OK, finally got the survey up. It’s rough, but should do the job. When I get time I’ll set up a results page in the survey engine, but until then I’ll post aggregate results here.

Click here to take survey

2010.11.20 Results – Sorry it’s taken me so long post these. Very briefly, 41% male, 59% female, 88% US citizens, Avg age = 43. Avg 22 trips through TSA per year. Feelings about someone seeing you or spouse nude = very bothered. Seeing daughter nude = between very bothered and terrified. Feelings about grouping; you = very bothered, spouse between very bothered and terrified, daughter = terrified (understandably). Concerns about radiation between No Concern and Very Bothered (somewhat surprising its this low). More on responses for actual TSA experiences later along with updates to the above.

Several people suggested a question on how much of people’s travel is leisure vs business and if the new TSA will impact future travel. Great ideas. Both added.

What may seem fine in the world of John Pistole, Janet Napolitano, and Barack Obama, may not be so fine in the world of you or me.

Modesty is an interesting thing. Generally most males don’t give a rip who sees them nude, women tend to lean a bit more towards the reticent side. But there are people of both genders who run the gamut from absolute terrifying fear to overly outgoing exhibitionists. Are those on the terrifying fear end supposed to stop flying?

How about people who have been raped or sexually assaulted and for whom either of the new options could be prohibitively traumatic? Are these people just not supposed to ever fly again? What did they do to deserve this?

There is also an interesting inter-personal thing with couples. Many men are more protective of their wives and girlfriends bodies than their wives and girlfriends are. For many couples going through Barack and Janet’s Kabuki Theatre, the guy will be far more bothered than his girl over some other guy seeing her nude or someone groping her vagina and boobs in public.

I wonder too about the impact on teen girls. Will a 14-year-old girl who has gone through Janet’s new TSA a number of times on family trips get so de-sensitized to others touching her or seeing her nude, so routinely, that a sexting request for a picture or some guys roaming whatever will seem more normal than perhaps it should? “Fifty guys at the airport have seen me nude, what’s the harm in one more?” Teen guys may be salivating at the gift TSA is giving them*.

Put these last two issues together and what do you get? A boyfriend convincing your daughter that other guys have seen her body, but he hasn’t. And he’s her boyfriend, so why them and not him? Same for getting to feel her up.

What could possibly be the unintended consequences of these new policies?

* I realize that many teen girls are already pretty quick to send a guy a pic of herself nude or let guys do whatever with her body. Many, and perhaps most, aren’t so quick though. This is about the latter.

CAIR has filed a complaint against TSA that the new procedures violate Islamic teachings. Yesterday rumors started floating around Washington that Barack and Janet were working on a solution. Will the solution be that passengers who opt out of the full body radiation experiment and porn show be allowed to request a pat-down, in private, by someone not just of their own gender, but also of their own religion? Any problems with this?

For anyone who has missed it in all of the articles floating around. Full-Body Scans and Enhanced Pat-Downs provide NO additional security or safety. They will detect a few things that the old system didn’t but they will not detect some things that the old system did. And BOTH systems miss a myriad of things.

We’ve got 38 holes in airline security for terrorists to exploit. The old system plugged 5, the new system plugs a different 5, both still leave 33. And for this people want to take the risk of additional radiation and some horny perp getting off on looking at their wife or daughter nude?

Many things get easier each time we do them. The more I tie my shoes, the easier it gets. Same with a bow tie when I used to wear one. The more I use my camera the easier it gets (though my pictures don’t necessarily improve). Even going through airport security has gotten easier over time. Each new addition by TSA, laptops, shoes, liquids, was a pain the first time, but got better by the second and simply became part of the new normal.

Getting groped or displaying your nude body for a stranger doesn’t though. Most of the people I’ve talked to who have made several trips through Barack and Janet’s New Kabuki Theatre for Pedophiles have said that it doesn’t get better, and several have said it actually gets worse.

