X-ray backscatter security scanners

[Trek420]

Is this really what the Nazis did to the German people before they started carting off whole neighborhoods to the internment camps? I read that somewhere. I can't remember where.

No, it's really not.

Oy . As the child and grandchild of survivors I feel one shouldn't compare anything with the Holocaust other than other genocide.

I personally feel atrocities like the Sudan, the killing fields of Cambodia, the decimation of Native American peoples are the same. Numbers may be less or even more such as the numbers killed during Stalin's Russia.

Others feel passionately that nothing should ever be compared to the Holocaust and that doing so trivializes the death of over 6 million killed because of who they were.

I'm sure we feel as I do that we should know history so we never forget and never let this happen again. I recommend you start with a reliable source and not some forum. You'll never learn anything on a forum I recommend starting:

http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/

[OakLeaf]

we should know history so we never forget and never let this happen again

... and an important part of that is not forgetting the other 5-7 million people killed by the Nazis ...



/hijack

[pll]

Roxy: You do not need to tell the TSA folks anything about your health. You can opt out without explanation. At least in O'Hare, there are prominent signs stating you may opt out of the back scatter. I opt out not because of a health issue, but because I do not trust the TSA to competently maintain and handle those machines. In a hospital, they are attended to by specialists and not used nearly as frequently. The TSA won't even allow their personnel to wear the badges that track their exposure to radiation.

It may help to crack a joke if you are apprehensive. I don't find the pat down particularly invasive. The TSA person always tells you what she is about to do, and does it quickly. Not the most comfortable event ever, but a lot less invasive than most doctor/dentist visits.

[channlluv]

No, it's really not. ...

I'm sure we feel as I do that we should know history so we never forget and never let this happen again. I recommend you start with a reliable source and not some forum. You'll never learn anything on a forum I recommend starting:

http://www.ushmm.org/genocide/

Thank you, Trek, for your understanding. I certainly meant no offense, but I think you know that. Thanks for the directions, too, to the appropriate source material. I've realized that people who are trying to express something with great passion tend toward the bombastic in comparing their drama with other historical events of much greater magnitude. I'm sorry I let that seep into my post.

I appreciate all the other good points made and opinions shared, too.

I do love the variety on this board.

Roxy

[pll]

Hmm Snap... Borderline. Something like that won't help those who are anxious about these pat downs and looked for reassurance in this very thread.

[TsPoet]

Hmm Snap... Borderline. Something like that won't help those who are anxious about these pat downs and looked for reassurance in this very thread.

I not only laughed, I showed it to the SO, who also had his day brightened.

[Trek420]

No fair giving just the highlights. Now I'm waiting for the rest of the the Harlequin novel where she also gets the castle. I've never read one but I heard somewhere that Harlequin novels plot lines are 3 little words: girl gets house.

Aren't the pat downs usually done by the same gender? That's a whole 'nother genre of literature.

[Duck on Wheels]

I'm a frequent flyer. So far the past 12 months: at least a dozen round trips, many of them involving multiple flights each way, often with separate security checks (many airports don't have a way to get from one area to another without going out of the secure area, which means you have to get checked to get back in). I always opt out of the backscatter x-ray. Imagine my exposure just from flying if I didn't! Not to mention all the x-rays I have for medical reasons I am usually not asked why I'm opting out. Twice I was asked and just said I wanted to limit my radiation exposure. I didn't elaborate. Opting out always entails some extra wait time, since they have to call an appropriate (= same sex) security officer over to do the pat down. (Yes, assuming that a same sex officer is appropriate is a heterosexist assumption, but I don't heckle them about that.) At first the pat down was quick and efficient but brusk, as if I was a trouble-maker for opting out. More recently it's been highly professional in that the officer explained each step before doing it - which didn't take noticeably longer. Last time I was asked if there was anything she should be aware of in the pat down - sensitive spots or unusual anatomy. I said I had an ostomy appliance. She asked where. I pointed. She had me hold my hand over that area as she did the pat down, then she did a wipe scan of my hand. Another officer asked if they had to do a wipe scan of the appliance itself or have me strip down in a separate room. She said no and explained why to him. I used to find many TSA folks insensitive. I think they've received some training over the years now. I wish they were being better treated, especially regarding their own radiation exposure. I find that travel is not a hassle as long as I: 1) get to the airport in good time, 2) smile (and ye will be smiled back at), 3) relax into my zen fatalist state (I got here on time, I did my bit, now it's up to the airline and no longer my problem - eventually, I will get where I need to be).

[snapdragen]

I took my post out -- it was bothering me last night. I'll move it to a more appropriate spot.