Oh, dear. The TSA will expand the use of those body scanners we’ve talked about time and time again. This will no doubt freak out a certain segment of the population, but I have something even more terrifying for y’all: adjustable rate mortgages!
The TSA will install 150 of the machines in airports around the country. This, after successful trials at other, smaller airports. Exactly what airports will see the scanners hasn’t been announced yet.
You’ll recall that these scanners are being installed ostensibly to prevent terror attacks in airports or, worse, on airplanes. A person steps into the scanner, and a TSA agent is able “to see” a person’s whole… person. Knives, bombs, explosives, etc. can be seen on the agent’s monitor. The only problem is that you can sorta make out the person’s nude body. Granted, it’s about as erotic as dental X-Rays, but, as Americans, we’re taught from a very young age to be shameful about our bodies. We’re a nation of children.
It should be noted, of course, that the agent who “sees” the body scan never sees the person in question. The scanning machine and the monitor are kept far apart, and the agent keeping an eye on the monitor is locked in some far-away office. So in a practical sense it shouldn’t be an issue, but of course it is.
The TSA spent $25 million from the stimulus program that passed earlier this year. Makes sense, too: spend money on the machines—they’re developed by a company in California—, get the company producing more machines, company hires employees to build the machines, a new coffee shop springs up in town to support all those new employees, etc. And, bonus, we may be safer because of it.
I, for one, have no problem with these scanners. Not that I’m under any illusion that it will automatically make us safer, but, bah, who cares? I have far bigger things to worry about than whether or not some person I’ll never meet can “see” a crappy photo of my body for four seconds.
UPDATE~! The TSA actually contacted us with a more accurate image of what the officers see. Still doesn’t bother me.