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After going down in a spiral of paranoid stupidity—called out for saving body scan images, ridiculed for patting down an almost-naked woman or nailed for harrassing a kid at airport security—the TSA has reached a new low. It's surreal. Here's what a traveler recorded on February 13, after his train trip to Savannah: The only bad thing on our trip was [the] TSA at the Savannah train station. There were about 14 agents pulling people inside the building and coralling everyone in a roped area after you got off the train. This made no sense! Poor family in front of...

Pinckney writes "A paper by Leon Kaufman and Joseph W. Carlson in the Journal of Transportation Security asserts that x-ray backscatter machines are not very effective (PDF) even in their intended role. While carelessly placed contraband will be detected, the machines have glaring blind-spots and have difficulty distinguishing explosives from human tissue. As they write, 'It is very likely that a large (15–20 cm in diameter), irregularly-shaped, cm-thick pancake [of PETN explosive] with beveled edges, taped to the abdomen, would be invisible to this technology. ... It is also easy to see that an object such as a wire or...

The TSA'S new slogan contest These have been picked as finalists in the contest to find the new TSA Transportation Safety Administration) Slogan. Feel free to send your entry 1. You won't see London, won't see France, unless we see your underpants. 2. Grope discounts available. 3. If we did our job any better, we'd have to buy you dinner first. 4. Only we know if Lady Gaga is really a lady. 5. Don't worry, my hands are still warm from the last guy. 6. Throw a few back at the airport bar and you won't even notice. 7. Wanna...

The head of the Transportation Security Administration says the close-quarter body inspections causing a furor among some passengers and pilots are unavoidable in a time of terrorist threats. John Pistole tells CBS's "The Early Show" he understands public distaste for more intense security procedures, particulary hand pat-downs. He called it a "challenge" for federal authorities and airport screeners.

A terrorism expert says the invasive screening procedures demanded by the Obama-run Transportation Security Administration would do almost nothing to stop a determined terrorist because they already are experimenting with inserting explosives in a body cavity or even surgically implanting the destructive charges. The comments come from Brigitte Gabriel, who is the founder of Act! For America, a 150,000-strong group that works to warn Americans against the dangers of militant Islam and the Muslims who follow it. She also is a member of the board of advisers for the Intelligence Summit, and she lectures internationally on global terrorism. The issue...