If there's one thing our country needs to devote less money to it's "defense" spending. Well hell, we can't afford to deliver proper healthcare or education to our people, but we can sure as hell sinks trillions of dollars into a shiny new jet fighter program. Our defense spending dwarfs that of any other nation in total expenditures, and with a few exceptions (Saudi Arabia being the most notable example) as a percentage of GDP.

"CENTCOM. Why do they have a twitter account? " That's the first thing I thought of. What possible reason could a military organization have for needing a twitter account? I understand the desire to not get "left behind" the tech revolution and all, but what the hell? Generally speaking, I have a great deal of respect for front-line soldiers, but decidedly less so for the kinds upper echelon "leaders" that believe it makes sense to waste defense resources on such utter bullshit. Perhaps they should also have a Shutterfly account so they can share cute pictures of their cats holding their paws up when there's an M4 rifle pointed at them.

PREPARE SHIP... Prepare the ship for ludicrous speed!

If the GoogleX team can guarantee that, because of increased exposure to: cosmic rays, CMEs, etc., my cells will mutate into strange (preferably homicidal) creatures, I'm totally sold. Who could turn down an opportunity like that? I'll go to my grave content in the knowledge that future generations of space faring humans will likely be devoured by my mutated progeny.

I thought you'd like this quote for the USDA website..

In 2008, 85 percent of U.S. households were food secure throughout the entire year, and 14.6 percent of households were food insecure at least some time during that year, up from 11.1 percent in 2007. This is the highest recorded prevalence rate of food insecurity since 1995 when the first national food security survey was conducted.

The pretty much conflicts with your account of our poor eating "tons of junk food" doesn't it?

As an American, I am disgusted by the policies of my government. I think the way we approach the UN, and global politics is a sick joke. If our government was genuine in its desire to further the cause of human rights and propagate peace we would operate quite differently. As it stands, I think the US is by far the most dangerous nation in the world. We are simultaneously involved in 2 wars of aggression yet many American citizens still believe we're a force for peace. Do you think America has the "World's best health care" as well? Personally, I believe International institutions such as the UN would operate much more effectively if power was distributed more broadly. In it's current state, I don't think the UN can be seen as anything other than a political tool of a handful of nations.
Another important point, I think the US has lost the moral high ground to lecture ANYONE on human rights. We'd have to fully confront the issues of torture before we regained any credibility in that department. Then again, our concerns regarding human rights has always been, how should I say it, selective.