Pork Barrel Tech Projects On The Rise

An anonymous reader writes "News.com has a large article up exploring the increase in 'pork barrel'-style technology projects floating through government spending bills. The water-free urinals discussed on Slashdot last year are one such project, as is a 'Virtual Reality Spray Paint Simulator'." From the article: "Earmarks for favored recipients--known colloquially as pork--have become easier than ever for politicians to secure because of the rapid growth in homeland security and military spending, especially if they can find some plausible technological veneer. Exact figures are difficult to obtain, mostly because spending bills tend to be intentionally obfuscated and specifics are usually absent from legislative text. Government watchdogs, however, say earmarks ostensibly related to technology are clearly on the rise."

Comments

Down with big government!

[Kelson]

Clearly, we need to get some Republicans into power so they can cut down on all this extraneous spending and balance the budget.

Oh, wait...

Re:Down with big government!

[TommyBlack]

Bah. Big government is the new libertarianism. Having a big, stupid government that can't do anything right is far superior to having a sleek, functioning government that can oppress its people at a moment's notice.

Bad image.

[Anonymous Coward]

Something bothers me when I hear about urinals and spraypaint simulations in 1 sentence.

Pissed off

[dotslashdot]

I was pissed off about the water free urinals.

An _entire_ generation?

[C10H14N2]

Hyperbolic much?

Ob "The Young Ones" quote

[Rob T Firefly]

I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate!

Water-free urinals?

[Dhar]

Ain't that an alley?

-g.