I previously wrote about how you could get a knife on board a plane without first having it in your luggage or on your person. Now some folks have done a study and tested various “safe” objects and how lethal they are by using a dead pig (stabbing the pig’s neck, measuring blood loss). If that’s not enough, someone leaked a copy of the TSA’s Screening Standard Operating Procedures which is out there on Wikileaks. There’s a great article titled ‘TSA: Worst Than Useless‘ which I recommend everyone read.
It’s great the TSA employs people. But why not keep paying them and allow them to just stay at home? They inconvenience so many people and don’t provide any value; as Schneier says, it’s complete security theatre. I understand that unemployment is very high today in the United States (> 10%). Why not create something like the Tennessee Valley Authority and pay folks to work on public projects even if it’s picking up trash or beautifying state parks?