Does That Scanner Make My Butt Look Fat?

Reading in the Chicago Tribune today about the full body scanner the government will soon have in place at O'Hare to check travelers more completely for hidden weapons and/or explosives. Fully body scanner. Wow. Sounds like something out of Star Trek, doesn't it?

The writer describes the machine's function as providing a "virtual strip-search," of passengers, though he says the face of the person being scanned will not be visible, nor will the images be retained in the system. From what I can tell, the machine is designed to detect weapons and explosives hidden in body cavities or elsewhere difficult to search by other means. This machine, the article says, will update technology from the 1970's which is still in use.

The article indicates the scans won't be done in front of a leering audience of other travelers (which could actually be a welcome diversion for those waiting in the security line) but in a booth where only TSA personnel will be watching.

Illinois ACLU officials and a number of people interviewed at O'Hare and who posted their thoughts in the comments section fear the machine and call it an abridgement of their rights. They apparently don't like the idea of being naked in front of strangers.

Okay, let's see if I have this straight.

The idea is to update equipment that's been outdated for thirty years and, thus, keep airline travel safer. Presumably the body scans will also speed up passage through the screening procedure for at least some travelers.

The downside is that some folks will be embarrassed to have others see their flabby bellies and butts and . . . so forth. Yet, TSA says the old fashioned frisk will still be available for those who are afraid the screeners might guffaw at their virtual image (and perhaps illicitly save the images for trading . . . like baseball cards).

And the alternative might be . . .what?

Without the machine, someday, somewhere, the highly trained expert security specialists of the TSA might miss an explosive device that an immodest terrorist has hidden, shall we say, where the sun don't shine. Which then would result in an explosion and all those body parts people want to hide being strewn all over the landscape for hapless evidence collectors to dig out of trees and the sides of houses and so forth, leaving the ones the CSI's miss for animals to gnaw on.

Hmmm. Which would I prefer to encounter in my travels?

A screener who, after the first half-dozen scans will care less if the flier has a double-D cup, is built like John Holmes or had surgery two weeks ago?

Or continued reliance on outmoded equipment that could allow The Bad People to blow my equipment and everyone else's into chunks of fish food?

All I can say is this. A couple of years ago, I bought one of those spy coats with fifty hidden pockets, some of them large enough to store a big screen TV and my entire Pez collection. I figured it would be great for those last minute items I always forget when I'm packing a suitcase. The problem is, some of those pockets are so well hidden that I've lost valuable stuff.

I think this new machine may be a Godsend for me.

This is a request from the moderator of the Murder Must Advertise group on Yahoo. MMA is a great resource for mystery writers/readers and I'm more than happy to do Jeff a favor. We all owe him one, don't you think?
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For those of you who don't know, I'm the moderator of MMA, the manbehind the curtain who tries to keep things going smoothly aroundhere.Normally I don't ask anything of anyone on the this group. I do thisfor my own pleasure and edification, but I was hoping to ask a favortoday. I've had to curtail a lot of my travel this summer for my newbook, due to a rather lengthy and painful ear infection. My earpopping is extremely painful, so obviously plane travel is out. It'smeant that I can't do many appearances for my new book, AnthonyBoucher (ISBN: 978-0-7864-3320-9).My favor and my hope is that you would request that your locallibrary purchase this book. The publisher McFarland is focused mainlyon library sales, so that would be sufficient for my sales.I'm also doing a postcard mailing to hundreds of libraries where I'vespoken in the past, but I'd also welcome other ideas to promote thebook without travel. I'm likely to miss B'con this year, but I havewritten an article about Boucher for their program book and websitewhich hopefully will generate some sales. If you cared to post thison other lists as well, that would be great..

Thanks
Jeff (aka the moderator)Jeffrey Marks
www.jeffreymarks.com

Signings and Such

Just a reminder that I'll be signing books at Lake Forest Bookstore in Lake Forest tomorrow from 1 to 3.

Sunday morning around 8 or so, catch me on Rick Kogan's Sunday Papers show on WGN Radio. That's at 720AM or live on www.wgnradio.com.

