This is just sad. The TSA confiscated a battery pack not because it’s dangerous, but because other passengers might think its dangerous. And they’re proud of the fact.

“We must treat every suspicious item the same and utilize the tools we have available to make a final determination,” said Federal Security Director David Wynn. “Procedures are in place for a reason and this is a clear indication our workforce is doing a great job.”

My guess is that if Kip Hawley were allowed to comment on my blog, he would say something like this: “It’s not just bombs that are prohibited; it’s things that look like bombs. This looks enough like a bomb to fool the other passengers, and that in itself is a threat.”

Okay, that’s fair. But the average person doesn’t know what a bomb looks like; all he knows is what he sees on television and the movies. And this rule means that all homemade electronics are confiscated, because anything homemade with wires can look like a bomb to someone who doesn’t know better. The rule just doesn’t work.

And in today’s passengers-fight-back world, do you think anyone is going to successfully do anything with a fake bomb?

Related Posts: On this day...

• Stanford researcher exposes Microsoft's Wi-Fi database - 2011
• Canadian cinema fined $10,000 for privacy invasion over bag search - 2010
• Fan wearing LeBron Heat jersey kicked out of Cleveland Indians game - 2010
• Tron Legacy score contributions by Daft Punk leaked? - 2010
• How To Hijack "Every iPhone In The World" - 2009
• I now pronounce you monetized: A YouTube video case study - 2009
• Stormy Daniels' Political Advisor May Have Been Hit By Car Bomb - 2009
• CentOS main project administrator goes missing, holds sole control of domain, irc-server, and funds - 2009
• Cracked Windows 7 RTM Ultimate Activated with OEM SLP Master Product Key - 2009
• Cops suspended for Obama background check - 2009