As Im sure most are aware, there has been a HUGE amount of debate lately on whether or not a full body X-ray should be implemented in Security checkpoints in all Airports here in the U.S.

Standard protocol now would consist of a full body pat down including checking or "cupping" the groin area of all "profiled" passengers, coupled with a full detailed x-ray scan that would vividly show all body parts of each passenger..Which for someone like myslef that hits the gym 5 days a week and is rediculously good looking, isn't concerned with the X-ray. But should that be the issue?

Its been reported now that you can potentially be fined ($11,000) for declining this procedure..

http://www.pcworld.com/article/210878/xray_body_scanner_hubbub_the_naked_truth.html

For me, personally, I hate any interaction with the many useless TSA employees, and feel the meaning of TSA should be updated to "Thousands Standing Around"..

IMHO The already rent-a-cop mentality and the scary amount of "little man's syndrome" present at security checkpoints is enough as it is.

Im wondering if this new procedure will be a vary scary stepping stone that will now insitll too much power in the TSA and target "us" as the new terrorists...

Although, this isn't a "juicy topic" I feel its germaine as it affects a vital part of our Hobbie. Im really curious to see whtat the CH members here think.

Invaision of privacy? OR..

A procedure that shouldn't concern those that are "innocent"?

What do you think?

A rather complicated question. I don't knee-jerk dismiss the terrorist threat, and to the extent the new procedures contribute to thwarting terrorists I suppose I don't have a major problem with them. I do have a problem though with whether the new machines are safe, and to the extent they are not, they should not be used.

However, it might be best if they just required everyone be nude when flying. But even this would have its problems. Obviously, it would be harder to hide bombs, although I suppose anal cavity searches, and use of whatever ENT doctors throw down their patient's throats, before boarding would still be necessary (maybe though the airlines could offer discount colonoscopys and ENT procedures while you wait for boarding).

Also on the plus side, requiring that passengers fly nude might contribute to a lessening of the obesity problem since I would think having to fly nude would be an incentive to get in shape.

On the other hand, if the blue-haired flight attendants on United, American Airlines, and so forth also had to fly nude, we would be talking major eyesore, and the airlines would probably have to increase their budget for vomit bags.

So, as before, this stuff gets real complicated.

First off, it is a DECREASE in security since they are phasing out "wanding" and walk through metal detectors which means going forward, anything a terrorist can shove up his ass will readily go through. Bombs with proper detonators, guns, knives, you name it. If it fit's up someones ass, no more wanding. So long as you pass your testicle check you are good to go.

Secondly, they spent a gazillion tax dollars on these worthless machines that are useless at detecting any bomb carried internally. I bet it costs a fraction of what one of those machines costs to train a dog. It takes one person to operate a dog. Not a four man team like one of the worthless scanners. The dog could accually find bombs. Dogs are friendly, They can search a line of 20 people in a couple of minutes unlike the worthless scanner which takes like half an hour to scan 20 people.

Third, the "groin groping" is clearly designed to humiliate any deserters into accepting the useless strip search machines as a less humiliating alternative than having your groin groped. The Federal Government has implemented an official policy of punitively sexually humiliating non-pliant citizens. WTF!!!! The groin groping is plain, simple and obliviously transparently punitive, "YOU WILL ACCEPT OUR AUTHORITY CITIZEN" gay sexual harassment.

TSA are idiots. Nothing in this world pisses me off more than rent-a-cops who think they have authority.

I do intend to have fun with it if they go to play with my nuts. I'm not shy. :D


BTW, when the ACLU and Rush Limbaugh are both on the same side of the issue and against the TSA, it must really be bad.

IAS: I know you are an advocate of trained dogs at airport security, and the idea makes sense. My question (and I'm totally ignorant on this so the question is not "loaded") is are there enough trained dogs to cover this (or, alternatively, can enough be trained?).

As I just wrote the question I thought "of course it would be possible" but what is your take on this? Also, although it is easy to explain things in terms of "stupidity," is there a more legitimate reason given for why this is not being done?

Israel does dot use this stuff.

