CDC: Winter weather

Weather.com: Driving safety tips

FEMA: Winter weather and snowstorms

AAP: Winter weather tips for children

ASPCA: Winter weather tips for pets

NYCOEM: Winter weather health and safety tips

Oklahoma OEM: Winter weather preparedness tips

American Red Cross: Heat safety during winter storms

The Klaxon: Preparedness podcast on power outages

City of Bloomington: Home winter weather tips

Virginia Department of Emergency Management: Winter weather

Is another Islamic revolution brewing? The answer to that question is a resounding “yes.”

Recently posted on The Klaxon, two Somali groups pledged their loyalty to al-Qaeda and joined their ranks hoping to form the “Islamic Republic of Somalia.” All across the globe, terrorists have been ramping up the rhetoric and the attacks, with a little help from their spokesperson, Osama bin Laden.

The terrorists understand the significance of next Thursday, but do we?

With all the incidents in the past six weeks—from the Christmas Day bombing attempt to al-Qaeda suspect arrests, the world hears the warning that July will be a time of “high certainty” for some al-Qaeda action.

Undoubtedly because of recent election losses, the president is feigning a move toward the center. His first move was to announce moving the Khalid Sheikh Mohammed trial out of New York City. That denied al-Qaeda the largest PR opportunity since 9/11. Their only move now is to counter and say that moving the trials from NYC will not pose less of a threat of a terrorist attack, but a greater threat.

Here’s a cost benefit approach: Instead wasting time and taxpayer dollars trying to show the world what a wonderful legal system we have and applying our constitutional treasure to enemies of our nation, let’s double up on coordinating the information we already have.

After every major terrorist event, we find out that all of the necessary information to prevent the attack was there to be had. What is missing is the leadership that is mission-based. As long as mitigatory action must first be filtered through ideological filters from either side, we will always end up a day late and a dollar short on thwarting tragedy.

“Highly certain?” Ha! Here’s what’s highly certain: There will be a major al-Qaeda attack in the next six months. We will have all of the information required to intervene, but we will not assemble it in time. Until politics is out of the mix, we are sitting ducks.

Enjoy the fireworks on the Fourth.

What that is, however, is not known. Nonetheless, the more he talks, the closer the U.S. gets to his training and contact sources.

FBI Director Robert Mueller told senators during an intelligence briefing that Abdulmutallab was “giving information to investigators,” according to The Washington Post, but Mueller would not reveal additional details.

Their goal: Create the Islamic State of Somalia. These two groups have joined the likes of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, formerly run my Dr. Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden’s second in command and the Salafist Group for Call and Combat, now known as the Organization of al-Qaeda in the Land of the Islamic Maghreb that joined in 2007.

We have seen the use of facial recognition at previous Super Bowls and we will probably see it again coupled with a layered security strategy and awake security officers. Security officers have been taking their lumps in the airline industry lately and rightfully so. This is not a time or a place to be complacent. We seem to have lost that edge that was extremely sharp on 9/12. An absence of a threat is not an absence of danger.

This year, the Super Bowl will be Feb. 7, in Miami.

The leading sponsor of terrorism is in hot pursuit of a nuclear bomb, which assuredly will bring more unrest to the powder keg we affectionately call the Middle East. If you recall, Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatened to “wipe Israel off of the face of the map.”  If he possessed a nuclear bomb, he not only could use it on Israel, but on American forces in the region. The U.S. has built a new air facility in Qatar, and Bahrain is home of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet, both excellent targets for the likes of Ahmadinejad.

Stay indoors if possible until the weather breaks.

If you must go outside, layer your clothes—you can always take an item off.

Wear a hat, earmuffs or something to keep your body heat from escaping.

Do not drink alcohol—it does not make you warmer.

Do not heat your house with the oven/stove—you may be exposing yourself to dangerous carbon monoxide vapors.

Do not place generators inside your house or apartment.

Do not put space heaters close to curtains, drapes or bedspreads.

Check your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to ensure that they are working properly.

Never leave a fireplace unattended.

Preliminary reports state that the trials will be moved out of Manhattan.

Nicholas Valentine, the mayor of Newburgh, N.Y., stated Friday he would be willing to have the trials take place in his town—and get federal money to do so.

Any other takers? (Because right now, the Justice Department said it’s “considering other options.”)

More than 2,000 tourists have been trapped since Sunday due to several landslides cutting off trails and railroad lines.

Seven people have died and 400 Americans were among those trapped with limited food, water and shelter. (As of Thursday night, 1,400 people were airlifted from the area, 1,200 still stranded.)

The Peruvian government and the American embassy sent helicopters normally used for drug enforcement purposes to evacuate as many people as possible.

Many of those still stranded are without food or water, and many are sleeping on the floor of the train station.

Rescue efforts are scheduled to resume as the storms subside.