One woman said that the first time was unnerving, the next three or four were tolerable, and she said she thought she was normalizing it. The last two though, have left her feeling traumatized. One guy said that he was part of the no-big-deal crowd and happily went through the NoS without much thought, until the sixth time, when he said he was rather bothered by the thought of it and that being bothered has increased with each successive trip.

Another person said that her 8-year-old daughter was concerned the first time, bothered more the second, and now refuses to go on a trip with her mom next week.

And these are all seasoned travelers.

I’ll put a survey up tomorrow morning to see what others experiences have been.

A follow-up to last Wednesday’s post.

For about a decade now we’ve all been participants in Kabuki Theatre every time we fly a commercial flight in the U.S. Security experts overwhelming agree that most of what the TSA does at their checkpoints has nothing to do with actual security. It just makes the flying public feel better.

Going through TSA has become increasingly irritating. Wait for someone to check my ID, wait at the x-ray belt, grab 3 bins, take out my laptop and put it in one, put my jacket, liquids, and other stuff in a bin, take off my shoes, put my shoes in a bin, wait in socks to go through the metal detector, keep an eye on my stuff so nobody grabs any of it, put everything back together after being cleared through. It’s a pain. It’s irritating. But whatever.

My wife has an artificial hip thanks to a running accident several years ago so she gets to go through a pat-down – every flight. Royal PITA! Some months ago she was in a foot cast so they said they had to take her back to the back for a special x-ray. Thirty-eight minutes and six x-rays later she finally emerged. I can certainly understand their wanting to take every precaution with her, she’s a cute blonde Swede.

Until very recently we put up with it, mostly with good humor. It’s a pain. It’s irritating. It takes a bit more time. Whatever. Putting up with all of it for a bit of theatre wasn’t really a big deal (though I did my fair share of complaining).

What Obama, Janet Napolitano, and TSA are doing now, with Nude-o-Scopes and enhanced groin grope pat-downs, for nothing more than theatre, is a big deal.

Let’s weigh the two sides, increased security vs. invasion of privacy and danger to health, and see what we come up with.

Increased Security ?

The Nude-o-Scope (NoS) will be able to detect some things that the walk-thru metal detectors (WTMD) are not able to. On the other hand, they cannot detect other things. Of nine probable risks, a WTMD can detect five, leaving us vulnerable to four while a NoS can detect, well, five, leaving us vulnerable to four. Two of the five a NoS can detect are at least different than what a WTMD can detect.

For example, the Nude-o-Scope cannot detect many powders such as the PETN used by the Christmas Day Underwear Bomber last year. This coming Christmas one of his friends can go to Detroit airport and have a very good chance of waltzing right through Janet’s latest and greatest security with the exact same powder in the exact same place as Abdulmultallib.

Box-cutters will now be easier to get onboard. A NoS sees through to your skin, but not through it. Wrap your favorite weapon in some leather, apply KY liberally, insert in rectum. Barack and Janet’s Nude-o-Scope won’t see a thing, nor would a pervert groping your (or John Tyner’s) junk. With a bit of will-power I’d bet you could get a gun through easier today than any time in the past few years. Or, like Abdullah Hassan Tali al-Asiri, just stick a bomb up there and make life easier.

And this is just the front door. What about the back door, side door, and windows? There are a number of other ways a determined terrorist can get stuff past security.

Do you feel safer now that the TSA are groping people’s genitals, looking at us nude, and performing a radiation experiment on us?

Invasion of Privacy and Danger to Health ?

So what will all of this so improved security cost us?

The Nude-o-Scopes cost about $200k each to purchase and $40k each to install. They require more TSA personnel to operate and will incur an estimated $11k per year in maintenance. Your tax dollars at work. And this is the least of the issues with Barack and Janet’s Kabuki Theatre.

