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Workers at Lockheed Martin's Orlando missile factory went on strike in May while Hellfire missiles have two-to-three-year wait times and the Pentagon desperately needs more production. This Politico investigation reveals entry-level workers earned $15.45 an hour, less than nearby Buc-ee's restroom crews, while Lockheed gave $6.8 billion to shareholders last year through buybacks and dividends. After three weeks on the picket line between Disney World and Universal Studios, workers were offered essentially the same deal they'd rejected, and Denver's union votes overruled Orlando's rejection to ratify the contract, leaving workers feeling defeated.
A 21-year-old woman toured a $4.5 million Boston penthouse with her wealthy 60-something boyfriend, charming real estate agents with stories of her crypto fortune and Harvard Business School acceptance before stiffing everyone on the deal. This Boston Magazine investigation reveals how Nora Nelson conned her way through the city's elite circles, got bailed out of jail by a generous silver-haired lawyer named Joseph Donohue, then was found on his houseboat with his body wrapped in tarp and weighted with dumbbells. Police discovered 67 stab wounds and his beloved terrier Champ strangled and tossed overboard. Nelson has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
Kiki Dy inherits her uncle's phone after he dies from a fentanyl overdose, and what starts as grief becomes obsession—she reads every text, answers calls from his dealers, travels across continents asking philosophers and privacy experts what we're supposed to do with the digital remains of the dead.
But the real gut-punch is watching her spiral into the same addiction that killed him while she's trying to understand his. It's darkly funny, brutally honest, and asks questions we're all going to face eventually: What happens to our phones when we die? Who gets to interpret us? Can you psychoanalyze someone through their texts?
From the Archives
2023: ProPublica: A Scammer Who Tricks Instagram Into Banning Influencers Has Never Been Identified. We May Have Found Him.
2020: Bitter Southerner: Ozark Life
That’s it for this today.
Really hope you enjoyed the selection of stories today. I am always interested in hearing from you. If you have thoughts on how I can make this email even better, do not hesitate to reach out.
Brett
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