Irene's Weblog

Many are cheering the fact that the TSA has begun moving backscatter scanners from major airports around the country, but it isn’t all good news. These scanners are being moved to smaller airports and aren’t being mothballed as most had hoped. The larger airports are also getting the millimeter wave scanners, leading some to believe that the TSA is preparing to admit that the backscatter scanners are, indeed, dangerous. Millimeter wave scanners have a significantly lower radiation risk and do not have naked picture representations of passengers.

The backscatters, as the X-ray scanners are known, were swapped out at Boston Logan International Airport in early October. Similar replacements have occurred at Los Angeles International Airport, Chicago O’Hare, Orlando and John F. Kennedy in New York, the TSA confirmed Thursday.

The X-ray scanners have faced a barrage of criticism since the TSA began rolling them out nationwide after the failed underwear bombing on Christmas Day 2009. One reason is that they emit a small dose of ionizing radiation, which at higher levels has been linked to cancer.

In addition, privacy advocates decried that the machines produce images, albeit heavily blurred, of passengers’ naked bodies. Each image must be reviewed by a TSA officer, slowing security lines.

One of the larger problems of the backscatters is the possible increased risk of cancer and other health concerns [pdf].

According to many studies, including a new one conducted by the European Union, the radiation dose from the X-ray scanner is extremely small. It has been repeatedly measured to be less than the dose received from cosmic radiation during two minutes of the airplane flight.

Using those measurements, radiation experts have studied the cancer risk, with estimates ranging from six to 100 additional cancer cases among the 100 million people who fly every year. Many scientists say that is trivial, considering that those same 100 million people would develop 40 million cancers over the course of their lifetimes. And others, including the researchers who did the EU study, have said that so much is unknown about low levels of radiation that such estimates shouldn’t be made.

Still, the potential risks have led some prominent scientists to argue that the TSA is unnecessarily endangering the public because it has an alternative — the millimeter-wave machine — which it also deems highly effective at finding explosives.

Still, while the TSA may be counting this as a win and some privacy advocates may be satisfied with the changes, the millimeter wave scanners aren’t altogether successful either.

tests in Europe and Australia suggest the millimeter-wave machines have some drawbacks. They were found to have a high false-alarm rate, ranging from 23 percent to 54 percent when figures have been released. Even common things such as folds in clothing and sweat have triggered the alarm.

In contrast, Manchester Airport officials told ProPublica that the false-alarm rate for the backscatter was less than 5 percent.

Essentially, passengers are faced with two, very difficult choices. They can use the backscatters, which has a 5 percent false-alarm rate, but risk their chances of cancer or they can use the millimeter wave scanners which have an atrocious false-alarm rate, but are safer for the human body. Surely, in the 10 years that these machines have been forced upon us, someone should have discovered a way to combine the safety of one with the accuracy of the other.

No study comparing the two machines’ effectiveness has been released. The TSA says its own results are classified.

Why are these classified? Why is the public, who is forced to use these machines, not allowed to know how the machines work or how the scanners are going to affect their health? Why are they not being informed about the next generation of scanners and what the risks will be with them?

When it’s all said and done, we’ve secured the cockpit doors and we’re prepared to fight back should a flight ever be highjacked again. There is no need for any type of scanner other than to line politicians’ pockets. Whether they be backscatter or millimeter wave scanners, they are there to give an illusion of security, not actually provide it.

This post originally appeared at The Daily Censored.

Image Source.

This is the full text of my article from The Daily Censored. Feel free to check out all the other stories at The Daily Censored as well.

The DHS, TSA, and CBP want to improve its tarnished image. After the criticism that has befallen the TSA since last fall when they mass-introduced full body scanners, it’s no surprise that they are now universally hated. The problem, however, is that the TSA can never improve their image as long as they continue to introduce draconian security measures followed by even more extreme responses when people object to being treated as manhandled cattle.

Last week, just after the DHS announced their desire to be more liked and understood, the world became privy to a video of a 6-year old girl enduring the TSA’s enhanced pat down. The enhanced pat down is very similar to sexual assault. This little girl broke down in tears once it was all over. How can the TSA even begin to justify this as something normal?

Men and women have complained numerous times that they feel sexually assaulted by the TSA procedures. The have expressed concerns that it is a form of retaliation from the TSA when they choose to opt out of the full body scanners.

The enhanced pat down consists of what you would expect of a pat down, but it goes much further. The TSA agent will feel inside your pants, down your underwear, squeeze your breasts, touch and move your testicles and feel around your labia. Women have also reported that TSA agents have even felt inside their vagina during and enhanced pat down.

There are also accounts of people reporting that TSA agents rarely change their gloves, leading to major health concerns. When passengers do request TSA officers to change their gloves, they are subjected to increased harassment from the officers. It should be obvious that, if a TSA officer comes in contact with a passenger that has an STD, it could easily be passed on to the next passenger if proper health and safety measures aren’t followed.

Congress is now beginning to call for investigations into the TSA’s methods. Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood, said that he is mortified that his grandchildren might have to undergo an enhanced pat down. He is now pushing for legislation to change how the TSA operates.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Sunday he would be ticked off if one of his grandchildren got the kind of pat-down search a 6-year-old girl was subjected to earlier this month at an airport security checkpoint in New Orleans.

