Busted Business Bureau

Latest Episodes:

Blackwater Apr 01, 2024

Show notes

Do you ever have a years-long hyperfixation with a company no one's heard about?

Blender Bluid and Amy Do continue our millions-years-long season about private military contractors. This time, I'm telling them about the worst of the worst: Betsy DeVos' brother Erik Prince's rich kid lodge! Blackwater! Clean off your guns and meet me at the lodge - we're in for a real effing doozy.

Fair warning, this episode does brush over some truly horrific stuff. As mentioned mid-episode, my podcast isn't really the appropriate place to regale those stories in full detail, so only some of the key informational facts are mentioned out of respect for those who suffered cruel, pointless deaths during this war. Jeremy Scahill's book is a fantastic read to get the full picture on the politics, events, and horrors of Iraq, linked below.

Jeremy, if you're listening, I'm so sorry sweetie please look away - this is a comedy podcast by a clown. But THIS clown loved your book!

Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo. Thanks to the WONDERFUL Casey Synesael for fully editing this episode! Audio engineer and tastemaker, methinks.

SOURCES:

Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army - Jeremy Scahill, March 2007 (I read the revised 2008 version tho)
Firearms training centers on schools under assault - Jon Frank, The Virginian-Pilot, Oct 1999
Tycoon, Contractor, Soldier, Spy - Adam Ciralsky, Vanity Fair, January 2010
Erik Prince: An American Commando in Exile - Robert Young Pelton, Dangerous Magazine (originally published in Men’s Journal), November 2010
Blackwater founder takes aim at his critics in memoir - Bill Sizemore, The Virginian-Pilot, Nov 2013 (the “Field of Dreams” quote is in this)
Falluja lawsuit: Blackwater families settle case - BBC News, 2012
The Dark Truth about Blackwater - Peter Singer, Brookings Institution, October 2007
I scraped the Nisour Square legal timeline just from the Nisour Square Massacre wikipedia page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nisour_Square_massacre

Other recommended reading from the pod is Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

Thanks for listening. Plz feel free to leave a review, and some extra stuff is on Patreon.com/bustedbizbureau

The BDS Interlude Mar 11, 2024

Show notes

Been awhile, besties! Hello again! This is an episode that was ostensibly about Bechtel Corp (the construction company, not the lesbian cartoonist), but it got away from me and became an exploration into the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement. An organized, peaceful method of resistance focused on boycotting business - what could go wrong? A LOT!

Join myself and Amy Do+Blender Bluid to continue in the military-contracting deep dive season (remember that?) and let's get some ice cream on the way! Anybody want to stop at Ben&Jerry'sIsreal? Perhaps a SodaStream to tide you over?

NOTE: The episode starts after bitching that took precisely 5 minutes. Ep begins at 5:00

Follow @blenderbluid and @helloamydo - both of whom have released new music on Spotify!!!! We out here!

Thanks to Casey Synesael for your genius audio engineering!!! SAVIOR!

SOURCES (sorry there are 23):

-Illinois bars state pensions from owning Unilever over Israel, Ross Kerber, Reuters 2021

Ben&Jerry's 2015 statement found at this link: https://web.archive.org/web/20210109062433/https://www.benjerry.com/whats-new/2015/ben-and-jerrys-business-in-israel

Ben&Jerry's 2021 statement found at this link: https://www.benjerry.com/about-us/media-center/opt-statement

40 ILCS 5/ Illinois Pension Code thingy quoted found here: https://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?ActID=638&ChapterID=9&SeqStart=100000&SeqEnd=6300000

Illinois General Assembly, this Israel amendment to our investment codes passed 49-0 in the Senate and 102-0 in the House: https://www.illinois.gov/news/press-release.13202.html#:~:text=The%20legislation%2C%20which%20was%20modeled,held%20indirectly%20inside%20larger%20portfolios.

