Is Director of National Intelligence watching CNN to get his info?

Egyptian President Mubarak is out of power but where is he? Is he still in Cairo? At this point it is anyone's guess.

As Power Line's John Hinderaker writes:

Your guess, in fact, is probably as good as the CIA's. Based on recent revelations, it appears that the Director of National Intelligence (James Clapper - pictured below) is most likely watching CNN so that he can brief Congress on developments.

The Obama administration has gone out of its way to offer support for the Muslim Brotherhood's participation in the next government.

That is unpardonably obtuse, and if the administration has actually worked behind the scenes to support the ambitions of the Brotherhood, it is unpardonable, period.

Beyond that, the administration has put on a pathetic show throughout the Egyptian crisis. It has seemed that President Obama's principal object has been to give the appearance of being in the know and of having some control over events, when in fact the administration has generally been clueless and has been at best a bystander.

This accounts, I think, for the inconsistencies in the administration's position from day to day. As events shift, Obama shifts with them, like an irrelevant player who tries to get in front of a crowd so as to create the illusion that he is leading it.

This all reminds us of Jimmy Carter's handling of Iran.

As we have said before, Barack Obama is becoming Jimmy Carter even faster than Jimmy Carter became Jimmy Carter.

The Power Line report is here. Link here for our impression of Obama's clueless intel chief.

Climbing the border fence at Tijuana

Deported migrants climb a fence at the U.S.- Mexico border as they prepare for the 6th annual Marcha Migrante, or Migrant March in Tijuana, Mexico.

Super Bowl attendees face pat downs and long list of banned items

Everyone entering the stadium must pass through a magnetometer, such as those used at airports, and get a patdown as part of the screening process.

NFL and federal authorities are limiting what fans can bring to Cowboys Stadium.

Small bags are allowed, but will be searched, and jackets will be X-rayed.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Items fans can't bring into Cowboys Stadium:

Weapons, mace/pepper spray, fireworks

Camcorders, tripods, camera cases and binocular cases

Umbrellas, strollers

Grills, tents, poles, sticks

Banners, noisemakers, horns, beach balls, Frisbees, laser lights and pointers

Containers of any type, coolers of any size, backpacks

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Items fans can bring into Cowboys Stadium:

Small cameras and binoculars, but not camera cases and binocular cases

Small bags

Items purchased in Fan Plaza on Game Day

Link

Jesse Ventura sues HS and TSA for invasive pat downs and scans

Former Minnesota governor, professional wrestler and conspiracy theory advocate Jesse Ventura (pictured) has sued the Department of Homeland Security and the Transportation Security Administration claiming full-body scans and pat-down at airport checkpoints violate his right to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Ventura is asking a federal judge in Minnesota to issue an injunction ordering officials to stop subjecting his body to "warrantless and suspicionless" scans and searches.

Since receiving a hip replacement in 2008, Ventura, a frequent traveler, has been subjected to numerous body scans; however, when Ventura's titanium implant set off a metal detector in November and was subjected to a pat-down, the 59-year-old was about ready to lay the smack down.

Ventura claims he did not mind the hand-held wand that was used to scan his body as a secondary security measure prior to the November incident, but what he does mind is the "humiliation and degradation" he experienced as a result of the "unwanted touching, gripping, and rubbing of the intimate areas of his body."

Link

Professor arrested for suspicious package on plane

A man was arrested and removed from a plane because passengers claimed he had a suspicious package in the overhead compartment.

The man was a mathematics and statistics professor at the University of North Florida.

The "suspicious package" turned out to be keys, a bagel with cream cheese and a hat.

He was acting a bit odd but most of us have known professor's that have acted a bit goofy.

Hmm… keys, a cream cheese bagel and a hat? C'mon.

Link

Fighters scramble and Capitol evacuates for mystery plane

From a Reuters report at the link below:

A mystery airplane prompted an evacuation of the Capitol building and scrambling of military fighter jets on Saturday but authorities said the false alarm was caused by a commercial airliner briefly losing radio contact.

The mystery plane turned out to be a Piedmont Airlines plane in the Washington, D.C. area that briefly lost radio contact and military planes took off to find it.

A Federal Aviation Administration official said a Piedmont Airlines plane in the Washington, D.C. area briefly lost radio contact and military planes took off to find it.

Somehow I am not surprised. Several years ago as an auditor I often flew Piedmont Airlines from Charlottesville, Virginia to the old Washington National Airport, now called Reagan National Airport.

The Martin 404's were seldom on schedule and always appeared to be well-worn with little passenger comfort. I was never impressed with Piedmont Airlines then and after this story I am even less impressed now.

Link

TSA plans additional patdowns

Panic at Miami airport as bullets explode in luggage

What officials originally said was an exploding can of hairspray was actually 500 to 700 bullet primers in a 37-year-old mans luggage.

Primers are considered the "spark plugs" of a bullet and ignites the metal, projecting it toward the intended target.

The situation turned out to be much more serious and could have been even more dangerous if the plane were to get airborne with the combustible elements in its undercarriage.

The man who owned the luggage arrested.

FBI and TSA officials said his luggage contained volatile gun parts, which caused his bag to explode Tuesday just before it was about to be loaded on a plane.

Link

More on the whistle blowing pilot targeted by TSA

The airline pilot who was harassed by federal agents and lost his federally-issued gun and badge for posting video on YouTube critical of airport security has chosen to go public with his identity.

Liu's cell phone video tour of security at San Francisco International Airport led to a team of six federal agents and sheriff's deputies coming to his home on Dec. 2 to take his handgun and Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO) credentials.

Did the pilot steal state secrets? No. So what did the pilot do to warrant the show of force by federal agents and sheriff's deputies at his house?

