are mp3 players safe to go through the scanner at the airport or should they be placed in the tray with your watch and stuff?

All electronics more complicated than a flashlight should be hand checked. Theoretically, it is fine, people run laptops through them every day, but why run the risk. Besides, they'll probably want to see you turn it on.

Besides, the TSA is giving you a hard time, turning the tables is only fair. Just don't smirk.

By safe you mean will they still have the music on them after they go through the machine? I would think so, the type of radiation and dose don't seem likely to cause loss in either memory chips or mini hard drives. I haven't lost anything with either my chip based mp3 player or my sd card camera. But you may want to check other sources to be sure.
I don't like taking small electronics out and putting them in the tray since they are easily stolen, besides they tell you to put them in your carryon bag. I don't like having to take my laptop out of the bag in the security line. There was a time when crooks would deliberately delay you at the metal detector so another crook could make off with your laptop.

It depends on who's study you read. In all honesty, the odds are extrememly high that your data will survive. It is that very rare occurance of the xray machine nuking an integrated chip that makes me concerned.

Of course, you could always look for a film carrier that your player would fit in. It is designed to keep photographic film from being effected by the system. But who knows how the goons will react.

I put my cell phone in my carryon bag like I was supposed to. The lady freaked out and was like "This looks like a bomb". I tersely replied, "No, it's a cell phone". Luckily the supervisor came over right away, point something out to her and she said "Oh!", before I could say what I was thinking. That was "Would I be stupid enough to try and bring a bomb through the front door? No, I would have had someone put it in one of the meal trays!". Figured that would have delayed me a bit... This was like 2-3 years ago.

I like the idea of TSA agents having badge numbers. It's the only organzation with police powers (no matter how you argue it, they are police powers) that does not have serialized identification for their agents.

Well, if you think that's bad, don't get on the no-fly list. Once on this secret list, there is no recourse, no way to apeal the decision and nobody to contact about the decision since it's secret in the first place. How's that for our government in action?

Politically critical, yet peaceful activists, journalists that have criticized the administration, and even elected officials who have come out against certain things have been put on the list. As far as I'm aware, nobody can get them off of it.

Transparency of government is the only way to keep them honest. This just proves that massive new powers granted or assumed (many say illegally, and even more say illegitimately) in the last 5 years are completely out of bounds, have no checks and balances, and have railroaded our privacy and autonomy, and made a mockery of our rights as set forth by the constitution and Bill of Rights. The TSA is but a small portion of the problem - but perhaps the most visible.

When you hire people with no qualifications, give them inadequate training, instill them with complete and unchecked authority without consequence, you get the TSA. But it's certainly not the only new government agency with the same problems. Sadly, none of them truly "secure" anything, and simply attempt to put pretty facade on a corrupt and completely incompetent string of agencies with more holes than walls. I'm sure I could rant a lot on this one, but I'd like to keep the ability to fly now and then. <img src="/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />