WASHINGTON

The Transportation Security Administration said Thursday it will test a program to pre-screen a small group of select air travelers who volunteer more personal information about themselves so they can be vetted to get faster screening at airport checkpoints.

The new program represents the Obama administration’s first attempt at a more risk-based, intelligence-driven passenger screening program that could respond to travelers’ complaints that the government is not using common sense when it screens all passengers at airports in the same manner.

The change comes amid a typically busy summer travel season and on the heels of a public outcry over TSA screeners giving enhanced pat-downs to children and the elderly, people who ostensibly pose no security threat.

The test program was expected to begin sometime this fall.

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The World luxury Spa Awards™ gives recognition&thanks to Nira Spa. The Award congratulates unsurpassed service excellence and puts the spotlight on our spas that represent the finest standards and thus attracting the attention of global spa-goers and industry experts. Open to luxury spas in the respective categories, the World Luxury Spa Awards™ are recognized and respected on the global front by the public and media at large and are universally acknowledged. The World Luxury Spa Awards™ celebrate the spa industry with 8 spa categories. The caliber of entries for 2011 was outstanding and as such the bar was set high.
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Its not every day that a passenger tries to walk through a checkpoint with over a dozen knives in their carry-on, reads the TSAs latest Good Catch post.

Hidden within the TSA Web site like marijuana in a jar of Skippy is Good Catch, a series of press releases brimming with obvious statements (currency cannot bring down an airplane) and tales of security screenings gone awry.

In March, illegal items artfully concealed in peanut butter proved no match for checked baggage screeners at Los Angeles International Airport. The peanut butter is an approved item.

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In keeping with the New York theme of posts, here is a video taken by Fred Claessen of Rotterdam’s arrival at New York. Thanks, Fred!

One of the most recognized names around the world in Champagne is Dom Pérignon. Whether or not you are a food and wine connoisseur, you’ve undoubtedly heard the name before.

Regarded as one of the premier wine producing areas in the world, the Champagne region of France is home to Dom Pérignon. Unfamiliar with the difference between the names Champagne and Sparkling Wine? Much like similar enforcement rules about Scotch whisky, Champagnes can only be called such if they come from the Champagne region in France, but they are in essence, a sparkling wine. T

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