#2019??? 200k

[tempestaurora]

would all my followers mind going and watching the snowpiercer tv show, getting really into melanie and bennett as a relationship, and then come back and read my fics? the fandom is small and i want attention

[orange-foxes]

Red Rabbits by bloodydamnit, Jeni182, SeaBear13, windeavesdrops

Series: Part 1 of 3 Length: 292k

Andrew Minyard is a successful journalist, writing hit pieces to take down and uncover decay in big institutions. When he starts looking into the mysterious disappearance of Mary and Nathaniel Wesninski, that all disappears. Suddenly, he finds himself blacklisted in his line of work. Unable to move forward with the piece, he finds a platform with The Foxhole Network, the communications department at his Alama Mater. With the help of the TFN team, he puts together a podcast and goes on the hunt for Mary and Nathaniel, following leads sent by their listeners and connecting dots that hadn't bothered to be connected before. - Neil Josten has stayed in the same place for far too long. He knows this, but he's grown comfortable. That is until he hears a deep voice through a set of speakers - a podcast host asking the question he didn't want to be answered most: What happened to Mary and Nathaniel? Neil does the only thing he knows how. He runs. But he runs into more problems than solutions.

Ao3, Chaptered, Completed, Must Read

[darkshrimpemotions]

TIL that not only did Taylor get an interim contract with SAG AFTRA and meet all their requirements to create and distribute her Eras Tour film without strike breaking...

Not only did she give life-changing $100-$200k bonuses to all of the workers on the U.S. leg of her tour when it was finished...

Not only did she donate money to food banks in every city she toured in (which I learned when working with food banks in my previous role is a massive help to them and something they rarely get enough donations of)...

Not only is she undoubtedly releasing one of the films that will help keep movie theatres from going under while the AMPTP sit in their office buildings refusing to negotiate...

Not only is she, with that film, demonstrating the viability of what I genuinely believe is going to end up being the way forward for at least some of the entertainment industry, which is to cut the AMPTP out entirely...

But way back in 2018 or 2019, when she changed labels and negotiated her contract with Universal, she negotiated it so that if Universal sells any of its stake in Spotify, it has to share those profits not just with her, but with ALL of the artists on the label.

[thesleepypencil]

repostober day 23

the original first go fish comic has close to 200k note by now!!! so needless to say i decided not to repost it. instead I have my more up to date comics, made between 2019-2021. including my covid stress comic.

[jolalibrary]

Hi Jo!

How did you get into writing fanfic?

I’m sorry I’ve sat on this for so long, but I wanted to make sure I answered it with the full attention it deserves. I apologise for the length 😂.

I began this as to how, but then also why? and it got long.

warnings for: jo being overly open, sharing things she doesn’t usually, mentions of mental health, mention but not discussion of sexual trauma poor sleep, and again, oversharing. I don’t think I’ve been this open ever, so be gentle with me.

so, I began writing fanfic in 2015. I discovered it on accident, I was doom scrolling on Pinterest, trying to see if I could make some tree decorations in an insomnia bout (because I’d already completed TLOU - irony I know) and discovered a fanfic.

and I was lost in it, 200k deep and then I read another, and another, and I don’t know why I had an idea to attempt to write my own, but I did, and I poured all of my pain into it. (I eventually took this fic down because it was so freaking personal and painful to have up - and it’s still shared now by several people which irks me a lot). but god at the time? it healed me. and it brought me two people who I still talk to to this day, even if we don’t live in the same timezone.

I stayed in that fandom until 2018 when I left and continued only writing for daredevil (which id joined in like 2016).

and then in 2019 I stopped all together due to bad mental health, and just personal things in my life (I really wasn’t doing that well and wanted a bit of a reset).

it was then I began writing an original story. working on it obsessively, eventually shaping it to show some agents at a writing festival in 2020 (virtually, cause of the rona). and it was good, I met with three and two of them loved it. i had amazing feedback, including requests, and I should have been happy, right?

well, I FREAKED out. my little romcom could be something? I sobbed, I broke down, I couldn’t get out of bed for two days and I was a mess.

now, the reasons as to why, is still fuzzy to me. but I assume it’s because all of my life I’d truly believed that Im not good at anything. and writing was this one thing I had to myself, that I shared but never expected anything. and then, suddenly there was expectations, and the reality that people had read it—people who could do things with it, terrified me.

their nice words had weight, meaning? and yet they felt like iron pokers against my skin. even through therapy I don’t like delving into the why’s the what’s, but I assume it’s a combination of lack of self belief and the foundation I’m built on (and why I struggle with compliments) but also the fact it went from a hobby to something that could be something. and I think I freaked at it.

from here, my mental health took a big hit, I was so anxious I couldn’t leave the house and by the end of that year I was back to where I was in 2019, but if anything, much worse?

