I should be able to resume posting shortly.

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2009-10-31

Hmmm ...
I have served on the Senate Intelligence Committee for eight years, and I have yet to see evidence -- classified or otherwise -- that has convinced me that revising the business records provision to include a less intrusive standard would be harmful to U.S. national security. Yet as Congress considers whether to reauthorize this standard -- written in a rush to judgment eight years ago -- some will undoubtedly argue that Congress should just trust that the provision is essential and blindly sign-off on reauthorization. I disagree. While "just trust us" has passed as informed national security debate in this country for eight years, it hasn't resulted in good national security policy. Indeed, the shortage of serious discussion of intelligence matters has frequently resulted in counterterrorism programs that are much less balanced and effective than they could and should be.
So true ...

2009-10-29

A Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) destroyer on Wednesday successfully shot down a medium-range mock ballistic missile in a test off Hawaii, the Defense Ministry said. In the drill conducted in cooperation with the US Navy, the ballistic missile was launched from a US military range facility on Kauai Island. Four minutes later, the MSDF's Myoko, equipped with the Aegis advanced missile tracking system, detected the target and fired a sea-based Standard Missile 3 (SM-3). The US-made interceptor hit the target more than 100 kilometers above the Pacific Ocean three minutes later after launching. The ministry said the successful missile test proved the effectiveness of Japan's missile defense system, adding that it plans to complete the system by March 2011. The drill was Japan's third attempt to test-fire high-tech SM-3 interceptors. The nation successfully conducted its first SM-3 test in 2007, but the second attempt last year failed when the interceptor lost track of the target.
Interesting ...
Hit and git ... what's not to love ...
In recent weeks, with active shooter events having occurred at a mall, a church and as children got off a school bus, I’ve seen some postings in various online forums from civilians who hold concealed carry permits asking, “How should we react to this?” The question they are asking, in general, is what they should be doing if they’re on the scene and the shooting starts. I was at first conflicted as to how to answer this question. Then, having developed an answer, I strongly prefaced it with “this is just my opinion”. There are far too many “what if”s that come into play when considering a response to an active shooter - even for police officers who are off duty. Those “what if”s multiply ten fold for a civilian who is legally armed and happens to be on hand when a shooting starts. What to do?
Hmmm ...
I think it's a mistake to think of them as a weapon of choice. IEDs are always a weapon of expediency. If the extremists can get better funding, you can bet they'll buy some factory explosives from somewhere ...
Doesn't sound like a very long-term solution ...
A standalone Internet camera with advanced built-in software, the Mole provides auto-configuration so that the user can set up the camera in just a few easy steps and access their video privately without any network knowledge. Once set up, the Mole allows users to adjust the pan remotely to change the view instantly. While easy-to-use and affordable, the Mole camera includes high-end features such as motion detection activation, night vision, two-way audio, and a built-in DVR. The Mole also features both Ethernet or Wi-Fi connectivity. The Mole is designed for direct access from any web browser, which lets users watch their video instantly, from anywhere, including the iPhone. The on-board software is specifically tailored for seamless Internet sharing, including auto-uploads to YouTube. Users can also choose to receive real-time alerts via email or Twitter, sent to their mobile phone or any IP-enabled device.Available in early November 2009, the Mole will be distributed through Astak's network of retail and distribution partners, including Fry's Electronics, Costco, NewEgg.com, Amazon.com, Walmart.com and Astak.com, with an MSRP of $299.00.
It's probably stopping anyone from using the driveway ...
This, if true, is the classic mark of a security operation that is more or less permeable depending on an entrant's place in the pecking order. If the security officer delays the Secretary General (or someone else high up in the pecking order), he will get in trouble or fired or some other undesirable outcome, so the officer makes sure that he/she doesn't execute the security routine when the Secretary General comes through. Because the security officers are always deciding whether to execute the routine or not, when something they don't really understand come along they tend to error on the side of the entrant being high up ("What the hell is Colonel Sanders doing here ... I don't know but it's probably important. We better walk him through!") It would never happen in an operation where everyone goes through the exact same vetting process, regardless of who they are, prior to be allowed through a particular checkpoint.

