Video Released Showing Newark Liberty Security Breach

The guard leaves his post about 5 minutes into the 6 minute video and about 30 seconds later a man and his significant other walk through in the opposite direction.

The video was released at the insistence of New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg. It was on a video system used by Continental Airlines, not the TSA system. The TSA system was inoperative.

UPDATE:
The key moments:
1:01: TSA officer asks unidentified man to move away from secure area
4:54: TSA officer leaves his post
5:31: unidentified man enters secure area with the woman who had just emerged from secured area.

A commenter wonders if any corrective actions were taken against the guard who left his post. He was placed on administrative leave according to the NY Times.

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On My Nightstand: Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa is one of the most iconic images in history. Completed by Leonardo da Vinci, it has entranced millions who can't get enough of its enigmatic smile and eyes that seem to follow the viewer as they gaze upon it.

The painting, which adorned the palaces of the kings of France for nearly all of its illustrious history, hung in the Louvre in the Salon Carre for five years until August 21, 1911, when it was stolen while the museum was closed. The theft was discovered on Tuesday the 22nd, when the museum reopened. How and why the painting was stolen have never been adequately answered, and R.A. Scotti's book, Vanished Smile: The Mysterious Theft of Mona Lisa probes at the answers and the rumors that surrounded the theft.

Most interestingly, among those considered suspects in the theft were none other than Pablo Picasso. It's an interesting read, and those involved in the investigation, the suspects, and the Mona Lisa itself makes for an engaging and quick read.

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Infection Control As Cost Cutting Method

New studies show that better infection control can result in fewer complications and infections resulting from hospital stays. The focus of the latest studies were on the patients themselves:

But two new studies suggest relatively simple ways hospitals can prevent many infections by killing the bacteria on the patient before surgery, with methods of screening, scrubbing or pretreating the patient that many hospitals do not typically use.

“This is going to be a huge help to the infection-control crowd,” said Marcia Patrick, a nurse and board member of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, who was not involved with either study. “How can we not do this? It would truly be penny-wise and pound-foolish. And it’s the right thing to do for patients.”

The studies, published Thursday in The New England Journal of Medicine, examined infections that develop at the site of surgery, often around the incision, and afflict more than 300,000 patients a year in the United States.

While experts are increasingly trying to stop hospital-acquired infections by approaches including stepped-up hand-washing by doctors and nurses, the new studies looked at the bacteria patients may be carrying before entering the hospital, especially a common bacteria, staphylococcus aureus.

“About one-third of people at any one time carry this bacterium in their nose or on their skin,” said a co-author of one study, Dr. Henri Verbrugh, a professor of medical microbiology at Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands. “It does not give them any problem, but if they go to a hospital and the skin is somehow breached, they are really prone to invasion or infection by their own bacteria.”

While the cost for the test and pretreating runs about $30 ($20 for the test alone), the savings could run to thousands of dollars for each complication averted. Considering that there are 300,000 such incidents annually, the savings can really add up.

Some hospitals continue using povidone-iodine, which is 25% the cost of an alternative, chlorhexidine-alcohol ($3 vs. $12). Yet, those treated with chlorhexidine incurred 40% fewer total infections. Those are significant findings, yet the institutional move away from povidone-iodine isn't happening on a widespread basis.

Infection control and reducing antibiotic usage are two measures that can produce improve quality of life, reduced health care costs, and do not require any government intervention. It just requires common sense and doctors improving infection control techniques to avert secondary infections that result in hundreds of thousands of complications during hospital stays annually.

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New Jersey Legislature To Vote On Illegal Alien Tuition Bill; Gay Marriage Bills: UPDATE: Gay Marriage Bill Defeated

It's a busy week in Trenton as the state legislature is looking to send two of the more controversial legislation pending to Gov. Jon Corzine before he heads into the sunset in less than two weeks and his successor is unlikely to sign them.

The first bill is a measure to give illegal aliens the right to attend the state university system in New Jersey at the in-state tuition rate.

The bill would benefit an estimated 2,000 illegal immigrants, those who support the measure say. Those advocates add that those immigrants sometimes must forego college because of their inability to pay out-of-state rates. Those rates are often twice as high as in-state tuition, which is about $11,000 for a four-year public university.

“It’s going to be tough,” said Cid Wilson, vice chairman of the Board of Trustees at Bergen Community College, and a vocal proponent of the measure. “If it passes, I think it will be very close. We need to remind the legislators that this is not an immigration bill; it’s an education bill.”

Under the proposed measure, illegal immigrants could attend college at in-state tuition rates if they show they have gone to a high school in the state for at least three years, received a high diploma or its equivalent from a state school and provide an affidavit saying that they have applied to immigration authorities to legalize their status.

“There are no special privileges here [for undocumented immigrants],” said Charles “Shai” Goldstein, executive director of the New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, a major proponent of the campaign in support the bills. “The bill has been redrafted over the years to make it as strict as possible.”

The bill would give illegal aliens rights that citizens of other states would not be entitled to - the right to in-state tuition. It's a giveaway that the state simply cannot afford to do. Out-of-state tuition costs double what New Jersey residents pay. That's a benefit that inures to illegal aliens that out-of-state citizens could only wish for.

Corzine has said that he'd sign the measure; Christie would oppose.

Meanwhile, the contentious gay marriage bill is supposed to get a vote today in the State Senate. It has been delayed for some time after proponents realized that they lacked the votes. They still do by the looks of it. Proponents are still eight votes short of having the necessary 21 votes to approve the gay marriage proposal. Only 13 Senators have publicly announced support for the bill.

UPDATE:
The gay marriage bill was defeated 20-14 with three abstentions. The vote cut across party lines, as this list details:

YES (14)

Sen. Jim Whelan (D-Atlantic)
Sen. Bob Smith (D-Middlesex)
Sen. Barbara Buono (D-Middlesex),
Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak (D-Union), co-sponsor
Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex)
Sen. Teresa M. Ruiz (D-Essex)
Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham (D-Hudson)
Sen. Brian P. Stack (D-Hudson)
Sen. Nia H. Gill (D-Essex)
Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen), co-sponsor
Sen. Robert M. Gordon (D-Bergen)
Sen. Nicholas P. Scutari (D-Union)
Sen. Joseph F.Vitale (D-Middlesex)
Sen. Bill Baroni (R-Mercer)

NO (20)

