Do you think they took handguns away from all travelers the first time a train was held up by outlaws?

Think about it. If they had, the occurrences of train robberies would have soared mightily!

When guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns...

How true, How true!

When liquids are outlawed, only outlaws will have liquids...

... You can take the liquids away from all the good guys...
... that doesn't stop the bad guys from finding a clever way of getting them onboard,
... or reconstituting the liquid in the airline restroom,
... or finding some NEW way to mob our legitimate transportation interests.


Why not figure out HOW MUCH liquid you need to cause serious damage? I can't believe that my wife's cosmetics or medicines are really of sufficient volume to cause a life-threatening explosion, even if they were EXACTLY properly formulated and detonated. Even a Venti Starbucks cup doesn't contain enough volume of liquids - any kind of liquids - to blow up an airplane. So get over it, TSA! Why make people throw away their Advil Liqui-Gels liquid filled capsules? They simply aren't an airliner-threatening risk no matter WHAT combination of chemicals is inside.


If liquids are such a threat to travel and travelers, how come TSA is simply dumping all of it into plastic garbage cans in airports all over the country? If the material is potentially explosive, it should be treated as dangerous or hazardous material. If pouring all the travelers liquids together into a barrel isn't dangerous, then the liquids shouldn't be taken from innocent travelers. You can't have it both ways! Are our airport screening points (currently crammed full of thousands of people) now at high risk of being blown up by the mixing of all these liquids in trash barrels? It would be so much more effective at killing people if it was done where it could kill thousands instead of only hundreds.


So now the idea is that all carryons should be searched thoroughly (US) or banned almost completely (UK). So the alternative is to check it. Now automated screening of checked luggage is almost TOTALLY ineffective against liquids. So all the bad guys have to do is shift the liquids to their checked luggage, and have a detonator - you know, an iPod or a cellphone - cause the explosion. At least the passengers won't have their cabin luggage destroyed by the explosion...


We all want to be safe. But those of us that believe in God can rest in Him that we will not be taken a second before He wants us to be taken. But if you don't get your comfort from a sovereign, merciful, loving God, you turn to other methods to feel "protected". The government can't truly protect us. They really can't. And once again, our government is showing they only are trying to save face by closing the barn door after the cows are gone. They will protect us against this particular form of attack. But the other forms of potential attack are infinite, limited only by the evil schemer. You can't protect from all of them. You simply can't. ONE deranged guy with a serious attitude and a shoe stuffed with a bit of explosives started the Shoe Carnival that TSA has been engaging in for years. Now we have a new Carnival... the Liquids Carnival. Make travel unbearable for those taking known risks in a futile attempt at limiting risk. Risk will always be there for us. We have to learn to live with it.


There are emergency exit doors on every single airliner we fly on. Those doors can be forced open at 39,000 feet. Maybe even two or three at a time by two or three terrorists acting in concert. Is the solution to weld the emergency exit doors shut before every flight? Why not just stop building planes with emergency exit doors?


We also have windows near almost every seat on a jet. Windows are easier to damage than the fuselage itself. Perhaps we should stop building airliners with windows to increase our level of "perceived safeness".


I am all for building better baggage sniffers when the technology is available and affordable. But until then, TSA must STOP impacting the legitimate travelers unnecessarily in a mis-guided attempt to reduce risk. Follow the 80-20 rule, not the 100% rule. We can never get to 100% anyway!