Full Body Scans

[guido911]

If I were the soldier, I would have been tempted to demonstrate how an unloaded carbine could be used as a weapon.  It would have left a lasting... impression.

Wouldn't ever want to get butt stroked (that's what we used to call it) by one of these.

[nathanm]

To travel on an airplane with me?  yes.

Why does it matter who is on the plane with you if they don't have any weapons? It's not as if there have never been incidents of seemingly normal people flying off the handle and beating up fellow passengers and/or flight attendants before.

The ID check is nothing more than revenue protection for the airlines. Which is why the airlines began asking for ID long before 9/11.

[BKDotCom]

Bruce Schneier is a security guru who's been vocal about the "security theater" and airport security has a good roundup of coverage and while the pornoscanners are worthless.

http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2010/11/tsa_backscatter.html

BTW:  odds of getting cancer from the scanners is about the same as getting blown up by terrorists.

[BKDotCom]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-31727_162-20023426-10391695.html

Airport Body Scanners: Less Invasive Technology is Out There

Why are we trying to solve a human / intelligence problem with technology?

[nathanm]

Why are my rights "violated" when someone at the polls asks for my ID, but not when someone at the gas station asks for it?

I would think that you would be keenly aware of the difference between government and private enterprise, and why the government doing something may just be worse than private enterprise doing it. Although these days, with the massive private databases we're all cataloged in, I think it may be time for a reevaluation of all that.

Also, Schneier is awesome in ways completely unrelated to his commentary on TSA.

[dbacks fan]

And people wonder why I haven't flown since 1999. I don't fly much and don't have a problem with flying, but since 9/11, and all of the changes it became apparent to me and the former mrs. that most places we might go to are maybe a day or two day drive and we could plan it that way. Most of the places we would go were usually 8 hours at the most, and with all the requirements to fly it was simpler, easier, and quicker to drive 99% of the time. My comment used to be "Remember when racing was dangerous and sex was safe?" Now it's "Remember when flying was convenient and driving was a hassle?"

[Townsend]

Why does it matter who is on the plane with you if they don't have any weapons? It's not as if there have never been incidents of seemingly normal people flying off the handle and beating up fellow passengers and/or flight attendants before.

The ID check is nothing more than revenue protection for the airlines. Which is why the airlines began asking for ID long before 9/11.

Makes me feel better to think someone's attempting something to effect my health in a positive way.

[RecycleMichael]

Maybe one should take Viagra and insist on the aggressive patdown.

[nathanm]

BTW:  odds of getting cancer from the scanners is about the same as getting blown up by terrorists.

From the millimeter wave scanners, yes. From the backscatter x-ray scanners? It's not at all clear. The FDA says it's fine. Some respected scientists in the field say it needs more study to be sure.

The main issues being that:

a) the controls on the scanners haven't been rigorously tested to make sure that they shut down rather than exceed the intended dose
b) unlike a standard X-Ray most of the energy is dissipated in the outer inch or so of your body and the Compton scattering, which is what they measure, necessarily implies that chemical bonds are being broken in your cells. If it so happens that your DNA gets hit, this can lead to mutations and cancer if your damaged cells don't properly undergo apoptosis. Some people are more prone to this, especially women who have a history of breast cancer in their families.

I'm no physics expert, I'm just repeating what I've read.

[patric]

Rep. John J. Duncan Jr., former Chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee and the current top Republican on the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, blasts TSA's invasive "pat downs" during a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives on November 17, 2010. Duncan also questions the role of lucrative government contracts in TSA's new naked body scanning machines.
The former secretary of Homeland Security, Michael Chertoff, represents Rapiscan, the company which is selling these scanners to his former department.

It's a little clearer, now.

TIA has the option of firing TSA and using private security.  Sounds like Mayor Bartlett should chime in on that.

[guido911]

[guido911]

Let's strip search kids!!!

[Red Arrow]

I guess the terrorists have won.  Our transportation system is in chaos.

(Chaos is NOT a town east of Tulsa.)

[patric]

I guess the terrorists have won.  Our transportation system is in chaos.

The terrorists won when they frightened us into making a free country something much less.

[cecelia]

I'm glad to see your posts again, HT.