So, anyone other than me remember how James Bond movies involved explosives hidden in toothpaste, shampoo, etc - and how WW II involved using dual chemical explosives?

Or is this just another Rove August Suprise worked out between Bush and Blair to make us all Fearful so we vote for the incompetent fools?

The fun part is, TSA is utterly and completely clueless when it comes to actually preventing bombs. The only thing they know how to do is hold up lines. They'll X-Ray your shoes, and pat down your granny, but meanwhile unchecked personnel are all over the airport, including on the tarmac. I swear, TSA does more damage to the US airline industry than a bomb would. And when stuff happens, they clamp down, like this, in stupider and stupider ways.

Yeah, lovely timing, this coming while the Republicans are facing an ouster. Though I tend to trust the British government slightly more than ours, and this seems to be their bust. I get the impression the US had nothing to do with busting things up, and that Bush is just riding on the Brits' coattails.

FNARF, you're correct. They have no idea what to look for.

It's amusing, really. Next thing they'll suddenly realize your belt contains a small piece of metal easily used to kill, with the belt strap wrapped around your hand, and make us all walk around like gangstas with no belts on.

None of this affects well trained terrorists.

Yeah, I finalized my trip to NYC yesterday. I look forward to flying without my own water or my contact lens solution.

And this was my horoscope yesterday when I had my last meeting with the travel agent:

"If you have any travel or complicated plans coming up soon, today would be a great time to complete the details of your plans. It is important for you to nail down your schedules, dates and reservation confirmations as soon as you can -- forces beyond your control could throw a wrench into things. If you don't have any major plans on the horizon, use your free time to finish up household chores, work on your budget or schedule medical appointments."

When we were in Australia a security agent -- theirs, not ours -- twisted off the nail-file part of my wife's nail clippers. The thing was all of an inch-and-a-half long. He was making snarky remarks about airport security in the USA the whole time, and I'm convinced it was tourist payback for an unpleasant time in this country.

i'm in line right now at seatac. tsa is walking around with plastic bags taking people's toothpaste, baby food, hair jell out of their cary-ons.
I feel much safer that my very delayed flight will have angry hungry babies on it.

Way to go for the Brits for catching this.

Goes to show that we are ever closer to Calvin Trillin's vision of the underwear bomber.

I've given up on flying unless absolutely forced to. I drive or take the train. It may take longer, but you eventually get there, and you get to see the countryside.

Just call me Little Mary Sunshine, but the whole process, from the UGLY banal airports to the UGLY banal airplanes just depress the hell out of me. I am haunted by memories of Branniff and places like the "old" Sea-Tac with it's marble-ridden, modernist central terminal. A swanky "stew" in a Pucci uniform, handing out free cigarettes. Those were the day - and I don't even smoke....

i don't believe this "plot" is real and i absolutely distrust both US and UK gov'ts. this is a transparent ploy to deflect attention from the quickly failing Isreal-Lebanon cease fire plan and the US elections. Blair is feasting on Bush's lame cock so hard, he really should come up for air or just swallow the wad and go to sleep.

That's fucking retarded!

The islamo-fascists want us to change our way of life. We must not give up on flying or the terrorists will have won. Israel is killing hundreds of these islamo-fascists and their children every day in Lebanon. Israel's war is making everyone safer. We must stand strong with Israel and the Jewish people as they kill islamo-fascists for America. War will bring peace.

Enjoy your day, go to an all American baseball game, take your kids on a driving vacation, but never let the islamo-fascists make us change.

Just a note - they are FORCING everyone to put their Laptops, Blackberries, and iPods as CHECKED LUGGAGE.

Which means a lot of:

a. stolen laptops, etc.

b. broken laptops, etc.

Enjoy the Fear! All Hail the Reichsfuhrer and His Glorious Vacation Alerts!

Unlike 9-11-01 and Oklahoma City, there is no visual evidence whatsoever that this plot is even real. We're taking the word of the Feds and the word of the UK for it, and they've used this alleged plot as a reason to send the nation's transport infrastructure into chaos. And think about this: if you come to the airport with toiletries, you have to throw most of them in the trash... all because of an ALLEGED terror plot.

