That's why it was good to hear Tuesday that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will change the way it allocates some of the millions of dollars it hands out to local governments, focusing on areas that are the most likely targets of terrorist attack.

That was good news even though, again, the Salt Lake City metro area is not on a list of communities that are eligible for $765 million in special anti-terrorism grants.

Being left off a list of cities that experts have determined are the most vulnerable to terrorist attack suggests two things: that someone is thinking about these things, and that Salt Lake City is relatively safe.

Of course, it could also mean that someone in Washington has made a serious mistake. That's always the risk when limited funds are allocated based on fallible human judgment rather than some pre-determined formula.

But the alternative - allocating money per state, per population, per square mile or per congressional clout - also has flaws. Those flaws are highlighted in the criticism of the current system, which automatically allocates money to low-population and, arguably, low-risk states from Wyoming to Maine.

Of course, Wyoming has energy-producing infrastructure (and Vice President Dick Cheney) and Maine has seaports (and Senate Homeland Security Committee Chair Susan Collins). Which is why (and really why) part of the money allocated to cities will still be based on a scatter-shot distribution, beyond the power of Secretary Michael Chertoff to aim in ways that will do the most good.

Every state and city should have the opportunity to make its case that it needs federal help in responding to terrorist attacks. But those cases must be based on hard data and educated hunches about the places most likely to be terrorist targets.

Clearly, those at the top of such a list are the largest cities, such as New York and Washington, with the most attractive targets, such as New York and Washington, and those with the greatest need to modernize communications and other equipment, such as New York and Washington.

That may leave some Utahns feeling left out. But our jealousy is really little more than greed, and not an example of good citizenship in a time of war.