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"Documents obtained by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) suggest that the US Department of Homeland Security has signed contracts for the development of mobile and static systems that can be used scan pedestrians and people at rail and bus stations and special event venues — apparently at times without their knowledge. Under consideration: An Intelligent Pedestrian Surveillance platform; an X-Ray Backscatter system that could detect concealed metallic and high-density plastic objects on people from up to 10 meters away; a walk-through x-ray screening system that could be deployed at entrances to special events or other points of interest, which could be installed in corridors and likely scan people walking through it without them knowing it, EPIC said."
So it wouldn't matter if you're pregnant, if you're already at your life-long limit for radiation therapy following 4 cancers, if you have an impaired immune system -- you're going to get scanned! You have no choice, no opt-out. If you go in to certain events or venues, or if you just happen to be walking down the street and a van drives by: dude, you're getting a scan!
Homeland Security and Congress really need to learn about the concept of accepted risk. I accept the risk that every time I drive down the mountain, I could have an accident. Hell, I could get hit by someone and my car could fall down a several hundred feet ravine, which would really suck. I accept risk whenever I order food in a restaurant that they follow proper sanitization procedures and cook my food properly. I acknowledge that any time I'm walking down the street, I could be hit by a micrometeorite. LIFE IS NOT SAFE, RANDOM SHIT HAPPENS. You cannot be protected against every possible danger, and adding an unneeded radiation load to people randomly does not significantly increase safety of the population as a whole.
To make air travel reasonably safe, armor cockpit doors and pilots board and depart when no passengers are on board, and that door is sealed at all other times. X-ray ALL baggage and cargo that goes on the plane. All passengers AND CREW go through a magnetometer gate and all carry-on items are x-rayed, just like before and always. And issue every passenger a katana, like on Kill Bill. Or a taser. Maybe not the last suggestion. At least make tasers available to the flight crew. You have now made it extremely difficult to hijack a plane or blow it up with items brought on board. Add people with excellent profiling and soft questioning skills, and you have pretty darn good security.
Remember: the Moscow airport bombing occurred OUTSIDE of the security zone. You can kill lots of people with a bomb wherever there is a bottleneck and people are required to bunch up.
I think we should pass a law that ALL CITIZENS are issued a katana and must train with it. Just think of how much safer we all would be!
[sarcasm:off] (or is it?....)
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9212681/DHS_seeks_systems_for_covert_body_scans_documents_show
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/03/1943258/DHS-Eyes-Covert-Body-Scans
So it wouldn't matter if you're pregnant, if you're already at your life-long limit for radiation therapy following 4 cancers, if you have an impaired immune system -- you're going to get scanned! You have no choice, no opt-out. If you go in to certain events or venues, or if you just happen to be walking down the street and a van drives by: dude, you're getting a scan!
Homeland Security and Congress really need to learn about the concept of accepted risk. I accept the risk that every time I drive down the mountain, I could have an accident. Hell, I could get hit by someone and my car could fall down a several hundred feet ravine, which would really suck. I accept risk whenever I order food in a restaurant that they follow proper sanitization procedures and cook my food properly. I acknowledge that any time I'm walking down the street, I could be hit by a micrometeorite. LIFE IS NOT SAFE, RANDOM SHIT HAPPENS. You cannot be protected against every possible danger, and adding an unneeded radiation load to people randomly does not significantly increase safety of the population as a whole.
To make air travel reasonably safe, armor cockpit doors and pilots board and depart when no passengers are on board, and that door is sealed at all other times. X-ray ALL baggage and cargo that goes on the plane. All passengers AND CREW go through a magnetometer gate and all carry-on items are x-rayed, just like before and always. And issue every passenger a katana, like on Kill Bill. Or a taser. Maybe not the last suggestion. At least make tasers available to the flight crew. You have now made it extremely difficult to hijack a plane or blow it up with items brought on board. Add people with excellent profiling and soft questioning skills, and you have pretty darn good security.
Remember: the Moscow airport bombing occurred OUTSIDE of the security zone. You can kill lots of people with a bomb wherever there is a bottleneck and people are required to bunch up.
I think we should pass a law that ALL CITIZENS are issued a katana and must train with it. Just think of how much safer we all would be!
[sarcasm:off] (or is it?....)
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9212681/DHS_seeks_systems_for_covert_body_scans_documents_show
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/11/03/03/1943258/DHS-Eyes-Covert-Body-Scans
