I try to avoid travelling to the States on friends "buddy" passes or on my partner passes.

Why? Because I ALWAYS get selected for secondary inspection.

Much like your peeve about uniformed personnel getting the third degree, I don't know why but the powers that be seem to think that someone travelling WITH an airline employee, or is as close to a spouse as you can be is deemed a security risk worthy of further inspection.

It makes no sense to me, and detracts attention from those who perhaps are more worthy of the attention of the TSA. Italian grandmothers with pasta sauce for example. Sorry, couldn't resist.

And the airlines are wondering why business is down?

Patrick, I can't quite top the butter knife story, but did hear a good line about why TSA officials believe such rules are necessary.

A friend of mine is also a pilot for a major airline. A few years ago, he went through security checkpoint at a US airport. They stopped him because he was carrying a wine bottle opener. Told him it wasn't allowed. When he asked why, they said it was because he could use it to seize control of the plane. He responded "that's going to be a problem, because I am going to be in control of the plane". In the end, he had to give up the bottle opener.

Okay, he's a first officer, but you get the idea. According to the TSA, Pilots need to be searched because they could take command of airplanes.

... is that a lot of this hassle happens because more attention is given the creating the appearance of protection than to actually protecting. In other words, I think it's propaganda.

But it is quite clear that many (not all) "minorities" employed by the TSA now have their dream job: they get decent salaries, government benefits and most importantly the opportunity to yell at and harass caucasian business travelers for hours at a time w/o any fear of repercussion.

I fly out of Atlanta and Newark frequently, a lot of these "officers" are complete thugs, the badges and the new signs Smith mentions are only going to make them worse.

I figured this out when I was late for a connecting flight several years ago when the gate luggage check was still going on.

The trick is that the gate-side luggage check is not random. Maybe the initial choice is random, but for a minute or so while that unlucky person is being checked no one else can be chosen. So here's what you do: Stand out in the concourse until most of the people are on the plane. When the luggage checker chooses a person, walk toward the gate and through the checkpoint before the checker is finished.

If there are two checkers, then it might get a little more complicated. But they are essentially low-level bureaucrats that aren't paid enough to pay attention to more than one thing at once, so it shouldn't be too hard.

They're probably rewarded or punished based on how they enforce the rules, rather than on how they interpret them.

Not sure if you've heard about this, but perhaps you'll look into it and write up a column. I'm sure all of us would like to hear about the latest TSA indignity/horror in the offing:

From Blaque's Blog of Horrors (http://jblaque.livejournal.com/):

A senior government official with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has expressed great interest in a so-called "safety bracelet" (http://www.boingboing.net/2008/03/20/air-safety-proposal.html) that would serve as a stun device, similar to that of a police Taser®.

According to this promotional video at the Lamperd Less Lethal website (http://www.lamperdlesslethal.com/video_gallery.asp?video=http://www.lamperdlesslethal.com/video/EMDsafetybracelet.flv&title=), the bracelet would be worn by all airline passengers, and would:

• Take the place of an airline boarding pass

• Contain personal information about the traveler

• Be able to monitor the whereabouts of each passenger and his/her luggage

• Shock the wearer on command, completely immobilizing him/her for several minutes

The Electronic ID Bracelet, as it’s referred to, would be worn by every traveler “until they disembark the flight at their destination.”

Yes, you read that correctly. Every airline passenger would be tracked by a government-funded GPS, containing personal, private and confidential information, and could be used to shock the wearer worse than an electronic dog collar if he/she got out of line, completely immobilizing him/her if they get "out of line."

So.. is the U.S. government really that interested in this device?

Yes. According to a letter from DHS official, Paul S. Ruwaldt of the Science and Technology Directorate (http://www.lamperdlesslethal.com/news/upload/pg2HomelandSecurity7_06.pdf), office of Research and Development, to the inventor (whom he had previously met with), he wrote, “To make it clear, we [the federal government] are interested in…the immobilizing security bracelet, and look forward to receiving a written proposal.”

The letterhead, in case you were wondering, came from the DHS office (http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ato/tc/) at the William J. Hughes Technical Center at the Atlantic City International Airport, or the Federal Aviation Administration headquarters.

In another part of the letter (http://www.lamperdlesslethal.com/news/upload/pg1HomelandSecurity7_06.pdf), Mr. Ruwaldt confirmed, “It is conceivable to envision a use to improve air security, on passenger planes.”

Would every paying airline passenger flying on a commercial airplane be mandated to wear one of these devices? I cringe at the thought. Not only could it be used as a physical restraining device, but also as a method of interrogation, according to the same aforementioned letter from Mr. Ruwaldt.

Any thoughts, Patrick?

She was flying back from Las Vegas the very day that the ban on liquids went into effect.

She was dumbstruck...

There were hundreds of people during the time that she was in the airport that were losing huge bottles of expensive perfume and rare and very expensive Cognac, not to mention the many many bottles of soda, water and harmless tubes of toothpaste and so much other stuff.

She said that there were women sobbing at the tables as they were freed from their expensive bottles f perfume and grown men sobbing over their bottles of drinkable alcohol. I'm sure that a very high number of TSA 'agents' were set for near life that day and the subsequent days of plunder. All quite 'legal'... *wink* *wink*

The beginning of the end of privacy and respect from our government. Then came pat downs of women wearing underwire bras and having to remove your hats, shoes and even sunglasses.

All we need now is the snapped demand for 'Papers!' and then maybe the cattle living their lives in this country will realise how far things have fallen. Nah... 'Freedom isn't free." YIKES!!! =8-O

But hey. Let's anal probe the pilots and give a pass to the guy fueling the plane and the ones 'cleaning' (don't they actually apply more filth?) them a cursory once over... You can never trust those shifty pilots and their elitist attitudes... Those overpaid taxi drivers... ;-)