2009-10-28

I wonder whose security they're hoping to enhance, presumably not the folks they're planning to search ...
This might be interesting if you have an iPhone ...
Police say that 69 year old Peter Gilmore was at his Port Charlotte, FL home, along with his 25 year old son James.  At about 10 PM, there was a knock on the front door, which Peter went to answer.  A pair of masked home invaders, armed with a knife and a tire iron, are said to have kicked the door open and rushed inside.  One of the robbers reportedly held a large knife to Peter's face, and threatened to kill him.  James reportedly ran to his father's bedroom, where they kept their firearms, with the tire iron wielding intruder in hot pursuit.  After grabbing a handgun and pointing it at the intruder, James told the intruder to leave, at which point the criminal refused and hit him in the head with a tire iron, according to police.  James then reportedly shot the violent home invader in the stomach, prompting him and his accomplice to flee.  Police reportedly apprehended both suspects, Keith Sowers and Joshua Eugene Becerril, shortly after the home invasion.  The injured suspect, Sowers, was listed in serious condition but is expected to live to face charges.
Hmmm ...

2009-10-25

Today's the day, every day, part deux ...
Kind of like a testimonial, huh ... ?
Today's the day, every day ...
Hmmm ... the interwebs will have gone through about 8 cycles of becoming unrecognizable to the previous cycle by then ... must be a really cool plan ...
Was he threatening to hold his breath 'til he turned blue, or what. A few details would be useful, here ...
Is there anything that isn't terrorism ...?

It is critically important that one kill ones own ego if one is going to engage in violent training or employment.  If you don't, you will eventually end up publicly humiliated, incarcerated or dead ...

2009-10-24

Unfortunately, true ...
Can't wait to hear the rest of this story ...
Interesting speculation ...
How very predictable ...
Funny ...
Interesting ...

2009-10-22

Quite a bit of encryption stuff today ...
Hmmm ...
I'm not sure why he would get no time after pleading guilty. Maybe the judge was impressed that he actually had the discipline to self-enforce an encryption policy ...
Really, terrorism ...?
Hmmm ...

2009-10-21

Cool site ...
Today's the day, everyday ...
It should make it clear that it isn't your security that they're trying to improve ...
I am a firm supporter of the second amendment right to bear arms. In the state of Alabama there is one aspect where our second amendment rights are being heinously violated. The aspect I am referring to is the fact that it is illegal for people to openly carry a sword. Some prefer tazers, pepper spray, or pocket knives as a means of self-defense, but swords are simply not allowed. Why is it perfectly fine to have a concealed .44 magnum with a permit, but completely illegal to have a gladius on your belt? Why is it acceptable to own an AK-47 and a thousand rounds of ammunition in Alabama, but not acceptable to sell a fully sharpened sword? I support the right to own a gun for self-defense, but I personally detest them. So what am I supposed to carry to protect myself when the best alternative is illegal to carry in the streets? 
Interesting point ...
It's odd how many security companies turn out to be shady ...
As long as your still readily identifiable as Security and don't stink or anything, I don't see a problem ...

2009-10-20

As with so much of Security, "Don't assume" is a great starting place ...
It's hard to call without having been there. Security always has the home court advantage but the S/O that's doing the talking isn't really providing any information and he could have just as easily been talking a mile a minute about "Look the promoter has pulled the plug because things are getting explosive out there. The shows been canceled but if you step over here we can call the promoter, Look, I don't have any choice, the property managers have told us we have to trespass you and have you arrested if you try to go on, etc." DMX et al. appear to have come to a stop for some talk-talk, but all that's being said is "We're badder than you" which typically doesn't promote a positive outcome. Practitioners of the Security Craft should try to remember that the guy your messing with may be able to afford better attorneys than you can and there isn't anything that guarantees that you'll be dropped from the suit or that you'll prevail, so you should probably exhaust all the non-provocative and non-violent possibilities before moving on to name calling and so forth ...
International trends suggest that prison radicalization and recruitment are common. Richard Reid, the 2001 shoe bomber, and Muktar Said Ibrahim, involved with the second and failed London attacks in 2005, were radicalized while serving time for petty crimes in Britain. Jamal Ahmidan, a leader of the 2004 Madrid bombings, was radicalized while serving time for theft. Mohamed Achraf, while serving time for credit-card fraud in Spain, established the Martyrs for Morocco, recruiting nearly 20 inmates for attacks on Spain's National Court. Safe Bourada created the Partisans of Victory while serving time in France and recruited convicts for attacks in Paris. Jose Padilla, currently serving a 17-year terrorism conviction, and Michael Finton, arrested last month while allegedly attempting to detonate a bomb in Illinois, were both introduced to radical Islam while serving time on non-terrorism-related charges. And Kevin James founded the Assembly of Authentic Islam behind bars in California, recruiting two fellow inmates for attacks in Los Angeles.
Interesting ...

