They can always lower their standards and hire high school dropouts and people with criminal records, so they can fill the jobs; or they can let them unionize, improve working conditions and make the job a bit more desirable. What choice do you think this administration would choose? The former, no doubt.

I don't think that the customs service, whose agents are unionized, has the same issues with recruitment and retention. Another reason not to elect a Republican administration. I think that a Democratic president would let the airport screeners unionize.

I am not an airline security expert, but , I know I will feel safer when dumbya is out of office.

" but there is no evidence that they make flying any safer".
Of course not the CIA have always been able to waltz right on to whatever plain they want with out question or investigation.

There's no proof airport security makes us safer, but it sure helps keep us AFRAID!

Whenever I fly, I look around in astonishment and dismay, thinking--this is what it looked like when the Nazis supervised the Jews going into the showers.

How dumb are we? We were attacked because we had a dipshit for President and he was too arrogant and/or stupid to listen to the warnings provided to him and that other idiot, Condi Rice. People--we were attacked after Bush took office. He, Homeland Security and the TSA have prevented NOTHING. Wake up. Your civil rights are being stolen. Airport security is just getting you used to search and seizure as part of every day life.

Man, just when I was anticipating a 'crotch' bomber and the resultant 'naked' passengers going thru security.....MY EYES! MY EYES!

Well, since the final frontier of hiding is our bras and underwear, we should just strip before going through the metal detector. In fact, just urinate while standing in the coil.

I'm sure we can trust all screeners not to be, or turn into perverts.

X-ray machines coming our way, everywhere soon.

After all, they ALSO make one of Bu$h or Cheney's buddies richer.

Wow, I don't think anyone could have anticipated this!!

heavy heavy sarcasm.

I don't quite understand the article. I mean, how do they know that it's helping or not? We haven't had any attacks so we can't say it's not working. I think there are some no-brainer things they can adjust for, but overall I would suspect that anyone with terroristic tendencies would keep away from airplanes.

Riddle me this...
Does Darth C. have to take off his mask before boarding A.F.2?
Does Laura have to give up her cigarette lighter when she flies on A.F.1?
Who re-ties W's shoes when he flies?

This report is no surprise to me. When TSA agents like the one I encountered at Logan Airport are busy harrassing passengers over stupid things like how a carry-on is packed, the real threats are allow to bypass their scrutiny. Then when I tried to express my dismay that the rules from one airport to another weren't consistent, the nasty agent, took a tube of emu oil cream that was purchased on my visit to Martha Vineyard, out of my suitcase ( every other items in that bag, clearly visible and having gotten through inspection at my home town airport) throw it into the garbage can and said to me, "So you knew the rules and chose to ignore them." I walked away thinking, "Bitch, your actions certainly aren't going to change my life style." I wanted to say to her, "Do you really think you made my flight safer by this little act of authority?"
What it all comes down to, is agents being better trained, intelligent enough to handle the position, respectful of the flying public and their fellow citizens and foremost, remembering why exactly they are there.
I flew twice during 2007 and on both occasions had an incident with a TSA female agent. Flying was not been my favorite thing to do long before 9/11 and now I prefer not to fly at all. I am sick of dealing with the segment of the working public who do their job with what I call "the good enough theory." TSA is load with people having that mentality. It is no wonder the study's results come to the conclusion just published.
MY apologize to those TSA agents who do their job well and with dignity!

There are no terrorists never were, all this crap just to cajole the masses into supporting their agenda in the Middle East, because of the World Economy's shifting it's geographical emphasis - a consequence of their actions anyway! They loose, we pay - fractional reserve banking is not in the peoples better interest, it was designed by a cartel to exploit not just Americans but to consume all in exploitation. Debt is the mechanism, they make money off our money being loaned to others, to whom they charge interest, creating portfolios of interest bearing debt created assets that they 'sell' to other financial institutions spreading the eventual losses and creating inflation, through the printing of money, that they charge us all for, so that our banks don't crash due to a run, based on cash shortage rumours. Trouble is there function is a mal formed sub linear time algorithm, probalistic in nature and random in it's interpretation and logarithmic in it's failure and if you don't like it - well stand over there sir and take your clothes off, NOW. How a new dawn fades.

I worked as an avionics tech in Amsterdam airport for 2 years before retiring with a nice 'golden handshake' for losing my temper with some asshole security guard who got too close to my balls when searching me. We used to get searched everytime we came on the plane to fix something. What is really funny is that sometimes I would have to run back to the shop to get a component and when I came back to the aircraft have to get searched all over again. I would have my arms stretched out holding the component in one hand. The guard would ask me ''Whats that''? I would say its a DSEB (avionics acronym) and he would say 'ok, go ahead'. That box was installed under the business class seat for the IFE system. It could have been just as easily filled with C-4 or Semtec or whatever.

See how easy it would be?

I took my 50,000 Euro golden handshake plus 2 years if 70 percent salary while being treated for PTSD. And enjoying sitting in my beautiful home that is PAID for.

A determined suicide bomber could simply hide a non-metallic and sealed explosive inside their body.
The War On Terror (war against an emotion ?) is about the government controlling Americans and taking away the rest of our Freedom, it has NOTHING to do with the illusion of security.

The War On Some Drugs (war on inanimate objects?) is exactly the same.

So your telling me that taking of my shoes, taking my laptop out of its case, taking off my belt, emptying my pockets does nothing to make this nation safer?

Confiscating a bottle of water and makeup does not prevent terrorist attacks?

I'm never flying again.

Besides burger flipping and taco bending, airport security is a billion dollar business and good for the US economy, keeping thousands of imbeciles who wouldn't have a job otherwise, employed.