Sen. Jeff Van Drew (D-Cape May)
Sen. Ronald L. Rice (D- Essex)
Sen. John A. Girgenti (D-Passaic
Sen. Nicholas Sacco (D-Hudson) .
Sen. Fred H. Madden (D-Gloucester)
Sen. Shirley K. Turner (D-Mercer)
Sen. Robert W. Singer (R-Ocean)
Sen. Joseph Pennacchio (R-Morris)
Sen. Christopher Bateman, (R-Somerset)
Sen. Tom Kean Jr. (R -Union)
Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth )
Sen. Joseph M. Kyrillos (R-Monmouth)
Sen. Gerald Cardinale (R-Bergen)
Sen. Michael Doherty (R-Hunterdon)
Sen. Kevin J. O'Toole (R-Essex)
Sen. Philip E. Haines (R-Burlington)
Sen. Christopher J. Connors (R-Ocean)
Sen. Anthony R. Bucco (R-Morris)
Sen. Steven V. Oroho (R-Sussex)
Sen. Sean T. Kean (R-Monmouth)

ABSTENTIONS (3)

Sen. Paul A. Sarlo (D-Bergen)
Sen. Stephen M. Sweeney (D-Gloucester)
Sen. James Beach (D-Camden)

DID NOT ATTEND SESSION (2)

Sen. Diane B. Allen (R-Burlington)
Sen. Andrew Ciesla (R-Ocean)

UPDATE:
The vote on in-state tuition for illegal aliens was delayed.

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About Those Census Forms

Some folks (and media outlets) are making a big deal about the 2010 census form including the term "negro" on the form when self identifying the individual's race.

It would appear that this is no different than the form that was used in the 2000 census. The 1990 census form provided for black or negro in answering the race question.

Since these forms come around only once every 10 years, this is probably the first time that some people have had a chance to weigh in with their opinions or given any thought to the way the questions and responses are phrased.

Now, it is perhaps time to permanently retire the use of the form even though the most commonly accepted excuse for keeping the term on the census form is that some older African Americans recognize that term for self-identification than African American or black.

Then again, maybe we should drop the census question on race altogether. It has done more to divide the nation than it has in bringing it together. Of course, using the information on race helps divide up monies for various programs, so opposition to dropping the race question would come from those who would benefit most by continuing the status quo on the form (in continuing to ask about race, that is).

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Words and Deeds

The diplomats keep doing what they've always done - substituting their reality for the facts on the ground. The Obama Administration is readying yet another attempt to resuscitate a peace process that the Palestinians have repeatedly shown no interest in.

In a flurry of meetings in Washington and in European capitals this week and next, senior administration officials will explore new approaches to bringing the two sides together.

The new track would include preparing letters for Israeli and Palestinian leaders that would lay out the endgame and guarantee US support for a negotiated end to the conflict.

The efforts consist of still more talking.

That's despite the fact that Gazan terrorists fired 10 mortars into Israel today, the largest such display in months. These particular terrorists claimed to be members of the PRC, which is a Fatah offshoot. It's comprised of current and former Fatah terrorists and members of the Fatah offshoot al Aqsa Martyr's Brigade.

So what is considered a nail in the coffin of the peace process? Not the terror attack, but the decision by Israel to build housing. Once again, history has repeatedly shown Israel's willingness to uproot its citizens from communities it built on territories it returned to Egypt (Sinai as part of the Camp David Accords) and then to the Palestinians (Gaza as part of the 2005 disengagement). If Israel had a true partner in peace, the construction of housing would not be an impediment to peace as the housing could be transferred guaranteeing infrastructure and housing to Palestinians who could use modern housing as the refugee camps are phased out. Of course, the Palestinian leaders have no intention of ever eliminating the refugee camps since it provides a ready and willing group of people who are willing to sacrifice themselves and their children in the unending cause of seeking Israel's destruction.

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Barron Dealing Nothing But Race Cards

Yesterday, the New York City Council voted on who would be the speaker for the Council. Christine Quinn won the reelection, but it was not without the detestable and despicable Charles Barron making a spectacle of himself in yet another attempt to make the issue about race. You see, Quinn is a white woman, while Barron is a black man. Barron brought in some of his lackeys to shout epitaphs and indignities on the proceedings.

The final vote was 48-1, with Barron voting for himself.

During a racially charged session, the City Council re-elected Christine Quinn as speaker Wednesday by a 48-to-1 vote over outspoken Councilman Charles Barron.

A small group of Barron supporters shouted "sell out" and "Uncle Tom" as every member present except Barron - who nominated himself without a second - unanimously voted to give Quinn another four-year term.

"We owe it to our children to stand up like men and women and say our time has come," said Barron, a former Black Panther and Brooklyn councilman since 2002.

The Council has a non-white majority for the first time, consisting of 27 members who are African-American, Latino or Asian and 24 who are white.

The Council clearly didn't want to rock the boat, and they clearly weren't going to support Barron's firebrand nonsense. Quinn has been as effective a speaker as the Council could hope for, and she was the first woman to hold the position (as well as first lesbian), so it's not like she was some kind of sellout. She's had to put up all manner of indignity, so this wasn't anything new.

Her politics were clearly acceptable to everyone in the chamber, except Barron.

Barron remains as he ever was - a despicable figure and demogogue who thinks only of himself and will name drop others in furtherance of his own agenda.

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Holocaust Museum Shooter Dies In Prison

Accused U.S. Holocaust museum shooter James Von Brunn died in prison hospital according to AP reports. He murdered a security guard, Stephen Johns, who saved the lives of countless others in returning fire at Brunn. Brunn was seriously injured and had been in prison medical facilities, also undergoing psychiatric evaluation.

The media never could quite figure out that Brunn was a full blown wackaloon who was anti-Semitism, into Holocaust denial, white supremacy, 9/11 trooferism, and anti-Christian, among his pet conspiracies. He collected conspiracies.

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Baseball To Announce New Hall of Fame Inductees

At 2PM EST, the class of 2010 inductees to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown will be announced. Among those with a chance to be enshrined are Andre Dawson, Roberto Alomar, Barry Larkin, Mark McGwire, and Don Mattingly among others.

Alomar has probably the best chance of getting in and could conceivably be the only one among the eligible players. McGwire isn't likely to get the call unless he does something to improve his image in the wake of the steroid scandal mess.

UPDATE:
Andre Dawson is the only one to get the call in his ninth year of eligibility. Alomar came up seven votes short [ed: fixed from characterization as "well short"], but Bert Blyleven missed by a total of five votes (at 74.2%). He failed to get 75% of the votes cast needed to be inducted. Blyleven has two more years of eligibility before he would have to rest his hopes on the Veterans Committee.

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Terror Strikes Major Kashmir City Business District; 1 Policeman Killed, Multiple Injuries Reported

At least two terrorists apparently affiliated with Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen lobbed grenades along a main shopping thoroughfare in Sringagar, India today, killing a policeman and wounding three others as they commandeered the hotel. Sringagar is located in the disputed Kashmir region that borders Pakistan. More than 100 people were safely evacuated.

