Intermarkets' Privacy Policy Support
Donate to Ace of Spades HQ! Recent Entries
Saturday Overnight Open Thread (10/12/24)
Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: An Evening With John Carpenter (Prince of Darkness/The Thing) Hobby Thread - October 12, 2024 [TRex] Ace of Spades Pet Thread, October 12 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Oct. 12 Renaissance People The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Daily Tech News 12 October 2024 The Best Things In Life Are ONT Yom Kippur Cafe Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024 Captain Hate 2023 moon_over_vermont 2023 westminsterdogshow 2023 Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022 Dave In Texas 2022 Jesse in D.C. 2022 OregonMuse 2022 redc1c4 2021 Tami 2021 Chavez the Hugo 2020 Ibguy 2020 Rickl 2019 Joffen 2014 AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published.
Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups
|
« Rangel - Take Pity On Me UPDATED |
Main
| To The Barricades! Democrats Pushing Amnesty Via The DREAM Act »
November 18, 2010
Is America Freaking Out Too Much Over Naked Body Scans?This has been bothering me. On one hand I'm inclined to just not like invasive pat-downs and naked body scans. On the other hand, I can't help but think we (especially as conservatives) are supposed to be security-conscious. This sort of dispute is always implicit in this sort of issue -- the civil libertarian side (supported by some conservatives and many left-wingers) and the security-conscious side (mostly conservatives take this side). Although there may be some abuses, is it really the best policy to object to methods of bomb-detection which are nearly foolproof? I don't think the body-imaging x-rays can fail to miss an object secreted on someone's body, and even a barely-trained TSA agent can recognize a hidden object when he feels it. All this "don't touch my junk" stuff -- isn't that just putting up a big sign that says "Terrorists, put your ball of C4 under your testicles"? If you can't touch in the vicinity of this area, then why bother at all? We've pre-announced exactly where such stuff should be hidden, and of course that is where it will be hidden, then; so there's no point conducting the pat-down at all. I'm beginning to worry that the public's hackles have been raised without enough thinking about the issue in a way that will wind up benefiting terrorists. As with so many issue, the answer depends on the question posed: Is this a citizen versus his government? Well then, generally, the citizen should win. But is this more a question of citizens and government against murderous terrorists? That lens makes things look different. It seems to me the press release is talking about the TSA conducting a specific search promoted only by the hajib. In other words, but for the hajib, the woman would be walked through (as she didn't beep, and didn't get the "sss" random-selection code). But for the hajib, she'd be sent through, having cleared security, but they have a protocol to specifically search the hajib itself. To me, then, it makes sense that if it's the hajib that's being specifically called out for search then someone would be in their rights to say "No, your protocol isn't for a full-body search, but specifically for the hajib." I don't read this press release as saying hajib-wearers should typically be immune from the body-scan or the opt-out pat-down -- only that if the hajib is being specifically searched, then the search should stay at the hajib area and not become a full-blown pat-down. So, to me, this doesn't look like a case of special privileges for Muslims (which makes even less sense in this context than usual). So agitation on this particular point seems misplaced. I had an idea about how to fix the naked-body scan problem. If people are worried about modesty, and TSA agents gawking at them (and that is a real concern), would this solution work? The TSA scans a batch of people of the same sex, dividing them up. They each go through the body scanner. But, here's the thing, their images are not viewed immediately. Instead they are directed to sit down on a bench to wait for five or six minutes. Four or five more people of the same sex are sent through and similarly told to sit on the bench. Only when the machine has imaged five or six people as a group does a TSA agent now cycle through the images (random order). If no one shows anything suspicious, the group of five or six is now permitted to leave the bench and go to their flight. If and only if one of the images shows something suspicious do they re-scan everybody individually and pat them down. It's not a perfect solution. In many cases, if the TSA agent really wants to have a peek under the blouse of a stacked girl, or wants to check out a celebrity athlete's package, he or she will have a pretty good guess which image matches which person. But in many cases, it won't be entirely clear who he's looking at. It does provide a little anonymity, or at least the figment of it. I think I'm increasingly on the side of the basic notion of this sort of security protocol. Adjustments may be needed. I don't want terrorists blowing up planes, after all. Nobody does. But it seems to me that if we're, as we often say, serious about terrorism and security, we can't be quick to dismiss a technology which seems pretty damn effective in finding hidden bombs. And, by the way, I'm still in favor of Israeli-style security measures, too, including profiling. But I doubt that will ever be implemented... so we need a Plan B. | Recent Comments
Soothsayer :
"
[i]Honestly I thought pretty much every MA town ..."
