Schneier on Security

Oh, Carlin is right on the money!

I wish I had a T-shirt that said:
"The show at this Security Theater stinks. Can I trade in my tickets and get my money back?"

So was George satisfied when they banned knives?

Great! Keep them comming!

Incidentially, I think this kind of commedy war originally invented to criticize the rulling class without getting punished.

Aftyer having listened to a few more, I can only say this guy is scarily insightful. Not sure whether to laugh or to cry.

@Gweihir: no doubt. The vast collection of Soviet jokes (no longer quite as obsolete as they used to be) is a prime example. So are Dilbert collections, now that I think of it.

This would only work in places where the video images are only scanned by a computer or after the fact. Wearing such sunglasses would identify you to anyone looking at a live video screen as someone who doesn't want to get his face recorded. Wouldn't it be worthwhile to pick that person from the crowd and submit him to some scrutiny?
--
Ulrich

@Gweiher
"Aftyer having listened to a few more, I can only say this guy is scarily insightful. Not sure whether to laugh or to cry. "

Unfortunately, Geoirge Carlin passed away in late June. We've lost one hell of a social commentator...

Carlin was by far a revolutionary. For those that love his commentary, I would also point you to the late comedian Bill Hicks.

Seems like all the good ones die off.

I remember watching this part of his show in 2003 and learning that the recording was way older than I thought, i.e. pre-2001. He was a trailblazer indeed. I'm gonna miss the old guy. And yeah, take a chance every once in a while, get a life. Refuse to be terorrized :)

George Carlin absolutely nails it! :)

Laughter is the sudden, unexpected, revelation of a hidden truth...

He would have done well in the movie plot contest.

Today a TSA agent had to ask a supervisor if it was ok if my sample size toothpaste was in a too large ziplock bag. Thankfully, somone said one thing in the bag, it's ok of the bag isn't 1 quart.

Wow!

I make a point to listen to at least one of Carlin's airport related commentaries on each flight.

Somehow, they never get old.

@Rich - I once harassed a TSA agent because the baggies they were providing to passengers without them were Glad bags, whereas their instructions clearly said to use a 1 quart Ziploc bag.

Pure genius. The world is intellectually, ethically, and humor-wise poorer without him.

"When you're born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you're born in America, you get a front-row seat."

"Australia was founded as a penal colony.
America was founded as an Insane Asylum."

(Not a quote by George Carlin, but appropriate.)

I've always wanted to include his line about social engineering in a penetration test or risk assessment report:

"Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach him how to fish, and he will sit in a boat and drink beer all day."

But this is probably more appropriate to the 9/11 theme:

"Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they? "

Too bad Lenny Bruce did not live as long...

"One cannot cast the first stone – if already stoned."

@cmos
First Lenny Bruce, then Hicks, then Carlin.
Now it is Stanhope's turn.

@cmos
First Lenny Bruce, then Hicks, then Carlin.
Now it is Stanhope's turn.

Anon: Not fully satisfied, no... 'cause they still allow "big strong hands" and "the Sunday Times". ^_^

"Next question." <3

Bob said:
> I wish I had a T-shirt that said:
> "The show at this Security Theater stinks. Can
> I trade in my tickets and get my money back?"

Well it wouldn't fit on a polo shirt, but I drew it up as a bumper sticker, if you are interested: http://www.cafepress.com/cp/customize/product.aspx?clear=true&number=%20283148230

It's only getting worse. Today, the Senate gave immunity to the telecoms and ok'd Bush's illegal spying. Air travel is doomed for us middle class and poor people.

I would recommend everyone download Firefox or Opera for good browser security. Add the Enigmail add-on and OpenPGP for Mozilla Thunderbird and create a good public/private encryption key. Buy a pre-paid cell phone and tell the Major Telecoms to kiss your a** for giving your info away illegally.

Our only recourse is encryption and anonymity now.

@ ElectronicMessiah,

"Buy a pre-paid cell phone and tell the Major Telecoms to kiss your a** for giving your info away illegally."

Unfortunatly due to the US Gov mandated requirment for cell phone location (for a persons safety) and other requirments to keep cell phone information for extended periods. Even a pre-paid cell phone will not give you your stated aim of "anonymity".

To get anonymity you most definatly do not want to be carrying something that broadcasts your location to a few feet every few minutes to a system that is going to log it almost indefinatly.

Randomly using "Public phones" (if you can find any) and a pocket full of "pennies" was once your best option. But now even then caller ID to phones is now routeinly saved as well so it's no great step to work out when where and thus who made the call...

Thats why I'm seriously looking at Open Source VoIP over WiFi to SIP service suppliers outside of my countries bailwick and phone redirection through another country to see just how difficult it is for the "powers that be" to trace back...

Wow he even predicted the anthrax attacks. What a guy.

Everyone is saying how ahead of his time he was.

Nah....

We've just found out where the requirements for the airline security *really* came from- yup, they listened to him, and did it all (you *did* know that the 'list' is mostly a list of people with big hands didn't you?) ;-)

I think we need to compose a threat to blow up an airliner, sign it with names that are exact duplicates of the names of every member of congress, every governor, every supreme court justice and the head of every department in the executive branch and mail it to the FBI.

George Carlin was a shill for the Railroad Industry. Take his views on airport security with a grain of salt. The payoffs from big-industry lobbyist Thomas TTE are well-documented.