The "Underwear Bomber"...and yet more security checks

[jackfaire]

You tell me why I have to be blasted by x-rays -things that doctors don’t want you to have to many of due to ramifications of x-ray poisoning-

I am gonna sue Superman he gave me X-Ray poisoning

[linguist]

You tell me why I have to be blasted by x-rays -things that doctors don’t want you to have to many of due to ramifications of x-ray poising-

you're hardly being blasted. the reason doctors are concerned about having too many x-rays is because, as radiation goes, x-rays are pretty weak. in order for them to penetrate the skin medical grade x-ray equipment has to crank the radiant energy up quite high. these scanners produce between 3 and 10 microrems of radiation--roughly the equivalent to standing 5 or so minutes in the sun. this is well below the safe exposure threshold of 100 millirems annually, allowing one person to be safely scanned hundreds if not thousands of times per year.

[Rageaholic]

Wait, can other passengers see the results of the body scanners? If it's just the security people seeing it, I don't see what the big deal is, but I can definately understand being uncomfortable with the whole airport basically seeing you naked. Still better than strip searching though.

[Fashion Lad!]

Wait, can other passengers see the results of the body scanners? If it's just the security people seeing it, I don't see what the big deal is, but I can definately understand being uncomfortable with the whole airport basically seeing you naked. Still better than strip searching though.

No, other passengers would not be able to see it. Quite frankly, passengers are people just like security people. And I don't think people should have to put up with a full-body scan that shows as much as it does. You can see people's JUNK!!!!

[Greenday]

No, other passengers would not be able to see it. Quite frankly, passengers are people just like security people. And I don't think people should have to put up with a full-body scan that shows as much as it does. You can see people's JUNK!!!!

This post is clearly the product of America raising a REALLY prude society. Ooh, people's junk! So? We all are the same except for two areas. Oh no! They are going to see MY junk. My junk and hundreds of other's. I'm pretty sure it won't phase them after day one.

[Slytovhand]

I don't have junk... mine works ok

Let me just ask this... since these 'terrorist attacks'* how many 'rights' have been walked over? How many 'freedoms' have been taken away? What has been lost, and what has been gained? And, how much more of each will occur?

Lace - part of the issue (and only a part) is that some of the security functions weren't even operating in those places on that particular day (coincidence??). For that matter, there just happened to be a 'anti-terrorist exercise' going on in precisely those locations at precisely that time and on that one and only particular day. (Which, btw, the company employed to do those exercises chooses not to declare who employed them to do it!)








* (who's a terrorist, who's not? Who's fighting a war, and who's not? And, lastly, who are they actually working for??)

[jackfaire]

Slightly off topic but how many people are thinking about the body scanners, oh my god Xray specs that work!!!

[Boozy]

United States Constitution-4th amendment
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

You will notice, on the small print of your airline tickets and/or boarding pass, that by boarding the plane you are waiving some of those rights.

Privacy may be a right, but flying is not.

[Dreamstalker]

I don't get the bathroom thing. Why an hour before the flight lands?

On flights in or out of Washington Reagan, there's been a similar rule in place for quite a while (I don't think it's a full hour as the flight itself is short). On short hops I wouldn't see it as a problem, but long-haul flights...yeah.

There was a piece on PBS Newshour last night about the full-body scanners and privacy advocates (I'm all for privacy rights, but having been through one of said scanners I can't understand exactly what they're so up in arms about). Mom mentioned that your doctor probably sees much more of your actual body than the scanner does.

I went through one of those gizmos in ABQ last year (the unit used to be an air-puffer machine, rather than scrap it entirely they probably just decided to repurpose the thing). There's a placard at the front of the line with an example image explaining what it does; nobody sees anything.

I predict Amtrak's ridership to go way up when/if these rules actually go into effect.

[jackfaire]

I predict Amtrak's ridership to go way up when/if these rules actually go into effect.

Personally I prefer Amtrak because of the leg room and no drastic air pressure change.

[KitterCat]

You will notice, on the small print of your airline tickets and/or boarding pass, that by boarding the plane you are waiving some of those rights.

Privacy may be a right, but flying is not.

Please also take note that while you are correct that flying is not a right, abusive intrusion is not something I’m willing to take part in, nor is it right to give an industry carte blanche to do so. I don’t need some intrusive feel good idiot telling me I need to get x-rayed every time I decide to take a flight just so it can make some people feel safe.

For example, one of the vary many reasons the airline industry is bolstered by the Federal Government is due to its inability to have a mindset towards customer service. Hence one of the most recent laws enacted forcing the airlines to let you off the plane after 3 hours of sitting waiting for lift off. Essentially before hand you could end up kidnapped waiting for the plane to take off, at times for 8 hours.

[Greenday]

Please also take note that while you are correct that flying is not a right, abusive intrusion is not something I’m willing to take part in, nor is it right to give an industry carte blanche to do so. I don’t need some intrusive feel good idiot telling me I need to get x-rayed every time I decide to take a flight just so it can make some people feel safe.

Abusive? How in the world is x-raying you abusive? And it will help a lot with safety. You'd be surprised how easy it is to make homemade stuff that can cause some serious damage.

[Dreamstalker]

Personally I prefer Amtrak because of the leg room and no drastic air pressure change.

Oh yeah. Yes, flying from Boston to Newark NJ may be slightly cheaper, but I'll pay a bit extra for legroom, scenery, ability to get up and walk around, and no ungodly ticket/security lines (factoring that in, the Acela on the Northeast Corridor may actually have the airline beat in terms of overall travel time).

[KitterCat]

Abusive? How in the world is x-raying you abusive? And it will help a lot with safety. You'd be surprised how easy it is to make homemade stuff that can cause some serious damage.

To put it bluntly, I’ve got friends who work in engineering and chemicals on a daily bases. I know how easily it is to make something because I get to hear them spotting off things you and I could get in a grocery store that could cause some serious damage. I can also think of several ways to by pass this machine. If I can think of things, so can any terrorist. I also said it was abusive intrusion, it doesn’t have to be someone just beating on you to be abusive. I stand by what I said earlier, Security needs to use conman sense and when warning flags are raised, such as in the underwear boomer incident, they need to be enacted on.

[Greenday]

To put it bluntly, I’ve got friends who work in engineering and chemicals on a daily bases. I know how easily it is to make something because I get to hear them spotting off things you and I could get in a grocery store that could cause some serious damage. I can also think of several ways to by pass this machine. If I can think of things, so can any terrorist. I also said it was abusive intrusion, it doesn’t have to be someone just beating on you to be abusive. I stand by what I said earlier, Security needs to use conman sense and when warning flags are raised, such as in the underwear boomer incident, they need to be enacted on.

Thank you, I understand the definition of abusive and that it is not always physical. I've been dealing with emotional abuse myself. I'm still unaware of how xray scanning is an ABUSIVE intrusion.