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The public outcry over the government's new pat-downs gained momentum Wednesday, as a California district attorney vowed to prosecute any complaints of inappropriate touching by airport security screeners and a U.S. congressman called for screeners to receive improved training.

The developments came as the head of the Transportation Security Administration, John Pistole, acknowledged that the new pat-downs are more invasive than what travelers were used to in the past.

A Denver woman claims she couldn’t board a flight from Wyoming to Denver because of her gender. She said she checked in and arrived at security about 35 minutes before the scheduled departure of her United flight. “They asked if I was on the flight to Denver, I said yes, they said that they couldn`t screen me because they sent all the female TSA agents home,” Winning said. A female agent was necessary because of the new security pat-downs. Winning missed her flight and wound up renting a car for $165 and driving the roughly 350 miles back to Denver.

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Travel Channel Pulls Touching Christmas Special About a Child-Licking Demon

"Full body scanners and enhanced pat downs in private rooms are fueling anger among air travelers in the US. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is coming in for severe criticism while passengers are planning a boycott of the scans on Nov. 24 - traditionally the busiest travel day of the year."

President Obama said today he sympathizes with passenger complaints about aggressive body pat-downs at airports, but his counter-terrorism aides say they are necessary to guard against hidden explosives.

Awww. TSA agents feelings hurt when travelers express their discontent about being groped.

It's so hard to think logically about safety. We figure that any time our health or the safety of our children is at stake, it's better safe than sorry. Our safety is too important for logic, damn it!

Unfortunately, this leads to a whole lot of well-publicized and expensive safety measures that are often worthless, or downright dangerous. Like...

"It's not that we're turning a blind eye," he said. "I give credit to the officers' efforts because they're the ones out there making those decisions.

"The goal is to have a safe environment. ... It's not about making arrests. It's about keeping students safe. It appears the more officer presence we have, fewer arrests."