A few weeks ago Liberalpastor wrote about a farmer in Ohio who was being prosecuted for selling illegal white stuff (see June 27th post). The illegal white stuff was actually non-pasturized milk. The hearing on this illicit sale will take place in the courtroom where my father was once a judge.I like to think of what he'd do and say about this case if he were still on the bench! But instead his predecessor, Thomas White, will be presiding over the adjudication of this "crime" and I intend to check on the progress of this case later this month when I return for my high school reunion. Now, in a different instance of government overreaching, it seems that another Amish farmer and businessowner in Indiana has been marked! This culture of peace-loving simple-living Americans have a business "on the list" of potential terrorist activity sites.
In an article in today's New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/12/washington/12assets.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin, we learn that Amish Country Popcorn is on the Dept. of Homeland Security's list of potential sites of terrorist activity!
Eric Lipton writes in today's NYTimes,
"...the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not childs 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...
Even people connected to some of those businesses or events are baffled at their inclusion as possible terrorist targets. Seems like someone has gone overboard, said Larry Buss, who helps organize the Apple and Pork Festival in Clinton, Ill. Their time could be spent better doing other things, like providing security for the country. Angela McNabb, manager of the Sweetwater Flea Market, which is 50 miles from Knoxville, Tenn., said:"I don't know where they get their information. We are talking about a flea market here."New York City officials, who have questioned the rationale for the reduction in this year's antiterrorism grants, were similarly blunt. Now we know why the Homeland Security grant formula came out as wacky as it was,, Senator Charles E. Schumer, Democrat of New York, said Tuesday."This report is the smoking gun that thoroughly indicts the system"..
The businessman, Brian Lehman, said he owned the only operation in the country with that name. "I am out in the middle of nowhere", said Mr. Lehman, whose business in Berne, Ind., has five employees and grows and distributes popcorn. "Weare nothing but a bunch of Amish buggies and tractors out here. No one would care." But on second thought, he came up with an explanation: "Maybe because popcorn explodes?"
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