Do you remember the security X-ray screeners in the movie Total Recall, where the passengers filed through a corridor and on the outside… security personnel could see their skeletons as they passed through?

Those are now a reality… sort of.

The TSA has begun deploying security screening devices which can see through a person’s clothing, exposing any metal, explosives, plastics, or ceramics that might be hidden underneath.

Ten US Airports are getting the machines, with a total of 30 screeners planned across the country by the end of 2008.

The controversy, of course, is that in addition to any guns or other contraband, these machines also apparently show off the passenger’s naked body.  The ACLU thinks that’s unacceptable:

“People have no idea how graphic the images are,” Barry Steinhardt, director of the technology and liberty program at the American Civil Liberties Union, told AFP.

Okay, is there anything the ACLU finds acceptable?  Isn’t it their mission to abhor and challenge pretty much everything?

But seriously, they have a point here.  How many of you, by show of hands, want the TSA screeners to see you naked?  Yeah, that’s what I thought.

Oh, but they won’t know who you are:

While it allows the security screeners — looking at the images in a separate room — to clearly see the passenger’s sexual organs as well as other details of their bodies, the passenger’s face is blurred, TSA said in a statement on its website.

Right.  Because they can’t see my face as I’m walking into the machine.  Somehow I don’t see the fact that the faces are blurred making Americans feel better about being so exposed.

The images are also not stored in any way, but are erased once the passenger is cleared through the checkpoint.  So that’s good, at least.

Look, not to be graphic or anything, but I really don’t care if the TSA wants to see me naked.  I’m all for doing whatever it takes to help make the skies safer.  And I’m no Adonis–it’s their loss, really, if they have to put me in one of these things.

But millions of Americans are going to cry foul.

Thankfully, the TSA is saying that travelers have some options:

Lara Uselding, a TSA spokeswoman, added that passengers are not obliged to accept the new machines.  “The passengers can choose between the body imaging and the pat-down,” she told AFP.

Sweet.  So if I don’t want strangers to see me naked I can choose to let strangers put their hands all over me.  Excellent choice.  I believe that’s what’s called a Catch-22.

Anyway, now that the TSA is blogging, you can head over there and leave them some feedback on this new development.

Not to be outdone by the TSA (Transportation Safety Administration), the U.S. Department of Transportation (the DOT) has now started a blog. 

Is this how we know when something is officially passe?  When our government entities jump on the bandwagon, maybe it’s a sign that blogging is no longer cool. 

I mean, what’s next… a MySpace page for Fed Chair Ben Bernanke?  “Just upt intrst rate 4 fun. LOL!”

Anyway, back to the point… The DOT now has a blog, which you can see here.  Wonderful. 

The U.S. Transportation Secretary, Mary Peters, has decided the DOT needs to step into the technology age.  From her first-ever blog post:

“After all, if I’m going to insist on 21st Century solutions for our transportation system, I better communicate in a 21st century way!”

Right on, Mary!!  Blogs are the one thing that can instantly make you modern and hip.  I mean, governemnt agencies starting blogs is a bit like my mom getting a Facebook page. 

I think it’s important to know that some elements of this blog will be censored.  From the article:

“Comments are reviewed to make sure they’re free of personal attacks, slurs or inappropriate language. If a topic attracts hundreds of comments, an agency spokesman said a representative sample of them may be posted instead.”

So, if you use hate speak or attack anyone personally, or use slurs, or swear…. your comment may be deleted.  But if you ask me, “inappropriate language” is a pretty vague thing to pinpoint.  So, don’t be surprised if readers of that blog start complaining that they have a criticism comment that’s been censored. 

Also, it appears they may censor comments if they simply get too many of them, which is weird.  They’re going to post a “sampling” of them instead–yeah right… a “sampling” means “the nicest and most complimentary comments only.” 

See, the whole point of a blog is that it builds discussion… builds community… encourages dialogue.  But censoring comments simply because you already got a hundred others seems strange and counter-productive.  “Oh, there’s just too much discussion going on here… we’re putting a stop to that.”  Bizarre. 

