls 3 percent to below $88
Papa John's soars after 2008 view
Subprime, Wall Street's painful December
FTSE holds gains on banks, miners, U.S. data
Gulf revaluation talks due in days: Bahrain
Brazil's Vale said to be looking at Xstrata bid
UnitedHealth, Brocade change options landscape
James Murdoch steps up as News Corp heir apparent
Murdoch's steward picked for key Dow Jones role

AP World News
Lee exuberant over 'Lust, Caution' wins
Woeful T-Wolves take down Suns, 100-93
Hollywood writers strike hits 5th week
No. 9 Michigan State holds off BYU 68-61
2 small planes crash over Everglades
Dayton upsets No. 14 Louisville
Ray Charles' hometown erects statue

CENTCOM: News Releases
COALITION FORCES CAPTURE TERRORISTS INVOLVED IN BAGHDAD CAR-BOMBING OPERATIONS
ANA, ISAF LAUNCH OPERATION MUSA QALA

USJFCOM
Newsmaker Profile: SOCJFCOM Commander Army Col. Wesley Rehorn - podcast
More about SOCJFCOM
Capability development leadership to change
More about Capability Development
USJFCOM readies for Joint Task Force Senior Medical Leadership Seminar - podcast
USJFCOM garners cutting edge technology award - podcast
New USJFCOM super computer will enhance command efforts - podcast

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Air Traffic Controllers Own Iraqi Sky
Army Unit, Civil Affairs Team Hand Out $10,000 in Micro-Grants
New Well Provides Young Children Drinking Water
Tip leads MND-B Soldiers to large cache in Ameriyah
Coalition forces disrupts al-Qaeda networks; 12 killed, 13 detained
Concerned Local Citizens support yields big November cache rollup (Karbala)
1-15 Inf. Regt. finds cache with Iranian RPG (Baghdad)

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Gates Calls for Continued International Pressure on Iran
Arab World Must Support Iraqi Progress, Gates Says
Multilateral Cooperation Critical to Gulf Region Security, Gates Says
U.S. Generals: ‘Jury Still Out’ on Flow of Weapons From Iran
Pearl Harbor Survivor Urges Vigilance

IRAQ NEWS
Commanders in Iraq Assess Force Levels
Army Air Power Boosts Surge in Iraq
Army, Civil Affairs Team Hand Out Grants
Coalition Forces Detain Dozens of Terrorists

MILITARY NEWS
Army to Launch New Pay, Personnel System

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Afghan Forces Learn De-Mining Procedures
Coalition, Afghan Forces Defeat Taliban

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Vets Move to Civilian Life

WHY WE SERVE
Desert Changes Marine

FACE OF DEFENSE
Nigerian Serves With Pride

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

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

Labels: Headlines, History