But events - even those with a comic element like the McKinley episode - continue to demonstrate what Senator Frank Lautenberg called the almost incomprehensible magnitude of trying to secure a US transport network which includes 3.9 million miles of roads, 600, 000 bridges, 361 ports and more than 5, 000 public-use airports.

BBC: NEWS | Americas | US stowaway reveals security holes

Coaching is a vital element, in sports, and today even world-class athletes in individual sports have coaches.

FORBES: Why coaches need coaching

As it is, the government seems hesitant even to privatise the earnings-related element of the state pension.

ECONOMIST: From Beveridge to Blair