This is not the least bit surprising, as I recall it took BAA several years to implement complete explosives checking at Heathrow after Pan Am 103. Someone probably has the exact number but I thought it was 6 or 8 years. And as everyone probably knows there are fewer airports in Great Britain than the US.

As far as screeners having a diploma, that costs money and so far the airlines and governments have had a very low threshold for financial expenditures that improve security. They are more than willing to turn up the sensitivity on metal detectors but improving standards and equipment is a whole different story. I would be happy to pay $10-$20 more per ticket if it truly meant better security but I get awfully frustrated when I see them implementing purely symbolic changes in the name of security that makes everybody feel like things are safer but in reality very little has been done. And so far that is exactly what I see.