The federal antiterrorism database includes potential “targets” like Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, and an unspecified “Beach at End of a Street,” a new inspector general report shows. Indiana is listed as the most target-rich state in the U.S., with “50 percent more listed sites than New York.”

House Intelligence Chairman Peter Hoekstra (R-MI) promised yesterday to crackdown on intelligence leaks to the media, suggesting “some unauthorized leaks could have been deliberate attempts to help al Qaeda.” To back up his claim, Hoekstra said: “I don’t have any evidence.”

$98.40: Next year’s monthly premium for Medicare Part B outpatient coverage, an 11 percent increase over this year and a 68 percent increase since 2003.

The defense industry, with White House backing, is bitterly fighting an amendment to the Senate’s 2007 defense spending bill that requires fixed-price contracts that set a firm limit on the cost of weapons systems. The Pentagon’s contracting system is currently plagued by waste and cost overruns.

The U.S. government “is discontinuing a controversial multibillion-dollar deal with oil services giant Halliburton Co. to provide logistical support to U.S. troops worldwide.” Read more