Jihad Panty Bomber Update:

An update on the jihadi panty bomber, everyone!

From this source:

DETROIT - A Nigerian man accused of trying to ignite an explosive on a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on Christmas appeared before a judge for the first time Friday, against a backdrop of protesters who stood outside the courthouse waving American flags and denouncing acts of terror.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab's arraignment was brief — less than five minutes — and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. He said little, telling the judge simply that he understood the charges against him.

(Notice the complete lack of the word "MUSLIM." We get that he's a Nigerian, instead. Riiiight.)

The guy with the roasted nuts entered a NOT GUILTY plea in court. I just cannot wait to see how he explains off possessing more PETN than Richard Reid and an incendiary device, and how he must have accidentally char-broiled his boys.

But wait, it gets better! Abdulmutallab's lawyer is suspected of forging documents on behalf of her 'clients' in previous terror cases.

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because you’ve read about Siefer on this site, before. During the Detroit terror cell case, she represented Karim Koubriti, an Islamic terrorist in a cell, which plotted to blow up the U.S. Air Force Base in Turkey, where U.S. AWACS and Israeli F-16s are based and from where they took off. They also plotted to blow up hotels and casinos in Las Vegas and planned to detonate in Disneyland.

During the course of her “representation” of terrorist Koubriti, Siefer and her fellow public defender, Richard Helfrick a/k/a Rick Helfrick (who will probably also assist her in representing Abdulmutallab), stole the stationery of the then-Chief Judge of the Federal Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, Lawrence Zatkoff, forged Zatkoff’s name, and sent it to another attorney in the case, accusing him of faking invoices (which wasn’t true). That makes at least several federal crimes that I can think of–theft, forgery, impersonating a federal official, mail fraud, etc. but they got away with it.

In an interview, Judge Gerald Rosen, who presided over the Detroit terror cell case, admitted to me that Siefer and Helfrick forged the documents. Then, he berated me for daring to ask about it, saying his court “deals in serious issues.” I guess attorneys in a federal case committing several crimes and impersonating a federal judge, just aren’t serious.

Check out Debbie Schussel's entire post here.

And rather than PROFILE for terrorists, and as if the full body scan isn't enough of an invasion of your privacy, now we have this.

MIND READERS

The aim of one company that blends high technology and behavioral psychology is hinted at in its name, WeCU -- as in "We See You."

The system that Israeli-based WeCU Technologies has devised and is testing in Israel projects images onto airport screens, such as symbols associated with a certain terrorist group or some other image only a would-be terrorist would recognize, company CEO Ehud Givon said.

The logic is that people can't help reacting, even if only subtly, to familiar images that suddenly appear in unfamiliar places. If you strolled through an airport and saw a picture of your mother, Givon explained, you couldn't help but respond.

The reaction could be a darting of the eyes, an increased heartbeat, a nervous twitch or faster breathing, he said.

The WeCU system would use humans to do some of the observing but would rely mostly on hidden cameras or sensors that can detect a slight rise in body temperature and heart rate. Far more sensitive devices under development that can take such measurements from a distance would be incorporated later.

If the sensors picked up a suspicious reaction, the traveler could be pulled out of line for further screening.

"One by one, you can screen out from the flow of people those with specific malicious intent," Givon said.

Some critics have expressed horror at the approach, calling it Orwellian and akin to "brain fingerprinting."

For civil libertarians, attempting to read a person's thoughts comes uncomfortably close to the future world depicted in the movie "Minority Report," where a policeman played by Tom Cruise targets people for "pre-crimes," or merely thinking about breaking the law.

LIE DETECTORS

One system being studied by Homeland Security is called the Future Attribute Screening Technology, or FAST, and works like a souped-up polygraph.

It would subject people pulled aside for additional screening to a battery of tests, including scans of facial movements and pupil dilation, for signs of deception. Small platforms similar to the balancing boards used in the Nintendo Wii would help detect fidgeting.

At a public demonstration of the system in Boston last year, project manager Robert Burns explained that people who harbor ill will display involuntary physiological reactions that others -- such as those who are stressed out for ordinary reasons, such as being late for a plane -- don't.

The system could be made to work passively, scanning people as they walk through a security line, according to Burns.

Field testing of the system, which will cost around $20 million to develop, could begin in 2011, The Boston Globe said in a story about the demonstration. Addressing one concern of civil libertarians, Burns said the technology would delete data after each screening.

Read the rest here.

Finally, here's Zo's take on the subject: