KINGSTON, NY, 17 November 2010 - As opposition to full-body X-ray scanners mounts among aircraft crews and passengers, Gerald Celente,Trends Journal publisher proposes a realistic and rational solution. With ample evidence indicating that repeated exposure to doses of radiation poses a health risk, and with naked-body scans clearly violating personal privacy, many are opting out for the personal pat-down alternative.
"I am one of those frequent flyers that will opt-out for health concerns," said Celente. "The government's assurance that the scanners are completely safe is alone enough to convince me that they are dangerous.
"Moreover, the fact that full-body scanners were promoted by former Homeland Security Czar Michael Chertoff as the 'most effective means of detecting hidden explosive devices' further raises my suspicions," Celente said. Following last year's Christmas Day "Underwear Bomber" episode, Chertoff who had left Homeland Security to open his own consulting firm spent the holiday season making the media rounds loudly championing the scanners while keeping quiet about his firm's contract with Rapiscan, their manufacturer. (Furthermore, it was established that the bomber could not have ignited the device with matches or the syringe of accelerant in his possession. Only an electronic detonator or "extreme heat" could have set it off.)
"In other words," said Celente, "the entire flying public is being subjected to either radioactive contamination or gross privacy invasion so that Chertoff & Co. can make a profit out of these pernicious machines. The pat-down option, an already invasive procedure, has been dramatically upgraded by the TSA into a flagrant full-body grope. Making the pat-down so gross is designed to encourage people to go through the scanners rather than get felt up by strangers. It is my contention that this degrading and disgusting practice is about selling machines, not about ensuring security.
The "Celente Solution": Just as the Government invariably gets everything else wrong, its grope-the-public strategy is upside-down and inside-out, contends Celente.
"As a strictly heterosexual, if I'm going to get groped in an airport be it in public or private I want to be groped by a gal. Period! And, ideally, I would like to choose my groper. Does the TSA have a 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' policy," he asks? "What twisted TSA/government bureaucrat put in place this guy-gropes-guy policy? Or are they covertly fostering homosexuality by forcing men to be felt up by other men all under the guise of security?"
Celente readily acknowledges that his "solution" is male-oriented. "I'm speaking only for myself and on behalf my guy friends," said Celente, "not for women. They'll have to find their own solution."
Until some such solution is found, citizens of the "Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave" are going to be subjected to either radiation poisoning or sexual humiliation.
Trendpost: Celente says the TSA policy is trend-significant. As it stands, it will serve to discourage air travelers, which will take a toll on the slowly recovering business travel and tourist industry.
Holiday destinations within driving distance will attract vacationers who refuse to be scanned or groped. And America's airport security practices, already under attack by foreign nations as unnecessary and draconian, will further discourage international travelers.
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