U.S. Military Removes Ban on Transgender Troops Serving Openly
The Pentagon will no longer ban transgender people from serving openly in the U.S. military, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced this afternoon.
Secretary of Defense Announces How He'll Waste $582 Billion
You hear that? It’s the sound of 582 billion dollar bills falling down an infinitely deep hole, as narrated by your Secretary of Defense, Ash Carter. Yes, his name’s Ash. And yes, he’s going to spend a couple billion defending outer space from ISIS.
The Pentagon Wasted $43 Million of Your Money on a Gas Station in Afghanistan
The gas station you’re looking at, built as part of the Pentagon’s reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan, should have cost half a million dollars. Instead, it cost $43 million, and the U.S. government can’t even explain why.
Watch the Final, Dying Moments of the Runaway Blimp
We lost a hero yesterday. He didn’t talk much, nor did he work very hard. He was criticized from all directions. He was cold. He kept to himself. But before he died in rural Pennsylvania, he tasted freedom. R.I.P. Blimp. Here’s a video of your death.
Senior Pentagon Intelligence Official Indicted in Extremely Shady Weapons Deal
A senior Navy intelligence official, David W. Landersman, has been indicted on theft and conspiracy charges, the Washington Post reports, connected to an ongoing federal investigation into the covert production and shipment of illegally manufactured rifle silencers.
U.S. Military Considers Allowing Transgender People to Die on Its Behalf
The Pentagon is in the final stages of ending a ban on transgender people serving in the U.S. military, according to senior officials who spoke with the Associated Press. An announcement is expected sometime this week.
U.S. Gov: Oops We Mailed Potentially Deadly Anthrax Around the World
Ah, fuck! The Pentagon just said its anthrax mistake is worse than previously believed: live samples of the deadly bacteria might have reached 51 different labs in 17 different states, D.C., and three foreign countries. Also, this has been going on for the past decade.
Pentagon Admits Airstrikes Probably Killed Two Children in Syria
In a statement, the Pentagon confirmed that coalition airstrikes against ISIS in Syria “likely resulted” in the deaths of two children, the Guardian reports. The airstrikes were carried out in early November of last year against facilities in Harem, near Aleppo, controlled by the Khorasan group, an al-Qaida affiliate.
Five Guantanamo Bay Prisoners Released to Kazakhstan
The U.S. released five men who have been detained at Guantanamo Bay for a dozen years without trial, transferring them to Kazakhstan for resettlement.
The Pentagon Isn't Done Investigating 1,700 Child Porn Cases From 2006
Back in the Bush era, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency provided the Pentagon with a list of 5,200 employees suspected of viewing child pornography. Five years later, the Boston Globe discovered that 1,700 of those cases had yet to be investigated. We filed a FOIA. Their investigation is still "open."
U.S. Begins Airstrikes on ISIS Targets in Syria
The Pentagon has announced that the United States and five unnamed Arab nations have begun joint airstrikes against ISIS targets in Syria.
Did We Finish Looking Into Those 1,700 Pentagon Child Porn Cases?
Inquiries into why Britain's Home Office mysteriously lost 100 files documenting allegations of an organized pedophile ring involving politicians seem to have stalled recently, with the panel's chair stepping down, due to a conflict of interest. Did America drop the ball on one these high-level child abuse cases too?
GAO: Drug Companies Are Cheating the Military-Industrial Complex
A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment's access to pharmaceuticals, but according to a new study from the U.S. Government Accountability Office, drug companies are overcharging the Pentagon, on average, by 50 percent on generics, and 60 percent overall. Way to support the troops!
U.S. Military Plans to Destroy $1 Billion Worth of Ammunition
The Pentagon plans to trash $1.2 billion in small-arms ammunition and missiles that are probably usable, but it can't be sure, because military inventory records are such a mess.
The FOIA Training Video That the Pentagon Redacted
In 2001, the Pentagon produced a strange training video, for internal use and at a cost of more than $70,000, designed to teach civilian and military employees how the Freedom of Information Act works. It was comically dumb, featuring a noir private detective in a hack Humphrey Bogart accent navigating a World War…
Let's Give Our Veterans the Only Thing They Want: A Mission
We know what's wrong with Veteran's Day. We know this country is crawling with jobless, homeless veterans of America's constant occupations and invasions. We know there aren't enough jobs for these people already burdened with so much, and no labor market demand for the "skill set" of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder…
Pentagon Admits Faking "Arrival Ceremonies" for MIA Soldiers
For the past seven years, the Pentagon has faked “arrival ceremonies” meant to honor the remains of missing American soldiers returning to the U.S., according to NBC News.
Robots Now Replacing Chinese Factory Workers and U.S. Fighter Pilots
Tom Cruise in that Top Gun movie, Han Solo, and that U.S. Airways pilot who landed a busted passenger jet in the Hudson River are some of the many dashing heroes we think of when we consider the heroic American pilot. But human pilots just aren't necessary anymore.
CUNY Is Paying David Petraeus $200,000 to Work Three Hours a Week
A first-time adjunct professor teaching a full course load at the City University of New York can expect to pull in around $25,000 per year. If you recently resigned as C.I.A. director over a long-time affair with your biographer, however, you can expect to be paid eight times as much for a fraction of the work.
Pentagon Finds Gossipy Navy SEAL Author in Breach of Non-Disclosure Agreements, Considers Pressing Charges
Obama critic and former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnette might be in a bit of trouble with his old bosses for writing No Easy Day, which includes a detailed account of the bin Laden killing. According Jeh Johnson, the general counsel of the Defense Department, Bissonette signed non-disclosure agrements with the Navy in…
