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2010-12-30

Video included

I guess it comes down to whether the Security Officer did, in fact, know who he is or not. It doesn't sound like he did based on the audio, and if he didn't then he was doing the right thing by not letting him in. On the other hand, if he did know who he was and was just being functionary, then he pretty well disqualified himself from the job.
That's really the problem ... cut off one head, five more grow back 'cuz there's money to be made ...

Also:
While drug violence spills into Texas from Mexico, a local state lawmaker is trying to hit cartels where it hurts the most — their supply.[caller.com]
I never really know what to think about Russian politics ...

2010-12-28

I don't recall hearing of any subway trains falling out of the sky carrying thousands of gallons of jet fuel recently ...
Hmmm, had his vest on - check, vanquished the baddies while taking hits himself - check, survived - check... gotta love it. I hope some video comes out on this.

Video included

It would be interesting to know how frequently, within the set of all weapon retention events, the perp goes for a cross-body approach such as seen in the video ...

Video included

This has been widely covered in the MSM but I'll put up this link as a refresher. The point of posting about this is to point out how questionable it was for the author to put up video about the airport security lapses without taking steps to ensure his own security first. Some editing, titles instead of voice-overs, some meta-data removal and an upload from an open wifi hotspot and the author would be sitting back enjoying the fracus rather than being the fracus ...
Hmmm ...
That's some well-thought-out patter ... certainly wouldn't make me suspicious ...
Even if surveillance didn't notice, his fellow dealers would have ratted him out, the employee chip bank (or wherever they convert their tokes to cash) attendant would have ratted him out, the poker players would have ratted him out ... sooner or later, you're going to get ratted out ...

Hopefully, we're back to the normal schedule now

2010-12-22

As they say, "Cool story, bro" ...
Gee, it's a good thing that tangos won't be smart enough to switch to other communication methods, because it they were, all the Indian gubmint would be able to do is compromise business secrets, etc. ...
An effective sniffer and a metal detector are everything you need to cover all the bases and neither have the negative externalities associated with some of the more recent developments ...
Always a mistake ...

2010-12-19

Hmmm ... I don't know the Springs milieu well enough to know whether this means his story wasn't hanging together or if they just arrest everyone involved (that isn't going to the hospital/morgue) ...
If he isn't found waxed, it sounds like you can probably assume it was the warden, maybe even if he IS found waxed ...

Update: This isn't to suggest that he mightn't have had real, REAL good reasons for doing it ... just saying ...

Bumped

I received a couple of comments about this article that bear addressing. 

Probably the most important aspect of this security failure is the fact that the traveler didn't 'realize' that his gun was in the bag. Also, when the red teams are conducting the tests referred to in the article, they know that there won't be any prison time or any other bad thing happen to them if they're caught. In both situations, the travelers aren't going to be giving off the cue's that would likely bring a TSA Officer's attention fully to the fore. It's easy to say "Oh, they should be fully focused on the screens the whole time they're on duty", and I agree that it would be nice if such were the case, but it just isn't ever going to happen. It's like driving down the highway. We really should be fully focused when we're out in our cars traveling 70-80 mph, but how often are we, really.

On the other hand, a traveler that 'knows' there are potentially going to be strongly negative repercussions for the items they choose to put in their bag is going to be fairly radiating cues that say "I'm your chance to be a hero, today!"

This shouldn't be construed as a defense of TSA, per se. Most of what they do is a waste of time and money. But one shouldn't assume that someone planning to go tango would be able to get through undetected just because someone that isn't planning such makes it through.

2010-12-18

Video included

This is mainly interesting because it serves to show how limited you are while you have a blam-blam in your paw. The minute you realize you're not going to be able to justify dropping the hammer, it becomes a real liability ...
Interesting ...
Bruce is always thought-provoking, just not always in a good way ...
Also ...
So true ...

2010-12-15

Video included

I would certainly like to see what's causing all the movement in the other room ... that's one hell of a long time to keep a life and death struggle going ... maybe it's just post-kill adrenalin-burn or something ...
Maybe he can superglue them together and make some nice coasters ...
Hmmm, I smell groundwork being laid ...
Also ...

2010-12-14

Video

Please note that his pants fall down around his ankles when he jumps over the counter ...
This was actually from the comments, but it set me all achuckle ...

Pics included

If options 2 and 3 aren't available, you may want to think about staying at better hotels ...
Provocativity is the opposite of invisibility ...

Also, in general, don't f*@% with the Wongs Anons ...
You can't repeat it too often: Today's the day, EVERY day!

Also, one facing the other way ... but the same rule applies ...

2010-12-11

Hi-res pics included

Hi-res pics here, here, here and here ...

Video included

Ahhh, your feather-duster technique is very good ... or I'm just an incredible wussy ...
Here are a couple of very similar sounding vacuum-oriented rules for life with very different meanings:
1) Don't be a sucker!
2) Try not to suck!
It's amazing how quick we are, as a people, to sell our souls to the devil ...

2010-12-10

Video included

This would be pretty horrendous ...
The fact that he's being held isn't good. Sound's like he didn't have much choice ...

