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Denials Aside, Feds Storing Body Scan Images

The new generation of body scanners employed at airports (and many other places) can record detailed, anatomically revealing pictures of each person scanned, which is one reason they've raised the hackles of privacy advocates as well as ordinary travelers. Now, AHuxley writes "The US Transportation Security Administration claimed last summer that 'scanned images cannot be stored or recorded.' It turns out that some police agencies are storing the controversial images. The US Marshals Service admitted that it had saved ~35,314 images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single Florida courthouse. The images were stored on a Brijot Gen2 machine. The Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to grant an immediate injunction to stop the TSA's body scanning program."

560 comments

  1. Of course they can by TrisexualPuppy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    All that needs to be said here is that we are dealing with a software-driven platform.

    1. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yeah, exactly. Mod parent up for a concise point. Once you have a computer to control the scanner mechanism and digitize the scans, everything is up in the ether. Even if the software weren't currently written to store images, if it gets on the screen, you have a bitmap right there and just have to write it to a file. Making that modification might take a few man-hours for a system that probably took dozens of man-years to create in the first place. Not hard to replace an EXE file.
       
      The government knows how easy it is to make changes like this. They were just using the argument that the images wouldn't be stored as a lubricant to make the insertion a little easier. Or a bait-and-switch if you want to look at it that way.

    2. Re:Of course they can by dgatwood · · Score: 5, Insightful

      And as such, this was inevitable. Did anyone honestly think that our government could have any technology without eventually using it to its maximum potential? First, they say that it doesn't really look like they're seeing you nude. Then upon proof that they're lying, they say that it can't store the pictures. Now that there's proof that this isn't true, either, they'll say that the images are only being stored for diagnostic and training purposes.

      Then, when the "Girls Gone Wild JFK Airport Style" video comes out, they'll say that all those people signed release forms. Then, when someone sues because she didn't, they'll pay her off to sweep it under the rug.

      This is one of those cases where the slippery slope is almost inevitable. You have a technology that invades the privacy of people so completely that its abuse is almost unavoidable. Abuse was practically designed into the system. Trying to keep such a system from being abused is like trying to teach a jaguar to be a house cat. Doubly so when that system is in the hands of government agencies that are rarely held accountable by the general public. Triply so when even a cell phone camera is sufficient to abuse the system to horrifying ends. Quadruply so when you're talking about nudie pics.

      Inevitable.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    3. Re:Of course they can by cgenman · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You know what happens when we lie about our business activities? We get them taken away.

      If the Feds are going to lie to the American Public about fundamental, important tennants of their new airport security theater, then we should take their toys away. "I'm sorry, you needed what? You should have thought about that before you lied about it."

      Of course the naked photos will never leak. Wait, that's first thing that happened. Well, the public seems comfortable with the idea. Wait, even DUBAI banned them as intrusive.

    4. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Abuse wasn't practically built into the system. It WAS built into the system. You don't need to take a picture of my penis to find out if I'm smuggling a grenade into the courthouse. It, and the rest of me, are non-metallic, and are not composed of explosive compounds. Sniff for explosives, and use a metal detector, just like they've been doing for decades, and you'll be perfectly safe. And the worst part is, TSA, US Marshalls, and the other agencies using these machines KNOW this. They know getting nudie shots of people isn't going to enhance security. It's all security theater, to keep the public believing that they're "protecting" us against a "threat," when really they're grabbing all the authorization for everything they can think of now, while people are still being scared and stupid rather than monitoring the abuses of the government. In short, they want to take naked pictures of you because they can, and because no one is telling them "no."

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    5. Re:Of course they can by WormholeFiend · · Score: 1

      Wait, even DUBAI banned them as intrusive.

      What do you expect from a country that bans blackberries.

    6. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Did anyone honestly think that our government could have any technology without eventually using it to its maximum potential?

      I'd like to know what the point of the damn things are, since every post 9/11 attack on an airline has been negated by the efforts of the passengers. It seems to me that metal detectors are all you really need -- keep guns off the plane and there's no way that any would-be terrorist is going to overpower dozens of passengers. Heck, even with a gun it would be tough to overpower everybody on an airplane......

      They are also useless from a practical point of view, since they can't scan body cavities. If you are willing to die for your cause it doesn't seem like a huge leap of faith to assume that you are also willing to shove explosives or a weapon up your ass......

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    7. Re:Of course they can by Scrameustache · · Score: 1

      naked photos will never leak. Wait, that's first thing that happened.

      Now now, we don't know if that anecdote is true or if it was a publicity stunt from that actor to promote his movie about being harassed by airport security.

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    8. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Funny

      +1 for you

      I for one can't wait 'til we get this clown Bush and his Republicans out of office, and a new Democrat administration in place, so they can stop this spying stuff.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    9. Re:Of course they can by vlm · · Score: 1

      Then, when the "Girls Gone Wild JFK Airport Style" video comes out

      wikileaks, far more likely.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    10. Re:Of course they can by PopeRatzo · · Score: 2, Informative

      The government knows how easy it is to make changes like this. They were just using the argument that the images wouldn't be stored as a lubricant to make the insertion a little easier.

      Maybe you could explain what nefarious purpose the federal government would have for purposely storing these images.

      Remember, the images are not connected to the people's identities in any way. Except for the few seconds where the first TSA worker scans your ID card (and doesn't record anything) everybody who goes through the scanner does so in a random manner. There's no way, currently for them to identify any scan as belonging to any person.

      You suggest that the government is doing this scan-storing on purpose. Give us your best guess as to why.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    11. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      a new Democrat administration in place

      I don't follow. Which Democrat in particular?

    12. Re:Of course they can by Aczlan · · Score: 1

      I'd like to know what the point of the damn things are, since every post 9/11 attack on an airline has been negated by the efforts of the passengers. It seems to me that metal detectors are all you really need -- keep guns off the plane and there's no way that any would-be terrorist is going to overpower dozens of passengers. Heck, even with a gun it would be tough to overpower everybody on an airplane......

      If you allowed those who have concealed carry permits to have their guns on the plane, there is slightly a higher probability that someone will bring one on and try to hijack the plane, but there is also a higher chance that if someone tries to hijack the plane the person in the seat behind them will reach over the seat and put a gun to their head.

      They are also useless from a practical point of view, since they can't scan body cavities. If you are willing to die for your cause it doesn't seem like a huge leap of faith to assume that you are also willing to shove explosives or a weapon up your ass......

      Come on, do you actually expect the government to think through all of these difficult permutations before going out and spending billions in taxpayer money on a new boondoggle?

      Aaron Z

      --
      "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote
    13. Re:Of course they can by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Even more retarded, why wouldn't they store the images?

      What if someone slips a gun through security. We need to find out how that happened-- how are we going to find out if we can't review the image? What if there's a trial of a suspected terrorist, and we need evidence of his crime-- oh wait, we don't have the image, so we don't have the evidence.

      I mean, I completely understand the objections to installing these machines on every level from "it's an invasion of privacy" to "they're expensive and not worth it." But if you prevent the machines from storing images, you're making them even *more* useless than they are already!

      Without a log, there's no evidence during the trial. There's no review when something goes wrong. If a terrorist act does happen, you have no way of knowing whether the machine was effective or not at stopping it. It becomes faith-based security.

      The best fight would be fighting to not have them installed at all. If they are going to be installed, then don't fight storing images-- that just makes them *more* useless.

    14. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Maybe you could explain what nefarious purpose the federal government would have for purposely storing these images.

      When has the Federal Government thrown away anything?

      Give us your best guess as to why.

      Because they can?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    15. Re:Of course they can by ImNotAtWork · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Wait you don't think they have a camera pointed exactly at this scanner with a timecode sync. It's trivial to rewind a set of video and find out exactly who you are. Don't think for a second they do not know who is who. Maybe not the drones manning the station but the analyst will definitely have a clue. Now think of a celebrity passing through one of these. All one of the drones needs to know is the time the celebrity crossed the scanner (Yes most use private charters but there is the occasional public figure (Kevin Smith anyone?))

      --
      open source sub sim. I might start coding again for this. http://dangerdeep.sourceforge.net/contribute/
    16. Re:Of course they can by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I'm sure some of them will be of underage people. What do the feds do if you even LOOK at a child strangely these days? What's sauce for the goose should be sauce for the gander.

      If there's nothing to see here then let's have a website put up with scans of all the US senate (and their families).

      --
      No sig today...
    17. Re:Of course they can by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      If you allowed those who have concealed carry permits to have their guns on the plane, there is slightly a higher probability that someone will bring one on and try to hijack the plane, but there is also a higher chance that if someone tries to hijack the plane the person in the seat behind them will reach over the seat and put a gun to their head.

      Cue claims about disaster striking because a .38 Special punched a hole through the skin of the plane, causing the entire plane to break in half or sucking passengers through the tiny hole as all of the air in the plane immediately leaks out, leaving everyone who didn’t get sucked out gasping like dying fish in the thin atmosphere and desperately clawing at the ceiling openings where the oxygen masks are being deployed.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    18. Re:Of course they can by EdIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I for one can't wait 'til we get this clown Bush and his Republicans out of office, and a new Democrat administration in place, so they can stop this spying stuff.

      I see what you did there... and I like it. A lot.

      Too bad, Obama is a million times worse than Bush on this matter. Bush made it clear that he did not care about your rights at all. Obama said he would bring change and lied.

      A lot of people voted for Obama because they thought he would hold true to his word and try to restore a lot of what we had lost, shut down Gbay, etc. Betrayal hurts a lot more than suffering incompetence and abuse.

    19. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      +1 for you

      I for one can't wait 'til we get this clown Bush and his Republicans out of office, and a new Democrat administration in place, so they can stop this spying stuff.

      i C wut U did Thar!

      I like how, when you read the article, they clearly state how this machine does not infringe on your privacy, and does everything it can to protect your modesty. Then when you see the scan, they just blur the face a little bit. My prediction is that, soon enough, you'll see the air travel industry privatized. Personal jets haven't had this much business in a long time, yet commercial airlines [seem to] have half the line they once did.

    20. Re:Of course they can by EdIII · · Score: 2, Funny

      You don't need to take a picture of my penis to find out if I'm smuggling a grenade into the courthouse.

      DUH.

      They take a picture of your penis to find out if your smuggling a .22 caliber sub-compact or a 44 Magnum pistol. They take a picture of your balls to find out if your smuggling a grenade.

      Sheesh.

    21. Re:Of course they can by poopdeville · · Score: 2, Funny

      Who in their right mind would want Kevin Smith's body scan image?

      --
      After all, I am strangely colored.
    22. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Cue claims about disaster striking because a .38 Special punched a hole through the skin of the plane, causing the entire plane to break in half or sucking passengers through the tiny hole as all of the air in the plane immediately leaks out, ...

      Mythbusters pretty much laid that theory to rest.

      Not that it absolutely, positively can't happen, but it's really, really, really unlikely.

    23. Re:Of course they can by AliasMarlowe · · Score: 1

      Then, when the "Girls Gone Wild JFK Airport Style" video comes out, they'll say that all those people signed release forms. Then, when someone sues because she didn't, they'll arrest her as a terrorist.

      FTFY.
      The slippery slope will prove longer and steeper than we expect...

      --
      Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
    24. Re:Of course they can by bnenning · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The best fight would be fighting to not have them installed at all. If they are going to be installed, then don't fight storing images-- that just makes them *more* useless.

      A perfect example of the "enforcement need" slippery slope.

      --
      How to solve most of our problems: 1.Lots of nuclear plants. 2.Cure aging.
    25. Re:Of course they can by HappyEngineer · · Score: 1

      What makes you think they don't record the ID card scan?

    26. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, can I take a tour of the neighborhood with a milimeter band xray? Can I keep copies of that data for my "personal training?" Fuck you TSA. And I hope someone uses the "think of the children" angle here because they have child porn now.

    27. Re:Of course they can by ubrgeek · · Score: 1

      > You don't need to take a picture of my penis to find out if I'm smuggling a grenade into the courthouse.

      Nah, we just assumed you were happy to see us.

      --
      Bark less. Wag more.
    28. Re:Of course they can by orgelspieler · · Score: 1

      They are also useless from a practical point of view, since they can't scan body cavities. If you are willing to die for your cause it doesn't seem like a huge leap of faith to assume that you are also willing to shove explosives or a weapon up your ass......

      Except that doesn't work. You blow yourself up, and you might injure the people next to you and startle the rest of the passengers, but that's about it. This guy tried it. But don't worry, they're looking into body cavity scanning technology, too! Now we can be safe from getting splattered by bomber bits.

    29. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1, Insightful

      If you allowed those who have concealed carry permits to have their guns on the plane, there is slightly a higher probability that someone will bring one on and try to hijack the plane, but there is also a higher chance that if someone tries to hijack the plane the person in the seat behind them will reach over the seat and put a gun to their head.

      I'd love to see CCW holders allowed to legally carry on airplanes. 9/11 would have ended differently if somebody on those planes had been armed. I doubt it will ever happen but I can dream.

      If it doesn't happen you still don't need to go any further than metal and explosives detectors. Even a trained Special Forces operator isn't going to be able to defeat dozens of people before someone takes him down. It's absurd to attach all of this security to flying.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    30. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well said. Any and all power is prone, nay ripe, for abuse. The US gov. is much too large. That's its most salient flaw. We can remedy this by voting for individuals who would remove laws and cut size.

    31. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Mythbusters tried this and concluded that nothing exciting would happen. The plane would depressurize, O2 masks would deploy and the pilot would have to drop altitude. BFD

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    32. Re:Of course they can by SomeJoel · · Score: 1

      Who in their right mind would want Kevin Smith's body scan image?

      Kevin Smith.

      --
      <Complete your profile by adding a signature!>
    33. Re:Of course they can by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Grapes?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    34. Re:Of course they can by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Yes, I know. I was mocking the people who fanatically believe those things.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    35. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      I figured as such. I was trying to preempt the inevitable "OMG GUNS ARE SCARY" knee-jerk response.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    36. Re:Of course they can by Posting=!Working · · Score: 2, Informative

      If these work, they'd have found the weapon on the terrorist. They don't need a picture if they have the terrorist and the weapon. Cops don't take pictures of a suspect before they disarm them.

      we don't have the image, so we don't have the evidence.

      You need to look up what evidence actually is, because that statement shows you do not understand it at all. Evidence is not required to be photographic.

      --
      This sentence no verb.
    37. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 3, Insightful

      >>>You don't need to take a picture of my penis to find out if I'm smuggling a grenade

      Precisely. And I find this part of the article funny: "The TSA says that body scanning is perfectly constitutional." The actual constitution says the People shall not be subject to unreasonable searches unless a warrant is obtained. No warrant was obtained, so the next question is: Are virtual strip searches that reveal a man's ballsac and woman's breasts/nipples/vaginal lips a reasonable search?

      Not in my book.

      I would be alright if the private airline wanted to run these scans, since it's their plane, but to allow the government to record these strippings and share them with other agencies that might wish to arrest me ("Oh look - he snuck Seventeen back from europe," says the new pedophile czar) is not acceptable. And it sure as hell isn't constitutional/legal.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    38. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      A lot of people voted for Obama because they thought he would hold true to his word and try to restore a lot of what we had lost, shut down Gbay, etc

      With respect, what did "we" (the people, presumably) lose with Gitmo? When has it ever been held that foreign nationals with no connection to our country other than the desire to destroy it whom aren't even captured on American soil have Constitutional Rights? The people who conspired to murder President Lincoln and decapitate the Federal Government were tried by military commission. German saboteurs that came ashore during WW2 were tried by military commission. Why should foreign terrorists be treated any differently?

      I'm in full agreement with the President and his base on the issue of torture but I get off the bus when they start talking about extending Constitutional Rights to foreign terrorists and/or enemy combatants. If we ever get involved in another conventional war (i.e: nation-state vs. nation-state) should we also grant the POWs that we capture the right of habeas corpus and judicial review?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    39. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 5, Insightful

      That's not the point I was trying to make at all. The answer to government abuses is not to kill the government, any more than the answer to a heart attack is to remove the heart. The size of the government has absolutely nothing to do with the level of corruption in the government. Any country with 300 million people and nearly 4 million square miles is going to take a large organization to run it.

      And blindly removing laws isn't going to do any good either.

      The solution is for the public to take an active role in government again, rather than just believing whatever their cable-"news"-moron-of-choice tells them to believe. Instead of running around believing that all "gubmint" is bad, find the actual bad parts, and cut them out. Want to take naked pictures of everyone for no damned reason at all? You're fired, and will be replaced with someone who will do their job properly and without tromping all over our rights.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    40. Re:Of course they can by tiptone · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The government knows how easy it is to make changes like this. They were just using the argument that the images wouldn't be stored as a lubricant to make the insertion a little easier.

      Maybe you could explain what nefarious purpose the federal government would have for purposely storing these images.

      Remember, the images are not connected to the people's identities in any way. Except for the few seconds where the first TSA worker scans your ID card (and doesn't record anything) everybody who goes through the scanner does so in a random manner. There's no way, currently for them to identify any scan as belonging to any person.

      You suggest that the government is doing this scan-storing on purpose. Give us your best guess as to why.

      Up until, well, still right now, they've denied storing the images which has proven to be false. You think that maybe they're storing the information off of your ID card as well? Seems at least plausible, right?

      --
      Please don't read my sig.
    41. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      you're absolutely right! the only reason 911 succeeded was because it had never been done before. the passengers thought they were just going to be held for ransom or demands. they didn't know their captors were going to kamikaze their asses into the WTC. once the passengers on the other plane found out, they attempted to overpower their captors. they still died, but Washington was saved (unfortunately. i wish it had been the other way around).

      metal detectors and human questioning. that's all it takes. of course, i'd be just as happy if they gave everyone a taser as they got on the plane.

    42. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A politician? Lying? Say it ain't so!

    43. Re:Of course they can by EdIII · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I am neither defending the existence of Gitmo, or the shutting down of Gitmo. Only that the President said he would shut it down and did not do it.

      It is only an example, one of many, of the promises that were broken. The guiding principles that the President said he would lead by in his presidency that were abandoned once he took oath.

      Being neither Democrat or Republican, my main concerns were my rights, privacy, and anonymity. I never really had high hopes for Obama anyways giving my proclivity towards extreme cynicism about government (backed up by experience), but I understand others extreme dissapointment in Obama regarding issues surrounding our rights.

      The original poster was being sarcastic, but the truth is far more depressing. We had all hoped, even a little, that the new administration would put something right.

    44. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      I guess the notion of them bringing a weapon on board that they would first retrieve from their ass before using never crossed your mind?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    45. Re:Of course they can by ebuck · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Obama has called on people to actually track and rate the honesty of his platform. That's a first amongst presidents (to my knowledge). You can track the results.

      Out of 254 evaluated statements, 208 have been found to be true, in varying degrees. 208 are know to be true, 44 are known to be false. That's a truthfulness rating of about 80%. I don't know about you, but in my book (for a politician) that's incredibly high. Even if you count the "barely true" category as being false, which technically it isn't, then your still left with 176 true to 76 false.

      Out of the 500+ campaign promises, he's only broken 19. Certainly not all promises are weighted equally, but again we are talking about breaking less than 5% of his promises. By scientific testing standards, that's an acceptably low enough number to prove he's keeping his promises.

      He has compromised on 39 of the 500+ campaign promises, which shows that the United States still has a President, and not a Dictator. Even with the compromises added to the broken promises, he's kept or working on keeping 90%+ of his promises.

      Of course, this is the USA, where we ignore facts and vote on the latest smear campaign. At the rate we are going, we will vote in office Sarah Palin. Her numbers are sobering. 27 true items to 13 false items, or about 67% true. Counting the barely true against her (as we did previously) brings the numbers to 22 true to 18 false, a mere 55% truthfulness.

      A more important issue, do you really want your president to be 100% truthful? How fast do you think the economic recovery would progress if the President of the United States motivated the entire nation with, "Well we are totally fucked, and hundreds of millions of people will probably lose their jobs." How do you think we would fare in trade agreements if we said, "We're going to use our status and military power to bully you into giving us a better cut of the pie."? Both of these statements are true, but they much better told in half-truths, ie. "We are working on a plan which will increase our financial stability at home and abroad." and "We feel we could assist you with your problems more if you removed a few trade barriers."

      Blaming Obama for lying is like blaming Obama for being a good negotiator. The fact that he has managed to not lie on 90% of his campaign promises is not just remarkable, it's incredible. In fact, it is so good that Republicans have voted against bills they sponsored to try to decrease his approval rating. They then use that "evidence" as a weakness of the Presidency, knowing full well that the public doesn't associate the passage of laws with Congress, they "feel" the President does it all.

    46. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The scans coming from the machine show much MUCH more detail than the posts show... they doctor them, especially in the groin region to hide this fact.

    47. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      He telegraphed the fact that his promises mean nothing when he reversed himself on FISA months before the general election. Anybody that still voted for him has only themselves to blame.

      I gotta give him credit though, most politicians wait until they've won the election before they start backstabbing their supporters.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    48. Re:Of course they can by ebuck · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hate to reply to my own post, but some dummy will ask for sources instead of using google to expand their consciousness.

    49. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Damn, I was hoping you'd go all the way to sextuply so, but you FAILED.

    50. Re:Of course they can by elrous0 · · Score: 1

      You don't need to take a picture of my penis to find out if I'm smuggling a grenade into the courthouse.

      No, but it'll let them know I'm packing a huge gun.

      Thanks folks, I'll be here all week.

      --
      SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
    51. Re:Of course they can by EllisDees · · Score: 1

      >When has it ever been held that foreign nationals with no connection to our country other than the desire to destroy it whom aren't even captured on American soil have Constitutional Rights?

      Why yes, the current supreme court has decided exactly that.

      "A congressional law passed in 2006 would limit court jurisdiction to hear so-called habeas corpus challenges to detention. It is a legal question the justices have tackled three times since 2004, including Thursday's ruling.

      Each time, the justices have ruled against the government's claim that it has the authority to hold people it considers "enemy combatants.""

      --
      -- Give me ambiguity or give me something else!
    52. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 2, Informative

      I would hope that the descendants of the founding fathers would have lost their self respect

      The Founding Fathers did not give captured British soldiers access to the civilian courts. They held them until the end of hostilities. Those that violated the laws of war were tried by military commission and punished accordingly.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    53. Re:Of course they can by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      We don't need armed people on airliners in a Mexican standoff... The history of cockpit invasion goes way back. The biggest problem since the first time it happened is the damn airlines' resistance to securing the cockpit with something stronger than a paper door. It is absolutely inexcusable that the government didn't mandate it from the beginning.

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    54. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >>>The answer to government abuses is not to kill the government,

      Strawman argument. Nobody said we should do that.
      .

      >>>The solution is for the public to take an active role in government again

      Or we could follow the solution the Founding Father set-up for us: A Supreme Law (constitution) that chains and limits what the government can do, both at the national and state level. The government can exercise those specifically enumerated powers given to it, and nothing else. Hence: No cameras doing a virtual strip search, because said power was never given to the US government.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    55. Re:Of course they can by richardellisjr · · Score: 1

      Unfortunately they do enhance security a little, although I strongly believe the enhanced security doesn't actually make anyone safer. I look at this way I could hire a virtual army of body guards to patrol outside my house and I'll be pretty safe from a break in. But that level of protection against something that's extremely unlikely to happen is just retarded. Terrorist some day will probably succeed in killing more Americans in our home country... however spending billions of dollars and completely destroying our privacy isn't justified by the possible death of even a couple of thousand people.

      Oh and what these devices are really meant to detect are deadly things that a metal detector or sniffer can't detect. Such as broken glass, a true ceramic knife (most of them have metal in them purely to be detectable by metal detectors), or even a sharp stick (or pencil... wonder when they'll be banned). Keep in mind that any of these items could have been used by the 911 terrorist and would have been almost effective (if not as effective) as the box cutters they used.