University of Texas email quoted found here: https://www.statesman.com/story/news/politics/2019/03/26/ut-wont-reimburse-for-airbnb-lodging-after-texas-decision-on-companys-israeli-settlement-stance/5610142007/

-AIRBNB statement from 2017: https://news.airbnb.com/listings-in-disputed-regions/

-Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's statement found here: https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/sites/default/files/images/executive-management/OAG%20advisory%20on%20SB%2013%20and%2019%2010.18.23.pdf

-Texas City Tells People No Hurricane Harvey Aid Unless They Promise Not to Boycott Israel, ACLU Press release re: case Koontz v. Watson — Challenge to Kansas Law Targeting Boycotts of Israel found here: https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/texas-city-tells-people-no-hurricane-harvey-aid-unless-they-promise-not-boycott#:~:text=Free%20Speech-,Texas%20City%20Tells%20People%20No%20Hurricane%20Harvey%20Aid,Promise%20Not%20to%20Boycott%20Israel&text=HOUSTON%20%E2%80%94%20The%20city%20of%20Dickinson,in%20a%20boycott%20of%20Israel.

-Need Hurricane Aid? In One Texas City, If You Boycott Israel, You May Be Out Of Luck - Merrit Kennedy, NPR 2017

-Bechtel Settles Suit With Pledge to Stop Arab Boycott Role, William H Jones, Washington Post 1977

-The Anti-Boycott Provisions of the Export Administration Amendments of 1977, David Modi, 1977 North Carolina Journal of International Law Vol 3 No 1.

-Read the 1979 Export Administration Act here!: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/STATUTE-93/pdf/STATUTE-93-Pg503.pdf

-Office of Antiboycott Compliance quoted page: https://www.bis.doc.gov/index.php/enforcement/oac

-How the Israel Anti-Boycott Act Threatens First Amendment Rights, ACLU 2017

-ALLIED AIR WAR STRUCK BROADLY IN IRAQ: OFFICIALS ACKNOWLEDGE STRATEGY WENT BEYOND PURELY MILITARY TARGETS, Barton Gellman, Washington Post 1991

-In a Moment, Lives Get Blown Apart, Anthony Shadid, Washington Post March 2003

-A Boy Who Was 'Like a Flower', Anthony Shadid, Washington Post March 2003

-IRAQ: Bechtel ends Iraq rebuilding after a rough 3 years, David R. Baker, The San Francisco Chronicle, November 1, 2006

-Don't remember if I quoted this but here's a Government Accountability Office report about us failing re: oil and electricity in Iraq: https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-07-677.pdf#page=39

-How the Bush Administration Deconstructed Iraq, Michael Schwartz, TomDispatch, May 18 2006 (HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS READ!)

-“Wielding Antidiscrimination Law to Suppress the Movement for Palestinian Rights” 133 Harv. L. Rev. 1360, February 2020. (ANOTHER BANGER OF A READ!)

-The "what can I do?" section quoted from the BDS website: https://bdsmovement.net/BDS-Guide-Strategic-Campaigning

Kellogg Brown and Root 3: Return of the King (Extended Edition) Two Disk Set Jan 09, 2024

Show notes

I PROMISE this is the last part to our exploration of KBR! This episode features a big thematic swing of including the best food review of all time throughout the episode. If you’re into gargantuan oil failures, extensive explanations of holes, politically correct GOOP, or droopy baked alaskas then this episode is for YOU! Again, we’ll move on from this wound I’ve been picking for three weeks.

Also, hello! It is nice to be back from tour and to have wi-fi! I am swamped with the thousands of other bits of work I have to do now that the holidays are allegedly over. I will get back to posting as regularly as possible. Thanks for your patience; I love making this podcast!

Follow @blenderbluid, say hello to Amy Do, and thank Casey Synesael for wonderful audio doctoring as ALWAYS!

