GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.22.14 >>>

After U.S. planes bombed its forces in Iraq, the jihadist juggernaut that calls itself the Islamic State threatened to attack Americans "in any place," adding for good measure: "We will drown all of you in blood."

The sophistication, wealth and military might of Islamic State militants represent a major threat to the United States that may surpass that once posed by al Qaeda, U.S. military leaders said.

Iraqi Shi'ite militiamen opened fire on minority Sunni Muslims in a mosque today, killing dozens just as Baghdad is trying to build a cross-community government to fight Sunni Islamists whose rise has alarmed Western powers.

Defense Secretary Hagel and Gen. Dempsey said that U.S. airstrikes against ISIL will be limited to Iraq for the time being.

The Islamic State has grown because it seemed unstoppable. Our air strikes have changed that.

For all its horror, the beheading of an American journalist in Syria appears unlikely to change lawmakers' minds about military intervention against Islamic State extremists. It's equally unclear whether the Obama administration will be asking them to back a new U.S. approach.

The Pentagon might have to retool its $555 billion 2015 budget proposal to account for the threats posed by and actions taken against the Islamic State.

A five-step plan to stop destroy the Islamic State.

Hamas-led gunmen in Gaza executed 18 Palestinians accused of collaborating with Israel today, a day after Israeli forces killed three Hamas commanders, the highest-ranking militants to die in the six-week war.

Russia ordered aid trucks across the border into eastern Ukraine without Kiev's permission, raising the danger of direct confrontation.

The Defense Department broke the law when it transferred five Taliban detainees from the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to Qatar in exchange for former prisoner of war Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Government Accountability Office said.

The U.S. Air Force is officially looking into a replacement for the Russian-made RD-180 rocket engine.

The U.S. Navy's effort to develop and install a new shipboard tactical electronic network took a major leap forward with the selection of five commercial teams to fill the fleet's needs for the next eight years.

Tattooed soldiers seeking to trade in their sergeant's stripes for a lieutenant's bar may soon see some relief from one of the Army's most controversial regulations.

Mad genius Colin Furze is back again with a new invention. This time he built himself a steel safe suit with the sole purpose of standing inside a fireworks display and enjoy the views.

For those who ditched their click-and-clacking Newton's Cradle decades ago, this Solar Marble Machine just might be the modern ball-based meditation tool of your DIY dreams. What does it "do"? Not much! But that's precisely the point.

Cool history of evolution turns lifeforms into robots.

Mythbusters fans were surprised to learn that three cast members won't be returning.

Pitchfork names the 200 best songs of the decade so far.

The Hollywood Reporter gathered 24 well-known TV show creators for a big feature.

See the trailer for the Foo Fighters' new HBO show.

Someone has too much free time on their hands ...

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Matthew Manning

GRAB A COFFEE CUP AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.14.14 >>>

An Israeli request for a transfer of Hellfire missiles from the United States was put on hold after the White House and State Department learned they were kept in the dark concerning ammunition transfers to Israel in July.

The Pentagon announced Wednesday it had landed a team of less than 20 troops on Mt. Sinjar in northern Iraq to assess the situation for thousands of Yazidis, an Iraqi minority group that fled there after being targeted by Islamic State in Iraq and Syria fighters. 

The governor of Iraq's Sunni heartland Anbar Province said he has asked for and secured U.S. support in the battle against Islamic State militants because opponents of the group may not have the stamina for a long fight.

The Obama administration is grappling with how to bridge the gap between its increasingly dire assessment of the threat posed by the Islamic State group and the limited, defensive air campaign it has so far undertaken.

Hundreds of hardline extremists in Indonesia, the world's largest Muslim-majority country, have begun to openly pledge allegiance to ISIS.

Artillery shells hit close to the center of Ukraine's separatist-held city of Donetsk for the first time today, killing at least one person, as a large Russian aid convoy rumbled toward the border.

As the key battle looms, a report from Ukraine's front lines.

Six former platoon mates of Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who spent nearly five years as a Taliban captive in Afghanistan, are shopping proposals for a book and movie that is sharply critical of him.

The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter test fleet will be able to fly six hours between engine inspections for weapon test and refueling missions, as restrictions on the fifth-generation fighter continue to ease.

Army solider Paul Ieti performed One Direction's "You & I" on last night's live broadcast.

