More Backlash On The TSA’s Backscatter 

The issue of the invasive TSA screenings at the nation's airports seem to have dropped off the radar since we have plowed through the busy holiday travel season. As of a month ago a class action lawsuit against the DHS to halt the machines' use at the airport screening areas was in-play. However, the bigger story on the backscatter X-ray machines might be the possibility of a looming class action lawsuit in the future as medical problems could be linked to passenger exposure. Scientists and doctors in the field of radiology have been voicing their strong concerns over the type and manner of exposure to this radiation on the human body. In the heat of the public backlash against the screening procedure, and invasion of privacy, the TSA boldly asserted the x-rays were safe ...

The TSA ticks off a litany of groups that it says are involved with determining and ensuring the safety of the controversial devices, including:

- The Food and Drug Administration
- The U.S. Army Public Health Command
- Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory
- The Health Physics Society

Problem is, these organizations are doing the distancing-thing with all of this ...

Just one little problem: That was news to all those organizations and agencies.

Even the FDA wants nothing to do with this one — a spokesman told AOL News that, despite TSA claims to the contrary, it has no role in testing the machines or inspecting the manufacturer.

They couldn’t even do it even if they wanted to — since the machines aren’t medical devices, they’re outside of the FDA’s legal authority.

That’s the first time I’ve ever heard of the FDA setting limits on itself!

In addition to the FDA, the U.S. Army Public Health Command, the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory and the Health Physics Society all quickly backed away from the TSA’s assertions that they had somehow signed off on the safety of these machines, according to the AOL report.

[...]

Even the TSA’s own parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, isn’t helping out here — because it refuses to release its own safety report on the full-body scanners.

And just one more thought here ...

If the idea of an untested radioactive device being used to zap millions of innocent American travelers doesn’t bother you, maybe this will: They’re easily fooled.

A new report in the Journal of Transportation Security — yes, we now live in a world that needs a scientific journal for transportation security — finds that the “structural noise” of the human body can interfere with the scans just enough to hide a “pancake” of explosives taped to the abdomen.

And no amount of radiation would ever find it.

“Even if exposure were to be increased significantly, normal anatomy would make a dangerous amount of plastic explosive with tapered edges difficult if not impossible to detect,” the researchers wrote.

It's a month old report, but I doubt much has really changed. The fact is, no reports of anything or anyone being 'caught' through the backscatter use or enhanced pat-downs through nothing more than random picking of passengers from those filing trough security does NOT mean the TSA plan/procedure is working to either stop or deter a would be threat on a flight. Today's explosion at a Moscow airport shows it is the cargo under the plane the terrorists know is their best plan of action. And some are even questioning the need to continue keeping the TSA or the DHS. At the very least I believe both entities need an extensive review by the newly elected GOP leadership in the Congress. 

o