News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
Iraq group threatens to kill British hostage
Turkish soldier, six Kurdish rebels die in clash
Video of purported hostage shown in Iraq

Operation Enduring Freedom
U.S. Military to Provide Afghan Army With M-16 Rifles
Suicide blast "welcomes" Gates to Kabul - Video

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Third Time the Charm in Supreme Court Detainee Case?
Al Qaeda-linked Web sites number 5,600: researcher
France outlines plan for Palestinian donors summit
Colombia offers rebels direct talks on hostages
Israel plans new homes in east Jerusalem
Gitmo inmate cuts throat, but survives

Other Military News
Air Force sees single tanker winner
Armored vehicle cut threatens industry

Religion of Peace??
Radio Host Michael Savage Sues Islamic Group for Copyright Infringement (Way to go, Michael!)

Worldwide Wackos
Bush and allies urge pressure on Iran
Chavez defeat seen as wake-up call for Cuba - Video

Politics / Government
Bush, Democrats tussle over war money
Bush to Visit Middle East - President to attempt to restart peace talks
Senator's Aide Arrested in Child Sex Sting
Rep. Hastings Resigns From House Intelligence Panel
Dem Fundraiser Norman Hsu Indicted on Fraud Charges
Romney fires landscapers for illegal immigrants
Bush says economic fundamentals are good
Democrats criticize Clinton vote on Iran
Poll: GOP race in early states unsettled
Bill Clinton: Don't focus on horse race
Putin loyalists to hold sway in Russia parliament - Video
Pakistani opposition draft list of poll demands - Video

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Ex-Teacher Booked for Girl Talk With Co-Worker - PHOTOS - VIDEO (maybe this time she'll get the sentence she deserves)
Alaska Man Charged With Killing 2, Injuring 3 in Series of Machete, Gun Attacks
Missing Arizona Teen May Be With 19-Year Old Man
Teacher Accused of Producing Meth in School Lab
Did Peterson Use Police Computers to Spy on Stacy?
Suspect in British Coed Murder: 'I Can Name Her Killer'
Cops: Father Covers Neighborhood With Girls' Underwear
Rapper Pimp C found dead in LA hotel
Bonds seeks lawyer as arraignment looms
42-foot-tall inflatable snowman stolen

Adventures in Political Correctness
Baseball Mascot Gets New Name After 'PorkChop' Is Deemed Offensive
Italian Priest Persuades Red Bull to Pull Christmas Ad

U.N. News
Non-Profit Says New U.N. Ethics Steps Lack Credibility (That's like having a headline that says 'Study proves daytime lighter than nighttime'...)
U.S. envoy says State Dept. knew of pulled U.N. text

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
Wis. teacher arrested for blog comment (The post in question was left at Boots and Sabers. As offensive as it was, the notion of filing charges solely because a sentiment offends is a scary thing)
iPhone tops list of 2007 Google searches

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Surgeon Believes New Technique Will Allow for Bloodless Removal of 12-Pound Tumor From Face of Jehovah's Witness
Bus-Sized Prehistoric 'Sea Monster’ Found
U.S. warns about bed-wetting drug after two deaths
Stars align for space station buildup
Protein found to turn up metabolism in mice
Nokia's unlimited music offer turns market on head
Fitness trumps fatness in longevity study
Losing virginity early or late tied to health risks
Circumcision does not affect HIV in U.S. men: study
Vaccines ruined by poor refrigeration
Electricity revives Bali coral reefs
Roman throne discovered in Italian ruins
Dennis Quaid and wife sue drug maker

Mother Nature
Oregon Storm Evacuations
Death toll rises after northwest storms - PHOTOS
Storm that battered Northwest moves on
Giant Asian Elephant Missing - Largest of its kind cannot be found
Tiger at Sanctuary Run by 'Birds' Actress Tippi Hedren Mauls Caretaker
Climate talks advance
Factbox: What's on the table at Bali

Oddities
Day-release convicts caught with drug crop (Criminals committing crimes? Shocking...)
Porn star politician auctions breast implants
Tweety, Donald Duck summoned to court
Thief's got them talking love-doll blues

