Reuters: U.S. to let people apply to get off no-fly lists

[Eugene]

U.S. to let people apply to get off no-fly lists

56 minutes ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration said on Wednesday it will launch a new
travel security system next month designed to deal with the problem of innocent travelers
mistakenly identified as being on U.S. no-fly lists.

The Department of Homeland Security Traveler Redress Inquiry Program, dubbed DHS TRIP,
is billed as a voluntary one-stop process allowing people to seek a review if they have been
wrongly delayed or prevented from boarding a plane or barred from entering or leaving the
United States.

DHS said in a statement the program will begin February 20 under the management of the
Transportation Security Administration.

Travel security procedures tightened after the September 11 attacks have become a bane
for more than 31,000 innocent people each year whose names are judged to be suspiciously
similar to those on government terrorism or criminal watch lists.

-snip-

Full article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070117/us_nm/security_watchlists_dc

Today's theme at BushCo seems to be a kinder, gentler police state.

[whistle]

1. How do we know we are on the no fly list? This crap is so arbitrary

[madeline_con]

16. Yeh, who do we call to find out?

:shrug:

[lindisfarne]

20. You find out by getting delayed or refused boarding. A fantastic BushCo system! n/t

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Department of Homeland Security later added...

"those who request to be taken off the no-fly list clearly have something to hide, and will certainly not be allowed to fly."

[Matilda]

13. The logic of that statement completely eludes me.

If you are innocent, why would you not seek to prove it?

:eyes:

[LiberalFighter]

30. I wonder what the standards were used to put people on the list.

Bet it had nothing to do with being a terrorist.

[Nickster]

15. That was exactly my first thought. Just a manuever to get more people to focus their spotlight on.

[madeline_con]

17. That little drum flurry after a punch line springs to mind.

Like a cheap nightclub act. :puke:

[lindisfarne]

21. Wasn't Senator Edward Kennedy on the list and denied boarding (or at least delayed) a few years ago?

Obviously, he clearly has something to hide and is a terrorist in disguise. (Well, the right wing probably *does* believe this.)

[slackmaster]

3. Yet there is no way to find out if your name is on the list

Other than when you get blocked from boarding a flight for which you have paid for a ticket.

[DURHAM D]

4. Thank you Denny Crane. n/t

[The Count]

6. My thoughts exactly. But free to apply doesn't mean much.

I am also free to want to be Miss America

[The Wielding Truth]

8. No. Thank you, Alan Shore.

[HeeBGBz]

9. It must've been a magic rant!

It was certainly a kick ass one.

[Dean Martin]

19. Yes it was

Boston Legal is one of the few tv programs I do watch. Extremely funny and always manages to raise excellent moral points. Alan's tirade against Homeland Security was terrific, as was Shirley's points about overworked teachers.

[Earth_First]

5. Well Mr. Doe, since we already have you in here this afternoon...

Mrs. Doe: "I don't know!? He just left for the DHS building this morning to clear up a simple database error, and he never showed up for dinner this evening!?"

[grasswire]

7. sounds like a trap to me

A fishing expedition. You'll have to provide a lot of other information to prove you are who you say you are and that you are NOT a terrorist.

WARNING.

Malicious intent lies therein.

[VegasWolf]

10. Good! These changes would never had taken place if the Reptillians had retained

control of Congress. Now Bush is worried about oversight when he takes a shit.

[Orsino]

11. An opt-out system would only highlight the failure of our Constitution...

...to protect us from the guilty-until-proven-innocent fascists.

[napi21]

12. HAHA! Boston Legal wins another one!

This is really very funny. A TV writer makes common sense and changes WH policy!

[Miss Chybil]

14. They must have watched Boston Legal.

What a way to run a country.

[NotGivingUp]

18. guess they noticed how ridiculous they looked on boston legal!! n/t

[Sydnie]

22. No-fly list checked for accuracy, cut

WASHINGTON - 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.

<snip>

Even cutting the list in half is "nice but not all that meaningful," said Barry Steinhardt, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union. He noted that various estimates of the list's size, which is classified, have ranged from 50,000 to 350,000 names.

<snip>

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 (news, bio, voting record), 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.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070118/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/aviation_security

Poor Ted Stevens. If it's not the tubes of the internets getting clogged for him, it's his wife being detained because her name is similar to someone else's, who shouldn't be on that list at all anyway. My irony meter is spiking on this one.

[hippiechick]

23. HAH! Anyone catch Boston Legal Tuesday night?

:rofl: Shatner's character (Denny Crane) was on the No-Fly list and his firm sued Homeland Security, and made them look like total asshat doofuses in the process. How timely!!!

[Sydnie]

24. I missed it

Sounds like it was a good one, as most of them are.

[atomicdawg38]

25. self delete

nt

[Sydnie]

26. How did you fix it?

I have heard that they don't have to tell you why you are on the list nor how to prove that you aren't the person they intended to watch for in the first place. If you have a way that worked to get your name cleared from the list, please share it as there are many here at DU that have had similar problems trying to board a plane.

[atomicdawg38]

27. Ok, I deleted that because I don't want to lose my job.

I'm a gov't contractor and have problems with my name. I work for them and can call higher ups I have met. Actually it works well if u know who to call.

[Sydnie]

28. Not according to Ted Kennedy

He knew who to call but was still hassled.

I wonder how the no fly list applys to private plane rentals? I don't think I have ever read anything about that either.

Don't want you to put your job in jepardy, so deleting was probably the best course of action for now. :)

[LiberalFighter]

31. 50,000 to 350,000 names?

I wonder if there are really that many legitimate terrorists?

350,000 is definitely too many to be probable.

And that doesn't include the flyers that fit their profile to detain but aren't on the list.

[Divine Discontent]

29. unbelievable

you know, they oughta use some of those BILLIONS in wasted taxpayer money and make sure the list is ACCURATE each 6 months or something... I can just see it, I'll get all ready to go become a missionary in Europe and shrubya's henchmen will come tell me I'm on the no fly list or something pathetic...

I can't wait for 2008!



www.cafepress.com/warisprofitable <<-- antibush prodem stickers/shirts

[LiberalFighter]

32. Anyone traveling by air with a hearing-aid have trouble with being searched?

Did they force you to take your hearing aid out? Did they have you do anything else with your hearing-aid?