Friday's Finest

Here are some of the biggest stories and best commentary today.  Check back throughout the day for updates!

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NEWS

Feds Arrest Would-Be Terrorist Allegedly Planning to Attack Chicago-Area Mall During Christmas Rush Terrorism respects no holidays

NEW Chicago Mall Terrorist Plot Foiled By Feds  Muslim U.S. citizen and jihadist intended to kill people, "Allah willing"

NEW Michelle Malkin, A Terrorist Mall Plot: "I Swear By Allah...I’m Down for the Cause"  Notice that reporting on this story by this blogger is more in-depth than the mainstream print media coverage available today

Illness Spreads to Third Litvinenko Contact  Andrei Lugovoy has damage to vital organs consistent with exposure to dangerous levels of radiation

Hotel Bar is Focus of Ex-Spy Death Probe  Detectives investigating the poisoning death of ex-KGB agent are focusing on a meeting at a London hotel bar where at least 10 people may have been exposed to radioactive polonium-210

ABC News, Non-Lethal Weapon Makes Targets Feel Like They're on Fire  Designed for crowd control.  Coming to wild parties soon?

COMMENTARY

FrontPageMag.com, The Jewish Case for "Merry Christmas"  The no-religious-preference crowd will be relieved to learn that K-Mart is selling “holiday trees” – under which “holiday presents” may be placed and around which the family can gather on holiday eve to sing “um-um-um, um-um, um-um-um um” – until that too is banned

Ralph Peters, Weekly Standard, From Metternich to Jim Baker  A renewed stability-über-alles doctrine would play into the recruitment schemes of the most radical Islamist elements in the region, while instigating human rights violations on a breathtaking scale. We would throw away any hope of a better future for a brief timeout today.

Captain's Quarters, Perhaps Not Such a Hit at Home, Either  It's hard to fight a war against radical Islamist terrorists when one is trying their best to kiss up to their biggest sponsors. That's something that James Baker, Lee Hamilton, and the rest of the ISG seem to have forgotten.

Robert Spencer, Jihad Watch at Hot Air, "Have You Been Ahmadinejadized?" (Video)

InstaPunk, Forgetting Pearl Harbor  A sobering commentary.