Misanthropy

I am teeth-constantly-clenched stressed and busy right now, but as I was eating my dinner at my desk, I came across this in The NYTimes, which reminded me why, in addition to being scaryevilfascists, our government is also, on top of everything else, just plain stupid (which makes its increasingly successful quest for absolute power even more scary).

You need to be registered to read the article, but in short, surprise, surprise, Homeland Security has no idea what the crap it's doing. The Inspector General of Homeland Security has issued a report that the National Asset Database (which is used to calculate how much money each state gets to fund security) is basically smoking crack. (Okay, the report used different words, but that was the idea.)

According to the database, Indiana is the state with the most potential terrorist targets (50 percent more than NY and more than twice as many as California). And Wisconsin is second. Don't get me wrong, I like cows and cheese as much as the next non-lactose intolerant person, but wtf?

Among the potential "assets" needing protection listed in the database are places like the Sweetwater Flea Market in Kentucky and the Amish Country Popcorn in Indiana (which, by the owner's own admission, is in the middle of nowhere and employs five people).

Other assets that are likely to draw the terrorists' eyes included Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Mule Day Parade, “Beach at End of a Street,” “Nix’s Check Cashing,” “Mall at Sears,” “Ice Cream Parlor,” “Tackle Shop,” “Donut Shop,” “Anti-Cruelty Society” and “Bean Fest.”

I don't know about you, but I’m feeling reassured. Can people this incompetent actually manage to rig an election? Oh, wait, I forgot that they farmed that project out to the private sector.