SHOES

In an attempt to put an end to the frustration of trying to get cleared for a flight at the airport and make the trip through security a little smoother, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is looking to revive an old idea which would handle checking footwear.

Since 2001, the TSA has pushed to have passengers remove their shoes after Richard Reid tried to ignite explosives in his boots on a flight heading to the United States.  By 2006, show removal was mandatory after another failed attempt to blow up planes with liquid explosives.

With close to a dozen companies developing shoe scanning machines, the TSA has stated that it is in the process of buying 100 of these innovative pieces of technology by 2011.  - hiphopwired.com

REFUSAL

Two Muslim women in the United Kingdom refused a full-body scan at an airport, becoming the first fliers to do so, the Daily Mail reports.

The women were traveling together to Islamabad when they were selected at random by security officials to be screened with the full-body scanner.

According to the London newspaper, one of the women refused to pass through because of religious objections, while the other cited medical reasons. - nydailynews.com

BINS

Before I could wipe the stunned look off my face, Mr. Wu hoisted my compact but fairly heavy suitcase stuffed with shoes, books and too many clothes, and gingerly stowed it above my seat. Thanks Larry! Then he proceeded to do the same for other harried passengers as they boarded.

It’s not standard Virgin America procedure but Mr. Wu said it helps speed up the boarding and deplaning process. “I get my workout for the day and people are happy,” he said. He can generally fit more bags in the overhead bins by skillfully flipping them sideways or piling them on top of one another, like a game of Tetris.  And he can help ensure passengers don’t bilk the system by placing their bag at the front of the plane when they are seated farther back. - NYT

“You do know that one of the easiest routes to back injury is placing bags into overhead luggage bins when you fly,” said Doktor George. “You should really make sure you take care as it’s so easy to throw your back out.” “What are you suggesting, then?” I asked. “It might be time to rethink your luggage,” he said.

At this point I think my eyes might have narrowed as I stared at Doktor George. I was trying to read what the good doctor was suggesting and whether he was baiting me in jest or serious about a complete rethink of my no checked luggage, no carry-on wheely-bag policy. 

“Definitely something to think about for 2010,” I said with a smile.- ft.com

TB promises a conclusion to this quandry next week. In the mean time I must say again, going one-bag is a bad idea if that one bag is too heavy. Maybe that’s the point of the above-quoted exchange. Take the 10%-of-body-weight rule seriously unless you’re quite fit and quite young!

“The biggest challenge is that we are trying to find a needle in a haystack because the fraction of criminals in the population is very small,” Cavusoglu said. “What we say is that it’s not enough to have a screening system, but if the screening system and profiler complement one another, we have a better shot at finding the needle.”

Although previous studies explore the effectiveness of profiling, Raghunathan says this is the first major study that examines how profiling can work with screening devices to create a system that balances the needs of airlines with that of customers. The UT Dallas professors began looking for a security system that provides the benefits of catching attackers while effectively outweighing the costs – in money, time, inconvenience, privacy, and liberties. - entire story at Pegasus News