The terror alert is raised to "orange". New York city officials respond by saying it's been "orange" in NYC since about 1973.

"WASHINGTON - The government on Sunday raised the national threat level to orange, indicating a high risk of terrorist attack, and said threat indicators are "perhaps greater now than at any point" since Sept. 11, 2001, with strikes possible during the holidays.

"Americans were promised 'extensive and considerable protections' around the country and told to stick to their travel plans despite intelligence indicating the al-Qaida terrorist network is seeking again to use planes as weapons and exploit suspected weakness in U.S. aviation security."

Not to worry, though. John Ashcroft and the DoJ are all over threats to our security and winning the war on terrorism, citing 280 cases they are investigating. The LA Times audits this figure and it comes up wanting. Good reporting.