Jamiat-ul-Mujahideen, one of the rebel groups active in the area claimed responsibility for the attack by faxing a statement to the local offices of a news agency. ``The attack is in response to India's propaganda that the armed struggle has weakened in Kashmir,'' the statement said.

As it grew dark, the security forces put up floodlights around the Punjab Hotel building where the militants are holed up. The area has been marked off with concertina wires to ensure the guerrillas do not escape under the cover of darkness.

"We are cautious that no collateral damage takes place," a police officer said.

Police were not sure of any civilian trapped in the hotel building which hindered the prospect of launching the final assault. The militants were using the building as a fortified bunker and firing intermittently at the surrounding security forces.

"The hotel building will have to be stormed by commandoes if the militants refuse to surrender," said a paramilitary officer.

[video removed because it goes into autoplay feature; it can be found here]

The terrorist group claims three of its minions were involved in the attacks.

Security appeared to be somewhat better than the devastating Mumbai attacks, but this incident isn't over yet as the terrorists remain holed up in what has been reported to be a hotel. The terrorists have fired on security forces and lobbed grenades from their position.

Kashmir has been a flashpoint for conflict between India and Pakistan across the Line of Control, and 47,000 have died in the insurgency since 1989. The attack in Sringagar occurred just days after Pakistani President Zardari visited the Pakistani side of the border and a suicide bombing that killed three Pakistani soldiers near the Line of Control.

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Hamas Attacks Egypt In Cross Border Attacks; 1 Dead

Once again, Hamas is trying to make friends and influence people with violence. They've again taken on the Egyptian government by attacking Egyptian border posts. Egyptian security returned fire, but not before an Egyptian security guard was killed.

The Egyptian state news agency said Palestinians shot and killed the border guard who was in a observation tower overlooking the frontier. Nine other guards were injured by stones.

Hamas had called for a protest earlier over the delay of an international aid convoy at the nearby Egyptian port city of El-Arish, but soon lost control of the situation as hundreds of youths began hurling rocks across the border at the guards.

Hamas police fired shots to disperse the crowd and shots were also heard from the Egyptian side the border. Palestinian health official Moawiya Hassanein said the Palestinian injuries were from gunfire and tear gas.

The incident follows a late night clash between international pro-Gaza activists and Egyptian security clashed at the nearby Mediterranean port of El-Arish when Egypt refused to allow part of the convoy to enter its territory and move on to Gaza.

In many ways, this is reminiscent of the events in 2007 and 2008, when Hamas invaded Egypt's Sinai by destroying the barrier wall, which was made up of the kind of steel sheet pile that Egypt is now using to thwart construction of underground smuggling tunnels. Then, the Hamas terrorists not only used acetylene torches to cut through the barriers, but planted explosives to blow multiple segments of the barrier to allow hundreds of thousands of Gazans to run into Sinai to claim what goods they could before Egypt could reestablish control.

Now, Hamas engages in the same kinds of activities that they normally reserve for Israel. They send stone throwing teens to incite return fire from security forces while terrorists with firearms are hiding to take potshots at an opportune moment.

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The Changing Political Landscape

2010 is shaping up to be quite an interesting election year after all. While many experts would agree that Democrats would expect to lose seats in the House and Senate and perhaps some statehouses, the numbers weren't expected to be a deluge.

That's why yesterday's surprise announcements that Sen. Bryan Dorgan (D-ND) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT/Friend of Mozilo) would not seek reelection are so surprising. They were considered safe seats this year, and now their retirements open the door for challengers. Democrats had expected to lose some seats, but the prospects of holding together a filibuster proof majority in the US Senate now appear dim.

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut's Democratic attorney general, said Wednesday he would run for Dodd's seat. The ripple effect means that elections down the line will be affected by the incumbent retirements and provide opportunities for fresh blood to come into the political process.

Further, another Democrat, Gov. Bill Ritter of Colorado, will not seek a second term.

Then there's word that Harold Ford, Jr. (D-TN) may attempt to unseat New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

Even David Paterson, the embattled Democratic governor of New York, isn't safe from attacks by the White House on down and that's even with potential Republican challenger Rudy Giuliani saying he wont run.

All this opens the possibility that Republicans can eliminate the filibuster proof majority in the Senate and cut into the Democrats overwhelming numbers in the House as well as improve their numbers at the state and local level.

Yet, all is not well for Republicans. Michael Steele, the RNC chairman, didn't exactly have kind words for the GOP yesterday, and pretty much called Republicans on the carpet for their poor performance over the past 20 years, a rebuke of both Bush Administrations and a squandering of their Congressional fortunes. Scandals, corruption, and a willful disregard for fiscal responsibility all play a role in the GOP fortunes, and that many Republicans are enthralled with creationism and anti-science agendas isn't going to attract new voters and support among those who have found that the Democrats tax and spend agenda is unsustainable.

Democrat overreach in trying to ram through the widely unpopular health care overhaul isn't going to help the Democrats, but knowing that the Democrats are bound to lose seats will only encourage Democrat leaders in Congress to push harder to get a deal done.

The same political calculus is pushing the gay marriage agenda in New Jersey; Gov. Corzine's term ends in just about two weeks, and his successor, Chris Christie has said that he would veto a gay marriage bill. Supporters don't know if they have the numbers to pass the bills in the Democrat controlled legislature, so if they can't get it done now, they'll have to wait at least four years before trying again. The State Senate has scheduled a vote for today.

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Native American Tribes Hoping to Thwart Cape Wind Power Project

First, there was former Senator Ted Kennedy who thought that the Cape Wind project would ruin his views and fishing grounds off Cape Code. Now, we've got two Native American tribes lodging protests to prevent the construction of the controversial wind power project.

Known as Cape Wind, the project is the nation’s first planned offshore wind farm and would cover 24 square miles in the sound, an area roughly the size of Manhattan. The park service decision came in response to a request from two Massachusetts Indian tribes, who said the 130 proposed wind turbines would thwart their spiritual ritual of greeting the sunrise, which requires unobstructed views across the sound, and disturb ancestral burial grounds.

The tribes — the Mashpee Wampanoag of Cape Cod and the Aquinnah Wampanoag of Martha’s Vineyard — sought the listing last fall, shortly before a final federal decision on the project was expected. The project has been in the works since 2001 and is strongly supported by Gov. Deval Patrick.

The decision by the National Park Service did not kill the Cape Wind plan, but it erected new hurdles by requiring more negotiations and, possibly, changes to the project, like moving it. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar set a deadline of March 1 for the tribes and the project’s developer, Energy Management Inc., to reach a compromise.

If they do not — a distinct possibility given the acrimony surrounding the project — Mr. Salazar can decide the project’s future himself after seeking suggestions from the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, an independent group. But even if Mr. Salazar lets the project move forward, the park service finding could help the tribes and opponents build a legal case against it.

Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe, said the decision confirmed “what the Wampanoag people have known for thousands of years: that Nantucket Sound has significant archaeological, historic and cultural values and is sacred to our people.”

Others said the finding was surprising because Nantucket Sound, which encompasses more than 500 square miles, is by far the largest body of water ever found eligible for listing on the national historic register. Other eligible bodies of water have included Walden Pond in Massachusetts, which covers about 60 acres, and Zuni Salt Lake in New Mexico, which is about 6,500 feet across, said Jeffrey Olson, a spokesman for the park service.

“The decision is without precedent in terms of implicating many square miles of what is, legally speaking, the high seas,” said Ian A. Bowles, the Massachusetts secretary of energy and environmental affairs. “But as a procedural matter, it’s a good thing a decision was reached, and the secretary is getting personally involved to get it over the finish line.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Salazar said he planned to meet next week with representatives of the tribes and the developer in hopes of speeding a resolution.

The park service decision comes at a time when Mr. Cromwell’s tribe, which won federal recognition in 2007, is hoping to build a casino.

President Obama has championed wind energy during his first year in office, though he has not publicly taken sides in the Cape Wind battle. In addition to the tribes, the project’s opponents include homeowners and boaters on Cape Cod, who say it would hurt wildlife, fishing and tourism and spoil the beauty of Nantucket Sound. Senator Edward M. Kennedy, whose family compound in Hyannis Port looks out on the proposed wind farm site, was the project’s most powerful opponent until his death last August.

Why exactly has the President been silent on the matter? Simple. Kennedy was one of his staunchest supporters, and Obama's victory in 2008 was a personal victory for Kennedy who saw the liberal wing retake control of the Democratic party over the moderate Clintonite wing. There's no way that Obama was going to undermine efforts by Kennedy in Kennedy's backyard.

If the environmentalists are truly serious about doing something about producing alternative energy sources, this wind power project should get built without further delays. Yet, it appears that politics trumps whatever science says on the matter, and that NIMBY still reigns supreme. The efforts to turn the waters off Cape Cod into a protected sanctuary are little different than California Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein's efforts to turn vast swaths of the Mojave Desert into a National Monument to thwart the construction of a bunch of large scale wind and solar power energy facilities.

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Iranian Mullahs Continue With Threats; Ahmadinejad's Website Hacked?

The New York Times reports that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's website was apparently hacked by people sympathetic to the opposition.

Although the Web site appears to be down now, Mr. Heap wrote that people trying to access it last night were redirected to this page, which contains the following message:

Dear God, In 2009 you took my favorite singer - Michael Jackson, my favorite actress - Farrah Fawcett, my favorite actor - Patrick Swayze, my favorite voice - Neda. Please, please, don’t forget my favorite politician - Ahmadinejad and my favorite dictator - Khamenei in the year 2010. Thank you.

Someone apparently hacked Ahmadinejad's website and sent a redirect to that page. It's now down possibly because of traffic overload, or because the Iranians are trying to figure out the hack.

The regime continues menacing the Iranian people and branding those who oppose the regime to be nothing less than traitors and terrorists. The regime continues to warn that those responsible for the demonstrations will be executed.

"After Ashura, anyone who takes part in riots will be considered as 'mohareb' (waging war on God) and an opponent of national security," Najjar said, according to the official IRNA news agency.

Despite such warnings, the opposition has shown no inclination to back down and street protests have continued sporadically in the six months since the vote.

Thousands of protesters were arrested after the election. Most have since been released but more than 80 reformists have received jail terms of up to 15 years. Five people have been sentenced to death but none has been executed so far.

More than 300 have been incarcerated by the regime since protests resumed during the Shi'ite observance of Ashura in December. The regime also has announced that those who use the Internet to post what it calls "false information" about the regime will be arrested.

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9/11 Trial Security In NYC Might Top $200 Million A Year

Only days ago, the NYPD and Commissioner Ray Kelly said that the costs for a 9/11 trial at the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan would run $75 million. Today, the Daily News reports that the costs are nearly triple that estimate - $200 million.

The NYPD's newly revised projection is almost triple the estimate of $75 million in November, after Attorney General Eric Holder announced he would move the prisoners from Guantanamo to Manhattan for trial.

The legal process is expected to play out over more than a year.

At a news conference Monday, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) demanded the federal government pay every penny of the security costs.

"Some New Yorkers think the trials are a good idea. Some New Yorkers think the trials are a bad idea," Schumer said. "One idea all New Yorkers agree on is that New York taxpayers should not have to pay a dime for these trials."

Federal marshals will handle security at the courthouse. The NYPD and other law enforcement agencies will be assigned to protect the surrounding area.

Schumer warned the security cost of the trials would be in the "hundreds of millions," but he declined to give an exact figure.

Those are costs that the City is incapable of paying due to its fiscal situation, and Sen. Schumer has called on the federal government to reimburse the City for the additional security. That's the bare minimum, and it again raises questions over why this was necessary when the Obama Administration notes that they're more than willing to use tribunals for cases where the likelihood of conviction isn't assured given the evidence (the quantity and manner in which it was collected). The Administration has also hinted that should Khalid Sheikh Mohammad or his fellow terrorists be found not guilty, the Administration would still find a way to detain them indefinitely.

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The Wrong Lesson Learned

The security breach at Newark Liberty Airport two days ago was not the result of a lack of full-body scanners, but rather the incompetence of staff to secure an exit to prevent an individual from entering the secured terminal.

Yet, we now have calls to install full body scanners at the airport because the breach shows what exactly?

A security breach at Newark Liberty International Airport that exposed screening gaps — at a time of heightened alert — has led to calls for quick installation of electronic body scanners at one of the busiest jet ports in the nation.

Transportation and federal officials said the Transportation Security Administration must go beyond investigating the breach and quickly install additional body scanners or station bomb-sniffing patrol dogs near security gates.
Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport Monday morning following a security breach the night before stopping air travel.

U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg criticized the TSA for failing to prevent someone from walking into a secure area of Newark airport Sunday night — just one week after an attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound plane.

Meanwhile, the TSA said passenger screenings were halted about 7 p.m. and Terminal C was shut down more than two hours after an unidentified man entered the terminal through an exit door at 5:30 p.m. He was later seen on tape leaving the terminal about 20 minutes later.

A bystander waiting for relatives to arrive told a security officer assigned to the area about the man, but officials needed to analyze the surveillance tapes to confirm a security breach had occurred before making any decisions about stopping the screenings because the bystander was uncertain of what he saw, said TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis.

The breach also grounded planes for six hours, creating a backlog that delayed some international flights for as long as five hours Monday, said Julie King, a spokeswoman for Continental Airlines.