According to Wikipedia’s page on the DOT, their mission is:

“to serve the United States by ensuring a fast, safe, efficient, accessible and convenient transportation system that meets our vital national interests and enhances the quality of life of the American people, today and into the future.”

They may need to ammend that mission statement now to include some mention of their new 21st century tactics.  Maybe just a “… by blogging” at the end of the mission statement.  That should cover it. 

Or maybe not.  Seems that the DOT is also going to be starting their own YouTube channel.  Wow.  Talk about riveting!  DOT officials talking about transportation issues?  Sign me up now!  Where do I subscirbe? 

Right now I seriously can’t think of anything more boring than DOT’s YouTube channel.  Perhaps if the Department of Housing & Urban Devleopment started Twittering… maybe then that would be more boring. 

So do we give the DOT props for at least trying to be relevant and hip?  I guess we have to.  At least they’re trying.  I mean, what technological advances has the Department of Agriculture embraced?  Yeah, that’s what I thought. 

Anyway, you can view the DOT’s official site here, which is badly in need of a makeover.  Or go straight to their awesome new blog here–which appears to have been specifically designed to look like a blog from 1999–stealthy.  Looks like one of their first orders of business was to let Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley write a post, which is WAY less boring than you might think.  Or not.

Am I being to hard on them?  Probably.  Is mocking them too easy a thing to do for me to resist it?  Almost certainly.  I guess I’m generally in favor of government agencies embracing cutting edge technology and communication tools, but it feels so forced, and more than a little behind-the-trend. 

So blogging is a big deal.  Everyone’s doing it, even us (you’re reading our blog right now).  If you don’t have a blog, you’re behind the trend, right? 

So it should make perfect sense that the Transportation Security Administration launched a blog yesterday.  The TSA, if you didn’t know, is the organization that attempts to ensure that you don’t board an aircraft with a lighter or a big bottle of shampoo or any other deadly weapon. 

Okay, they’re looking for guns and bombs and knives too.  And by all accounts they do an excellent job.  Wait…. no…. maybe that’s not right.  Sometimes they let fake bombs through.  But hey….with millions of air travelers a day, they can’t be expected to catch everything, can they?  What’s the harm in a fake bomb getting through the security checkpoint anyway?  I mean….it’s a fake bomb… not a real one. 

Oh, wait.  But if a fake one can get through, then probably a real one could.  That would be bad.  Hmmm. 

Maybe the TSA annoys you by patting you down every time you go through screening.  Maybe they annoy you by unwrapping your Christmas presents you packed in your suitcase during the holidays.  Maybe they annoy you by not stopping fake bombs.  Regardless, if you want to give them some feedback, The TSA is blogging now, and you can now leave them a comment.  They promise they’ll be reading them and reacting to them:

“We will incorporate what we learn in this forum in our checkpoint process evolution,” Hawley wrote. “Our postings from the public will be reviewed to remove the destructive, but not touch the critical or cranky.”

So they’re also going to censor the comments, deleting the “destructive” ones.  Not sure what qualifies as a destructive comment, but I’m guessing it would be vulgarity or threats.  Apparently, the critical and cranky comments are allowed.  But when I went to the blog, which you can find here, I saw 162 comments on the main post, and I had to scroll pretty far through them to even find some negative feedback. 

I find that hard to believe.  I think people are generally quite negative.  I also think people are generally not satisfied with the TSA, whether or not it’s fair.  I don’t want to be a conspiracy theorist, but I think there should be more negative comments on the blog than we’re currently seeing.  But maybe the word hasn’t gotten out yet.  Right now, many of the comments seem to be coming from actual employees of the TSA–screeners–and they seem to be very supportive and encouraging. 

Not everyone feels so supportive:

“This will just make it easier for them to receive complaints for them to ignore in the name of national security,” said David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association.

I say:  at least they’re trying something.  At least they’re trying to improve their feedback system and trying to reach out to consumers.  At least the TSA is blogging.  I think more government agencies need to blog, like the CIA and the FCC and the White House staff.  Everything can be improved with the help of a blog–imagine the comments people would leave on that blog!

Anyway, if you want to let the TSA know what you think of the job they’re doing, head on over to their brand spanking new blog and leave them a comment.  I can’t promise it will do any good, but it can’t hurt.