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Quote: Update: TSA seeking man who may not have been screened at Newark Airport; passengers being moved from 'sterile' to public area - CNN less than a minute ago from BreakingNews Headquarters Security breach leads to lockdown at Newark Airport's Terminal C; male passenger being sought - CNN 10 minutes ago from BreakingNews Headquarters

DFW Security Checkpoint Left Unattended for 90 Minutes Agency suspends 3 agents, calls incident "serious and unacceptable" By GRANT STINCHFIELD Updated 8:05 PM CST, Thu, Dec 31, 2009 The Transportation Security Administration has launched an internal investigation after a security checkpoint at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport was left unattended and unsecured for 90 minutes earlier this month. Three agents have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation. The agency said the agents left the checkpoint at Gate E8 from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 16. Personnel from the airport's Department of Public Safety discovered the gate was...

That was quite a revealing -- and understandable -- public tantrum President Obama threw Tuesday. Understandable, because the president has every right to be livid over the "potentially catastrophic breach of security" that nearly saw a terrorist bring down an airliner with 289 people aboard. And revealing, because perhaps Obama has come to understand that he does not enjoy as much control over intelligence matters as he might have imagined. Also, that the Islamist threat to America won't be countered with mere words.

Returning Gitmo's detainees to Yemen defies common sense. President Obama has belatedly declared that the near miss above Detroit constituted "a catastrophic breach of security" and ordered a review of America's intelligence efforts. We're glad to hear it, but let's hope the Commander in Chief also rethinks his own approach to counterterrorism.Recent events have exposed the shortcomings of treating terror as a law enforcement problem and rushing to close Guantanamo Bay. A new wave of jihadists is coming of age, inspiring last month's deadly attack at Ft. Hood and nearly bringing down Northwest Flight 253, and next time we may...

<p>HONOLULU -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday said a "catastrophic breach" of security led to the Christmas Day attempted bombing on a Detroit-bound airplane.</p> <p>"A systemic failure has occurred and I consider that totally unacceptable. There was a mix of human and systemic failure that contributed to this catastrophic breach of security," he said.</p>

Siren up on Drudge. Possible man with a gun.

The horrendous sight of another Western airline crashing over the US on Christmas Day 2009 was averted by a fluke and the resourcefulness of passengers and cabin crew - not by the anti-terror agencies' high-tech gadgets, vast budgets and airport security measures. Six months ago, Umar Faroul Abdulmuttallab's father warned the US Embassy in Lagos of his 23-year old son's alarming extremist Muslim activities. Yet he was granted a US visa. On Dec. 25, he sailed through Schiphol international airport with 80 grams of PETN (pentaervthritol) high explosive and liquid detonators in his underpants after landing from Lagos and caught...

Laps in Security Mark Steyn December 26, 2009 Well, the authorities have reacted to the Pantybomber in the usual way: Passengers getting off both U.S. domestic flights and those arriving from overseas reported being told that they couldn’t get out of their seat for the last hour of their flight. Air Canada also said that during the last hour passengers won’t be allowed access to carry-on baggage or to have any items on their laps.That's great news, isn't it?This was a failed terror plot. But with failures like this who needs victories? If that Air Canada rule becomes generally applicable,...

In a major security breach, an Indian national working as a cleaner at Medina airport in Saudi Arabia managed to travel on an Air India flight, carrying 273 Haj pilgrims from Saudi Arabia to India, hiding in the toilet of the aircraft. Habib Hussain, 26, from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh, told the police that the contractor who employed him there had taken away his passport and harassed him. Finding no other way out to return home, he sneaked into the Air India flight to Jaipur. Habib's presence came to light about half an hour after the flight took off...

WASHINGTON – The federal government improperly posted an internal guide to its airport passenger screening procedures on the Internet in a way that could offer insight into how to sidestep security. The document outlines who is exempt from certain additional screening measures, including members of the U.S. armed forces, governors and lieutenant governors, the mayor of Washington, D.C., and their immediate families. It offers examples of identification documents that screeners accept, including congressional, federal air marshal and CIA ID cards; and it explains that diplomatic pouches and certain foreign dignitaries with law enforcement escorts are not subjected to any screening...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House gate-crashers plan to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights and refuse to testify if they are subpoenaed to appear on Capitol Hill about the security breach. Reality TV hopefuls Michaele and Tareq Salahi said through their lawyer on Tuesday that the House Homeland Security Committee has drawn premature conclusions about the Nov. 24 incident, when they were able to get into the state dinner without being on an approved guest list.

