(Credit: John Wild (johnwild.info))
This image of an adult man was taken using a Rapiscan Secure 1000 backscatter X-ray scanner |
Two months ago, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano announced that the federal stimulus legislation would pay for the purchase of hundreds of controversial full-body scanners.
[…]
“We have received minimal complaints,” a TSA spokeswoman told CNET yesterday. She said that the agency, part of DHS, keeps track of air traveler complaints and has not seen a significant rise.A growing number of airline passengers, labor unions, and advocacy groups, however, say the new procedures–a choice of full-body scans or what the TSA delicately calls “enhanced patdowns”–go too far. (They were implemented without much fanfare in late October, amid lingering questions about whether travelers are always offered a choice of manual screening.)
Unions representing U.S. Airways pilots, American Airlines pilots, and some flight attendants are advising their members to skip the full-body scans, even if it means that their genitals are touched. Air travelers are speaking out online, with a woman saying in a YouTube video her breasts were “twisted,” and ExpressJet pilot Michael Roberts emerging as an instant hero after he rejected both the body scanning and “enhanced patdowns” options and was unceremoniously ejected from the security line from Memphis International Airport.
I would think that most people would not want to go through one of these scans. Plus, frequent flyers would build up a lot of radiation.
What happens to a microwave oven when you put tin foil inside it and turn it on?
What happens to your Backscatter Unreasonable Search and Seizure device when you put X inside it and turn it on?
A columnist with a blurry groin.”
[That was hilarious! – ed.]
they just want to know what/if your pack’n
In the second photo from the left you can clearly see that the fibula, distal tibia, and talus in both legs are clearly visible. They are the darkened areas in the lower leg.There is very little soft tissue in this area so it appears the “non- penetrating back-scatter” radiation is in fact penetrating quite nicely. I think I’ll have to look at some more TSA to try and see how deep the penetration into both our bodies and our 4th amendment rights these scanners go.
The waiting list to be a TSA employee and the rate of random pat-downs is much larger at LAX due to the high percentage of Hollywood starlets.
I’m sure the number of body scans and pat-downs of people that you’d never want to see or touch so out numbers the few that might be nice its a net loss. Even the few HOT ones after looking at scans or patting-down all day are probably just a job.
Folks need to get over them selves, not fly or all be willing to take the risk of bad stuff getting on the planes.
Now the build up of radiation might be a real concern but if you are that fearful of radiation you should not be flying at the high altitudes typical of commercial flights the naturally occurring cosmic radiation is much higher that what you will get from these backscatter X-ray scanners.
[I don’t know about that… read this. – ed.]
Howard the sheep coral is to the left.
It’s a difficult decision to protest the scanners by “opting out” when you’re at the airport and you need to make the flight and you can’t afford to simply throw away the money spent on the flight.
So, if you decide to protest, that’s fine, and I admire your decision.
Another approach would be, go through the scanner if you are required to, but make sure to mention to the TSA officer that the backscatter X-ray is cumulative – so the TSA guards standing around the scanner are all getting continuous doses all day.
Mention that it’s the reason your dentist leaves the room when they do an x-ray. Obviously the x-ray in the dentist is aimed directly at the patient, so there’s very little radiation exposure to the dentist. But the effect is still cumulative.
Imagine if 100s of travelers told their TSA guards the same story. You’re getting a cumulative radiation exposure just by standing next to the machine. You’ll all be getting cancer in about 5 years.
You think the union representing the TSA might decide to protest the scanners?
Enjoy that Kool-Aid Hugh
“Now the build up of radiation might be a real concern but if you are that fearful of radiation you should not be flying at the high altitudes typical of commercial flights the naturally occurring cosmic radiation is much higher that what you will get from these backscatter X-ray scanners.” (Howard Beal)
I’ve flown many thousands of hours over 30 of them at 56,000 ft in the Concorde with no ill effects from cosmic radiation. I’m not convinced it is a threat. If I concede your argument on ionizing radiation exposure I still cannot justify the naked scanners.
As a physician I have been trained to access the risks and benefits of any procedure I perform. These risk and benefits are derived from research by several sources all objectively reviewed before being adopted. These studies are not anecdotal stories from dubious sources.
