This Is Where Each of Your 1.421 Trillion Dollars Is Going In 2010

Want to know where your tax money is going next year? Here's more than you can handle in the new 2010 edition of the Death and Taxes poster. Zoom in to see how much those F-35 fighters and lasers cost. More »

Death and Taxes Shows Fascinating, Terrible View on Military Tech Spending

Death and Taxes 2009 is a detailed graphical account showing where your tax dollars will go next year in the most detailed and fascinating way: Everything is set to scale according to the amount of money spent on it, showing the amazing weight that military-related spending has in the total Federal budget. It's just mindblowing to see it all with one look. It's easy to get amazed with military technology and, like with Dubai's architecture and its slaves, I keep forgetting how much money really gots into developing hypersonic missiles, airborne lasers, invisible bombers, next generation fighters, body piercing tanks, torpedoes capable of splitting a huge ship in two, ever-vigilant drones, scary helmets, and other deadly gadgets. When you zoom in the interactive map, the numbers are just staggering. For sure, the military research and manufacturing that Darpa or companies like Boeing and Lockheed Martin do not only push the scientific and industrial envelope-with long term benefits for everyone-and some may argue that it provides with work and fuels the economy-although this is kind of a fallacy and a vicious circle-but seriously, is this the only way to achieve it? What about the rest of the stuff? Hopefully, this will all change. Someday. [Wall Stats via Dark Roasted Blend]

After Losing Nukes, Air Base Fails Inspection: Security Caught Playing Games On Cellphones

After losing track of six nuclear warheads last year, you would think that the crack security team at Minot Air Force Base would pull it together for their much anticipated nuclear security inspection. Unfortunately, you would be mistaken. Inspectors from the Defense Threat Reduction Agency failed the security wing based on a number of infractions—including an incident where an airmen was observed playing video games on his cellphone while standing guard at a "restricted area perimeter" during a simulated attack. More »

Air Force Buys 300 PlayStation 3 for Research

The Air Force has bought 300 PlayStation 3s for "research." Whether "research" means "let's play a massive Call of Duty 4 game" or "let's start building SkyNet with 300 PlayStation 3 nodes" or "let's create a giant black mecha with Blu-ray lasers" is yet to be seen. According to the Air Force, they need the cell processors for assessment: More »