Pointless, Abused, Faked Terrorism Threat Level System To Be Abolished

Remember in 2009 when former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge confessed that he'd been pressured to raise the terrorism threat level in order to help Dubya's 2004 campaign? And how that totally worked? Today Homeland Security announced that they are doing away with the color-coded system, effective in March. The new system will only announce known threats to specific locations, so they say.

No More Flying With Toner

Homeland Security announced today that effective immediately you can no longer bring toner or ink cartridges weighing more than one pound onto your plane. Not that anybody was actually doing that.

The ban, announced today by Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, also covers other cargo deemed high-risk. The changes follow the discovery of bombs concealed in ink cartridges on a U.S.-bound flight from the Middle East. The bombs, which contained PETN, are believed to be part of a Yemen-based plot. "These security measures reflect our commitment to using current intelligence to stay ahead of adversaries," Napolitano said, according to Bloomberg.

What are they going to do when they find the first iPhone bomb?

Orrin Hatch On "Abysmal" Airport Security

As much as it grievously pains me to agree with Orrin Hatch on anything, it does seem unbelievable that one can buy an airline ticket in cash, at the counter, with no luggage, and stroll onto a flight to the Middle East (or anywhere) without further attention.

Feds See Hints Of International Plot Behind Failed Times Square Bombing

Although they insist that there is still no evidence to support the Taliban's claim of responsibility for Saturday's car bomb attempt in Times Square, federal investigators now say they have clues that the incident may not have been domestic in origin.

The failed car bombing in Times Square increasingly appears to have been coordinated by more than one person in a plot with international links, Obama administration officials said Monday. Emerging from a series of briefings, several officials said it was premature to rule out any motive but said the sweeping, multi-state investigation was turning up new clues. One federal law enforcement official cautioned that, while investigators are examining unspecified international communications that may be connected to the attack, "that doesn't get you to an international plot, a multi-organizational plot." "We're just not there," the official said. Separately, the White House also characterized the incident for the first time as an attempted act of terrorism. "I would say that was intended to terrorize, and I would say that whomever did that would be categorized as a terrorist," spokesman Robert Gibbs said, sharpening the administration's tone. Another U.S. official, recounting a conversation with intelligence officials, said, "Don't be surprised if you find a foreign nexus. . . . They're looking at some tell-tale signs and they're saying it's pointing in that direction."

PHOTO: Surveillance still of SUV at Broadway & 44th.