>> Are you sure about not stopping one bomb? Their service is like the electric company (and IT), you don't notice it until it stops working.

Are you kidding me! Utility companies don't try to place your gas line right next to a bad electrical circuit breaker "to keep you safe". Yes analogies always suck and this one is quite bad too, but it does illustrate the point. TSA's job should be contain and respond, not investigate and prevent. The latter should be left to investigative and intelligence agencies as that is their forte.

This was some time ago and I have not flown since so it might have changed, but things like: - dumping all the contents of all passengers water bottle into one big trashcan is stupid. Of course mentioning binary explosives will only get me into a lot of trouble. - spending 7m+ dollars on GE entry scans that make a ton of whooshing noises but are not really any better than plain ol' bulge under the shoulder check - checking your shoes when you can mold semtex or c4 into your belt just as easily and detonate it with something that looks like a fountain pen - turning on your laptop (what about the extra bay - how much explosive can you pack in there?)

Lets face it, unless we as consumers force the politicians to implement transparent, clear and measurable security policies and are willing to spend the time to think about it a bit, this sort of stuff will keep happening again and again and again.

> you don't notice it until it stops working.

My claim is that is hasn't even started working.

I was able to board and fly on a plane before TSA existed, I can board and fly on a plane now, albeit I am felt up by some random dude, I am standing one hour in line, I have to take my shoes off at the airport, I can't get up to go to the bathroom for 1 hour before landing, I can't even keep a blanket, a pillow or magazine on my lap any more. That's the only tangible and visible result of having the TSA that I experienced.

> Their service is like the electric company (and IT)

My lights are on, I know the electrical company is providing me electricity. My servers are accessible, so I know the IT is doing their job. So it is not quite the same. How many real bombs has TSA stopped going through its security screening?

If the TSA managed to apprehend any terrorists at all at the security checkpoint, you can bet your ass they would be screaming it as loud as they can from all the rooftops and in all the newspapers they can get to print it. Since that hasn't happened, no, they haven't stopped a single thing.

If that's the case, the TSA needs to do a better job communicating to the world their value. Unfortunately for them, if they did find something, they probably keep it on the down-low to prevent people from panicking.