Scanners « Tikkunista!

Bird’s Eye: Last week’s Tikkunista was slightly ahead of the curve in looking at the problems with and reactions to TSA scanners and pat-downs. Lots of followups all over this week (perhaps most importantly some further reasons to doubt the safety of the backscatter x-rays) But the most interesting material looks at the larger implications of the issue, and offers ideas and issues that seemed to go beyond “followup” and warrant a section of their own: Mondoweiss on what the scanners imply about how we look at security and “the other”; Juan Cole looking at the end of cheap accessible air travel; the Philosoraptor looking at how terrorists see us.

* The Israelification of America Mondoweiss

Consider the real outrages of the last decade that, simply because they were done in the name of national security, the majority of Americans found tolerable:

a global war on terrorism that led to massive increases in defense spending, the creation of multiple new intelligence and security agencies, and Washington’s enslavement to fear-based politics — that was OK;
with disregard for international law, the invasion of Iraq on a false pretext — that was OK;
the kidnapping, secret imprisonment and torture of individuals most of whom had nothing to do with 9/11 — that was OK;
the authorization of warrantless wiretaps — that was OK;
the implementation of a remote-controlled assassination program — that was OK;
in short, the normalization of war crimes all of which were deemed justifiable because of 9/11 — that was OK;
but “don’t touch my junk” — there are limits to what Americans will tolerate.

Living inside a fortress and defining ones existence in terms of threats posed by eternal enemies, is a good way of justifying spending more and more on increasingly elaborate fortifications. But those who invest deeply in this mindset and who profit from its perpetuation, have the least interest in exploring what we need to understand most: why our enemies think the way they do. Delve into that question, and the notion of eternal enmity quickly evaporates — thus the perpetuation of the myth that we are under threat not because of what we do but because of who we are.

* Looking for PETN, Scanning Grandma at the Airport, and the Future of Air Travel Juan Cole Informed Comment

I doubt it is possible to outlaw or control PETN. The only alternative to looking for it systematically on air passengers and in cargo would be to just take a chance that no al-Qaeda operatives will be able successfully to detonate a PETN based explosive on an airliner.

And, you have to wonder whether air travel was not anyway a bubble. It depends on inexpensive fuel, which probably won’t be with us for long. It has a very big carbon imprint, which may soon be illegal. And it is vulnerable to low-tech chemical sabotage. Our generation perhaps, and the next one almost certainly, will have the unprecedented experience of having their world become larger and less accessible, after two centuries during which it shrank and seemed conquerable.

* Philosoraptor on TSA (cartoon)

1. The Problems with Scanners

Nov-19-2010 | Comments (0)

* Bird’s Eye: A Tikkunista exclusive (That means I wrote it myself!) overview of why the new “naked scanner or pat down” choice is outraging people, and the problems with this approach, in terms of safety, privacy, and functionality. We look at who’s making the money from this (hint!) Bush league idea, and at the wide range of ways people are fighting back (some hilarious; some powerful). One piece, with 18 embedded links….

* Scanning the Scanners Peter Marmorek Tikkun Daily Blog

One month ago I drank some extremely noxious laxatives, and went into a small room where a man stuck a camera up my rectum and took a series of photos. It was an invasive and unpleasant procedure, one which I repeat every five years, thanks to advice from my doctor and two friends who have survived colon cancer. I’d rather have a colonoscopy than colon cancer. Whether I want to go through a similar procedure every time I take an airplane is a related question, one we may face in our immediate future. The path that leads to that hypothetical question starts with a media scan of the new TSA (Transportation Security Association) scanners and the policy that comes with them..

The “naked-scanners” are now in place at many US airports, and the plan is to have a thousand installed by the end of 2011. A bill to make them mandatory at all airports by 2013 is currently before the Senate. But at present would-be air travellers have a choice: they can be seen naked by air agents or be “patted down”. There are some good reasons not to want either of them, but you won’t get on the flight without one. We’ll start with the scanners, which have three really basic problems: safety, privacy, and functionality….