Fox News
FOXBusiness: Subprime Superfund Breathing, Barely
Girls Swapped at Birth Return Home For 1st Birthday
Amy Winehouse Walks Barefoot in London Wearing Only Bra, Jeans
Report: Heather Mills Stripped for Hardcore Photo Shoot
Jennifer Love Hewitt Defends Curves After TMZ Attack
Report: 'Knots Landing' Star Joan Van Ark Trying to Hide Cosmetic Surgery
Katherine Heigl Knocks Her TV Character and 'Knocked Up'
Pop Tarts: Alicia Silverstone’s Goal: To See Oprah Winfrey Naked

Reuters
Credit and economic jitters hit Wall Street - Video
Guess jumps on profit after the bell
Fannie Mae drops as dividend cut
Renewable energy stocks soar on energy bill hopes
Oil falls on Iran report - Video
Europe's investors go back to basics
Reuters Aerospace & Defense Summit
Ex-Morgan Stanley analyst and husband get 18 months
Retailers use early sales to avoid discounts later
Dow Chemical to shut plants, cut jobs, take charge
Big hurdle for subprime bailout: Who to help?
Fannie Mae to sell $7 bln stock, slashes dividend
Recession a yo-yo for apparel, shoe stocks: analyst

AP World News
Tigers work deal to land Cabrera, Willis
Wall Street slips amid economic concerns
SI names Favre 2007 Sportsman of Year
Guillen, Royals reach preliminary deal
76ers replace GM King with Stefanski
Group cites growing video game violence
Credit card execs defend rate policies

CENTCOM: News Releases
UPDATE: COALITION FORCES POSITIVELY IDENTIFY TERRORIST KILLED IN RECENT RAID
AFGHAN DOCTOR, COALITION FORCES SAVE AFGHAN BABY
MOSUL AIRPORT REOPENS FOR COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS AFTER 14 YEARS; RELIGIOUS PILGRIMS BOARD IRAQI AIRPLANE FOR HAJJ
COALITION FORCES TARGET AN AL-QAEDA FACILITATOR; ONE DETAINED

USJFCOM
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
Coordinated Medical Engagement Treats Hundreds in Iraqi Family Village
Leaflet Drop Urges Iraqis to Help Capture Insurgent Militia Members
Air Traffic Controllers Ensure Safety in the Sky
Baghdad Zoo Opens New Horse Stables, Pool
Baghdad welcomes hundreds of new Iraqi Police
Soldier attacked in vehicle explosion (Al Anbar)
Coalition forces detain two suspected criminal element members
Coalition forces target foreign terrorist facilitators, media cells; two killed, 25 detained
UPDATE: Coalition forces positively identify terrorist killed in recent raid

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Bush: Iran Still Poses Threat
New Report Shows Need to Keep Pressure on Iran, Gates Says
Defense Secretary Sees Gains in Afghanistan’s Khowst Province
Gates Praises Afghan Army's Efforts to Defeat Taliban Fighters

IRAQ NEWS
Moderate Detainees Identify Extremists
Forces Make Gains Against al Qaeda
Coalition Forces Disrupt Terrorist Group
Baghdad Zoo Opens New Stables, Pool

MILITARY NEWS
Army Civilians Could See Furloughs by Christmas
President Asks Congress To Pass Funds for Troops
Five Guard Brigades Alerted for 2009 Deployments

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
NATO Helps Create New Opportunities for Afghans
Troops Detain Suspected Taliban Extremists
Soldiers Overcome Rough Terrain

WHY WE SERVE
Chef Happiest at Sea

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Troops Taste Gratitude
Toys Salute Soldiers
Spouse Support Gathering

