The TSA is going to expand the use of body screeners that actually look under your clothing. This is just fine with me. I have a wonderful titanium knee. It's about 18 months old now ... and it's absolutely golden. One of the best things I ever did for myself. Only one problem ... and that would be the occasions where I fly commercial instead of taking my own airplane. The routine is always the same. Everything off - right down to the belt. Everything out of my pockets ... and still we get the "beep beep beep" bit. I just walk directly into the penalty box while someone screams "male alert!"

OK ... here's the first problem. Why do I have to be groped by a male? Why can't a female do the job? Females give me massages - and, in spite of their protests, I'm completely nekkid. Why can't a female handle the search? Damned TSA prudes. This is a special problem at SF0, Anyway ....

When they finally get some male over there to handle the screening - and sometimes it takes a while - they have to go over my feet, my crotch ... everything. Hey, use your wand. Where does it beep? My knee, you moonbat. Grab me there and let me be on my way. But noooooooo ... they have this whole choreographed dance they need to go through. It all adds up to quite a delay.

Sooooo ... Hartsfield Atlanta Airport has one of these scanners. I managed to get to it a few weeks ago on my way to San Antonio. I went through the traditional metal detector and it beeped. The put me in the scanner. It when "whoosh whoosh" and they waved me on. That was it. I don't care if someone in a locked room somewhere saw some sort of an outline of my body. That image, combined with my height, probably convinced them that I was an NBA player, but they were in a locked room so they couldn't tell which one.

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, a Utah Republican is against these scanners. He says "You don't need this kind of scrutiny." Oh yeah? Hey, Jason! Go skiing and bust your knee. Then get the surgery and get back to us.

By the way ... .as long as these scanners are in limited supply, why not have a security line just for people with metal body parts? If that line gets too crowded limit it to first class passengers.

We've been real fortunate here. Our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have been getting the job done. Here are some quick links to several ISLAMIC terrorist plans to kill innocent Americans.

Plot to bomb an office building in Dallas. This MUSLIM goon actually tried to push the button.

Here we have men taking pictures on a Philly subway.

In Illinois we have a man who took the name of Talib Islam arrested in a plot to bomb federal offices.

Here we have two men targeting the Marine Corps base at Quantico, Virginia.

So far, so good. The trouble is, the ISLAMIC terrorists only need to get lucky once, and many Americans will be dead.

OK .. so we caught a bunch of these MUSLIM maniacs before they managed to actually kill hundreds of Americans. But is that really a good thing? I'm really worried about something here. Just how did we get the information that led to these arrests? Did we take someone into custody who knew of the plans? If so, how did we get the information from them? Let's cut to the chase: Was anyone tortured to get this information? Was anyone deprived of sleep? My God! I sure hope not. You don't think they poured water on someone to make them think they are drowning, do you? It's all well and good that we can capture these MUSLIM murderers before they kill more Americans, but it's just not worth it if someone loses a little sleep or gets wet. We need to get our priorities straight here.

More about those three ISLAMIC terror plots that have been exposed. Did you know that in each case the MUSLIM goons have been charged them with a plot to kill Americans using ... now get this ... "weapons of mass destruction."

So, just what types of weapons were these MUSLIM terrorists going to use? The evidence seems to be that they were thinking about putting hydrogen peroxide-based explosives into backpacks where they could be triggered by cell phones. There is also a report that they tried at one point to rent a truck. There's another story out there about a foiled MUSLIM terrorist plot in Illinois. Wolf Blitzer told us last night that the suspect actually tried to push the button on a truck bomb. Blitzer specifically referred to this as a "weapon of mass destruction."

What's the big point here? Well .. the constant media use of the "weapons of mass destruction" phrase. Really? Is that what these ISLAMIC terrorist suspects were going to use? Maybe it's just me, but all this time I thought that the phrase applied to nuclear and chemical or biological weapons. I guess I was wrong, and if this is the actual description of a "weapon of mass destruction," then guess what? We DID, in fact, find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Under the definition currently being used, every car bomb and every IED was a weapon of mass destruction. President Bush said they were there ... we went there to find them ... and find them we did!

So .. the next time some leftist moonbat starts in on this "where were the weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq bit ... you know what to do.

Well ... it never should have left.

For a while, it seems as though this nation has lost a sense of urgency when it comes to matters of national security and terrorism. Maybe that is because the previous administration did a fine job of keeping this country safe after 9/11. Or maybe it is because you feel so safe now that Barack Obama and the liberal Left are in charge and playing nice-nice with those who hate us. But the latest details of these FBI al Qaeda probes warrant a little more than a glancing headline.

