News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Baghdad-Area Surge Proving Successful
Iraqi Citizens Provide Vital Information on Insurgents, Weapons
Sunni, Shia Sheiks Say No to Violence, Yes to Reconciliation
Local Leaders, Soldiers Team to Bring Computer Literacy to Assiriyah
17 suspected extremists captured in eastern Baghdad
Hawr Rajab CLC discover cache
Extremist attack wounds 6 civilians (Baghdad)

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
House votes to outlaw CIA waterboarding (Of course they did - it works.)
Investigators look for clues in Lebanon killing - Video
Blair sees Gazans backing Abbas over peace push

Troops on Trial
Reservist convicted of killing Iraqi

Supporting Our Heroes
Singer Donates CDs

Other Military News
Pentagon examining Boeing-Air Force C-17 ties
Army Looks at Long-Term Need for Mine Resistant Vehicles
Guard Members Respond to Midwest Ice Storm

Worldwide Wackos
Wounded Warrior Program Indefinite, Director says

Homegrown Moonbats
Al Gore: America Is Stalling Climate Talks
Gore completes renovations to Tenn. home

Politics / Government
Sex-in-the-House Page Turner
Report: Feds Raid Sharpton Offices, Subpoena Employees
Clinton Official: Obama's Drug History Could Hurt in November If He is Nominee
EU Threatens to Boycott U.S.-Led Climate Talks
Democrats Tackle Budget Problems at Iowa Debate
Huckabee Sorry for Mormon Remark
CAMPAIGN CARL
Senate Panel Votes to Slap Rove With Contempt
Bush vetoes children's health bill a second time (Thank you W!)
Democrats call a truce in 2008 campaign fight
Dems call for taxes on wealthy at debate
Senate Republicans move on energy bill
Sharpton denounces reports of probe
Iran, NKorea and Mideast top Rice agenda
Gay-marriage opponents turn in petition
NATO says Serbia has pledged no force over Kosovo
Argentina's Fernandez calls U.S. cash probe "garbage"

Illegal Immigration / Border Control
Latinos hurt by immigration debate: study

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Detective: I Know Where McCann Is
Massachusetts Jury Awards $2.5. Million to Woman Who Underwent Nine Years of Unnecessary HIV Treatments
Teen Suspect Arrested in Denver for Bus Stop Shooting
Omaha Mall Shooter's Mom: 'I Did My Best'
Jurors deadlock in 6 of 7 defendants
Woman charged in surrogate mother scam
Billboards create digital wanted posters
N.J. to vote on death penalty

Adventures in Political Correctness
Report: Swedish Army Castrates Heraldic Lion

U.N. News
Clooney and Cheadle get peace award for Darfur - Video

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Opera opens new round in browser battles
No action: Directors delay labor talks

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
French Face Transplant Patient 'Perfect,' Doctors Report
Dogs Save 2-Year-Old Boy From Drowning
Heeere Kitty, Kitty: Mouse Without Fear Created - PHOTOS (Estimated lifespan in presence of cat: 2.3 seconds)
Poisonings, suicides fuel rise in U.S. injury deaths
Stem-cell patch may fix damaged hearts
Why use steroids? They work
Bamboo PC is eco-friendly and looks nice too
Web browser firm files complaint over Microsoft
Japan eel provides electric Christmas

Mother Nature
Killer Storm Hits East Coast
Tropical Storm Olga kills 22 in Caribbean
Wildfire veterans offer expertise

Oddities
Burned Body Falls From Plane, Found in French Garden
Guns N' Roses Lyrics Cause Teacher to Lock Self in Classroom
Banning samurai swords
China slams German "warriors" show as fake

Other News of Note
Clemens, Tejada, Pettitte and Bonds Named in Baseball Steroids Report: Watch Live
FOX FACTS: Players Suspended From MLB - TIMELINE
Full Text: Mitchell Report
Factbox: Key points in report
Factbox: Rules about sports steroid use
Driver Plucked From Car Dangling 7 Stories Up - VIDEO

Fox News
FOXBusiness: U.S. Retail Sales Surge in November
Madonna to Be Inducted Into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Model Claims Tony Parker Cheated on Eva Longoria With Her
Katie Holmes Tells Mag What Turns Tom On

Reuters
JK Rowling magic tales fetch $3.98 million
South Korean candidate secretly sniffs out voters
Romance film "Atonement" tops Golden Globes
Lufthansa plans to buy 19 percent stake in JetBlue
Wall St indexes fall on credit plan doubts - Video
Dollar rises after U.S. data eases credit fears
Oil falls as fears of U.S. slowdown weigh
Costco profit up nearly 11 percent, but stock down
Robbing Paul to pay Peter?
Quoted: Bill Gross, Jim Bianco, more
Linda Stern on Personal Finance
A safe place for retiree money
Wall St indexes fall on credit plan doubts
FTSE falls 3 pct on credit woes; Rentokil plunges
Gasoline prices boost retail sales and inflation
Corrected: Lehman earnings fall 12 percent
Credit rescue triage misses heart of crisis
Crisis has legs despite central bank endeavour
H&R Block says may need more financing
Golden Globe nods - Factbox: List of nominees