FACE OF DEFENSE
Scout Learns Arabic to Help Platoon, Mission

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
0771 - Karel, the Great, becomes king of all France
1110 - The Syrian harbor city Saida (Sidon) surrenders to Crusaders
1197 - Crusaders wound Rabbi Elezar ben Judah
1259 - English King Henry III and French King Louis IX sign the Treaty of Paris.
1489 - At the Battle of Baza, the Spanish army captures Baza from the Moors.
1534 - Turkish sultan Suleiman occupies Baghdad.
1563 - The Council of Trent holds its last session, after 18 years.
1619 - America's first Thanksgiving Day.
1655 - Middelburg, Netherlands forbids the building of a synagogue.
1674 - Father Marquette builds the first dwelling in what is now Chicago.
1680 - A hen in Rome lays an egg imprinted with a comet not seen until December 16th.
1691 - Emperor Leopold I takes control of Transylvania.
1745 - Bonnie Prince Charles reaches Derby.
1783 - General Washington bids his officers farewell at Fraunce's Tavern, in NY.
1791 - Britain's "Observer," the oldest Sunday newspaper in the world, is first published.
1798 - Rebellious Flemish farmers occupy Hasselt.
1812 - Peter Gaillard of Lancaster, PA patents a horse-drawn mower.
1816 - James Monroe is elected as the 5th U.S. President.
1829 - Britain abolished "suttee" in India (widow burning herself to death on her husband's funeral pyre).
1832 - The French army begins bombing the citadel of Antwerp.
1833 - The American Anti-Slavery Society is formed by Arthur Tappan in Philadelphia.
1843 - In Massachusetts, Manila paper (made from sails, canvas and rope) is patented.
1844 - James K. Polk is elected as the 11th U.S. President.
1851 - French President Louis Napolean Bonaparte's forces crush a coup d'etat.
1864 - Romanian Jews are forbidden to practice law; Battle of Waynesborough, Brier Creek, GA.
1867 - The Grange is organized to protect farm interests.
1875 - William Marcy "Boss" Tweed (NYC-Tammany Hall) escapes from jail.
1889 - Stanley's expedition reaches Bagamoyo, in the Indian Ocean.
1890 - Willem III, Dutch king, is buried.
1899 - The 56th U.S. Congress (1899-1901) convenes.
1905 - The British government of Balfour resigns.
1908 - Haiti's President General Alexis Nord flees from a military coup.
1915 - F.F. Fletcher is the first admiral to receive a Congressional Medal of Honor; the Ku Klux Klan receives a charter from Fulton County, GA.
1918 - The Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) is proclaimed; President Wilson sails for the Versailles Peace Conference in France, becoming the first chief executive to travel outside the U.S. while in office.
1922 - Lucille Atcherson becomes the first woman officer in the U.S. foreign service.
1930 - The French government of Tardieu falls.
1933 - FDR creates the Federal Alcohol Control Administration.
1935 - At St. Joseph's College in Philadelphia, 1,200 enroll in an anticommunism class.
1941 - Nazi ordinances place the Jews of Poland outside the protection of the courts.
1942 - James Hoey becomes the first alien on foreign soil to be granted U.S. citizenship; FDR orders the dismantling of the Works Progress Administration; U.S. bombers strike the Italian mainland for the first time in WWII.
1943 - FDR, Churchill, and Turkish President Inönü meet for the second Conference of Cairo; the Yugoslavian resistance forms a provisionary government under Dr. Ribar.
1944 - Germans destroy Rhine dikes, flooding Betuwe.
1945 - The Senate approves U.S. participation in the U.N.
1951 - Superheated gases roll down Mount Catarman in the Philippines, killing 500.
1952 - Killer fogs begin in London England, and "Smog" becomes a word; Walter P. Reuther is chosen as chairman of the CIO.
1957 - At St. John's, England, two commuter trains collide in heavy fog, killing 92.
1958 - Dahomey (Benin), and the Ivory Coast become autonomous within the French Community; the Finnish government of Fagerholm resigns.
1961 - Tanganyika becomes the 104th member of the U.N.
1963 - Aldo Moro forms the Italian government.
1965 - Gemini-7 is launched with two astronauts aboard (Borman and Lovell); two passenger planes collide above Danbury, CT, killing 4.
1974 - A Dutch DC-8 charter plane crashes in Sri Lanka, killing 191 Muslim pilgrims.
1975 - Six South Molukkans occupy the Indonesian consulate in The Hague, killing one person.
1977 - Jean-Bedel Bokassa, ruler of the Central African Empire, crowns himself.
1978 - Dianne Feinstein is named as San Francisco's first female mayor; Pioneer Venus-1 goes into orbit around Venus; Dutch War criminal Pieter Menten is freed.
1981 - According to South Africa, Ciskei gains independence - it is not recognized as an independent country outside South Africa; President Reagan allows the CIA to engage in domestic counter-intelligence (Order No. 12333).
1982 - China adopts its constitution.
1983 - U.S. jet jet fighters strike Syrian anti-aircraft positions in Lebanon.
1984 - Hijackers commandeer a Kuwaiti airliner.
1985 - President Reagan appoints Vice Admiral John Poindexter as security adviser.
1986 - NASA launches Fltsatcom-7.
1990 - Iraq announces it will release all 3,300 Soviet hostages.
1991 - Muslim Shiites release the last U.S. hostage Terry Anderson (held for 6½ years); Pan American World Airways ceases operations.
1992 - U.S. Troops land in Somalia.
1996 - NASA's first Mars rover is launched from Cape Canaveral.