Seven books that teach our troops how to win wars.

Use a remote-controlled robot to tour a closed museum.

What do you do when you log onto Twitter and find out your honey's unfollowed you? Or you try to friend her on Facebook but she never accepts? What if you're also a teen and you just got braces? You fire up this ballad and you double tap, baby.

Here's an amusing PSA about character actors.

Dreams do come true: David Lynch is going to direct a Duran Duran concert.

It's time: Metal album covers featuring sharks

Finally: The height of heroes in the Marvel universe

Robots have all ready taken over the world ...

LINK: Original photo by Staff Sgt. Staci Miller

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.13.14 >>>

There is no groundswell from U.S. lawmakers demanding President Barack Obama seek their approval for new airstrikes in Iraq, a sharp contrast from his flirtation with strikes in Syria.

The military has sent 130 advisers to northern Iraq to plan for the evacuation of refugees under siege by Islamic militants

Nuri al-Maliki stuck to his guns and refused to accept his removal as Iraq's prime minister today, but his hold on power was tenuous as Iran's supreme leader, a long-time Maliki ally, publicly backed his replacement.

Reporter Medyan Dairieh gained unprecedented access to the terrorist group, spending three weeks embedded with militants across Iraq and Syria.

Crowdsource name?: Although the president has authorized the deployment of about 905 U.S. troops to Iraq, and the military is now conducting airstrikes and airdrops there, the operations still have no official name.

The threat of renewed war in Gaza loomed today as the clock ticked toward the end of a three-day ceasefire with no sign of a breakthrough in indirect talks in Cairo between Israel and the Palestinians.

Twelve Ukrainian nationalist fighters, battling a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine, were killed early today and an unknown number taken captive when rebels ambushed their bus.

Officials in Washington are increasingly worried that Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said that the Russian humanitarian aid convoy to Ukraine would not be allowed in, denouncing the effort as an act of Russian "cynicism." 

Endangered Democrat's new ad says he kept the venerable A-10 "Warthog" fleet flying.

The Obama administration is not likely to make major changes to the U.S. Defense Department's ballistic missile defense programs and will focus efforts over the next two years on implementing current plans.

The Pentagon needs to fundamentally change the way it buys satellites in an effort to lower costs as U.S. defense spending contracts.

Less than two weeks after announcing that it was pushing back the initial selection of the technology demonstrator phase of the Joint Multi-Role helicopter program and working to forge a closer relationship with industry, the U.S. Army awarded two development contracts for the effort on Tuesday.

The U.S. Military's ultimate fear: Are aircraft carriers too big to fail.

The Pentagon's Special Operations Command will conduct a social research program in Colombia to help shape future propaganda efforts, newly released military records show.

Dreadlocks, cornrows, twisted braids and other hairstyles popular among African American women will be more accepted across the military after a forcewide review of hairstyle policies prompted several changes.

The Army has implemented changes to how it considers, selects and slates command sergeants major and sergeants major for the privilege of serving in Command Select List positions.

Security major: Even as the U.S. Air Force Academy has reduced the number of majors it offers recently, it has instituted a new program aimed at helping the Air Force fly, fight and win in cyberspace.

Shock waves from battlefield explosions are invisible threats for U.S. Soldiers and their top-of-the-line combat helmets, but with new studies in synthetic human physiology, researchers are learning how to lessen blast wave effects on the brain.

Watching these guys do their job makes our stomach clench.

"YMCA" music-less video makes the Village People look even more ridiculous.

This video essay highlights some of Robin Williams' most notable roles.

More politicians could certainly learn from The Dude.

Baskin-Robbins has some unusual flavors in stores this summer - like "State Fair Fried Dough"!

Welcome to Whip Wednesday ...

LINK: Original photo by Eric Steen

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.11.14 >>>

The U.S. government began directly arming Kurdish forces in Iraq who are battling the militant group Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, according to The Associated Press.  

The Pentagon is releasing images from a U.S. military airdrop of food and water on Saturday in northern Iraq, where thousands of Iraqi citizens are threatened by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Iraq's president appointed a new prime minister today, further complicating the country's intense power struggle amid a dire humanitarian crisis and a militant threat strong enough to draw U.S. air power back to the fray.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki was battling to keep his job, as some parliamentary allies sought a replacement and the United States warned him not to obstruct efforts to form a new government. 