Radiation may be a greater threat than Islamic terrorists. Even TSA’s own experts have stated “we could see maybe 10 extra cases of cancer per year.” Other experts have put the potential risk much higher. We simply don’t know the risks. They may be as minimal as the TSA states, they may be much greater. Supporters of NoS’s say that the radiation from a NoS is the equivalent of about 2 minutes of solar radiation at flight altitude. One problem with this comparison is that we’re talking about very different wavelengths, which makes a huge difference. Also, if that were true, why is the TSA working to exempt pilots and flight attendants from NoS scans due to radiation concerns? Further, in a hospital you have a very highly educated radiologist and other knowledgeable folks overseeing x-ray machines, who’s doing this for the backscatter machine you go through at the airport?

Our privacy of modesty is gone. What is the guy in the back room seeing when you step into the NoS? (And yes, it is likely to be a guy, as TSA have stated that this will not be gender specific and the vast majority of TSA employees are male.) The TSA has refused to release any image from the new backscatter NoS (the only images they have released are from a millimeter-wave machine which produces a much different image). The only known image, by artist John Wild, is much lower resolution than the machines are advertised to be capable of. Suffice it to say, the guy looking at the image of your wife is seeing a pretty detailed image of her – nude.

Virtual Shave. Doing a Google search on backscatter I ran across a comment on a sex board that said “the best feature [of the body scanners] is that they virtually shave her bush.” Not a clue who this person is, if it’s pure speculation, or he’s a TSA employee who actually knows. But I wouldn’t want my 16-year-old daughter getting a virtual shave, down there, for some minimum wage guy in a back room. Perhaps we’d all feel better if they had Catholic Priests doing the viewing.

What’s Next? Not long after walk-thru metal detectors were deployed in airports we saw them popping up in courthouses, stadiums, high schools, malls, and elsewhere. Will this happen with Nude-o-Scopes? Who will be looking at those images? Given the amount of stuff shoplifted every year I’d be amazed if we don’t see them turning up in the exits from some stores within a couple of years. More radiation? More people seeing us nude?

What do you think? Are the costs of Barack and Janet’s new show worth it for all of the extra security? You know what, if these new measures provided a big increase in security, I’d probably roll with them. But they provide no extra security. Personally I’m not a big fan of incurring a bunch of costs for nothing. Even if there are no better alternatives, why make these changes if they’re not going to do anything?

However, is there a better alternative? Something that very likely would have stopped the shoe bomber, Christmas day bomber, and even 9/11? Who is the one nation that is a bigger target for terrorists than the U.S.?

Israel’s El Al airline has not even had a close call since September of 1970. Not that there haven’t been attempts. They’ve had far more attempts than have U.S. airlines.

More later.

The Teaparty has gotten a lot of gruff from the Republican establishment (and the media) that it’s the Teaparty’s fault that Republicans didn’t get a majority in the Senate. Much of this centering around Teaparty candidates Christine O’Donell and Sharron Angle.

O’Donell quickly proved problematic. Mike Castle, her Republican primary opponent, would very likely have won this seat for the Republicans. Likewise, Sue Lowden, who Sharron Angle defeated in their Republican primary would likely have won that seat for the Republicans. Unlike O’ Donell though, Angle was considered a solid and credible candidate.

But something far, far, far, more important than winning the Senate happened. The Republican establishment was given a message that the people electing them are not happy – with them. They’ve become way too soft and irresponsible when it comes to the size and influence of government.

Did they get the message?

It doesn’t appear so. Yesterday there were a number of events in Washington for the freshman class of lawmakers. Rather than working with the Teaparty to resolve overlap issues, the establishment Republicans appear to have chosen a more antagonistic approach. To be fair, the reaction of the Teaparty Patriots group to this was rather immature and ignorant causing some supporters to understandably distance themselves.

However, what the establishment Republicans are completely missing is that the Teaparty isn’t just some run-amok special interest group (or group of groups). This amorphous group called The Teaparty represents the people, AND, the will of the people. Ignoring this thing, as nebulous as it may be, is stupider than choosing Nancy Pelosi as a leader again.

