Full Body Scans

[cannon_fodder]

I thought I saw this in another thread, but a search did not find it so...

Tulsa is the test city for the new Full Body Scanners to replace metal detectors at airports.  It takes twice as long to go through than a metal detector (30 seconds per person not a big deal for an individual, but 30 seconds per person times any more than 120 an hour = trouble.  And 120 people an hour is a joke.) but are far more sensitive.  They produce an "image" of the entire person.

USA Today had an article on the Tulsa test today:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-02-19-airport-scanners_N.htm

Another article was run a couple days back:
http://www.usatoday.com/travel/flights/2009-02-17-detectors_N.htm





You can clearly see muscle tones, fat rolls, breasts including nipples, and even rather detailed images of genitals.  The degree of exact detail is adjustable as is the clarity of that detail.  However, the fact still remains that the government official will be able to ascertain if you are wearing a padded bra, how large a man's penis is, if your butt sags, if you have a flat stomach, do you have anything pierce that is usually covered... basically everything they could if they saw you naked.

Frankly, as a heterosexual male I could find such images of certain women to be of interest as it is one step removed from seeing someone naked.  Am I to assume that TSA Staff are professionals who will have no such interest?  It's a virtual strip search, IMHO.  Every man, woman, and child.  Certainly if I had such images of children on my computer the government would like to have a word with me. And it wouldn't matter if I blurred their faces...  but hey, don't worry:

quote:
The images are not sensitive, screeners said.

"They are not pornographic at all," Tulsa screener Debbie Shacklett said. "I don't look at them as people. I look at them as a thing that could have something on it."

It's not a naked person.  Just a naked thing.  Email pictures of your naked female spouse thing to me at...

Now, lets recall that all the blades used on 911 were allowed on planes, they were not forbidden weapons.  Lets recall that experts agree that removing our shoes at the airports has probably saved zero lives.  Let's recall that banning liquids was a farce (as proven by Popular Science & Myth Busters AND the fact that you can still bring any amount of saline or other 'medical' liquids on board without them even opening the container).  

Is it neat?  Sure.  Will it help protect airports?  Certainly it can.  Is it a revealing, potentially embarrassing and ripe for abuse (how long until the first body scan website is posted, our government loses computers from NUCLEAR ARMS LABS fairly regularly), yes.  Given that security at airports has not really been a problem, I'd say the trade off in liberty is not worth the added illusion of security.

[RecycleMichael]

I have a flight next week.

My plan is to use tape plastic letters under my shirt that say "not a threat".

[nathanm]

I agree 100% with CF. We've gone insane when it comes to security theater at our airports. (and elsewhere to a somewhat lesser degree)

Metal detector and perhaps an explosives sniffing machine is all that's needed. There's no need for the TSA to strip search everyone who passes through the security checkpoint.

What's next? "Can you lift your scrotum, please?" They do it when you're booked into jail, so why not at the airport? You could be hiding a razor blade under there, after all.

[grahambino]

i'm not going through that thing.

i'm going to make them work to not find anything on me.

[MDepr2007]

I wonder what the ratio will be on women muslims being told to go in it vs. any other race.

[Red Arrow]

quote:Originally posted by MDepr2007

I wonder what the ratio will be on women muslims being told to go in it vs. any other race.

I understand the profiling idea you present but Muslim is a religion, not a race.

[shadows]

I was not aware that the electronic rays were not associated with the X-Ray  family where constant exposure has a very detrimental effect on the reproduction of the body cells.   These rays may be like tobacco that was, not harmful to the body cells until the later part of the 20 century.

Of course a shoe string was a very effective weapon used by the Japanese in WW11 when it was used to strangle the GI sitting in their fox holes.   Next shoe string will be ban on flight or you will  have to wear string less  shoes.  

When they say that no pictures can be made where these pictures posed for to show the extent of the exposure?      

[jne]

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/TSA-Fracas-After-Body-Scanner-Reveals-TMI-92971929.html

[Townsend]

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local-beat/TSA-Fracas-After-Body-Scanner-Reveals-TMI-92971929.html

well that's a double whammy.  Now he's known for all the little things

[Conan71]

"[Negron] then told victim to kneel down and say 'your sorry,'" the report reads. "Victim stated he was in fear and complied with [Negron]."

PSYCHO alert!

Gawd I just love TSA.  What a great little industry that's become.  If that alone were President Bush's sole legacy, then yes, he's the worst ever.

[heironymouspasparagus]

And TSA is just that tiny little cherry at the top of the big ol' banana split Bush legacy.

[patric]

How much do you think TMZ would secretly pay a TSA worker for some celebrity scans?
It's only a matter of time.

[custosnox]

How much do you think TMZ would secretly pay a TSA worker for some celebrity scans?
It's only a matter of time.

Supposedly when the scans are in use by the public (this stemmed from a training scan), the scanner operator is in a remote location and does not interact with, or know who the person on the scanner is.  The scans that I have seen, which see through hair and makeup as well as clothes, makes it hard to reconize someone going through. 

[waterboy]

Like that matters. The babes on the internet are pretty well separated from me too. At least they get paid for dropping their shorts.

How do i get a job at this TSA outfit?

[custosnox]

Like that matters. The babes on the internet are pretty well separated from me too. At least they get paid for dropping their shorts.

How do i get a job at this TSA outfit?

You would also be forced to look at those that will leave you with nightmares for years.  I would always be in fear that my ex-mother-in-law would decide to fly somewhere