News of Note
Operation Iraqi Freedom
9 U.S. Soldiers Killed in Attacks North of Baghdad
U.S. Rains 40,000 Pounds of Bombs on No. Iraq - VIDEO
U.S. warplanes pound southern Baghdad outskirts - Video
General: Anbar ready for handover
Top Gun Troops Patrol Radwaniyah, Help Keep the Peace
All in a Day’s Work: Keeping al Qaida on the Run
Iraqi Police Help Secure Homes of Displaced Citizens
Soldier Beats Cancer, Joins Unit in Iraq

Operation Enduring Freedom
Request Made to Send 3,000 Marines to Afghanistan
Afghanistan welcomes U.S. troop "mini-surge"

Homeland Security / War on Terror / Hamas-Hezbollah Happenings
Ex-CIA Official Wants Immunity
Homeland Security to Unveil New Driver's License Rules
Bush: Mideast Treaty This Year - VIDEO - PHOTOS
Bush urges end to Israeli occupation - Video

Troops on Trial
Army clears officer court-martialed for Abu Ghraib

Other Military News
Search On for Missing Pregnant Marine - VIDEO
Investigators Seeking Missing Pregnant Marine's Male Roommate
Missing Marine Claimed Officer Raped Her - VIDEO

Religion of Peace??
Jordanian Charged in Honor Killing of Dating Daughter
Cops: Slain Teens' Muslim Dad Upset Over Dating (that is, dating a non-Muslim)

Worldwide Wackos
U.S. Protests Iranian Harassment of Ships
Iran Says U.S. Navy 'Fabricated' Video of Gulf Confrontation With Attack Boats
Bush to Iran: 'Serious Consequences' if Navy Provoked
N.Korea can scrap nuclear arms in 2008: U.S. envoy

Homegrown Moonbats
Behar: Modern Medicine Made Saints Obsolete (Wonder what the reaction would be if she'd said that about Muslim prophets...)

Politics / Government
Now It's National - Candidates cross country in search of votes
DELEGATE COUNT
AP: Richardson Dropping Out of Dem Race
Pollsters Got N.H. Wrong
GOP Debate Thursday on FNC
Major Topic at Oregon Town Hall: Mayor's Lingerie
Mayor Asked to Resign Over MySpace Lingerie Photo
GOP Candidates Pausefor Myrtle Beach Face-Off
FNC POLL: McCain Takes Lead in S.C. - RESULTS (pdf)
Richardson Drops Out of Democratic Race
Kerry Announces He Will Endorse Obama
Romney attacks McCain at Republican debate
Huckabee aims for evangelicals in SC
GOP rivals back tax, spending cuts in SC
Kucinich seeks NH Dem vote recount
African Union mission to Kenya fails to end crisis - Video

In the Courts / Crime and Punishment / Law and Order
Report: Los Angeles Grand Jury Probes Missouri Girl's Internet Suicide
Football Player, Wife Charged in Death of His High School Cheerleader Ex
Authorities Nab One of Two Escaped New Jersey Inmates From 'Shawshank'-Style Jailbreak
Police: Man Throws 4 Kids Off Bridge - PHOTOS
Man Says Tossing 4 Kids Off Bridge Confession Coerced
Police: Man Had Oral Sex With Girl, 13, on School Bus
Stern Warning for 'Sex Teach' Lafave - VIDEO - PHOTOS
Phone Company Drops FBI Wiretaps Due to Unpaid Bills
Katrina Victim Files $3 Quadrillion Claim Against Feds (Oh, brother...)
Ga. Drifter Now Suspect in 2nd Slaying - PHOTOS
Transgender Woman Sues Hospital for Refusing Surgery
Report: 4 Attempts Fail to Kill Couple
Dog poop shoe prints lead to arrest
Man sentenced in Cruise extortion try
Couple find nearly $12K in 'cold cash'

U.N. News
U.N. probes allegations of corruption, fraud (Well, duh...)

