NYT: Inside the Black Budget (This is not an April Fools Day bad joke!)

[Bozita]

Trevor Paglen
Clockwise from top left: Ghost Squadron. For search and rescue; National Reconnaissance Office. Dragon is code for infrared imaging on advanced KH-11 satellites; Desert Prowler. May represent Groom Lake, Nev., a k a Area 51; Special Projects Office. Oversaw F-117A stealth fighter support; 4451st Test Squadron. Stealth fighters; 413th Flight Test Squadron. Possibly referring to simulated or real electronic threats against aircraft

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/science/01patc.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

April 1, 2008
Inside the Black Budget

By WILLIAM J. BROAD

Skulls. Black cats. A naked woman riding a killer whale. Grim reapers. Snakes. Swords. Occult symbols. A wizard with a staff that shoots lightning bolts. Moons. Stars. A dragon holding the Earth in its claws.

No, this is not the fantasy world of a 12-year-old boy.

It is, according to a new book, part of the hidden reality behind the Pentagon’s classified, or “black,” budget that delivers billions of dollars to stealthy armies of high-tech warriors. The book offers a glimpse of this dark world through a revealing lens — patches — the kind worn on military uniforms.

“It’s a fresh approach to secret government,” Steven Aftergood, a security expert at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said in an interview. “It shows that these secret programs have their own culture, vocabulary and even sense of humor.”

-snip-

The classified budget of the Defense Department, concealed from the public in all but outline, has nearly doubled in the Bush years, to $32 billion. That is more than the combined budgets of the Food and Drug Administration, the National Science Foundation and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

-snip-

more...

[Ordr]

1. Cool :)

[frazzled]

2. I read that this morning and thought ...

I don't know if this is totally creepy, or if it's just a bunch of overgrown nerds with sick senses of humor. Probably a bit of both.

[Bozita]

4. I'm leaning heavily toward creepy.

[Blue_Tires]

3. creepy.... n/t

[bbgrunt]

5. definitely creepy...."We make threats not promises"?

[ThomWV]

6. When I was in the Army the unit I was in wasn't part of the DOD budget, we had nothing to do with it

In fact we didn't figure into their chain of command either, we were just off to the side. A small unit with an odd name, a lot of antennas, and a very tall fence around everything.