† The TSA Emperor Wears No Clothes: Part II: TSA officials have repeatedly assured a skittish public that images captured by full-body airport scanners vaporize as soon as a traveler exits, but that turns out to be untrue. CNET News reports that the U.S. Marshals Service - a division of the Department of Justice - has “surreptitiously” saved 35,314 images recorded with a millimeter wave system at the security checkpoint of a federal courthouse in Orlando, FL:

Body scanners penetrate clothing to provide a highly detailed image so accurate that critics have likened it to a virtual strip search. Technologies vary, with millimeter wave systems capturing fuzzier images, and backscatter X-ray machines able to show precise anatomical detail. …

These "devices are designed and deployed in a way that allows the images to be routinely stored and recorded, which is exactly what the Marshals Service is doing," EPIC executive director Marc Rotenberg told CNET. "We think it's significant." …

A 70-page document (PDF) showing the TSA's procurement specifications, classified as "sensitive security information," says that in some modes the scanner must "allow exporting of image data in real time" and provide a mechanism for "high-speed transfer of image data" over the network. (It also says that image filters will "protect the identity, modesty, and privacy of the passenger.")

"TSA is not being straightforward with the public about the capabilities of these devices," Rotenberg said. "This is the Department of Homeland Security subjecting every U.S. traveler to an intrusive search that can be recorded without any suspicion--I think it's outrageous." EPIC's lawsuit says that the TSA should have announced formal regulations, and argues that the body scanners violate the Fourth Amendment, which prohibits "unreasonable" searches.

Full-body scanners will soon come to an airport near you - NYC, Dallas, D.C., Miami, San Francisco, Seattle, and Philadelphia are on the list to get them installed - unless the Electronic Privacy Information Center succeeds in getting a federal judge to issue an  injunction to put the program on hold.

Editorial Note: Images captured by a scanner being tested at a Washington, D.C. courthouse are no longer in the possession of the USMS. The scanner was returned to the manufacturer – and the USMS believes images may still be stored in the machine.

† The Uniter: Part III: Dems sought to tamp down the brouhaha over the Department of Justice’s Voting Rights Section dismissing the Black Panther voter intimidation case by incorporating into their talking points claims by Abigail Thernstrom in an interview that conservatives on the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights have “a wild notion they could bring Eric Holder down and really damage the president.” Being a Republican appointee to the commission, supposedly made her credibility bulletproof. Well, now the colleagues she smeared as partisan ideologue s are pushing back, reports The Washington Times:

In a statement, five Republican and independent commission members - describing themselves as "conservative-leaning colleagues" - took issue with comments by Commission Vice Chairman Abigail Thernstrom, also a Republican appointee, who called the New Black Panther Party probe "politically motivated."

"Our fellow member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, Abigail Thernstrom, has asserted in various media outlets that the commission's investigation into the Justice Department's handling of the New Black Panther Party matter is a politically-motivated attempt to damage President Obama," the five said in the statement.

"Not only is this accusation baseless, it deflects attention from the serious allegations of wrongdoing within the Department of Justice both in connection with the New Black Panther Party case and more broadly," it said. …

The statement issued Thursday was signed by Republican members Gerald A. Reynolds, assistant general counsel at the Kansas City Power & Light Co., who serves as chairman; Peter N. Kirsanow, a partner at the Cleveland law firm of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Arnoff; and Ashley L. Taylor, a partner at the Richmond law firm of Troutman Sanders LLP; and independent appointees Gail Heriot, a law professor at the University of San Diego, and Todd F. Gaziano, senior fellow in legal studies at the Heritage Foundation in Washington.

"We decline to comment here on Commissioner Thernstrom's motives for making these statements or for any other votes or positions she's taken recently," the statement said, adding that her comments were "seized by some to diminish the importance and credibility of the investigation." …

According to the commissioners' statement, the New Black Panther Party investigation was prompted "solely by what a majority of commissioners (including, at one time, Commissioner Thernstrom) perceived as the unusual circumstances surrounding" the case.

† Updates To Previous Posts (sixth item, Is This Why We Fight?): Nasto Nadiri a 27-year-old who is  running for a seat in the Afghan Parliament, used a television show he hosts to incite a backlash against women’s shelters. “The TV host wields considerable power in shaping the national debate here, and has been using it to rail against women's rights and foreign aid organizations,” reports The Wall Street Journal:

The shelters are "not acceptable for our people, who have fought 30 years to put the word 'Islam' in front of Afghanistan," he says, referring to the country's full name, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. "We live in an Islamic country. ... But some NGOs come and want to make another way for our country." …

In Afghanistan's deeply conservative society, foreign aid groups are often looked at with suspicion, especially if they champion women's rights. Greater still is the scrutiny on women these shelters serve.

