Jihad 2.0

This has got me a little concerned.

On October 17, 2006, an Islamist website posted a message titled "You Can Spy on the Enemies' Airports Directly by Controlling the Cameras' Direction." The message contains a link to a screen showing what it claims to be a live view of various areas within Anchorage International Airport via several cameras (http://209.193.48.89/view/index.shtml). The message gives directions for how to control the cameras and promises to provide links in the future for other airports as well.

The sample screen-shots on that page are from "Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport". I thought one of the requirements of having a place named after you was being dead (or is it for his father?)

The TSA and Homeland Security like to tout their initiatives to prevent unlikely movie-style terrorist plots and waste time foiling unlikely binary explosives. How about they spend just a teeny amount on securing our nation's airport computer networks?

The new arena of war and agression is the Internet. And the new special forces in this theater are the hackers (for good or ill).

And if you don't beleive that Islamic terrorists do not have people actively attacking our network infrastructures... well, I have a bridge in Alaska I want to sell you.

Terrorists? Who Needs 'Em?

We do a fine job by ourselves.

Yesterday, while discussing the new rules a fellow Flyertalker suggested we write "Kip Hawley is an Idiot" on the outside of our clear plastic quart bags. So I did just that.

Actually, that's pretty funny. It's funny because it's true.

He grabbed the baggie as it came out of the X-ray and asked if it was mine. After responding yes, he pointed at my comment and demanded to know "What is this supposed to mean?" "It could me[an] a lot of things, it happens to be an opinion on mine." "You can't write things like this" he said, "You mean my First Amendment right to freedom of speech doesn't apply here?" "Out there (pointing pass the id checkers) not while in here (pointing down) was his response."

This is where the TSA officer is wrong. Unless I completely misunderstand, I thought the TSA was serving as an "actor of the state". In that case the First Amendment surely does apply.