Airport body scans

[RicePaddyDaddy]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Opt-Out-of-a-Body-Scan-Then-nytimes-3016411705.html?x=0

Not for me.My flying days are over and I'm too old to be yelled at.

[Planning]

“Opt out! We got an opt out!”

I AGREE WITH RPD ON THIS.

WELL! I HAVE GOT AN "“Opt out! We got an opt out!” FOR THEM. :wink:

IT IS TO NOT FLY ANY MORE. :nonono:

RON

[jdowney]

Yup, same here.... I've flown once since 2001 and don't intend to ever fly again, unless by some miracle TSA starts behaving with a bit of common sense.

Its not a question of modesty so much as a refusal to participate in the Security-Is-Tight dog and pony show that has become so normal. It amazes me that people willingly cede their basic civil rights for the mere convenience of rapid, if uncomfortable, transportation. No thank you, I will drive.

Once a week I drive through one of two Border Patrol/Customs checkpoints. I stop, they ask if I'm a US citizen, and off I go. On rare occasion there is an additional question, like if the back of my car is stuffed with scraps of wood from my friend's shop in Tucson. Easily answered, BP officers seem to have the ability to use the good judgement that is so lacking in airports around the nation. They see a calm middle aged white guy and conclude that I'm no threat and have nothing to hide. Why is this so damn difficult for TSA to do?

[Buddymack]

Yup, same here.... I've flown once since 2001 and don't intend to ever fly again, unless by some miracle TSA starts behaving with a bit of common sense.

Its not a question of modesty so much as a refusal to participate in the Security-Is-Tight dog and pony show that has become so normal. It amazes me that people willingly cede their basic civil rights for the mere convenience of rapid, if uncomfortable, transportation. No thank you, I will drive.

Once a week I drive through one of two Border Patrol/Customs checkpoints. I stop, they ask if I'm a US citizen, and off I go. On rare occasion there is an additional question, like if the back of my car is stuffed with scraps of wood from my friend's shop in Tucson. Easily answered, BP officers seem to have the ability to use the good judgement that is so lacking in airports around the nation. They see a calm middle aged white guy and conclude that I'm no threat and have nothing to hide. Why is this so damn difficult for TSA to do?

You know I think your right for the most part it is a bunch of dog and pony act, I will go on but folks will start sending me foil to make more hats out of them, but a few years ago when I had to "company business" go to San Jose I will never forget them frisking Soccer Moms...:rolleyes: Oh brother.

[cwo4uscgret]

As some of you know, I've had both knees replaced with new ones. They are made from titanium, polyethalene, and cobalt steel. I have 8" scars down the front of my knees; and I have a card from the knee manufacturer showing what knees I have.

My wife is from Colombia and owns a condo in Acapulco - so obviously we fly a lot. Oh, I also am a Customs and Border Protection Officer - and can fly armed, completely bypassing the TSA Checkpoint (when armed).

The last time we flew from Detroit to Colombia I wore a pair of shorts (to show the scars), carried the card, and showed my badge and credential...some snot nosed TSA kid said "I don't care about all that - go over there" wanded, patted down, made to sit in the glass booth (no body scan yet there) and otherwise treated like crap. Next time I'll fly armed and avoid the hassle!

[Old Jimmy]

I am going to North Dakota when the temporary job I am working right now ends so I can try to get a better job and my wife wanted me to fly because it is a 18 hour drive but that is ok, me and the F 350 will do just fine on the road versus a fiasco like this happening!!!

[Woodman in MO]

Why is this so damn difficult for TSA to do?

I won't lump all TSA agents into this, but of the hundred or so I've seen and interacted with, I think it is simply because they are just idiots. No lengthy explanation is needed.

[Planning]

thanks CWO4, i forgot about the going thru security and setting off the alarms. i can remove the stuff out of my pocket, the belt. etc. but i still set off the alarms if they are sensitivity enough. i have small particals of steel in my a$$, back and back legs from being hit during a mortar attack in vietnam. i always forget, but my wife remind me and then i tell them, but then i get an extra look over every time.
it is a pain in the A$$. oh well.

i am not planning on doing any more flying anytime soon anyway.

ron

[jmikey]

It's become such a PITA and time consuming that I will not fly anymore either. Recently made a trip back to central Florida 9.5 hrs driving each way. Flying there a few months ago 7.5 hrs plus rent a car and drive another hour each way. Why subject myself to that crap for one hour saved!

