Posted on 11/11/2010 6:09:47 AM PST by re_tail20
Supporters say it enhances security aboard passenger jets, but critics say it is little more than government-sponsored voyeurism for Transportation Security Administration workers.
The dispute is over the new enhanced airport security screening procedures that offer a choice of either a nude, full-body image X-ray scan or a hands-on-all-parts pat-down by a federal agent.
And the controversy could be coming to a head.
The Air Transport Association of America says it expects 24 million people to fly during the Thanksgiving holiday period, and an online campaign is urging everyone who flies the day before Thanksgiving – usually one of the busiest air travel days of the year – to opt out of the new full-body, nude-image scanners.
"The goal of National Opt-Out Day is to send a message to our lawmakers that we demand change," states the website. "No naked body scanners, no government-approved groping. We have a right to privacy and buying a plane ticket should not mean that we're guilty until proven innocent.
"While the government doesn't always like to advertise this, you have the ability to opt-out of the naked body scanner machines," the organizers said.
The move was praised by some as a needed spotlight on the invasive images derived from the security screenings – so graphic that WND cannot post them online – and the aggressive nature of the alternative "pat-downs" conducted by federal agents. One woman described how agents grabbed and twisted her breasts.
But the campaign also drew some alarmed reactions because of the potential it has to clog or shut down the travel system.
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Leap — never trust a report from the daily mail. This report was clearly written by someone who did not pass or take physics, and lacks a basic understanding of either RF or ionizing radiation and its propagation.
The report lacks ANY mention of wavelength and wattage. WHERE in the light/radio spectrum do these waves of energy live?
That the author would write “because the beam concentrates on the skin” belies the fact they are ignorant of the science. It may be true that the ‘waves’ do not penetrate the skin, much, but clearly they do interact with the skin, and THAT is what we need to understand.
Do you remember studying the spectrum — IR visible, UV, etc., and Alpha, gamma, beta and x-ray? I bet this author cannot discriminate between them, nor their effects on human physiology.
That said, I don’t know the effects of these machines. But they do concern me. Ask Madame Curie what happened to her; or the people who painted radium-laced paint onto watches.
The screening process has been further delayed by the airlines charging for checked bags so passengers are now bringing everything but steamer trunks as carry on bags that all have to be screened.
I wonder if there have been such studies with regard to microwave radiation. It seems resonable to me that even these frequencies could cause chemical changes that would equate to biological changes. It is reasonable that chemical crud produced in this fashion might cause cancer over time. They do cook meat; and, we're meat.
I presume that many ailments humans suffer on this planet may be caused by long term exposure to RF and microwave radiation. It would be difficult to study this, wouldn't it?
I have fixed this problem for myself... I WILL NEVER FLY ON A COMMERCIAL PLANE AGAIN.
LLS
Very difficult to study, cuz of a lack of a control population.
Truth is, you get a much higher ‘dose’ from the fluorescent lights in your office, and your hair dryer than you do from these machines.
Also, there’s a REALLY big radiation emitter up in the sky during daylight hours, plus the earth itself emits a measurable amount of ‘radiation.’
Life is a very high-risk adventure. If you think about it, 100% of lives result in death. Living should be banned - it is too risky ;-)
And yet, hundreds or thousands of OTM’s stream over the Mexican border and 0bama and Hitlery sue Arizona for trying to protect the citizens of the US for trying to stop them.
Veddy interesting. I hadn’t made the leap, but it sure does fit. Seems when it comes to the border, we don’t even need smoke and mirrors. No one gives a darn. Well maybe millions do, but since the ten year old in the White House sees it different, the sheep are kept in the fold.
I’ll bet there are other examples of how government is here to help.
If things don’t change, the health care debacle is going to show us just how much government cares.
Apparently the citizen’s, comfort, care, well being, and security take a back seat to the wide open door policy of our leaders in DC.
The prison guards as Auschwitz were just as guilty as the warden, and the Nazi policy makers.
The backscatter machines are X-ray machines.
Shush! You'll give our clever leaders an idea.
Two different technologies are used: x-ray "backscatter" and extremely high frequency radio bands (so-called millimeter technology):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeter_wave_scanner
There's no actual evidence that these are safe. No long-term animal studies, with higher doses, etc.
In my opinion, only the sheeple allow themselves to be herded through these things, sort of like cattle being driven through a trough full of insecticide to rid them of ticks. I know lots of smart people who refuse to go through them. I certainly won't.
I understand that. My point was that the SOFTWARE for computer-aided diagnostics (reading the images via automation) is not specific to X-ray machines. I didn’t want folks to infer that CAD only worked with traditional X-ray, versus this backscatter technology.
T-rays have not been studied enough to unleash them on the public at this level.
Source wiki (but is also found at other sites):
Possible health effects
Millimeter wave radiation and radio frequency radiation in general is not inherently carcinogenic (unlike X-rays and ultraviolet radiation), but exposure to lower frequencies of microwaves have demonstrated an increased risk of cancer and faster rates of tumor progression.[10]
A study conducted by Boian S. Alexandrov and colleagues at the Center for Nonlinear Studies at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico[11] performed mathematical models how terahertz fields interact with double-stranded DNA, showing that, even though involved forces seem to be tiny, nonlinear resonances (although much less likely to form than less-powerful common resonances) could allow terahertz waves to “unzip double-stranded DNA, creating bubbles in the double strand that could significantly interfere with processes such as gene expression and DNA replication”.[12] However, currently deployed body scanners operate in the millimeter wave region which is above the sub millimeter or Terahertz region that was investigated in this study and due to the specific resonant frequency effects the research is not applicable to mm wave
Ten years from now T-rays will be found to be harmful. THERE IS NO WAY they do not casue DNA damage after repeated exposure.
Just using a little logic rather than get sucked into all of the histrionics.
Complaints need to be directed at the people who can actually do something to change policies.
I don't buy that for a moment. I've seen TSA thugs who enjoy intimidating travelers. As far as I'm concerned, they deserve what they get. If they can't handle the pressure, they have the option of quitting.
Truthfully, I feel safer in downtown Baghdad than I do in US airports.
You are correct. El Al profiles, and we all know that is wascist!
Power over others is seductive - tends to be corrupted absolutely... Personally, I'd rather forbid all people from the ME from flying in the United States.... until THEY come up with a better solution. Funny how incentives work - just might pit the 'moderate' Muslims against the extremists... for the enhanced safety of all of us.
Find out how many Congressmen and Senators intend to be sent through these like the Country Class is being forced to do?
Require The Imam and his family to go through one every time they boards Air Force One just to prove to the serfs that they are safe.
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