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Inside a Full-Body-Scanning X-Ray Van
Velcroman1 writes "In August, Slashdotters learned that full-body scanners were roaming the streets in vans: 'The same technology used at airport check points, capable of seeing through clothes and walls, has also been rolling out on US streets where law enforcement agencies have deployed the vans to search for vehicle-based bombs. Fox took a ride in one of the $800,000 vans, videotaping the entire event — and continues the debate about security, privacy, and health risks."
Speaking of unreasonable searches. IANAM (I am not an American) and IANAL but wouldn't the ruling of Kyllo v. United States apply here? That case concerned infrared, not x-ray, technology, but it applied to surveillance of a house with technology that doesn't require the user to enter a house. The ruling also mentioned that the device used was not available to the public - same as these backscatter vans.
As such, could a lawyer explain how the use of these vans, at least pertaining to "viewing" homes, is not illegal per Kyllo v. United States?
Expectation of privacy. You implicitly allow search by entering an airport, but a billion court rulings state that the authorities cannot look inside your house or car without probable cause.
X ray tech counts as a search. What kind of legal advisor could ever sign off on this?
Besides, it's totally impractical. 15 seconds per scan? Useless in open traffic. Useless at a major event (15 sec x 10000 cars = 2 days in line to be searched).
Useless expensive and illegal. Thanks DHS!
It's absurdly hard to actually identify items that only rarely occur, say weapons, in samples like this.
And how do they know if I have a concealed carry permit? I'm going to hate being confronted every time one of these passes to prove that I have a permit to carry a concealed weapon.
Every time I start to have faith in humanity, I ruin it by driving to work between 7 and 8 am.
There is no ideology for which the masterminds and the Richelieus don't feel more surveillance is always well served.
Stereotypically:
Conservatives? Got to catch those criminals, protect property and keep an eye on the dregs of society
Liberals? Got to expose those miscreants that threaten social order, cohesion and unity
Religious? Got to find those sins against God because He prefers that we punish them instead of doing it Himself
Green? Got to be able to find out when someone pollutes or damages Nature
Fascist? Got to rule society and kick the ass of those antifascists
Antifascist? Got to control society and kick the ass of those fascists
Communist: No shirking on the job unless you can't help yourself
The I-don't-believe-in-surveillance-party: Got to... oh yes, this one, actually. Number of this party in existence in countries across the globe: 0
It's not about what the goon in the street wants, its what the masterminds at the top wants. Because we WILL get more surveillance we should rather find out how to deal with it. Maybe actually tin foil in walls is not a terrible idea.
I've never been murdered either. Does that mean I should carry a concealed weapon, and be ready to draw at any moment? Oh ya, the answer is "no".
And yes, I do own firearms, and I was a holder of a concealed weapons permit (since expired, gotta get around to renewing it), and yes, I did carry at particular times when there was an increased danger to my health or life.
I don't see the deterrence value in such a vehicle. By buying and advertising such nonsense, it only shows the potential attackers where not to go. No, you don't drive through the security bottleneck, you go around it. So the next real terrorist attack won't happen by plane. It could happen on foot or public transportation (bus, train, subway, etc). The almost attempt in Times Square happened in a POV. Oddly enough, they didn't shut down all of NYC and start searching every POV for potential explosives. Then there's pleasure boats, cargo ships, private aircraft, blimps, balloons, etc.
Ok, the list may have started to sound silly with balloons, but lets not forget about the fusen bakudan (Fu-Go) experiment.
Dear god Helen, what can we do? Lock yourself in the basement, and pray nothing ever happens. (see the 1999 movie "Blast From the Past")
Determining that there is no way to measure deterrence, and deciding that the only way to remain successful is to increase the deterrence methodology, leaves itself open for an infinite growth, limited only by the tolerance of the people who's tax dollars are being wasted on them. It's all fun and games, until you are beaten down for not having the proper papers on your person, or are outside of your authorized zone without the appropriate travel papers. In many states right now, the law does read that you are to have a state issued photo ID on you at all times. That technically includes the shower, and when you're stumbling out to get the morning paper. Enforcement of that would be insane. But hey, we all have to give up our liberties sometime, right?
Serious? Seriousness is well above my pay grade.
Sounds like YOU are the hypocritical one. Fox News is the only news organization that hasn't outright LIED about the Tea Party grass-roots movement, and that is only mentioning 1 subject.
I can give you examples all day long with citations.
When the organization itself contributes to the Republican party, all "news" is suspect.
Does that apply to the Democratic party and news operations other than Fox, too?
Be careful how you answer: Reporters and news operation executives are NEARLY unanimous in contributing to Ds and not to Rs. >80% typically. (Plenty of documentation on that is available, thanks to campaign finance reporting laws.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
If you proposed something like this as part of a medical research proposal it would get shot down. Exposure to x-rays, no matter the dose, always carries the risk of mutation and transformation to a tumorigenic state. Exposing these people to ionizing radiation without medical benefit nor consent is equivalent to shooting influenza at them. Most of the people will be just fine, but is it acceptable if 1 in 1,000 dies from a complication? 1 in 100,000? In practice the estimate of the radiation dose of these machines is underrepresented since they are using low power x-rays which are absorbed or reflected in the first few millimeters of skin. This means that the dose is actually concentrated into a very small volume further increasing the risk of cancer.
This is both funny/sad, and insightful... A friend/coworker of mine is "randomly selected" for special screening almost every time she flies out of Logan (about once a month for work). That usually means the mm-wave scanner, or a full inspection of her carry-on luggage (looking for explosives in her sexy underwear...?). Sometimes it means pat-downs. She's not happy about flying anymore.
I've even had TSA guys congratulate me (seriously) for getting to travel with her. Creepy...
Obama is as bad as Bush? Are you cracked?
Obama voted against war. Bush started two wars.
Citation Needed
Then Senator Obama served from January 3, 2005 – November 16, 2008, the Iraq resolution was enacted enacted October 16, 2002, the Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Terrorists September 18th, 2001. When did Obama "vote against war", when he was in the Illinois State Senate?
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