Tag: Security

So the TSA is Security Theatre

Wow I couldn’t say I saw this coming. Another, “No Shit. How could people not get that?” post on Bruce Schneier’s blog leads to a research paper stating that people can improvise weapons on an airplane.

Really? NO WAY! I present the paper’s abstract:

Commonly available items including a ball point pen, a plastic knife, a broken wine bottle, and a broken wine glass were used to inflict stab and incised wounds to the necks of 3 previously euthanized Large White pigs. With relative ease, these items could be inserted into the necks of the pigs next to the jugular veins and carotid arteries. Despite precautions against the carrying of metal objects such as knives and nail files on board domestic and international flights, objects are still available within aircraft cabins that could be used to inflict serious and potentially life-threatening injuries. If airport and aircraft security measures are to be consistently applied, then consideration should be given to removing items such as glass bottles and glass drinking vessels. However, given the results of a relatively uncomplicated modification of a plastic knife, it may not be possible to remove all dangerous objects from aircraft. Security systems may therefore need to focus on measures such as increased surveillance of passenger behavior, rather than on attempting to eliminate every object that may serve as a potential weapon.

Hell I might even be able to use my laptop as a bludgeon weapon! I could also choke somebody to death with the power cord. Wait scratch that I could beat somebody to death the the power brick end of the power cord. Fuck it’s almost like I could even use my bare hands to kill or injure somebody on a plane.

I couldn’t have seen that coming. Anyways I apologize for no direct link but the paper is on a site that requires a subscription to gain access to their papers.

Always Carry in a Holster

Says Uncle brings us a story where the moral of the story is if you’re carrying make sure your noise maker is in a holster. Mitchum Patterson didn’t follow this precaution and suffered a negligent discharge. Worse yet he was illegally carrying the gun on school grounds which of course should be impossible since it’s a gun free zone. Here is the situation:

A Dallas Independent School District maintenance worker is recovering at Parkland Memorial Hospital after shooting himself with a gun he carried onto an elementary campus.

Here is how it happened:

Mitchum Patterson, 52, shot himself accidentally in his right thigh as he bent over inside a maintenance closet at Umphrey Lee Elementary School. The employee, who has worked at DISD for 14 years, had the loaded gun tucked in his pants.

Here is what he’s facing:

DISD police plan to charge Patterson, who has been suspended from his job, with a third degree felony once he is released from the hospital.

Patterson could face two to ten years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if convicted. However, judges have the right to give probation in some cases.

And to think that could be have been voided by a $10.00 Uncle Mike’s holster. But the absolute best quote in this article is:

“It was crazy because our kids are here,” said Laquecia Smith, a parent. “It’s supposed to be a gun-free zone. You see the signs up and down the street.”

Wait you mean those signs can’t actually enforce themselves? OH SHIT! WARNING! People CAN bring guns into gun free zones! How is this possible? THERE ARE SIGNS!

Another Shooting

When it rains it pours. Another shooting occurred only a day after the previous. This time in Orlando, Florida. Jason Rodriguez, 40, not a Muslim opened fire in the office building where it works killing one person. Police arrested him after he fled to his mother’s home (because gosh nobody will think to look there).

It’s interesting to note that neither of the two shooters offed themselves. That’s usually the first thing these psychos do when cornered by the police.

Mass Shooting on Fort Hood

I’m sure you’ve already heard about the shootings that occurred at Fort Hood. Major Nidal Malik Hasan used two handguns to kill 13 people and injure another 28. He was an Army psychologist who was facing deployment to Afghanistan.

Details are still emerging but I can guarantee the anti-gunners are going to scream for more gun control on civilians even though Major Hasan is military. That’s just a prediction. Likewise the Obamessiah had a statement about this:

It is difficult enough when we lose these brave men and women abroad, but it is horrifying that they should come under fire at an army base on US soil.

You know what? Bring our men and women back home and they won’t face the first and probably not the second either. Seriously why are we sending our soldiers to fight in a God forsaken part of the planet where we have no business? Cripes!

Oh yeah I forgot one detail which apparently was important enough for the BBC to bring up right away:

Maj Nidal Malik Hasan, 39, a US-born Muslim,

Yup he’s Muslim which means we’ll probably be jacking up racial profiling against Muslims again. We need to keep our country safe and the only way to do that is to discriminate against an entire religion because a very very small minority of extremists of that religion have done horrible things. Oh yeah and their a minority in this country, that’s important to. You can’t persecute the majority after all since, well, they’re the majority.

