Top Items:
ABCNEWS:
Investigators: Northwest Bomb Plot Planned by al Qaeda in Yemen — Officials Say Bomb Materials Sewn Into Suspect's Underwear by Top Terror Bomb Maker — The plot to blow up an American passenger jet over Detroit was organized and launched by al Qaeda leaders in Yemen who apparently sewed bomb materials …
RELATED:
Ed Morrissey / Hot Air:
Investigators: Terrorist wore suicide underwear made by top AQ bombmaker in Yemen — In the war on terror, we've seen suicide vests and suicide belts. We've even seen suicide rucksacks. Now, the top Yemeni bombmaker for al-Qaeda has the latest in fashion for radical jihadists looking …
New York Times:
Restrictions Rise After Terrorism Attempt — Transportation authorities began imposing tighter security measures at airports on Saturday and ordered new restrictions governing the activities of passengers during flights as investigators conducted searches to learn more about the Nigerian …
Discussion:
Outside The Beltway, The Business Insider, Hit & Run, The Lede, The Agitator, TechCrunch, Newshoggers.com, Daily Kos, The Moderate Voice and Mashable!
Soraya Roberts / NY Daily News:
Jasper Schuringa subdued alleged terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Northwest Airlines 253 — The passenger who tackled a suspected terrorist on Northwest Airlines Flight 253 said Saturday that he's “happy” to be alive. — Jasper Schuringa, a video director and producer from Amsterdam …
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Towleroad News #gay, Gateway Pundit, The Huffington Post and Atlas Shrugs
Samuel Goldsmith / NY Daily News:
Father of Umar Farouk Abdul Mutallab, Nigerian terror suspect in Flight 253 attack, warned U.S. — The terror suspect who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound plane is the son of a Nigerian banker who alerted U.S. authorities to his “extreme religious views” months ago, it was reported Saturday.
New York Times:
Passengers Took Plane's Survival Into Own Hands — Despite extensive spending since 2001 on intelligence and counterterrorism programs, sophisticated airport scanners and elaborate watch lists, it was something simpler that averted disaster on a Christmas Day flight to Detroit: alert and courageous passengers and crew members.
Air Canada:
Travel Advisory — Air Canada advises passengers travelling to the U.S. that due to enhanced government security measures air travellers should arrive early at airports to allow extra time to clear security screening. Passengers should also expect flight delays, cancellations and missed connections …
New York Times:
U.S. Charges Suspect, Eyeing Link to Qaeda in Yemen — WASHINGTON — Federal authorities on Saturday charged a 23-year-old Nigerian man with trying to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day, and officials said the suspect told them he obtained explosive chemicals and a syringe …
Gordon Ginsberg / Firedoglake:
Why The President's Inability to Lead Highlights the Value of FDL's Reachout to “Strange Bedfellows” — The times call for a leader of Churchillian or Rooseveltian magnitude; what we have instead is a cautious risk-averse manager. Bold progressives must fill the leadership vacuum in order …
Discussion:
AMERICAblog News
Ezra Klein:
After health-care reform, Senate reform — This column appears on the cover of Sunday's Outlook section. — On Dec. 8, 1964, Mike Manatos wrote a letter that explains what's wrong with the Senate in 2009. This wasn't, of course, the subject of his letter.
RELATED:
Ann Althouse / Althouse:
Let the President stay in the White House — or, at most, retreat to Camp David. — “President Barack Obama's Christmas Day began with a briefing about a botched attack on an airliner in Detroit and ended with a visit to a dining hall for members of the military.
Jordan Fabian / The Hill:
Kucinich: Generals who spoke publicly on Afghan strategy should lose jobs — Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) this week said that U.S. generals who spoke publicly about the nation's Afghan strategy during the president's deliberations should lose their jobs. — Kucinich, who is known …
Wall Street Journal:
‘He Just Does What He Thinks Is Right’ — Cannon to the left of him, cannon to the right of him, cannon in front of him volley and thunder. That's our president's position on the political battlefield now, taking it from all sides. And the odd thing, the unique thing in terms of modern political history …
David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:
Catholic Group Supports Senate on Abortion Aid — WASHINGTON — In an apparent split with Roman Catholic bishops over the abortion-financing provisions of the proposed health care overhaul, the nation's Catholic hospitals have signaled that they back the Senate's compromise on the issue …