Raising Questions

Full-Body Scanners Coming

WASHINGTON — The first of 150 full-body scanners planned for U.S. airports will be installed in Boston next week, officials said Tuesday.

The plan is to install three machines at Logan International Airport, according to a homeland security official who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made. In the next two weeks, officials plan to install another machine at Chicago's O'Hare International.

The rest of the 150 machines that were purchased with $25 million from President Barack Obama's 2009 stimulus plan are expected to be installed in airports by the end of June, another homeland security official, spokeswoman Amy Kudwa, said.

This new assault comes in the wake of the domestic airline attack near Detroit, US in December 2009. Even though the experts conceded that such a scanner would not have made any difference in that case, and despite the many questions regarding intrusion of privacy, still the authorities are foisting these ludicrous machines upon the public.

I have an idea that there is more to this than "security" issues. Consider this. With the economy being what it is these days, what if a situation arose in which people wanted to travel outside the borders carrying large sums of cash (or other valuables). I actually did travel once with a large amount of cash hidden in a garter belt that I wore on my leg (and which I had made especially for the purpose). Couldn't get by with that now.

Can you think of any other possible scenarios? I think there just has to be more to it. And of course, I'm always mindful of Jews being forced to relocate and carry upon their persons the means to get from point A to point B, whether it be cash or jewels or whatever.