      The feds and specifically TSA are really just trying to see how much they can get away with before the public complains. I fully expect, (if these things are allowed to stay) that in five years you won't be allowed to have any liquids (acid can be really dangerous), batteries, pencils, pens or, shoelaces (can be very effective to strangle someone with). What we'll be left with eventually will be a plane full of people in their underware reading books... oh wait... I've had some nasty paper cuts before :-)

    56. Re:Of course they can by sjames · · Score: 1

      What if someone slips a gun through security. We need to find out how that happened-- how are we going to find out if we can't review the image? What if there's a trial of a suspected terrorist, and we need evidence of his crime-- oh wait, we don't have the image, so we don't have the evidence.

      Besides, some of them really ENJOY thinking of the children.....a LOT!

      Others just enjoy slobbering over another man's wife, but don't enjoy being taken out back and beaten like they should be.

      Nobody needs the scanner evidence during the trial. There will be a couple hundred witnesses available including at least 2 airline pilots. Or they'll crash the plane and then they're already about as dead as they're going to get.

      And simple logic tells us that if a terrorist act occurs, the machine did not stop it.

    57. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It's not a strawman. Someone did say that. Whoever the anon poster is, tried to tie this issue to a big gubmint issue. He said "The US gov. is much too large." Shrinking the government to an ineffective size will kill the government.

      And to your second point, agreed. That's obvious. And the reason that the constitution isn't being followed is because government officials aren't following it, and they're getting away with it because of a lackadaisical public which is not involved in government, and is not holding government officials accountable for what they do in the public's name.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    58. Re:Of course they can by Trailer+Trash · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Betrayal hurts a lot more than suffering incompetence

      So you actually think Obama is competent?

    59. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      We don't need armed people on airliners in a Mexican standoff

      That has to be the lamest argument I've ever heard from the anti-RKBA crowd, and that's saying a lot......

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    60. Re:Of course they can by EdIII · · Score: 4, Funny

      Relative to Bush, Obama can move star systems with his mind.

      I understand some people may be offended and think this is trolling, but at least Obama did not commune with Jesus for a month to make a health care related decision or literally interpret the Bible to lead us all.

      Religion aside, Bush was incredibly incompetent anyways.

    61. Re:Of course they can by clone53421 · · Score: 0, Troll

      Relative to Bush, Obama can move star systems with his mind.

      He waits for them to move on their own then takes the credit? Yeah, sounds about right... just like his horrible mangling of handing the BP oil spill, or the Somali pirate hostage situation.

      I find it hard to describe how much it pisses me off to listen to someone proclaiming full responsibility for something they have absolutely no power to change, ordering the stars to move, and then claiming responsibility when they do.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    62. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who in their right mind would want Kevin Smith's body scan image?

      Kevin Smith.

      You missed something there...

    63. Re:Of course they can by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      There is almost difference between incompetence and malfeasance. It is virtually impossible to tell the difference, as the results are often identical.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    64. Re:Of course they can by paiute · · Score: 0

      >>>The answer to government abuses is not to kill the government,

      Strawman argument. Nobody said we should do that. .

      >>>The solution is for the public to take an active role in government again

      Or we could follow the solution the Founding Father set-up for us: A Supreme Law (constitution) that chains and limits what the government can do, both at the national and state level. The government can exercise those specifically enumerated powers given to it, and nothing else. Hence: No cameras doing a virtual strip search, because said power was never given to the US government.

      And we'd all be speaking German now, because the power to declare war on the Hessians was not written into the Constitution.

      --
      If Slashdot were chemistry it would look like this:Cadaverine
    65. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oh, but that is his right mind...

    66. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      No, raspberries. Pbbbtht!

    67. Re:Of course they can by ultranova · · Score: 1

      I would be alright if the private airline wanted to run these scans

      Ladies and gentlemen, Libertarianism in a nutshell.

      since it's their plane

      In that case the solution is obvious: have the court rent a room from a private entity, and pay a premium for "security", which said entity will provide with strip scanners. That should be okay in your book, since it's a private entity's building, right?

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    68. Re:Of course they can by ScentCone · · Score: 1

      Even a trained Special Forces operator isn't going to be able to defeat dozens of people before someone takes him down

      How about half a dozen of them, each with a couple or three high-tech carbon/ceramic edged weapons that are invisible to magnetometry and chemical sniffers?

      --
      Don't disappoint your bird dog. Go to the range.
    69. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In all fairness, the 9/11 hijackers used knives, not guns, and you can buy ceramic knives quite cheaply anymore.

      There's ceramic guns, also, but the bullets may be a more difficult issue.

    70. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      I'm sure the senate and their families fly the friendly skies; all it would take is a little hacking and they might start to think twice.

    71. Re:Of course they can by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Before 9/11 happened, they wouldn’t have needed bullets in the guns to pull off a 9/11.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    72. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      No, I will NOT take off my lead underpants.

    73. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      None of the above precautions will detect a non-metallic surgically implanted explosive device. This means they'll soon be advocating a complete CAT scan for every passenger.

    74. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      Any country with 300 million people and nearly 4 million square miles is going to take a large organization to run it.

      Not THAT large. Look up the percentages. What percentage of US citizens are employed by the government? What percentage of GDP is spent by the government? China does a heck of a lot better in that regard.

    75. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Let's just say that I'm not worried about the terrorists having access to that sort of human capital, particularly when you consider the intelligence (or lack thereof) that went into the recent attempts......

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    76. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      Hahaha! Ooh, you thought the constitution still mattered! That's a good one!

    77. Re:Of course they can by ultranova · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I was trying to preempt the inevitable "OMG GUNS ARE SCARY" knee-jerk response.

      Guns aren't scary. Idiots who think guns are penis substitutes are scary.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    78. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      I'd like to see passengers issued a sidearm on boarding, training class as a prerequisite.

    79. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 1

      Are you suggesting we should emulate the Chinese form of government? If not, then comparing our setup to theirs is pointless.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    80. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      Except that doesn't work. You blow yourself up, and you might injure the people next to you and startle the rest of the passengers, but that's about it. This guy tried it. But don't worry, they're looking into body cavity scanning technology, too! Now we can be safe from getting splattered by bomber bits.

      From your own link:

      Later reports indicated that according to forensics, the explosives had been sewn into his underwear.

      Apparently he didn't use enough, and didn't wrap it in shrapnel. Don't sit next to the fat guy, he could have a nuke in his belly.

    81. Re:Of course they can by statusbar · · Score: 1
      --
      ipv6 is my vpn
    82. Re:Of course they can by Score+Whore · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Umm. Have you read the promises? Things like "Express an opinion", and "Advocate for something." Neither of which requires anything more than giving a speech. Unlike "Won't raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000/year" and "No mandate to have health insurance." A bit different. Not to mention Politifact's habit of exceptionally broad interpretations of some statements and absurdly narrow of others.

      Also this is the same president who, after winning the election, requested "judge me from the promises I keep, not the promises I made." Yeah. Sweet.

    83. Re:Of course they can by kevinNCSU · · Score: 2, Informative

      Too be fair I'd like to point out that your source considers "Closing Guantanamo Bay" as just one tick below a fully kept campaign promise and fixing the Patriot Act as merely "stalled" rather than a broken promise. Meanwhile Palin is ticked off as "barely true" (the only level above "liar liar pants on fire!") for quoting a list of countries military spending as a portion of GDP directly from the CIA World Factbook with the argument of "sure, if you count really small countries as well as countries in the middle east that spend a lot on defense".

    84. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The US government is detaining these people. Therefore, these people have rights under US law. It doesn't matter if they're citizens or not, the government can only act in ways the Constitution says it can.

    85. Re:Of course they can by dcollins · · Score: 1

      "I'd like to know what the point of the damn things are..."

      The point is to sell shit. The next business day after last year's Christmas bombing attempt, the company that makes these scanners was sending out PR to every newspaper in the country about how their scanners would prevent that. And places like Fox were running interviews solely with people who were saying how happy they'd be to give up some privacy for it.

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    86. Re:Of course they can by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The problem is that he has kept the promises that the voters thought he didn't really mean and broken the ones that the voters really wanted him to keep (transparency, not raising taxes on people earning less than $250,000 a year).

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    87. Re:Of course they can by mhajicek · · Score: 1

      I'm suggesting that if a country the size of China can get by with a smaller government than ours, then the size argument is irrelevant.

    88. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      [Citation Needed]

      There, FTFY.

    89. Re:Of course they can by MisterZimbu · · Score: 1

      Who in their right mind would want Kevin Smith's body scan image?

      Kevin Smith.

      "So *THAT'S* what it looks like!"

    90. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are getting a bit off topic no?
      Airport scanners should be dealt with a bit lower than the presidential level no?

      As for betrayal... get a little patience! You've already seen what a knee-jerker can do..

    91. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      No, actually they don't have rights under US law and the Government has all the authority it needs to hold and try them via the President's war powers (Article I) and the requirement that the Federal Government protect the states against invasion (Article VI)

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    92. Re:Of course they can by kryliss · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Because some "dummy" will want to know where "You" got your "facts" from? I do give you credit for at least posting your sources... Oh i mean, source.

      --
      --- If the bible proves the existence of God, then Superman comics prove the existence of Superman.
    93. Re:Of course they can by countertrolling · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      :-) Too fuckin' easy...I just wanted to give you an out from the gist of the message. You swallowed it whole... while ignoring the meat.. No dessert for you!

      thankyouvermuch

      What's RKBA? Oh.. nevermind... you apparently got me wrong there, too. You're a real pip there, Edith

      Given the statistics in airline history, the risk/benefit ratio indicates that it would be best to check yer gun and explosives at the door.

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    94. Re:Of course they can by Thinboy00 · · Score: 1

      Well then the private entity is going to be maintaining the machines itself, with no public help other than the rental fees. If noone rents its services for a long time, so much for the machines.

      --
      $ make available
    95. Re:Of course they can by Thinboy00 · · Score: 1

      If you take away books and stop giving people magazines, the frequent fliers will get pissed off (except the sleeping ones).

      --
      $ make available
    96. Re:Of course they can by Thinboy00 · · Score: 1

      Two things come to mind:

      1. Doesn't Congress have the power to declare war?
      2. The Bill of Rights was not originally intended to apply to the States. That was changed by the 14th Amendment, which you may look up (or not) at your leisure.
      --
      $ make available
    97. Re:Of course they can by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      I'm suggesting that if a country the size of China can get by with a smaller government than ours, then the size argument is irrelevant.

      Apples to oranges. If you call what they have in China as "getting by" and acceptable to our standards, then there's a larger debate that completely undermines your point.

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    98. Re:Of course they can by shadowofwind · · Score: 1

      I think its about money. Lots of people are getting wealthy cooking up stuff to sell for security. And government people buy it because buying stuff is how they justify their positions and expand their fiefdoms. Whether or not the stuff they buy is actually helping anybody is almost completely irrelevant to the process.

    99. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did you count "God made people, not evolution" as a true or false statement for Sarah?

    100. Re:Of course they can by Chowderbags · · Score: 1

      So you're worried that they'll need the pictures after the fact as evidence? If the picture show's a weapon, they're right there already and you can check them. If they've got something, then you've got the actual physical weapon. You don't need a picture then. If they don't have something, you don't have a case, so whatever the picture was doesn't matter. If you can't tell if they've got a weapon or not from the picture in the scanner, then the thing is fucking useless anyway and can't provide evidence.

    101. Re:Of course they can by Crudely_Indecent · · Score: 1

      According to news reports, the scanner cannot scan body cavities or under skin.

      They would see a pistol or grenade taped to your body, but not one shoved up your ass. I would imagine that a morbidly obese person could utilize a sufficiently large fold of skin to hide something.

      http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/07/midway-airport-to-get-full-body-scanners.html

      --


      "Lame" - Galaxar
    102. Re:Of course they can by rgviza · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      >unreasonable searches unless a warrant is obtained.

      Actually you aren't being subjected to an unreasonable search. You choose to get on an airplane. It's optional. If your job forces you to fly, get a new one. If you don't want to be searched you can turn around and walk out of the airport. Airplanes have been hijacked and blown up. If you want to fly, loss of privacy comes with the territory because I want my flight to end in a landing, not an explosion. To me it's perfectly reasonable to search everyone before they get on and make sure they aren't going to blow up the plane, because it's happened before and it will happen again.

      That being said, these scanners are security theater. They don't work. You can just put a gun up your ass. You can make your shoe soles out of C4 and hide the detonator in the lining of your luggage, or even your iPhone. You should be strip searched by a person. In fact to do it right, everyone needs to be strip searched and subjected to a mass spectrometer. Every electronic device needs to be disassembled and checked, or not allowed on the plane. These machines are worthless.

      This is why I exercise my right to not be searched or blown up by refusing to fly.

      --
      Don't kid yourself. It's the size of the regexp AND how you use it that counts.
    103. Re:Of course they can by tombeard · · Score: 1

      I do.

      --
      The reason we subjugate ourselves to law is to better procure justice. If law does not accomplish this purpose then it m
    104. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is your source? Please.

    105. Re:Of course they can by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Are virtual strip searches that reveal a man's ballsac and woman's breasts/nipples/vaginal lips a reasonable search?
      Not in my book.

      Why ? No physical contact is made. The images are not personally identifiable since they're basically just a silhouette that looks basically identical to 50% of the population. You might as well argue someone is making an unreasonable search because they photographed your shadow.

      Why is it any less of an "unreasonable search" than having to remove a hat, jacket or shoes ?

      Perhaps a better question: what *is* a "reasonable search" ?

    106. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please, what is the source of these numbers?

    107. Re:Of course they can by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 1

      The actual constitution says the People shall not be subject to unreasonable searches unless a warrant is obtained.

      No, the actual constitution says the People shall not be subject to unreasonable searches, and thus (in order to ensure this) no searches shall take place without a specific warrant. How "reasonable" the search is has nothing to do with the requirement for a warrant.

      Of course, actual freedom from unreasonable searches—as determined by an actual court, not the person initiating the search—would crimp the enforcers' style, so the warrant requirement is routinely overlooked.

      --
      "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
    108. Re:Of course they can by sabt-pestnu · · Score: 1

      Obama has called on people to actually track and rate the honesty of his platform. That's a first amongst presidents (to my knowledge). ... That's a truthfulness rating of about 80%. I don't know about you, but in my book (for a politician) that's incredibly high.

      You haven't said that you're actually comparing data to data here; it sounds a lot like you are comparing data to anecdote/personal opinion. IE what you THINK a 'normal' politician's "platform honesty" is. I would be more comfortable with such statements if you were to point to other platform honesty ratings for comparison.

      I would also be interested in knowing what percent of the line items are "impossible dreams" due to realpolitik or just plain "reality sets in". You can WANT "no child (to be) left behind" and not have a realistic or workable way to get from here to there. ... and then when you implement some half-assed measure cooked up by committee (congress and the stew of lobbyists) because you promised to do *something*, well, you get "No Child Left Behind".

    109. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Shrinking the government to an ineffective size will kill the government.

      Since the anon poster didn't say what his ideal Government size was, you can't assume that it is 'ineffectively' small.

    110. Re:Of course they can by JesseMcDonald · · Score: 1

      Instead of running around believing that all "gubmint" is bad, find the actual bad parts, and cut them out.

      The "actual bad parts", the root of the problem, is the legitimization of aggression, without which the government cannot exist. The rest, corruption and bad laws and a bias toward putting sociopaths in positions of power—these are just the symptoms. One cannot remove the "actual bad parts" without eliminating government itself.

      --
      "The state is that great fiction by which everyone tries to live at the expense of everyone else." - Bastiat
    111. Re:Of course they can by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      So let me get this straight: You believe that the US government has purposely set these machines up to store scans so they could get their hands on shadowy images of celebrities naked?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    112. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mmmmm, number salad with no source and no stated methodology. Which of his statements are being evaluated? Who determines which of his statements to evaluate, and what kind of methodology is being used to determine the degree of truthfulness in these statements?

    113. Re:Of course they can by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      What makes you think they don't record the ID card scan?

      OK, so you haven't flown in a few years.

      The only "scan" of your ID is a visual one where a TSA employee sitting at a little desk looks at your ID card to make sure the name matches the name on your ID, and the ID matches your face. There's no scanning "machine". It's just an eyeball comparison of the name on your boarding pass, the name on your ID card, and your face. Nothing is run through a machine.

      And even if it was recorded, when you walk away from that little desk, you get into one of maybe 10 aisles, each with their own line, where you queue up to go through a metal detector and have your bags x-rayed. There's nobody making sure everybody stands in exactly the same order as they got their ID's checked. Nobody tells you which line to get into. If you end up in the line that has a body scanner, you can choose to be searched instead.

      Now again, HOW is the government putting names with these full body scans? And what nefarious purpose would there be to store them?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    114. Re:Of course they can by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      You think that maybe they're storing the information off of your ID card as well? Seems at least plausible, right?

      Wrong. Unless the guy who looks at your ID and boarding pass is an android or has had his eyes replaced with video cameras feeding an hidden recorder, how would they be "storing" the information off of your ID card?

      The only other person who has checked your ID is the ticket agent in a different part of the airport, but once you leave her counter, you don't have to get in line. You can go get something to eat, go outside for a smoke, whatever. Unless they've implanted an RFID on you which has been flashed with your biometrics and that RFID is scanned as you walk into the body scanner...

      I was thinking that now that there are RFIDs in passports, they might have a hidden scanner pick up your information as you go into the body scanner, except you can't carry your passport into the scanner, you have already emptied your pockets. Plus, they have these scanners on domestic flights too, where passports are not required.

      I'm not in favor of surveillance states, but for chrissake, when you start making crazy assumptions and assertions, it makes it easier for those who WANT surveillance states to just say everyone who's opposed is a nut.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    115. Re:Of course they can by tiptone · · Score: 1

      You're not even willing to admit that it's plausible? My ID has a magnetic stripe on the back that doesn't need an android to read it. I hardly think that it's a crazy assumption or assertion that the possibility exists that your ID data is being read/stored. Even if it wasn't done automatically, surely there's enough surveillance in the airport to go connect your scan to the ID you presented at the ticket counter.

      NSA is siphoning off, and storing, every bit of communication that travels over the internet through the US. We are in a surveillance state right now and should be trying to bring attention to every bit of it to all of the sheeple who can stand to receive it.

      --
      Please don't read my sig.
    116. Re:Of course they can by dan828 · · Score: 1

      Whether or not it was, it was patently obvious that anything run by humans that has pictures of naked people on it would be abused by those running it, and the pictures shared with others. A few years ago when I was in school, I had a buddy that worked as an x-ray tech at a local hospital. They had a nice repository of x-ray films of people with unusual objects stuck up their ass. He told me that in most places that he had worked that it was standard practice to save such things and share them around with other techs and friends. So, even in an environment of trained professionals, where there are explicit legal protections for the patients, this kind of thing happens. How in the world could anyone say with a straight face that this would not happen with the full body scans at airports?

    117. Re:Of course they can by Ceseuron · · Score: 1

      A more important issue, do you really want your president to be 100% truthful?

      To answer the question, yes I want my president to be 100% truthful. In fact, I want all of our government officials on every level from the po-dunk-ville town council to the White House to be 100% truthful. That's the point of being a public servant. When did we arrive at the conclusion that it was acceptable for a public office to be held by someone who couldn't be completely honest? When did a statistical percentage rate of breaking promises versus keeping promises become the rule by which the worth of a politician is measured?

      So you conclude that because Obama has kept 90% of his campaign promises and 80% of his statements, he's a remarkable president. I contend otherwise. He's lied 20% of the time and broken 10% of his promises according to the statistics you provided. The fact that the percentage of lies and dishonesty is greater than 0% makes him a dishonest liar and a bad president. That assessment would apply to him regardless of his party and would apply to anyone else that could have been president instead of him, regardless of their party affiliations.

      Your conclusion regarding Obama's presidency serves only to reinforce the obvious fact that our 2 party system is completely and utterly broken. Obama is just the lesser of the available evils that we had to pick from. I say this because I believe in a system that's black and white. You are either honest or you aren't and settling somewhere between to the two extremes, closer to one side or the other, doesn't make you anything more or less in my mind than someone who is either an honest and forthright individual or an untrustworthy liar. Call it foolish idealism if you want, but which is more ridiculous? The belief in the possibility that someone could hold political office as a 100% trustworthy and honest person with significant success, or that honesty and integrity are acceptable in smaller portions to begin with.

    118. Re:Of course they can by Raenex · · Score: 1

      every post 9/11 attack on an airline has been negated by the efforts of the passengers.

      That's bullshit. I don't support these body scanners, but I don't support lies either. By the time the passengers intervened, they were too late if the devices had worked properly:

      Richard Reid: "The explosive apparently did not detonate due to the one-day delay in the take-off of Reid's flight. He had worn his shoes for more than one day, and Reid's accumulated foot perspiration caused the fuse to be too damp to ignite."

      Christmas Day bomber: "While there was an explosion and fire, the device failed to detonate properly."

    119. Re:Of course they can by amohat · · Score: 1

      Same old apologies, different president, same reasons.

      I call bullshit. Well he's better than X? Yawn.

      But what interests me is that maybe this time---maybe the betrayal of Obama is so great---people will finally commit to "wasting their vote" on a 3rd party.

      Or are we doomed to the best of two evils, never anyone good? Is this really the government we deserve?

    120. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>have the court rent a room from a private entity, and pay a premium for "security", which said entity will provide with strip scanners

      No. That's still the government participating in an unconstitutional activity (virtual strip search without warrant), and they'd still be getting copies of the stripped bodies which can then be passed to the FBI or the Congress or President's administrators. The last thing I want it to see the TSA turned into a police force, and a bunch of people arrested because they were carrying copies of Seventeen, or had some medicinal marijuana in their pocket, or were caught carrying $5000 cash (yes that last one has happened). That's a police state.

      And:

      The reason I said I'm okay with a private corporation using these scanners is because (1) it's their property so I have to obey their rules and (2) I don't have to go there. When a local bar recently decided to start patting-down customers for guns, I simply decided to go to a different bar because I don't like being felt up.

      I'd do the same if American Airlines started strip-scanning people, and ride a different airline. But with government strip-scanning...... well there is no other option. Plus refusal might land me in jail. Government is FAR more dangerous than any corporation, which is why government must be limited more.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    121. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Insightful

      >>>You aren't being subjected to an unreasonable search. You choose to get on an airplane.

      You choose to get in a car. It's not an unreasonable search when cops demand to see inside your trunk.
      You choose to walk on the sidewalk. It's not an unreasonable search for cops to stop you & pat you down.
      You choose to live inside the city limits. It's not an unreasonable search for inspectors to ram the door & enter.

      I may be wrong, but I think there's something wrong with your original premise. The reason why the Constitution (both national and state level) says the government must obtain a warrant is so you can live your life in liberty, without being hassled when you are at home or traveling, or living in constant fear of the police.

      The SCOTUS agrees. That is why searches of homes, people, or cars without warrants (from a judge) or probable cause (cop hears screams) have been overturned again and again and again. Likewise travel by a train or plane instead of a car should be a protected right, without a lot of hassle, like being stripped by a scanner.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    122. Re:Of course they can by WNight · · Score: 1

      Shrinking the government to an ineffective size will kill the government.

      No, shrinking the government to an ineffective size might kill us. The government can be shrunk without harm to itself.

      But you're assuming that shrinking the government would make it less effective instead of more... I think you could trim the entire TSA and Homeland security without impacting our real safety at all.

    123. Re:Of course they can by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      I'd love to see CCW holders allowed to legally carry on airplanes. 9/11 would have ended differently if somebody on those planes had been armed. I doubt it will ever happen but I can dream.

      9/11 would have ended differently if the passengers had only known what was going to happen. The presence of guns would not have meaningfully changed that.

      If it doesn't happen you still don't need to go any further than metal and explosives detectors. Even a trained Special Forces operator isn't going to be able to defeat dozens of people before someone takes him down. It's absurd to attach all of this security to flying.

      I'd be amazed if "dozens of people" jumped up to assist after the first few were killed. Most people's immediate sense of self-preservation vastly outweighs any longer-term concerns.

    124. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Of course, if we whites didn't have to have MUSLIMS in OUR countries, none of this bullshit would be happening.

      Which is exactly why the muslims are HERE, because it benefits the scum in power.

      i.e. the insane Jews...

    125. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      If you want people to read the "gist" of your message try not to preface it with stupidity.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    126. Re:Of course they can by WNight · · Score: 1

      I could hire a virtual army of body guards to patrol outside my house and I'll be pretty safe from a break in.

