The D.C. newspaper Politico reports that the Texas National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility consortium is filing a lawsuit today seeking to overturn the Department of Homeland Security’s decision last year to build the NBAF in Kansas.

University of Georgia officials have said they won’t lobby Homeland Security to change its mind, and Mississippi and Texas likely ranked ahead of us, so the chances of the NBAF coming here are close to nil.

But Politico quotes Rep. Paul Broun, R-Athens, as saying the lab doesn’t belong in Kansas because tornados are a threat.

“’We don’t want to create our own bio or agro disaster because of a bad facility,’ Broun told POLITICO Wednesday. ‘Any place in the country could have potential tornadoes, but Manhattan, Kan., is notorious.’

I hope none of you were alarmed by Athens’ sudden increase in middle-aged men wearing ugly sportcoats earlier this week. It was just the Biennial Institute, a three-day conference where University of Georgia professors try to teach state legislators how to not mess up Georgia any worse than it already is.

NABF: All about the cheddar

One of the nice things about the conference is that everyone who’s anyone in state government is all in one place, so it’s a great opportunity for some very interesting conversations.

Some NBAF (non-foot-and-mouth-tainted) food for thought over the weekend …

I get the feeling that Homeland Security either didn’t do its homework when it picked Kansas over Athens for the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility, or, more likely, picked Kansas for reasons known only behind the scenes, then built cases against the other sites.

Three examples:

If the U.S. government can’t properly deliver the mail, how can it safely run a massive foreign animal and zoonotic disease research facility, Grady Thasher and Kathy Prescott wonder.

Thrasher and Prescott’s group, FAQ, submitted a lengthy comment to Homeland Security last month citing dozens of reasons why the National Bio- and Agro-defense Facility shouldn’t be built in Athens.

But DHS routed the document to a different James Johnson, not the one who’s the NBAF program manager, opening up the question of whether any other comments have been similarly lost in the shuffle.

“This kind of incompetence is unacceptable,” Prescott said. “How can DHS claim that they are seriously considering our comments if no one knows for sure whether they have even received them?”

Good morning, all.

Don’t blame Jay Cohen for this mess.

The career Navy man turned Homeland Security undersecretary of science has drawn serious fire for his mishandling of everything from process to tax dollars since he was appointed to his post in August 2006. Time and time again, he has refused to separate himself from the vast array of politically motivated stooges speckling this administration. So the fact he muddied up the site selection of the National Bio- and Agro-Defense facility with politics should come as no surprise.

Jay Cohen was just doing his job.

In fact, we should view his actions as a blessing. At least we know now that we’re playing a crooked game.

So, let’s decide if we want to keep playing.

For almost a year now, the death lab freedom fighters have been spamming anyone who’ll listen with forwards and links regarding the National But not in Athens Facility.

Personally, I don’t mind – I get NBAF Google alerts, but hey, maybe I missed it – so whatever anyone wants to send me, keep it coming. I can understand, though, why Athens-Clarke Commissioner Andy Herod finally snapped.

Activist Nancy Zechella sent a link about the Connecticut attorney general opposing the NBAF to Mayor Heidi Davison, all 10 commissioners me and Flagpole news editor Ben Emmanuel. It was the organic straw that broke the free-range, grass-fed, humanely raised camel's back.

B-sides, demos, outtakes and rarities from Thursday’s National Biological Armageddon Facility hearing hearing.

• The AJC’s Ken Foskett picked up on something I may have missed: it looks like the cost of building the NBAF rose from $525 million to $680 million. The higher figure is found here (click on site cost analysis and scroll down to page 27) in virtually illegibly small type buried at the bottom of an otherwise redacted chart. I guess that explains how I skipped over it, and why AJC reports make the big bucks. The Homeland Security guy I talked to today plead ignorance and said he’ll get back to me. I should have something for y’all early next week.

The anti-NBAF crowd put on a warm-up for Thursday’s National Bringing the Apocalypse Facility hearing today by staging a small protest this afternoon along South Milledge Avenue. Grady Thrasher sent pictures, which I may post later if time allows.

Meanwhile, local officials steeled themselves for the inevitable confrontation. Everyone who supports the lab is prepared to be jeered at, booed and shouted down, Athens Area Chamber of Commerce President Doc Eldridge said.

“We’re going to get our teeth kicked in,” he said.

Eldridge, Mayor Heidi Davison, and several commissioners said they are coming to one or both hearings to reiterate their support. Despite incessant pressure from a handful of hard-core FAQ members – I get copied on a dozen e-mails a day – they are not going to cave.

You've just won a lifetime supply of pus-filled livestock!

If the Department of Homeland Security is fudging the data to bump up a politically well-connected state onto its list of finalists for the terror plague death factory (NBAF), that illustrates why a lot of people are uneasy about this project.

Is ignoring your own internal criteria and ratings really a good idea when what you’re building will house germs could potentially (slim chance, yes, but still) kill thousands of cows, pigs and deer for miles around?

If the top brass at DHS are willing to tell their own site evaluation team to go fly a kite, what other aspects of the lab’s operation will be subject to political rather than scientific considerations?

Are we getting the straight scoop here?

Sunday’s Associated Press report that the process for narrowing down sites for the National Bio- and Agro-Defense Facility was flawed certainly lends more power to opponents of locating the federal research facility in Athens.

From reading the story, it sounds like a Bush political appointee with the U.S Department of Homeland Security and certain members of Congress have bent the rules and acted capriciously in compiling the short list of possible NBAF sites. The First Dolt’s political flunky elevated a Mississippi community that scored a lower overall evaluation than nine other sites, including a second one in Athens.

It shouldn’t be hard to understand why some of the folks opposed to putting NBAF in Athens harbor a mistrust of the Bush administration and federal government bureaucracy.