Reframing in the fight against airport full body scanners

[Gadi Evron <ge () linuxbox org>]

Full body scanners are becoming a reality following the latest near-miss 
terrorist attack (the undies bomber).

The old arguments on loss of privacy are fast losing traction in the 
face of practical need, public fear, and politicians looking for 
bandwagon theater.

Bandwagon theater, defined:
A combination of "jumping on the bandwagon" and "security theater", 
similar in purpose but directly opposite to the concept of a scape-goat, 
trying to show they do something so they can please the public.

New arguments are now being presented, to try and fight this unstoppable 
bandwagon theater force of full body scanners, trying to reframe the 
idea as bad now that the privacy concerns are marginalized.

Radiation risk (fear mongering, red herring):
Claims have been made that there is RADIATION risk.
The radiation appears to be so minor it doesn't even register, but it's 
a good argument, if a red-herring meant for fear mongering

But, it's RADIATION (run for your lives!), need I say more?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/01/are-airport-full-body-scanners-a-health-menace.html

Child pornography (straw man):
Claims have been made that child pornography laws may be violated by 
using the machines. This is obviously a straw-man argument, which if has 
any basis in reality can easily be avoided.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jan/04/new-scanners-child-porn-laws

This campaign against full body scanners at airports, if it is indeed 
more than just background noise, is certainly fascinating to watch, even 
if I am against these machines.

To learn about reframing issues in politics, I strongly recommend the 
lectures from the 2007 Orwell conference, which I review here:
http://gevron.livejournal.com/25314.html

        Gadi.


-- 
Gadi Evron,
ge () linuxbox org.

Blog: http://gevron.livejournal.com/
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