      Yes and no. If you had a problem with people breaking in and the police couldn't stop them, yet what you had didn't justify them coming back in force, then sure, an army of guards might help. But if what you have justifies a greater effort, no. An excess of protection in one area will simply be walked around elsewhere. The thieves will get jobs as guards, or con their way in, and you'll be no safer.

      In fact, much like us now with the hype on silly threats (binary explosives) and thus stupid precautions (forcing the use of small bottles) which distract us from actually saving people - such as reducing the people (target) density at security checkpoints, or re-enforcing cockpit doors.

    127. Re:Of course they can by PsychoSlashDot · · Score: 1

      I'd love to see CCW holders allowed to legally carry on airplanes. 9/11 would have ended differently if somebody on those planes had been armed. I doubt it will ever happen but I can dream.

      If it doesn't happen you still don't need to go any further than metal and explosives detectors. Even a trained Special Forces operator isn't going to be able to defeat dozens of people before someone takes him down. It's absurd to attach all of this security to flying.

      Oh come on. Go the whole way. Ban CCW permits. I want CVW permits. Carry Visible Weapon. Concealment has never made sense to me. It's not a deterrent, that's for sure.

      No. Let's issue everyone who gets on an airplane a machete and brass knuckles. They turn them in when they land safely.

      --
      "Oh no... he found the .sig setting."
    128. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>He said "The US gov. is much too large." Shrinking the government to an ineffective size will kill the government.

      Damn.

      Mr. Data blew a fuse again trying to absorb your illogic. When someone says, "Government is too big" that does not equal "kill government" or "no government". When Best Buy advertises a "big 80% off sale" that doesn't mean I'm getting stuff for 100% off. It's a matter of degrees not black-and-white. (Big government or no government.) ----- When someone like myself says government is too big, what we desire to see is a government like we had circa 1900. That's not a non-existent government. It's simply smaller than what we have now. AND it's constitutional.
      .

      >>>the reason that the constitution isn't being followed is because of a lackadaisical public

      Well you do have a point there. But even when the public speaks out (over 70% were against passage of Pelosicare) (80% were against the Bush Bailout Bill), the officials don't listen and simply ram through the bills anyway. The People clearly have lost power. The serfs just get ignored by the lords in Congress.

      What you really need is the power of the Member State Governments to check-and-balance the central government. They need to start nullifying US laws that violate the contract they originally created. And if that doesn't work, call a constitutional convention, dissolve the central government, and start over fresh with newly elected leadership.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    129. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      I wouldn't take him too seriously. Sounds like he's suffering from internet tough guy syndrome. I doubt he would have the balls to actually do that. If he did then he should be charged with menacing at the very least....

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    130. Re:Of course they can by crakbone · · Score: 1

      I would like to see how a backscatter would work on this guy. http://www.nbc-2.com/Global/story.asp?S=10860548

    131. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      The presence of guns would not have meaningfully changed that.

      Sure it would have. Do you think the hijacking would have been successful if there had been armed good guys (civilians or law enforcement, doesn't matter) on the plane? Even without the knowledge of what the hijackers intended to do?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    132. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 1

      There we agree entirely. I'm just always leery of "shrink the government!" claims because they're usually made by people who have listened to Reagan and his progeny preach to us that government IS the problem (rather than the people making up the government being the problem) and therefore we should shrink all of it, except of course the military, which needs lots of $2billion stealth bombers.

      They want to shrink the government entirely, even though that would mean getting rid of highway departments, meat inspectors, air traffic controllers, the EPA, and other government entities that allow us to have the standard of living we have.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    133. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>And we'd all be speaking German now, because the power to declare war on the Hessians was not written into the Constitution.

      (1) Yes the power to declare war is in the Constitution (technically the Articles of Confederation which had authority at the time). Look it up.

      (2) In 1776 German was *already* the language spoken in my state. In fact German was still commonplace in my hometown as late as the 1920s, and even today my Amish neighbors still speak German. There's nothing wrong with that, and it offends me that you imply it's un-american to do so.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    134. Re:Of course they can by rdg55 · · Score: 1

      So all I need to do is promise 999 times in various ways that I will be a tidy house guest in the W.H.. That I will wear a suit, a tie, and shoes. That I will eat three meals a day, cut down on smokes (not quit, heh-heh), etc, etc, etc... Oh I and I also promise not to F the dog next door. So next month after my first 999 promises are scored true, you mean to tell me I can screw the pooch and STILL get a 99.99% truth rating? WOW. You really are a tool.

    135. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>Any country with 300 million people and nearly 4 million square miles is going to take a large organization to run it.

      Or 50 smaller organizations..... ya know, similar to how the European Union has 450 million people run by 25 smaller organizations (aka states). You don't need a large central government if most of the power is reserved to the Member State Governments.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    136. Re:Of course they can by WNight · · Score: 1

      Even a trained Special Forces operator isn't going to be able to defeat dozens of people before someone takes him down.

      Even facing certain death later I imagine not more than a few people would step up to try after the first few failed horrifically.

      Especially because knowing the current panic the bad guys will try something quiet and have a cover story about merely needing to fly to Cuba to escape jail - they won't be calling their god and threatening the infidels in a convenient tip-off.

      I wonder if they've considered shipping a few operatives via an air-courier and escaping the hold while in the air.

    137. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 1

      I think that's actually a good use of the free market. If a private airline wants to take naked pictures of me before I can fly on their airplanes, then guess what? I'm not going to fly on their airplanes, and I can go to the next airline over, who will not want to take naked pictures of me. By voting with my dollar, we could stop the naked picture taking.

      As for having the court rent a room, the point is not WHO is running the security, but WHAT the security is blocking us from accessing. With the government running (or in your example, contracting out the running of) the naked picture scanners, and requiring that everyone go through them if they want to access an airplane, or if they *need* to access a courtroom (keep in mind, that putting these scanners in a courthouse means that if the government issues me a subpoena to appear in court, they are ordering me to let people take naked pictures of myself), we do not have the choice of whether or not to submit to being photographed naked.

      Whether the government itself runs the courthouse scanners, or the government subcontracts out the running of the courthouse scanners, it amounts to the same thing - a governmental invasion of our privacy, because it is the government that is causing the naked pictures to be taken.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    138. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 2, Informative

      >>>With respect, what did "we" (the people, presumably) lose with Gitmo? When has it ever been held that foreign nationals...

      When Bush decided to arrest and send 3 US citizens there, so he could ignore the due process of law and the Constitution. It made us ALL vulnerable to the possibility of being exported to Guantanamo & thereby losing our rights. (And now I hear Obama sent another US citizen there too.)

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    139. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1, Informative

      John Adams would vehemently disagree with you.

      Why him in particular? Because he acted as a Defense Lawyer on behalf of several "redcoats". Without him the soldiers would have been found guilty and killed, or more likely drug into the streets and beat to death by the mob. The British soldiers received the same right to trial by a jury as any other Massachusetts citizen of that era.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    140. Re:Of course they can by countertrolling · · Score: 1

      Nothing "stupid" about it. You just consider any challenge at all a direct assault on your rights when there is none. In some places your weapons just aren't appropriate when it introduces unnecessary risk. In your absolutism you just can't accept that. Just like your fanaticism over property rights. It makes you irrational, and when armed, it makes you dangerous... Save it for when you're out hunting warthogs with your drinking buddies.. Wouldn't want you going off just because you had a few and some brat is kicking the back of your seat or the service gets a little slow. Unless you've had many years of training, don't expect me to have confidence you can control yourself when we hit a bump. Keep the Clint Eastwood fantasies to yourself... Don't make it mine.. It's bad enough I have to put up with the idiots you vote into office.

      Peace!

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    141. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>The images are not personally identifiable

      The guards see me naked. And yes they have personally identified me. That's reason enough why I don't want it.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    142. Re:Of course they can by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      To be fair, that statement was barely true because it deliberately used percentages to mask the magnitude of a statistic.

      A country with a small enough GDP automatically spends a much greater percentage because the baseline cost of having a military is substantial. The alternative is not having a military at all. As a country's GDP grows, the military spending as a percentage of GDP typically falls off fairly rapidly. By the same standard, an independently owned burger joint with a manager and two employees has a much worse manager-to-employee ratio than most Fortune 500 companies. Does that mean that a large company can imply that its 1:2.1 manager-to-employee ratio is great because it ranks 20,000th in businesses across the U.S.? Of course not. See how absurd that is?

      Comparing it to Middle Eastern nations is similarly useless because they have bombings on a regular basis, continuous military skirmishes between neighboring states, etc.---problems that the U.S. simply doesn't face. Even if you don't discount the MIddle East, saying "The U.S. is sixth or seventh in the world among countries with GDPs over $50 million behind only Middle Eastern Nations" still paints a far different and far more accurate picture than saying "The U.S. is 22nd in the world".

      The only truly valid comparison that can be drawn, however, is between the U.S. and countries with a similarly large GDP that are not actively at war with their neighbors. But it would not support her position very well if she had said that we have the largest military spending of any country in the world by total dollars, and the largest spending as a percentage of GDP except for Middle Eastern countries and countries with GDPs smaller than Nebraska.

      Or, put another way, it attempts to ascribe importance to a relatively unimportant partial statistic in a deliberate attempt to confuse people by diminishing the perceived importance of more complete statistics that paint a very different picture. For example, if I said that a country killed 5% fewer people in a war this year than last, that sounds pretty good. Things are improving. If I said that same country killed 95 million people in a war this year compared with 100 million last year, you'd be horrified. It might be improving, but the numbers are so shocking that the percentage doesn't do it justice.

      It's the same way with our military budget.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    143. Re:Of course they can by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Sure it would have. Do you think the hijacking would have been successful if there had been armed good guys (civilians or law enforcement, doesn't matter) on the plane? Even without the knowledge of what the hijackers intended to do?

      I don't think the hijacking would have been successful if there had been _unarmed_ "good guys" prepared to retaliate. That was kind of my point - the fact they were armed or not was really relevant, the fact they didn't know what was going to happen was.

    144. Re:Of course they can by yurtinus · · Score: 1

      Evidence in trial? I'm trying to think of a scenario here where a hijacker either killed people or put peoples lives in danger where photographic evidence of him in a body scanner would have made a difference at trial. Assuming there is a trial... As I recall, the entire reason we have these damn things is to make sure people end up at their destination in one piece and you can't take a pile of dismembered meat to prison now can you?

      I'm sure the "If only we had photographic evidence of him sneaking the gun through!" excuse is going to come up an awful lot in the future. On the bright side, they can be DAMN sure you're not sneaking any contraband bottled water through security, now!

      --
      +1 Disagree
    145. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      208 have been found to be true, in varying degrees.

      Half a truth is a full lie.

    146. Re:Of course they can by selven · · Score: 1

      And the worst part of all this is that, beyond payment checks, there is exactly zero security in the subway, and because of the high volume of passengers adding any is impractical. Where exactly are the terrorists going to strike?

    147. Re:Of course they can by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      I went there and didn't see any pictures. What's the point of a site with "porn" in the name and no pictures?

    148. Re:Of course they can by Beeftopia · · Score: 1

      "When I was a young man, they told me if I voted for Goldwater, I'd get sent to Vietnam. I voted for Goldwater and sure enough, I got sent to Vietnam!"

    149. Re:Of course they can by Beeftopia · · Score: 1

      Obama has called on people to actually track and rate the honesty of his platform. That's a first amongst presidents (to my knowledge). You can track the results.

      Because people wouldn't do this anyway.

    150. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I agree with your sentiment, but would just like to point out that the Fourth Amendment does NOT say the people shall not be subject to unreasonable searches "unless a warrant is obtained." It prohibits unreasonable searches, period. A warrant is not to be obtained unless probable cause is shown. If there's probable cause to conduct the search, then the search cannot be unreasonable. If TSA had probable cause to believe a particular passenger had explosive devices on his or her person, then such a strip search might not be unreasonable, but they're not bothering with probable cause if they're running everyone through those scanners.

    151. Re:Of course they can by vldragon · · Score: 1

      Here is the thing though, TSA only accepts certain government ID's to begin with and they already have access to all the information on your ID. When you buy a plane ticket now you have to give certain information to prove you are "you". So in essence they do not need to scan your ID as they already have it on file. And by they I don't mean TSA directly but the government as a whole.

      --
      Eating the brains of your enemies does not make you smarter. But it's still fun.
    152. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      And my point was that even if they didn't know what was going to happen they still wouldn't have allowed the hijacking if they had been armed.

      Even in the pre 9/11 "They just want to land in Cuba and use us as bargaining chips" environment, would you permit your plane to be hijacked if you had the tool on your hip to prevent it from happening? Not bloody likely.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    153. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      You are an idiot. I didn't mention anything about my "rights". I just said I'd like to see CCW holders allowed to carry on airplanes. No rant about rights. Just a randomly stated desire in a discussion about airport security.

      I could explain to you the difference between Clint Eastwood fantasies and concealed carry but I suspect that such distinctions would be lost on you.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    154. Re:Of course they can by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Of course the naked photos will never leak. Wait, that's first thing that happened. Well, the public seems comfortable with the idea. Wait, even DUBAI banned them as intrusive.

      The public isn't comfortable with the idea, the public is scared. Well the exhibitionists in US society will be comfortable with it.

      Secondly, comparing US society to Emirati society is a very bad comparison. Emirati society is publicly very conservative ("old fashioned" conservative, not "religious" conservative although that one also applies to the UAE a bit) to dress and behaviours. Everything has it's place and nothing out of order, it's not just the Hajab for the women but the males also are expected to dress and act a certain way. UAE banned them because naked pictures are not the kind of thing a good Emerati should be looking at, not because they were intrusive.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    155. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Citation needed. Bush treated a few US citizens as enemy combatants but to the best of my knowledge they were all held at military prisons on US soil.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    156. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      That was before the revolution. Whoever modded you up has no concept of history. After the war had begun and battle was joined those Redcoats would have been treated as POWs without access to the courts. If they violated the laws of war they would have been tried by military commission, as Major Andre was (did you even click on the link I provided?)

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    157. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Concealment has never made sense to me. It's not a deterrent, that's for sure.

      It's not supposed to be a 'deterrent'. You carry concealed for two reasons:

      1) Element of surprise when the bad guy tries to maim or kill you.
      2) You don't scare the sheeple with a concealed weapon.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    158. Re:Of course they can by kent_eh · · Score: 2, Informative

      Remember, the images are not connected to the people's identities in any way.

      As far as you know...

      --

      ---
      "I can't complain, but sometimes still do..." Joe Walsh
    159. Re:Of course they can by Scrameustache · · Score: 1

      How in the world could anyone say with a straight face that this would not happen with the full body scans at airports?

      With a lot of experience lying to people's faces. It's a marketable skill!

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    160. Re:Of course they can by seekertom · · Score: 1

      If I shoot you with only 1/6th of the bullets in my revolver, is that ok with you??? How 'bout my 200 round automatic? If I shoot you with only 1% of my available rounds, will that be ok with you?

    161. Re:Of course they can by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 1

      Can you see the fnords?

      --
      Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
    162. Re:Of course they can by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 1
      --
      Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
    163. Re:Of course they can by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 1

      The answer to government abuses is not to kill the government

      Really?

      Is this not what your constitutional right to armed bears is all about?

      --
      Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
    164. Re:Of course they can by cacba · · Score: 1

      A truth can misrepresent the truth. My favorite example, since voters reacted to the lie, is George Bush's "No new taxes", which he then claimed was kept as he only extended an existing tax. Even if you determined how to classify truths, the analysis is still fatally flawed. Not all promises are equal, not all people value promises the same.

      Blaming Obama for lying is like blaming Obama for being a good negotiator. The fact that he has managed to not lie on 90% of his campaign promises is not just remarkable, it's incredible. In fact, it is so good that Republicans have voted against bills they sponsored to try to decrease his approval rating. They then use that "evidence" as a weakness of the Presidency, knowing full well that the public doesn't associate the passage of laws with Congress, they "feel" the President does it all.

      A key part of this argument is that voters dont understand and therefore to help them we must lie to them. This line of thinking leads to many layers of assumptions and inferences. Social sciences have little certainty as such logical rube goldberg machines rarely have their intended consequences. KISS.

    165. Re:Of course they can by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      Problem is that NOT ONE captive in Gitmo was treated as a POW. IMHO the US is in violation of the Geneva convention and many members of the administration should be up on human rights charges in the Hague, starting with Cheney and Bush and I'm beginning to thing we should include Obama if he doesn't correct this.

      Remember what they did to Pinochet? Watch out Mr. Bush, one day it will be your turn.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    166. Re:Of course they can by jordan_robot · · Score: 1

      Also this is the same president who, after winning the election, requested "judge me from the promises I keep, not the promises I made." Yeah. Sweet.

      Uh, I do not think that means what you think it means. In fact, it means the opposite.

    167. Re:Of course they can by cgenman · · Score: 1

      The UK doesn't do full-body scanning on anyone under 18, for this very reason.

    168. Re:Of course they can by azrider · · Score: 1

      I am neither defending the existence of Gitmo, or the shutting down of Gitmo. Only that the President said he would shut it down and did not do it.
      It is only an example, one of many, of the promises that were broken.

      And just how, exactly, will he shut it down safely when Congress will not appropriate the funds? Remember, even though the Democratic party has a numerical majority, they do not have the votes to override the obstructive Republican party. The Republican party will vote against their own interests rather than give the President a "win".

      --
      And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.
      John 8:32(King James Version)
    169. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      If they want to be treated as POWs they should follow the customary laws of war. When they start fighting in uniforms under the command of officers and taking steps to avoid civilian casualties we can talk about treating them as POWs.

      Until that happens they are unlawful combatants and should be treated as such. Do you know what happened to such combatants in WW2? They were subject to summary execution. Read about the German soldiers that fought under a false flag during the Battle of the Bulge. Read about Japanese soldiers that committed perfidy and what happened to them.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    170. Re:Of course they can by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      He said "The US gov. is much too large."

      He said that, correct.

      Shrinking the government to an ineffective size will kill the government.

      He didn't say that. You're still arguing with a straw man.

    171. Re:Of course they can by mdwh2 · · Score: 1

      So if a stranger asked your for naked pics of your gf, with the face blurred out, you'd happily comply?

      You might as well argue someone is making an unreasonable search because they photographed your shadow.

      If that's true, why don't they just photograph our shadows?

      My understanding is that they show more detail than that.

    172. Re:Of course they can by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Searching someone before letting them board an airplane may be reasonable, but what degree of a search is reasonable? Is strip-searching them reasonable? That’s basically what this amounts to. But don’t worry... they’re very professional about it.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    173. Re:Of course they can by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      I'd agree with the above sentiment if the following weren't true:

      These are often people who were defending their own homeland from an invading force.

      I know, a lot of enemy combatants were and are outsiders, but even so often neighbours.

      If the USA invaded Canada and I fought back without a uniform because I'm not a member of the military, would I also be an unarmed combatant? If a bunch of civilian sympathizers from *random country* showed up to help defend my home and land and neighbours, would they be too?

      The USA declared war on an ideal not a country, and those with that ideal are fighting back. As such, they have no need to be under a flag nor to wear a uniform, as the war is against people with a specific thought system. Something I still have a very hard time with even though I agree with the concept.

      War against fundamentalist Muslims who may or may not be terrorists (since non-terrorist sympathizer Muslims may in fact fight back as well) is the kind of thing I thought was restricted to silly post-apocalyptic movies, because the United States would never declare war on a thought system. Freedom and all that.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    174. Re:Of course they can by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      Try these:

      Totally aside in answer to the 'what was lost' question, the USA lost a lot of respect. Americans may or may not care, but its true. Do you want your country to stand for freedom and democracy with due process or for totalitarianism and heavy-handed warmongering?

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    175. Re:Of course they can by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      You never need these images as evidence. The images are used to justify a search which produces images. The searches never need justification, the searches are simply targeted using the machines due to limited resources.

      Assuming you could hire enough guards to search every passenger without substantial delay for less than the cost of one of these machines, that'd be more effective.

      The images do not need to be stored. Period.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    176. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      If the USA invaded Canada and I fought back without a uniform because I'm not a member of the military, would I also be an unarmed combatant

      According to international law, yes, you would be an unlawful combatant. But let's not mince words -- the people we are fighting are deliberately hiding amongst civilians and using them as shields. If the US or Canadian military did that the soldiers involved would be guilty of war crimes. Under a strict reading of the Geneva conventions they would be held as unlawful combatants, not POWs.

      The USA declared war on an ideal not a country

      First off, it's not "The USA", it's most of the NATO Alliance. Second, what "ideal" did we declare war on? We didn't declare war on Islam or even Fundamentalist Islam. We declared war on those that seek to use terror as a political weapon. One can argue the wisdom of our current adventure in Afghanistan (I think it's doomed to failure myself) but please don't twist the truth by implying that we went to war against their ideals, way of life, or what have you.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    177. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      It's cute that you are blaming the GOP for the failure to close Gitmo when many Democrats are also opposed to the idea, particularly when the alternative to Gitmo is housing the prisoners in their districts.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    178. Re:Of course they can by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      I don't really give a rats ass what you think about my country :)

      BTW, those links you provided were lame. You can only name one American who was held at Gitmo before his citizenship was realized? Give me a break.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    179. Re:Of course they can by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he thinks random TSA goons who just don't care about the US government's image may be perfectly fine with making personal copies of such images.

    180. Re:Of course they can by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      So if a stranger asked your for naked pics of your gf, with the face blurred out, you'd happily comply?

      That's her decision, not mine. Though I imagine she'd have few problems with someone seeing anonymised pictures of an x-ray of her, which is basically what these images actually are.

      If that's true, why don't they just photograph our shadows?

      Er, maybe because that won't help seeing what might be underneath the clothes ?

      My understanding is that they show more detail than that.

      It's not hard to find examples of these images - they show a silhouette of the body, with no real detail about what you look like naked (like, say, skin tone, nipples, whether you're circumsised, whether you wax, if you have acne, etc, etc) other than overall body shape - which you could be just as easily revealing in tight clothing.

      Now, to be clear, I think these machines are a waste of time and money and provide little additional security. However, the people trying to pretend that the images being generated are the equivalent in any way to actual photographs are not doing themselves any favours. Someone would have a better idea of what you look like naked after seeing you at the beach, especially if you're a woman.

    181. Re:Of course they can by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      Actually people ARE the problem because people are corrupt and/or corruptible.

      Therefore making a non-corrupt government is an impossible goal, and we are all better off giving the government (and the people inside it) as little power as possible to get the job done, so it can't squash us underfoot like bugs.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    182. Re:Of course they can by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      The guards see me naked.

      No they don't. They see an outline of your body. People at the beach would have a better idea of what you look like naked than anyone looking at those images.

      And yes they have personally identified me.

      How ? You don't show ID or any other identifying information like a boarding pass before or after being scanned, that happens further back up the queue as you enter the security area.

    183. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 1

      That's great in theory, but realistically it's not do-able. This is kind of getting into the 2nd amendment arguments of "we need our guns so we can stop the government from oppressing us."

      They have nuclear missiles and platoons of armored soldiers with grenade launchers, machine guns, and tanks. You have a deer rifle. The government is going to win.

      The inverse problem to that is that if we do not let our government have the heavy weapons and the military to use them, we won't last long as a country before some other country invades and takes over.

      So the only really viable solution, and it will not be 100% effective, but will be much more effective than what we're doing now, is for the public to once again take an interest in government, and vote out the people who do not do what we want them to (with the caveat that we can no longer sit around listening to Glenn Beck and deciding that whatever he says is what's best for the country - we have to actually educate ourselves).

      Right now we're sitting back watching reality shows and playing mindless MMO's while sloughing off the tough job of keeping an eye on the running of the country to the people who are running the country. There's no oversight until someone like Beck or Palin comes along and trumpets a "tea party" to get rid of the damn black guy in the white house. And then, rather than doing our own legwork and researching the actual facts, we allow these charlatans to convince us of all sorts of inane bullshit, like Obama is a muslim who wasn't born here.