Many women in Afghanistan are thrown into the country's female prisons for broadly interpreted "moral crimes," which can include adultery or running away from one's family to avoid a forced marriage. Some aid workers say Afghanistan's police force often put women in prison when shelters are a more suitable place for them. Women in these shelters often face death threats for disgracing their families' honor by running away. …

"Many people in government oppose the shelters," says Shinkai Karokhail, a female lawmaker. The only reason the government is letting them stay open for now, she adds, is the pressure from the international community.

The Journal characterizes anti-woman and anti-Christian TV shows like Nasty Nasto Nadiri’s as another “success” of our nine-year nation-building effort, because the “hard-line Taliban regime … banned television.” So now hardliners with television shows encourage the subjugation and abuse of women, and whip up sectarian tensions. Some success.

† Updates To Previous Posts (sixth item, Defending The Indefensible): The American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights want the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Asset Control to license them to provide pro-bono legal representation to Nasser al-Awlaki, whose son Anwar al-Awlaki is linked to the murders of 13 soldiers at Fort Hood, TX,  the foiled Christmas Day bombing attempt of an airliner flying into Detroit and the failed Times Square bombing – among other plots to kill Americans (second item). The elder al-Awlaki is seeking to have his son removed from a list of terrorists wanted dead or alive, reports The Washington Times:

Last month, the Treasury Department designated the younger Mr. al-Awlaki as a foreign terrorist and began to go after his financial assets.

But the two civil liberties groups are saying: Not so fast.

Vince Warren, executive director of the Center for Constitutional Rights, said that a court of law should determine whether Anwar al-Awlaki's recruitment activities qualify as an immediate or imminent threat that would let a single agency of the U.S. government act as an unreviewable judge, jury and executioner.

"Whether or not it is an imminent threat, whether those sermons qualify or whether or not there is an immediacy to what he is saying is precisely what should be argued in a court of law," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. …

Stewart Baker, the author of a new book on technology and terrorism, "Skating on Stilts," and a former general counsel for the National Security Agency, said Mr. al-Awlaki was a legitimate target for the U.S. military despite his American citizenship.

"Awlaki has joined people who are engaged in military operations against the United States," Mr. Baker said. "He is at war voluntarily with the United States and therefore the United States can shoot back."

The ACLU and CCR disagree, and are challenging the Obama administration on this point.

† Updates To Previous Posts (third item, Is Obama Already A Lame Duck?: More from Washington Post op-ed columnist and former Bush 43 speechwriter Michael Gerson on why President Barack Hussein Obama’s detached manner detracts from his ability to lead:

Obama's challenge is not a lack of theatrics. It is a lack of range. The most effective modern presidents - a Franklin Roosevelt or a Ronald Reagan - were able to adopt a number of tones and roles. They could express grand national ambition, withering partisan contempt, humorous self-deprecation, tear-jerking sentimentality, patriotic passion - sometimes all in the same speech. They played an orchestra of arguments and emotions - blaring trumpets, soft violins, rude tubas.

Not every president - not even every successful president - has this kind of versatility. But Obama's monotone manner has worn poorly. During the primaries, his cool detachment highlighted Sen. John McCain's alarming excitability. As president, Obama's rhetorical range runs from lecturing to prickly - the full gamut from A to C. His speeches are symphonies performed entirely with a tin whistle and an accordion. …

Can a wartime president succeed without providing inspiration and expressing determination? What if even greater national exertions become necessary in North Korea or Iran? Sometimes it is not sufficient to organize a disorganized country. It must be led.

"Before the orator can inspire audiences with any emotion," argued Winston Churchill, "he must be swayed by it himself. When he would rouse their indignation his heart is filled with anger. Before he can move their tears his own must flow. To convince them he must himself believe."

† Updates To Previous Posts (last item, 10 Reasons Michelle Obama Should Be Proud – Really Proud – Of America): This latest installment in The Stiletto Blog’s ongoing series meant to help instill the necessary pride of country in Michelle Obama’s consciousness to enable her to serve as an unofficial ambassador focuses on 10-year old Stephen Goodman of Surprise, AZ, who has made it his personal mission to make greeting cards for each and every U.S. service member serving overseas – 180K in all. KSAZ (Channel 10-Phoenix) reports:

"I'm just doing it to make them feel good. Because it's not like anyone ever thanks them ... maybe a couple people do … so I just wanted to change that and make it one person higher." Stephen said.

The greetings inside are simple and from the heart. Stephen understands the overseas missions and that glorious word attached to them: freedom.

"This one says you're giving us freedom, 'cause they are … Other ones say thank you for serving our country because that's their choice and they're not forced to do it," said Stephen.

Stephen's grandfather, Manuel Noriega, helps out by doing most of the cutting. He doesn't mind though - he says something like this would've made his experience in Vietnam a bit easier. …

The cards will be dropped off at Luke Air Force Base, processed and sent overseas to the troops.

[Hat Tip: lemonfemale, a contributor to this blog.]