2009-10-19

Just waiting for the price to come down a tad ...
Life's a bitch, ain't it boys ...
This will need to be ancient history if you want your Olympics to be profitable ...
You'd think that after being voted out of office over it he would get the idea that his gun-banning ways are not wanted there ...
I bet it doesn't actually say any of that ...

2009-10-18

Cool pics, too ...
Ahhh ... some new laws making illegal purchases a crime, how enlightened ...
This is a tragedy from any angle, and my bleeding heart goes out to Meleanie Hain's family and friends. She did not deserve to die, and was not killed because she owned a gun or openly carried it. She was not killed because her husband owned a gun. She was a victim of domestic violence, and so are her children. Scott Hain could have killed his wife and himself by any number of means. She and he would be just as dead, their kids just as parentless. The guns kept in Meleanie Hain's house did not cause her death, but they did not prevent it, either. That's bad news for the cause she spent the last year of her life advocating. Like most fringe distractions masquerading as real issues, the open-carry cause is all hat and no cattle, a tantrum seeking an easily cowed audience. Advocates push it as a gun-rights crusade, but it's goon rights they're really out to protect and expand.
No, it's goon rights they are out to curtail ...
Probably shouldn't have abandoned evil intent as a necessary component for a crime to be committed ...
Interesting ...

2009-10-16

I need to give Linux some more thought and experimentation ...
Here, here ...
It looks like the Air Force will be getting a new toy.  The Pentagon recently awarded a nearly $52 million contract to speed up delivery of the "massive ordnance penetrator" or MOP.  The MOP, which will be the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal, is a precision-guided bomb that will carry 5,300 pounds of explosives and is designed to destroy deeply buried and hardened underground targets.  Not surprisingly, the MOP began development during the Bush administration – which certainly would have coveted such a weapon as part of its policy of preemption (more properly prevention since the Bush administration’s national security policy called for preempting emerging threats before they materialized rather than preemptive defense against known, imminent threats).  What is surprising is that the Obama administration has decided to accelerate the program so that the MOP can be aboard B-2 stealth bombers as soon as next summer.
Hmmm ... the Iranian leadership must WANT their country reduced to a smoking glass crater ... crazy bastards ...

2009-10-14

Perez-Hernandez, a painter by trade, was having trouble finding jobs because of 2002 felony domestic violence convictions in King County, Engle said.
A mug shot to compare to the ATM caps would be helpful, here ...
Interesting ... uhhh ... points ...
Cool pic, too ...
Hmmm ...
Don't vote for ANYONE that isn't actively pursuing the policies you want in place ...
He's never really acted like that much of a conservative so this should come as no surprise ...
The surveillance audio/video of a gun fight in a Toledo bar ...

2009-10-12

As usual, the cameras weren't helpful to the people being beaten ...
Interesting ...
So far, the space tourism has been surprisingly safe.
It's unfortunate that it frequently starts that way but rarely has the happy ending ...
[Smile]
I was looking at these at Fry's over the weekend and found that there was almost no information about the encryption on the box (it said there was encryption but not what kind or anything). I guess it's a sign that you're getting old when you expect manufacturers to talk about their products on the containers ...
The is worth spending some time with, but don't go crazy on it. Get a couple of thumb drives and experiment with the different features and processes before you try to encrypt your operating system or something else that is equally risky and probably completely unnecessary ...
A new experience and a fun story to tell ...
Let the kids sing their song. I'm sure the parents can get them out of it if they think it's appropriate or necessary.

