The crew of the USS Bainbridge held a ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia Thursday to welcome back Captain Richard Phillips who was held hostage by Somali pirates in April.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki would like to see more servicemembers take advantage of the benefits his department offers.

CJCS ADM Mike Mullen, says in the wake of the Ft. Hood shootings all military installations are looking at security.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki is expected to unveil a five-year plan to end homelessness among veterans as he, other VA officials and community outreach specialists come together for the Homeless Veteran Summit here tomorrow.

Shinseki’s team has made addressing homelessness a leading issue since he took charge of VA in January. Department officials estimate that about 131,000 veterans are homeless today in the United States, down from the 2003 estimate of nearly 200,000.

In several speeches this year, Shinseki has noted that to end homelessness among veterans, VA and the nation must do better in terms of psychological health care, education and employment opportunities, and addressing substance abuse.

VA programs such as the Post 9/11 GI Bill, which became law Aug. 1, may not have an immediate impact on homelessness, but better education opportunities can decrease homelessness in the future.

“To do this well, we’ll have to attack the entire downward spiral that ends in homelessness,” Shinseki said in an August speech at the American Legion convention in Louisville, Ky. He cited the need to offer veterans education, jobs and safe housing, and to treat depression and substance abuse. “We must do it all,” he said.

Shinseki’s latest initiative, launched last month, has a more direct impact on homelessness. On Oct. 6, the secretary announced more than $17 million in grants will be shared among 19 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico to create more than 1,100 beds for homeless veterans. The transitional housing will give veterans the leverage they need to access VA health care and other benefits they need to lead productive lives again, Shinseki said in an Oct. 6 statement.

This week’s Homeless Summit is likely to focus on similar indirect and immediate measures to meet the VA’s five-year goal to get veterans off the streets. Officials said the summit’s agenda will promote interagency and community partnerships to end homelessness through a variety of working groups and other sessions. The summit also will raise awareness and help advocates articulate key components of the five-year plan, and will give outreach organizations more tools for prevention in their local communities, officials added.

The two-day summit begins tomorrow morning, and Shinseki is expected to give his keynote address at 1 p.m.

Tens of thousands of current and former servicemembers may be eligible for a retroactive stop loss special pay compensation.

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates met with his counterpart in the Republic of Korea.

The Department of Defense continues to monitor the drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq.

Four new judges will be added to the Board of Veteran’s Appeals, according to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, retired General Eric Shinseki.

More than 4500 sailors aboard USS Ronald Reagan arrived in Coronado, California after returning home from a five month deployment.

It takes a wide array of moving parts, working together, to complete the mission on a battlefield.

President Obama and VA Secretary Shinseki officially launched the new Post 9/11 GI Bill. The remains of Captain Scott Speicher, missing since the Gulf War, are positively identified.

Maybe I should’ve piled on insofar as the title of this piece, but I chose to stick with President Obama’s most recent mess-ups, instead.  First of all, I find it appalling that Obama, when he should be governing the nation that he has made a financial mess of, instead of goes to Hollywood and make an appearance on the Tonight Show last Thursday.  Then he makes a decision in the form of a statement that will haunt him for the rest of his presidency: He tells 60 Minutes that if Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner offers his resignation, he wouldn’t accept it.

Some of the other “lowlights” in his 60 Minutes interview:

• He said that corporate executives need to better understand the public’s rage over bonuses.  He also said that executives should leave New York and go to either Iowa or Arkansas – where they’re “thrilled” to make $75,000 a year with no bonuses.
• Obama also discussed the Guantanamo Bay detention center.  He said that the U.S. hasn’t done a good job sorting out who should be released from Gitmo because some have rejoined terrorist groups.  He also said that U.S. officials have not always been effective in determining  which prisoners will be a danger once they have been released.
• Obama also said that the Bush administration’s policy of holding detainees for years on end without any trials is “unsustainable” and has only fueled anti-American sentiments.
• Obama also fired back at former Vice President Dick Cheney’s assertions that his plan to close Gitmo would make the U.S. less safe, saying:

“How many terrorists have actually been brought to justice under the philosophy that is being promoted by Vice President Cheney?” he asked. “It hasn’t made us safer. What it has been is a great advertisement for anti-American sentiment.”

Lots of holes in his arguments, in my estimation.  Firstly, in light of the overall ineffectiveness of TurboTax Timmy, how can you not let him go?  Not to mention Geithner’s knowledge of everything in the AIG bonus fiasco.  But then again, Obama not only received money from AIG, I truly believe that he knows a little more about the AIG bonus provision in the $787 billion stimulus package than he is letting on.