I didn’t know who I was. all the trauma i thought I’d healed from, rose up inside of me and it took me ages to finally be able to even think about writing again. I was broken. reset to more than factory settings because I couldn’t even recall what I liked? what I loved (outside of my husband and dog). I was a shadow wandering around, going from appointment to appointment.

and then, because he’s an amazing soul, my husband suggested I write fanfic again. start again, try. and I did. I potted around under a different name and then in 2022 i grabbed mvtthewmurdvck back, and I came back through call of duty.

by the end of that year, I found narcos 💁‍♀️ (javi supremacy) and here we are, 2024.

I say a lot that writing saved me, and it literally did.

and I rarely share all of this, but I’m not ashamed of my story, but sometimes I feel I should have been stronger?

but actually, I’m strong for getting up even when I was knocked down. I rebuilt, I reshaped and I discovered threads in myself I’d never known was there. and that took guts.

I was able to discover my sex drive, a thing I’ve struggled with (even in my loving and brilliant relationship) after some trauma when I was 15 with my boyfriend at the time (iykyk). I was able to write scenarios that I could then bring into my own life, and I wrote an entire fic (ILTWY) that helped me discover that I actually love sex. that I love pleasure in all its forms.

I was able to find my heart again, and write a romcom that made me find people I couldn’t be without now, but also, show myself that I can still write a romcom, and that thing in 2020 was just a blip, it wasn’t a sign and it wasn’t a thing that would define me.

and, even now, while I’m struggling to even smile, and I cried putting my eyebrows on this morning, I wrote my feelings out into a Drabble I’m not sure if I’ll share, that made me feel like I could go to work today and cope.

I say that notes and things aren’t my focus here, but never really explained why, but this, all above, is why. writing is there for me, it’s a crutch, it’s a saviour when the world feels too much. it was a thing that I lived without for a short period, but when I came back to it, it was like returning home.

and the best part? I get to share my words with you, I get to think “maybe this will resonate with people” and find that sometimes, it does. I get to be a comfort, to make someone smile, to make you laugh or even make you feel a little horny hahahah. and that means MORE to me, because when I was lost, afraid and terrified of the voice in my head, someone else’s words did that for me. they held me close, they helped me stop and pause and take a breath.

and that’s how I got into writing fanfic, and why it will forever be something special to me.

an: I haven’t edited this, and I’m shaking, so if there’s spelling mistakes, ignore.

[wutheringmights]

head in my fcking hands bro

god I miss taz balance bro

[fuzzbeararchives]

Available as of Freddy Fuzzbear's Family Fun Centre™'s second season, these ice cream bars can be purchased from just about all of the eateries found inside the indoor amusement park. In 2019, limited edition variants of the first generation animatronic mascots were introduced with more "mature" flavors, presumably to cater to the older fans of the brand.

Fuzzbear enthusiasts online have rallied to have these treats available for purchase in grocery stores around the world but all attempts to convince Fuzzbear Inc. have been so far unsuccessful. An online petition exists to try to persuade executives that sits at 5k signatures of the required 200k.

[triptychgrip]

Chronology of events for my post-canon 200k+ Yuri!!! on Ice fic series

One inevitability of writing such a massive post-canon Yuri!!! on Ice fic series that spans 5 years -- including 2 different Olympic Games (2018 PyeongChang Games and the 2022 Beijing Games) -- is that I've found myself at times struggling with second-guessing the continuity of events that I've built into my fic-verse ('Gold's On The Inside, Elevated My Feet'). This is especially the case b/c in my series, the 2018 Winter Olympics were marked by a scandal (note: not doping) that catalyzed a ton of events that followed in the realm of Yuuri and Viktor's relationship, and in the world of elite/competitive figure skating in general.