In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) inadvertently posted online its airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. In a massive security breach, the Transportation Security Agency (TSA) inadvertently posted online its entire airport screening procedures manual, including some of the most closely guarded secrets regarding special rules for diplomats and CIA and law enforcement officers. The most sensitive parts of the 93-page Standard Operating Procedures were apparently redacted in a way that computer savvy individuals easily overcame. -snip-

Nineteen Greenpeace activists have been arrested after breaching security and climbing the roofs of two Parliament Hill buildings this morning to protest climate change. But red-faced police and parliamentary security representatives have offered no explanation as to how the activists were able to so easily walk on to Parliament Hill laden with gear, scale the Centre Block and West Block buildings and unfurl large signs and banners. Some of the protesters stayed atop the West block for almost three hours before they were removed and arrested. “That’s not something I can talk about right now,” said RCMP spokeswoman Caroline Poulin,...

Desiree Rogers is under scrutiny for her office's role in the infamous security breakdown at the state dinner. A woman with a reputation as a consummate perfectionist is being criticized for dropping the ball — and, by some, for putting her own aggrandizement over her job. The White House social secretary under fire for her office's role in the security breakdown that let an invited couple into a state dinner once joked that she regularly allowed party crashers at White House events. Desiree Rogers made the claim in an interview with the trade magazine BizBash at the Creative Coalition's annual...

The Secret service is supposed to take a bullet for the President. But are they supposed to protect the Administration from embarrassment? It is beginning to look more and more as if this is a hit the secret service is undeserving being forced to take the crasher-gate bullet. During the Obama administration crashers were regularly let in to Presidential events. Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, said in an interview with the trade magazine BizBash in June that she had adds extra tables and benches at every event to accommodate party crashers.

Desirée Glapion Rogers is the descendant of a Creole voodoo priestess named Marie Laveau Glapion. The first time I meet her, she welcomes me into her East Wing lair—a rhythm and blues tune plays on a white iPod, a potted white orchid perches between two windows, fresh flowers sit on a heavy wooden desk. This is a woman who never sees a wilted bloom. The 49-year-old turns on just enough Southern charm to camouflage an aura of self-assuredness typically reserved for runway models or first ladies. Wearing a crisp white shirt, black patent flats and high-waisted navy slacks that would...

Mr. Sullivan also surprised the panel by telling members that his agency did not learn of the security breach until the Virginia couple bragged about it on the Internet. He told the panel that the federal security agency did not become aware of the breach by the Salahis until the next day, when it saw the couple's photos from the event, including posing with the president, posted on their public Facebook account.

This is kind of like asserting executive privilege to block disclosure of the White House chef’s recipe file. Even lefties can’t believe it: [I]t is literally inconceivable that anyone drafting the Constitution would have imagined the position of White House Social Secretary, paid for with taxpayer funds, and that the majesty of separation of powers rhetoric would apply to a situation like this…. This is simply yet more evidence that all presidents, regardless of political party and ostensible commitment to “transparency,” take on royalist airs when taking their oath of office. Congress wants to talk to her about how the...

If White House social secretary Desiree Rogers survives this week's withering attacks for her role in last week's state dinner security breach, she'll have gotten by with a lot of help from her friends in the West Wing. As a House committee opened hearings Thursday on how two uninvited partygoers were able to enter the White House grounds and shake hands with President Barack Obama, top presidential aides delivered a clear message to critics of this favored staffer: Back off. In a White House not known for its tolerance of staffing errors, Rogers has been the beneficiary of an unprecedented...

Note: The following text is a quote: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/presidential-proclamation-critical-infrastructure-protection-month Home • Briefing Room • Presidential Actions • Proclamations The White House Office of the Press Secretary For Immediate Release December 02, 2009 Presidential Proclamation - Critical Infrastructure Protection Month Click here to download PDF A PROCLAMATION Critical infrastructure protection is an essential element of a resilient and secure nation. Critical infrastructure are the assets, systems, and networks, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that their incapacitation or destruction would have a debilitating effect on security, national economic security, public health or safety. From water systems to computer...

