Just Got A Homeland Security Alert!!!!

[ProfessorGAC]

The chemical industry has just been alerted. They're not going to raise the alert level for the whole country, but asked the chemical, nuclear, and water systems in the country to be "extra vigilant".

The email just came through to all management and technical folks in this company from our risk assessment folks.

They referenced increased al Qaeda traffic, as well as a couple of earlier threats. (Yawn!)

So, they want chemical, nuclear and water plants to be extra vigilant, but it's not necessary to raise the overall alert even though the intent of attacking such a site would be to contaminate the areas where people live.

Huh?
The Professor

[BurtWorm]

1. Is this unusual?

Have you received alerts like this before?

[ProfessorGAC]

2. No. We Have Never Seen One Before

The security measures were ratcheted up after 9/11, and we've never stood down at any of our sites, worldwide. But, we've never gotten a specific, "be extra vigilant" message before.

Even when the whole country went to a higher color (what a joke!) we didn't get anything special.

Today, we did. And yet, it's not relevant enough to turn up the color wheel for the people of the country.

More Republican clusterf***.
The Professor

[ProfessorGAC]

3. So Nobody But BurtWorm Cares?

This is not a joke folks. The gov't has sent an alert out to chem, nuke, and water plants. I'm not kidding.

But, they're not going to alert the public. This has never been done to the chemical industry before. (Except on 9/11 itself.)

Just thought everyone should know.
The Professor

[GOPisEvil]

4. Hmmm...interesting...

I'm guessing this is a CYA move. It has CYA written all over it.

"We didn't want to warn the general population with unsubstantiated warnings, so we warned the industries involved. It's their fault if something wrong happens."

[ProfessorGAC]

5. Sort Of What I Concluded, Too

If nothing happens, they're heros. If something does, "It's Not My Fault!"
The Professor

[Raven]

9. But, thank you Prof, for thinking of us!

We may scoff, but you have given us valuable info. Maybe it's CYA but better alert than sorry...or something like that. Thanks!

[BurtWorm]

7. Everything they do around "homeland security" is CYA.

[BurtWorm]

8. No message

[soleft]

6. what's disturbing is I was thinking only yesterday that a chemical attack

something which caused injuries to skin - I've heard that some chemicals can actually make your skin just kind of melt off - would be the worst kind of attack to live thru.

[amazona]

10. can't afford any more general alerts

The states are broke and can't afford any more general alerts.

FEMA's disaster fund was nearly gone on June 30 at the time of Tropical Storm Bill. Our town was badly hit by the disaster and we were denied a federal disaster declaration and any federal aid. So I guess the feds are broke too.

There is "stuff" going on in the petrochemical industry -- a major fire at the ExxonMobile gas plant in Baton Rouge a couple days ago, the famous pipeline thing out west. Maybe sabotage is already going on, who knows? During the Baton Rouge fire, people had to "shelter in place" in their homes. No injuries to my knowledge, thank goodness.

There may be terror activity going on already, or it may just be the usual run of accidents, but it would make sense for chemical plants to be more on the alert.

[SoCalDem]

11. Bingo.. The states are mad as hell and they have no money

to do the Homeland Security Sing a long anymore.. They set up this stupid DEPARTMENT, and yet THEY do nothing more than design a color chart and send out e-mails..

Any one of us could "imagine" all kinds of stuff that "could" happen, but the fact is, we are NO more secure than we ever were.. Our "enemies" live amongst us, they work with us, they live in our neighborhoods, their kids go to school with ours..

The ideological cancer that lives in their brain is the only thing that makes them different from us.. We cannot truly know what is in their thoughts.. They only have to succeed 1 time in 100 to be successful... we have to stop them 100% of the time to be successful..

Terrorism cannot be "defeated".. The only way to thwart terrorism, is to see to it that dispossessed, disenfranchised people are too busy living happy lives to have time to plot the downfall of the world :)

Easy !!!