Mmmmm. . . . pork

Centinal's got a post up on federal spending, which passingly mentions the proposed fake rainforest in Coralville, Iowa:

Among recent year's gems:

- $50 million for an indoor rain forest in Iowa
- $102 million to study screwworms which were long ago eradicated from American soil
- $273,000 to combat goth culture in Missouri
- $2.2 million to renovate the North Pole (Lucky for Santa!)
- $50,000 for a tattoo removal program in California
- $1 million for ornamental fish research

I for one am impressed by the federal government's foresight in address the invading Goth hordes. The Western Roman Empire ignored the Goths and now the Romans are forced to drive Vespas on cobblestone streets, which has got to really smart.

Meanwhile, I hope you caught 29's postings on the latest pro-fake-rainforest editorial in the Press-Citizen on both his site and the Iowa Porkforest:

Here's something even funnier that I don't buy:

I had thought it ludicrous that Congress and the Department of Energy would pork barrel $50 million for a rain forest.
That was January 22, 2004 when the $50 million was announced.

By May 21, 2004, Sandra L. Wilson was already part of a 26-member committee.

I find it interesting she says her epiphany came during the public forum held on March 22, 2004. Anybody know when she first put in to become a committee member? Also notable: Clara Oleson's letter pointing out that a public debate might like to have two sides.

Check out Professor Johnson's site for a summary of all the questions the forum didn't answer.