Boy's Play-Doh Confiscated By TSA Agent

Better to be safe than sorry, they always say. Thus, a Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agent confiscated a young boy's Play-Doh on a post-Christmas flight out of New Orleans last week.

It should be noted that the words "Post-Christmas" probably also means "enhanced security" in the wake of the Christmas Day attempt by Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to bomb Northwest Airlines flight 253. Still, it appears that Play-Doh is not specifically on the TSA's prohibited item list, as Josh Pitney's mother, Christy Pitney found out.

However, because plastic explosives can be camouflaged to look like Play-Doh, a TSA spokeswoman said screeners are told to use their own discretion. Coming when it did, it was obvious that discretion would mean "play it safe."