The Naked Traveller

According to the New York Times, and as discussed by Slate magazine (http://www.slate.com/id/2160977/fr/flyout), this is the kind of view airport screening staff will be having of us all! (The lady in question was wearing a blazer and skirt at the time.) Well at least it might improve TSA recruitment at airports in the "fitter" parts of the country I suppose, but of course this being America it will only be a matter of time before someone gets hit with an invasion-of-privacy lawsuit, not to mention making us all very self-conscious when we pass through screening and the staff all start to giggle uncontrollably....

Will we be safer than now once these scanners are introduced? Perhaps, though I'm not sure this isn't the security equivalent of not only bolting and deadlocking the backdoor, but then welding it shut as well. Sure, it will be slightly harder for terrorists to smuggle stuff onto US domestic and international flights, but why would they bother? There are hundreds of much less secure airports around the world that also have the advantage of being close to their supposed training camps and supply depots. Planes travel; that's why they are valuable weapons for terrorists. It's far simpler to fly the thing somewhere noticeable and then do whatever it is that will comprise the next atrocity than it it to get control of an aircraft in the USA . Or, of course, and as we've seen in London, Milan & elsewhere, just move onto the next target: trains, subways, etc. Alas, that's the inevitable result. That door is largely closed, but many others beckon still.

Frankly, none of this makes me feel any safer than I do already - and yes, I do feel very safe flying, certainly more so than before when security here in the USA was a bit of a joke. (Pre-9/11, anyone could walk up to a gate, for example, without challenge, screening or ID checks, a situation that had been long gone in Europe for probably 10 years prior.)

SPend this money somewhere else on protecting other things. Cargo security is still largely missing-in-action. Make that more secure first before going to these extremes,