A random websurf today shows no shortage of prominent coverage in the Arabic language media including running commentary on the fiasco as well as in some cases detailed background explanations as to how the recent State Dinner security breach occured at the White House and uncleared people were able to come into close access with the President of the United States and visiting The Prime Minister of India.One such outlet is Arab Times in Arabic, located in the United States, but many other outlets are carrying it outside of the USA--including on some questionable sites. This appeared on Arabic...

A number of Arabic and Pashtu interpreters at the terror-war detention center at Guantanamo Bay are under active investigation for omitting valuable intelligence from their translations of detainee interrogations, among other security breaches. This could taint some of the evidence at the "9/11 trial" in New York and proceedings against other detainees. Remarkably, the Pentagon never cleaned up the "mole infestation" at its highest-security facility after the FBI busted a Muslim spy ring at Gitmo in 2003. The 2003 probe involved at least two Arabic interpreters with high-level security clearance. Senior Airman Ahmad al-Halabi, a Syrian native, and former Army...

While much attention is being focused on the Secret Service for allowing uninvited socialites Tareq and Michaele Salahi to crash the state dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House last week, the person responsible for all facets of the dinner has so far been given a pass by her friends in the media.White House Social Secretary Desiree Rogers, a Chicago pal of the Obamas, failed to follow the previous administration's practice of staffing the Secret Service-guarded entrances for dinner guests with someone from her office that could handle any problem with invitees.The AP quoted Rogers directly...

Research shows the following:"Unlawful Entry. A Violation of D.C.Code § 22-3102(1967).-- Unlawful Entry is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine not exceeding $100 or imprisonment in the District of Columbia jail for not more than six months or both in the discretion of the court."

It's the greatest White House fiasco since the sale of the Lincoln Bedroom. A pair of social-climbing, reality show wannabes got into the White House state dinner Tuesday night -- without an invitation -- and giddily rubbed elbows with Vice President Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel and a host of other high-level politicians and the media elite. "The Real Housewives of Washington" hopefuls Tareq and Michaele Salahi -- who've gotten a reputation for a bitter family feud involving a winery in the posh horse-country of Northern Virginia -- showed up at the state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the...

A couple of aspiring reality-TV stars from Northern Virginia appear to have crashed the White House's state dinner Tuesday night, penetrating layers of security with no invitation to mingle with the likes of Vice President Biden and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel. Tareq and Michaele Salahi -- polo-playing socialites known for a bitter family feud over a Fauquier County winery and their possible roles in the forthcoming "The Real Housewives of Washington" -- were seen arriving at the White House and later posted on Facebook photos of themselves with VIPs at the elite gathering. While the White House...

Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve. But the stars were aligned for Tareq and Michaele Salahi on Tuesday night. White House staff were left red-faced after the aspiring reality TV couple caused a security scare by gatecrashing an Obama-hosted dinner. The Salahis mingled in the same room as President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and guest of honour Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh - despite not being on the guest list. They even posed for pictures with Vice President Joe Biden, Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel...

WASHINGTON — The couple who crashed a White House state dinner were being filmed that day by a camera crew connected with a reality television program, although none of the filming took place on White House grounds, a spokeswoman for the program's network said today. The couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, gained access to the dinner President Barack Obama hosted for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday, although they had not been invited, prompting a security review by the Secret Service, which acknowledged that procedures were not followed properly. Bravo Media confirmed late Thursday that Michaele Salahi is being...

It’s one of the most secure places on earth, but two Washington area socialites and reality TV wannabes were apparently able to get behind the gates at the White House and mingle with the crowd at the State Dinner in honor of India last night. The Washington Post has the dish on Tareq and Michaele Salahi, below: The First Lady’s office told ABC they would have no comment on the crashers and referred all inquiries to the Secret Service. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan confirms that the agency is looking “into a report that two individuals not on the guest...

WASHINGTON - Crashing a state dinner at the White House apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of nerve. The Secret Service is looking into its own security procedures after determining that a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, managed to slip into Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House even though they were not on the guest list, agency spokesman Ed Donovan said. President Barack Obama was never in any danger because the party crashers went through the same security screening for weapons as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime...

