After a report that a child’s Play-Doh was confiscated by the TSA in New Orleans, it turns out that the Play-Doh should not have been confiscated. Play-Doh is not a prohibted item. That said, it was noted that “because plastic explosives can be cammouflaged to look like play doh, screeners are told to use their own discretion“.
To be fair, I haven’t had the chance to meet every TSA screener employed in the United States (and around the world), but I can’t say that I’ve been very impressed with many of the TSA screener’s I have met to date. I don’t think I want to leave it to their “discretion” to figure out if a container of colored putty is really Play-Doh or plastic explosive?!?
And what is with the “Underwear Bomber” and this ridiculous call for “body scanners”?!? From all descriptions, the material (less than 3 ounces of PETN) that was sewn into this idiot’s underwear could have easily been hidden in a variety of carry-on scenarios! If a terrorist is serious, he could easily disguise the material in so many ways, it’s not worth trying to list them. This guy clearly wasn’t very serious – I can’t imagine someone willing to die for a cause who wouldn’t be 200% prepared to carry out his final act!
Instead of taking Play-Doh away from babies and invading everyone’s privacy with full body scanners, why don’t we screen the person?!? When someone is on the “Terrorist Watch List”, SCREEN THEM. When someone buys their tickets with cash, SCREEN THEM. When someone buys a 1-way ticket, SCREEN THEM. When someone has no luggage, SCREEN THEM. When someone is on the “Terrorist Watch List” AND buys their tickets with cash AND buys a 1-way ticket AND has no luggage, SCREEN THAT MOTHER F%$&ER LIKE YOU AINT NEVER SCREENED ANYONE BEFORE!!!
Until the TSA starts deploying “explosive sniffers”, all this other crap is just a weak attempt make it appear that the screening protects the public.
“Play-Doh” is a registered trademark of Hasbro, Inc.