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The theory: a cargo ship with a "dirty bomb" was just outside of Charleston, South Carolina. The notion came to life during a live YouTube broadcast Wednesday evening. During the broadcast, conspiracy theorist George Webb initially claimed a "source" had told him that there was "a dirty bomb planned for a major city." Based on the information from the "source," Webb said he believed Memphis might be the target. The Coast Guard said in a further statement provided to CNN that the source of the threat had been detained by authorities for further questioning. The statement did not mention Webb's...

Coast Guard officials confirmed Thursday morning via Twitter four containers had been scanned and cleared. Fourteen agents with radiation detection technology investigated these containers and found no signs of radiation, officials said.

WASHINGTON -- The drumbeat of threatening reports over the last week--terrorists planning to detonate radioactive "dirty bombs" or attack the U.S. financial system--has been all the more alarming because of their source: the captured operational commander of the Al Qaeda network, who is now being interrogated by U.S. authorities. On Wednesday, the FBI announced yet another warning, that terrorists affiliated with Osama bin Laden may try to attack American shopping centers and malls. Like the other alerts, authorities say, the information was provided by Abu Zubeida, the nom de guerre of Bin Laden's top aide, who was taken into custody...

. Sean played this segment of the TV show TARGET AMERICA: THE TERRORIST WAR which is available on an MP3 file. http://www.radioamerica.org/audio/MR_ABC-Osama-Hussein-connections.mp3This was part of a "Crime and Justice" show originally aired January 14, 1999 on ABC News with John Miller, John McWethy, Sheila Macvica, and Cynthi McFadden. Here is the transcript of the segment on the MP3. This is just a small portion of the show. In Germany, Mamdouh Salim, alleged to be a key military advisor and believed to be privy to bin Laden's most secret projects, is also apprehended. The U.S. government alleges he was under secret...

Israel built and exploded so-called "dirty bombs," explosives laced with nuclear material, to examine how such explosions would affect the country if it were to be attacked by the crude radioactive weapons, the Haaretz daily newspaper reported Monday. Israeli defense officials and scientists refused to comment on the report when reached by The Associated Press. However, Israel has what is widely considered to be an extensive nuclear weapons program that it has never declared.

NBC: Terror network seeks material to explode bomb in U.S. WASHINGTON, April 22 — A captured key strategist for the al-Qaida network told interrogators Monday that al-Qaida was working to obtain fissionable material for radiation bombs to be exploded in the United States, NBC News has learned. U.S. officials could not confirm the assertions of the strategist, Abu Zubaydah, but said they were taking him at his word. SOURCES TOLD NBC News that Zubaydah, believed to be one of the top lieutenants of Osama bin Laden, believed to be the mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United...

But almost immediately after giving that answer, Hallor and Blacher were interrupted by a public affairs official from CBP, forcing Hallor to try and clarify his answer. Still, the clarification was telling ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sSnxge6BGA Glenn Beck to cover this tonight.

10News was granted access to San Diego's seaport for a firsthand look at how Customs and Border Protection officers safeguard against weapons of mass effect. "Given the open waterways and the access to the Navy fleet here, I'd say, absolutely, San Diego is a target," said Al Hallor, who is the assistant port director and an officer with Customs and Border Protection. 10News investigative reporter Mitch Blacher asked, "Do you ever find things that are dangerous like a chemical agent or a weaponized device?" "At the airport, seaport, at our port of entry we have not this past fiscal year,...

While the detonation of a nuclear weapon in the United States is considered highly unlikely, Los Angeles and other U.S. cities are preparing for such a disaster by assessing old bomb shelters and preparing emergency response plans, the Los Angeles Daily News reported Monday.

Agency says radioactive materials recovered in home of man allegedly slain by his wife ...BELFAST, Maine — James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a “dirty bomb.” According to an FBI field intelligence report from the Washington Regional Threat and Analysis Center posted online by WikiLeaks, an organization that posts leaked documents, an investigation into the case revealed that radioactive materials were removed from Cummings’ home after his shooting death on Dec. 9 It says that four 1-gallon...

Compton Gamma Ray Observatory equipment helps to sniff out radioactive sources. Remnants of the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (pictured), are being used in other fields.NASA The 9-year mission of NASA’s Compton Gamma Ray Observatory ended in 2000 with a plunge into the Pacific Ocean. But its spare parts are living on — as a detector of dirty bombs. James Ryan, an astrophysicist at the University of New Hampshire in Durham, has recycled parts from one of the space telescope’s old instruments, realizing that they can work just as well pointing horizontally as they did vertically up into the heavens. The...