MM

My answer would be, no, there are not enough trained dogs. however, I believe training dogs is a much easier, and more productive endeavor than essentially, expending massive resources to attempt to construct "mechanical dog analogs". They should have set up a massive Federal puppy mill in the desert somewhere and started factory training dogs years ago. Hell. even I would grant Obama the Federal funding for that.

Bottom line. If I were a suicide bomber, I would be afraid of a dog, I would be afraid of a metal detector, but a strip search scanner????? Shove the bomb up your ass and you are good to go. No worries. Sure, having the bomb up your ass may be momentarily uncomfortable but 'tis a small price to pay for 72 virgins.

The one bright side. Since the strip search scanners replacing the metal detectors means that now any terrorist can bring on board anything and everything undetected so long as he can shove it up his ass...... From here on out every time I hear the phrase "terror training camp" I just crack up laughing.

I'm against nude-a-scopes, but at this point, they're fairly easy to avoid. I have a feeling that after this current backlash - which is really the first time that the airlines and the Kettles have screamed about security - TSA will quietly back off and make the nude-a-scopes OR the pat-down - it's an either/or, not both - as strictly a secondary situation. Kettles and pilots are not happy with the patdowns, and there are enough health concerns - plus the greatly added delay - with the x-rays that it will be a disaster to keep the current system in place for long.

Then again, we haven't been able to take a bottle of water or a cup of coffee through a checkpoint in over 4 years, so who really knows. This time it feels, at least to me, that TSA has pissed off a lot more people than in the past.

It's one thing to be frisked by a cop if there's probable cause for a search. It's another thing for a jackass who was in the Army or working as a telemarketer 3 months before to be feeling your cock and balls searching for Osama Bin Laden's cell phone number every time you decide to fly from fly somewhere domestically.

RT here.

I know that I am in the minority on this (I was shocked myself), but I flew out of MIA last week, and the TSA guys/gals were the most professional, helpful, and friendly going back as far as I can remember.

No one offered to cup my balls, however.

Total over reaction here people. Anybody who has flown out of Medellin can tell you that the pat down search they give you AFTER walking through the metal detector is a lot more invasive that what that clown at SAN would have gotten.

If you don't want to do the full body scan, because of the radiation issue than don't! Just deal with the clown doing the pat down. The only way to do a proper pat down when your looking for weapons is to get personal. I own a pistol that is smaller than the palm of my hand, wear a pair of baggy pants and put it just above my "junk" and unless they are able to do a proper pat down they will miss it.

Matter of fact the last time a TSA agent did a pat down on me at work he missed the pocket knife that I forgot to take out of my pocket.

What I think is funny and some what sad at the same time, is that the people that are bitching the loudest now are the ones that were shoving the "Patriot Act" down out throats while telling us that it would never infringe on our civil rights, and that it was unpatriotic to question it.

(Message edited by roadglide on November 16, 2010)

Next Topic:

Has the use of wearing-a-pair-of-baggy-pants-to-conceal-a-small-pistol-just-above-your-"junk"...gone too far?..

What do you think?

personally. I don't give a fuck about the scanners. But I'm not so sure if I would like it if my wife or girlfriend or daughters were subjected to it.
It's just another example of our weak, Lilly livered, response to the terrorist threat.
Punish the victims further, inconvenience the innocent a little more. Instead what they should be doing is blowing up half the middle east and put pressure on the Arab world to police their own and after leveling a few cities watch how quick they give them up. Ok here is an example of our mindset on this problem.
You have 2 bullies in a class of 35. Instead of getting the bullies out of the classroom we bus the other 33 to other schools miles away, make them get up earlier and get home later because of the added delays to 'keep them safe'. The people who need to pay the price for the actions of the terrorist are the terrorist and those who harbor them. The economy is also affected, billions more spent on this bullshit all over the country, added security in schools, courthouses airports, companies ect. ect. all because the tail is wagging the dog.. WAKE UP AMERICA!

LL, you do realize we are not the only country with nuclear weapons, and the capability to blow up cities, don't you? I wonder how long it would take for Pakistan (or even North Korea) to hand over theirs to Al-Qaida or other similar-minded groups if the U.S. were to follow the path you are suggesting.

But hey, talk is cheap, and macho talk is even cheaper.

LL I totally agree. (about protecting your girls)

Just a few thoughts..

