From Vanity Fair.

Short answer? No.

Lots of blogs and Twitterers linked to this article on the security theater that goes on in airports. All but the ignorant and gullible believe what the TSA is forcing on travelers is preventing the next terrorist attack. From the article:

“What the government should be doing is focusing on the terrorists when they are planning their plots. “That’s how the British caught the liquid bombers,” Schneier says. “They never got anywhere near the plane. That’s what you want—not catching them at the last minute as they try to board the flight.””

Instead, a very reactive government agency that can’t think into the future – only what threats existed in the past – subjects its people to invasive and undignified searches, poor customer service, and potentially harmful radiation. I get they want to give off a sense of confidence and safety but it’s faces with the law of diminished returns. Sooner or later, it just won’t be work it in both effect and cost.