The Republican establishment needs to get the message. They need to realize that the people who elect them want a very substantially smaller and less intrusive government. They want representatives in office who will deliver. If they don’t get the message this time, they’ll likely get a much stronger version next time that will include a lot of incumbents losing their seats and a huge loss in the house.

Well, dreams do come true. Sort of.

In the past few days I’ve seen three mouse trainers. People who, after being blocked by a truck in the left lane not moving over when he should, eventually pulled in front of the truck and slowed enough to train the mouse driving it. In all three cases the mouse eventually pulled to the right and the trainer moved on down the road.

The funniest was a guy driving a Smart. If you’re not familiar with them, Smart’s are very small, especially compared to a semi truck. I really wish I could have taken a picture of this huge semi truck on the tail of this tiny little Smart who was training him on road etiquette. I’m pretty sure the mouse driving the truck was well aware of what was going on, when the Smart flashed his headlights at him several times the trucker looked in his rearview mirror. The mouse could easily have moved to the right to let the Smart pass safely by.

Disclaimer: I do not recommend becoming a mouse trainer unless; you know you will not be breaking the law in doing so, and, not creating a danger for yourself or others.

While we’re on Islam and Security…

With the latest round of airport security screening changes I can imagine a bunch of Muslims sitting around smoking hooka and falling over laughing at how much control they’ve gained over us. They do something, we jump.

Every time they initiate some terrorist action, failed or successful, our feckless Homeland Security and TSA react, effectively causing all of us to react.

Put explosives in a shoe, now we all have to take our shoes off every time we go through security. Put some stuff in liquids, now we’re limited to no liquids larger than 3 oz and yet one more hassle of taking them out of our bag and putting them in a little clear plastic bag (and no longer can we bring home a bottle of 17 year Auchentoshan in our carry-on).

One stuffed some explosives in his underwear so now our wives and 14-year-old daughters are getting a choice of having a nude image taken for some strange guy in another room to gaze at, or they get an ‘enhanced pat-down’ that includes the TSA employee groping her breasts and genitals (enough to make sure that nothing tiny is hidden anywhere within)*. Sadly, both of these are easily bypassed as the full-body scanner only sees through to the surface of skin so many things hidden inside a body cavity (anus or vagina) can’t be seen nor can something hidden in folds of fat. And, while Superman couldn’t see through lead, full-body scanners apparently can’t see well through some leather (EG, animal skin) so an explosive, gun, or other device could presumably be hidden with some well-done leatherwork. Cows may have just become more sacred to Muslims than Hindus.

Last week they put some explosives in printer cartridges so now printer cartridges are being restricted. And TSA thinks this is the only thing they can hide something in?

Where will restrictions on the freedom we’ve enjoyed for so long end? We’ve already seen airport like screening popping up in government buildings. Will we start to see these same security screenings taking place on subways? Trains? Buses? When rumors swirled that the Mall of America was a target of Muslims their security people began serious discussions about screening for everyone entering it.

“I just want to buy some underwear.”

“I know ma’am, but we need to inspect the underwear you’re wearing to make sure you don’t have a bomb in them.”

And those guys sitting around smoking hooka continue to laugh and dream up the next hoop.

* The image on the original full-body scanners wasn’t very revealing. The image on the newer backscatter machines currently being rolled out are apparently nearly indistinguishable from a black and white photo of someone standing fully nude. Interestingly, while TSA released copies of what the original millimeter-wave images looked like, they have so far refused to do the same for backscatter images. A low-resolution image from an older backscatter machine is here. A better and higher resolution version of this could be your wife or daughter!

France, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, and other countries have recently made news for bans on women wearing Burqas.

CAIR, the Council on American Islamic Relations, has fought against requirements that women not wear Burqas, Veils, and similar head coverings in drivers license, ID card, and passport photos.

Here’s one good reason why veils are a bad idea:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328204/Elizabeth-Smart-kidnapper-refused-let-detective-veil.html