[RicePaddyDaddy]

thanks CWO4, i forgot about the going thru security and setting off the alarms. i can remove the stuff out of my pocket, the belt. etc. but i still set off the alarms if they are sensitivity enough. i have small particals of steel in my a$$, back and back legs from being hit during a mortar attack in vietnam. i always forget, but my wife remind me and then i tell them, but then i get an extra look over every time.
it is a pain in the A$$. oh well.

i am not planning on doing any more flying anytime soon anyway.

ron

I've got one in my chest.20 months in RVN only thing I got was a good dose of malaria.Came home and got shot by an ex con in a beerjoint. :wall:

[cfish]

Don't know if any of you read the posting by an airline pilot who back in October refused to go thru a scanner and opted out for a pat down and metal detector. Well, he was detained by the authorities his hief Pilot was called and I am trying to find out if he lost his job. The TSA agents went overboard andcalled the airport police who gave him a ruff time as well. The pilot had been flying out of that airport for 5 years was in uniform with the proper credentials. I flew commercial a few days later from Raleigh, NC to Denver Co. Both airports had the scanners and I was prepared to say no to entering them. I fortunately went thru the old fashioned way. Why is it not ok to have a low dose off radiation when getting your teeth Xrayed, but perfectly ok to have your entire body slammed with xrays, not to mention all those folks standing next to the machine. will never enter one and as a pilot, I will drive everywhere I go from now on.

[rpmfly2]

I won't lump all TSA agents into this, but of the hundred or so I've seen and interacted with, I think it is simply because they are just idiots. No lengthy explanation is needed.
I am a pilot also and have no problem with the old style TSA crap but have yet to go through the NEW WORLD TSA!
Remember it's GOVERNMENT SUB-CONTRACTED OUT! We ALL know what that means! Super human intelligence is employed!:jumping:

I have only met two TSA "GREETERS" at a check point here at DSM "Des Moines" airport over the years since the TSA was "installed" like a dirty toilet! I think they were stoned or on XTC!

I reload and shoot ALOT! I get checked for residue almost all the time with my backpack I take to the range and my wife always cannot belive my backpack and especially my jacket PASS every time! I should set off everything! But, even in Kansas city I pass with flying colors! I don't think they are calibrating the machines properly and / or properly trained!

[cfish]

I just traveled to wyo with two handguns. Flew out on American and back on Delta. HAd no problems checking them in at either airport. Had my backpack and my gun case wiped down for residue, which I find funny that it didn't set off any bells. I spent the last three weeks before my hunting trip to Wyo shooting and reloading everyday and using my gun case(the one I used on the airlines) to transport both my guns back and forth everyday, usually after reloading. In Raleigh NC, I did watch as one of the female TSA agents dressed down a male counter part for talking up the ladies when he was supposed to be doing his job. She even yelled that at him. She said something like this, If you weren't to damn busy staring and talking to all the women you might get your job done and we might get this line moving.

[jdowney]

There's nothing hazardous about the technology, IIRC, the scanner uses high frequency radio that will penetrate clothing but reflects off of living tissue due to its higher density.

Xray's are at the other end of the electromagnetic spectrum, past UV light which gives you sunburns and skin cancer. Electromagnetic radiation above the visible range is considered ionizing because it is energetic enough to detach electrons from the atoms. This ionization of living tissue is what is thought to contribute to certain cancers.

We get away with using Xrays at the doctor's office because the radiation is not as energetic as say Gamma rays, and the exposure is fairly brief.

[nonleathal]

i'm sure i'll stop flying if they ever install colonoscopes.

[jdowney]

i'm sure i'll stop flying if they ever install colonoscopes.

but then our new National Health Care plan would pay for it! One stop (& drop) shopping. :D:eek::D

[DAA1]

i'm sure i'll stop flying if they ever install colonoscopes.

I am sure that is coming........
You know the govt is always hear 2 hep.

