Body Scanners and why they're just terrible

[Eudaimonist]

Yes, the slippery slope, totalitarian 1984-esque 3rd Reich, no freedom and concentration camp dichotomy; there is no in between. Once you have airport security, that's it man; tomorrow we might see a swastika or an army of communist insurgents setting up a one party system.

That doesn't sound like ridiculous hyperbole at all.

"Stay home or move to Somalia where there is absolutely no government intrusion in personal affairs."

"Move to a dictatorship where there is absolutely no right to privacy."

I countered your statement with my own. If you think my statement was ridiculous, then so was yours.

Gotcha!


eudaimonia,

Mark

 

[xxthecapnxx]

@ shinbits . you say that this just stems from societal norms that suggest that nudity is wrong. The fact that you downplay it like that leads me to believe that you do not agree with society on this one. So I suppose you believe that clothes really aren't necessary and that posing nude isn't wrong either. I'll bet though that if your wife or daughter or sister wanted to pose nude in a magazine, say Playboy, you would have a bit of a problem with that. Ironically, though, you have no problem with your family members posing nude as long as its only for an audience of one person at a time and that person happens to be employed by the TSA.

 

[catzrfluffy]

Try these!

Fourth Amendment Underwear.

 

[xxthecapnxx]

Yeah, infowars is a conspiracy site filled with all sorts of insane theories. That is simply another one of them.

Okay sure. Let's completely throw out the possibility that the suspicious underwear bomber situation was orchestrated by a branch of our government. Does it not still seem fishy how Michael Chertoff works so hard while in office to get these things approved, then turns around and profits from the sales of the scanners later on? This time I'm not taking anything from infowars, this is from Huffington Post. Fear Pays: Chertoff, Ex-Security Officials Slammed For Cashing In On Government Experience
I mean come on this whole thing just stinks!
What kills me the most is how people like Chertoff know that they can get away with this kind of stuff because they know that the average american is far too apathetic to care about any of this. We allow this robbery take place, and we allow our rights to be infringed on in the process. I believe that since America has seen so much prosperity in the past, the general public hasn't really been too worried about what's happening in Washington. Greedy higher-ups in the beuarocracy have really learned how to capitalize on the general public's apathy.
I feel that Christians should be united in trying to stamp out this corruption. We are called to not be apathetic. In fact we are called to be somewhat restless, to be discontent with the world. Further we are called to be the salt of the earth, and in this case I think it means that we need to be informed enough to take a unified stand for what is right.

 

[KIYX]

I thought it funny that Fergie and a actress who was on baywatch were "randomly" chosen to be viewed thru their clothes.

Perverts.

 

[Mystman]

I thought it funny that Fergie and a actress who was on baywatch were "randomly" chosen to be viewed thru their clothes.

Perverts.

There are at least a hundred (semi) known good-looking women. If 10% (or whatever) of airtravelers are randomly chosen to go through the scanner, some of them are going to be part of the "famous and hot" group.

 

[xxthecapnxx]

There are at least a hundred (semi) known good-looking women. If 10% (or whatever) of airtravelers are randomly chosen to go through the scanner, some of them are going to be part of the "famous and hot" group.

I have a hard time believing that Fergie would get chosen "at random." Come on the system is not that rigorous, there is certainly room for the agents to use discretion in choosing who they scan. If the system was that rigorous, where say the agents would just scan every 10th person, then that would mean that the system would be predictable, and therefore susceptible to avoidance. In order for such an agent to justify choosing Fergie as the one in ten, that agent would have had to decide that Fergie was equally or even more likely to be a terrorist. That would be impossible to justify, seeing as how Fergie is known to be a pop star, not a terrorist. Anyway I'm not saying that the "randomly chosen" theory is impossible, but it just sounds unlikely given the circumstances.

 

[KIYX]

Yeah I'm sure it's just a coincidence that fergie and a playmate were chosen for the body scanner.


/wink

 

[Mystman]

In order for such an agent to justify choosing Fergie as the one in ten, that agent would have had to decide that Fergie was equally or even more likely to be a terrorist.

As far as I know (haven't looked into it that much..), TSA agents aren't allowed to take into account whether someone looks like they're more likely to be a terrorist. Thus, the fact that she's star (and not a terrorist, although my ears might disagree..) should have no influence on whether she's randomly chosen.

Now, humans are notoriously bad at randomness, so unless they roll some dice to decide who gets picked for the scan, there's always going to be some non-random element. But as long as the only evidence for a hot-and-famous-biased picking process is "yeah I heard that at least 2 out of 239 hot-and-famous people who traveled by plane got scanned!", while on average you would expect 24 out of 239 travelers to be scanned, I'm not very impressed.

 

[Steve Petersen]

Oh, and then there's the unnatural amount of radiation concentrated on the skin, specifically the top of the head. Forgot that one.


So how is this not an infringement of rights again?

The amount of radiation from these machines is equivalent to 2 minutes at altitude in the plane you will be flying on.

 

[Paxton25]

Okay sure. Let's completely throw out the possibility that the suspicious underwear bomber situation was orchestrated by a branch of our government.

LET'S NOT! There are references to a CIA program called WOMAP, the Worldwide Operational Meet and Assist Program. As part of WOMAP, foreign dignitaries and their escorts — authorized CIA representatives — are exempt from screening, provided they’re approved in advance by TSA’s Office of Intelligence.(that's how this whole nonsense started)
TSA Leaks Sensitive Airport Screening Manual | Threat Level | Wired.com

 

[Dram the mighty]

Let me tell you something buddy. If my mother, father or wife were travelling on a plane, I couldn't care less about your "constitutional rights". If there's any chance that they would be safer from a madman or terrorist, then I am all for it. Your "rights" mean nothing to me when it's me or my loved ones travelling in a pressured metal tube 10,000ft above sea level at 700km/h.

Leftist civil libertarians make me sick to my stomach.

I agree completely. Safety of my family is paramount. Which is why I support a complete surrender to the maniacs that want to kill them. It's the only way to be sure that the nutters won't blow them up.

On the other hand...

Everyone has to remove their shoes because of an idiot that couldn't even set his own shoes on fire, and the scan/pat down is in place because of an idiot that couldn't manage to light his boxers. So what happens when one of these psychos manages to swallow something explosive? Compulsory endoscopy?

Incidentally, it occurs to me that, what with the extended lines to get into the scanners, a terrorist might consider it a bit of a success to blow him/herself up while standing in that line.

Just a (rather disturbing) thought.

 

[Paxton25]

People are kidding themselves if they believe these additional intrusive measures by 'Big Brother' makes air travel safer.

Pilot Hasseled by TSA After Uncovering Security Breaches at Major Airport - ABC News

Anyone who has worked in a commercial airport knows how porous & accessible the tarmac and planes are; that's by design. If you want secure air travel, buy your own plane & check it for tampering before each flight.