It got me thinking recently that it might be helpful to post the chronology of events (both personal, as well as the sports politics-related) that I've been working from, beginning from the time Viktor was born. My hope is to post this soon as part 6 of the series, and prior to uploading Chapter 15 (which, if you're new to my work, will detail the Men's Singles Short Program at the 2022 Beijing Games).

Other authors that have worked on stories spanning multiple big events or time periods: how do you manage to keep everything consistent and ensure that your continuity remains throughout? And, have you found it helpful to share your timeline of events in some kind of listed chronology for your readers?

I think I've been doing a decent job so far, but every so often I'm like "Oh wait, damnit, who did I write as the silver medalist as the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships, again?" or, "Hmmm...I originally noted that Yuuri and Viktor would move to Fukuoka, Japan in 'summer 2019', but when, specifically did I mean???"

And then I panic, worried that I've somehow contradicted myself somewhere LOL

[uniasus]

Netflix released, well, not a ton but some data about viewership recently and I couldn't help but look up the performance of my fandoms. They released the top 18,214 titles based on hours watched from Jan to June 2023.

Ordered in terms of rank.

ATLA: Avatar the Last Airbender (Not available globally - what countries are missing? IDK)

Woot woot! Avatar in the house. 45.5M hours for book 1, giving it a rank of 342.

Book 3 has more views than book 2. I'm gonna credit that to Zuko.

Teen Wolf (Not available globally - what countries are missing? IDK)

The top season is season 3, oddly enough, with a rank of 361! It got 43.9M hours streamed. What are you all rewatching?

Season 1 is the third most watched.

Jurassic World (Not available globally - what countries are missing? IDK)

A healthy rank of 536 with 34M views.

Yu-Gi-Oh (Not available in the US)

Season one is ranked 1,843, with 11.4M hours watched in the first half of the year. Wow! That's impressive for such an old show.

Only 54% of people moved on to the second season. Sad😢

Season 5 had more views than Season 4 or 3. Stop torturing yourselves with rewatching the ceremonial duel, y'all. It's not healthy.

Carmen SanDiego

Season one saw 5.9M hours watched, giving it a rank of 3,133! Not bad for a show from 2019. (How does YGO out rank this? And how is this show more popular than She-Ra? She-Ra is better imo)

I'm impressed the Steal or Not to Steal interactive story did as well as it did. (1.3M hours). But I also know there were some good JuliaxCarmen scenes that 100% inspired fics.

She-Ra (available globally)

Season 1 is ranked 3,213 with 5.7M hours viewed.

People then went on to watch Seasons 5 and 4. We're all rewatching the angst bits, aren't we? Or maybe it's the redemption arc.

Least watched season? 3.

Voltron

Season one is ranked 4,140 with 3.9M hours watched.

Why is season 2 the only one not available globally? Odd. 62% of people go on to watch it after season 1 anyway.

Season 8 is not the least watched season, season 5 is. However, season 5 is totally the one I rewatched twice when it first came out.

Fullmetal Alchemist (movies are global, anime are not)

It is an absolute crime nothing here is ranked high. The highest is the movie, The Revenge of Scar, with a rank of 5,666. 2.2M hours watched.

Only season 1 for both the 03 anime and Brotherhood is available, but the 03 anime is winning. It had an extra 200K hours viewed.

All of the movies had a higher hour watch count than any of the anime seasons.

BBC Merlin | Doctor Who (no data)

Want Data? Variety Article with download links.

[taylortruther]

but is it a safe pass to call her a slut or a female Jeff Bezos /Elon musk. is it a pass to body shame her,shame her dating life,asking to hang herself and ask Travis to do the same. painting joe as a very good man and an activist. there are multiple tweets in 200k likes and more using her own lyrics against her. calling her a woman who changed her personality for men she dates and only spoke out against thanks to joe. this has been happening since the break up and everyone over and over uses her lyrics to paint joe a pedestal. calling her a woman who can't keep a man so she took injections to be a basic wag for Travis. i could go on and also even saying kanye was right in 2009,ch was in 2016,scooter in 2019 etc. there is just straight up unhinged hate when people are even agreeing Matty is a leftist who was wronged in May.

i have never said any of this so i'm not going to try and answer for it! also i haven't even seen any of this because i follow reasonable people thank the lorde

[sippinggossip]

Fans were only as interested in Vic as they were in Damiano in the context of the band because Victoria was the only woman and that made her stand out.

