— Jeremy Mayer, professor of public policy at George Mason University — Obama Doubles Down on Touting Osama Bin Laden Death
— Alpha Consumer: How to Protect Yourself Post-Security Breach
— Sally Denton, author of The Plots Against the President: FDR, a Nation in Crisis, and the Rise of the American Right — Franklin Delano Roosevelt and Those Who Hated Him, by Tierney Sneed
In a pair of competing articles in the April issue of Radiology, radiation experts David J. Brenner and David A. Schauer debate the benefits and potential hazards posed by backscatter X-ray scanners, which are used to screen up to a billion travelers annually at airport security checkpoints in the United States.
Another type of scanner, which uses millimeter wave technology, does not emit ionizing radiation and has no proven health effects, which Brenner and Schauer agree is the ideal. But U.S. airports use a mix of both scanner types, with the only alternative being the controversial full-body pat-down.
Don’t overreact. For most airline passengers, nothing will be different about airport security this winter. The new procedures are applied randomly, and they’re not in effect at all airports. So the majority of passengers will experience the same old snaking line that leads to a metal detector, an X-ray machine for carry-ons, and an airplane somewhere on the other side.
Via TSA Blog: Millimeter Wave radio imaging (top) versus Backscatter x-Ray Imaging (bottom).
Radiation Experts Concerned With TSA Airport Security Scanners: A commentary on the safety of new full-body scanners and why experts disagree with the government, by Deborah Kotz.
12 Things White House Visitors Can’t Bring In (Washington Whispers Slideshow)
An ongoing mishmash of the old and new from U.S. News & World Report. Curated on the side by brownpau.