If it becomes standard,then hey, I'll deal with a douchebag pat down. And Although I cant speak for a GF or kids, I would get pretty protective over my Ma...and I don't wanna sound like the typical American that wines over the littlest things. However, I do want to remain practical.. I can only imagine if I had little girls though... Grrr

Another point I think that often goes overlooked is, don't you think by adding all of these extra "precautions", that we, in essence, are inflicting our own form of "terror"? So although technically, no attacks are happening, the "terrorists" are still winning..just sayin..

Side note: When was the last time an actual "attack" even happened OR even just a valid "attempt"? Years? (genuine question) I know there's been about as many "threats" as there were WMD's...but curious to find out..

Back to the scanners. I saw a guest on MSNBC who was a lady that had gone through the new screening process, and I thought this was really interesting... She was there with her husband who had refused her to go through the scanner, so instead was directed over to the frisking area. At that time they asked her whether she wanted a Man or a Woman to perform the search, to which she obviously elected the female. After hearing that though I thought something didn't fit...

While I'm thinking this is just an isolated incident or a mistake, I'm also thinking if the option is actually there, but we, having it embedded into our minds, think that its standard protocol to just have a Man perform this gay and akward search .

So anyways, in short, I promised myself that I would seriously give an adamant request for a Woman to perform the next search.

Maybe I'm ignorant to the security procedures and its not an option, or maybe you guys are all laughing at me as each one of you read this due to the fact that this is an old Vet secret dating back to before I was born .
Either way Seriously curious to see what happens..

(Message edited by joseph666 on November 17, 2010)

Laguy, Ok admittedly it was an exaggeration to get attention but my point is accurate. There are many types of terrorism, not just bombs. They have succeeded in terrorizing us on a daily basis. They terrorize my lifestyle every time I am subjected to all these, politically correct procedures.What I mean by that is, they can not single out an Arab for additional security. I have seen them pat down grandma and let a turban wearing Arab walk right by. Remember, profiling is not politically correct. They have terrorized our economy by making us flush billions of dollars down the drain in added security, where none was needed before. I believe your from California, based on your handle and the fact that you are a liberal and you watch the view, hahah don't get pissed, it was a joke. But i understand many municipalities in California are broke, school districts stretched to the limit. I'm sure all the security measures that have been implemented in California, added to the problem.
I really do believe we should force the guilty to pay the price instead of the innocent.

So you're advocating the US attacking all of the Arabs in Pennsylvania? Because the last time I checked, TSA only works in the US, so if the smurfs are going to catch someone - which to date, they never have - it will be someone who's already in the US.

LL: Pretty much throughout history, there has been the threat of terror, although with the advent of nuclear weapons and modern technology terror has entered a new phase, one that with 24-hour news channels can be brought into your home in a much more immediate way than before. But terror has been around for thousands of years and it ain't going away.

If you want to talk terror, talk about the Nazi's atrocities towards all sorts of peoples, talk about the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, talk about some of the ethnic wars in recent history, talk about getting your arms cut off, or women attacked, because they belong to the wrong ethnic group; now we are talking about terror. The World Trade Center attack certainly qualifies as well, as one of the latest manifestations.

Personally, in this context being inconvenienced with a pat down, or even a slightly bigger tax bill, is nothing compared to the direct experience of real terror, which so many peoples historically have experienced.

You and I had a similar discussion before on this topic here, but let me repeat the substance of my take on this. Our policy not only has to be to protect us now, but to protect us in the near and distant future. Although I would agree the costs and benefits of aggressive profiling is a topic subject to intelligent debate, I have a hard time believing that if you profile IN A VISIBLE WAY a particular ethnic group or groups, or a particular nationality or nationalities, it is not in the end going to foster bad will, retaliation, and yes, in some instances, terror.

I would think you of all people would understand this in that you seem to react most strongly (among those on this board) to some of the inconveniences you have suffered at the airport, and so forth. Imagine that you were instead an impressionable Arab college student here in the U.S. (or elsewhere) subject to all sorts of additional scrutiny and inconvenience. Every time you go to the airport you are taken out of line, questioned vigorously, given pat downs more intrusive than others, maybe miss a plane or two, are humiliated by being singled out in this manner, and so forth. Multiple choice question: Would this make you (a) more likely or (b) less likely, to later become a terrorist?

