Seattle's Airport will be getting body scanners soon.
Here they come folks! Body scanners are on their way to my home town here in Seattle. I like to think of Seattle as a pretty progressive town and I was hoping that they wouldn’t make their way to my hometown airport. But as the Seattle Times is reporting, they will start to be used in September at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA).
The TSA hopes to install 450 of the $130,000 to $170,000 machines this year and 500 more the next. Someone is definitely getting rich off all this added security.
Yesterday, our local NPR station KUOW was talking about this subject on The Conversation with Ross Renyolds and I got to put in my two cents on the air. You can listen to the whole discussion here (I come in at about 12:50), which includes an interview with Dwayne Baird, a spokesperson for the TSA.
Remember, you have the option to opt-out of the body scanners and get a full pat down if you choose. I won’t re-hash my love (that is sarcastic) for these machines.
Just another indication that we lost the war on terror. The Taliban was successful in forcing us to change our way of life. The airport experience has gotten absurdly awful and the erosion of rights in general has been devastating. They did what Hitler couldn’t do: they struck our shores and forced a change of life.
I had to go through my first body scanner in Columbus a few days ago. It was awkward…. but at least everybody had to do it
And so to avoid these scanners and pat downs I need to take the train?! To be honest I don’t mind pat downs per se, especially if everyone has to do them, but I am wary of the radiation in the scanners. I was reading this article on Airport body scanners and pat downs and it suggests that the train is the solution! Anyone agree?