I am never surprised at the stuff I see in bills, but then again, the audacity of all of those involved still does make me shake my head.

Like this bill - what does Iraq and Afghanistan have to do with climate change? Well, I'm glad you asked.

"The Secretary of the Treasury shall seek to ensure that multilateral development banks (as defined in section 1701©(4) of this Act) adopt and implement greenhouse gas accounting in analyzing the benefits and costs of individual projects," reads one provision.

In other words, you better hire someone at Treasury who has experience in the evaluation of international banks and how their plans impact climate change issues.

Here was one that caught my eye, on the International Monetary Fund - and its gold:

"The Secretary of the Treasury is authorized to instruct the United States Executive Director of the Fund to vote to approve the sale of up to 12,965,649 ounces of the Fund's gold," the provision reads.

There is another interesting item dealing with the National Security Agency, one of the top U.S. Intelligence organizations.

It relates to a backup NSA data center - located at Camp Williams in Utah - as the bill authorizes spending $1.58 billion for the construction of that facility.

This bill appropriates about 10% of that amount for the start of construction work.

There is a good chunk of money in this bill for a variety of foreign aid programs, ranging from the Mideast to Pakistan, Afghanistan and much more.

You probably won't read in the news that $30 million goes to air traffic control in a former Soviet Republic, eh?

"$30,000,000 is for assistance for the Kyrgyz Republic to improve air traffic control and safety, as proposed by the Senate, which is $29,500,000 above the request," reads the bill's report.

In other words, the Senate okayed $500,000, and for some reason, negotiators raised that sixty times to a cool $30 mill.

I bet you could use $30 million in your neighborhood for something, maybe even air traffic control and safety.

And what's even more interesting, is that this money is going to Kyrgyzstan, even though they are booting us out of a military base that we have been using for re-supply efforts in Afghanistan.

Some of the aid goes closer to home, to Mexico. This provision was one that made me think for a minute:

"The conference agreement includes $260,000,000 to expand aviation support for the Mexican Navy, and includes language to ensure the expeditious delivery of such
equipment."

$260 million for "aviation support" for the Mexican Navy. I would guess that's for counter narcotics measures, but the bill doesn't specifically say.

As for officially acknowledged earmarks, there are only 13 so specified in the bill's report. Only a few of them have a certain amount of money associated with them:

• Flood Control and Coastal Emergencies Mississippi Barrier Island Restoration $439,000,000 - Cochran, Wicker
• General Provision Upper Newport Bay, California - Feinstein
• General Provision Amendment to Federal Deposit Insurance Act-Interest rate ceilings - Lincoln
• General Provision Jones Act Waiver-Drydock ALABAMA, AL - Bonner, Shelby
• General Provision Jones Act Waiver-Vessel MARYLAND INDEPENDENCE, MD - Ruppersberger
• General Provision Communications System, MS - Cochran, Wicker
• General Provision Hurricanes Katrina,Rita - Case Management, MS Cochran
• General Provision Hurricanes Katrina,Rita - Primary and Secondary School Repair Reimbursement, LA - Landrieu
• General Provision Hurricane Ike - Disaster Assistance Direct Loans, TX HutchisDn
• General Provision Reimbursements for Presidentially Declared Disasters - TX, LA, KY, WV Edwards (TX), Culberson, Hutchison, Melancon, Alexander (LA), Landrieu, Vitter, Rogers (KY), Byrd
• Military Construction, Mississippi Amy Ammunition Plant Hurricane Damage Repair $49,000,000 Cochran, Taylor
• Military Construction, Navy Vision Center of Excellence, Maryland $4,052,000 Murray, Doozman, Nye, Walz
• Federal-aid Highway Program, Emergency Relief - Devils Lake Roads, North Dakota - Dorgan, Conrad

  That's just some of what's stuffed in the supp.

  The bill was approved Tuesday night in the House, and now heads to the Senate, where it could face a filibuster.