X-ray backscatter security scanners

[KnottedYet]

I'd far rather see more use of sniffer dogs. Less imaging technology. Pat-downs only if the metal detectors and the dogs alert on a passenger.

Dogs stick their noses here and there all the time, trained sniffers do the job without actually touching anything.

Sniffer dogs don't have to look scary, either. I've seen very cute floppy beagles working as sniffers at the airport.

[moonfroggy]

would really like floppy cute beagles
that would work well for me

i am wondering how many people will decide they can't or won't fly after this and how many people would have to decide not to fly for it to have a big enough financial impact on airlines to affect things. i suspect to many people need to fly for work for that to happen. i have friends who need to fly all the time for work who are survivors of all sorts of stuff have all sorts of trauma and i have no idea how they are managing to deal with this. i'm worried about them. for them deciding not to fly would mean getting a new job possibly a career change.

[Crankin]

I have stayed away from this thread, but now that VeloVT said what I think, I will say that none of this is a big deal to me. Yes, I defer to those with medical issues (and this should have been thought of by the gov.) and yes, we need to keep working on better ways to do security. But, I could care less what "they" see of my body, and if for some reason I had to go through a pat down, I'd deal.
I keep thinking what will happen the first time there is a terrorist incident if screening is relaxed. I love to travel and this certainly won't stop me. We all have the freedom to choose to fly or not.
You guys know I am a "blue" person in the bluest of blue states. Maybe I have no modesty or maybe I just don't see this as a big deal. Or maybe having someone who works in intelligence for the military gives me a different perspective.

[OakLeaf]

I have very little modesty, but I'm not going to dis those who do. Sexual assault IS a continuum, as they used to say in the '70s, and the fact that people have endured the horrific extreme end of that continuum doesn't mean that the other end is "nothing."

The point is being forced to disrobe beyond one's personal point of comfort. Everyone has such a point. I was beyond that point the time a male GYN stuck a speculum in me and walked out of the room to get something, leaving the door open and my cervix on display to whoever might walk past (which could have included other patients, drug reps, etc., not just medical personnel). That was really awful for me. Other people may be beyond that point just from being seen in the scanner. Modesty is like pain, everyone's threshold is different, but the experience is still real.

There will be terrorist incidents WITH these screening protocols. Then what? Body cavity searches? CT scans?

[lph]

I was beyond that point the time a male GYN stuck a speculum in me and walked out of the room to get something, leaving the door open and my cervix on display to whoever might walk past

What an absolute idiot . Just having my friendly and motherly female GYN do the speculum thing in the privacy of a small room has me mortified.

I wouldn't care much one way or the other about the scan myself, but I can fully appreciate that some people find it a very uncomfortable experience. It's not just a question of pulling yourself together and being sensible, or a question of what the scanner thinks or feels.

[TsPoet]

well, if you can't laugh...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HXEE...layer_embedded

with all of the anger over this issue, I found this to be a nice laugh break.

[Biciclista]

FYI, it isn't just the USA.. People in Germany demonstrated at an airport by stripping en mass.
There's another European group afoot that is planning for men to wear kilts and no underwear.