Some breaking news from the Washington Post this afternoon: federal authorities have arrested a Ashburn, Virginia man on charges that he independently conceived and carried out a video surveillance operation on the Metro under the belief that he would be handing over the footage to al-Qaeda operatives. In fact, the feds had commissioned Farooque Ahmed to provide the information as part of an undercover sting operation. more ›

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the leader of the Pakistani Taliban threatened today to carry out a terrorist attack in Washington, D.C. At the same time, Baitullah Mehsud claimed credit for an attack on a police academy in Pakistan. more ›

Here's a story we missed from earlier this week: Via the Boston Globe, D.C. taxicab driver Ermiyas A. Asfaw was arraigned on Monday in Boston on charges of joking that he was a member of Al Qaeda and that he planned to "blow things up" at Logan International Airport. Asfaw was checking in for a flight on AirTran on Saturday night when an agent asked him why he had stickers on his luggage from Dubai.... more ›

There's a lot of fear being sold these days in D.C. Yesterday District residents were treated to fear from both local and national leaders. President George W. Bush again played the terrorism card in a speech downtown, slyly insinuating that a Democratic victory in November's midterm elections would find Al Qaeda terrorists freely walking the streets of American cities. More locally, mayoral hopeful Linda Cropp doled out some fear of her own, warning of the... more ›

We're not big fans of Dick Cheney. It's not the whole obsession with secrecy, or the way he's encouraged his aides to out CIA officers. It's not the refusal to accept that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda are not the same thing, or his long-standing ties to government contracting juggernaut Halliburton. It's that damn motorcade and security detail. A few months back WTOP discovered that Cheney's motorcade -- yes, the one that regularly snarls traffic... more ›

Last week we sent you to a recent Craigslist post alleging that Al Qaeda was drugging people in Georgetown. After months of being relatively Craiglist free, this post sent us back to a steady Craigslist habit. It looks like 3 p.m. guy has disappeared and middle-finger-guy only occasionally shows up, but the Rants and Raves section still provides entertainment for those wasting time during a slow work day. Today's RnR already has a rather unsophisticated "proof" of the nonexistence of God based on the problem of evil, the usual sexual queries and answers that litter RnR, and a meaningless poll that's bound to get its share of both cooperative responses and flames. But sift through some material and you'll find some real gems. DCist laughed out loud when we clicked on this tasteless post connecting recent judicial events with Hootie. A doctored photo of the Dalai Lama, which pops up all the time, also made us chuckle. more ›

Sometimes, we come across strange and odd stuff on Craigslist. And in a sort-of-funny Rants and Raves post, we learn of a new terrorist threat we face: "Al Qaeda roofied my silly ass and then sent John Goodmans big sister to have her way with me. Just to let me know they can." more ›