The thing of it is, you have to raise your arms in mock surrender as you stand in this thing. You enter, turn to face the officers peering impassively into their flatscreens, themselves several paces away behind a tinted window. Once you have placed your feet according to the painted marks on the floor, you’re told to “put your hands up” which is reminiscent of what poplice used tell criminals toward whom they were aiming their guns.

Signage explains that you are in no danger of x-ray exposure, as you enter the thick transparent cylinder. L3’s Pro-Vision website reasserts the claim. Although you wonder why the security personnel are kept at a distance and behind thick glass.

Do we have any assurance anymore, that posted disclaimers mean anything at all, especially coming from an unprincipled war profiteer like L3 Communications?