Some of it whacky

I have a problem with charlatans who steal defense dollars, who are draining the integrity of science and the credibility of our national defense. The linked article:

Pentagon Spends $78 Billion a Year on Weapons and Space Research, Some of it Whacky,

says that about 10 billion (of 78 billion) a year goes to fringe science like "gay bombs" and psychic teleportation.

In her book "Imaginary Weapons," military expert Sharon Weinberger writes that the federal government is spending taxpayer money on war technology at a pace of about $50,000 per second. -- abc news

So the tab for charlatanism is about $6,000 per second! You can buy a lot of bulletproof vests with that.

Suspicious Activity Tip Line Memo at Work

Suspicious Activity Tip Line

The Kentucky Office of Homeland Security created an anonymous tip line to allow residents to report suspicious activity throughout the Commonwealth. The number is 1-800-EYE-ON-KENTUCKY.

[Stakeholders] are encouraged to report suspicious activity on or around the [site]. Strange actions could include, but is [sic] not limited to:

* People asking unusual questions about building security;
* People taking pictures or video of buildings, bridges or other locations;
* People asking detailed questions about the schedules of public transportation;
* People seen timing the arrival/departure of public transportation;
* People seen loitering around non-public areas around reservoirs, water treatment plants, dams or power plants;
* People watching a building for extended periods of time;
* Suspicious vehicles parked in unusual places or at unusual times.

forelle:
WATCH OUT! for people asking questions about the schedules of public transportation!

High Tech at Homeland Security

Are these guys bozos or what? Soundex, technically explained here, a 90+ year old approach to dealing (crudely, at a time when illiteracy was the norm) with misspelling, is being used to manage the terrorist watch list! Holy crap! This is even more on-the-cheap than rummie's approach to war.

James Moore does a nice job of explaining what's wrong with that.

War on terror? We have no serious plans for stopping terror, other than to convince voters that we do have plans. The post-luddite federal government view of technology is frightening. If they had a clue, we could really start to worry about our freedoms.