The story is new (and confusing) and is not going away yet. New facts are emerging that only serve to frustrate travelers to the US as well as US taxpayers. Probably the most vexing question of all – why, after the terrorist's own father gave warning of his son's potential threat, his name was not added to the no fly list. This same list that includes names of people that are no threat at all.

Quite a few people are acquiring their 15 minute's of fame – sample 1, sample 2; Google lists over 7,200 links on this story already! Seems like a lot of people were involved, even peripherally. Despite all the hoopla about aviation safety, we have learned (yet again, as if we needed the reminder) that the ONLY thing that provides any security is vigilance.

That is, be vigilant about what is going around you, who is near you and what they are doing. Moreover, flying for Americans is not some odd thing done once in a while. We, as a people, travel a lot by air. We ought to know with confidence when something looks weird. So when a man walks up to an international flight with a ticket and no bags you have to ask yourself question. Was nobody else paying attention? That would seem very odd. But even if you excuse a harried check-in clerk, airline booking systems should have noticed a late booking paid for in cash and no associated baggage data. Terrorists are not that smart. They do dumb things.

Of course our foes in this ongoing war on air travel, to coin a phrase, are determined to keep trying. Because we in the west are soft on our enemies – softer on them than we are on ourselves. We have to swallow all sorts of comments for fear of being politically incorrect. Better to choke on the words than say them. Our foes have no such limitations – blatant threats, be-headings and even a cult of murder by suicide – truly incomprehensible violence for a westerner to understand, are swept under a carpet of excuses of tolerating other cultural mores. Maybe we aren't so smart either.

Since governments cannot, or will not, provide travelers with the real security needed, it is up to travelers to do so themselves. Rather than governments dealing with the problem at its source once and for all, travelers are left to their own wits. Its actually better this way because now something gets done. This week shows us that the spirit of the statement "Let's Roll" uttered on United 93 back in 2001 lives on.

Be grateful. This is a very good thing, if use correctly.

More on Blackprogram

Be grateful. This is a very good thing, if use correctly.

More on Blackprogram

This is quite interesting. A service that is pricey but still interesting. Take a look here. As we head into peak travel season many people dread the long security lines. For $99/year you can join Flyclear.com and apparently avoid the lines.

More on Blackprogram

This is quite interesting. A service that is pricey but still interesting. Take a look here. As we head into peak travel season many people dread the long security lines. For $99/year you can join Flyclear.com and apparently avoid the lines.

More on Blackprogram

A fascinating story here. The United States must prove that their disputed demands for European air passenger data are effective in the US-led fight against terrorism, Germany's top data protection official said.

So Europeans are again questioning the US' motives in protecting itself. This is odd, as usual. Bombings in London and Madrid as well as shootings in Athens have not seemed to make any local impact. Privacy is great, but we know of nobody who would not trade their privacy for staying alive.

The fact that Germany-based people were involved with 9/11 is clearly remembered in the US.. If German security was any good, they might have picked up these monsters. But no. So it is with particular interest that we read of a German (data protection commissioner Peter Schaar) mouthing off about US data needs – he wants proof that data helps fight terrorism. He wants proof? How much proof does he need?

The US has warned that airlines which fail to share passenger data would face fines of up to $6,000 per passenger and a possible loss of landing rights. This last point needs to be focused on. Its hard to understand from the American viewpoint how Europeans don't see the problem the same way. After all, terror has struck both sides of the Atlantic. Why is it that America wants to fight terror and the Europeans seem less concerned about it? Imagine if America had said during the Cold War that it needed proof of Soviet malintent? This debate about data being used to improve security is tiresome. If it is not by now self evident, then what path forward is there?

A fascinating story here. The United States must prove that their disputed demands for European air passenger data are effective in the US-led fight against terrorism, Germany's top data protection official said.

So Europeans are again questioning the US' motives in protecting itself. This is odd, as usual. Bombings in London and Madrid as well as shootings in Athens have not seemed to make any local impact. Privacy is great, but we know of nobody who would not trade their privacy for staying alive.

The fact that Germany-based people were involved with 9/11 is clearly remembered in the US.. If German security was any good, they might have picked up these monsters. But no. So it is with particular interest that we read of a German (data protection commissioner Peter Schaar) mouthing off about US data needs – he wants proof that data helps fight terrorism. He wants proof? How much proof does he need?

The US has warned that airlines which fail to share passenger data would face fines of up to $6,000 per passenger and a possible loss of landing rights. This last point needs to be focused on. Its hard to understand from the American viewpoint how Europeans don't see the problem the same way. After all, terror has struck both sides of the Atlantic. Why is it that America wants to fight terror and the Europeans seem less concerned about it? Imagine if America had said during the Cold War that it needed proof of Soviet malintent? This debate about data being used to improve security is tiresome. If it is not by now self evident, then what path forward is there?

This is an amazing story. An employee with security privileges managed to bring a duffel bag with 14 guns and 8 pounds of marijuana on to a Delta plane.

This is really alarming and demonstrates something we noted a few months ago in Paris. You may recall that French authorities fired a number of airport employees because they were deemed security threats. Airport and airline employees are another "soft spot" in aviation security. With access to everything and virtually every location, a person with the appropriate ID can get a small explosive device into an airplane relatively easily.

You can imagine how difficult it must be to police an airport, with tens of thousands of workers at the bigger airports. This story is not comforting in the least. Arresting the fellow as he walked off the plane is, in our view, way too late.