State's Homeland Security Hotline Befouled By Telemarketers

More than just families at dinner, telemarketers can also interrupt higher-ups ? like governors with special secret hotlines connected to the Department of Homeland Security.

According to a story in the Delaware News Journal, telemarketers have been unwittingly calling the numbers that make the secret special Department of Homeland Security red phones ring. “Every time that phone rings, it’s telemarketers,” grumbled Gov. Ruth Ann Minner, whose secret homeland defense hot line sits in her office.

The problem seems to be the random number generators that many telemarketing companies use. That problem was supposed to have been taken care of by the Department of Homeland Security when they placed the numbers on the National Do Not Call registry. But clearly, judging by the number of government agencies with secret phones ringing in offers of time share condominiums and great deals on long distance, the calls are still coming in.

?The Department of Homeland Security,? the New Journal story cheekily informs us, ?did not return calls for comment.?

You can read this story at Hello, is This Gov. Minner’s Secret Hot Line? Have We Got a Deal For You.