A VETERANS DAY TRIBUTE to the U.S. military service personnel who gave their all for our freedom.

IT'S CALLED THE INVERSE MIDAS EFFECT: Everything he touches turns to shit.

GOOD RIDDANCE: Maine won’t have Kaci Hickox and her boyfriend to kick around anymore.

She - and her boyfriend - have proven themselves to be uniquely unqualified to remain in nursing. One could hope that they remain in obscurity, but I suspect that's too much to expect.

GLOBAL WARMING? We should be so lucky.

AFFORDABLE AND USER-FRIENDLY, amateur drones have skittered beyond the grasp of government regulators.

It strikes me that what we're seeing here is the beginning of the end of big government: too big, too slow, too overweening, and Americans are just beginning to ignore the regulators, go about their businesses, and dare the government to do something about it. With enough civil disobedience, the regulatory state will (hopefully) collapse.

RANDOM THOUGHTS on Republican racism and their 'war on women'. In last week's midterm elections, how many new blacks did the Democrats elect? How many new women did the Democrats elect?

FALL FOLIAGE 2014: Week 6. The leaves are going faster now, but surprisingly this year the leaf changes are species dependent: the oaks are almost nude, while the beech trees have just begun to turn, and the pear trees down the street haven't begun to turn yet.

Last week's picture is here.

OBAMA ON IMMIGRATION: It's my way or the highway.

HE MAY HAVE LOST THE MAJORITY, but Harry Reid won't necessarily lose his leadership post. Actually, I hope the Democrats are dumb enough to keep him; it will ensure a Republican victory in 2016....

WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Beware a wounded Obama. A prediction that is now coming true.

IN BERKELEY, NO LESS: The 'War on Soda' claims its first victory.

But look on the bright side. The working poor, those most likely to be hurt by this new 'sin tax' may be able to qualify for free marijuana.

Well done, Berkeley.

OBAMA DEMOCRATS have left coal country. Left? Kicked out is more like it.

HEH: "The [Wendy] Davis campaign was so inept that 95 percent of its own straw men voted for Greg Abbott."

LIBERALISM RUINED MY PARENTING. But I'm going to stick with it anyway.

MARK STEYN: The Age of Intolerance.

Yes, I'd have a hard time tolerating the guy on the left, too.

THE ENTIRETY OF POLITICS FOR OBAMA: getting people to vote for him. Successful politics begins there. Obama’s politics end there.

SURPRISED? "[Obama's] kind of a self-centered jerk when you get right down to it."

THE MID-TERM ELECTION? It's not a wave election ... it's worse.

NATIONAL SECURITY: Extremists' routing of Syrian rebels thwarts Obama's strategy. But that's okay; the Obama 'strategy' was only designed to last until the mid-term election, which it did.

AVIATION WEEK: China's J-20 Stealth Fighter.

The J-20’s primary mission ... may be to use stealth and speed to break through the [defensive combat air patrol] CAP and threaten vital tankers and ISR platforms. Its range gives it a “long lance” advantage—if the tankers, ISR aircraft and escorts have to stay out of the J-20’s range, the tactical aircraft that they support will not have the airborne radar cover or range needed to reach their targets.

Also, an anti-radar missile would give the J-20 some capability against shipping, even with internal weapons. .

In a very broad sense, the J-20 could turn out to be an analogue to the Soviet-era Tu-22M2/3 Backfire bomber—an efficient and practical blend of low-risk technologies that generates options for its users and difficult problems for its adversaries.

A long article, but interesting.