David Moore

Defense Contractor–Funded Think Tank Warns of Weapons Shortage After Iran Strikes NPR listeners weren’t told the think tank receives millions from Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman.

The think tank CSIS is bullish on Trump's Golden Dome. It might be because @csis.org receives millions of dollars from the contractors—Lockheed Martin, RTX, Northrop, etc.—who would profit from another trillion-$ boondoggle.

They wouldn't respond to questions, but they'll appear in your media soon.

Screenshot of headline of May 22, 2025 article in Science News: Trump’s ‘Golden Dome’ plan has a major obstacle: Physics - The proposed missile defense system has many scientists expressing skepticism https://www.sciencenews.org/article/golden-dome-missile-defense-physics

The American Physical Society ( @apsphysics.bsky.social ), with 50,000 members, released a report last year finding that intercepting a single ICBM is extremely difficult and that a "Golden Dome" system has not been proven.

Someone tell the experts at Center for Strategic and International Studies!

A bar chart in here (with my added notes that not all of these are necessarily billionaires — the article is great, it doesn't describe them as such, just passing along what exists on megawealthy donors. E.g., Mellon and Simon are from billionaire families, etc.)

www.opensecrets.org/news/2025/03...

Behind the Organized Assault on Climate Regulation, a Rented Mailbox… Fieldnotes is a watchdog group that investigates the oil and gas industry.

Behind the Organized Assault on Climate Regulation, a Rented Mailbox in a Suburban Texas Strip Mall

a new @fieldnotes.co investigation: fieldnotes.co/reporting/ce...

Billionaire-Backed Democrats Killed the Build Back Better Act ⑉ Brick House The dark money group No Labels is reportedly loading up on billionaire donors to support conservative Democrats in elections ahead.

Wow, what if the U.S. had transitioned away from oil...

Progressives proposed that in the People's Budget, unveiled in 2011: clean energy, end fossil fuel subsidies, infrastructure jobs.

The plan was not advanced by Democratic Party leaders who control congressional committees and fundraising.

Photo of crowd outside Westlab + Gallery in Bushwick

Opening at Westlab. Talked to the owners of the gallery a while ago:

flaminghydra.com/my-local-gal...

ICYMI: I spoke with legendary DC Comics publisher Jenette Kahn, in the first half of a wide-ranging interview about her life in comics.

Documents Reveal a Web of Financial Ties Between Trump Officials and the Industries They Help Regulate ProPublica is releasing a trove of disclosure records that detail the finances of more than 1,500 Trump appointees, including former lobbyists, industry executives and at least a dozen officials who d...

House Dems could have passed a bill, the Anti-Corruption and Public Integrity Act, anytime from 2019-2022 to curb this. It would have been sent to the Senate (and if Schumer had changed filibuster rules for ethics bills, could have gotten a vote.)

Pelosi did not advance the sweeping reform bill.

Deafening dispatch / Polite pioneer Legends interviewed by Tom Tomorrow and Zach Rabiroff

TODAY: a word from a cogent news commentator via @tomtomorrow.bsky.social flaminghydra.com/r/c466d7d7?m...

DNC Chair Moves to Confront Corporate and Dark Money in 2028 Primaries Here is the new resolution from DNC Chair Ken Martin targeting unlimited corporate spending and dark money, starting with the 2028 presidential primary.

24 states have asked Congress to propose a constitutional amendment that would restore authority to limit election spending.

Democratic leaders, however, have not yet directed state parties to curb super PAC spending in Dem primaries via party rules (which are not laws). Plans are in flux:

The War on Terror Paved the Way for Trump's Rise—Now He's Making It His Own Only the total abolition of the DHS can restore freedom.

NEW @thenation.com: The tools of the War on Terror must be destroyed before Trump uses them to finish building his world order, at home and abroad. What we did at home yesterday is what we do in Iran today is what we will do at home tomorrow. The way we break the cycle is straightforward: abolition.

An Interview with Jenette Kahn of DC Comics An interview with DC Comics legend Jenette Kahn

ALSO TODAY: @zachrabiroff.com in conversation with Jenette Khan of DC comics. “I had to learn on the fly. I was 28 years old. I had no business background. And the industry—even though I loved comics, the industry was totally new to me.” flaminghydra.com/an-interview...

Congressional Leaders Warning of ‘Insider Trading’ Could Have Banned Officials From Stock Trading Banning members of Congress and government officials from trading stocks is highly popular, even among many rank and file lawmakers—but not among the congressional leaders who control which bills adva...

House Dems could have passed a law banning executive branch officials from betting on Kalshi and Polymarket, owning crypto, or owning stocks in individual companies. It was first introduced in 2018, so any later version 2019-2022.

They did not move the sweeping ethics bill to send it to the Senate.

Defense Contractor–Funded Think Tank Warns of Weapons Shortage After Iran Strikes NPR listeners weren’t told the think tank receives millions from Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman.

If the think tank @csis.org was really concerned about munitions supplies, they could have pointed out, anytime over the past decades, that giant defense contractors like Lockheed and RTX were spending way more on stock buybacks than R&D.

But Pentagon contractors are CSIS funders, so here we are.

Ten Years Behind the Wheel a fiery writer-owned cooperative

TODAY: @milesklee.bsky.social on ten years in the maddening, mythical Los Angeles. "That disaster, in fact, is possibly what made us come to see ourselves as Angelenos, no longer quite so naive about our paradise that rests on the edge of oblivion." flaminghydra.com/ten-years-be...

