Valerie Insinna

photograph from the 80's of the wrestler Sting wearing a Gold's Gym shirt and sunglasses, leaning against a shelf in a bookstore and positively cheesing at an open copy of The Far Side Gallery 2, a collection of Far Side Cartoons.

what if i told you, through the power of forensic analysis, we are closer than ever to knowing the exact Far Side cartoon that is making Sting smile in this iconic photo. 🧵 👇

I was there in the pit about three people back from the barrier

So happy to talk with the phenomenal @sirenspod.bsky.social about something near and dear to my heart: the Pentagon press corps.

‘Clean those bastards out’: Small business fund used by DoD teeters on the edge - Breaking Defense Senate lawmakers are at an impasse over the Small Business Innovation Research program, a key program used by the Pentagon to provide seed funding for small firms.

"‘Fuck it. Finally clean those bastards out. Get rid of them. I’ll take the hit for a year.’”

@valerieinsinna.bsky.social wrote the edgiest piece on the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program you'll ever read.

breakingdefense.com/2025/10/clea...

Wilsbach expected to become next Air Force chief of staff: Sources - Breaking Defense Former Air Combat Command head Gen. Kenneth Wilsbach had emerged as the frontrunner for the Air Force’s top uniformed job shortly after Gen. Dave Allvin announced his retirement in August.

SCOOP: Gen. Ken Wilsbach will be your new Air Force Chief of Staff, multiple sources tell @valerieinsinna.bsky.social
and I. Announcement expected in the next few days. breakingdefense.com/2025/09/wils...

EXCLUSIVE: Navy taps four aerospace primes to design autonomous drone wingmen - Breaking Defense Boeing, Northrop Grumman, General Atomics and Anduril are all in line to produce conceptual designs for the Navy’s Collaborative Combat Aircraft program, according to a Navy slide reviewed by Breaking...

SCOOP: Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Anduril and General Atomics are under contract for conceptual designs for a Collaborative Combat Aircraft. Lockheed is under contract to provide "common control" for the autonomous, carrier based combat drone:
breakingdefense.com/2025/09/excl...

EXCLUSIVE: Lockheed out of Navy’s F/A-XX future fighter program - Breaking Defense A source with knowledge of the program told Breaking Defense that Lockheed submitted a bid for the next-gen fighter effort, but the proposal did not satisfy the Navy’s criteria, leaving Boeing and Nor...

SCOOP: Lockheed Martin is out of the Navy's F/A-XX fighter program, leaving Boeing and Northrop as the remaining competitors:

breakingdefense.com/2025/03/excl...

‘What the f— is going on?’ Confusion, uncertainty in industry as Army contracts seemingly halted The fear among industry now is that this move is just the first in what would amount to a Pentagon-wide halt on new awards, for an indefinite period of time.

"What the fuck is going on?" Confusion is sweeping the defense industry as an Army email circulates that seemingly halts further contracting activity. Story by Ashley Roque, @aaronmehta.bsky.social and myself:

breakingdefense.com/2025/01/what...

EXCLUSIVE: New SASC chair sets sight on $200B defense boost, major acquisition reform push “I hope and believe that President Trump's pledge to restore peace through strength so that we can avoid conflict is going to be followed through with adequate funding,” Senate Armed Services Committe...

NEW: In exclusive interview, SASC chairman Sen. Roger Wicker says he'd to see $100B/year for the next two years in the reconciliation bill, which could help fund US Iron Dome, NGAD sixth-gen fighter, and shipbuilding programs:

breakingdefense.com/2025/01/excl...

I just like some crunchy tacos sometimes

Current status: disengaging from today’s political sideshow (the Hegseth nomination hearing) by eating Taco Bell and watching an old 1998 Raw episode where Stone Cold Steve Austin infiltrates a hospital to attack an injured Vince McMahon

Rep. Mike Waltz, who is tapped to be Trump's national security advisor, speaks in support of Hegseth, making the case that he can bring a "warrior ethos" back to the Pentagon and saying that Hegseth has the support of the veterans community.

At Pete Hegseth hearing to be defense secretary, Sen. Jack Reed, the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, states that he does not believe Hegseth to be qualified for the top DoD leadership post.

China ‘could beat us to the punch’ to a 6th-gen fighter, Air Force official warns “It's fair to say we pay a lot of attention to what the Chinese are doing. And so, not everything that becomes public is a shock,” Andrew Hunter said when asked about new images of purported Chinese f...

Spotlighting this scoop from my colleague Michael Marrow: Turns out China could beat the U.S. to fielding a sixth gen fighter, the Air Force’s acquisition chief says.

breakingdefense.com/2025/01/chin...

The only Pentagon I recognize from this day forward:

Maybe social media is just dead lol

I like Bluesky because I definitely see fewer posts about how women aren’t fulfilling their destinies unless they have 3+ kids, and that’s pretty rad.

But also this place is really boring and it feels like no one interacts with each other (at least in the defense/aerospace sector).

New House Armed Services GOP subcommittee chair announcements:

Cyber IT and Innovation: Bacon (incumbent)

Intel/Spec Ops: Bergman --> Jackson

Readiness: Waltz --> Bergman

Milpers: Banks --> Fallon

Seapower: Kelly (incumbent)

Stratfor: Lamborn --> DesJarlais

TacAirLand: Wittman (incumbent)

WE KNOW HOW IT ENDS. WE’RE ALL READY FOR IT. (pop-tart standing atop toaster slot)

going into 2025 with this energy

Don’t talk to me I’m unwell

The scream I let out when
-Rey Mysterio came out to challenge New Day
-CM Punk came out to be his tag team partner
-my short king Rey hit a 619 on New Day
-CM Punk carried Rey Mysterio around on his shoulders

MY FAVORITE BOYS

I don’t get these jokers online acting like Beyoncé isn’t an insanely talented performer with a ton of range. I am not a Beyoncé stan but why wouldn’t you respect a performer who is stretching her legs, releasing ambitious albums that span different genres?

I am begging for a rock album. BEGGING.

Buying fireworks so when Santa arrives we can give him Dave Batista’s entrance

Me when I’m acting extremely macabre about very normal, mundane things

PLEASE. THIS MAN IS NOT LISTENING TO ARTEMAS

That’s my son, sir

He’s literally so beautiful

Filed a scoop on a next-gen fighter, made cookies for my husband and now am sitting down to watch the CR vote before making another batch of cookies. Nara Smith could NEVER