News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Bomber kills 13 Iraq volunteers and 1 U.S. soldier
Torture chamber found in Iraq
Iraq arms sales office to get more staff

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Al-Zawahiri Plays 20 Questions With Media - VIDEO
Bin Laden's driver is not POW, U.S. judge says
Australia judge limits ex-Guantanamo inmate Hicks

Supporting Our Heroes
Vet Gets Hero’s Welcome

Worldwide Wackos
North Korea resists Dec 31 declaration deadline

Homegrown Moonbats
VA Tech Classrooms to Be Center for Peace Studies

Politics / Government
Unpopularity Contest
Boston's Double Blow - Romney snubbed by top two newpapers
FNC Poll: GOP Leaders in '08 Race Tie
Tancredo Drops White House Bid, Endorses Romney
VIDEO: Huckabee, Romney battle heats up
Prius Irks Michigan GOP - Energy bill delivered in foreign-made car
Lakota Indians Withdraw Treaties Signed With U.S. 150 Years Ago (Wonder how they'd feel if we put up a 40 foot fence around their now "foreign" country)
IRS Hired Clerical Worker for $188,000 for 11 Months
YOU DECIDE: Giuliani Leaves St. Louis Hospital
Bush says won't discuss CIA tapes - Video
Congress subpoenas ex-CIA official
Huckabee plays the woe-is-me card
Lawmaker ire at Fed may imperil Kroszner renewal
Stars twinkle political chaos over Thai election
South Korea president to back Lee probe: media
U.S. says seriously concerned about Kyrgyz elections

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Man Wanted in Kansas Porn Star Student's Death Arrested in Mexico
Archbishop of Canterbury Dismisses Nativity Scene as Nothing but 'Legend'
Pop Tarts: Did Jamie Lynn's Boyfriend Break the Law?
Colorado Teens Accused of Killing 7-Year-Old Girl With 'Mortal Kombat' Game Moves
Clintons' N.Y. Neighbor Charged With Wife's Murder
Prosecutor: Suspect in E-Chat Said Holloway Is Dead
Brazil Thieves Rob Pricey Picasso, Portinari Paintings
Car Accident Victim Dies After Family Loses Australian Court Battle to Maintain Life Support
Official: Driver Stopped School Bus to Solicit Undercover Cop for Sex
Suspect in Gruesome Sex Assault Mistakenly Set Free
Alleged Jailhouse Confession in 'Joe Cool' Killings
South African prosecutor says ready to charge Zuma - Video
Bush signs bill giving struggling homeowners relief - Video
U.S. grand jury indicts 5 in Argentine "suitcase scandal"
Obama laments negative tone of campaign
Bush says Congress wasting time, money (Not sure why THAT would be news)
AP IMPACT: Giuliani secretive as mayor
Clinton says wife a 'world-class genius'
Top news story: Virginia Tech killings
Aruba officials detail evidence
Pot suspect served hash cake for lunch

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Zell makes immediate changes at Tribune
Nick mulling post-Spears pregnancy show
Two pregnant 16-year-olds in spotlight
Teen Spears' baby daddy eludes media

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Girl Injured in Swimming Pool Mishap Undergoes Triple-Organ Transplant
Surgeon in Hot Water After Photographing Patient's Tattooed Genitals
Study Reveals Why Monkeys Shout During Sex (Just think...somebody actually funded this)
Teacher Arrested After Offering Good Grades For Oral Sex
Tougher Emissions Regulations Could Bring End to Muscle Cars, Says GM
Grieving in Space: Astronaut Can't Go to Mom's Funeral
Some temper tantrums can be red flags: study
Sex education found to help teenagers delay sex
Snakey smells help squirrels stay safe
Whales may have evolved from raccoon-sized creature
Popular Apple rumor Web site to shut down - Video
Safety top reason for buying children cell phones
Foster care boosts IQ of children in orphanages
Asteroid may hit Mars in next month
Babies do the driving in Delaware lab

Oddities
Harvard Professor Thinks He Can Make a Carpet Fly
UK Teachers Caught on Video Humiliating Bound Student
Delivery Truck Driver Finds Birth Mom at Cash Register
Man Claims Skin Treatment Turned Face Permanent Blue
Should we go back for those, Sarge?
Passport office in need of spellcheck

Other News of Note
New Orleans Housing Protesters, Cops Clash - PHOTOS

Fox News
FOXBusiness: Bear Stearns Posts $854M Loss in 4Q
Princess Diana Letter Claimed Charles Wanted Her Murdered