http://shipping.evergreenfriends.site/improving-your-business-enterprise-wellness-with-the-definitio: "I do not know if it's just me or if perhaps everyb ..." Tonypete: "They are kind of fascinating to observe in real ti ..." nurse ratched : "The novel was a single book about a domination kin ..." Braenyard: "116 Pic up top has inspired me to have G&T. Except ..." GWB: "After Yom Kippur is the traditional Airing of Grie ..." Alberta Oil Peon: "Cleared off a little here, but the comet is below ..." 18-1: "[i]So which one should I donate to? I'm thinking m ..." Sebastian Melmoth: "126 50 Shades of Grey Was an awesome romance n ..." Tampon Timmy Rambo!: "Hunt ducks with a gun? Monstereous! Cowardly! You ..." Eromero: "118 There is no music linked to the top pic. We've ..." Alberta Oil Peon: "Seems of narrow interest for so many too chatter a ..." Recent Entries
Saturday Overnight Open Thread (10/12/24)
Saturday Evening Movie Thread [moviegique]: An Evening With John Carpenter (Prince of Darkness/The Thing) Hobby Thread - October 12, 2024 [TRex] Ace of Spades Pet Thread, October 12 Gardening, Puttering and Adventure Thread, Oct. 12 Renaissance People The Classical Saturday Morning Coffee Break & Prayer Revival Daily Tech News 12 October 2024 The Best Things In Life Are ONT Yom Kippur Cafe Search
Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Primary Document: The Audio
Paul Anka Haiku Contest Announcement Integrity SAT's: Entrance Exam for Paul Anka's Band AllahPundit's Paul Anka 45's Collection AnkaPundit: Paul Anka Takes Over the Site for a Weekend (Continues through to Monday's postings) George Bush Slices Don Rumsfeld Like an F*ckin' Hammer Top Top Tens
Democratic Forays into Erotica New Shows On Gore's DNC/MTV Network Nicknames for Potatoes, By People Who Really Hate Potatoes Star Wars Euphemisms for Self-Abuse Signs You're at an Iraqi "Wedding Party" Signs Your Clown Has Gone Bad Signs That You, Geroge Michael, Should Probably Just Give It Up Signs of Hip-Hop Influence on John Kerry NYT Headlines Spinning Bush's Jobs Boom Things People Are More Likely to Say Than "Did You Hear What Al Franken Said Yesterday?" Signs that Paul Krugman Has Lost His Frickin' Mind All-Time Best NBA Players, According to Senator Robert Byrd Other Bad Things About the Jews, According to the Koran Signs That David Letterman Just Doesn't Care Anymore Examples of Bob Kerrey's Insufferable Racial Jackassery Signs Andy Rooney Is Going Senile Other Judgments Dick Clarke Made About Condi Rice Based on Her Appearance Collective Names for Groups of People John Kerry's Other Vietnam Super-Pets Cool Things About the XM8 Assault Rifle Media-Approved Facts About the Democrat Spy Changes to Make Christianity More "Inclusive" Secret John Kerry Senatorial Accomplishments John Edwards Campaign Excuses John Kerry Pick-Up Lines Changes Liberal Senator George Michell Will Make at Disney Torments in Dog-Hell Greatest Hitjobs
The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny More Margaret Cho Abuse Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed" Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means Wonkette's Stand-Up Act Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report! Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet The House of Love: Paul Krugman A Michael Moore Mystery (TM) The Dowd-O-Matic! Liberal Consistency and Other Myths Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate "Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long) The Donkey ("The Raven" parody) |