      That seems pretty far removed from the nudie scanners, until you realize that both issues stem from the same thing - a complacent public that would rather let this ridiculous crap happen than get up and do something about it.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    184. Re:Of course they can by bored · · Score: 1

      God god man, he's the president. He has a whole load of resources to do something about it. He could put them on a plane and land them at one of the dozens of military prisons in the US.. But wait that might be piss some people off! Instead, he hides behind the inept congress and uses the fact that they won't refurbish some prison to some outrageous security specifications to imprison a bunch of goat herders.

    185. Re:Of course they can by Score+Whore · · Score: 1

      It means exactly what I think it means. What I think it means:

      Hey, I made a lot of promises. I'm not going to keep them. But I want you to look at what I do do. Because at least it's a little better than before.

      Or to make an analogy:

      The new bully punches you in the face and when you complain that he said he wasn't going to pick on you at all, he responds by saying that the old bully kicked you in the balls and you should be happy that you're only getting punched in the face now.

      The point is, is that coming in after you win the election and saying "oh, all those promises I made... well, just kidding. but it won't be as bad as it could be", is an astonishingly poor moral and ethical position to have.

      What do you think it means?

    186. Re:Of course they can by Score+Whore · · Score: 1

      To reiterate the point that politifact is far from non-partisan consider these two rankings:

      Trent Franks is ranked false for being about half off on his number because they disagree with his position.

      On the other hand Jim McDermott is also half off on his number but they agree with his position so they give him half true.

    187. Re:Of course they can by WNight · · Score: 1

      They have nuclear missiles and platoons of armored soldiers with grenade launchers, machine guns, and tanks. You have a deer rifle. The government is going to win.

      Exactly. It's already fucked.

      But, think of how it would/(should?) work. He'd be part of the militia - what would be the army with conscription - and he'd be armed. His neighborhood would have a tank, etc, and a bunch of people - those actively practiced in using it - would have keys.

      The problem is a standing army, and one loyal to a body of the government, not the people of their communities. I think the secret to making the 2nd amendment work again is near-universal military service, like Switzerland has.

      Defense, at any level, isn't something you can outsource. When your current mercenary force providers (police, army) are looking to set themselves up with a monopoly on force they've switched from protectors to owners.

    188. Re:Of course they can by WNight · · Score: 1

      preach to us that government IS the problem (rather than the people making up the government being the problem) and therefore we should shrink all of it

      A sense of entitlement is your problem - other people's sense of entitlement to your money simply because they've always gotten it. The government wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't the ultimate welfare job - high-paying, union, and no risk of layoffs.

      Now that the TSA exists it's doing its damnedest to catch and convict enough people, regardless of their guilt, to prove its value. We can look forward to an agency bound and determined to waterboard enough trivia out of everyone and convict enough of us to appear worthy of their endless handout. The more desperate they are for a raise the more brutal they'll get. Like police in states that let them keep drug-bust confiscation money (from houses, cars, etc).

      And not just a matter of semantics either. It wouldn't be enough to privatize something by signing a permanent no-bid deal with a chosen company either. The issue is one of people trying to guarantee themselves a paycheck forever, without having to meet performance metrics.

      But IMHO the courts/etc are supposed to allow safe privatization of the meat inspectors. We should be able to hire private companies (and audit them sufficiently) to ensure they meet applicable standards, without having to make them government employees. Investigate and enforce heavily to prevent situations like the MMS/BP fraud.

      With restructuring I think you could reduce the number of government employees (everything but the elected officials and army) down to a few hundred people, essentially those people for whom an NDA wouldn't quite be enough, without changing the functioning of anything at first. Simply move everyone else (all of the IRS for instance) into newly created companies and hire them, at the same rates and same union agreements at first, then offer up it all up for regular outsourcing later to introduce competition.

      It raises the issues of data security, etc, but it's not like that's not an issue now - merely that we pretend like it is. Either way we need real security, not faith backed by the ability to bring charges of treason. We certainly won't get anywhere though as long as we keep guaranteeing the incumbents a job. We need to hire, and fire, by merit.

    189. Re:Of course they can by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      The NATO alliance declared war on Afghanistan. The USA declared war on terrorism.

      The differentiation is worthwhile.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    190. Re:Of course they can by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 1

      So outsourcing government responsibilities will work? I don't think so. Look at Blackwater.

      Once you outsource it to private companies, you introduce the profit motive. And the profit motive is anathema to public service.

      If the profit motive were sufficient to keep organizations ethical and responsible, then the gulf oil spill would never have happened. Neither would Enron. Or Halliburton. Or Exxon Valdez. Or the Valujet crash in Florida.

      Once you privatize something that can spark human greed, you lose control over where that greed will take the organization.

      Outsourcing meat inspectors would result in rampant bribery by the meat companies in order to pass inspection with unsafe food. You say that'll be taken care of by an audit. But how do you audit a meat inspector's inspections without inspecting the meat that he inspects? At which point you have the government auditor performing the inspection that you're already paying an outside company to perform.

      And unless the auditor stayed with the inspector constantly, rather than just spot-checks, the inspector would just inspect properly when the auditor was there, and then go right back to taking bribes the next day.

      Just one example of why outsourcing government responsibilities is a terrible idea.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    191. Re:Of course they can by DutchUncle · · Score: 1

      ... government agencies that are rarely held accountable by the general public.

      The general public would *love* to hold these agencies accountable, but suggesting something bad about a security agency is automatic proof that *you* are a security problem. It's a great business model. :-)

    192. Re:Of course they can by DutchUncle · · Score: 1

      The government can exercise those specifically enumerated powers given to it, and nothing else. Hence: No cameras doing a virtual strip search, because said power was never given to the US government.

      No paving roads, because that technology didn't exist when the constitution was written. No ensuring net neutrality, because everyone can put toll roads wherever they want. There are somethings that don't make money, and need to be done communally, and are bigger than families or neighborhoods. Government can't stay limited to 1776, any more than it should stay limited to biblical or other ancient writ.

    193. Re:Of course they can by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      Feel free to be a pompous jackass all you like if you don't care.

      Amazingly, I hear a lot of Americans whine about how the world thinks they're bullies. I hear a lot of "why don't people like us, we're just trying to help."

      That sounds like caring to me.

      You don't have to care, of course, you can be a horrible person all you like. Just keep it in your own yard. Thanks.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    194. Re:Of course they can by WNight · · Score: 1

      Well, for one, auditors usually perform surprise inspections and such to avoid these problems. But why do you think government inspectors are less prone to bribery? That's the very thing I'm talking about, the idea that someone's suddenly more trustworthy simply because they're a government employee. This is a problem *now*. The Minerals Management Service that was supposed to be watching BP, for example. We aren't auditing properly and people are fucking around.

      The secret is enough auditing. And yes, auditing does involve redoing some work. One guy inspects, another audits randomly, others randomly inspect both audited and unaudited work. Swap auditors around, make them work in pairs. Record everything they do, etc. Throw dishonest ones in jail for as long as they'd have been jailed for poisoning the product they were inspecting.

      You need to make the profit motive for the auditors involve finding problems. One company auditing itself seems likely to fail, but independent auditing companies who get paid to catch dishonesty by being guaranteed the bribe money if they turn the briber in, would be ruthless.

      But still, the problems don't go away by just pretending government employees are honest and corporate employees are all dishonest. The police and army are all government employees and yet have a stunningly bad record of hiding information from their civilian overseers, and performing horrible abuses while confident in their job security.

  2. Electronic Privacy Information Center by oodaloop · · Score: 5, Funny

    The Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to grant an immediate injunction to stop the TSA's body scanning program.

    And when that doesn't work, EPIC failed!

    --
    Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    1. Re:Electronic Privacy Information Center by Panspechi · · Score: 1

      Is this a dream, or Total Recall?

    2. Re:Electronic Privacy Information Center by wideBlueSkies · · Score: 1

      Is that TSA or TnA ?

      Thank you, I'll be here all week. Please try the veal, it's great....

      --
      Huh?
  3. It's Obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    it had saved ~35,314 images recorded with a millimeter wave system

    It's all the young, beautiful 16 to 19 1/2 year-old females who are all alone and need protection from the strong DHS.

    1. Re:It's Obvious by chill · · Score: 1

      DHS has a cut-off age of 20? Damn picky, aren't they.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    2. Re:It's Obvious by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2, Funny

      They aren't much into grannies.

    3. Re:It's Obvious by chill · · Score: 4, Funny

      Grannies, fine. But no MILFs? Straight to jail-bait? What is WRONG with these people!? Oh, wait.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    4. Re:It's Obvious by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Whoosh?

    5. Re:It's Obvious by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 2, Funny

      You're missing the link to terrorism here, girls between the ages of 16 and 19 1/2 could be from the Castle Anthrax .

      Quite potentially perilous I should think.

      --
      I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
    6. Re:It's Obvious by jecblackpepper · · Score: 1

      Though I'm sure that they can be tackled single-handed (girls: "yes, yes, let him tackle us single-handed!")

    7. Re:It's Obvious by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BTW, in the linked article it says that one of the perps had fled to Libya. Gotta wonder what would happen to that person if Libya was told of the allegations and provided with the evidence. Then again, if the suspect has US military secrets...

  4. Pics or it didn't happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Get some enterprising hacker to release those 30k pics. If some schoolkids visited the courthouse, we'll see which is stronger: "think of the children!" or "think of the terrists!"

    1. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by AnonymousClown · · Score: 5, Funny

      Add in "If you do nothing wrong then you have nothing to worry about" and you have a new version of "Rock, Paper, Scissors".

      --
      RIP America

      July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    2. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      Wikileaks

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    3. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by pz · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Get some enterprising hacker to release those 30k pics. If some schoolkids visited the courthouse, we'll see which is stronger: "think of the children!" or "think of the terrists!"

      If some school kids visited the courthouse and the pictures were saved, remember that child pornography laws are so strict that it's nearly guilty until proven innocent. I'd hate to be an operator of one of those machines if there is even a single image of a minor. Even just one.

      Come to think of it, that would be a good way for the ACLU to dismantle the entire program.

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    4. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by Scrameustache · · Score: 1

      Get some enterprising hacker to release those 30k pics. If some schoolkids visited the courthouse, we'll see which is stronger: "think of the children!" or "think of the terrists!"

      Hacker goes to jail under child porn possession and distribution; cops stay above the law.

      I don't get what that would accomplish.

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    5. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      Tourists suck! They always drive to slow and make left turns from the right turn lane.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    6. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by stimpleton · · Score: 1

      "Think of the terrorist children!"

      --

      In post Patriot Act America, the library books scan you.
    7. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by snadrus · · Score: 1

      Wait a minute, don't these machines scan everyone? This has already happened.

      --
      Science & open-source build trust from peer review. Learn systems you can trust.
    8. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by dcollins · · Score: 1

      Think of the terrorist babies!

      (Part of the GOP 14th Amendment repeal discussion today -- scroll down to Fox Business News Eric Bolling/ Rep. Louis Gohmert quote.)

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
    9. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      If some school kids visited the courthouse and the pictures were saved, remember that child pornography laws are so strict that it's nearly guilty until proven innocent. I'd hate to be an operator of one of those machines if there is even a single image of a minor. Even just one.

      Except the images wouldn't be considered pornographic, ergo can't be child porn.

    10. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Get some enterprising hacker to release those 30k pics. If some schoolkids visited the courthouse, we'll see which is stronger: "think of the children!" or "think of the terrists!"

      Nonsense, then they'll just invent a new type of paedophile terrorist and use that to justify even more invasive procedures. Just like they invented the threat of terrorists and paedophiles to push through other invasive laws.

      They are not mutually exclusive, "Think of the children and the terrorists". Now back to your TSA approved cereal citizen.

      I'm glad my nation didn't buy into this whole terror nonsense, we at least only have to worry about those thinking of the children.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    11. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Think of the child terrists!!!

    12. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by pz · · Score: 1

      If some school kids visited the courthouse and the pictures were saved, remember that child pornography laws are so strict that it's nearly guilty until proven innocent. I'd hate to be an operator of one of those machines if there is even a single image of a minor. Even just one.

      Except the images wouldn't be considered pornographic, ergo can't be child porn.

      In Massachusetts, a local photographer was convicted with child *abuse* because of photos she took of her own 4-year-old child and because someone at the processing lab considered the photos pornographic. Child nudity was taken to be the same as child pornography that was taken to be the same as child abuse. The photos were apparently as innocent as can be.

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
    13. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      I was quite certain this case was bad enough already.

      That's the school who had two staff strip-search a thirteen year old student.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
    14. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      In Massachusetts, a local photographer was convicted with child *abuse* because of photos she took of her own 4-year-old child and because someone at the processing lab considered the photos pornographic. Child nudity was taken to be the same as child pornography that was taken to be the same as child abuse. The photos were apparently as innocent as can be.

      A Google search didn't turn anything up easily. Do you have a name ?

    15. Re:Pics or it didn't happen by pz · · Score: 1

      Hmm ... I apparently mis-remembered the incident. The photographer was arrested for child pornography and assault, but ultimately convicted only of disorderly conduct and malicious destruction of property, not child abuse. Please read material at the link for more details

      http://users.rcn.com/kyp/angindex.html

      --

      Put my fist through my alarm clock with its ding-dong death inside my ear. - The Blackjacks.
  5. No Surprise at all by LeepII · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Since the original request for the system included "the ability to store and transmit" said images, this is no surprise. Any computer that has the "Print Screen" button on the keyboard can copy an image. Since the TSA scanned a 12 year old girl, why aren't child pornography charges being brought up on them?

    1. Re:No Surprise at all by MBGMorden · · Score: 4, Informative

      Since the TSA scanned a 12 year old girl, why aren't child pornography charges being brought up on them?

      Despite me not agreeing with this program, the "think of the children" scream has no bearing here. Child pornography must be pornographic. Even nude stills that are considered artistic (ie, some of Lewis Caroll's photos he took) are not considered pornography and are perfectly legal. You simply have to prove that the purpose of the image is not for "deviant gratification". In this case, the purpose of the images will be for airport security. End of story. It's the same reason every pediatrician in the country isn't going to jail for molestation. As long as their contact is necessary and professional, then it's allowed.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    2. Re:No Surprise at all by HungryHobo · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It would still be fun if the archive got leaked and we got to see a political cage match between those who see terrorists everywhere and the people who spend all their time thinking about the children.

    3. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They claimed over and over that they were not storing the images. The fact that they were storing them clearly indicates that something deviant was occurring.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    4. Re:No Surprise at all by MarkusH · · Score: 1, Interesting

      What if some agent took the picture of a 12 year old girl home to "enjoy" in his free time? Could he be charged with possession of child pornography then? I'd say yes.

    5. Re:No Surprise at all by MBGMorden · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Possibly. It's not a guarantee. If the photo was legal then what he does with it could be viewed as irrelevant. In that case it'd be no more a legal problem than if they were "enjoying" the kids section of the latest JC Penny flyer.

      Either way, it's still a "what if" scenario in the end. Until that's proven then the point is moot.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    6. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The person being scanned should have a monitor so they can see exactly what the "people in the back room" can see. It simply isn't fair to not know how you are being exposed. These machines probably all have a "remote service connection" that various government agencies can use to see what the scanner is seeing.

    7. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      I’m pretty sure that a basically-nude photograph of someone taken without their consent is pretty much always illegal regardless of their age.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    8. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Just because it's used for sexual gratification doesn't mean it's pornography. Given the fetishes of some people, just about everything could be labled pornography then.

    9. Re:No Surprise at all by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      Nefarious, sure. Not necessarily deviant. The government stores all sorts of information that they shouldn't. I'd wager that close to zero percent of that misappropriation is about deviant sexual behaviors though. It's more a case of the government loves to store information and data warehouse it. They can link all that and have even more information about the populace. Information is power.

      Again, I don't agree with these scanners. IMHO, they're an invasion of privacy. I just think it's entirely hypocritical to trot out the "think of the children" defense as part of our argument against them. 99% of the time when the rest of the whack-job groups shout that mantra against video games, violent movies, regular porn on the internet, or anything else that they have an agenda against, it's not applicable. It's just as unlikely in this case too. Don't reuse arguments that have already been proven so flawed as to be regularly mocked around here.

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    10. Re:No Surprise at all by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Neither the summary or the article say the TSA are storing images. This story is about the Marshal Service storing images. These two groups are distinct from each other.

    11. Re:No Surprise at all by blueg3 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The TSA claimed they're not storing the images, and the U.S. Marshals (at one location) are storing the images. Those aren't the same organization.

    12. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Deviant in the sense that it deviates from what they claimed and what the law says they’re allowed to do.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    13. Re:No Surprise at all by AnonymousClown · · Score: 5, Funny

      I was going to try to find some cites to prove you wrong and I went to Google and typed in "naked children pictures enjoying pornographic" and thinking better of it, closed the browser window.

      --
      RIP America

      July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    14. Re:No Surprise at all by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      They're neither photographs nor "basically-nude" in the conventional sense. But regardless, the image is taken with your consent.

    15. Re:No Surprise at all by Firehed · · Score: 1

      While your claim is completely true as far as legality goes, there are plenty of incidents that show the system works very differently in practice. Then again, when the government is being charged with the crime and following the letter of the law says innocent, you bet they will be. Double-standards, and all that.

      --
      How are sites slashdotted when nobody reads TFAs?
    16. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Informative

      At their own admission the TSA has the capability in their machines. They just claim it isn’t “activated” in the airport scanners. Mhmm. Prove it.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    17. Re:No Surprise at all by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 1

      Since the TSA scanned a 12 year old girl, why aren't child pornography charges being brought up on them?

      Despite me not agreeing with this program, the "think of the children" scream has no bearing here. Child pornography must be pornographic. Even nude stills that are considered artistic (ie, some of Lewis Caroll's photos he took) are not considered pornography and are perfectly legal. You simply have to prove that the purpose of the image is not for "deviant gratification". In this case, the purpose of the images will be for airport security. End of story. It's the same reason every pediatrician in the country isn't going to jail for molestation. As long as their contact is necessary and professional, then it's allowed.

      Let's not forget you need parental consent to take these 'acceptable' photos. Are the parents signing waviers as they waltz through the scanners?

    18. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      No, but what reason do we have to believe that the TSA is telling the truth when they say that their machines cannot store the images, when the U.S. Marshals are using similar machines and were storing images? Particularly after we already know that “TSA requires AIT machines to have the capability to retain and export imagines only for testing, training, and evaluation purposes” and “[w]hile the equipment has the capability of collecting and storing an image, the image storage functions will be disabled by the manufacturer before the devices are placed in an airport and will not have the capability to be activated by operators.”

      Right. Prove it.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    19. Re:No Surprise at all by HungryHobo · · Score: 1

      since when can children consent to having nude pictures of themselves taken?

      As for adults that might work for airports(if you consider flying to be a choice and such systems do not also get used at bus and rail terminals)since when do people get a choice about going to court?

    20. Re:No Surprise at all by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Nothing anyone can say will prove anything to you. You will just never admit to being wrong and constantly move the goalposts.

    21. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      This doesn’t appear basically-nude to you? You’d feel fine having that same image taken of a 12-year-old girl and stored indefinitely on someone’s hard drive? It’s certainly a photo. And, if consent were given under the false promise that the image would not be stored, there was no consent because you coerced them with a false promise into allowing you to take the image.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    22. Re:No Surprise at all by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      You should believe them as much and for the same reasons as before. Maybe that's "not at all", but it's been clear for a while that their machines are capable of storing images, but this feature is disabled in installed machines. What the U.S. Marshals are doing with a different piece of equipment should have no bearing on what you think the TSA is doing.

    23. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      You don’t have to prove anything to me. You just have to give up the idiotic notion that you can strip-search me randomly for no cause whatsoever just because I want to board an airplane.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    24. Re:No Surprise at all by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      If they're traveling with their parents (or an appropriate party), the adults consent on their behalf. Some children travel along, but do you know if they're scanned in these machines or not?

      Even for adults, these machines are not mandatory -- an alternative is available for people who don't want to be scanned. So yes, you are consenting to it.

    25. Re:No Surprise at all by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      You just have to give up the idiotic notion that you can strip-search me randomly for no cause whatsoever just because I want to board an airplane.

      Who says I ever held such a notion nor why would I ever want to see your sweaty, obese body naked to begin with?

    26. Re:No Surprise at all by shadowfaxcrx · · Score: 1

      What good would that do? If I wanted to set up this system, and make it so people weren't pissed off about it, the public monitor (which by the way is problematic anyway because now the guy behind you in line can see the naked picture of you) would be set to show an innocuous image. "See? We're blurring the boobs out," even though the image seen by the agents was crystal clear. As mentioned above, this is a software-controlled system, and as such, I can make it do whatever I want it to do, including sending a misrepresentation of the image it's taking to the person who's image it's taking.

      --
      "I disagree with you" does not equal "flamebait."
    27. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're not doing anything wrong you have nothing to worry about.

    28. Re:No Surprise at all by dfghjk · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Child pornography must be pornographic."

      No it doesn't, it doesn't even need to be a child.

      "You simply have to prove that the purpose of the image is not for "deviant gratification"."

      The government has to prove its case against you, not the other way around.

      "As long as their contact is necessary and professional, then it's allowed."

      What you mean is that it matters WHO benefits from it.

    29. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      You must be new here. Or not from the US.

      Going to jail for family vacation photos: http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/arizona-couple-suing-bathtime-photos-prompt-wal-mart/story?id=8624533
      Going to jail for getting emailed photos of your niece: http://abcnews.go.com/US/soldier-charged-possessing-child-pornography-receving-innocent-photos/story?id=9595638
      Going to jail for camping photos: http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2006/07/18/photos
      Going to jail for breastfeeding, and photographing it: http://www.cfcamerica.org/news/a-mother-breastfeeding-her-baby-is-child-porn-in-america

      That's from 30 seconds of google searching.

      Get a clue.

    30. Re:No Surprise at all by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      No, nude humans don't look much like that at all.

      It's not a photograph, it's an image. The mechanism used to produce the image has little to do with photography.

    31. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      As long as somebody can hit the PrtScrn button, the feature is not disabled. As long as somebody can walk in with a cheap digital camera and take a photo of the image on the screen, the image can be stored.

      I know what the TSA are doing. They’re doing what amounts to a random strip-search (how is it random? do they have a clicker that they click, and it beeps for random individuals? a TSA screener standing there playing duck-duck-goose is not random.) with the very slight consolation that you don’t have to worry because they aren’t saving the images. I already know they’re doing random strip-searches for no just cause... what reason do I have to trust them?

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    32. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      You nor anyone else. And won’t. Because I won’t submit to this invasive search.

      In the meantime, I don’t trust the screeners half as far as I can throw them to be professional about their job when it comes to screening the people who will give up their rights and let themselves be strip-searched.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    33. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The TSA claimed the devices are incapable of storing the images, and the U.S. Marshals ARE storing the images on a specific device, so now if we can figure out what brand scanner the TSA is using (how many companies are making these things?) we can figure out if the TSA is lying about being unable to store images.

    34. Re:No Surprise at all by Scrameustache · · Score: 1

      Child pornography must be pornographic.

      Oh, you naive fool. Child pornography doesn't need to be pornographic, it doesn't even need to include an actual child: It's all in the eye of the district attorney.

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    35. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      You are bathing a subject in electromagnetic radiation and then producing an image of them by collecting the scattered rays. The mechanism that you use is irrelevant.

      Besides which, I liberally used the word photograph – “image” would have done just as well. And the image looks no more like a nude human than, say, Michelangelo’s David does.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    36. Re:No Surprise at all by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      What about the people who worry about both? Think of the child terrorists!

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    37. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      No, the TSA is claiming that the devices are capable of storing the images (in fact, it’s required), but that the feature is disabled and the operators cannot re-enable it.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    38. Re:No Surprise at all by superdave80 · · Score: 1

      But that your argument is null and void once they save the nude 12 year old girl's picture. Since the only VALID use of that picture is to determine if the girl has a bomb, etc. on her, keeping the picture after that search is done is pornography. End of story.

    39. Re:No Surprise at all by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Insightful

      When parents are accused on child porn for taking photos of their kids in the bath, saying "child porn must be pornographic" is completely untrue. It seems that all it takes is for one person to object to the amount of clothing on a child for the "child porn" label to be tossed around.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    40. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You quickly excited, then immediately disappointed the TSA. Congratulations.

