RE: Airport insanity
First of all, the guy is a major dumbass... My profile is radically different from all those who killed nearly 3,000 of my countrymen on September 11, 2001. My holy book of choice is the Bible. My race is Caucasian. I am a loyal, taxpaying, patriotic, evil-hating, English-as-first-language, natural-born American. If profiling were allowed, I wouldn't be the one filling out government forms to prove I'm not a terrorist. The other guys would. I'm thinking that the state-of-the-art on Cypherpunks is such that no real comment here is necessary. The arbitrariness of all of this makes me think the security system isn't very secure and that it is all a sham created by politicians to fool the public into believing they are protecting us. Meanwhile, millions cross our borders illegally, including untold numbers from countries that hate us. This is precisely why Al-Qaeda sent 19 (or probably more) true-believers. Even if TSA lowers the odds, all you have to do is roll the dice many more times, and a few of the faithful will definitely get through the checkpoint. Security measures might stop a lone crazy, but the odds don't stand up if they send dozens of people into airports all around the country. And Iraq II is promising us a bumper crop of new 'terrorists'. Seems to me it's going to be much easier for the US to stop fucking around over there. Oh wait, we can't do that because then the terrorists have won. Waitaminute...doesn't Algeria prove that terrorism wins, eventually? -TD From: R.A. Hettinga [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Airport insanity Date: Thu, 14 Oct 2004 19:08:59 -0400 http://www.townhall.com/columnists/calthomas/printct20041013.shtml Townhall.com Airport insanity Cal Thomas (back to web version) | Send October 13, 2004 Ted Kennedy and I have something in common. We are both on airline lists as potential terror suspects. Kennedy was recently denied access to a US Airways flight out of Washington, one he has taken for 40 years. I am on a US Airways list of some type that apparently requires airline employees to take my driver's license behind closed doors, have a conference and then stamp my ticket with a code that mandates my person and my carry-on bag be searched. Every time I fly, which is sometimes several times a week. I especially appreciate the crotch grab to make sure I'm not hiding any weapons of mass destruction. How would you like to be the trainer for this procedure? The idiocy virus is now spreading to other airlines. It seems someone who shares my name is wanted by authorities. I hope he is getting some of my hate mail. Logic should dictate that once I prove I am not the guy they are looking for, they would take me off the suspect list. But, no, our misnamed Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is anything but logical. US Airways gives me a TSA phone number to call. I am not surprised when a machine answers. The machine promises a prompt response. I leave a message. There is no response. A few days later, I call again. Same recording, same message, same non-response. I send an e-mail to TSA. This time I receive an automated reply, assuring me of a prompt response. Two days later, I receive another e-mail informing me I will have to fill out a form to prove I am not a terrorist. This is an interesting twist on the innocent until proven guilty standard in law. The confusion plot thickens. Two weeks ago, TSA approved my application for registered traveler status as part of an experimental program at some airports for frequent travelers. I recorded my eye print and fingerprint, and now a machine can identify me and allow me to go to the head of the security line, but only at the airport where I applied. Other participating airports require applications to be made at each of those airports, even though the paperwork presumably goes to TSA headquarters. Why can't TSA look at that one application that has been approved and take me off their watch list, or whatever they call it? Is logic not in government dictionaries? Things have become so ridiculous on the road that a TSA screener in Duluth, Minn., last week required me to open my computer bag, whereupon she used one of those devices that resemble a deodorant pad and wiped every electrical cord. When I asked why, she responded, The downed Russian airliners. When I noted that Duluth was the only airport in the country where my electrical cords had been wiped, she replied, Everyone is supposed to. The arbitrariness of all of this makes me think the security system isn't very secure and that it is all a sham created by politicians to fool the public into believing they are protecting us. Meanwhile, millions cross our borders illegally, including untold numbers from countries that hate us. Why isn't the Bush administration doing something about illegal immigration instead of pretending these people are coming here solely to do manual labor we native Americans don't want to do? Wouldn't we
Re: Cash, Credit -- or Prints?
Alan Barrett [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Tue, 12 Oct 2004, John Kelsey wrote: but there doesn't seem to be a clean process for determining how skilled an attacker needs to be to, say, scan my finger once, and produce either a fake finger or a machine for projecting a fake fingerprint into the reader. ... or a replacement reader that fakes the signals to the rest of the security system. I've seen a number of smart card/PCMCIA combo devices that to this, they have a discrete fingerprint sensor device connected to a discrete crypto device. You can fake out the fingerprint check portion by tying one of the connecting lines to Vcc or GND. Peter.
At least there's some (attempt at) common sense in airline security
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3600794thesection=newsthesubsection=general Ease off says air security boss 15.10.2004 Security on domestic flights is too strict and should be downgraded, says the head of the Aviation Security Service. General manager Mark Everitt, a former police detective with 21 years' experience, said if he had his way passengers would be able to take Swiss Army knives and other small, sharp objects on board domestic flights. I'm actually an advocate for letting these things back on the aircraft. It's time to back up a little, he told delegates at the Police Association's annual conference yesterday. But New Zealand had to meet international security standards and his personal view was not enough to instigate a review of security standards. Knowing levels of risk was the key to ensuring flights were safe, said Mr Everitt. The banning of small knives did not stop attacks in the air. [...]