2009-10-11

You might try memorizing a long poem or something like that and then cycle through uses of the first letter of however many words are needed to hit the right password strength, next pass use the first and third letter, etc. It makes it easier to remember the new password each time because you remember the previous password from having used it for 3 months and you know the algorithm for choosing each 'next' password ...
It might mean that, though ...
Hmmm ... never heard that he was yelling anything at the time ...
The trouble with reading/hearing about this sort of thing is that it's difficult to ascertain whether they have some legitimate gripe of whether they just like perpetrating violence. You're going to hear both versions and you can't really know ...
I've always (since a few seconds ago) wanted a chateau ...
I do so love it when they fight back ...
The WaterWall is an end-to-end water security management system that provides government and municipality water utilities the ability to prevent, protect, detect, manage, and recover from everyday tasks to minor events and major crisis. These events include accidents, natural disasters, operational faults, contaminations, and sewer leaks to sabotage, chemical/biological materials, terror, and cyber crimes. Through online, real time data streaming the WaterWall collects and manages all information from the physical protection components and the water monitoring systems. The WaterWall unifies security and information systems to provide early warnings, and manage all events. It achieves this by using a sophisticated model composed of dynamic semi automatic procedures and on demand communication tools. With this, the WaterWall can manage manpower and resources to support all operational needs. Furthermore, the WaterWall reduces potentially costly human error, and makes it easier to establish and maintain compliance with industry and government regulations. The WaterWall also dramatically improves the speed and effectiveness of incident response and recovery while actually reducing operating costs. It"s a solution that creates an environment where all current and future technologies, people and actionable procedures are fused into a unified, control and management platform empowers control room and/or remote control personnel to focus on all aspects of management from one location.
Interesting ...
One of the first two guys looks like he is aware that something is amiss but doesn't seem to realize what. (my guess is there's a distinct lack of water in the area where he's used to seeing the ocean.) The third person definitely realizes what's wrong and high-tails it. Presumably the video ends when the power shorted out ...
According to a report in Nature News, the suspect, a French-Algerian, was taken into custody by French police on October 8 in the town of Vienne. He is believed to be a postdoc at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) who, since 2003, has been performing data analysis on one of four major experiments at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. French antiterrorism police arrested the 32-year-old researcher together with his 25-year-old brother. The duo is suspected of passing along information about possible terrorism targets inside France to members of al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb - the North African wing of al-Qaeda. There is no evidence that his work at CERN is connected to terrorism, according to laboratory spokesman James Gillies. 
Hmmm ...

2009-10-10


"A while back, our New York Mayor Bloomberg came down here to take away some of your Virginia gun rights," a man says in the spot, in a Sopranos-like accent. "You see, the mayor thinks you guys are responsible for our New York crime problem. But when Mayor Bloomberg got down here, your guy, Bob McDonnell, kicked him out of Virginia. Now that was very disrespectful." Contacted about what the spot meant with the claim that McDonnell "kicked [Bloomberg] out of Virginia," an NRA representative said it was a reference to the fact McDonnell sent Bloomberg a "cease and desist" letter. He also pointed to McDonnell's work with the legislature to make sure sting operations would be illegal. "So now I'm here to make sure Mr. McDonnell doesn't get in New York's way again," the man continues in the ad, as Italian-style music plays in the background. "Listen to me: When you vote, I strongly suggest you forget about your freedoms and your Mr. Second Amendment Bob McDonnell. I want you to do it for New York. If you know what's good for you."
If means is lacking, intent is irrelevant ...
I'm happy to see more folks getting into the biz, maybe the prices will come down ...
If/when they catch him it will be interesting to see what his invisibility methodology looks like. He has to be in a situation where something other than his appearance causes peoples eyes to pass over him, or recognize him and then discount the possibility that he's the River Rat ...
This is pretty funny. I would like to see everyone develop their martial ability to the point where random attacks on the street become a thing of the past ...

2009-10-08

Seems like a good basic primer ...
No matter how happy you are when you're at the mall buying your first gun, don't jump up and down yelling 'I've got a gun, I've got a gun!'

Great movie ...

Last year, in the landmark case of District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court held that the Second Amendment guarantees an individual right to keep and bear arms. However, as that case concerned the actions of the District of Columbia government, a federal entity, the high court was not called upon to decide whether the right bound states and local governments. Over the years, almost the entire Bill of Rights has been held to apply to state and local governments by operation of the Fourteenth Amendment.“The freedoms we enjoy as Americans are secured to us against violation by all levels of government,” noted Alan Gura, of Gura & Possessky, PLLC, lead counsel for the McDonald plaintiffs. “State and local politicians should be on notice: the Second Amendment is a normal part of the Bill of Rights, and it is coming to your town.”

2009-10-06

I think most people know what to look for. The problem is that they ultimately don't trust you enough to expose themselves unless they are really, REALLY sure ...

Probably folded him up like a snotty tissue ...
Remember ... no matter how happy you are when you go to the mall and buy your first pistol, don't start jumping up and down yelling "I've got a gun! I've got a gun!"
A taxi driver, he had been detained on suspicion of attempted rape. The police interrogation was so relentless, he says, that it brought him to the brink of suicide. "When I first started saying I was innocent the intimidation and the pressure on me grew stronger," he said. "They kept saying, ‘Your family is giving up on you, they’re very disappointed in you.’ They kept repeating over and over. "I got to the stage of there’s really nothing I can do about this. Anything I say they’re not going to listen to, there’s nothing I can do. I just said yes, one word yes. That led them to arrest me." That confession was enough to see Hiroshi Yanagihara convicted and spend more than two years behind bars, even though a footprint at the scene did not match his shoe size. He was only cleared after he was released, when another man was found guilty of the crime.