    41. Re:No Surprise at all by index0 · · Score: 1

      "You simply have to prove that the purpose of the image is not for "deviant gratification". In this case, the purpose of the images will be for airport security." How about they prove that the body scans are for security first, and not for security theater.

    42. Re:No Surprise at all by tophermeyer · · Score: 1

      There is a big difference between the policy makers/program managers and the operational people responsible for running the system. It is no surprise to me to hear the leadership saying "we won't store images" (I truly believe in good faith) and then some middle manager deciding just to capture the recordings anyway.

    43. Re:No Surprise at all by tophermeyer · · Score: 1

      Nobody is coming into your home and forcing you to submit to an airport security screening. You have the option not to fly. Even if you chose to fly, you do have the option not to pass through full body scanners and the right to refuse strip searches. If you don't want to submit to it, that's cool. For the record I wouldn't submit to it either.

      As far as the capability of the system to store images, that is simply going to be the case with any system that runs on computers. The Print Screen and photo image examples you gave are certainly possible, but are not really the point. The system was designed with the ability to store images disabled. What you are talking about are human actions that are outside of the normal operation of the system. Those kinds of abuses are possible in any system that involves people, full body imaging or not.

    44. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would a hand drawn image of a minor be considered pornographic? Probably in Texas. Probably also in Japan, but ok there.

      Photograph implies using the visible light spectrum and generating a reproduction of what is normally visible to the naked eye. Using ranges of the EM spectrum outside of normal vision will definitely generate an image, but I'm not sure you would consider something like an x-ray to be a photograph.

    45. Re:No Surprise at all by nacturation · · Score: 1

      I was going to try to find some cites to prove you wrong and I went to Google and typed in "naked children pictures enjoying pornographic" and thinking better of it, closed the browser window.

      And with Google's auto-suggest, every keystroke you typed is already on Google's servers, logged to your IP address and all the history that Google has about you.

      --
      Want to improve your Karma? Instead of "Post Anonymously", try the "Post Humously" option.
    46. Re:No Surprise at all by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Would a hand drawn image of a minor be considered pornographic?

      Drawn of actual kids posing? Yes. Drawn from photos of actual kids? Yes. Completely fictional drawing? As you said... some places yes.

      Photograph implies using the visible light spectrum and generating a reproduction of what is normally visible to the naked eye. Using ranges of the EM spectrum outside of normal vision will definitely generate an image, but I'm not sure you would consider something like an x-ray to be a photograph.

      Photograph implies that the resulting image is visible to the human eye.

      Infrared photography is a common term, infrared being normally invisible to the human eye. Astronomy photos are often taken at various x-ray or infra-red frequencies and pseudo-coloured composites are made.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    47. Re:No Surprise at all by http · · Score: 1

      Since the TSA scanned a 12 year old girl, why aren't child pornography charges being brought up on them?

      You simply have to prove that the purpose of the image is not for "deviant gratification".

      The age of the citizen doesn't enter into the first part of the calculations. Since the scanning is a violation of the 4th amendment, and designed to fulfill the dreams of sick, power-hungry control freaks, I'd say the images are for "deviant gratification".

      --
      If opportunity came disguised as temptation, one knock would be enough.
      3^2 * 67^1 * 977^1
    48. Re:No Surprise at all by egcagrac0 · · Score: 1

      He wasn't enjoying the pictures; he was studying them, to learn every supple delicate curve and fold of skin.

      They even said they only stored the pics to study them.

    49. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "You simply have to prove that the purpose of the image is not for "deviant gratification"."

      The government has to prove its case against you, not the other way around.

      In addition to that, this whole bit really rubs me the wrong way because it's essentially thoughtcrime. It should be possible to look at a photograph of a child or teenager and determine whether it meets the legal standards of child pornography without looking at anything besides the photograph itself: it either depicts child pornography, or it doesn't.

      The notion that one and the same photo could be legal art or illegal child pornography based on nothing more than the state of mind of the photographer - their thoughts, intents and so on - is a dangerous one.

    50. Re:No Surprise at all by Attila+Dimedici · · Score: 1

      You apparently haven't heard about the mother who was charged with child pronography for having pictures of her naked two year old running around in her house? Sorry, I do not currently have the reference for it, butthere have been several cases of parents being charged with child pornography for having pictures of their own naked toddler.

      --
      The truth is that all men having power ought to be mistrusted. James Madison
    51. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I went to Google and typed in "naked children pictures enjoying pornographic"

      Better hope you disabled search-as-you-type

    52. Re:No Surprise at all by precariousgray · · Score: 1

      As long as their contact is necessary and professional , then it's allowed.

      So you're saying these scans shouldn't be allowed?

      --
      not much, just being forced to manually insert line breaks into my comment
    53. Re:No Surprise at all by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      This doesn't appear basically-nude to you?

      Sure, just like this does.

    54. Re:No Surprise at all by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      The TSA claimed they *can't* store the image. Then it was revealed that they can store the images or transmit them in real time. But that feature is "turned off" in regular use. That's not "can't", that's "we can but we aren't doing it, trust us."

    55. Re:No Surprise at all by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      Have they stated what it does take to enable the feature? If not, and since they lied about it before, how do we know they aren't lying about it now?

    56. Re:No Surprise at all by thoromyr · · Score: 1

      Child pornography must be pornographic.

      I so wish that you were actually right. Unfortunately, what is child pornography depends on the jurisdiction, the cops and the judge. I don't feel like googling it at the moment, but likely candidates for examples are Oklahoma and Kentucky.

    57. Re:No Surprise at all by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      inb4: Whoosh.

      Since you obviously lack the balls of Anonymous Cowards, since you are an Anonymous Clown (just like an Anonymous Alcoholic), I shall do that search for you, but in a more intelligent way, using ssl.scroogle.org and sitting behind 7 proxies. The results are
      1) http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/sep/30/brooke-shields-naked-tate-modern (Some gallery withdraws a photo from a 10 year old because Scotland Yard bitched about it. PIC INSIDE (not much to see).)
      2) http://www.fccj.or.jp/node/5755 (A small report on Japan allowing child pr0n, retards bitching about that. No pics.)
      3) http://vbulletin.thesite.org/showthread.php?p=2307044 (Some discussion on a forum about what CP actually is --- started by question on whether a movie of a naked toddler dancing is CP, more or less. No pics.)
      4) http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100607133110AAl2zqn (Another discussion on WTF qualifies as kiddie pr0n. An hilarious typo is present, but no pics.)
      5) http://www.infowars.com/airports-set-to-become-primary-peddlers-of-child-porn/ (This piece of shit website wanted to set 20 fucking cookies. Anyhow, it points out that naked body scanners can be used for CP and stuff. No CP.)

      Oh, by the way, 18) is your post. Congratulations. I wonder if this post surpasses yours.

    58. Re:No Surprise at all by mldi · · Score: 1

      Nobody is coming into your home and forcing you to submit to an airport security screening. You have the option not to fly. Even if you chose to fly, you do have the option not to pass through full body scanners and the right to refuse strip searches.

      Tired of hearing this bullshit argument. First of all, you get a pat-down if you don't pass through the body scanners. So you choose between a strip search or a groping. That's a false choice. That's like saying it's reasonable for a mugger to give you a choice of getting knifed in an arm or a leg because you chose to pass by his alley.
      Second, they aren't forcing you to drive either. It doesn't give them the right to search your vehicle for no reason. The same concept could be applied to your home. Or your work place. Or anything else you technically "choose" to do.
      Don't be so ridiculous.

      --
      If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
    59. Re:No Surprise at all by mldi · · Score: 1

      Nobody is coming into your home and forcing you to submit to an airport security screening. You have the option not to fly. Even if you chose to fly, you do have the option not to pass through full body scanners and the right to refuse strip searches.

      Sick of this bullshit argument.

      First of all, if you don't submit to a strip search, you get groped by a thug. Reeeeal fine choice there.

      Second, they don't force you to drive either. They don't force you to work. They don't force you to live where you do. Does that give them to right to execute invasive searches for no reason whatsoever? No, it does not. Just because you technically choose to do it means absolute squat.

      Don't be so ridiculous.

      --
      If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
    60. Re:No Surprise at all by mldi · · Score: 1

      Nobody is coming into your home and forcing you to submit to an airport security screening. You have the option not to fly. Even if you chose to fly, you do have the option not to pass through full body scanners and the right to refuse strip searches.

      Sick of this bullshit argument.

      First of all, if you don't submit to a strip search, you get groped by a thug. Reeeeal fine choice there.

      Second, they don't force you to drive either. They don't force you to work. They don't force you to live where you do. Does that give them to right to execute invasive searches on your car, work, or home for no reason whatsoever? No, it does not. Just because you technically choose to do it means absolute squat.

      Don't be so ridiculous.

      --
      If you aren't suspicious of your government's actions, you aren't doing your job as a responsible citizen.
  6. I'm confused by jmauro · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The TSA (part of DHS) says their not recording images of people entering the airport, but the US Marshalls (part of DoJ) are.

    So folks are suing the TSA? It seems to me that you'd actually want to sue the US Marshalls instead.

    1. Re:I'm confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Seriously.

      Let me get this straight:

      The TSA buys machines, makes sure they don't normally store images, tells people they won't (usually) be storing images, and, as far as we can tell, aren't.

      The U.S. Marshals install similar machines in a courthouse, set them up to store images, and tell people "Yeah, we're storing images".

      And this chain of events, the TSA is the bad guy? For something the Marshal Service is doing?

      WTF? I hate the TSA as much as the next guy, but Jeebus, this is retarded.

    2. Re:I'm confused by kevinNCSU · · Score: 3, Interesting

      In edition the article mentions the Brijot Gen2 machine. All of the TSA ones I've seen are the L-3 communications Provision machine. So DoJ using a different machine from a different company are storing images so they decide to sue a different department that's using different machines with different procedures? It makes no sense whatsoever.

    3. Re:I'm confused by Hatta · · Score: 1

      The TSA claimed it was not possible to store the images. They lied.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    4. Re:I'm confused by ShadowRangerRIT · · Score: 1

      Slight correction: The TSA says they *cannot* store or record images. The U.S. Marshals, apparently using the same equipment, *are* storing images. Ergo, the TSA is lying about the capabilities of the machines, and a lawsuit is being filed to prevent them from being used since we clearly can't trust a word the TSA says. To be honest, the fact that the Marshals provided a case in point is somewhat irrelevant; the TSA claims they can't store images, but according to TFA, they require that they be able to store and transmit images for "testing, training, and evaluation purposes." Even though they claim that they are delivered for use with this functionality disabled, examples such as the U.S. Marshals case make this claim dubious, thus the lawsuit.

      --
      $_ = "wftedskaebjgdpjgidbsmnjgcdwatb"; tr/a-z/oh, turtleneck Phrase Jar!/; print
    5. Re:I'm confused by Kiralan · · Score: 1

      My guess would be that if the Marshall's scanner can do it, then the TSA ones can as well. Therefore, sue the TSA, requiring them to show they don't have the capability in their scanners, or that they are not saving the images.

      --
      V for Vendetta: People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.
    6. Re:I'm confused by blueg3 · · Score: 2, Funny

      The TSA also uses a different machine.

    7. Re:I'm confused by kevinNCSU · · Score: 1

      addition*!!! I clicked too fast =/

    8. Re:I'm confused by oodaloop · · Score: 1
      Bad summary, separate lawsuit. FTFA:

      The Electronic Privacy Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, has filed a lawsuit asking a federal judge to grant an immediate injunction pulling the plug on TSA's body scanning program. In a separate lawsuit, EPIC obtained a letter (PDF) from the Marshals Service, part of the Justice Department, and released it on Tuesday afternoon.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    9. Re:I'm confused by Jah-Wren+Ryel · · Score: 4, Informative

      The TSA claimed it was not possible to store the images. They lied.

      It isn't even an accidental lie either - their own procurement specifications require the ability to store and transmit copies in real time. Seems like the only thing keeping the machines doing from what the TSA said they "cannot" do is the flip of a switch. Why should we believe they aren't flipping that switch whenever they feel like it? After all they lied about the machines' capabilities, it ain't no big stretch of the imagination to expect them to lie about using that switch.

      --
      When information is power, privacy is freedom.
    10. Re:I'm confused by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      The TSA was only talking about the machines that they use. Their statement wasn't all encompassing to all body scanners in use by all federal agencies. You're really having to stretch on that rebuttal.

    11. Re:I'm confused by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      The U.S. Marshals, apparently using the same equipment, *are* storing images.

      See that's your problem. The Marshals and the TSA aren't using the same equipment. Maybe you should do a little more research (like reading the summary in full) before shooting off?

    12. Re:I'm confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You see, these are now the "Gen2" devices. The first generation only showed pictures. Gen2 devices have a special button that you can press to share the pictures of the hideous obese persons and sexy young women with your workmates and friends. Gen3 will support youtube. Gen4 has 3D imaging.

    13. Re:I'm confused by blueg3 · · Score: 1

      Doesn't the TSA use a different machine? Do they and the Marshals have the machines configured in the same way?

      They use the same approach for scanning, not necessarily the same devices. (Actually, the scanners use one of two very different approaches -- backscatter X-ray and millimeter-wave -- that have been lumped into a single category.)

    14. Re:I'm confused by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 1

      Yes. The TSA uses machines from L3 not Brijot.

    15. Re:I'm confused by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      The TSA claimed it was not possible to store the images. They lied.

      No, they didn't. You cannot store the images, you only can store the data from which the image is generated on the screen. It's just a long list of zeroes and ones. There's no image as long as you don't send that data to the screen.

      SCNR :-)

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    16. Re:I'm confused by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 0, Informative

      "Can" and "Do" are separate things. While scanners may have the ability to do so, the function may be disabled, therefore the scanners would not do so.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    17. Re:I'm confused by jmauro · · Score: 1

      To be honest it isn't clear in the story either. The article talks almost exclusively about the TSA and their use of scanners.

    18. Re:I'm confused by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      Because the number of people the US Marshals scan in a year, the TSA scans in less than a day.

    19. Re:I'm confused by powerlord · · Score: 1

      The TSA claimed it was not possible to store the images. They lied.

      It isn't even an accidental lie either - their own procurement specifications require the ability to store and transmit copies in real time. Seems like the only thing keeping the machines doing from what the TSA said they "cannot" do is the flip of a switch. Why should we believe they aren't flipping that switch whenever they feel like it? After all they lied about the machines' capabilities, it ain't no big stretch of the imagination to expect them to lie about using that switch.

      Don't worry. They can only throw that switch if authorized by Jack Bauer.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    20. Re:I'm confused by sjames · · Score: 1

      Probably because there's a big pile of alphabet soup and nobody's sure who to sue but they figure they're all a bunch of scumbags taking our tax money and wiping their asses with the flag.

    21. Re:I'm confused by JDmetro · · Score: 1

      If can and do are separate things like you say why don't they have to prove someone is a terrorist before they scan them? The possibility that someone "can" be a terrorist, by your logic is not enough of a reason to scan someone. A terrorist would have to "do" something first.

    22. Re:I'm confused by budgenator · · Score: 1

      You can withhold consent to be body scanned by the TSA by simply not traveling by air, try telling a judge your not going to honor a court summons because you don't want to be body scanned by the US Maeshalls!

      --
      Apocalypse Cancelled, Sorry, No Ticket Refunds
    23. Re:I'm confused by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 0

      Because someone can intend to do something and never get a chance to do it. One can be a terrorist because one intends to commit a terrorist act, but no do the act because one is stopped.

      Also, if one does not wish to be scanned, one does not have to fly on a commercial flight. One can charter a flight. One can learn to fly and rent a plane. One can take a bus or a train.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
    24. Re:I'm confused by JDmetro · · Score: 1

      So you would advocate the thought police?
      Why should I be subjected to scrutiny because someone from a warmer sandier climate wants to blow me up? Seems like the wrong person is under the radar. And here in Canada Muslim women are allowed to board planes without having to lift their veils to prove their face matches the one on the passport in the name of political correctness. Can you paint me what is wrong with this picture?

    25. Re:I'm confused by DaveV1.0 · · Score: 0

      You call verifying a person is who they claim to be by matching them to their proffered documents political correctness? No, political correctness is doing exactly what you describe, allowing Muslim women are allowed to board planes without having to lift their veils to prove their face matches the one on the passport.

      You are not singled out for scrutiny. All people are checked, with a random few checked more closely than others, and the reason it is like that is because of people, like you, who believe in political correctness even if you can not recognize it if you see it. The reason all are checked is because if the government checks only those most likely to be terrorists and suicide bombers, then they are accused of racism, racial profiling, etc. by people like YOU.

      --
      There is no "-1 offended" or "-1 you don't agree with me" mod options for a reason.
  7. What Kind of Marker.... by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 3, Funny

    So, what kind of marker do I need to purchase to leave a few messages of what I think about the TSA on my special parts next time I go through the airport?

    1. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Time for some tinfoil underwear!

    2. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by countertrolling · · Score: 2, Funny

      It would require implanting a metal screw into your hip... next to what looks like a U-bolt

      This should get you flagged for special treatment

      --
      For justice, we must go to Don Corleone
    3. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Fast+Thick+Pants · · Score: 5, Funny

      Silver paint pen should do. Remember not to write "the TSA, the" in German, because some people might misunderstand.

    4. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by dgatwood · · Score: 1

      Der TSA, der?

      :-D

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

    5. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by bgt421 · · Score: 5, Informative

      This is an epic obscure Simpsons reference. When Sideshow Bob goes before the parole board, they question him about his "Die, Bart, Die" tattoo. He explains it as German, where 'die' is a definite article, and they buy it hook, line, and sinker. Sideshow Bob gets out, and mayhem insues.

    6. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by tsalmark · · Score: 1

      tun Sie nicht Der TSA, der ich Bruder!

    7. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As a child in Europe, I always thought "Die Hard" was some kind of German movie.

    8. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Neither epic nor obscure.

    9. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Charliemopps · · Score: 1

      Get 50 of your friends to put turbans on, pack their suit cases with as many smoke detectors as they can fit and all try to board different flights at O'Hare airport the day before thanksgiving. That should pretty much stick it to them.

    10. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by H0p313ss · · Score: 1

      Neither epic nor obscure.

      Obscure to the majority of the planet who have not memorized the Simpsons. That being said I make obscure SciFi references all the time, the difference is that I KNOW they're obscure.

      --
      XML is a known as a key material required to create SMD: Software of Mass Destruction
    11. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by powerlord · · Score: 1

      Get 50 of your friends to put turbans on, pack their suit cases with as many smoke detectors as they can fit and all try to board different flights at O'Hare airport the day before thanksgiving. That should pretty much stick it to them.

      I'm assuming in this case "them" means your friends?

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    12. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by BJ_Covert_Action · · Score: 1

      Right Cheek: "If you can read this message,"
      Left Cheek: "then your surveillance is too intrusive."

    13. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's too bad it doesn't work out grammatically, as "die" is a feminine article. When referring to a male, you'd use the masculine form which is "der."

    14. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Objects In Scanner Are Larger Than They Appear

    15. Re:What Kind of Marker.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Uh, or just a blatantly obvious reference to a fucking language, dimwit.

      Also, *ensues.

  8. Surprising... not. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You mean a government agency that had the ability to do something, regardless if it was right or wrong, did exactly that thing? Wow, colour me surprised!!! Not. This was the most obvious thing in the world. "Oh no sir, we're going to take your photograph here but we're not going to save it!!!" Give me a break. Will the US just have a French style revolution already? It's getting tiring, really.

  9. What do these machines look like? by zero_out · · Score: 2, Informative

    How can I spot one of these machines? How does it differ in appearance from a metal detector?

    1. Re:What do these machines look like? by kevinNCSU · · Score: 2, Informative

      They're much larger and look like a little room/glass-pod/transporter platform you stand in and in most US airports have a big L3 logo on the side. (red circle white text).

      Here's the product page from L-3 Communications.

    2. Re:What do these machines look like? by wjousts · · Score: 5, Funny

      Look for the sweaty pervert manning it.

    3. Re:What do these machines look like? by kevinNCSU · · Score: 1

      Correction to more detailed product page with the actual different versions: L-3 Advanced Imaging Tech

    4. Re:What do these machines look like? by mcmonkey · · Score: 1

      If you'd been through one, you'd know it.

      You don't walk through as with a metal detector. First, you'll be asked to empty your pockets, not just remove metals.

      Then, you'll stand in the scan area, hands over your head, facing sideways while the scan is done.

    5. Re:What do these machines look like? by Sulphur · · Score: 1

      He's Fed Jim.

    6. Re:What do these machines look like? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are these the same people who used to make Load balancers, and can we boycott their products now?

  10. What I want to know by Black+Parrot · · Score: 1

    Whose body were they storing when they scanned the images?

    --
    Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
    1. Re:What I want to know by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      Maybe Scotty can recover it from the buffer?

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
  11. Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    I was recently coming off a cruise into the Miami port, and was 'randomly' selected to go through one of these. I'm a young fit woman, not travelling alone, and was not wearing bulky or loose clothing- so why the selection?

    Anyway, I expressed upset at the process and the security guard person guiding me through said that only one person sees the image, they can't see me, I can't see them, and that the image is deleted immediately after I am 'passed' through and no weapons are detected.

    I doubt even the people operating these things know what's going on.

    1. Re:Went through one recently by clone53421 · · Score: 3, Informative

      You are not legally obligated to go through one of these if you do not want to. If you refuse to go through this, which essentially amounts to a high-tech strip-search, they have to give you the old-fashioned pat-down.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    2. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      I'm a young fit woman, not travelling alone, and was not wearing bulky or loose clothing- so why the selection?

      Amazing... you managed to ask and answer your own question in the same breath.

    3. Re:Went through one recently by nomadic · · Score: 1

      I'm a young fit woman . . . so why the selection?

      I think, as disturbing as it is, you might have answered your own question...

    4. Re:Went through one recently by HungryHobo · · Score: 2, Informative

      Has it gotten to the point where refusing one of these is considered probable cause for a traditional strip search yet?

    5. Re:Went through one recently by clone53421 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Does it matter?

      This is too painless. Give people the version that whacks them with the clue hammer. “What the hell, my rights are being violated.” Damn right they are. This scan is no different from having you walk into an empty room, disrobe, and slowly turn in front of a silvered window. The only difference is that it doesn’t feel as degrading. It should.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    6. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But when you ask for the pat-down, make sure to do it in a creepy voice while looking into the eyes of the security guard and winking suggestively!

    7. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    8. Re:Went through one recently by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      My current plan is to smile and say (loudly enough for everyone to hear), “No thanks, I’ll take a handjob instead.”

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    9. Re:Went through one recently by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      IIRCC you don't have a choice in the UK, its scan or you don't fly.

    10. Re:Went through one recently by NicerGuy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      You are not legally obligated to go through one of these if you do not want to. If you refuse to go through this, which essentially amounts to a high-tech strip-search, they have to give you the old-fashioned pat-down.

      for now

    11. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In airports in the UK, if you are selected to pass through one of these scanners and you refuse, you are then cordially selected to NOT BE ALLOWED TO BOARD YOUR PLANE. Doubtless this action will cause you to get special attention in every airport you then enter for the rest of your life.

      PS. ultra-LOL at the captcha : victims. no lie.

    12. Re:Went through one recently by ebuck · · Score: 1

      You are not legally obligated to go through one of these if you do not want to. If you refuse to go through this, which essentially amounts to a high-tech strip-search, they have to give you the old-fashioned pat-down.

      Either the person operating the machine will be under-informed of this right, or will act under-informed. If you push the matter, they know how to slightly abuse their power. They will grant you the pat down just as soon as the "pat down" agent is available, after your flight has left. Remember, they need to check your tickets to see if you should be entering the boarding area, so it's not rocket science to make you wait and watch you squirm.

    13. Re:Went through one recently by powerlord · · Score: 1

      IIRCC you don't have a choice in the UK, its scan or you don't fly.

      From an AC:

      Depends where you are apparently:

      http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1247715/Passengers-refuse-body-scan-Heathrow-Manchester-airports-barred-flights.html [dailymail.co.uk]N/blockquote>

      Ah well. Glad I went to England already. Guess I'll have to cross it off my future Travel list.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    14. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      How do you know if you're being given a full-body scan?
      Not a troll, I'm serious. I have a flight in two weeks.

