29 Government Failures and Missteps That Brought Shame Upon Their Respective Nations

Just when we thought America couldn’t get any weirder, it throws a racist stink bomb at us
29 Government Failures and Missteps That Brought Shame Upon Their Respective Nations

What to do with all this tax money? Sorry, we were doing a little role-playing as some of these completely certifiable government officials.

Apologies in advance for riling up your dad, but we just found out that the government has spent a ton of money on the most insane stuff imaginable. Like, nuking the moon, America? Really?

 

The European Union’s Befuddling Call for Unity

The European Union CRACKED.COM The EU thought the best way to promote unity was to show a white lady being menaced by a bunch of foreigners martial artists, and ultimately being saved by summoning several more, identical white ladies.

Boaty McBoatface

Public votes that backfired big time SIR DAVID ATTENBOROUGH BOATY McBOATFACE An online poll named a $288 million British research ship Boaty McBoatface. The Royals didn't honor it, and named it Sir David Attenborough (the fifth place name). As consolation, the name Boaty McBoatface was given to a small, yellow research vehicle. CRACKED

The State Department’s Thirst for Facebook Likes

PARK FOR POLICE - FROM S KB46 ONE HUNDRED the FACEBOOK IRAL HENERVE NOTE joking 8 J LIKES KB46279860I B2 TENDER PRODUCE LOSAL - CENTE RUL KOK - CLASS - Coolede DEP GRAGKED.COM 1201 UNITED ST Today Coca-Cola The State Department spent $600, ,000 in 2012 to attract fans to its Facebook page. Shockingly, KB4 this did nothing to raise America's standing in the world, not even in terms of the sad metric of social 46279 60 I media engagement. 860 I

The IRS’ Parody Videos

KB462798 FOR ON TVO MINDO UNK KAK PRODUTO B2 KB46 The Endols NOTE FUNNY & VIDEOS LOSM TENDER 60T MAC I 0986L YOKUSA Chine Coca-Cola Wint - - : 46 CRACKED.COM 2011 HS Colour Bibel People's VALID 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 60 I failed, and they apologized.

The Afghanistan Military Headquarters No One Ever Used

PARK United TEXT KB45 THIS DORMANT BUILDING KB46 B2 Health LESS TENDER NO - United - THE D CRACKED.COM 2011 HS PER Toke The military built a $36 million military headquarters in Afghanistan. Not that bad a price KB for a military HQ. Except, the military there never actually wanted it, and it was never used. 46279 60 I KB46279 02 98601

Medicare’s Penis-Pump Coverage

PARK USA FOR TENDER is KB46 ONE HUNDRED DO PENIS NOTS H FEDERAL HENERUE NOTE KB 46279860I PUMPS B2 TENDER PRODUCE LOSAL NOVO 140% FOX - - D GRACKED COM HS PER Tobac VA People's It's surprising that until 2005, Medicare covered penis pumps, which can do bad things to men's equipment. Worse, it spent $14 million more on the things than the devices normally retail for. 46279 60 I KB462798 160 I 02

Igloo White

PARK NHE FOR KB OPERATION MENERVE NOTE 46279860I IGLOO WHITE au TENDER LOSAL DE Dates - KOL Chicago BATTERY MODULE ENVIRONMENTAL SIGNAL PROCESSOR ACOUSTIC ENCODER PORTS CODE PLUG D 46 MIKE ASSEMBLY DECODER AUDIO AMPLIFIER RECEIVER TRANSMITTER GRAGKED.COM SOFT FER the America spent $1.7 billion on airdropping sensors along the Но Chi Minh Trail during the Vietnam KB4 War. The enemy immediately spotted the sensors and threw bags of pee at PET them, giving the Air Force 846279 60 I KB false readings. 860 I 02

HealthCare.gov

PARK TENDER FOR S POLICE KB46 WEB 98601 NOTE KB FEDERAL NOTE RES 442279860I SCREW-UPS TOSHER 120 V NOT con Close Costado www.ealthcare.gov - Pair HealthCare.gov Learn Get D 46 AUT Small Businesses Individuals & & Families 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 4 ... the amount sent to the same contractors who screwed the site up 46279 60 I in the first place. 860 I

The Poop Plane

THE FOR ... POOP 5 6 FEDERAL - KB46 NOTE HUNDRED the CO T KB 46279860I PLANE B2 TENDER PRODUCE - NO - Alone 26852 D 46 U.S. AIR FORCE FS-852 USAF CRACKED.COM One of the Air Force's many costly aircraft experiments involved sticking a propeller on the F-84F KB4 Thunderstreak. The resulting constant sonic boom triggered nausea, seizures, and the 60 1 loosening of people's bowels.

The Free Money We Handed Out in Iraq

The US flew nearly $12 billion in shrink-wrapped $100 bills into Iraq. KAZA Then they tossed it around without checking to see who was receiving it or how it was being spent. A congressional committee found that a staggering amount of the cash, which was was earmarked for Iraqi ministries and US contractors, was lost to corruption and waste. CRACKED.COM http://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/feb/08/usa iraq1

The Census Bureau

In 2010, the Census Bureau wanted people to get excited about taking the census. 2 Ise So they spent T $2.5 million on a on Super Bowl ad. mo S The dreary commercial featured Ed Begley Jr. and a few other B-list celebrities standing around a table, talking. this CRACKED.COM http://www.cbsnews.com/news/census-spends-25m-on-super-bowl-ads/

