worse the security checks may have become just an empty formality. My wife and I just returned

from an amazing month in Lyon, France. At Charles DeGaulle, the French dutifully go through

the motions of checking passengers but one wonders just what of value is being accomplished. I

was allowed to keep my shoes on, I had to take my laptop from my carry-on bag but then it was

not checked in any way, not even opened. Upon seeing my carry – on bag, an inspector cried,

“Bag check”. Someone else came over and looked at the bag, then passed it without even opening

it. My wife got wanded and searched because of her artificial knee, but that was perfunctory

at best and consisted mostly of my wife satisfying the curiosity of the inspector because she

too was facing like surgery. We got through the whole process in about a half hour and were

walking away when I discovered that I had forgotten to empty a back pocket filled with about

fifty American coins and Euros and that load of metal had set off nothing! A similar

“inspection” occurred at the Airport in Amsterdam, with the addition of jokes and laughter as

some flirting between inspectors and a gorgeous model took place. The US inspectors are only

marginally more serious. It looks to me as if post 9/11 security has deteriorated into all

motion and little substance.

started with a major hiccup: our flight was cancelled (see Adventures in air travel). So

instead of flying to Phoenix on Monday, we flew directly to Las Vegas on Tuesday, which meant

[...]