Reuters
Third quarter strong as jobless claims up
Tobacco and poverty drive cancer in developing world
"Into the Wild" leads surprising SAG nominees
Patrick Dempsey named "Star Of '07" by People mag
The height of slow-food, France serves snail caviar - Video
Comedy Central's Stewart, Colbert to return Jan. 7
People's Choice Awards get writers strike makeover
Bear Stearns has huge loss and cuts executive bonuses - Video
MBIA details huge mortgage exposure, shares collapse
Google wins U.S. antitrust OK to buy DoubleClick
Qualcomm raises estimates, ITC begins probe
Gambling companies urge EU probe U.S. prosecutions
Bill Gates buys stake in Mexican brewer Femsa
Manor Care and Carlyle to contest temporary halt
Apple shareholder lawsuit amended to add details
Japanese stocks rise
Tech enthusiasm lifts Wall St. but credit worry nags
Hitachi stock up on hard drive stake sale report
Apparel stocks can improve in H2 '08: analyst
Oil slips, dealers weigh economy against supplies
Ruby Tuesday at 7-year low after warning
Yen firms on persistent credit worries - Video
Gold locked in tight range below $800, trade thin
Recourse for the little guy
Deals: M&A news, blogs and more

AP World News
Backup leads Steelers over Rams 41-24
Grimsley: Canseco, Dykstra used steroids
Parcells to lead Dolphins' operations
SAG goes `Wild,' clouding awards picture

CENTCOM: News Releases
COALITION FORCES CAPTURE SPECIAL GROUPS CRIMINAL ELEMENT LEADER, DETAIN THREE SUSPECTS
DETENTION OPERATIONS HOLD EID AL ADHA RELEASE CEREMONY

USJFCOM
U.S. Joint Forces Command, IBM sign new cooperative research and development agreement
More about CRADAs
Ribbon cut for new SOCJFCOM headquarters - podcast
Newsmaker Profile: SOCJFCOM Commander Army Col. Wesley Rehorn - podcast
More about SOCJFCOM

Multi-National Force-Iraq
‘Gunfighters’ Keep Apache Helicopters Flying
Suicide bomber attacks MND-N Soldiers, Iraqis (Diyala)
MND-N Soldiers find atrocity site, torture complex and weapons caches during Operation Iron Reaper
Detention Operations hold Eid al Adha release ceremony
Coalition forces capture Special Groups criminal element leader, detain three suspects (Baghdad)
Coalition forces capture Special Groups leader, disrupt criminal element network

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Gates Sends Holiday Message of Gratitude to America's Troops
Photo Essay: Mullen Takes Holiday Tour

IRAQ NEWS
Normalcy Returning Near Baghdad
Baghdad Division Transfers Authority
Troops Capture Leader, Release Detainees
Soldiers Maintain Holiday Traditions

MILITARY NEWS
Holiday Show Travels in Combat Theater
Added Benefits, Efficiency Needed for Health Care
Army to Tap Troops Not Yet Deployed
Fort Bragg to Receive 1,400 More Soldiers
Program Helps Injured Employees Return to Work
Army Announces Future Force Posture

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Airmen Help Bring Freedom to Afghans
Coalition Delivers Toys, Coats to Villagers
Combined Joint Task Force 82 Launches New Web Site

FACE OF DEFENSE
Airman Hits Milestone

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Kuwait Troops Get Christmas Stockings

