npr report

[jet@nas.nasa.gov (J. Eric Townsend)]

 from the NPR report:
  > "The mechanism is very much like what the real estate agents do with 
  > houses.  Right, they take you to show you a house and they don't have a 
  > key to that house in their pockets.  But they get to the house, and
  > there's a lock box hanging on the front door.  And they have a master key
  > in their pockets, and they open the lock box, and take out the key to the
  > door, and open the front door, and go in and show you the house."
 
 This is a *wonderful* analogy.  Imagine if one could not buy a set of
 locks for their house w/o buying the government lock-box to go beside
 the front door.