Cell Phone Sensors Detect Radiation To Thwart Nuclear TerrorismPurdue physics professor Ephraim Fischbach, at right, and nuclear engineer Jere Jenkins review radiation-tracking data as part of research to develop a system that would use a network of cell phones to detect and track radiation. Such a system could help prevent terrorist attacks with radiological "dirty bombs" and nuclear weapons by blanketing the nation with millions of cell phones equipped with radiation sensors able to detect even light residues of radioactive material. Because cell phones already contain global positioning locators, the network of phones would serve as a tracking system. (Credit:...

MIAMI -- Attorneys for convicted terrorism conspirator Jose Padilla say he was so badly mistreated by the government during 3 1/2 years in military custody that he deserves far less than the life prison sentence sought by federal prosecutors. A sentencing hearing set to begin this week for Padilla was postponed Tuesday until Jan. 7 because of a death in the judge's family... In court filings, attorneys for Padilla also say U.S. District Judge Marcia G. Cooke should look at whether the U.S. citizen would be more harshly punished than other terrorism suspects, and should take into consideration the conditions...

The USCCB Committee on Migration sent a delegation to the U.S./Mexico border region to study the plight of unaccompanied minors and human trafficking victims. The ever-growing problems with these populations are some of the gravest and many times most overlooked symptoms of the broken and out-dated immigration system currently employed by the United States. The delegation met with a broad cross-section of agencies and individuals involved with or knowledgeable of these populations to gain critical insights and to understand their needs. The delegation also met with Church officials, government officials, community-based organization, and other with important perspectives. Programs established to...

There have been a number of threats this summer : some potentially serious, others clearly faked. All tend to distract us from more serious matters.

Print Edition Since 9/11, politicians and pundits have repeatedly warned that terrorists who can’t get their mitts on a fully functioning nuclear device could still spread radioactive death with a “dirty bomb,” a conventional explosive combined with radioactive material. Such a weapon, they claim, would scatter the material far and wide, rendering a large area unlivable and turning rescue efforts into suicide missions. The results of tests involving controlled dirty bomb explosions, reported at a February meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, cast doubt on this scary scenario. Physicist Fred Harper of Sandia National Laboratory in...

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA--Radioactive dispersal devices--also known as dirty bombs--might be less harmful to fire fighters or police officers than long feared. That's the conclusion of a new set of explosive experiments described here yesterday at the annual meeting of the American Association of the Advancement of Science (which publishes ScienceNOW). Dirty bombs have been on the radar for decades, but their threat has taken on increased urgency since 11 September 2001. The idea goes that terrorists unable to secure a nuclear weapon would instead strap an explosive device to a container filled with radioactive material, which would likely be stolen...

LONDON: The exotic murder-by-polonium of the former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko throws into question most of the previous analyses of "dirty bombs," terrorist attacks using radioactive isotopes wrapped in explosives (or using other dispersion techniques) to spread radioactive material in crowded areas. Essentially all analysts, myself included, played down the possibility of using alpha radiation — fast- moving helium nuclei ejected during the radioactive decay of certain isotopes, such as of polonium 210, the substance that killed Litvinenko — as a source of dirty bombs.

Mansoor Ijaz On The Brit Hume Show (Fox News)Please help me fill-in the discussion with Mansoor Ijaz and Brit Hume about the spread of nuclear weapons. Mansoor said that at least 3 other countries beside Libya, Iran and N. Korea have nuclear technology from Pakistan and 'maybe' 2 others. He seemed to confirm that the terrorist have 'dirty bombs' and are anxious to use them now that the US is aware of them.

"The radiation portal monitors properly signaled the presence of radioactive material when our two teams of investigators conducted simultaneous border crossings. Our investigators’ vehicles were inspected in accordance with most of the (Customs and Border Protection) policy at both the northern and southern borders. However, GAO’s investigators, using counterfeit documents, were able to enter the United States with enough radioactive sources in the trunks of their vehicles to make two dirty bombs."BORDER SECURITY Investigators Transported Radioactive Sources Across Our Nation's Borders at Two Locations Highlights of GAO-06-940T, testimony before the Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Non-Proliferation, Committee on International Relations,...