RidesAPaleHorse calls it "too much time on my hands", we call it "manna from the mailbox". On a day when we're busy juggling 12 different balls, his pic and this story are a welcome relief.
More from Breitbart: Smoking suitcase found in airport:
A smoking suitcase was spotted Tuesday in the cargo area at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, but did not contain explosives, airport officials said.
A baggage handler was loading bags on a US Airways plane about 10 a.m. when he noticed that one suitcase was hot and set it aside, according to a statement released by Sky Harbor authorities. The fire department was called when the bag began to smoke.
Passengers who were boarding San Antonio-bound Flight 200 were taken off the plane, and the gate area that they used to board was evacuated, said Julie Rodriguez, an airport spokeswoman.
Used to be, there was a time when a smoking suitcase didn't mean having to unload the plane and a full-scale search by the authorities. It might have been just an absent-minded packing job.
[graphics/hat tip: RidesAPaleHorse]
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
A quick look at the state of the art on suitcase nukes.
Hollywood gave up on using Nazis as movie villains a while back. Is the demise of another favorite movie threat far behind?
A reality check from KATHERINE SHRADER, AP reporting at Breitbart:
Members of Congress have warned about the dangers of suitcase nuclear weapons. Hollywood has made television shows and movies about them. Even the Federal Emergency Management Agency has alerted Americans to a threat—information the White House includes on its Web site.
But government experts and intelligence officials say such a threat gets vastly more attention than it deserves. These officials said a true suitcase nuke would be highly complex to produce, require significant upkeep and cost a small fortune.
Counterproliferation authorities do not completely rule out the possibility that these portable devices once existed. But they do not think the threat remains.
"The suitcase nuke is an exciting topic that really lends itself to movies," said Vahid Majidi, the assistant director of the FBI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate. "No one has been able to truly identify the existence of these devices."
Hard to believe the suitcase nuke isn't the threat it used to be. Hard to believe.
So hard, in fact, we turned to our counter-terrorism expert, Code Name: pat. What'd he have to say?
The USA actually designed and made such products as far back as 1958 or so. They are not very powerful. .20 KT And have other problems. Google Davy Crockett for a bit of background on miniature nukes.
We will not be hit by a mini nuke, but a full on 20K weapon.
So the suitcase nuke is complex and costs a fortune to put together. But terrorists have time on their hands and money, so the suitcase nuke isn't going anywhere soon.
At least in the public's imagination.
by Mondoreb
[hat tip: pat]
[image:AP]
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