Larry B, Another thing is that once you cleared customs at Copenhagen, you were in "Schengenland," a sub-set of the EU that has done away with border controls. It's why you can drive from Holland to Italy via Germany and Austria, for instance, without stopping. Just wave at the now-deserted control buildings as you whoosh down the road. Same in airports; once you've entered Schengenland, you're essentially taking domestic flights, so you will have security but not customs.
John M., another point is that outside of the big hubs (and even at some of them), security in European airports is often very close to the gate. In Berlin (Tegel), for example, you check in at the gate and immediately go through security. The airport has invested in lots of machines so that lines stay very short. This is obviously harder to manage in places where there are a lot of transfers, but otherwise a good solution.
The book to read on the intersection of Louisiana politics and way too much water is Rising Tide by John M. Barry. It tells of the time the Mississippi flooded areas 70 to 80 miles from its banks, why that got both Huey Long and Herbert Hoover elected, and why we know New Orleans now for parties and tourism when its business community once dwarfed both Atlanta and Houston.
Oddly enough, a catastrophic Mississippi flood is not likely to physically damage N.O. as much as a hurricane. (It would take the out Old River control structure and send Mighty Muddy down the Atchafalay, as discussed above.) It would just render the port obsolete.
Too bad for Mobile. I remember how many venerable trees there were before Frederic. Now there will be even fewer.
(Oh yeah, saw a pic on CNN.com showing staff taking refuge on the USS Alabama. How nifty is that? 135mph winds are peanuts to a battleship...)
In order to highlight the difference between the 'real' world and the alternate reality where most of the action takes place the text was color coded.
For what it's worth, many German editions of The Neverending Story do this as well, although the one I read chose less-bright variations of red and green that were eminently readable.
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| 2004 | 4 |
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