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
0069 - General Vespasianus occupies Rome
1046 - Synod of Sutri: German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI, Benedictus IX & Silvester III & names Bishop Siutger, Pope Clemens II
1192 - Richard the Lionheart captured in Vienna
1585 - English fleet & earl Robert Dudley van Leicester reach Vlissingen
1606 - Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown, VA
1626 - Emperor Ferdinand II/Transylvanian monarch Gábor Betlen signs Peace of Pressburg
1661 - Corporation Act enforced in England
1669 - 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery
1688 - Prince Willem III's troops pull into London
1694 - Frederik van Brandenburg flees Schweiben
1699 - Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed - from Sept 1 to Jan 1
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charlie's army meets de Esk
1780 - England declares war on Netherlands
1803 - Louisiana Purchase formally transferred from France to US for $27 million
1820 - Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men between 21 & 50
1830 - England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium
1850 - Hawaiian post office established
1860 - South Carolina votes 169-0 for Ordinance of Secession, 1st state to secede
1861 - Battle of Dranesville VA
1862 - Battle of Holly Spring, MS; Battle of Kelly's Ford, VA; Confederate Brigadier-General Nathan Bedford Forrest occupies Trenton, KY; Vicksburg campaign
1864 - Battle of Fort Fisher, NC
1879 - Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park
1880 - Battle at Bronker's Spruit, Transvaal: Farmers beat Britten
1883 - International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls
1892 - Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse NY
1893 - 1st state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia
1900 - Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft)
1906 - Venezuela (under Vice-President Gomez) attacks Dutch fleet
1907 - Explosion at Yolande, AL, coal mine kills 91
1915 - Russian troops overrun Qom, Persia
1917 - Russian secret police in Czechoslovakia forms under Felix Dzerzjinski
1919 - US House of Representatives restricts immigration
1920 - Bob Hope becomes an American citizen
1922 - 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR); Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president
1924 - Adolf Hitler freed from jail early
1928 - 1st international dogsled mail leaves Minot ME for Montréal, Québec
1933 - Bolivia & Paraguay sign weapon cease fire
1938 - Vladimir K Zworykin (Pennsylvania) receives patent on the Iconoscope TV system
1941 - Free France under Admiral Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquélon; Japanese troops lands on Mindanao
1942 - 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
1944 - Battle of Bastogne, Nazis surround 101st Airborne (NUTS!)
1945 - Rationing of auto tires ends in US
1956 - Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra; Montgomery, AL, removes race-based seat assignments on its buses
1957 - Elvis Presley given draft notice to join US Army for National Service
1960 - Auschwitz-commandant Richard Bär arrested in German Federal Republic
1963 - Berlin Wall opens for 1st time to West Berliners; Massemba-Debate elected President of Congo-Brazzaville; Trial against 21 camp guards of Auschwitz begins
1964 - Levi Eshkol forms Israeli government
1966 - Brussels: Nuclear Planning Group established
1967 - 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam
1970 - Edward Gierek succeeds Wladyslaw Gomulka as Poland's party leader
1971 - Pakistan President Yahya Khan resigns
1973 - Dutch Antillean government of Evertsz forms
1974 - Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state
1976 - Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns
1977 - 1st Space walk made by G Grechko from Salyut
1978 - H.R. Haldeman, Nixon's White House chief of staff released from jail
1980 - USSR formally announces death of Alexei Kosygin
1983 - El Salvador adopts constitution
1985 - Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC; Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)
1987 - Worst peacetime shipping disaster, Dona Paz ferry sinks after collision with oil tanker Vector; 1,749 confirmed deaths (probably closer to 3,000)
1988 - Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's department store in London; Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected President of Sri Lanka
1989 - US troops invade Panamá & oust Manuel Noriega, but don't catch him
1990 - Pentagon warns Saddam Hussein that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15; Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns
1991 - Paul Keating installed as premier of Australia
1992 - Slobodan Milosevic re-elected President of Serbia
1995 - American Flight 965 crashes in Colombia, 159 die, 5 survive
1999 - Portugal returns Macau to China

Birthdays
1720 - Charles Edward Stuart (Bonnie Prince Charlie/Young Pretender)
1805 - Thomas Graham, father of colloid chemistry
1807 - Richard Lucian Page, Confederate Brigadier-General
1808 - Thomas Tinsley Craven, Union Navy Commander
1813 - Samuel Jordan Kirkwood, Governor-IA/US Secretary of Interior (1881-82)
1819 - John Geary, 1st San Francisco postmaster, 1st mayor (May 1, 1850)
1825 - Romeyn Beck Ayres, Union Brevet Major General
1833 - Dr. Samuel A. Mudd, convicted of giving medical aid to John Wilkes Booth
1841 - Ferdinand-Èdouard Buisson, French educator (Nobel Peace Prize 1927)
1865 - Maude Gonne, Irish nationalist (Irish Joan of Arc)
1868 - Harvey S. Firestone, industrialist
1876 - Walter S. Adams, US astronomer/director of Mount Wilson (1923-46)
1884 - Marius H.L.W. "Max" Blokzijl, Dutch Nazi collaborator/traitor
1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, Australian PM (1939-41, 1949-66)
1901 - Robert Van de Graaff, US physicist (Mobility of Gaseous Ions)
1902 - Max Lerner, columnist (New York Post); Sidney Hook, anticommunist philosopher (Paradoxes of Freedom); George, English prince/earl of St. Andrews
1906 - Dick White head of British secret service (MI-5/MI-6)
1924 - Errol John, actor (PT-109, Assault on a Queen)
1925 - Datuk Seri Mahathir bin Mohamad, premier of Malaysia (1981-2003)
1929 - Milan Panic, premier of little Yugoslavia
1932 - John Hillerman, actor (Higgins-Magnum PI)
1933 - Gordon Getty
1946 - Uri Geller, psychic (bends forks)

