Mystification of Identity: You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf...

R. A. Hettinga rah at shipwright.com
Sat Sep 25 18:03:27 PDT 2004


Gilmore, et al., are right, as always.

If you've been all-but cavity-searched -- okay, virtually
cavity-searched, given the state of modern X-Ray airport passenger
scanning technology -- and you don't have a weapon, exactly *how* is
knowing *who* you are going to affect your ability to hijack an
airplane?

I see nothing but the continuation of the privatization of air travel
from all this nonsense. More NetJet owners, more Marquis
Card-carrying business travellers, more investment capital for
companies like Eclipse Aviation.

Geodesic aviation, anyone? ;-)

Cheers,
RAH
-------

<http://www.time.com/time/nation/printout/0,8816,702062,00.html>

TIME.com Print Page: Nation --


 Saturday, Sep. 25, 2004
You Say Yusuf, I Say Youssouf...
The Cat Stevens incident has its origins in a spelling mistake
By  SALLY B. DONNELLY

 The Yusuf Islam incident earlier this week, in which the former Cat
Stevens was denied entry into the U.S. when federal officials
determined he was on the government's "no-fly" antiterror list,
started with a simple spelling error. According to aviation sources
with access to the list, there is no Yusuf Islam on the no-fly
registry, though there is a "Youssouf Islam." The incorrect name was
added to the register this summer, but because Islam's name is
spelled "Yusuf" on his British passport, he was allowed to board a
plane in London bound for the U.S. The Transportation Safety
Administration alleges that Islam has links to terrorist groups,
which he has denied, British foreign minister Jack Straw said the TSA
action "should never have been taken."

 The incident points up some of the real problems facing security
personnel as they try to enforce the "no-fly" list. One issue is
spelling; many foreign names have several different transliterations
into English. And the sheer size of the list is daunting; thousands
of names have been added in the last couple months, says one
government official, bringing the total up to more than 19,000 people
to look out for. That makes it difficult for airlines and government
agencies to check all passengers. Within the past six months, several
people on the no fly list have been mistakenly allowed to fly.

 Still, the TSA is learning. It recently acknowledged that a Federal
Air Marshall, unable to fly for weeks when his name was mistakenly
put on the "no-fly" list, was in fact not a threat, and removed his
name from the list.



-- 
-----------------
R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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