Wednesday, November 17, 2010

It's OK. I Work for the Government.

I don't know what these people are saying about airport body scans, but it looks funny, and some of the gags are visual. Here is the link.



Anthony Bradley has a good column on the subject in WORLDmag.com, "Saying ‘no’ to airport body scans."

When I recently flew out of Charlotte, N.C., I opted out and found myself being touched in ways that had me wondering if I had somehow accidentally wandered into my doctor’s office for a complete physical exam.

He reports this:

[T]hese new measures have no proven success in increasing airport security, according to Rafi Sela, an Israeli security expert. Sela recently testified before the Canadian government that these full-body X-rays are “useless.” “I can overcome the body scanners with enough explosives to bring down a Boeing 747,” he said. As such, the Israeli government does not use body scans in the Tel Aviv airport. Maybe our government could learn a lesson from the Israelis?

This is all an excellent argument for two things. (1) The federal government screws up everything it touches. (2) High speed rail.

I will not be flying until this stops.

3 comments:

iowaprodigal said...

If only there was another option to get to the Heartland! Bus, train, driving, and flying are equally expensive, but only the last one can get you to Iowa in less than 20 hours.

On another note, flights out of NYC (after we get past security) could be getting easier as the FAA adjusts decades-old flight paths. See http://goo.gl/LuQ4k.

Ian said...

1. No, ALL governments
2.
You'd have to have the same security fiasco for rail.

Also there are practical reasons why rail isn't a solution. Money for one, although removing all price distortions (making all roads toll roads via GPS etc.) would make rail slightly more attractive.

Engineering too.

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/11/why-the-us-will-not-get-chinas-high-speed-rail/66863/

The North American model of cargo rail makes money and produces less pollution than having more trucks on the highways.

Ian said...

Not everything in the Economist is twaddle.

America’s system of rail freight is the world’s best. High-speed passenger trains could ruin it

http://www.economist.com/node/16636101

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/11/freight-trains-americas-unsung-environmental-hero/66873/

The charts often are cool too.