Old news is so exciting.

/yawn

This smacks of New World Order.

To the Alex Jonesmobile!

Is this really just about keeping drug prices high? Cause that's all it's going to do.

As long as this means I get to aim my own x-ray device at the operator of said van, I'm okay with this.

Go about your business, CITIZEN. We are here to help you.

I wonder what will happen when they zap a vehicle that's driven by someone with a pacemaker.

I had this crazy dream the other day where we figured-out that if we kept an eye on muslims and profiled, we wouldn't have to strip search old ladies at airports and irradiate motorists.

Yay! More warrantless searches!

Dear Obama Administration,

You could please at least try to be less Big Brotherish than the last group of yahoos?

How is this not an unlawful search?

this is about the dumbest idea ever. sure if there's a real reason, but to just randomly decide to scan trucks on a random stretch of interstate? that's just going full retard. needle vs haystack. never mind that illegal search thing...not that searches are illegal anymore, apparently the constitution was edited on 9/12

/maybe that's what glenn beck means by 9/12ers
//bonus radiation maybe causing bonus cancer from medical test too

B-b-b-but Boosh!

The good news is, that the United States is on the verge of bankruptcy and collapse. Unlike some totalitarian states, our would-be dictators don't think in the long term and aren't very bright. Every time they spend a few billion dollars on some useless high tech toy, that brings us closer to collapse.

When the sovereign debt crisis hits, we are going to a small limited libertarian style government without a police state, imperialist wars, etc., like it or not.

The bad news is, instead of deliberately shrinking government in a slow and controlled way, and doing it in such a way that we still make sure seniors, veterans, and the poor are still taken care of, they are all going to get their benefits cut and die on the street. But hey, at least they know that when they are dying in the street like dogs, that they won't get taken out by a terrorist.

I think its ironic that the people who operate these machines are far more likely to develop cancer because of them than the people who are scanned.

Prank Call of Cthulhu: Dear Obama Administration,
You could please at least try to be less Big Brotherish than the last group of yahoos?

Shut up, you right-wing racist!

So much for land of the free

Moreover, law enforcement already has broad search-and-seizure powers on public highways, where a search warrant is often not needed for officers to instigate a physical search.

Umm, not without probable cause. While I hate to be the guy who calls "unconstitutional", I really don't see how using these vans doesn't constitute a search of property without reasonable cause.

I might have to make a donation to the ACLU.

NANNY POLICE STATE!!!1!
/Am I doing it right?
//Should I have added "you used to be cool Britain America?

/ Waiting for the derp-brigade to start posting about how this flagrant violation of the US Constitution is the only thing keeping freedom safe

Goddammit, backscatter scans are physically harmless. Don't object on health concerns because those are completely unfounded and you look like a fool making that case.

Conversely, these scanners are easily abused to erode civil liberties.

FWIW chances of getting cancer from x-rays of this intensity are orders of magnitude less than chances of getting cancer from driving a car a few times a week while breathing.

/srsly

therealpope: I had this crazy dream the other day where we figured-out that if we kept an eye on muslims and profiled, we wouldn't have to strip search old ladies at airports and irradiate motorists.

Even if we lived in a world where every threat was an easily profiled muslim/Mexican/whatever, they'd still be deploying these things. Power craves more power, and agencies want these things simply because they exist.

erok: FWIW chances of getting cancer from x-rays of this intensity are orders of magnitude less than chances of getting cancer from driving a car a few times a week while breathing.

The dosage may be a non-issue right now, but eventually we are going to get to the point where you'll be scanned by these things at least a few dozen times per day. That shiat'll start to add up.

I think I'll put a few lead boxes in my car and see what fun ensues.

omgbears: How is this not an unlawful search?

Because f*ck you, that's why.

TofuTheAlmighty: Goddammit, backscatter scans are physically harmless. Don't object on health concerns because those are completely unfounded and you look like a fool making that case.

Conversely, these scanners are easily abused to erode civil liberties.

