Wow. If you're this jumpy and rude on a discussion board I hate to think of how you come across when you interact with passengers. But being part of the problem is an entirely separate subject and I won't threadjack this right now.

The problem with the stuff that Blogger Bob posted is that TSA never seems to strictly abide by this. I've seen screeners and managers at checkpoints randomly make decisions. When the basis of their decision is questioned by someone (like me) who pulls out a current printed list of the rules and asks them to point to the provision that supports their decision.... they can't. Most of the time they then refer to some super-secret set of rules that they're following-- and allege that the divulging of these rules is impossible because it's "for my own security interests".

I, along with many others, am sick of this type of made-up nonsensical crap at checkpoints. All rules need to be made public and should be prominently posted at each checkpoint for all to see and read. When screeners want to confiscate something or question someone, they should have to clearly articulate what clause in the rules is being violated. If they can't cite a published rule, then they should be limited to either keeping their mouths shut or saying something like "Have a nice flight, sir" (note the "sir" on the end of this, as far too many screeners seem to lack respect for passengers-- without whom they wouldn't have their job).

Too many screeners simply cannot be trusted, and that is one of TSA's biggest problems. They make rules up as they go along. When they see something that passenger has that they want, they twist things around to try to get their grubby little paws on it. They cannot be trusted with taking others' belongings out of sight. And they certainly have not demonstrated a propensity to respect others or respect others' property. I've almost had my MacBook Pro smashed or thrown on the floor a number of times by a TSA ape who was in too much of a hurry to put things back together properly or just wanted to grab (literally yank) a bin that I wasn't done with out of my hands.