Amidst Cuts, Feds Fund Study on Size of Male Duck Genitalia (And Other Bizarre Research)
Active duty military almost lost tuition assistance, but lawmakers still deem it necessary to fund some pretty weird projects.
According to CNS News, Yale University is still receiving funding for a $380,000-plus grant to study the length of male duck genitalia!
The money originally came from a 2009 stimulus grant. National Science Foundation spokesperson Deborah Wing had this to say about the money:
"The study met the criteria of the NSF panel of scientific peers as part of the grant approval process. The NSF strives to be good stewards of taxpayers dollars"
Another $1.5 million is being spent by Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston for a study (commissioned by the National Institute of Health) as to why reportedly 75 percent of lesbians are obese, but not gay males.
The sequester has also apparently not affected the salaries of White House staffers. According to Fox News:
The president kept on staff a 'deputy assistant' for energy and climate change, Heather Zichal, making $140,000; a 'special assistant' for energy and environment, Nathaniel Keohane; and a 'deputy director' for energy and climate change, Dan Utech. Together, their salaries totaled over $370,000 last year, according to White House records.