In what sounds like the plot for the latest summer blockbuster, a terrorist attack was thwarted by a double agent, who alerted the CIA to al Qaeda’s shenanigans. Actually, I’m pretty sure I saw that episode of 24. Jack Bauer eats terrorists for breakfast.

This isn’t a movie or television set though – this is real life and it’s downright scary. Saudi Arabia intelligence was able to infiltrate al Qaeda in Yemen, where an agent posing as a wannabe suicide bomber gained access to a newer, slimmed-down version of the underwear bomb worn by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab on Christmas day in 2009.

There are some people who think that lack of government taxpayer-funded birth control constitutes a War on Women.

I think a court forcing a 16-year-old Moroccan girl to marry the man that raped her so that she can remain ‘sexually pure’ and he can avoid punishment is a War on Women. It’s hard to find sympathy for grad school students that don’t want to shell out $9 a month for birth control when things like this happen in the world.

Some atheist dude named Ernie Perce dressed up as Zombie Mohammed last Halloween, joined up with his buddy Zombie Pope, and hit the parade in their town of Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania. Muslim Talaag Elbayomy saw them parading and was so offended that he physically attacked Perce. The whole thing was caught on tape.

Perce, who happens to be the head of the Pennsylvania chapter of American Atheists, left the parade to file a police report for assault. He wasn’t necessarily harmed, but it’s not cool to go around attacking people because you don’t like their Halloween costumes. 

On Wednesday, congressional Republicans pushed back on the rumor that President Obama will cut our nuclear force back by as much as 80 percent. The president has said in the past that his goal is to reduce the number of nuclear warheads we own, and in the process, make the world a safer place.

That’s completely illogical.

"In God We Trust" is a concept our country was founded on. But do you trust people who claim to be politicking in the name of God? I don't. And now that conservative Christians are lining up behind Rick Santorum, watch out for the far right to start throwing the God-bombs.

Americans like when their leaders are people of faith, but do we really care what their religion is? It seems like this year, Mitt Romney's Mormon faith, which appeared to be an issue in 2008, is less of a concern to voters.

After all, he won Iowa, where religious conservatives were cool toward him and his religion the last time around. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Romney is careful to only mention it when asked. The Republicans have a lot to lose if we get caught up in a socially conservative candidate, like Rick Santorum, who has compared homosexuality to bestiality.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recently released a video, wishing all the Christians of Israel (and around the word) a very merry Christmas. Although he is Jewish, he took the time and consideration to bring some holiday cheer to people that practice a different religion than himself. To that, I say, “Happy Hanukkah, Mr. Netanyahu!”

I feel for American Muslims. The vast majority are law-abiding citizens trying to live a life of love and faith and fit in with the rest of society. They live in the suburbs, and drive minivans, and their kids are in soccer, and they even pay taxes. And yet they're the target of a ridiculous amount of hate and suspicion here. It makes me sad.

So it really doesn't help when a Muslim cleric comes out publicly with a nutter opinion -- even if that cleric lives far, far away. According to an Egyptian website, a cleric in Europe recommends Muslim women stay away from cucumbers, bananas, and other schlong-shaped produce to avoid having "sexual thoughts." Thanks, Muslim cleric in Europe -- that humdinger was super-helpful for the community!

A group of Muslim students at the Catholic University of America has filed discrimination charges against the school for not providing adequate prayer rooms for them to perform their daily ritualistic prayers.

From the school's site The Tower: