Update [2010-5-3 7:7:13 by Steven D]: The FBI traced the stolen license plates of the failed Times Square car bomb to this junk dealer in Connecticut:

Junkyard owner Wayne LeBlanc didn’t catch the news on Saturday night because he was busy watching “Old Yeller” with his grandkids.

So he was shocked when FBI agents with flashlights knocked on his door at 3 a.m. to tell him that the license plate on a vehicle filled with explosives parked in Times Square came from a truck in his junkyard. […]

Investigators said they were skeptical of LeBlanc’s tale that he knew nothing about how a license plate from a car in his shop wound up linked to a car bomb in Times Square.

“Repair shops know they will get hammered if a plate goes missing from a car they are responsible for. The shop, the plate and the owner of the Pathfinder are all very much under investigation,” a law enforcement source said.

Curiouser and curiouser.

Second Update [2010-5-3 7:7:13 by Steven D]: Police released surveillance video, Here is a copy of a portion of that surveillance tape that the AP posted to You Tube:

The man seen changing taking off a long sleeve shirt to reveal a light red colored short sleeved shirt underneath is the purported suspect. The video is grainy, but one thing is clear: this guy clearly suffers from male pattern baldness and doesn’t appear to have much if any grey hair. That let’s me off the hook at least.

Third Update [2010-5-3 7:29:18 by Steven D]: More connections to Connecticut:

Law enforcement officials reportedly interviewed someone in this Highland Avenue house in Bridgeport today as part of the investigation into the explosives-filled sports utility vehicle found in New York City’s Times Square on Saturday night.

It appears the license plates on the SUV in Times Square — which was crudely put together and discovered before any explosion took place — may have come from another vehicle with a connection to the house, although there is no indication any local individuals were involved in the terrorism incident.

And a “New York police official told CNN” the owner of the Nissan pathfinder involved in the flawed and failed bomb attempt “lives in the tristate area of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.”

My money’s on Connecticut again. Clearly we have White male Taliban cells infesting that unfortunate state. Maybe they’re all former “disgruntled” Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers employees? Hey, my conspiracy theory is as good as that of anyone else.

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I know that the Taliban have claimed credit for the amateur hour bomb car at Times Square. Hey, whether they are responsible or not, they’ll get Americans all worried about those funny Muslims again, and who knows what further devilry could come from that? Maybe we’ll invade Pakistan?

But there’s something a little off in this whole “The Muslims are Coming! The Muslims are Coming!” meme. Take a gander at this excerpt from a MsNBC report regarding the attempted “act of terrorism” on what the video surveillance tapes at Times Square revealed to see where I’m headed with this one:

NEW YORK – Police investigating a failed car bomb left in Times Square have videotape of a possible suspect shedding clothing in an alley and putting it in a bag, Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Sunday.

The surveillance video shows a white man in his 40s taking off one shirt, revealing another underneath.

Let’s be clear. Our media doesn’t describe typically “swarthy” Middle Eastern looking gentlemen (or Latin Americans either for that matter) as white. “White” is a term generally reserved for people who look like me: men with a Northern European heritage. Maybe the occasional Eastern Euro or Italian American makes the white category in the media, but not often. And whatever Pakistanis are, white isn’t a term the US media is likely to employ to describe their appearance

So either the Pakistani Taliban have been making great inroads in the recruiting efforts among white American or European males (does sound a little dubious doesn’t it?) or the Taliban is just trying to grab a little free PR, perhaps to buck up their “jihadis” and other assorted “collateral damage” (i.e., innocent civilians unfortunate enough to be in the vicinity when one of our robots bombs drops out of the skies on their heads) back home whom our Military’s drones keep blowing to smithereens.

So I can understand why the Taliban back in Pakistan is making this claim …

The Pakistani Taliban claimed responsibility. In a one-minute video, the group said the attack ws [sic] in revenge for the death of its leader Baitullah Mehsud and the recent killings of the top leaders of al-Qaida in Iraq.

… but the local authorities in NY aren’t buying it:

[Police Commissioner] Kelly said there was no evidence to support the Pakistani Taliban’s claim. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said there’s no evidence the attack was linked to al-Qaida or any other large terrorist organization.

Just for the record, Homeland Security Chief Janet Napolitano hasn’t ruled out that this was a potential “terrorist act” but she also said it didn’t show a high level of sophistication either.

Napolitano told ABC News there was no evidence the incident in Times Square was “anything other than a one-off” and that the bomb “doesn’t look like it is a very sophisticated one.”

What else was odd about this “dangerous threat?” Well, the fact that the vehicle was left in an alley between 44th and 45th Streets, with its keys still in the ignition, motor still running and its flashers on. As if someone wanted it to be noticed, and notices quickly. Which it was:

Two street vendors flagged down a mounted police officer after they noticed smoke from the Pathfinder, which had been parked haphazardly at the curb with its engine running and its flashers on.

And it was a haphazardly made bomb in a car filled with propane, gasoline, fertilizer (Ah yes, the whiff of Tim McVeigh rises again) and firecrackers:

[T]he materials found in the Nissan Pathfinder — gasoline, propane, firecrackers and simple alarm clocks — also included eight bags of a granular substance, later determined to be nonexplosive grade of fertilizer, inside a 55-inch-tall metal gun locker.

Non-explosive fertilizer? Doesn’t sound like a well trained Taliban soldier or Al Qaida terrorist to me. Sounds like some lone loon (and I don’t mean the kind currently getting soaked with oil along the Gulf Coast). Someone who didn’t have a very good idea about how to make an improvised explosive device, or much of a plan on how to set it off, much less escape being seen. I mean Times Square is one of the most highly video monitored places in the country, not to mention all the tourists walking around videotaping their trip to the Big Apple:

Kelly said officers were on their way to a Pennsylvania town to talk to a tourist who also might have recorded the suspect on his video camera.

Right wing bloggers are convinced that Viacom, the owner of Comedy Central (which censored a recent South Park episode about Muhammed) was the target of this clearly Muslim extremist jihadist attack, because Viacom has offices at 1515 Broadway near where the “bomb car” was parked.

Just for kicks, here are some of the other businesses located at 1515 Broadway:

Nokia Theater
Dunkin Donuts
CBS Radio
The Minskoff Theater
NY Gas Group
Brinson Patrick Securities Corporation
Icon Parking Systems
SL Green Management
US Labor Department
Screen Actors Guild
Tishman Construction Co. (Jt. builder of new Jets/Giants Stadium)
AAA Towing
Skytel

Oh and

Bank of America

Yeah, the “target” had to be Viacom. Though why the “bomber” didn’t park directly outside Comedy Central located up the street at 1775 Broadway is a little odd, don’t you think? After all it was Viacom that kept the controversial South Park episode from airing. But what do I know about the mind of a Muslim Islamofascist terrorist. I’m just some white guy. Kinda like the suspected bomber. Hmmm …

Still, I’m sure whatever the investigation of this incident ultimately reveals and whoever the manhunt for this idiot ends up arresting, it will be bad news for that Muslim loving, Kenyan born usurper President Obama.*

* That it will be good news for John McCain goes without saying.