Without maneskin active, the interest in Vic has plummeted. She's been losing followers on Instagram daily, she averages half the amount of likes she did at the same time last year. Meanwhile Damiano has gained 200k ig followers since he's gone solo officially, has already surpassed Vic in the total likes on tiktok with far fewer videos than her and despite only starting posting 3 months later than her and it's a matter of days before he surpasses her on followers there too.

The truth is that no matter how much it pains Victoria stans, the star is Damiano. Damiano outside the band still generates interest, people talking about him either positively or negatively. Victoria outside the band is an uninteresting dj. She can't stand on her own without the context of being the only girl. She doesn't have a unique enough thing to offer to pull that off.

And who cares if she was the one who started the band? Good for her but her fans keep saying that as if that makes her some kind of mastermind when maneskin wouldn't have even passed the first Xfactor audition without Damiano. The judges called Ethan downright bad, which he was at the time, and Vic and Thomas weren't much better. They only became decent in 2018 and good musicians after 2019. While Damiano was already a full fledged artist in 2017.

everything Damiano does generates interest. He made out with Martina once and that got her 70k followers in a week. He turned Giorgia from an unknown model to a published author and influencer with 700+ k followers. Diesel is putting out an entire collection designed by him despite maneskin fans making fun of his style while praising Victoria as the fashion genius of the band 😂

If Victoria wasn't so self centred she would've accepted he's the leader and not tried to outshine him constantly. That's the reason why bands like arctic monkeys have lasted because the musicians don't try to compete with the lead singer. But she believed herself more important than she was, just like Giorgia did. What they have in common is that they both didn't realise their popularity was dependent on Damiano. And I'm not being misogynistic just realistic.

.

[solarwynd]

heyy I'm wondering whom do u think is most popular in USA? like take away fandom, solo fandom and payola between jm & jm but normally whom do u think so far reached casual listeners? seven def pushed to gp and I'm sure many heard it but i don't think he made them check out his album or even look more into him?

jimin was always the star in usa, the medias audience and everyone adores him. his peak started since 2019 which was double the rate of 2017 n it was growing up every year till last yr it was silent for everyone tbh but this year he did gained some casual listeners but it's not much of reach still I believe he's the most popular? jk had every push and hundreds of stages but the day after he performed at tsx his songs fell off 200k, if he gained those audience attention it wouldn't atleast fell? it's not measurements of popularity, bcz even if negative articles gave him hype but it's all social media hype so far? most of them called him as scooter client or bts member than jungkook, he didn't cemented his name yet. JIMIN is a brand himself since way back and now hybe is trying to launch jk as brand lol. jimin is household name every where so I don't wanna think from my solo heart but rationally I wanna discuss abt jm popularity vs jk

that's my take, dwhat about yours?

Truthfully I’m sure they both have casual listeners but I believe that jimin’s garnered more of a positive reputation with the music he’s put out that it’ll be exciting at the very least. Not to mention he left everybody on a song like “like crazy.” So naturally people will be interested in what he’s dropping next.

In terms of genuine popularity, jimin takes that too. The tokenism that surrounds jk is heavy to the point that the ratio of people that are here for him specifically pales in comparison to the people who just use him as a vessel to hate on jimin with. Besides that and I’ve said this before, He’s just palatable to the average person. But with being palatable comes unremarkability. His debut was an intentional rehash with no real creativity behind it. Just a farce of an early 2000’s to 2010 formula when people have moved well past that especially in the grand year of 2023.

That’s why GP didn’t take to him because there’s nothing impactful about him. Stack that ontop of back to back meh singles with a meh album to follow? That was never gonna turn people into full on fans en mass. And I know that’s what they were gunning for even more than those numbers because the tricks that they’ve been pulling are not cheap and him gaining fans would’ve offset that by even a fraction. Now he’s just stuck getting carried purely by burnt out armys expensive playlisting and thailand because there’s no real interest outside of that.

