This is something I've wondered at: shopping malls/big box retailers on Black Friday are perfect targets for terrorists. The economic damage you could do to the US for comparatively little investment is pretty high if properly timed. And you'd inculcate significant fear of public spaces for years to come.

It's not as cinematic as 9/11, but if you're looking to hurt the US, it's a pretty good choice.

Because airplanes are so highly leverageable from a single act into overreactionary freedom-stifling societal damage. One shoe bomber and now billions of traveler-hours are wasted shoeless at the checkpoints. Airplanes have so many eyes on them and every involved entity must overreact to prove We Are Doing Something.

Grade schools wouldn't have the same impact because the control is more localized. There's no federal Education Security Administration imposing gropefests everywhere in response to Newtown. Some schools and places will overreact, but a small proportion.

Or drive several vans with just gas and rush into the airport during holiday. You don't even need a bomb. Just leak the gas and light a match and boom.

I think you have made a good point that others are ignoring. Surely TSA scan is not very effective, but what the heck else do we do?

* intel is too powerful, stupid PRISM is hurting everyone's privacy

* TSA is destroying privacy

* I don't know what else to do

What else do we do? I am constantly afraid of someone hijacking my flight.