Before we continue though ... I want you to count how many times you see the words "Muslim" or "Islam" appear in any articles related to this story.

Moving right along ... Over the weekend the FBI arrested two Muslim men, Najibullah Zazi and his father, Mohammed for making false statements. The FBI had been investigating what they thought was a plot to detonate homemade bombs in the US. Turns out that the son, Zazi received al-Qaida explosives training in Pakistan. He was also found trying to entering New York City two weeks ago with bomb-making instructions on his computer. Backpacks and cell phones were seized in raids on apartments Zazi visited while in New York. The FBI believes that these cell phones could have been used to detonate hydrogen-peroxide bombs hidden in backpacks. Their targets may have included various locations or events in New York City like Subway stations or some fashion show. So these Muslims appeared in New York on Monday. Oops. Called them "Muslims." That's more than the newspapers did.

Now federal authorities are saying that as many as a dozen people may be tied to a suspected al Qaeda bomb plot in the US. So the government has expanded its terrorism warning not just to transit systems but to stadiums, hotels and entertainment complexes around the country.

Worried? Even a little? How far would you want our government to go in trying to get to the bottom of these threats ... and perhaps save lives? Would you care if we poured water on Zazi's head to make him THINK he was drowning, even though he would be in no danger? If not that, could we just deprive him of a little sleep to make him talk?

Nope ... can't do those things. That would be torture. Besides, remember that the White House is now in charge of interrogations ... so maybe now you feel even a little bit safer! Right?

President Barack Obama is chairing a session of the UN Security Council. This is a first for a U.S. President. The session will be about nuclear proliferation and disarmament. The timing is a bit odd considering the announcement last week that the United States will not go forward with its missile shield in Eastern Europe.

This news comes from the Guardian in the UK. Apparently Barack Obama has demanded that the Pentagon conduct a "radical review of US nuclear weapons doctrine" in order to prepare for deep cuts in the country's arsenal. Obama said that the Pentagon's first draft was "too timid" and wants options more "far-reaching" that are consistent with his goal of eventually abolishing nuclear weapons altogether.

Those options include:

• Reconfiguring the US nuclear force to allow for an arsenal measured in hundreds rather than thousands of deployed strategic warheads.

• Redrafting nuclear doctrine to narrow the range of conditions under which the US would use nuclear weapons.

• Exploring ways of guaranteeing the future reliability of nuclear weapons without testing or producing a new generation of warheads.

Don't you feel safer now, folks?

Elections have consequences.

Russia really seems to be making the rounds lately. Not only did it gets its way with this missile defense shield, but it is also working on a new project: hooking up Hugo Chavez with nuclear capabilities.

Sounds like yet another threat to worry about ... and the Russians are right in the middle of it.

Hugo Chavez announced that Venezuela and Russia have created an atomic energy commission. Russia will help to "bridge the gap" and provide funding, technology and expertise so that Hugo Chavez can join the nuclear energy club.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican of Florida points out that Russia's plans to sell Venezuela arms and nuclear cooperation, "create an eerie sense that the history of Iran's Russia-backed military and nuclear buildup is repeating itself almost identically in Venezuela."

But don't you feel safer now that Barack Obama is in the White House. At least we know he isn't going to antagonize Russia. When the Russian Bear says "frog," Obama will jump. When the Russian Bear says "jump," Obama will ask "how high?"

Today marks the 8th Anniversary of the attack on the United States by ISLAMIC terrorist goons. Now why do I capitalize the word ISLAMIC? Well, listen to the news coverage today. Sure, you'll hear plenty of mentions of the terrorist attack .. but somehow you don't hear the words "Muslim" or "Islamic." It's been 68 years since Pearl Harbor .. but to this day it is still referred to as the "Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor." Well guess what - as was the case with Muslims in 2001, not all Japanese were behind the attack on December 7, 1941. Still, it's the "Japanese attack." Well .. it was the Islamic attack on America eight years ago ... and we need to remember that. Islamic radicals are still dedicated to the idea of destroying our country or our culture .. this is threat we cannot ignore.

Now ... just to turn the clock back .... The following are my program notes as they appeared on the Internet on September 11, 2001. Obviously the notes about the ISLAMIC attack were added after the notes were first posted. I'm sure most of the links for the reading assignments no longer work ... but it's a look back at what was happening eight years ago today:

These are my thoughts from the Nuze on 9/11/01.

TERRORIST ATTACK!!!