Media in the Media / Bloggers in the News / Watching the Web
WEBCAMS AROUND THE WORLD: Pismo Beach, Calif.
FOXBusiness: New York Times Stock Hits Multi-Year Low
Cancer group asks women to be brazen online

Science / Medicine and Health / Technology
Not the Intended Effect
Scientists Predict Asteroid Will Miss Mars
Tata Motors Unveils Ultracheap $2,500 Car in India
Three studies suggest gene raises autism risk
People live 4.5 years after dementia strikes: study
NASA probe to fly past little, sun-baked Mercury
Researchers make nano-scale DNA research tool
Slim Apple laptop expected at Macworld
Designer of laptop for poor kids starts company

Mother Nature
Powerful Storms Leave Trail of Damage Across Southeast
Ecuador Volcano Poised for Major Eruption, May Be Within Days
3 Dead After Brush Fire, Fog Cause 50-Car Pileup on Florida Interstate
6.4-Magnitude Quake Strikes Off Oregon Coast
Germany sees love in stars for Knut and new cub
Ants, plants mutually benefit each other
Gemina the 'crooked-necked giraffe' dies

News from My Neck of the Woods
Connecticut Cops Accused of Sex With Prostitutes While on Duty (My state shines again...)
NYC decides to clone 'historical' trees

Oddities
Man Sees 'Mark of the Beast'; Cuts Off, Microwaves Hand
Man Spots His Own Wife During Visit to Brothel
Boss fires staff for not smoking

Other News of Note
'Meanest Mom on Planet' Sells Teen Son's Car After Finding Booze Under Seat (Awesome.)
Colombian Rebels Free Hostages - PHOTOS
Mastering the Fine Art of Seduction
Passengers injured on rocky Air Canada flight

Fox News
FOXNews.com Goes Inside CES 2008
Report: Paula Abdul Has 'Insane Nervous Breakdown' at LAX
Government Report: Millions of Youth Use Cough Syrup to Get High
Golf Channel Anchor Suspended for Tiger Woods 'Lynch' Comment
FOXBusiness: Bernanke: Fed to Cut Interest Rates Again

Reuters
Everest conqueror Edmund Hillary dies
Sarkozy soap opera has sex, diamonds and rivalry
Pakistan warns against unilateral action on rebels - Video
Golden Globes news conference plan draws fire
Cause of death for Kanye West's mother said unclear
Bernanke signals bold Fed action to lift growth - Video
Bank of America in talks to buy Countrywide: sources
Delta wants merger talks with UAL, Northwest: report
Analyst calls oil at $100/barrel "pretty cheap"
Fewer workers left jobs in November
E*Trade's CEO search on track: acting CEO
Dec retail sales somber - Video
Weinstein Co. makes deal with striking writers - Video
Tokyo stocks fall again, Fed outlook hits dollar
Gold hits record high near $900 on rate cut hopes
Oil rebounds above $94, bigger Fed cut hopes help
Dollar weaker after Bernanke flags Fed rate cuts
Nikkei hits 19-month low as economy worry weighs
HK shares rise as Fed comment boosts properties
Barnes & Noble plunges on outlook; Borders up
Microsoft Office head retires, Juniper COO steps in
Wall St indexes rise on Countrywide takeover buzz - Video
DealZone Blog: Re-funding abroad

AP World News
Hinn, Hilliard resign ORU regents posts
Clemens' accuser meets with prosecutors
Terrell Owens practices for Cowboys
Ex-'Lost' star Rodriguez freed from jail
Jewish cemetery vandalized; 4 arrested
Stocks rise on potential Countrywide buy

CENTCOM: News Releases

USJFCOM
Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa Mission Rehearsal Exercise commences - podcast
2007 -- The Year in Review - photos
U.S. Joint Forces Command, IBM sign new cooperative research and development agreement
More about CRADAs

