Amanda Ripley Author of The Unthinkable

A jury has found five men guilty of conspiring to attack the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey. I followed the trial closely because I had gotten to know so many of the main players last year. I’d spent many hours interviewing the families and the lawyers for a story on the case as a model for terrorism prosecutions going forward. In the end, I found the men themselves to be only moderately interesting; the informants—employed by the FBI to record hundreds of hours of conversations with the men—turned out to…

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Since I live in DC, it was particularly painful to read this CQ interview with the DC Homeland Security Chief. It bothered me on so many levels, it’s hard to know where to start.

But let’s start with panic. Check this out:

Q: Let’s talk about evacuation routes. You know what evacuation is like during rush hour. If I were a terrorist, I’d strike right during rush hour….Practically speaking, there is no evacuation possibility, is there?

A: Evacuation will be tough. I’m not going to sit here and tell you otherwise. And again, during a scenario like…

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keep the garbage! That was the genius idea of Steve Kurtz and his artist friends after his house in Buffalo, NY, was seized by the FBI four years ago in a bioterrorism investigation that led no where. Now he has put the things the FBI left behind on display in an art gallery in Buffalo. The exhibit will probably tour New York City and Berlin, as well.

I recently spent the day with Steve for a Time.com story. First, we took a tour of his house, pausing…

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I went to National Airport in DC this week to do a story for Time.com about the new TSA screener uniforms. I came away very mixed about the new look. On the one hand, if the screeners look more professional, they will probably act more professionally, and passengers will treat them better, leading to a magical, positive feedback loop.

On the other hand, making screeners, the face of homeland security, look more militaristic does not necessarily feel like progress. In other countries, the airport security staff wear tailored suits and ties. They look like…

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I have met small-town officials all over the country who insist their town is a terrorist target. “We have an interstate highway here,” they say, with a hard, ominous stare. “And an airport.” For a TIME story on why Wyoming gets more homeland security cash per capita than any other place, I listened to a room full of 22 nice, well-meaning Casper fire fighters say they would feel insulted by any suggestion that Casper (pop. 50,000) should get less homeland-security money. “No one can say Casper can’t be a terrorist target,” fire…

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The largest homeland security trade show is held every year in DC. This year, I brought a cameraman…which for some reason gave me permission to personally try out every emergency food bar, oxygen mask and pump-action shotgun that caught my fancy. Check out the video on Time.com.

Unlike most new industries, homeland security popped up with its own instant industrial complex attached. The country’s defense contractors simply did a find-change in their marketing strategies and ta da! Northrop Grumman became your protector on the battlefield AND the baseball field!

Some of the…

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