TSA misapprehensions

I don't fly much: 4 times a year to Switzerland mostly, and my last encounter with TSA was before the more rigorous rules. I'll let you know if anything is odd with next month's trip.

But I think I've already spotted quite a few errors circulating.

1. There's radiation danger from "nude scanner." Not really, this isn't X-rays.
2. It won't find crotch bombs. True enough, but not relevant--it was supposed to be good at finding non-metallic weapons. Whether it really works or not is a different matter, and it might be worthwhile to figure out who benefited and find out if everything was on the up and up.
3. TSA are just doing their jobs. True enough, but I've already spotted several folks who enjoy the exercise of power a little too much. And, as I said, I don't fly much.
4. At least we'll be flying safely. Not really. Watch how the plane is loaded and how the scanning works. If you can't figure out at least three ways of circumventing the system you're not thinking.
5. If we profile like Israel does we'll be better off. True. But where on earth would we find that many trained screeners? We have several orders of magnitude more air traffic than Israel.
6. The searches are an excuse for groping. I don't know for sure, but it seems unlikely that there's a lot of that. Some, yes.

Lots of jokes suggest that soon we'll all be boarding the plane nude, but that's not happening. We'd be issued a thin disposable gown and a nice warm robe that they'd wash once a week (just like the blankets). And still nobody would be checking the food service for bombs.