Brutkey

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

The Trump regime wants to start making a list of Jews (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/us/eeoc-university-pennsylvania-antisemitism-jewish.html). Now where have I heard that one before?

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

Looking back at the proceedings of Usenix '84, the first time I was on a program committee (https://archive.org/details/1984-proceedings-summer-salt-lake-city/page/n3/mode/2up). There were two program co-chairs and four PC members… This year, Usenix Security has >400 people on its PC. ( @lauren@mastodon.laurenweinstein.org, I see that you were at that conference, too.)

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

I'm at Usenix Security in Seattle—and it turns out that Worldcon is in the same (massive) building. How I wish that they'd had a cross-registration agreement! (OTOH, it means that the Usenix attendees are not the strangest people wandering around…)
#usesec25

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

United's in-flight map today really had no idea when we were going to arrive. And it continued that way for the entire flight.

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

While looking for something else, I stumbled on some Borowitz Report pieces from 2006-7, during W's administration. Here's one quote, intended as satire in those halcyon days of yore:

"Moments after the merger [between the White House and Fox] was announced, Mr. Snow introduced the latest member of the Bush Cabinet, Secretary of Defense Bill O'Reilly.

In his first official act as Defense Secretary, Mr. O'Reilly called CNN 'a gathering threat' and added the cable news network to the Axis of Evil."

Back then, the thought of naming a Fox "News" host as Secretary of Defense was seen as preposterous.

The other good quote I stumbled on is this:

"The White House spokesperson said that the president refused to set a formal timetable for his withdrawal from reality, but added that it was
realistic assume that Mr. Bush’'s exit from the real world would be complete by year’'s end: '“It helps that he'’s ninety percent of the way there already.' ”"

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

Some years ago in January, I had a morning meeting in the White House complex. Walking from my hotel to the gate, I, too, was disturbed by the homeless people I saw. Why? It had snowed lightly overnight, and from the snow on their blankets it was clear that these people had spent the night outside.
*That's* what disturbed me—that in a country as rich as this one, people had to sleep outside in the snow, within blocks of the White House. (I don't remember for sure which park it was, but it was either Farragut Square, McPherson Square, or Lafayette Park—and the latter is literally across Pennsylvania Avenue from the White House.) The solution is not to deport them to West Hellhole, to avoid bruising 47's (or his enablers in the Cabinet or Congress) delicate eyes.

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

Many years ago (probably about 25), a Syrian-American told me a joke current in Damascus: each side felt that there would only be peace in the region if the othere side agreed to take Gaza.
https://flipboard.com/@newyorktimes/world-5f2k3dqjz/-/a-Q5oA5tT5TuOK48vDQvSNBw%3Aa%3A3195393-%2F0

Steve Bellovin
@SteveBellovin@infosec.exchange

This quote from the article has gotten far too little attention: "The second person said that roughly a dozen court dockets were tampered with in one court district as a result of the hack. The first person was not aware of any tampering but said it was theoretically possible."
https://mastodon.laurenweinstein.org/@lauren/114987795151116380