by Max Trombly
A few hecklers have emailed me to say that we’re enabling the terrorists or that the scanners make us safer and we should just shut up and go away. But the scanners don’t make us safer. That is a Big Lie propagated by Big Bro and Big Sis (TSA bureaucrat John Pistole and Homeland Security secretary Janet Napolitano).
Neither scanner would have detected the underwear bomb of last Christmas. A former head of airport security in Israel says he could get enough explosives through the scanners to down a 747. The chance of dying from the scanner radiation is the same as that of dying from a terrorist attack (1 in 30 million).
The new TSA security theater, being ineffective, lulls passengers into a false sense of security. The scanning and, in particular, the groping, as well as the generally nasty attitude of TSA goons humiliates and intimidates passengers. But we passengers have shown ourselves to be more effective than the TSA. Passengers stopped the shoe bomber and the underwear bomber. Yet the TSA’s thuggish ways erode the effectiveness of passengers.
Finally, Al-Qaeda is an agile, networked force. The TSA is lumbering, top-down giant. In any battle between these two types of organizations, the more agile and distributed will win. See the American Revolution. This is why leaderless groups of crackers can exploit holes in Windows so adroitly. This is the bazaar vs the cathedral, David vs Goliath, the Viet Cong vs a clueless US Army. The TSA will never be a match for Al-Qaeda.
We Won’t Fly wants real passenger security. Not more of this security theater. It may make some of you feel safer. But that is all. It does not actually make you any safer. In reality, it might make you less safe!
Many of us are parents. We care about security. We care about dignity and health. The current fake solution threatens all of these values. That’s why we won’t stand for it.
References
Daily Mail: Body scanner wouldn’t have foiled syringe bomber, says MP who worked on new machines
The TSA spokesperson for a major metropolitan area, possibly Dallas, in response to a media question said that the x-ray backscatter scanner would “help” with cases like the underwear bomber, but skirted entirely the question of whether it would have detected the underwear bomb. I can’t find the video but clearly the TSA does not believe it would have detected the underwear bomb.
Vancouver Sun: Full-body scanners are waste of money, Israeli expert says
Daily Mail: Airport X-ray scanner is just as likely to kill you as a terrorist bomb
There are countless stories of air travelers being humiliated and intimidated by the new TSA security theater.
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As a (concerned) parent, let me say THANK YOU! That is a well thoughout and reasoned response to this nonsense that the TSA is trying to pull off.
In principle I support the idea of a government regulated security policy in airports: it will provide consistent and reliable airport security. In practice (as you have said) we get a top heavy bureaucracy. There is no consistent communication from the top to the bottom and the people at the top along with several, but not all, people at the bottom think that they are above the law and can do no wrong.
The two (somewhat unrelated) thoughts that keep running through my mind are:
1) I understand we have no expectation of privacy in the airport (or many places for that matter) but we still have expectation of dignity. The TSA doesn’t see the difference.
2) Rather then security theater as we’ve been given so far, we need to be looking at other countries (i.e. Israel) and scale up their approach, not be American cowboys reimplementing incorrect solutions to already solved problems.
Please continue to keep up the pressure and good work that you are doing!
m
And apparently they don’t catch 12″ razor blades encased in cardboard, either.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2010/11/adam-savage-tsa-saw-my-junk-missed-12-razor-blades.ars
I find it rather humorous that your hecklers would probably claim that they live in the “land of the free, home of the brave” while the TSA blatantly violates their 4th Amendment rights. It’s funny what happens to people when they ‘perceive’ that their mortality is threatened… usually spawned by propaganda being repeated over and over.
– You are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
– You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
– You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
– You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
–You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
– You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
– You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
–You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
–You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
–You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
–You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
– You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack
The following ratios were compiled using data from 2004 National Safety Council Estimates, a report based on data from The National Center for Health Statistics and the U.S. Census Bureau.
FYI: TSA pass along MRSA infections and bed-bugs…..Demand fresh gloves and demand that they wash in between changes. The are spreading infections.
Everyone should know and understand that the days of the TSA tyranny are almost over. They will develop an acceptable solution we all can agree to; like very low dose scans with “stick figure outlines”, or such. No fondling permitted. But it will only be because courageous Americans said “No!” ~with a united voice. Be proud of yourselves and as for the sheep ~ who through-up their hands and said “Oh-well” ~ I’m feel ashamed.
The new scanners and ‘grope down’ techniques are making it almost impossible for me to fly. I’m wracked with fear that this will happen to me, and I will be put in the enhanced line. I have a mental illness that makes it nearly impossible for me to confront such a situation and thus I have no plans of flying. Please read my story:
https://tinyurl.com/24d66oc