I interviewed the incredible Keeonna Harris for Flaming Hydra. We talked about incarcerated pen pals, literary moms, bacon wrapped hot dogs and more. 💚

Defense Contractor–Funded Think Tank Warns of Weapons Shortage After Iran Strikes NPR listeners weren’t told the think tank receives millions from Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman.

Experts with the Center for Strategic and International Studies ( @csis.org ) will appear on your media and say they're concerned about munitions stockpiles.

They won't say that the defense contractors like Lockheed Martin and RTX that give them millions spent lavishly on... stock buybacks. Latest:

Defense Contractor–Funded Think Tank Warns of Weapons Shortage After Iran Strikes NPR listeners weren’t told the think tank receives millions from Lockheed Martin, RTX, and Northrop Grumman.

NEW: As Trump prepares $50 billion supplemental for munitions depleted by Iran strikes, experts from defense contractor-funded think tanks are amplifying shortage warnings to reporters. readsludge.com/2026/03/05/d...

Congressional Leaders Warning of ‘Insider Trading’ Could Have Banned Officials From Stock Trading Banning members of Congress and government officials from trading stocks is highly popular, even among many rank and file lawmakers—but not among the congressional leaders who control which bills adva...

Maybe some future Congress! Pelosi blocked a congressional trading measure from being included in 2021's For the People Act:

readsludge.com/2021/03/04/p...

And neither chamber has moved the stronger Anti-Corruption Act, which would cover executive branch officials:

readsludge.com/2025/04/15/c...

Dem Senator Says He'll Vote To Fund Iran War Just 1 Day After Calling It 'Dumb' While the Arizona Democrat said the conflict wasn’t in America’s “best interest," he told CNN's Kaitlan Collins he'd have the Pentagon's back.

If you vote to fund the war, you support the war.

www.huffpost.com/entry/ruben-...

The Corporate Consultants Behind Harris for President A presidential campaign that had trouble connecting with working-class voters was led by consultants with backgrounds working for giant companies.

Democratic consultancy Precision Strategies, whose co-founders led the Kamala Harris campaign, acquired Republican firm Firehouse Strategies, whose co-founders led Marco Rubio's 2016 campaign, according to Politico Influence.

Harris' campaign did not close with an affordability message. "Oh well."

I’m From the Concrete: A Conversation with Keeonna Harris Keeonna Harris has always dreamt big. When she was fourteen, the high school freshman plotted a future inspired by The Cosby Show: after graduating from high school, she would leave Los Angeles and go...

TODAY: @lesbrains.bsky.social in conversation with author and memoirist Keeonna Harris. “Women shoulder the burden of male incarceration. Prison forced me to mother my children without their father. Prison forced me to mother my incarcerated partner.” flaminghydra.com/im-from-the-...

Congressional Leaders Warning of ‘Insider Trading’ Could Have Banned Officials From Stock Trading Banning members of Congress and government officials from trading stocks is highly popular, even among many rank and file lawmakers—but not among the congressional leaders who control which bills adva...

If you think it's unethical that the president can profit from his deregulatory actions... ask Nancy Pelosi why she never moved the Anti-Corruption Act, first intro'd in 2018.

The ethics bill would force executive branch officials, and members of Congress, to divest.

Dem leaders never moved it.

Trump Quietly Invested Millions in Bank Securities, Late Ethics Filing Shows The President recently disclosed more than a hundred late trades made since May of last year, nearly all in banks and financial institutions.

Soon after the Trump admin gutted the CFPB watchdog agency, the president secretly invested millions in bank securities that offer returns of up to 8%. The holdings were only disclosed today, late.

Trump Quietly Invested Millions in Bank Securities, Late Ethics Filing Shows The President recently disclosed more than a hundred late trades made since May of last year, nearly all in banks and financial institutions.

As Trump pushed through his massive tax-and-spending bill that was cheered by bank lobbying groups, he was secretly investing millions in bank securities. The public did not have disclosure until now (but don't worry, he paid a late filing fee). New by @donnydonny.bsky.social:

Trump Quietly Invested Millions in Bank Securities, Late Ethics Filing Shows The President recently disclosed more than a hundred late trades made since May of last year, nearly all in banks and financial institutions.

SCOOP: Trump quietly invested as much as $20 million in bank securities last year and violated the STOCK Act by failing to publicly disclose the transactions. readsludge.com/2026/03/04/t...

Four House Dems publicly oppose the Iran war powers resolution: Reps. Josh Gottheimer, Greg Landsman, Jared Moskowitz, and Tom Suozzi.

The four have received $1.5 million in donations from AIPAC PAC this cycle alone, and more than $1.8 million from the group before...

Congressional Leaders Warning of ‘Insider Trading’ Could Have Banned Officials From Stock Trading Banning members of Congress and government officials from trading stocks is highly popular, even among many rank and file lawmakers—but not among the congressional leaders who control which bills adva...

Great concern over insider betting on Polymarket, even on nuclear weapons!

House Dems could have passed a bill, anytime from 2019–2022, that would have prohibited executive branch officials from such assets, and sent it to the Senate.

Pelosi never gave the Anti-Corruption Act a hearing.

The CIA did deliberately marginalize "Adore" though

This Minnesota Winter Is the New Prague Spring I’ve studied Czechoslovakia in 1968. I live in Minneapolis. The similarities between the historic invasion and the current ICE “surge” are scary.

Film and media historian @alicelovejoy.bsky.social on the parallels between the current ICE surge in Minneapolis, where she lives, and the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia. Read through the end, deeply observed >>