Navy officials said the move to position key platforms in strategically vital areas is designed for precisely this reason.

Islamic militants' growing influence in Iraq and Syria is a threat to Americans, lawmakers from both political parties agreed Sunday even as they sharply split on what role the United States should play in trying to crush them.

United States warplanes and drones pummeled Islamic State militants near Arbil in a fresh wave of airstrikes Sunday, destroying armed trucks and a mortar position, the US military confirmed.

Israeli and Palestinian negotiators resumed indirect talks mediated by Egypt today on ending a month-old Gaza war, Egypt's state news agency said, after a new 72-hour truce appeared to be holding.

The United States will monitor the South China Sea to see whether "de-escalatory steps" are being taken, a U.S. State Department official said today, a day after China repelled U.S. pressure to rein in actions in the disputed waters.

The Air Force Technical Applications Center has a welcome addition to its treaty monitoring capabilities - the Cobra King radar system aboard the USNS Howard O. Lorenzen.

A new Army Physical Fitness Uniform will become available service-wide, beginning in October next year.

The yo-yo world champ's skills are mesmerizing.

Morrissey has reportedly been dropped from his record label.

Will Elisabeth Moss co-star on True Detective?

Spin profiles up-and-coming Olympia band Naomi Punk.

Here's a list of 50 must-read books by female writers.

Hear Arcade Fire cover the Beverly Hills Cop theme.

This is good news ...

LINK: Original photo by Airman 1st Class Krystal Ardrey

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.8.14 >>>

President Barack Obama authorized air strikes on Iraq to protect Christians and prevent "genocide" of tens of thousands of members of an ancient sect sheltering on a desert mountaintop from Islamic State fighters threatening to exterminate them.

British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed President Obama's authorization of targeted airstrikes in Iraq, but his office ruled out similar action. 

Obama's Iraq plan has a killer flaw - and airstrikes alone may not save it.

Ukrainian army units broke out of the blockade today and rejoined government forces, but 15 soldiers and border guards were killed in the operation.

The head of NATO on Thursday called on Russia to withdraw the estimated 20,000 troops massed along the Ukrainian border, amid fears that Moscow may invade its neighbor.

Israel launched air strikes across the Gaza Strip today in response to Palestinian rockets fired after Egyptian-mediated talks failed to extend a 72-hour truce in the month-long war.

What does Hamas do now? In its war with Israel, the Palestinian group has accomplished none of its aims. Not one.

Hackers show how to break into military communications.

Senate blocks F-22 cut, little else for U.S. Air Force reprogramming.

Vet Wait-Time Crisis: Shinseki led by setting goals that looked impossible, but that he knew could inspire better performance and bigger budgets.

Panamax 2014, an annual U.S. Southern Command-sponsored multinational exercise focused on ensuring the defense of the Panama Canal, kicks off today at Joint Base San Antonio, Texas.

The Air Force will increase nuclear force manning at Air Force Global Strike Command missile and bomber wings beginning this fall.

Facebook's app strategy is bad news for anyone who uses apps.

A man in Portsmouth, England was arrested for allegedly pretending to be a ghost in a cemetery as people nearby attempted to mourn a loved-one.

See the trailer for the Stephen Hawking biopic The Theory of Everything.

DC Entertainment will release nine superhero movies through 2020.

Have you seen the Wu-Tang Clan episode of The Daily Show?

Twenty-five years after Seinfeld, where have the Elaines gone?

Finally:  The Simpsons' Springfield out of Legos.

Your prayers have been answered. Ten hours of the A Team theme song.

LINK: Original photo by Cpl. Antonio Rubio

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.7.14 >>>

The deadly insider attack that killed an Army major general and wounded more than a dozen other troops has led to questions about the way ahead in Afghanistan and the strength of the partnership between coalition and Afghan troops.

Sunni militants from the Islamic State group today seized Iraq's largest dam, placing them in control of enormous power and water resources and access to the river that runs through the heart of Baghdad.

Militants from the so-called Islamic State have taken over the largest Christian town in Iraq, Qaraqosh, and sent tens of thousands fleeing as a result.

Russia's "provocative actions" in neighboring Ukraine are prompting NATO to re-examine its relevance.

