DUHHHH, ya think? Wow, Capt. Obvious, when did you wake up?
Anybody with half a grain of sense knows full well that all the security shenanigans that "keep us safe" are, at best, security theater aimed at pacifying us poor frightened citizens, and at worst, a careful stripping of our dignity and rights as free and proud Americans.

There hasn´t been a successful hijacking in nearly twelve years. Take a bow, TSA? NO! Take a bow, pax of Flt 93. The rules changed that dreadful morning. ince then, courageous passengers and crew members have intercepted and immobilized every single one. Meanwhile, TSA continues to stick its blue-gloved hands down the pants of old ladies, and snatch bottles from babies.

And we tolerate it, That is outrageous.

Bad Link

Government union job creation program.

We already knew this, Sparky. And $15.00 p/h start pay? Sweet.

Wow! What a great part time job. Imagine, 5.2 weeks vacation and 5.2 weeks sick/personal time off.

At Reagan International in Washington My wife´s purse /shoulder bag once passed through the screening machine while the screener and her assistant were both looking at the screeners smart phone and laughing. Neither bothered to watch as the bag passed through. TSA is just a jobs program .

Thank you, George Bush. It´s called "security theater." What keeps fliers safe, at least in the cabin, are ordinary people of all shapes, sizes, and ages willing to leap on anyone who seems to present a threat.

I never feel as such tension as on line at the screening. A private remark made to my wife could have us arguing with idiots and missing our plane.
It must similar to the silence when German soldiers barged into people´s homes looking for contraband.

The Patriot Act, TSA, DHS should all go away. Allow CCW holders to carry on planes (no alcohol for them though), privatize security and let the airlines pay for that (increase in ticket prices) and do away with (forever) PC. If that were done, I might start flying again, as it is, I really hate the Gestapo and don´t want to be any where near them.

Clearly the real security is supplied by the passengers who now know that being passive is not any protection. Flight 93 showed that people will step up when they have to.

Making aircraft a weapons-free zone does the same thing that all other weapons-free zones do - make safer working conditions for evildoers that manage to evade the rules.

The concept of safety in a weapons-free zone is a simple minded, childish fantasy and we should not let these ´secuity experts´ sell this fantasy any longer.

Next time you fly just remember that most of these slugs going thru your belongings, patting you down and chuckling at your images would otherwise be on welfare. I guess we´re paying for them one way or another!

And if (when?) a terrorist slips through they´ll blame ´´budget cuts´´.

We´re paying these bozo´s to catch terrorists. How many have they caught? Zippo. And what do we conclude from that? A) they´re so good, they´ve scared all the terrorists away B) They´re incapable of identifying terrorists who pass through everyday C) They´re a marvelous new addition to the public employee union Democrat slush fund, and have nothing to do with airport security.

#9, exactly why does a right to carry concealed (2nd amendment, don´cha know) have to be licensed? Poll taxes and reading tests were viewed as the infringement they are, and for something far more powerful and dangerous - voting.

You mean taking off my belt every time I pass through airport security isn´t necessary? And I thought it was important ... well blow me over.

#6 I wish TSA had been looking at their cellphones when my bag went through because then I would still have my movie camera.

#7,#9,#10 and others have it right. Abolish the TSA, and privatize airline security with FAA or other government oversight only.

The lesson of Flight 93 has done far more to ensure passenger safety than anything the TSA union types have ever done. Get rid of them.

I retired from TSA after 10 years of service. I was often chastised for not being "tough" enough on old ladies and little kids. Yet, I received MANY customer service awards because I respected my passengers and used common sense.

That being said, the Supervisors were usually decent and well-meaning. It was the "Suits", the MANAGERS that were the villans. These people are looking for promotion to a higher pay position.

This article had some errors, however. Federal employees get 4 hours of sick time for every 80 hour pay period, not 40. Leave (vacation) is based on Federal service:

3 years or less - 4 hours per pay period
3 to 15 years - 6 hours
15 to ??? - 8 hours

I was astounded by the uniform costs in the latest contract with VF Solutions. There are about 36,000 actual uniformed personnel at TSA. My last uniform allowance was around $200 for the year. What´s up with this?

The TSA show of force is nothing more than kabuki theater. Anyone with half a brain can outwit their tactics.
And now there is this program called "Known Crew Member" where anyone in a "uniform" can pass through without having to go thru a scanner. This is a travesty!
I can´t travel with my shampoo or food for my precious baby and some swishy guy or broken down old b***ch in a uniform can walk through security without scrutiny??? We can save the bureaucracy a lot of dollars by eliminating security.
Those with weapons that do get onboard will save those without, and as a side benefit those nasty Steward & stewardessses will be forced to treat passengers nicer.

Newark´s security was a joke before 9/11 and the TSA and it didn´t surprise me that one of the 9/11 flight was out of Newark. In fact, before 9/11 I had actually flown the United 93 route to Japan (it went from Newark to San Francisco and then on to Narita and then somewhere in China) and remember watching bags rolling by as the x-ray operator turned away from the screen to have a chat with a co-worker without stopping the conveyer. So, basically, nothing has changed there.