Body Scanner Use Prompts Privacy Fears

Updated: Wednesday, 30 Dec 2009, 8:42 AM PST
Published : Tuesday, 29 Dec 2009, 10:22 PM PST

• 

  Reporter:
  Ed Laskos

Posted by: Tony Spearman

Los Angeles - One of the devices that could have prevented last Friday's failed attack is a full body scanner, which can see if anyone is hiding explosives under their clothes.

By using the body scanners, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is hoping to detect non-metallic weapons such as plastic and liquid explosives that would not be found by metal detectors.

Metal detectors, which cost about $10,000, have been used in airports since 1973. The body scanners cost approximately $170,000.

The body scanners have raised concerns among privacy advocates.

"We're getting closer and closer to a required strip-search to board an airplane," Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union had told USA Today in 2008.

However, the TSA says the images don't reveal as much as people think. "We've struck a very good balance between security and privacy," TSA spokesman Christopher White said.

Others are also worried about exposure to radiation with the new machines, but the TSA says the scanners bounce harmless "millimeter waves" off passengers' bodies and use no radiation.

Giant Cheese Sculpture at Indiana Fair

Updated: Thursday, 13 Aug 2009, 5:54 PM EDT
Published : Thursday, 13 Aug 2009, 5:26 PM EDT

MyFox National Reports

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - This year’s Indiana State Fair is featuring a milky masterpiece – a sculpture made entirely of cheese.

The work of art depicting a family shopping was carved out of two 640-pound blocks of cheddar, and also includes gouda, white cheddar, pepper jack and even string cheese.

The sculpture was commissioned by the American Dairy Association of Indiana.

Sarah Kaufmann spent five days inside a cooler creating the sculpture.

"I started this sculpture on Friday morning with the big 640-pound blocks in place already. … The rest of these pieces are all slabs that came out of the middle of the sculpture. I would say it's taken me about 75 hours to complete this project," Kaufmann says.

Life-Sized Cheese Santa Completed

Santa Sculpted in 640 Pounds of Cheese

Updated: Friday, 18 Dec 2009, 10:19 AM EST
Published : Monday, 14 Dec 2009, 1:17 PM EST

MyFox National Reports

(MYFOX NATIONAL) - A Wisconsin grocery store celebrated a "dairy" Merry Christmas with a life-sized version of Santa. Artists used 640 pounds of mild cheddar cheese to sculpt a 5-foot 6-inch St. Nick.

Pick and Save, a Milwaukee grocery store, is displaying the cheesy sculpture of Santa Claus for the holidays. The Wisconsin Milk Board sponsored the event.

The leftovers from the carving were served as samples at the supermarket, according to WKOW-TV reports.