The scanners might have been useful in detecting a terrorist carrying explosives on his person, like Abdul Mutallab, who tried to blow up the plane he was on with explosives sewn into his underwear and that would have been detonated with a liquid concealed in a syringe, but they would have been of no use for preventing the security breach at the airport.

In fact, this wasn't a screening gap, but a security cordon gap, where the perimeter of the controlled airport spaces were accessed by someone who didn't follow procedure. The TSA worker manning that control point has been reassigned, but we also have a blame game over why it took so long for security to be alerted and for various law enforcement agencies to be involved. It took two hours for federal authorities to lock down Terminal C after the security breach.

McCaffery told them the TSA officer at the gate had been momentarily distracted by a departing passenger’s question, as a rush of people came out the door from a flight that had just landed. While that was happening, an individual walked behind him, against the flow of people, apparently to talk to his girlfriend who had just cleared security and was already on the other side. TSA officials said the incident began some time around 5:20 p.m. but the lockdown was not ordered until 7:45 pm,

Lautenberg said the security breach and the TSA’s response were completely unacceptable.

"This security breakdown was inexcusable, especially when our aviation system was supposedly on high alert," said Lautenberg, calling for a full investigation to determine what went wrong and make sure it never happens again.

Menendez said he plans to specifically discuss with the Port Authority and TSA an expansion of the terminal’s video surveillance system, which is not operated by the TSA.

The video system was controlled by Continental Airlines, and it took time to locate the particular video showing the breach.

Meanwhile, security hasn't exactly been improved at all overseas airports that feed flights to the US, including those in countries that were put on a list for stricter scrutiny.

All the technology in the world can't secure the air traffic infrastructure and passengers if individuals can simply pass through the security perimeter unimpeded, or if the additional scrutiny on certain passengers is not initiated and carried out across the board. The gaps in security will persist.

UPDATE:
This doesn't inspire much confidence either. Gothamist reports that metal detectors at JFK airport didn't sound when a woman with a titanium hip implant passed through on several occasions. She alerted TSA and they didn't respond by changing security procedures either.

UPDATE:
I can't wait to hear the TSA excuse for this. Michael Yon facebooked that he got handcuffed at SeaTac (call it arrested or merely detained), but not for any national security issues, but rather refusing to answer questions unrelated to transportation security.

Got arrested at the Seattle airport for refusing to say how much money I make. (The uniformed ones say I was not "arrested", but they definitely handcuffed me.) Their videos and audios should show that I was polite, but simply refused questions that had nothing to do with national security. Port authority police eventually came -- they were professionals -- and rescued me from the border bullies.

UPDATE:
Back to the tragedy of errors at Newark Liberty: The TSA video system was inoperable at the time of the incident, and the TSA didn't have the phone number to contact Continental Airlines to get their video feed.

That's because CBS 2 has learned that when an unidentified man breached a secure area at Newark on Sunday night, delaying thousands of passengers for hours, the TSA cameras weren't working.

That's right – they weren't even recording, sources said, and needed a reboot, which the agency apparently didn't ask for. That set off a chain reaction of even more missteps that caused needless chaos and inconvenience for several thousand hapless passengers.

With the cameras inoperable, the TSA tried to get a second set of surveillance video from Continental Airlines. But the TSA apparently didn't know the correct telephone number and the specific procedures to get the footage. That caused a two hour delay in identifying the intruder and closing the airport to look for him.

When they finally got the footage, they couldn't find the intruder, discovering later that he had slipped out another entrance 20 minutes after he arrived.

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Double Agent Responsible For New Year's Eve Bombing Killing 7 CIA Agents

A double agent was responsible for the suicide bombing that killed seven CIA agents and his Jordanian intel agency handler. He had been captured by the Jordanians and they believed he had been turned, but it now shows that they underestimated Balawi's capacity for evil.

The suicide bombing on a CIA base in Afghanistan last week was carried out by a Jordanian doctor who was an al-Qaida double agent, Western intelligence officials told NBC News.

Initial reports said that the attack, which killed seven CIA officers, was carried out by a member of the Afghan National Army.

According to Western intelligence officials, the perpetrator was Humam Khalil Abu-Mulal al-Balawi, 36, an al-Qaida sympathizer from the town of Zarqa, which is also the hometown of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, the Jordanian militant Islamist responsible for several devastating attacks in Iraq.

Al-Balawi was arrested by Jordanian intelligence more than a year ago. However, the Jordanians believed that al-Balawi had been successfully reformed and brought over to the American and Jordanian side, setting him up as an agent and sending him off to Afghanistan and Pakistan to infiltrate al-Qaida.

His specific mission, according to officials, was to find and meet Ayman al Zawahiri, al-Qaida’s No. 2, also a physician.

However, the Al-Jazeera Web site quoted a Taliban spokesman who said al-Balawi misled Jordanian and U.S. intelligence services for a year. The spokesman, Al-Hajj Ya'qub, promised to release a video confirming his account of the attack.

The Jordanian intel officer happens to be a relative to Jordan's King Abdullah and the Jordanians responded to his death with a state funeral.

Jordan's official news agency, Petra, said bin Zeid was killed "on Wednesday evening as a martyr while performing the sacred duty of the Jordanian forces in Afghanistan" and provided no further details about his death. Local news reports quoted family members as saying bin Zeid had been in Afghanistan for 20 days and had been scheduled to travel home on the day of the bombing.

His coffin's arrival in Amman on Saturday was handled with unusual pomp, with Jordan's King Abdullah II and his wife, Rania, personally presiding over a funeral and burial in a military cemetery.

Current and former U.S. intelligence officials said the special relationship with Jordan dates back at least three decades and has recently progressed to the point that the CIA liaison officer in Amman enjoys full, unescorted access to the GID's fortress-like headquarters. The close ties helped disrupt several known terrorist plots, including the thwarted 2000 "millennium" conspiracy to attack tourists at hotels and other sites. Jordanians also provided U.S. officials with communications intercepts in summer 2001 that warned of terrorist plans to carry out a major attack on the United States.

Jordan has been working closely with the US to thwart al Qaeda attacks, and that has also meant that al Qaeda has put Jordan in the crosshairs, including a 2005 bombing at an Amman hotel that killed more than 50.

I fear we may see more of these kinds of attacks as the US and other intel services attempt to cultivate agents and associations with those with access to al Qaeda's hierarchy and some of them turn out to be double agents. It puts the CIA and other intel agencies at risk, not only with dubious intel, but puts their agents on the front lines at risk of suicide bombings and other attacks.

It also shows the difficulties in trying to infiltrate these terror organizations, and the lengths to which we and our allies have gone to make the attempt.