A couple of aspiring reality TV stars gatecrashed the state dinner hosted in honour of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the White House, clicked pictures with US Vice President Joe Biden and other guests and then posted them on their Facebook profile, US media said. A Washington Post report said: "Tareq and Michaele Salahi -- polo-playing socialites -- were seen arriving at the White House and later posted on the Facebook photos of themselves with VIPs at the elite gathering." "Honoured to be at the White House for the state dinner in honour of India with President Obama and...

Univited couple get through Security last night at the White House and attend the White House State Dinner, not only that, they got their picture with Vice President Joe Biden, (Video from CNN + Photo with Biden)

Tareq and Michaele Salahi SNIP "Honored to be at the White House for the state dinner in honor of India with President Obama and our First Lady!" one of them wrote on their joint Facebook page at 9:08 p.m. SNIP While the White House offered no official explanation, it appears to be the first time in modern history that anyone has crashed a White House state dinner. The uninvited guests were in the same room as President Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, although it is unknown whether they met the Obamas and the guest...

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Secret Service is investigating how an uninvited couple was admitted to U.S. President Barack Obama's White House state dinner, penetrating layers of security and mingling with VIP guests. The couple from northern Virginia was not invited to the dinner, not included on the official guest list, and were never seated at a table in the South Lawn tent where the dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was held, The Washington Post reported, citing a White House official it did not identify. A Secret Service spokesman told the Post that no one was under any risk...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Secret Service says it's looking into its own security procedures after determining that two people crashed Tuesday night's state dinner at the White House. Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan says that President Barack Obama was never in any danger. Donovan says the party crashers went through the same security screening as the 300-plus people actually invited to the dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Note: The following text is a quote: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Nov. 16, 2009 Time: 1:30 p.m. PDT Farm tractor driven through fence at Umatilla Chemical Depot Umatilla Chemical Depot, Hermiston, Ore. –A large farm tractor drove through a Umatilla Chemical Depot fence last night, and the driver abandoned it. The person responsible has not been apprehended. Security at the depot remains high. The tractor did not get near the depot’s chemical weapons storage area. Depot security and off-post law enforcement officials are investigating. No damage was sustained to chemical munitions or the Umatilla Chemical Agent Disposal Facility (UMCDF). The UMCDF...

In a classic "damned if they did, damned if they didn't" situation developing with respect to White House hiring practices of disgraced and resigned White House Green Jobs Czar VAN JONES, through the magic and wonder of the internet and its archiving functions, the White House today has been caught in either a BIG LIE or a major scandal regarding the actual status of it's hiring practices--in contradiction to it's stated policy initially indicated in President-elect Obama's post-election days and through the transition.The webpage link to apply official was HERE. This was at the transition team change.gov website. From...

A 52-year-old former police officer was arrested after police said he tried to pass himself off as a high school student. Police said Christopher Schildt, 52, a retired police officer, gained access to Waterford High School Thursday morning. They said Schildt tried to pass himself off as an 18-year-old student and sat in a class. School officials said they thought Schildt, who looks youthful for his age, was a transfer student from Florida. Schildt told school officials he was registering his 18-year-old nephew, who had the same name and the alleged teen had medical issues and would appear older.

Plane, with different pilot, again flies into restricted air space over Washington, DC THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LANCASTER, Pennsylvania - A small airplane that flew into restricted air space and caused the evacuation of the White House four years ago has been involved in a similar incident. Federal officials say the 1970 Cessna 150 entered the no-fly zone Tuesday and was escorted down by two Coast Guard helicopters, according to the Lancaster New Era. The pilot's name wasn't released. The plane is owned by the Vintage Aero Club, a group based at the Smoketown Airport near Lancaster, Pennsylvania. A club spokesman...

Police stationed at Portsmouth High School for President Barack Obama's visit this afternoon have had their hands full this morning. According to Detective Lt. Corey MacDonald, one person has already been arrested for allegedly sneaking into the high school. MacDonald, who is also assigned to work as the city's "intelligence officer," as a liaison to the Secret Service, told Foster's that police have also encountered a situation where a protestor was armed with some type of firearm. It is unclear if the person has been arrested. A shift commander on duty at the Portsmouth Police Station has also confirmed one...

Philadelphia police and apparently federal authorities are investigating an officer accused of attempting to run a criminal background check on President Obama, a FOX News affiliate has learned. Sgt. Ray Evers confirmed that the police are investigating a 5-year veteran of the force but would not identify the officer.

Responding to dozens of requests from the public, the Defense Department has released 146 more photos from the infamous Air Force One flyover that struck fear in thousands of unsuspecting New Yorkers in April. The photos are posted right on the Pentagon's Website, defense officials said today. The Pentagon also released a heavily redacted flight manifest. The April 27 photo-op caused quite a fright in Lower Manhattan and New Jersey, as many people who had lived through the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks thought the city was again under siege. Workers poured out of office buildings as the planes buzzed the...

* Obama evacuation plan leaked online * Lawmaker slams file-sharing software * More: Technology news and reviews SENSITIVE documents including plans for the emergency evacuation of US President Barack Obama and motorcade routes have been leaked on a file-sharing network, authorities say. Chairman of the US House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Edolphus Towns said the documents had been discovered with file-sharing program LimeWire. Other sensitive documents found with the peer-to-peer program included FBI files, medical records and social security numbers. Mr Town used evidence of the leaks to argue for the regulation of file-sharing programs. "As far as I...

Details about a U.S. Secret Service safe house for the First Family -- to be used in a national emergency -- were found to have leaked out on a LimeWire file-sharing network recently, members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee were told this morning.Also unearthed on LimeWire networks in recent days were presidential motorcade routes and a sensitive but unclassified document listing details on every nuclear facility in the country, Robert Boback, CEO of Tiversa Inc. told committee members. The disclosures prompted the chairman of the committee, Rep. Edolphus Towns, (D-N.Y.), to call for a ban on the...

Vice President Joe Biden, well-known for his verbal gaffes, may have finally outdone himself, divulging potentially classified information meant to save the life of a sitting vice president. According to a report, while recently attending the Gridiron Club dinner in Washington, an annual event where powerful politicians and media elite get a chance to cozy up to one another, Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the old U.S. Naval Observatory, which is now the home of the vice president. The bunker is believed to be the secure, undisclosed location former Vice President Dick Cheney...

Joe Biden is proving impossible to parody. In one of the few funny jokes at the White House correspondents dinner, Wanda Sykes won loud laughter when she joked that terrorists interested in learning America's most important secrets would only have to ask Biden how he's doing. According to an account in Newsweek, Biden did give up one of the country's secrets at another dinner where journalists and politicians make fun of Republicans (and occasionally laugh at each other). Biden told his dinnermates about the existence of a secret bunker under the Vice President's Residence at the U.S. Naval Observatory.

SAN FRANCISCO — University of California, Berkeley, officials said Friday that hackers infiltrated restricted computer databases, putting at risk the personal information of 160,000 current and former students, alumni and others. The university said data include Social Security numbers, health insurance information and some medical records dating back to 1999. The databases also included personal information of parents and spouses as well as Mills College students who used or were eligible for Berkeley's health services.

$10M ransom payment, or hackers will post Virginians' private files The FBI is on the trail of hackers who claim to have accessed the personal information of millions of Virginians. They're holding the information hostage, and are threatening to dispurse the sensitive data on the Internet if they don't receive a $10 million ransom. The hacker or hackers posted the ransom note on "Wikileaks," a Web site that allows for anonymous tips about leaks of government information. The note claims that the personal information came from a raid on a state agency's computer database, and that the hackers are now...

A FRENCH computer hacker is thought to have tapped into Twitter's internal system, gaining access to millions of accounts including that of US President Barack Obama. The hacker, under the name "Hacker Croll", posted a series of screenshots showing him viewing internal website settings and the private details of user accounts. The screenshots show Croll looking at the behind-the-scenes details for the account of US President Barack Obama, including the IP address of the last person to use it. Twitter co-founder Biz Stone confirmed unauthorised access was gained by an outside party during the week, but said only 10 individual...

A British agent left top secret information about covert operations on a bus in South America when she lost her handbag while on assignment. The MI6-trained agent left her handbag on a transit coach at El Dorado airport in Bogota, Colombia. Intelligence chiefs were forced to wind up operations and relocate dozens of agents and informants amid fears the device could fall into the hands of drugs barons. The incident, which was hushed up by the Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), the agent’s employer, is an embarrassment for the government.