German “Flesh Mob” Strips in Airport to Protest of TSA Body Scanners

**megimoo** · 11-18-2010, 05:19 PM

I don’t know about anybody else, but I am totally against the TSA body scanners for civil libertarian reasons. We know who it is that causes these security failures in our airports. Either we be realistic about the issue, or we continue to create inconveniences for ourselves. We can’t bring a certain amount of liquid in planes, we have to through so many checks and searches.

Melissa Clouthier of @MelissaTweets on Twitter said: “I think people should protest the #TSA by stripping naked.” The tweet heard around the world!

The Pirate Party of Germany has had enough. They took it upon themselves to protest the nanny state and these idiotic scanners by stripping at the airport while handing out pamphlets against these scanners. The flesh mob!

The protesters marked their bodies with a number of messages such as,
“Something to hide?” and “Be a good citizen — drop your pants.”

http://cubachi.com/2010/11/14/german...body-scanners/

http://cubachi.com/

**Odysseus** · 11-18-2010, 08:11 PM

I'm against them because they're a reaction to past TTPs, rather than an effective means of anticipating attacks. First, let's understand that the goal of the terrorists is twofold: First, to kill as many infidels as possible in their overarching goal of destroying those who oppose their reinstituted caliphate, and second, to force western governments to impose onerous restrictions on civil liberties in order to weaken their support. This policy fails on both counts, here's why:

By putting toddlers and grandmothers through the scanners, we are buying into PC propaganda. Pretending that everyone is a threat diverts resources from the real threat, which is Islamist extremism. This erodes support for dealing with the threat and reduces vigilance. In short, it undermines security.

It doesn't make us safer. The issue is not to prevent dangerous objects from going onto a plane, it's to prevent dangerous people from acting on their intent. The longer lines at security are now a point of vulnerability. A suicide bomber doesn't have to board a plane to rack up a body count, he just has to get on line at the check point and before you can say "Allah Akbar" he'll have detonated in the crowded line. This does nothing to prevent that, and in fact, it exacerbates it.

It takes focus away from the real risk. It's kabuki security theater, a series of exaggerated gestures that looks like security, but aren't. Real security at airports would entail expanded curbside luggage check-in (nothing should enter the building that hasn't been checked), use of software and cameras to analyze behavioral patterns, profiling potential threats (hint: young men and women from Islamic countries, traveling without luggage or on one-way tickets that were paid for with cash), and the use of trustworthy personnel (Hint: US Military and civilian police should be presumed safe and permitted to keep defensive weapons on flights in order to protect other passengers and suppress hijackings).

Finally, it empowers those government agencies with the most egregious record of failure to expand their base and take on more authority over the people who they ought to be serving.