Are we are being tested and evaluated by terrorist cells in the USA? YOU BET!

Alan note: quite a variety of incidents indicate that terrorist cells are actively testing our ability to react, using items that are as yet not intended for lethal use but provide valuable data for them. The Mercury spill article on NEWS VIEWS, (link in left hand column) an event easily purchased from a non-terrorist implementer for a few hundred dollars, has enough "danger" to trigger HAZMAT and evaluate our reactions and capability. The recent mysterious New York "horrible smell" which has been designated as "from unknown reasons" - after first being blamed on New Jersey - would appear to me to be a test of the wind and spread direction and a precursor to "dirty bomb radiation" assessment by terrorists evaluating where best to place or detonate one. Insofar as possible the enemy does not wish to signal intentions, so uses more subtle approaches to to plan and test lethal moves in the future.