As far as exposing anyone to radiation, the official stance of two commissions on radiation is :”In radiation protection, no exposure is justified unless it produces a positive net benefit (International
Commission on Radiological Protection [ICRP] 1991; National Council on Radiation Protection and
Measurements [NCRP] 1993).http://www.as-e.com/pdf/Health-Physics-Screening-Individuals.pdf“.
As there is absolutely no “positive net benefit” from using these scanners (millions of flights over 10 years with not one detectable event – paraphrase Dvorak). Irregardless of the cosmic radiation argument (or the 4th amendment argument) our nations definition of when we can use radiation precludes the use of these scanners.
#9. No, seriously Howard…sheep corral…to the left.
When they give you the choice to opt out of the full-body scan, you should ask if the new enhanced pat-down comes with a “happy ending.”
They might use a slightly lighter touch.
There are no surprises here this is all spelled out on your ticket agreement. If you want the to fly you agree to these security measures if you don’t like them don’t fly.
I don’t like them but the convince of flying I like more than my dislike for these security measures.
The added risk of a yet another dose of a small amount on radiation or unpleasantly of having strangers pat me down it part of the price of flying.
I’am just being a realest here.
I like how Howard likes to justify male TSA agents sticking their hands and fingers up little girls dresses into their crotch and rubbing and squeezing their breasts. I wonder if Howard is one of those that bought the pedophile book on Amazon?
Pres Obama needs to put an end to this nonsense.
The best way to address this is the Israeli method of heavy profiling by professionals.
Perhaps the reason he doesn’t disband the TSA is because the sheeple are conditioned by their Republican sheepherders to live in perpetual fear.
Any action to take away this false security blanket will create riots.
I always avoid the backscatter machines. Went through the MMW(millimeter wave) machines twice. Opting out doesn’t really add time, unless you get a TSA person who wants to ‘punish’ you for not obeying.
This alarmed me when it was published, and still alarms me.
#14
sorry Puppies
It’s TSA policy that passengers be screened by a Security Officer of the same gender. I have never heard of minors being “pat-down” without a parent or garden in the area. Show me link to a story of such an event from a news organization with some credibility for fact checking.
Are you worried that a TSA agent might see an image your your penises as one of hundreds or thousands he as seen that week or worse yet touch it through your clothes and his gloves as part of a pat-down?
You must have one special penises that it would even be noticed
Even then so what? Half the people on earth have a penises.
Oh-no some one I have never seen before and will most likely never see again saw a funky scan of my penises what he thought it was small,large,erect,bent,hung left or right. Really I just don’t care I want to be on a plane that will take me thousands of miles if a few hours That convince is worth it to me to put up with the “Security Show”
Sorry meant guardian not garden dyslexia is a bitch.
If I had tried to vote for Murkowski, Miller would contest it.
Howard,
No link as it happened to my neighbor and her daughter of 14, who I might add was raped 3 years ago. On Nov. 6th they were flying back from Seattle, the mother was taken aside out of site while the daughter was felt up by a male TSA agent. He used his hands to search up her dress until he pressed into her vagina, and felt, rubbed and squeezed her breasts. She hasn’t left her house since returning.
As a former law enforcement officer, I am livid and beyond pissed off. Had I witnessed it, the TSA agent would be in a world of hurt. Even if it was a female TSA agent, they are not POST certified nor are they peace officers in any capacity and have no authority, under US or state law to lay hands on any minor child of any gender, period.
Dallas said,
“Pres Obama needs to put an end to this nonsense. ”
Pull your head out of your ass so Obama can get further on up in ya.
/shakes head at blind and disillusioned liberal.
Terrible story and IF true that TSA agent should be arrested plus I sure hope they got the guy who raped her at 11.
This being the internet and I not knowing you sorry I can’t take just your word for it. People make stuff up all the time to support their points (see Alfred Persson)
Its a big country and the TSA has thousands of employes I’m sure a bad one gets hired every now and then just like with and large employer. I bet a few bad school nurses or priest get a job every once and awhile too.
Should we not let minors fly or go to church or school?
Law enforcement “Post Certification” is a State thing as far as I know but if you are suggesting that only TAS officers involved in pat-downs pass that part of your States Post Certification that has to do with pat-downs and treatment of minors I’d probably go for that.