Vote-counting glitch in NZ local elections
Looks like you can mess up voting even if there is a paper trail. These are paper votes that are electronically counted, so the problem was in the electronic processing, not the actual voting procedure. http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=3600391thesection=newsthesubsection=generalthesecondsubsection=reportid=1162640 Let me count the ways ... 14.10.2004 [...] An electronic processing and counting botch-up has left the results for seven city and district councils and 18 district health boards up in the air. Final results, due yesterday, have been delayed indefinitely. Mr Carter blamed the company Datamail, which was contracted by Electionz.com - the company hired by many councils to manage their elections - to count the votes from electronically scanned voting papers. [...] Peter.
Re: Airport insanity
Thus spake James A. Donald ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) [15/10/04 15:19]: : Has anyone who does not look a terrorist done a suicide mission : outside Israel or Russia? Recall the shoe bomber. You just : had to look at him. You would think the airport screeners would : need to be half brain dead to let him on the plane. Come to : think of it, they are half brain dead, but laws that require : them to pretend to be stupider than they actually are do not : help. I've had more than one comment about my ID photos that amount to basically: You look like you've just left a terrorist training camp. For whatever reason, pictures of me always come out looking like some crazed religious fanatic. But that doesn't mean that I'm going to bomb anything. And I sure hope that I'm not going to be detained or denied entry because of how I *look*, alone.
RE: Airport insanity
-- My profile is radically different from all those who killed nearly 3,000 of my countrymen on September 11, 2001. My holy book of choice is the Bible. My race is Caucasian. I am a loyal, taxpaying, patriotic, evil-hating, English-as-first-language, natural-born American. If profiling were allowed, I wouldn't be the one filling out government forms to prove I'm not a terrorist. The other guys would. On 15 Oct 2004 at 10:02, Tyler Durden wrote: I'm thinking that the state-of-the-art on Cypherpunks is such that no real comment here is necessary. Has anyone who does not look a terrorist done a suicide mission outside Israel or Russia? Recall the shoe bomber. You just had to look at him. You would think the airport screeners would need to be half brain dead to let him on the plane. Come to think of it, they are half brain dead, but laws that require them to pretend to be stupider than they actually are do not help. This is precisely why Al-Qaeda sent 19 (or probably more) true-believers. Even if TSA lowers the odds, all you have to do is roll the dice many more times, and a few of the faithful will definitely get through the checkpoint. Just don't let anyone who looks like the shoe bomber fly. Problem solved. A restaurant should be able to turn away those whose looks they do not like, and an airline likewise. There are probably a few innocents in Guantenamo, but they released at least one Al Quaeda terrorist who promptly got back in business murdering large numbers of people, and was caught doing it - so presumably they have released lots of others who have committed lots of murders, and not been caught doing it. Anyone who was non Afghan and in Afghanistan in the middle of the war without a good explanation should have been executed by the Northern Alliance or imprisoned permanently in Guatenamo. Yes, I do support internment, as wartime measure, during real war, against an ethnically based enemy. Similarly I support shelling enemies who surround themselves with captive women and children, as Sadr did in Najaf. That hostage crisis was ended by negotiation, but because the administration were reluctant to shell the mosque, the deal was settled on very unfavorable terms. --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG wI0xr9ayXv/a3zae3P/aa8cP2yCVMsnUHEQvlSZ4 4biccsub2YZowuf9Kq6OzR5YpJQrEGdamGR4hGonc
RE: Airport insanity
OK, Mr Donald...you're shittin' me, right? Has anyone who does not look a terrorist done a suicide mission outside Israel or Russia? If you define a suicide mission a priori as the act of a terrorist (I guess I do), then by definition anyone who performs such an act is a terrorist. Therefore, anyone who performs a suicide mission looks like a terrorist. Guess it's simple, then eh? Recall the shoe bomber. You just had to look at him. Yer trollin me, I just know it! YAAGH but I can't help myself...I gotta respond! I guess it's OK then if we don't allow strange looking people on the planes. Come to think of it, I think YOU look like a terrorist... You would think the airport screeners would need to be half brain dead to let him on the plane. Come to think of it, they are half brain dead, but laws that require them to pretend to be stupider than they actually are do not help. OK, so you not only want to stop anybody odd looking from getting on an airplane, you want near-welfare, minimum-wage HS dropouts be responsible for determining what odd means? Just don't let anyone who looks like the shoe bomber fly. Problem solved. Huh? The one flaw in this logic is that this only works if you can send this particular definition of suspicious looks backwards in time. The shoe-bomber is a particularly interesting case, as I believe the dude was ethnically British. He might have looked odd from the photo you saw circulated in the press, but I'd bet a lot of money no one would have picked him as looking like a terrorist. However, since we now know about what the shoe-bomber looks like, it should be relatively easy to stop his genetic clones or identical twins from boarding planes in the future. Problem Solved indeed. However, this might not work against people that DON'T look like the shoe-bomber. There are probably a few innocents