      Is there an obvious difference between these machines and the standard metal detector?
      Do they even have to tell me?

    15. Re:Went through one recently by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      They pull you aside, make you stand inside a glass hallway, spread your feet apart and place your hands on your head.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    16. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Be warned though, if you choose to not go through it at the Indianapolis Airport, like I did, they will harass you. The people who work for the TSA are educationally sub-par, and should not be given a baton or authority over anyone. I told the woman administering the machine that I objected to going into it for essentially the same reasons as discussed here, and pointed to a picture of a scan of woman on the front of the machine. She became defensive and said "it does not take naked pictures" and then had me wait ~15 minutes for someone to come 'pat me down'. Keep in mind, in the photo I was pointing to, you could see clearly defined labia from a good distance.

    17. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Well, at least you are not required to do so this week.

      Next week though, you won't be allowed on the plane or in the court room if you do not agree to such a scan.

      You simply stay and loose your ticket. Or your case.

    18. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks. I was honestly concerned.
      I'm not letting these fucking fuckers take a scan of me.

    19. Re:Went through one recently by Builder · · Score: 1

      You are in Britain. If you turn down the virtual strip search, you are not allowed to fly. How the hell you're supposed to get home if you're on the return leg of a journey is beyond me.

    20. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you do that in the UK you don't get on the airplane. There is no pat down alternative.

    21. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I am not in Britain.

    22. Re:Went through one recently by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My question is how long will that be an option?

      They can just throw you in a holding room just long enough for you to miss your flight... will you think twice the next time you're forced into one of these strip searches?

    23. Re:Went through one recently by MelodicMotives · · Score: 1

      For now, anyway. Tune in next year when DNA-smashing imaging technology is the only option you have.

  12. I feel so dirty... by stakovahflow · · Score: 1

    Dirty, dirty, dirty...

    --
    Holy happy hippy crap!
  13. Alt-Print Screen by wjousts · · Score: 1

    currently written to store images, if it gets on the screen, you have a bitmap right there and just have to write it to a file. Making that modification might take a few man-hours for a system that probably took dozens of man-years to create in the first place.

    Doesn't even take any modification. Alt-Print Screen, paste into image software, click save, post on internet, ????, profit.

    1. Re:Alt-Print Screen by trentblase · · Score: 2, Interesting

      If these machines are running Windows, we have even bigger problems.

    2. Re:Alt-Print Screen by EraserMouseMan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      We need more Federal oversight of screen capture capability. Let's pass a new Citizen's Transportation Privacy Reform Act that makes it unlawful to sell keyboards with a 'Print Scrn' button. Then we create a new Single Seller Keyboard agency that makes it unlawful for anybody to purchase a keyboard from a private entity. Free government keyboards for all! It's the only way to protect the country from the privacy abuse of the TSA.

    3. Re:Alt-Print Screen by wjousts · · Score: 0

      And why's that? Or are you just trolling?

    4. Re:Alt-Print Screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Obviously because running them on the most virus-infested and vulnerable OS will make it far more likely that those images become public. Or are you just shilling?

    5. Re:Alt-Print Screen by wjousts · · Score: 1

      Keep on spreading that FUD. There is no reason why these computers would be used for anything other than running the scanners so there should be close to zero chance of it being exposed to threats from the outside.

      If these computers are directly connected to the public internet, then we have bigger problems, regardless of what operating system they are running.

    6. Re:Alt-Print Screen by rakaur · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Are you even serious? It's not like the TSA is chock full of professionals, here. They're mall cops with less training, which is bad and worse. We know the computers are connected to the network because they have to be able to receive the images (they're "viewed at a remote location"). What makes you think the operators don't go play some Flash games during downtime? Or do the same things everyone does at work with their PC? I work on a government campus and the security/police force are caught doing naughty things with their computers all the time. Why would the TSA be any different?

  14. Well, if they did save the images ... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... they'll show up at porn sites real soon. You just need one perverted US Marshal with a USB memory stick, the Internet will do the rest.

    The US Marshals Service admitted that it had saved ~35,314 images

    Wow! That many cute chicks have walked through their scanners?

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
    1. Re:Well, if they did save the images ... by AnonymousClown · · Score: 1
      Stand outside of any court house scanner and you'll see: yes, some really attractive women go through that scanner - many of them are attorneys. (I dated a law student years ago and attend grad school near a law school. It amazed me how many really good looking women attended law school)

      Now, considering that the only folks who have these scanners are government entities, there would be one hell of a shit storm if they do end up on a porn site. There's probably going to be one anyway - and rightfully so.

      --
      RIP America

      July 4, 1776 - September 11, 2001

    2. Re:Well, if they did save the images ... by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Don't lawyers usually get to go around the security checkpoint by flashing their bar card or some such? I recall reading something about that the last time some nutjob shot up a court house. He used a bar card to bypass security.

      I guess it makes sense that the Government shouldn't be able to go through a lawyers papers (attorney client privilege and all that) but I can't understand why that translates into an exemption against going through the metal detector. It doesn't violate the attorney-client privilege to send an attorney and his briefcase through a metal detector.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    3. Re:Well, if they did save the images ... by Ryokos_boytoy · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Nobody said they were women. Let's not give them the benefit of the doubt.

      --


      If you don't say anything, you won't be called on to repeat it. -- Calvin Coolidge
    4. Re:Well, if they did save the images ... by Spazztastic · · Score: 1

      When I went to the Montgomery Courthouse in PA all the attorneys and other employees there just showed their ID and were able to pass through the line, meanwhile I was being shaken down for carrying a small toolkit with screwdrivers and tin snips when all I wanted to do was turn in my paperwork for a passport. They also did a thorough inspection on my ballpoint pen that was in a silver brushed metal casing -- it looks like the pen bomb from Goldeneye.

      --
      Posts not to be taken literally. Almost everything is sarcasm.
  15. Nothing to worry about. by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

    I'm sure they are only saving the 'really good ones.'

    So there's nothing for any slashdot denizen to worry about.

  16. Not going far enough by Psmylie · · Score: 2, Interesting

    The problem is, we aren't going far enough to protect ourselves. These measures, while a considerable improvement over metal detectors, are still a far cry from what we need if we want to be secure. Here is what I propose:

    Upon entering any government building, or attempting to enter an airport terminal, all citizens will directed to secure rooms where they will be required to strip off all of their street clothes. These clothes will then be sent for analasys for any chemical agents, explosives, etc. and burned or disposed of if there are any suspicious substances on them. Visitors/travellers will then be issued a standard robe and slippers, after the invasive strip search and full body x-ray.
    At this point, if boarding an aircraft, passengers will be led to their seats and have an I.V. hooked into their arms. They will be kept sedated for the duration of the flight, and then wheeled out while still unconcious to recover in specially designated rooms. If there is a connecting flight, then of course staff will wheel them onto that flight, while still unconcious.
    Upon exiting the terminal or government building, citizens will have their personal effects returned to them, minus anything destroyed or detained due to suspicious chemical markers or anti-government slogans or anything else the government feels that it is in the citizen's best interest to remove from their possesion.

    I know all of this seems like it might be expensive, but hey, isn't it worth it to be safe?

    --

    psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

    1. Re:Not going far enough by Psmylie · · Score: 1

      And now I realize that I have become far too reliant upon spell-checkers: *Analysis, *travelers, *unconscious, *possession. My sincere apologies to anyone who becomes excessively irritated upon seeing misspelled words.

      --

      psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

    2. Re:Not going far enough by irondonkey · · Score: 1

      Stop giving them ideas!

    3. Re:Not going far enough by Psmylie · · Score: 1

      "Stop giving them ideas!"

      Aww, c'mon, it will never happen.
      ...
        *mentally reviews all the things going on now that I thought would never happen ten years ago*
      Crap.
      Slashdot needs a "delete post" button.

      --

      psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

    4. Re:Not going far enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Despite how ridiculous it sounds, I would not be entirely surprised to seeing this become close to reality within the next 20 years.

      Personally, though strange, I would not be opposed to the robe, slippers, and sedation, assuming all is comfortable and sanitary. It's the future! Why not be a little more spendy?

    5. Re:Not going far enough by Defenestrar · · Score: 1

      You may be on to something - this may actually work.

    6. Re:Not going far enough by dkleinsc · · Score: 1

      This would apply to "all citizens", which includes folks like Congresscritters and Presidents. I would think the mere thought of having to strip-search, say, John Cornyn or Patrick Leahy would leave even the more perverted security personnel running in the opposite directions.

      --
      I am officially gone from /. Long live http://www.soylentnews.com/
    7. Re:Not going far enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There are plenty of people out there that would happily comply with something like this.

    8. Re:Not going far enough by Alsee · · Score: 1

      No good, a terrorist could just use an organic explosive. It doesn't matter if the passengers are unconscious, it could be detonated by a delay timer. You don't need any sort of detectable electronic timer either. You can simply have some organic substance that dissolves or gets digested over time to trigger the delayed detonation.

      There is one way to achieve complete safety, and we already have the technology to do it. All we need to do is carpetbomb the United States with our nuclear arsenal. That would completely and permanently neutralize any possible threat. We'll finally be safe, no terrorist would ever kill an American again.

      -

      --
      - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
    9. Re:Not going far enough by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      Why can't they just chain me to my seat un-sedated and let me watch my in-flight movie? Wait, that sounds like I'm willing to trade liberty for entertainment! Hmm, well what's playing?

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    10. Re:Not going far enough by Psmylie · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure what it's called, but I'm pretty sure it has Martin Lawrence in drag in a fatsuit.

      --

      psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

    11. Re:Not going far enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The sedation bit doesn't bother you?

      A. It's my time, I'll decide whether to sleep, work, or play.

      B. Crashes/ditchings happen, with low finite probability. "The future" may reduce the probability, but cannot eliminate it. Pardon me if I don't feel like dying in a crash just because I was kept unconscious "for my own safety".

    12. Re:Not going far enough by joe_frisch · · Score: 1

      Sadly you may not be that far off. MM-wave and backscatter X-ray scanners can't see explosives hidden in body cavities. Pretty soon security checks may get a LOT less fun. (Though if our esteemed lawmakers are required to undergo the same checks I might be willing to accept it ).

      Seriously though, who are they protecting? I fly far more than the average person (8 intl. trips/year), and I AM NOT WORRIED ABOUT TERRORISM! I don't want to be protected. I just want a simple metal detector that can pick up a handgun or other large weapon, and maybe a bag scan. I don't care that the occasional plane will blow up - I'll lose more years of life waiting in security lines than I will from terrorists.

    13. Re:Not going far enough by MooseTick · · Score: 1

      I like your ideas. Flights would go by so much faster if I was unconscious the whole time!

    14. Re:Not going far enough by Psmylie · · Score: 1

      For myself, I would be perfectly happy to exchange some of this government mandated "security" for a return of essential liberties.

      In addition to not being able to see inside body cavities, what exactly are they going to do if they find someone with, say, a suicide vest on under their clothes, rigged to go? Instead of blowing up a plane, the would-be terrorist will instead blow themselves up in the extremely crowded terminal, killing not only passengers waiting to go through the checkpoint, but all the agents standing around gawking at the scanners. Really, the ONLY thing this is good for is if someone is trying to bring on a small weapon like a gun or a knife, which a regular metal detector can accomplish far less expensively and with far less intrusion.

      Now, all of that aside, when are we going to see this technology built into video cameras? I have some pretty cute neighbors.

      --

      psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

    15. Re:Not going far enough by Gilmoure · · Score: 1

      They blocked Ted Kennedy back when the TSA got started. Glad they didn't have these scanners then.

      --
      I drank what? -- Socrates
    16. Re:Not going far enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No. No it isn't.

    17. Re:Not going far enough by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm terrified that that this is marked +3 interesting...

    18. Re:Not going far enough by psithurism · · Score: 1

      No good, a terrorist could just use an organic explosive.

      Well, the best we can do is take random tissue samples and remove all suspiciously shaped organs. I think I'd feel safe at that point.

    19. Re:Not going far enough by psithurism · · Score: 1

      I think that would do it. If we do this to all foreigners and low class citizenry, we should be safe. Just make sure that any one important can bypass it. Politicians, their families and anyone wealthy should not have to be subjected to it.

  17. I'm also confused by confu2000 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The party involved seems to be the US Marshals at a court house.

    The TSA seems to be speaking only for themselves for airports.

    Is this Florida court house also an airport? Or located inside an airport?

    Am I having a problem with logic or is it the article?

    1. Re:I'm also confused by hyades1 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Given the number of cops, lawyers and criminals typically found in a court house, it can safely be said that if assholes could fly, that court house would most certainly be classified as an airport.

      --
      I've calculated my velocity with such exquisite precision that I have no idea where I am.
    2. Re:I'm also confused by oodaloop · · Score: 1

      It's the article. Two separate lawsuits.

      --
      Tic-Tac-Toe, Global Thermonuclear War, and relationships all have the same winning move.
    3. Re:I'm also confused by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No you don't understand.

      "The Government" is all one big entity which of course all uses identical equipment in identical ways so anything that one department promises never to do obviously extends to each and every other entity. That explains why my meter maid is tapping my phone and the NSA is issuing parking tickets.

      Having said that... Who gives a fuck? The images shouldn't be generated, period. Recording is an irrelevant afterthought.

      The fact the discussion has moved on to whether the images are stored demonstrates that we've already lost this argument. The TSA can wait a couple of years until these scanners are expected and commonplace. Wait for another incident and announce they could have caught someone if only they could have kept the images. We'll line up and bleat for a while then we'll accept the next increment of privacy loss.

      Our privacy will not vanish overnight. We'll happily give it away, one little teeny bit at a time. As long as we aren't rushed into it.

      Hey, froggie, the water's getting hot, but not fast enough for you to notice it until you smell them fine frog's legs a'cookin. MMmmm, what's that smell?

  18. Posted by AHuxley? by cpscotti · · Score: 2, Funny

    Shouldn't the poster be GOrwell? Wouldn't it be even more appropriate!

    1. Re:Posted by AHuxley? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Shouldn't the poster be GOrwell? Wouldn't it be even more appropriate!

      I initially read that as GOREwell and though, what does Al got to do with this.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
  19. As an aside, not impressed by Necron69 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I had my first millimeter wave radar scan at the Denver airport when traveling last weekend. I thought it was rather interesting, but wasn't impressed by their insistence that I had something in my pockets, until I turned them inside out to show they were empty.

    Necron69

    1. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 4, Informative

      I had my first millimeter wave radar scan at the Denver airport when traveling last weekend. I thought it was rather interesting, but wasn't impressed by their insistence that I had something in my pockets, until I turned them inside out to show they were empty.

      Necron69

      Known bogus accusations are standard cop-tricks to get you to confess to something, throw you off guard or make you reveal something.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    2. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Jason+Levine · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Kind of like when I was crossing from Canada back into the US once. We were traveling with my wife, kids, her brother and his wife. The border guard asked standard info: where we were going, where we were from, etc. Then he asked (in a very accusing tone) which one of us wasn't born in the US. We all kind of paused trying to think if we had said *anything* to lead him to that impression before answering (truthfully) that none of us were born outside the US. We got let on our way but it was still puzzling at the time.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    3. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what you're saying is... you were just pleased to see them?

    4. Re:As an aside, not impressed by dollarwizard · · Score: 1

      Known bogus accusations are standard cop-tricks to get you to confess to something, throw you off guard or make you reveal something.

      Mod this up please. This is something everyone can learn from.

    5. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I had my first millimeter wave radar scan at the Denver airport when traveling last weekend. I thought it was rather interesting, but wasn't impressed by their insistence that I had something in my pockets, until I turned them inside out to show they were empty.

      Necron69

      So, what you're saying is they scanned you and inaccurately accused you of having something in your pocket... *after* they subjected you to an e-strip search? Either they are retarded, or the technology is bogus. And having seen the photos, I can't see the latter being true.

    6. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      hen he asked (in a very accusing tone) which one of us wasn't born in the US.

      Why? Do you know something I don't know? Did my mother lie to me? I knew mother was lying to me. I always knew MOM was lying. Next thing you're gonna tell me is there is no Santa Clause !!!!

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    7. Re:As an aside, not impressed by nitehawk214 · · Score: 1

      Either they are retarded, or the technology is bogus.

      Could be both.

      --
      I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
    8. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Vitriol+Angst · · Score: 1

      Which makes perfect sense that we installed the millimeter radar scanner in the first place...

      Officer: We found something in your pocket!

      You: OK, I have a confession to make. [pulls out pocket]

      Officer: Just as the scanner showed -- Your pockets are empty -- what's your confession then?

      You: Yes, but did you notice the clever HOLE in my pocket? Reach right in here and you'll find it...

      --
      >>"ad space available -- low rates!!!"
    9. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Dr.+Cody · · Score: 1

      I had my first millimeter wave radar scan at the Denver airport when traveling last weekend. I thought it was rather interesting, but wasn't impressed by their insistence that I had something in my pockets, until I turned them inside out to show they were empty.

      Necron69

      Known bogus accusations are standard cop-tricks to get you to confess to something, throw you off guard or make you reveal something.

      No, he just didn't understand the "or are you happy to see me" part.

    10. Re:As an aside, not impressed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they're using cop tricks on innocent travelers, I think the only proper course of action is to tie these TSA goons to anchors and throw them into the nearest deep sea trench. I'm so fucking tired of being a bad guy just because I'm traveling.

  20. Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Defenestrar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    From the article:

    "For its part, the TSA says that body scanning is perfectly constitutional: 'The program is designed to respect individual sensibilities regarding privacy, modesty and personal autonomy to the maximum extent possible, while still performing its crucial function of protecting all members of the public from potentially catastrophic events.'"

    Since when did the Fourth Amendment provide exemptions for "the end justifies the means" situations? (Which is a separate argument altogether).

    To claim that an effective strip search without probable cause, hot pursuit, or arrest is in any way not a violation of the Fourth Amendment is a bold and likely incorrect point of view. The issue of consent is probably a critical issue here. Perhaps one doesn't have to travel by air; but when the issue may be to lose one's job for refusing to complete a business trip, perhaps then defaulting on a mortgage, & etc, or to "consent" to a millimeter wave search... That sounds more like extortion.

    Not to say that the Constitution has never been violated before, but let us not deceive ourselves as to what we are doing.

    1. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by russotto · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps one doesn't have to travel by air

      It doesn't matter. When the government says "You must waive your rights to participate in any activity which you don't have the explicit constitutional right to participate in", it has violated your rights. The extent of the violation is more or less depending on how common or important the activities are; for air travel it's pretty darned high, though not as high as for surface travel.

    2. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by vlm · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perhaps one doesn't have to travel by air; but when the issue may be to lose one's job for refusing to complete a business trip, perhaps then defaulting on a mortgage, & etc,

      Or, in other words, dark skinned folks technically don't "have to" ride the bus, so its OK to make them sit in the back. Repeat for about one zillion other racial / ethnic discrimination situations.

      --
      "Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
    3. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Scrameustache · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Since when did the Fourth Amendment provide exemptions for "the end justifies the means" situations?

      9.11.2001

      Or October 26, 2001, if you want to get technical about it.

      --

      You can't take the sky from me...

    4. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by LifesABeach · · Score: 1

      Seeing how the DHLS wants to enjoy pictures of naked people, and their decedents, could they at least keep up with the President Obama's health care bills and scan each person for illnesses?

      How this for a senario:
      TSA: "Sir, we just scanned you, and found that your blood pressure is very high, can we suggest an on board meal that would take this issue into consideration?"
      another senario:
      TSA: "Mam, could our TSA Doctor call now?"
      TSA Doctor: "Mam, are you aware that you may have something in your Lung?"

      From my view point, if these folks want to look up my Posterior Sphincter, then why can't they do some good with it?

    5. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the ends justifies the means quite frequently under the 4th amendment. you named a few situations (hot pursuit and arrest), see terry; place; et al for others.

    6. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      When the government says "You must waive your rights to participate in any activity which you don't have the explicit constitutional right to participate in"

      You have a Constitutional right to engage in activities that aren't explicitly listed in the document. It's contained within the 9th and 14th amendments. No reason to pretend they don't exist just because certain individuals within the Federal Government do so.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    7. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This does not involve the Fourth Amendment, as covered in the following cases:

      United States vs. Davis (1973)
      United States vs. Aukai (2007)

      There are of course many other cases, and IANAL, however each attempt to alter those rulings with later cases has by and large failed.

      Also, there is not a requirement to undergo millimeter wave, or backscatter x-ray, search. You can decline these, and an alternate screening method will be used. You are in no way coerced, or forced, to undergo the procedure. (The person asking you may not be fully aware of it, and be unhappy if you decline, but you can not be required.)

      If something comes up during screening that is illegal, then law enforcement officers (and the TSA, except for the FAMs service, is not a law enforcement agency) who are local will in fact get involved and then will need to determine fourth amendment issues once they take over.

      Also, to be honest... who the hell wants to see people naked? It's not going to be the pretty ones. Murphy's Law more on that one, than anything else. Airport security personnel already have a sh***y job, are held in universal contempt using stereotypes that largely do not apply, and know just as well as you do how asinine some of the restrictions they're charged with carrying out happen to be. But constitutionally, they cannot differentiate between anyone (profiling) without a sound, reasonable, and constitutionally protected reason.

    8. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by operagost · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or, in other words, dark skinned folks technically don't "have to" ride the bus, so its OK to make them sit in the back.

      This is a great analogy for anyone who understands the era of segregation.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    9. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by operagost · · Score: 1

      Sounds like the USA Patriot Act is unconstitutional, then... isn't it?

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    10. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by conlaw · · Score: 1

      IMHO, the USA PATRIOT ACT (not shouting, that's the acronym for the ridiculously long name of the Act) is just as constitutional as the Alien and Sedition Acts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts, which were also rushed through in the guise of protecting US citizens. If only our congress-folk had spent as much time thinking about the constitution as they did about the acronym!

    11. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
    12. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by idontgno · · Score: 1

      The entire history of US responses to perceived threats is "panic-monger in haste, repent at liesure".

      How many different cases of "gosh, that was a terrible unconstitutional decision 40 years ago, we'd never do that again" have we had?

      Sad. Very sad.

      --
      Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
    13. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      & etc

      The "et" in et cetera means "and". Saying "and etc." is redundant.

      Using an ampersand is, in addition, sloppy.

    14. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by rewt66 · · Score: 1

      Different 4th Amendment issue: Surveilance of your house from the street. If I understand correctly, the cops can look all they want, but they can't use any technology that "looks through walls" (infrared, etc.) without a warrant.

      So, by analogy (always a dangerous way to reason), TSA should be able to look with their eyes, but not with anything that looks under people's clothes. To do otherwise is to violate the 4th Amendment.

      And, they can't weasel out of it with "it doesn't apply to us", because TSA is a federal agency.

    15. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

      IMHO, the USA PATRIOT ACT (not shouting, that's the acronym for the ridiculously long name of the Act)

      Wouldn't it be the USA PATRIOT Act?

    16. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Archades54 · · Score: 1

      Funnily enough in school the back of the bus was the most popular spot here in Aus.

      --
      If your neighbours roof is flying past your window, you know it's cyclone season.
    17. Re:Does not violate the Fourth Amendment? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Perhaps one doesn't have to travel by air; but when the issue may be to lose one's job for refusing to complete a business trip, perhaps then defaulting on a mortgage, & etc,

      TFA mentions that one of these scanners is in place at a courthouse. If you are compelled to appear in court, you would be coerced into submitting to this scanner.

      The real issue is how you define "unreasonable search" and whether this scanning technique falls within that scope. It seems this will be up to a federal judge at some point in the fairly near future.

  21. Bound to fail due to human nature by BartholomewBernsteyn · · Score: 1

    Apart from the fact that this whole thing is ethnically ill-conceived, I will never believe it's going to be safe against being exploited in any way. Regardless of whether or not these machines are capable of storing actual images, the operator would always find a way to 'store' body scanner images given enough incentive. Imagine those images surfacing on the web, showing some child, some known celebrity - imagine the lawsuits, imagine the public outcry...