Or, let's soften this a bit. You go back to your home country and become an influential politician or what have you. More likely or less likely you will have a favorable impression of the U.S. and cooperate with the U.S. on matters concerning terrorism? And with respect to these two questions, do you think it would matter (in terms of your impressions) whether these procedures were directed against you because of your religion/nationality, or whether they were directed to everyone in line?

I would contend if the former, you would become very resentful towards the U.S.; if the latter, the worst that would happen is you would waste a lot of time bitching and moaning about the inconvenience that everyone is being subjected to and then get back to your business . . . uh . . . sort of like LL.

This is not a trivial point because the latest attempted terrorist attack was thwarted not because we blew up some Arab cities, or humiliated some Arabs by putting them in a special Arab line at the airport, or anything similar. It was thwarted because Saudi Arabia provided the U.S. with concrete information its intelligence service learned about the plot. You really think this sort of intelligence cooperation (which I do admit is not perfect) will continue if we start down the road you advocate?

Also, as you know, Brasil retaliated against the U.S. requirement that foreign nationals be fingerprinted and photographed upon entry to the U.S. by imposing the same requirement on U.S. citizens ((but with "enhancements that made it even more inconvenient), making a special line at the airport for them to undergo the retaliatory "screening" and inconvenience. You do realize that blatant profiling is going to trigger the same sorts of retaliation from the countries profiled, right?

Of course, I don't know what is going on behind the scenes with respect to detecting potential terrorists, nor do you. I suspect there is some level of profiling going on behind the scenes. But taking people out of line because they are wearing a turban?? C'mon. I would rather have the occasional grandmother subjected to a minute or two of additional screening (for appearance sake) than have every Arab forced into a separate line owing to their religion or nationality.

Of course, one could live in the Bill O'Reilly fictional world where each and every Muslim worldwide is responsible for the World Trade Center attack and are deserving of retaliation. But I would rather live in reality.

Profiling is useless. A determined enemy can just derive what is being profiled against, and make themselves "not that". We do it here. CBP is profiling "sex tourists" for unwarranted harassment. Change a few profiling characteristics and viola, you are no longer the guy they are looking for.

Real quick, as a favor, can you guys not turn this thread into a debate over opinions on US exit strategies, why are we still there..etc etc..Its so 2007 ;)

While I think La has several good points, I never really agreed too much with the mentality of,"We shouldn't overreact to things because compaired to other countries we have it great!"

Ie; Who cares if you get felt up and you're uncomfortable for a moment..10,000 rwandans were practically massacared over night..(Extreme to prove a point)

While I understand the logic, I don't entirely agree because for me, typically in those regions/countries outside of the US they are primitive, barbaric religious finatics while I think countries like ours is one of the more humane and practical..Hope that makes sense..

Like I was attacked by 10 dogs and Im really having a tough time dealing with it..Well although that sucked that you were attacked, think about all the jews that were killed by dogs trained by the Nazis...

Once again for me its apples and oranges. Hitler was a deranged psychopath so we cant really compare the two. The US is one of the more sensible countries that is a little more intune with humanity, and I think in many respects we are known for our practicality as an elevated society...regardless of any other example inconvenience is inconvenience, akwardness is akwardness, and I think our country is more than capable of finding that best solution that doesn't comprimise any of its citizens in anyway...regardless of the conditions in other countries.. We as a society have learned to create the best of the best and that is exactly what should be implemented into every facet of our society..

(sorry if that doesn't make sense..all these meds Im on sometimes leaves me absent of eloquent explanation) Just a tip..dont get cancer...)

I hope this doesn't sound arrogant or pretentious, and you get what Im trying to say..
La I know this wasn't your main focus I just wanted to throw that out there..
LL although I agree with your passion, its one of rage, not logic (no disrespect intended)

"can you guys not turn this thread into a debate over opinions on US exit strategies"

Unless I missed something, that is gonna be real easy since no one in this thread even touched on the issue, except for J666 in the above quote.

