TSA Changes Rules on Nipple Rings

She demands apology, threatens lawsuit

(NEWSER) - A Texas woman is calling for an apology after airport security in Lubbock forced her to pull out her nipple piercings with a pair of pliers before boarding her plane, the AP reports. When her chest set off the security wand, Mandi Hamlin offered to show a female guard her unremovable piercings in private, but male guards insisted they be removed. She said she could hear them snickering as she did so. More»

'Total body imaging' devices look under clothes for weapons

(NEWSER) - New technology will allow screeners at Los Angeles International Airport to scan passengers with a device that effectively looks beneath their clothes, the LA Times reports. The “whole body imaging” machines are drawing mixed reviews—a TSA spokesman praised the "brand-new security tool," but an ACLU rep compared a scan to a “high-tech strip-search.” More»

...because it was a cupcake in a jar

(NEWSER) - Cupcakegate 2011 is proving to have quite the shelf life. The TSA commented on the sugary brouhaha this week, by way of a blog post on the topic. If you'll recall, security agents in Las Vegas confiscated a cupcake that Rebecca Hains was trying to take through security late last month because of its gel-like frosting. Outrage ensued. But as the TSA explains, there's one problem with the whole story: Hains wasn't carrying a traditional cupcake through security. More»

Explosives, snakes, and a harmless science project

(NEWSER) - Americans love griping about the TSA, and with good reason. The TSA, for instance, pocketed an estimated $376,480 of your loose change in 2010, notes the Huffington Post . But before your blood pressure shoots too high, consider this: TSA officers stopped some crazy and dangerous things from boarding flights this year. On its blog (yes, the TSA has a blog), the much-maligned agency relates the top 10 "good catches" of 2011. Among the notables:

• A half-ounce of C4 explosives: a passenger flying out of Yuma said he just wanted to show it to his family

Both allege that medical equipment led to improper search

(NEWSER) - Lenore Zimmerman isn't the only octogenarian who says she was strip-searched by the TSA during Thanksgiving week at New York's JFK airport. Zimmerman, 84, came forward first, but now the Baltimore Sun reports that Ruth Sherman, 88, and Linda Kallish, 66, both of whom were also en route to Florida and were in the same terminal as Zimmerman, have made similar claims. All three women have health problems: Zimmerman uses a defibrillator, wheelchair, and back brace; Sherman uses a colostomy bag; and Kallish uses a glucose monitor and an insulin pump for her diabetes. More»