It's very satisfying to read this clear-headed piece and so many letters from folks who also see the cosmic absurdity of this latest loss of rudimentary common sense.

My questions is, what can we do about it? I am pissed off enough to make 15 phone calls and send 50 e-mails or letters, if I knew whom to contact. I'd even donate money to the cause. I have to believe that all but the most resigned and obedient sheeple can be led to the light if they hear the facts about the real risks we face.

Anyone out there with high-level airline contacts? Perhaps they'd help fund an effort if it was organized from the grassroots. You'd also think that the GOP's business friends could be encouraged to apply some pressure as well. Organized civil disobedience in the airports (probably on a day when you don't have to be anywhere by 5PM)? A YouTube video? Any other ideas?

I am in favor of the new security limitations.

I say this after leaving Denmark on Saturday, being subsequently delayed (3pm flight was wheels up by 7:30) because of the new security measures and only arriving in California 48 hours after my original arrival plans. Once we were in the states, the security was a joke compared to the individual hand search we got of our carry-on in Europe. When we left Denmark, we got a clear bag and equally clear rules on what could go in said bag. Most of the people in line ignored these rules and that's what caused most of the delay. I was impressed with the individual attention to the carry-on screening process (full disclosure: I hate carry-on and think, besides business travellers and mothers, it should be less not more). My bag was inspected and accepted (with my lip balm, not lip gloss) within 15 seconds. The family of four in front of me who had not heeded the instructions took at least 5 minutes. The process entailed the agent picking up items in your bag and asking if you needed it for the flight; most items in most people's bags were removed and placed in personalized cardboard boxes that would appear alongside baggage. It is amazing what people think they need on a plane (especially since 90% of this flight was asleep within a half an hour after the after-dinner drinks were served).

Once on board, it was so strange to see this huge jet with all of its overhead bins empty. When we arrived in Seattle, we were greeted with armed customs agents checking everyone's passport at the arrival gate.

We originally had just one more direct flight home, but because of the delay, we had two more legs home. Our carrier doesn't fly domestically, so we got alloted to standby on another airline and had to spend the night in each respective city. Where we were flagged by TSA at each security check. In Seattle, we were patted down. We were running late and I asked the guy if he could pat me down in order to avoid missing our flight. Unlucky on both regards. In Salt Lake, we got the "sniffer" machine with no pat-down. I also saw the TSA guy flip through our National Geographic magazine as part of the security check.

We didn't have a TSA guard at the gate for either of the first flight in the U.S. So I don't know who was checking for banned items. The second flight, there wasn't one when we first crossed the gate, but we were returned to the terminal because of a delay (story of our life by that point). The second time we got up to board there was a TSA agent. But he must not have been there for long, because there was a couple who came aboard with hot cups of coffee. The flight attendant was shocked; I wasn't.

My husband and I flew Thursday morning to Washington DC, getting caught in the new restrictions. Luckily, we had no liquids on us and proceeded more or less easily through security. When we finally reached our hotel, my husband opened his carry-on canvas bookbag and laughed; he had inadvertently, left a pair of rather sharp scissors in there when packing. They had not been detected by airport security, even in this heightened atmosphere. I realize that not everything will be found but scissors? How difficult can that be to detect? So we are more inconvenienced but no safer (at least, according to their specifications). A bottle of water on the plane would have served us better.

I agree with every word that Patrick Smith wrote. We could ramp up our airport security procedures with even more draconian rules and pour a gazillion dollars down a rathole and it would all be futile, as a simple thought experiment shows: if some terrorist said to a cabin attendant "the bulge you see in my pocket or in this paper bag on my hand is a bomb; let me into the cockpit or I'll blow us all to kingdom come," what cabin attendant is going to take a chance that he's lying?

Elias

All these measures being implemented in the name of erecting a foolproof barrier against terrorism smacks of the same foolishness that drove the French Army's high command, in the 1930s, to waste countless millions of francs erecting the perfect barrier against a German invasion - provided the Germans had been kind enough to fight the last war.

We're erecting a latter-day equivalent to the Maginot Line. And just like in May of 1940, our foes will find a way around it.

I say go back to the good old days of just X-Rays and metal detectors. Keep doing the shoes if you want. But mostly, hustle people through security. Let the people have their cake -- and laptops, bottles of water and teething doohickeys. Axe lots of TSA jobs.

Require that every traveler carry a valid passport.

Then, put one or two air marshals on every flight -- or four for long-haul 747s -- that patrol the plane like a beat cop does a subway car -- for the entire flight. Give them dogs if necessary. No one likes dogs.

Also, profile every stinking passenger. All this talk of singling out travelers on the basis of their skin color is hogwash. Asians and Middle Easterners come in all shapes and sizes. American white dudes bombed the Murrah building. In Japan their subways got gassed by Japanese. So go for everyone. When you get to the airport you should expect to have to answer a few questions while you stand on line waiting to check in, and have your passports and IDs checked. I read somewhere in all of this dust-up over the last several days that as soon as you buy a ticket you should be looked into, that, essentially, the security should start as soon as you are financially committed to flying somewhere, and not as soon as you get to the airport. When you purchase your ticket you should have to submit your passport number and be prepared to verify it.

I also like the suggestion that airlines make clear that there is no such thing as a 100% safe flight and that all passengers should be aware of their surroundings. Every single passenger should be encouraged to introduce themselves to those seated next to them.

I know this sounds like a police state, and I guess to some extent it is. But isn't this what TSA is functioning as a proxy of? In this instance, when we submit that we are taking a risk -- a risk that even considering terrorism is still statistically extremely un-risky -- we should submit to these sorts of inconveniences. Inconveniences, I would point out, that feel much more effective than chucking your conditioner into a bin. I think one of the things that makes terrorists laugh -- and us cry -- is how incompetent and ridiculous we can sometimes appear. Well, why not try looking and acting competent for once, and see where that gets us.