AP World News
Wholesale inflation surges, but sales up
Stocks slide after wholesale prices jump
Murdoch's Dow Jones deal gets final OK
Wholesale prices, retail sales jump
Liza Minnelli collapses on stage
Novartis to cut 2,500 jobs by 2010

CENTCOM: News Releases
IRANIAN ROCKETS FOUND, TURNED OVER TO COALITION FORCES
JOINT STATEMENT BY AMBASSADOR RYAN C. CROCKER AND GENERAL DAVID H. PETRAEUS ON THE CAR BOMB ATTACKS IN MAYSAN PROVINCE
IRAQI FORCES, U.S. SPECIAL FORCES DETAIN SUSPECTED AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ LEADER

USJFCOM
U.S. Joint Forces Command, IBM sign new cooperative research and development agreement
More about CRADAs
Ribbon cut for new SOCJFCOM headquarters - podcast

Multi-National Force-Iraq
JOINT STATEMENT By Ambassador Crocker and General Petraeus on Car Bombs in Maysan
CLCs provide vital information on insurgents, weapons (Al Bawi)
Iraqi security volunteers turn over weapons cache to MND-Baghdad troops

DefenseLink
IRAQ NEWS
U.S. Soldiers Bring Supplies and Training to Iraqi Veterinarians
U.S. Leaders Condemn Amarah Attack

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Forces Treat More Than 700 Villagers
Border Police Set Up Traffic Control Point

MILITARY NEWS
New Year Brings Boost in Housing Allowance
Heidelberg Staff Retraces Historical Battle of the Bulge

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
USO Elves to Host Troops

FACE OF DEFENSE
Service Ties Family Bonds

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
1294 - Pope Coelestinus V ends term
1570 - Sweden/Denmark signs Peace of Stettin
1572 - Spanish army beats Geuzen fleet under Admiral Lumey
1577 - Sir Francis Drake sets sail from England to go around the world
1621 - Emperor Ferdinand II delegates 1st anti-Reformation decree
1734 - England & Russia sign trade agreement
1759 - 1st music store in America opens (Philadelphia)
1769 - Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter
1774 - 1st incident of the Revolution-400 attack Fort William & Mary, New Hampshire
1816 - Patent for a dry dock issued to John Adamson, Boston
1833 - HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin arrives in Port Deseado, Patagonie
1843 - "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold
1861 - Battle of Alleghany Summit, WV
1862 - Battle of Fredericksburg, VA (Marye's Heights); South beats North
1864 - Battle of Fort McAllister, GA
1895 - 1st complete execution of Gustav Mahlers 2nd Symphony
1900 - Battle at Nooitgedacht: Generals The la Rey/Smuts beat Britten
1903 - Italo Marcioni patents the ice cream cone (New Jersey)
1903 - Wright Brothers make 1st flight at Kittyhawk
1906 - German chancellor Bernhard von Bülow disbands the Parliament
1907 - German emperor Wilhelm II visits Amsterdam
1916 - Avalanche kills 10,000 Austrian & Italian troops in 24 hours in Tyrol
1918 - US army of occupation crosses the Rhine, enters Germany; Woodrow Wilson becomes the first to make a foreign visit as President (France)
1920 - F. Pease's interferometer measures 1st stellar diameter (Betelgeuse); League of nations establishes International Court of Justice in The Hague; Netherlands breaks contact with kingdoms of Serbia, Croatia & Slavia
1928 - Clip-on tie designed
1930 - Theodore Steeg forms French government
1938 - Los Angeles freezes at 28ºF
1939 - Battle at La Plata - 3 British cruisers vs German Graf Spee
1941 - German occupiers forbid National Front & Netherlands Union; Lawine battlers destroy Haaraz, Peru; about 3,000 die; U-81 torpedoes British aircraft carrier Ark Royal
1942 - Seyss-Inquart allows Dutch Nazi Anton Mussert to call himself Leader
1943 - 150 US Marauders bomb Schiphol
1944 - Japanese kamikaze crashes into US cruiser Nashville, kills 138
1946 - Léon Blum elected French premier
1947 - Maine Turnpike opens to traffic
1950 - James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial
1959 - Archbishop Makarios elected 1st President of Cyprus
1960 - Italy beats US in Davis cup (1st time in 24 years US not in finals); Laos General Fumi Nosavang occupies Vientiane
1961 - Gideon Hausner in Jerusalem demands death penalty for Adolf Eichmann
1962 - Relay 1 communication satellite launched
1964 - In El Paso TX, LBJ & Mexican President Gustavo Diaz Ordaz set off an explosion diverting Rio Grande, to reshape US-México border
1965 - Algerian President Boumédienne visits Moscow
1966 - 1st battle for Bijlmer flats Amsterdam; 1st US bombing of Hanoi
1967 - Unsuccessful coup against Greek King Constantine II
1969 - Arlo Guthrie releases "Alice's Restaurant"
1974 - Malta becomes a republic
1975 - Australian Conservatives & Liberals win parliamentary election
1976 - Golden Gate Bridge District starts ferry service to Larkspur
1978 - Susan B. Anthony dollar, 1st US coin to honor a woman, issued
1981 - Polish government declares martial law, arrests Solidarity activists
1982 - Earthquake hits Northern Yemen; 2,000 die
1983 - Martha Layne Collins inaugurated as Kentucky's 1st female governor; British Airways incorporates
1988 - Yasser Arafat addresses UN in Geneva
1989 - Forced repatriation of Vietnamese in Hong Kong
1990 - President De Klerk of South Africa meets with Nelson Mandela to talk of end of apartheid; Heavy earthquake strikes Sicily, 18 die
1991 - Both Koreas sign an accord calling for reconciliation; New York assembly speaker Mel Miller is convicted of federal mail fraud
1993 - Deadline for Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza (they don't); Space shuttle STS-61 (Endeavour 5) lands 1994 - American Eagle commuter plane crashes in North Carolina, killing 15
1995 - Christopher Reeve is released from physical rehab center; US Federal Court votes that Cable companies must carry local stations

