News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Hope Grows in Salman Pak
Iraqi Security Volunteers Keep the Peace in Saydiyah
Iraqi Army Hands Out School Supplies from Virginia Children
Update: MND-North Soldiers kill 2 suspected extremists (Baquba)
MND-North Soldiers attacked by small-arms fire (Tikrit)
Iraqis Increasingly Side With Coalition
Pentagon Shares Footage of Al Qaeda Insurgents Killed by Apache Missile Attack
Iraqi hairdressers forced underground
Turkish jets strike Kurdish rebel bases

Operation Enduring Freedom
Afghan, U.S. Troops Deliver Aid to Nangarhar
Afghan leader meets Musharraf

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Abbas, Olmert to Meet in Jerusalem, Continue Talks

Wounded Warriors
Marine wounded in Iraq returns for second tour (video)

Fallen Heroes
DoD Identifies Army Casualty (Baghdad)

Supporting Our Heroes
Country Stars Visit Troops in Afghanistan

Other Military News
F-15 grounding strains U.S. air defenses
BAE gets U.S. Army contract

Worldwide Wackos
Russia Selling Iran New Air Defense System
Colombia accepts Venezuela help for hostage release

Politics / Government
2008 Candidates Enter Home Stretch in Iowa
Bush Signs $555 Billion Budget Bill, Funding Iraq War
Ministers Deny Backing Obama
Poll: Bush, Hillary Clinton most admired
Democrat Edwards looks to pull a surprise in Iowa
Kibaki, giant of Kenyan politics, in last fight

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Police Rule Out Murder-Suicide in Slayings of Six People in Washington State
House of Horrors - Six found dead in Washington state home
Rice Univ. Student Disappears Before Exam Deadline
ALERT: Missing Fla. Woman Found
Officer helps deliver Christmas baby
Judge issues arrest warrant for rapper
Police: San Francisco Tiger Attack May Have Been Provoked
Florida Woman Missing Since Saturday Found Alive
Report: British Man Brutally Murders Wife, Places Corpse Under Christmas Tree
Body Found in Crawl Space Identified as Missing West Virginia Student
Choir Director at Barack Obama's Church Found Slain
Lohan denies drinking before car crash

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Appeals court hands Google patent case setback

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Kosher Label Beats 'All Natural' on New Food Products
Worms Becoming Epidemic for Poor Kids
Survey: Many Parents Deny Kids Are Obese
Seven Medical Myths Even Doctors Believe
Russian cargo ship docks with space station
Regular flu vaccine may help against H5N1: study

Mother Nature
Killer Tiger: Was She Provoked?
Troubled cat had history of violence - PHOTOS
WEBCAMS AROUND THE WORLD: African Safari
78 Dead in Indonesia Landslides - PHOTOS

Oddities
Iowa Man Spends Christmas Eve In Septic Tank
Oregon Man Known as a Joker 'Sends' Holiday Greetings From Afterlife
Scantily Dressed Santa Arrested Outside Grauman's Chinese Theater in Hollywood
Russian says: Go ahead, egg my Hummer
Malaysian referee pulls out red card then a gun

Other News of Note
Pyramid Scheme (Egypt requiring royalties for "exact copy" depiction of pyramids)

Fox News
South Korean Boxer in Coma After Winning Bout
Young Girl Survives Deadly Panama Plane Crash
Pop Tarts: Hudgens in Hot Water: Another Naughty Mess for Ness
Will Smith Blasts Gossip Sites for Misinterpreting Quote About Hitler
Thousands of Christmas Travelers Affected After United Cancels Nearly 250 Flights

Reuters
Business:Shoppers surge to post-Christmas sales
Sports:United go top as rivals drop points
Entertainment:"Enchanted" tops Christmas box office
THE YEAR IN REVIEW:Best of 2007
Home Office says 4,000 foreign criminals deportedThousands expected to join Boxing Day hunts
U.S. stocks near flat as Target's view hurts retail - Video
Premier League match reports
Injury-hit Chelsea to appeal over Cole dismissal
Investors sit on sidelines, but hold nerve
European retail sector faces ho-hum Christmas
Banks abandon plan for Super-SIV
Funds and ISAs see record outflows
House price inflation at 1-1/2 year low
First-time buyer numbers plunge to near 30-year low
EastEnders pips Dr Who on Christmas
Rising Spanish director debuts "Orphanage" in U.S.