Foreign enemies have finally brought warfare to American soil. Both of the World Trade Towers in New York City have been destroyed, as has World Trade Building No. 7. The Pentagon in Washington DC has been attacked. Another attack was attempted on Camp David. Four, possibly five commercial airliners have been hijacked -- their passengers and crews killed. It's an all-out terrorist attack on freedom, on liberty and on the United States and all of its citizens .. with 10,000 possibly dead.

Boortz returns to the air at 9:00 a.m.

By now I'm sure you know the story. America, liberty and freedom have been attacked. Both of the World Trade Towers have been destroyed. Thousands of lives have been lost. Some estimates put the dead in New York City at 10,000 souls. Direct attacks against the American government have been staged. There was an attack on Camp David which failed, an attack on the Pentagon which succeeded.

For now Americans are, or should be United. No matter who you voted for in 2001, George W. Bush is now YOUR president and he needs your prayers. The decisions that will be made in the coming hours, days and weeks are horrendous beyond your comprehension. U.S. Air Force fighter planes are now circling New York City and Washington DC. US Navy warships are on their way to New York and the National Guard has been called forth to help in rescue attempts.

This is an attack on freedom, liberty and on all of America and all Americans. It's also an attack on tall civilized nations throughout the world. The questions are almost too numerous. Who did it, of course, and how does America retaliate? What actions can be taken to prevent similar attacks on other targets in New York and other cities?

I was in Texas when JFK was assassinated. Within hours people were attacking those they felt to be responsible -- people who weren't responsible at all. It's time for Americans to absorb as much information as possible, to pray, and to reflect. Then it will be time for us to support our leaders in the actions they take to address these attacks, and to make sure they never happen again.

We'll see you on the air at 6:00 p.m. Eastern. Updates anytime.

The WSB newsroom in action:

Scott Slade is delivering constant updates on the terrorist attacks.

Forefront to rear, News Director Chris Camp directs the staff while Veronica Waters and Mike Kavanaugh (R.I.P) prepare the latest reports.

Random talking points on the terrorist attacks ...

We will need a unified response. An international response. There are civilized nations - and there are nations that are not civilized, nations that have no place in the international community. These nations need to be isolated - and, if they continue to present a threat, removed.

Its time for America to show strength. Part of true strength is a thoughtful but forceful response to this terrorist action. The response should be defined and strong -- forceful enough to make any other potential terrorists, or those who would harbor them, think very strongly about the consequences of their actions. Two simple steps. First, get it right. Second, respond.

Any nation who supported, protected or harbored the people who are responsible for the attacks on America - those nations must be dealt with strongly.

This was a well-organized and initiated attack. It went flawlessly. Not one set of hijackers failed to reach their goal of seizing American airliners. It is not the act of any small, poorly funded terrorist group.

One of the principal protectors of terrorists - of Osama Bin Laden and his ilk - would be Afghanistan. If the Taliban is behind this. If Afghanistan is complicit. If Osama Ben Laden, protected by Afghanistan, is responsible --- then the government of Afghanistan must be dealt with..

Budgets for American intelligence services have been decimated over recent years, starting with Carter. One has to wonder, if those budgets had not been savaged, would this have happened?

Virtually all of the hijacked airplanes were coast to coast flights. Why? Because they had full loads of fuel, that's why. Flying bombs.

I have spoken many times of the pitiful level of competence of those people who man our airport security checks. Don't we now know for an absolute certainty that our system of screening passengers and their luggage is completely inadequate? When it comes to protecting me on a commercial flight, I don't want to depend on people who's only viable second career choice would be cooking French fries. We have seen a total and complete utter failure of the security system protecting our nation's airports.

Did you know that American Airlines was recently fined by the FAA? The reason? Poor passenger screening.

Manhattan is littered with women's shoes. Why? Women trying to flee the scene of the terrorist attacks were abandoning their high heels.

Barbara Olson was reported to be on the hijacked airliner which crashed into the Pentagon. Barbara Olson is the wife of Solicitor General Ted Olson. She's also the woman who wrote the book "Hell to Pay," a rather unflattering portrayal of Hillary Clinton.

Heard today on MSNBC ... Andrea Mitchell saying that "It would be a challenge for a less articulate president to rally the country." Now that quote isn't exact ... but the "less articulate president" was there. It is time for the nation's leftist media to abandon this "Bush is a dummy" campaign.

We've all see those videos of Palestinians dancing in the streets. Ugly? Yeah, it's ugly. But put it in perspective. Those are kids, teenagers. They have no real concept of what America is, who Americans are or what has happened here. For some of the older ones you saw on television --- if you were to put them on an airplane and fly them to New York to see the bodies, the burned, the injured ... they would be horrified. Horrified not only at what they saw, but at their very own demonstrations of glee. Those aren't the people we need to blame. In a sense they're victims too.

