Travelers to Experience Invasion of the Body Scanners

The last word that comes to mind when asked to describe a Miamian is modest. Or over-clothed.

So then we shouldn't be too ruffled - except maybe about  having to actually wear underwear now -- by the Transportation Security Administration's decision to outfit several airports across the country with full body scanners.

Boston and Chicago will get theirs next week, while Fort Lauderdale, as well as cities such as Los Angeles and Kansas City, will see the machines installed in the coming months.

The machines are among the 150 bought with stimulus money and the decision to deploy them was made before Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, now known as the Underwear Bomber, got through security on Christmas day with explosives in his unmentionables.

The scanners, however, have raised questions about their effectiveness, their health risks and their obvious question of privacy invasion. Some say airports should forgo the pricey machines and instead concentrate efforts on better passenger screening procedures, while others fear the radiation that is emitted from the scanners, although manufacturers have ensured that the scanners emit a very low dose of radiation.

Finally, there's the issue of people not wanting their fellow passengers to see them in their birthday suits. Those privacy concerns are still being addressed, but in the meantime, we're going to go stock up on sensible Hanes briefs.