Notices by Judd Legum (juddlegum@journa.host), page 4

1. A South Carolina high school forced an AP English teacher to scrap a unit on Between The World and Me, the award-winning memoir by Ta-Nehisi Coates

The teacher was accused of BREAKING THE LAW & trying to indoctrinate students on racial issues

Follow along if interested

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I could be wrong but I think Trump being caught on tape admitting he is committing a crime is a problem for his defense

1. One thing that is getting lost in the PGA Tour's proposed merger with LIV and the Saudi government is that IT HAS NOT BEEN APPROVED BY THE PGA TOUR BOARD

Which means it is not a done deal

Which means it might not happen

And there are a few groups people who can stop it

2. One key fact: the world's top players on the PGA Tour were NOT CONSULTED ABOUT THIS DEAL

Tiger wasn't looped in.

Neither was Rory McIlroy, even though he is ON THE PGA TOUR BOARD

If the top 10 or 20 PGA Tour players came out against this, it's dead

3. McIlroy had some positive things about the deal today. So maybe the players won't stand on principle. But there are some other avenues.

4. The other big players are the PGA Tour sponsors. Do they want to associate their brand with a government that ordered the assassination and dismemberment of the US-based journalist? Do they want to be targets of the ire of 9/11 families?

We'll see.

1. In 2023, conservative activists have advanced the theory that "woke" corporations are pushing a radical, pro-LGBTQ agenda

But a Popular Information investigation reveals 25 rainbow flag-waiving corporations have donated $13.5 million to anti-gay politicians since Jan 2022

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1. In 2023, the Democratic and Republican parties are deeply divided on virtually every issue

But there is an exception

There is always more money for defense contractors

The debt limit deal, ostensibly about reducing deficits, contains billions more for the defense industry

2. The deal, struck between McCarthy and Biden, includes a record a record $886 billion for defense, a 3.3% increase

That's EXACTLY what Biden requested in his 2024 budget

Notably, about half of that money will go to defense contractors.

https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense

3. In 2015, the United States spent $585 billion on its military. The United States has added more than $300 billion in military spending in less than a decade.

Biden has added nearly $150 billion to the military budget since 2021, the last budget approved by President Trump.

4. Last year, the US spent more on its military than the next 10 highest-spending countries combined.

Some hawks dismiss this statistic, claiming that countries like China have more "purchasing power"

This underscores the waste and abuse endemic to America's defense industry

5. What would be the impact on national security if the military budget was $786 billion next year instead of $886 billion?

That isn't discussed.

Instead, support for more and more military spending is equated with "supporting the troops" and "keeping people safe."

6. Military contractors have taken advantage of the political dynamics. According to a 60 Minutes investigation that aired earlier this month, "[m]ilitary contractors overcharge the Pentagon on almost everything the Department of Defense buys each year."

https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense

7. The problem has its roots in the early 1990s "when the Pentagon, looking to reduce costs, urged defense companies to merge and 51 major contractors consolidated to five giants."

That means there was no longer much competition for defense contracts.

8. The issue became more severe "in the early 2000s when the Pentagon, in another cost-saving move, cut 130,000 employees whose jobs were to negotiate and oversee defense contracts."

Today, the Pentagon has to trust contractors to do the right thing.

It's not working out well.

9. In 1991, when there was genuine competition for military contracts, the cost of one shoulder-fired stinger missile was $25,000.

Now, defense contractor Raytheon is the sole supplier.

One missile costs 400K

Even accounting for inflation, that's a 7x increase

10. A Department of Defense report released last month concluded that the five major defense contractors "generate substantial amounts of cash beyond their needs for operations or capital investment."

In other words, they are fleecing taxpayers

https://popular.info/p/there-is-always-more-money-for-defense

In order "adhere" to a "standard of conduct" you need to have a "standard of conduct."

Supreme Court has decided to make its own rules.

It's Calvinball.

RT @washingtonpost@twitter.com

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. said Tuesday night that he was “confident” the Supreme Court will convince the public that it “adheres to the highest standards of conduct.” https://wapo.st/3WvLSAs

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/washingtonpost/status/1661347671603392513

I wasn't aware that HARLAN CROW was a MEMBER OF THE SUPREME COURT

RT @birnbaum_e@twitter.com

SCOOP: Here's the letter that Justice Clarence Thomas's benefactor Harlan Crow sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee last night. His lawyers, from top firm Gibson Dunn, are arguing Congress doesn't have the authority to investigate the Supreme Court.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-05-23/justice-thomas-s-benefactor-crow-rebuffs-senate-on-ethics-probe

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/birnbaum_e/status/1661055169969242125

1. Last week media outlets across the country published headlines claiming @Target@twitter.com will suffer an additional $500 million in loses this year due to "organized retail crime" (ORC)

THOSE HEADLINES ARE OBJECTIVELY FALSE

Follow along for receipts

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