2009-10-05

Police say that 61 year old Carlton L. Burgess of Lumberton, NJ had some sort of unknown dispute with Marcel Alston of Halifax, NC back in 1988.  It is said that the two men had not seen each other in several years, until Burgess came to Alston's home at 7AM and knocked on the door, waking him up.  When Alston opened the door, Burgess promptly began beating the man, leaving a gash on his head, according to police.  Alston is then said to have turned and ran up the stairs of his home, only to have Burgess shoot him in the buttocks and continue to follow him.  Alston was able to run upstairs, get his self defense gun, and fatally shoot Burgess in self defense after Burgess followed him into his bedroom.  Alston survived, and was treated at a nearby hospital for the gunshot wound and gash on his head.
Oh man ... not in the buttocks ...

Not much detail, but ...
The article doesn't really say whether they have someone watching the cameras all the time or whether there are people on campus that, once notified that something is going on, will be able to respond and come up with the right answer. The fact that they plan on reviewing potential security breaches at 'day's end' doesn't really load me with confidence that they have any idea what security is all about.

2009-10-04

Sooo right ...
In fact, developers claim the laser gunship would have sniperlike precision. When they requested the Advanced Tactical Laser to be deployed to Iraq a couple of years back, the Marine Corps envisioned using it as a way to target individual insurgents — to devastating psychological effect. Such weapons, when used against people, “can be compared to long-range blowtorches or precision flamethrowers, with corresponding psychological advantages for [Coalition Forces] CF,” the request stated. But don’t expect a frightening “spontaneous combustion” weapon to be fielded soon. The Advanced Tactical Laser is still a demonstration program; the company has proven that it can package a chemical-powered laser inside a C-130, but as Noah has been writing for years, it’s hard to see the practical application of flying around with lots of toxic chemicals.
Let me know when it's available as a sidearm ...

For those entranced by security theater, New York City is a sight to behold this week. A visit to one of the two centers of the action -- the Waldorf Astoria, where the presidents of China, Russia, the Prime Ministers of Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and the President of the United States -- are all staying. (Who gets the presidential suite? Our POTUS.) Getting to the Waldrof is a little intimidating, which is the point. Wade through the concrete barriers, the double-parked police cars, the NYPD mobile command post, a signals post, acreages of metal fencing, snipers, counter surveillance teams, FBI surveillance teams in street clothes, dodge traffic and a dignitary motorcade or two, and you're right at the front door of the hotel. A Secret Service agent from the Midwest gestured dismissively when a reporter showed him a press credential. "You don't need it. Just go in that door over there."
Have you ever worried that knuckle cracking will give you arthritis or wondered why pregnant women don't tip over? Me too. Research into those topics--as well as studies finding that diamonds could be created from tequila and giant panda feces are good for composting--received Ig Nobel Prizes in a ceremony on Thursday night at Harvard University. The prizes, awarded to scientific achievements that "cannot and should not be reproduced," are presented in the week before the real Nobel prizes are announced and are sponsored by the science humor magazine "Annals of Improbable Research." A Thousand Oaks, Calif., doctor won the Ig Nobel medicine prize for his firsthand research into arthritis in fingers. As a child and in adulthood, Donald Unger's mother, several aunts, and mother-in-law warned him that cracking his knuckles would lead to arthritis in his fingers. To test that theory, he cracked the knuckles of his left hand, but not the right hand, every day for more than 60 years.
This is a fairly exhaustive dissertation on personal security measures for traveling in terror-prone regions ...

This paper argues that terrorism, beyond its immediate impact on innocent victims, also raises the costs of crime, and therefore, imposes a negative externality on potential criminals. Terrorism raises the costs of crime through two channels: (i) by increasing the presence and activity of the police force, and (ii) causing more people to stay at home rather than going out for leisure activities. Our analysis exploits a panel of 120 fatal terror attacks and all reported crimes for 17 districts throughout Israel between 2000 and 2005. After controlling for the fixed-effect of each district and for district-specific time trends, we show that terror attacks reduce property crimes such as burglary, auto-theft, and thefts-from-cars. Terror also reduces assaults and aggravated assaults which occur in private homes, but increases incidents of trespassing and “disrupting the police.” Taken as a whole, the results are consistent with a stronger deterrence effect produced by an increased police presence after a terror attack. A higher level of policing is likely to catch more people trespassing, and at the same time, reduce the number of property crimes. The decline in crimes committed in private houses is likely an indication that the tendency for individuals to stay home after a terror attack further increases the costs of crime.
Hmmm ...