And moving to another point raised by J666, my strategy (to the extent one wishes to call it that) isn't we shouldn't overreact to things because other people have it worse. It is we shouldn't overreact to things period. But at the same time we can look to our situation relative to others or other times to make a judgment whether bitching and moaning about our current lot is called for, particularly if the bitching and moaning has a component of "oh, things were so much better in the olden days before we had to deal with terrorists."

So Laguy I'll take it we're no longer friends? Jk..I always get this sense that you don't like me very much and I can never understand why...(is it because Im black?)

Let me preface these next short points with..I think you misunderstood my post..

I know that its typically really hard to discern emotion in text, but when a smiley face is used or a symbol resembling one (see example below)

Example: ";)"

Then that generally means the comment attached to it shouldn't be read into or taken seriously...(this is where you should realize that Im not a bad guy I just like to incorporate humor into my posts, and that you shouldn't read into it or ever take it personally)

Moving on...I don't think its far fetched to say that this thread could have easily turned into what most threads turn into when the topic of 911, terrorism, and wasted tax payers money/government resources is debated which is.."Why are we still in the middle east" etc etc...

I wasn't necessarily pointing the disagreement about overreacting at you, I think I should have positioned my points seperate from that first line..

So in short bro I wasn't saying you or anyone person were representing US strategy or anything like that, it was just lighthearted comment..

Well, I took the smiley as relating to the "it's so 2007," not to what preceded it. Perhaps a course in smiley placement and usage is in order here. I suspect you would have done better with two smileys appropriately placed.

And I should add when real smileys are available for your use, why revert to things like ;)? That is so 1997.



By the way, I'm not a great fan of smilies or emoticons, so please don't overuse them.

Need I say more devilman?

I like emoticons, and when used correctly add to the post.

Here's one specifically for LAguy to use in all his posts.

Your welcome, CFK

"That is so 1997."
Haha.. Los Angelas..touche sir...touche

CFK-

Whats your take on this whole security scanner situation? Id like to hear your opinion out of most people here..

This is a problem I don't think we will have to worry about much longer. Women are just not going to put up with it. They all detest the pat down procedure and many also hate the scanners. A number of women I know are calling our congressman and senators to put a stop to it.

I'm hoping that major modifications are done by the middle of next week when I have to fly. I really don't want to go through the scanner. Like most guys, I've been running around naked in locker rooms since I was a kid and don't really mind that they can see an image of my body. However, I do have reservations about the amount of radiation involved no matter what the government is telling us.

Nothing will happen in the next week or so. What you need to do is check at FlyerTalk to see if the airport you'll be using has them, and if so, which terminals/areas. I've been through a bunch recently - BDL, DCA, DEN, ORD, FLL - that had them, but not at every terminal, and not every security lane using them at any one place. I've avoided them so far, and I still haven't determined what I will do if I fly in to a place that has them at all lanes and uses them 100% of the time.

I think the Holiday season is really going to put this to the test, but TSA Chief John Pisole adamantly stated at a press conference a few days ago.."the scanners aren't going anywhere"

What better way to start of a mongering trip than to be fondled my a pretty TSA girl. Just be sure to ask her how much extra for a happy ending.

"LL, you do realize we are not the only country with nuclear weapons, and the capability to blow up cities, don't you? I wonder how long it would take for Pakistan (or even North Korea) to hand over theirs to Al-Qaida or other similar-minded groups if the U.S. were to follow the path you are suggesting"

So your contention is, if we are 'nice' to nations like N Korea, Iran and the rest, they won't arm the likes of Al-Qaida? Jesus Christ! You sound like Mr. Rogers. Hate to break it to you cupcake but this is exactly what they are doing right now. In fact, I predict Israel will launch an attack on Iran within 24 months because of their nuclear program. They will not take the nice route as you suggest. To suggest that we have escaped another attack, because we don't profile Arabs, and are nice to the terrorists is assine.

Look, there are only two ways out of this, put enough pressure on the Arab world to give up the bad guys, because they are the only ones who can ferret out the guilty. Or, and your not going to like this one, cut Israel loose. The Jewish dominance of this country's monetary system and government puts us in the cross hairs of the jihad. They view us in the same light, as they view their hated enemy. Ask yourself, why are they not targeting China or Japan or Brasil? Take your pick, otherwise be ready for a 100 year war.