He took cell phone videos of the inconsistent way airport security is handled with ground crew getting a pass by only needing to swipe a card.

The pilot harassed by federal agents, backed up by local sheriff's deputies, because he embarrassed TSA by pointing out a serious airport security flaw.

One commenter wondered if Janet Napolitano learned her heavy-handed tactics by watching old KGB spy movies.

Link

Suicide bombers need to be quick learners…

TSA at DIA

Travelers get intimate patdowns at Denver International Airport.

A Transportation Security Administration (TSA) worker appears to be fondling a female traveler's chest during a patdown search at Denver International Airport.
A TSA supervisor appears to be teaching a female TSA worker how to do an intimate search of the front of a male passengers pants at Denver International Airport.

Airline pilot punished for whistle blowing YouTube

Don't cross Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano as one airline pilot discovered.

An airline pilot is being disciplined by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) for posting video on YouTube pointing out what he believes are serious flaws in airport security.

Three days after he posted a series of six video clips recorded with a cell phone camera at San Francisco International Airport, four federal air marshals and two sheriff's deputies arrived at his house to confiscate his federally-issued firearm. The pilot recorded that event as well and provided all the video to News10.

At the same time as the federal marshals took the pilot's gun, a deputy sheriff asked him to surrender his state-issued permit to carry a concealed weapon.

YouTube videos showed what the pilot calls the irony of flight crews being forced to go through TSA screening while ground crew who service the aircraft are able to access secure areas simply by swiping a card.

"As you can see, airport security is kind of a farce. It's only smoke and mirrors so you people believe there is actually something going on here," the pilot narrates.

More here.

Santa meets TSA screeners

Shoeless Santa Claus Larry Durian is taken to a private TSA room after passing through metal detectors at the Akron Canton Airport Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010 in Green, Ohio. Santa planned to spend seven hours at the airport greeting passengers for their customer appreciation day. He emerged from the room a short time later.

Secret tests show TSA screeners miss guns and bombs

As TSA workers conduct naked body scans and intimate pat-downs, secret tests show they routinely miss handguns and bombs which pass through airports undetected.

This reality was hammered home in a particularly revealing manner last fall when an Iranian-American businessman passed through security at a Houston airport and boarded an international flight.

The inconvenient truth in the story is not that the man, Farid Seif, had an Arabic name or a swarthy appearance but that he was carrying a loaded snub nose Glock pistol in a bag with his computer.

The owner of the loaded Glock pistol said, "It's just impossible to miss it, you know. I mean, this is not a small gun. How can you miss it?"

More of the story here.

LAX TSA choir to go with intimate pat downs: why not champagne as well?

Travelers passing through Los Angeles International Airport are finding that security officers have more than a scan or pat-down for them this holiday season.

TSA is offering musical entertainment, too. Yup, it's the LAX TSA choir for your listening pleasure as you receive your intimate pat-down. How romantic! Why not a little champagne as well?

Other airports are getting into this as well. Shown above are leggy dancers at Austin Bergstrom Airport.

Entertainment along with a good pad-down. What more could a traveler want?

Link

AlQaeda planning Christmas attacks in US and Europe

From an Associated Press report at the link below:

Iraqi authorities have obtained confessions from captured insurgents who claim al Qaeda is planning suicide attacks in the United States and Europe during the Christmas season, two senior officials said Wednesday.

The Iraqi Foreign Minister called the claims "a critical threat."

There was no way to verify the insurgents' claims. But Western counterterrorism officials generally are on high alert during the holiday season, especially since last year's failed attack by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the so-called underwear bomber, who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day.

More here.

Device for detecting explosives at Reagan National Airport

Device for detecting explosives at Reagan National Airport
A TSA (Transportation Security Administration) agent wipes an explosives-detecting device over the hands of a female traveler as she undergoes security screening at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington DC.

Immigration rights group furious at Chipotle mass firings

The Chipotle restaurants in Minnesota fired workers that failed an I-9 audit.

Form I-9 (Employment Eligibility Verification) is a federal form intended to verify that employees are not illegal aliens.

Federal law requires that all U.S. employers must complete and retain a Form I-9 for each individual they hire for employment in the United States. This includes citizens and noncitizens.

The Minnesota Immigration Rights Action Committeee (MIRAC), a local group that fights for the legalization of undocumented workers is causing an uproar wanting Chipotle to break federal laws by continuing to employ illegals.

Link

UPS now requires photo ID for shipping packages

From an Associated press report:

UPS is now requiring photo identification from customers shipping packages at retail locations around the world, a month after explosives made it on to one of the company's planes.

The Atlanta-based package courier said Tuesday the move is part of an ongoing review to enhance security. The directive will apply at The UPS Store, Mail Boxes Etc. locations and other authorized shipping outlets.

There are places in America where one can vote without showing ID. In fact, in some places you can even vote as often as you want without showing ID.

Do the UPS decision makers think terrorists don't have ID's?

One commenter wrote:

"Thank you sir - is that spelled Osama or is it Usama? Your Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Official Jihad Instructor photo ID card is a little hard to read"......

Profiling won't work either. Islamic terrorists will hire Caucasians to take their packages to UPS stores.

There is no easy answer.

The UPS ID report is here.

69th anniversary of attack on Pearl Harbor

"A day that will live in infamy" - F.D.R.
One survivor of the devastating Pearl Harbor attack 69 years ago said, “Remember the people who gave their lives. They say we are heroes, but we are not. We are survivors. The heroes are still out there.”

The photo above was widely publicized in the United States during World War II and was used to help sell War Bonds. It shows the sinking of the battleship USS West Virginia.

Sailors in the motor launch in the foreground are looking for survivors in the water near the USS West Virginia.

This photo shows the battleship USS California sinking.