People *have* made suggestions, but they are ignored by the "pro-scanner let's do something" people. Bruce Schneier, whom you dismiss, is considered by many to be an expert because he himself has tested & revealed many of the loopholes in airport security. Are you aware of how many "banned" items get through security that these new scanners will do nothing to stop? Are you aware of the other loopholes that these scanners will do nothing to close?

As a previous poster mentioned, some type of puffer that actually worked would be great to have since the scanners can't detect the explosives that are most likely to be a threat - unless the terrorist is stupid enough to do a poor job of concealing it on his/her body. Right now, we do use swab tests and this is probably the most "rigorous" thing we do, but realistically swabbing every passenger down thoroughly would be way too time-consuming.

The #1 thing that is needed is better use of our intelligence, and this means communication between agencies and appropriate use of secondary screening & no fly lists (actually getting people on the lists, removing people on the lists who shouldn't be there, no putting people on lists for retaliatory reasons). For example, we had knowledge of the underwear bomber but let him board the plane anyway. If a terrorist is at the airport, they are likely to get through most security measures (they do stay one step ahead - and the pornoscanners are easy to fool so no help there), and at that point we must hope they are incompetent and that passengers can stop them from doing mass damage. This is why there is such an emphasis on intel by security experts who criticize the TSA. However, it seems like the "anything for security" crowd and politicians who want to play the CYA game want something really visisble in place. I've even seen comments that communication between intel agencies can't be improved so therefore we have to continue with the airport as the last line of defense. All the money we throw at the TSA isn't worth anything unless we *make* this happen.

Think of it this way: suppose a suspected terrorist wants to board the plane you or a loved one is about to board. Will you be satisfied that your flight is secure if they passed through the pornoscanner without issue?