Before we get to the sources...PLEASE VOTE FOR ME FOR BEST CHICAGO PODACST OF 2023: https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/2023-ballot/#/gallery?group=468483

I WANT TO WIN!

okay anyways heres my sources:

SOURCES:

As Not Seen on TV, Pete Wells, The New York Times, November 13 2012

Rebuilding of Iraqi Pipeline as Disaster Waiting to Happen, James Glanz, New York Times, April 25, 2006

OFFICE OF THE SPECIAL INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION: Pipeline River Crossing Al Fatah, Iraq link here: https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA533936.pdf

Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq, T Christian Miller, May 2007

Full text: George Bush's Iraq speech, The Guardian, June 28, 2005

Military Burn Pits: A Toxic Legacy of War, Pamela Lein, phD, UC Davis Veterinary Medicine

“Contracting Abuses in Iraq: Is the Bush Administration Safeguarding American Taxpayer Dollars?” Frank Cassaday testimony, Senate Democratic Policy Committee Hearing link here; https://www.dpc.senate.gov/hearings/hearing42/cassaday.pdf

I didn't get to this on pod but here's some other reading:

ELECTRICITY -(testimony from Eric Peters, Former KBR Electrician, 5/20/09)

“I would estimate approximately 50 percent of KBR electricians in Iraq do not understand the basic principles of bonding and grounding…By the time I left Iraq, I concluded that KBR was not capable of performing quality, legal electrical installations in Iraq. I worried every day that people would be seriously injured or killed by this defective work. “

"'Multiple' failures led to Iraq electrocution, Pentagon says", Scott Bronstein, CNN Special Investigations Unit, July 2009

KBR Got Bonuses for Work that Killed Soldiers, Jeremy Scahill, The Nation, May 2009

No criminal charges in electrocution death, Associated Press, Aug 2009

Kellogg, Brown and Root 2: Electric Boogaloo Dec 19, 2023

Show notes

HI YALL! Forgive the delay; I am already on tour and didn't realize I wouldn't have wi-fi! This was uploaded as a labor of my hot spot's love. Here's the part 2 no one asked for! Let's perfect our Lois Griffin impression Whiplash-style, crack open a $247 soda, and order 50,000 pounds of nails to get ready to revisit the company I've been obsessed with for years: Kellogg, Brown and Root. Gosh, this private military contracting season is a DOOZY. Fraud, waste and abuse abound!

As always, follow @blenderbluid, keep Amy Do in your offline thoughts, and thank the fabulous audio engineer Casey Synesael!!!!! YIPPEEEE

And if you're the type of person inclined to read the show notes, here's a spoiler: I didn't even cover everything in THIS episode, so there's going to be a part 3. I'm presently on tour so it'll take a few weeks before I'm back to record. Sowwy, I'm just one girly who does NOT plan things out. Just podcastin' for funzies. Anyways, here's my sources:

1. Blood Money: Wated Billions, Lost Lives and Corporate Greed in Iraq, T Christian Miller, May 2007

2. A Look Back at How Fear and False Beliefs Bolstered U.S. Public Support for War in Iraq, Carroll Doherty and Jocelyn Kiley, Pew Research Center, March 14, 2023

3. Excerpted from The Osama bin Laden I Know: An Oral History of al Qaeda’s Leader, by Peter L. Bergen, accessed through Vanity Fair, January 1 2006

4. Here's a link to the Saddam playing cards published by the DIA: https://archive.org/details/030411D6570c001/030411-d-6570c-001/page/n27/mode/2up

5. Buyers beware: The real Iraq 'most wanted' cards are still awaiting distribution, Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes, April 17, 2003

6. Here's KBR employee Linda Warren's testimony (start at 21:30): https://www.c-span.org/video/?205080-1/contracting-abuses-iraq

7. Here is the 2005 testimony of KBR employee Rory Mayberry: https://www.dpc.senate.gov/hearings/hearing22/mayberry.pdf

8. Here's a link to the DPC report called Major Findings: DPC Oversight Hearings on Waste, Fraud, and Corruption in Iraq: https://www.dpc.senate.gov/dpcdocpr.cfm?doc_name=sr-111-1-116 (nails anecdote)

