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OK, we're on the same page. I read Sec 307 about ten times because it was the only place that even seemed remotely like what this article, and a couple others, are worried about. This kind of thing drives me crazy because all the "crying wolf" is going to get us all lazy and miss something really bad coming through.

I read Sec 307 about ten times because it was the only place that even seemed remotely like what this article, and a couple others, are worried about.

Yeah, I think Safire is blowing smoke - even the DARPA site seems to make it clear that the database they envision is years off. So at this point I think it's more of an R&D effort, and you can do quite a bit of that with half a billion bucks.

Of course, I'm not to thrilled about dropping half a billion dollars down some University research grant hole to write the next great IP sniffer.

LOL. They should invest a few million dollars, create an interagency hotline organization, and allow any agent in the FBI, CIA, INS or other organization to phone terrorism tips or even guesses (such as it's strange for all these Middle Eastern men to be in flight school), thereby bypassing the bureaucracy that tries to filter and squelch such information. The agents manning the hotline and processing the information should be a combination of hard-nosed homicide detectives from city police forces, former CIA field officers, former congressional staffers, former prosecutors - folks used to working with information in an analytical, timely basis - and this agency should have the power to kick the ass of anyone below them who gets in their way.

This kind of thing drives me crazy because all the "crying wolf" is going to get us all lazy and miss something really bad coming through.

Agreed. Given historical precedent, I am sure there are at least a couple of real stinkers buried in this bill. I'm half-tempted to print out the entire mess on paper and read it this weekend, since it's supposed to rain anyway.