[chili]

When I left last week for San Antonio TSA let my wallet go through with a deputy sheriff badge, but had to take an extra look my computer case. Guess the wires from the extrenal HD confused them?

[okie shooter]

In some ways, remember there is zero tollerance for failure by TSA, thus one screw up is enough that plenty of egg on face makes them all look bad, even thought billons of folks board flights every year. Thus is viglance better than being nice and letting .001% of fliers board a flight armed.

Thus I dont envy going thru airports, and I have far more crap that I have been exposed too to hang me up during a screen. How many of you get exposed to high explosives on a daily or weekly basis and then worry about going thru a check point.

[mistersquiggles]

yeah i can imagine its a real pain for you......

[jdowney]

No one wants TSA to fail.... perhaps that's why I'm so harsh on all the dumb stuff that they're pulling to try to make it look like they're workin' hard protecting travelers. In my view this is little more than a preventable failure already in progress.

Israel is very effective in preventing problems by recognizing the root of the problem -human behavior- and training their screeners to recognize suspicious behavior. Its all well and good to say "no criticizing the home team", but if no one criticizes inept and deeply stupid policies, they will never change.

I doubt they'll change anyhow, but I reserve the right to be frank about it. Stupid is as stupid does, and airport security in the US has been little short of stupid throughout my lifetime, and in the last decade has been amplified to new and glorious heights of stupidity.

If we'd instituted Israeli style airport security decades ago, when the threat started, 9/11 would likely never have happened at all. TSA's failure is simply a continuation of a long standing and broader failure caused by our own politics and pride. We want to live in a country where we're safe and somehow above having to take the measures the Israelis had to start taking in the 1970's. Once it became clear in 2001 that our safety was an illusion, we still would not face the reality of fighting terrorism any more than we face the reality of gun control... the weapons do not kill people, other people kill people.

[vmkeith]

I avoid flying as much as possible...unfortunately I'm in WA and my wife's family is in SoCal, getting up in age, and funerals are getting more frequent. The last time I flew, some TSA agent pulled my 10yr old daughter (at the time) off to the side room. They tried to stop me from escorting my daughter...can you believe that. I told them there was no chance in hell I was going to allow them to search my underage daughter without having her guardian (ME) there. The site of a 6'3" 280lb, pissed off former Marine changed their minds real quick...that and I demanded they get their supervisor. That's the only time I've seen any TSA agent use any common sense, because they got their supervisor and had no further reservations about me accompanying my daughter.

[cfish]

oh, forgot about this. When I was leaving Denver to return to NC a guy in the line next to me went thru the scanner and his bag was pulled from the conveyor to be searched. In his bag they found a rather large buttefly knife. The TSA agent then called over the airport police who was watching the lines. The police officer then told the guy his knife was illegal. and he would be delayed. He asked the officer if he was being arrested. The cop asked him if he had any warrants out for his arrest, he said he didn't know. The cop then asked again you don't know? He said not that he knew about. The officer sat him down left a TSA agent with him and took his Drivers license with him and was making a call. I needed to catch my flight so I never got to see what happened.
Can you say Idiot!!!

[RicePaddyDaddy]

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=7774593

more news on the body scans.

[jdowney]

There's nothing hazardous about the technology, IIRC, the scanner uses high frequency radio that will penetrate clothing but reflects off of living tissue due to its higher density.

Xray's are at the other end of the electromagnetic spectrum, past UV light which gives you sunburns and skin cancer. Electromagnetic radiation above the visible range is considered ionizing because it is energetic enough to detach electrons from the atoms. This ionization of living tissue is what is thought to contribute to certain cancers.

We get away with using Xrays at the doctor's office because the radiation is not as energetic as say Gamma rays, and the exposure is fairly brief.

I was wrong about this, there are two types, one using high frequency radio (microwave) and the other using a weak unfocused Xray beam. The Xray is the one that all the health fuss is about (called backscatter technology). TSA has about equal numbers of each deployed.

[brewskzilla]

They'll do anything to keep from being politically incorrect... "We'd rather molest people than use our brains... We're the government. That's what we do."

[Sturmvogel]

vmkeith... very respectfully sir, but there is no such thing as a 'former' Marine; just like there are no 'former' Eagle Scouts.