Effective airport security ?
I used to work for NAVSEA. Basically, I blew things up for a living. Shortly after 9/11, I was flying from Dulles to Norfolk. Earlier that day, I'd been out on a test. Set off a 60-lb charge. The plume drifted down over my jacket and backpack, which were laying on the ground outside our bombproof trailer.
Going through Dulles Airport , I was randomly selected to be swabbed for explosive residue. "Oh shit," I thinks to myself. As they're swabbing down my backpack, I'm trying to recall the number for security at our base. I'm picturing what I'm going to say to the security personnel when I get flagged as way, way f**king positive for nitrates. I'm getting out my cellphone as they put the swab in the sniffer box.
Nothing. Not. A. Thing. I was *covered* in explosive residue and decomposition products, and they did not so much as look at me twice.