Pentagon fails 6th audit in a row, cites “progress” – National & International News – WED 22Nov2023

Pentagon fails 6th audit in a row, cites “progress”.

Jury finds egg producers conspired to fix prices.

More signs Israel-Gaza war could expand and pull in US.

NATIONAL NEWS

Pentagon fails 6th audit in a row, cites “progress”

Last week, the Department of Defense announced in had failed its 6th yearly audit in a row. The Pentagon has never come close to passing any audit since it was first required to undergo one, the only government department that can claim that distinction. Pentagon officials were fairly nonchalant about the failure and congratulated themselves for “incremental progress” and “a sort of progress beneath the surface”.

It’s not clear how DoD is measuring that progress, since the Pentagon failed the same number of sub-audits that they failed last year. Last year, the Pentagon was only able to account for 39% of its $3.5 trillion budget. That means about $2.2 trillion was unaccounted for (close to Russia’s entire GDP for 2022). Nevertheless, Pentagon comptroller Michael J. McCord said, “I’ll just say that we remain a trusted institution. We’ve made a lot of progress to date”.  Last year, McCord also said he was hopeful the Pentagon might finally pass its first audit in 2027, but the Pentagon has since distanced itself from that comment. There is now no projection for when the Pentagon might achieve its first clean audit.

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Federal jury finds major producers conspired to fix egg prices from 2004-2008

A jury in the Northern District of Illinois has found that several major nationwide producers conspired to fix egg prices between 2004 and 2008. The case was first filed over 12 years ago. In 2011, Kellogg, Kraft and several other major food conglomerates accused Cal-Maine Foods, Rose Acre Farms, United Egg Producers and United States Egg Marketers, which make up the major US cartel of egg producers, of using various strategies to limit the supply of eggs to increase prices.

Jurors were instructed not to take into account recent pricing crises in the egg market in their deliberation. However, several egg cartel members named in this lawsuit have been accused of similar tactics in more recent years. This includes exploiting the spread of bird flu last year in the US, even though commercial laying flocks were largely unaffected. The length of time this case took to work its way through the courts also underscores how difficult it is to hold many industries to account for monopolistic practices.

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

More signs Israel-Gaza war could expand and pull in US

Ever since October 7 when a small number of US special forces were present to conduct training exercises with the IDF, US troop presence in Israel has quietly expanded. In addition to that team that was already present, other special forces squads have also been dispatched. It appears that some US troops are also working alongside IDF soldiers within Gaza itself. Officially, special forces are there to assist in locating and identifying hostages, including US hostages, and to assist in potential civilian evacuations.

In Iraq, there have been over 60 attacks on US bases by Iran-aligned militias since October 7. In a particularly dramatic incident on Tuesday, an AC-130 gunship struck a troop of fleeing militants after it observed the group firing a close-range ballistic missile at Al-Asad Air Force Base. A Pentagon spokesman noted that this was the first time a militia had used ordinance of that magnitude against a US base in recent weeks.

Over the weekend, Iran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, which was one of the first outside groups to declare war on Israel last month, managed to hijack a large cargo ship in the Red Sea, which the group claimed was linked to Israel. Israel has denied the cargo ship has any connection to Israel. The Houthis released this video of their operation. It shows a helicopter approaching the cargo ship, which appears to be moving at speed. Then the helicopter lands on the cargo ship and about eight heavily armed men jump out, making their way to the bridge where they take the crew hostage.

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