INVASION OF THE BODY SCANNERS

Sometime in the 1950s a film called "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" made its way onto theater screens all over the United States.

In the sci-fi thriller a small town doctor discovers that all of the citizens of his community are slowly being replaced by zombified aliens.  The demand for such a plot apparently was high enough that in the 1970s a remake of this "classic" was necessary. 

Over 30 years have passed since that remake and today we find ourselves facing as yet another "remake" of this flick, only this time instead of appearing at movie theaters around the country, it's popping up at your local airports.

Yup, it's time for the Invasion of The Body Scanners.

All kidding aside, you are not getting any arguements from me about the necessity for additional security at airports after 9/11. But I'm not entirely convinced that this latest version of a "security measure" isn't going to wind up being more of a liability in the long run.

These gizmos produce ghostly images of airplane passengers taken as they pass through the scanner, a now ubiquitous part of the entire "gotta get on the plane" ritual. It's hoped they will assist authorities in spotting persons who have strapped a bomb onto their bodies.

Reports say that the images will be viewed discreetly and may or may not be kept on file for an indeterminate period of time.

But let's face it: this is the U.S. of A. where all kinds of opportunistic people lurk and it won't be long before ghostly photos of celebrities and even politicians will end up on a Facebook page and on the front cover of The National Enquirer.

Who decides who will get the job of staring at these things all day? What's the job spec going to say, anyway? Who will weed out the perverts who will get off on the whole thing? And what of small children and pedophiles who may nowAlbert Einstein or Stephen Hawking a run for money.

The first scanner is being set up today at Logan Airport in Boston, Massachusetts. I can't help but wonder what John Adams would have said if such a thing had occurred in his day.

Amen, and pass the mustard.