[CS-FSLUG] [PD] Re: NYC Subways Under Heavy Guard From Terror Threat

[David Aikema]

Ah yes... more journalistic sensationalism and security theater.  (And
again, what relevance does this have to open-source software.  This is
a mailing list with a specific focus, not your personal newsletter)

First, having a few armed officials in a subway station hardly
constitutes heavy guard.  I've been in spots in the world where they
have heavily armed uniformed personnel + heavy armed plainclothes
security personel + multiple screening machines that people must pass
through to enter a particular place.  Is that happening here?  I
highly doubt it.

Secondly, what exactly are these people planning to do?  Do they
expect a terrorist to walk in with a suitcase labelled "this is a
bomb"?  [in which case, the suitcase probably doesn't contain a bomb,
but is instead a distraction away from the person actually carrying a
bomb].  If using biological weapons, what use are guns in stopping it?

What use are some of the present security measures?
Regarding the liquid rules on airlines, the TSA's own blog notes that
"The preparation of these bombs is very much more complex than tossing
together several bottles-worth of formula and lighting it up. In fact,
in recent tests, a National Lab was asked to formulate a test mixture
and it took several tries using the best equipment and best scientists
for it to even ignite. That was with a bomb prepared in advance in a
lab setting. A less skilled person attempting to put it together
inside a secure area or a plane is not a good bet. You have to have
significant uninterrupted time with space and other requirements that
are not easily available in a secured area of an airport."
(http://www.tsa.gov/blog/2008/02/more-on-liquid-rules-why-we-do-things.html)

U.S. government documents also note that security measures were put in
place prior to any evaluation of their effectiveness (see
http://www.gao.gov/products/GAO-07-634 ... more detail in
http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7633/1290)

Dave

On Wed, Nov 26, 2008 at 8:09 PM, Fred A. Miller <fmiller at lightlink.com> wrote:
> http://www.newsmax.com/insidecover/NY_subway_terror/2008/11/26/155489.html?s=al&promo_code=721F-1
>
> --
> "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties
> than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to
> control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by
> deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks
> will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up
> homeless on the continent their fathers conquered." Thomas Jefferson, 1802
>
> _______________________________________________
> ChristianSource FSLUG mailing list
> Christiansource at ofb.biz
> http://cs.uninetsolutions.com
>