I didn't say anything about being nice to N. Korea or Iran but great straw man argument. But for your information, I referred to N. Korea (but not in the context of being nice to them) and Pakistan and didn't mention anything about Iran. Look at a map, Pakistan and Iran are different countries.

But then again, maybe in your mind someone objecting to your statement that what we "should be doing is blowing up half the middle east and put pressure on the Arab world to police their own and after leveling a few cities watch how quick they give them up," equals being nice to N. Korea and Iran?

(Message edited by laguy on November 19, 2010)

LL,
I don't think we need to be "nice" to any country. What we need to avoid is doing stupid and douche bag things to other countries. For example, invading Iraq looking for WMD and then not finding any is pretty fucking stupid. Then to say, oh well, Saddam was a bad guy anyways. That wreaks of arrogance. We need to avoid doing this shit. I think we are better than this.

Getting this thread back on track. I think America is in a pretty strong anti government mode right now. Mainly because they blame the government for high and persistent unemployment. But I think they are also interpreting this latest TSA body scanner thing as a symbol of big government unnecessarily intruding in our lives.

I've been tempted to take this up with D.B. Cooper, a real expert. However, in the mean time, complaining and gesticulating would be my suggested response.

You know the cliche that goes "If we do so-an-so the terrorists will have won".

Well, here's a variation on that theme: If we end up submitting ourselves to petty harassment and groping by mindless civil servants, then the terrorists will have won.
Enjoy your next fucking trip!

"If we do so-and-so the terrorists will have won" is a catchy slogan. Unfortunately, devoid of any real meaning. If a TSA guy or gal cups my balls on the way to one of my mongering trips, I'm still going to enjoy the trip, and no, the terrorists would not have won.

As to your wish that we enjoy our next fucking trip, thank you very much, I will do just that. However, my highest priority now is to enjoy my present extended fucking trip!

I'm wondering though whether we should all be taking mega doses of Viagra before going through security just to play a practical joke on the TSA'ers.

LAguy,

I would be v-e-r-y careful about doing that, it might result in a big, burly TSA agent asking you out for a drink afterwards!!......

CFK

Laguy,
If you want to have a little fun with the TSA folks, just shove a cucumber in your pants (a la Spinal Tap) and request the pat down. Better yet, wrap it in aluminum foil (again as in Spinal Tap).

Bwana my "ex friend" I constantly have a problem with TSA on these pat downs because of the size of my "package - junk"! Many of the women TSA inspectors take me into a private room for a more thorough search! I hate it when they treat me like a piece of meat. Hemp

LL
I can’t believe that any person with more then 2 brain cells actually buys “The Jewish dominance of this country's monetary system and government “crap anymore?

Is this seriously what you think? That less then 1 quater of one percent of the world’s population runs the United States? Isn’t that the ultimate expression of ignorance or is it just the same old story that it’s easier to find a scape goat then actually tackle the problem.

I’m curious is there anyone out there that believes this ant-sematic shit ?

Hemp,

You are mistaken, my friend. They keep patting you down because they expect to find something--anything!--around the groin area, but don't. So they keep patting, thinking "there should be something there..."

Isawal-

Our Congress is overrun by Jews. Oh, wait, that's not true. But our Supreme Court is. Oh, wait, they're mostly Catholics. Well, all the CEOs of all the major investment banks are Jews. Oh, I guess that's not true either.

Nevermind...

So now we need to bomb all the Arabs and the Jews too?

Well, at least we can finally put to rest that Obama is a Muslim with LL's discovery he is a Jew. And I guess he really wasn't born in Kenya, it was Israel!

Maybe he's one of those Etheopian Jews who think they have the Arc of the Covenant stashed away in a hooch in the desert.

It is interesting how it usually starts with "bomb these people" or "Obama is an extreme Muslim/socialist" or "hey, could you find me a beer in this bunker in Idaho," but guys with this mindset almost always seem to end up engaged in an anti-semitic rant.

There are now a half dozen posts that beg the question is TSA looking to see if the plate in a few peoples head isn't big enough.