9. Iraq War Whistleblowers Represented by Constantine Cannon Secure $108.75 Million Settlement with KBR, Constantine Cannon press release, July 5 2023

10. “One hundred point four billion dollars..." quote from Democrat Mike Ross from this link (time stamp 5:43:40): https://www.c-span.org/video/?196460-2/house-session

11. INSIDE THE WORLD OF WAR PROFITEERS, David Jackson and Jason Grotto, Chicago Tribune, February 2008

12. Underclass of Workers Created in Iraq, Ariana Eunjung Cha, Washington Post July 2004

13. Documents Reveal Details of Alleged Labor Trafficking by KBR Subcontractor, By DAVID ISENBERG and NICK SCHWELLENBACH, Project on Government Oversight, July 14 2011

14. Pentagon Finds Halliburton Overcharged on Iraq Contracts, Douglas Jehl, New York Times December 11 2003

Kellogg, Brown and Root Dec 12, 2023

Show notes

Amy Do and Blender Bluid continue on our season-long journey into private military contracting! Avarice incarnate with a healthy heap of political parasitism, we're talking about the origins of KBR. Do you know how to build a nuclear power plant? No? Who gives a hoot! Let's try it anyway! Along the way we'll get 100,000 meals to throw out, Blender Bluid's RuPaul impression, and of course more war profiteering than you previously thought imaginable. It is still nuts to me that we're having the exact same conversation in different fonts all these years later re: KBR's failures, waste, fraud and abuse.

Amy's recording remotely on a USB microphone which is why she sounds different. Additionally, Casey went nuts on some of the audio editing and I'm SO excited for y'all to hear this one.

Follow @BlenderBluid on socials, keep Amy Do in your thoughts, please clap for Casey Synesael, and plzzzzz vote for me on the Chicago Reader Awards starting 12/13! https://chicagoreader.com/best-of-chicago/2023-ballot/#//

SOURCES:

1) I made it up

2) THE TRANSFORMATION OF DON LUCE, Ted Lieverman, HistoryNet.com (lol), 2017

3) Saigon Is Investigating ‘Tiger Cage’ Cells at a Prison, New York Times, 1970

4) 4 South Vietnamese Describe Torture in Prison ‘Tiger Cage’, New York Times, 1973

5) Here's the link to the 1970 Life Magazine with the story/Tom Harkin's pics: https://books.google.com/books?id=jVUEAAAAMBAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

6) Donald Sanders Luce (1934-2022): Exposed the Truth About the Tiger Cages, Mark Ashwill, Vietnam Full Disclosure/Veterans for Peace, 2022

7) Recalling Don Luce, the high-profile Vietnam War critic who did PR for a Falls soup kitchen, Mark Sheer, Niagara Gazette, Nov 2022

8) American Innocence, Robert N. Strassfeld, Case Western Reserve University School of Law Scholarly Commons, 1997

9) American Reckoning: The Vietnam War and Our National Identity by Christian G. Appy, 2015 (where the Don Luce interview about KBR's cages being 'in every way worse than the original ones'

10) Brown & Root helped pave way for Houston's growth, David Hunn, Houston Chronicle 2016

11) The Candidate from Brown and Root, Robert Bryce, The Texas Observer, October 2000

12) Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq by T. Christian Miller, May 2007

13) Brown & Root, one of the world's largest construction..., Gary Taylor, United Press International, 1981

14) here's that GAO Balkans report titled "Army Should Do More to Control Contract Cost in the Balkans https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/tr/pdf/ADA382598.pdf

15) Outsourcing War, An inside look at Brown & Root, the kingpin of America's new military-industrial complex, Anthony Bianco and Stephanie Anderson Forest, 2003

16) Mesothelioma.com Halliburton Page: https://www.mesothelioma.com/asbestos-exposure/companies/halliburton-company/

17) Inspector General of the DOD report "Hurricane Relief Costs on the Navy Construction Capabilities Contract": https://media.defense.gov/2019/Aug/22/2002174066/-1/-1/1/D-2008-097.PDF

Halliburton Dec 04, 2023

Show notes

Dipping my toe into making things way too personal with this episode about a giant oil conglomerate! Who doesn't fucking love that? Amy Do and Blender Bluid are BACK, baby, to do just a tiny bit more set dressing on this season. We're talking about procurement; how did the companies in the upcoming season get their contracts in the first place? Turns out, even THAT is laden with some busted-ass shenanigans!