Secondly, how dare Obama claim to speak for and at the same time insult the fine people of Iowa and Arkansas?  Saying that people of those 2 states are thrilled to make $75,000 a year with no bonuses speaks volumes about Obama and his Socialist mentality.  Another thing.  I do not understand for the life of me why Obama would slam Bush’s Gitmo policies.  Last time I checked, our country hasn’t been attacked since 9/11.  There is actually a good reason why these detainees have been held for as long as they have been.  Has it occurred to Obama that of the detainees who have been released, they simply went back to doing terrorist activities?

Folks, Obama is an idiot.  First of all, he messes up our economy.  Then he nominates Geithner to be Treasury Secretary – only to find out that he didn’t pay any taxes.  Then he insults the citizens of Iowa and Arkansas with that “$75,000 a year with no benefits” comment.  Then he decides to have Eric Holder as the U.S. Attorney General – the guy who anyone who follows the Clintons and their history know that Holder played a big part in the pardon of that fugitive Marc Rich.

Obama then appoints Melody Barnes as Director of Domestic Policy Council.  She’s from Chicago – thus a payback hire.  then there’s fellow idiot Christine Romer, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors.  She’s not exactly the sharpest tool in the toolbox.  Robert Gibbs – please don’t get me started about him, OK?  Lawrence Summers – yet another Clintonista in Obama’s Cabinet.  David Axelrod – not only is he from Chicago but another Clintonista. 

Then there’s Eric Shinseki.  He was appointed as Secretary of Veteran Affairs; you’d think that Shinseki, as a retired member of the military that he would be most sensitive to wounded veterans’ needs.  Apparently not.  Then there’s that Clintonista tool Leon Panetta, who is now head of the CIA – are you kidding me?  Panetta as CIA chief?  That’s like having Rod Blagojevich becoming the head of the Salvation Army.  Panetta is nothing more than a glorified office manager.

Of course, we can’t leave out the old Chicago Sopranos wannabe Rahm Emanuel – yet another Clintonista who now serves as Chief of Staff.  Let’s not forget – speaking of Clintons – good ole’ Hillary Clinton, our current Secretary of State.  Obviously, Obama chose her as homage to Abe Lincoln.  You know – keep your friends close and your enemies even closer?  Then there’s Carol Browner; she’s Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change – and a known Socialist.

Then there’s Steven Chu – liberal whacko who is now U.S. Secretary of Energy.  He wants to make the entire nation “green” with a green electrical grid.  What is it with these wacky scientists, anyways?  Oh, let’s not forget that former governor of Arizona, Janet Napolitano, the current head of Homeland Security.  She uses the term “man-made disasters” instead of terrorists.  Memo to Janet – terrorists do in fact exist, and a man-made disaster is a poor choice of terms.  She has always reminded me of the bureaucrat who, when she leaves her worksite, goes home to her cats and is miserable.

Then there is the Colorado tool aka Ken Salazar, the current Secretary of the Interior.  Firstly, I find it real hard to take seriously a Democrat who dresses up like a poor man’s version of Will Rogers.  And points get taken away for his weird environmental policy.  They should create a Cabinet position that’s perfect for him – the Secretary of the Exterior.  In this position, Salazar would create policy on a deserted atoll – the Marianas way out in the Pacific Ocean is a good place for him.

And folks, for the sake of being redundant, it is exactly situations such as this which require immediate action from we, the people.  It is high time we start being proactive and help ensure that the GOP retake the House and Senate in 2010 and the White House in 2012. 

 How can you be proactive?  Writing your Republican senators and congressmen/women in your district is a good start; this is your forum to state your displeasure with the way out taxpayer is being spent like a bucnh of drunken sailors with no regard of the consequences.  You can also be proactive by volunteering at a campaign for the GOP senator and/or congressman/woman in your district.  they are a vital cog in the success of a politician’s campaign.  Last but certainly not least – get out there in 2010 and 2012 and vote.  Only 53% of us voted in 2008, which contributed to the Democraps taking not only Congress but the White House, as well.  Do you want that again?  If you’re a conservative like me, then it is obvious that you don’t. 

Now – if you choose to just sit on your ass, do nothing and hope for the best, then perhaps maybe you want the Dems to continue to run Congress and the White House for 6 and 4 more years, respectively.  That’s not being Republican is all about, and if you want your country back like I do,  then you need to take action and take it right now.