Here is an article from the same publication asking if the ongoing probes by the House Ethics Committee on sleaze and corruption in the Congress relative to kickbacks for defense spending puts Congressman Rangel from New York at risk. He is not accused at this point but he has a reputation for playing hard ball which gleans him many enemies. He might get wrapped up in this by simply having enemies powerful enough to make sure it happens. That would weaken the Democrats substantially. The story is here.

It would not surprise me if both countries are racing quickly to build a reliable delivery system for nuclear weapons. It is time that the CIA did its real job and had both countries’ governments overthrown by the opposition parties (if there are any!) if they are clear dangers to us. The story is here.

In this story released by the A.P. a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft and a Marine Corps helicopter have collided and exploded over the Pacific Ocean. SAR is ongoing at this point. The story is here.

In this story which Veterans Today has openly and aggressively warned about for months now, the entire physical infrastructure in the U.S.A. is decaying to the point of uselessness. This is why a huge defense budget is so evil. It takes away the very fabric of American safety and economic highways for trade – quite literally.

Infrastucture decay robs our children and grand children of any hope of remaining competetive in world markets. Huge defense outlays like the one we just saw two days ago rob our country of any chance of remaining competetive and they ensure an unsafe environment for all of us. The story is here.

In this story from AOL News Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faces huge walls of anger from the Pakistani people regarding our conduct in Pakistan. They consider our Predator attackes to be terrorism on their national soil. They obviously do not want us spreading the war in their region.

This is a whole new angle for us to consider. They simply do not want to help us win this "war on terror" because they do not see it that way.

In this article from today’s New York Times, the Pakistani Army is having mixed results in flushing out the Taliban insurgents in their part of the world. 

In this editorial the Times reacts to President Obama’s visit to Dover AFB to escort the returning fallen from Afghanistan and Iraq. The story is here.

In this editorial good old David Brooks, the neocon that will not shut up, EVER, takes on Obama’s ability to be the Commander in Chief. I really am starting to tire of this pundit. And he never wore a uniform but he speaks so much with authority on these issues. Bull crap! I wish this guy would just stick to what he knows, like cooking. Here is the story.

In this article by the Eurasion Daily Monitor (EDM) we find growing violent unrest among the Muslim populations of Checnya, Dagestan and Ingueshetia which are all deep within the Russian sphere of influence. The story is here.

In another story by the EDM we see a strange twist on defense spending. The Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, has just officially chastised the Russian defense industry for making substandard weapons. He complains that Russia may have to buy weapons overseas to keep their defense forces modern. The story is here.

In a strange story also appearing in EDM it appears that the Turkish General Staff were going to fabricate a false Muslim uprising in order to maintain public support for the secular government in that NATO country. The story is here.

Let me get this straight.  We have real, honest to god, violent Muslim uprisings all over the planet and the Turkish General Staff wants to fabricate an uprising in the hope that it will solidify secular control over the government in Turkey? 

Someone check the pipes of the general staff for hashish, will you?  I know pothead behavior when I see it.  There has to be a bong in every drawer at the national command headquarters in Ankara for these guys to come up with this!

Guys!  Stay away from your kids’ stash and go to work straight, huh?  What do you say?

And finally in a story that has nothing to do with national defense or veterans’ issues but everything to do with Halloween (it is tomorrow night!) a farmer in Ohio has just grown the largest pumpkin in the world. It weighs 1,725 pounds.

Have a great time with the kids and grand kids this Halloween. Take the night off, the world is serious enough as it is. We could all use a little fun. The story is here.

CWO3 Tom Barnes, USCG (Ret.)