42 Random Bits of Trivia You’ll Have to Body Check Into Your Over-Stuffed Brain and Slam Your Skull Shut Before They Bury You Alive

39 Myths and Counterintuitive Facts That Would Have Gotten Away With It If It Wasn’t for Us Meddling Kids

45 Big Brand Fails and Hilariously Godawful Ad Campaigns

40 Generous Bits of Trivia That Usually Charge An Arm and A Leg for This Kind of Info

The 7 Dumbest Jokes of 2024

15 Dumb Ventures The Government Wasted Your Money On

You don't shuffle over a trillion dollars around without flushing some of it away on absolute garbage.

15 Dumb Ventures The Government Wasted Your Money On

February 08, 2021

Does the government spend money on anything worthwhile? Maybe. Sometimes. Occasionally. But you don't shuffle over a trillion dollars around without flushing some of it away on absolute garbage. So here are a handful the dumb things our money goes to, in what could easily be the first installment of a daily feature.

13

FACEBOOK LIKES KB46279860I B2 0 DE ORACKEDGOM The State Department spent $600, 000 in 2012 to attract fans to its Facebook page. Shockingly, this did nothing to raise America's standing in the world, not even in terms of the sad metric of social media engagement. — Source: Washington Post

12

Star Trek

KB46 Ch Lonk sa FUNNY VIDEOS E CRAGKEDCOM In 2010, the IRS commissioned videos parodying Star Trek and Gilligan's Island to air at a training contest. The Trek one, at least, offered zero training information, So the IRS's initial defense of it failed, and they apologized. — Source: AP

11

KB46 O Lonk sa STORING CRAP CRACKED CON Customs and Border control spends $1 million a year on storage. Specifically, on storing broken furniture and obsolete computers, because no one's yet ordered the stuff to be trashed yet. — Source: General Services Administration

10

THE FEDERAL REGISTER FEDERAL THE REGISTER O THE 1934 NUMBER I VOLUMEI UNITED STATES Saturday, March 14, 1936 Washington, the 1526 e mots STATES OF THE UNTTED RESIDENT ALSAnLLE Ocrent OOR BITLLB EXCECUTVE ODe ETUCE MORATONY ENLARCING CAPE EOSAIN CRACKED ORONTH dATE Congress spends $1 million a year on sending members — Source: Senate

9

SAVING KB460 HIPSTERS KB46279860I CRACKED CON The NIH spent $5 million on an anti-smoking campaign targeted specifically at hipsters, those focused on the alternative music scene, local artists and designers, and eclectic self expression. Hipsters went on smoking. — Source: Washington Post

8

The U.S. Military

THIS DORMANT BUILDING B2 The military built a $36 million military headquarters in Afghanistan. Not that bad a price for a military HQ. Except, the military there never actually wanted it, and it was never used.

7

KB46^ BAD CAMO 6279860I 2798601 CRACKED.COM One more Afghanistan expense (out of many, many more): $28 million for licensing fees to give Afghan soldiers camo. Camo which doesn't actually work as camouflage in the desert. A different, licence-free pattern would have worked. — Source: Inspector General

6

OPERATION KBIL6 IGLOO WHITE BATTERY MODULE ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR ACOUSTIC ENCODER PORTS CODE PLUG -MIKE ASSEMBLY DECODER AUCIO AMPLIFIER RECEIVER. TRANSMITTER- GRACKEDOON America spent $1.7 billion on airdropping sensors along the Ho Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam War. The enemy immediately spotted the sensors and threw bags of pee — Source: Air Force

5

WEB KB460 SCREW-UPS 46279860I Healthcare.gov Learn Get Businesses AllT & Families Small Individuals CRACKED.CON $4 million is not the amount spent on the site Healthcare.gov. $4 million is just the additional amount spent in the opening days after the site failed ... the amount sent to the same contractors who screwed — Source: Bloomberg

4

FLEEING THEIR OWN FIRE CRAGKED CON In 1962, the government ordered a landfill set on fire in Centralia, Pennsylvania. The fire spread to a coal deposit and will burn for another 250 years. Congress spent $42 million to relocate the town's residents. — Source: NY Times

3

A VEGGIE VIDEO GAME INTOICO Kiddlo Ir's A veggle and if you want dessert. you have to taste it GRACKEDOON The NIH spent $1.55 million on a video game app called Kiddio: Food Fight. In it, you play a mother persuading her kid to taste veggies. It did not actually prove popular — Source: U.S. News

2

A SUPER KB46^ BOWL AD KB46279860 I B2 The Census Bureau spent $2.5 million in 2010 on a Super Bowl ad with B-list celebs. The government kind of has better ways of reaching people. This ad, say experts, targeted those who'd likely have answered the census anyway. — Source: NPR

1

PARTYING IN 9860I VEGAS B2 hollywowv ph IOK CRACKEDo COM In 2010, the GSA spent $800, 000 on a conference in Vegas, with room parties, giant suSHI bills, and tens Of thousands spent on team building. The GSA is the agency in charge of eliminating government waste. — Source: The Atlantic

Scroll down for the next article

Must Read

Movies & TV

25 Trivia Tidbits About ‘Galaxy Quest’ on Its 25th Anniversary

Movies & TV

40 Random Bits of Pop-Culture Trivia Assigned to You by the Trivia Distribution System

Trivia & Jokes

12 Trivia Tidbits to Sprinkle on Your Brainpan As A Garnish

Science & History

5 of the Oldest Board Games in the World

Movies & TV

21 of the Best Wordless Gags in Comedy History

Trivia & Jokes

44 Random Bits of Trivia We Shucked Out of the Smartest Clams in the Ocean

VIRAL ON CRACKED

1

33 Movie Facts to Boost Your Film Buff Street Cred

2

33 Brilliant References Hidden in Plain Sight in Movies

3

26 Brain-Breaking Historical Comparisons

4

The 22 Most Pointless Arguments We’ve All Wasted Time On

5

20 Jokes That Become Funnier When They’re Explained