Body Scanner Attitude

Looking to make my web site as useful as possible to people concerned about body scanners, I put up a page basically mirroring information on TSA’s own web site as to which U.S. airports are running naked body scanners on people.

And then I set a robot to keep an eye on it and let me know any time they updated it. I also have a page of body scanner Yahoo! headlines, and I’ve been watching as mundane boring news of one or two airports every day getting new body scanners slowly morphed into articles of the outrages TSA is committing and the complaints of the American public. And I waited and I waited and I waited for weeks for TSA’s web site to update and give me new airports, but it just wasn’t happening.

Then this past weekend, like everyone else, I read the Johnny Edge (aka John Tyner) blog account of his encounter with TSA. In that article is this:

He told me that their procedures are on their website, and therefore, I was fully informed before I entered the airport; I had implicitly agreed to whatever screening they deemed appropriate. I told him that San Diego was not listed on the TSA’s website as an airport using Advanced Imaging Technology, and I believed that I would only be subject to the metal detector. He replied that he was not a webmaster, and I asked then why he was referring me to the TSA’s website if he didn’t know anything about it. I again refused to re-enter the screening area.

I absolutely knew this to be true, because I have been monitoring TSA’s web site myself. At the time I read his blog, San Diego was not listed on TSA’s web site. I manually checked my web site. I manually checked their web site. In fact, after reading his account, I went so far as to announce on both Twitter and Facebook that TSA was no longer updating its web site, and that I now had the most up to date list, since I was now including Johnny Edge’s San Diego information. I was, and still am, asking people to send me any new airports they know of that have body scanners that are not on TSA’s site.

So from at least October 27th when I set my robot, TSA was letting the grass grow under their Airport List of body scanners. That is, of course, until today, the very day TSA announces all over the world that it will be “investigating” (read “intimidating”) Mr. Tyner, and possibly slapping him with a 5-figure fine.

Ya know, not all of us were born yesterday. And I don’t believe in coincidences. Some of us have lawsuits and divorces behind us, some of us know a few law enforcement junk yard dog type people, and we understand the concept of cleaning up the evidence before it’s, ya know, “evidence”.

So here ya go, Mr. Tyner, and Mr. Tyner’s lawyers. Here is a screen shot of today’s (11-16-10) changes to TSA’s web site.. Here is the link to the robot that is monitoring and logging those changes.

Mr. Tyner’s blog does not have its own domain name, so I can’t do a “whois” and find an address or phone number for him. Somebody somebody please send it to me! Or send this article to him!