Back in August, the Transportation Security Administration started shunting anyone wearing "bulky headwear" into an automatic secondary screening, usually requiring the removal of said headwear. This was particularly irritating to Sikhs, since doffing their
turban is considered embarrassing, not to mention time-consuming in both the removal and rewrapping. After a public outcry from Sikhs and others, the TSA yesterday revised its rules, now merging turbans and everything else above the neck into the "
bulky clothing" category, which means it can be sufficiently checked with a patdown at a security checkpoint (though screeners can still request, i.e. demand, that the headwear be removed in a private area for inspection). Wary of getting into endless debates about other fixed headgear, the TSA issued a blanket amnesty for anyone who doesn't want to bare their pate for any reason, religious or otherwise. As this AP story
notes, this ruling covers not only turbans, but also "cowboy hats," not to mention "berets," answering protests from ornery gunslingers and puckish mimes — all of whom have just as much reason to keep their hats as those irritable Sikhs, certainly.
Gridskipper
X-ray imaging may be coming to an airport near you. Whole Body Imaging Technology, which uses millimeter wave imaging, is a sophisticated scanning system that will allow TSA officials to see through clothing in order to search for weapons and explosives. One of the scanners was unveiled last week at LAX's Delta Airlines terminal. [
Last month, everyone's favorite government organization/blogger, the TSA, began to organize a small portion of itself along ski-hill technology. At the Salt Lake City and Denver airports, passengers are asked to "self-select" into three groups based on their knowledge of security procedures — and ski hill nomenclature. Because the westerners were so good at this special form of self-knowledge, the TSA plans on expanding the trials to Boston, Orlando, and Spokane. But when it comes time to segregating yourself, will you know where to stand, or will you have to just get right back on that lift and go back to your squalid split-level in defeat? Some sorting tips after the jump.
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