     

    The program is designed to respect individual sensibilities regarding privacy, modesty and personal autonomy to the maximum extent possible...

    Yeah, go maximum extend your mom!

    Humans will always find a way - This shit is bound to fail simply given the troubled nature of the ordinary human being...

    1. Re:Bound to fail due to human nature by splutty · · Score: 1

      Apart from the fact that this whole thing is ethnically ill-conceived

      I'm fairly certain you meant to say 'ethically' instead of 'ethnically', since as far as I'm aware, these pictures are all in grey scales, so that already removes one ethnical thing ;)

      --
      Coz eternity my friend, is a long *ing time.
  22. Perjury much? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I distinctly recall some Senate hearings about this in which people were assured this exact things wasn't going to take place. Isn't that considered perjury, or are we picking which laws to enforce again?

    Anyone else wanna bet on the time frame for when the zip file containing all those images hits the torrent stream?

  23. nyuck nyuck by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I got modded down back when I said that these pedophilia pornoscanners would STORE images PERMANENTLY and probably be "leaked" whenever a candidate for something needs to be embarrassed. If you walk through one of these, you're a moron. If you let your daughter walk through one of these, you're a pedophile-supporting pervert. I wonder how many TSA agents take advantage of some of your daughters' images during their breaks. (or Hell, why wait for a break?)

    Say what you will about the Afghani Taliban but somehow I doubt they'd bend over for government molestation pervert scans like YOU. I'd rather have Shariah than an omnipotent God-State.

    1. Re:nyuck nyuck by Lunix+Nutcase · · Score: 0, Troll

      Your rant is nice except that it isn't the TSA doing this nor has anyone shown that the TSA is or has stored images. The complaint is about the Marshal Service who is also using a completely different model of scanner from a completely different company than the TSA uses. But don't let such facts get in the way.

  24. Samples Required by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 4, Informative

    Seriously, make the perversion jokes if you must, but I don't think most Americans have any idea what's even being discussed here.

    The TSA should allow a small sample, say 5 each male and female, various ages, of un-filtered un-redacted (but anonymous) full-resolution images available for a trusted third party to post on their website. It could be a newspaper, a travel mag, Consumer Reports, whatever, but an unbiased supervisor needs to be responsible for the authenticity.

    There's not even enough information available here to have an informed debate, just a few down-sampled 'privacy filtered' press images.

    --
    My God, it's Full of Source!
    OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    1. Re:Samples Required by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I volunteer executives from the TSA and DoHS to provide the samples for this posting. Since it is not an invasion of their privacy, they should have no problems with their pictures being posted.

  25. "Doctor, it hurts when I do this" secnario by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is why when I had to go from Boston to D.C. for business, I took Amtrak.

  26. What's the big deal? by Animats · · Score: 1

    I can't see getting excited about millimeter wave images. Big deal. You get to see the body outline. Compared to Z-backscatter X-ray images, they don't even show very much.

    I'd rather go through a millimeter wave scanner at nightclubs than be pawed by the security goons.

    1. Re:What's the big deal? by Rob+the+Bold · · Score: 1

      I'd rather go through a millimeter wave scanner at nightclubs than be pawed by the security goons.

      I'd rather do neither.

      --
      I am not a crackpot.
    2. Re:What's the big deal? by praedor · · Score: 1

      Not just grey blobs. The quality/nature of the image is purely dependent on how the pervs and jackboot thugs that set it up configure the software: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.aclu.org/files/images/asset_upload_file669_35506.jpg&imgrefurl=http://uaddit.com/discussions/showthread.php%3Ft%3D7963&h=331&w=400&sz=35&tbnid=Er3e5tuB7Yv7UM:&tbnh=103&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfull%2Bbody%2Bscan&usg=__sZ_M1ahLf_uqjEeztpAce72UqAE=&sa=X&ei=_LxZTLGPL4-onQeozO2vCQ&ved=0CCcQ9QEwBQ

      Go for the pat-down and give the f*cktard a nice smelly fart as he is feeling up your ass and crotch.

      --
      In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
    3. Re:What's the big deal? by Animats · · Score: 1

      The Google link is a z-backscatter image, not a millimeter wave image. That's a more intrusive technology than millimeter wave. It's most useful for scanning vehicles, because, being a low-power X-ray system, it can punch through metal. Because it detects objects based on atomic number, materials with carbon or nitrogen show up clearly. This gets organics and explosives. But it's expensive and bulky, more useful for shipping containers and trucks than people.

  27. It doesn't matter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    the TSA pervert could always just copy the image with his cell phone camera.

  28. What about the children by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I'm not sure what the legal definition of child porn is, or whether these machines violate that statute. But if a teenage kid can get in trouble for snapping a nude pic of himself, then I'd think the legal limit is fairly low.

    1. Re:What about the children by dfghjk · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Child porn is what you have that they don't like, it's not what they have that you don't like.

  29. we need a new undershirt by robi2106 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    We need an undershirt with metalic paint (or anythign that shows up as high contrast in those scanners) in big block letters that says "Fuck You TSA."

    I'd love to see a new market for Anti-TSA underwear.

    1. Re:we need a new undershirt by Jainith · · Score: 1

      That sir is genius...Other people have suggested paint/markers, tinfoil etc...

      But just imagine walking though the thing with a plain white tshirt and the confusion it could cause...Especially if nothing odd with the shirt could be detected by feel.

      As you said the first company to market these will make a killing.

    2. Re:we need a new undershirt by ChrisMounce · · Score: 1

      You could print the mirror-image of the text on the inside of the shirt.

    3. Re:we need a new undershirt by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you like cavity searches, sounds like a good idea...

    4. Re:we need a new undershirt by psithurism · · Score: 1

      an undershirt with metalic paint...that says "Fuck You TSA."

      That would be sweet! When someone else wears them!

      As for me, I'd really rather not piss off people who can detain harass, and violate me for pretty much any reason they choose and later justify that they where protecting you from this terrorist. Actually, on further thought, bureaucracy probably requires they detaining you long enough to miss the first leg of your $1k+ journey and then sign you up for every blacklist they have on hand. They'll probably feel too sorry for you to be pissed off after that.

    5. Re:we need a new undershirt by Ed_Pinkley · · Score: 1

      A radio show (Bob and Tom) sold T-shirts that said "Blow me a kiss." However, as a wacky radio stunt, they printed "blow me" in glow-in-the dark letters but did not do the same with "a kiss". So, when some unsuspecting fan goes to the movies... you get the idea.

      You could do the same thing where the shirt has whatever on the outside but it says "This is an unreasonable search" or "Just following orders?" in aluminum foil between two layers of the shirt.

      --
      "Long time listener, first time caller."
  30. Ultimate showdown! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The ultimate showdown of pointless fear-mongering!

  31. Reality by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That's a nice story, but let's look at reality: when government fails, the people responsible aren't fired and the budget isn't cut -- most often they are rewarded with even more power and revenue. In the business of government, failure isn't a reason to stop spending or consolidating power into the hands of the elite few. It's the exact opposite: a justification for more spending and more power over the people. The reason for failure is never that the idea was bad and unjust in the first place; the reason is a lack of power and revenue.

    There's a reason why the US government of today dwarfs the US government of only 100 years ago, both in revenue and power over the people -- and it's not because they have a policy of cutting losses clean. In the business of government, failure is opportunity.

    1. Re:Reality by Hatta · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's a nice story, but let's look at reality: when government fails, the people responsible aren't fired and the budget isn't cut -- most often they are rewarded with even more power and revenue.

      Sounds just like corporate america.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    2. Re:Reality by FutureDomain · · Score: 1, Insightful

      That's a nice story, but let's look at reality: when government fails, the people responsible aren't fired and the budget isn't cut -- most often they are rewarded with even more power and revenue.

      Sounds just like corporate america.

      That only happens for a little while until they drive all their customers away and go bankrupt. The government can't go bankrupt, it'll just steal more of your money to cover their stupidity.

      --
      Hydraulic pizza oven!! Guided missile! Herring sandwich! Styrofoam! Jayne Mansfield! Aluminum siding! Borax!
    3. Re:Reality by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Somehow Goldman Sachs is still in business.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    4. Re:Reality by lgw · · Score: 1

      Wait, you bring up Goldman Sachs as different from the government? You really haven't been paying attention. Governments can be bad, corporations can be bad, but when a corporation goes beyond regulatory capture to the point where half the people running the government agency charged with regulating that company came from that company, it's evil on a stick!

      --
      Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
    5. Re:Reality by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Like I said, sounds like corporate America.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    6. Re:Reality by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 0, Troll

      There's a reason why the US government of today dwarfs the US government of only 100 years ago, both in revenue and power over the people

      Because we live in a vastly more complex society that requires significantly more oversight to effectively function? Because society has grown beyond the point where any person can know everything required to function unaided?

  32. Travel by AIR? RTF Summary by Layth · · Score: 3, Informative

    ...recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a single ***Florida courthouse***
    Showing up in court is not a decision one makes. When you get a subpoena, you end up in court one way or another.

    1. Re:Travel by AIR? RTF Summary by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      That's what I was thinking.

      I'm quite certain I don't have the right to refuse to enter the court in many circumstances.

      For those whose minds are narrow, remember that this applies equally to innocent witnesses of crime as well as suspects and criminals.

      Lets see anyone justify the storage of a body scan of a woman entering the court to testify against a rapist.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  33. New opportunity for exhibitionists.... by crovira · · Score: 2, Funny

    I'm waiting for somebody to "Strike A Pose" and do "Cheesecake Shots" on these scanners and its guaranteed to make the rounds on the net.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  34. Hot or not? by Culture20 · · Score: 1

    When are they going to be added to that grey-skinned body-blob hot-or-not site that was featured here a few months ago?

  35. Same old by NetNed · · Score: 3, Informative

    Every time we get the old line "we won't do that because it will infringe on your rights" from politicians, government agencies, law enforcement and all the likes, it should be a red light to all that they will most certainly abuse whatever it is and overwhelming infringe on your rights. Why we continue to put up with politicians that don't represent us and sell us down the river is astounding. At least recently people have woken up to the fact that the government and the politicians in it love to gain power over the masses in some sort of control freak way for anything from making money off it to appeasing corporate campaign contributors all for their own gain.

    The government needs to be once again a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

    1. Re:Same old by evilviper · · Score: 1

      The government needs to be once again a government of the people, by the people and for the people.

      The idea that we EVER had a government without entrenched corruption, gerrymandering, and other political manipulation, is laughable. The further back you go, the more flagrant the corruption gets.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    2. Re:Same old by dcollins · · Score: 1

      "The government needs to be once again a government of the people, by the people and for the people."

      You lose, we re-defined the word "people" to mean companies.

      --
      We know where leadership by an anti-intellectual "strongman" who scapegoats minorities and likes boisterous rallies goes
  36. I wish I thought you were right by Presto+Vivace · · Score: 1

    I just don't see any political will to defend privacy.

  37. Faraday cage based undergarments. by TavisJohn · · Score: 1

    I wonder how long till there are undergarments and clothing designed to block these scans?

    I know I will refuse to fly as long as these invasive body scanners are in place... Until clothing that blocks it comes out.

    1. Re:Faraday cage based undergarments. by praedor · · Score: 1
      --
      In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
    2. Re:Faraday cage based undergarments. by TavisJohn · · Score: 1

      Cool! Now I can fly and keep my dignity in tact!

  38. I still don't understand why by Shivetya · · Score: 4, Interesting

    they cannot use software to make the display be like those displayed in Arnold's Running Man movie.

    It cannot be hard to remove the human part of the picture and leave the rest... and just "animate the human"

    --
    * Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
    1. Re:I still don't understand why by powerlord · · Score: 1

      +1 insightful.

      For added bonus points, until they fix this, just bring a day school class to these locations, run them through the scanner, and accuse the "Guard" of pedophilia.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    2. Re:I still don't understand why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ...in Arnold's Total Recall movie.

      There. Fixed it for you.

    3. Re:I still don't understand why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was in "Total Recall", not "The Running Man".

      Please turn in your geek card.

    4. Re:I still don't understand why by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      That was in "Total Recall", not "The Running Man". Please turn in your geek card.

      In the running man, a person was digitally replaced with someone else while the things carried remained.

    5. Re:I still don't understand why by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That was Total Recall

    6. Re:I still don't understand why by minasoko · · Score: 1

      they cannot use software to make the display be like those displayed in Arnold's Running Man movie.

      I think you mean Total Recall.

  39. Israel has this one down pat by cdrguru · · Score: 1

    No expensive scanners are needed. You show up at the airport five or six hours before your flight and are subjected to a number of interviews. The interviews are supposed to make you nervous and uncertain. The results are evaluated by people that are watching on video and have lots of experience.

    Never once has anyone gotten explosives onto a plane from or to Israel, dispite incredible efforts and plenty of motivation. In many circles the only good Jew is a dead Jew and there are plenty of volunteers that would be happy die - as long as they can take lots of Jews with them.

    In the US the problem is somewhat more diffuse. We hear about people doing stupid things with explosives which are designed to make us think that all Muslim extremests are idiots. The people that do not tell us about aren't idiots - but we will never know if the TSA is doing anything effective or not. That is part of their charm - secret success or secret failure both add up to a certainity by the traveling public that the TSA (They'll Steal Anything) is just a bunch of yahoos that are just being a nuisance. Keeping what they have (or have not) found a secret is a huge mistake that goes beyond just PR problems.

    1. Re:Israel has this one down pat by Fujisawa+Sensei · · Score: 1

      No expensive scanners are needed. You show up at the airport five or six hours before your flight and are subjected to a number of interviews. The interviews are supposed to make you nervous and uncertain. The results are evaluated by people that are watching on video and have lots of experience.

      Never once has anyone gotten explosives onto a plane from or to Israel, dispite incredible efforts and plenty of motivation. In many circles the only good Jew is a dead Jew and there are plenty of volunteers that would be happy die - as long as they can take lots of Jews with them.

      In the US the problem is somewhat more diffuse. We hear about people doing stupid things with explosives which are designed to make us think that all Muslim extremests are idiots. The people that do not tell us about aren't idiots - but we will never know if the TSA is doing anything effective or not. That is part of their charm - secret success or secret failure both add up to a certainity by the traveling public that the TSA (They'll Steal Anything) is just a bunch of yahoos that are just being a nuisance. Keeping what they have (or have not) found a secret is a huge mistake that goes beyond just PR problems.

      Here in the US you show up 5 or 6 hours before your flight, and they confiscate your bottled water, your deodorant, and your baby formula; while some jerk rifles through your checked luggage for a decent camera or cash.

      --
      If someone is passing you on the right, you are an asshole for driving in the wrong lane.
    2. Re:Israel has this one down pat by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      while some jerk rifles through your checked luggage for a decent camera or cash.

      You could always get a locking suitcase and pack a firearm (doesn’t have to be loaded, or even have ammo with it)... from the moment you declare it to the moment you claim it, your suitcase will be kept under lock and key the entire time.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
    3. Re:Israel has this one down pat by kevinNCSU · · Score: 1

      The results are evaluated by people that are watching on video and have lots of experience.

      We're slightly larger than Israel and have much more domestic air travel. I'd imagine the scanners are cheaper than trying to find/train enough people that could do this expertly at all airports across the U.S. and then throw on top of that people are going to be much angrier (even if maybe they shouldn't be) about getting interrogated and asked all sorts of questions then they are about a body scan. And false positives here will REALLY make them angry.

    4. Re:Israel has this one down pat by ShaunC · · Score: 1

      No expensive scanners are needed. You show up at the airport five or six hours before your flight and are subjected to a number of interviews. The interviews are supposed to make you nervous and uncertain. The results are evaluated by people that are watching on video and have lots of experience.

      So instead of buying one scanner at a cost of (say) a million dollars, you pay 20 highly-trained experts $50K/year to sit around all day conducting interviews and monitoring video footage? I don't see the benefit.

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
    5. Re:Israel has this one down pat by CelticWhisper · · Score: 1

      Seriously? How does that work? I've heard lots of stories of TSA thugs stealing things from luggage and requiring "TSA Secure" (insecure) locks, but this is the first I've heard about packing firearms being a means of keeping them out.

      --
      Help protect civil rights from abuse by the TSA - visit TSA News Blog.
      http://www.tsanewsblog.com
    6. Re:Israel has this one down pat by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      It works pretty simple. You pack a firearm in your hard-sided suitcase, you lock it with a secure lock, you take it to the baggage check counter, you declare the firearm, and they don’t open it. If they need to open it for any reason at all, they must either get your permission or (failing to contact you) refuse to load it onto a plane. Otherwise, they cannot open it (and it would, I think, be a pretty severe crime for them to do so).

      Note that I have never tried it, but if I had to pack valuables in my luggage I’d certainly consider it.

      http://www.tsa.gov/travelers/airtravel/assistant/editorial_1666.shtm

      * You must declare all firearms to the airline during the ticket counter check-in process.
      * The firearm must be unloaded.
      * The firearm must be in a hard-sided container.
      * The container must be locked. A locked container is defined as one that completely secures the firearm from access by anyone other than you. Cases that can be pulled open with little effort do not meet this criterion. The pictures provided here illustrate the difference between a properly packaged and an improperly packaged firearm.
      * We recommend that you provide the key or combination to the security officer if he or she needs to open the container. You should remain in the area designated by the aircraft operator or TSA representative to take the key back after the container is cleared for transportation. If you are not present and the security officer must open the container, we or the airline will make a reasonable attempt to contact you. If we can't contact you, the container will not be placed on the plane. Federal regulations prohibit unlocked gun cases (or cases with broken locks) on aircraft.
      * You must securely pack any ammunition in fiber (such as cardboard), wood or metal boxes or other packaging that is specifically designed to carry small amounts of ammunition.
      * You can't use firearm magazines/clips for packing ammunition unless they completely and securely enclose the ammunition (e.g., by securely covering the exposed portions of the magazine or by securely placing the magazine in a pouch, holder, holster or lanyard).
      * You may carry the ammunition in the same hard-sided case as the firearm, as long as you pack it as described above.
      * You can't bring black powder or percussion caps used with black-powder type firearms in either your carry-on or checked baggage.

      It also recommends contacting the airline to make sure you’re aware of any additional restrictions they have, and if traveling internationally making sure that the local authorities are okay with it.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  40. Still Illegal by fuzznutz · · Score: 1


    In Ohio, it's called Illegal use of minor in nudity-oriented material and it's a felony unless you can prove you have a "proper interest" in the material.

  41. What really to look out for.... by cdrguru · · Score: 0

    So we have a ban on containers with liquids or gels. This is designed to prevent someone from using a binary explosive on an airplane. Probably one of the best known binary agents is hydrazine and hydrogen peroxide. Upon combining these (roughly 50-50 I believe) they burn quite rapidly. A pint of each in an airplane would almost certainly burn out the entire passenger cabin.

    So you have someone dedicated to their cause, dedicated enough to die in the malestrom that would ensue from this. Maybe it would even require two people, pre-liquids ban, each one with a water bottle.

    How's this for you - post-liquids ban. Each of dedicated particpant drinks a pint of their component. You could probably live long enough for the plane to take off. Each one barfs on the floor of the plane in one nice juicy pile. Pretty much instant cremation of all passengers.

    Millimeter wave scanning would not pick this up and no current technology would prevent it.

    1. Re:What really to look out for.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hydrazine is the sort of stuff that no-one knows what it smells like.

      By the time you smell it, you're dead.

  42. Oh - wait by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This IS happening under a Democrat Regime.

    How do you like your HOPE now eh?

  43. How about an injunction... by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    To stop storing images.

    AND to delete all existing images.

    AND modify the system to prevent storing images in the future.

    AND submit to an independent audit to verify that this is done. On a regular basis. And reported to the court.

    Not that this suprises me at all. We should expect this, and then go to court and fight it.

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
    1. Re:How about an injunction... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You missed one.

      AND get rid of these expensive and useless boondoggles that do nothing to increase our safety but shitloads to reduce our privacy.

  44. supposed to be instead of traditional pat down by Chirs · · Score: 1

    My understanding was that this was instead of a pat down, so you have the option of the manual pat down (presumably by someone of the same sex) instead.

  45. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Uggg those pictures are lame!

    I can't fap to this!!!

  46. EMF-blocking undergarments by praedor · · Score: 1

    I suggest purchasing these. Would also block RFID reading by passer's by though you can get EMF-blocking wallets and passport wallets for that too. I suspect these might block the TSA scanners: http://www.lessemf.com/personal.html

    --
    In Bushworld, they struggle to keep church and state separate in Iraq as they increasingly merge the two in America.
    1. Re:EMF-blocking undergarments by Culture20 · · Score: 1

      Nothing says "please strip search me" like wearing something that looks suspicious to the scanner. Why not just put ball bearings in your pants for the metal detector?

    2. Re:EMF-blocking undergarments by SleazyRidr · · Score: 1

      I reckon those would get you a nice pat down if you wore them through security.

    3. Re:EMF-blocking undergarments by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      For the best anyway. You either provide your nekkid picture to the gov pervs and Big Brother (they are NOT merely grey blobs) or you say "no" to the scanner and do the pat down or wear the shirts, irk the pervs because they don't get their authoritarian ya-yas, and then get the pat down.

      In any case, the pat-down, accompanied by a nice smelly fart as they are feeling up your ass and crotch, is just the right response.

  47. Child porn? by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

    I wonder how many of those ~35,000 images are of people under the age of 18.

    Its just a matter of time before some images of children from these perv-scanners end up on some pedos computer.

    I for one am going to start wearing shielded undergarments. I'm fine with being strip searched, I'll just keep up a running dialog asking the TSA reps if there getting off on it. I expect I'll end up on the No-Fly list.

    1. Re:Child porn? by ShaunC · · Score: 1

      I for one am going to start wearing shielded undergarments.

      Tinfoil jimmy hat?

      --
      Thanks to the War on Drugs, it's easier to buy meth than it is to buy cold medicine!
    2. Re:Child porn? by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      With matching carry bag for the family jewels.

    3. Re:Child porn? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      Its just a matter of time before some images of children from these perv-scanners end up on some pedos computer.

      Does anyone know just how many convictions there are per year for possession of child porn? I dont want to Google it at work.

      I dont think that images like this will end up as child porn mainly because those who do want child porn have other means to access it.

      Secondly, going after the users of porn is ineffective as they typically aren't the ones who are paedophiles. Paedophiles need to have three characteristics in order to become dangerous.
      1. Access to children - given, I dont need to explain why.
      2. Trusted by children - The reason actual paedophilia is so hard to nail a conviction for is because it was coerced rather then forced. This means the child more often then not had a connection to the offender.
      3. Position of authority - This is how the paedophile manages to coerces their victims. The victim more often then not feel obliged to do as the attacker says.

      Give people who have child porn a fine, give people who distribute it jail but spend most of your time hunting those who actually hurt children but then again this would require going up against a very powerful and moral organisation in the western world and no politician in the world really wants justify that fight. Easier just to blame the teachers (who are actually screened and monitored) or strange man who works at the local council (perceived strange, most of them are just shy/socially handicapped) meanwhile the majority of the issue remains and is ignored.

      Bit off topic, but I find the witch hunt over pictures is not helping the actual problem.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    4. Re:Child porn? by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      A few things; First, there are pedophiles who have never actually done anything other than collect photographs of children in both suggestive poses and sexual situations that other pedophiles have made available. They may not have access to children or the photos may be enough and they never go beyond that.

      Second, I would highly recomend that you watch "Witch Hunt", its about a flurry of child molestation cases in Bakersfield CA. It is both tragic and interesting when you see how "protect the children" is over used and hurts innocent people.

      Third, the issues raised by the images that these full body scanners goes way beyond child porn. Looking back at my comment I realize that I used the "Think of the Children" card to a limited degree when my intent was to highlight how the images can be misused in general.

      The thing is that its not the image that matters, its how it is seen and interpreted by the mind of the viewer. Even a fuzzy black and white scanner image could be enough for someone to get their jollies, or deeply offend them. Consider that a man has been sentenced to 20 years for possession of "child porn" in Iowa,Link, only thing is the images were all drawings, Manga. Got a copy of "Evangelion, Life, Death, Rebirth" in your video collection? The Hospital scene with Asuka topless would get you jail time in some jurisdictions. It wasn't the content of the images that caused the trouble, it was how it was, and is, interpreted and presented to the jury/press.