For the record I just passed TSA at LAX. I was directed to the radiation strip search line but since it was barely moving I wandered off to a non radiation strip search line when the guy wasn't looking. I was able to smuggle past my customary large amount of booze (since I lost my Elite status with Continental due to constantly flying for free). Overall security was uneventful although normally security at Tom Bradely takes me 10 minutes and tonight was a full 25 minutes. FWIW, the guy manning the radiation strip search scanner at Tom bradely for flights leaving to Asia has a way better job than the guy manning the strip search scanner in Peoria. There were nonstop smoking hot Asian chicks going throught the radiation strip search scanner.

I am skeptical about the headline in the article linked below, for one of the reasons discussed in the article: the possibility of equipment malfunctions. However, what is of interest is that there apparently are two types of scanners being used by TSA, and one of them seems to have less potential for causing problems owing to the type of radiation it uses.

It would be useful if we could get a line of which of the two brands are used at particular airports, or airport terminals. For me, at least, that might affect whether I opt for the crotch grab over the scan on particular trips.

http://www.usatoday.com/yourlife/health/medical/cancer/2010-11-18-scanner-radiation_N.htm?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+UsatodaycomWashington-TopStories+%28News+-+Washington+-+Top+Stories%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo&POE=click-refer

>>If you want to have a little fun with the TSA folks, just shove a cucumber in your pants (a la Spinal Tap) and request the pat down.<<

leading to the new TSA motto:
"Is that a bomb in your crotch, or are you just happy to see me?"

Sorry to say but the dumb fuckers that insist on blowing themselves up along with everyone else will sooner or later figure out that they can stick explosives in various cavities of their body and it won't show up on these scanners.

Do you seriously think that a crazy ass terrorist isn't gonna shove a pack of explosives up their ass? It's a SURFACE scan, duh!

There's always going to be a way around the security, and the TSA is always going to be in a reactive mode rather than a preventative mode.

Al Qaeda's already done it and surely will do it again first chance they get. A gazillion dollars of intrusive big brother equipment already rendered useless for it's stated purpose.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/item_hKiF3TDJkgYItnBQkJXmTN

Looks like Obama is doing a great job for civil rights. Has he repealed the Patriot Act yet and stopped the listening in on phone calls yet....not to mention the airport searches.

Wow....he is all about protecting rights.....that is if you are a terrorist or an illegal alien............

(Message edited by beachman on November 22, 2010)

If TSA began doing anal probes on every passenger, one suicide terrorist would simply swallow encapsulated explosives and the second suicide terrorist would retrieve them with an improvised scalpel. Alternatively, the explosives could be surgically implanted.

I suppose the only way to be safe is to subject every passenger to a colonoscopy and endoscopy and strip them down to inspect for recent surgical scars prior to boarding. At least the resultant early detection of colon cancer would offset our national medical costs.

In that case I think LaGuy's suggestion of a nudist airlines would fit the bill in this case..
Its Like LaGuy has a crystal ball or something

No need for a terrorist to retrieve swallowed explosives. They are siucide bombers after all. If drug smugglers have for decades been swallowing quite literally kilos of various narcotics I imagine it would be a trivial task for a terrorist to swallow a few dozen condoms full of PETN along with one containing a battery, a blasting cap and a remote control receiver out of a child toy. I imagine there is some chance a metal detector would be tripped off by the metallic components in the detonator and perhaps trigger a secondary inspection by dogs(which have apparently largely been ruled out for wide spread explosive detection for reasons that remain unclear).... or less efficiently, explosive trace detectors that ARE widely deployed in the field. But wait. Some moron decided we should REPLACE metal detectors with strip search scanners that have 0.0000% chance of detecting such a threat. Thus, now exists a 100% guaranteed method for any terrorist who is smart enough to devise such a simplistic plan, yet dumb enough to blow themselves up to bring a bomb on a plane where with traditional screening methods such a plan would have some chance of failure. Brilliant way to spend a Gazillion borrowed dollars while simultaneousness cranking up the heavy handed big brother government pressure on the innocent traveler.

As I intimated before, when you have Glen Beck and Keith Olbermann on on the same side and against an issue along with the ACLU suing and Rush Limbaugh saying "Keep your hands off my tea bag", clearly a line has been crossed by how heavy handed the big brother Federal Government can come down on the general public. Especially when it LOWERS security.