We don't even have names of airlines or suspects. The Feds could've made the whole thing up.

But seriously, this is stupid. Liquids banned? Do they get a kick out of fucking with Americans like this? And I'm talking about the TSA and the Feds, not al Qaeda. We don't even know if al Qaeda's in on this. We can't even be sure there IS a viable plot in the first place.

We're taking the Federal government's word for it... and we already know they can't be trusted.

Also, assuming this is all legit, that the TSA freaking out like this only means that the terrorists have indeed won. They can change domestic airport policy with their actions, even if nobody is harmed.

How does THAT make you feel, America?

The islamo-fascists want us to change our way of life. We must not give up on flying or the terrorists will have won. Israel is killing hundreds of these islamo-fascists and their children every day in Lebanon.

But you're not allowed to take your deodorant, perfume/cologne, chapstick or drinks on the plane with you. You're not allowed to bring your electronics on the plane with you.

See? They DO change the way we do things. They manipulate the stupidity of the Federal government.

Wow, did everyone remember to wear their tinfoil hats today or what?

I always put toiletries in my checked bag anyway, so this isn't too annoying for me. Still...you know what really bothers me about these goddamn terrorists, besides their deadly intent? Their rudeness. Every time I take my shoes off in the security line, I mumble a bitter curse on that rat-fuck Richard Reid and his ugly ass tennies. It's just so uncouth for this twisted, moronic, wacko asshole to inconvenience an entire nation. What a dick.

I can't help it. I'm deeply amused by the idea of all the managerial types, you know the ones I mean, the ones who get the shakes if someone somewhere doesn't consult them about something every 15 minutes - separated from their Blackberries and laptops and cell phones. I can just see my own manager, who walks around everywhere with a Bluetooth earpiece, muttering to himself like a street person. He'd have to be sedated if they took his Blackberry from him!

Didn't we have a similar plot to blow up airliners back in the Clinton Administration that was handled much more sensibly, and with much less drama?

Both the Bush administration and the TV news lives for this kind of faux crisis. I suppose it makes them think they look macho or something, but they look like bumblers. Maybe that's their goal: To make the government look inept. But for those of us with a memory, we can see that it's not the government - it's them.

What's next--urine screening for 'dangerous' chemicals?

The Israeli people face oppression every day. El-Al airlines instituted these kinds of security measures a decade ago, so Americans have no right to complain about something Israelis have to deal with every day. Your are getting a small taste of what it's like to live in Israel and you complain? Every islamo-terrorist must die, and then Israel and America will not have to wait in line at the airport.

I'm just glad that the Color Code machine is still working. It hasn't been used since 2004, the very day John Kerry accepted the Democratic nomination.

We've got it up-and-running just in time for the mid-term elections!

And another thing...security lines would be way shorter and a lot of our problems would be solved if airlines weren't so breathtakingly incompetent about baggage handling. People fly in constant fear of losing all their baggage, and so travel with as much crap as they can jam into a carry-on. No wonder we have problems getting through security lines with any kind of efficiency. If they actually trusted the airlines not to lose all their shit, people would travel with, like, a book, an I-Pod and maybe a laptop.

We should divert some Homeland Security funds to official baggage overseers, and quit relying on clueless, underpaid yokels. There should also be a system of punishment here...Currently, these bumbling jackass airlines can deposit your belongings in the middle of the ocean without facing consequences, other than an irate passenger they can flick to the side with some pissy little coupon. Bullshit, I say!

Oh Shoshana, you silly thing - killing all the Muslim terrorists won't solve everything. Don't forget that a lot of Christians hate Jews. Maybe all the Christians should be killed also?

And don't forget the Atheists that don't like Jews. Better kill them also.

Hindus? Buddhists? Wouldn't trust 'em. Pagans are slackers. Satanists? Well, the name says it all, doesn't it?

And don't forget those dangerous pacifist and leftist Jews. They are just traitors. Off with their heads!

Once you've killed everyone, except for people who are exactly like you, there won't be ANY lines at the airports, and you will be free to do anything you want!

