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The Duffel Brief · the free edition, Monday, Wednesday and Friday

Vol. 15 · No. 130 · Friday, 30 October 2026

Veterans

Spirit Halloween store to become pop-up ICE detention center

DHS praises seasonal retailer's expertise in occupying abandoned buildings and disappearing overnight

Army FRG unveils haunted house featuring spouses saying ‘I’m fine’

Hasan execution venue double-booked with Comic-Con

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Vol. 15 · No. 130

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Vol. 15 · No. 130 · Deployed worldwide

Friday

30 October 2026

1502 Zulu

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· Page 2

VA Outsources call centers to North Korea

Filed · 1538

WASHINGTON — Due to reports of excessive wait times and crisis calls being sent to voicemail, VA officials announced they are outsourcing all of their call centers to North Korea effective immediately.

According to VA spokesperson Lydia Ostin, the People's Republic had the most competitive bids for the project and no lead time to implement. She was also reassured by North Korea's project managers that, despite a few tweaks to the call format, the transition from the US to North Korean call centers will be seamless.

"Users will notice the speed at which they hear their first 'Death to American Bastards' greeting will be greatly increased," said People's Republic spokesperson Hong Gwang-suk, immediately before he was taken to a prison camp for speaking with Westerners. "Also, callers will be pleased to know we eliminated the requirement of entering social security numbers and home addresses by leveraging the OPM data breach from last October."

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