“The man accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a ‘dirty bomb’ inside the United States was a protege of a top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, traveling at his mentor’s request to meet with other terrorists and using the Internet to research how to build a radioactive weapon, U.S. officials said Tuesday.” The AP is reporting that Jose Padilla, 31, also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, traveled to Pakistan

“The man accused of plotting with al-Qaida to detonate a ‘dirty bomb’ inside the United States was a protege of a top lieutenant of Osama bin Laden, traveling at his mentor’s request to meet with other terrorists and using the Internet to research how to build a radioactive weapon, U.S. officials said Tuesday.” The AP is reporting that Jose Padilla, 31, also known as Abdullah al Muhajir, traveled to Pakistan

More reviews of upcoming teevee pilots from the indefatiguable Marc Weisblott — who joins the annoited few who’ve come to recognize the genius of Jami Gertz. Yes, Muffy Tepperman is back (starring with Mark Addy in the CBS sitcom, “Still Standing“), and she’s back strong, according to Marc — amazingly, within a year of Lost Boys co-star Kiefer Sutherland’s unexpected return to showbiz stardom. Which can only mean one thing:

Freaky. Spooky. Mysterious. And ewwky. All rolled up into one. But hardly surprising. Hell, at this point I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that Mike Tyson was acting on behalf of Al Qaeda when he bit off the meaty part of Evander Holyfield’s ear (“I dethpoy-el thith eeyaw meat in the name of Awah!”) Says Rummy, “Our interest [in Padilla] is not in trying him and punishing him…Our interest is

Translated by Stefan Sharkansky from Die Zeit, “Arafat Bombs, Europe Pays” is a must read piece — particularly for those still skeptical about European involvement in Palestinian terrorism. An excerpt: The Israelis found payment receipts with which the salaries for terrorists were paid, through a cascade of transfers, from accounts funded by the European Union. This is an indication that things are going in a frightful direction. But still not

To: James Lileks, Minneapolis From: JD, Outside the Tastee Freezetrade; Dear Mr. Lileks — Oh yeah? Well then fuck you, buddy! You hear? Just fuck you! Respectfully, Jack Diane (Suckin’ On Chili Dogs, Bible Belt, USA)

The National Review’s John O’Sullivan — no fan of bureaucracies — argues that a Department of Homeland Security won’t really do much to secure the homeland. For Sullivan, […] merging existing agencies such as Customs and the INS (Immigration and Naturalization Service) into one grand new department will do nothing whatever to defeat terrorism — unless it accompanied by changes in policy, in underlying bureaucratic attitudes, and in personnel. And

From David Tell’s “The Specter of Terrorism” (on behalf of the editors of The Weekly Standard, and worth excerpting at length): […] There are other, vastly more important and productive questions to be asked about the post-September 11 performance of George W. Bush’s executive branch than ‘Does this mean we’re living in a police state?’ It should little relieve us that the correct answer is no, after all; we have

Lots going on in the Middle East today — another Arab blew himself up at a schwarma restaurant in Israel, managing to stucco the walls with his own entrails while seriously injuring a little Israeli girl (Ah yes! Strike another blow for justice, praise be!), and a new poll confirms that 2/3 of all Palestinians support the very suicide attacks designed to injure such little girls — which means I’ll

Lots going on in the Middle East today — another Arab blew himself up at a schwarma restaurant in Israel, managing to stucco the walls with his own entrails while seriously injuring a little Israeli girl (Ah yes! Strike another blow for justice, praise be!), and a new poll confirms that 2/3 of all Palestinians support the very suicide attacks designed to injure such little girls — which means I’ll