---

Airport trick or treat
By James Bovard

A 20-year-old college student just made a mockery of Uncle Sam's 50,000 member airport security army. Nathaniel Heatwole of Damascus, Md., carried concealed weapons — including box cutters and dummy explosives — onto two flights, stashing the goods on airplanes where they remained hidden for many subsequent flights.

Mr. Heatwole e-mailed the Transportation Security, Administration informing them of his actions — but it took the TSA five weeks after receiving the e-mail before it began investigating. ...

...In the wake of September 11, the federal mentality toward airline customers is best summarized by the informal motto posted at the headquarters of the TSA air marshal training center: "Dominate. Intimidate. Control." But it takes more than browbeating average Americans to make air travel safe. Airline expert Michael Boyd aptly observed: "The TSA is a poorly focused, unaccountable Washington political bureaucracy geared to screen for objects, not for security threats."