The Look of the Future Here's the creepist development I saw last week. The Transportation Security Administration, those folks who go through your luggage and underwear at the airport, have unveiled the latest boondoggle to screen passengers: the X-ray viewer. Apparently, making you walk around in your socks and getting felt up to ascertain that your underwire bra isn't a hydrogen bomb each aren't enough of an intrusion into your dignity. Now the world can see you stripped down to your undies (or less): love handles, spare tires, and all. Susan Hallowell, one the head techies at TSA responsible for this nightmarish idea, volunteered to show the public just how benign that gizmo is.




See, what's the big deal? There's a reason Hallowell's name reminds me of Halloween.

To show how effective this X-ray device is, the TSA released photos demonstrating how hidden objects such as pistols can now be discovered. Nevermind that all these guns could be found by a metal detector. So common sense is as foreign an idea to the federal government as is the concept of dignity.

What's to keep your flattering X-ray picture from winding up on the Internet? Why, the straight-faced assurances of the TSA.

The same day I read this article, I also read how Homeland Security, the parent organization of TSA, is being audited for not being able to account for millions of dollars. Considering that governments have been keeping records since the time they invented money, the TSA is telling us to trust them on the high-tech stuff while they can't handle basic arithmetic. (Remember how the VA lost the laptop with millions of veterans' private info?) So this week's question is: How long after the X-ray viewer is put into operation will it be before we see photos of major celebs (or you) on the Internet? I'm taking bets.  ¶ posted by Mario Acevedo @ 6:17 PM