When the UK authorities brought various accused terrorists into custody, American sources said that the bad guys had been mere days away from a dry run. That is, a 9/11 type event was narrowly averted. But how close were they, really?

Some critics say that the evidence from the UK is weak, and the evidence from Pakistan unreliable:

Imminent threat? They had no bombs, no labs, no tickets, and no passports.None of the alleged terrorists had made a bomb. None had bought a plane ticket. Many did not even have passports, which given the efficiency of the UK Passport Agency would mean they couldn’t be a plane bomber for quite some time. What is more, many of those arrested had been under surveillance for over a year … Nothing from that surveillance had indicated the need for early arrests.

Then an interrogation in Pakistan revealed the details of this amazing plot to blow up multiple planes – which, rather extraordinarily, had not turned up in a year of surveillance. Of course, the interrogators of the Pakistani dictator have their ways of making people sing like canaries… Trouble is it always tends to give the interrogators all they might want, and more, in a desperate effort to stop or avert torture. What it doesn’t give is the truth. [Link]

Much to my surprise, even security hawks like Andrew Sullivan have voiced skepticism:

So far, no one has been charged in the alleged terror plot to blow up several airplanes across the Atlantic. No evidence has been produced supporting the contention that such a plot was indeed imminent. … Remember: the British authorities had all these people under surveillance; they did not want to act last week; there was no imminent threat of anything but a possible “dummy-run,” … How could they even stage a dummy-run with no passports? [Link]

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Allen has changed his story in a small but important way. He no longer claims that he made up the word Macaca on the spot, instead he repeated something that he heard his staff say:

… several Allen campaign aides and advisers are telling allies that the word was a made-up, off-the-cuff neologism that these aides occasionally used to refer to tracker S.R. Sidarth well before last Saturday’s videotaped encounter. According to two Republicans who heard the word used, “macaca” was a mash-up of “Mohawk,” referring to Sidarth’s distinctive hair, and “caca,” Spanish slang for excrement, or “shit.”

Said one Republican close to the campaign: “In other words, he was a shit-head, an annoyance.” Allen, according to Republicans, heard members of his traveling entourage and Virginia Republicans use the phrase and picked it up. It was the first word that came to his mind when he spied Sidarth at the weekend’s event, according to Republicans who have been briefed on Allen’s version of the event. [Link]

Allen wants to shift blame because coverage of this story brings up his long history of racial insensitivity / insult towards blacks which could torpedo his chance at the Presidential nomination:

As governor Allen had a stormy relationship with African-American voters in Virginia, many of whom criticized his policies and his embrace of the Confederate flag, which the NAACP condemned as a symbol of racism and hate. As a lawyer, Allen also had a noose hanging from a ficus tree in his office, a decoration critics have charged was racially insensitive, but which Allen has explained as a symbol of his tough stance on law-and-order issues…
In 1995, 1996, and 1997, Allen proclaimed April as Confederate History and Heritage Month and called the Civil War “a four-year struggle for independence and sovereign rights.” The proclamation did not mention slavery and was subsequently repudiated by Allen’s Republican successor, Governor James Gilmore. [Link]

Under educational guidelines proposed by Allen’s administration, which were revised after an uproar, students would have been taught that slaves were “settlers…” [Link]

“Stormy relationship” is an understatement. The man is completely obsessed by the confederate flag: Continue reading →

Apparently, a flight from London to Washington, D.C. just landed in Boston instead, because the pilot was concerned about a passenger’s actions:

A flight from London to Washington, D.C. was diverted to Boston Wednesday morning after the pilot declared an emergency because of a passenger disturbance, the airline said.

United Flight 923 with 182 passengers and 12 crew members landed safely at Boston’s Logan International Airport, United spokesman Brandon Borrman said.

A Logan spokesman said three passengers had a confrontation with the flight crew. State Police took control of the plane after it landed. All the passengers were being taken off the plane and their carry-on luggage was being checked, said spokesman Phil Orlandella.

What got MY attention was the clip NBC just showed– passengers slowly exiting the plane in Boston. To be expected, right? Sure, except all of those shown during the few seconds of footage were wearing Salwar Kameez. Way to zero in on a visual, there.

Developing… Continue reading →