      As soon as one scanner image of a child is found on a pedophiles computer the way those images are interpreted and responded to will alter radically against the scanners, might even be a good thing.

    5. Re:Child porn? by mjwx · · Score: 1

      First, there are pedophiles who have never actually done anything other than collect photographs of children in both suggestive poses and sexual situations that other pedophiles have made available.

      Which was the point of my post. Go after them first.

      You dont try to extinguish the flames of a fire, you aim at the base of the fire.

      Second, I would highly recomend that you watch "Witch Hunt", its about a flurry of child molestation cases in Bakersfield CA. It is both tragic and interesting when you see how "protect the children" is over used and hurts innocent people.

      You didn't read the parts where I said we shouldn't be going on which hunts in my post then.

      Did you even bother to read my post, or did you just make up your own conclusions. My post is about how current "Think of the Children" efforts are being wasted on witch hunts over pictures and how no-one wants to stand up to the real problem because of the powerful organisation (the church) they'd have to piss off in the process.

      The majority of actual child sex attacks (and I dont mean a 17 yr old having consensual sex with a 15 yr old) are committed by someone close to the victim who has significant power over the victim. But getting a frightened child to testify against a family member or trusted confidant like a priest is very hard thing to do. So it's easier for law enforcement agencies to find pictures and make news statements on how they stopped this dangerous paedophile.

      Third, the issues raised by the images that these full body scanners goes way beyond child porn

      Hey I agree, but attacking from the CP angle is not the solution.

      The thing is that its not the image that matters, its how it is seen and interpreted by the mind of the viewer

      Also I couldn't agree more.

      Context are far more important then content or medium. A sexual scene used in context in a story is different to one produced entirely for the purpose of titillation.

      As soon as one scanner image of a child is found on a pedophiles computer the way those images are interpreted and responded to will alter radically against the scanners, might even be a good thing.

      But that wont happen because the scanners are protecting you from the terrorists(TM), in fact they'll spin it into the need for more surveillance or invasion of privacy. Get rid of the fear of terrorists and you'll be half way to fixing the problem.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    6. Re:Child porn? by PinkyGigglebrain · · Score: 1

      its funny.

      Line 1; question

      line 2; observation

      line 3; statement of personal intent

      my post was simple enough and yet there is a break down in communications between it and this post. Seems to be typical of Slashdot lately.

      prediction; you'll reply to have the last word, either way it doesn't mater.

  48. They could wedge something in there! by name_already_taken · · Score: 0

    >>>You don't need to take a picture of my penis to find out if I'm smuggling a grenade

    Precisely. And I find this part of the article funny: "The TSA says that body scanning is perfectly constitutional." The actual constitution says the People shall not be subject to unreasonable searches unless a warrant is obtained. No warrant was obtained, so the next question is: Are virtual strip searches that reveal a man's ballsac and woman's breasts/nipples/vaginal lips a reasonable search?

    Not in my book.

    Oh sure, you say that know, but when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

    I'm not arguing for this type of scanning, but I don't care if people want to look at my penis. I kind of enjoy showing it off. I imagine you can find images of it in Google Image Search already anyway, so it's not like a scan would be show anything new.

    But that's just me.

    --
    Putting moderation advice in your .sig lowers your karma!
    1. Re:They could wedge something in there! by commodore64_love · · Score: 0

      >>>the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      Oooo! A squirter.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    2. Re:They could wedge something in there! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It won't be found by a backscatter machine. So the point is moot. The images only go skin deep, and no deeper. My daughter has a bunch of metal in her, and it doesn't see any of it.

      Nice try though.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    3. Re:They could wedge something in there! by Govno · · Score: 2, Informative

      Oh sure, you say that know, but when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      The problem here is body scanners wouldn't detect a vagina bomb in the first place. They only penetrate roughly 1/10th of an inch below the skin. Ironically, the explosives sniffers WOULD detect it but typically aren't being used in areas "protected by" body scanning devices.

    4. Re:They could wedge something in there! by phantomcircuit · · Score: 2, Informative

      Oh sure, you say that know, but when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      These scanners would not detect a grenade inside someone. Either the vaginal or anal cavity would 100% shield a grenade from these scanners. They are LESS secure than the metal detectors....

    5. Re:They could wedge something in there! by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      I'm not arguing for this type of scanning, but I don't care if people want to look at my penis. I kind of enjoy showing it off. I imagine you can find images of it in Google Image Search already anyway, so it's not like a scan would be show anything new.

      Ah. You must not be new to ChatRoulette.

    6. Re:They could wedge something in there! by mcgrew · · Score: 1

      Oh sure, you say that know, but when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      I say a metal detector is going to find that grenade. But I don't think they're relly looking for grenades, I think they're looking for cocaine.

      I'm not arguing for this type of scanning, but I don't care if people want to look at my penis. I kind of enjoy showing it off.

      If it's not big enough to cause you problems (dips in the water when you're shitting, won't fit all the way in some vaginas, etc) it's not anything to brag about, shorty.

    7. Re:They could wedge something in there! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it's not big enough to cause you problems (dips in the water when you're shitting, won't fit all the way in some vaginas, etc) it's not anything to brag about, shorty.

      Hey... the term is "grower". "Grower."

    8. Re:They could wedge something in there! by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      but when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      Is it sad that I've watched so much South Park that Hillary Clinton instantly comes to mind?

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    9. Re:They could wedge something in there! by Red+Flayer · · Score: 1

      when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      "Oh no... now I'll NEVER find the clitoris!"

      --
      "Trolls they were, but filled with the evil will of their master: a fell race..." -- J.R.R. Tolkien on Olog-hai
    10. Re:They could wedge something in there! by dissy · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      when the first vagina grenade goes off on a crowded plane, what will you say?

      "Oh no... now I'll NEVER find the clitoris!"

      That's easy. It's right there. And a bit of it over there. And a lot of it all along there...

  49. Streisand by jDeepbeep · · Score: 1

    What we need is Barbara Streisand to walk through one and have it escape onto the internet. That would be fun.

    --
    Reply to That ||
  50. Go through naked and you get arrested by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Yes, if you strip in front of them and go through NAKED you get arrested. No pleasing these perverts, yes perverts because that is all they are. I bet they get wet sticking CHILDREN through them. Any childrens pictures stored on them? It is illegal here (not in theUS) to even take a CLOTHED PICTURE of a CHILD without parental concent. This was a big issue in English airports (Birmingham, Manchester etc) as it constitutes PORNOGRAPHY and CHILD ABUSE and potential CHILD GROOMING.

  51. Completely Unsurprising by Sir+Holo · · Score: 1

    The operator only need take out his cell phone to snap a picture of the system's screen while he is looking at it.

    If a human eye can see (or hear) something, it can be recorded. Some call it the analog hole.

  52. Yes, it's just you. That's the point. by Anonymous+Brave+Guy · · Score: 1

    I'm not arguing for this type of scanning, but I don't care if people want to look at my penis. [...] But that's just me.

    While some people are comfortable with this particular invasion of privacy, clearly many others are not. There are probably things in life that many other people would find acceptable that you personally would find unacceptable too. First they came for the Communists...

    --
    If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
  53. There will be a sign... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    indicating your rights (including the fact that you can refuse one and opt for pat-down instead)... Trust me, in the US you have a better deal than e.g. in The Netherlands (Schiphol): there you *do* have the right to refuse and request a pat-down, but this is not made clear (the metal detector even has a "No Entry" strip to it, making it even harder to know you can opt-out).

    BTW the box can also be a back scatter X-ray scanner, which does not have a glass wall in which you stand (unlike metal detectors, where you simply walk through).

  54. Alternative pat-down by codguy · · Score: 1

    I've been doing quite a bit of traveling lately, and every time when confronted with one of these machines, I've chosen the alternative pat-down (it's your right, you can request this). Why? I simply don't trust them for the radiation exposure despite the claims that they are safe. I have NEVER seen them allow an infant through these systems--they just wave the mother/father around the device with the infant in their arms (and with no alternative pat-down for the parent...). If the TSA will not allow infants through the system, obviously they don't think the exposure levels are completely safe. So anyway, sure, the alternative pat-down is super-invasive, but at least you avoid accumulated exposure. I only travel 5-6 time/year max., but for folks that might travel several times per month, I can imagine the accumulated exposure over many years will not be completely benign. A side effect of requesting an alternative pat-down is that it seems to throw the system into convulsions. They start radio'ing around about needing somebody to deal with the "refuser", and waiting for someone to arrive can be either fast/immediate or slow (like 5+ minutes). For being a "refuser", besides the pat-down, you seem to obligatorily get swabbed/analyzed for explosive residue. All in all, if just one person every few minutes were to request such an alternative pat-down, it would overwhelm the system. The problem with this is that they then just start waving people through to avoid clogging the pipes. So these people get a metal detector only--not a pat-down nor the full-body scan. If they just let people through like this, well, what is the whole purpose of this anyways???

  55. Body Jewlery by AioKits · · Score: 1

    For those curious, apparently body jewelry shows up quite well on these things. Not sure how a nipple ring can be considered worthy of a pat down, but it is. I imagine a few thoughtfully placed dermal anchors would allow one to have fun with the wave scanners.
    Due to my decorations, I just opt for a pat down now, saves me time and having to answer stupid questions.

    --
    "Quote me as saying I was mis-quoted." -Groucho Marx
  56. Mods are idiots. by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 1

    The mods are idiots. Your post was modded informative even though it's just about as perfectly wrong as it's possible to be.

    If the photo was legal then what he does with it could be viewed as irrelevant. In that case it'd be no more a legal problem than if they were "enjoying" the kids section of the latest JC Penny flyer.

    You've got that exactly backwards. All pictures of children are illegal child porn if the person in possession uses them for sexual gratification. It's not the content of the pictures that determines their porn-ness; it's the attitude of the buyers, sellers, and possessors.

    Google "Dost decision" or any of the on-point cases. Check out the Pierson conviction, a case where the feds admitted that Pierson had never taken a nude or sexually explicit picture *ever*. Yet he still would up convicted of producing child porn because of the way the photos were marketed to borderline pedos.

    Or, maybe, you just need to talk to someone who's out on parole after being convicted of child porn possession. Ask them (or, better yet, ask their parole officer) what would happen if they got caught with lubricant, tissues, and the kids section of a J.C. Penny flyer.

    You bet your ass they'd be back in prison in a heartbeat, facing new child porn possession charges.

    At least, this is how it works in the U.S. Other places in the world, things vary widely. Child porn is more or less legal in most countries. But in the U.S., this is not something you want to fool around with, especially if you're as ill-informed about the law as you appear to be.

  57. Follow The Money by twmcneil · · Score: 1

    The TSA is paying L-3 Communications Holdings about $150,000.00 for each of these scanners. They intend to place at least one at each of 2200 security check points in the U.S. Looks like L-3 (LLL - NYSE) IPO'd at about $14.00 in 1998. Currently trading near $80.00. Go ahead and call your Congressman if you think that will do any good. I'm going to call my broker.

    --
    "The ferrets, they're every where I tell you!"
  58. id tell them to put a finger up my ass by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    before walking through one of these 1984 portals.

  59. So it's like ChatRoulette? by billstewart · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There are lots of reasons Federal Employees might store images.

    • Some of them get stored as evidence in case they actually do see something that looks like a weapon. (Duh! You think they'd build a system that *couldn't* do that?)
    • Some of them get stored by Federal Employees who like millimeter-resolution pictures of hot naked chicks. (Just because they're Feds doesn't mean everything they do at work is strictly an official job function. And hey, you're reading Slashdot instead of working, and so am I :-)
    • Some of them get stored by underpaid Federal Employees who are supplementing their rent-a-cop salaries by selling pornography at more commercial prices.
    • They're almost certainly saving some of the images for quality control and training.
    • They may be saving some images of suspicious people or politically interesting people for whatever reasons, and just because they've told us that the images are anonymous doesn't mean there's any reason to assume they're telling the truth, given that we're talking about them getting caught lying about whether they can store the images or not.
    --

    Bill Stewart
    New Fast-Compression-only CPR http://preview.tinyurl.com/dy575ks
    1. Re:So it's like ChatRoulette? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      Some of them get stored by underpaid Federal Employees who are supplementing their rent-a-cop salaries by selling pornography at more commercial prices.

      Seriously, "billstewart"? Pornography? Do you believe that with all the free porn available on the internet that there's a big market for shadowy outlines of naked bodies?

      just because they've told us that the images are anonymous doesn't mean there's any reason to assume they're telling the truth

      Have you been on an airplane recently? If these images are not anonymous, can you explain where the names to go along with the scans are collected? Once the security gatekeeper checks your ticket against your ID card, you step into one of several lines. The lines are not monitored to make sure people keep their place and don't let someone else cut in ahead. If you get picked to get in the scan line, your name is not collected again. You can choose to be searched instead of scanned.

      Where in that procedure did the government get your name to go along with your scan?

      Still, the suggestion above was that these scans were being stored for some nefarious, big government, liberalmuslimObamacare plot. Can you give me any example of a nefarious use to which these images can be put by the government?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    2. Re:So it's like ChatRoulette? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Pornography? Do you believe that with all the free porn available on the internet that there's a big market for shadowy outlines of naked bodies?

      Allow me to introduce you to Rule 34.

      Anyway, they aren’t “shadowy outlines”. They’re “millimeter-resolution scans”. It’s a 3D model of you, underneath your clothes, with high detail (we haven’t even seen the full-resolution versions, only some low-resolution images that they gave out in press releases).

      If they painted you silver, that’s about what you’d look like. While you might not consider someone wearing silver body-paint to be technically nude, I wouldn’t think most people would feel much difference between the two. And did I mention Rule 34?

  60. 100 years ago USA had 46 states... by denzacar · · Score: 1

    ...women were not allowed to vote and not being white was often a dangerous pastime activity.

    Or to put it differently, Founding Fathers and their successors have been proven shortsighted or just plain wrong 12 times in the past 100 years.
    Also, about a bajilion things happened during that time.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  61. as a competitor... by Goldsmith · · Score: 1

    As someone working on alternate (non-imaging) technologies, this is more than a bit annoying. Why did we chose this system? It's horribly slow, labor intensive, invasive and only helps against idiots who try to carry dense weapons on their person. The "wake-up call" terrorist who made it through metal detector security with a bomb strapped to his leg would also make it through these machines. Way to go.

  62. Freedom of Information Act by witherstaff · · Score: 1

    So who's going to be the first to file a freedom of information act for the images? Sounds like a lot of work for 32K images of blurry pr0n, but I'm sure there's a website for it somewhere.

  63. Wrong, that is YOUR stuff by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    You choose to get in a car. It's not an unreasonable search when cops demand to see inside your trunk.

    Actually it is because that is MY car that is transporting me.

    You choose to walk on the sidewalk. It's not an unreasonable search for cops to stop you & pat you down.

    Actually it is because I am simply wandering around in public. If they found I had broken into a place or was trespassing without permission then it sure would be reasonable to search me.

    You choose to live inside the city limits. It's not an unreasonable search for inspectors to ram the door & enter.

    Actually it is because that is MY home.

    All of the cases you listed are nothing like the case where you go into a private facility, to board someone else's vehicle. They can put whatever restrictions they like on that, up to an including mandatory anal probes for all travelers, and I would fully support them.

    I wouldn't fly mind you, but I would defend to the death their right to do something stupid because after all, it is their plane and not mine.

    If people object to wave scans they simply will not fly. But the fact is that not that many people really object to them, as witnessed by the observation that people still fly and 99% of the people asked to use the machines do so as well.

    Even knowing they might record them, I simply do not care because I do not see it as that intrusive and frankly think people are way too hung up on nudity as it is.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Wrong, that is YOUR stuff by dsoltesz · · Score: 1

      Airports are private facilities? No. The airlines are choosing to enforce business policies they've written? No. The government is conducting an unreasonable search in a public place on public property while I, a private citizen, am conducting private business with a private company. Me wanting to fly from point A to point B is not reasonable suspicion. My car. My home. My pockets. My labia. I choose for whom and under what conditions I disrobe or reveal my tits, ass, ankles, nose, or any other part of my body I choose to cover.

    2. Re:Wrong, that is YOUR stuff by commodore64_love · · Score: 1

      >>>All of the cases you listed are nothing like the case where you go into a private facility, to board someone else's vehicle [airplane].

      Therefore Congress has no authority to control who comes-and-goes from that private vehicle. Only the owner (Boeing, American Airlines, etc) holds that authority.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  64. Size relation is clear by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The size of the government has absolutely nothing to do with the level of corruption in the government.

    That's absurd. It's quite obvious that money drives corruption, and the larger the organization the more money at hand for payouts.

    If the federal government had very limited funds, you simply would not see things like Fannie Mae/Freddy Mac, or huge multi-billion dollar contracts. You'd see a series of smaller contracts, some of which would be graft but the amount of graft would be much smaller.

    That's why the only way to reduce corruption is government is to shut down the pipe of power and money that goes right into the federal system. Reduce the amount of power they have via smaller government, reduce the funding the federal government gets via taxes, and you will see corruption naturally diminish, or at least move state side - but at the state level it's more easily monitored or controlled.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Size relation is clear by MikeBabcock · · Score: 1

      No, that's absurd. A government consisting only of a king can be just as corrupt as a government with a million workers. One is just harder to audit than the other.

      --
      - Michael T. Babcock (Yes, I blog)
  65. Why DHS should be abolished by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This demonstrates that DHS is out of control, and that it's leadership is so insecure they can't admit they have problems.

    If you will recall, the implementation of these devices was in response to the underpants bomber. This was supposed to catch any future bombers. Installing these is first a smokescreen to hide the failure of several different sections of DHS to put the bomber on the no-fly list after he was identified! By each of several agencies! Several different agencies under the umbrella of the DHS as well as the State Department failed to take proper action. Instead of identifying and correcting the problems in those agencies, the Government spends money buying and installing technology which may or may not work at the last minute. The installation of these machines is effectively a lie to the public that DHS is correcting the problem while the intelligence agencies that failed to do their jobs continue to do business as usual, expecting these machines to make up for their systematic failures. Of course DHS is lying about not saving the images from these machines, they lied to get them installed in the first place.

  66. Problem is the new strategy by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I'd like to know what the point of the damn things are, since every post 9/11 attack on an airline has been negated by the efforts of the passengers.

    That is actually incorrect - the last one (underwear bomber) was not negated by passengers. He was detained by passengers, yes - but he actually succeeded in what he planned to do - detonate a bomb on a plane over a populated area.

    It was not the passengers that made the bomb not work. It was security measures in place that made it necessary to carry such a rube-goldberg bomb that made it more likely to fail (which it did).

    I am totally with you that any attack meant to take over a plane (even those with guns) will be stopped by passengers now. But I'm not sure you can realistically reduce the level of security knowing that the current plan is simply to blow up a plane over a large city. And to date, terrorists have basically shown that they try the same thing (attacking the WTC) until something works.

    I'm not sure of the best way to target bombers specifically (i'd lean more on behavioral checks), but as absurd as the current security restrictions are they do seem to be forcing terrorists to make rather more complex bombs than they would otherwise if they were able to carry more pre-made components on a plane and thus are more likely to fail. It doesn't even matter if it's really more of a facade than true security as long as the people the security is in place for REACT as though the security were real. And the truth is that even an imperfect security is good enough to make someone change plans when they want a 90% chance of a plan working.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
    1. Re:Problem is the new strategy by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      If you are worried about bombs you can detect those with explosive sniffers. You don't need machines that can see genitalia to detect explosives.

      I must respectfully disagree that it doesn't matter if security is a 'facade'. We've surrendered to fear -- in the long run that's going to damage us far more than a few downed airliners or buildings.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
  67. Who would get it... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    I'm pretty sure the behavioral analysts they have in airports would spot people staggering from the effects of drinking a significant amount of hydrazine, and I'm not even sure someone who downed a quart of hydrogen peroxide would even be able to walk.. not to mention your own body chemistry may well get in the way enough to prevent the resulting vomit pool from having the intended effect.

    Besides, the way the underwear bomber had his materials, the millimeter wave wouldn't have picked up any of that either.

    The next time I fly though if I see two people trying to vomit in the same spot I'll be sure to pull one away.... :-)

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  68. Radiation a non-concern by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    The amount of radiation from these is less than you get (by a huge amount) from simply spending a day in Denver.

    The only reason they don't send infants through is that parents freak out at even the tiniest bit of radiation.

    If I had the opportunity to chose a pat-down or a scan where some bored guy I'll never see again gets to peer below my underwear for a second - I'll take the impersonal machine solution every time. I hate pat-downs.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  69. Here's how to fix this, by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    for males anyway, every guy should be reading a pr0n mag while in line to the imager, argue that if you have to suffer the indignity of having a stranger looking at your junk you want them to get the best representation. Then in the imager make obscene hand gestures emphasizing your ... carry on.

  70. All images are saved. by mosb1000 · · Score: 1

    Why wouldn't they save them? All the images are saved. I've said it before and I will say it again. If you ever believed otherwise, you are an idiot.

  71. This is a nightmare for transgender people by celesteh · · Score: 1

    I really don't want anybody peering at my genitals. I doubt very much that anybody dealing with these machines has received any training regarding transgender issues. I suspect it won't be long before there's a publicised incident of a trans person being publicly humiliated. These scanners are intrusion just for the sake of it.

    1. Re:This is a nightmare for transgender people by clone53421 · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? This is the government we are talking about. They probably had to sleep through an eight-hour class on it.

      --
      Alexander Peter Kristopeit bought his basement from his mommy for one dollar.
  72. Re:Please read this!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It is okay, it is never gay the first time. Be careful later on though.

  73. From the Department of Why-Am-I-Not-Surprised: by Crypto+Gnome · · Score: 1

    Your Government lied to you.

    No! Really?

    ya! rly!

    --
    Visit CryptoGnome in his home.
  74. Flying pasties by 200_success · · Score: 1
    1. Re:Flying pasties by robi2106 · · Score: 1

      hummm NSFW site? better wait till at home. hehe.

  75. And Google Wifi data retention is bad?? by thisisauniqueid · · Score: 1

    And we're supposed to believe that Google accidentally recording a few unencrypted Wifi data packets in their Street View rig is bad?

  76. where's the web site? by Dretep · · Score: 1

    Can't wait for fedbodyscans.org to pop up!

  77. Add Timestamp + officer ID to every saved by Sergo1331 · · Score: 1

    image? It appears adding this information so that it does not obscure details but is quite difficult to remove may deter whoever from going public with these images. If you find your picture in web and can find out who saved it, you can potentially sue a lot of money from TSA. At least, when an officer performs a search he must wear his badge, and for a good reason. I do not see why operating these scanners should let any officer be anonymous.

  78. $2000 for Angolina Jolie's Body Scan! by BlueCoder · · Score: 1

    And about $50 for that Hottie I saw walking getting on the plane before me last week!

    If there was a better use for FOIA than I haven't heard of it!

    It wouldn't surprise me if the scans penetrated a little below the skin for extra detail....

  79. Religion and Bush by BenEnglishAtHome · · Score: 1

    Religion aside, Bush was incredibly incompetent...

    Actually, Bush was incredibly incompetent AT religion.

    As a christian, one of the things I had faith in was that Bush, as a professed christian, would know enough of the history of his religion to understand that the Middle East is incredibly screwed up all by itself and needs no help from us. I actually remember saying, back in the day, "There's no way Bush would lead us to war in Iraq. No christian with even the slightest understanding of his religious history would dare to get involved in that way in the Middle East. There's just no way. No christian could be that stupid."

    OK, so *I* was pretty stupid.

    No one who is truly a christian would touch a middle east conflict with a 10,000 foot pole, much less start such a conflict. This is a basic litmus test of Christian competence.

    In retrospect, it's no big surprise that Bush failed that test so spectacularly. But I sure was shocked at the time.

  80. It's times like this... by MelodicMotives · · Score: 1

    ...that make me go to the EFF and ACLU websites and donate money. Isn't there any chance that "imaging" citizens in this way is a form of unconstitutional search? Or have we just implicitly waived our rights by entering the airport?