The Cat Stevens Effect
Posted by Bruce Johnson
Bureaucracy at its craziest.
Fascinating article (subscription req'd) in yesterday's New York Times about the do-not-fly list.
If your name is Catherine Stevens -- even if you happen to be married to U.S. Senator Ted Stevens -- you are on the list and subject to repeated airport searches because federal authorities believe that "Catherine Stevens" is actually Cat Stevens, the Muslim singer! (And how he got stuck on the list is another issue entirely . . .)
If your name is David Hill, too bad. And David Nelson, Ozzie and Harriett's eldest, is also on the list.
Quote from the NY Times article:
Senator Conrad Burns of Montana marveled at the difficulty he had in getting help for innocent constituents. He is still working to clear one man. "The only place this guy is dangerous is on a golf course," Mr. Burns said.
See our previous entries on the no-fly list here, here and here, and related entries on the troubled Secure Flight program here, here and here.
As an international traveler it would seem that anyone even from the *allies* of Australia can very easily slip onto the list. After my last trip I am left wondering what I could have possibly done to deserve such attention at the US airports.
G