Indiana leads nation in potential terrorist targets

[Sojourner]

[url="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/washington/12assets.html?hp&ex=1152676800&en=6b0502da91a3d945&ei=5094&partner=homepage"]From the NY Times:[/url]
[quote]WASHINGTON, July 11 — It reads like a tally of terrorist targets that a child might have written: Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified “Beach at End of a Street.”

But the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not child’s play: all these “unusual or out-of-place” sites “whose criticality is not readily apparent” are inexplicably included in the federal antiterrorism database.

The National Asset Database, as it is known, is so flawed, the inspector general found, that as of January, Indiana, with 8,591 potential terrorist targets, had 50 percent more listed sites than New York (5,687) and more than twice as many as California (3,212), ranking the state the most target-rich place in the nation.

The database is used by the Homeland Security Department to help divvy up the hundreds of millions of dollars in antiterrorism grants each year, including the program announced in May that cut money to New York City and Washington by 40 percent, while significantly increasing spending for cities including Louisville, Ky., and Omaha.

“We don’t find it embarrassing,” said the department’s deputy press secretary, Jarrod Agen. “The list is a valuable tool.”

But the audit says that lower-level department officials agreed that some older information in the inventory “was of low quality and that they had little faith in it.”

“The presence of large numbers of out-of-place assets taints the credibility of the data,” the report says.[/quote]

Glad to see our homeland security dollars are being so well spent ...

[homeschoolmom]

Stay away from the Mule Day Parade...

But you didn't hear that from me.

[Sojourner]

Do you think I'll be safe at the Goat Day Parade?

[homeschoolmom]

Well, i wouldn't go... but that's because of my allergies... You should be fine.

[Groo the Wanderer]

w00t! Another fine example of what happens when something is left up to the government......and some of y'all are clamoring for socialized healthcare?? YIKES!

I can just see it now....."Feds declare the body has only 6 bones - head, torso, legs,arms. This redesignation will help cut paperwork, streamline your processing, and cut your average wait time to see a doctor form 3 years to 1."