Body Scanner Attitude

Both Italy, and now the United Arab Emirates, have discontinued subjecting passengers in their countries to these undignified near perp walks. Their reasons vary from “They don’t really improve security” to “They are health hazards” to “They offend religious sensibilities”, which is akin to “They are an affront to human dignity”, which seems to be the central point of Capt. Roberts’ narrative. All of these reasons are true. And yet everyone who flies out of Italy or UAE must eventually fly home again.

As you know, body scanner machines are brand new. According to reports, they’ve only begun being implemented since (and because) the idiot panty bomber snuck a bomb onto a plain in his underwear, only managing to severely burn his own privates. Well, he could not have done more damage to the world had he managed to actually take down his plane. Because of this one man, millions, even billions of world travelers are now supposed to forfeit our dignity, health, and minds (we must all be out of them, right?), in the name of “security”. Believe me, if we let “authorities” get away with this, it won’t stop at airports. It ill be a creeping creeping thing, with a little help from body scanner machine salesmen, of course. In time, we’ll all be marched through virtual strip searches, with paid human beings eyeballing our body parts, every time we take a train or bus, enter a government office building, or enter any crowded place, such as a sports arena or movie theater.

God, what kind of person takes a job like that?