Taylor Barnes
@tkbarnes.bsky.social
Field Reporter, @inkstickmedia.bsky.social. Equity Rises grantee, Ploughshares Fund. Atlanta.
Military-Industrial America newsletter: inkstick.substack.com/s/taylors-tips
Signal: tkbarnes.10
Military-Industrial America newsletter: inkstick.substack.com/s/taylors-tips
Signal: tkbarnes.10
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
@tkbarnes.bsky.social reports: “Raytheon was allowed to claim about half a million dollars in tax refunds for jobs it did not create due to a loophole in its economic development contract with Buncombe County.”
Exclusive: We Followed the Money to Raytheon in North Carolina
We got hundreds of pages of public records about a controversial deal to offer tens of millions of state and local subsidies to a new Raytheon/Pratt & Whitney plant in Asheville.
inkstick.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:48 PM
@tkbarnes.bsky.social reports: “Raytheon was allowed to claim about half a million dollars in tax refunds for jobs it did not create due to a loophole in its economic development contract with Buncombe County.”
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
Essential work by @tkbarnes.bsky.social
Exclusive: We Followed the Money to Raytheon in North Carolina
By: @tkbarnes.bsky.social
inkstick.substack.com/p/exclusive-...
By: @tkbarnes.bsky.social
inkstick.substack.com/p/exclusive-...
Exclusive: We Followed the Money to Raytheon in North Carolina
We got hundreds of pages of public records about a controversial deal to offer tens of millions of state and local subsidies to a new Raytheon/ Pratt & Whitney plant in Asheville.
inkstick.substack.com
November 25, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Essential work by @tkbarnes.bsky.social
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
“The executions have been driven by politics. DeSantis reactivated Florida’s death chamber in 2023 — just a few months before announcing his run for president.”
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Since May, Florida has averaged about two executions per month, far outpacing any state in the country.
At 17, She Gave Up Her Son. Sixty Years Later, She Found Him on Death Row.
Richard Randolph, now Malik Abdul-Sajjad, is scheduled to die tonight. His biological mother will never get a chance to meet him.
interc.pt
November 24, 2025 at 3:39 AM
“The executions have been driven by politics. DeSantis reactivated Florida’s death chamber in 2023 — just a few months before announcing his run for president.”
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
“The executions have been driven by politics. DeSantis reactivated Florida’s death chamber in 2023 — just a few months before announcing his run for president.”
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Since May, Florida has averaged about two executions per month, far outpacing any state in the country.
At 17, She Gave Up Her Son. Sixty Years Later, She Found Him on Death Row.
Richard Randolph, now Malik Abdul-Sajjad, is scheduled to die tonight. His biological mother will never get a chance to meet him.
interc.pt
November 24, 2025 at 3:39 AM
“The executions have been driven by politics. DeSantis reactivated Florida’s death chamber in 2023 — just a few months before announcing his run for president.”
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Barbaric.
I read the story hoping to hear about the mother meeting her son, and was devastated to read the update at the end.
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
RTX underperformed on job creation projections at a new North Carolina plant but was allowed to claim about half a million dollars worth of local taxpayer subsidies anyway due to a loophole in its economic development contract, public records obtained by Inkstick reveal.
By: @tkbarnes.bsky.social
By: @tkbarnes.bsky.social
Special Treatment Lines Defense Giant's Pockets in North Carolina
Records show that Pratt & Whitney was able to claim tax refunds for jobs it didn’t create and bypass public comment for new grants.
inkstickmedia.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:35 AM
RTX underperformed on job creation projections at a new North Carolina plant but was allowed to claim about half a million dollars worth of local taxpayer subsidies anyway due to a loophole in its economic development contract, public records obtained by Inkstick reveal.
By: @tkbarnes.bsky.social
By: @tkbarnes.bsky.social
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
-More than half of the pending $1 trillion military budget will go to contracts
-Over a quarter of the contracts will go to just four firms
-One in ten federal dollars those firms get will go to their shareholders
My latest for @juddlegum.bsky.social’s @popular.info
popular.info/p/how-trumps...
-Over a quarter of the contracts will go to just four firms
-One in ten federal dollars those firms get will go to their shareholders
My latest for @juddlegum.bsky.social’s @popular.info
popular.info/p/how-trumps...
How Trump’s trillion-dollar war machine enriches the 1%
Congress will decide in the coming weeks whether to approve a $1 trillion military budget for 2026.
popular.info
November 19, 2025 at 8:03 PM
-More than half of the pending $1 trillion military budget will go to contracts
-Over a quarter of the contracts will go to just four firms
-One in ten federal dollars those firms get will go to their shareholders
My latest for @juddlegum.bsky.social’s @popular.info
popular.info/p/how-trumps...
-Over a quarter of the contracts will go to just four firms
-One in ten federal dollars those firms get will go to their shareholders
My latest for @juddlegum.bsky.social’s @popular.info
popular.info/p/how-trumps...
I got hundreds of pages of records about a controversial deal to offer millions in state + local subsidies to Raytheon (Pratt & Whitney) for a new plant in Asheville, NC.