Decades after terrorizing Cambodia in the 1970s, the two most senior surviving leaders of the Khmer Rouge were found guilty of crimes against humanity and sentenced to life in prison today.

U.S. lawmakers continue reacting skeptically to the Obama administration's quiet U.S. military and intelligence pivot to Africa, this time holding up millions to counter violent extremists there.

Veterans are expected to have an easier time getting government-paid health care from local doctors under a bill that President Obama is set to sign into law today. The $16.3 billion measure also allows the Veterans Affairs Department to hire thousands of doctors, nurses and other health professionals at the VA's nearly 1,000 hospitals and outpatient clinics nationwide.

Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson: Wait times can be fixed in two years.

A primer on why the U.S. military puts Israel and the Palestinian territories in European Command.

Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl this morning again faced more questioning, which so far has not been confrontational. Maj. Gen. Kenneth Dahl began interviewing Bergdahl at Fort Sam Houston in Texas yesterday. That session lasted from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Dahl has been tasked with looking into the nature of Bergdahl's 2009 disappearance from his Army base in Afghanistan. 

Captured letters reveal Al Qaeda's how-to manual.

The White House proposed a plan two months ago for the Pentagon to train and equip vetted Syrian rebel forces in that nation's civil war. But, since then, there's been lots of talk and not much action. 

The U.S. Army is seeking "one-way" tracers that can only be seen from the vantage point of a shooter.

The Navy's latest 30-year shipbuilding plan calling for a fleet size of more than 300 ships and submarines is at risk because of budget cuts.

The Navy and NASA wrapped up the second round of practice recoveries of the Orion spacecraft, which is designed to bring humans to the moon, asteroids and, eventually, to Mars.

The Air Force Civil Engineer Center recently rolled out the first comprehensive two-year integrated priorities list to strategically order funding of sustainment, restoration, modernization, environmental and demolition projects across the Air Force portfolio.

Marine vet paddles away two tours in Afghanistan on the Mississippi River.

The Army National Guard is ending its sponsorship of NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Indy Racing League driver Graham Rahal.

This animation video explains everything you need to know about Earth.

What?: Rick Springfield and Meryl Streep? There's a pairing we never expected to see.

There's no need to freak out about an Annie Hall sequel.

Time has a fascinating graphic that illustrates Hollywood's movie calendar.

This cool feature compares cartoon characters in the first and last episodes of their series.

Really? A fifth Terminator movie?

Yes please: R2-D2 kitchen timer.

Finally: All the sounds in the Matrix replaced with 8-bit sounds.

How to stop a baby from crying

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Emmanuel Ramos

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.6.14 >>>

U.S. officials prepared to fly the body of a two-star general slain in an Afghan "insider attack" back home, as a similar attack saw an Afghan police officer drug and shoot dead seven of his colleagues, authorities said.

Who assassinated Maj. Gen. Harold Greene?

History of U.S. generals killed in combat.

The Obama administration needs to boost its military support to Iraq's Kurdish minority, which has suffered a string of setbacks in the last several days battling a Sunni militant group, according to key members of Congress.

Russia has amassed around 20,000 combat-ready troops on Ukraine's eastern border and could use the pretext of a humanitarian or peace-keeping mission to invade.

The U.S. sent a small team of troops to Ukraine to aid in recovery operations for the victims of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17.

A Senate committee is holding up a plan to shift $100 million to an Air Force space-launch program, telling the service to devise a plan for a new liquid rocket engine.

A government database of known or suspected terrorists doubled in size in recent years, The Associated Press has learned. The growth is the result of intelligence agencies submitting names more often after a near-miss attack in 2009.

Paul Wolfowitz, a former senior George W. Bush official and one of the chief Iraq War architects, said the U.S. "won" the war in Iraq.

The ISIS online campaign luring Western girls to Jihad.

Leading experts in military combat-vehicle research, engineering and design gathered to discuss a single goal: reducing the weight of the Army's tanks and infantry fighting vehicles by 40 percent in the coming decades.

It's a banner year for the Air Force with the Department of Energy recently announcing that service won a lion's share of 2014 Federal Energy Management Program awards.

Court: Leaders not liable for subordinates' bad decisions.

Three current Blue Angels pilots are among the commissioned officers who circulated pornographic messages and photographs among themselves and to other members of the elite flight team, according to copies of phone texts that were part of a recent Navy investigation.

Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, commonly known as CID, are once again warning internet users worldwide about cyber criminals involved in an online crime that CID has dubbed "the Romance Scam."

Abandoned Soviet forced labor camp oddly turns into one of the most enjoyable beaches ever.

Are these the best movie fight scenes ever? You will watch all 11:20 minutes of this.

Ooh, it's an oral history of The Wonder Years.

Glamour has a video feature about The Daily Show's Jessica Williams and Samantha Bee.

What?: "chillax" and "vlog" have been added to the Scrabble dictionary.

Finally: Peter Dinklage, a mullet and a bazooka.

Did Louie C.K. shrink?

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Sullivan Laramie

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.5.14 >>>

A man dressed in an Afghan army uniform opened fire today on foreign troops at a military base, killing at least one U.S. soldier and wounding 15, including a German brigadier general and "about a dozen" Americans, authorities said.

UPDATE: U.S. officials say U.S. general was killed in the Afghan insider attack.

A group of retired military generals and flag officers is calling on the White House to support an "expansive declassification" of a Senate report on CIA interrogations expected to be released as early as this week. 

Declaring its anti-tunnel mission accomplished, Israel agreed to a 72-hour ceasefire, yet continues to maintain thousands of forces around the border with Gaza for rapid response in case rocket attacks resume.

Hamas is able to fire missiles into Israel because Tehran provided weapons technology to the militant group to defend itself against Israeli attacks, a senior Iranian official said.

A bipartisan group of seven lawmakers is in Israel to assess the conflict with Hamas, now entering its fourth week.

Russia has roughly doubled the number of its battalions near the Ukrainian border, and could respond to the Kiev government's gains there by launching a cross-border incursion with little or no warning.

Russia's defense ministry announced 100 fighter jets, helicopters and bombers will conduct military exercises near the Ukrainian border this week.

Ukrainian government forces kept up a military offensive to claw back lost territory from pro-Russian separatists today while casting a nervous eye at Russian military exercises over the border.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called upon his country's armed forces to help Kurdish forces battle a Sunni militant offensive in northern Iraq that has caused tens of thousands of people from the minority Yazidi community to flee their homes.

The latest string of victories by Islamic militants in Iraq raises an enormous and obvious question: What's the U.S. doing to help the Kurds?

What the Air Force can learn from FedEx.

The Air Force is extending the service life of its fleet of C-130 combat delivery aircraft by replacing center wing boxes on some of the planes and adding new electronics.

U.S. government, military had role in experimental Ebola drug.

Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command and U.S. Transportation Command are standing up a team of transportation experts this week to quickly address the most significant challenges and concerns military customers are facing when shipping their privately owned vehicles.

High speed footage of a missile disintegrating a tank.

U.S. Navy sailors inside an amphibious assault ship - or a lost Aliens scene.

Behold some of the best Steadicam shots of all time.

Sharknado 2 is coming to theaters.

List: Top 50 grunge songs.

Finally: this video tries to catalog Easter eggs in every Marvel movie.

Roof Strong ...

LINK: Original photo by Sgt. Vincent Byrd, 2nd BCT, 1st AD, Public Affairs

GRAB A COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.4.14 >>>

Two wars - one in Gaza the other in eastern Ukraine - are unfolding simultaneously. They have nothing in common except this: both should be being seen as unambiguous in terms of which side is right and which wrong.

Five government soldiers were killed and 15 wounded over the last 24 hours in fighting in eastern Ukraine where Kiev forces recaptured an important railway hub from pro-Russian rebels.

A United States reconnaissance plane recently crossed into Swedish airspace to avoid being intercepted by Russian fighter jets.

U.S. defense experts and the U.S. State Department are describing China's successful so-called "anti-missile test" as another anti-satellite test raising fears the U.S. will be unable to protect its spy, navigation and communications satellites.

Amid mounting casualties and mutual recriminations over the sixth failed ceasefire in their ongoing war, Israel and Hamas continued late last week to battle on parallel fronts: under the sands of Gaza and in the court of public opinion.

Israeli intelligence agents eavesdropped on Secretary of State John Kerry during the peak of peace negotiations he led between Israel and the Palestinians last year.

Palestinians and Israel accused each other of breaking a seven-hour ceasefire intended to allow humanitarian aid into the battered Gaza Strip soon after it came into force.

