Where to start...
I fly many sectors most weeks and have just returned from a month away in the US and then Iraq/Jordan (where you'd expect some form of decent checks).
It's a joke the world over.
My cabin bag has 16 zipper compartments. Even when the US TSA "select" me, the checks normally tire around the fifth or sixth. In Syracuse last month something in my shoes set of the sniffer but because there had been a recent vehicle fire near the door the "specialist" decided it must have been the fire retardent. I actually think it was the fertiliser my mate had been applying on his lawn just before I walked over it to the car for the airport. In my cadet days we called it ANFO (prilled Ammonium Nitrate and Fuel Oil). [By the way, my profile has seen me selected "randomly" 106 times out of 110 transits of US ports since 9/11. My pocket knife has remained in my cabin bag all the time.]
Heading out of Sydney in August to the US, I actually talked the security specialist in the final check (looking for fluids and creams, no less) to check all of the compartments on one of my two cabin bags. He complained because it made him look less efficient than the two guys beside him. He gave up for the second bag, which held a 500ml bottle of water and my carry on toiletries of toothpaste and deodorant.
Talk to the diligent staff looking at the Xrays at Tulla and you could move an armoury through them. Football's good but the accurracy of the detenction equipment is even better!
The Mariott in Amman and the Sheraton in Lagos do better checks.
Best airport check this year was in Ullan Baatar - and I had entered from airside with the Airport Director and the chief of Air Traffic Services. Professional.
MJG