He’s almost the mirror image of all these kpop companies who were trying to force their groups into the american market back in 2019 except he had the benefit of being a bts member so people have already been exposed to him. It was a boost but it was squandered because in trying to push him to the forefront, all they did was show that he can’t stand on his own and get a hit by himself. I think the one song that we can somewhat gage his pull through is “too much.” because outside the other songs that one had the least amount of support. Even with two popular fts and playlisting, it pulled 4.3M filtered on global spotify & 598k compared to SMF2 4.8M & 638k with nothing.

So in conclusion, if somebody is truly popular and in demand they should be able to prove that off their own name without the aid of two ceos behind them and jimin was able to do just that.

[darkshrimpemotions]

I love looking at AO3 stats because I can go year by year and see how much I wrote in a given year. What was wrong with me in 2017, I barely wrote at all. What the hell happened this year, I wrote more this year than almost any other two years combined. The jump from word counts below 50k to word counts above 125k from 2019 to 2020 is fucking hilarious, I can't even list all the factors that went into that!

Also somehow I had an actual social life this year and a busy work schedule and STILL wrote over 200k words??? Who is she and how can I keep being her forever.

[aloftmelevar]

If you get this, answer with 3 random facts about yourself and send it to the last 7 blogs in your notifications, anonymously or not! Let's get to know the person behind the blog!

(i'll give 3 facts but i don't think i'll do the sending to 7 blogs in my notifications thing lol.)

i own three cats, two of which are from the 200k subscriber youtube stream/kitten foster kitten academy! they are the only youtubers i've met in person AND whose house i've been in. i was on their stream in may 2019 when getting penny and a month later my parents went back to get hubbub. we were the last people to adopt cats from them before they moved from chicago to conneticut. we had to drive 9 hours to get them but it was worth it lol

i have crohn's disease. it isn't really much of an issue for me when i'm on my meds tho

my conservative dad met hillary clinton for a work thing in 2016. we have a framed picture of him with her and it is one of the most cursed items we own.

[thebobby1432world]

Yiny Leon Wiki, Biography, Age, Height, Weight, Family, Net Worth

Yiny Leon Wiki: Yiny Leon is an American film actress born on June 1, 1984, in Puerto Rico, United States. She is primarily known for performing in videos with her life partner. In this Yiny Leon biography, we will learn about her early life, career, videos, and more. So let's get started. Apart from fitness, Yiny is also interested in swimming, and perhaps this is why she often posts photos taken in swimming pools on her Instagram handle. Yiny began her career in the entertainment industry in 2019. She is a self-made actress, and in 2019, she created a profile on a website and started posting videos with her partner. After posting videos consistently for a year, she established herself as a self-made actress. So far, she has posted more than 100 videos and has received over 331,296,969 views. Yiny Leon Wiki To watch Yiny Leon's full videos, you need to subscribe, but you can watch parts of her videos for free. Additionally, the actress is quite active on a website called OnlyFans. Viewers like Yiny Leon, and during an interview on a Spanish YouTube channel, she explained that the first reason people like her is her body shape, and the second reason is that she provides credit to her videos.

Yiny Leon

Yiny Leon Wiki

NameYiny LeonProfessionActress and ModelNationalityAmericanEthnicity/DescentCaucasianYears Active2019 to PresentNet Worth (approx.)$200K USDYiny Leon CareerDebutIn 2019 - as an ActressAwardsNoneYiny Leon's Personal LifeNick NameYinyLeon YiniLeon Unileon Yini Leon Yiny Leone YinyBorn (Date of Birth)1 June 1984Age (as of 2023)38 YearsBirthplacePuerto Rico, United StatesGenderFemaleZodiac SignGeminiHometownPuerto RicoHobbies/HabitsGymming, Running, Hiking, Swimming, Selfie LoverFood HabitNon-VegetarianSchoolNot KnownCollegeNot KnownEducation QualificationNot KnownYiny Leon Family, BoyfriendMotherNot KnownFatherNot KnownSister/BrotherNot KnownMarital StatusMarriedAffair/BoyfriendNot KnownHusbandJimmy LeonDaughter/Son/ChildrenNot KnownRelativesNot KnownFriendsNot KnownYiny Leon Body Measurements Height155 cm 1.55 m 5 ft 1 inWeight61 KG 134 lbs (pounds)Eye ColorBlackHair ColorBrownFigure Size36-30-38Dress Size38 (EU)Shoe (Feet) Size7TattoosThree Tattoos 1. A Tattoo on Spine 2. A Tattoo Closed To the Navel 3. A Tattoo on HandDistinctive FeaturesAttractive FigureYiny Leon Social MediaInstagramInstagramTwitterTwitter Read the full article

[theculturedmarxist]

Welcome to BIG, a newsletter on the politics of monopoly power. If you’re already signed up, great! If you’d like to sign up and receive issues over email, you can do so here.

