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One-way airline tickets considered suspicious
by James B. DiGriz 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

quoting from memory from the high-caliber discussion found on the "John Boy & Billy Big Show" this A.M. May be off on the details but I got the gist, *click radio on" [Female security "expert", did not catch her name] ...police are doing a good job of trying [that's a direct quote] to search cars parked in front of buildings [etc]...but people [now I'm gonna compress somewhat and use the "p" word, which she danced around.] should not get paranoid, see terrorists under every bush, and give up civil liberties, because that means the terrorists win. .... [Some retired gasbag of a general these guys trot out for every altercation, police action, etc. Tom something or other.] ...I have to disagree emphatically with that. Look at Israel, where 90% of suicide bombers are stopped because they're on constant alert. It's going to take an increased, sustained, constant state of awareness of what's going on around you....etc....etc... [discussion of suspicious parcels "forgotten" elided] [Terrorism Dr. Joyce] Oh, absolutely, Take one-way plane trips, for example. How many people need one way tickets? Why would they want them? [Insert additional comments from the show's peanut gallery here] If someone purchases a one-way ticket, they should be asked why. *click off* If an airline wants to search my luggage as a precondition of honoring my ticket, they're within their rights, insulting as that may be. My reasons for traveling are none of their business, though. Like anybody up to no good wouldn't have a convincing lie ready. America, get a fucking grip. jbdigriz -- "Sir, you've purchased a one-way ticket to Maranello. Mind telling me what your plans are?

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Re: One-way airline tickets considered suspicious
by mmotyka＠lsil.com 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

The point of airline security is to get the paying passengers safely from point A to point B. The ID requirement is an UNWARRANTED invasion. And I don't want to argue about how the BOR only applies to government interactions not private contracts : it's the spirit of the thing getting snuffed out that matters. Mike

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Your Blueprints, Sir?
by Dynamite Bob 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

An arab asking for blueprints right now is on par with Chekov's "take us to your nuclear vessels" line... FBI monitoring suspicious blueprint requests http://www.cnn.com/2001/US/10/10/rec.fbi.buildings/index.html WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The FBI is asking architects and building engineers across the country to report any suspicious requests for building plans, especially for federal buildings and projects, according to two industry groups. Since Sept. 11, a number of design and engineering firms have contacted their professional organizations about recent or past "unusual" requests for blueprints. These requests came both before and after the attacks. According to Phil Simon, a spokesman for the American Institute of Architects, the requests included plans for structures such as airport terminals and towers, federal office buildings, parking garages and museums. Simon would not characterize the number of these requests but said the subjects of the requests, and the details asked for, raised some concerns. The American Institute of Architects and the National Society of Professional Engineers reported their concerns to the FBI. The groups then sent a joint letter to their members, saying "The FBI is advising us to heighten our awareness." CNN Radio obtained a copy of that letter, sent in the past few days, asking architects and engineers to notify the nearest FBI bureau field office of any unusual requests. An AIA official said there may be nothing sinister about the blueprint requests. Often students ask for blueprints as part of their studies. <snip>

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No Spooks, Please. We're Academics
by auto301094＠hushmail.com 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Time October 15, 2001 Pg. 26 No Spooks, Please. We're Academics By Jodie Morse The best hope for finding and stopping Osama bin Laden, Donald Rumsfeld has said, is "a scrap of information." But it remains to be seen whether government officials would know how to translate that scrap. In the days following the attacks, the FBI appealed to speakers of Arabic and Afghan languages to sign up for its $ 27-to-$ 38-per-hour translator gigs. One reason for the shortage? The dearth of top-notch, well-funded Arabic departments at U.S. colleges. In the past year, the Defense Department has been quietly working with Congress and universities to ease this language barrier. A solution gaining favor is the creation of ROTC-style language academies at several campuses across the country. In exchange for free instruction in Arabic and other languages key to intelligence gathering, students would be required to serve in national-security jobs. But the idea hasn't been welcomed on all fronts. The University of Michigan declined an invitation last spring to participate in the fledgling Pentagon program. "We didn't want our students to be known as spies in training," says Carol Bardenstein, an assistant professor of Arabic language and culture at Michigan. "By intertwining intelligence and academics, we'd essentially be recruiting Arabs to later inform on members of their own community." The advocates of the program will pitch Michigan again next month. Perhaps Sept. 11 will bring a change of heart. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.0 wl8EARECAB8FAjvEm6UYHGF1dG8zMDEwOTRAaHVzaG1haWwuY29tAAoJEKadvsVlUK4P 6GAAoKQu0FB9wmNWQCTvIotkWqrHxwCUAJ9XSsK2ejSVB2TSt3IoXopb/HrKNA== =1HR/ -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----