I rather it was as easy to get on a plane as it was in the 1980s but these are the times we live in.
The Fourth Amendment (Amendment IV) to the United States Constitution is the part of the Bill of Rights which guards against unreasonable searches and seizures. The amendment specifically also requires search and arrest warrants be judicially sanctioned and supported by probable cause. It was adopted as a response to the abuse of the writ of assistance, which is a type of general search warrant, in the American Revolution. Search and arrest should be limited in scope according to specific information supplied to the issuing court, usually by a law enforcement officer, who has sworn by it.
To frisk someone is legal in certain situations with less level of suspicion, however, to conduct a frisk, officers must be able to point to specific and articulatory facts which, taken together with rational inferences from those facts, reasonably warrant their actions. A vague hunch will not do.
I support the US Constitution, and can therefore not support these searches of genitalia or body cavity searches which have no real probable cause. To allow the government to simply allow for any searches of property and person, including genetalia and body searches, because we want to “feel” safe is not appear to be enough justification because to do so, the government can then say we can totally disregard the 4th amendment completely.
Now some may say, “don’t fly then”, but the reality is that in the 21st century society, most of us cannot not fly anymore than we can not have electricity and expect to thrive in this society.
Police states are very secure and have low crime rates, but they are not states of liberty and justice for all.
Howard,
They’re not going to arrest the TSA agent, that’s how these “enhanced” pat-downs are performed. They’d have to arrest every TSA agent that has ever performed these.
The bottom line is no child should ever be subject to these sexual assaults. They have not committed a crime, nor are they suspected to have committed a crime.
Same goes for these scanners. To send a child through one is creation and distribution of child pornography.
The first video (life is too short to watch both) seems to put the lie to what the woman claimed. But, the body language of the woman with the boarding pass is classic. “You are beneath my contempt.”
I was surprised to see these agents standing right there, very close to the x-rays. X radiation follows the inverse square rule so they wouldn’t need to be far away to be safer.
Read somewhere they are not allowed to wear dosemeters because that might frighten passengers? Or was it to make sure there is no evidence if an agent files for health damages?
It’s national security at all costs. It started with the Patriot Act (which technically violates the fourth amendment).
I think if a terrorist wants to blow up a plane they can swallow a bag of some explosive before boarding the flight, and then set it off on the flight. No scanner or pat-down is going to detect that.
Small dose of radiation? Same as flying eh Howard. Well worth the convenience of flying. I thought it would be possible to have that convenience and not give up my rights or risk my health. Your posts misdirect and down play valid concerns.
Stop wasting time posting and get back to your job at the TSA
Here’s a new trick to piss off those tsa jerkoffs.
carry a spare pair of pants, and when they strip search you, drop your pants take a dump in their hand. say you were scared of being molested and it was uncontrollable.
if everyone did this they would stop the searches quickly
Pilots are beginning to protest via their unions against the x-ray screenings-
For Pilots, It’s Molestation Over “The Dick-Measuring Device”
http://slatest.slate.com/id/2274662/entry/4/
“Our members are just absolutely outraged,” the president of the US Airline Pilots Association said.
The TSA just wants to measure their members.
# 13 Howard – If you want the to fly you agree to these security measures if you don’t like them don’t fly.
‘Scuse me, young feller. I don’t have any choice. I have to fly to keep my kids in college and my wife in bourbon. When I started my career I had to walk through a metal detector and turn on my computer. Sometimes. If they’d told me then someday I’d have to pose naked or let some 250 pound onion and garlic smelling gorilla have a feel of my dick, I wouldn’t have believed it.
Now, it’s not that I’m particularly shy, I group showered with a bunch of Marines when I was younger. My belly may gotten a bit bigger but my cock hasn’t gotten any smaller. I still shower at the gym with no door on the stall for the pleasure of any who pass by. But I don’t let ’em have a feel or take a photo for the kids.
And, was it you or someone else, that said there’s only a little risk. About the same as flying three or four miles up. Well, the way I look at it, that means the risk has been doubled!
Fortunately for me, I haven’t been groped, yet. But when the time comes, I’m gonna do my best to get an erection. And if I’m successful, I’m gonna ask the gorilla for his phone number and mime a little kiss…
#20 Typical teabagger hot air. Mehh