AP World News
Surviving girl evacuated in Panama crash
ADL says Will Smith didn't praise Hitler
Stocks end flat on unease about consumer
Jazz pianists pay tribute to Peterson
Retailers look for post-holiday bump
Prior, Padres agree to 1-year deal
8 years hard labor for French in Chad
Dozens die in pipeline fire in Nigeria
Oil rises on Turkey strikes, supply view
Calls for compassion ring on Christmas
Buffett buys $4.5B stake in Marmon

CENTCOM: News Releases
IRAQI POLICE UNCOVER MAJOR WEAPONS CACHE

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
Solar Lights Make Baghdad Market Safer for Shoppers
Iraqi Special Operations Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain terrorist weapons dealer (Baghdad)
ISVs find IED, Dragons find cache (Baghdad)
Iraqi National Police discover two caches in Mosque in south east Baghdad

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Bush Thanks Troops, Families for Sacrifices
Petraeus: Violence Down in Iraq; Al Qaeda Still Poses a Threat
No Furloughs for Christmas
Gates: Others Want to Work With U.S.
Secretary Proud of Iraq Progress

IRAQ NEWS
Coalition Forces Kill Four, Detain One

MILITARY NEWS
Chairman’s USO Tour Wraps Up

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Troops Detain Suspected Extremists

FACE OF DEFENSE
Airman Inspects Ammo

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
New Help for 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

Today in History
0268 - St Dionysius ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0418 - St Zosimus ends his reign as Catholic Pope
0795 - St Leo III begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1481 - Battle at Westbroek: Dutch army beats Utrecht
1492 - 1st Spanish settlement in New World founded, by Columbus
1568 - Uprising of Morisco's against suppression in Granada
1620 - Pilgrims arrive at Plymouth, MA
1659 - Long Parliament reforms in Westminster
1748 - France & Austria signs treaty about Southern Netherlands
1773 - Expulsion of tea ships from Philadelphia
1776 - Battle of Trenton-major British defeat; George Washington defeats Hessians at Trenton
1799 - George Washington is eulogized by Colonel Henry Lee as "1st in war, 1st in peace & 1st in the hearts of his countrymen"
1805 - France & Austria sign Peace of Pressburg
1809 - English invasionary troop leaves Vlissingen
1813 - Zamose, Modlin, Torgau surrender to allied armies
1825 - Erie Canal opens
1848 - 1st gold seekers arrive in Panamá en route to San Francisco; William & Ellen Craft escape from slavery in Georgia
1854 - Wood-pulp paper 1st exhibited, Buffalo
1860 - Maiden voyage of 1st steamship owned by 1 man (C Vanderbilt); Major Robert Anderson, under cover of darkness, concentrates his small force at Fort Sumter
1862 - 1st US navy hospital ship enters service; 38 Santee Sioux Indians hanged in Mankato MN, due to their uprising; Battle of Dumfries VA
1865 - James H Mason (Massachusetts) patents 1st US coffee percolator
1878 - 1st US store to install electric lights, Philadelphia
1890 - King Mwanga of Uganda signs contract with East Africa Company
1916 - Joseph Joffre becomes marshal of France
1917 - Federal government takes over the operation of American RR for duration of WWI
1926 - Prince-regent Hirohito becomes emperor of Japan
1932 - Earthquake kills 70,000 in Kansu China
1933 - US forswears armed intervention in the Western Hemisphere
1941 - Winston Churchill becomes 1st British PM to address a joint meeting of Congress, warning that the Axis would "stop at nothing"
1943 - British sink German battle cruiser Scharnhorst
1944 - Battle of Bastogne-US General Patton's 4th Pantzers repulse the Germans; Budapest surrounded by soviet army
1946 - Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas opens (start of an era)
1947 - British transfer Heard & McDonald Islands (Indian Ocean) to Australia; Heavy snow blankets Northeast, buries NYC under 25.8" of snow in 16 hours; That same day, Los Angeles set a record high of 84º F
1963 - US furnishes cereal to USSR
1966 - Maulana Karenga establishes the Kwanzaa (1st fruits of harvest) holiday
1968 - Arab terrorists in Athens fire on El Al plane, killing 1
1973 - 2 Skylab 3 astronauts walk in space for a record 7 hours; Soyuz 13 returns to Earth; "The Exorcist", starring Linda Blair & rated X, premieres
1975 - 1st supersonic transport service (USSR-Tupolev-144)
1978 - India's former PM, Indira Gandhi, released from jail
1982 - TIME's Man of the Year is a computer
1986 - Hijackers take over an Iraqi Airways Boeing 737 with 91 people on board during a flight from Baghdad to Amman - it lands in Arar, Saudi Arabia where it explodes, killing 62 people.
1991 - Jack Ruby's gun sells for $220,000 in auction; Militant Sikhs kill 55 & wound 70 in India
1993 - Antonov-26 crashes at Gyumri, Armenia, 36 killed
1994 - French commando's terminate Air France hijacking in Marseille