Passings
0069 - Aulus Vitellius, Roman commandant of Rhine & 7th emperor, murdered
0910 - Alfonso III, Great king of Asturias
1073 - Domingo Spanish, monastery founder/abbot/saint
1355 - Stefanus IX, Uros IV, Dusan king (1331-46)/Serbia (1346-55), dies
1679 - Johan Maurits, count of Nassau-Siegen, dies at 75
1749 - Pakubuwono II, susuhunan of Mataram Java
1812 - Sacagawea, Shoshone interpreter for Lewis & Clark (or April 9, 1884)
1876 - Hannah Omish, at 12 is youngest ever hanged in US
1929 - Emile Loubet, French premier (1892)/President (1899-1906), dies at 90
1936 - Baron De Borchgrave, Belgian ambassador, murdered in Madrid
1937 - Erich Ludendorff, German general (WWI), dies at 72
1939 - Hans Langsdorff, German captain (Graaf Spee), commits suicide
1944 - Abbas Hilmi II, viceroy of Egypt (1892-1914), dies at 70
1968 - John Steinbeck, author (Grapes of Wrath, Nobel 1962), dies in New York at 66
1973 - Bobby Darin, singer (Mack the Knife), dies of heart failure at 37; Luis Carrero Blanco, PM of Spain (1973), assassinated by ETA
1976 - Richard J. Daley, Chicago mayor, dies at 74
1988 - Max Robinson, 1st Black network (ABC) TV anchor, dies of AIDS at 49
1991 - Sam Rabin, Speaker of the House, dies at 88
1993 - W. Edwards Deming, US economist (helped Japan after WWII), dies at 93
1994 - Dean Rusk, US Secretary of State (1961-69), dies at 85
1996 - Amata Kabua, President of Marshall Islands (1979-96); Carl Sagan, scientist (Contact), dies at 62
1997 - Vincent Ciccone, inventor (Blow-Pops candy), dies at 81

Reported Missing in Action
1965
Hudson, Henry M., Civilian; rescued

Jeffrey, Robert D., USAF (CA); F4C shot down (w/Mims), released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

Johnson, Guy D., USN (WA); RA5C shot down (w/Nordahl) - remains returned March, 1977

Jones, Edwin D.; rescued

Mims, George I., Jr., USAF (SC); F4C shot down (w/Jeffrey)

Nordahl, Lee E., USN (MT); RA5C shot down (w/Johnson), presumed KIA

Pitchford, John J., USAF (MS); F100F shot down (w/Trier), released by DRV (injured) February, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998

Trier, Robert Douglas, USAF (TN); F100F shot down (w/Pitchford); KIA resisting capture - remains returend October, 1982

Wax, David J., USAF (MA); C130E shot down, remains ID'd August, 1993

1966
Lucas, Larry F., US Army (WV); OV1A shot down, KIA, body not recovered

Lum, David Anthony, USAF (HI); F4C shot down, KIA, body not recovered

1967
Craner, Robert R., USAF (NY); F100F shot down, released March,1973 - deceased October, 1980

Gruthers, Guy D., USAF (FL); F100F shot down, released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998

1968
Bouchard, Michael L., USN (MT): A6A shot down

Kent, Robert Duane, USMC (TX); F4B shot down (w/Morin)

Morin, Richard Girard, USMC (MA); F4B shot down (w/Kent)

1969
Long, Carl Edwin, USMC (TX); OV10A shot down, KIA, body not recovered

1972
The following USAF personnel reported MIA when their B52D was shot down:
Arcuri, William Y. (FL); released by DRV February, 1973 (injured) - alive and well as of 1998

Geloneck, Terry M. (AL); released by DRV February, 1973 - retired as a Lt. Colonel - alive as of 1998

Granger, Paul L. (CA); released by DRV March, 1973 - alive as of 1998

Klomann, Thomas J. (IL); released by DRV February, 1973 (injured) - retired as a Captain - alive and well as of 1998

Lerner, Irwin S. (CT); believed KIA

Madden, Roy, Jr., (CA); released by DRV February, 1973 (injured) - retired as a TSgt - deceased as of 1997

Martini, Michael R., (CA); released by DRV February, 1973 - alive as of 1996

McLaughlin, Arthur V., Jr., (MA); possibly KIA

Paul, Craig A., (OH); remains returned by SRV September, 1977

Perry, Randolph A., Jr., (MT); possibly KIA

Spencer, Warren R., (CA); remains returned by SRV September, 1977

Stuart, John F., (IN);

Also reported MIA in 1972
Wieland, Carl T., USN (FL); A7C shot down, released March, 1973 - deceased - murdered in 1987

Labels: Headlines, History