MIXED BAG

• In this photo you'll notice the guys loading bombs have on gloves and masks. I've seen alot of bomb loading photos over the years but never one like this. The bomb is being loaded onto a drone. I can't help but wonder what toxic substance is inside the bomb that the GI's need protection from. Is it Depleted Uranium? If any of you have any ideas please let us know.


• I spent about seven hours over the weekend doing painting of the outside of our big house. We had some boards replaced on the front of the house and they needed painting so I went all around and took off peeling paint and repainted those many spots as well. Maine is so wet that in places that don't get enough sun the paint never dries and just peels off the house.


• I was interviewed by Dr. Helen Caldicott last week for her radio show which airs in Australia, Canada, and throughout the U.S. We covered many subjects including "missile defense, the next NASA plutonium launch, Jeju Island, Obama's weakness, Bring Our War $$ Home campaign, and more. You can listen to the one-hour interview here


• I begin work in earnest this coming week on the next Global Network newsletter. We will be featuring the drone issue along with our usual review of the latest news from the Pentagon's plan to move the arms race into space.


• The new Congressional "Super Committee" will have enormous power to determine what gets cut and what doesn't in the year(s) ahead. Twelve lawmakers have been appointed to select more than $1 trillion in spending cuts. There has been some talk about cuts in Pentagon spending being recommended. Democratic Sen. Patty Murray of Washington (the senator from Boeing) and Republican Rep. Jeb Hensarling of Texas will co-chair the committee.

The military industrial complex already has a head start on lobbying these "folks" . Since 2007, the twelve chosen for the committee have taken roughly $1 million in war industry contributions to their PACs and campaign committees. Here’s how much they’ve been given, according to http://www.opensecrets.org/ :

Patty Murray (D-Wash.): $276,200
Max Baucus (D-Mont.): $139,100
Dave Camp (R-Mich.): $130,800
John Kerry (D-Mass.): $73,500
Rob Portman (R-Ohio): $68,700
Fred Upton (R-Mich.): $36,500
Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.): $32,000
Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas): $29,000
Pat Toomey (R-Pa.): $17,100

Notice how well the Democrats do at raking the $$$ into their campaign war chests.