Birthdays
1521 - Sixtus V (Felice Peretti/"Montalto"), bishop of Fermo/Pope (1585-90)
1533 - Erik XIV, Wasa king of Sweden (1560-69)
1553 - Henry IV, first Bourbon-king of Navarre/France (1572/89-1610)
1816 - Clement Claiborne Clay MC (Confederacy); E. Werner von Siemens German artillery, officer/inventor
1818 - Mary Todd Lincoln, First Lady (1861-65)
1903 - John Piper, British writer (US Churches in WWI)/official war painter
1906 - Laurens jan van der Post, soldier/explorer/conservationist
1915 - Balthazar Johannes Vorster, Prime Minister of South Africa (1966-77)
1920 - George P. Schultz, US Secretary of State (1982-89); Kaysone Phomvihane/premier/President of Laos (Pathet Lao) (1991-92)
1925 - Henry C. Gordon, USAF/astronaut (Dynasoar)
1929 - Christopher Plummer, actor (Sound of Music, Doll's House)

Passings
0838 - Pippijn I, King of Aquitania
1048 - Al-Biruni, Arabic royal astrologer, dies at 74
1124 - Callistus II, (Guido di Borgogna), Italian Pope (1119-24)
1126 - Hendrik IX the Black, Duke of Bayern (1120-26)
1250 - Frederick II, German Emperor (1212-1250), dies at 55
1404 - Albrecht, duke of Bavaria, dies at 74
1521 - Manoel I "the Great," King of Portugal (1495-1521), dies at 52
1574 - SelŒm II Sari the blonde, sultan of Turkey (1566-74), dies at 50
1672 - Jan II Kazimierz king of Poland (1648-68), dies at 63
1814 - Charles Joseph Prince of Ligne, Belgian fieldmarshal/author, dies at 79
1862 - Conrad Feger Jackson, Union Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 49; Maxcy Gregg, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 48; Thomas Reade Rootes Cobb, Confederate Brigadier-General, dies in battle at 39
1894 - Sarah Parker Remond, US/Italian abolitionist, dies at 68
1945 - Robert van Genechten, Dutch Nazi (NSB), commits suicide
1958 - Ahmed Mukhtar Baban premier of Iraq, executed; Barhanuddin Bashajan Iraqi minister of Foreign affairs, executed; Rafiq Aref, Iraqi chief-staff Arabs Statenbond, executed
1961 - Grandma (Anna M.) Moses, US painter, dies at 101
1963 - Hubert Pierlot Belgian advocate/premier (1939-45), dies at 79
1969 - Raymond A. Spruance, US Admiral (battle of Midway), dies at 83
1971 - Max Mell, Austrian artillery officer/literary, dies at 88
1975 - Hendrik Kruls, Dutch general/chief military authority (1944-46), dies at 73
1980 - Harm van Riel, Dutch Liberal Party politician, dies at 73
1994 - Antoine Pinay, PM of France (1952-53); Herman W. "Fritz" Liebert, US librarian/Yale-curator, dies at 83
1996 - Charles Edwin Molnar, computer pioneer, dies at 61

Reported Missing in Action
1966
Waters, Samuel Edwin, Jr., USAF (NC); F105D shot down, SRV returned remains to PCOM

1967
Bennett, Robert E., III, USAF (NJ); F4C shot down; parachuted into water and sank before rescuers could reach him

1968
The following USAF personnel lost in the the mid-air collision of a C123K and a B57B:

On the C123K:
Albright, John S. (WV); navigator

Clarke, Fred L. (NC); crew

Dailey, Douglas V. (MI); crew

Donahue, Morgan J. (VA); navigator

Fanning, Joseph P. (NY); co-pilot

Walker, Samuel F,. (PA); crew

On the B57B:
Dugan, Thomas W. (PA);

McGouldrick, Francis J., Jr. (CT)

Labels: Headlines, History