Hell, a terrorist wouldn't even have to swallow something or shove something up their butt. With one of these strip search scanners someone could simply put a small .25 semiautomatic pistol in their mouth, stroll on through the strip search scanner, get their junk inspected and signed off as non hazardous, goberment approved genitalia, and walk strait into the airport. Increased security? I think not. To me it seems somewhat LESS secure than aviation has been since the seventies when they rolled out metal detectors in the first place. It only takes minutes to think up half a dozen different ways to carry a weapon while still having your junk pass inspection.

delete double post

(Message edited by I_am_Sancho on November 23, 2010)

Yep, it's looking like CAT scans are next. Of course that will be after some dumbass blows themselves up from the inside out.

I guess the CAT scans will be covered by the new socialist health insurance plan right?

They better check all Mid-Eastern women with beast implants....I am sure they could devise a way to mix explosives with silicone......

Can you say "plastic explosives?"

The battery and wires would be the tip-off, unless they had a doctor's note describing the implanted pacemaker....

>>guess the CAT scans will be covered by the new socialist health insurance plan right?<<

Actually, Medicaid and Medicare are decades old and therefore are not new. They could be considered socialist perhaps, but since their passage they have gathered substantial support among Republicans.

Then again, I understand there are some ignoramuses who against all the facts believe the "new" health care reform bill, which continues to use private insurers for health insurance (and is much less ambitious than what Richard Nixon proposed when he was President), is somehow a socialist program. But that ignoramuses believe this does not make it true.

Just went through Seatac, and DFW wizzed right through with no "added" security..Even managed to sneak in a hostess apple pie in my back pocket and a bowl of fruit in the other... People behind me were chuckling. This was on Thanksgiving morning/afternoon. Becuz there was a blizzard in Seattle there were barely any lines and Seatac had to cancel most of their flights in the afternoon... Honestly because of the Holiday I thought it was going to be a mad house not an empty one..

Just my .02

I wonder why they cannot get some cute girls to pat men down. Just allege we are gay and refuse being patted down by a horny man!

In general, just let people choose by whom we want to be patted down. Of course, the feminazi bitches they have available might be worse then men.

Anyway, with all this protest, I am all in favor of safety. I think it is ridiculous to worry about safety measures. Most ridiculous the child porn charges relating to the body scanners.

By the way, nobody so far did a suicide bombing with internal bombs anywhere, not in Israel, nor in Israeli planes

So maybe it is not so easy!?

"By the way, nobody so far did a suicide bombing with internal bombs anywhere, not in Israel, nor in Israeli planes"

Abdullah Hassan Al Aseery who was the brother Khalid Ibrahim Al Aseery (aka Al Quedas chief bomb maker in Yemen and the same guy who recently sent the Fedex bombs) ALREADY did the ol' butt bomb. True not on an Israeli plane but I imagine that is because not a chance in hell of that guy getting on an Israeli plane. Also note Israelis do not us strip search scanners because they consider them useless.

So it is a factual statement that, the number one big bad terrorist who is actually trying to blow up US planes has already deployed, in the field, tactics what would pass through a strip search scanner even more easily than a metal detector.

Thus the scanners are completely useless for stopping terrorists but major step forward for big brother government.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/international/item_hKiF3TDJkgYItnBQkJXmTN\i

Is it possible though that at least some of the Islamic extremists would refuse to put a bomb up their ass because doing so seems gay and therefore would violate one of their fundamental religious teachings?

Just a thought.

The politically correct security at airports is out of control. TSA needs to profile - period! We pretend to go thru this nonsense as a small price to assure air travel safety. BS! This has nothing to do with safety. People have become to cowed to question the absurd taboo against profiling. The profile of airline attackers is narrow and fairly definable. Insiders already know this, but once again our government [chicken shit] refuses to profile.

Seems like we could contract an Israeli security company and get our moneys worth. I guess that makes too much sense.

*************2010 "Miss TSA" Calandar*************

CFK - Great but you definitely have too much time on your hands! Happy Holidays! - Hemp

Hemp - it was with great risk and peril I obtained these. Even Wikileaks doesn't have them.

CFK

(Message edited by copperfieldkid on December 09, 2010)

Obviously not a "real" TSA pinup, because she still has her shoes on.

Hilarious CFK...