I believe the Underwear Bomber is what prompted the speedy installation of the porno-scanners.

My understanding is that the concern is radiation

And I figure no one looking at the scans actually cares. Do they log them somewhere?

>it will show any contraband such as ceramic knives, liquid explosives or drugs that the person was carrying but were previously undetectable by metal detectors or conventional X-ray machines

[link] Okay, so in addition to showing the body, it shows anything hidden in the clothes. That was the part I was missing.

If someone wants to go to the trouble of capturing my particular scan and post it on the net, they've got bigger troubles than I do. Unless there's a thriving market for electronic images of anonymous, fat, 50-year-old women out there. I hear the Japanese are into weird things.

They actually have been saved. Although it was supposed to be an accident: [link]

I am worried about one more source of radiation. I'd opt for the groping rather than the scanner.

Happy birthday, sumi!

My kids have heard swear words here and there, but we don't tend to use them at home, which mean my kids have not clue one how to use them in conversation.

It was weird hanging out with my best friend from university and her eight-year old and working out what was okay to say and what wasn't. I mean, this friend was as wild as or wilder than me as a kid, and isn't exactly toeing the straight and narrow for a forty year old, but her kid's well old enough to understand or want to much of what I'm talking about.

And my filters only work well at the office.

I don't think I crossed any lines--and I was careful about the actual subject matter, but they did swear more than my default kid-level tries to aim for.

Which was nice.

Kid's a total straight arrow. It's cute.

Tangentially, she got to wear purple nail polish for Halloween, and BFF said that she only let her wear bright colours for special occasions, since they were grownup. In my head, crayola colours are more kidlike, and I'd expect to see them on an eight-year old before beige, since, you know, fun.

My friend texted to say she was in labor this morning and then her sister just posted that she'd had the baby this morning with no other details. Am going crazy wanting more info NOW! (Awesomely, verrrrry pregnant friend made it out to my bachelorette party on Saturday night!)

I just wish someone would admit that travel has inherent risks and we'll do what we can to minimize them without making everyone feel like they'd rather have stayed home.

There is absolutely no way to insure that a really smart, determined person won't get a weapon or bomb aboard a passenger airplane sometime in the future.