Sometimes  we all say or do things we wish we could take back or do over. But  life, especially in these days of Twitter, smartphones, 24-hour news,  the blog-o-sphere and social media, captures almost any and all flubs,  slips of the tongue, missteps, hijinks and bad behavior.

Today's  file, the first in almost a month, is not about an individual, but  rather an entire department of the US government. We have all heard the  stories of the excesses to be found in the Department of Defense budget.  Such things as $10,000 toilets or $200 hammers are anecdotal. Now we  have a report out from Senator Tom Coburn, long known as a watchdog on  governmental excess. The Senator now provides us with a few tidbits that  should spark the ire of every taxpayer about the misuse and stupidity  of funding that sometimes goes on by government.

From  the "You Paid What?" department we have today's entry into the OOPs!  file on the waste of money by the DOD. Here are some of the more bizarre  findings by Coburn as reported by the Washington Times:

•  $300,000 spent by the Air Force Office of Scientific Research to fund  Brown University's research into archaeopteryx, the 150-million-year-old  early bird, in which the researchers determined the creature likely had  black feathers.

• An Office of Naval Research research project  that helped spawn Caffeine Zone 2, an iPhone application that tells  people how to schedule their coffee breaks.

• $1.5 million to  develop a special new roll-up beef jerky, which Mr. Coburn said was  funded by taking money out of a weapons program.

• $100,000 for  a 2011 workshop on interstellar space travel that included a session  entitled "Did Jesus die for Klingons too?" The session probed how  Christian theology would apply in the event of the discovery of aliens.

http://washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2012/nov/15/pentagon-wants-know-did-jesus-die-klingons-too/

While  we must maintain a strong defense, we do not need to be wasting  taxpayer money on such frivilous items such as these. What do any of  things have to do with keeping America strong and its people safe?

From  the Cornfield, may the gaffes, the flubs, the misspeak and stupid  actions roll on...otherwise I will have nothing to write about.