Russian sanctions: India defiant, Finland nervous.

Iran's elite Guards fighting in Iraq to push back Islamic State.

Special report: The doubt at the heart of Iraq's Sunni "revolution."

Army preparing for steep drawdown, losing patience with Congress.

Joint trauma system vital link to saving lives.

When the military's top cyberwarriors gathered last year inside a secretive compound at Fort Meade, Maryland, for a classified war game exercise, a team of active-duty troops faced off against several teams of reservists. And the active-duty team apparently took a beating.

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John F. Campbell stresses relationships, upcoming ISAF Tour.

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III: The Army Ethic is the "doorway" into our profession.

Air Force Academy athletes, including football players, participated in wild off-campus parties featuring booze, marijuana, and date-rape drugs, according to an investigative report.

Former Army officer Capt. Kevin Ryan who has launched microbrewery Georgia-based Service Brewing Co. knows everyone will raise a glass to help support a veteran-owned business that gives a portion of its proceeds to charities backing military members, policemen and firefighters.

The New York Times has a piece about folks who dress up as characters in Times Square.

Jack White's Lazaretto is the best-selling vinyl release in 20 years.

Dave Grohl's HBO show premieres in October.

Paul Feig's female-centric Ghostbusters reboot.

William Shatner and NASA had an amusing Twitter exchange.

His generation's Dick Van Dyke.

LINK: Original photo by Spc. Lisa Vines, 382nd Public Affairs Detachment

GRAB THE COFFEE POT AND READ THE MORNING REPORT FOR 8.1.14 >>>

The Senate overwhelmingly gave final approval to a $16.3 billion Veterans Affairs reform bill last night, sending the measure to the White House and giving Congress a legislative victory before the start of its summer break.

A wake up call to Washington on defense: Panel concludes U.S. military superiority not a given.

CIA did spy on Senate staffers: CIA Director John Brennan stood firm for months in his insistence that the CIA had little to be ashamed of after searching the computers of the Senate Intelligence Committee. His defiant posture quickly collapsed after a devastating report by his own inspector general sided against agency on each key point of the dispute with the Senate.

Pressure is building on CIA Director John Brennan to resign following the agency's admission Thursday that it spied on the computers of Senate staffers.

A Gaza cease-fire quickly unraveled today as violence erupted in and around the southern town of Rafah, with 35 Palestinians killed by Israeli shelling and the military saying one of its soldiers has been abducted.

The European Union's embargo on the import and export of arms and related material with Russia, which covers all items on the EU's common military list, will come into force today.

A German army general has for the first time been appointed chief of staff to work with the commander of U.S. ground forces in Europe, both countries' militaries.

Downsizing the war: Layoffs and yard sales in Afghanistan.

Spy satellites: House Intelligence Committee unanimously approved a new report suggesting ways the government could save billions of dollars in its purchases of intelligence satellites.  

Congress presses DoD for allotment system reform.

The U.S. Congress will leave town for five weeks without providing hundreds of millions of dollars requested by Israel to replenish its Iron Dome interceptor missiles.

The Rim of the Pacific, or RIMPAC, biennial maritime security exercise is a multinational training opportunity taking place in and around the Hawaiian Islands.

Air Force officials announced a series of sweeping changes to the Enlisted Evaluation System and Weighted Airman Promotion System July 31.

The navigator on the famous B-29 Superfortress that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, during World War II, died July 28 in Stone Mountain, Georgia.

Terry and Jan Blumberg used benefits and insurance money from their son Army Sgt. Trevor Blumberg's 2003 death in Iraq to help build the two-story home. Now in its third year, Blum's Landing serves as a retreat for veterans.

The new .45s are made by Colt, the first 1911 models they've provided to the U.S. since the end of World War II.

Skydivers land on lake and skid all the way to shore.

Lollapalooza live stream starts this afternoon.

IFC has posted a full episode of its new show Garfunkel and Oates before it premieres.

Katy Perry's new video employs Pee-wee Herman lookalikes.

Watch the trailer for the new SpongeBob SquarePants live-action movie.

List: "hidden celebrity cameos" in movies.

Finally: What New York City would look like submerged in a gigantic latte.

One day drones will cast the skies and we'll need this guy to fix it.

LINK: Original photo by Lance Cpl. Nathan Knapke