Note to readers: Sorry the posts have been scarce these days. The Insider poster is dealing with a painful back problem, hopefully soon to be resolved. We'll be back up to speed ASAP.

But meantime: No pain killer in the world could keep us from announcing this major 2010 Olympic Security Update.

Word arrives from D.C. that Sen. Patty Murray, D-Tennis Shoes, has carved out $4.5 million in federal funds to protect Washington state and its border during the 2010 Games. Or protect Washington state from the 2010 Games, whichever seems more necessary.

Murray, who sits on the Homeland Security Appropriations Committee (don't get me started), reports that Washington will receive $4.5 million for "construction of an Olympic Coordination Center in Bellingham, Washington as well as training exercises for first responders."

Murray describes the $4 million expense thusly:

"This funding would support the operations of a 2010 Olympics Coordination Center at the Customs and Border Protection Air Wing in Bellingham, Washington. This Center would allow federal, state, and local officials to meet, prepare and coordinate a response to any incident from one location. Importantly, the Center would only be twenty-three miles away from the Canadian border, as opposed to the 110 miles to Seattle or the 155 miles to the Washington State Military Department."

So, it's a security-force staging center. Like a Winchell's, with rifle racks.

An aide to the senator says the $4 million will be spent to retrofit an existing building near Bellingham Intergalactic Airport that's now being used partially by that Air Wing, and partially by another tenant, whose lease is expiring. The other 500 thousand is for training.

If you think, like we did, that $4.5 mil is a lot to spend for a three-week event, you should know that after the Games, the beefed-up space is likely to be used by the border security folks already there. More protection on the Northern Front.

Given that 40-some federal, state and local agencies agencies could be involved in a border incident, it's crucial to have a single command center, according to Homeland Defense honchos quoted in a release from Murray.

Our take: OK, it makes sense to have a place to muster all the various security forces during the 2010 Games. Terrorism threats against any Olympics are a real thing. And we've already seen real terrorists with active plans attempt to enter Washington through B.C. It's probably a good idea.

If you can afford it.

We're still wondering whether this disbursement, which Murray called "critical," is really as critical as boosting staffing, quickly, at border crossings when the world comes calling to Washington -- and the world winds up sitting for three hours at the border in Blaine. (Peace Arch Park is nice. But it's not that nice.)

So far, federal governments on both sides of the Peace Arch have said all the right things, but guarantees are hard to come by, little has changed on the ground, and the Games are rolling up on us in 15 months.

Any money for that purpose comes from a different teat of the federal cow. We've asked Murray's office for updates on border planning, and will post them when they arrive.

Meanwhile: It's good that Bellingham's air-defense forces will have extra $4 million of elbow room and cop stuff after the Olympics. But given the Olympics' short timespan, this smells faintly of the hundreds of millions in Homeland Security pork that's been doled out to "first responders" for dubious projects all around the country. Sure, it's a pittance in the grand scheme, but it all adds up.

Since you were about to ask: Yes, we inquired directly about exactly what constitutes the Bellingham Border Protection Air Wing. The answer is -- no joke -- that it's a matter of national security. However, Murray's office did confirm that it the Wing consists of planes, helicopters and boats.

We have seen a couple of these boats down in Bham Bay. Sweet rigs. They tool around the bay occasionally to keep those big, twin outboards in running shape. (Thought we spotted rod holders on one of them, but maybe they were for mortar launchers. Who knows?)

We'll stop there. We don't want to be giving too much information to the enemy, whoever that might be.