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The Afghan sinkhole reached a staggering low with the Gardez-Khost highway, a 60-mile stretch linking the Ring Road to the eastern borderlands. The contract was turned over to LBG, and construction started in 2003. In November 2010, the federal government slapped LBG with the highest ever fine in a wartime contracting case: $18.7 million in criminal penalties and $50.6 million in civil penalties for overbilling. The company’s former CEO had pleaded guilty in 2014 to defrauding U.S. taxpayers of tens of millions. But the project dragged on, unchecked. By the time the road opened, in 2015, costs had ballooned to nearly $5 million a mile, and it became a never-ending boondoggle. A whistleblower later revealed that LBG had, through dubious methods, paid insurgents not to attack the project. More than 200 gold-star families have since filed a lawsuit against LBG and other defense contractors, alleging these kinds of protection payments “aided and abetted terrorism by directly … [Read more...] about Highway to Hell: A Trip Down Afghanistan’s Deadliest Road

The country is a totally different place after 1/6, the January 6th Capitol Riot, and this week was just an early cultural experiment in how different it will be. Biden’s constant appeals to “unity” were refreshingly free of bipartisan bullshit — not even a conciliator like Biden would claim it’s time to woo the hearts and minds of Republicans, two weeks after their failed coup attempt in D.C. That was their Plan A; it cannot be pretended that serving the republic and its Constitution as the loyal opposition is their Plan B, C, or Z. If they were up to getting their house in order, they would have started by now. They’re not, they can’t, and the rest of us have work to do. … [Read more...] about The Audacity of ‘Dreams’: Biden’s Inauguration Week and the Triumph of American Musical Weirdness

They never asked him. While we’re doing our investigation for the hearing, we had a list of like 450 people, and he was on my list. My co-counsel said, “Kelley, you haven’t talked to Kidwell yet.” And I said, “Yeah, but his testimony [from the original trial] was weak. He said that [her mother] Judy said that Lisa tried to steal her husband. He didn’t have any good information.” And we interviewed him at a truck stop in Topeka, Kansas. And I mean, my jaw dropped to the floor. I couldn’t believe what he told us that Lisa had told him when she was 14 years old about these gang rapes. And he was on the witness stand! And in his declaration, he told me, “It took me longer to take the oath than to give my testimony. I couldn’t believe they didn’t ask me any of these questions.” He thought they were gonna ask, and he was ready to get to give that testimony. They never asked him. … [Read more...] about Lisa Montgomery Suffered Years of Abuse and Trauma. The United States Killed Her Anyway

Smith shouted back, “Where else in the world would you rather be!?” Whatever Evelyn said in response was lost when the oversize birthday cake at center stage blew its top. Miss Mercy, the GTO band member they’d installed in the cake’s inner compartment, had gotten sick of waiting for her cue and came exploding upward wondering, at the top of her lungs, what the fuck she was doing in there. Then she started scooping up handfuls of frosting and hurling it at the guests, many of whom hurled it right back at her. Alice Cooper played a short set, and as the clock spun to midnight and beyond, a laughing mayhem prevailed. The poet McKuen, a tumble of silver hair, aquiline nose, and bespoke tuxedo, climbed onto a table and started dismantling one of the chandeliers piece by crystalline piece, while the Cockette cigarette girls returned with trays overflowing with multicolor dildos, many of which were carted away by frisky couples eager to take a test drive. And … [Read more...] about Strippers, Drag Queens and Dancing Dogs: The Insane 1971 Party That Launched Alice Cooper

After high school, June relocated to Memphis to live with her boyfriend, singer-guitarist Michael Joyner. They married in 2001, when she was 19. June insisted they form a band, the soul-geared Bella Sun. June hand-delivered their music to area radio stations and newspapers. Eager to jump-start her career, she also auditioned for America’s Next Top Model. “She was restless and unhappy,” says Joyner. “I said, ‘I love you, but you got to pick a direction and go.’ That’s when we started having problems.” The marriage (and band) ended in 2005. June describes a rootless period living “like a hippie” on the West Coast, crashing with friends. She returned to Memphis for years of struggle: cleaning houses during the day, playing coffeehouses at night. (Long before Dylan’s compliment, June toiled at a Memphis herbal store called Maggie’s Pharm.) By then, she was immersed in roots icons like Mississippi John Hurt, Memphis … [Read more...] about Valerie June on Her Journey From Smashing Pumpkins Fan to Folk-Soul Star