“I have nine grandchildren and I wouldn’t want my granddaughter treated like that,” LaHood said

Mr. LaHood might also remember that the TSA vowed in 2006 to never have pat downs for children. Since the TSA is run on policies and not laws or regulations, it’s free to change them whenever they wish, no matter how illogical and ill conceived they are.

When the TSA tells passengers that the full body scanners are safe, yet airline crews do not need to use them and reports state that the radiation levels are higher than reported, it is difficult to believe the TSA. Everything they do is security theater. It is frustrating and unnecessary. The full body scanners would not have prevented any threats. They also don’t appear capable of stopping weapons from passing beyond the security checkpoints.

If the TSA is sincere about improving their image, they need to immediately begin rolling back some of their more draconian practices. A first step would be to no longer treat passengers like criminals, particularly when they are vocal about TSA policies. Just because a person exercises their right to say they disagree with the policies, doesn’t mean they should be singled out for extra security measures or be considered terrorists. They also need to stop sexually assaulting passengers during enhanced pat downs and discontinue harassment of passengers who decide to opt out of the full body scanners.

We already have reinforced cockpit doors and the pilots are armed. We know that passengers will fight back. There is no need for the enhanced pat downs and full body scanners other than to provide a visual appearance of security theater. The TSA and DHS need to stop giving their standard answer of “we followed procedure and everything is fine,” when it clearly isn’t. They need to admit their mistakes, roll back many of the changes introduced in the past few years, and put real reform into place.

The TSA needs to admit that they don’t need to keep the skies safe from kleenex smugglers and should look closer at the suspected criminals and child pornographers within their midsts.

These few steps would go a long way in redeeming a modicum of respect back to the TSA. Until we return to sensible screening measures, don’t expect people to stop calling attention to the abuses of the TSA and be prepared for even fewer passengers than before.

In the mean time, take action to let the TSA know why you won’t fly and why you will continue to fight for your 4^th amendment rights. Write to Rep. Jon Mica and let him know that you agree the TSA should be abolished. Send letters to your representatives in Washington informing them that they need to take action as well or you won’t be voting for them in the next election.

This is the full text of my article from The Daily Censored. Feel free to check out all the other stories there as well.

In the past month, we have seen major media outlets follow the story of National Opt Out day. Now that it is over, the stories are less frequent and will probably subside as the media moves on to other stories. It is important, however, to remember that everyone must keep up the pressure against the TSA or else the TSA will feel that they can continue their abusive behavior towards travelers.

“Security is not optional,” the TSA said.

Really? It seemed to be optional this past Wednesday, one of the busiest travel days of the year, when they shut down the scanners and and skipped pat-downs at most airports. It seems they are just more security theater to give travelers the illusion of safety when they fly. If they were so necessary, then pilots and flight attendants would still be subject to them. Along with the flight crew, pets are not screened, nor is most of the cargo that goes onto the planes.

There are also major health concerns as to whether or not the full body scanners can expose you to too much radiation. Your alternative is an extremely invasive pat down, which is not altogether healthy either. It has been reported numerous times that TSA agents do not change their latex gloves from one passenger to the next. When they do, it’s still disgusting and unacceptable.

Changing gloves is fairly simple when I gate screen I carry about 10-12 pairs in my pockets.

At the very least this is unsanitary. Worse, there is a great risk of spreading MRSA, fecal contamination (think about where the pat down goes), impetigo, crabs, lice, and possibly sexually transmitted diseases to each passenger that they come in contact with.

You have the right to ask a Security Officer to change her/his gloves during the physical inspection of your accessible property, before performing a physical search (pat-down,) or any time a Security Officer handles your footwear.

To all the TSA officers, please, change your gloves. Don’t use the ones wadded up in your pocket. Go get the box and put on a new pair. It’s okay. I’ll wait.

The lobbyists for L-3 Communications behind the scanners doubled their cash investments in Washington over the past five years. The CEO of OSI Systems recently flew to India with the president.

The TSA is claiming a victory over this, bragging that the lines were short. Somehow, extremely short lines on one of the busiest flying days of the year is a good thing to them.

Employees at the Houlihan’s in the airport atrium said business this week has been unusually slow.

The manager, who worked 13 years but declined to give her name, said she’d never seen traffic so sparse.

Most of the tables on the restaurant’s second floor were empty through lunchtime, and servers said on a day when they should have seen between 1,200 and 1,500 customers Tuesday, they served fewer than 500.

The TSA does not understand that lines were short because less people were flying. These people either drove or didn’t travel at all as an alternative to facing the TSA.

If Americans don’t keep fighting now, it will move to subways and train stations. New York City is already practicing such measures. The TSA would like screening everywhere despite the fact that it would never work in a real life situation. Only only need to travel the public transportation system in a major metropolitan city, such as New York City or Chicago to realize this.

What it boils down to is money and power. There are certain people in Washington getting very rich off this technology. The government is also trying to control the people by keeping them in constant fear. The current security procedures are unconstitutional and should be removed. They do not work as intended and only serve to line the pockets of politicians.

If we take an honest look at the situation, the government alone is responsible for any terrorist attacks on our soil. It is the government who has spent the last four decades mired in the politics of the Middle East, sticking their noses in where they don’t belong. It is not our freedoms that the Middle East abhors. It is the constant interference in a region we have no business being in. The eventuality of strip searches and flying naked isn’t going to make us any safer. Leaving the Middle East to their own accord will make us infinitely more safe than some fat guy feeling a pretty girl’s boobs at the airport.