Unfortunately, you are likely seeing the new "normal." Methinks that the liquid ban isn't going away anytime soon. As one poster pointed out in another thread, it's easy enough to your toothpaste/shaving cream/make-up in your pocket, but the liquid ban makes for good optics. It's not stopping anybody.

As for what we should do about security? Yeah, I'd go back to pre-9/11, although with some modifications. Real bomb/explosive detection equipment. We've already got the reinforced cockpit doors, so that's okay. Move the FAMs to the back of the plane, since somebody rushing the cockpit is probably less of a threat than someone trying to blow something up. Turn down the metal detectors so that I don't have to strip every time I walk through.

As it pertains to the security feints, I don't know better than anyone else on this board what the terrorists are doing. Are they sitting around planning how to destroy this country? Of course there are some wackos out there. But they aren't going to be caught by the guy shouting "female assist," and we can't shut the network down because we're afraid of the guy with the bottle of water. As Bart has pointed out about a thousand times, we need to be in the business of risk management, not risk avoidance.

Anyway, sorry for going OT.

Mike