Plane Passes to Be Checked for Explosives

[Rose Siding]

WASHINGTON -- The airport closest to the nation's capital is now the first to test boarding passes for residue from explosives. A positive test would suggest the passenger had recently handled explosives. The Transportation Security Administration began the pilot project this week at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport.

Passengers selected for a secondary screening have their boarding passes tested while undergoing other checks, said Darrin Kayser, speaking for the agency. Security agents use a box one foot square with a swatch of fabric that picks up microscopic samples.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-airport-explosives-test,0,535232.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[Snow]

1. Anyone know what the false positive rate is for those, and what

the cross-reactants are? The business of checking money for cocaine residue and then claiming the person carrying that money has had drug dealings, then using drug laws to confiscate cars & such is a very lucrative business. There was an article in the American Journal of Public Health a few years ago that showed something like 80% of paper money in circulation in the US has detectable cocaine.

[jmowreader]

5. Anything with a lot of nitrogen would kick this

Meaning gardeners (lotsa nitrogen in fertilizer), my wife (who sells a lot of fertilizer), janitors who use ammonia to scrub floors, industrial refrigeration techs, optics technicians, and anyone else who deals with nitrogen on a regular basis are terrorists.

[Demonaut]

6. check nickles, I learned how to make a pot pipe from US GOVERNMENT

pens whilst in the Navy

[Demeter]

2. Too Bad they don't test for IQ

We could round up and quarrantine a bunch of GOP idiots that way. Gitanamo will need to be refilled once all the unfairly imprisoned are set free to sue us for false imprisonment.

[smirkymonkey]

7. LOL! I like that idea even better!

:toast:

[DebJ]

3. great news bulletin...now terrorists will make sure they

clean their hands appropriately before handling the boarding passes.

What the hell good is announcing this type of security measure?
It's about as effective as the 24 inch high fences around Washington DC buildings....expensive joke....all show, no results.

[Rose Siding]

4. Every time I see one of this kind of security announcement...

my inner LIHOPer wonders if it's a CYA action.

[shraby]

8. It's just a good way to

link the words planes and bombs to scare people.

[DoNotRefill]

9. Net result: Lots of hippie horticulturalists are gonna get...

strip searched. Maybe next time I fly, I will refuse to shower for a week beforehand...might as well gross them out...