The company produces the engine for the F-35, which Israel has used during the Gaza genocide
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
The company produces the engine for the F-35, which Israel has used during the Gaza genocide
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
November 20, 2025 at 6:52 PM
I got hundreds of pages of records about a controversial deal to offer millions in state + local subsidies to Raytheon (Pratt & Whitney) for a new plant in Asheville, NC.
The company produces the engine for the F-35, which Israel has used during the Gaza genocide
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
The company produces the engine for the F-35, which Israel has used during the Gaza genocide
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
Records show that Raytheon was able to claim tax refunds for jobs it didn’t create and bypass public comment for new grants in North Carolina.
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
Special Treatment Lines Defense Giant's Pockets in North Carolina
Records show that Pratt & Whitney was able to claim tax refunds for jobs it didn’t create and bypass public comment for new grants.
inkstickmedia.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:12 PM
Records show that Raytheon was able to claim tax refunds for jobs it didn’t create and bypass public comment for new grants in North Carolina.
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
inkstickmedia.com/special-trea...
Really terrific reporting here from @hurwitz.bsky.social @inkstickmedia.com that dives into the breakup of the US's largest LGBTQ rights group/ centrist Dem funder and Northrop Grumman, the world's largest weapons manufacturer and a supplier to the Israeli military.
"There are people that make cupcakes for a living at a local bakery that have, like, a sign up that says ‘no to genocide.' How can you call yourself the Human Rights Campaign and say nothing?" inkstickmedia.com/largest-lgbt...
Largest LGBTQ+ Rights Group in US Parts with Arms Manufacturers
Following two years of activist pressure, Human Rights Campaign is not sponsored by the weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
inkstickmedia.com
November 18, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Really terrific reporting here from @hurwitz.bsky.social @inkstickmedia.com that dives into the breakup of the US's largest LGBTQ rights group/ centrist Dem funder and Northrop Grumman, the world's largest weapons manufacturer and a supplier to the Israeli military.
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
A picket line in St. Louis becomes a window into America’s shrinking defense jobs — and the growing debate over who they serve.
inkstickmedia.com/will-st-loui...
inkstickmedia.com/will-st-loui...
Will St. Louis Continue to be Known as Fighterland, USA?
As Boeing machinists strike, St. Louis confronts its deep reliance on defense jobs and the future of “Fighterland, USA.”
inkstickmedia.com
November 17, 2025 at 10:44 AM
A picket line in St. Louis becomes a window into America’s shrinking defense jobs — and the growing debate over who they serve.
inkstickmedia.com/will-st-loui...
inkstickmedia.com/will-st-loui...
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
"There are people that make cupcakes for a living at a local bakery that have, like, a sign up that says ‘no to genocide.' How can you call yourself the Human Rights Campaign and say nothing?" inkstickmedia.com/largest-lgbt...
Largest LGBTQ+ Rights Group in US Parts with Arms Manufacturers
Following two years of activist pressure, Human Rights Campaign is not sponsored by the weapons manufacturer Northrop Grumman.
inkstickmedia.com
November 14, 2025 at 4:24 PM
"There are people that make cupcakes for a living at a local bakery that have, like, a sign up that says ‘no to genocide.' How can you call yourself the Human Rights Campaign and say nothing?" inkstickmedia.com/largest-lgbt...
Terrific reporting @mjgault.bsky.social!
This town has officially decided to fight against the construction of an AI data center that would service a nuclear weapons laboratory 1,500 miles away.
Amber Fellows, a Ypsilanti Township councilmember, tells us why:
Story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/a-small-town...
Amber Fellows, a Ypsilanti Township councilmember, tells us why:
Story by @mjgault.bsky.social: www.404media.co/a-small-town...
November 11, 2025 at 1:46 AM
Terrific reporting @mjgault.bsky.social!
Very remarkable news from the town of Lockheed Martin's second-largest aircraft plant: a progressive challenger, Sam Foster, to a four-term Republican mayor in Marietta, Ga came within just 87 votes of ousting him in last week's election:
atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/11/05/a...
atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/11/05/a...
Atlanta establishment prevails in city races, despite strong progressive challenges
DSA's Kelsea Bond wins big in D2. Five council and school board races head to runoffs
atlantaciviccircle.org
November 10, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Very remarkable news from the town of Lockheed Martin's second-largest aircraft plant: a progressive challenger, Sam Foster, to a four-term Republican mayor in Marietta, Ga came within just 87 votes of ousting him in last week's election:
atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/11/05/a...
atlantaciviccircle.org/2025/11/05/a...
Terrific Salt Lake Tribune article about Utahns calling on the Mormon church to re-affirm its Cold War-era nuclear weapons opposition and to divest from Northrop Grumman.
Noteworthy that the Tribune asked church leadership to comment on its holding stock in NG:
www.sltrib.com/religion/202...
Noteworthy that the Tribune asked church leadership to comment on its holding stock in NG:
www.sltrib.com/religion/202...
