If there are no more lighters on pax with which to ignite the bombs we are hiding in our shoes, why are we still having to remove our shoes? Is that because DHS is concerned that we can still light the fuses in our shoe bombs with the four books of matches that we carry on board?

And if they are concerned that we are hiding bombs that don't need to have a lighted fuse to make them go "boom", hence requiring the continuing shoe carnival, then why bother with banning all lighters?

Or is continuing the shoe carnival an silent admission by the TSA that they know they are not keeping all lighters off planes?

Or does the carnival still exist because of the plethora of non-bomb weapons that are found hidden in shoes?

It's just stupidity on top of stupidity on top of stupidty.

Due to the U.S. governments failure to identify the enemy (Koran thumping Islamic jihadists), everyone who wears shoes or has worn shoes at one time or another in their life or has the ability to wear shoes, is a suspect.

Don't forget, it makes the sheeple feel "safer" ...

And terrorists can still light a shoe bomb with matches.

Who uses lighters or matches which are so 19th and 20th century? Bombs with flaming/smoking fuses are so Bugs Bunny. Sophisticated and stylish modern terrorists use electronic ignitors/detonators for their explosives.

Such detonators may be contstructed prior to deployment and concealed in ordinary electronics or constructed in the field from common and unsuspicious articles such as 9V or laptop batteries and low-resistance wire.

Come on, do you actually expect TSA to detect such sophisticated devices? Much easier to have passengers remove their shoes for the appearance of safety, especially given the lack of spending on technology to actually detect explosives.

We're dealing with two beasts here ... the idiots in Congress, who decided lighters were dangerous, and the idiots at TSA HQ, who feel shoes are dangerous. And the third factor, too: the TSA admin who felt they had better go ahead and ban all lighters to avoid confusion over which Congress allowed and which they denied. All idiots, of course, but different idiots nonetheless.

I love the TSA signs at checkpoints with the cartoon bomb in the big "prohibited" list I understand why they chose such a dopey icon, but wow, like people need to be told with a sign that bombs aren't allowed?

Everyone needs to remember that the lighter ban reallly has nothing to do with "security". It is the pet legislation of 2 Senators who's agenda is anti-tobacco and they figured it was just one more way to inconvenience those of us who smoke.

... except the fuses never work for Wile E. Coyote until after the Roadrunner has gone by and Wile E. picks up the bomb to see what went wrong...


Who needs matches? I prefer the magnifying glass and sunlight method myself...

My favorite Onion article of all time: FAA Considering Passenger Ban

Seeking to address "the number-one threat to airline security," the Federal Aviation Administration announced Monday that it will consider banning passengers on all domestic and international commercial flights.

"In every single breach of security in recent years, whether it was an act of terrorism or some other form of crime, it was a passenger who subverted the safety systems on board the aircraft or in the terminal," FAA administrator Marion Blakey said. "Even threats that came in the form of explosives inside baggage were eventually traced back to a ticketed individual. As great a revenue source as they have been, passengers simply represent too great a risk to the airline industry."

Well, most terrorists were wearing shoes at the time they committed their act, or had at some point in their lives. Wearing shoes is a dead giveway that you're probably a terrorist. I think we should divert even more resources away from looking for bombs and guns and to looking at shoes.
At least they gave up with the plans to ban matches (for now at least), too.

I agree.
It's not the weapons, bombs, cuticle shears, shoes or knitting needles per se that are causing the problem. Let those items remain on the planes.
We need to quit focusing on "things" and go after the real root cause of terrorism.
People.
Ban them from all flights and the problem is solved. This is a plain, simple and straight-forward solution that has been under our nose all the time.
And it took The Onion to point it out.

The higher ups will tell you that it is a "layered response." The old swiss cheese debate that was present a few weeks back. IF you take a piece of swiss cheese and put another one on top of the first one, the holes (security leaks) dont line up and the more "slices" you add the more holes you plug. So if a shoe bomb is a threat, the shoes are screened, (one layer of cheese.) Then ignition sources are removed (another layer of cheese) in the hopes that if you miss one threat, the other is found. I know it sounds cheesy! Sorry I couldnt refuse.

Nothing personal, but the whole security set-up is like Vieux Boulogne cheese, one of the world's smelliest.