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New Jersey Is Exhibit A In Fiscal Irresponsibility

Many states are facing massive budget holes that got papered over in FY 2009-10 because of stimulus funds. Instead of facing significant budget cuts to bring the budgets back into the black, they used the federal funds to keep the budgets pretty much unchanged (though some states like NY increased spending by 8% - over and above the prior year budget despite a gaping deficit). Next year, none of these states can count on federal assistance, so they're going to see their budgets whacked.

Hard.

These states are going to have to confront tax hikes and spending cuts - or both.

And even then there's no guarantee that the budgets will be balanced. See New Jersey as Exhibit A for the consequences of ignoring and deferring the solutions for too long. New Jersey's incoming Governor Chris Christie will not be able to pad the state budget with billions in dollars printed by the federal government as part of a federal stimulus package as Jon Corzine did in the FY 2009-2010 budget. Corzine used billions to paper over the fact that spending didn't decline, but even with the infusion of federal money, the state is still in the red.

The numbers in New Jersey are staggering:

Non-partisan legislative analysts predict New Jersey's next budget will have an $8 billion structural deficit, while Governor-elect Chris Christie predicts a gap of at least $9.5 billion. Here are some of the bigger items that make up the deficit:

$2.5 billion to fully fund a 2010 pension obligation that was skipped in 2009.

$1.6 billion in one-time-only federal stimulus funds that were used to balance the budget in 2009.

$1.6 billion to fully fund a property tax rebate program that was cut back in 2009.

$1.1 billion in lost revenue from tax hikes that were billed as one-time-only in 2009.

$700 million in normal growth planned for state government programs.

$500 million to fund an increase in school aid planned for the next budget.

$400 million in projected tax revenue that was not collected in 2009.

$379 million in one-time savings achieved in 2009 by delaying raises for state employees.

$200 million in debt service savings achieved by a 2009 refinancing.

$200 million in surplus funds used to balance the budget in 2009.

Source: New Jersey Office of Legislative Services

The state faces a multibillion dollar budget deficit, and Christie's choices aren't going to be pretty. He will face a Democratic-controlled legislature that is not going to cut spending willingly, nor will they look to improve the business climate by cutting taxes to encourage businesses to come to the state.

Perhaps, what the state needs is to completely reevaluate its tax structure; reduce the overall tax burden by reducing the overall tax rates, simplifying the tax structure, and eliminating tax credits and incentives - streamlining the compliance for businesses and individuals.

It may also make sense to eliminate or reduce enterprise zone sales tax rate discount, if coupled with a corresponding decrease in the overall state sales tax rate. Currently, the enterprise zones have a rate of 3.5%, whereas the state sales rate is 7% (which includes 1% that was supposed to go to property tax relief). Setting the state rate at 5.5% and increasing the enterprise zone rate to 5% would still provide an enterprise zone benefit, while increasing the competitive advantage of New Jersey compared to neighboring states.

Eliminating the property tax rebate system would save billions, and would also shelve a shell game perpetrated by the Corzine Administration when they enacted a rebate whose cost outstripped the revenue source (the sales tax hike). It enabled localities and the state to ignore fundamental and structural causes of recurrent deficits and a state workforce that remains bloated and costs taxpayers billions.

Note too that Corzine managed to avoid paying billions to the pension funds, and sought legislation to allow municipalities to do the same. The deferred nature of those payments means that those localities would have to come up with the money and there's no revenue source other than looking to hike taxes across the board - particularly property taxes at the local level. Far from getting the state on a path to fiscal prudence, Corzine further destabilized the state's fiscal picture by engaging in the fiscally irresponsible act of delaying and ignoring the pension funds; a time bomb of epic proportions that will only increase as the amount of the unfunded pension obligations grows with each passing year.

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Embassies Closing in Yemen Due To Terror Threat

First, the US and British closed their embassies in Yemen as a result of ongoing intel warning of potential attacks against their embassies and staff. Now, additional countries have closed their embassies in response.

France closed its embassy in Yemen to the public Monday, citing ongoing threats from al Qaeda.

The decision came a day after the United States and Britain closed their embassies in Sanaa, the country's capital, entirely.

A French foreign ministry spokesman told CNN that embassy employees will continue their work, but without any visits from the public. The spokesman said the ministry was not acting on a specific threat.

Japan, meanwhile, halted service Monday at the consulate section of its embassy in Sanaa. The Japanese foreign ministry said the decision was based on the threat of terror, though not a specific threat. The embassy continued functioning.

A senior official in U.S. President Barack Obama's administration told CNN late Sunday that the closure of its embassy was because of a specific, credible and ongoing threat. No additional details were provided.

Yemen, for its part, claims that they've taken out several additional terrorists who were responsible for ongoing threats.

I don't think anyone considers Yemen's counter terrorism activities to be up to snuff, considering that Yemen has been a safe haven to al Qaeda for more than a decade and that high level al Qaeda, including one of its top ideologues and recruiters, Anwar al Awlaki, have been operating with impunity for years.

UPDATE:
So what caused the shutdowns? The BBC reports the alert was sparked by reports that six trucks carrying explosives went missing. In addition to the US, UK, Japan, and France, Germany has also closed their diplomatic facility.

The US shut its embassy in Sanaa on Sunday, citing "ongoing threats" by the militant organisation, and the UK followed suit.

On Monday, France shut its Yemen embassy, Japan suspended its consular service in Sanaa, and Spain restricted public access to its mission there.

According to Yemeni media, it comes after six trucks full of weapons and explosives entered the capital, and the security forces lost track of the vehicles.

Britain said on Sunday the shutdown was for unspecified security reasons.

Just what exactly were the Yemeni authorities doing in merely tracking those vehicles? Who owned the vehicles? What was their origin? Did they have any idea of the destination? Who was in the vehicles, and what was their original purpose? Lots of questions, and no good answers.

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Air Security Theater Takes Another Hit

Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport has been put into lockdown following an individual managing to enter the terminal through the exit without being screened.

Terminal C at Newark Liberty Airport terminal was locked down and flights were delayed after a man walked the wrong way through a checkpoint exit.

The Transportation Safety Administration said police are still searching for the man, according to CNN.

The man entered the "sterile" section of the airport and apparently bypassed security screeners by going the wrong way through a checkpoint exit.

All the money to buy and install new body scanners means nothing if facilities aren't secured to prevent access in the fashion noted in today's breach.

Strip searching Muslims wont get the job done. Instead, the TSA will be giving additional scrutiny to those coming from specific countries.

"TSA is mandating that every individual flying into the U.S. from anywhere in the world traveling from or through nations that are state sponsors of terrorism or other countries of interest will be required to go through enhanced screening," a statement read. "The directive also increases the use of enhanced screening technologies and mandates threat-based and random screening for passengers on U.S. bound international flights."

A senior official identifies the relevant" countries of interest": Afghanistan, Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, or Yemen, or one of the following countries designated as a state sponsor of terrorism: Cuba, Iran, Sudan, and Syria.