Israel's war will solve many problems. Islamo-fascists will die and no longer be a threat to America. Many Christians are anti-semitic and against Israel's war, they must be exposed as anti-semites and have their careers ruined. America must stand by Isreal. Shoshana is right Israel had airport lines like this ten years ago. American travelers can't complain.

that's is what you get for crucifying Jesus Traitors

Some of us don't check our bags for a reason. It seems like everyone I know has had their luggage lost at least once. I can't replace hundreds of dollars in clothes and a $1500 laptop. And the airlines don't give a shit about your luggage if it's lost.

I'm never flying again until this stupid policy is repealed, if it ever is (which it probably won't be). This is beyond degrading and insulting. The terrorists won.

I for one don't agree that the terrorists are winning. The Sept. 11 attack changed the world. The Madrid train
attacks changed a government. This failed airliner attack only
succeeded in closing an airport temporarily and inconveniencing a lot of travelers. This does not mean I condone Bush's policies - Iraq has done more to recruit young militants to al Qaeda than Osama Bin Laden's snazzy videos ever did...

Who can trust this government anyways? Let's see the info, Number One Democracy. Sucks, though, because you've gotta think on the obverse that 9/11 isn't a one-off thing. Obviously, anyone trying to derail our country is going to go after transportation, infrastructure, and energy. That's -- uhmahgawd -- what WE do. Shock and Awe. Balkans. Linebacker II. B-29's over Germany, etc, etc. That said,

A) I predict the invention of the flying "Castle-Mall". It will bolster the economy and mystify the terrorists. And, no need to pack at all.

B) They will persist in fighting us over here, so that we stop fighting them over there.

C) We'll still enjoy our typical 10 to 1 enemy/civilian kill ratio, even if 10 airliners go down.

We have nothing to Fear but Fear itself.

OK, that plus our government trying to make us Fear.

End of the day, even with all this, you're STILL SAFER flying than DRIVING.

Martin, their actions led the government to change their policies, thus they have de facto control over how our government acts. They plot an attack, the government flips out and bans something else. That's control. If they aren't winning, then why can't I take my laptop and toiletries on board a jet? Why do I have to take my shoes off at a security checkpoint?

Are we really winning if they can cause TSA to force us to do this? Are we really defending freedom when I can't take half my personal items with me on a flight?

Look past your rhetoric for five seconds and look at reality. We're not free anymore.

So I read here on Slog that TSA is wandering around with plastic bags collecting people's liquids and gels and the PI Website has a photo of bins overflowing.

Hm I think...agencies working with the homeless are chronically desparate for hygiene supplies. Call Port of Seattle and ask what they're going to with all this stuff they're collecting and can we come by and get it to give out to homeless folks.

Port of Seattle adamantly denies they're confiscating anything and there's nothing to get.

Huh?

In the meantime I could drive a truck bomb onto the departure drives, park it, get out and walk away to freedom, detonating it from a safe distance, and they'd never catch me, because they don't have video surveillance of the drives. They don't think it's important. The Homeland Security money was sitting there for the taking, and it certainly got taken, but not for security purposes.

In the meantime the poor uneducated slobs who work for TSA (no GED necessary) get to hold up the lives of everyone who's better off than them. I think they get off on it. Look at their faces.

This is the future: your daily movements will be controlled by sub-mormals earning minimum wage with virtually no supervision. Give 'em nightsticks, why don't you.

Of course, Gnossos. How are they going to help cosmetic companies increase their sales if they turn and give those cosmetics away to people?

Abu Ghraib Airlines!
Inconvenience becomes adherence, ba-da-da-da-bingo.

Good point, FNARF. Heck, you could just check your bags filled with liquids if you wanted. Same end result.

I do empathize with Catalina, though. Traveling by air is already worse than traveling by bus. But if you want some of the glamor back, I suggest you save your pennies and fly either Korean Air or Asiana someplace. Their flight attendant uniforms are gorgeous, right down to the little cocked hats.

I don't have any flights planned, but the idea of being stuck on a plane for 5-6 hours without my brought-on-board bottle of water, my Entertainment Weekly, and especially my crossword puzzle book and pen! Gah!