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On the one hand, I tend to agree with John Scalzi; as a 40-something and overweight man, the list of people who want to see me naked is sadly rather small. On the other hand, my "this is bullshit" light is glowing so brightly that you can see it from orbit. So, attached herewith is my letter sent to selected Congressmen and other elected officials:
Dear _____:
I am writing you in regards to the recent implementation of full-body scans and “patdowns” by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). I urge you to stop these practices immediately.
Ben Franklin is quoted as saying “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Simply put, the full-body scans are excessively invasive. They are also prone to false positives, which leads to even-more invasive patdowns of the “don’t touch my junk” variety.
They are ineffective, as they cannot detect low-density explosives of the type used by the failed Underwear Bomber. It is important to point out that existing security measures, specifically those that forced the bomber to use a different detonator, prevented the explosion. The full body scanners are “Security Theater” – something implemented to create the appearance of security, not actual security.
This leads to my last point – we cannot have 100% security. Full body scans do not prevent bombs from being smuggled in cargo or luggage, or by airport employees. Increasing security waits are a threat in and of themselves, as the queue of people become a target for attack.
The proper course of action is to focus more efforts on arresting and interdicting terrorists, not treating all air passengers as potential terrorists. It is hard to square “land of the free, home of the brave” with mandatory strip-searches by internal travel police at every airport.
Sincerely,
Chris Gerrib
Dear _____:
I am writing you in regards to the recent implementation of full-body scans and “patdowns” by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). I urge you to stop these practices immediately.
Ben Franklin is quoted as saying “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.” Simply put, the full-body scans are excessively invasive. They are also prone to false positives, which leads to even-more invasive patdowns of the “don’t touch my junk” variety.
They are ineffective, as they cannot detect low-density explosives of the type used by the failed Underwear Bomber. It is important to point out that existing security measures, specifically those that forced the bomber to use a different detonator, prevented the explosion. The full body scanners are “Security Theater” – something implemented to create the appearance of security, not actual security.
This leads to my last point – we cannot have 100% security. Full body scans do not prevent bombs from being smuggled in cargo or luggage, or by airport employees. Increasing security waits are a threat in and of themselves, as the queue of people become a target for attack.
The proper course of action is to focus more efforts on arresting and interdicting terrorists, not treating all air passengers as potential terrorists. It is hard to square “land of the free, home of the brave” with mandatory strip-searches by internal travel police at every airport.
Sincerely,
Chris Gerrib