Birthdays
1194 - Frederick II Iesi Italy, German Emperor (1212-1250)/King of Sicily
1618 - Elisabeth Paltsgravin of Rhine/abbess
1738 - Thomas Nelson, merchant, signer of the Declaration of Independence
1770 - Pierre, earl de Cambronne French general (Waterloo, Elba)
1809 - William Nelson Pendleton, Confederate Brigadier-General
1815 - Israel Bush Richardson, Union Major General
1820 - Gustavus Adolphus Smith, Union Brigadier-General
1824 - Augustus Louis Chetlain, Union Major General
1837 - Admiral George Dewey, American naval hero of Manila
1886 - Gyula Gömbös von Jákfa, general/dictator of Hungary (1932-35)
1893 - Mao Tse-tung of little red book fame, PM of China People's Republic (1949-76)
1921 - Steve Allen, comedian/TV host (Tonight Show, Steve Allen Show)
1939 - Lynn Martin, US Secretary of Labor (1991-93)
1942 - Marco Vinicio Cerezo Arévalo, President of Guatemala (1986-91)
1953 - Valeri Yuriyevich Sharov, Russian cosmonaut

Passings
0267 - Dionysius, bishop of Rome/saint, dies
1476 - Galeazzo Maria Sforza, duke of Milan, murdered
1530 - Zahir al-Din Mohammed Babur Shah, founder Mogols-dynasty, dies at 47
1740 - Mauritius Louis II, earl of Nassau, Lieutenant-General
1776 - Johann Gottlieb Rall, Hessian colonel/mercenary, dies in battle
1797 - John Wilkes, English journalist/Higher/Lower house leader, dies at 72
1861 - Philip St. George Cocke, Confederate Brigadier-General, commits suicide at 52
1862 - 38 Santee Sioux Indians hanged in Mankato
1866 - Samuel Ryan Curtis, Union General-Major, dies at 49
1942 - Bosinier de la Chapelle, French murderer of Admiral Darlan, executed at 24
1972 - Harry Truman, 33rd US President, dies in Kansas City MO at 88
1973 - Harold B. Lee, US head of Mormon Church, dies at 74
1974 - Jack Benny, comedian (Jack Benny Show), dies at 80
1976 - Philip A. Hart (Senator-MI), dies at 64
1992 - John G. Kemeny, US computer pioneer (BASIC), dies
1997 - John Whitley, air-Marshal, dies at 92

Reported Missing in Action
1961
Fryett, George Frederick, US Army (CA); released June, 1962 - alive as of 1998

1969
Trowbridge, Dustin C., USNR (IL); A6A crashed, Killed, body not recovered

1971
Guenther, Lynn, USAF (OR); rOV10A shot down, released by DRV February, 1973 (injured) - retired as a Colonel - alive as of 1998

Koons, Dale F., USAF (OH); F4D shot down (w/Stolz) - remains returned January, 1990

Stolz, Lawrence G., USAF (IN); F4D shot down (w/Koons) - remains returned January, 1990

1972
The following USAF personnel lost when their B52G was shot down:
Cook, James R. (NC); released by DRV February, 1973 - released by DRV (injured) - retired as a Senior Master Sergeant - alive and well as of 1998

Hudson, Robert M. (KS); released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

LaBeau, Michael M. (MI); released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Morris, Robert J., Jr., (MO); pilot, remains returned by SRV September, 1977

Vavroch, Duane P., (IA); released by DRV February, 1973 - alive and well as of 1998

Wimbrow, Nutter J., (MD); remains returned by SRV September, 1977

Labels: Headlines, History