Full-body skinflicks (Or, TPA versus TSA)... possibly NSFW

It's fun to get past the T... S... e... A!

There's been a lot of buzz lately about opposition to the employment of full-body scanners at various airports earlier this month. In addition to privacy concerns (the images can supposedly be inverted to make a nearly pornographic image), there are health concerns.

It's been in the news a lot this past week because flight attendant unions have joined pilot unions in opposing them. These are folks already exposed to higher levels of radiation due to their time up in the air, and the back-scatter rays may be the straw that breaks the camel's back for them.

Of course, one can opt for a pat-down, but there is a growing concern that this, too, is invasive along the lines of being sexual assault. The new meme is that sexual predators seek out these jobs, or something like that.

From one Tea Party writer:

At least for the TSA, this is a new recruiting tool. I can see their ad on Craigslist right now. “Why risk prison for groping a stranger, when you can be hired by the government, draw a paycheck and grope to your heart’s content, without the fear of arrest!”

Meanwhile, the TSA is trying to "assuage the public's fears."

Meanwhile, what prompted me to post on this was that same Tea Party writer's rumination that the nefarious Barack Hussein Obama had an ulterior motive in mind:

I have my own opt out plan. I am not flying any more. Perhaps this is part of the Obama regime’s plan to destroy another sector of the American economy. Let’s make air travel so objectionable, no one will want to fly and these companies will go out of business.

Yeah, right. Never mind that the technological, administrative, and legal push for full-body scanners got underway during the Bush administration. What with TARP, the bailout, the astronomically costly Iraq War... where were all these Tea Party activists before January 20, 2009? I defer to iheartblueballs on their apparent hypocrisy.

Not safe for work... unless you work at an airport. 

Anyway, I don't know where I stand on this, except that I want to see damned clear evidence that these scans are not going to harm my health in the long run, and I'm not so sure they've done that yet. Or even if they can. I live on an island, and the environmental activists killed off our ferry service to the neighboring islands. In other words, if I want to go anywhere, I've got to get past the TSA.