<http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/movies/23peterson.html?_r=1&oref=slogin> http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/23/movies/23peterson.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
<http://www.nytimes.com/> <http://www.nytimes.com/> The New York Times <http://www.nytimes.com/> _____ April 23, 2006 Directions A Screenwriting Contest to Think Up Terrorist Plots. By MEG CIEPLY PETERSON Take trained lab rats with ricin-laced teeth, wrap them in foam rubber balls, drop them from low-flying airplanes over the streets of Hollywood and what have you got? The seeds of a movie plot. So maybe it's a B-grade movie plot, but you get the idea. That is just one of the entries in the Movie-Plot Threat Contest being held this month by a security specialist, Bruce Schneier. Forget bombs in the baby carriage or anthrax-spreading crop dusters. Mr. Schneier wants contestants to think outside the box. "If we're going to worry about unlikely attacks," he asks on his blog, Schneier on Security (schneier.com/blog), "why can't they be exciting and innovative ones?" He's only half-joking. In Mr. Schneier's view, measures taken in response to specific scenarios are mere guesses about what terrorists might do. "And if you guess wrong, you've wasted your money," he said by phone recently. In other words, for all the effort narrowly focused on removing shoes at the airport, what is to stop a couple of suicide bombers from blowing up a Wal-Mart? Mr. Schneier, the founder of Counterpane Internet Security and the author of several books on cryptography and security issues, said he favored developing resources like translators who speak Arabic or improving investigative and emergency response techniques. Still, if specific plots are going to be the focus of national policy - in this "silly security season," as Mr. Schneier puts it - why not come up with the most unlikely ones? In a way, the contest is building on Army efforts shortly after 9/11, when it reportedly met secretly with a handful of Hollywood directors and screenwriters at the University of Southern California to brainstorm potential terror scenarios. This time around, nonprofessionals are doing the brainstorming. The prizes may be meager - a copy of Mr. Schneier's 2003 book <http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/titlelist.html?v_idlist=5257;5258&inl ine=nyt_ttl> "Beyond Fear," as well as a chance to discuss the plot with a movie producer - but well before the April 30 deadline more than 200 entries have already been posted on the Web, ranging from two lines to a lengthy script synopsis, and spanning from the ridiculous to the chilling. Should Americans be guarding against errant ice cream men selling poisoned popsicles? What if terrorists drilled into the Canary island of La Palma in hopes of setting off a tsunami that would wipe out the East Coast of the United States? Freeways could explode; so could nuns. Or disgruntled Middle Easterners might infiltrate "American Idol." Wait, it turns out Hollywood already thought of that one. In <http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=333834&inline=nyt_ttl > "American Dreamz," which opened Friday, one of the competitors on a popular television singing contest is a would-be terrorist. One more plot foiled. MEG CIEPLY PETERSON [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
