Texas’ Homeland Security folks have set up a test site for our new virtual border watch, web cams on the border, open to public viewing with a fancy little button so anyone can report “suspicious activity.” It’s a thoroughly stupid idea, and yet Perry thinks we should spend five million dollars on it. In fact, here’s what he had to say about it in a press release this summer:

With voluntary participation of private landowners, Texas will use $5 million to begin placing hundreds of surveillance cameras along criminal hotspots and common routes used to enter this country. Perry said the cameras will cover vast stretches of farm and ranchland located directly on the border where criminal activity is known to occur, and “not the neighborhoods where families will continue to enjoy their privacy.”

“Landowners will be able to monitor and defend their property from those who might endanger their families. We will make the video feed available to state, local and federal law enforcement agencies so they can respond swiftly and appropriately,” Perry said. “And we will post this video on the Internet – in real time – so that concerned Americans can help protect our nation through online neighborhood watch programs.”

The video will be available 24 hours a day and cameras will be equipped with night vision capabilities. When citizens witness a crime taking place, they will be able to call an 800 number and be routed to the appropriate law enforcement agency.

Naturally, I signed up for an account to check it out, and here’s what I have to say about it:

So far, there are 8 cams on-line, if you can say they are on-line. I managed to get one to load, and it ran for less than 60 seconds before ceasing to function. The other cameras wouldn’t load at all, no matter what computer or browser I was using. Some just come up as a 404. So far, looking at the quality of the set-up and utter lack of functionality, I’d have to say they’ve only spent about $20 hiring someone’s ten year old nephew to work on it and are hosting it all on some free web host somewhere. No … really. It’s ridiculous. It seems to me, if I were handed a five million dollar budget to hook up a bunch of streaming web cams to a web site, I’d be able to do far better even if I were high on crack and hadn’t slept in two months … and were both blind and brain damaged. No insult intended to whomever’s ten year old nephew has been putting this together for them, of course.

So, like I said … a thoroughly stupid idea with a large budget and poorly implemented … just like most things Pretty Hair Perry has had his hand on since he’s been in office.