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RE: who wants to be a millionaire
by Sandy Sandfort 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

"Nomen Nescio" writes: > Not so fast. How easy is it to fake your > own death? Very easy. It's been done numerous times in murder-for-hire cases. > You have to come up with a fake death > certificate. I'm sure the authorities will be more than happy to comply. By the way, Nomen, what do you know about death certificates? Don't you think someone going to the courthouse and asking to see one would come under some unwanted attention under the circumstances? > Obviously in a game such as AP, verifying > death is one of the most important aspects. Duh. That's just ONE of the reasons AP won't work. > It might be that only certain Death > Certificate Authorities (DCAs) come to > be accepted for players in AP. So now AP needs a new entity to be workable (check out Occam's razor, Nomen). Please explain who would become a DCA and how they would make money being a DCA. I'm sure I (or most any other Cypherpunk, for that matter) will be able to point out the holes in your argument in a couple of minutes. > This could be a lucrative new business op > for RSA/Verisign. Have they expressed an interest? It is naiveti in the extreme to seriously think they would even consider it. > In addition it may be agreed that the > payoff doesn't happen right away, but > only after the party has been gone for > some minimum period of time, say a year > or two. Not many targets will be willing > to disappear for two years from public > view solely in order to cause trouble for > the AP game. Close, but no cigar. Another 30 seconds of thought on the matter reveals the flaws. So first you need a DCA to make AP work. Now you need a hitherto not required delay for the theoretical DCA to do it's job. So a potential hit man has to think, "Maybe this guy is dead, maybe not. Maybe the people who've pledged money will pay me if I off the guy, maybe not. Now that it looks like he's dead, I can either wait up to two years or I can assume he's dead, put myself at considerable risk trying to find him (under heightened security if he IS alive), kill him without getting caught and wait two years to collect my bounty. Oh wait, if I kill a guy who everyone already think is dead, I'll a) have to prove he was alive, b) prove that I killed him, c) prove that the day I killed him was the correct date and d) still wait two years for the imaginary DCA to verify the death." Oh yeah, that'll work. > And even if it does happen, investors in > the removal of Mr. Target will enjoy at > least the partial satisfaction of getting > him out of the way for a couple of years. Mr. Target only stays hidden for two years if he wants to collect the reward himself. If you just wants to fuck with the AP system, he disappears for a few weeks, reappears and does it again. Rinse and repeat as often as needed. What hit man it really going to run the risks involved? What "investors" (you said pledges, that's not an investment) are going to stay on for the long haul? And what about the "free rider" problem? > Then if he does reappear, follow-on bets > will be established with even more stringent > conditions for verification and payoff. Yeah, that'll really motivate a hit man. Next. S a n d y

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Florida anthtrax was man made.
by Buzz LightYear 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

