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Scanners search through clothing
Millimeter wave technology from security specialist Qinetiq is designed to detect not just metal but other threats, like ceramic knives and hidden drugs.
Credit: Qinetiq
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I got a weapon of mass destruction for ya right here TSA!
Same holds certainly for other religions and cultures.
This will do much more harm than good...
And it won't help: how many terrorists have been cought by metal detectors? More: how many haven't? Why should that be ANY different with ANY other technique? Terrorism cannot really defied technically - its a social, cultural and political problem.
Andre
I bet if you showed up at the airport naked, you wouldn't even make it to the gate before being arrested. But if someone is getting paid to see you naked it's ok.....wait, isn't that sort of like prostitution? I know that may sound extreme, but think about it.
I will gladly take the 1 in 500 million chance of something bad happening on a plane then to hand over my freedom. Maybe it's time to move to a free country like Canada.
of OSI Systems. "Since the Russian plane tragedy, which is
suspected due to suicide bombers, the interest has heightened
for these needs, especially for the body scanner," Deepak
Chopra, the chief executive of OSI Systems, recently told
analysts.
Deepak Chopra??? Man, he's getting desperate.
What are you folks going to do when pictures of five to nine year old girls and boys begin appearing on the Internet from systems like these? Should we exclude those children from this system? Then they'll start pushing the bombs into these kids bodies.
Oh wait, this system doesn't catch anything ingested. So what do we do with the guys who swallow various items in a condom and them regurgitate those items in the bathroom?
Perhaps those items could also be stored in the anal cavity and blocked with a plug of some sort until the terrorist is ready for their release?
Is your answer for everyone - including small children - to undergo cavity searches, pass through a metal detector, pose nude in front of security guards, and to be forced to regurgitate the contents of their stomach? That's what they do when you're being admitted to prison, I'll admit, but all that .. for a plane ride?
You suggest that we use female guards for women, male guards for men. Funny. This doesn't take into account the sexuality of the people - it stereotypes them. So a lesbian female peering at another female is okay, but a male isn't?
You all willingly give up your civil liberties for a moment's peace of mind; a moment that isn't even a true peace of mind. Of the terrorist attacks that have occurred how many have had accomplices? How many items have been smuggled onboard by the pilots, stewardesses, repair mechanics, etc., that don't have to undergo such intensive scrutinies?
Should we force them to undergo those same scrutinies? That'll be one more fact they have in their favor when they ask for a raise and the airlines come begging to the United States government for another handout comprised of my tax dollars while their executives rake in millions.
The individuals responsible for September 11 could just as easily have taken bombs and munitions up to the top of the towers and inflicted the same type of damage. Should we remove all explosives and possible explosives from the shelves and public access?
Perhaps we should screen all those who enter a public or open to the public building as we do when they jump on an airplane?
The funny thing is that the comments about Muslim men are right on target. Instead of the government recognizing that these men are the ones to look out for we've outlawed "stereotyping" -- it's not "politically correct" to look at past facts and draw conclusions anymore. A black man in an all white city and a crime was just committed? He's driving a car that was seen in the area? We pull him over, the government gets sued -- wha? I'm sorry, look at the past facts - if Muslims are responsible for 99% of the terrorist attacks in the world then place THEM under more scrutiny.
Disclaimer: I don't fly anymore after five years of flying twice a day because after September 11 *I* was searched (strip searched in many cases), harassed, and otherwise delayed. I had my medicine confiscated three times (insulin) because I carried only the bottles, not the boxes they were given to me in (with the prescriptions on the outside). $600.00 in medicine taken because "it could be a dangerous agent." Uh, yea.
The airlines can flounder and die. And those of you who're willing to give up your civil liberties for reasons like this need to examine history, specifically, Germany prior to World War II.
Does anybody recognize this America anymore? What is the "war on terror" anyway. More like a war on all our civil liberties.
Barney Fife than to get felt up and frisked. I think this is a better
alternative.
If I start seeing "Airport Screener Porn" shots posted, I'd be more
worried about the fetish than the source.
Fly safe and leave the PA's at home,
James
1. It is offensive to be viewed naked.
2. Being viewed naked is an affront to personal freedom.
3. This is a slippery slope and once allowed here it will be allowed everywhere until there are virtually no personal freedoms left.