Harking to the MX, Utahns call on LDS Church President Oaks to speak out against nuclear missile being developed in Utah
Could the LDS Church end an ongoing nuclear weapons project? These veteran activists think so.
www.sltrib.com
November 10, 2025 at 4:40 PM
Terrific Salt Lake Tribune article about Utahns calling on the Mormon church to re-affirm its Cold War-era nuclear weapons opposition and to divest from Northrop Grumman.
Noteworthy that the Tribune asked church leadership to comment on its holding stock in NG:
www.sltrib.com/religion/202...
Noteworthy that the Tribune asked church leadership to comment on its holding stock in NG:
www.sltrib.com/religion/202...
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
Masked, heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Home Depot store, then entered his car and drove away with his toddler, who is also a US citizen, in the backseat.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Armed US immigration agents drive off with toddler after arrest of father
‘Devastated’ family demands answers after two-year-old driven by armed agents from LA Home Depot parking lot
www.theguardian.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:39 PM
Masked, heavily armed federal immigration agents arrested a US citizen in the parking lot of a Los Angeles Home Depot store, then entered his car and drove away with his toddler, who is also a US citizen, in the backseat.
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Update: the Atlanta city council president promoted in these attack ad mailers apparently funded by pro-Israel donors won her election last night, but somewhat narrowly
November 5, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Update: the Atlanta city council president promoted in these attack ad mailers apparently funded by pro-Israel donors won her election last night, but somewhat narrowly
@stephensemler.bsky.social on what those billions of stock buybacks add up to -- US taxpayer money to Lockheed and RTX and Northrop Grumman shareholders:
bsky.app/profile/step...
bsky.app/profile/step...
November 4, 2025 at 5:32 PM
@stephensemler.bsky.social on what those billions of stock buybacks add up to -- US taxpayer money to Lockheed and RTX and Northrop Grumman shareholders:
bsky.app/profile/step...
bsky.app/profile/step...
“The billions of dollars they send back shareholders each year means that there is less money to go toward paying, hiring or retaining their employees… annual turnover in the defense and aerospace industry hit 13% in 2023, compared to an average U.S. rate of 3.8%.”
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
America Doesn’t Have Enough Weapons for a Major Conflict. These Workers Know Why.
This summer, employees at several big defense companies went on strike. Their grievances highlight a much larger problem brewing beneath the surface.
www.politico.com
November 4, 2025 at 4:48 PM
“The billions of dollars they send back shareholders each year means that there is less money to go toward paying, hiring or retaining their employees… annual turnover in the defense and aerospace industry hit 13% in 2023, compared to an average U.S. rate of 3.8%.”
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
My polling place was packed, 25+ ppl in line for these local elections at 945am. I was ballot 487 cast at that site at 10am. The poll worker told me, “this district votes!” But said this was still really busy.
Y'all, it's a gorgeous sunny day for voting! ☀️ It's also your LAST CHANCE to vote in the Public Service Commission race.
Polls are open until 7 PM so make your plan, take your friends & everyone else you know, and go vote for Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson!
Polls are open until 7 PM so make your plan, take your friends & everyone else you know, and go vote for Peter Hubbard and Alicia Johnson!
November 4, 2025 at 3:14 PM
My polling place was packed, 25+ ppl in line for these local elections at 945am. I was ballot 487 cast at that site at 10am. The poll worker told me, “this district votes!” But said this was still really busy.
Anduril's executive for its new mega-factory in Ohio is once again calling for children to get ready for careers in weapons manufacturing.
www.10tv.com/article/news...
www.10tv.com/article/news...
October 31, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Anduril's executive for its new mega-factory in Ohio is once again calling for children to get ready for careers in weapons manufacturing.
www.10tv.com/article/news...
www.10tv.com/article/news...
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
Another part of Project 2025, which Trump disavowed during the campaign, that he's now carrying out.
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
October 30, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Another part of Project 2025, which Trump disavowed during the campaign, that he's now carrying out.
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
He could be talking about anything from test firing non-nuclear equipped ICBMs to underground testing to detonating nukes in the desert. “We’ll have to wait and see until either this Truth Social post dissipates and becomes a bunch of nothing or it actually gets turned into policy.“
October 30, 2025 at 5:11 PM
He could be talking about anything from test firing non-nuclear equipped ICBMs to underground testing to detonating nukes in the desert. “We’ll have to wait and see until either this Truth Social post dissipates and becomes a bunch of nothing or it actually gets turned into policy.“
Another part of Project 2025, which Trump disavowed during the campaign, that he's now carrying out.
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
October 30, 2025 at 2:20 AM
Another part of Project 2025, which Trump disavowed during the campaign, that he's now carrying out.
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
Watchdogs saw that writing on the wall and organized to get Nevada, a swing state, on the record opposing new testing at its historical nuclear test site: inkstickmedia.com/cancer-conta...
Reposted by Taylor Barnes
I’ll give someone $1000 if they can find one factually correct statement in this post
October 30, 2025 at 1:37 AM
I’ll give someone $1000 if they can find one factually correct statement in this post