Multi-National Force-Iraq
Iraqi Security Forces, U.S. Special Forces detain suspected al-Qaeda in Iraq IED specialists (Hillah
Ministry of Interior celebrates Police Day (Baghdad)
Citizen tip leads Coalition to cache (Baghdad
Air strikes hit more than 40 targets in Arab Jabour
Al-Qaeda in Iraq terrorist behind Oct. 11 attacks identified as Mullah Jasim
Air strike engages suspected IED emplacers during Operation Phantom Phoenix (Muqdadiyah)

DefenseLink
TOP NEWS
Gates Says Iraqi Military Crucial to Security
One Year Later, New Iraq Strategy Shows Success
Iranian Boats’ Provocative Actions Raise U.S. Concerns
All Active Services Meet December Recruiting Goals
‘Active First’ Program Shows Promise in Army Recruiting
Bush Cites 'Historic Opportunity'
President Warns Iran, ‘Don't Do It’

AFGHANISTAN NEWS
Afghan, Coalition Forces Bring Checkups, Aid to Remote Village

MILITARY NEWS
Gates Mulls Deployment Decision
Most Air Force F-15s Get Green Light to Fly - Photos
U.S., U.K. Monitor British Soldiers Health

IRAQ NEWS
Business Grants Help Build Economy
Forces Kill, Nab Suspected Terrorists
Aerial Vehicles Offer Sneak Peek

AMERICA SUPPORTS YOU
Country Music Star Evokes Patriotism

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

Philippines
Baler Radar Site Catanduanes Radar Site Manila

South Korea
Cheju Upper/Radar Chonju Chunchon Inch'on Kunsan Masan Mokp'o
Osan Pusan Seoul Suwon Taegu Taejon Tonghae Radar Site Ulsan Yosu

* If you're deployed, and want to see your location's weather listed here, please email me! *