Ultimately, this is a podcast that is entirely informed by my comedic and artistic point of view. This particular episode on Halliburton is admittedly not as dense as they typically come - that's intentional. I've already lost sleep from jolting awake at night, haunted by the images, descriptions, and horrors that keep coming up in this research. So fuck it, let's do an episode about Dick Cheney's heart! Let's talk about B.O.B. and G-Unit! Let's discuss how I ruined the name Christian for my high school religion teachers!

Follow @blenderbluid and please, sincerely, keep Amy Do in your thoughts right now.

Audio engineering by the wickedly talented Casey Synesael

SOURCES:

Blood Money: Wasted Billions, Lost Lives, and Corporate Greed in Iraq by T. Christian Miller, May 2007

A Web of Truth: Whistle-Blower or Troublemaker, Neely Tucker, Washington Post, 2005

Whistleblower exposes $7 billion no-bid Defense Department contract, CBS News, 2019

The Whistleblower’s Tale: How An Accountant Took on Halliburton, Jesse Eisinger, ProPublica, 2015

Australian academics apologise for false AI-generated allegations against big four consultancy firms, Harry Belot, The Guardian, Nov 2023

Heart: An American Medical Odyssey, by (I'm sorry) Dick Cheney and Jonathan Reiner, MD

NBC's "Meet the Press" Transcript, Chuck Todd interviewing Dick Cheney, 2014

https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/03/21/AR2008032102482_pf.html

Cheney Dismisses Critic With Obscenity, Helen Dewar and Dana Milbank, Washington Post, 2004

Iraq The Halliburton Connection: The Master Builder, Jyoti Thottam, TIME Magazine 2004

Private Military Contracting: A Laymen's Legal Analysis Nov 27, 2023

Show notes

HELLO AGAIN, BESTIES! Amy Do and Blender Bluid join me for a season-long exploration into private military contracting. This specific episode explores some legal precedents that allow military contractors to operate with effective immunity from the law. Picture I just said that but in a SUPER funny way. If a tree falls in the forest, can anybody hear it? If a private contractor aids a soldier in a war crime, do we actually have any laws to hold them accountable for it? Along the way, we’ll declare war on a random Chicago comedian who broke my laptop, build a dike, then refuse to call it a dam, and we’ll Control+P…repare for a legendary season of podcasting!

Follow Blender Bluid @blenderbluid on all social medias; don't follow Amy Do. She doesn't want you to lol.

This episode had the pleasure of having Casey Synesael as the audio engineer! :D COOL RIGHT?

SOURCES:

-Armed Guards in Iraq Occupy a Legal Limbo, John Broder and James Risen, New York Times, Sep 2007

-JFK Library Bell Report: https://www.jfklibrary.org/asset-viewer/archives/JFKPOF/071/JFKPOF-071-004

-Appendix 2 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice: https://jsc.defense.gov/Portals/99/Documents/UCMJ%20-%2020December2019.pdf

-Federal Tort Claims Procedure: https://uscode.house.gov/view.xhtml?path=/prelim@title28/part6/chapter171&edition=prelim

-Boyle v. United Technology Corp (1988): https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/487/500/

-Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co. (Amicus), Center for Constitutional: Justice https://ccrjustice.org/home/what-we-do/our-cases/kiobel-v-royal-dutch-petroleum-co-amicus

-Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co., 569 U.S. 108 (2013) - https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/569/108/

-WHO'S DOING WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT?: MONITORING, ACCOUNTABILITY AND COMPETITION IN THE FEDERAL AND SERVICE CONTRACT WORKFORCE, March 2002: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-107shrg79883/html/CHRG-107shrg79883.htm

-Accountability of Private Military Contractors, Arthi Thiruppathi, GW Justice Journal, Jan 13 2021

BBB Season 6 Update! Oct 30, 2023

Show notes

Hello besties! I'm just a girl with vocal nodes in a podcasting world!