Anyways that’s the story.

The BBC was also good enough to provide timeline of events in relation to the shooting. Some things are brought up.

First off the guns used by Major Hasan were not military issued so the anti-gunners are going to be dancing in the blood with this one. They’ll of course ignore the fact that they say military personnel should be allowed to still have guns since they are trained and so super human that they would never do anything bad with a gun… oh wait.

Likewise the BBC is reporting there was only one shooter while other venues reported multiple shootings. Generally I trust the BBC over American news sources. Either way Major Hasan is in custody and alive although with four additional holes thanks to one brave individual who hasn’t been identified (that I know of).

The Real Terrorists

We have billions of dollars being spent every year on homeland security. All this money is being spent to fight the terrorists that are so frightening we passed the PATROIT Act.

But alas we’re not targeting the actual terrorists. The ones who damage of power infrastructure and deny American citizen’s their God given right to life, liberty, and television. That’s right I’m talking about squirrels.

A hat tip goes to Bruce Schneier’s blog for this little tidbit of information.

This is Why You Don’t Comply with Criminals

You know what the anti-gunners always say, comply with criminals and you’ll be better off than if you defended yourself. The phrase, “Just give them want they want” is often used by those against the right of self defense.

The problem is you’re making a contract with a person willing to cause you harm. I present and example showing why compliance isn’t a substitute for self defense.

Here is the story summed up. A many breaks into a family’s home and robs them of valuables. After the even the family report the incident to the police and then get a shotgun in case they experience anything like that again. Well the thug was so pissed off that the family reported him that he returned with intent to kill the family. He met the business end of a shotgun.

Remember when dealing with unscrupulous people there is no guarantee that they won’t decide to turn around and murder you after you’ve done everything they say. On the other hand dead criminals can’t harm anybody. And that is my thought of the day.

Amtrak Shenanigans

So recently an amendment to Amtrak’s appropriation bill states that they will lose a huge chunk of money unless they allow passengers to transport firearms on board in a manner similar to airliners. Great idea! Ever since 9/11 Amtrak has had a zero guns in any form policy on their trains. Well now Amtrak is crying that they can’t meet the deadline for this policy change:

Amtrak and its defenders in Congress have argued that the government-owned train company needs more time and resources before it could allow firearms onto trains.

“We don’t think we’ll be able to do that March 31 deadline, and, of course, finding the funding to make all of that happening,” said Amtrak spokesman Steve Kulm. Failing to meet that deadline and missing out $1.5 billion in appropriated funds, its entire funding request for 2010, would bring a “cessation of train service nationwide,” Amtrak Chairman Thomas Carper wrote to appropriators last month.

So they are saying they can’t meet the deadline to do something they used to do before 9/11? Really? It seems to me they just have to do the exact same thing they used to and nothing else will need to change.

Loaded Chamber Indicators

Tam has a post mostly talking about how loaded chamber indicators are a bad idea. I agree with what is said, what purpose does a loaded chamber indicator serve other than a false sense of security. I carry an XD which is a gun equipped with a loaded chamber indicator and still physically check the chamber when I want to see if the gun is unloaded (Dry fire practice and cleaning).

I guess I don’t care that it’s on the gun since if it breaks it doesn’t dampen the reliability of the gun. It’ll shoot with or without it.

I Can’t Believe I’m Defending the TSA

But hey when somebody doesn’t fuck up it’s just as important to report it as when they fuck up. I found out that there is one time when the TSA didn’t actually act like jack booted communist check point military personnel.

A while back a women posted a story about how a TSA agent took her baby and ran off with him. She claimed the TSA agent said he needed to search her child and after handing her child over the TSA agent just kind of waltzed off.

Well TSA decided this bullshit story was a little to harming to their reputation. To point out the fact the above mentioned mother lied the TSA posted the surveillance video of that search on the TSA blog (yeah they have a blog and it’s so stupid it’s funny to read).

I hate the TSA as much as anybody else who has flown on a plane but I’m not going to start fabricating lies about them. Seriously that mother should have thought before posting that melodramatic heap of bull shit. Did she honestly think the TSA didn’t video tape those secure areas?