Today in History
0049 BC - Julius Cesar crosses the Rubicon, invades Italy
0069 - Roman emperor Galba adopts Marcus Piso Licinianus as Cæsar
0236 - St. Fabian begins his reign as Catholic Pope
0681 - St. Agatho ends his reign as Catholic Pope
1429 - Order of the Golden Fleece established in Austria-Hungary & Spain
1430 - Order of the Guilder forms
1642 - King Charles I & family flee London for Oxford
1663 - King Charles II affirms charter of Royal African Company
1776 - "Common Sense" by Thomas Paine, published
1799 - Friedrich von Schiller's "Die Piccolomini" premieres in Weimar
1806 - Dutch in Cape Town, South African surrender to the British
1808 - Herman Daendels succeeds A Wiese as Governor-General of Netherlands Indies
1810 - French church annuls marriage of Napoleon I & Joséphine
1811 - Louisiana slaves rebel in 2 parishes
1839 - Tea from India 1st arrives in UK
1840 - Penny Post mail system started
1861 - US forts & property seized by Mississippi; Florida becomes 3rd state to secede from US; Fort Jackson & Fort Philip are taken over by Los Angeles state troops
1862 - Battle of Big Sandy River, KY (Middle Creek); Battle of Romney, WV
1863 - 1st underground railway opens in London; General McClernand's Union troops surround Fort Hindman, AR; January-uprising begins in Poland
1870 - Georgia legislature reconvenes; John D. Rockefeller incorporates Standard Oil
1878 - US Senate proposes female suffrage
1883 - Fire at uninsured Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, WI kills 71 - General Tom Thumb of P.T. Barnum fame, escapes unhurt
1889 - Ivory Coast declared a protectorate of France
1900 - Lord Roberts & Lord Kitchener reach Capetown
1901 - Oil discovered at Spindletop claim near Beaumont, Texas
1910 - 1st international air meet in US held, in Los Angeles
1911 - 1st photo in US taken from an airplane, San Diego; Honduras signs treaty turning over customs to US (not ratified)
1912 - Caillaux government in France resigns; World's 1st flying boat's maiden flight, (Glenn Curtiss in NY)
1916 - Russian offensive in Kaukasus
1920 - League of Nations' 1st meeting, Treaty of Versailles in effect
1923 - Last US troops leave Rhineland (Germany); Lithuania seizes & annexes country of Memel
1925 - Miriam (Ma) Ferguson sworn in as Texas Governor, nation's 2nd woman governor; France-Saarland forms
1928 - Soviet Union orders exile of Leon Trotsky
1930 - Mordovian Autonomous Region in RSFSR constituted
1941 - Seyss-Inquart begins registration of Jews
1942 - Japan invades North-Celebes, Dutch East Indies
1943 - 1st US President to visit a foreign country in wartime-FDR leaves for Casablanca, Morocco
1943 - Russian offensive against German 6th/4th Armies near Stalingrad
1944 - 1st mobile electric power plant delivered, Philadelphia; British troops conquer Maungdaw, Burma
1945 - Los Angeles Railway (with 5 streetcar lines) forced to close
1946 - UN General Assembly convenes for 1st time (London); US Army establishes 1st radar contact with Moon, Belmar NJ
1947 - Greek steamer Himara strikes a wartime mine in Saronic Gulf south of Athens with loss of 392 of 637 aboard; British stop ships Independence & In-Gathering from landing in Israel
1949 - 1st Jewish family show "The Goldbergs" premieres on CBS; RCA introduces 45 RPM record
1951 - 1st jet passenger trip made; UN headquarters opens in Manhattan, NY
1957 - Anthony Eden resigns & Harold Macmillan becomes PM of Britain
1962 - 4,000 die in avalanche, Ranrahirca, Perú; Eruptions on Mount Huascaran in Peru destroy 7 villages & kill 3,500
1964 - Battles between Muslims & Hindus in Calcutta; Panamá severs diplomatic relations with US
1966 - Julian Bond denied seat in Georgia legislature for opposing Vietnam War; India & Pakistan sign peace accord
1967 - Edward Brooke, takes (Senator-R-MA) seat as 1st popular elected Black; PBS (the National Educational TV) begins as a 70 station network; Lester Maddox inaugurated as Governor of Georgia
1968 - US Surveyor 7 lands near lunar crater Tycho
1969 - Pirate Radio Station Free Derby begins operation by Northern Ireland; USSR's Venera 6 launched for parachute landing on Venus; Sweden (1st Western country) recognizes North Vietnam
1973 - Gas tank on Staten Island explodes, killing 40
1978 - Soyuz 27 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 6 space station
1979 - 1st brother Billy Carter makes allegedly anti-Semitic remarks
1981 - El Salvador guerrilla group FMLN opens "general offensive"
1984 - Argentine ex-president/General Bignone arrested; Bulgarian Tupolev 134 crashes at Sofia airport in Bulgaria, 50 die; Clara Peller 1st asks, "Where's the Beef?"; US establishes full diplomatic relations with Vatican after 117 years
1985 - Daniel Ortega Saavedra inaugurated as President of Nicaragua
1986 - STS 61-C mission scrubbed T -9m because of bad weather at Kennedy; Palau signs Compact of Free Association with US
1990 - NCAA approves random drug testing for college football players; China lifts martial law (imposed after Tiananmen Square massacre)
1991 - US Congress begins debate on Persian Gulf crisis; Japan ends routine fingerprinting of all adult ethnic Koreans
1993 - Maiden flight of Ultrair (Houston to Los Angeles)
1994 - Trial of Lorena Bobbitt, who cut off her husband's penis, begins; Ukraine says it will give up world's 3rd largest nuclear arsenal; Uzbekistan & Kazakhstan agrees to abolish trade tariffs
1996 - Israel frees hundreds of Palestinian prisoners
1997 - 1st Comet of 1997 Discovered Comet 1997 A1; Dow Corning provides $2.95 billion to settle breast implant suits; Italy's new 1,000 lire coin shows divided Germany on map; Right-winger Arnoldo Aleman sworn in as President of Nicaragua

