-By Warner Todd Huston
The federal government is looking into the serious issue of the “conflict” between humans and elephants. To help out on that important issue, the government generously gave $3.8 million of your tax dollars to study the matter.
The princely sum was awarded in 2011 and 2012 for the African Elephant Conservation grant and was sent to “any African government agency responsible for African elephant conservation and protection and any other organization or individual with demonstrated experience in African elephant conservation.”
Despite the millions offered, the federal government assured our African partners that no documentation or credentials were required to apply for the grant.
As CNSNews reports, the grant objectives were “to provide financial assistance to support projects that will enhance sustainable conservation programs to ensure effective, long-term conservation of African elephants.”
More is coming for 2013, despite the sequester that the President said would shut down the government.
This wasn’t the only helping hand that the federal government lent to efforts in foreign lands. In 2012, the feds also laid out $200 million for a reality TV show in India in order to advertise U.S. cotton products.
Then there was the $30 million that went to help Pakistani Mango farmers.
We shouldn’t forget the celebrity chef show in Indonesia that was the happy recipient of $100,000, or the “Rockin’ the Kremlin” documentary that got $550,000, or the $702,558 project to bring TV to Vietnamese villages.
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“The only end of writing is to enable the reader better to enjoy life, or better to endure it.”
–Samuel Johnson
Warner Todd Huston is a Chicago based freelance writer. He has been writing opinion editorials and social criticism since early 2001 and before that he wrote articles on U.S. history for several small American magazines. His political columns are featured on many websites such as Andrew Breitbart’s BigGovernment.com, BigHollywood.com, and BigJournalism.com, as well as RightWingNews.com, RightPundits.com, CanadaFreePress.com, StoptheACLU.com, AmericanDaily.com, among many, many others. Mr. Huston is also endlessly amused that one of his articles formed the basis of an article in Germany’s Der Spiegel Magazine in 2008.
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