I sent a test email from Eudora on my Mac to Outlook on a work PC, and the Mac Eudora euro sign (option-shift-2) didn't come through to Outlook; nor did it come through when I copied the email into Word. It'll be interesting to see what programs can handle it.

What do I think Americans should be allowed to do? Well, people should be able to buy duty-free *at the port of entry*, not the port of exit, so bottles aren't carried on planes, for a start.

All baggage should be properly checked, and there should be a limit on the amount people can carry on a short flight - people using planes like buses should carry only hand-luggage.

Seats should face backwards, which is safer in a crash. Seatbelts should be augmented by airbags.

Really mad-seeming people like the poor soul arrested trying to blow up his shoes, who even to me as a non-expert is clearly as crazy as a kish of coots, should be checked a little more thoroughly.

The level of checking currently done on planes is made clear by yesterday's British claim that an average 20 passengers on every flight from Jamaica are carrying drugs, with an average flight carrying dozens of kilos of cocaine.

Apart from this, I think America seriously needs to rethink its economic and political policies. Now, don't think I want people bombing and hurting Americans, indeed I do not, and grieve for those who died on September 11. But the middle-class, nicely-brought-up boys who are turning into suicide bombers are not doing so for no reason - but because they believe that America is a terrible political and economic entity which does great harm.

Now, back to the euro?