Is the Amish Country Popcorn factory a terrorist target? The owner of that Indiana company, Brian Lehman, doesn't think so. "We are nothing but a bunch of Amish buggies and tractors out here. No one would care," he told The New York Times. The Department of Homeland Security, however, disagrees, according to a report issued this week by the DHS inspector general.

The report on the agency's National Asset Database, a list of potential terrorist targets used to help allocate homeland security grants, pointed out a host of what could only be called silly entries. Also on the list, according to the report: Old MacDonald's Petting Zoo, Sweetwater Flea Market, Nix's Check Cashing, and "Beach at End of Street." So out of whack is this list that Indiana and Wisconsin, two mostly sleepy Midwestern states -- have the most entries, 8,591 and 7,146 respectively, while New York and California combine to list 8,899 sites. South Carolina lists 308.

No wonder officials in New York were outraged earlier this year when they found out their federal homeland security funding was being cut by 40 percent while funding for cities like Louisville, Omaha and Charlotte, increased by 40 percent. According to another New York Times report, one reason New York's funding was cut is that DHS said it had no "national monuments or icons."

Appropriately, the agency's inspector general, Richard Skinner, concludes in his report that the database "is not an accurate representation" and there are too many "lower priority assets" on the list. While the decidedly unusual sites mentioned are the most outrageous, his assessment clearly is appropriate. Fortunately, DHS is working with states to make the list more accurate and more useful.

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This entire nation is at risk for terror attacks or natural disaster. It is Homeland Security's unenviable duty to help every metropolitan area in the country prepare for disaster. But this agency must be responsible in how it distributes tax dollars, and that responsibility begins with using common sense when it decides which cities, landmarks and events represent the most likely terrorist targets. DHS needs to do better, and the cities and states submitting entries for such lists need to seriously consider what they're doing. Our nation's security depends on it.