http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2004/FEMA-Concentration-Camps3sep04.htm

at 20k prisoners a pop, thats a hell of a lot of mexicans.

16 000 000.  not all at 20k, so lets aim low and say a mere 10 million.

a bad case of premature preparation?

given that bush is (correctly) mostly in favour of immigration...illegal or otherwise...I doubt it.

what the _hell_ are they expecting to happen?

There's nothing to be concerned about. This is all perfectly normal. Return to your seats.

>> Andrews - Federal experiment in putting a small town under siege. Began with the search/ hunt for survivalist Eric Rudolph. No persons were allowed in or out of town without federal permission and travel through town was highly restricted. Most residents compelled to stay in their homes. Unregistered Baptist pastor from Indiana visiting Andrews affirmed these facts <<

First part true -- there were checkpoints on the roads for a while during the height of the search for Eric Rudolph.  Last part is not true -- residents were not compelled to stay in their homes.

This is a classic use of partial-truth propaganda.  Say something that is verifiably true, and it makes the reader more likely to believe following statements which are NOT true.

Are you quite serious that this doesn't strike you as at all sinister, PE?

Personally I am glad the government is sensibly preparing for a potential emergency. We live in dangerous times, and we need to be ready.

trollism, surely. I hope.

These times are no more dangerous than any other.

There was a weather balloon and swamp gas in the area and Mercury was in retrograde. Flares were dropped during a routine military exercise. People saw these things and mistook them for 800 empty prisons.

Actually, the added danger to US citizens is from our own government.  Otherwise, there's no added danger from the things they are trying to hyperinflate as dangerous.