

TSA Accepting Public Comments On Whole Body Airport Screening - jdp23
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/04/21/0220218/tsa-accepting-public-comments-on-whole-body-airport-screening

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np422
(English is not my native language)

I am very surprised by the very large amount of statism that seems to be
present in USA in general and on hacker news in particular.

The high level of support for GWOT and all the side dishes like TSA, mass
surveillance etc is very surprising.

Each and one of all the things that have been done in the post 9/11 world may
partially or completely be justifiable on it's own.

But please, take a step back and paint a picture of where we have come from
and were we are going if this trend continues.

If I may help you...

<http://i.imgur.com/tfPY1y0.jpg> , here is a picture of the subway in New York
in the 80's, dirty and full of graffiti - with drugs and violence present and
by all means also music, food vendors and a lot of people going to their jobs.

<http://i.imgur.com/AxWRPgl.jpg> , here is the Moscow subway from the same
time. Clean, spotless and no one behaves disorderly without the police
arresting them quickly, police officers with none of the ridiculous
limitations that the western police had in their code of conduct at that time.

In which of those two subways would you prefer to ride to work every day?

With every new alfabet law designed to protect us that passes through the
parliaments, with every new government agency we move closer to a society that
looks more like the Moscow subway station.

Not to long ago we were prepared for thermonuclear war to defend our ways.

Today we are giving up our open and free society with a cheer so we can stay
safe. Step by step, piece by piece.

Why can't the otherwise so intelligent and educated crowd of hacker news see
that our society is heading in the direction of a police state? We are not
there yet, but it is where we will end up if we don't turn around soon.

~~~
youngerdryas
The American people are resourceful, well armed and have a strong distrust of
government, any attempted police state would last about five minutes and
result in impeachment.

~~~
huhtenberg
HAHAHAHAHHAHHAHA. Oh, jeez. /me wipes a tear. Good one.

Say that, verbatim, to the face of a TSA agent during a patdown after removing
your shoes, throwing away a half-empty bottle of water and making damn sure a
nail clipper rides in your baggage. But be sure to keep your voice down and
avoid an eye contact, lest you want to end up on a no-fly list.

~~~
np422
About ten years ago some guys from Saudi Arabia made it their goal to strike
terror into US of A.

I would say that they have done a pretty good job.

------
killermonkeys
You can also opt out of the scan when you travel which registers your opinion.
On average this adds about 3 minutes to the security time, though sometimes
longer (up to 7) if other people are getting patdowns. In SFO they log reasons
and include health concerns and privacy concerns.

~~~
hkmurakami
I did this about 4 times so far but then the last time it now up in my face by
adding 1 hour to my screening time and while I philosophically wasn't too keep
opting out I have to wonder if I can keep justifying it pragmatically.

~~~
tlrobinson
How did it add an hour to your screening?

~~~
hispanic
As netnichols stated above, "I had to wait about 15 minutes for 'the agent' to
show up that would conduct the pat-down." I'm guessing that this is the
reason.

I've successfully opted out once. In that instance, an agent performed a pat-
down with no wait. I tried again more recently and, after fruitlessly waiting
5-10 minutes for the special pat-down agent to arrive, gave up and reluctantly
went through the backscatter.

------
binarymax
The comments seem to have a vastly negative sentiment - which is a good sign -
but its probably the vocal minority. People who don't care (the majority) wont
even bother commenting.

On last count - I have opted out a dozen times, and I have never stepped foot
in one of these machines.

12 is a small sample size but on average it took 15 minutes longer than a
metal detector (with a couple outliers of course).

The experience with agents has varied. One of them purposefully stuck me in
front of an air-conditioner and I froze for a good 10 minutes while he went
off and did something else. On a separate occasion a younger agent barely
touched me and waved me by (he seemed less enthusiastic the pat-down than I
was!).

I will continue to opt out until either the machines are scrapped or I no
longer have a choice. I just add the extra time to my journey knowing that I
will most likely be waiting longer.

~~~
carbocation
I have always opted out as well. Recently the agents have started informing me
that the new machines are safe, but they rarely answer my follow up question
satisfactorily ("Great! Where did you get your degree in biophysics?").

~~~
sfx
A TSA agent was once similarly telling me how it "emits less radiation than a
cell phone" after I opted out. I of course couldn't care as opposed to how
invasive it is. I think as a public we tend to value our health, almost
unhealthily; but when it comes to civil rights or privacy, we don't care as
long as we're not effected.

------
methodover
The one genius thing about the body scanners is that the TSA have persuaded
people who don't like them that they can protest by opting out.

Opting out isn't a protest. I have no idea why people think it is. You're
given a manual search that is just as invasive as a body scan.

If you want to register your discontent with the searches at airports, don't
delude yourselves that opting out does anything. No one notices. No one writes
it down. No one cares.

~~~
Karunamon
Sure it is. Enough people opting out bogs down the system for all. Think of it
as a form of malicious compliance.

------
kaonashi
Which will be promptly ignored.

~~~
huhtenberg
Or, TSA has already decided to take the scanners down, and so now they are
just looking to pick up free goodwill since it's bloody obvious what the
public would say on the matter.

~~~
ck2
The are certainly not taking the scanners down.

They are only changing the technological method of scanning.

If anything they are trying to get scanners in more places outside of
airports.

If I remember reading correctly, the old scanners are still going to be in use
at like courthouses.

------
adnam
Ah, what timing