He Gets Us Sep 25, 2023

Show notes

Hey kids...who likes #Jesus?? Christian McCann is on the pod so I can finally answer questions he's been asking me for like a year now. Why is there a marketing campaign for Christianity, and who is paying for it? As it turns out, the answer is something that will matter for 10 billion more years. Join me to talk about the intracacies of tax law and mostly dish about terrible religious experiences. Rich people of any religion will always find ways to retain control of their money; this episode is just a sliver into that world!

Christian and I have a dueling pianos show we do together constantly. You can check that out @candcduelingpianos on Instagram

SOURCES:

Servant Foundation Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/431890105/202320469349302877/full

The Signatry website: https://thesignatry.com/who-we-are/our-history/

https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/12/18/21010108/larry-page-philanthropy-foundation-donor-advised-fund-christmas

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2023/02/13/this-billionaire-is-a-donor-behind-the-jesus-focused-super-bowl-ads/?sh=64c3297d7b29

https://www.propublica.org/article/family-research-council-irs-church-status

Christian Community Foundation Form 990: https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/751750059/202213469349301026/full

S2 Episode 6: Billionaires, DAFs, and the Changing Face of Philanthropy with Teddy Schleifer of Vox's Recode; Ethical Rainmaker: http://www.theethicalrainmaker.com/listen-now/s2-episode-6-billionaires-dafs-and-the-changing-face-of-philanthropy-with-teddy-schleifer-of-voxs-recode

deadass this little graphic: https://www.fdic.gov/about/learn/learning/banks.html#:~:text=It%20doesn't%20remain%20locked,even%20to%20operate%20a%20business.

Tax advantages of Donor Advised Funds: https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/daf-tax-consideration/

https://jacobin.com/2023/02/christian-super-bowl-ads-he-gets-us-servant-foundation-abortion-gay-rights

BOOK RECS:

God's Own Party: The Making of the Christian Right, Daniel K. Williams

One Nation Under God: How Corporate America Invented Christian America, Kevin Kruse

Piggly Wiggly Sep 11, 2023

Show notes

Franklin Pierce impersonator Dylan Cohen drops by to gab about the grocery store that totally changed the game: Piggly Wiggly! I'm thrilled to have this season's rascal-centered episode, and I'm VERY excited to add a new weirdo from the early 1900s to the BBB collection. Grab your bibles, label your vegetables, and let's play some synchronous jazz while we talk about the weird twists and turns of Piggly Wiggly's dramatic changes-of-hands!

Dylan Cohen is performing in The Lincoln Lodge's Future of Comedy Festival on Friday September 29th at 7:30pm for "Powerpoint Night Live!" tickets at thelincolnlodge.com/futureofcomedyfestival

SOURCES:

1. Clarence Saunders and the Founding of Piggly Wiggly: The Rise and Fall of a Memphis Maverick, Mike Freeman, 2011

2. When Piggly Wiggly Tried to Stick It to Wall Street, Shiva Nagaraj, Slate 2021

3. https://www.newspapers.com/image/768156903/?terms=clarence%20saunders&match=1

4. https://newspapers.com/image/774867648/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1

5. https://www.newspapers.com/image/244984597/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1

6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/768157998/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20civil%20war&match=1

7. https://www.newspapers.com/image/774867648/?terms=clarence%20saunders%20piggly%20wiggly&match=1

8. Coach Houses, Vance Lauderdale, Memphis Magazine 2008