The opinions for the technology seem to boil down to is this:
1. Who cares if one is viewed naked?
2. It is better to be seen naked and alive than be dead.
3. This will make the airplanes safer.
4. This is a less obtrusive way to search passengers.
I have to agree - for the most part - with the latter. Here is why:
1. In the demonstration I saw, the screeners could not see the people - all they could see were the images. Therefore, they never saw a person walk up, through and then leave. The point is that if their own mother walked through, they would have no idea since you can't tell who it is.
2. Nobody else can see your image other than the security operator. That includes other passengers and employees of the airports.
3. This is much less obtrusive than removing shoes, clothing and emptying out all of your pockets - in front of everyone.
4. The fundamental liberty is the right to life. One's right to live trumps others rights.
5. It is not only the liberty of the passengers and crew that must be considered here. It is their lives as-well-as the lives of all the people on the ground as that airplane flies over. Additionally, it is the nation's and even the world's economy and peace that must be considered. Remember what 9/11 did to the economy and the peace in the world?
6. Air travel is not a required means of travel. You can use other public transportation. You can travel by car or even by boat. Air travel is a convenience - and a choice. When you buy your ticket, you agree to be bound by their rules and policies.
7. For the person who quoted Benjamin Franklin - get your quote correct. It is "They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security." IMHO, this technology does not cause you to give up any ESSENTIAL liberty and there is nothing TEMPORARY about DEATH!
muslims are conspiring to destroy america. I can't believe this is
coming out of "educated" people. how can you even represent
your country, your people, in this way, shame on you!
-There are some people out there that don't mind parading
naked infront of people, but there are those who prefer to keep
their bodies private. that should be respected.
-Terrorist threats are rare for the average person. I'm sitting in
my room and oh my god i'm gonna have a plane fly through my
window any minute. my electrical outlet is a terrorist threat, it's
threatening the earth as of this moment.
-I bet those people commenting on countries like china and
canada have never been there (except for one), get off your fat
***** and go see them and then you can talk.
-as for these images going on the net, yes they will get there
without doubt, not only that but they will be stored in a
database for future reference.
At 21 I shouldn't be lecturing people about their behaviour.
The ultimate resolution is to hunt down everyone who advocates killing Americans and kill them and their teachers and their families first. Eventually they will get the idea and then we can all fly again, worried only about maintenance and pilotage goofs.
It is the arrogance of those same isolationists that pissed off the terrorists to begin with. (Which, before you read that incorrectly, as you no doubt will, is not justification. Nor is it saying "We deserved it." Simply a discussion of the reason why it happened. But it's so much easier just to say they hate us and they'll do it anyway, isn't it? So much easier because then we don't have to change anything about the way we behave in the world!)
Before you tell me to move to some other country if I don't like it, take the briefest of moments to think about the screeds you're typing. You don't get to decide for everyone. America, remember? The Constitution establishes democracy, which means no one is any better or any worse (after the 19th Amendment) than anyone else. You're merely the Caucasian mirror-image of a Muslim extremist yourself. "Everyone else should give up their freedoms because I don't care about mine! Anyone who disagrees with me can move!" Well, Sherlock, that's not how it works. We all have to agree. And we if don't agree, you can't just rewrite the rules so your mindless conservative paranoia and rubber-stamped Republicanism triumph anyhow.
Let me guess. Back in the 1850s you were the kind of person that argued African-Americans were biologically incapable of learning to read, because the vast majority of African-Americans (slaves, remember?) couldn't read. Nevermind they weren't allowed to learn to read. It was a justification for marginalizing an ethnicity. Like the anti-Semitic ravings of Nazi Germany, or the anti-Muslim ravings of 1300s Europe, which we've apparently resurrected today, because after all, good hatred never dies, does it?
Get over your body, and get over yourself. Your hang-ups are not worth compromising my safety. You really have that many hang-ups about your body, maybe you shouldn't fly.
- All this talk of freedom??
- by May 28, 2005 8:41 AM PDT
- What is freedom? And how are we losing freedom with these scanners? How? Visit a nudist colony to see what true freedom is. You were born without clothes. Were you not? We only started wearing clothes after many thousands of years of evolution. Before then, we were like all other animals, we walked around naked. Granted we had more fur (hair) to stay warm. After losing all that hair, we were cold, therefore we started making clothes. Then all of a sudden, we become so modest. Yeah right! It's all in your heads. Get over your false modesty and all your hang-ups. Our security is much more important than that. And clothing has nothing to do with freedom. As far as I am concerned, everyone should fly naked if it will make us safer.
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