There are issues with even that approach given that terrorists may simply recruit members from countries that aren't on the list, or that the terrorists may forge passports and visas to gain entry to the US.

Still, this is a first step, though one shouldn't rely too much on the increased scrutiny by security screeners. If they aren't given access to the most current threat data, they may not know to look for certain individuals or behaviors to watch for. Terrorists may further attempt different methods to attack the US.

What it takes is a layered defense against terrorism. Body scanners may be one part of a security protocol, but it isn't the cure-all. Yet, while there is significant merit to the body scanners, some people still think that the privacy concerns outweigh the usefulness.

Forty units are in use at 19 airports, including Reagan National and Baltimore-Washington International Marshall airports. The Transportation Security Administration said it has ordered 150 more scanners to be installed early this year and has secured funding for an additional 300.

Passengers selected for a full-body scan can decline, but if they do, they must submit to full-body pat-downs by a TSA officer. The technology was introduced a couple of years ago, but U.S. airports have been slow to install the machines, partly because of privacy concerns raised by some members of Congress and civil liberties groups.

Seeing passengers beset by years of an ever-evolving airport drill -- at first handing over belts, cellphones and laptops for screening, then shoes, and later, dealing with restrictions on gels and liquids -- some activists and experts are asking how much compliance is too much in the name of homeland security.

"The price of liberty is too high," said Kate Hanni, who as founder of FlyersRights.org, an advocacy organization for air passengers, shuttles regularly between her California home and Washington to lobby Congress. Hanni said many of her group's 25,000 members are concerned that "the full-body scanners may not catch the criminals and will subject the rest of us to intrusive and virtual strip searches."

There are ways to assuage the privacy concerns, such as projecting the images on to neutral figures, avoiding direct contact between the screener viewing the body scan and the individual themselves, deleting all such records of scans, etc.

Still, a body scan may not detect all kinds of explosives, but that isn't the only kind of threat. Baggage screening is still an issue, and there are other threats that we have yet to fully recognize. In the US in particular, Amtrak and other commuter rail systems are also threatened by terrorism and have a fraction of the security systems in place.

Ultimately, it will take a vigilant public to make sure that different modes of transit are safer.

UPDATE 1/4/2010:
There are continued delays a day after the security breach as security tries to catch up in rescreening passengers along with incoming arrivals to the airport. What a mess.

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Where the Threats Are

Where is the threat of jihad greatest and where does it pose the greatest concern for the US?

Pakistan? Yemen? Saudi Arabia? Iran? Somalia? The insurgency remaining in Iraq?

All of the above? None of the above?

Tunku Varadarajan says that the Obama Administration shouldn't take its eyes off the ball in Pakistan to deal with the mess in Yemen.

It's hard to disagree with Varadarajan in that Pakistan is teetering on the brink with al Qaeda and Taliban threatening the government in Islamabad; a government that has nuclear weapons at its disposal.

A nuclear-armed Muslim country with a fragile democratic government, Pakistan is our ostensible ally in the Afghan war against the Taliban and al Qaeda. The problem is, however, that the Pakistani military—which is not under civilian control, and which chafes continually against the democratically elected president, Asif Ali Zardari—wishes for nothing more fervently than the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan. The Obama administration cannot continue to ignore this obscene dance, in which the army of an allied state gives succor to the very enemy that young American soldiers fight daily in bloody battle.

This has to be the year in which the dance ends: The U.S. must demand that that the Pakistan Army sever its links with Mullah Omar and the Taliban military leadership. A case in point is the Taliban's Quetta shura, or council, which operates with impunity in the capital of Pakistan's Baluchistan province. The country's generals must also be told that they can no longer protect groups like the Lashkar-e-Taiba, which—in addition to butchering scores of Indians—sought out and killed American and Israeli nationals in Mumbai on November 26, 2008.

The problem is that the threats have piled up since the 1980s because the US has been distracted from the dirty business of dealing with failed states around the world. Somalia remains a consistent threat against shipping and provides safe haven for jihadis. Yemen has been home to some of the most notable terror attacks, including the attack on the USS Cole, and al Qaeda is all too comfortable there.

Saudi Arabia and Iran are each exporting jihad to maintain control on their countries.

Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan form a ring along South Asia of Islamic extremists and all too fertile ground for al Qaeda and other terror groups. Iran's mullahs are busy trying to crack down against the Iranian people who have grown weary of the regime's machinations to maintain control.

Somalia and Yemen both pose threats to sea traffic through the Red Sea and have repeatedly harbored al Qaeda terrorists that are able to evade the feeble government attempts to dispatch them.

Afghanistan was a terror safe haven prior to 9/11 and Iraq formerly sponsored international terrorism to pursue its agenda. Iran still does.

The world, and the US in particular, must reevaluate its approach to failed states, because the failure to do so will have repercussions long into the future.

So, to push a strategy for dealing with Pakistan while diminishing the need to deal with Yemen is one that will result in problems down the road; the threat has to be dealt with all across the globe; not just in the fashionable locales (Islamabad, Tehran, etc.).

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Spending Priorities In NYC

How did something like this manage to survive the budget process? Did someone need to tell junkies how to shoot up heroin? This particular budget item cost $32,000 to print up 70,000 flyers telling people how to shoot up heroin safely.

The city spent $32,000 on 70,000 fliers that tell you how to shoot heroin, complete with detailed tips on prepping the dope and injecting it into your arm.

The Health Department handout has outraged New York's top drug prosecutors and abuse experts.

"It's basically step-by-step instruction on how to inject a poison," said John Gilbride, who heads the Drug Enforcement Administration's New York office.

"It's sick," said City Council member Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Queens)

"Foolish," said Columbia University drug researcher and treatment expert Dr. Herbert Kleber.

The 16-page pamphlet features seven comics-like illustrations and offers dope fiends such useful advice as "Warm your body (jump up and down) to show your veins," and "Find the vein before you try to inject."

At a time when the City is scrambling to find the funds to stave off massive cuts to mass transit, including the elimination of free passes for students to get to schools, it would seem that these kinds of nonsensical projects should be axed to not only get the city's budget in order, but to free up revenues for more worthy programs. The Health Department seems to think that this is a worthy expenditure of taxpayer money, and yet all it shows is that there is all too much waste and nonsensical expenditures that encourage bad behavior - such as doing illegal and dangerous drugs.

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China Delays Reporting Yet Another Environmental Disaster

China's environmental record reeks and yet we're supposed to believe that they're serious about curbing carbon emissions? They can't even honestly report massive oil spills on their largest and most important river in a timely fashion.

China’s state-run news media said late Saturday that a “large amount” of diesel oil had leaked out of a pipeline last Thursday in Shaanxi Province.