Wednesday the 23rd, I'll be signing books and chatting about the writing life at the Book Stall in Winnetka.

If you come to one of those signings and are the first to mention you learned about them here, I'll give you one of the fantastic Every Secret Crime t-shirts or an ESC ball cap.

Traffic Enforcement

As gas prices rise, we should all slow down.

And I like the effort being made by an 11 year old boy in Louisville Kentucky to keep his neighbors from flooring it as they cruise his subdivision. Photo credit Charlie White, the Louisville Courier Journal.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-odd/20080716/ODD.Radar.Tracker/

Just Whose Fault Is It?

Because I nearly came close to doing the same thing when I was a brand new deppitty sherf, the headline of an AP story this morning caught my eye.

"Officer Wrecks Squad Car 20 Minutes into Job."

The A.P story, however, didn't match the headline. Turns out the car was parked in the hapless officer's own driveway when some goofball who "tested positive for drugs" ran into it and then hit a tree. The now car-less copper was not behind the wheel.

Reminds me of a story I reported several years ago. A woman was murdered in her home. Police actively hunted throughout the neighborhood for her killer and found him hiding under a house nearby. My anchor teased the story with, "Police managed to find a murderer today..." Like the officers had been sitting in a donut shop when the guy strolled in.

No wonder cops hate reporters. No wonder why a large percentage of the news-consuming public doesn't trust the media. The message is being managed so it best catches the eye. Accuracy? Pfffft!

Let's look at it in wider scope. How much of our country's financial nightmare is being caused by headlines that don't match the stories and, more important, stories that don't quite match the facts?

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a stock market expert. My economic forecasts will never make Maria Bartiromo's knees quiver. My checkbook is balanced only because Quicken, in Garrett Morris' eternal words, "been berry berry good to me."

But, damnit, I know hype when I see it. I recognize the symptoms of a media frenzy.

Every day we're bombarded with messages that encourage us to panic.

"Gas prices shoot higher than...", "Cars abandoned; more people walking and biking as gas prices rise..."

"Stomach wrenching drop to Dow."

I was waiting for comparisons to 1929 and they finally started a few weeks ago. "Worst month for stocks since the Depression."

Just as I'm not a financial guru, I'm also not the poster boy for a positive attitude. I realize we're seeing a, and let me turn on the pompous announcer voice, "significant economic downturn." Anticipating that my days spent in front of a keyboard are numbered, I've been practicing my Wal-Mart greeter smile and watching how the best cart-wranglers do their job. And, just in case it gets worse than that, I've got my spoon and a big bowl ready for the soup lines.

But, c'mon people, do we have to opt for headlines and stories that are written to terrify? As if the gas station price boards and the signs over produce carts and in the meat aisle don't depress us enough.

Each time the national media hypes the disappearance of civilization (and Starbucks) as we know it, we edge ever closer to the End Times.

Come to think of it, that's not a bad name for a newspaper I could start when we're all living in tunnels. After the stock market crashes and the asteroid hits.

Nice to Be Among Friends

I spent two and a half hours of major market radio talk show time last night and this morning...talking about Every Secret Crime.

Talk about a great promotional platform! I even got to plug the work of a few of my friends.

Sunday, the book launch at Centuries and Sleuths in Forest Park drew about a dozen people, mostly new friends who either read articles about me or heard me talking about the signing.

If you have the time, this Saturday I hope you'll stop by Lake Forest Books at 680 N. Western Ave in Lake Forest (1pm)and on Wednesday the 23rd, the Book Stall at 811 Elm Street in Winnetka (7pm).

Hope to see you there!

Have a Listen!

If you happen to be awake at midnight tonight (CDT), please tune in and listen to my guest appearance on the Steve and Johnnie Show on WGN Radio (AM720). WGN is a clear channel station which can be heard across the Midwest on a summer night, so if you live anywhere near Illinois, you may be able to listen on your radio. For those of you not so adventurous, WGN streams its audio signal at http://www.wgnradio.com/.

I'm not sure if call-ins are encouraged tonight but, if they are, please feel free to call and ask a question or make a comment at 312-591-7200.