Today, as the U.S. is drawn into wars in Israel and Ukraine, as well as the defense of now-peaceful Taiwan, I’m writing about war. Not the policy choices, or whether U.S. military power is a net force for good or ill, but the actual practical machinery behind the American defense base that produces the weaponry necessary to sustain the military.

As stockpiles dwindle, there is now widespread agreement among policymakers that America must rebuild its capacity to arm itself and its allies. But according to a new scorching government report released this week, that’s mostly just talk. The Pentagon doesn’t bother tracking the guts of defense contracting, which is who owns the mighty firms that build weaponry.

But first, I have a personal announcement. I am going on leave this week, and I’ve hired a colleague named Lee Hepner to take over for BIG while I am out. You are in for a treat. Hepner works with me at the American Economic Liberties Project. He’s a lawyer with over a decade's worth of policy and political experience at the state and local level, and when I have a question on the law or procedure, Hepner’s one of my go-to people. He’s drafted important legislation, and has recently been focusing on the airline industry, labor issues, and a lot of the major antitrust litigation I've written about here, including the trials of the Meta-Within merger, the Microsoft-Activision acquisition and the Google monopolization case. You're in good hands.

And now, let’s talk the defense base. Here’s an exceptionally boring chart that involves all the money in the world. Welcome to the Pentagon.

One of the more important side stories to the recent wars in Ukraine and Israel, and competition with China over Taiwan, is that the U.S. defense industrial base, composed of 200k plus corporations, is being forced to actually build weapons again. Defense is big business, and since the end of the Cold War, the government has allowed Wall Street to determine who owns, builds, and profits from defense spending.

The consequences, as with much of our economic machinery, are predictable. Higher prices, worse quality, lower output. Wall Street and private equity firms prioritize cash out first, and that means a once functioning and nimble industrial base now produces more grift than anything else. As Lucas Kunce and I wrote for the American Conservative in 2019, the U.S. simply can’t build or get the equipment it needs. There are at this point a bevy of interesting reports coming out of the Pentagon. The last one I wrote up earlier this year showed that unlike the mid-20th century defense-industrial base, today government cash goes increasingly to stock buybacks rather than actual armaments. And now, with a dramatic upsurge in need for everything from missiles to artillery shells to bullets, we’re starting to see cracks in the vaunted U.S. military.

The signs are unmistakable. In Ukraine, fighters are rationing shells. Taiwan can’t get weapons it ordered years ago. The Pentagon has put together a secret team to scour stockpiles to find high-precision armaments in demand on every battlefield and potential battlefield. But the problem goes beyond national defense. In Lake City, Missouri, the largest small arms ammunition plant in the world has decided all ammo production is going to the military, meaning that there is going to be a domestic shortage for hunters, sportsmen, and maybe even police. This shortage may look like a story of a sudden surge in demand, but it’s actually, as Elle Ekman wrote in the Prospect in 2021, a story of consolidation and de-industrialization.

Surges due to wars aren’t new, and there’s always some time lag between the build-up and the delivery. But today, the lengths of time are weirdly long. For instance, the Army is awarding contracts to RTX and Lockheed Martin to build new Stinger missiles, which makes sense. But the process will take.. five years. Why? What is new is Wall Street’s role in weaponry. We used to have slack, and productive capacity, but then came private equity and mergers. And now we don’t. The government can’t actually solicit bids from multiple players for most major weapons systems, because there’s just one or two possible bidders. So that means there’s little incentive for firms to expand output, even if there’s more spending. Why not just raise price?

But don’t take my word for it, take that of the Pentagon. In 2022, the DOD reported that “that consolidation of the industrial base reduces competition for DOD contracts and leads DOD to rely on a more limited number of suppliers. This lack of competition may in turn increase the risk of supply chain gaps, price increases, reduced innovation, and other adverse effects.” And that’s why, more than a year into the Ukraine conflict, the ramp-up is still not where it needs to be.