The government has not explained why the report of the spill was not released until late Saturday. But Xinhua, the official state news agency, said the leak was caused by construction work and that a crew of 700 people was struggling to contain the damage from about 150,000 liters, or about 40,000 gallons, of diesel oil.

The damaged pipeline belongs to the China National Petroleum Corporation, one of the country’s state-owned oil giants and the parent company of PetroChina. The company said Saturday that it had shut down the pipeline and that “much of the leaked oil and polluted silt has already been taken away.” But government officials in Shaanxi province said on Saturday that oil has been detected far downstream from the leak and warned local residents not to use water in the region.

The oil pipeline, which transports oil from northwest China to central parts of the country, was damaged and released oil into the Chisui River and Wei River, a tributary of the Yellow River, according to Xinhua.

It's not the first time a chemical spill has imperiled millions of people who rely on China's many rivers for potable water. In December 2005, a benzene spill forced millions of people downstream of the leak on the Songhua River to find alternative water sources, and the spill worked its way into Russia before it was fully contained. Yet the Chinese authorities responsible didn't report the leak to those downstream for days.

China's reporting of these environmental disasters and its reckless disregard for human lives that it puts at risk must change. It needed to change after the Songhua disaster, and it still needs to change.

China's attitude towards the environment must change; it imperils not only those living in China, but the rest of the world with its ever increasing emissions of all manner of gases and particulates.

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Somali Man Charged With Attempted Murder of Danish Mohammad Cartoonist

A Somali man with ties to al Qaeda was charged with the attempted murder of Kurt Westergaard after he broke into the cartoonist's home with an axe and knife with the intention to murder him for depicting Mohammad in a series of cartoons that were published in 2005.

A Somali man was charged Saturday with two counts of attempted murder for an attack on a Danish artist whose 2005 cartoon of the Prophet Muhammad ignited riots and outrage across the Muslim world, authorities said.

The 28-year-old Somali -- who had ties to al-Qaida -- broke into Kurt Westergaard's home in Aarhus on Friday night armed with an ax and a knife, said Jakob Scharf, head of Denmark's PET intelligence agency.

The 75-year-old artist, who has been the target of several death threats since depicting the Prophet Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban, pressed an alarm and fled with his 5-year-old granddaughter to a specially made safe room.

Officers arrived two minutes later and tried to arrest the assailant, but then shot him in the hand and knee when he threatened them with the ax, said Preben Nielsen of the Aarhus police.

Several Islamist groups issued fatwas in the aftermath of the publication and called for the death of the cartoonist and those responsible for their publication. Riots also ensued around the world with several embassies being damaged, and rioters murdered more than 50 people.

It's instructive to remember what Westergaard refuses to back down in the face of the violence. He doubled down on the jihadis in 2008 with yet another critique of the Islamists and their incessant violence against those who do not believe as they do.

Curiously, the Danish authorities aren't releasing the name of the man, who they say has ties to al Qaeda and al Sahab terror groups, and may have carried out other terror attacks in Africa.

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Taliban and Pakistani Terrorists Continue Carnage: Kill 88+ At Volleyball Game

None of this should be shocking any more, but the body count for Islamic terrorists continue to rise - and the vast majority continue to be fellow Muslims. A suicide bomber took his truck laden with 550 pounds of explosive and blew up a gathering of people for a volleyball tournament.

The blast occurred near Pakistan's tribal belt, and was the latest bloodshed to rattle the country since the army launched a military offensive against Taliban fighters in the. The operation has scattered insurgents but provoked apparent reprisal attacks that have killed more than 500 people since October.

Police said Friday's bombing in Lakki Marwat city, not far from South Waziristan, was possible retaliation for local residents' efforts to keep militants out of the area.

"The locality has been a hub of militants. Locals set up a militia and expelled the militants from this area. This attack seems to be reaction to their expulsion," local police chief Ayub Khan told reporters.

He said the bomber drove a vehicle loaded with 550 pounds (250 kilograms) of high-intensity explosives onto the field, which lies in a congested neighborhood, during the volleyball contest.

Some nearby houses collapsed, and "we fear that some 10 or so people might have been trapped in the rubble," Khan said.

In addition, a group of local tribal elders were holding a meeting at a mosque nearby. The mosque was damaged and some people there died, he said.

That's on the heels of another devastating bombing that killed 44 in Karachi last week.

Also, this past Wednesday, the Taliban managed to infiltrate a US military base and carried out a successful suicide bombing in Afghanistan where seven CIA agents, including a station chief, were killed - a significant loss in the war on terror given their collective experience and contacts.

The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for the bombing, which was carried out by suicide bomber wearing an Afghan National Army uniform. Some senior officials think the bomber may have been given access to the base because he was believed to be an informant, said two former intelligence officials.

Several former intelligence officials described the attack in Afghanistan as "devastating" to the agency. A number of the officers killed had been counterterrorism operatives since before the 9/11 attacks. The base played a critical role in the CIA's significant operations in the country, including helping with drone attacks and informant networks in Pakistan.

The loss of seven officers is significant for a relatively small agency whose workforce is estimated to be 10,000 or more, but it's all the more damaging because those lost represented so much collective experience.

The CIA has been heavily involved in the UAV airstrike campaign against high value targets, including most notably al Qaeda and the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The loss of those CIA agents could hamper efforts to go after those high value targets although Bill Roggio reports that a senior adviser to Mullah Omar was killed on New Year's eve.

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The Failure of the Homeowner Assistance Program

Trying to prop up the real estate market by trying to get people who should never have been in a position to buy homes that they could not afford to continue paying their unaffordable mortgages was, is, and will continue to be, a bad idea.

The Making Home Affordable Program has thrown billions at a problem that never actually existed. Foreclosure isn't a problem; it's the ultimate corrective to an out of control real estate market and resets prices of homes to a vastly more affordable condition. By allowing borrowers to try and tweak their mortgage interest rates to get them to stay in their homes just a little while longer does no one any good.

Those home buyers who are in a position to buy affordable homes are thwarted because home prices remain higher than they should be, limiting the demand on homes. Those trying to sell their homes may feel the pain of taking less than they would have just a few years ago, but those who have significant equity in their home shouldn't feel the pain; those who made disastrously bad business decisions will - the banks that lent to those who lacked the ability to repay and the individuals who figured that they could keep paying for their overpriced homes on borrowed money.

The Obama homeowner assistance program is delaying a true market recovery in real estate, and doesn't force banks to realign their business practices to the reality that they can and must lend to those who have solid credit while accepting greater risk from those who have lesser credit.

Meanwhile, it also harms those homeowners who have solid credit but can't take advantage of the same programs because they did the right thing all along and yet can't get interest rate reductions or other benefits of the program.

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