A wealthy and privileged Nigerian man who claimed to be an agent of Al Qaeda was charged on Saturday with trying to blow up a Northwest Airlines flight on Christmas Day as it was preparing to land in Detroit.
** OBAMA TODAY – SUNDAY. President Barack Obama is in Hawaii today.
He has no scheduled public events.
The Obamas are staying in a private residence in Kailua on Windward side of Oahu during their 10-day vacation in the president’s home state.
Obama will receive his daily intelligence and economic briefings there this morning.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran (where clashes are ongoing between protesters and government forces, with the nephew of the leading opposition presidential candidate amongst several killed today), Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.
And the bizarre incident on a Northwest Airlines plane descending into Detroit on Christmas Day.
A 23-year old Nigerian man, a recent graduate of the elite University College London, tried to set off an explosive device strapped to his leg. It misfired, which is why no one was killed, and he was overwhelmed by passengers.
Obama has ordered a review of security procedures which placed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on a list of 550,000 people with suspected terrorist ties but not on the no-fly list of 4000 or so. And which allowed the 23-year old scion of one of Nigeria’s richest bankers to enter the US after he was barred from re-entering the UK. And which also missed the fact that his father reported his fears about his son’s extremist views to both the US embassy in Abuja and to Nigerian security agencies.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SUNDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of state with First Lady Maria Shriver and the family for the holidays.
He has no scheduled public events.
Northwest Flight 253 with 278 passengers aboard was 20 minutes from the airport in Detroit when passengers heard popping noises, witnesses said. A Nigerian man who said he was an agent for Al Qaeda tried to blow up the plane Friday, officials said.
** OBAMA TODAY – SATURDAY. President Barack Obama is in Hawaii today.
He has no scheduled public events.
The Obamas are staying in a private residence in Kailua on the island of Oahu during their 10-day vacation in the president’s home state. Kailua, a very scenic place with a population of 36,000 on the Windward side of Oahu, is a 30-minute drive from downtown Honolulu.
Obama will receive his daily intelligence and economic briefings there this morning.
Obama is also monitoring geopolitical crises in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Yemen.
And a bizarre incident on a Northwest Airlines plane descending into Detroit yesterday.
As you’ve no doubt heard, a 23-year old Nigerian named Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab evidently tried to blow up a passenger plane flying from Amsterdam to Detroit. A former college student in London, he began his flight in Lagos.
He has since reportedly told interrogators that he was acting on orders from Al Qaeda and received his materials and instructions in Yemen. While in flight to Detroit, before the plane entered its approach pattern, he evidently mixed substances, including a powder, together to create an explosive device.
As the plane descended to begin its approach to airport, he reportedly stood up to detonate some sort of device, which evidently misfired. He was then subdued by passengers.
There may be new flight restrictions as a result of this incident.
According to a statement posted Saturday morning on Air Canada’s Web site, the Transportation Security Administration will severely limit the behavior of both passengers and crew during flights in United States airspace — restricting movement in the final hour of flight. Late Saturday morning, the T.S.A. had not yet included this new information on its own Web site.
“Among other things,” the statement in Air Canada’s Web site read, “during the final hour of flight customers must remain seated, will not be allowed to access carry-on baggage, or have personal belongings or other items on their laps.”
President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama visited with Marines and their families having Christmas dinner in Kaneohe at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, near where the first family is spending their Christmas vacation.
The suspect, according to officials, tried to light his explosives while the plane was descending into Detroit on Friday.
Earlier in the day, British Airways had announced on its Web site that passengers flying from London to the United States would be allowed to carry only one item onto a plane.
Law enforcement officials from around the world Saturday were investigating the background of the suspect, identified as Abdul Farouk Abdulmutallab. In Nigeria, a prominent banker told the Asssociated Press that he was meeting with security officials there because he feared his son was the suspect. Alhaji Umaru Mutallab told The A.P. Associated Press said his son was a one-time university student in London who had left Britain to travel abroad. He said his son hadn’t lived in London “for some time” but he wasn’t sure exactly where he went to.
“I believe he might have been to Yemen, but we are investigating to determine that,” the elder Mutallab said. He said he would provide more details later Saturday as he learned more from authorities.
What does it mean? We’re not out of the woods, obviously.
** FROM THE ARNOLD FILE – SATURDAY. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is out of state with First Lady Maria Shriver and the family.
He has no scheduled public events.
