Airport security - a show for the public.

Are the rep given out at a similar time, ie straight after each other?

yes

I agree, the whole thing is stupid.
If a plane is going to be hijacked, it's most likely going to be hijacked. The stupid little security measures aren't going to get in the way. For example, when they frisk you, they do miss loads of places, i could easily smuggle things through!

As for stupid things being confiscated...

My mum always carries har wash bag in her hand lugguage and because in my house, everyone always steals nail scissors off each other, she happened to have rediculous number on her. So on the way to our destination, 5 were taken off her, and my poor dad had to rush back and mail it to ourselves, and then rush back through again. And on our way back, they found another one, which the first people had missed!

They confiscated my tweesers..... why!??!?! Stop right there or i'll pluck one of your hairs???

... also there was this poor old old old woman who they stopped and found some nail scissors in her bag and were trying to take them off her. She was saying that she wasn't leaving the scissors behind because they were very expensive antique scissors which she'd had for god knows how many years. This was all happening while I was waiting for my dad to return from posting 5 scissors back home... Stayed long enough to find out the conclusion that they would turn a blind eye to the antique scissors... the poor woman wouldnt have been able to hurt someone if she'd have even tried! And even a terrorist would have some trouble to have done pretty much anything with those scissors!

Now, after reading this, go out with an old wine bottle. You know, the kind everyone brings in their hand luggage. Next smash this bottle towards the pavement so it crushes into pieces. Now what would you want to use as a weapon? The splints from teh crushed bottle, or a phoney nail scissor? Of course, prohibiting people from bringing bottles on the flight would not work as it would be to hard on the tax free shopping, so therefore we prohibit nail files instead...