March 16, 2015

12 Great Government GIFs

You may not be able to stop looking at these taxpayer-funded GIFs.


Spend enough time browsing government websites and you’re sure to come across a GIF*. Not the bite-sized pop-culture kind, but low-res relics of the days when a GIF was a way to spice up a Web 1.0 site without slowing down Netscape users’ dial-up connections. Here are a dozen taxpayer-funded GIFs you may not be able to stop looking at:

 

Stinky toxic sludge

EPA

Ronald Reagan meets a turkey

National Archives

This winking, whisker-wagging feline

CDC

This adorably suicidal moon meteor

NASA

This rabid raccoon

CDC

The touch-typing Data Ferrett!

US Census (sadly now defunct)

The Wright Flier

NASA

These menacingly mesmerizing neuroreceptors

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory

This low-res lava lamp

NIH

Small man with small change

EPA

This guy riding a space probe

NASA

Citizens demanding more GIFs!

EPA

*It’s pronounced with a hard G, like government.

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This is how change happens.

One story at a time.

This investigative reporting takes time too. Months of research. Weeks of writing, editing, and fact checking—and putting together the photography, art, video, and audio that tell the stories in a new way, illuminating new perspectives and voices.

We can afford to take our time because we don’t report to oligarchs or corporations. We report to you, and for you.

And the stakes are high. Democracy is on the defense. We’ve been exposing corruption and scandal for five decades, and this is a pivotal moment in our country’s history. Will democracy prevail? We won’t wait for time to tell—independent journalism is essential for democracy, and we’ll keep doing our part to amplify the free press.

So, we’re asking: Will you join the fight? Mother Jones has been here for 50 years, and we need your support to fuel the future of investigative journalism. Mark our 50th anniversary with a gift of any amount.

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