** THE COMMON THREADS OF AVATAR. Is Avatar the future of cinema? Probably. There has to be something to draw people away from their computers and home entertainment centers, and with television series now generally at least as good as if not better than feature films, there are fewer reasons to drive to a theater. But you’ll never see anything at home like Avatar, which nonetheless holds common thematic threads going back to the beginning of the director’s career.
I’ve liked director James Cameron’s films since The Terminator in 1984. But I was distinctly under-wowed by the first clip I saw from Avatar. Of course, I was viewing it on the screen of one of my laptops. Fortunately, I realized that I was seeing only a fraction of what could be available in the highly-immersive, richly-detailed 3D world Cameron was devising. … From my December 22nd essay.
** COPENHAGEN BLUES: OBAMA’S WEAK HAND ON CLIMATE, AND THE CALIFORNIA OPTION. As he prepares to go to Copenhagen for the deeply troubled UN climate change summit, President Barack Obama does so with a weak hand. He has no enacted legislation to brandish, no binding agreements on big greenhouse gas cuts with some of the biggest polluters, and no big financing to aid the developing world of poorer nations.
Aside from that, it’s really great.
Obama has cobbled together some impressive looking cards. But starting from the zero point that was bequeathed him by the Bush/Cheney Administration, and with far less congressional support than many imagine, he’s nowhere near ready to sign a new Copenhagen Protocol, were one to emerge, which it will not. … From my December 16th column.
** OBAMA’S LINCOLNESQUE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE. Who expected, two months ago when the surprise award was announced, that President Barack Obama, in accepting his Nobel Peace Prize, would deliver a speech that in many respects is about the ethics of war? …
But Obama’s emergence as more the liberal warrior than the reflexive dove surprises me not in the least, for I was paying close attention to what the president said and wrote before and during his campaign. … From my December 11th column.
** HOW JERRY BROWN CLEARED THE DEMOCRATIC FIELD FOR GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA. How did former Governor-turned-Attorney General Jerry Brown clear the Democratic field for governor of California over half a year before next year’s primary election? Without even announcing his candidacy for governor? Let’s count the ways as we set the stage for one of the biggest races in America next year.
Most California political experts did not expect this result. The state’s much diminished press corps anticipated a big primary fight. Nor was Jerry Brown expected to be the easy winner. In fact, a site run by well-known state Democratic consultants put up an online poll in early 2007 to gauge early insider support for possible candidates. And, amusingly, neglected to include Brown. Despite the fact that the two-term former governor, two-time Democratic presidential runner-up, and two-time mayor of rugged Oakland had just won the biggest victory of any contested statewide race. Bigger even than Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s landslide 17-point romp over his Democratic challenger.
Even after the main rivals to Brown dropped out, some kept pushing ever more unlikely prospects forward. Only to see them vanish like a desert mirage. Nevertheless, some amongst the thinned ranks of California reporters and bloggers still imagine that Brown and his capable and witty wife Anne Gust Brown are simply winging it. This view is, let’s say, not entirely accurate. … From my December 9th column.
** BARACK OBAMA’S WAR: 10 KEY THINGS TO KNOW. … From my December 4th column.
** NORTH BY NORTHWEST‘S 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION: ENDURING APPEAL AND THE MAD MEN FACTOR. … From my December 2nd essay.
** HEADS SHOULD ROLL OVER OBAMA STATE DINNER SECURITY BREACH. … From my November 27th column.
** TONY BLAIR’S CAUTIONARY TALE FOR OBAMA. … From my November 24th column.
** MAD MEN: THREE SEASONS ON AND LOOKING FORWARD. … From my November 21st essay.
** OBAMA: RIDING WITH HISTORY. (NOTE: As Barack Obama was inaugurated as the 44th president of the United States, this column was the featured column on the top of the front page of the Huffington Post.) … From my January 19th Huffington Post column.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM RUSSIA TODAY. Russia has re-emerged as one of the world’s great powers. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer, bringing you English-language, jargon-free, fast-paced coverage of global and Russian news from the Russia Today channel. You probably already know about CNN International, BBC World, and Al Jazeera. Russia Today, which also features culture, entertainment, and sports, is based in Moscow and is owned and operated by the TV Novosti division of Russia’s state news agency, RIA Novosti. While it’s quite foolish to expect to see, say, criticism of Vladimir Putin on Russia Today, the channel is very interesting nonetheless. With U.S. cable news chattering away as it does, this sort of respite can be informative. The NWN live link to RT does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** 24/7 LIVE TV NEWS FEED FROM AL JAZEERA. With the US entangled in two wars in the region, it’s valuable to keep up with news and perspectives from the leading Middle Eastern-based TV news network. Based in the Gulf Arab state of Qatar, Al Jazeera is very influential and more than a bit controversial. Click here for a live TV news feed on your computer. The NWN live link to AJ does not constitute an endorsement of the channel’s views. It’s presented as an otherwise unavailable new media window.
