For a good laugh read the background on this "virtual fence" story; it begs belief that this is what we come to in this country at the expense of political correctness! We can't build a fence to keep out undesirables so we build a "virtual" fence; no wait a minute we spend $15 million and task Boeing to get it done! Oh wait a minute... it doesn't work! Virtual fence' OK'd for U.S.-Mexico border WASHINGTON (AP) -- A 28-mile "virtual fence" that will use radars and surveillance cameras to try to catch people entering the country illegally has gotten final government approval. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced approval of the fence on Friday. The fence, built by the Boeing Co., uses technology the government plans to extend to other areas of the Arizona border, as well as to sections of Texas...Last year the government withheld some of Boeing's payments for the system because technology the company used in the test project did not work properly. Boeing also was late in delivering the final product, known as Project 28. Because of this, the department received a $2 million credit from the company to go toward maintenance and logistical support of the system, the Homeland Security officials said. The government paid Boeing $15 million of its initial $20 million contract before determining that there were glitches in the test project. The department gave a conditional acceptance in December. Lawmakers have been skeptical of the product Boeing delivered. Why label a fence project with the cryptic "Project 28" moniker? Was "Area 57" taken?
I was offered a job to handle the press relations strategy around this project. I'm so glad I turned it down.