Belated observation

Last Friday, while waiting in the Denver airport, I noticed something funny. There was a woman in the terminal with knitting needles that could have speared an adult with relative ease. As she was knitting, a voice on the intercom told us that we couldn't bring liquids or gels on board. So what, now we can bring sharp objects on to planes again but we can't bring Carmex or water? Is there a country on this earth whose government does NOT have its head up its butt?