(Hat-tip to Reprisal)

2010-12-08

It can't think of any reason why a timer wouldn't overcome this limitation ...

Wikileaks roundup

Plus some pushback:
And we mustn't forget the "poison pill" ...

2010-12-07

Not really Security-related but ...
How does the old saying go? Oh, yes! "A friend will help you move, but a REAL friend will help you move bodies ... "

2010-12-06

Video included

If it really only took 'a few seconds' to compromise the safe, then either the safe wasn't locked or it was an inside job. That just isn't enough time to open a safe without already knowing that the combo was pre-spun and ready for the last digit or that it wouldn't actually be locked to begin with ...

2010-12-05

Video included

Admittedly, the train was stopping anyway, but it does show a certain amount of wallendas ...
Fairly crunchy, but addresses the cloud storage issues and what that particular cloud vendor is doing about it ...
However ...

New START

2010-12-03

Hmmm ... struck me as a fairly sanitary assassination that just happened to use explosives ...

2010-12-02

It's always refreshing to read some 'Animal' ...
This is the first I've heard of this, but it's another example of why I say that everyone should remember: Today's the day, EVERY day!

New START

Interesting ... if true ...
I'd be interested in hearing that they'd swung by Frenchman Flats with a couple post-upgrade units and made sure they do, in fact, still work ...

2010-12-01

Video included

It doesn't say whether he was one of the forty people that just cut in line at the front, or not ...
Constructive notice ... that's going to be a problem ...
Richard's Second Natural Law of Security: It's easier to be invisible than it is to be invincible ... even doing crimes ...
It should read "... so you, too, can join the ranks of headless bridge decorations." I think passing out guns and ammo would be a lot more effective.
Who knows whether this article is true, factual, slanted, etc., but for the sake of argument we can take it at face value. 

A gubmint that turns the communities of their poorest citizens into a war zone so that they can can eventually host bigger sports events, probably at the behest of its wealthiest citizens, may need to stop and consider what effect that created violence will have on those citizens. Might not those citizens take sufficient offense to this gubmint action, due to collateral damage that the recipients find less acceptable than the gubment apparently did, that they decide to to take steps to inflict punishment on those responsible? Furthermore, due to the asymmetrical force projection capabilities of the two parties, might not whatever form that punishment takes end up being directed at the weak part of the offending edifice instead of the strong part of it, i.e. at the wealthy citizens instead of the gubmint itself?

As a Security Dude, it isn't that rare to hear statements like "It all started when he hit me back.", but thinking that way usually results in getting to have the opportunity to learn the lesson at least one more time.

TAR

Hmmm, the beginning of a 'torrent arms race' ...

2010-11-29

Hmmm ... interesting that such a hard-case would roll over with such alacrity. I wonder how many seconds it was after the arrest until his successor had consolidated his position...
I can't imagine everyone else not doing this ...

2010-11-26

That definitely took some stones ...
Not real heavy on details ...
You can have peaceful, quiet communities (on both sides of the border) or you can have a War on Drugs, but you can't have both ...
Includes a cool pic ...
If true, it sounds like a good reason to find another island to fire their artillery from ...
This is interesting primarily because it shows what the issues are even when you have surveillance video. The gross anatomy is very similar but when you go to compare the guys ears or hairline in the surveillance video to the ears/hairline on the TV video, there is more than enough errata on the surveillance video to put significant doubt in your mind ...
He doesn't appear to be controlling or even covering the customers very well. If either customer had been so inclined and properly armed, it looks like they had several opportunities to pop-a-perp ...

2010-11-23

I can't really figure out what the defense part is for (it's not like they could protect themselves from us if we actually felt like going in), so my suspicion is that it's ALL internal order and they're trying to keep from being strung up while they slowly abandon central planning (without admitting that it was an abject failure) ...
Hmmm ... I wish he wouldn't go on Alex Jones and I wish he wasn't right so often ...

2010-11-19

Video of an extremely well-executed, armed robbery ...

Assuming you HAD a concealed blam-blam, one would be hard-pressed to bring it into play in the amount of time available. Toward the end, the baddie appears to look away (down) from the clerk while in range of some effective techniques but it's happening so fast that the clerk is probably still wondering whether he's going to die from gunshots or heart failure. Unfortunately, the only cure for this sort of thing is a man-trap entryway and having one definitely sends a message to potential customers about the neighborhood they're fixin' to stay in.
Interesting essay by debunker with a solid reputation ...
Escalating the Drug War is a strategy without much past success to recommend it ...
Some cool pics of what could only be described as some big-assed subs ...

Plus, somewhat less cool pics of somewhat smaller subs ...
Apparently, they don't get a lot of real terrorism, thereabouts ...

2010-11-17

It looks like it might be a disguise ...
Doesn't sound like they're any closer to finding it ...
Plus a hi-res photo here ...
Plus some cool video ...
Fascinating ...

2010-11-16

There seems to be some HEAVY backlash building up over this. Now that the legis-weenies are all feeling insecure, it will be interesting to see how many come up with the right answer ...
Looks exceptionally unpleasant ...
Anything to avoid acknowledging that nasty old 'elasticity of pricing' model ...
News you can use ...