You have to ask ... would this tragedy have happened today if America had shown the resolve to rid the world of Saddam Hussein in 1991? Shows of weakness or timidity invite actions of this type. Bullies love to pick on big guys who won't fight back.

I wonder of the hideous cowards who launched this attack on innocent American civilians have any idea just what they have done and the almost certain consequences of their actions. Were they fooled by the apparent dissention in American political life? If so, that will turn out to have been a fatal error. Someone is soon to learn that you don't screw with Americans or America. We may argue among ourselves -- but we are perfectly capable of binding together to respond with dangerous resolve against terrorists who attack us on our own soil.

There were other items today on Nealz Nuze -- though they hardly seem important at the moment. Here they are if you want to have a look.

National security has resurfaced in the news lately for a lot of reasons.

Number one: Congress is on vacation.

Number two: Eric Holder decided that it would be a wise idea to investigate CIA interrogators for their role in terrorist interrogations.

Number three: the moonbats need something to sink their teeth into.

Number four: it has been a violent couple of months for the troops in Afghanistan. Number five: we are approaching the anniversary of September 11th.

Now if you will recall, the Obama administration declared that we are no longer fighting a war on terror. That phrase was removed from the White House lexicon along with "jihad" and others that may insinuate the hateful ideology of Islam. In fact, there is no more Islamic terrorism. The phrase now is "man-caused disasters." And the war against these Islamic goons is now our "overseas contingency operation."

Well somebody needs to inform White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs. He must have been sick the day that this memo was released, because yesterday Robert Gibbs actually used the phrase "war on terror" during his daily press conference. Hard to fight a war when you can't call it like it is, isn't it?

Now Robert Gibbs also had a few things to say to Dick Cheney. Cheney has been very vocal about the administration's decision to investigate terrorist interrogators. Cheney said that this is a purely political act, "It's an outrageous political act that will do great damage, long-term, to our capacity to be able to have people take on difficult jobs, make difficult decisions, without having to worry about what the next administration is going to say." Robert Gibbs chalked up Cheney's criticism to nothing short of "typical" and "unfounded." He says, "I'm not entirely sure that Dick Cheney's predictions on foreign policy have borne a whole lot of fruit over the last eight years in a way that has been either positive or, to the best of my recollection, very correct."

Seems like these guys need to get out of a spitting match and start focusing on the real enemy.

The Gargoyle has truly lost it, folks. Are you paying attention to all of this? According to Japanese intelligence officers, North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii. Not only that ... but this crazy bastard says he's going to launch that missile on July 4th, our Independence Day. Nice touch, don't you think?

Can the Gargoyle's missile reach Hawaii? Prolly not. The main Hawaiian islands are 4,500 miles from North Korea. These Taepoodung-2 missiles are capable of traveling up to 4,000. But that's not really the point, is it? If they're intentionally aimed at Hawaii that pretty much puts the foam on the latte for me.

What are going to do? Defense Secretary Robert Gates has ordered the military to take defensive measures if North Korea launches that missile toward Hawaii. Gates says, "I think we are in a good position, should it become necessary, to protect American territory."

OK .. hold on just a goll-durned minute here. "Good position?" You know, somehow I was looking for a bit more than that. How about "can?" I want to hear that we CAN protect American territory. Last time I looked we had the greatest, most powerful military in the world. I know we elected Obama for change .. but I didn't want to see us change from a position where we "can" protect our interests (like our 50th state) to where we're in a "good position" to do so

Meanwhile, in the middle of this provocation the North Korean menace has warned of a "thousand-fold" military retaliation again the US and our allies if provoked. So here's your Playbill. This twerp says he's going to fire off a missile towards Hawaii, and he then warns us of the dangers that wait if we dare to provoke him.

You need to remember something here folks. The last time Li'l Satan fired off a missile the very next day ... and I'm talking with 24 hours my friends ... Mr. Change You Can Believe in announced a reduction in funding for our missile defense system. Even if you're government educated you can figure out just what sort of message that sent to this North Korean prepuce.

Let's talk about this 4th of July thing a bit more. I'll bet you that more Americans have their panties in a wad about their local government canceling their fireworks show than they do about this situation with North Korea; or, for that matter, with the level of government spending in Washington. Then there's Obama's newfound power to nationalize private companies. To most Americans, freedom means the ability to choose which movie to watch on a Friday night and which magazine they should buy at the grocery store - US Weekly or People. That is the pathetic excuse for the type of freedom these people now claim to celebrate once a year. Yeah, I know I'm a bit early for the Fourth of July rant .......... Stay tuned.

