The Paranoid Guide to Better Living: Scanners & The Fat Wallets of Congress
And now your host, Paranoia:
I love Fox News. I mean, if Fox News was a woman I'd certainly chase after her. We'd have a torrid one night stand, then I'd slip her a $20 bill and sneak out of the room — giving her a false name in the process. And she'd be cool with the whole thing. Because that's what Fox News is. A common whore. Which is why I love Fox News.
For instance, what other news site is going to open up an article with this statement: "So which elected officials own stakes in full-body scanning machines now in more than 60 U.S. airports? And what are those individual investments worth?"
They then go on to say they can't connect the dots between the investments and the actual usage of the scanners. No shit. We all know that politicians make their money one of three ways. Either from their meager salaries, from brown paper bags handed to them by lobbyists or from the investments made with the money in those paper bags.
So basically, using some recent studies by the Center for Responsive Politics, they tie investments in L-3 Communications (one of the largest defense & technology manufacturing firms in the world) to the scanners because L-3 made some of them. Really? Normally this is something I would be on board with, but it seems just a tad far-fetched.
L-3 Communications got a $165 million contract for the machines. Another company - RapiScan, was also awarded a $173 million contract according to the Center. The report goes on to say that "RapiScan has hired Michael Chertoff, former secretary of Homeland Security under Republican President George W. Bush. It also says former Republican Sen. Alfonse D'Amato (R-N.Y.) and Linda Daschle, the wife of former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.), also lobby for L-3."
Whoa. That's a bit different. Both companies have increased lobbying over the past couple of years, which means a lot of money has been changing hands. Money that isn't reported for sure, but used for "investments." So is there some truth to this? Should we stoke the paranoid fire with this kind of information?
Sure. Why the hell not? Let's roll with it. Like I said before, we need to be outraged and revolt against the current bullshit security processes put in place at airports.
This is just further evidence that it's all useless and based on money. Politicians are getting rich while our creepy x-ray naked pictures are being ogled by equally creepy TSA troglodytes. Paranoia out.
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