Istanbul kicks off a culture-packed year

Seeing as the TSA hasn't been able to come up solutions, Slate asked readers to offer their suggestions for how to fix airport security. Of the hundreds of ideas submitted, a few were singled out as winners. As explained in Slate's post, a panel of judges that included former homeland security executives and a former airline security director sifted through the submissions and declared a few as the best, most practical and most effective ideas. Slate forwarded its favorite ideas to the TSA, the White House, and Congress. Will the government act on any of these suggestions, or even take note of them? No idea. But the suggested improvements are interesting regardless. The top four ideas, briefly summarized here, are: Redesign our airports. Joyce Hackett of New York believes that America's airports should take their cues from Berlin. "Tegel Airport is built like a big ring—planes on the outside, drivers and parking in the middle," she writes. "Its individually secured gates make it both the most efficient and the most security-effective airport I've experienced." Link the no-fly list with airlines' ticketing systems. Marianne Nassef of Abilene, Texas, proposes stopping potential terrorists before they even get to the airport. "Nothing gets denied faster than a credit card," Nassef reasons. Going by her plan, anyone on a no-fly list would be denied the right to purchase a ticket. Rotate FBI trainees into the TSA. Neil Stelzner of Santa Monica, Calif., and Phil Nettl of South Brunswick, N.J., would like to see G-men manning our airports. "They are dedicated, educated, and trained in law enforcement and have a desire to excel at their jobs," Stelzner and Nettl explain. Live drills for TSA employees. Benton Love of Houston received top marks from the judges for proposing a system of constant tests for TSA workers. Love advocates a carrot/stick approach: Screeners would be paid a bonus for each federal agent they caught trying to sneak a dummy bomb through security and docked for each one they let through. You can read more about why the judges liked these ideas best, and also read the submissions in their entirety, at Slate. So what do you think of the winning ideas? Got any better suggestions?

Reader Sara Molnar is looking for a detergent that's not a liquid and not a power for easy passage through TSA checkpoints. I think I've found the answer to my question. Purex makes a detergent/softener/anti-static combo called Purex 3-in-1 which comes in sheets. You can find more info at purex.com. I haven't found it in my local stores yet, but the Purex website indicates many national stores from CVS and Rite Aid to WalMart and Target carry it. Maybe a reader has tried it and will comment? Reader Linda Strand, of Corpus Christi, has tried the Purex 3-in-1's and says they work fine: "You use one sheet per load, and it washes and softens clothes and eliminates static." Here are some other ideas: Doug Dyment, who has studied efficient packing for more than a decade and whose opinion I trust the most on such matters, says: I bow to tradition here: individual foil packets of Woolite cold water laundry detergent. I carry them in doubled Ziploc bags. (Travel Laundry Soap by Woolite $5) There are other options (though I'd avoid those that require carrying bottled liquids), but Woolite has been the traveller's standby for years, and for good reason. Should you take along a conventional detergent of some sort, remember that very little is required to do a sinkful of laundry…or plan plenty of rinse cycles! If you're in Germany or Austria, or live in a city large enough to support a good German deli, try a tube of Procter & Gamble's Rei in der Tube ("cleanliness in a tube"), a handy toothpaste-consistency detergent. If you prefer to use a favourite powdered detergent, a plastic 35mm film canister (if you can still find one in these days of digital photography) is a good way to keep a reasonable quantity dry. —via Doug's packing list at OneBag.com, Reader Joan Burns has the following tip: I discovered a great way to pack powdered detergent for washing clothes in a sink. Clean out one of those plastic spice containers that have a shaker cap under the lid and fill it with detergent. When you're ready to wash clothes, just shake out a little of the detergent into the sink. Please chime in if you have other ideas on travel-friendly detergent.

Mikey Hicks is an 8-year old American boy who has been on the TSA's "selectee list" for the past seven years. In an excellent story, The New York Times' Lizette Alvarez reports: It is true that Mikey is not on the federal government's "no-fly" list, which includes about 2,500 people, less than 10 percent of them from the United States. But his name appears to be among some 13,500 on the larger "selectee" list, which sets off a high level of security screening. The first time he was patted down, Mikey was 2. He cried. "I understand the need for security," says Mrs. Hicks. "But this is ridiculous. It's quite clear that he is 8 years old, and while he may have terroristic tendencies at home, he does not have those on a plane." For more info on the TSA watch lists, see our earlier blog post: A rare peek at Homeland Security's files on travelers (200+ comments) MORE Meet Mikey, 8: U.S. Has Him on Watch List Airport security: What's next in 2010