CNN is reporting that the Anthrax strain found in Florida was developed in an Iowa laboratory during the 1950's. However, they haven't named the lab or confirmed wether it is still in operation. http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/10/10/anthrax/ My guess it is the National Animal Disease Center (NADC) in Ames, Iowa and it is still in operation. http://www.nadc.ars.usda.gov/ The NADC is large facility on the east side of Ames (also home to Iowa State University, which has a well regarded agricultural and veterinary teaching and research programs). The facility's security is fairly high (chain link fencing with barbed wire, security patrols, "US government property, NO Trespassing" signs, etc.). >From what I recall the NADC is the agricultural animal version of the Center for Disease Control (CDC). They do a lot of research on nasty animal diseases (Foot and Mouth disease for example). It wouldn't surprise me that they have fiddled around with anthrax. What always made me nervous while living in Ames were the several plots of land (5-10 acres in size ) around the facility. There was nothing (no trees or shrubs, just grass) around them and a small cluster of buildings in the center. There was always one building in the cluster with what appeared to be an incinerator stack protruding from it. -Buzz _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp

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RE: US Food Aid Propaganda
by John Young 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

Peter Trei foolishly wrote: >The US airdrops replaced, at the very maximum, less then >2.5% of the food whose delivery was prevented by the >bombing. > >I'm reminded of the recent corporate ad from RJ Reynolds, >where they made of deal of delivering some amount (less >then 10 tons, I think) or aid to Kosovo. That amounted to >a single truckload. They then spent many times the cost >of the aid on airtime to trumpet their humanitarian efforts. This is the kind of statement that deserves reporting among the 250,000 tips the FBI has received on its finger-a-terrorist website hotline. Fucking traitors always disclose the classified bottom line math behind the body counts.

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too much credit (Re: US Food Aid Propaganda)
by citizenq＠hushmail.com 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

Principle of Mr. Occam: Do beware of attributing to malice that which can fully be accounted for by incompetence. >>> made of deal of delivering some amount (less >>> then 10 tons, I think) or aid to Kosovo. That amounted to >>> a single truckload. They then spent many times the cost >>> of the aid on airtime to trumpet their humanitarian efforts. >>> >> This is the kind of statement that deserves reporting among the >> 250,000 tips the FBI has received on its finger-a-terrorist website >> hotline. >> Fucking traitors always disclose the classified bottom line math >> behind the body counts. > > If a result of the bombing is to make humanitarian aid both easier and > ultimately less necessary then it'll have been worth it. Not that > that's the reason for it. > You think? Wiping out the airfields, knocking out the lines of supply, all of this is essential to getting several million Afghanis to flee onto the mountain trails, where the snows will soon get them. This is essential to rooting out terrorism by reducing the terrorist breeding grounds by several million. But, cheer up! 15,000 more orange food packlets are being scattered from 15,000 feet. And, I hear, at least 400 emergency tents are being dropped along the Khyber Pass. Operation Final Solution should be successful by, say, January 20th. We won't be able to do Bomb Damage Assessment until the spring thaw, however.

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by Hotwire 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

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RE: who wants to be a millionaire
by Nomen Nescio 10 Oct '01

10 Oct '01

Sandy Sandfort writes: > So, the pledges pour in. Now the intended target figures, hell, I'll > just predict my OWN death, fake it and anonymously collect those pledges. > Then I'll use whatever portion of the $60 million I actually receive to > buy better security. Rinse and repeat. Do you really think folks are > going to play the game again with Joe Target after he is resurrected? > Especially if he tells everyone exactly what he did and promises to do > it again if another price is put on his head? Not so fast. How easy is it to fake your own death? You have to come up with a fake death certificate. Obviously in a game such as AP, verifying death is one of the most important aspects. It might be that only certain Death Certificate Authorities (DCAs) come to be accepted for players in AP. They may require DNA evidence and other details that would raise the bar considerably for fakers. This could be a lucrative new business op for RSA/Verisign. In addition it may be agreed that the payoff doesn't happen right away, but only after the party has been gone for some minimum period of time, say a year or two. Not many targets will be willing to disappear for two years from public view solely in order to cause trouble for the AP game. And even if it does happen, investors in the removal of Mr. Target will enjoy at least the partial satisfaction of getting him out of the way for a couple of years. Then if he does reappear, follow-on bets will be established with even more stringent conditions for verification and payoff.

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