in Guantenamo, but they released at least one Al Quaeda terrorist who promptly got back in business murdering large numbers of people, and was caught doing it - so presumably they have released lots of others who have committed lots of murders, and not been caught doing it. Hum. An interesting, Stalinist logic. Well, Stalin was on a certain level immensely practical. I say we build a big electrified fence around Cobble Hill Brooklyn and fuck 'em...SOMEONE in there is definitely Al-Qaeda, therefore let's assume everyone in there's guilty until proven innocent. Anyone who was non Afghan and in Afghanistan in the middle of the war without a good explanation should have been executed by the Northern Alliance or imprisoned permanently in Guatenamo. So likewise would you agree that if any non-citizen US soldiers (there are 10s of thousands non-citizen soldiers in the US) are captured in the numerous future wars, then they captors have the right to execute them on the spot? Uhm...no Geneva convention or anything? What the hell, it's a free-for-all anyway! Yes, I do support internment, as wartime measure, during real war, against an ethnically based enemy. Wow. Since Iranians are Indo-European (ie, white), then in the event of war with Iran would you advocate rounding up all Americans of Indo-European ancestry? Does this have to be pure, or should we grab the African Americans too (which have large % of Indo-European genes)? Oh wait, most of the Afghans are Indo-Europeans too. So if you're arrested then you'll certainly understand that we're really just protecting the US from your possible collusion with your relatives in Afghanistan... What seems to be clear to me is that you believe that your opinions originate from some self-consistent logical framework that is unpopular in some quarters. What also seems clear to me that it's really an inconsistent hodgepodge thrown up around the real goal, American domination at all costs, damn the logic and damn the consequences. -TD --digsig James A. Donald 6YeGpsZR+nOTh/cGwvITnSR3TdzclVpR0+pr3YYQdkG wI0xr9ayXv/a3zae3P/aa8cP2yCVMsnUHEQvlSZ4 4biccsub2YZowuf9Kq6OzR5YpJQrEGdamGR4hGonc _ Is your PC infected? Get a FREE online computer virus scan from McAfee® Security. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963
Re: Airport insanity
At 3:55 PM -0700 10/15/04, John Young wrote: Most of the Boston Red Sox team look as if they have just come from a terrorist training camp for blind, handless barbers, decked-out in ill-fitting sports gear, staring wild-eyed at RPGs being fired at their heads and nuts, swinging clubs futilely at the inerrant missiles, their ass-wipe paws swollen into giant shit-covered patties, muttering homicidal jihads against devil-bred yankees. Yeah, but just wait until next year... ;-) Cheers, RAH -- - R. A. Hettinga mailto: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation http://www.ibuc.com/ 44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA ... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity, [predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to experience. -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'
Re: Airport insanity
Most of the Boston Red Sox team look as if they have just come from a terrorist training camp for blind, handless barbers, decked-out in ill-fitting sports gear, staring wild-eyed at RPGs being fired at their heads and nuts, swinging clubs futilely at the inerrant missiles, their ass-wipe paws swollen into giant shit-covered patties, muttering homicidal jihads against devil-bred yankees.
RE: Airport insanity
From: Tyler Durden [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Oct 15, 2004 10:02 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED], [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: RE: Airport insanity First of all, the guy is a major dumbass... My profile is radically different from all those who killed nearly 3,000 of my countrymen on September 11, 2001. My holy book of choice is the Bible. My race is Caucasian. I am a loyal, taxpaying, patriotic, evil-hating, English-as-first-language, natural-born American. If profiling were allowed, I wouldn't be the one filling out government forms to prove I'm not a terrorist. The other guys would. I'm thinking that the state-of-the-art on Cypherpunks is such that no real comment here is necessary. Ahh, thanks for flying, Mr McVeigh. You're in seat 1A, just behind the cockpit. We like to put patriotic Americans there to make sure there's no risk of in-flight terrorism. This is precisely why Al-Qaeda sent 19 (or probably more) true-believers. Even if TSA lowers the odds, all you have to do is roll the dice many more times, and a few of the faithful will definitely get through the checkpoint. Security measures might stop a lone crazy, but the odds don't stand up if they send dozens of people into airports all around the country. And Iraq II is promising us a bumper crop of new 'terrorists'. Yep. It gives you a warm feeling all over to know that we're spending billions of dollars on running a nation-sized terrorist training camp. Ah, but not to worry. *These* terrorists won't get WMDs. We know, because apparently there's not a gram of WMD anywhere in Iraq. And besides, A.G. Khan has been brought to justice, and is now requiring proof of identity and a major credit card before shipping you the Nuclear Weapons Program in a Box set, and North Korea is too busy stockpiling nukes and missiles for an upcoming negotiated settlement to certain border questions to sell any of them to any (other) crazies. Why the only other place where there's a risk of nuclear proliferation is in the old Soviet Union--and we all know *they* don't have any Islamic fundamentalist terrorists running about. So we can clearly rest easy. It's a good thing we've got an administration in the White House who cares about security and the war on terror. Otherwise, I'd be a mite worried about now .. -TD --John Kelsey