That's not an "abuse," the only use of these devices is to erode civil liberties. It's a device that will only be used and is more or less only useful for warrentless searches without the owner's consent.

maskedloser: / Waiting for the derp-brigade to start posting about how this flagrant violation of the US Constitution is the only thing keeping freedom safe

You do realize that all the Obama administration has to do is claim it is to "enforce gun control" instead of "fight terror", and the left-wing douchbags will start posting about how this flagrant violation of the U.S. Constitution is the only thing protecting us from gun violence?

Both the left and the right have irrational fears that can be exploited to destroy the constitution and promote the police state. The right are willing to shred the constitution to fight terror, drugs, etc... The left are willing to shred the constitution to fight legal gun ownership, hate speech, etc.

In this case, Obama has a stronger grip on the left than he does the right (he knows that you idiots will vote for him, no matter what), so he is selling this as an "anti-terror" measure to shut down criticism from the right-wing idiots.

Great Justice: I think its ironic that the people who operate these machines are far more likely to develop cancer because of them than the people who are scanned.

Anyone who is a willing participant in this rape of the American people deserves it.

therealpope: I had this crazy dream the other day where we figured-out that if we kept an eye on muslims and profiled, we wouldn't have to strip search old ladies at airports and irradiate motorists.



/would like a word



/has nothing to say

Completely pointless, an invasion of privacy, and unlikely to EVER catch ANYONE who would actually need to be captured. How on earth are they going to respond fast enough to someone carrying bombs anyway? I highly doubt they could stop them with that sort of lead (especially on a highway).

It's scary to see a cop with 1/3 of his skull missing.

Those old radar guns mounted near the rear window of the cruiser turned out to be not so good.

Luckily today's salesman have a better grasp of the word Immunity.

American Science & Engineering, a Billerica, Mass.-company, tells Forbes it's sold more than 500 ZBVs, or Z Backscatter Vans, to US and foreign governments.

So why does it say "Z-Ray"?

Z-Ray is BETTER than X! Is two more!

Time to drive around with a big box full of dildos in the trunk, for teh lulz.

Land of the freeeeeeeeeeee cancer.

Found this gem in the comments following TFA:

william 7 minutes ago "does every one on here remember the little box we had to hook up to the tv so we could get the local channels if we didn't have cable / sattelite , well those little black boxs not all but alot were rigged with listening devices. just like a earler comment we lost are freedoms a long time ago , however it is never to late to vote them out and make changes to but this country back on the right track . bottom line term limits , preseident can only serve 2 terms or up to 10 years , so this should apply to all federal politicans period . look at byrd of west virgina senator for 50 years , that is pure @#$% ."

What could go wrong?

Oznog:

So why does it say "Z-Ray"?



Because you insist on spelling zylophone with an x.

TofuTheAlmighty: Goddammit, backscatter scans are physically harmless. Don't object on health concerns because those are completely unfounded and you look like a fool making that case.

Conversely, these scanners are easily abused to erode civil liberties.

The risk from backscatter is very very small, but ionizing radiation causes cancer. And, the dose may be very small, but it only takes 1 DNA mutation in 1 stem cell, in theory.

I'm not really afraid of the health risk, but the Feds aren't even following their own policy of ALARA here, and that does bother me. I don't think folks should be exposed to ionizing radiation without a reason that outweighs the risk, and this isn't that case.

Holy crap! I was headed downtown on Tuesday at 5:00 when the traffic guy was announcing to avoid I-20 due to them searching trucks and pontificating about why would they think this was a good idea at rush hour. Now I know the full story and this just enrages me. They did it again today. I watched the video here: Link
and the only thing they caught was a few dudes with a little weed.
The TSA - eroding your rights and delaying your trips since 2001.

shiattynick: Holy crap! I was headed downtown on Tuesday at 5:00 when the traffic guy was announcing to avoid I-20 due to them searching trucks and pontificating about why would they think this was a good idea at rush hour. Now I know the full story and this just enrages me. They did it again today. I watched the video here: Link
and the only thing they caught was a few dudes with a little weed.
The TSA - eroding your rights and delaying your trips since 2001.

FTA:

"The focus is certainly to try to prevent any type of activity that anybody may have to disrupt transportation systems," said Allen.

Nice job, dickwads.... you disrupted transportation systems yourselves with that farking search.

1984 was supposed to be a warning, not an instruction manual.