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

Vol. 15 · No. 132 · Wednesday, 4 November 2026

Pentagon

Pentagon confident U.S. will be ready for 2027 war with China by 2035

Officials cite historically proven American strategy of entering wars completely unprepared

Hegseth wears Eisenhower's globe as Halloween costume

Spirit Halloween store to become pop-up ICE detention center

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Vol. 15 · No. 132

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Vol. 15 · No. 132 · Deployed worldwide

Wednesday

4 November 2026

0340 Zulu

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· Page 2

Point/Counterpoint: Women in Kombat

Filed · 1537

Photo by WTFast / Unsplash

The following is a debate between Special Forces officer Sonya Blade and Shotokan ice-manipulator Sub-Zero on allowing women to serve in Mortal Kombat units.

Sub-Zero: Allowing women to serve in Mortal Kombat will tear apart the very fabric that holds our brotherhood of warriors together. When you get called to the Outworld to fight Shao Kahn for the survival of Earthrealm, he's not going to care how great you look in camouflage yoga pants.

When it comes to physical abilities, studies have shown that females' health bars drain faster than males' when under attack, and it's easier for males to execute a fatality. With a simple "right, down, right, A" I can freeze a man and uppercut him into a million pieces from a max effective range of 550 meters.

In terms of Kombat effectiveness, everyone knows that once more women are added, the gameplay standards will be lowered to accommodate their graphics. Every time a tournament comes up, women will just go get pregnant to get out of it, and the team will be shorthanded.

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