That darned no fly list that has caused so many of us liberal activists a headache, because, well, you know, you don't know why you're on it, and you can't really get off the list. I guess it taked a few high-profile names on the list to get it vetted, as
The Bush administration is checking the accuracy of a watch list of suspected terrorists banned from traveling on airliners in the U.S. and will probably cut the list in half, the head of the Transportation Security Administration said Wednesday.
More after the fold!
So what prompted this review? Might it have been the grossly unfair nature of it, or the incredible violation of civil liberties it engendered?
No, as a matter of fact it appears what it took was the wife of an influental Senator to be confused with a dirty hippy Muslim singer-songwriter.
At a hearing of the Senate Commerce Committee, Hawley ran into inquiries from lawmakers with family members or friends who had encountered problems at airport checkpoints.
Among them was Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, who complained that his wife, Catherine, was being identified as "Cat" Stevens and frequently stopped due to confusion with the former name of the folk singer now known as Yusuf Islam, whose name is on the list. In 2004 he was denied entry into the U.S., but officials declined to explain why.
Which one of these two might be a terrorist?
I also realized I left this story unattributed-it comes from here