The news today tells me that "Dubai authorities have announced that controversial body scanners will not be used at the Emirates' airports, in a blow to US security authorities who are facing a continued domestic backlash against the machines."
This bothers me!
I can just imagine the pervy wannabe security men in Dubai are bothered by this too. They've probably been filing applications for the position for months! They must now be gutted that there's STILL no way to see beneath women's abayas without marrying them.
Anyway, unfortunately for all, Dubai has announced that such scanners, designed to help security see through clothing "do not correspond with national customs and ethics," and this is what bothered me more than anything. Some of the practices in Dubai don't correspond with innocent, visiting holiday-makers either, like chucking every other drunk or "suspicious looking" person in the slammer.
One bigwig called Brig Ahmed bin Thani says “I do not feel that it is necessary for us to implement such a technology while we are operating different methods and have different avenues that have worked so far.”
Hmmm. Ok, what methods are those then Ahmed? Ooooh yes, that's right, the method of locking everyone up till they're proven innocent. Of course... who are we to impose on that? You've long been ruining happy lives on the assumption that the dodgy looking man with a poppy seed from a bagel stuck on his shoe is a drug mule, harbouring oodles of heroin in his underwear and haven't lost a moment's sleep over it. Great job! Of course there's no need to start scouting for the real criminals who walk your midst,... as that might stop you chasing the people bouncing cheques, which in turn might stop you blaming them for being the ones causing your economy to crumble. Doh!
Dubai's rejection of the technology could apparently prompt other sheep in the Middle Eastern states to follow their lead, like Abu Dhabi and Oman, in spite of the region being the fastest-growing airplane port in the whole wide world!
Amazing.
