Comments

Bob July 8, 2008 2:40 PM

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?”

Gweihir July 8, 2008 3:12 PM

Great! Keep them comming!

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

Gweihir July 8, 2008 3:57 PM

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

Harry July 8, 2008 3:59 PM

@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.

Ulrich Boche July 8, 2008 4:14 PM

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

Anonymous July 8, 2008 5:48 PM

@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…

cmos July 8, 2008 5:53 PM

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.

Bob July 8, 2008 7:18 PM

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 🙂

bzelbob July 8, 2008 8:20 PM

George Carlin absolutely nails it! 🙂

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

Rich Wilson July 9, 2008 12:15 AM

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!

The Dave July 9, 2008 1:39 AM

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

Somehow, they never get old.

Walt July 9, 2008 8:35 AM

@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.

Smuckers July 9, 2008 9:08 AM

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

George Carlin July 9, 2008 10:01 AM

“When you’re born, you get a ticket to the freak show. When you’re born in America, you get a front-row seat.”

alan July 9, 2008 11:34 AM

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

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

Davi Ottenheimer July 9, 2008 1:02 PM

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.”

Ross Snider July 9, 2008 4:32 PM

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

Ross Snider July 9, 2008 4:32 PM

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

Eric July 9, 2008 5:33 PM

Anon: Not fully satisfied, no… ’cause they still allow “big strong hands” and “the Sunday Times”. ^_^

“Next question.” <3

ElectronicMessiah July 10, 2008 12:05 AM

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.

Clive Robinson July 10, 2008 1:18 AM

@ 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…

Ian Woollard July 10, 2008 8:38 PM

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?) 😉

bob July 11, 2008 8:09 AM

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.

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