No, you can accurately describe me as a "careful reader." None of the activities you've described above are (1) imposed on me by the government, (2) elevate the medical risks of very specific diseases, or (3) completely unnecessary and without personal return. As I've told you before, I am a melanoma survivor. The report is very, very clear that the x-ray scanning resulted in a concentration of ionizing radiation in the skin layer, the situs where melanoma develops. The report further indicated that the amount of ionizing radiation concentrated in the skin layer is significantly higher (by an order of magnitude if I recall correctly) than background radiation, notwithstanding the total dose absorbed by the entire human body. The report also does not mention the fact that the negative effects of ionizing radiation is cumulative. And, of course, it does NOT say that the scanners were safe.

Ah, good, because I would never ask you to do so.

Interesting choice of metaphor. I hope you never get melanoma or it might, indeed, be a considerable amount of skin off your nose.

What is ironic is that, whereas I actually read the entire report before posting my response to you, you had only read a travel-industry blog entry that summarized it. That, by the way, is one of the reasons why I would never ask you to do any reading for me.

As I said, I hope you never get melanoma. Do you want to know what's scary? Being told by your doctor that you have a choice: undergo immediate surgery involving slicing off a substantial portion of the skin on your face with the possibility, not only of disfiguring scarring, but of facial paralysis, OR, die within four years when the cancer metastasizes to your brain and lungs. THAT is scary. And that is why anyone who would submit to x-ray scanning by TSA is not just a fool, but a damned fool. By the way, I was lucky -- the 5-inch scar on my face isn't all that noticeable and no nerves were severed so there is no paralysis.

What about it do you find terrifying? Too many big words?