PZ linked to my little debunking of the White House’s lies about the desert tortoise website, and Pharyngula commenter Spinniac did a little calculation that I absolutely love.

Remember, Joe Biden said — of the deserttortoise.gov website, which costs the government $125 a year:

And I bet you didn’t know that your tax dollars pay for a website dedicated to the Desert Tortoise. I’m sure it’s a wonderful species, but we can’t afford to have a standalone site devoted to every member of the animal kingdom.

Spinniac’s comment:

Hmm…
Cost of war in Afganistan = $423,000,000,000 / 10 years
= $42.3B/year
divide by $125/year/website gives us
338,400,000 websites.
There are currently less than 2 million known animal species, but there may be as many as 100 million.
100 million is less than 338.4 million

Yes we can!

1. 
   Iain 2011 06 15 at 3:07:43 am

   I love the idea of having 98 million websites devoted to unknown species.

   “Website for unknown species 42,954,239.

   It’s probably a beetle”

2. 
   Wild_Bill 2011 06 22 at 8:57:46 am

   It is clear that on some days Joe Biden should just keep his trap shut.  Given this administration’s abysmal environmental record it does not surprise me, however.