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Honesty.

I like it! ^

At EWR earlier this week they weren't asking people to take out their Freedom Baggies -- so I didn't. My bag was pulled aside for inspection. They opened it, found the Freedom Baggie, gave it a cursory glance, put it back, and sent me on my way. Total IQ test delay: 10 seconds.

Frankly, I've stopped taking my baggie out of my carry on any more. I have only been asked about it once since I started doing this. I think they realize the whole liquid explosives plot was a lie.

Sunday evening, MAD -- freedom baggie (make that bolsita libertad, although culturally it just doesn't translate; we don't measure freedom here by the bagful) out and 120 ml (4 ounce) saline solution in hand luggage.

Screeners catch and ask to see saline solution. I take it out and explain what it is.

"Do you need it?"

"Yes, because by the time I get to London, all the pharmacies will be closed and I need the solution to store my contacts tonight. I could squirt a bit in my eyes to show you what it is."

"Go ahead."

(Squirt. Squirt.)

"That's enough. Its supposed to be 100 ml, but go ahead."

LGW Tuesday 6 pm. Freedom baggie ("ye olde freedome baggye") out, saline solution in hand luggage.

Screener stops the moving belt. Calls over another screener. "You see?" he says. "That one's more than three ounces."

Second screener: "Yeah, right."

Turns belt back on, hand luggage comes through and off I go.

Moral of the story: Send the TSA to Europe or Israel for training. They might even catch something dangerous.

This, like everything, varies by airport.

My theory is that at busier checkpoints, they're more likely to let it slide if you don't take your freedom baggie (or an individual bottle of liquid/gel) out of your bag. Smaller airports don't have as much to do so they're more thorough.

I flew out of LGB recently---no one else in line at TSA---and had forgotten to put a hotel size bottle of lotion in my Ziploc. The screener dutifully did his job and called for a bag check when he saw the lotion. After another screener took it out of my duffel and made sure that it fit in my Ziploc, they let me go.

The idiocy in this whole thing is that a full 20-oz bottle of water in another pocket of my bag made it through the same X-ray and bag check untouched.

It was lax from day one. Some asked to rescreen the bag's, others just don't care. Maybe they know how STUPID it really is too. Show's someone is using their brain.

LGB seems to catch everything.

I went through LAS sunday and forgot a bottle of lens cleaner. They also didn't notice a box of liquid medicine--I told the first TSA guy about it but that's as far as the information went, the x-ray guy didn't know.

My approach to all this hooey is passive resistance. I use as many bins as I possibly can (apologies to any I hold up in line --I really do try to be as quick as possible), so I ALWAYS put a Freedom Baggie in a bin. But they likewise ALWAYS miss a few liquids in my bag that didn't make it into the Freedom Baggie.
Security Theater continues.

Try SEA.

A couple of months ago, a lady in front of me had a bottle of water in her purse. The size bottle they give you on a commuter flight.

When the TSAer found it, you'd have thought she found bin Laden herself.

It is tough to get people - even the oft-maligned TSOs - to continue doing something that is so obviously ridiculous.

That said, once in awhile I see a gung-ho TSO saving the world from toothpaste .

Aside from the fact screeners are in place as part of the flawed "sterile area" concept, if I really wanted to reduce their effectiveness I would subject them to one ridiculous, pointless demand after another until it ground them down into gross indifference.

Is there a greater threat to the security of the air transport system than TSA management? No.