Anticipating a nationwide grassroots surge of protests against naked body scanners and aggressive pat-downs, the TSA simply turned off its naked body scanners on Wednesday and let air travelers walk right through security checkpoints without being X-rayed or molested.
All across the country, air travelers are reporting that the TSA simply deactivated the naked body scanners and let people go right through without a scan. "Backscatter scanners are off. No scan. No patdown." reported a traveler from the Seattle airport. "Backscatter machines aren't being used at LAX," reported another traveler. "They're all roped off."
Much the same story is being reported all across the country.
SOURCE
'Noticeably subdued' airports suggest people opting out of flying altogether
News reports on Thursday declared the National Opt-Out Day protest against TSA screening procedures a bust, noting short wait times at airport security screening and TSA reports that there wasn't any spike in passengers opting out of body scanners.
But reports from travelers and local news sources suggest that at some of the busiest airports in the US the TSA has backed down and resorted to using the old screening procedures -- metal detectors and less-intrusive pat-downs.
<snip>
Twitterers around the country have made similar claims about Los Angeles International as well as the airports in Seattle, San Jose and Columbus, Ohio.
Several travelers reported on social networking sites that Lambert Airport in St. Louis also appears to have abandoned body scanners for the holiday, at least for some security line-ups.
"Metal detectors only and I watched them pat down an elderly woman and it was using the old methods, and a TSA agent stands between the line and the pat-down to block pictures and people being able to clearly see it," reports a Reddit user. KMOV in St. Louis reported that passengers arriving from Dallas appeared to be under the impression that the TSA had stopped using the body scanners.
SOURCE
This action tells us all sorts of fascinating things about the TSA and its fabricated security excuses. Perhaps most importantly, it proves that the naked body scanners are not needed for air travel security in the first place. When it wants to, the TSA can just turn the machines off and resort to baggage X-rays and metal detectors. That's worked for years, and it apparently worked today, too.
And yet, up until today, the TSA has insisted that the naked body scanners are absolutely essential to detecting hidden bombs, and that "travelers won't be safe" unless they use the naked body scanners. So all of a sudden today it's okay for the TSA to put air travelers at risk of being blown up?
SOURCE
National Opt Out Day A Bust?
Discussion in 'Political Debate & Discussion' started by poncho, Nov 25, 2010.
-
Congratulations to the American people for making the federal government back down. :thumbs:
-
-
But was TSA ready for this passenger: -
-
-
-
I know I never should have moved to Winston-Salem NC