Nuking the Moon

In 1958, the Air Force hatched Project A119, A Study of Lunar Research Flights. The plan: Nuke the Moon. During the height of the Cold War, the U.S. wanted to show off its military might with a nuclear detonation on the moon that would be visible from Earth. After 8 project reports were commissioned, it was determined they could probably pull it off, but the project was scrapped. CRACKED.COM http://www.commondreams.org/headlines/051400-02.htm

Robot Hummingbirds

The Pentagon has so far invested over $4 million on the NAV. (That's short for Nano Air Vehicle.) the NAV Not the NAV It's a robot hummingbird. It's 6 inches tall and weighs less than an ounce. And yes, it's for spying. CRACKED.COM http://www.avinc.com/nano

The NIH’s Kiddio: Food Fight

The NIH has spent $1.55 million on a video game app called Kiddio: Food Fight. In it, you play a mother persuading her kid to taste vegetables. Because harried moms want nothing more than to spend rare moments of leisure playing force the kid to eat veggies on their phones. CRACKED.COM https://salmon house gov/media-center/press-releases/ rep-salmon-introduces-final-shrink-our-spending-bill-2015-cuts-funding

Johnson Atoll

Between 1942 and 1964, the U.S. Military built an artificial island in the Pacific. Johnson Atoll, 860 mi southwest of Hawaii It was abandoned in 2004. We don't know how much it cost, but a comparable project in scope and scale would be the Japanese Kansai Airport. That was another artificial island built to support a landing strip, and it cost around $20 billion. CRACKED.COM www.urbanghostsmedia.com/2010/04/isolated-and-abandoned-military-airbase-johnston-atoll

Project Stargate

Project Stargate was a 20-year government program launched in 1978. The project employed 22 full-time psychics. Apparently Command heard rumors that the Soviets were using psychics for military intelligence, and they didn't want to be left out. The psychics were used to telepathically view distant locations, looking for military installations. CRACKED.COM http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,983829,00.html

The General Services Administration

In 2010, the GSA spent $800,000 on a conference in Vegas. P I I I P NO 850198162 D CM ... OTI OOT NATION eep ried Twinkie The General Services Administration is the eRm agency that is in charge of eliminating government waste. Expenses included a $75,000 team building exercise, various $5,600 in-room parties, $31,000 networking receptions and assorted mysterious catering bills, such as a $7,000 sushi bill. CRACKED.COM http://www.gsaig. ov/?LinkServID=90537F5B-FBF8-E39E-A4F0D09005742C28&showMeta=0

Berlin’s Mimes

Berlin tried to use mimes to deal with drunken tourists in the streets at night. POUL ГОРОШЕК ГОР MAP The mimes would go out in groups of four and let people take photos with them while exerting social pressure on tourists to act appropriately. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

Russia’s Safe Selfie Campaign

Russia created a Safe Selfie campaign with a booklet about what not to do. The booklet, distributed in schools, says you shouldn't do things like climbing an electrical pylon or hanging from a rooftop just to get likes. NOW YOU KNOW CRACKED.COM

The Vietnam War

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. decided to relocate South Vietnamese villagers. It was called the Strategic Hamlet Program, and the idea was to move the villagers away from the soldiers, so they wouldn't get hurt. They'd be grateful, and support our side. But we grossly underestimated the number of villagers. It turned out there were 8 million of them, and the government had no way of providing for them. The resulting discontent made them easy recruits for the communists. CRACKED.COM http://www.britannica. com/event/Vietnam-War#ref809122

Stink Bombs

The U.S. Military has recently perfected the long-distance stinkbomb. By extensively researching what smells bad to different races. The idea behind a malodorant is to incapacitate the enemy with a nasty smell. The problem is, each culture has a different idea of what constitutes a bad smell. So each batch of stinkbombs has to be custom-formulated ahead of time. CRACKED.COM http://www. sunshine-project.de/infos/archiv/hintergrund/nr_08.pdf

German Hyperinflation

In 1923, hyperinflation caused German currency to lose, almost all of its value. It became so worthless that people gave it to children to play with or used it as wallpaper. CRACKED.COM

The Secret Service

It took 10 years GRACKED.COM (from 1938 to 1948) for the Secrets Service to catch the disgive HUNDRE Mister NOT LEGAL TE If Eight-Eighty ONE PL LAY LA - DOLLARS .. who had 'Wahsington' on his counterfeit $1 bills. That's right. Counterfeit $1 bills.

The Sochi Winter Olympics

ochi.ru 2014 Russia spent $8.7 Billion to construct a highway connecting Sochi to the mountain hosting the ski and snowboard events. This is more than the total cost for the 2010 Winter Olympics. GRACKED.COM

The F-35 Lightning II

Meet the F-35 Lightning II, a.k.a. the Joint Strike Fighter, the world's next generation fighter plane currently under development. Each unit is estimated to cost $109.5 million, over 2,100 times the median U.S. household income. The U.S. Department of Defense has budgeted for 2,457 of these bad boys. That's 2,457 times... well, you get the idea. GRACKED COM

Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa

The Sri Lankan president fled to Singapore and resigned over email. CRACKED.COM Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled his country in the wake of anti-government protests. The legality of the email resignation needs to be ascertained by the rele- vant authorities.

CNN

The Nazis

The Nazis lost an entire room. The Nazis stole the entire contents of The Amber room, an entirely gold and amber room worth over 500 million dollars in today's currency, from the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia. It was hidden during the war and has yet to be found. CRACKED.COM

COVID Scam

TANGLED TECH CRACKED.COM NBC News reports that tens of billions in COVID benefits was taken in by foreign scammers using stolen and forged IDs. ? In the old days it was Americans scamming our own government. Now everything's been outsourced!

Source: Vice

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