I’ve talked more than a few times about terrorists, terrorism, and the TSA on this blog, often quoting security and cryptography expert Bruce Schneier. He’s posted links to a new article by a former airline advisor which sums up the problems with the TSA’s responses to date, and offers suggestions about how to do things …
Continue reading ‘“Assessing Terrorist Threats to Commercial Aviation”’ »
If this sort of thing appeared in a science fiction/fantasy novel, people might just blink and accept the premise. If it appeared in a history text, they’d shake their collective head over it and silently thank the deity of their choice that no one is that stupid anymore. But if it’s spouted by a modern-day …
Want proof? Read this. Every time the US government reacts in fear, doing a little more damage to the Constitutional rights of the people, the terrorists have won another battle. If they manage to get another Bush Jr into office, the erosion will pick up its pace again. Destination: Fascist America. And if you think …
We just can’t seem to stop those darn terrorists.
Much hilarity: Seeking to quell fears of terrorists somehow breaking out of America’s top-security prisons and wreaking havoc on the defenseless heartland, President Barack Obama moved quickly to announce an Anti-Terrorist Strike Force headed by veteran counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer and mutant superhero Wolverine. […] “I believe a fictional threat is best met with decisive …
Continue reading ‘“Anti-Terrorist Fantasy Dream Team on the Case”’ »
In another case of life-imitates-science-fiction, Bruce Schneier reports that someone has discovered the perfect description of today’s “security theater” in a 1956 Asimov story. (For those of you not following along at home, “security theater” refers to all the crap the TSA is doing that is trivial to get around, but that they’re doing just …
A very long article, but the basic gist of it can be summed up by this paragraph from the middle: […] To put this in context: Out of more than 150,000 murders in the United States since 9/11 — currently more than 14,000 each year — Islamist terrorists accounted for fewer than three dozen deaths …
Continue reading ‘“Why Is It So Hard to Find a Suicide Bomber These Days?”’ »
Although this article hits the nail right on the head, I don’t expect Obama or anyone else to make any changes — except, perhaps, banning more ridiculous things (as the TSA has already done — correction, the restrictions have apparently been eased now). Even if Obama wanted to (which he might), he’d face huge political …
Continue reading ‘“President Obama, It’s Time To Fire the TSA”’ »
Oh, come on! None of those are enough to “destroy America,” even combined. Almost all of them are self-correcting problems: Loose nukes. A nuclear weapon can only be used once, after which it’s gone. If the supposed terrorists had a large supply, they’d be a problem — but without that, all they can do is …
Continue reading ‘“Results from Slate’s ‘Choose Your Own Apocalypse’ poll”’ »
You don’t need to worry about rare and exciting problems like terrorist attacks. The odds are that mundane and boring things like not eating right or getting enough exercise will kill you.