Tuesday, July 20, 2010

flying just gets harder.

Here's the real reason why I didn't fly home. Airport full body scanners.


There are currently a little more than a hundred scanners in place, and about a thousand to be installed. You can refuse to walk through a body scanner, but you'll have to go through a metal detector plus a pat-down. You might even be accused of being "unpatriotic". Wall Street Journal

Last month, a TSA employee walked through the scanner during a training which prompted a teasing from his co-workers about the size of his manly parts. He attacked his colleague who consequently suffered bruises and cuts, and was arrested with assault charges. Huffington Post

At London's Heathrow Airport, a month after full body scanner was put in place, the first sexual harassment complaint was filed. After a woman walked through the scanner, an employee supposedly said "love those gigantic _". Gulp.  There are now "Flying Pasties" for sale, where you put orange stickers over your private parts.

There's also concerns about harmful effects of radiation. A study by Dr. David Brenner at Columbia University found that the scanners may cause an increase in basal cell carcinoma (a sort of a skin cancer), especially in individuals who are genetically susceptible to DNA damange.

Here's a fun quote by Jon Andler, head of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, in response to concerns regarding invasion of privacy: "I think a bomb detonating on a plane is the biggest invasion of privacy a person can experience."

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