** SCHWARZENEGGER’S CALIFORNIA. Here is my series of five columns on the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger for the Los Angeles Times in debate last fall, prior to the global economic meltdown, with Pulitzer Prize-winning former Times reporter/editor Bill Boyarsky, whose columns are also included. Among them is what I’m sure is the first piece examining Schwarzenegger’s legacy as governor of California. Since he will actually be governor of California until 2011. No technology known to be disruptive to the space/time continuum was used in its preparation. You can listen to my recent video webchat with Schwarzenegger here.
** TRACK GLOBAL AND NATIONAL ENERGY PRICES IN NEAR REAL TIME VIA BLOOMBERG ENERGY MARKET WATCH. Having crashed over $147 for yet another record on July 11th, 2008, crude oil closed on Thursday at $78.35 per barrel. Energy markets are closed for Christmas weekend.
This is up about $44 from the low of $34 per barrel prior to enactment of the Obama economic recovery program, reflecting a low point in global economic activity.
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| Comments (25) |
The Detroit thing is scary, and weird.
Good for the Obamas visiting with the Marines and their families having Christmas dinner.
Barack doesn’t catch a break on these vacations, does he? Ted Kennedy died on his first vacation; now this!
Jonas Blane says:
December 26, 2009 at 10:24 am
The Detroit thing is scary, and weird.
I think Barack likes the Marines. He does a lot with them.
onas Blane says:
December 26, 2009 at 10:26 am
Good for the Obamas visiting with the Marines and their families having Christmas dinner.
So we see today Solon if SC has got it together again!
CB,
Like I said yesterday, if they do, they do…if they don’t, merely a game. Game ‘taint the important thing this weekend…celebrating the season is. Hope you and your family had a most wonderful Christmas and that the coming year treats you kindly!
I did … Thanks!
Still hope the Pac-10 gets it back in gear with SC tonight in San Fran!
Yesterday is over thank god, Happy Holiday!
…Sorry, holidayS!!
Great, more shoe bombers. Holiday travel just became a huge pain in the ass.
New video today?
The Abdulmutallab incident shows we’ve got a big problem.
SC played a solid game. Barkley looked good at QB. I think they’ll be very good again next year.
Sacramento Solon says:
December 26, 2009 at 11:45 am
CB,
Like I said yesterday, if they do, they do…if they don’t, merely a game. Game ‘taint the important thing this weekend…celebrating the season is. Hope you and your family had a most wonderful Christmas and that the coming year treats you kindly!e.
Good video on the Nigerian terrorist.
What new video today?
They did well, and closed well.
> Capitol Boy says:
December 27, 2009 at 11:54 am (Edit)
SC played a solid game. Barkley looked good at QB. I think they’ll be very good again next year.
Sacramento Solon says:
December 26, 2009 at 11:45 am
CB,
Like I said yesterday, if they do, they do…if they don’t, merely a game. Game ‘taint the important thing this weekend…celebrating the season is. Hope you and your family had a most wonderful Christmas and that the coming year treats you kindly!e.
It’s very telling.
Oh yes …
> Brasky says:
December 26, 2009 at 4:26 pm (Edit)
Great, more shoe bombers. Holiday travel just became a huge pain in the ass.
It was also a good way to celebrate the season!
Sacramento Solon says:
December 26, 2009 at 11:45 am (Edit)
CB,
Like I said yesterday, if they do, they do…if they don’t, merely a game. Game ‘taint the important thing this weekend…celebrating the season is. Hope you and your family had a most wonderful Christmas and that the coming year treats you kindly!
His vacations are a warning sign …
> Capitol Boy says:
December 26, 2009 at 10:54 am (Edit)
Barack doesn’t catch a break on these vacations, does he? Ted Kennedy died on his first vacation; now this!
Jonas Blane says:
December 26, 2009 at 10:24 am
The Detroit thing is scary, and weird.
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