Birthdays
1502 - Hendrik Niclaes, German/Dutch merchant/cult leader (Children of God)
1638 - Niels Stensen, Danish astronomer
1644 - Louis Boufflers, marshall of France
1738 - Ethan Allen, Revolutionary War fighter (led the Green Mountain Boys)
1769 - Michel Ney, French marshal (Waterloo)
1815 - Alexander Brydie Dyer, Brevet Major General; Thomas Williams, Union Brigadier General (Union volunteers), died in 1862
1825 - Alexander Travis Hawthorn, Confederate Brigadier General
1834 - John Acton, English historian/MP
1864 - George Washington Carver, agricultural scientist (estimated date - actual birthdate unknown)
1867 - Gerhard Anschütz, German MP
1880 - French van Cauwelaert Flemish, minister/mayor of Antwerp; Manuel Azaña y Díaz, PM/President of 2nd Spanish republic (1936-39)
1913 - Gustav Husak, President of Czechoslovakia (1975-89)
1930 - Roy E. Disney, CEO (Disney)
1931 - Alexander L "Alex" Boraine, South African vicar/MP; Ron Galella, celebrity photographer (sued by Jackie O)
1942 - Aleksandr Yakovlevich Petrushenko, Russian cosmonaut

Passings
0681 - Agatho Sicilian, pope (678-81)
0976 - John I Tzimisces, co-emperor of Byzantium (969-76), at 51
1271 - Otto II the Lame, Earl of Gelre
1276 - Gregorius X [Tedaldo Visconti], pope
1645 - William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, beheaded for treason at 71
1674 - Jacob de Witt, Dutch mayor (Dordrecht)/MP, dies at 84
1754 - Daniel Raap Dutch porcelain salesman/politician, at about 51
1775 - Jemeljan Pugatshov, Russian Kosak leader/"Czar Peter III"
1778 - Carolus Linnæus "Carl von Linné," Swedish botanist/explorer/"Father of Taxonomy", at 70
1824 - Victor Emanuel I, King of Sardinia (1802-21), at 64
1862 - Samuel Colt, inventor (6 shot revolver), at 47
1934 - Marinus van der Lubbe, Dutch communist, beheaded in Berlin at 24
1943 - Agustin P. Justo y Rolon, President of Argentina (1931-38), at 66
1968 - Theophilus E. Dönges, South African Internal minister, dies at 69
1970 - Pavel Ivanovich Belyayev, USSR, cosmonaut (Voskhod II), at 44
1971 - Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, French fashion designer, at 87
1978 - John D. Rockefeller III, US billionaire/philanthropist, at 71; Pedro Joaquín Chamorro of La Prensa, assassinated in Managua
1984 - Suvanna Phuma, premier of Laos, at 82
1994 - Catharina I "Ien" Dales minister of Internal affairs (1989-94), dies at 62
1996 - Alexander Robertus organic chemist,at 88; Arthur Sydney Martin spycatcher, at 81

Reported Missing in Action
1967
Gauley, James P., USAF (OK); F105D shot down - KIA / BNR

Stoves, Merritt III, US Army (AL); swept away while crossing river, presumed Killed / BNR

1968
Hopper, Earl P., Jr., USAF (AZ); F4D shot down (pilot, w/Hall)

Hall, Keith N., USAF (ND); F4D shot down (backseater to Hopper), Released by DRV March, 1973 - retired as a Colonel - alive and well as of 1998

1969
Sprott, Arthur R., Jr., USAF (FL); A1H shot down

1970
The following US Army personnel reported Missing when their UH1C disappeared en route back to base:
Allen, Wayne C. (MA); crew chief - remains returned September, 1990, ID'd April, 1991

Crosby, Herbert C. (GA); pilot

Graziosi, Francis G. (NY); door gunner

Howes, George A. (IN); co-pilot

1973
Clark, Robert A., USN (CA); A6A did not return from mission (bombardier / navigator , w/McCormick)

McCormick, Michael T., USN (HI); A6A did not return from mission (pilot, w/Clark)

Labels: Headlines, History