TSA tries soothing screening process. All I can say is GACK..... gee why don't we have a little puking icon for occasions such as these??

No more "barkers?" Where will they be transferred to?

Harmless, huh? Will the screener have to delete the image, or will going to the next victim automatically effect that process?

I'm glad I don't fly from BWI.

No way in hell will I walk through that damn scanner, random selection or not. Not enough long-term data for me to feel comfortable with needlessly exposing myself to unnecessary doses of radiation.

"Hawley has sought to "calm the passenger" "

How about he starts with reasonable goals... like not p!ss!ng them off for starters??

They have got to be kidding me. Mood lighting? TSO biographies in the queues? Don't they have anything better to spend their money on?

Burn some candles, maybe have the TSO's offer massages...
Oooh...maybe they will allow me to sip on a good glass of wine too!

I would rather not fly than walk through that scanner.

"Do you want to fly today?"

Not anymore.

I assume the pat-down/grope option is available for those who don't want to go through.

I think this can be a good idea.

However, there's something about this whole idea that unsettles me. I can't put my finger on it. Maybe it's because Kip keeps saying the words "hostile intent" and "terrorist" over and over again - I'm so unbelievably sick of hearing the word terrorist. It's getting really old. If this was set up just to calm passengers, then I'd feel good about this, but they just had to bring up terrorists and those with hostile intent.

Plus, this kind of eeriely reminds me of someone's vision of future screenings - being given "drowsy" medications before going through security. While this definitely isn't even close to that, it does seem like a tenative step towards that direction.

I don't know - maybe I'm just being cynical. Let's discuss this further.

And, how would this make security go faster?

At BWI, no less. Guarantee that with the staff there it will turn out to be unpleasant and a problem.

Whole body scanner? That was supposed to be optional. I'm betting that the arrogant screeners at BWI make it MANDATORY.

I'll also bet that this gets installed on the line that has the new carry-on baggage screener that doesn't require that you take stuff out of your bag.

Why does this nitwit agency have to do everything in the extreme??

Mood lighting? Biographies? Soothing music?

How about some good, plain, old fashioned customer service acumen, good manners, and respect of the flying public - just that alone would go miles to make screening less stressful and wouldn't cost the US taxpayer a dime.

Ironically, this is being tested at a checkpoint at BWI - a classic example of the worst behaved screeners in the country. If they want this to work, they better inject their staff with some type of happy+smart drug before they start each shift.

Correct...

And this comment in the comment section of the article (assuming it's a real screener from BWI - I'll say the attitude lends credibility to that assumption) clearly demonstrates what you're saying:

I have an idea -- mayby Kippie can use some of those mood panels to display poster-size versions of the Bill of Rights -- both the original and the DHS/TSA "redacted" versions...

and this is being piloted at bwi???? excuse me while i laugh......