This week, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is a Congressional office charged with investigating problems in government and business, explained why. The GAO came out with a report on how the Pentagon is doing essentially zero oversight of Wall Street’s acquisitions of defense contractors. The title is as boring as you’d expect, designed to have few people pay attention, but offering a red-alert to procurement officials.

The report is simply jaw-dropping. Despite all the chatter about consolidation at high levels within the Pentagon, and in Congress, the bureaucracy has made essentially no progress whatsoever. For instance, we have a trillion dollar defense budget, but there are just two people in the Department of Defense who look at mergers in the defense base. You couldn’t staff the morning shift of a small coffee shop with that, and yet two people are supposed to look at the estimated four hundred mergers plus going on every year among defense contractors and subcontractors.

Four hundred mergers every year is a lot, but of course, that’s just an estimate. Why don’t we know how many acquisitions happen in the defense base? As it turns out, it’s an estimate because the Pentagon isn’t tracking defense mergers anymore. To put it in boring GAO-speak, Pentagon“officials could not say with certainty how many defense-related M&A now occur annually because they no longer track or maintain data on all M&A in the defense industrial base.” So the DOD is almost totally blind to the corporate owners of contractors and subcontractors, which might be one reason that, say, Chinese alloys are being discovered in sensitive weapons systems like the state of the art F-35.

It gets worse. There’s no policy or guidance on mergers, and DOD doesn’t even require contractors or subcontractors to tell them that there is new ownership when an acquisition occurs. In fact, the Pentagon relies on public news to learn of mergers. They often do not know that the mergers are going on, or that the Federal Trade Commission is reviewing them. When big mergers happen, even if the Pentagon is concerned, no one tracks what happens after it closes. They do no analysis of industry sectors, as their “M&A office is not collecting robust data or conducting recurring trend analyses that could help them identify M&A in risky areas of consolidation among defense suppliers.”

The Pentagon’s head-in-the-sand approach is why Lockheed now has a chokehold on nuclear missile modernization, since it bought the key supplier of rocket engines and denies those engines to rivals bidding for the contract to upgrade what is known as the nuclear triad.

So how does the U.S. government manage defense base mergers? Well, the Pentagon defers to the antitrust agencies to look solely at competition. “While DOD policy directs Industrial Base Policy and DOD stakeholders to assess other types of risks, such as national security and innovation risks,” wrote the GAO, “they have not routinely done so.” Basically, dealing with their own defense base is someone else’s job.

What I found most useful about the GAO report is the Pentagon’s response, a classic bureaucratic hand wave. The DOD agreed with all the conclusions of the GAO. It should track mergers and what happens afterwards, it should have more personnel doing so, it should consider national security aspects of corporate combinations, and it should have clear policy on mergers. But it doesn’t. The DOD says it will have a better strategy to deal with mergers… by 2024. Basically, you’re right, but it’s not our problem.

Every day, it seems like political leaders and consultants are saying it’s time to really get that arsenal of democracy going, and to re-industrialize for real. It’s quite possible to get a lot done. The FTC and DOJ now have significant amounts of national security-related information on mergers due to a Congressional change in pre-merger notification laws in 2022, so the DOD could easily do a better job of tracking what’s happening in the defense base.

More to the point, the Pentagon is very powerful. The Deputy Secretary of Defense, Kathleen Hicks could simply start smashing heads on competition and begin telling contractors that if they don’t shape up, she will start an internal war against them. Or the head of the Armed Services Committees could threaten the cushy cash flow that leads to record stock buybacks among contractors, if the ramp-up doesn’t start. Or they could grant antitrust authority for the DOD straight-up, which would rely on a national security standard that allows widespread corporate restructuring without the long slog of a court case. There are many paths.

But if you actually look at the guts of the bureaucracy, nothing is happening, because doing something about our industrial base means thwarting Wall Street, and that’s generally not something that’s considered on the table among normie policymakers. Giant bureaucracies are hard to change, but they are not immovable. One of the ways that you know a previously non-functional bureaucracy is on the right track is, ironically, if there is bitter infighting and anger among staff, who are being tasked to do things differently. But as the GAO showed this week, that’s just not happening in the Pentagon, or at least, not happening nearly fast enough.

And that’s why America is increasingly out of ammunition.