Birthdays
1443 - Pope Julius II, (1503-13), patron of Michelangelo, Bramante, Raphael
1584 - John Cotton, Puritan clergyman in Massachusetts Bay colony
1812 - Elias Smith Dennis, Union Brevet Major General
1818 - William Wing "Old Blizzards" Loring, Confederate Major General
1865 - Edith Louisa Cavell, British nurse (WWI)
1881 - Erwin von Witzleben, German fieldmarshal (July 20th plot)
1892 - Francisco Franco (y Bahamonde), general / dictator of Spain (1936-75)
1905 - Emilio Médici, President of Brazil (1969-74)
1908 - A.D. Hershey, U.S. biologist, worked with bacteriophages (Nobel 1969)
1910 - Ramaswamy Venkataraman, President of India (1987-92)
1928 - Russell L. Rogers USAF / astronaut (X-20)
1932 - Roh Tae Woo Taegu, President of South Korea (1988-93)
1933 - Horst Buchholz, German actor (Magnificent 7, Raid on Entebbe, Sahara)
1934 - Wink (Winston Conrad) Martindale Jackson, TV host (Tic-Tac-Dough, Can You Top This)
1936 - Larry Davis, blues singer / guitarist
1938 - Andre Marrou, Libertarian presidential candidate (1992)
1944 - Dennis Wilson, drummer/vocalist (Beach Boys)
1948 - Roberta Lynn Bondar, astronaut (STS-42)
1952 - Ronald Michael Sega, Ph.D. / astronaut (STS-60, 76)
1973 - Tyra Banks, model/actress (Fresh Prince of Bel Air)

Passings
0771 - Karloman II, French king of Burgundy
0811 - Charles, eldest son of emperor Charles the Great
1137 - Emperor Lotharius III of Supplinburg (1125, 33-37)
1182 - Henry, Earl of Gelre/Zutphen (1141/79-82)
1334 - John XXII (Jacques Duèze), Pope (1316-34)
1371 - Reinald III (the Fat Duke), Duke of Gelre (1343-61); Stefanus X, Uros V, King of Serbia (1355-71)
1514 - Richard Hunne, English "heretic," suicide (?)
1807 - Prince Hall, activist / Masonic leader
1923 - (Auguste-) Maurice Barrès, French writer / parliament leader
1943 - Carlo Mierendorff, German politician / antifascist
1948 - Karl Bonhoeffer, German psychiatrist / neurologist
1952 - Karen Horney German/U.S. neo-freudian psycho analyst
1967 - Bert Lahr (Irving Lahrheim), comic (Cowardly Lion - "Wizard of Oz")
1969 - Fred Hampton, U.S. Black-Panther leader, murdered
1975 - Hannah Arendt, German/U.S. sociologist
1976 - Benjamin Britten, British composer (Beggar's Opera, War Requiem)
1978 - Samuel Abraham Goldsmith, Netherlands / U.S. physicist
1980 - Francisco Sá Carneiro, PM of Portugal (1980) in an air crash
1984 - John Rock, American co-developer of the birth-control pill
1993 - Frank Sturgis, watergate burglar; Frank V. Zappa, musician / composer (Mothers of Invention, Thingfish)
1994 - Jakob Kaplan, French head rabbi (1955-81)
1995 - Itzhak Rabin, PM of Israel (1968-73), assassinated
1996 - Basil Nield, judge/politician; Muriel Monkhouse, Red Cross worker

Reported Missing in Action
1967
Collins, Arnold, USMC (NY); KIA, body not recovered

1970
Green, George C., Jr., US Army SF (IN); recon team attacked at LZ, KIA, body not recovered

Labels: Headlines, History