A brief reprieve from stupid security
The TSA has finally realized that confiscating lighters is a waste of resources and doesn't improve security:
Federal aviation authorities have decided to stop enforcing a two-year-old rule against taking cigarette lighters on airplanes, concluding that it was a waste of time to search for them before passengers boarded.
[...]
Kip Hawley, assistant secretary for the Transportation Security Administration, said in an interview on Thursday that the ban had done little to improve aviation security because small batteries could be used to set off a bomb.
[...]
“Taking lighters away is security theater,” Mr. Hawley said. “It trivializes the security process.”
And here's the crux of the matter:
By lifting the ban, Mr. Hawley said, security officers could spend more time looking for bombs or bomb parts. “The No. 1 threat for us is someone trying to bring bomb components through the security check point,” he said. “We don’t want anything that distracts concentration from searching for that.”
Most of the post-9/11 security measures in airports have been nothing but distractions. Confiscating lighters and liquids, forcing people to remove their shoes, and open harassment of anyone who looks Middle Eastern are all exercises in security theater; these tactics don't improve security in the least, but instead serve to keep the public afraid and therefore pliant. Meanwhile, incoming cargo isn't inspected, airport workers are not adequately screened, and airport security badges remain way too easy to steal. Counteracting these vulnerabilities would require dedication, intelligence, and an honest desire to enforce security, even if that enforcement takes place outside public view. Unfortunately, no one in charge seems really interested in these things, since they aren't generally visible to an all-too-easily bamboozled public. Instead, we get shoe searches and color-coded warnings based on some random guy's "gut feelings."
It's possible that, over time, more people like Hawley will take the reins in departments like TSA, but I'm not holding my breath.