Mokka mit Schlag » Travel

Not a lot of technical details have surfaced yet about the latest alleged terrorist plot to blow up airplanes. However from what little has been revealed, it appears that the explosives were liquid and would be carried in hand luggage. I’m willing to bet that whatever they were using would not have been detected by X-ray machines and metal detectors. In fact, it very possibly could have passed a hand search if it were disguised as some similar but harmless liquid (milk, hand lotion, soda, etc.). Or maybe toothpaste or soap? According to the Guardian,
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Would you use a credit card that added 1-3% off the top to every purchase you made? Sadly for the last year or so that’s exactly what you may have been doing when traveling outside the country or purchasing from foreign retailers like Amazon.co.uk.
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Yesterday the U.S. Federal government arrested a British Internet gambling executive as he changed planes in Texas on his way to Costa Rica. I don’t know how the Dallas airport is laid out, but he may not even have tried to clear customs.

I can’t help but wonder how the U.S. government even knew he’d be on the plane. Might it have something to do with the U.S.’s insistence that any plane landing in the U.S. provide complete details on all passengers to the U.S. government? We were told this was necessary to prevent terrorists from entering U.S. soil. Why am I not surprised to find it instead being used to prosecute victimless crimes and enforce the Bush administration’s questionable morals? Perhaps the EU shouldn’t have been so fast to cave in to U.S. demands that violated their own laws.

Meanwhile, in a practical sense, to all my friends outside the U.S., I have to warn you to stay away. In particular, do not change planes in the United States, even if your eventual destination is elsewhere. This is not an isolated incident. The U.S. government is routinely pulling international travelers off of planes that land here and maltreating them.
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I’m a very light cell phone user, except occasionally when I travel. Currently I’m on the very bottom-of-the-barrel T-Mobile monthly plan that they don’t even offer any more. Only 60 minutes a month + weekends, and I very rarely even use that. Looking around it seemed I could save quite a bit of money by going to a prepaid plan. That wouldn’t cost me more than about $100 a year, roughly 20% of what I’m paying now. I was just going to switch my T-Mobile phone over, but apparently the roaming on their prepaid plans isn’t so good.

What are people recommending for prepaid phones these days? I need:
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There seems to be one special rule for driving in Maine. Whatever road you’re one, whichever lane you’re in: left, middle, or center, it will eventually turn into a right turn only or left turn only lane. You cannot drive straight in this state.

During the boom years it felt like I was travelling to San Jose or the Bay Area every month or two. I usually flew American. Round trip was about $2200 without a Saturday stayover. I saved up my frequent flyer miles primarily for first class upgrades on these cross-country trips.
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