The Gargoyle in North Korea is apparently preparing to launch new missiles. Here we go .... again. What new stern language will the UN come up with this time to castigate Kim Jong Il?

Aren't you glad you aren't Barack Obama right now? Remember the last time this dangerous fool launched a missile? The very next day Obama announced that we were going to curtail work on a missile defense system. Now that's showing strength, isn't it? This menace test a missile that could carry a nuclear warhead, and our defender, our President, stands up and says "Oh, by the way, we're not going to spend all that money on missiles launched by midget menaces from North Korea."

In light of Obama's stance, it's rather odd that Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that the United States can shoot down any missile that is fired our way. With what? That program Obama is eliminating? Gee, that is comforting. How about China ... does it have the "high probability" of being able to defend itself?

This Kim Jong Il character is a loon, folks. He's a loon with nukes. This is not the type of guy you want with his finger on the trigger. He is training his son to take his place. I assume that the nut doesn't fall far from the tree.

Finally, later yesterday afternoon, the media came around. At least, some of the media. Finally we get headlines identifying this Army recruiter shooter as a Muslim. Or more precisely, a "Muslim convert." Overall the media has been pretty mum on the subject. But it turns out that the suspect Abdulhakim Mujahid Muhammad is a homegrown terrorist. He's a radical Muslim. He attacked the army recruiters earlier this week "because of what they had done to Muslims in the past." It also turns out that this radical lowlife was under investigation by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force after he had traveled to Yemen with a Somali passport.

This means that this goon's attack on those two soldiers outside that Arkansas recruiting center was an Islamic terrorist attack.

Today we're learning that this Islamic goon had a list of other targets he wanted to hit on his computer. How many more like him are there out there? My guess? More than you could be comfortable with.

Clearly, our concerted effort to crack down on North Korea has done wonders ... the Gargoyle launched a second nuclear test, which is said to improve North Korea's ability to make a more compact nuclear bomb. Then it proceeded to launch several short-range missiles. The test is, again, in violation of a UN Security Council resolution. After the UN sent its stern letter to North Korea back in April, the Gargoyle demanded an apology from the Security Council. I wonder what he is going to want this time ... a dozen roses?

What is clear is that love letters from the United Nations isn't going to do a darn thing to stop the Gargoyle launching more missiles or conducting more nuclear tests.

The headline from the Associated Press reads "5 Miami men convicted of Sears Tower attack plot". Read the story here ... then click back.

There ... did you notice anything. Though at the end of the story you'll see some references to al Qaeda .. nowhere in the story are these men identified as Muslims; and yes .. they were all Muslims. Another story identified them as "members of an apparent militaristic religious sect", but not Muslims.

Radical Muslims can rant all week long about their intentions to kill as many Americans as possible and to bring destruction to our shores, but for heaven's sake we simply cannot identify these people for what and who they are. That would just be oh so insensitive and offensive, wouldn't it?

Today in Washington, Republican leaders are meeting with Barack Obama. And one of the issues that is said to be on their minds is this unbelievable excuse for a Homeland Security director - Janet Napolitano. In fact, some are speculating that these Republicans will ask Barack Obama for Janet's resignation.

Not gonna happen .... It should, but it won't.

In the past couple of weeks, this woman has tried to defend a report from her department about right-wing extremists. She has declared that illegally entering this country is not a crime. Now her latest gaffe was to declare that the 9-11 hijackers came to the United States via Canada. And this is all within the last couple of weeks, folks. It is gonna be a long four years if she sticks around. Obama should just cut his losses while he can and get rid of this moonbat

By the way, according to 8 USC 1325, as amended in 1990, improperly crossing the border into this country is a crime. It's a misdemeanor on the first offense, and a felony if you do it a second time. Can you believe that our Director of Homeland Security .. and the former Governor of Arizona ... didn't know this?

We are still experiencing fallout from that DHS report about right wing extremists. Janet Napolitano has now decided that she will apologize to veterans after the report says that troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan were at risk of being recruited by right-wing extremists.

A homeland security official says that when the report was sent to the office of civil rights and civil liberties, that it rejected some of the language in the report. But clearly the agency issued it anyway, and it is now being attributed to "a breakdown of the agency's internal process."

Gee, ya think?

But Janet's apology doesn't seem to be enough for some. Republican Rep. Peter King has asked for a hearing to investigate the DHS report about right-wing extremists.

We'll see how far that goes.